Full Paper: Paying it Forward: How Current Students Advised Future Students in an Engineering Design Course

Natalie C.T. Van Tyne; Benjamin Daniel Chambers; Michelle Soledad

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Conference: FYEE 2025 Conference
Location: University of Maryland - College Park, Maryland
Publication Date: July 27, 2025
Start Date: July 27, 2025
End Date: July 29, 2025
Conference Session: Full Papers II
Tagged Topic: FYEE 2025
Page Count: 6
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--55250
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/55250
Download Count: 7

Paper Authors

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Natalie C.T. Van Tyne Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University orcid.org/0000-0002-7058-9098

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Natalie Van Tyne is an Associate Professor of Practice at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, where she teaches first year engineering design as a foundation course for Virginia Tech's undergraduate engineering degree programs. She holds a Ph.D. in Engineering Education, along with Masters degrees in chemical and environmental engineering, and in business administration, as well as Bachelors degrees in chemical engineering and Russian language.

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Benjamin Daniel Chambers Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

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Dr. Ben Chambers is an Assistant Collegiate Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech, and Director of the Frith First Year Makers program. His research focuses include the interactions of non-humans with the built environment, the built environment as a tool for teaching at the nexus of biology and engineering, and creativity-based pedagogy. He earned his graduate degrees from Virginia Tech, including an M.S. Civil Infrastructure Engineering, M.S. LFS Entomology, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Design and Planning.

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Michelle Soledad Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University orcid.org/0000-0002-2491-6684

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Michelle Soledad, Ph.D. is a Collegiate Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. Her research and service interests include teaching and learning experiences in fundamental engineering courses, faculty development and support initiatives – including programs for the future engineering professoriate, and leveraging institutional data to support reflective teaching practices. She has degrees in Electrical Engineering (B.S., M.Eng.) from the Ateneo de Davao University in Davao City, Philippines, where she previously held appointments as Assistant Professor and Department Chair for Electrical Engineering. She also previously served as Director for Communications and International Engagement at the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech, Lecturer at the Department of Engineering Education at The Ohio State University, and Assistant Professor at the Department of Integrated Engineering at Minnesota State University, Mankato. She holds a Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Virginia Tech.

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Abstract

This study is a Full Paper. Instructors in engineering and other STEM-based courses are eager to advise their students as to how to succeed in a particular course, but students may not necessarily believe what instructors are telling them. However, many students will believe advice about how to succeed in a particular course from students who completed the course. In order to explore peer advice for academic success, we pursued the following research question: ● How do students describe relevant advice for future students in a first-year project-based engineering course? In this paper, we examined the results of an activity where we gave our students the opportunity to reflect on what worked for them in our project-based design course and offer advice to future students by responding to the prompt: “Based on what you now know about our course, what advice would you give to students who will take this course in the future?” According to the literature, advice from students to students can be considered as a form of peer learning or collaborative learning, even though the advising students might not have direct contact with their recipients. Such “collaboration” exists in the form of a common experience separated by time. Data from one of the studies were analyzed thematically according to general advice for success, content-specific hints and tips, and what kind of mindset and attitudes to adopt for success. Another study also used the theme of advice for success, along with close attention to course expectations, seeking help from instructional faculty and peers, and an outlook that emphasized positive thinking in mindset and attitude. Two similar coding themes were also found in prior studies: advice for individual study skills that were more or less generic, tips regarding specific skills and strategies for course content, and general advice about attitudes that were identified for success in the course. Our data were collected from a weekly exit survey given near the end of our course. A total of approximately 370 responses were analyzed by descriptive coding to yield six categories of advice. These categories were later analyzed using pattern coding into three groups: actions by individuals, actions within project teams, and pre-course actions that prospective students should take to be more successful in the course. Among these three groups of responses, 61% represented actions by individuals, such as keeping on top of the work, planning ahead, engaging with the course, and pursuing the course project more efficiently. Another 33% of the responses related to productive teamwork, which included communication and team cohesiveness. Responses containing pre-course actions for prospective students comprised the remaining 6 %. These results resembled those in studies involving content-based courses, where a large majority of the responses dealt with generic individual learning strategies, such as keeping on top of the coursework, learning from mistakes, and seeking help when needed. Our results were also similar to prior studies with respect to problem solving, e.g., working a problem in increments and trying several solutions until an optimal one was found. These last two practices resemble the iterative aspect of the engineering design process that our students are guided to practice. Future exploration may involve a comparison of our current results with those from prior class years at our institution. We might also be able to collaborate with similar engineering programs at other institutions to compare student feedback about their courses. Finally, our results might be applied to formative assessment for the improvement of student learning in first-year engineering and other STEM-based courses.

Citation
Format

Van Tyne, N. C., & Chambers, B. D., & Soledad, M. (2025, July), Full Paper: Paying it Forward: How Current Students Advised Future Students in an Engineering Design Course Paper presented at FYEE 2025 Conference, University of Maryland - College Park, Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--55250

TY - CPAPER
AB - This study is a Full Paper. Instructors in engineering and other STEM-based courses are eager to advise their students as to how to succeed in a particular course, but students may not necessarily believe what instructors are telling them. However, many students will believe advice about how to succeed in a particular course from students who completed the course. In order to explore peer advice for academic success, we pursued the following research question:
● How do students describe relevant advice for future students in a first-year project-based engineering course?
In this paper, we examined the results of an activity where we gave our students the opportunity to reflect on what worked for them in our project-based design course and offer advice to future students by responding to the prompt: “Based on what you now know about our course, what advice would you give to students who will take this course in the future?”
According to the literature, advice from students to students can be considered as a form of peer learning or collaborative learning, even though the advising students might not have direct contact with their recipients. Such “collaboration” exists in the form of a common experience separated by time.
Data from one of the studies were analyzed thematically according to general advice for success, content-specific hints and tips, and what kind of mindset and attitudes to adopt for success. Another study also used the theme of advice for success, along with close attention to course expectations, seeking help from instructional faculty and peers, and an outlook that emphasized positive thinking in mindset and attitude. Two similar coding themes were also found in prior studies: advice for individual study skills that were more or less generic, tips regarding specific skills and strategies for course content, and general advice about attitudes that were identified for success in the course.
Our data were collected from a weekly exit survey given near the end of our course. A total of approximately 370 responses were analyzed by descriptive coding to yield six categories of advice. These categories were later analyzed using pattern coding into three groups: actions by individuals, actions within project teams, and pre-course actions that prospective students should take to be more successful in the course.
Among these three groups of responses, 61% represented actions by individuals, such as keeping on top of the work, planning ahead, engaging with the course, and pursuing the course project more efficiently. Another 33% of the responses related to productive teamwork, which included communication and team cohesiveness. Responses containing pre-course actions for prospective students comprised the remaining 6 %.
These results resembled those in studies involving content-based courses, where a large majority of the responses dealt with generic individual learning strategies, such as keeping on top of the coursework, learning from mistakes, and seeking help when needed. Our results were also similar to prior studies with respect to problem solving, e.g., working a problem in increments and trying several solutions until an optimal one was found. These last two practices resemble the iterative aspect of the engineering design process that our students are guided to practice.
Future exploration may involve a comparison of our current results with those from prior class years at our institution. We might also be able to collaborate with similar engineering programs at other institutions to compare student feedback about their courses. Finally, our results might be applied to formative assessment for the improvement of student learning in first-year engineering and other STEM-based courses.

AU - Natalie C.T. Van Tyne
AU - Benjamin Daniel Chambers
AU - Michelle Soledad
CY - University of Maryland - College Park, Maryland
DA - 2025/07/27
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Full Paper: Paying it Forward: How Current Students Advised Future Students in an Engineering Design Course
UR - https://peer.asee.org/55250
DO - 10.18260/1-2--55250
ER -