Integrating Peer-Led-Team Learning (PLTL) and Design Thinking to improve student success in Engineering Statics

Haiying Huang; Monica Franco

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Conference: 2025 ASEE -GSW Annual Conference
Location: Arlington, TX, Texas
Publication Date: March 9, 2025
Start Date: March 9, 2025
End Date: March 11, 2025
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 8
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--55063
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/55063
Download Count: 15

Paper Authors

biography

Haiying Huang The University of Texas at Arlington

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Prof. Haiying Huang is a professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Director of Engineering Education at the College of Engineering at the University of Texas Arlington. Her research interests include design thinking pedagogy, collaborative learning, and faculty development.

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Monica Franco The University of Texas at Arlington

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Abstract

This paper will present the integration of Peer-led-Team Learning (PLTL) and design thinking (DT) to improve student success in Engineering Statics, which is a gatekeeping class for mechanical, aerospace, and civil engineering students. PLTL is an active learning pedagogy that have shown to improve student performance, retention, and commitment to engineering. PLTLs are typically used as a supplement to regular classroom teaching in which students voluntarily sign up for PLTL sessions with mandatory attendance requirements. Meeting weekly outside regular class time and working in groups of 8-10, the students collaborate to solve problems related to concepts taught in lectures. Each group is led by a peer leader (PL) who has taken the course with a satisfactory grade. A faculty liaison develops the PLTL problem sets and coordinates with the PLs but does not participate at the PLTL sessions.

In spring 2024, UTA Division of Student Success introduced PLTL to Engineering Statics with Prof. Huang volunteered as the faculty liaison. The main task of the faculty liaison is to develop the weekly PLTL packages, which typically consist of a set of problems that the PL will lead the student to solve. In developing the weekly PLTL package, the faculty liaison intentionally incorporated design thinking, which is defined as “a set of iterative processes of understanding a problem and developing an appropriate solution”. The design thinking process encompasses six steps, including 1) identifying goal (unknowns) & constraints (knowns), 2) researching principles & concepts, 3) visualizing solutions & results, 4) solving the problem, 5) evaluating the results, and 6) reporting methods & results. The PLTL session placed emphasis on the first three steps. The students were instructed to work through the first 3 steps by answering a set of questions and reflect on the answers before showing them to the PL. The PL will then review the answers and ask the students to reiterate the process if necessary. The students can only proceed to step 4 after a solution plan has been approved by the PL and all misconceptions have been clarified.

36 students signed up for the PLTL sessions in spring 2024, accounting for 34.2% of the total enrollments. The students who participated in PLTL, had a passing rate of 88.9%. In comparison, the passing rate for the 69 students who did not participate was 69.6%.

Citation
Format

Huang, H., & Franco, M. (2025, March), Integrating Peer-Led-Team Learning (PLTL) and Design Thinking to improve student success in Engineering Statics Paper presented at 2025 ASEE -GSW Annual Conference, Arlington, TX, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--55063

TY - CPAPER
AB - This paper will present the integration of Peer-led-Team Learning (PLTL) and design thinking (DT) to improve student success in Engineering Statics, which is a gatekeeping class for mechanical, aerospace, and civil engineering students. PLTL is an active learning pedagogy that have shown to improve student performance, retention, and commitment to engineering. PLTLs are typically used as a supplement to regular classroom teaching in which students voluntarily sign up for PLTL sessions with mandatory attendance requirements. Meeting weekly outside regular class time and working in groups of 8-10, the students collaborate to solve problems related to concepts taught in lectures. Each group is led by a peer leader (PL) who has taken the course with a satisfactory grade. A faculty liaison develops the PLTL problem sets and coordinates with the PLs but does not participate at the PLTL sessions.

In spring 2024, UTA Division of Student Success introduced PLTL to Engineering Statics with Prof. Huang volunteered as the faculty liaison. The main task of the faculty liaison is to develop the weekly PLTL packages, which typically consist of a set of problems that the PL will lead the student to solve. In developing the weekly PLTL package, the faculty liaison intentionally incorporated design thinking, which is defined as “a set of iterative processes of understanding a problem and developing an appropriate solution”. The design thinking process encompasses six steps, including 1) identifying goal (unknowns) &amp;amp; constraints (knowns), 2) researching principles &amp;amp; concepts, 3) visualizing solutions &amp;amp; results, 4) solving the problem, 5) evaluating the results, and 6) reporting methods &amp;amp; results. The PLTL session placed emphasis on the first three steps. The students were instructed to work through the first 3 steps by answering a set of questions and reflect on the answers before showing them to the PL. The PL will then review the answers and ask the students to reiterate the process if necessary. The students can only proceed to step 4 after a solution plan has been approved by the PL and all misconceptions have been clarified.

36 students signed up for the PLTL sessions in spring 2024, accounting for 34.2% of the total enrollments. The students who participated in PLTL, had a passing rate of 88.9%. In comparison, the passing rate for the 69 students who did not participate was 69.6%.
AU - Haiying Huang
AU - Monica Franco
CY - Arlington, TX, Texas
DA - 2025/03/09
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Integrating Peer-Led-Team Learning (PLTL) and Design Thinking to improve student success in Engineering Statics
UR - https://peer.asee.org/55063
DO - 10.18260/1-2--55063
ER -