Redesigning Engineering 101: Promoting Student Wellness in Introductory Courses

Jonathon Fagert; Jacqueline Rodriguez

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Conference: 2023 ASEE North Central Section Conference
Location: Morgantown, West Virginia
Publication Date: March 24, 2023
Start Date: March 24, 2023
End Date: March 25, 2023
Page Count: 5
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--44920
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/44920
Download Count: 64

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Paper Authors

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Jonathon Fagert P.E. Baldwin Wallace University

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Jonathon Fagert is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering at Baldwin Wallace University. His teaching interests include first-year introductory courses, Statics & Dynamics, career readiness, and structural analysis/design. Prior to his time in academia, Jonathon practiced as a structural design engineer in NYC and is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of New York.

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Jacqueline Rodriguez M.Ed. Baldwin Wallace University

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Jackie Rodriguez is the Health Promotion Director at Baldwin Wallace University and serves as an adjunct teaching Mindfulness and Meditation. She has experience in corporate, clinical and community based fitness and well-being programming. She is a certified Exercise Physiologist (ACSM), Koru© Mindfulness Instructor and a Stress and Resilience Facilitator.

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Abstract

Over the past decade, and especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increasing focus on the mental health and well-being of undergraduate students. In fact, recent studies have shown that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an even more rapid decline to students’ mental health and increased levels of stress and anxiety. To combat this, many universities are renewing their focus on student health and well-being and exploring ways to support their students. In this work-in-progress paper, we present a collaboration between the university’s wellness faculty/staff and the Department of Engineering to promote student mental health, provide students with tools and resources for developing their time- and self-management skills, and create a framework for other disciplines/programs to do the same. To this end, we revised the EGR 101: Introduction to Engineering course to include a “weekly wellness” activity. Each activity consisted of a 15-minute class discussion followed by a commitment from students to practice the activity several times throughout the week (5-10 minutes, 3-4 times throughout the week) and provide a 1-paragraph reflection. Example topics included “Goal Visualization”, “Time Management”, “Make Stress Your Friend”, and “Use Your Strengths”. Each was adapted from “A Guide to Incorporating Social-Emotional Learning in the College Classroom: Busting Anxiety, Boosting Ability” by Gallagher, K. & Stocker, S. Through the collaboration, we emphasized and related each topic to the experiences that many first-year, first-semester students were having at the time, and how the tools/topics covered apply to their academic lives, personal lives, and future engineering careers. To evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot program, we conducted a survey of the students that assessed which wellness activities they found useful, how they used the activities in their daily lives, and how the activities helped with the transition from high school to undergraduate studies. We plan to use the results of this survey to continue to improve and refine the wellness component of EGR 101, and provide recommendations to other, similar courses across different disciplines so that they can emphasize the importance of student wellness and promote it for their students.

Citation
Format

Fagert, J., & Rodriguez, J. (2023, March), Redesigning Engineering 101: Promoting Student Wellness in Introductory Courses Paper presented at 2023 ASEE North Central Section Conference, Morgantown, West Virginia. 10.18260/1-2--44920

TY - CPAPER
AB - Over the past decade, and especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increasing focus on the mental health and well-being of undergraduate students. In fact, recent studies have shown that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an even more rapid decline to students’ mental health and increased levels of stress and anxiety. To combat this, many universities are renewing their focus on student health and well-being and exploring ways to support their students. In this work-in-progress paper, we present a collaboration between the university’s wellness faculty/staff and the Department of Engineering to promote student mental health, provide students with tools and resources for developing their time- and self-management skills, and create a framework for other disciplines/programs to do the same. To this end, we revised the EGR 101: Introduction to Engineering course to include a “weekly wellness” activity. Each activity consisted of a 15-minute class discussion followed by a commitment from students to practice the activity several times throughout the week (5-10 minutes, 3-4 times throughout the week) and provide a 1-paragraph reflection. Example topics included “Goal Visualization”, “Time Management”, “Make Stress Your Friend”, and “Use Your Strengths”. Each was adapted from “A Guide to Incorporating Social-Emotional Learning in the College Classroom: Busting Anxiety, Boosting Ability” by Gallagher, K. &amp;amp; Stocker, S. Through the collaboration, we emphasized and related each topic to the experiences that many first-year, first-semester students were having at the time, and how the tools/topics covered apply to their academic lives, personal lives, and future engineering careers. To evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot program, we conducted a survey of the students that assessed which wellness activities they found useful, how they used the activities in their daily lives, and how the activities helped with the transition from high school to undergraduate studies. We plan to use the results of this survey to continue to improve and refine the wellness component of EGR 101, and provide recommendations to other, similar courses across different disciplines so that they can emphasize the importance of student wellness and promote it for their students.
AU - Jonathon Fagert P.E.
AU - Jacqueline Rodriguez M.Ed.
CY - Morgantown, West Virginia
DA - 2023/03/24
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Redesigning Engineering 101: Promoting Student Wellness in Introductory Courses
UR - https://peer.asee.org/44920
DO - 10.18260/1-2--44920
ER -