Student Engagement with a Nontraditional First-Year Engineering Project Theme

Benjamin Goldschneider; Benjamin Chambers

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: First-Year Programs Division Technical Session 9: Decision Making, Problem-Based Projects, Role-Play, and a Nontraditional Project Theme
Page Count: 18
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--41305
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/41305
Download Count: 273

Paper Authors

biography

Benjamin Goldschneider

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Benjamin Goldschneider is a PhD Candidate in Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University. His research interests include socialization, students' sense of belonging, interdisciplinary collaboration, and innovative teaching in First-Year programs.

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biography

Benjamin Chambers Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

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Dr. Ben Chambers is an Associate Professor of Practice in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech, and Director of the Frith First Year Makers program and of the Minecraft Museum of Engineering. His research focuses include creativity-based pedagogy, the interactions of non-humans with the built environment, and the built environment as a tool for teaching at the nexus of biology and engineering. 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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Abstract

For many students, first-year engineering (FYE) courses are their first formal introduction to the content and practices associated with becoming an engineer. At this stage, many students’ interests and conceptualizations of the discipline are still developing. The content of the first-year courses plays a significant formative role in the evolution of this understanding. Many first-year courses are designed with this in mind, placing an emphasis on core engineering skills like teamwork, and taking a project from conceptualization to completion. Many also construct these project experiences around traditional engineering skill sets like programming or mechanical systems. These skills are important, but place students who had no access to them prior to arriving at their university at a disadvantage in their teams. To be as flexible as possible, students must be prepared for both technical and creative projects. Creative design can be incorporated into technically focused projects, but it ultimately may be more effective to include creative design as a foundational aspect of the project instead. To explore this, an alternative project was developed with a focus on an unorthodox topic: musical instruments. One objective of this design was to encourage students to consider a broad variety of future paths within engineering. One question that this alternative project poses, however, is how students in the first-year program will be able to make connections between the project and their engineering paths. The purpose of this qualitative investigation is to examine how first-year engineering students at a large public Mid-Atlantic university describe their engagement and interest in an engineering design project with a nontraditional theme. Data for this study are drawn from student responses to a collection of short answer questions as well as several reflection assignments completed during the project. In combination, these encompass the affective, behavioral, and cognitive dimensions of student engagement. Together, these three dimensions provide a comprehensive view of how students engage with the project itself, their teammates, and others in the class. Furthering the understanding of how students view and engage with a nontraditional project may expand options for curriculum design in first-year programs.

Citation
Format

Goldschneider, B., & Chambers, B. (2022, August), Student Engagement with a Nontraditional First-Year Engineering Project Theme Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41305

TY - CPAPER
AB - For many students, first-year engineering (FYE) courses are their first formal introduction to the content and practices associated with becoming an engineer. At this stage, many students’ interests and conceptualizations of the discipline are still developing. The content of the first-year courses plays a significant formative role in the evolution of this understanding. Many first-year courses are designed with this in mind, placing an emphasis on core engineering skills like teamwork, and taking a project from conceptualization to completion. Many also construct these project experiences around traditional engineering skill sets like programming or mechanical systems. These skills are important, but place students who had no access to them prior to arriving at their university at a disadvantage in their teams. To be as flexible as possible, students must be prepared for both technical and creative projects. Creative design can be incorporated into technically focused projects, but it ultimately may be more effective to include creative design as a foundational aspect of the project instead. To explore this, an alternative project was developed with a focus on an unorthodox topic: musical instruments. One objective of this design was to encourage students to consider a broad variety of future paths within engineering. One question that this alternative project poses, however, is how students in the first-year program will be able to make connections between the project and their engineering paths. The purpose of this qualitative investigation is to examine how first-year engineering students at a large public Mid-Atlantic university describe their engagement and interest in an engineering design project with a nontraditional theme. Data for this study are drawn from student responses to a collection of short answer questions as well as several reflection assignments completed during the project. In combination, these encompass the affective, behavioral, and cognitive dimensions of student engagement. Together, these three dimensions provide a comprehensive view of how students engage with the project itself, their teammates, and others in the class. Furthering the understanding of how students view and engage with a nontraditional project may expand options for curriculum design in first-year programs.

AU - Benjamin Goldschneider
AU - Benjamin Chambers
CY - Minneapolis, MN
DA - 2022/08/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Student Engagement with a Nontraditional First-Year Engineering Project Theme
UR - https://peer.asee.org/41305
DO - 10.18260/1-2--41305
ER -