WIP: Implementing a Community Engagement Project in a First-Year Foundations of Engineering Course

Matthew James; Juan David Ortega-Alvarez; Cassondra Wallwey; Michelle Soledad

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: First-Year Programs Division WIPS 1: Projects, Teams, and Portfolios
Tagged Division: First-Year Programs Division (FYP)
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/48308

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Paper Authors

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Matthew James Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

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Matthew James is an Associate Professor of Practice in Engineering Education at Virginia Tech, and is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Virginia. He holds bachelors and masters degrees from Virginia Tech in Civil Engineering.

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Juan David Ortega-Alvarez Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University / Universidad EAFIT orcid.org/0000-0001-6110-0791

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Juan David Ortega Álvarez is a Collegiate Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech and a Visiting Professor of Engineering at Universidad EAFIT (Medellin, Colombia). Juan holds a Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Purdue University and an M.S. in Process Engineering and Energy Technology from Hochschule Bremerhaven. In addition to teaching undergraduate and graduate courses for more than 10 years, Juan has over 6 years of experience as a practicing engineer, working mostly on the design and improvement of chemical processing plants.

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Cassondra Wallwey Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University orcid.org/0000-0003-1318-1843

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Cassie Wallwey, PhD is a Collegiate Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. Her research interests include studying effective feedback in engineering and mathematics courses, improving engineering student motivation and success, and understanding exclusion in engineering to fight its weed-out culture. Cassie has her Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Ohio State University, where she worked as a Graduate Research Assistant and Graduate Teaching Associate, primarily teaching first-year engineering and engineering mathematics. She also has both a B.S. and M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Wright State, where she also worked as a Graduate Teaching Associate for an engineering mathematics course.

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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 Work in Progress paper describes the process of implementing a community-based learning project (also commonly referred to as service learning) into an existing introductory first-year engineering course. The Foundations of Engineering course in this study is the first of an introductory two-course sequence that focuses on learning outcomes related to teamwork, communication, systems modeling, problem solving strategies, and taking a holistic view of problems in an engineering context. Course assignments and assessments are designed to elicit students’ progress in these learning outcomes. However, when asked about their perceptions of the course, students often seem to omit broader concepts in favor of mentioning more concrete and narrower topics covered like the syntax of programming in MATLAB.

Community engagement projects (also commonly referred to as service learning) are one potential path that this course could take to help students recognize the breadth of their foundational learning. The department plans to pilot a community engagement project in up to four sections of the class in Spring 2024, while maintaining the existing learning outcomes and overarching course structure. Service learning has been shown to increase students’ attitudes and perceptions towards course material that is otherwise not highly valued, such as concepts often covered in required introductory courses. Moreover, it can leverage other educational benefits that are well-aligned with the course and first-year program outcomes at this institution.

This paper discusses the process of adjusting the existing semester-long team course project and other related course material in a way that facilitates the implementation of a community-based project, in preparation for pilot implementation. In this approach, student teams are tasked with researching and producing a project scoping document for an external partner. The paper also outlines a proposed plan to evaluate the impact of this project on student perceptions. Each semester, the department administers a survey to the students including questions related to their perceptions of course and program outcomes. This data can be compared between semesters of the course both with and without the implementation of the community engagement project, and the results analyzed through the lens of the Course Acceptance Model theoretical framework to provide insights.

We anticipate that this study's results will show that many of the objectives of community engagement projects are well-aligned with the existing learning outcomes of the course. From the standpoint of the students, we expect that the service-learning experience will provide for a more positive perception of the holistic course material for many students when compared to a more traditional approach. The paper will also discuss challenges that may be encountered when implementing projects involving external partners into existing project-based courses. These challenges are expected to include balancing student workload as well as the additional time for faculty to build community partner relationships in a way that is mutually beneficial for the students and the community partners.

Citation
Format

James, M., & Ortega-Alvarez, J. D., & Wallwey, C., & Soledad, M. (2024, June), WIP: Implementing a Community Engagement Project in a First-Year Foundations of Engineering Course Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/48308

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This Work in Progress paper describes the process of implementing a community-based learning project (also commonly referred to as service learning) into an existing introductory first-year engineering course. The Foundations of Engineering course in this study is the first of an introductory two-course sequence that focuses on learning outcomes related to teamwork, communication, systems modeling, problem solving strategies, and taking a holistic view of problems in an engineering context. Course assignments and assessments are designed to elicit students’ progress in these learning outcomes. However, when asked about their perceptions of the course, students often seem to omit broader concepts in favor of mentioning more concrete and narrower topics covered like the syntax of programming in MATLAB.  

Community engagement projects (also commonly referred to as service learning) are one potential path that this course could take to help students recognize the breadth of their foundational learning. The department plans to pilot a community engagement project in up to four sections of the class in Spring 2024, while maintaining the existing learning outcomes and overarching course structure. Service learning has been shown to increase students’ attitudes and perceptions towards course material that is otherwise not highly valued, such as concepts often covered in required introductory courses. Moreover, it can leverage other educational benefits that are well-aligned with the course and first-year program outcomes at this institution. 

This paper discusses the process of adjusting the existing semester-long team course project and other related course material in a way that facilitates the implementation of a community-based project, in preparation for pilot implementation. In this approach, student teams are tasked with researching and producing a project scoping document for an external partner. The paper also outlines a proposed plan to evaluate the impact of this project on student perceptions. Each semester, the department administers a survey to the students including questions related to their perceptions of course and program outcomes. This data can be compared between semesters of the course both with and without the implementation of the community engagement project, and the results analyzed through the lens of the Course Acceptance Model theoretical framework to provide insights.  

We anticipate that this study&#39;s results will show that many of the objectives of community engagement projects are well-aligned with the existing learning outcomes of the course. From the standpoint of the students, we expect that the service-learning experience will provide for a more positive perception of the holistic course material for many students when compared to a more traditional approach. The paper will also discuss challenges that may be encountered when implementing projects involving external partners into existing project-based courses. These challenges are expected to include balancing student workload as well as the additional time for faculty to build community partner relationships in a way that is mutually beneficial for the students and the community partners. 
AU  - Matthew James
AU  - Juan David Ortega-Alvarez
AU  - Cassondra Wallwey
AU  - Michelle Soledad
CY  - Portland, Oregon
DA  - 2024/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - WIP: Implementing a Community Engagement Project in a First-Year Foundations of Engineering Course 
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/48308
ER  -