Jackson, A. M., & Major, J. C., & Burch, R., & Hurley, P. L. (2025, June), WIP: Introducing thriving in a first-year engineering course  Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada . 10.18260/1-2--57427

\bibitem{asee_peer_57427}
  Jackson, A. M., \& Major, J. C., \& Burch, R., \& Hurley, P. L. (2025, June), \emph{WIP: Introducing thriving in a first-year engineering course}
  Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada .
  10.18260/1-2--57427

Alexandra Mary Jackson, Justin Charles Major, Rachel Burch, and Patricia Lynn Hurley.  "WIP: Introducing thriving in a first-year engineering course".  2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada , 2025, June.  ASEE Conferences, 2025.  https://peer.asee.org/57427 Internet.  25 Aug, 2025

\bibitem{asee_peer_57427}
  Alexandra Mary Jackson, Justin Charles Major, Rachel Burch, and Patricia Lynn Hurley.
  "WIP: Introducing thriving in a first-year engineering course".
  \emph{2025 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada , 2025, June}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2025.
  https://peer.asee.org/57427 Internet.  25 Aug, 2025

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_57427
author = "Alexandra Mary Jackson, Justin Charles Major, Rachel Burch, and Patricia Lynn Hurley"
title = "WIP: Introducing thriving in a first-year engineering course"
booktitle = "2025 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition "
year = "2025"
month = "June"
address = "Montreal, Quebec, Canada "
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/57427}
number = {10.18260/1-2--57427}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This work-in-progress research paper describes the implementation and evaluation of mental health topics in a first-year engineering course at a mid-Atlantic institution. Mental health is a critical but understudied issue, with over 75% of college students experiencing moderate to severe psychological distress, and more than 60% meet the criteria for one or more mental health diagnoses. Despite these percentages, mental health is rarely discussed in college classes, especially engineering, where the competitive culture often stigmatizes these discussions. Our half-semester project sought to integrate mental health discussion into a first-year engineering course through three overarching phases: 1) students create a mental health fidget toy that another engineer could use to help them with their mental health, 2) four short-form lessons regarding mental health concepts, and 3) individual reflections those mental health concepts. At four intervals, students took a survey based on an existing mental health survey with strong validity evidence, where we gathered data on students' responses to the intervention.

Quantitative analysis used MANOVA and Multivariate Kruskall-Wallis comparison tests of students' factor scores. We found that student stress slightly decreased and student sense of support slightly increased. The qualitative analysis examined students' reflections thematically and found that although many students expressed having concerns about their mental health at the start of the project, many said that they learned strategies to better their mental health, changed their perspectives about mental health struggles, and realized that engineering students should learn to prioritize their mental health. These findings suggest that integrating short mental health-focused lessons may promote a positive mental health culture in engineering education. Future work will further analyze data and refine the project.
AU  - Alexandra Mary Jackson
AU  - Justin Charles Major
AU  - Rachel Burch
AU  - Patricia Lynn Hurley
CY  - Montreal, Quebec, Canada 
DA  - 2025/06/22
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - WIP: Introducing thriving in a first-year engineering course
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/57427
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--57427
ER  -