Work in Progress: Project-Based, Multilevel Teamwork for First-Year Engineering Program

Fayekah Assanah; Jorge Paricio Garcia; Jake Scoggin; Martin Huber; Michael Cohen; Stephany Santos; Kathrine Pavel Ionkin; Sean Patrick Hirt; Britney Russell

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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)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/48508

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Paper Authors

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Fayekah Assanah University of Connecticut

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Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut, 260 Glenbrook Road, Unit 3247, Storrs, CT 06269-3247.

Dr. Fayekah Assanah is an Assistant Professor in Residence in the Biomedical Engineering Department. She is the team leader for ENGR 1166: Foundations of Engineering. As the course lead, she has developed and implemented service-learning projects and project-based lessons for all first-year engineering students. Assanah's research focuses on synthesizing hydrogels to mimic the mechanical behavior of the brain matter and investigate the cellular response to injury.

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Jorge Paricio Garcia Ph.D., HRM, MID University of Connecticut orcid.org/0000-0002-3154-8867

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Dr. Jorge Paricio is an Associate Professor-in-Residence in Industrial Design, at the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Connecticut. He received his Bachelor’s degree from the Complutense University of Madrid. He also holds a Master's Degree in Industrial Design from Pratt Institute, a Master's in Human Resources Management from Johnson & Wales University, and a PhD from the Complutense University in Madrid, Spain, with a dissertation on Freehand Drawing in Industrial Design. He is currently finishing a second .
He has taught Industrial Design for over 29 years at various institutions: Rhode Island School of Design, Ohio University, The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, The Art Institute of Colorado, Pratt Institute, Parsons School of Design, and the Istituto Europeo di Design in Madrid, Spain. He has practiced product design and exhibit design in New York City, Denver and Madrid, Spain, and has helped write a patent and developed concepts for Colgate Palmolive among other companies. He has written two books, Perspective Sketching and Hybrid Drawing Techniques for Interior Design. Hi area of specialty is concept drawing for product design, digital rendering, design thinking, and product development.

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Assistant Professor in Residence
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
University of Connecticut

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Stephany Santos University of Connecticut

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Stephany Santos is a Ph.D candidate in biomedical engineering at the University of Connecticut. In addition to her research in biomechanics, she is currently an advisor of the Engineering Ambassadors outreach group.

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Kathrine Pavel Ionkin University of Connecticut

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Sean Patrick Hirt University of Connecticut

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Britney Russell University of Connecticut orcid.org/0009-0000-4722-8940

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Abstract

The long process of educating a new generation of engineers requires more than just the progressive accumulation of classes as students move through a departmental curriculum. Engineering education goes beyond solving equations and retaining systematic procedures. It requires cultivating ethical values, honing creative skills in engineering, working collaboratively and iteratively, and solving complex problems in a multidisciplinary environment. The Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) formally acknowledged the importance of these notions in their most recent requirements - (students’ outcome 5): “an ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives.” Project-based teamwork is particularly crucial in a first-year engineering design course. An experiential learning environment promotes acquiring essential skills and abilities that will be used in future projects throughout their education. In addition, multidisciplinary teams cultivate a respectful and inclusive work environment, support a deeper understanding of engineering concepts, and encourage students to apply these concepts to meaningful solutions to engineering problems while nurturing a healthy and interactive classroom environment. This Work in Progress paper describes the design and implementation of a semester-long project as part of the first-year design class at the University of Connecticut and how it promoted teamwork on multilevel. The class had over 400 first-year engineering students (from all engineering fields except computing) divided into 16 multidisciplinary sections, all working in the First-Year Design Laboratory. Students in each section were further divided into smaller groups of 4-5 students using the guidelines on equitable teams and inclusion discussed in the lectures. The ten-week project emphasized improved collaboration and teamwork through iterative design-and-build cycles of a "Solar-powered Martian habitat" at multiple scales: small (4~5 student group) and medium (6~7 group habitat communities). The project involved students in smaller groups working collaboratively on individual components of the habitat, such as a solar-driven dwelling, a carport, a rover, a solar tree, a bridge, and machinery. Students acted as “residents” living together, designing each component to accommodate the needs of their own and other teams and contributing towards the habitat. Finally, the smaller groups integrated their components and collaborated to maximize the energy efficiency and performance of the Solar-powered Habitat. The assessments of this project were designed for each level of teamwork: 1) Students highlighted their contributions through an Engineering Portfolio. 2) Smaller groups reflected on their design and building process by submitting weekly engineering logs and a semester-end poster. Finally, 3) Each group habitat (comprising 5~6 groups) presented its energy-efficient habitat design in the first-year design expo at the end of the semester. The ongoing data collection of this effort on project-based, multidisciplinary, multilevel teamwork proved how this project design effectively cultivated better teamwork practices across all engineering fields.

Citation
Format

Assanah, F., & Garcia, J. P., & Scoggin, J., & Huber, M., & Cohen, M., & Santos, S., & Ionkin, K. P., & Hirt, S. P., & Russell, B. (2024, June), Work in Progress: Project-Based, Multilevel Teamwork for First-Year Engineering Program Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/48508

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - The long process of educating a new generation of engineers requires more than just the progressive accumulation of classes as students move through a departmental curriculum. Engineering education goes beyond solving equations and retaining systematic procedures. It requires cultivating ethical values, honing creative skills in engineering, working collaboratively and iteratively, and solving complex problems in a multidisciplinary environment. The Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) formally acknowledged the importance of these notions in their most recent requirements - (students’ outcome 5): “an ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives.”
Project-based teamwork is particularly crucial in a first-year engineering design course. An experiential learning environment promotes acquiring essential skills and abilities that will be used in future projects throughout their education. In addition, multidisciplinary teams cultivate a respectful and inclusive work environment, support a deeper understanding of engineering concepts, and encourage students to apply these concepts to meaningful solutions to engineering problems while nurturing a healthy and interactive classroom environment.
 This Work in Progress paper describes the design and implementation of a semester-long project as part of the first-year design class at the University of Connecticut and how it promoted teamwork on multilevel. The class had over 400 first-year engineering students (from all engineering fields except computing) divided into 16 multidisciplinary sections, all working in the First-Year Design Laboratory. Students in each section were further divided into smaller groups of 4-5 students using the guidelines on equitable teams and inclusion discussed in the lectures. The ten-week project emphasized improved collaboration and teamwork through iterative design-and-build cycles of a &quot;Solar-powered Martian habitat&quot; at multiple scales: small (4~5 student group) and medium (6~7 group habitat communities). The project involved students in smaller groups working collaboratively on individual components of the habitat, such as a solar-driven dwelling, a carport, a rover, a solar tree, a bridge, and machinery. Students acted as “residents” living together, designing each component to accommodate the needs of their own and other teams and contributing towards the habitat. Finally, the smaller groups integrated their components and collaborated to maximize the energy efficiency and performance of the Solar-powered Habitat. 
The assessments of this project were designed for each level of teamwork: 1) Students highlighted their contributions through an Engineering Portfolio. 2) Smaller groups reflected on their design and building process by submitting weekly engineering logs and a semester-end poster. Finally, 3) Each group habitat (comprising 5~6 groups) presented its energy-efficient habitat design in the first-year design expo at the end of the semester. The ongoing data collection of this effort on project-based, multidisciplinary, multilevel teamwork proved how this project design effectively cultivated better teamwork practices across all engineering fields. 

AU  - Fayekah Assanah
AU  - Jorge Paricio Garcia Ph.D., HRM, MID
AU  - Jake Scoggin
AU  - Martin Huber
AU  - Michael Cohen
AU  - Stephany Santos
AU  - Kathrine Pavel Ionkin
AU  - Sean Patrick Hirt
AU  - Britney Russell
CY  - Portland, Oregon
DA  - 2024/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Work in Progress: Project-Based, Multilevel Teamwork for First-Year Engineering Program
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/48508
ER  -