Challenge
Introductory engineering courses lay the foundation of advanced engineering curriculum, they provide students with the technical and professional skills associated with the engineering profession, and they provide a connection between the foundational science and mathematics curriculum and practical application. The project team’s experience with these courses at the partner institutions has shown that the present pedagogical method has significant shortcomings which contribute to low academic performance among all students, and more specifically, students who are under-represented minorities, first-generation or low-income.
Project Design
The goal of this project is to improve outcomes in introductory engineering courses with an emphasis on persistence and performance of a diverse group of learners. The project team aims to improve academic performance, reduce gaps and increase equitable access in engineering by redesigning a set of 6 introductory classes that together provide foundational knowledge and professional skills. The team seeks to accomplish this by addressing 1) students’ understanding of engineering concepts, 2) students’ capacity for self-regulation, and 3) students’ engineering identity.
The courses will be designed using a combination of online activities, in-person active learning and learning communities. Students will complete online learning tasks aided by adaptive technology and feedback. The adaptive online system will use methods such as distributed practice testing to enable students to develop deeper content understanding. The in-person sessions will incorporate problems drawn from practical applications so that students develop contextual understanding of the subject matter while also developing an engineering identity. The collaborative aspects of these sessions as well as the learning community will promote the development of professional skills in addition to providing a socially meaningful dimension to learning. Students will be provided continuous feedback regarding their learning activities and their performance in the class so that they can develop self-regulation by understanding the relation of their study techniques, time-management skills, and help-seeking behavior on their performance.