Expanding Pathways for Preparing the Next Generation of Engineers: First-Year Engineering 2.0 (FYE2.0)

University Of Cincinnati Main Campus, Cincinnati OH

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving curricula in engineering education, and establishing practices to improve student mindset and persistence in engineering. The current undergraduate engineering curriculum continues to use the old model in which students take the same courses, in lockstep, regardless of individual interests or strengths, to produce interchangeable graduates. This project intends to demonstrate the feasibility of developing and implementing a more flexible, customizable curriculum, by modularizing the first-year engineering courses at the University of Cincinnati. Specifically, the project plans to disassemble the two existing courses into smaller modules and create additional options for topics. Although some modules will be required of all students, students should be able to select among the other modules to pursue their own interests and customize their pathways. The intent of this modularized curriculum is that it be more focused on the needs of the next generation of the engineering workforce by moving beyond the model of interchangeable parts from the industrial revolution to a responsive system that accepts customized components to address societal challenges. A key deliverable will be a toolkit that documents administrative and logistical issues with potential solutions and identifies supports that are helpful for faculty and students in engaging with a modularized curriculum. In addition to developing, implementing, and evaluating modules on a variety of introductory engineering topics, the project intends to conduct research centered on constructs that have become more prominent in the engineering education literature, namely students’ mental health well-being, and how the implementation of the first-year program can positively or negatively influence individual student wellness. Considering how students manage emotions and stressors including self-reported stress, anxiety, and depression, and different student social identities and perceptions of inclusion the project intends to study how the design of the first-year engineering experience impacts how first-time-in-college and transfer students navigate the curriculum and ultimately complete their degrees, including academic outcomes and affective outcomes. The research will use an explanatory sequential mixed methods design, a quantitative phase followed by a qualitative phase, which will be repeated with each cohort of students (approximately 1500 students per cohort). To understand the population-level impact of the curricular change, the project intends to analyze year-over-year college-level retention data. The NSF IUSE: EDU Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.