2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The reimagined first-year experience at Oregon State University for engineering and computer science students was first implemented during the 2021-2022 academic year. The new Engineering+ Program is innovative because it was designed to holistically support students as engineers (through redesigned curricula and through co-curricular events), students (through engineering relevant social justice content), and community members (through team-based design projects matching student interests to interdisciplinary technical themes).
The curricula developed by the 40 participating faculty were guided by specific pedagogical principles: small-group work with trained facilitators, group-worthy open-ended problems to develop critical thinking and interest-based design projects to connect students to the material. Curricular development was supported by regular collaboration meetings with expert guidance on pedagogy and incorporating social justice content. Altogether, more than 1500 students were enrolled in the first-year program during the academic year. A student survey each term resulted in an average of over 900 survey responses across the three-course series. Reflections were also collected from participating faculty. This paper focuses on the adoption of promoted pedagogical principles by the faculty, and the resulting outcomes and themes from student and faculty perspectives.
Student survey responses show the Engineering+ Program promoted engineering as a collaborative and inclusive discipline, building student skills and connections with the discipline. The students reported that their skills in problem solving, teamwork, communication, algorithmic thinking, engineering design and computer literacy were improved. Many of these skills were perceived to increase during the year in the three-course series. Encouragingly, 93% students reported that they felt like they “belonged” in the College of Engineering by strongly or somewhat agreeing with the statement.
A robust network of faculty collaboration was essential to implementing the Engineering+ Program and implementing large structural changes. Over a thousand students worked together in teams, and survey responses showed appreciation for learning those skills. Student data indicated that the semantics instructors use in the classroom are vitally important in aiding students to identify the new skills they are learning and why they are learning them, whether teamwork, algorithmic thinking or problem solving. Addressing the integrated social aspects of engineering problems, although sometimes difficult, helped students develop motivating connections between themselves and their work as students and engineers. These results and conclusion were applied to the next year’s implementation to increase consistency for students and further support their success. Broader lessons in applying complex pedagogical approaches across diverse faculty and students are transferable to other similar programs.