2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

To be competitive in the job market and successful in their careers, engineering graduates must possess well-developed T-shaped skills. This means that their deep technical skills should be complemented by broader traits such as communication and the ability to work effectively in teams. Engineering programs traditionally experience elevated rates of attrition, the result of a multitude of factors including a lack of self-efficacy and unwelcoming academic climates. In this study, a first-year engineering course is used to examine students’ perceptions of team effectiveness, specifically cognitive trust. The course has implemented Pfeifer & Stoddard’s [11] “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Tools for Teamwork: Asset Mapping and Team Processing Handbook” as part of a ~6-week-long, team-based design challenge sponsored by Engineers Without Borders UK entitled: Engineering for People Design Challenge. The intervention was initially implemented in Fall 2022 and was generally well-received. The next iteration will occur in Fall 2023, whereby data will be collected with pre and post surveys. Furthermore, students will be asked to write a reflection on stereotyping and what role, if any, the asset map protocol played in overcoming it throughout the project.