2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Emergencies like COVID-19 call for remote delivery of labs. However, given the nature of intensive hands-on laboratory components, cost, and inability of students to manipulate equipment remotely, it is very challenging to implement and deliver laboratory courses online. Moreover, in the United States, there are growing concerns of a science and engineering talent shortage. Recruiting the young generation to STEM and inspiring them to pursue related careers is crucial, but it is equally important to retain current STEM students and help them complete their bachelor’s degrees successfully. This project intends to address the engineering student retention issue by developing an individualized, interdisciplinary, and experiential Electronic Printing Laboratory course for Electrical Engineering undergraduate students. Believing that laboratory courses form an essential component in any engineering curriculum, this project will redesign the existing experiments in the Electronic Printing course in a way that maximizes individual contribution while encouraging teamwork, and reinforces the math and science concepts. This project will also create a set of new experiments for at-home exploration of advanced electronics and enables students to see the curriculum as exciting and relevant to life outside of the classroom. Additionally, the project will explore strategies to engage students in remote delivery of the Electronic Printing course. Formative assessment from participating students (survey data as well as outcomes and key performance indicators) will be utilized to refine and improve the proposed laboratory course content and curriculum. Focus group interviews will be conducted to help us understand what strategies best engage students in remote delivery of the Electronic Printing Laboratory course.