2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Supporting Student Success: Embedding Continuous Improvement in a Hands-on Engineering Education Program.

This paper examines the implementation of a continuous improvement process for hands-on, engineering skill-building workshops delivered through the Integrated Teaching and Learning Program at the University of Colorado Boulder. We undertook this activity to support the strategic vision in our college of engineering, including enhancing co-curricular opportunities; developing innovative educational offerings; and implementing inclusive learning opportunities and practices for students, faculty, and staff.  We used a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning approach, in which we included both qualitative and quantitative methods to initiate regular, structured, and scholarly evaluation of this program.

Our continuous improvement design included developing three learning objectives for a subset of our hands-on skill-building workshops, including 12 unique topics. We designed and delivered a survey to collect baseline data on student perceptions of their ability to apply engineering skills, and provided professional development to student and staff workshop instructors. This foundational work was essential to build data-informed practices. As we introduced a culture and process of continuous improvement focused specifically on growing confidence in student’s engineering skills, we discovered another, unexpected yet far ranging impact–gains to morale, professionalism, and engagement among both staff and student instructors.

In Fall 2024, a team of six staff engineers and 25 student instructors delivered more than 340 skill-building workshops to over 3,600 students for 12 of the workshop topics offered by our program. Workshops have always required instructors to have strong technical expertise. Now, knowledge of how to teach is also critical. To reinforce the importance of learning as a social process, we introduced a Community of Practice model, in which the instructional team reflected on their work and learned from one another about how to improve the workshops and their teaching. We also offered professional development on topics like strategies to engage students in hands-on learning–particularly in cultivating a learning environment in which making mistakes is part of the learning process. Thus, we embedded risk taking, growth, and a community approach to learning. Our data collection strategy included a new survey to create a baseline, and processes and practices to analyze and act on data.

Authors

Rachel Sharpe University of Colorado Boulder [biography]

Rachel Sharpe is a Senior Projects Engineering Consultant in the Integrated Teaching and Learning Program (ITLP) at the University of Colorado Boulder and a doctoral student in the university’s Engineering Education program. With over five years of experience at ITLP, she has supported the design and delivery of active, hands-on learning experiences for engineering students. She has collaborated with faculty across seven departments to develop and implement more than thirty lab-based activities and currently supervises a team of twenty-five undergraduate Engineering Support Students who lead skill-building workshops across the college. Her research focuses on engineering identity development, transitions to the workforce, and pedagogical strategies that promote student retention and persistence in engineering.
Kai Amey University of Colorado Boulder [biography]

Kai Amey serves as the Director of Engineering Education and Operations and Associate Director of the Integrated Teaching and Learning Program at the University of Colorado Boulder’s College of Engineering and Applied Science. He brings over a decade of experience leading teams and developing hands-on engineering education initiatives. In his current role, he provides strategic and operational leadership for a multidisciplinary team of 10 professional staff and ~40 student employees who support hands-on learning experiences for thousands of students across the college. Kai holds a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from CU Boulder and an MBA with a specialization in Business Strategy from CU Denver. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in Leadership for Educational Equity, with a focus on Higher Education Leadership, at CU Denver’s School of Education & Human Development. His research examines how engagement with hands-on learning shapes outcomes such as retention, identity development, and sense of belonging among first-year engineering students—particularly those from historically marginalized backgrounds.
Lauren Darling University of Colorado Boulder [biography]

Lauren Darling is a Senior Engineering Projects Consultant for the Integrated Teaching and Learning Program at the University of Colorado Boulder. In her role, she supports undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff within the College of Engineering in developing hands-on engineering skills with a focus on electronics. She has led the integration of custom electronics prototyping into both labs and coursework. Lauren is passionate about mentoring students, helping them build technical expertise while fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation to prepare them for success in their engineering careers.
Dr. Heidi G. Loshbaugh http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8163-0140 University of Colorado Boulder [biography]

Heidi G. Loshbaugh, Ph.D., is passionate about higher education’s role in the public good. She has taught, conducted research, and served as a college administrator with a keen focus on equity. As a community college dean, she was PI for a $3.5M US Dept. of Ed. award to transform STEM education. Her implementation of math corequisite instruction led the B & M Gates Foundation to fund an ROI study that revealed the time and cost savings for students, the cost effectiveness for the college to implement the reform, and the dramatic improvement in completing college-level math for community-college students. She consults with states and institutions to improve student success in college, particularly with Complete College America (CCA). At University of Colorado Boulder, Heidi is a Senior Research Associate in Ethnography & Evaluation Research, a center focused on STEM education. She recently was the project lead in transforming teaching evaluation practices in the College of Arts & Sciences and supports the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Graduate School with special projects. A fourth-generation Coloradoan and educator, she lives in Denver with her husband, two college-aged children, and rescue dog.
Dr. Nick Stites University of Colorado Boulder [biography]

Nick Stites is the Director of the Integrated Teaching and Learning Program at CU Boulder and an instructor with the Integrated Design Engineering program. Dr. Stites is the principal investigator (PI) of the Denver-Metro Engineering Consortium, which is a partnership between local community colleges and universities to support engineering pathways for transfer students. He is also involved with ASPIRE, an NSF Engineering Research Center that is focused on developing the technology and workforce for electrifying the nation's transportation system. Dr. Stites earned degrees in Mechanical Engineering (BS Colorado State University, MS Purdue University) and Engineering Education (PhD Purdue University). His research interests include the development of novel pedagogical methods to teach core engineering courses and leveraging technology to enhance learning experiences and broaden access to engineering education. He has experience as a practicing engineer and has taught at the university and community-college levels.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025