2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This paper continues reporting on design review, a process for instructors to maximize peer learning and communication skills in a third-year mechanical engineering course. This incorporates both (peer-to-peer) design reviews and reflection work for a computer aided drafting (CAD) design project. To determine effectiveness, an anonymous Qualtrics survey was developed and administered to students to determine the impact on their learning experiences, skills, and engineering identity in Part I of the study. Previously, there was only one open-ended question that did not yield many responses regarding its impact. The continued study (Part II) seeks to address some of these issues and includes a re-administration of the Qualtrics survey to a second cohort of students in the class. The revised survey contains six new questions to investigate the students’ perceptions of their initial design and CAD skills coming into the course, to see impact on their project, to see if their engineering identity changed while working on their design project, and if they felt more prepared for senior design and future design work. Part II not only elucidates how design review affects the mentality and self-perception of the students, but findings agree with the findings with that of Part I and confirm the conclusions previously drawn. Surprisingly, many students stated that they had strong CAD and design skills coming into the course from survey responses (65.4% positive response). How did students benefit, and did they perceive any changes to their engineering identity with respect to design? Students perceived that they could make better engineering designs after experiencing design review (96.2% positive response). The students with self-perceived strong design and CAD skills coming into the course still benefited from design review, but some felt frustrated if not given actionable and realistic feedback from their peers, especially regarding manufacturing. Students with self-perceived weaker design skills coming into the course benefited most in their preparation to make better engineering designs after design review and preparedness for senior design. Since collaboration is a key part of the engineering design process, design review prepared otherwise solo students for senior design to give and receive constructive feedback. Overall, design review positively impacted their design work (80.8% positive response) and positively changed the way the students view themselves as engineers (84% positive response).