2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

There are a number of different curricular approaches to entering into Chemical Engineering at universities in the country. Some programs use a common first year for all engineering majors, other programs allow students to enter directly into chemical engineering. The reasons which may drive these approaches are complex, involving the university at large, the structure of scholarships and financial aid in the state, among other factors. Programs with a common first year can allow students time to explore different engineering fields prior to selecting one to focus their studies on, during a time that the student is learning important, basic skills. There are also programs which have a primarily common first year, but with introduction courses available. This work focuses on the effect of these, and similar authentic learning experiences, embedded in an otherwise common first year program, on the development of students’ engineering identify and persistence in a selected major.
A previously developed and validated survey tool focused on engineering identity will be administered to first- and second-year engineering students. This will also be combined with various measures of student persistence, such as graduation rates.
We believe that an authentic learning experience prior to the selection of major can greatly impact a students engineering identity and persistence. By including multiple programs in this work, we hope to determine what key features may be needed from such an experience. This information may provide a roadmap to programs, which can use the information to design other authentic learning experiences inside the first year of study.