2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The transition from high school to college is challenging for many students, particularly those pursuing engineering disciplines. As students struggle to adjust to the intensity of college-level engineering courses, they become alienated, feeling as though they do not belong and cannot succeed in their major. These students require a support system that develops a sense of belonging and self-esteem to be put in place as they embark on their college engineering journey.
To support first-year engineering students, Baylor University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science introduced Teaching Fellows (TFs) into introductory engineering courses, specifically the Introduction to Engineering course and lab (EGR 1301) and the Engineering New Student Experience (NSE) course. TFs are undergraduate students who have previously taken the course and earned a grade of an A-minus or higher. For this paid position, TFs attend every class and lab with their students, assist with grading, help teach lectures alongside the professor, and hold weekly office hours for students. TFs serve as mentors, instructors, and friends to their students. This combination of roles is key in introductory engineering classes as it enables TFs to create a sense of belonging and build students' self-esteem.
This Work-In-Progress (WIP) paper examines the impact of Teaching Fellows on students’ sense of belonging and self-esteem. Data was collected by tracking student attendance at TF Office Hours and administering a survey to students at the end of the course. This survey aimed to evaluate the impact that TFs had on students’ sense of belonging and esteem within engineering. Initial results suggest that TFs foster a sense of belonging and self-esteem among engineering students, and the classes with higher TF office hour attendance—indicating more interactions with Teaching Fellows—showed a higher sense of belonging and self-esteem comparatively.