2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Student-centered philosophy emphasizes the shift from traditional teacher-centered pedagogies to instructional approaches that position students as active participants rather than passive recipients in the learning process. Educational research has developed many pedagogies to promote student participation in the learning processes, e.g., active learning, project-based learning, research-based learning, etc. Moreover, student-centered philosophy also recognizes individual differences among learners and encourages teaching practices that accommodate the full spectrum of students’ preparation and needs.
The author designed and implemented the lesson plan for a joint undergraduate-graduate mechanical engineering course, Refrigeration and Cryogenics, grounded in the student-centered philosophy. The objective was to enhance student engagement and to accommodate diverse levels of preparation and needs, with the expectation of improving learning outcomes. Interactive and collaborative learning activities, such as in-class discussion with peers, team project, research plan design, peer presentation, peer evaluation, competitive polling, etc., were integrated with traditional instructor-led lectures. To foster a sense of community, the course began with a “speed-dating” icebreaker activity in the first class session, and a peer appreciation board was created using the “Discussion” feature of the Canvas LMS (Learning Management System).
This paper presents the design and implementation of the lesson plan. A survey instrument was designed and administered to collect students’ feedback for measuring student self-reported engagement and learning outcomes associated with fourteen teaching strategies, ten of which are student-centered activities. The study also measured the preferred learning environments for motivation. The results show that although these activities were rated differently, undergraduate and graduate students reported similar perceptions of their influence on engagement and learning outcomes. The team project stands out in terms of both engagement and learning outcomes due to its significant collaborative and interactive characteristics, whereas the ice-breaker game, peer evaluation, and peer appreciation board were rated relatively lower by this student cohort. Furthermore, the data reveal a strong positive association between student engagement and learning outcomes. Notably, the evaluation also included the traditional instructor-led lecture, which was ranked in the top category of learning activities. This finding indicates that instructor-led lectures remain indispensable and highly valued by both undergraduate and graduate students.