2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Engineering Passion Projects (Resource Exchange)

Presented at Pre-College Engineering Education Curriculum and Resource Exchange

This resource exchange describes a hands-on engineering outreach program implemented through a summer partnership with a community-based youth organization serving middle and early high school students. The project was originally designed as a multi-week design experience with pre/post assessment of engineering interest and self-efficacy. However, varied attendance and student readiness required a shift toward flexible, stand-alone activities, in addition to the interest-centered project.

Students demonstrated high engagement, persistence in problem-solving, and increased confidence in trying new STEM tasks. While formal assessment data were not collected as planned, observational and informal feedback suggest positive shifts in students’ openness to engineering and willingness to engage in iterative design. This work highlights the importance of adaptable program design and offers practical strategies for delivering impactful STEM outreach and capturing meaningful qualitative outcomes in dynamic, informal learning environments.

Authors

Dr. Shaylin Williams http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8703-1007 University of Virginia [biography]

Shaylin Williams is invested in identifying ways to improve the engineering education experience for future generations of engineers. As a McNair Scholar, Shaylin worked on chemical engineering projects creating thermal barriers for food packaging and studying soil remediation. Additionally, she completed an REU project in healthcare engineering at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. She earned a master’s degree in industrial and systems Engineering with a Management Systems Concentration in December 2022. Shaylin recently completed her Ph.D. in Engineering Education at Mississippi State University, using Self Determination Theory to analyze freshmen and continuing Summer Bridge students’ experiences and senior engineering students’ graduation plans. She previously worked on a longitudinal study researching how varying first-year experience structures affect students’ engineering identities and involvement in communities of practice. Shaylin now serves as an Assistant Professor for the University of Virginia’s First Year Engineering Center and is interested in learning more about what contributes to engineering students’ success, how they can get the most out of their undergraduate programs, and how programs can be better designed to cater to students’ needs.

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