2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This NSF-funded project investigates how formative outdoor experiences shape undergraduate students’ pathways into engineering and engineering technology, with particular relevance to applied and manufacturing-oriented domains. Prior research has shown that early interactions with natural environments, such as building, exploring, and observing physical systems, can influence long-term technical interests, yet engineering education lacks validated tools for measuring these experiences and connecting them to learning design. To address this gap, we developed and validated a mixed-methods survey that captures students’ emotional and spatial connections to nature, specific formative experiences, and perspectives on engineering in natural contexts, including a dedicated section on fluid power in natural systems. The survey was administered to 189 Engineering Technology students, yielding 150 responses, and validation analyses demonstrated strong internal consistency and construct structure across survey sections. Quantitative results showed high levels of nature affinity and frequent childhood engagement with outdoor environments, as well as significant relationships between nature-based curiosity and engineering orientation, while open-ended responses revealed recurring themes including building and construction, water-based systems and power generation, vehicles, and biomimicry, with students frequently referencing concrete objects such as bridges, dams, logs, and turbines. These findings were used to inform the design of an augmented reality (AR) learning module that places students in a virtual natural environment where they construct a bridge using virtual logs inspired by participants’ reported experiences, with environmental cues such as water, terrain, and wildlife incorporated to reflect the formative settings identified in the survey and support embodied, context-rich interaction. A preliminary pilot deployment of the AR module demonstrated high levels of engagement. It prompted students to draw on both intuitive and technical reasoning when making design choices, indicating that the experience effectively connects personal environmental memories with applied engineering decision-making. These results show how validated survey data can drive the development of experiential AR learning environments grounded in students’ lived experiences, providing a scalable framework for supporting engagement and development in engineering and manufacturing-oriented education.