2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This WIP presentation will examine the change in students’ sense of belonging, college success, career readiness and self-efficacy over the course of a new First Year Seminar course for undergraduate engineering students. Many studies have focused on the importance of mentorship in engineering, particularly for students who might not see themselves represented in engineering spaces. Mentorship improves career outcomes and academic success by providing academic and psychosocial support for STEMM students [1]. Additionally, studies show that First Year seminars can improve learning, personal and professional outcomes for students [2]. In fall 2025, we launched a pilot program for our First Year Seminar course for incoming engineering students and made seats in the class available to the first 75 students expressing interest. In this course, we sought to 1. Increase community within the first-year cohort and between first year students and upperclass students and 2. Teach critical skills necessary to succeed in engineering, (i.e., professional development, work/life balance, working in teams). To accomplish this, we used a family peer mentorship model that randomly assigned first-year students to small groups with an upperclass student teaching assistant (TA). The class structure includes both small group meetings and a more traditional classroom model, with interactive guest lectures. We will analyze the results from our pre- and post-survey from the first-year students to examine the change in students’ sense of belonging, self-efficacy, and their perceptions of this unique peer mentorship course model. We will also present qualitative data on the experiences of our TA mentors. Lastly, this presentation will discuss implications, outline future directions, and highlight key opportunities for course improvements.