2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

AN EVALUATION OF THE LEARNING ASSISTANT MODEL IMPLEMENTATION IN GATEWAY ENGINEERING COURSES

Presented at Mechanical Engineering (MECH) Session 10: Student Engagement, Belonging, and Success

High attrition rates remain a persistent challenge in gateway engineering courses, hindering student progression and ultimately affecting middle-year retention rates within engineering programs. This study aims to assess the impact of undergraduate learning assistants on student learning in the fundamental engineering courses Statics, Dynamics, and Thermodynamics. The model, often referred to as the Learning Assistant (LA) model, has been primarily adopted in the Science disciplines such as Chemistry and Biology, and has demonstrated success in improving student learning outcomes. Although the implementation of the LA approach has been examined in the sciences, studies investigating the benefits of LA involvement in enhancing student learning in engineering, especially in courses with very high enrollments, are scarce. The authors aim to address this void through this study. The authors involved LAs to support student-centered learning both inside and outside the classroom through the following approaches: LA assisted active learning sessions during in-class lectures; LA led learning (recitation) sessions outside the regular lecture period; and LA supported hands-on project-based activities. These interventions were implemented in the courses mentioned above. All three courses are high-enrollment and challenging gateway engineering courses at the authors’ institution. The effects of the LA interventions on student performance and perceptions were assessed through course grades and student surveys. Preliminary results indicate promising, positive impacts of this multi-pronged approach.

Authors

Dr. Sudeshna Pal University of Central Florida [biography]

Dr. Sudeshna Pal is an Associate Lecturer in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at the University of Central Florida (UCF). She teaches courses in system dynamics, vibrations, controls, and biomedical engineering. Her research interests are in engineering education, particularly blended learning, project-based learning, and digital and design education. Her work in educational research has been supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. She has contributed to several pedagogical journals and conference publications and has received multiple teaching-related awards at UCF.
Dr. Marino Nader http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7677-1771 University of Central Florida [biography]

Dr. Marino Nader is an Associate lecturer in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at the University of Central Florida and has been working on digitizing courses and exams, creating different course modalities. Dr. Nader obtained his B.Eng., M.Eng. and Ph.D. from McGill University. His Ph.D. was done in conjunction with the Canadian Space Agency where he spent two years doing research and experiments. Upon completion of his Ph.D. he began working in the Aerospace Industry where he spent over 10 years as a Stress Analyst/Consultant. At present he enjoys working on Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) with his students, designing, analyzing, constructing and flying Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Dr. Nader won a few awards in the past few years, among these are the College of Engineering Award of Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2023), Excellence in Faculty Academic Advising for the Department of Mechanical Engineering (2020).
Dr. Ricardo Zaurin University of Central Florida [biography]

Dr. Zaurin is a Senior Lecturer for the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering at the University of Central Florida. His research is dedicated to High Impact Teaching and Learning Practices, Active Learning, Experiential Learning,and Adaptive Learning.

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