2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Pre-College Experience Factors Contributing to Categories of Computational Thinking in an Introductory Engineering Course

Presented at FPD: Complete Papers - Potpourri Session (TAs, Computational Thinking, Open-Ended Problems)

Computational thinking is a foundational skill in engineering education, closely tied to student success and widely taught in early coursework through programming instruction. This study examined the pre-college experience factors contributing to computational thinking skills of students enrolled in an introductory engineering course at a public research university in the Midwestern U.S. At the end of the Spring 2025 semester, a survey containing the Engineering Computational Thinking Diagnostic and questions about students’ pre-college experiences was administered to students enrolled in the second of two first-year introductory engineering courses. Pre-college experiences examined included higher level math courses, computer science courses, engineering or computer science related career and technical education courses, related extracurricular activities, and the number of college credits earned before taking the course. Using responses from 785 participants, multiple regression analysis identified higher-level math coursework completed prior to college and the number of college credits earned before taking the introductory engineering course as significant predictors of computational thinking. In addition, this study revealed how significant pre-college experiences varied across the categories of the computational thinking framework. The results of this study inform educators in designing introductory engineering courses to develop computational thinking more effectively.

Authors

Anne Hong http://orcid.org/https://0009-0004-6909-3388 University of Cincinnati [biography]

Anne Hong is an engineering education PhD student in the Department of Engineering and Computing Education at the University of Cincinnati College of Engineering and Applied Science. She holds a BS in biomedical engineering and an MS in health informatics with a focus on data analysis and biostatistics from Rutgers University. Anne has been an instructor at the college level for over 6 years, teaching and facilitating a variety of courses for undergraduate students including physics, biology, and engineering economics. Her research interests are focused on examining how teaching pedagogy and curriculum designs in undergraduate introductory and pre-requisite engineering courses impact performance in upper-level engineering coursework.
Dr. So Yoon Yoon http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1868-1054 University of Cincinnati [biography]

Dr. So Yoon Yoon is an assistant professor in the Department of Engineering and Computing Education in the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Cincinnati, OH, USA. Dr. Yoon received her Ph.D. in Gifted Education and an M.S.Ed. in Research Methods and Measurement with a specialization in Educational Psychology, both from Purdue University, IN, USA. She also holds an M.S. in Astronomy and Astrophysics and a B.S. in Astronomy and Meteorology from Kyungpook National University, South Korea. Her work centers on elementary, secondary, and postsecondary engineering education research as a psychometrician, data analyst, and program evaluator with research interests in spatial ability, STEAM education, workplace climate, and research synthesis with a particular focus on meta-analysis. She has developed, validated, revised, and copyrighted several instruments beneficial for STEM education research and practice. Dr. Yoon has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings and served as a journal reviewer in engineering education, STEM education, and educational psychology. She has also served as a PI, co-PI, advisory board member, or external evaluator on several NSF- and NASA-funded projects.
Dr. Noemi V Mendoza Diaz http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1215-1554 Texas A&M University [biography]

Dr. Mendoza is a faculty member of Technology Management in the College of Education-Engineering at Texas A&M University. She has worked as electrical engineering professor in Mexico. She recently obtained funds from NSF to investigate enculturation to engineering and computational thinking in engineering students. She is the co-advisor of the Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers at TAMU and is interested in computing engineering education and Latinx engineering entrepreneurship.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026

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