2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This complete research paper presents findings from a systematic thematic analysis of reflective essays written by first-year engineering students who participated in a two-quarter learning community. The Engineering in Context (EiC) learning community features coordinated instruction across English composition, precalculus, history, and introductory engineering courses with explicit emphasis on the sociotechnical dimensions of engineering work woven through all courses. Using a constructivist epistemology and systematic thematic analysis, we analyzed students' final reflections to assess the program's impact on three key socioemotional constructs: motivation, identity, and sense of belonging.
Retention of engineering students, particularly those entering at the precalculus level, remains a persistent challenge in undergraduate engineering education. While learning communities have shown promise in supporting student success, less is understood about how integrated first-year experiences specifically influence students' socioemotional development. Self-determination theory suggests that supporting students' autonomy, competence, and relatedness can enhance intrinsic motivation and persistence. Similarly, research on engineering identity formation emphasizes its importance in shaping students' trajectories. This study examines how participation in an integrated learning community designed around sociotechnical engineering education influences these developmental domains.
We employed a six-step systematic thematic analysis framework to code and analyze 19 student essays from two cohorts (2023-24 and 2024-25) written at the conclusion of the two-quarter EiC experience. Students were prompted to reflect on their development as writers, learners, and aspiring engineers, with specific attention to their engineering identity, moral and social responsibilities, and learning processes. The research team worked collaboratively with a large language model (Claude Opus 4.5) to conduct the analysis, with the LLM serving as an analytical assistant to identify patterns, generate initial codes, and track code frequency across essays while the researcher maintained interpretive control, verified findings against source material, and made final analytical decisions. Student essays remained on the researcher's local computer via Model Context Protocol (MCP) and were never uploaded to external servers. Following familiarization with the data, we generated keywords using established criteria for salience and meaning, developed 10 consolidated codes organized around motivation, identity, belongingness, and integrated experience themes, and synthesized these into four overarching themes.
Four themes emerged from the analysis: (1) Becoming an Engineer Who Makes and Matters (84% of essays), capturing dual-pathway identity development through both maker/problem-solver orientation and social impact awareness grounded in purpose-driven motivation; (2) Building Confidence Through Community (79%), describing how self-efficacy develops within the supportive cohort structure through normalized struggle and collaborative learning; (3) Finding Belonging Amid Uncertainty (74%), revealing that belonging and identity uncertainty coexist productively, with students finding connection through peers and faculty while openly questioning their engineering futures; and (4) Learning How to Learn in Context (79%), addressing metacognitive development through integrated, contextualized curriculum.
These findings suggest that integrated learning communities emphasizing sociotechnical dimensions of engineering can effectively support first-year students' socioemotional development across multiple domains simultaneously. The coexistence of increased confidence and productive uncertainty suggests the program creates space for identity exploration. The strong presence of peer collaboration and support networks provides evidence that cohort-based structures successfully address belongingness, a critical factor in engineering retention.