Becoming an Engineer: Assessing the Impact of a Short Workshop on Incoming Engineering Students’ Understanding of Engineering Design

Abstract

Engineering students begin their education with varying understanding of the engineering design process. Effective engineering education will require us to understand how students develop both skills and a concept of engineering design. At a large Midwestern public university we compare 100 students’ initial conceptions in design and response to design tasks both before and after a 2-day, peer mentor led, design activity program which preceded the beginning of the first year in engineering. During the program, students were led through two design activities: one focusing on idea generation and customer requirements; the second focusing on a design, build and test activity. In addition, there were faculty presentations and discussions led by peer mentors. We also compare 35 incoming students who did not participate in the program. This program is the initial activity in an undergraduate multidisciplinary design program which includes many co-curricular enrichment activities as well as an academic minor. We intend to study this group of students through their engineering education and evaluate them periodically. We use both the self-efficacy survey from Carberry, Lee and Ohland (Measuring Engineering Design Self-Efficacy) as well as the concepts in design survey from Oehlberg and Agogino (Undergraduate Conceptions of the Engineering Design Process: assessing the Impact of a Human-Centered Desgin Course – which is an extension of Mosborg S., et.al., Conceptions of the Engineering Design Process: An Expert Study of Advanced Practicing Professionals) extending them to the incoming university student population. We consider how students’ concept of design changes pre and post program and compare them with the results of upperclassmen from Oehlberg and Agogino and with practicing engineers in Mosborg. Generally students undervalued concepts related to generating alternative ideas as well as identifying hard constraints of the system compared with practicing engineers. The post program responses showed limited change from pre-program responses. Program students most closely resemble the Intermediate group (engineering students) of Carberry, Lee and Ohland in terms of self-efficacy and the High group (engineering professors and professionals) for motivation, expectancy and anxiety. We plan to follow this group of students through their first year of engineering and re-evaluate near the end of the academic year. educational outcomes At Michigan Engineering, students are encouraged to work across engineering disciplines and build competencies beyond engineering. In addition to providing students with a superior technical education, Michigan Engineering is committed to teaching students the value of creativity, teamwork, and engineering design. The design immersion program is intended to introduce incoming students to these key aspects of the Michigan Engineering curriculum and culture, and to offer them direct experience with the creative process of engineering. An innovative experience , the program provides insight into the collaborative problem-solving practice that anchors Michigan Engineering. It is also a unique opportunity for participants to work closely with faculty advisors and upper-class student mentors, as well as to meet other firstyear students prior to the start of classes. class demographics 100 incoming first year students participated in the Design Immersion program. Although the University of Michigan has a significant international undergraduate population all participants in the 2011 Design Immersion program were U.S. residents because the dates conflicted with international student orientation. The participants were chosen from 375 applicants to mirror the incoming first year class to represent all majors within the college (as well as those who were still undecided) and included a diverse representation of ethnicity, gender, as well as in-state/out of state and urban/rural home locations. Students entered with a range of previous design experience from none to significant. . Table 1: Design Immersion Participant Demographics Demographic Group Percentage Representation in Design Immersion Program Percentage Representation in Incoming Freshman Class