Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Abstract Abstract The first-year engineering course at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (UMHB) was redesigned for the Fall 2022 semester to improve student engagement and retention in the engineering program. The course design centered around an individual design project, with supporting modules to prepare students for the project. Student feedback (in the form of student reflections) provided insight into how students interacted with the project. Despite being an individual project, many students described community building that occurred during the project. Students also described a sense of accomplishment from completing a difficult, open-ended design problem. The redesigned course has been offered in two semesters (Fall 2022, Fall 2023), and the retention rates for students enrolled in these courses increased by 15-20% when compared to retention rates for the previous two years (Fall 2020, Fall 2021). Future improvements to the project will focus on further emphasizing the engineering design method and adjusting the project scope to engage an academically diverse student population.
Kuester et al. (Tue,) studied this question.