WIP: Explore Before Explain: A Quantum Leap in Student Engagement in First-Year Engineering Classes

This innovative practice WIP paper addresses the significant challenge of engaging first-year engineering students with diverse technical backgrounds in higher education. At Michigan Tech University, we tackle this challenge by implementing a flipped teaching model supplemented with active discovery team projects. In our approach, nearly 1000 first-year engineering students are equipped with their own Arduino kits from day one of class. With “kits in hand”, students can self-select different programming and design challenges. This “choose your own adventure” challenge-set accommodates varying technical experiences, ranging from simple tasks, like creating a single flashing LED using MATLAB and Arduino, to complex projects such as designing multi-axis stoplight systems with left turn lanes and pedestrian crosswalks. By offering students autonomy in selecting their project challenges, we observed heightened self-reported levels of engagement, enjoyment, and a deeper sense of utility attributed to the skills acquired from their learning experiences. Moreover, this approach obviates the need to persuade students about the relevance of programming in engineering practice, as they experience it first-hand. Our assessment, reflected in end-of-semester course evaluations, demonstrates a notable shift in student perceptions. The percentage of students strongly agreeing to feeling engaged increased from 14% to 27%, with corresponding shifts observed across agree and slightly agree categories. Similarly, the percentage of students strongly agreeing to enjoying the class rose from 14% to 24%, with discernible decreases in slightly agree, slightly disagree, and disagree responses. This abstract provides insights into a transformative pedagogical approach that not only enhances student engagement but also fosters a positive learning environment conducive to the development of essential engineering skills. This work is significant because it shares how programs can be scaled to add value and build foundational engineering skills no matter a student's technical background or engineering program enrollment.