The Engage Program: Implementing and Assessing a New First Year Experience at the University of Tennessee

Abstract

The Engage initiative at the University of Tennessee addresses the needs of entering engineering students through a new first year curriculum. The program integrates the engineering subject matter of the freshman year, teaches problem solving and design by application, and seeks to address the increased retention and graduation of engineering students. Noteworthy curriculum features of the Engage program include a hands‐on laboratory where students do physical homework to practice the concepts introduced in lectures, placing all freshman engineering students in a year‐long team design curriculum, and a team training course where engineering upperclassmen are trained in team facilitation techniques and placed as facilitators with the freshman design teams. The Engage program was piloted during the 1997–98 academic year with 60 students. In 1998–99, the program was scaled up to 150 students, and fully implemented with the entire freshman class of 465 students during the 1999–2000 academic year. Engage students have shown a significant increase in academic performance compared to students following a more traditional curriculum. Graduation statistics show the positive long‐term results of this effort.

Environmental education and socioresponsive engineering

“…University of Tennessee's Engage Program for freshmen. 3 For our students the Natural House Project is fun -they can design and create their own "dream house", tackle the problems of energy, water, comfort, aesthetics, cost economy, environmental compatibility and so on in a downto-earth, realistic framework, blending the roles of engineer, architect, builder, owner, urban community dweller and responsible planetary citizen. There could hardly be a better way to enjoy the "existential pleasures of engineering".…”

Research to practice: Using research findings to inform the first-year engineering experience

“…These courses may vary in duration from portions of a semester to two-semester sequential modules. The course content and format also range from seminar-style classes to help students develop study skills and generate an enthusiasm for engineering [6]; courses primarily focused on particular technical skills such as computing or graphics; courses that expose students to the different engineering disciplines and functions, often as a path for choosing a specific major [4], [6]; courses that cover the professional practices related to a specific engineering discipline [3], [7]- [8]; courses that include an early exposure to design involving hands-on projects [9]- [10]; and courses that incorporate several essential engineering skills [11]. The type of implementation of introductory courses is usually geared to suit the needs of the particular program.…”

Mapping Assets of Diverse Groups for Chemical Engineering Design Problem Framing Ability

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] To address this, many programs have incorporated design projects early in the curriculum, leading to higher overall retention of diverse students in engineering. [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] For instance, students from underrepresented groups were likelier to persist if they completed a first year design course, and this was attributed to the hands-on and contextual nature of the experience 12 . Elsewhere, higher retention of diverse students is attributed to the fact that students like getting exposure to authentic projects, 24,25 because such projects provide opportunities for students to learn professional skills (e.g., project management, teamwork [26][27][28][29] ) and allow students the opportunity to integrate knowledge and practice.…”