Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publication Date
6-2025
Abstract
The University of X's Freshman Year Innovator Experience (FYIE) program, hosted at a Minority Serving Institution (MSI), seeks to improve the first-year experience for new students by nurturing essential academic success skills. Specifically tailored to freshman mechanical engineering students, the program aims to equip them with self-transformation skills to navigate through the amplified academic and professional obstacles brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants of FYIE engage in two concurrent courses: Introduction to Engineering (Course A) and Learning Frameworks (Course B). In Course A, students undertake a 6-week engineering design project, while in Course B, they work on a 6-week academic career path project. Throughout these simultaneous projects, time-bound interventions highlight the similarities between the engineering design process and the academic career pathways project. The main goal is for students to recognize that the design thinking skills acquired in the engineering design process can be applied to resolve their academic career challenges. The FYIE program was initiated as a pilot in the spring semester of 2023, with instructors from Course A and B introducing the parallel projects. The implementation has continued through the fall 2023, spring 2024, and ongoing fall 2024 semesters, introducing improvements at every iteration, with adjustments made to the parallel projects and the identification of intervention points for self-transformation through analogy. The creators of the program will present the outcomes from the pilot implementations and address the obstacles and future work. This proposed endeavor is aligned with the continuous mission of the College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) at the University of X, which includes: 1) increasing the number of STEM degrees granted to Hispanics, 2) promoting the participation of women in STEM-related fields, and 3) enhancing persistence and self-confidence in STEM fields amidst the challenges posed by COVID-19. The project is supported by the NSF award 2225247.
Recommended Citation
Hernandez, Noe Vargas, Javier A. Ortega, Arturo A. Fuentes, Eleazar Marquez, and Pierre Lu. "BOARD# 273: NSF IUSE HSI Implementation and Evaluation Project: The Freshman Year Innovator Experience (FYIE): Bridging the URM Gap in STEM." In 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition. 2025. https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--55636
DOI
10.18260/1-2--55636
Comments
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