Work-in-Progress: Developing a Virtual Peer-Facilitated Workshop Experience for First-Year Engineering Students - A Comparative Study of Online and Face-to-Face Engagement

Dan Burleson

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Conference: 14th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience (FYEE) Conference
Location: University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee
Publication Date: July 30, 2023
Start Date: July 30, 2023
End Date: August 1, 2023
Page Count: 5
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--44862
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/44862
Download Count: 51

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Dan Burleson University of Houston

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Dr. Dan Burleson is an Instructional Associate Professor in the Cullen College of Engineering at the University of Houston. He has been at the University of Houston since 2010 when he joined as a Graduate Research Assistant, completing his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering in August of 2015. Before coming to Houston, Texas, Dr. Burleson completed B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Florida. He was a founding faculty for the the First Year Experience in Cullen College of Engineering and he has been the Course Coordinator for ENGI 1331 focusing on instruction, curriculum development, and programming for students and undergraduate teaching assistants from 2016 - 2023. He is currently the Director for Engineering Student Innovation and Design Experience and Co-Director for the University of Houston Grand Challenge Scholars Program.

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Abstract

This work-in-progress focuses on the development of a virtual, open-access peer-facilitated workshop experience for first-year engineering students in a first-year, second semester computing course. The project aims to investigate if engagement and achievement of students differ between online (asynchronous) and face-to-face peer-facilitated workshops. At the University of Houston, peer-facilitated workshops are designed to support key gateway courses in science, math, and engineering, but accessibility can be limited for underrepresented, first-generation, and non-traditional students due to additional course fees and scheduling constraints. Asynchronous videos provide flexibility, but often lack opportunities for engagement and community building. Leveraging undergraduate students as facilitators, we sought to create an integrated MS TEAMS and STREAM framework with video modules, MATLAB© Grader problems, and online forums for communication.

The Fall 2022 implementation focused on content development during the first eight weeks of the course, when student attrition is high. Over 20 hours of asynchronous peer-recorded support content and 10 associated MATLAB© Grader problems were developed, and 50% of students enrolled in the first-year course joined the MS TEAMS platform, with 20% engaging at least once through comments, questions, and MATLAB© Grader attempts. Qualitative responses were collected from participants in the virtual and in-person workshops, and normalized student achievements were collected for each group. While statistical comparison was inconclusive due to small sample size and response rate for the virtual workshop (n=5), key themes such as "support", "community", and "practice" emerged from qualitative responses, which are being used to inform a subsequent survey tool for understanding the student support experience broadly for all students in the class. The findings from the asynchronous participants have informed the development of a broader virtual course support system for Spring 2023, which integrates professional development, advising, undergraduate teaching assistant office hours, and peer-facilitated support material.

Citation
Format

Burleson, D. (2023, July), Work-in-Progress: Developing a Virtual Peer-Facilitated Workshop Experience for First-Year Engineering Students - A Comparative Study of Online and Face-to-Face Engagement Paper presented at 14th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience (FYEE) Conference, University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--44862

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This work-in-progress focuses on the development of a virtual, open-access peer-facilitated workshop experience for first-year engineering students in a first-year, second semester computing course. The project aims to investigate if engagement and achievement of students differ between online (asynchronous) and face-to-face peer-facilitated workshops. At the University of Houston, peer-facilitated workshops are designed to support key gateway courses in science, math, and engineering, but accessibility can be limited for underrepresented, first-generation, and non-traditional students due to additional course fees and scheduling constraints. Asynchronous videos provide flexibility, but often lack opportunities for engagement and community building. Leveraging undergraduate students as facilitators, we sought to create an integrated MS TEAMS and STREAM framework with video modules, MATLAB© Grader problems, and online forums for communication.

The Fall 2022 implementation focused on content development during the first eight weeks of the course, when student attrition is high. Over 20 hours of asynchronous peer-recorded support content and 10 associated MATLAB© Grader problems were developed, and 50% of students enrolled in the first-year course joined the MS TEAMS platform, with 20% engaging at least once through comments, questions, and MATLAB© Grader attempts. Qualitative responses were collected from participants in the virtual and in-person workshops, and normalized student achievements were collected for each group. While statistical comparison was inconclusive due to small sample size and response rate for the virtual workshop (n=5), key themes such as &quot;support&quot;, &quot;community&quot;, and &quot;practice&quot; emerged from qualitative responses, which are being used to inform a subsequent survey tool for understanding the student support experience broadly for all students in the class. The findings from the asynchronous participants have informed the development of a broader virtual course support system for Spring 2023, which integrates professional development, advising, undergraduate teaching assistant office hours, and peer-facilitated support material. 

AU  - Dan Burleson
CY  - University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee
DA  - 2023/07/30
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Work-in-Progress: Developing a Virtual Peer-Facilitated Workshop Experience for First-Year Engineering Students - A Comparative Study of Online and Face-to-Face Engagement
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/44862
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--44862
ER  -