THE Engage PROGRAM: FIRST-YEAR TEAM DESIGN TO COMPLEMENT AN INTEGRATED CURRICULUM

1 Roger Parsons, University of Tennessee, College of Engineering, Engineering Fundamentals Division, 105A Estabrook Hall, Knoxville, TN 37996-2353 [email protected] 2 Christopher Pionke, University of Tennessee, College of Engineering, Engineering Fundamentals Division, 104B Estabrook Hall, Knoxville, TN 379962353 [email protected] 3 Elaine Seat, University of Tennessee, College of Engineering, Engineering Fundamentals Division, 101 Estabrook Hall, Knoxville, TN 37996-2353 [email protected] Abstract The Engage program is a fresh approach to integrating freshman engineering topics and team design that is in its sixth year of implementation at the University of Tennessee. This initiative is a broad approach, addressing academic, personal skill development and socialization needs of first-year students. Team design projects are designed to complement each segment of the yearlong curriculum and increase in difficulty as the year progresses. The objective is to teach the students that design is a natural process closely related to problem solving skills they already possess. They experience success as a designer, have a positive team learning experience, and learn that design success will be a fun part of being an engineer. Engineering undergraduates or graduate students in a Counseling Psychology program provide facilitation for each team. A formal coursework program has been developed to train undergraduate engineering students as facilitators for firstyear design teams. This paper shares the development process of this program, reports quantitative comparisons of Engage student success to the success of students following a more traditional curriculum, and follows the quantitative and qualitative assessment of the team program.