Abstract
In University of Florida’s EGS1006 “Introduction to Engineering” course, students explore the 14 different undergraduate majors offered through the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering. In addition to in-person attendees, UF registers dual enrollment (high school + college) remote learners from across Florida in EGS1006. These students are often ethnic minorities, first-generation college students, female, and/or from socioeconomically disadvantaged communities: precisely the groups underrepresented in engineering majors that colleges strive to attract and retain.
Due to geographic dispersion, dual enrollment students are not able to engage in-person with the EGS1006 pragmatic activities, which potentially puts them at a disadvantage relative to their in-person peers. Therefore, a shippable educational laboratory kit was developed and deployed in Spring 2023 to mitigate this disadvantage. The kit and supporting curriculum provide hands-on activities and exposure to all UF’s 14 UF engineering disciplines at reasonable per kit cost (when manufactured, shipped, and returned/refurbished at scale). Moreover, since the kits are designed to be returned and refurbished for reuse each semester, the cost-per-student-served over many semesters approaches ∼$36 with $16/kit for roundtrip shipping and $20/kit for refurbishment.
This paper introduces the EGS1006 kit, describes activities and experiments that showcase how each UF engineering major is represented, and explains how the kit is fabricated. Additionally, a series of indirect assessment questions have been developed and embedded within the dual enrollment EGS1006 assignments. These questions were designed to gauge students’ pre/post impressions on 1) using the kit, 2) self-efficiency, 3) attitude toward engineering overall, and 4) interest/disinterest in specific engineering majors. These questions are included to describe and frame an ongoing pedagogical study of the kits’ value and utility for the EGS1006 dual enrollment cohort.
