Though software development has increasingly become a part of modern engineering practice, even outside of computing, we lack a sufficiently deep understanding of how engineers in many disciplines learn and use software engineering practices and tools (SEPTs). SEPTs include, but extend beyond, programming itself, consisting of practices (e.g., unit testing) and tools (e.g., version control software) that support the design, implementation, or maintenance of software. While many disciplines outside of computing teach programming in their undergraduate curricula, little is known about how these disciplines use, teach, or adopt SEPTs. We thus conducted an exploratory qualitative study on SEPTs among undergraduate students in mechanical engineering (ME), one of the largest engineering disciplines in the US. Specifically, we explored two research questions: (1) What SEPTs do undergraduate ME students use in their work? (2) What factors influence undergraduate ME students' adoption of these SEPTs? We conducted and analyzed three unstructured interviews with ME students at different institutions, using the Guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) as theoretical frameworks. Our results show that ME students' SEPTs span relatively few SWEBOK areas, and are strongly influenced by course design, disciplinary context, and expected time/effort. These results suggest that with continued work in this area, we can likely gain and apply evidence-based insights to improve the teaching of SEPTs within ME in a way that is authentic to its disciplinary context.

This innovative practice WIP paper addresses the significant challenge of engaging first-year engineering students with diverse technical backgrounds in higher education. At Michigan Tech University, we tackle this challenge by implementing a flipped teaching model supplemented with active discovery team projects. In our approach, nearly 1000 first-year engineering students are equipped with their own Arduino kits from day one of class. With “kits in hand”, students can self-select different programming and design challenges. This “choose your own adventure” challenge-set accommodates varying technical experiences, ranging from simple tasks, like creating a single flashing LED using MATLAB and Arduino, to complex projects such as designing multi-axis stoplight systems with left turn lanes and pedestrian crosswalks. By offering students autonomy in selecting their project challenges, we observed heightened self-reported levels of engagement, enjoyment, and a deeper sense of utility attributed to the skills acquired from their learning experiences. Moreover, this approach obviates the need to persuade students about the relevance of programming in engineering practice, as they experience it first-hand. Our assessment, reflected in end-of-semester course evaluations, demonstrates a notable shift in student perceptions. The percentage of students strongly agreeing to feeling engaged increased from 14% to 27%, with corresponding shifts observed across agree and slightly agree categories. Similarly, the percentage of students strongly agreeing to enjoying the class rose from 14% to 24%, with discernible decreases in slightly agree, slightly disagree, and disagree responses. This abstract provides insights into a transformative pedagogical approach that not only enhances student engagement but also fosters a positive learning environment conducive to the development of essential engineering skills. This work is significant because it shares how programs can be scaled to add value and build foundational engineering skills no matter a student's technical background or engineering program enrollment.

This work in progress innovative practice paper is focused on the development of S-STEM scholarship application. The purpose of the National Science Foundation's S-STEM program is to provide support for “academically talented lowincome students” through scholarships and accompanying programming, which fosters their recruitment, retention, and ultimately their graduation with STEM degrees [1]. The S-STEM program requires awardees to provide for all of the annual unmet financial need of individual Pell-eligible scholars, up to $15,000 per undergraduate scholar and $20,000 per graduate scholar. The S-STEM dollars must be applied after all other funding sources have been exhausted for a student. Awardees may develop recruitment programs within disadvantaged communities and under resourced schools to attract students to apply for the scholarship. However, selection cannot be based upon race/ ethnicity/ gender demographic criteria. This in-development project, the Husky PAWS Pathways for Academic Wellness and Success) program, will implement a unique adaptation of Yosso's Cultural Wealth Model [2] to elevate students' existing assets, with the goal of increasing retention, success indicators, and raising Pell-eligible students' graduation rates to non-Pell levels. The project will support students in engineering, computing, and physics majors by funding approximately six scholars each of the first three years. Scholars will receive annual scholarships ranging from $2,000 - $20,000 based on established criteria and unmet financial need - with options for one-time finishing scholarships as well. However, the anticipated applicant pool is over 1,000 eligible students. Thus, the first project challenge - beyond advertising the scholarships and recruiting applicants - is to refine appropriate application materials. To develop these application materials, a series of questions were proposed to inform the S-STEM team about additional indicators of financial need among students (such as experiencing food insecurity, experiencing the foster care system, etc.). However, the team acknowledged that some of these questions may alienate students. To address this concern, the criteria questions were refined, along with their framing language, through focus group feedback from existing Pell-eligible students on campus, to reduce the risk of alienating prospective students with whom we aim to build connections.

In this work-in-progress research paper, we present the design and preliminary results of an ongoing thematic analysis of software engineering practices and tools (SEPTs), using Bloom's cognitive taxonomy to analyze the content of the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK) Guide. Our work is motivated by the fact that while the software development process is becoming increasingly important in engineering, software engineering skills are hardly taught in most undergraduate engineering curricula, and existing descriptions of these skills are not easily accessible to educators in many engineering disciplines. We present results from the analysis of the Software Requirements knowledge area, which those outside of computing have characterized as especially important but not well understood. We identified 92 practices and tools in the knowledge area, and found some promise in our approach: our results help highlight key topics within the knowledge area where SEPTs can be especially helpful, such as requirements elicitation, analysis, and change process management, and provide further clarity on SEPTs from prior work that may be helpful to engineering educators. Though our current findings do not cover the extent to which our identified SEPTs are accessible to those outside of engineering, we are optimistic that our work helps a broader range of engineering educators identify SEPTs that might be underutilized in their engineering practice, and the depth to which they might teach these SEPTs in their curricula. Our work is thus an important first step in addressing the gap between how we teach students to develop software in undergraduate engineering programs and how practitioners in the field develop software.

This Work-in-Progress paper presents WebTA, a code critiquer developed using Java, currently being expanded to MATLAB for first-year engineering students. It outlines the modification process of the existing WebTA software for MATLAB and shares the results of three beta tests conducted with 52 students. The paper highlights the significance of providing an automated tool that helps students identify and improve coding errors is highlighted (addressing the gap between computer science and engineering education). WebTA's feedback-on-demand feature addresses the challenge of providing timely and personalized feedback to a large number of students, contributing to the enhancement of first-year engineering education.

This research is part of a larger development project that is working on a multi-programming language code critiquer called WebTA. The WebTA code-critiquing software is designed to be used in courses for novice programmers, e.g., CS1 a first engineering course. The authors report on a component of the project that makes initial steps towards a automating the identification of common student mistakes, or antipatterns in code. Antipatterns can be errors, inefficiencies, or incorrect style choices in the code. This works is aimed at Python and uses the machine learning algorithm, Random Forests, to identify a stylistic antipattern of crowded operators.

Several rule-based code critiquing systems have been developed to support programmers. However, these systems often are targeted toward experienced learners. Novice learners often lack self-efficacy in programming [1]-code critiquers targeted at novice programmers to promote student learning and enrich the overall education system are essential. Students' self-efficacy for programming is the perception of students' competence concerning programming [2], an essential attribute of computer science education. This paper examines existing literature on the impact of self-efficacy on students in programming. This work focuses on empirical work in programming education that independently addresses and develops theories specific to student programming-at the same time, addressing the existing gap in understanding the impact of code critiquers on student self-efficacy. The systematic review followed guidelines proposed by Kitchenham methodology. Findings revealed various factors that improve self-efficacy and provide evidence of significant sources of self-efficacy in programming. Moreover, the investigation guides further research in designing code critiquers to enhance the self-efficacy of novice learners. This work is part of a more significant effort to investigate the use of antipatterns (common programming mistakes) in novice programmers' coding. This sub-project aims to determine if the use of a code critiquer by first-year engineering students will improve student self-efficacy regarding programming.

This work in progress paper we explain our process of co-sharing secondary qualitative data from separate projects funded by the National Science Foundation to better understand factors which influence faculty technology adoption in engineering education and provide a high-level presentation of preliminary results. Study A conducted 21 interviews of engineering faculty at a Midwestern US, STEM-centered university. These faculty were interviewed about the factors influencing their adoption and teaching of new engineering technologies, with a focus on programming languages, software, and instrumentation. Technology adoption models were applied as a theoretical lens for results analysis. Study B conducted 9 interviews with faculty in the College of Engineering at a Southern US university on the adoption of online laboratories in their instructional settings. The interviews focused on how faculty make use of online laboratories in electrical engineering as an essential resource. Innovation and propagation theories were applied as a theoretical lens for data analysis. The two data sets were co-shared for secondary analysis by each research group, using their own theoretical approaches. Preliminary findings lead us to believe that co-sharing of secondary data can expand qualitative data sets while providing a means for theoretical triangulation, improving data analysis.

The purpose of this workshop-designed for instructional and disciplinary STEM faculty interested in learning about qualitative research-is to (1) introduce participants to high-quality qualitative research design and (2) practice this design process alongside disciplinary STEM faculty to expand their STEM education research abilities and network. We will do so using the ProQual approach, a methodologically unencumbered and widely accessible way of thinking about qualitative research design that was deployed and refined over the last three years as part of the NSF-funded ProQual Institute for Research Methods [1]. This workshop will be conducted by ProQual Institute alumni, who are culturally sensitive to the challenges faced by disciplinary STEM faculty. Leveraging a propagation model of effecting academic change [2], the workshop leaders will serve as a community of practice to help participants move their educational research ideas forward during and after the workshop. In doing so, we strive to further FIE's mission to create a collaborative, supportive, and inclusive community of educational researchers.

Expanding autocritiquers to other languages requires the difficult task of obtaining and representing antipat-terns. Under the current framework, each language requires a unique Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) and error solution such that both the resulting AST and error summaries can be searched and presented to students. Often similar antipatterns arise that have to be rewritten in each language's own context. This paper proposes the creation of a generalized AST structure for an auto-critiquer under development, that can unify common code structures across similar languages while capturing differences in the languages. This work also proposes a standard for error message representation that can capture similar errors across language specific error messages. There are two motivations to standardizing AST and error message formats. Firstly, our solution allows for a standardized User Interface (UI) and easy integration of new languages with an identical on-boarding process for both professors and students. Secondly, reuse of antipatterns will allow us to skip the time-consuming step of constructing near-identical structural and logical antipattern queries as well as unifying novice based error feedback.

This Workshop will present the results from a study exploring the facilitating conditions which support the adoption of new engineering technologies among engineering faculty. Suggested interventions to promote greater technology adoption among faculty will be reviewed. Participants will discuss ways to build upon these suggested interventions and leave with concrete ideas about how to promote faculty technology adoption on their campuses.

This work in progress paper presents baseline data from a study exploring student outcomes from participating in the EWB AU Design Challenge. Findings presented in this paper explore initial student perceptions of the role of an engineer reported prior to participating in the Challenge. This study builds on previous findings, providing richer detail about student understandings regarding what it means to be an engineer. To determine the influence that involvement in the EWB design challenge had on any potential shifts, course sections performing non-service-learning design projects were also surveyed for comparison. The ultimate goal of this work will be to compare pre-/post-surveys from both student groups. In this baseline data the cohorts appear substantially similar at the start of their courses.

Comics as a pedagogical tool have shown promise in conveying ideas and increasing retention in STEM disciplines. Within the context of introductory programming courses, the visual, real-world analogies to programming problems that comics offer may allow engineering students to better grasp abstract algorithmic concepts that can be obscured by low-level programming language details. Creating comics also provides an opportunity for students to exercise metacognition, as they are asked to reflect on what they know and how to express it in a new way. Further work is needed, however, to develop comic assignments with rigorous rubric-based assessment. Our work in progress focuses on an intervention where students develop their own algorithmic comics and share them with peers. The design of the assignment and assessment rubric leverages prior work on using context-bounded analogy to teach programming concepts. Students will create a comic illustrating an algorithmic concept and then use it as a medium for further communication, responding to peer feedback in order to further refine their understanding. These communications, we hypothesize, will increase correctness of representations and scenarios in the comics through refinement and likewise, in their understanding of programming concepts. The rubric associated with the assignment will serve as a model for assessment of relevant criteria within comic-based student activities.

This work-in-progress paper shares preliminary results from a research project that addresses three primary objectives: (1) to develop a conceptual model of technology adoption among engineering faculty through qualitative interview research; (2) to propose an adaption of existing models for technology adoption with appropriate constructs for engineering faculty; and (3) to propose one or more specific interventions to increase faculty adoption of new engineering technologies. In this paper, we focus primarily on the work in progress to meet the first objective. Specifically, we highlight how our preliminary findings about the factors affecting technology adoption, identified from interviews with engineering faculty, align with or differ from factors in previous models for technology adoption. Subjective norm, voluntariness, utility, technology cost, and facilitating conditions, were all preliminary factors found in our data that align at least somewhat with constructs from previous models [1], [2]. Time, access to the technology, efficiency/ease of work, and self regulation are factors that we have identified which are absent from the most widely applied models of technology adoption. We consider what our findings might imply in engineering education contexts.

This work in progress paper presents preliminary results from a broader study exploring student reflections on the Engineers Without Borders Australia Challenge during its pilot year at a Midwestern technical institution. Students were surveyed using Likert scale questions, as well as short response open-ended reflection questions. Convergent coding methods were used to identify emerging themes within student reflections. Student reflections of the Challenge were overwhelmingly positive. Students also reflected on their perception of the role of an engineer in society, citing the growing importance of empathy and global preparedness, and the need for a broad skill set that prepares the engineer to work in multidisciplinary teams and environments.

In this work in progress/innovative practice paper, we describe our efforts to integrate introductory computer science pedagogical methods into an engineering fundamentals context. Our multidisciplinary team is addressing the problem of perceived value and applicability of programming for first-year engineering students. These students tend to be unaware of the importance of programming skills for practicing engineers within industry, and consequently display low interest in programming. We are working to address this perception problem through interventions in the engineering fundamentals classroom.Our interventions have three objectives: establish awareness of how programming skills can be generalized beyond the introductory classroom, incorporate targeted activities for algorithmic thinking, and demonstrate the practical applications of programming skills. Similar interventions are part of the introductory experience for our computer science students; our goal here is to tailor the interventions to an introductory engineering context. Our goal is for students to recognize computing as part of the career and identity of an engineer.

Programming is becoming skill required by a wide range of students, not just CS majors. Furthermore, not only are non-CS majors learning to program, but many non-CS faculty find themselves teaching programming courses. Introducing these faculty and students to the craft of programming is accompanied by a number of unique challenges. How can non-CS faculty position themselves as programming experts, given they are not CS people? How can we convince non-CS students that coding is a necessary skill? Often our non-computing majors are reluctant, stating "Programming isn't what I signed up for!" Many non-CS students are not receptive to learning new programming languages due to a lack of intrinsic motivation coupled with technological anxiety. These factors often result in low-self efficacy, which must be overcome in order to explore, play, and learn. This Birds of a Feather discussion brings together instructors from diverse disciplines to discuss the teaching of programming to a range of students, the barriers that exist for non-computing students, and the interventions that attempt to mitigate these issues.