Shifting to a Student-Focused Introductory Course for Freshman Students

In this paper, modifications made to a first-year introductory aerospace engineering course are outlined. The original seminar-based course has been revised to better engage freshman students and connect them to the aerospace department community through guest lectures, field trips, assignments, and upperclassmen mentoring. The changes to this course were motivated by a desire to increase the retention of students from the freshman to the sophomore year. Here, attitudinal survey results from students participating in the course are discussed, as well as a research plan for analyzing the effectiveness of the course adjustments.