The CARE methodology: A new lens for introductory ECE course assessment based on student challenging and rewarding experiences

Introductory Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) education is of great importance to students interested in exploring the field, as it introduces them to the fundamental conceptual understanding of the governing laws and theories of ECE, as well as to indispensable hands-on lab skills to apply theory in practice. These learning outcomes lay a strong foundational base that proves crucial throughout students' journeys in and beyond academia and in a variety of technical disciplines as well. To ensure these valuable outcomes are met, introductory ECE educators invest significant effort in course assessment and improvement. Such efforts have been documented in literature, including developing new lab tools, incorporating project-based learning, and proposing new course assessment methodologies and educational interventions. Adopting a student-centric lens, we propose a new methodology for early ECE course assessment called CARE, referring to the intersecting areas of the most Challenging And Rewarding Experiences that students have had in line with the main course objectives. This new assessment lens provides a fertile ground to amplify students' rewarding experiences, minimize their unproductive struggle, and preserve healthy challenges that effectively contribute to the students' learning process. In our work, we apply the CARE methodology in studying a population of 42 students enrolled in the introductory ECE course, ENGR 40M: An Intro to Making: What is EE, offered at our educational institution, Stanford University. This course was chosen for this study as it emphasizes the importance of integrating theoretical and laboratory exposure to introductory ECE concepts via immersive project-based learning opportunities. Our main contributions begin with the development of the CARE methodology, its application to assess an introductory ECE course at our academic institution, and the generation of recommendations to improve introductory ECE education at our institution. As a first step in the proposed methodology, we conducted comprehensive needfinding – a human-centered design method – by collecting quantitative and qualitative feedback on the student experience, complemented by instructors' insights. Next, using a grounded theory approach to analyze our data, we uncovered five main areas of intersecting challenging and rewarding experiences, spanning the different theoretical and lab components of the course curriculum. We then offered recommendations to the course instructors to improve the student course experience in every area while being mindful of the effort required and time commitment on the instructors' and students' behalf. Furthermore, we discussed how this methodology can serve as a new approach to satisfy the ABET Criterion 4 for continuous assessment efforts. Finally, we believe that this methodology is generalizable and can scale to assess and improve students' experiences in introductory courses in a variety of engineering disciplines as well.