High impact practices toward personal and professional identity in introductory and advanced engineering seminar courses

Engineering educators have struggled with engaging students throughout their studies. Traditional coursework provides little opportunity for holistic integration, personal connection, and professional relevance. We have integrated high-impact practices within our required curriculum. One element is a new, required, one-credit seminar for students beginning their engineering coursework. The seminar is very student-centered, dominated by discussions connecting technical concepts with real-world context. The lecturer is a professional engineer; he hosts visiting engineers to discussions. The course modules foster understanding in ethics, professionalism, community needs, and connection to industry and government. In a second element, we have also integrated new integrative modules into existing capstone seminars within each major. This novel pairing provides students opportunities for reflection and integration within required coursework. Our overall goal is to cultivate a learning community of the whole, within which students experience their coursework in constant contact with the broader world and with persistent progress toward their own holistic education.