Work in progress — A hands-on ability intervention

Hands-on ability is considered an important skill for success in engineering. It also plays a role in attitude toward engineering. Despite its importance, engineering curricula do not necessarily provide all students with experiences that help develop hands-on ability. With the goal of developing educational experiences that better meet students´ needs and increase hands-on self-efficacy, this research investigates the effect of solitary practice as an intervention for improving hands-on ability. A reverse engineering lab activity in a low stress environment served as the intervention. The activity was individual to allow students to complete the activity at their own pace. Students in a treatment group and control group completed an engineering attitude survey, a mechanical aptitude test, and a prior experience survey. Comparison of the results for the control and treatment groups did not provide evidence that the intervention had an effect on hands-on ability or self-efficacy. Future work will include pre and post testing of the treatment group as well as an intervention of longer duration.