IMPACT OF INTEGRATING MENTAL WELLNESS AND PERSONAL LEARNING REFLECTIONS INTO FIRST-YEAR UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING COURSES

Abstract

Student stress and anxiety in engineering continues to be overwhelming, and students are asking for more support for their mental wellness. At the University of Calgary, we developed and implemented a program to provide first-year students with regular modules and reflection on their mental wellness and personal learning. This work is important to foster resiliency in engineering students. At CEEA 2020, we summarized the pilot year of the program [17], and we now have an update on the program implementation as well as preliminary research results. We provide an overview of the importance of this kind of programming, specifically in breaking down the emotional-rational dualism that exists within engineering to support the de-stigmatization of mental health topics. We then provide an overview of the modules presented in this academic year, as well as a high level of summary of the research results from last year’s data.