Bridging the Engagement Gap: How the Concrete Canoe Competition Enhances Learning Engagement Among Underrepresented Engineering Students

The project-based competition is widely recognized in engineering education to bridge theoretical knowledge and practical application, thereby fostering professional skills and motivation.However, a significant research gap remains regarding the specific impact of such competition-based learning on students at minority-serving institutions.This study addresses this gap by investigating the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) concrete canoe Competition at Tennessee State University (TSU), an HBCU.Using a mixed-methods approach, we surveyed 43 competition participants and 23 non-participants, measuring Engaged Learning (EL) through a validated scale and collecting qualitative open-ended responses.Results from independent t-tests revealed that participants demonstrated significantly higher levels of EL across all subscales-Meaningful Processing, Focused Attention, and Active Participation-compared to their non-participating peers.Notably, one way ANOVA analyses showed that these engagement benefits were consistent across different genders, academic generations, and grade levels, suggesting the competition's impact transcends common demographic divides.Qualitative word cloud analysis further highlighted key student gains in "teamwork," "research," and "real-world" skills.The findings strongly indicate that the concrete canoe competition serves as a powerful, equity-oriented pedagogical tool that effectively enhances student engagement and mitigates traditional barriers to learning in HBCU engineering contexts.