is a Faculty lecturer (Graduate Attributes) in the department of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Waterloo. Dr. Al-Hammoud has a passion for teaching where she continuously seeks new technologies to involve students in their learning process. She is actively involved in the Ideas Clinic, a major experiential learning initiative at the University of Waterloo. She is also responsible for developing a process and assessing graduate attributes at the department to target areas for improvement in the curriculum. This resulted in several publications in this educational research areas. Dr. Al-Hammoud won the "Ameet and Meena Chakma award for exceptional teaching by a student" in 2014 and the "Engineering Society Teaching Award" in 2016 from University of Waterloo. Her students regard her as an innovative teacher who continuously introduces new ideas to the classroom that increases their engagement.

As a way to help ease the struggles thatstudents face in the transition from high school intouniversity, the Engineering Faculty at the University ofWaterloo started a reduced load program in 2010. Duringtheir first term at Waterloo, engineering students who arein academic jeopardy after midterms can drop twoprescribed courses to give the students an opportunity tofinish the term on a successful note. The two droppedcourses are taken during the following spring term alongwith a third course, GENE 101 – Strategies and Skills forAcademic Success. After successfully completing thereduced load terms, the students return to a full load.GENE 101 is considered a foundational success course.This paper will look at the curriculum and structure of thecourse and the impact it has had on engineering students.At the time of this writing, two groups of students who tookGENE 101 and the reduced load program have graduatedfrom Waterloo as engineers.

The ability to work in teams is an important learning outcome for graduating engineering students. There are, however, limited intentional and structured teaching opportunities through which engineering faculty can instruct students on effective team behaviours.In this paper, we describe a workshop in which student teams self-assess and create a plan to improve their team processes. Students first complete individual surveys, reflecting on their perceptions of the effectiveness of their teams. Individual responses are then aggregated at the team level, with each team receiving summary team scores. A structured in-class activity provides teams with an opportunity to reflect on effective and ineffective team processes, share strategies and best practices with other teams, and develop plans for improvement.Multiple deliveries of the module in various engineering programs, including in a capstone design course, have shown that the module is an effective tool for teams to self-assess and self-correct.

is a Faculty lecturer (Graduate Attributes) in the department of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Waterloo. Dr. Al-Hammoud has a passion for teaching where she continuously seeks new technologies to involve students in their learning process. She is actively involved in the Ideas Clinic, a major experiential learning initiative at the University of Waterloo. She is also responsible for developing a process and assessing graduate attributes at the department to target areas for improvement in the curriculum. This resulted in several publications in this educational research areas. Dr. Al-Hammoud won the "Ameet and Meena Chakma award for exceptional teaching by a student" in 2014 and the "Engineering Society Teaching Award" in 2016 and the "Outstanding Performance Award" in 2018 from University of Waterloo. Her students regard her as an innovative teacher who continuously introduces new ideas to the classroom that increases their engagement.