An Analysis of the High Attrition Rates among First Year College Science, Math, and Engineering Majors

Daempfle, Peter A.

doi:10.2190/dwqt-tya4-t20w-rcwh

Cited by 155 publications

(112 citation statements)

References 10 publications

(22 reference statements)

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“…Such factors include inadequate academic advising, career counseling, and insttuton support; feelings of isolaton in STEM felds because too few peers pursue STEM degrees and too few role models and mentors are available (mainly pertnent to women and underrepresented minorites); distaste for the compettve climate in STEM departments (women especially); perceived discriminaton on the basis of sex and/or race/ethnicity in the STEM workforce; and atracton of lucratve careers such as health care and business (Betnger, 2010;Carrell, Page & West, 2010;Chang, Eagan, Lin & Hurtado, 2011;Daempfe, 2003;Eagan, Herrera, Garibay, Hurtado & Chang, 2011;Espinosa, 2011;Fouad et al, 2010;Gayles & Ampaw, 2014;Price, 2010;Shaw & Barbut, 2010). These contextual and climate factors are now considered as areas worthy of investgaton for explaining the departure of students (especially women and minorites) from STEM felds, although these data are rarely collected by natonal surveys.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

STEM attrition among high-performing college students: Scope and potential causes

Chen

2015

J. Technol. Sci. Educ.

158

163

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Postsecondary educaton plays a critcal role in building a strong workforce in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematcs (STEM) felds. The U.S. postsecondary educaton system, however, frequently loses many potental STEM graduates through atriton. An increasing porton of STEM leavers are top performers who might have made valuable additons to the STEM workforce had they stayed in STEM felds. Using data from the 2004/09 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:04/09), this study tracks a cohort of U.S. beginning bachelor's degree students over 6 years, providing a close look at STEM atriton among a group of high-performing college students. Capitalizing on the transcript data collected through BPS:04/09, this study also examines STEM coursetaking, detailing how partcipaton and performance in undergraduate STEM coursework are associated with students' departure from STEM felds. The study fnds that about a quarter of high-performing beginning bachelor's degree students entered STEM felds (i.e., declared a STEM major) during their enrollment between 2003 and 2009, and about a third of these entrants had lef STEM felds by spring 2009. The results of multnomial probit regression analysis indicate that students' intensity of STEM coursework in the frst year and their performance in STEM courses may have played an important role in their decisions to switch majors out of STEM felds.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

STEM attrition among high-performing college students: Scope and potential causes

Chen

2015

J. Technol. Sci. Educ.

158

163

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“…In the context of organic chemistry, we aimed to increase student comfort with constructing their own knowledge, which is an important skill for all professionals. Because teaching methods in organic chemistry and other gateway science courses are frequently cited by students who decide to leave STEM (Seymour, 1995;Seymour and Hewitt, 2000;Daempfle, 2004) or pre-health tracks (Barr, 2010;Barr et al, 2010), the study also intended to explore the way innovations in class format and learning activities might influence students' perceptions of science instruction.…”

Section: Objectives and Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cooperative learning in organic chemistry increases student assessment of learning gains in key transferable skills

Canelas

Hill

Novicki

2017

Chem. Educ. Res. Pract.

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Science and engineering educators and employers agree that students should graduate from college with expertise in their major subject area as well as the skills and competencies necessary for productive participation in diverse work environments. These competencies include problem-solving, communication, leadership, and collaboration, among others. Using a pseudo-experimental design, and employing a variety of data from exam scores, course evaluations, and student assessment of learning gains (SALG) surveys of key competencies, we compared the development of both chemistry content knowledge and transferable or generic skills among students enrolled in two types of large classes: a lecture-based format versus an interactive, constructive, cooperative learning (flipped classroom) format. Controlling for instructor, as well as laboratory and recitation content, students enrolled in the cooperative learning format reported higher learning gains than the control group in essential transferable skills and competency areas at the end of the term, and more growth in these areas over the course of the term. As a result of their work in the class,

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“…Though there are many potential reasons for these changes, all scenarios are detrimental to the engineering profession. Studies show evidence of a definite lack of creativity training within the engineering curriculum, as well as extensive evidence of attrition from engineering majors to other programs (Kazerounian & Foley, 2007;Daempfle, 2003;Astin & Astin, 1992;Marra, Rodgers, Shen, & Bogue, 2012;Shuman, Delaney, Wolfe, Scalise, & Besterfield-Sacre, 1999). …”

Section: Creative Thinking In Engineering Undergraduatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Investigation of the State of Creativity and Critical Thinking in Engineering Undergraduates

Sola¹,

Hoekstra²,

Fiore³

et al. 2017

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The goal of an undergraduate engineering education is to provide students with the necessary knowledge and skills needed to solve real world problems. Creativity and critical thinking are two abilities essential for success in the workplace, and are highly sought after by employers. However, there is evidence of decreasing creativity and critical thinking in senior engineering students. This study sought to understand if freshman engineering students are measurably more creative, but less capable of critical thinking, than senior undergraduate engineering students. Creativity and critical thinking were measured using the Test for Creative Thinking-Drawing Production (TCT-DP) and the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA), respectively. The data suggest that freshman engineering students were significantly more creative than senior engineering students. However, senior engineering students were found to be no better at critical thinking than their freshman counterparts. When compared to normative data, the senior engineering students underperformed significantly compared to the general population of senior college students. With study limitations in mind, these findings may suggest that senior engineering students are not only less creative, but also less capable of critical thinking, than when they started their engineering program. If this is indeed the appropriate conclusion, then there is a need to understand the underlying issues driving the decline of creativity and critical thinking in engineering undergraduate students.

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An Analysis of the High Attrition Rates among First Year College Science, Math, and Engineering Majors

Cited by 155 publications

References 10 publications

STEM attrition among high-performing college students: Scope and potential causes

STEM attrition among high-performing college students: Scope and potential causes

Cooperative learning in organic chemistry increases student assessment of learning gains in key transferable skills

An Investigation of the State of Creativity and Critical Thinking in Engineering Undergraduates

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