Assessment of factors impacting success for incoming college engineering students in a summer bridge program

Abstract

A summer bridge program for incoming engineering and computer science freshmen has been used at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee from 2007 to 2010. The primary purpose of this program has been to improve the mathematics course placement for incoming students who initially place into a course below Calculus I on the math placement examination. The students retake the university's math placement examination after completing the bridge program to determine if they then place into a higherlevel mathematics course. If the students improve their math placement, the program is considered successful for that student. The math portion of the bridge program is designed around using the ALEKS software package for targeted, self-guided learning. In the 2007 and 2008 versions of the program, both an on-line version and an on-campus version with additional instruction were offered. In 2009 and 2010, the program was exclusively in an on-campus format, and also featured a required residential component and additional engineering activities for the students. From the results of these four programs, we are able to evaluate the success of the program in its different formats. In addition, data has been collected and analysed regarding the impact of other factors on the program's success. The factors include student preparation before the beginning of the program (as measured by math ACT scores) and the amount of time the student spent working on the material during the program. Better math preparation and the amount of time spent on the program were found to be good indicators of success. Furthermore, the on-campus version of the program is more effective than the on-line version.

Predicting Success in Pre-Calculus and Engineering Problem Solving

“…Reisel says "the use of math ACT scores as a predictor of success in the program is reasonable, but should be used with caution" while studies by Hoffman and Lowitzki, Munro, and Zheng et al argue that high school GPA is more predictive than standardized test scores [14,31,32]. Foley-Peres and Poirier found that SAT scores were less important than placement test scores, and Ngo and Kwan indicated that multiple variables should be included when placing students in the initial math class [19,20].…”

Best Practices for Underrepresented Minority Students in an Engineering Summer Bridge Program

“…Upon completion of the program students are enrolled in the appropriate math course for the fall semester based on their summer performance. This allows students to start at the appropriate level of math that will best support a strong math foundation going forward [1]. As a result of strong math performance over the summer, students may earn the opportunity to bypass remediation math courses that may otherwise be dictated by their Math ACT Sub Score.…”

“…Some of these programs are purposed to close the achievement gaps of underrepresented minority (URM) students pursuing engineering degrees as compared to non-minority students. URM in the sciences or engineering is defined as a student who has self-identified as Black or African American, a Hispanic, or American Indian/Alaskan [1]. Summer bridge programs vary per institution and can be structured to offer different types of experiences for participants.…”

An Iterative Process to Assess and Optimize Diversity Programming

“…Students who attend an on-campus, summer bridge program have been shown to have greater success and persistence in part due to the ability to form a cohort and gain familiarity with campus resources [18][19][20] . Elements such as study centers, course clustering, tutoring and structured study groups that foster collaborative learning have been found to promote student success for underrepresented students [21][22][23] .…”