Engineering Student Retention: Development Of A Validated, Quantitative Instrument For Exploring The Role Of Personal And Institutional Context

Abstract

Calvin College. She has an M.S. (1997) and Ph.D. (1999) in Chemical Engineering, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with research in biotechnology. Her current research interests include engineering student retention and diversity in engineering education. Rachel Reed, Calvin College RACHEL E. SYTSMA REED, Associate Professor of Education at Calvin College, has an M.A. in Secondary and Adult Science Educationa (1997), an M.S. (2004) in Chemical Oceanography and a Ph.D. (2003) in Educational Psychology from the University of Connecticut. Her research has ranged from biogeochemical cycling in microbial mats for NASA's Astrobiology Institute to a quantitative examination of human potential and motivation. Currently Rachel is the Principal Investigator on a National Science Foundation Academy for Young Scientists grant and her research focus lies at the intersection of research science and education. Crystal Bruxvoort, Calvin College CRYSTAL N. BRUXVOORT is an Assistant Professor of Science Education in the Chemistry & Biochemistry Department at Calvin College. She received an M.A.T. in Education from Drake University in 1993 and a Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction/Science Education from Iowa State University in 2005. Her research interests focus on learning to do and teach science as inquiry, development of an accurate understanding of the nature of science, examining the critical role of the teacher in planning and implementing effective science instruction, and developing a pedagogical content knowledge base for science teacher educators.

Learning Experience in Mechanical Engineering First-Year Students

“…Reported numbers vary from one source to another, but a national average of about 55% is in reasonable agreement with the sources identified [1]- [7]. The first group of freshman mechanical engineering students were admitted to our program in Fall 2006.…”

Implementing an Industrial Mentoring Program to Enhance Student Motivation and Retention

“…Reported numbers vary from one source to another, but a national average of about 55% is in reasonable agreement with the sources identified. 2,3,4,5 All of our approximately 130 "First time in any college" (FTIAC) freshmen are the focus of the SEET's retention improvement efforts. The SEET's multifaceted initiatives for improving retention include several best-practice components, namely:…”

Work In Progress: Exploring the Impact of a Mentoring Structure on Female Persistence in Engineering

“…Since the 1950s, the engineering curriculum involved foundational mathematics and science gateway courses that led to student attrition [1][2][3][4][5]. Some broad factors for student attrition across multiple universities include academic climate, self-efficacy, selfperception, ineffective study skills, cultural background, ethnicity, race, and gender [1,2,[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Students' inability to persist in their engineering majors leads to a lack of motivation, self-doubt, and loss of self-confidence [14].…”

“…The notion of "weed out" courses promoted by faculty and their attitudes is a major factor in student attrition rates [5,15,16]. The attrition rates are even higher for first-time in college (FTIC) female students who struggle to navigate college success and have a different definition of academic success [9,17]. In contrast, the underrepresented minorities (URM) population among the FTIC students encounter additional barriers like stereotype threat, microaggressions, impostor syndrome, and lack of social connectedness [18].…”