Engineering undergraduate persistence and contributing factors

Abstract

The engineers of 2020 must be technically sound in their disciplines, global citizens, as well as aspirational, ethical leaders. To foster a new generation of engineering talent, modern curricula must advance strong analytical skills, teamwork, professionalism, and leadership. However, new curriculum with poor student retention cannot be deemed successful. We believe we possess the key components of a successful program, such as well-designed curricula, dedicated faculty and strong support services, yet many students leave our School. There is widespread speculation about the reasons for leaving, including financial need and lack of academic preparedness. To address these national and local retention phenomena, an evaluation process was designed to obtain quantitative information about why our students leave. The study assessed student attitudes associated with educational experiences in their new major contrasted to their engineering experiences. Thus, information gained could be a basis for decision making for future processes and proposed improvements. Engineering is committed to the challenge of developing solutions to increase the overall retention rate and diversity of engineering graduates to meet both internal and external pressures for accountability and industry demands. This paper will address some of the viable solutions to counter the problems identified in our study as well as a discussion of how they have been implemented in our school.

Academic Advising: Perceptions of Students in a Lebanese University

“…These findings were in line with other research in the literature. For example, Haag, Hubele, Garcia, and Mcbeath (2007) found that the complaints of their engineering participants about inadequate advising were partly due to their advisors' incorrect information about course requirements. Similarly, Young-Jones et al (2013) stressed the importance of the availability of the advisor for his/her advisees on their feeling of being academically supported.…”

Framework for the Development of a Study on Authentic Problem Solving Skills in K-12 Grades

“…Included in this report is the recommendation for more studies on the K-12 students' transition to college to better understand the acquisition of important interdisciplinary cross-cutting concepts in STEM their influence on retention and persistence of students in the STEM disciplines. Furthermore, with respect to students' success in college especially in STEM disciplines, students switch out of these disciplines due to their inadequate high-school preparation for challenging math or science courses (Seymour & Hewitt, 2000, Haag, Hubele, Garcia & McBeath, 2007. Among other reasons for students' failure to persist in college STEM programs, Haag, et al (2007) note that students' under preparation is caused by deficiencies in content and domain specific depth of knowledge, and lack of students' skills and habits in problem solving within science and mathematics topics (p. 932).…”

“…Furthermore, with respect to students' success in college especially in STEM disciplines, students switch out of these disciplines due to their inadequate high-school preparation for challenging math or science courses (Seymour & Hewitt, 2000, Haag, Hubele, Garcia & McBeath, 2007. Among other reasons for students' failure to persist in college STEM programs, Haag, et al (2007) note that students' under preparation is caused by deficiencies in content and domain specific depth of knowledge, and lack of students' skills and habits in problem solving within science and mathematics topics (p. 932). Students' SAT scores and high-school standardized test scores do not reflect these types of deficiencies.…”

Development of an engineering identity: personal discovery of classroom mathematics in ‘real engineering’

“…Retention of students in engineering studies is currently of interest worldwide as well as in South Africa (Hartman & Hartman, 2006;Suresh, 2006/7;Haag, Hubele, Garcia & McBeath, 2007;Scott, Yeld & Hendry, 2007;Allie et al, 2009). One approach to the issue of student retention suggests that lack of development of "engineering identity" results in attrition as students leave tertiary studies or move to other fields of study (Allie et al, 2009).…”