The Relationship between Barrier Courses and Persistence in Engineering

Suresh, Radhika

doi:10.2190/3qtu-6eel-hqhf-xyf0

Cited by 130 publications

(120 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Prior research has shown that these "barrier courses" are a key reason why students leave STEM fields (Seymour and Hewitt 1997). Further, students' perception that a course is meant to weed students out shapes their performance in said course (Suresh 2006); therefore, it seems likely that a weed-out culture might also impact students' sense of belonging in their chosen field. To be sure, not all introductory computing courses are designed to weed-out students; the computing field is making significant efforts to encourage participation from groups historically underrepresented in computing (e.g., women, URM students, and those lacking prior computing experience), which has included efforts to make introductory courses more inclusive (Alvarado et al 2012).…”

Section: Curricular Experiences In Computingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sense of Belonging in Computing: The Role of Introductory Courses for Women and Underrepresented Minority Students

et al. 2018

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Abstract:This study examines an aspect of gender and racial/ethnic gaps in undergraduate computing by focusing on sense of belonging among women and underrepresented minority (URM) introductory computing students. We examine change in sense of belonging during the introductory course as well as the predictors of belonging, with attention to conditional effects by gender and URM status. Results show that sense of belonging outcomes are a product of both incoming student characteristics and college environments and experiences, highlighting the important role the computing faculty play in fostering belonging. These and other findings are discussed, focusing on sense of belonging among women, URM students, and URM women.

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Section: Curricular Experiences In Computingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sense of Belonging in Computing: The Role of Introductory Courses for Women and Underrepresented Minority Students

et al. 2018

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“…Suresh (2006) 22 found that a majority of engineering majors who earned a B-minus or below in Calculus I, Calculus II, and Physics I-strategic "gatekeeper" courses-left engineering. The freshman year model identified grades in Physics I, Calculus I, and Chemistry I as the best predictors of retention.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Successful Strategies for Engaging Community Colleges and Universities in Transfer Partnership

Laugerman

Rover

Mickelson

et al. 2014

2014 ASEE North Midwest Section Conference: Engineering Something More

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IntroductionIn order to increase the number of students (U.S. citizens or permanent residents) receiving associate or baccalaureate degrees in established or emerging fields within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), the National Science Foundation (NSF) established the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Talent Expansion Program (STEP).The Student Enrollment and Engagement through Connections (SEEC) project is a collaboration between Iowa State University (ISU) and Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) funded by a STEP grant to increase the number of students graduating with a bachelor's degree in engineering at ISU and the number of students in pre-engineering study at DMACC.In this paper, we present the SEEC project goals, conceptual framework, specific project results, and best practices which identify key messages for others developing STEM partnerships. Of the many successful SEEC practices, this paper will focus on four which are foundational to success of CC transfers to engineering. These are: 1) collaboration between institutions, 2) creation of an engineering orientation course at the CC, 3) development of an engineering admissions partnership program, offered by the university for CC students, and 4) data collection and analysis for informed decision making. Program strategies include engaging community college (CC) transfer students while still at the CC, messaging for academic advisors, faculty, and students based upon CC student success data, and the sharing of results of several data briefs which summarize relevant results of a research study on student success. In addition to providing data analysis, the results determine distinctive strategies to increase the success of CC transfers in engineering. Highlights include the creation of a transfer-friendly environment, a community of practice through partnerships, greater awareness about engineering and engineering careers, student-faculty interaction related to educating and training the engineer of 2020, and new datasets for research and evaluation.The SEEC project was informed in part by research from the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) Changing the Conversation report (2008) 1 , which reports results of a research-based effort to develop and test new, more effective messages about engineering. The overall conclusion of the report is that the public image of engineering and engineers must appeal to the optimism and aspirations of students and must be all-inclusive. In the past, the image of 2 engineers has been focused mostly on white males and messages have emphasized the preparation, especially in math and science, necessary for engineering careers. Recently, a NAE report, Messaging for Engineering: From Research to Action (2013) 2 supports these efforts by the engineering community to communicate more effectively about the profession and those who practice it. It concluded that to interest young people from all backgrounds, the new messages must cast engineering as inherently creative and concer...

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“…In fact, Beanland, a prominent engineering educator, claims "the biggest factor contributing to the failure of engineering students is inadequate competence in mathematics" 2 . Suresh 3 reports that roughly 50% of engineering majors change majors or drop out in the first or second year, due in part to performance in mathematics, as reported by Felder et al 4 . Recently, Pearson and Miller 5 found that nearly onethird of students who enter an engineering program fail to complete it, and they also found that the two strongest predictors of completion of a baccalaureate in engineering were completion of a calculus course in high school and the number of college calculus courses taken.…”

Section: Can the Spacing Effect Improve The Effectiveness Of A Math Imentioning

confidence: 92%

Can the Spacing Effect Improve the Effectiveness of a Math Intervention Course for Engineering Students?

Hopkins¹,

Hieb²,

Ralston³

et al.

2015 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition Proceedings

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The Relationship between Barrier Courses and Persistence in Engineering

Cited by 130 publications

References 3 publications

Sense of Belonging in Computing: The Role of Introductory Courses for Women and Underrepresented Minority Students

Sense of Belonging in Computing: The Role of Introductory Courses for Women and Underrepresented Minority Students

Successful Strategies for Engaging Community Colleges and Universities in Transfer Partnership

Can the Spacing Effect Improve the Effectiveness of a Math Intervention Course for Engineering Students?

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