The composition of first-year engineering curricula and its relationships to matriculation models and institutional characteristics

The preparation of technically excellent and innovative engineering graduates urges for a reform of the engineering curriculum to meet critical challenges in society (National Academy of Engineering, 2005). An examination of the current engineering curricula is needed to offer a baseline to further discuss if the curriculum reform meets the critical challenges. Meanwhile, concern about engineering retention prioritizes a review of the first-year engineering curricula. The existing literature does not include a nationwide examination of the first-year engineering curricula and introductory engineering courses. This study aspired to fill the gap by providing a detail description of the composition of first-year engineering curricula and introductory engineering courses of all ABET EAC-accredited programs. Furthermore, this study investigated the degree to which first-year engineering curricula and institutional characteristics varied by the matriculation policies of engineering programs. ^ To this end, this study analyzed the recommended first-year course sequences of 1,969 engineering programs and descriptions of 2,222 first-year engineering courses at all 408 U.S. institutions with ABET EAC-accredited programs. Keywords extracted from the engineering course descriptions were classified using a revised First-Year Engineering Course Classification Scheme (Reid, Reeping, & Spingola, 2013). In addition, institutional characteristics of 408 institutions grouped by matriculation models were examined. ^ There were five major findings. First, engineering courses took up 14-17% of total credit hours in the first year. Most first-year engineering courses were mandatory instead of elective or optional. Mathematics and science still formed the basis of the early engineering curriculum by accounting for more than half of the first-year credit hours. Second, the composition of first-year engineering curricula, the composition of first-year engineering courses, and the time when the first engineering course was required all varied by matriculation models. Third, topics related to engineering technologies and tools were listed most frequently in first-year engineering course descriptions, followed by topics related to design and the engineering profession. Topics related to global interest were seldom listed. Fourth, while first-year course composition varied by matriculation model, the most frequently listed topics were shared by programs with varied matriculation models, suggesting that content selection of first-year engineering courses was homogenous nationally. Lastly, institutions with different matriculation models had distinct characteristics, demonstrating the existence of relationships between institution-level and unit-level variables shown in the Model of Academic Plans in Context (Lattuca & Stark, 2009). ^ Findings of this study addressed fundamental questions of engineering education research, and had the potential to help program administrators and instructors with program and curriculum planning purposes

An Investigation of Engineering Majors: Graduates\u27 Enrollment Timelines and First-Year Students\u27 Perceptions and Exploration

The selection of a specific engineering major can substantially impact a student’s undergraduate experience and can also impact future career opportunities. This work is divided into complementary studies of Enrollment, Perception, and Exploration. Together, the three studies seek to answer six research questions related to (i) when and where students enroll in their graduation majors in different matriculation models, (ii) how students perceive both engineering in general and the engineering majors, and (iii) the impacts of a major exploration course on confidence in major choice, major changes, and fit and satisfaction in engineering in general and in the engineering majors. Primarily using the Attraction-Selection-Attrition Framework and the Student Integration Model, the Study of Enrollment investigates time to enrollment in graduation major and persistence using institutional records from multiple institutions. The results of this study indicate different patterns in enrollment in graduation major based on the institutions’ matriculation model. Generally, students at direct matriculation institutions enroll in their graduation major more quickly, but those students have more major changes than students at institutions with first-year engineering programs. Using a framework of Social Cognitive Career Theory and Expectancy-Value Theory, the Study of Perception uses free-response survey questions from a major exploration course to investigate changes in students’ perceptions of engineering in general and in the engineering majors. The results of this study show that students’ perceptions of engineering in general and their intended engineering majors are expanded during an optional major exploration course. Responses often become more specific at the end of the course compared to the beginning. Framed with the Attraction-Selection-Attrition Framework and the Student Integration Model, the Study of Exploration uses propensity score matching to create two matched groups to investigate the effects of a major exploration course on first-year engineering students’ confidence in major choice, major changes, and fit and satisfaction in engineering. The results of this study show significant differences in the frequency of major changes among students who enrolled in the major exploration course compared with those that do not. Other metrics, while not significant, have differences that are favorable for the major exploration course that highlight its value for helping students make a more informed major choice. The results of this work provide evidence that students are willing to change their engineering majors after matriculation. Students likely make changes to improve academic and social fit and integration and because of changes in perceptions of the engineering majors during their first year. Some changes in perception are likely the result of dedicated major exploration courses which also has a positive (but not statistically significant) impact on confidence in major selection as well as fit and satisfaction in engineering majors

Strategies for Improving the Diversity of the Health Professions

Evaluates programs and strategies that were designed to increase the number of underrepresented African Americans, Native Americans, and Latinos in the health professions in California. Includes recommendations

The effect of selected academic development programmes on the academic performance of academic development students at a South African university : an empirical study.

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.The case studies that make up this thesis cover the three largest academic development programmes at the University of Cape Town. A variety of statistical methods are used to estimate the effect of educational interventions in selected first- and second-year academic development courses on the academic performance of academic development students in these courses and through to graduation, relative to mainstream students. In general, research in this area in South Africa and internationally has been characterised by small sample sizes and a lack of statistical rigour. Few studies control for the range of independent variables that can affect students’ academic performance, in addition to the academic development programme or course, and the great majority ignore the sampleselection problem that arises in the selection of students for academic development and mainstream programmes. The theoretical rationale underpinning this thesis is informed by the postpositivist and evidence-based approaches to empirical investigation. Demographic, academic and other data for some 9000 students for the years 1999?2005 was obtained from the university’s data base and academic departments. Statistical techniques including multivariate analysis and propensity score matching are used in an attempt to finesse the problems associated with the use of non-experimental data as students are selected into different courses and programmes

Alternative Pathways to High School Graduation: An International Comparison

Evaluates alternative pathways to high school graduation -- such as school- or employment-based technical or vocational training programs -- in different countries, in terms of content, graduation requirements, inclusiveness, and outcomes

Newark College of Engineering Graduate Programs 1971-72 Academic Year

https://digitalcommons.njit.edu/coursecatalogs/1024/thumbnail.jp

Disadvantaged students' academic performance: analysing the zone of proximal development

The aim of the study is to investigate the practical application of Vygotsky's construct of the Zone of Proximal Development to the selection of disadvantaged students in higher education. There is a need in post-apartheid South Africa, with its legacy of inequality in educational experiences, to find accurate and fair predictors of academic performance that would act as alternatives to matriculation marks and static tests. The study relates the students' response to mediation to their academic performance and analyses the role that non-cognitive factors such as motivation, approaches to learning and learning strategies play in cognitive performance. The investigation was done in the form of different studies using over 400 first year students at the Peninsula Technikon as subjects. The first study focused on the effectiveness of the mediated lessons that form part of the two dynamic tests using a Solomon Four Group and a Two Group design. The second study made a comparison between the predictive validity of past academic achievement conventional static tests, several non-cognitive variables as well as the two dynamic tests. In the third study the students' response to a period of mediation was analysed. The fourth study focused on comparing different groups of students according to the following classification: schooling, gender, language, type of course and assessment and level of course to see whether any of the variables would have a moderator effect Finally a differention was made between the profiles of more successful as opposed to less successful students. The weight of evidence of the study indicates that it is possible to find alternatives to matriculation marks and static tests in selecting disadvantaged students by making use of the concept of the Zone of Proximal Development The results further showed that disadvantaged students are not a homogeneous group. Although the matriculation marks seemed to be the best single predictor of academic performance for the total group of students, alternative predictors were identified when looking at different subgroups. Modifiability (students' response to mediation) had a moderator effect on the predictive power of various variables. For the less modifiable group of students, the matriculation marks and, to a certain extent, static tests were good predictors, while for the more modifiable group of students a dynamic test proved to be a significant predictor of academic performance. The implications of the findings for the selection and academic development of disadvantaged students are discussed

Newark College of Engineering Graduate Programs 1970-71 Academic Year

https://digitalcommons.njit.edu/coursecatalogs/1025/thumbnail.jp