scholarly journals High School Pre-Engineering Programs: Do They Contribute To College Retention?

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belinda Cole ◽  
Karen High ◽  
Kathryn Weinland

The study examines the retention of studentsin the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology at Oklahoma StateUniversity that enter college with a defined course sequence in a pre-engineeringprogram from a regional career technology center as compared with the retentionrates of university engineering students for the same time period. In additionto descriptive data, results from one-sample

Author(s):  
Paul Neufeld ◽  
Omid Mirzaei ◽  
Mark Runco ◽  
Sean Maw

Is creativity important in engineering design? If it is, then why do most undergraduate engineering programs spend so little time teaching creativity? And therefore, as a result of our programs, do our students emerge more creative, less creative or no different compared to when they arrived? If creativity is worth developing, can we accurately measure it in our students, and can we enhance it systematically?These were some of the questions that motivated the initiation of a creativity research program in the College of Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan. The assumption was that creativity is important in engineering, especially in design. The intent was to understand how we could assess creativity in our students and then enhance it.The focus of this initial study is a precursor to many of these more applied questions. We had students and faculty from a variety of Colleges, including Engineering, answer an online survey that probed attitudes towards creativity, respondent personality characteristics, opinions regarding conditional influences on creativity, and potential demographic factors influencing the creativity of individuals. As well, we employed a validated creativity attitudes and beliefs measurement tool (rCAB) as an accepted benchmark for assessment.The survey included both closed- and open-ended questions. The results from some of the open-ended questions have been analyzed to determine emerging groups of similar types of answers, and then efforts have been made to relate the groups in a meaningful framework.The results for the Engineering students are emphasized, but they are also compared with students and faculty from other Colleges. Closed questions were analyzed using inferential statistical tests (distributions, means, standard deviations, t-tests, ANOVA, Cronbach’s alpha), while the open-ended responses are compared more qualitatively when they cannot be quantified easily.The survey went through ethics approval and was distributed in the latter half of the Fall 2015 term.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Mosly

This paper studied the significance of entrepreneurship education in engineering programs. It looked into its influence on engineering students’ perception and willingness to change their future job direction. The study was performed at the College of Engineering-Rabigh Branch, of King Abdulaiziz University in Saudi Arabia. Entrepreneurship education was introduced in 2013 to all of the college’s engineering programs in the form of an introductory course on entrepreneurship (IEN 481). This study reveals the importance of entrepreneurship education to engineering students, as the majority of study participants seek to establish their own business in the future. Moreover, 90% of the participants agreed that the IEN 481 course provided them with sufficient knowledge and skills required to establish their future businesses. In addition, the IEN 481 course changed the students’ mindsets and increased their entrepreneurial awareness.


Author(s):  
Rachel Figueiredo ◽  
Helen Power ◽  
Kate Mercer ◽  
Matthew Borland

As the information landscape becomes increasingly complex, librarians must adapt accordingly. With information so readily available, students overestimate their research skills and lack awareness of how the library can help. However, librarians’ academic training makes them ideal resources to support students’ complex information needs - whether students know it or not. In this paper, we argue that embedded librarianship is the solution to this disconnect between librarian and user. Specifically, this paper provides case studies at two Canadian universities of librarians approaching embedded librarianship from different directions. At the University of Waterloo, two engineering librarians worked toward an embedded model of librarianship where this was not yet an established model in the Faculty of Engineering. At the University of Saskatchewan, a librarian was hired with the intention of the new position being embedded, without a formal structure or precedent for this within the College of Engineering.  The term “embedded librarian” describes a service model where an academic librarian participates in an academic course or program on a continuing basis in order to understand the learning objectives and determine which resources best support them. In order to “do this, the librarian has to be familiar with the work and understand the domain and goals. Doing this, the librarian becomes an invaluable member of the team” [1]. The variables associated with embeddedness include location, funding, management and supervision, and participation [1]. To this end, the authors explore how each of these variables contribute to the success of moving towards this embedded model: how moving out of the library influences overall connection, how they acquired funding to grow a new collection, how management supports the overall goal, and how sustained participation in the program grows new opportunities.  At both universities, librarians have seen most success embedding in programs with a strong emphasis on integrated STEM education where the focus is on providing real-world context with the aim of graduating well-rounded engineers [2]. The authors will discuss how programmatic learning outcomes and trends in integrated and interdisciplinary education have allowed them to stretch beyond the traditional boundaries of academic librarianship to demonstrate value to the Engineering departments in new ways.  This paper reports on the experiences, advantages, and lessons learned in moving toward this model, and provides concrete examples for adapting these concepts to programs at other institutions. Through an intrinsic case study [3] the authors aim to understand how librarians’ embeddedness can adapt and change to support student learning in different contexts. This session is targeted towards practicing engineering librarians and engineering faculty members and educators. Attendees will leave the session with ideas on how to stimulate new partnerships between their library and Engineering programs.  


Author(s):  
Paul Winkelman

With curricula based largely on science and mathematics, engineering programs promote the ideal of striving for that one predetermined, correct answer. Design, being open-ended, cannot promote that single, correct answer. Thus, the paradigm of design and that of science and mathematics are not the same, presenting pedagogical challenges. The metaphor of the podium is used to highlight these challenges and suggest ways that engineering curricula might be reconstructed to honour design as well as science and mathematics. Case studies, consisting of interviews and focus groups of prospective and first-year engineering students, as well as high school teachers, provide the data for the research.


2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-34
Author(s):  
Quamrul H. Mazumder ◽  
Mary Jo Finney

Engineering is a complex field of study.  Declining enrollment in engineering programs in the United States is of concern and understanding the various factors that contribute to this decline is in order.   Fostering a higher level of student engagement with the content may foster passion towards engineering which could increase academic competency as well as sustained interest in remaining in the profession.  This study examined the role of passion toward engineering content on students’ overall academic performance in an introductory course taught to university and high school students.  A pre-test, post-test, weekly surveys and periodic classroom observation measured levels of passion in the student, classmates, and professor. Mid-semester feedback prompted the professor to adjust his teaching for the purpose of infusing greater student passion towards the content. Results suggest that student passion in both settings fluctuated widely from week to week perhaps due to variable interest in the specific topic.  Overall, high school students’ level of passion remained more stable than that of university students and they performed better academically. Among university students, higher passion was not linked to higher academic performance.  Professor’s passion was highly valued by students though it did not increase their own passion.  


Author(s):  
Joel B. Frey ◽  
Ryan Banow

Many students entering an engineering program have a strong appreciation of the importance of math- and science-based skills for their future career as an engineer, but often have little grasp of what it means to be entering a professional college.  For this reason, many engineering programs in Canada include some form of an “Introduction to the Engineering Profession” in their first-year program.  The University of Saskatchewan’s College of Engineering has been working toward the launch of a completely redesigned first year program.  This project has afforded the College an opportunity to apply a novel and transferable approach to shaping this “Introduction to the Engineering” experience.  The structure of the proposed new first year program has allowed for short and intensive “Introduction to Engineering” modules, which bookend each of the regular session terms.  This timing makes them an orientation for the program, allowing for timely deep dives into matters of importance to engineering students: study skills, time-management, teamwork, self-assessment, support services, student well-being, ethics, academic integrity, and health and safety.  The timing of the modules also allows for completion of term-long assignments and reflection on both personal and academic growth. This paper describes the process employed to develop the course learning outcomes, schedule of topics and activities, and syllabi.  The process focused on over-arching target attitudes, such as “I am on the path to becoming a professional”, and ensured constructive alignment between these attitudes and the learning outcomes, learning activities, and assessment.  The nature of the process made it easy to clarify what was essential to include in the courses, and to make a compelling case for the importance of the courses in the context of a myriad of foundational technical topics.   


Author(s):  
Scott Davies ◽  
Qin Liu ◽  
Greg Evans

This paper reports an analysis of an integrated data set that longitudinally tracked over 14,000 students from Canada’s largest school board (the Toronto District School Board [TDSB]) into Canada’s largest university (the University of Toronto [UofT]). Our analysis showed that when controlling for high school academic records and other student demographics, immigrant students from TDSB were more likely to pursue engineering than other fields of study; math ability was a strong predictor for the TDSB-UofT Engineering pathway; and while engineering students had better academic outcomes than other students, they had lower CGPAs than would be predicted by their academic performance in high school. These findings reveal three characteristics of UofT Engineering: its selectivity and rigor, transnational character of its student population, and complex student diversity. The study also suggests UofT Engineering look into its grading practices.


2005 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D.A. Parker ◽  
Donald H. Saklofske ◽  
Laura M. Wood ◽  
Jennifer M. Eastabrook ◽  
Robyn N. Taylor

Abstract. The concept of emotional intelligence (EI) has attracted growing interest from researchers working in various fields. The present study examined the long-term stability (32 months) of EI-related abilities over the course of a major life transition (the transition from high school to university). During the first week of full-time study, a large group of undergraduates completed the EQ-i:Short; 32 months later a random subset of these students (N = 238), who had started their postsecondary education within 24 months of graduating from high school, completed the measures for a second time. The study found EI scores to be relatively stable over the 32-month time period. EI scores were also found to be significantly higher at Time 2; the overall pattern of change in EI-levels was more than can be attributed to the increased age of the participants.


2000 ◽  
Vol 632 ◽  
Author(s):  
William E. Brower

ABSTRACTThe fifth grade inner city volunteer teaching project (5GVP) at Marquette University's College of Engineering has attempted to inform and inspire Milwaukee's inner city fifth graders about engineering for the last ten years. Each year I have recruited our engineering students to volunteer to take self contained science lessons into the Milwaukee Public Schools'fifth grade classrooms. Although the lessons are on science and the career touted is engineering in general, the lessons are flavored by my being in MSE. Being excited about a career is certainly a precursor to choosing that career. I have found the fifth graders very excited about seeing and experiencing science in action as the engineering students present it to them. Hopefully, the program at Marquette will result in more inner city students choosing to enter college as engineers, with MSE garnering its usual share.


TABULARASA ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodiani Fatmah Hasibuan ◽  
Busmin Gurning ◽  
Eddy Setia

This study dealt with the development of English Reading Materials of vocational school, Al-WashliyahTeladan Medan, majoring Software Engineering. The objectives of this study were to: 1) find out language skill and materials are needed by the students of Software Engineering, 2) develop the English materials for the majoring in software engineering students at the vocational high school grade XII. This study was conducted by Educational Research and Development R&D (Borg & Gall, 1989). The data of this research were from existing documents and the result of interview with teacher and student. The results of the research conveyed that the existing reading materials were mostly irrelevant because the title and content of the material was not appropriate and was not required for the students majoring in software engineering. The new English reading materials and syllabus were developed based on the students need related to the workplace. The materials and syllabus were developed from the existing materials from teacher. The developing materials were validated by two experts.


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