Predicting Success among First-Year Engineering Students at the Rand Afrikaans University

2003 ◽  
Vol 93 (2) ◽  
pp. 399-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacobus G. Maree ◽  
Anlia Pretorius ◽  
Riëtte J. Eiselen
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Linear Regression ◽  
Mathematics Anxiety ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Aggregate Score ◽  
Predicting Success ◽  
Study Orientation ◽  
And Mathematics

160 first-year students in the Engineering Faculty at the Rand Afrikaans University completed the Study Orientation Questionnaire in Mathematics and the Senior Aptitude Test Advanced. 100 students who passed and 40 who failed the first year scored significantly differently on three subtests, Calculations, Study attitude in mathematics, and Problem-solving behaviour in mathematics. Step-wise linear regression showed a combination of three fields, namely, Calculations, Study attitude in mathematics, and Mathematics anxiety, contributed significantly ( R2 = 25.8%) towards predicting the first-year aggregate score of first-year engineering students.

scholarly journals A Laboratory-Centered Approach to Introducing Engineering Students to Electric Circuit and Electric Systems Concepts

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cyrus Shafai ◽  
Behzad Kordi
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Electric Circuit ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
First Year ◽  
Computer Engineering ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Electrical Systems ◽  
Different Types

The teaching of electric circuit analysis traditionally involves problem solving to ensure understanding of analysis theorems, complemented by laboratory experience. When taught to first year Engineering students, this approach lacks a motivational component and presents difficulties due to the weaker mathematics and problem solving skills of first year students. This paper presents a laboratory-centered approach to introduce engineering students to electric devices and systems. Using open-ended design projects, students explore and construct different types of electrical systems. Laboratories are selected so as to develop student intuition in electrical concepts, scientific fundamentals, provide a historical background, and demonstrate systems-level design issues. Over the past three years in our Department, using this approach, increased student motivation and engagement has been observed, supported by a significant increase in Electrical and Computer Engineering enrollment.

REVERSE ENGINEERING: TENSION RATCHET DISSECTION PROJECT

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremiah Vanderlaan ◽  
Josh Richert ◽  
James Morrison ◽  
Thomas Doyle
Keyword(s):  
Reverse Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Measurement Techniques ◽  
First Year ◽  
Stepping Stones ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Final Project ◽  
Undergraduate Study ◽  
Solid Edge ◽  
Part Modeling

We are a group of engineering students, in our first year of undergraduate study. We have been selected from one thousand first year students and have competed and won the PACE competition. All engineers share a common general first year, but we have been accepted into Civil and Mechanical engineering. This project was assigned as the final project in the Design and Graphics course. The project we are tasked with, called the Cornerstone Design Project, is to first dissect a product, discover how it works, dimension each part and create a fully assembled model using CAD software (Solid Edge V20 in our case). As part of discovering how it works we must benchmark it so the device can be compared with competing products. The goal of the project is to develop a full understanding of part modeling and assembly in Solid Edge, learn proper measurement techniques, and learn the process of reverse engineering and product dissection. All of these tasks were stepping stones to help us fully understand how the device, and all its components, work.

First-Year Engineering Computing Courses in Canadian Engineering Programs

1969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Maw ◽  
Janice Miller Young ◽  
Alexis Morris
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Expected Value ◽  
Knowledge Development ◽  
First Year ◽  
Recent Past ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Digital Computation ◽  
Pedagogical Philosophies ◽  
Introductory Computing

Most Canadian engineering students take a computing course in their first year that introduces them to digital computation. The Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board does not specify the language(s) that can or should be used for instruction. As a result, a variety of languages are used across Canada. This study examines which languages are used in degree-granting institutions, currently and in the recent past. It also examines why institutions have chosen the languages that they currently use. In addition to the language used in instruction, the types and hours of instruction are also analyzed. Methods of instruction and evaluation are compared, as well as the pedagogical philosophies of the different programs with respect to introductory computing. Finally, a comparison of the expected value of this course to graduates is also presented. We found a more diverse landscape for introductory computing courses than anticipated, in most respects. The guiding ethos at most institutions is skill and knowledge development, especially around problem solving in an engineering context. The methods to achieve this are quite varied, and so are the languages employed in such courses. Most programs currently use C/C++, Matlab, VB and/or Python.

scholarly journals Bridging the gap: blending spatial skills instruction into a technology teacher preparation programme

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diarmaid Lane ◽  
Sheryl Sorby
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Future Research ◽  
First Year ◽  
Spatial Skills ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Base Level ◽  
Technology Teacher ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
The Impact

AbstractIn recent years, there has been a surge in research in spatial thinking across the international community. We now know that spatial skills are malleable and that they are linked to success across multiple disciplines, most notably Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). While spatial skills have been examined by cognitive scientists in laboratory environments for decades, current research is examining how these skills can be developed in field-based environments. In this paper, we present findings from a study within a Technology Teacher preparation programme where we examined first-year students’ spatial skills on entry to university. We explain why it was necessary to embed a spatial skills intervention into Year 1 of the programme and we describe the impact that this had on students’ spatial scores and on academic performance. The findings from our study highlight a consistent gender gap in spatial scores at the start of the first-year with female students entering the Technology Teacher preparation programme at a lower base level than male students. We describe how we integrated spatial development activities into an existing course and how an improvement in spatial scores and overall course performance was observed. The paper concludes by discussing the long-term sustainability of integrating spatial interventions within teacher preparation programmes while also highlighting the importance of future research to examine spatial skills as a fundamental component of technological capability.

scholarly journals What Can Students’ Bibliographies Tell Us?- Evidence Based Information Skills Teaching for Engineering Students

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fei Yu ◽  
Jan Sullivan ◽  
Leith Woodall
Keyword(s):  
Web Sites ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Chemical Engineering ◽  
First Year ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Internet Resources ◽  
Information Skills ◽  
Upper Level ◽  
Department Faculty

Objective - This project sought to identify students’ strengths and weaknesses in locating, retrieving, and citing information in order to deliver information skills workshops more effectively. Methods - Bibliographies submitted from first-year engineering and second- and fourth-year chemical engineering students’ project reports were analysed for the number of items cited, the variety of items cited, and the correct use of citation style. The topics of the project reports were also reviewed to see the relationships between the topics and the items cited. Results - The results show that upper level students cited more items in total than did lower level students in their bibliographies. Second- and fourth-year engineering students cited more books and journal articles than first-year students cited. Web sites were used extensively by all three groups of students, and for some first-year students these were the most frequently used sources. Students from all three groups had difficulties with citation style. Conclusion - There was a clear difference in citation frequency between upper and lower level engineering students. Different strategies of information skills instruction are needed for different levels of students. Librarians and department faculty members need to include good quality Internet resources in their teaching and to change the emphasis from finding information to finding, interpreting, and citing accurately.

Education for sustainable development in Spanish higher education: an assessment of sustainability competencies in engineering and education degrees

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fermín Sánchez-Carracedo ◽  
Daniel Romero-Portillo ◽  
Bàrbara Sureda Carbonell ◽  
Francisco Manuel Moreno-Pino
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
First Year ◽  
Education Students ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Spanish Higher Education ◽  
Percentage Measure ◽  
University Degree

Purpose This paper aims to present a methodology for analysing the extent to which students of a university degree perceive that they have received a good education for sustainable development (ESD). The methodology enables us to quantify this perception, which, in turn, allows us to determine: to what extent the objectives related to ESD are achieved in the degree, and to compare the learning in ESD perceived by students of different degrees. The methodology is applied to nine engineering degrees and nine education degrees in the Spanish university system. Design/methodology/approach ESD is analysed from the students’ learning perception. This perception is measured by comparing the responses of first- and fourth-year students to a questionnaire about their sustainability competencies. Two indicators have been designed to analyse the results. The first indicator, learning increase, measures the declared learning difference between fourth- and first-year students. The second indicator, learning percentage, measure the amount of learning as reported by fourth-year students compared to how much they could have learned. Findings The results show that the average learning percentage perceived by students is higher in engineering degrees (33%) than in education degrees (27%), despite the fact that the average learning increase declared by students at the end of their studies in both areas of knowledge is similar (66%). Engineering students report having achieved higher learning than education students in all sustainability competencies, with the exception of ethics. Originality/value This paper analyses ESD from the student’s perspective. Furthermore, to the knowledge of the authors, this is the first study that compares the perception of ESD between engineering and education students. This comparison allows us to determine the different approaches that university Professors take to ESD according to the discipline they teach.

CAD Platform Independent Software for Automatic Grading of Technical Drawings

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanchit Ingale ◽  
Anirudh Srinivasan ◽  
Diana Bairaktarova
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Spatial Reasoning ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Spatial Visualization ◽  
First Year ◽  
Spatial Skills ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Pedagogical Tool ◽  
Students Success ◽  
Mechanical Objects

Spatial visualization is the ability of an individual to imagine an object mentally and understand its spatial orientation. There have been multiple works proving that spatial visualization skills can be improved with an appropriate training. Such training warrant a critical place in the undergraduate engineering curricula in many engineering schools as spatial skills are considered vital for students’ success in the technical and design fields [1–4]. Enhanced spatial skills help not only professionals in the engineering field but also everyone in the 21st century environment. Drawing sectional views requires mental manipulation and visual thinking. To enhance students spatial reasoning, one of the authors of this study, conducted a class in spatial visualization. The course-learning goal aimed at improving first-year engineering students’ spatial reasoning through instruction on freehand drawings of sectional view. During the semester, two teaching assistants had to grade more than 500 assignments that consisted of sectional views of mechanical objects. This was a tedious and a time consuming task. Motivated by this experience, this paper proposes a software aiming at automating grading of students’ sectional view drawings. The proposed software will also give live feedback to students while they are working on the drawings. This interactive tool aims to 1) improve the learning experience of first year students, with limited CAD knowledge, and 2) introduce a pedagogical tool that can enhance spatial visualization training.

scholarly journals Emotional Intelligence and Stress Coping Strategies Among Students of Physical Education and Sport Study Programs

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (115) ◽  
Author(s):  
Romualdas Malinauskas ◽  
Tomas Saulius ◽  
Giedrius Kaufmanas
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Physical Education ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
First Year ◽  
Stress Coping ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Study Programs ◽  
Stress Coping Strategies

Background. Studies of various scholars confirm the relation between the application of stress coping strategies and emotional intelligence, but there is a lack of research about the relationship between individual coping strategies and emotional intelligence levels among the first- and the fourth-year students. The aim of the research was to reveal peculiarities of emotional intelligence and stress coping strategies of undergraduate students of physical education and sport study programs.Methods. The Shutte Self-Assessment Questionnaire was used to measure the level of emotional intelligence of the participants (Schutte & Malouff, 1999). The questionnaire composed by Grakauskas and Valickas (2006) was used to identify the stress coping strategies. It consists of four factors: social support factor, problem-solving factor, emotional discharge factor and avoidance factor. The research was based on the following ethical principles: confidentiality, anonymity, impartiality and privacy. The first- and the fourth-year students of the Lithuanian Sports University and Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences, Physical Education and Sports Programs were surveyed. The research sample consisted of 123 participants. Male participants comprised 66.7% of the sample, and the female participants comprised 33.3%. of the sample. The first-year undergraduates made up 57.7% of the sample, and the fourth-year undergraduates made up 42.3% of the sample.Results. Analyzing the data on the stress coping strategies according to the participants studying experience, it was found that the fourth-year students used the social support strategy more frequently in comparison with the first-year students. In addition, the fourth-year students applied emotional discharge and avoidance strategies more often than the first-year students. Comparing stress coping strategies and emotional intelligence according to the gender of participants, no statistically significant differences were found. There was a statistically significant relationship between the stress coping strategy and the ability to evaluate and express one’s emotions.Conclusions. Comparing emotional intelligence of the first- and the fourth-year students of physical education and sports study programs, no statistically significant differences were found. Comparison of stress coping strategies applied by the first- and the fourth-year students of physical education and sports degree programs revealed that the fourth-year students tended to use social support, emotional discharge and avoidance strategies more frequently than the first-year students. Comparison of stress coping strategies and emotional intelligence according to gender did not show any statistically significant differences. However, there was a statistically significant relationship between stress coping strategies and emotional intelligence, though it was a weak, but significant difference between emotional intelligence components such as the ability to express and manage emotions and problem-solving focused stress coping strategy.Keywords: stress, stress management strategies, emotional intelligence.

Role of Emotional Intelligence in Academic Achievement

2014 ◽  
pp. 255-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tripti Singh ◽  
Manish Kumar Verma ◽  
Rupali Singh
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Social Intelligence ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
School Level ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Academic Achievements ◽  
Emotional Intelligence Inventory

The purpose of this study is to see whether there is a relationship between emotional intelligence and academic achievement. The study respondents were B.Tech first year students from the Agra region. Sampling is stratified, making sure that gender, race, socioeconomic status, and abilities are appropriately represented. The respondents are given Emotional Intelligence Inventory (EII–MM), developed by S. K. Mangal and Shubhra Mangal. It consists of 100 items under four scales .The analysis suggests that there is a significant relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Academic Achievement. IQ alone is no more the measure for success; emotional intelligence, social intelligence, and luck also play a big role in a person's success. This study contributes in acknowledging the fact that even engineering students’ academic achievements are attached with Emotional intelligence. Thus, teaching emotional and social skills only at the school level is not sufficient; this can be taught in engineering studies, as well for accomplishing high academic achievements.

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