Improving Student Success and Retention Rates in Engineering: An Innovative Approach for First-year Courses
Improving Student Success and Retention Rates in Engineering: An Innovative Approach for First-year Courses
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提高工程学生的成功率和保留率：一年级课程的创新方法
DOI：
10.18260/p.24263
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发表时间：
2015
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Nova Alexandria Glinski Schauss
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Steffen Peuker;Nova Alexandria Glinski Schauss
为了加强一年级工程专业学生的承诺并提高保留率，开发了一种创新方法，将以学生发展为重点的一年级课程与一个名为“设计成为世界一流工程专业学生的过程”的项目联系起来。该项目设置在第一年的工程方向课程，将学术成功策略与工程学院知识相结合。通过该项目，学生们面临的挑战是设计他们个性化的学习过程，通过提高学生的技能，信心和动力，在工程上取得成功，对他们的学术成功产生重大影响。该方法目前在全国30多个机构实施。两个四年制机构-俄勒冈州州立大学和阿拉斯加大学安克雷奇-一年后，初步实施的结果。虽然样本量在俄勒冈州州立大学是小的（N=17），结果是强大的大学内的保留。在完成课程的学生（N=17）中，94%的学生一年后留在大学，而对照组为53%，这导致了统计学上的显著差异（p<0.01）。参加该课程的学生（GPA为2.82）与对照组（GPA为2.63）相比，一年后累积GPA的差异确实显示出增加;但是，它并没有被证明具有统计学意义。阿拉斯加大学安克雷奇分校的初步结果表明，将学生发展课程与“设计成为世界一流工程学生的过程”项目联系起来的方法对第一年工程学生的保留和表现产生了积极影响。第一年后，参加该课程的学生（N=151）的累积GPA为3.00，而对照组的学生（N=112）为2.51，显示出统计学显著差异（p<0.001）。一年后的留存率在5%的水平上没有统计学显著性（p=0.08），但是，观察到第一年的留存率从79.5%增加到87.4%。在这两个机构的实施是完成成本中性;唯一的投资是教师重新设计课程内容的时间。根据这两个机构第一年的实施结果，将学生发展课程与“设计成为世界级工程学生的过程”项目联系起来的方法是提高工程学生成功率和保留率的有效方法，因为它几乎可以在任何地方以最小的成本和课程变化实施。
To strengthen the commitment of first-year engineering students and improve retention rates, an innovative approach has been developed linking student development focused first-year courses and a project called “Design Your Process of Becoming a World-Class Engineering Student”. The project is set within first-year engineering orientation courses that pair academic success strategies with engineering college knowledge. Through the project students are challenged to design their individually tailored learning process to have a significant impact on their academic success by improving the students’ skills, confidence, and motivation to succeed in engineering. The approach is currently implemented in over 30 institutions nationwide Reference source not . The results from two four year institutions— Oregon State University and University of Alaska Anchorage—one year after initial implementation are presented. Although the sample size at the Oregon State University was small (N=17), the results are powerful in relation to retention within the university. Of the students who completed the course (N=17) 94% were retained at the university one year later, compared to 53% of the control group, resulting in a statistically significant difference (p<0.01). The difference in cumulative GPA after one year among students who took the course (GPA of 2.82) compared to the control group (GPA of 2.63) did show an increase; however, it did not prove to be statistically significant. Initial results from the University of Alaska Anchorage showed that the approach of linking a student development course, and the “Design Your Process of Becoming a World-Class Engineering Student” project had a positive impact on first-year engineering student retention and performance. The cumulative GPA of the students who took the course (N=151) was 3.00 after the first year, compared to 2.51 (N=112) of the control group, showing a statically significant difference (p<0.001). The retention rate after one year was not found to be statistically significant at the five percent level (p=0.08), however, an increase from 79.5% to 87.4% in the first-year retention rate was observed. The implementation at both institutions was accomplished cost neutral; the only investment was the time by the faculty to re-design the course content. Based on the first-year implementation results from both institutions, the approach of linking a student development course with the “Design Your Process of Becoming a World-Class Engineering Student” project is an effective method to improve engineering student success and retention rates, because it can be implemented virtually anywhere with minimal cost and change of curriculum.