A Comparative Study of Engineering Matriculation Practices

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This engineering education research project is an explanatory study of how engineering major selection and graduation outcomes are affected by the mode of matriculation into engineering and the manner that students are advised. Twelve universities will be involved, contributing to a large dataset. The work plans to investigate multiple first year curriculum models and make recommendations to the broader community on ways to improve retention and six year graduation rates. A variety of input variables (such as high school GPS and standardized test scores) will be used to measure educational outcomes and environmental factors of matriculating students. Ultimately the research conducted during this project may provide engineering institutions with both quantitative and qualitative information on how to design engineering coursework, and provide institutions with a way to explore matriculation models that allow students to succeed in given engineering programs.The broader significance and importance of this project, if successful, may be to allow universities to better tailor first year courses and programs to their own institutional beliefs and needs. The number of students to drop or transfer from engineering programs may decline, leading to more engineers ready to tackle tomorrow's societal and technical challenges.