Improving Students’ Decision-Making Behavior in Choosing an Engineering Pathway

这个项目旨在通过研究工科本科生如何做出职业和学位项目决策来服务于国家利益，这将为决策支持系统的开发提供信息。一年级学生可以使用该系统选择与他们的兴趣和优先事项相一致的学位课程。选择大学专业是一个复杂的决策问题。推迟决定可能会给学生带来短期和长期的经济负担，并显著延长他们到毕业的时间。一些学生可能会在没有充分了解学位课程或潜在的职业机会的情况下过早做出决定，这会带来人员流失的风险。该项目计划为学生提供一个结构化的决策过程，以帮助他们做出明智的决定。该项目团队将收集学生调查数据，包括做出职业决策的信心、学业和职业结果预期以及职业探索行为。调查将在伊利诺伊大学芝加哥分校和伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校进行。结果将用于指导决策支持系统的设计，该系统将以工程课程说明和与职业有关的多种公共信息来源为基础。该系统的有效性将在这两个机构的工程入门课程中进行评估。项目结果将通过地区性和全国性工程教育会议的研讨会传播给工程教育工作者。该项目的目标是：1)提高对工程专业学生在选择学位课程时的决策行为的理解；2)提炼可用于学生选择专业的决策理论和模型；3)开发一个基于关于学术专业选择的知识和理论的在线决策支持系统。假设是，当个体对某一领域获得更多兴趣时，他们会寻求更频繁地参与这一行为，并设定与该活动相关的目标。预期结果和目标实现的积极强化使活动更有回报，导致行为意图或计划行为的增加。本研究以社会认知职业生涯理论为基础，探讨环境因素对职业生涯决策在学业重大变动中的影响。这将通过使用对自我效能、结果期望、与职业相关的规划和意图以及环境探索的常用的、有效的调查的认知结构来完成。此外，该项目将研究外部决策过程中认知信息处理理论框架的使用如何影响学术专业的决策能力，如决策困惑、承诺焦虑和外部冲突。决策支持系统将使用沟通、分析、综合、评估和执行决策模型来设计和实现。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过参与的学生学习路径，该计划支持有前景的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest by studying how undergraduate engineering students make career and degree program decisions, which will inform the development of a decision support system. First year students can use the system to select a degree program that is aligned with their interests and priorities. Choosing a college major is a complex decision problem. Delaying the decision can cause short and long-term financial burdens for students and significantly extend their time to graduation. Some students can make premature decisions without fully understanding a degree program or potential career opportunities, introducing a risk of attrition. This project plans to provide students with a structured decision making process to help them make informed decisions. The project team will collect student survey data including confidence in making career decisions, academic and career outcome expectations, and career exploratory behavior. The surveys will be conducted at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The results will be used to guide the design of the decision support system, which will be based on engineering curricula descriptions and multiple public sources of career related information. The effectiveness of the system will be assessed in an introductory engineering course at both institutions. Project results will be disseminated to engineering educators through workshops at regional and national engineering education conferences.The goals of this project are to: 1) advance understanding of engineering student decision making behavior in selecting a degree program, 2) refine available decision making theories and models for students’ decisions about majors, and 3) develop an online decision support system grounded in knowledge and theory about academic major selections. The hypothesis is that as individuals gain more interest in an area, they seek to engage in the behavior more often and set goals relating to the activity. The positive reinforcement of the desired outcome and goal attainment makes the activity more rewarding, resulting in increased behavioral intention or planned behavior. In this study, Social Cognitive Career Theory will be used to determine impacts of environmental factors related to career decision making in terms of academic major changes. This will be done through the use of cognitive constructs on commonly used, validated surveys of self-efficacy, outcome expectations, career related planning and intent, and environmental exploration. In addition, the project will study how the use of a theoretical Cognitive Information Processing framework for the external decision making process influences academic major decisiveness as measured by decision making confusion, commitment anxiety, and external conflict. The decision support system will be designed and implemented using the Communication, Analysis, Synthesis, Valuing, and Execution decision making model. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.