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

该项目旨在通过研究本科工程专业学生如何做出职业和学位课程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来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造成短期和长期的经济负担，并大大延长他们的毕业时间。有些学生可能会在没有充分了解学位课程或潜在职业机会的情况下做出过早的决定，从而带来减员的风险。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。项目团队将收集学生的调查数据，包括对职业决策的信心，学术和职业结果的期望，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。研究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描述和多种公共职业相关信息来源为基础。该系统的有效性将在这两个机构的入门工程课程中进行评估。将通过在区域和国家工程教育会议上举办讲习班，向工程教育工作者传播项目成果。1）增进对工科学生在选择学位课程时的决策行为的理解，2）完善学生关于专业的决策的可用决策理论和模型，3）开发基于学术专业选择知识和理论的在线决策支持系统。假设是，随着个人对某个领域的兴趣增加，他们会更频繁地参与该行为，并设定与该活动相关的目标。对期望结果和目标实现的积极强化使活动更有回报，从而导致行为意图或计划行为的增加。本研究以社会认知生涯理论为基础，探讨环境因素对大学生学业专业变更的影响。这将通过使用认知结构的常用，自我效能，结果预期，职业相关的规划和意图，环境探索的验证调查。此外，该项目将研究如何使用理论认知信息处理框架的外部决策过程中影响学术主要的决策，决策混乱，承诺焦虑和外部冲突。该决策支持系统将采用沟通、分析、综合、评价和执行决策模型进行设计和实施。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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.