A Model for Predicting and Assessing the Programmatic Impact of Student Success in Engineering

普渡大学获得了美国国家科学基金会为期两年的资助，旨在开发一种新颖而系统的方法，以更好地了解大一工程专业学生的属性和成果之间的直接和间接关系。有了这些知识，学院将实施以下流程：a)使教师和顾问能够为即将入学的新生提供更明智的课程选择指导；B)促进第一年工程经验的持续改进；c)提供一种方法，使学生成功的定义包括其他特征（即，不仅仅是看GPA和在工程方面的坚持）；d)促进我们对代表性不足的学生群体（例如，性别和种族）的预测因素和结果模型的差异进行调查的能力，从而为这些学生提供更有意义的建议。该项目将开发一个全面的评估过程，使工程学院和顾问能够更好地评估新生的认知和非认知特征，从而更准确地将学生安排到最合适的化学、工程、数学和物理入门课程中。此外，本项目将使用调查项目（自我概念和期望）、之前的学习成绩（高中学习成绩）和学生对他们的成绩的评估来了解大一学生属性和结果之间的直接和间接关系，以便为我们一年级工程项目的持续改进提供基础。也提供了一个基础，我们可以通过它来衡量一个学生是否有成功的第一年经验。目前的工程认证模式要求开发和实施一套持续评估系统，通过对项目成果的评估来证明项目教育目标的实现。然而，到目前为止，还没有人努力将这些结果与学生在高等教育系统中的起点联系起来。我们相信本文提出的模型将在普渡大学和全国各地的工程机构中发挥作用。

This grant to Purdue University seeks two years of NSF funding to develop a novel and systematic approach to better understand the direct and indirect relationships among freshman engineering student attributes and outcomes. With this knowledge, the college will implement processes that: a) enable faculty and advisors to give more informed guidance to incoming freshmen about their course selections; b) foster the continuous improvement of first-year engineering experiences; c) provide a means to operationalize the definition of student success to include additional features (i.e., something more than simply looking at GPA and persistence in engineering); and d) facilitate our ability to investigate differences in a model of predictors and outcomes for underrepresented student groups (e.g., gender, and ethnicity), leading to more meaningful advising for these students. This project will develop a comprehensive evaluation process that will enable engineering faculty and advisors to better assess: the cognitive and noncognitive characteristics of incoming freshman to more accurately place students into the most appropriate introductory chemistry, engineering, mathematics, and physics courses. In addition, the project to use survey items (self-concepts and expectations), prior academic performance (high school academic record), and student assessment of their achievement to understand the direct and indirect relationships among freshman student attributes and outcomes in order to provide the foundation for continuous improvement in our first-year engineering program, as well as provide a bases by which we can measure whether a student has had a successful first-year experience. The current model for engineering accreditation calls for the development and implementation of a system of ongoing evaluation that demonstrates achievement of programs educational objectives, in part, through the assessment of program outcomes. However, to date, no effort has been made to relate these outcomes back to a student's starting point in the higher education system. We believe the model proposed herein will serve in that capacity both at Purdue University and engineering institutions across the country.