retention of undergraduate students in engineering
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Retention of Undergraduate Students in Engineering. Karan Watson, Ph.D., P.E. Associate Dean of Engineering and Regents’ Professor of EE. How are we doing now?. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Retention of Undergraduate Students in EngineeringKaran Watson, Ph.D., P.E.Associate Dean of Engineering andRegents’ Professor of EE
How are we doing now? Between 1990-1995 there was an average of
90,136 students entering the first-year of engineering programs (this excludes community college and undeclared students)
Between 1994-2000 there was an average of 64,118 students graduating with BS degrees in engineering.
Who leaves the programs?
Not necessarily the students with lowest SAT or ACT
Not necessarily just students with low grades
Not necessarily the least creative
Many with strong leadership talents
Greater proportion of women Greater proportion of minorities
Why do they say they are leaving:the literature
Switch StayPoor teaching by SME teachers 90 74Inappropriate initial choice 83 40Inadequate advising or help 75 52Loss of interest in SME 60 36Other majors are more interesting 59 32Curriculum overload, pace overwhelming 45 41Rewards not worth the effort 43 20SME career not condusive to lifestyle 43 21Inadequate HS prep/study skills 40 38Lost confidence due to grades 34 13More appealing non-SME career 33 17Financial problems to complete SME 30 23Morale undermined by competitive culture 28 9Conceptual difficulty with SME subject(s) 27 25Lack of study group support 17 7Found of aptitude for non-SME subjects 12 5
Elaine SeymourRevisitng the “Problem Iceberg”:
Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Students Still Chilled Out-
Journal of College Science Teaching, May 95
For student on 11 campuses who began college majoring in science, math, or engineering: % listing this concern(N=335)
Has anything changed2. Grace Kelly, Elvis Presley, Karen Carpenter, and the E.R.A. have always been
dead.4. Somebody named George Bush has been on every national ticket, except one, since
they were born.7. A “45” is a gun, not a record with a large hole in the center.10. MASH and The Muppet Show have always been in re-runs.12. They have always bought telephones, rather than rent them from AT&T.13. The year they were born, AIDS was found to have killed 164 people; 15. Wars begin and end quickly; peace-keeping missions go on forever.16. There have always been ATM machines.18. We have always been able to receive television signals by direct broadcast
satellite.22. They have never referred to Russia and China as “the Reds.”23. Toyotas and Hondas have always been made in the United States.24. There has always been a national holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.26. Around-the-clock coverage of congress, public affairs, weather reports, and rock
videos have always been available on cable.28. Women sailors have always been stationed on U.S. Navy ships.29. The year they were born, the New York Times announced that the “boom in video
games,” a fad, had come to an end.37. Woodstock is a bird or a reunion, not a cultural touchstone.40. Hurricanes have always had men’s and women’s names.42. “Coming out” parties celebrate more than debutantes..47. They have never used a bottle of “White Out.”48. If they vaguely remember the night the Berlin Wall fell, they are probably not sure
why it was up in the first place.49. “Spam” and “cookies” are not necessarily foods.50. They feel more danger from having sex and being in school, than from possible
nuclear war.
Beloit College- Mindset List
High School Completers with Some College
In the last 30 years we went from ~42% of HS graduates attending some college to ~65%
Change in math patterns% HS Graduates earning math credit
01020304050607080
Basic/
Applie
d
Genera
l
Algebr
a 1
A;gebra
2
Geometry
Calculas
19821987
1990
1994
% of Math Courses Taught
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
Remedial PreCalc Calc Advance
1970
1980
1985
1990
1995
Good news: more students in college prep maths
News: more students need remedial math,And less are ready for college calculus
Freshmen Students in Engineering Needing Remedial Work in Science or Math (1995)
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0
All students
Male
Female
White
Asian
Black
Hispanic
Native American
Math
Science
What retention problem are you working on More engineering graduates More diverse engineering
graduates Better engineering graduates Possibly more and more diverse
incoming students
All require more work
Issues for TAMU engineering retention in 1994:
The University (who decides new student admissions) wanted us to have a greater number of incoming students, both new high school grads and transfer students, and they would not increase our resources to teach more in upper levels. (We are a good recruiting mechanism for the rest of the University). The only filter we have is on who gets into upper level by using GPA.
We wanted women and minority retention to be at least as good as other groups in the college, and it was not.
We wanted to be sure that ‘good’ students persisted. Our data showed more students exited for reasons other than grades than we desired.
Adapting the Learning Environment
Early context and reality
BetterTeaching forDiversity
Better community of learners
IndustryParticipating
Integrated materialsand faculty
MeaningfulDesign Projects
Technology & Labs
Engineering early
Organized Enthusiasm Diverse FormativeFor learners for material Styles Evaluator
Independent
Random Groups
Organized Groups
Communities
InclusiveCommunities
Plan at TAMU
Early context and reality
BetterTeaching forDiversity
Better community of learners
IndustryParticipating
Integrated materialsand faculty
MeaningfulDesign Projects
Technology & Labs
Engineering early
Organized Enthusiasm Diverse FormativeFor learners for material Styles Evaluator
Independent
Random Groups
Organized Groups
Communities
InclusiveCommunities
Change the Classrooms and Instruction Style
Various TAMU Interventions
Various Interventions 1997
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Total Females Underrep Min
1 Yr
Ret
entio
n Traditional
FC
CREW
MAPs
Phase 1
In 1997: Total for college was n=1265Total for FC Integrated Courses was 230Total for CREW Womens’ 1 Yr Dorm Clusters was 65Total for MAPs Women Student/Pro Mentoring was 85Total for Phase 1 5wk summer students needing Math
Remediation was 44
Participation in FCParticipation FY
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
94 95 96 97 98 99 00
FC Courses
FC ILCs
Participation SY
0%
10%20%
30%
40%
50%60%
70%
80%90%
100%
95 96 97 98 99 00
FC Courses
FC ILCs
Examples of Texas A&M Engineering Data
In 1994:Women’s 1st yr retention was 3% lower than men’sAnd Underrep min. was 6% lower than non-minorities
In 1999:Women’s 1st yr retention was 1% higher than men’sAnd Underrep min. was 2% higher than non-minorities
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
90.0%
1994
/95
1995
/96
1996
/97
1997
/98
1998
/99
1999
/00
% o
f gro
up re
tain
ed a
fter 1
yr
TradFC
Top 10% from HS and 20 pt drop in SATM median
No Pre-calc studentsin FC Pilots
required retention to have 1000 sophomores
RequiredFY retentionto have1100new freshmenprogress to SY
Target retention of larger group of low SATM Beginning in 1998 the State of Texas decided that
all top 10% HS graduates must be admitted to major of choice.
At TAMU SATM and SATV accounts for ~10% of GPA variance, and HS rank accounts for ~28% of GPA variance
TAMU 1998 Entering Engineers
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
450-499
500-549
550-599
600-649
650-699
700-749
750-800
SATM score
% o
f ret
aine
d
Beginning
After 1 yr
After 2 yrs
MeanMedian
432students stayed
495students stayed
TAMU 1995 Entering Engineers
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
450-499
500-549
550-599
600-649
650-699
700-749
750-800
SATM
% re
tain
ed Beginning
After 1 yr
After 2 yrs
94students stayed
432students stayed
On average, students in the clusters are one and two year retention is better
88.1
63.2
91.3
59.6
89.8
76.1
95.5
62.7
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Not Clustered Clustered Twice
ONE
YEAR R
ETEN
TION Female
MaleNonminorityMinority
49.2
80.6
50.5
85.7
46.8
83.6
63
90.9
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Not Clustered Clustered Twice
TWO Y
EAR R
ETEN
TION Female
MaleNonminorityMinority
Gains in conceptual understanding of force concepts (FCI), mechanics
concepts (MBT), and calculus concepts (Duke) for first-year
students.
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
Gain in units of
SD
FCI MBT Duke
96-trad 96-fc 98-All
SEMESTERS FROM ENROLLEMENT TO PROGRESSION
2.3333 2.3273
2.6667
2.47
2.596
2.4316
2.6296
2.5
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
Not Clustered Clustered Twice
FemaleMaleNonminorityMinority
On average, students in the clusters are finishing CBK faster
All Statistically significant except female
2.7797
2.8582
2.5704
2.8167
2.6353
2.8193
2.5114
2.8636
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
Not Clustered Clustered Twice
GPA
IN 11X
FemaleMaleNonminorityMinority
2.88482.844
2.5501
2.8815
2.6249
2.8632
2.5959
2.9335
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
3
Not Clustered Clustered Twice
GPA
IN C
BK
FemaleMaleNonminorityMinority
On average, students in the clusters are performing better grade wise
All stat.sig. exceptfemale
Interesting Observations for Classroom Changes
Risk Taking(normalized to max possible score)
Creativity (normalized to max possible score)
1.9
2.3
2.7
2.9
3.1
Size of cluster reflects proportion of students in the cluster and number in the cluster reflects the mean GPA for the cluster
0.5 1.0
1.0
Risk Taking(normalized to max possible score)
Creativity (normalized to max possible score)
1.9
2.3
2.7
2.9
3.1
Size of cluster reflects proportion of students in the cluster and number in the cluster reflects the mean GPA for the cluster
0.5 1.0
1.0
Factors are ACL-active and collaborative learning, TEE-Technology enhanced education, INT- course integration
– Total Retention ACL=INT>>TEE– Female Retention ACL>INT>>TEE– Male Retention INT>ACL>>TEE– Minority Retention ACL>INT>>TEE
– Physics Concepts & Grades ACL>INT>>TEE
– Calculus Concepts and Grades TEE>INT>>ACL