1. Emerging Impact on Graduation Rates/Times From A Summer Engineering Enrichment Program.
- Author
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Whalin, Robert W. and Qing Pang
- Subjects
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ENGINEERING education in universities & colleges , *ACADEMIC enrichment , *CURRICULUM enrichment , *SUMMER schools , *GRADUATION rate - Abstract
A sustained summer engineering enrichment program was initiated in 2009 with the objective of increasing graduation rates and decreasing time to graduate for first time freshman with Math ACT scores from 17-25 which comprises the preponderance of our freshman engineering class. The ten week summer program included College Algebra the first summer term, Trigonometry plus an informal non-credit Introduction to Engineering the second summer term, periodic trips to engineering employers, supervised daily study sessions and dormitory accommodations facilitating formation of a community of engineering learners. The first five summer cohorts were attended by 172 engineering majors and 128 or 74% continued in a School of Engineering major in the fall following the summer program. Three or 12.5% of the 24 in the 2009 cohort graduated as engineers in May 2013 (4 years). This compares with a four year graduation rate of less than 5% for all first time freshman engineering majors at our university since the first engineer graduated in May, 2005 (over 300 graduates). Four more students in the 2009 cohort graduated as engineers in December 2013 while two additional students graduated in other STEM majors in December 2013. The overall graduation results for the 2009 cohort to date are that seven, or 29%, graduated as engineers in 4 ½ years and nine or 37.5% graduated in a STEM major in 4 ½ years. Eight 2009 cohort students remain enrolled in the university (3 STEM and 5 non-STEM majors) and seven or 29% of the 2009 cohort have left the university without graduating. An analysis of the 2010 summer cohort reveals that seven students completed Senior Design I in Fall 2013 and are projected to graduate in four years (7/37 or 19%) in May 2014. We believe these emerging graduation rate data imply that first time freshman engineering majors with math ACT scores from 17-25 may achieve six year graduation rates nearly comparable to those with higher scores with the benefit of a summer bridge program focusing on enhancing mathematics readiness and becoming a community of engineering learners. In summary, evidence is emerging (after 5 summer cohorts) that, for first time freshman students in the ACT Math score range from 17-25, we can increase the 4 year graduation rate nearly fourfold from about 5% to 19% and potentially increase the overall engineering graduation rate twofold from about 25% to near 50%. Simultaneously, the average time to graduate is reduced by nearly a year to less than 4 ½ years (from about 5.2 years). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2014