Effects of a Program Integrating Course for Students of Computer Science and Engineering

Study programs are a central component of the higher education system, in particular for professional education. However, for many education programs, especially in engineering, a large part of the beginner students fail to reach graduation. A reason for this could be lack of program coherence. In order to strengthen the program coherence of the computer science and engineering program at KTH, a program integrating course was introduced in 2010. The course runs at low speed through the first three years of the program. It consists of reflection seminars in small cross-grade groups of students, led by a professor as a mentor. In the seminars the students exercise self-regulated learning abilities, such as metacognitive skills, when reflecting, discussing and acting upon different topics, such as study techniques, procrastination, studying abroad, plagiarism and responsibility, and the professional life after the studies.We have studied and found both perceived and measurable positive effects of the program integrating course. In this paper we describe effects on the students' study skills, their ability to reflect and interest in exchange studies.