20.08.2013 Views

to see the entire research report - Rowan - Rowan University

to see the entire research report - Rowan - Rowan University

to see the entire research report - Rowan - Rowan University

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

CHAPTER II-C<br />

ENGINEERING BEHAVIOR AND PERFORMANCE AND THEIR<br />

RELATIONSHIP TO INPUT CHARACTERISTICS<br />

The next step in <strong>the</strong> student’s progress through engineering is <strong>the</strong>ir experience<br />

during <strong>the</strong> academic year. A major part of <strong>the</strong> student’s experience is <strong>the</strong>ir academic<br />

performance in classes; <strong>the</strong>re are also a number of extracurricular activities in which <strong>the</strong>y<br />

can participate and which are intended <strong>to</strong> enhance <strong>the</strong>ir progress <strong>to</strong>ward becoming an<br />

engineer. The first part of this chapter focuses on <strong>the</strong> student’s academic performance,<br />

first showing how first-year students’ grades are related <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir input of family and high<br />

school background and initial engineering self-confidence. The second part of <strong>the</strong><br />

chapter focuses on <strong>the</strong> kinds of activities in which students are involved over <strong>the</strong> course<br />

of <strong>the</strong> academic year. After describing <strong>the</strong>se activities, we show how entering<br />

characteristics affect this engineering behavior for first year students, and how<br />

background characteristics continue <strong>to</strong> affect engineering behavior for all students. We<br />

<strong>the</strong>n show how initial engineering self-confidence is related <strong>to</strong> engineering behavior for<br />

first-year students, and how engineering self-confidence is related <strong>to</strong> engineering<br />

behavior for all students. Finally, we show how engineering behavior is related <strong>to</strong><br />

academic performance, with a particular focus on how participation in <strong>the</strong> Society for<br />

Women Engineers affects <strong>the</strong> female students’ experiences and performance.<br />

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE<br />

Input Characteristics and Academic Performance<br />

We begin this section by looking at <strong>the</strong> academic performance of first-year students and how<br />

it is related <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir input characteristics of family and high school background and initial<br />

IIC-95

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!