Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011 - rees2009

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) Página 794 de 957
generated from topics needing further exploration that may not have been adequately
addressed in the survey or semi-structured interview.
Major Findings
Descriptive statistics were used to analyze survey questions to examine if academic
achievement was in fact related to the social capital areas of academic advising and other
engineering experiences. The results are described below.
To understand how social capital impacts academic achievement in engineering, we
examined faculty involvement, the relationship of grade point average to satisfaction with
academic advising, summer research experiences and the influence of engineering
experiences (coursework, internships, research) on doubt and decisions to continue in the
major. When student participants were asked if a faculty member encouraged them to
pursue engineering, only twelve percent (12%) of students indicated that faculty members
played a part in their decision. While many students were not encouraged to become
engineers by faculty, students with higher reported grade point averages did indicate
satisfaction with academic advisement from faculty members.
As shown in Table 1, over eighty percent (80%) of student respondents with an “A”
average indicated satisfaction with the quality of academic advising, by not only faculty,
but also their teaching assistants in engineering courses. However, the percentage of
satisfaction shows a decreasing trend among student respondents with B averages and
below (Table 1). Students with C and D averages report no satisfaction with regard to the
quality of academic advising they have received during the academic year.
Table 1
Students were also asked about their involvement in engineering activities during the
summer. These activities included coursework, internships, and research. An average of
eighteen percent (18%) of the respondents indicated that they had participated in events
relating to engineering coursework, internships, or research during the summer. Of the
students partaking in summer engineering activities, sixty seven percent (67%) reported
that these activities advanced their interest in pursing an engineering degree.
In a closer examination of engineering experiences, research opportunities were further
clarified. In this vein, students were asked if they had participated in a research experience
since coming to college. Thirty five percent (35%) of student respondents had a research
experience in the engineering field since coming to college. Moreover, nearly all of the
students involved in research reported a B or better grade point average.
Proceedings of Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011
Madrid, 4 th - 7 th October 2011