Engineering2.pptx Crirical factors predicting timing of engineering students

Analyzes dropout factors of engineerin universit srudens

1. Critical Courses Predicting Dropout and Time of Departure in FIU’s College of Engineering Dawn Broschard Presented to NEI & CSUSA December 18, 2018

2. What is happening with our Future Engineers? Quick overview of what this presentation is all about: Issue/Background Purpose of the Study and Research Questions Analysis Methods Findings Discussion Q/A

3. Issue/Background Charge: Meet with College of Engineering & Computing (CEC) to identify possible obstacles hindering student success and come up with alternative analyses that can help explain why our students are not being retained and graduating. CEC overall and by major

4. Issue/Background

5. Issue/Background Low FIU GPA 75% DO NOT CHANGE MAJOR OR SWITCH COLLEGES Just started a full-time job Travel Time to campus/Transportation Visa Expiring Health Issues Finances Need more tutoring/proper tutoring Failed second attempt at Calculus Poor math grades Struggling with courses So many ways to examine!

6. Research Questions Major Maps/Grades to progress (starting point) Does the passing or failing of critical courses on a student’s major map predict college retention? At what point in time are students at the highest risk to discontinue or be dismissed based on their pass and fail rates of critical courses? Survival Analysis – through 13 semesters ( WHAT? )

7. Methodology 2009-11Cohort (n=1,062) Data were gathered from FIU’s PeopleSoft Student System from various tables (SQL Query) Student Data: ID, Cohort, Major, Ethnicity, Visa Status Analysis consisted of 1,018 students (first and last major was in CEC) Course Data: All courses (first attempt only after add/drop) and grades General Ed. Requirements, Major specific requirements for first two years Pass (A to C) Fail (C- to F/W/DR/I)

8. Methodology/Findings Examine Data: Excel pivot tables, histograms, frequencies, box plots, scatter plots (verify anomalies) Examine fail rates for 24 core courses Highest fail rates with largest enrollments (nine critical courses- English, Math, Sciences) Chi-Square tests (Pass/Fail sig. difference?) Bonferonni adjustment p<.006

9. Methodology Survival Analysis (SPSS) – through 13 semesters Life Tables (display survival and hazard rates) Kaplan Meier (Log-Rank to predict survival time) Cox Regression/Wald statistic (to compare Pass/Fail groups) α <.05

10. Findings/Results So what did we discover?

11. Results English Composition I

12. Results English Composition I

13. Results Summary     Course Status # of Students Leaving     Semester % of Students in Sem. Hazard (Risk) Rate   % Retained at Sem. 13     Statistical Tests Pass English Composition I 26 2-3 6% .07 83% Log Rank (χ2 (1, N=627) = 111.514, p=.000) Wald (χ2 (1, N=627) = 84.14, p=.000) Fail English Composition I 29 2-3 35% .42 32% Pass College Algebra 5 5-6 4% .04 90% Log Rank (χ2 (1, N=349) = 40.131, p=.000) Wald (χ2 (1, N=349) = 29.937, p=.000) Fail College Algebra * 36 2-3 18% .20 52% **   Fail Both 8 3 2-3 7-8 28% 38% .32 .46   19% Log Rank (χ2 (3, N=200) = 42.63, p=.000) Wald (χ2 (1, N=200) = 84.14, p=.983 ) Pass Both 2 1-2 3% .03 92% * Almost all students left before eighth semester ** Compared to 80% who failed Calculus I

14. Discussion Students who fail their first attempt at a lower level critical courses are more likely to drop out earlier (English Composition I, College Algebra, Pre-Calculus, Chemistry, etc.)… …While students who fail their first attempt at a higher level critical course (Calculus I & II, Differential Equations, Physics, etc.) are more likely to be retained through their 13 th semester and ultimately graduate. This is no longer anecdotal information!!

15. Discussion Dig a little deeper! Take another look…. “75% of CEC students stay in their major” (2009 Freshman Cohort, n=279). 43% of students who failed at least two critical courses, and did not change majors within CEC were no longer enrolled at semester 13 compared to 16% of those who changed majors within the college. 36% of students who failed at least two critical courses AND did not transfer to another FIU college dropped out, compared to an 8% dropout rate for students who did. How do we help these students????

16. Recommendations No students who place into College Algebra can start as an Engineering major Create Exploratory Engineering major Create Engineering Management major Advising interventions based on predicted dropout semester based on failing critical courses (possibly switch to another college) Improve tutoring (in particular for international students) Summer bridge program

17. Other Takeaways…. Data Driven Culture This project along with a study regarding AA Degree transfers into Engineering was used to help obtain a grant (FIU - MDC/BC) Awareness and further examination of critical courses throughout FIU (in particular English Composition I and College Algebra) Course redesign for 10 courses Center for International Students (Advising, Tutoring, and other services)

18. Questions Thank you! Questions??