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Abstract — In this Full Research Paper, we propose a new definition of overpersistence in an engineering discipline and investigate its implications at one institution. Precisely defining overpersistence in both a conceptual and operational sense is a critical step in predicting overpersistence and identifying indicators that will allow for personalized guidance for students at risk of overpersisting. We have previously identified our population of interest as students who enroll at the institution as first-time-in-college students for at least one year, attend full time, have had six years to graduate, and have enrolled in only one degree-granting program. Within this group, we operationalized overpersistence by identifying students as overpersisters if they either (i) left the university without a degree or (ii) enrolled in the same major for six years and did not graduate. In this work, we revisit our definition of overpersistence using more recent data by reconsidering two groups of students in particular – those who spend only a short time in the discipline before leaving the institution (formerly classified as overpersisters), and those who spend a long time in the discipline but eventually switch majors (formerly excluded from the initial population). We conclude that the most appropriate definition of overpersistence at an institution with a first-year engineering program is when a student spends three or more semesters in their first discipline-specific major and does not graduate in that major within six years of matriculation to the institution. These results will be useful for researchers and practitioners seeking to identify alternative paths for success for students who are at risk of overpersisting in a major. 

The main objective of this project is to help students learn to make decisions that lead to academic success. Our first goal is to map curriculum pathways, which begins by studying overpersistence (when a student persists in a particular major but does not make timely progress toward a degree). We seek to identify curriculum-specific indicators of overpersistence and corresponding alternative paths that could lead to success. Our second goal is to improve the structure of the Decision-Making Competency Inventory (DMCI) so that it can explain student's decision-making competency in more detail and in congruence with the Self-Regulation Model of Decision-Making. This instrument will be used to map decision-making competency to academic choices and outcomes. The third goal is to develop an Academic Dashboard as a means for sharing relevant research results with students. This will allow students to have access to the strategies, information, and stories needed to make and implement adaptive decisions. This paper highlights our progress in the fifth year of the project and our plans going forward. 

This paper describes the evolution of our assessment of a two-day workshop for rising chemical engineering (ChemE) sophomores into a more rigorous evaluation of the mechanisms behind its impact. In 2016, we implemented a voluntary two-day workshop (the "ChemE Camp") for rising chemical engineering sophomore students to try to improve their retention in our program. To assess the impact of the camp, we developed and administered surveys to camp attendees before the camp and to all ChemE students at the beginning and toward the end of the sophomore year. Student feedback about the camp was overwhelmingly positive, and the survey results indicated that students who attended the camp entered the sophomore year feeling more prepared for the curriculum and more comfortable with the ChemE major than those who did not. Camp attendees also reported a larger network of potential study partners than non-attendees and performed better in the Material and Energy Balances (MEB) course. To explain these observed effects, we enlisted the help of an engineering education researcher. After review of the relevant literature in learning theories, we decided to focus on the constructs of self-efficacy and social support. We then improved the design and rigor of our study and refined our surveys by introducing subscales from validated instruments of self-efficacy and social integration. Preliminary results suggest that the camp is having a positive effect on the self-efficacy, social and academic integration, and intent to persist of the students who attend, and data collection is ongoing to determine whether these effects are lasting. Here we describe our journey from the original development of the camp and assessment tools to our current research examining the factors that affect the achievement and persistence of ChemE sophomore students. 

This paper provides a summary activities and accomplishments of an NSF CAREER project, “Empowering Students to be Adaptive Decision-Makers.” We discuss our progress on (1) identifying indicators of poor academic fit in engineering majors; (2) examining relationships between the measures of theoretical constructs (Decision-Making Competency Inventory, DMCI) with the real-world, academic behaviors (major choice and major change); (3) revisions to the DMCI; and (4) development of the Academic Dashboard for putting students in the driver’s seat of their education. A prototype of the Academic Dashboard and its functionality are described. 

The objective of this EEC project is to help students learn to make academic decisions that lead to success. The research goals are to: 1) identify curriculum-specific patterns of achievement that eventually lead to dropout and corresponding alternative paths that could lead to success; and 2) advance knowledge of self-regulation patterns and outcomes in engineering students. The education goals are to develop curricula and advising materials that help students learn how to effectively self-regulate their decision processes through contextual activities and story prompting. This poster will present current progress and future directions of the project. We will summarize accomplishments on the development of the Self-Regulated Decision-Making instrument, mapping of pathways, and development of the academic dashboard. 

This complete research paper documents how confidence in choice of intended major and self-regulated decision-making competency influence whether a student changes their intended major while participating in a compulsory first-year engineering (FYE) program. Initial major, confidence in that major choice, and self-regulated decision-making competency were documented in the Fall of 2017 for students matriculating into a FYE program. Student enrollment in a major in the Fall of 2018 was connected to this data. Retention in any engineering major and in the student’s intended major were analyzed using logistic regression. 

This Full Research Paper discusses ongoing work to develop a survey instrument to reliably assess undergraduate engineering student self-regulated decision-making. This work focuses on a second round of item expansion and refinement to the Decision-Making Competency Inventory (DMCI) to develop items related to learning from past decisions. The refined instrument was distributed to first-year engineering students enrolled in a large, public, land-grant institution located in the southeastern United States in the Fall of 2018. Of the approximately 1,200 students in first-year engineering courses, 883 valid surveys were randomly split into two separate samples for exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). EFA results indicated a viable four-factor solution, which was explored with the CFA. The CFA results also indicated a four-factor model was appropriate. Improving this instrument will help researchers document and understand students’ decision-making skills and how they relate to observed decisions like initial choice of major or change of major. A decision-making instrument will also be valuable in evaluating the effectiveness of interventions to help students build their decision-making competency and make adaptive choices.