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The typical student mind-set is focused on getting the ‘right’ answer for a problem with certainty that every problem has one and only one correct answer. However, this viewpoint is not consistent with real life problems as the information available for solving a real-life problem can be stochastic and incomplete. As a result, many correct answers could be possible and the acceptable one would depend on several factors. Students must therefore be exposed to such ambiguous problem spaces. This paper presents a comparison of undergraduate students’ tolerance of ambiguity. The modified Rydell-Rosen Ambiguity Tolerance scale was administered to a cross-section of students to measure their responses. Differences between engineering and non-engineering students were observed. The influence of academic classification and gender were also observed. 

The traditional educational paradigm encourages the development of dualistic intellectual mental models of the world view. Students strive to get the correct answer as expected by the teacher. With the development of understanding of the world view and student agency, the mental models move towards multiplicity and finally to a relativistic understanding. This paper discusses the cognitive development of undergraduate students and the impact of duration of stay in college. A validated instrument was used to measure anchoring of student mental models across the spectrum of duality, multiplicity, relativity, and commitment. Data were analyzed to determine the differences between engineering and non-engineering students. The influence of gender was studied. The effect of the academic standing was also investigated. Results of these analyses are shared. 

Real world problems are rarely well-defined and are usually with incomplete information, in other words epitomes of ambiguity. In contrast, undergraduate students are rarely exposed to the class of problems that they will encounter in their professions. The correlation between students’ tolerance of ambiguity as signified by their cognitive models of the world, and academic success has received limited attention. A cross sectional and longitudinal study at an HBCU is being conducted to establish baselines for the mental models of students and their tolerance to ambiguity. Analysis of cross-sectional data collected at an HBCU indicates little change in tolerance of ambiguity of undergraduate students with time spent in college. This research is supported by NSF Grant# . 

The cognitive models of students’ perceptions of the real world lie on a spectrum spanning a dualistic understanding of the worldview on one end and a relativistic view on the other end. Students who are dualistic in their understanding of concepts have difficulty in solving problems which do not lend themselves to a well-defined single answer or solution. One would therefore assume that engineering students would rapidly develop a relativistic understanding of the solution space. It is also expected that this developmental process would also manifest itself in the strengthening of an engineering identity. The focus of the research presented in this paper is to explore the relationships of the cognitive models of the solution space, tolerance of ambiguity and the development of engineering identity. A cross-sectional study of the cognitive models of undergraduate students, their tolerance to ambiguity and perception of engineering identity was conducted at an historically black university. The modified Rydell-Rosen Ambiguity Tolerance (RRAT) instrument for tolerance of ambiguity and the Bateman-McDonald (BD) instrument for determining their location on the cognitive spectrum were used in this study. The students were also administered the Godwin Engineering Identity (GEI) survey. Data analysis indicated that students’ tolerance of ambiguity increased on only few items of the RRAT instrument with the time spent in college. The analysis of the engineering identity indicated positive changes on several of the items of the instrument for the freshmen while reduction on some items of the GEI survey were observed. This research is supported by NSF Grant# 1832041. 

Academic success of students in engineering has been reported in research literature to be correlated to the development of their engineering identity. This paper provides results of a cross-sectional study of undergraduate students’ development of engineering identity at a Historically Black College/University (HBCU). A validated 11-item questionnaire on engineering identity was administered to freshmen through seniors. The data was analyzed to determine correlations between engineering identity, time spent in college, and academic success. This work is supported by NSF Grant# 1832041. 

Longitudinal and cross-sectional data is being collected at a Historically Black College (HBCU) to understand the cognitive development of students in their tolerance of ambiguity that may translate into their ability to solve open-ended problems. The data is expected to provide insight into the correlations between academic success, tolerance of ambiguity, intellectual development and development of a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) identity in undergraduate students. This work-in-progress paper provides preliminary data on tolerance of ambiguity in college students. Some results from the analysis of the data are included. 

Longitudinal and cross-sectional data is being collected at a Historically Black College (HBCU) to understand the cognitive development of students in their tolerance of ambiguity that may translate into their ability to solve open-ended problems. The data is expected to provide insight into the correlations between academic success, tolerance of ambiguity, intellectual development and development of a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) identity in undergraduate students. This work-in-progress paper provides preliminary data on tolerance of ambiguity in college students. Some results from the analysis of the data are included.