Why Do Students Leave? An Investigation Into Why Well-Supported Students Leave a First-Year Engineering Program

Abstract

Students. Her research interests include energy and thermodynamic related topics. Since 2007 she has been actively involved in recruiting and outreach for the Statler College, as part of this involvement Dr. Morris frequently makes presentations to groups of K-12 students, as well as perspective WVU students and their families.

Effects of Test Anxiety on Engineering Students’ STEM Success

“…Our results highlight the need to consider how testing culture is affecting and putting at risk traditionally underrepresented groups in engineering. Constant contact with a culture of difficulty puts students in constant consideration of whether they should stay in, or leave, engineering [29], [30], [59]. Additionally, as described above, student anxiety is linked to many other health issues during undergraduate education, as well as later in life.…”

Evolution of a Student Transition and Success Program: Reflections on a 10 Year Journey

“…The student rejection of review and assistance very early in their college experience is not surprising. One study showed that students who ultimately were dismissed from an engineering college or left it voluntarily entered college with higher average engineering and math self-efficacies than students who were retained [4]. These results support the Kruger-Dunning Effect [3] which is a cognitive bias in which people with limited knowledge or competence in a specific intellectual domain overestimate their own abilities [6].…”

“…Based on the results of surveys, individual and focus group interviews, and student feedback, past research has focused on AcES participants' feelings of institutional inclusion, engineering self-efficacy and identity, and their assessment of their own development of academic and professional success skills [1], [2]. Past studies have reported support for the Kruger-Dunning Effect, "a cognitive bias in which unskilled people do not recognize their incompetence in specific areas and often overestimate their abilities" [3], [4], [5]. Specifically, the students who ultimately left engineering before their second year tended to enter college with unrealistic expectations of the difficulty of the major, an underestimate of the time and effort demands needed to be successful, and an overestimate of their ability to succeed with little effort [2], [3], [5].…”

Academic Success and Retention of Underprepared Students

“…Research using data from the 2017 and 2018 cohort supported the Kruger-Dunning Effect, "a cognitive bias in which unskilled people do not recognize their incompetence in specific areas and often overestimate their abilities" [3], [4], [5]. Students who ultimately leave engineering before their second year often begin their engineering journey with unrealistic views of their ability and the difficulty of the journey.…”