Conference Session

Knowing Our Students I

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mica Hutchison, Purdue University; Deborah Follman, Purdue University; George Bodner, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

. Page 11.1112.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2006 Self-Efficacy Beliefs of First-Year Engineering Students: In Their Own WordsAbstract Numerous studies have used quantitative self-efficacy measures to predict the choices,achievement, and interests of undergraduate engineering students. Self-efficacy theorists,however, argue that a discovery-oriented, qualitative approach is required to better understandthe sources and cognitive processing of students’ self-efficacy beliefs - their beliefs about theirabilities to complete the tasks that they deem necessary to achieve a desired outcome. This studyhas therefore employed qualitative measures to investigate the self-efficacy beliefs

Conference Session

Knowing Our Students II

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Todd Johnson, Washington State University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

scale measuredthe extent to which students believed that their academic performance was dependent on factorsthey controlled, such as the amount of their study or effort (e.g., ‘‘If I try hard enough, then I willunderstand the course material’’). The eight items of the self-efficacy scale measured the extentto which students believed that they were competent in terms of task-related abilities and skillsand had a high likelihood of a successful academic performance (e.g., ‘‘Considering thedifficulty of this course, the teacher, and my skills, I think I will do well in this class’’). The fiveitems of the test anxiety scale assessed the extent to which students experienced discomfort orhad negative thoughts that could interfere with their test

Conference Session

Knowing Our Students III

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brad Kinsey, University of New Hampshire; Erick Towle, University of New Hampshire; Grace Hwang, University of New Hampshire; Edward J. O'Brien, University of New Hampshire; Christopher F. Bauer, University of New Hampshire

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

engineering has been disputed in the literature. To provide furtherdata to answer this question, portions of the Purdue Spatial Visualization Test (PSVT)were administered to freshman engineering and undeclared students from a College ofEngineering and Physical Science (CEPS). In addition, a self efficacy test, which wasdeveloped to assess the self confidence of students related to spatial tasks, was alsoadministered. The data analysis showed that those students who remained in CEPS fromtheir freshman to sophomore year (either change majors within CEPS or stayed in thesame major) performed better on the PSVT than those students who changed colleges orwithdrew from the university. For the self efficacy measure, a similar effect was found;however, this

Conference Session

Student Teams and Design Skills

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan Mohammed, Pennsylvania State University; Gül Okudan, Pennsylvania State University; Madara Ogot, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

, and skills35, the twoconstructs are empirically distinct. With the shift to team-based work in many organizations,researchers have established that group efficacy is a meaningful and measurable groupattribute34, 36-37. In fact, a recent meta-analysis of 67 empirical studies found that collectiveefficacy had a positive relationship with performance (p=0.41; reference 37). Although self-efficacy has been studied with regard to gender issues in an engineering context (e.g., references38-39), less attention has been given to the construct of collective efficacy. In addition, tolerancefor ambiguity and efficacy relation has not been investigated in an engineering design context