Competition, Confidence And Challenges In The Engineering Classroom: American And International Students Speak Out
- Conference
- Location
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Honolulu, Hawaii
- Publication Date
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June 24, 2007
- Start Date
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June 24, 2007
- End Date
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June 27, 2007
- ISSN
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2153-5965
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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Educational Research and Methods
- Page Count
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11
- Page Numbers
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12.387.1 - 12.387.11
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--2144
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/2144
- Download Count
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422
Paper Authors
Dawn Williams Howard University
DAWN G. WILLIAMS is an Assistant Professor and Master's Program Coordinator in the Department of Educational Administration and Policy at Howard University. Dr. Williams serves as a faculty researcher for the Center for Advancement of Engineering Education. She is also the Co-Principal Investigator of an NSF grant designed to study the post baccalaureate decisions of high achieving Black STEM students. Her primary research interests lie in K-12 educational policies targeted for urban school reform.
Lorraine Fleming Howard University
LORRAINE FLEMING is professor and former Chair of the Department of Civil Engineering at Howard University. Dr. Fleming serves as the Co-Principal Investigator of a National Science Foundation HBCU Undergraduate Program grant designed to increase the number of underrepresented minorities who pursue degrees in engineering, mathematics, and science. She serves as the Principal Investigator of an NSF grant designed to study the post baccalaureate decisions of high achieving Black STEM students. She is also a 2005 Scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Marcus Jones Howard University
MARCUS JONES is an Educational Psychology doctoral student at Howard University. Marcus is a graduate research assistant for the Center for Advancement of Engineering Education. His research interest include the academic achievement of African American males and the factors that influence attrition of engineering students.
Ashley Griffin Howard University
ASHLEY GRIFFIN is a Developmental Psychology doctoral candidate at Howard University. Ashley is a former graduate research assistant for the Center for Advancement of Engineering Education. Her research interest include culturally relevant teaching practices and their impact on engagement, motivation, and performance surrounding African American students.
Abstract
NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract
Competition, Confidence, and Challenges in the Engineering Classroom: American and International Students Speak Out
Abstract
The need to examine and compare the pre-college preparation provided by the International and American education systems led to the motivation for the study described in this paper. This study is part of a large, longitudinal study designed to understand how students become engineers by examining their experiences from their freshman year through their senior year. This part of the study focuses only on the freshman year experience of five of these students. Using multiple methods of data collection (i.e. ethnographic interviews, surveys, and academic transcripts), we observed differences in the manner in which American and International students speak of competition in the classroom, their confidence, and the challenges they face in pursuing an engineering degree. We conducted an in-depth study of five students from a larger pool of sixteen students in order to feature the students’ voice, an often minimized and underutilized resource.
Our study revealed that in their first year at Oliver University, American engineering students began to experience difficulty particularly in the areas of science and mathematics, whereas the international engineering students viewed the same course material as merely a review of information previously learned. The American students were left asking, “Why are they so smart and knowledgeable?” Both survey and ethnographic data indicate a difference between these two student groups in four broad areas: high school preparation, first year GPA, confidence level, and willingness to persist in an engineering major. Not only does national data show that Americans are scoring at lower levels in mathematics and science, but also American and international students are observing and reporting this phenomena as well.
Williams, D., & Fleming, L., & Jones, M., & Griffin, A. (2007, June), Competition, Confidence And Challenges In The Engineering Classroom: American And International Students Speak Out Paper presented at 2007 Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, Hawaii. 10.18260/1-2--2144
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