Examining the Impact of Interpersonal Interactions on Course-level Persistence Intentions Among Online Undergraduate Engineering Students

Javeed Kittur; Samantha Ruth Brunhaver; Jennifer M. Bekki; Eunsil Lee

Download Paper | Permalink

Conference: 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access
Location: Virtual Conference
Publication Date: July 26, 2021
Start Date: July 26, 2021
End Date: July 19, 2022
Conference Session: Studies of Student Teams and Student Interactions
Tagged Division: Educational Research and Methods
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 19
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--37121
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/37121
Download Count: 260

Request a correction

Paper Authors

biography

Javeed Kittur Arizona State University orcid.org/0000-0001-6132-7304

visit author page

Javeed Kittur is currently a doctoral student (Engineering Education Systems and Design) at Arizona State University, USA. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering and a Master's degree in Power Systems from India in 2011 and 2014 respectively. He has worked with Tata Consultancy Services as Assistant Systems Engineer from 2011-2012, India. He has worked as an Assistant Professor (2014 to 2018) in the department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, KLE Technological University, India. He is a certified IUCEE International Engineering Educator. He was awarded the ‘Ing.Paed.IGIP’ title at ICTIEE, 2018.

visit author page

biography

Samantha Ruth Brunhaver Arizona State University

visit author page

Samantha Brunhaver is an Assistant Professor of Engineering in the Fulton Schools of Engineering Polytechnic School. Dr. Brunhaver recently joined Arizona State after completing her M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University. She also has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Northeastern University. Dr. Brunhaver's research examines the career decision-making and professional identity formation of engineering students, alumni, and practicing engineers. She also conducts studies of new engineering pedagogy that help to improve student engagement and understanding.

visit author page

biography

Jennifer M. Bekki Arizona State University

visit author page

Jennifer M. Bekki is an Associate Professor in The Polytechnic School within the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University. Her research interests include topics related to engineering student persistence, STEM graduate students (particularly women), online learning, educational data mining, and the modeling and analysis of manufacturing systems. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Bioengineering and graduate degrees in Industrial Engineering, all from Arizona State University.

visit author page

biography

Eunsil Lee Florida International University orcid.org/0000-0002-1200-2412

visit author page

Eunsil Lee is a postdoctoral associate at Florida International University in the School of Universal Computing, Construction, and Engineering Education. She received a B.S. and M.S. in Clothing and Textiles from Yonsei University (South Korea) with the concentration area of Nanomaterials and Biomaterials in Textiles. She began her Ph.D. study in Textile Engineering but shifted her path toward Engineering Education, earning her Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Arizona State University. Her research interests center on inclusion in engineering with focuses on students’ sense of belonging, faculty and peer interactions, diversity in citizenship, and engineering doctoral education. Prior to her Ph.D., She worked as a research associate at the Korean Institute of Science and Technology, Carbon Composite Materials Research Center.

visit author page

Download Paper | Permalink

Abstract

This research paper examines the influence of interpersonal interactions on the course-level persistence intentions of online undergraduate engineering students. Online learning is increasing in enrollment and importance in engineering education. Online courses also continue to confront issues with comparatively higher course dropout levels than face-to-face courses. This study correspondingly explores relevant student perceptions of their online course experiences to better understand the factors that contribute to students’ choices to remain in or drop out of their online undergraduate engineering courses. Data presented in this study were collected during fall 2019 and spring 2020 from three ABET-accredited online undergraduate engineering courses at a large southwestern public university: electrical engineering, engineering management, and software engineering. Participants were asked to respond to surveys at 12-time points during their 7.5-week online course. Each survey measured students’ perceptions of course LMS dialog, perceptions of instructor practices, and peer support for completing the course. Participants also reported their intentions to persist in the course during each survey administration.

A multi-level modeling analysis revealed that the Perceptions of course LMS dialog, Perceptions of Instructor Practices, and Perceptions of Peer Support are related to Perceptions of course-level Persistence Intentions. Time was also a significant predictor of persistence intentions and indicated that the course persistence intentions decrease towards the end of the course. A multi-level modeling analysis revealed that LMS dialog, perceptions of instructor practices, and peer support are related to course persistence intentions. Time was also a significant predictor of persistence intentions and indicated that the course persistence intentions decrease towards the end of the course. Additionally, interactions between demographic variables and other predictors (Perceptions of course LMS dialogue, Perceptions of Instructor Practices, and Perceptions of Peer Support) were significant. With the increase in perceptions of course LMS dialog, perceptions of instructor practices, and perceptions of peer support, there was a relatively smaller increase in the persistence intentions of veterans than non-veterans. There is relatively more increase in the persistence intentions of females than males as their perceptions of instructor practices increase. Finally, increasing perceptions of peer support led to a relatively larger increase in the persistence intentions of non-transfer students than transfer students and a relatively smaller increase in persistence intentions of students working full-time than other students.

Citation
Format

Kittur, J., & Brunhaver, S. R., & Bekki, J. M., & Lee, E. (2021, July), Examining the Impact of Interpersonal Interactions on Course-level Persistence Intentions Among Online Undergraduate Engineering Students Paper presented at 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual Conference. 10.18260/1-2--37121

TY - CPAPER
AB - This research paper examines the influence of interpersonal interactions on the course-level persistence intentions of online undergraduate engineering students. Online learning is increasing in enrollment and importance in engineering education. Online courses also continue to confront issues with comparatively higher course dropout levels than face-to-face courses. This study correspondingly explores relevant student perceptions of their online course experiences to better understand the factors that contribute to students’ choices to remain in or drop out of their online undergraduate engineering courses. Data presented in this study were collected during fall 2019 and spring 2020 from three ABET-accredited online undergraduate engineering courses at a large southwestern public university: electrical engineering, engineering management, and software engineering. Participants were asked to respond to surveys at 12-time points during their 7.5-week online course. Each survey measured students’ perceptions of course LMS dialog, perceptions of instructor practices, and peer support for completing the course. Participants also reported their intentions to persist in the course during each survey administration.

A multi-level modeling analysis revealed that the Perceptions of course LMS dialog, Perceptions of Instructor Practices, and Perceptions of Peer Support are related to Perceptions of course-level Persistence Intentions. Time was also a significant predictor of persistence intentions and indicated that the course persistence intentions decrease towards the end of the course. A multi-level modeling analysis revealed that LMS dialog, perceptions of instructor practices, and peer support are related to course persistence intentions. Time was also a significant predictor of persistence intentions and indicated that the course persistence intentions decrease towards the end of the course. Additionally, interactions between demographic variables and other predictors (Perceptions of course LMS dialogue, Perceptions of Instructor Practices, and Perceptions of Peer Support) were significant. With the increase in perceptions of course LMS dialog, perceptions of instructor practices, and perceptions of peer support, there was a relatively smaller increase in the persistence intentions of veterans than non-veterans. There is relatively more increase in the persistence intentions of females than males as their perceptions of instructor practices increase. Finally, increasing perceptions of peer support led to a relatively larger increase in the persistence intentions of non-transfer students than transfer students and a relatively smaller increase in persistence intentions of students working full-time than other students.

AU - Javeed Kittur
AU - Samantha Ruth Brunhaver
AU - Jennifer M. Bekki
AU - Eunsil Lee
CY - Virtual Conference
DA - 2021/07/26
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Examining the Impact of Interpersonal Interactions on Course-level Persistence Intentions Among Online Undergraduate Engineering Students
UR - https://peer.asee.org/37121
DO - 10.18260/1-2--37121
ER -