TY - GEN
T1 - Addressing retention at an English-medium Engineering College
T2 - 45th Annual Conference of the European Society for Engineering Education, SEFI 2017
AU - Hatakka, M.
AU - Small, J.
AU - Van Der Merwe, R.
AU - Ainane, S.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - The low student retention rate in an English medium engineering college in the Middle East has been attributed to the students' lack of readiness in language and sciences, lack of motivation, and issues regarding adjusting to university life. To address this, a new freshman course called Introduction to Engineering, ENGR110 was introduced in 2015. The course, incorporated into the First Year Experience (FYE) program, was designed to introduce students to the different majors offered, soft skills such as team work, time management, goal setting, problem-solving, and to establish a learning community on campus. It includes hands-on activities, problem-solving sessions, seminars/workshops, field trips as well as presentations by alumni. A particular emphasis on having students make informed decisions early about their choice of major was seen as critical in getting students focused and motivated. This paper describes the impact that the course has had on student retention based on students' to two consecutive surveys.
AB - The low student retention rate in an English medium engineering college in the Middle East has been attributed to the students' lack of readiness in language and sciences, lack of motivation, and issues regarding adjusting to university life. To address this, a new freshman course called Introduction to Engineering, ENGR110 was introduced in 2015. The course, incorporated into the First Year Experience (FYE) program, was designed to introduce students to the different majors offered, soft skills such as team work, time management, goal setting, problem-solving, and to establish a learning community on campus. It includes hands-on activities, problem-solving sessions, seminars/workshops, field trips as well as presentations by alumni. A particular emphasis on having students make informed decisions early about their choice of major was seen as critical in getting students focused and motivated. This paper describes the impact that the course has had on student retention based on students' to two consecutive surveys.
KW - First-year experience (FYE)
KW - Learner-centered teaching
KW - Retention
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85034777208&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85034777208
T3 - Proceedings of the 45th SEFI Annual Conference 2017 - Education Excellence for Sustainability, SEFI 2017
SP - 903
EP - 910
BT - Proceedings of the 45th SEFI Annual Conference 2017 - Education Excellence for Sustainability, SEFI 2017
A2 - Bernardino, Jorge
A2 - Rocha, Joao
A2 - Quadrado, Jose Carlos
Y2 - 18 September 2017 through 21 September 2017
ER -
