The end of the pipeline: profiling commencing students to ease their transition into an engineering school

Abstract

In recent years changes in secondary school curricula and subject selection policies have meant that engineering schools in Australia have had to accommodate an increasingly diverse commencing student cohort. Because students have followed different pathways prior to enrolling in their program, there is a considerable variation in their knowledge, skills, and work experiences, and they also have different educational and socio-cultural backgrounds. It is posited that to facilitate the successful transition of these students into their university programs, educators need to understand the characteristics of the commencing cohort and how these characteristics may influence student success. This paper describes the first stage of a research project being undertaken in the Faculty of Engineering and Surveying at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ). The project aims to firstly provide an insight into the characteristics of the students in the commencing cohort and then to identify the key predictors of academic success, particularly in the first year engineering programs. Stage 1 of the project involved collecting data to establish the 'learning profiles' of students from the 2004 commencing on-campus cohort. The data included demographic information, learning preferences, verbal and spatial abilities, personality traits, and general self-efficacy. The academic achievement of these students will be tracked through to their departure from the university. The key findings from this study are discussed and the implications for the Faculty are highlighted.