ERIC Number: EJ1053290
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-2153-2516
EISSN: N/A
The Impact of a Cohort Model Learning Community on First-Year Engineering Student Success
Doolen, Toni L.; Biddlecombe, Erin
American Journal of Engineering Education, v5 n1 p27-40 2014
This study investigated the effect of cohort participation in a learning community and collaborative learning techniques on the success of first-year engineering students. Student success was measured as gains in knowledge, skills, and attitudes, student engagement, and persistence in engineering. The study group was comprised of students registered in an engineering orientation course. Two sub-groups were compared: a) a test cohort and b) a control group. Students registered in the test cohort shared four courses. The control group shared only one course, an engineering orientation course. An exit survey was used to measure gains in skills and attitudes, student engagement, and student perceptions of collaborative learning techniques. Participation in the learning community test cohort was not found to improve student success. Participation in the learning community test cohort model was, however, linked to more positive student attitudes towards engineering and higher levels of student satisfaction with the collaborative learning techniques used in the course.
Descriptors: Engineering, Engineering Education, College Freshmen, Cooperative Learning, Communities of Practice, Academic Achievement, Skill Development, Student Attitudes, Learner Engagement, Comparative Analysis, Control Groups, Experimental Groups, Cohort Analysis, Student Surveys, Program Effectiveness, Positive Attitudes, Satisfaction, Predictor Variables, Statistical Analysis, Enrollment, Academic Persistence
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Oregon
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A