Record Details
Factors affecting grades of transfer students in engineering
ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Factors affecting grades of transfer students in engineering |
| Names |
Gluth, Harold Clarence
(creator) Reichart, Robert R. (advisor) |
| Date Issued | 1953-08-13 (iso8601) |
| Note | Graduation date: 1954 |
| Abstract | The problem of dropouts in engineering schools is an important one. This study examined the factors which affect dropouts in schools of engineering. Do these factors operate differently for students who do all their work at one institution than they do for students who transfer into the school of engineering from other institutions? The present study was an attempt to answer this question as well as to determine, if possible, the factors relating to success in the engineering field. The word success as used in this study was defined as the successful completion of an engineering curriculum at Oregon State College leading to a degree in that field. To obtain the information necessary questionnaires were distributed to freshman, sophomore and junior students in the School of Engineering at Oregon State College. The usable replies were divided into two major groups totaling 262 cases. The first group, the native group, consisted of those students who had enrolled as freshmen in the School of Engineering at Oregon State College and contained 132 cases broken down into the following engineering fields: electrical engineering, 54; mechanical engineering, 24; civil engineering, 47; and industrial engineering, 7. The second group, the transfer group, was made up of those students who had taken college work in another institution before transferring to the School of Engineering at Oregon State College. This group numbered 130 cases broken down into the following engineering fields: electrical engineering, 39; mechanical engineering, 30; civil engineering, 54; and industrial engineering, 7. From the answers given on the questionnaires, it was possible to obtain an indication of the relationship between the factors being investigated and engineering success with respect to both native and transfer students. The results indicated that this relationship was a varying one, but the limited nature of this study made it impossible to draw conclusions of an absolute and final nature. However, the following factors did seem to be related in some degree to the engineering success of either the native student group or the transfer student group alone or of both of them together. 1. Size of the high school graduating class. 2. Number of mathematics courses taken in high school. 3. Combination of certain mathematics courses taken in high school. 4. Courses in which best grades were received in college, primarily chemistry. 5. Definiteness of vocational choice prior to entering college. 6. Vocational interest test scores which led to the choice of an engineering curriculum. 7. Difficulty in reading as indicated by test scores. 8. Felt reading difficulty as indicated by the subjective replies of the students. 9. Engineering training received in the armed forces. 10. Mathematics courses taken in the armed forces. 11. Motivating forces resulting in the choice of an engineering profession, primarily (1) experience in the armed forces, (2) self-interest, and (3) parental preference. |
| Genre | Thesis/Dissertation |
| Topic | Students, Transfer of |
| Identifier | http://hdl.handle.net/1957/52635 |
