Keywords: science, mathematics, preparation, persistence
Competition, Confidence, and Challenges in the Engineering Classroom:
American and International Students
Speak Out
National data has shown that Americans are scoring at lower levels in mathematics and science than their
international peer group. Yet, the data does not feature students’ voices. This study helps fill that gap by highlighting
American engineering students and their international counterparts matriculating at an HBCU (Oliver University).
This study is part of a large, longitudinal study designed to understand how students become engineers by examining
their experiences from their freshman through their senior years.
Implications of Findings
This paper underscores the importance of including stakeholders’ perspectives and voices along with numerical findings
with regard to academic preparation and achievement in engineering. In creating or revising educational policies,
we must remember to describe before we prescribe. The voices presented in this paper are indicative of the US
educational system in regards to preparation for higher education. This perception (or reality) needs to be addressed
as we attempt to find ways to decrease the number of students that are dropping out of undergraduate engineering programs.
It has become apparent that funding for the continuance of pre-college preparatory programs should continue. Until US
high schools become more consistently competitive and produce more students that have the necessary skills to compete for
the jobs in the global market, supplemental services are needed to fill in those gaps.
| The African Caribbean students at "Oliver University" have higher grade point averages
(GPAs) and self-report higher confidence levels than their African American counterparts.
|
Method and Background
Achievement scores for US students historically have fallen at or below international averages and have done so for
three international comparative assessments of science and mathematics as referenced in the Third International
Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). The 1983 report A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform
charged federal and state governments to reform the educational system so that US students could be better prepared to
compete against international economic competitors. It brought forth a federal challenge to state governments to conduct
reforms on a grand scale.
While the aforementioned reports have shed light on the nature of US secondary public education, this paper highlights
the voices, experiences, and dispositions of first year American and international engineering students at Oliver
University in order to continue to validate the urgent need to establish educational policies that address the
level of preparation of US high school students for college, particularly in the areas of mathematics, science, and
engineering.
This study focuses only on the first year experience of five of the pool of sixteen students matriculating at Oliver
University. The five students described in this paper were all subjected to multiple method data collection including
observations, ethnographic interviews, and surveys. The remaining students were interviewed and surveyed, but not
observed. The students observed in this study consisted of three African Caribbean engineering students from the
island of Trinidad and two African American engineering students. The primary source of data was a content analysis
of ethnographic interviews, ranging between one and three hours. The themes presented in this paper emerged from the
participants’ discussion, rather than predetermined questions.
Several phenomena emerged from the data; one noteworthy phenomena being how African American and African Caribbean
engineering students speak of competition within their discipline, how this affects their confidence level and how
this later translates into academic challenges they face in pursuing an engineering degree.
What We Found
This study revealed that in their first year at Oliver University, African American engineering students began to
experience difficulty particularly in the areas of science and mathematics, whereas the African Caribbean engineering
students viewed the same course material as a review of information previously learned. Both qualitative and
quantitative data indicate a difference between these two student groups in three broad areas: (1) high school
preparation, (2) first year GPA, and (3) confidence level. The data reveal that the African Caribbean students
exhibited a higher level of personal self-confidence as well as high levels of confidence in the areas of mathematics
and science. GPAs for both student groups are also reflective of this pattern.
Trinidadian public education, similar to the British system, is very selective and competitive on the secondary level.
Due to this structure, students tend to be academically prepared for their freshman college experience.
The high school experiences of American students differ on a structural level, thus allowing for cultural differences
or vice versa. In the US, public secondary education is the norm and admission is guaranteed. However, the
opportunity to take college preparatory courses is neither the norm nor a guarantee. Access to these courses is not
equitably distributed among US high schools. Additionally, school districts highly populated with African American
students are less likely to offer an array of these types of courses.
International students engage more often in effective educational practices than their American counterparts,
especially in their first year of college and often report greater gains in social development, practical competence,
and general education. The achievement gaps between international and American students have been well documented.
This paper gives credence to those reports by presenting the voices of the students themselves. Furthermore, students
from this study have attributed the primary difference as being work ethic and high school academic preparation.
Overall, we found that the African Caribbean students at Oliver University have higher grade point averages (GPAs)
and self-report higher confidence levels. Additionally, when all students were asked if they saw themselves studying
or practicing engineering next year, they all replied yes. This information provided further context in understanding
where the differences between these two student groups may lie. Although the dynamic is not explored in this study,
it is interesting to note that both the American and international female students in this sample rated themselves
lower than the males on each confidence scale.
Not only does national data show that Americans are scoring at lower levels in mathematics and science, but also the
American and international students in this study are observing and reporting this phenomenon as well.
Authors: Dawn Williams, Lorraine Fleming, Marcus Jones, and Ashley Griffin
Source: Proceedings of the 2007 American Society for Engineering Education Conference
The full paper, including references, can be found via the ASEE web site's
proceedings search page.
For a printable pdf of this research brief, click here.
Brief created August 2007
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