Factors affecting the self-efficacy beliefs of first- and second-year engineering students

Mica A Hutchison, Purdue University

Abstract

A mixed methods investigation of first- and second-year engineering students' engineering efficacy beliefs was undertaken. Surveys were administered to first-year students (n=1280) enrolled in Engineering Problem-Solving and Computer Tools and second-year students (n=99) enrolled in Chemical Engineering Calculations at Purdue University. The survey instruments included quantitative measures of students' confidence in current and future engineering success. Subsets of each cohort (12 first-year and 9 second-year students) were then interviewed during one-on-one discussions based on a semi-structured protocol designed to elicit in-depth student accounts of the experiences and cognitive processing involved in the formation of their engineering efficacy beliefs. Quantitative results suggest men to be more confident than women in engineering course success and second-year students to be more efficacious in the engineering environment than first-year students. Qualitative results demonstrate first-year students' tendency to base their efficacy on social comparisons. Second-year students rely more on mastery experiences. Based on these and other identified trends, suggestions are made for the design of engineering learning environments that can best promote student efficacy and success.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Follman, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Educational psychology|Engineering|Chemical engineering

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