Voices from the Field: Strategies for Enhancing Engineering Programs

Abstract

In our concluding chapter, the aim is to make concrete recommendations building from the analyses presented in chapters three to seven in this volume. The goal is to assist undergraduate engineering programs, particularly those located in public universities, in strengthening their departments. The research informing this volume was a multi-disciplinary, mixed-method study which combined qualitative interviews, observations and focus group interviews with quantitative faculty and student surveys. This volume presents primarily qualitative data as interviews with students, faculty, administrators, staff members including counselors and advisors reveal strategies for enhancing undergraduate student experiences as well as revealing reasons why students left engineering. Faculty, administrators, and staff provide testimony based on their experiences with, in some cases, generations of students whose actions may lead to switching from engineering, poor academic performance, and/or delays in degree attainment.