<p> In higher education and in engineering education in particular, changing majors is generally considered a negative event - or at least an event with negative consequences. An emergent field of study within engineering education revolves around understanding the factors and processes driving student changes of major. Of key importance to further the field of change of major research is a grasp of large scale phenomena occurring throughout multiple systems, knowledge of previous attempts at describing such issues, and the adoption of metrics to probe them effectively. The problem posed is exacerbated by the drive in higher education institutions and among state legislatures to understand and reduce time-to-degree and student attrition. With these factors in mind, insights into large-scale processes that affect student progression are essential to evaluating the success or failure of programs. </p><p> The goals of this work include describing the current educational research on switchers, identifying core concepts and stumbling blocks in my treatment of switchers, and using the Multiple Institutional Database for Investigating Engineering Longitudinal Development (MIDFIELD) to explore how those who change majors perform as a function of large-scale academic pathways within and without the engineering context. To accomplish these goals, it was first necessary to delve into a recent history of the treatment of switchers within the literature and categorize their approach. While three categories of papers exist in the literature concerning change of major, all three may or may not be applicable to a given database of students or even a single institution. Furthermore, while the term has been coined in the literature, no portable metric for discussing large-scale navigational flexibility exists in engineering education. What such a metric would look like will be discussed as well as the delimitations involved. </p><p> The results and subsequent discussion will include a description of changes of major, how they may or may not have a deleterious effect on one's academic pathway, the special context of changes of major in the pathways of students within first-year engineering programs students labeled as undecided, an exploration of curricular flexibility by the construction of a novel metric, and proposed future work.</p>

<p> The purpose of the study was to document how individuals' experiences and understanding of genetics concepts affects their medical experiences. Recently pregnant women were interviewed because they represent a population that needs to comprehend biological and genetic information to understand their health. Three women were designated as science experts (SE) defined as having extensive university level science education and three women were designated as science non-experts (SNE). In general, SEs described a more positive pregnancy experience. Both SEs and SNEs demonstrated a basic understanding of genetic concepts but varied in the application of concepts to personal medical issues. Participants' views and experiences of pre and postnatal tests were linked to their understanding of nature of science components such as recognition that tests have limitations. Results from this study indicate an incomplete understanding of the nature of science among participants may have led to unsatisfactory medical experiences.</p>

<p> Educators have recommended the integration of engineering and the liberal arts as a promising educational model to prepare young engineers for global economic, environmental, sociotechnical, and ethical challenges. Drawing upon philosophy of technology, engineering studies, and educational psychology, this dissertation examines diverse visions and strategies for integrating engineering and liberal education and explores their impacts on students' intellectual and moral development. Based on archival research, interviews, and participant observation, the dissertation presents in-depth case studies of three educational initiatives that seek to blend engineering with the humanities, social sciences, and arts: Harvey Mudd College, the Picker Engineering Program at Smith College, and the Programs in Design and Innovation at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The research finds that learning engineering in a liberal arts context increases students' sense of "owning" their education and contributes to their communication, teamwork, and other non-technical professional skills. In addition, opportunities for extensive liberal arts learning in the three cases encourage some students to pursue alternative, less technocentric approaches to engineering. Nevertheless, the case studies suggest that the epistemological differences between the engineering and liberal arts instructors help maintain a technical/social dualism among most students. Furthermore, the dissertation argues a "hidden curriculum," which reinforces the dominant ideology in the engineering profession, persists in the integrated programs and prevents the students from reflecting on the broad social context of engineering and critically examining the assumptions upheld in the engineering profession. </p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Education, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-09, Section: A, page: 3720. Adviser: Valarie Akerson. Title from dissertation home page (viewed Apr. 24, 2008).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-11, Section: A, page: 4653. Adviser: Fouad Abd-El-Khalick. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 149-157) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Education, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on May 12, 2009). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-08, Section: A, page: 3094. Adviser: Valarie L. Akerson.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Education, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on May 12, 2009). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-08, Section: A, page: 3013. Adviser: Valarie L. Akerson.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Education, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Jul 27, 2009). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-11, Section: A, page: 4232. Adviser: Robert Sherwood.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Education, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Jul 28, 2009). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-12, Section: A, page: 4620. Adviser: Valarie L. Akerson.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: A, page: . Adviser: John Unsworth. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 252-259) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.