M.Ed. (Tertiary and Adult Education) / Please refer to full text to view abstract.

M.Ed. (Tertiary and Adult Education) / The purpose of this empirical study which forms part of a team research project, was to identify personality variables which may influence the academic achievement of first-year engineering-students. It was undertaken in the light of the relatively high failure rate of first-year students and the negative implications this has for an institute of higher learning and the students. The Bureau for University Education aims to establish a better student selection mechanism. The test group consisted of first-year engineering-students who registered at the Rand Afrikaans University during 1989, 1990 and 1991. This study focused on a single non-cognitive factor, namely personality, and its influence on academic achievement. The 16-PF-Questionnaire was used as a measuring instrument. student's t-test was utilized to establish significant differences between the two identified groups. The available data was processed by means of the BMDP-3S computer programme. The findings of this empirical study indicate that personality cannot be utilised in the prediction of academic achievement as a single factor, but in combination bined with other factors it forms an integral part of the selection mechanism. The successful engineering-students differed significantly from the less successful enigeering-students with regard to the following factors of the 16-PF-Questionnaire: * Factor G (dutyfullness) * Factor N (shrewdness)

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This study is a design and delivery of a comprehensive re-entry training program which has been implemented to meet the needs of returning French engineering grande ecole undergraduate sojourners. With particular attention to the historical and specific character of a grande ecole's interdependent relationship with industry and professional training as an integral part of the educational design, this program has been specifically conceived as a semiautonomous, in-house institute for advanced intercultural training and studies with the combined aims of a) meeting the immediate and longer-term needs of returning sojourners and b) enhancing intercultural awareness at the school generally. This study focuses specifically on the re-entry program delivered by the newly created Winter Institute of Intercultural Communication (WIIC) as the capstone innovation in the broader developmental curriculum redesign scheme for grande ecole students. The Institute now provides the necessary re-entry follow up after an extensive pre-departure training program and six months experience abroad as well as providing a workshop for moving on to more advanced levels of intercultural communication issues.

Many explanations for why students leave engineering programs fail to look more closely at unique help-seeking cultural norms of first-generation (“first-gen”) students that tend to conflict with help-seeking cultural norms of undergraduate engineering programs. “First-gen” in this study applies to students with neither parent nor guardian holding a four-year bachelor’s degree, while “continuing-gen” applies to continuing-generation students with at least one parent holding a bachelor’s degree. Although statistical odds are stacked against many first-gens, some of these individuals persevere through rigorous engineering programs using effective help-seeking strategies. This mixed methods study explores what patterns in help-seeking beliefs and behaviors may be specific to Black first-gen undergraduates relative to other first-gen and continuing-gen peers. This study also seeks to understand the help-seeking experiences of Black first-gen engineering undergraduates that contribute to the observed pattern differences among demographics. Additionally, this study aims to understand how successful help-seeking strategies and experiences of Black first-gens allow them to persevere in engineering. Likert scale questionnaire responses revealed that the Black first-gens in this study were less comfortable seeking academic help from faculty relative to other first-gen and continuing-gen peers. Qualitative interviews revealed that a primary reason for this discomfort stemmed from faculty behaviors that discouraged help-seeking attempts such as making demeaning comments, singling out Black students in class, impatience during office hours, no regard for class comprehension, and a lack of personal connection. The Black first-gens in this study managed to persevere in engineering by turning to religious faith and community for support, having fictive kin relationships with personable faculty, and adopting a mix of independent and interdependent norms within their study groups. These findings help inform institutions about improving the help-seeking experiences of Black first-gen engineering undergraduates. Additionally, this research provides useful guidance to other Black first-gen students about effective help-seeking strategies in engineering.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil Engineering; and, (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / Bibliography: leaves 135-136. / by C. Anderson Inge. / M.S.

Past research has explored the factors involved in successful partnerships between higher education, government and industry; but little attention has been given to perceptions of students, program administrators, and instructors themselves regarding the philosophy, values, attitudes, and behaviors of the effective instructor, now and for the future. This study examined the perceptions of the role of the effective instructor in graduate engineering education in the work place. A qualitative case study was conducted of the perceptions of effective instruction in the masters-level engineering education program offered by Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (Virginia Tech) at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) in Dahlgren, Virginia. Open-ended interviews were conducted with five students, five instructors, five NSWC administrators and four Virginia Tech administrators. Analysis of interview data resulted in four categories of perceptions: (a) the teaching role, (b) the students, (c) the subject, and (d) off-campus conditions. The four categories were used to organize the nineteen case histories and to compare perceptions within and across case groups. Respondents who were more experienced with off-campus adult learners and also perceived few differences between education and training viewed the instructor's main responsibility as one of meeting student needs. Instructors and Virginia Tech administrators believed that teaching, research and obtaining a degree were most important while students and NSWC administrators believed that teaching, learning, and organizational productivity were most important. All respondents recognized that NSWC students faced more demands, and were more motivated and professionally experienced than their counterparts on campus. Instructors with off-campus experience, NSWC administrators, and students believed that work place applications should be incorporated into NSWC graduate education, while Blacksburg-based faculty and administrators did not. All groups agreed that graduate engineering education must incorporate state-of-the art technologies. It was concluded that work place engineering education requires more than the transmission of knowledge. A student-centered approach to the role of the engineering instructor takes into account the professional experiences of the students and the unclear, complex nature of problems encountered in engineering practice. This implies an emerging form of graduate/continuing professional engineering education, consisting of four elements: (a) the subject matter, (b) adult learning processes, (c) the life situation of the learner, and (d) work place objectives. Implications for college teaching, strategic planning, program administrators and individual students are discussed. / Ed. D.

The relationship between economic and demographic factors and the flow of new students into undergraduate engineering programs was investigated. An empirical analysis was undertaken based on a lagged-supply model developed earlier by Richard Freeman. The analysis involved the replication of the Freeman model over the 1948-1972 period, the extension of the model through 1986, and the forecasting of first-year engineering enrollments up to the year 2000. The model developed in this thesis was able to a accurately mirror the engineering enrollment trends from 1948 to 1986. The economic variables--especially R&D expenditures and starting engineering salaries relative to median income of college graduates--were found to be important factors in the flow of freshmen into engineering. None of the variables relating to demographic trends were found to significantly related to first-year engineering enrollment. The importance of the federal government's role in the engineering labor market through research and development funding is discussed, along with forecasts of possible trends in first-year engineering enrollment. / Master of Arts

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The purposes of this study are to evaluate the effectiveness of the training program at Arlington State College; to evaluate the curricula of the Semi-Professional Engineering Program at Arlington State College; and if needed, suggest improvements in the Semi-Professional Engineering curriculum at Arlington State College.