logo logo European Journal of Educational Research

EU-JER is is a, peer reviewed, online academic research journal.

Subscribe to

Receive Email Alerts

for special events, calls for papers, and professional development opportunities.

Subscribe

Publisher (HQ)

Eurasian Society of Educational Research
Eurasian Society of Educational Research
Christiaan Huygensstraat 44, Zipcode:7533XB, Enschede, THE NETHERLANDS
Eurasian Society of Educational Research
Headquarters
Christiaan Huygensstraat 44, Zipcode:7533XB, Enschede, THE NETHERLANDS
Research Article

Engineering Students’ Challenging Learning Experiences and their Changing Attitude towards Academic Performance

Jake M. Laguador , Conrado I. Dotong

This study determined the challenging learning experiences of engineering students while completing their degree program as factor that might influenc.

T

This study determined the challenging learning experiences of engineering students while completing their degree program as factor that might influence to their changing attitude towards achieving higher academic performance. Mixed method of research was utilised in the study considering the total population of 75 graduating students for quantitative and 12 students for qualitative part of the study using focus group discussion. Results showed that engineering students have significantly higher level of positive attitude towards academic performance during their junior level but significantly lower after taking professional courses. Attaining high academic performance still really matters for the engineering students during their junior level but continuously changing their perspective due to encountered challenging experiences while taking the professional courses. Performance in General Engineering courses describes the attitude of the students towards academic performance in personal aspect while professional courses define their attitude in professional aspect. The finding of the qualitative research revealed that there are three themes emerged in the challenging experiences of the engineering students and these are: Abandoned Social Freedom, Survival of the Fittest and Future Oriented Mindset which contributed to the changing perspectives of the engineering students.

Keywords: Abandoned social freedom, survival of the fittest, future oriented mindset, engineering education.

cloud_download PDF
Cite
Article Metrics
Views
2213
Download
5154
Citations
Crossref
5

Scopus
5

References

Alos, S. B., Caranto, L. C., & David, J. J. T. (2015). Factors affecting the academic performance of the student nurses of BSU. International Journal of Nursing Science5(2), 60-65.

Aryana, M. (2010). Relationship between self-esteem and academic achievement amongst pre-university students. Journal of Applied Sciences10(20), 2474-2477.

Baillie, C., & Fitzgerald, G. (2000). Motivation and attrition in engineering students. European Journal of Engineering Education25(2), 145-155. https://doi.org/10.1080/030437900308544

Bochert, S., Schneider, S., & Webels, D. (2016). The Kiel maturity model as a future-oriented mindset for sustainable knowledge management processes. International Journal of Sustainable Economy8(4), 312-323.

Boles, W., & Whelan, K. (2017). Barriers to student success in engineering education. European Journal of Engineering Education42(4), 368-381. https://doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2016.1189879

Butina, M. (2015). A narrative approach to qualitative inquiry. Clinical Laboratory Science28(3), 190-196.

Carlson, J. A. (2010). Avoiding traps in member checking. Qualitative Report15(5), 1102-1113.

Chao, M. M., Takeuchi, R., & Farh, J. L. (2017).Enhancing cultural intelligence: The roles of implicit culture beliefs and adjustment. Personnel Psychology70(1), 257-292. https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12142

Chen, X., Vorvoreanu, M., & Madhavan, K. (2014). Mining social media data for understanding students’ learning experiences. IEEE transactions on learning technologies7(3), 246-259. https://doi.org/10.1109/TLT.2013.2296520

Cheng, Y. Y., Shein, P. P., & Chiou, W. B. (2012). Escaping the impulse to immediate gratification: The prospect concept promotes a future‐oriented mindset, prompting an inclination towards delayed gratification. British Journal of Psychology103(1), 129-141.  https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8295.2011.02067.x

Coll, R. K., & Paku, L. (2015). The influence of experiential learning on indigenous New Zealanders’ attitude towards science. In M. S. Khine (Ed.), Attitude measurements in science education: Classic and contemporary approaches (pp.223-242). Information Age Publishing.

Conti, R. (2000). College goals: Do self-determined and carefully considered goals predict intrinsic motivation, academic performance, and adjustment during the first semester?, Social Psychology of Education4(2), 189-211.

Crede, M., & Kuncel, N. R. (2008). Study habits, skills, and attitudes: The third pillar supporting collegiate academic performance. Perspectives on psychological science3(6), 425-453. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6924.2008.00089.x

Creswell J.W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (4th ed.). Sage.

Deveci, T., & Tezcan, F. (2017). Andragogical, pedagogical and lifelong learning orientations of freshman engineering students in a project-based course. Education for Life31(1), 69-88.

Dotong, C. I., Hicaro, A., & Laguador, J. M. (2019). Licensure examination performance of mechanical engineering graduates and its relationship with academic performance. Asia Pacific Journal of Academic Research in Social Sciences4(1), 7-14.

Ezemba, E. (2018). Adequacy in the implementation of entrepreneurship education in tertiary institutions in Abia State. African Journal of Educational Research and Development, 11(1), 240-250.

Geisinger, B. N., & Raman, D. R. (2013). Why they leave: Understanding student attrition from engineering majors. International Journal of Engineering Education29(4), 914-925.

Godfrey, E., Aubrey, T., & King, R. (2010). Who leaves and who stays? Retention and attrition in engineering education. Engineering Education5(2), 26-40. https://doi.org/10.11120/ened.2010.05020026

Goran, L., & Negoescu, G. (2015). Emotions at work. The management of emotions in the act of teaching. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences180(1), 1605-1611. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.02.314

Griffin, S. (2008). Employer demand for college graduates with high grades. SS-AAEA Journal of Agricultural Economics1(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.113232

Grohs, J. R., Knight, D. B., Young, G. D., & Soledad, M. M. (2018). Exploring academic performance paths and student learning strategies in a large foundational engineering course, International Journal of Education in Mathematics Science and Technology6(3), 241-253. https://doi.org/10.18404/ijemst.428175

Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. (1989). Fourth generation evaluation. Sage.

Hasni, A., &Potvin, P. (2015).Student's Interest in Science and Technology and Its Relationships with Teaching Methods, Family Context and Self-Efficacy. International journal of environmental and science education10(3), 337-366. https://doi.org/10.12973/ijese.2015.249a 

Hess, J. (2017). A Polanyian tack: political implications (Publication No. 22685) [Doctoral dissertation, Middlesex University-London]. Middlesex University Research Repository. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/131241853.pdf

Hoadley C., & Kali Y. (2019). Five waves of conceptualizing knowledge and learning for our future in a networked society. In Y. Kali, A. Baram-Tsabari, A. Schejter (Eds.), Learning in a networked society: Computer-supported collaborative learning series (pp.1-21). Springer.

Holmegaard, H. T., Madsen, L. M., & Ulriksen, L. (2014). A journey of negotiation and belonging: understanding students’ transitions to science and engineering in higher education. Cultural Studies of Science Education9(3), 755-786. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-013-9542-3

Holmegaard, H. T., Madsen, L. M., & Ulriksen, L. (2016). Where is the engineering I applied for? A longitudinal study of students' transition into higher education engineering, and their considerations of staying or leaving. European Journal of Engineering Education41(2), 154-171. https://doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2015.1056094

Hugerat, M., & Kortam, N. (2014).Improving higher order thinking skills among freshmen by teaching science through inquiry. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education10(5), 447-454. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2014.1107a

Jain, P., Billaiya, R., & Malaiya, S. (2017). A correlational analysis of academic stress in adolescents in respect of socio-economic status. International Journal of Physical Sciences and Engineering1(1), 68-71. https://doi.org/10.21744/ijpse.v1i1.14

Jones, M. E., & Bond, M. L. (2019). Personal adjustment, language acquisition and culture learning in short-term cultural immersion. International Research and Review9(1), 1-57

Kali Soyer, M., & Kirikkanat, B. (2019). Undergraduates’ achievement goal orientations, academic self-efficacy and hope as the predictors of their learning approaches. European Journal of Educational Research, 8(1), 99-106. https://doi.org/10.12973/eujer.8.1.99

Kirmizi, O. (2015). The interplay among academic self-concept, self-efficacy, self-regulation and academic achievement of higher education L2 learners. Journal of Higher Education and Science5(1), 32-40. https://doi.org/10.5961/jhes.2015.107

Knight, A. P., & Eisenkraft, N. (2015). Positive is usually good, negative is not always bad: The effects of group affect on social integration and task performance. Journal of Applied Psychology100(4), 1214-1227. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000006

Lent, R. W., Miller, M. J., Smith, P. E., Watford, B. A., Hui, K., & Lim, R. H. (2015). Social cognitive model of adjustment to engineering majors: Longitudinal test across gender and race/ethnicity. Journal of Vocational Behavior86(1), 77-85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2014.11.004

Lisciandro, J. G., Jones, A., & Geerlings, P. (2018). Enabling learners starts with knowing them: Student attitudes, aspiration and anxiety towards science and Maths learning in an Australian pre-university enabling program. Australian Journal of Adult Learning58(1), 13-40.

Mallari, E. G. C., & Bueno, D. C. (2018). Factors affecting the performance in the civil engineering licensure examination: A theoretical perspective. Institutional Multidisciplinary Research and Development Journal, 1(1), 1-4.

Manimaran, S., Jayakumar, S., & Lakshmi, K. B. (2016).An education management information system with simultaneous monitoring of stress stimulators for students mental health management. Technology and Health Care24(6), 889-897. https://doi.org/10.3233/THC-161250

Marra, R. M., Rodgers, K. A., Shen, D., & Bogue, B. (2012). Leaving engineering: A multi-year single institution study. Journal of Engineering Education, 101(1), 6–27.

Mau, W. C. (2003). Factors that influence persistence in science and engineering career aspirations. The Career Development Quarterly51(3), 234-243. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-0045.2003.tb00604.x

Mazana, Y. M., Suero Montero, C., & Olifage, C. R. (2019). Investigating students' attitude towards learning mathematics.  International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, 14(1), 207-231. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/3997

Mitchell, A. J., Crowfoot, D., Leaver, J., & Hughes, S. (2011). Does the academic performance of psychiatrists influence success in the NHS Clinical Excellence Award Scheme? JRSM short reports2(3), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1258%2Fshorts.2011.011008

Mohd Shahali, E. H., Halim, L., Rasul, M. S., Osman, K., & Mohamad Arsad, N. (2019). Students’ interest towards STEM: A longitudinal study. Research in Science & Technological Education37(1), 71-89. https://doi.org/10.1080/02635143.2018.1489789

Mohovic, D., Mohovic, R., & Baric, M. (2016).Deficiencies in learning COLREGs and new teaching methodology for nautical engineering students and seafarers in lifelong learning programs. The Journal of Navigation69(4), 765-776. https://doi.org/10.1017/S037346331500096X

Montehermoso, J. F. (2009). Correlates of licensure examination performance among marine engineering graduates. Journal of Philippine Association of Institutions for Research (JPAIR) Multidisciplinary Journal3(1), 86-97.

Negru-Subtirica, O., & Pop, E. I. (2016). Longitudinal links between career adaptability and academic achievement in adolescence. Journal of Vocational Behavior93(1), 163-170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2016.02.006

Neumann, G., Olitsky, N., & Robbins, S. (2009). Job congruence, academic achievement, and earnings. Labour Economics16(5), 503-509. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2009.03.004

Ng, L. S., Shaari, A. H., & Yeap, C. K. (2018). Negative emotional experiences in second language learning: A study of autobiographical narratives among Chinese ESL learners. SSRG International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 5(4), 11-17.

Ozen Uyar, R., Yilmaz Genc, M. M., & Yasar, M. (2018). Prospective Preschool Teachers’ Academic Achievements Depending on their Goal Orientations, Critical Thinking Dispositions and Self Regulation Skills. European Journal of Educational Research, 7(3), 601-613. https://doi.org/10.12973/eu-jer.7.3.601

Parsons, S., Croft, T., & Harrison, M. (2011). Engineering students’ self-confidence in mathematics mapped onto Bandura’s self-efficacy. Engineering Education6(1), 52-61. https://doi.org/10.11120/ened.2011.06010052

Pierce, S., Gould, D., & Camire, M. (2017). Definition and model of life skills transfer. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology10(1), 186-211. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750984X.2016.1199727

Poyrazli, S., Ferrer-Wreder, L., Meister, D. G., Forthun, L., Coatsworth, J. D., & Grahame, K. M. (2008). Academic Achievement, Employment, Age and Gender and Students' experience of Alternative School. Adolescence43(171), 547-556.

 Rao, M. S. (2014). Enhancing employability in engineering and management students through soft skills. Industrial and Commercial Training, 46(1), 42-48. https://doi.org/10.1108/ICT-04-2013-0023

Ralston, P. A., & Bays, C. L. (2015). Critical thinking development in undergraduate engineering students from freshman through senior year: a 3-cohort longitudinal study. American Journal of Engineering Education6(2), 85-98. https://doi.org/10.19030/ajee.v6i2.9504

Ramadhan, S., Mardapi, D., Prasetyo, Z. K., & Utomo, H. B. (2019). The development of an instrument to measure the higher order thinking skill in physics. European Journal of Educational Research, 8(3), 743-751. https://doi.org/10.12973/eujer.8.3.743

Ramirez, Y. P., & Dizon, N. C. (2014). Assessment of interest as subjective personal data of engineering freshmen towards their enrolled degree program. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development3(1), 195-207.

Robbins, S. B., Wallis, A. B., &Dunston, K. T. (2003).Exploring the academic achievement and career aspirations of college-bound and postsecondary Zulu students. The Counseling Psychologist31(5), 593-618.

Rosenberg, M.J.A., & Hovland, C.I. (1960). Cognitive, affective, and behavioral components of attitudes. In C.I. Hovland & M.J. Rosenberg (Eds.), Attitude organization and change (pp. 1-14). Yale University Press.

Savic, M., & Kashef, M. (2013). Learning outcomes in affective domain within contemporary architectural curricula. International Journal of Technology and Design Education23(4), 987-1004.

Shnayderman, R. (2013). Social freedom, moral responsibility, actions and omissions. The Philosophical Quarterly63(253), 716-739.

Spall, S. (1998). Peer debriefing in qualitative research: Emerging operational models. Qualitative inquiry4(2), 280-292.

Taskesen, S. (2019). Investigating the academic motivations and academic achievements of pre-service visual arts teachers. European Journal of Educational Research, 8(3), 857-155. https://doi.org/10.12973/eu-jer.8.3.857

Tamayo, A. M. (2015). Estimating predictors of the Philippine licensure examination for engineering. (Publication No. 2560685) Social Science Research Network (SSRN). https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2560685

Topor, D. R., Keane, S. P., Shelton, T. L., & Calkins, S. D. (2010). Parent involvement and student academic performance: A multiple mediational analysis. Journal of prevention & intervention in the community38(3), 183-197. https://doi.org/10.1080/10852352.2010.486297

Vitasari, P., Wahab, M. N. A., Othman, A., Herawan, T., &Sinnadurai, S. K. (2010).The relationship between study anxiety and academic performance among engineering students. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences8(1), 490-497. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.12.067

Widana, I. W., Parwata, I. M. Y., Parmithi, N. N., Jayantika, I. G. A. T., Sukendra, K., & Sumandya, I. W. (2018). Higher order thinking skills assessment towards critical thinking on mathematics lesson. International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities2(1), 24-32. https://doi.org/10.29332/ijssh.v2n1.74

Yuberti, Latifah, S., Anugrah, A., Saregar, A., Misbah, & Jermsittiparsert, K. (2019). Approaching problem-solving skills of momentum and impulse phenomena using context and problem-based learning. European Journal of Educational Research, 8(4), 1217-1227. https://doi.org/10.12973/eu-jer.8.4.1217

Zebrowitz, L. A., Tenenbaum, D. R., & Goldstein, L. H. (1991). The impact of job applicants' facial maturity, gender, and academic achievement on hiring recommendations. Journal of Applied Social Psychology21(7), 525-548.

Zeidler, D. L., Sadler, T. D., Simmons, M. L., & Howes, E. V (2005). Beyond STS: A research-based framework for socio-scientific issues education. Science Education, 89(1), 357-377.

Zhou, C. (2012). Fostering creative engineers: A key to face the complexity of engineering practice. European Journal of Engineering Education37(4), 343-353. https://doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2012.691872

Zhu, L., Liu, M., & Fink, E. L. (2016). The role of person-culture fit in Chinese students' cultural adjustment in the united states: A Galileo mental model approach. Human Communication Research42(3), 485-505. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/hcre.12084

Zivkovil, S. (2016). A model of critical thinking as an important attribute for success in the 21st century. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences232(1), 102-108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.10.034

...