2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Numerical metrics, such as degree conferrals, grade point average (GPA), and job placement rate are often metrics for universities, colleges, and departments as a proxy for measuring the success of students and programs alike. However, these numbers are limited: For example, if a student graduates with a 4.0 GPA but has low conceptual understanding, should that be considered success on the part of the student, the department/university, or neither? If a student graduates on time but is not psychologically well because of a hostile environment, should that be counted as success on the part of the department/university, of the student, or of neither? We would posit in both these situations, certain entities can measure victory while the holistic story is more nuanced, with the student underserved in many perspectives. Therefore, the overarching research question that will be launched by this seed grant is: How can and should holistic engineering student success be measured?
The in-progress goal of our team in Mechanical Engineering at a large, research-focused institution, is to reconceptualize a metric of student success that enfolds four dimensions of student success that have been previously siloed in engineering education literature, though even within these groupings, engineering education researchers typically focus on one phenomenon at a time: Motivation (success could be measured by thriving, well-being, belongingness, grit); Curricular Attainment (success could be measured by metrics like GPA and completion rates, conceptual understanding, transfer of skills across applications); and Experiential Opportunities (success could be measured through understanding in authentic project based learning; obtaining internship experiences and undergraduate research, and job placement rates). The fourth dimension of success is considering success over time across career stages, through undergraduate degree conferral into either industry or graduate school, including the postdoctoral stage.
​This WIP paper will present our results to date in conducting a phenomenographic multimethod single case study, which is appropriate for deeply understanding multiple stakeholder perspectives within a bounded environment, in our case, the Department of Mechanical Engineering at [University]. The data streams we are employing strategically capitalize on the data we have readily available in the department and have access to through our faculty colleagues. Our cross-sectional data will investigate learning in traditional classrooms, labs, and design courses, the three primary modes of undergraduate education; and data from our graduate MS and PhD students, including online Master’s students. Together, we have a unique birds-eye view on holistic success.