2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Relative Performance of Transfer vs. First-Time Freshmen at a Maritime College

Presented at Ocean and Marine Division (OMED) Technical Session 1

Instructors of senior level classes in a mechanical engineering program noticed a difference in performance between students who had started as first-time freshmen and those who had transferred to the college and sought to investigate further. The college has recently increased the number of admitted transfer students, so the disparate performance is an increasing concern. As a confounding factor, the mechanical engineering program has an option for students to obtain U.S. Coast Guard licensure to work as a maritime engine watch officer. The transfer students overwhelmingly choose not to join the license program. It is possible that the noticed difference in performance is due to additional training in the license program that could be better incorporated in the other classes. In order to assess the impact of student status on program learning outcomes, the investigators examined grades in lower division courses and relative performance in required senior courses. Data were analyzed to assess whether there is a significant difference in learning outcome performance on complex engineering problems based on when students were admitted (first time freshmen or transfer) and what option they selected (license or non-license).

Authors

Dr. Robert Kidd State University of New York, Maritime College [biography]

Dr. Kidd completed his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. at the University of Florida in 2011, 2013, and 2015 respectively. He worked at the Center for Intelligent Machines and Robotics at UF from 2009 to 2015 researching the use autonomous ground vehicles including ATVs, a Toyota Highlander, and a Posi-Track tractor. Since 2015, he has taught capstone mechanical design courses at SUNY Maritime College. His current research focuses on applications of autonomy to the maritime environment.
Dr. Martin S. Lawless http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5914-4469 State University of New York, Maritime College [biography]

Martin Lawless earned his Ph.D. in Acoustics in 2018 from the Pennsylvania State University where he investigated the brainâ€™s auditory and reward responses to room acoustics. At the Cooper Union, he continues studying sound perception, including 1) the
Dr. Kathryn R. Gosselin State University of New York, Maritime College [biography]

Kathryn R. Gosselin is a Senior Assistant Professor in the Mechanical & Facilities Engineering Department at SUNY Maritime College. She has a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Connecticut. She joined Maritime College in 2018 and teaches upper-division courses in the thermo-fluids area. Additionally, she is Coordinator of Advising for the School of Engineering and is involved in assessment.

Download paper (745 KB)

Are you a researcher? Would you like to cite this paper? Visit the ASEE document repository at peer.asee.org for more tools and easy citations.

» Download paper

« View session