[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-300392-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-300392-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","efforts-to-better-understand-the-relationship-between-civil-engineering-student-preparation-and-success-on-the-fundamentals-of-engineering-exam-abstract","Efforts to Better Understand the Relationship Between Civil Engineering Student Preparation and Success on the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam - Abstract","","Efforts focus on understanding why civil engineering undergraduates at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte perform differently on the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam compared with national and Carnegie comparator averages. Although passing the FE exam is not required for graduation, it is treated as a key early milestone for engineering careers and for ABET-oriented program assessment. A curriculum and preparation review was paired with new measures. Analysis of recent results found statistically significant AM vs. PM differences, with the PM showing higher performance and much of the AM gap concentrated in a limited set of topics. A targeted program aims to improve preparation and motivation to reach or exceed national pass-rate levels.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/exam/","Exam",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/efforts-to-better-understand-the-relationship-between-civil-engineering-student-preparation-and-success-on-the-fundamentals-of-engineering-exam-abstract/300392/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/efforts-to-better-understand-the-relationship-between-civil-engineering-student-preparation-and-success-on-the-fundamentals-of-engineering-exam-abstract/300392.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Quinn","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-04","2026-09-18",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",8,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"Why is the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam important for civil engineering programs?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"Most first-time test takers are undergraduates in ABET-accredited programs. The FE exam is used as a steppingstone for engineering careers and as an assessment tool that may support program evaluation.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What did the analysis find about AM and PM exam performance?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"The study found a statistically significant difference between students’ performance on the AM and PM exams, with PM performance exceeding AM performance.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"How will the department respond to the observed FE pass-rate gaps?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Faculty implemented new measures to improve student preparation and motivation, with the goal of achieving FE pass rates that meet or exceed national averages.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},300392,1790589102,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,95,100,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":33,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},962075114765,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_a8503ba1806abce46bf441b54a3ca4cd","AC 2010-1381: EFFORTS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CIVIL ENGINEERING STUDENT PREPARATION AND SUCCESS ON THE FUNDAMENTALS OF ENGINEERING EXAM  \nJames Bowen, University of North Carolina, Charlotte  \n© American Society for Engineering Education, 2010  \nPage 15.448.1  \nEfforts to Better Understand the Relationship Between Civil Engineering Student Preparation and Success on the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam  \nAbstract  \nLike many other programs in Civil and Environmental Engineering, the majority of students at our University take the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam. While not currently required for graduation, students, faculty, and employers alike see passing the FE exam as an important first step in a Civil Engineering career. Historically, FE pass rates at our University have slightly trailed both national averages and those for our Carnegie classification-based comparator group for those students taking the Civil Engineering specific afternoon exam. The relative difference in pass rates, however, has been quite variable over the years. Recently, department faculty have responded to this situation by conducting an analysis of curriculum issues related to student preparation for the FE exam and by implementing new measures designed to improve student preparation and FE exam pass rates. An analysis of the most recent test performance found that there was a statistically significant difference between our students’performance on the AM and PM exam, with the PM exam performance exceeding the AM exam performance. A comparison of the performance weighted according the relative numbers of questions for a particular topic for the AM and PM found that 67% of the overall difference in FE exam performance between our students and students in our comparator group was attributable to our students’ performance on the morning exam. Furthermore, much of the difference in performance on the AM exam for our students was concentrated in just a few topics. To improve student performance Department faculty have begun a program to improve both student preparation and motivation with the aim of achieving FE exam pass rates that meet or exceed the national averages.  \nIntroduction  \nStudying for, taking, and passing the Fundamental of Engineering (FE) exam is a necessary rite of passage in the Civil and Environmental Engineering professions. Most firsttime test takers ofthe FE exam are undergraduate students within an ABET accredited Engineering program. For many of these programs, the FE exam serves not only as a steppingstone for students embarking on their Engineering career, but also as an assessment tool for the undergraduate Engineering program. Many schools use results of the FE exam for program assessment 1,2,3, which is often a component of the learning outcome assessment associated with ABET accreditation4. A few programs make passing the FE exam a graduation requirement 4.  \nWhile the uses of the FE exam results are varied and numerous, interest in the FE exam pass rate is keen with many Engineering faculty, and these faculty are often actively involved in documenting, analyzing, and working to improve FE exam pass rates for their Department. This  \nPage 15.448.2  \nis certainly the case for our faculty in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering atthe University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Our interest in the FE exam performance is also due to our ABET outcomes assessment process. We, like many other Departments, use our students’ FE exam performance as part of an ABET outcomes assessment. In doing these assessments, however, we use many metrics, and do not explicitly consider our students’ FE exam pass rates as an assessment metric. Nonetheless we recognize that many of our stakeholders use FE exam pass rates as a quality measure of our Department despite evidence in the literature of its limited value at the program level.5  \nHistorically our FE exam pass rate has lagged both the national rate ","cbCaiaNBAUsRGo21","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiaNBAUsRGo21","pdf",320906,11,"English","# Introduction\n# An Analysis of Past FE Test Performance\n## Quantitative retrospective analysis of FE performance\n## AM vs PM comparison and topic-level impact","[{\"question\":\"Why is the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam important for civil engineering programs?\",\"answer\":\"Most first-time test takers are undergraduates in ABET-accredited programs. The FE exam is used as a steppingstone for engineering careers and as an assessment tool that may support program evaluation.\"},{\"question\":\"What did the analysis find about AM and PM exam performance?\",\"answer\":\"The study found a statistically significant difference between students’ performance on the AM and PM exams, with PM performance exceeding AM performance.\"},{\"question\":\"How will the department respond to the observed FE pass-rate gaps?\",\"answer\":\"Faculty implemented new measures to improve student preparation and motivation, with the goal of achieving FE pass rates that meet or exceed national averages.\"}]","Efforts to Better Understand the Relationship Between Civil Engineering Student Preparation and Success on the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam - Abstract | PDF",1789774255,28]