Persistence of Students who Begin Engineering Programs in Precalculus - Volume 9 Issue 4

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Adam

The study develops retention programs for first-year engineering students who start behind their cohort in the Calculus sequence. The intervention emphasizes counseling and structured opportunities to regain cohort status after falling behind. Although the program evolved over time, key elements were preserved to support sustainability, enable generalizable conclusions, and clarify priorities for further research. Assessment data supports the hypothesis that academic catch-up within the cohort improves persistence in engineering majors.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time1 h 0 min

AccessFree to download

Rationale for the Retention Program

Baseline retention and graduation data

The “leaky pipeline” problem

Student hypotheses motivating the program

| | Ad | vances in Engineering Edu | cation | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2021: VOLUME 9 ISSUE 4 Persistence of Students who Begin Engineering Programs in Precalculus SHARON A. JONES University of Washington Bothell CAITLIN CAIRNCROSS Oregon Health Sciences University TAMMY VANDEGRIFT University of Portland JULIE KALNIN University of Portland ABSTRACT We developed various retention programs to support first-year engineering students who start behind their cohort in terms of the Calculus sequence. We focused on increasing the persistence of these students via counseling along with opportunities for students to regain cohort status. Although the retention program evolved, we retained enough of the main elements to a) develop a sustainable retention program, b) draw generalizable conclusions, and c) identify areas for more study. Overall, the assessment data supports our initial hypothesis that catching up academically with one’s cohort is an important part of helping students to persist in an engineering major. Key words: persistence, engineering pathways, first-year experience RATIONALE FOR THE RETENTION PROGRAM According to American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE 2015), approximately 51% of students at private universities who enrolled as first-year students in engineering graduated with that degree within four years and 67% within five years. The graduation rate is even lower at public universities (ASEE 2015) . Based on ASEE data, along with other published studies, most of the attrition among engineering students occurs within their first two years in college (ASEE 2009) . Private institutions have a 1st to 3rd semester engineering student retention rate of approximately 85% anda 1st to 5th semester retention rate of 75%(ASEE 2015) . Similar data show worse results for public 2021: VOLUME 9 ISSUE 4 1 ADVANCES IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION Persistence of Students who Begin Engineering Programs in Precalculus 5 YR Graduation Rate 3rd to 5th Semester Retention Rate 1st to 3rd Semester Retention Rate 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 At-Risk % Total % Figure 1. Baseline Data for Engineering Students: Retention & Graduation Data Averaged for Fall 2011 & Fall 2012 First-Year Student Cohorts. institutions (ASEE 2015) . In this project, our main goal was to address this “leaky pipeline” challenge in terms of the cohort of students who start engineering programs in Precalculus. Improving persistence for first-year students should reduce the “leaks” in the pipeline and result in a greater number of engineering graduates entering the nation’s scientific workforce. The work took place at a mid-sized, private university with approximately 3,700 undergraduate students, between 600 and 700 of whom are in the School of Engineering. Out of an entering class of approximately 200 first-time first-year students (FTFs), 25 to 50 (or up to 25%) are not ready to start in Calculus 1 based on a required placement exam administered by May 1st of the year they plan to start at the University. We used F2011 to F2012 as the baseline period because this Calculus 1 readiness test was first put into effect for F2011 and our retention program for the student cohort that began college in Precalculus started in F2013 . As shown in Figure 1, the baseline (F2011–F2012) average 1st to 3rd semester all-student retention rate within engineering is 80% . However, students who start their engineering degrees in Precalculus have a baseline (F2011–F2012) average 1st to 3rd semester retention rate of 66% . The baseline (F2011–F2012) average 4-year graduation rates for the total vs the Precalculus cohort are 57% and 34% respectively. Similarly, the baseline (F2011–F2012) average 5-year graduation rates for the total and Precalculus cohort are 69% and 43% respectively. The School-specific data align with several national studies that show that program momentum ma

FAQs

What retention program elements were emphasized for first-year engineering students?

The program focused on counseling and on opportunities for students to regain cohort status after starting behind in the Calculus sequence.

What baseline results were observed for Precalculus-starting students?

The document reports lower retention and graduation outcomes for the Precalculus cohort compared with the overall engineering student baseline during F2011–F2012.

Why does the study describe the problem as a “leaky pipeline”?

It argues that improving persistence among students starting in Precalculus reduces attrition “leaks” and increases the number of engineering graduates entering the scientific workforce.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Adam