Advising matters:: engineering transfer students’transition experiences at five institutions

• Autores: Catherine E. Brawner, Catherine Mobley
• Localización: The International journal of engineering education, ISSN-e 0949-149X, Vol. 32, no. 6, 2016 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Research in Engineering Education), págs. 2446-2459
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This study identifies challenges that engineering transfer students may face as they transition from one institution toanother while pursuing their undergraduate degrees and explores ways institutions can address and potentially mitigatethese challenges. We interviewed 86 engineering transfer students at five institutions in the US to identify policies andpractices that can be employed to improve the transfer process. The results reveal two themes within the control ofuniversities and engineering colleges that contribute to the ease or difficulty of transferring to these institutions. The firsttheme,transmitting information, includes advising, orientation, mentoring, and websites for engineering transfer students.The second theme,policies and processes, includes formal transfer programs (e.g., 3+2 programs), relationships with keyfeeder schools, admissions, and accepting transfer credits. We conclude that online and in-person advising that takes placeduring the pre-transfer, pre-enrollment, and first term of the student’s transition is critically important to a successfuloverall experience in the new institution. Students experienced challenges with the unexpected delays associated withformal transfer programs, such as 3+2 programs; administrators should ensure that students enrolled in these programsgraduate in a timely fashion.