Student Self-Efficacy in First-Year Design Courses

Briana Saul, Louisiana State University and Elizabeth Spingola, Ohio Northern University
Advisor: Debbie Chachra, Ph.D, Olin College of Engineering
Abstract:

Background:

Self-efficacy in engineering courses and

engineering first-year design courses is a
significant contributor to retention. Selfefficacy is the belief that a student can
complete a given task. Role models,
mastery experiences, and social
affirmation are all contributors to
self-efficacy.
Qualitative analysis of semi-structured
interviews allowed us to approach the
issue and find subtle themes in the
research. The themes triggered certain
subset topics that produced
investigation of the presence of role
models and its affects on a students
propensity towards team role choices
while working in teams.

Our research project is focused on the effects of self-efficacy in first-year design courses. Many engineering schools offer a first-year
engineering design course for students to become familiar with the engineering design process, teamwork, and to provide an
introduction to engineering. However, there are still problems that stand in the way of serving its purpose, not all students benefit
equally. For example, gender-correlated division of work can easily and unconsciously occur in teams (Linder, 2010). This division may not
allow all students to engage in tasks that would allow them to acquire or improve skills. They are not able to gain mastery experiences and
this results in lower self-efficacy.
The work presented here is a part of a larger project that investigates the role of self-efficacy in first-year engineering design courses and
how it is affected by working in team settings. Self-efficacy can be described as the strength of a students belief that they can complete a
given task. It is important in engineering education because a students self-efficacy affects how successful they are throughout their
academic career. Self-efficacy has three major contributors: role models, social affirmation, and mastery experience; which is the primary
contributor to self-efficacy overall (Bandura, 1997).
"A students persistence will depend upon continual reaffirmation of positive self-beliefs about his or her chances for successful
completion (Vogt, 2012). The focus of this work is the contribution of role models and their effects on a students self-efficacy.

Hypothesis:
Students with engineering role models are more likely to engage in technical tasks and have a higher engineering self-efficacy than students
with role models in non-engineering fields.

Data Collection:

Issues to Consider:

Future Research:

A mixed methods approach was taken to

data collection and analysis. The data
was collected from 37 semi-structured
interviews, surveys, and activity logs. All
data was collected from students in the
2011/2012 First-Year Engineering Design
Nature Course offered at Olin College.
The gender analysis consist of: 15 men,
17 women, and 5 unknown. The students
that are considered unknown are
students without demographic
information. The interviews were
reviewed for references to role models
and their gender, and the effects that
they may have on a students decision to
engage in a particular task.

The interviews were collected

from only Olin College students
and the generalizability of these
findings are unknown. Not only
is Olin's curriculum different
than many other engineering
schools, but students at Olin
may have a different relationship
to teamwork. Another limitation
could be that role models are not
set in stone. The timing of the
interviews may modify students
answers to the role model
question.

This research is still in progress and

the next steps are to compare the
student activity logs and
interviews, to see if there is a
correlation between the types of
activities that students engaged in
and their role model type.
In addition, data will be collected
from different engineering schools
that offer first-year design courses.
This will allow us to investigate if
this hypothesis is correct or not.
We will also review the design of
the instruments used to see if
there are changes or additions
needed.

Acknowledgements:
This research was performed as part of the Olin College Summer Experience in Education Research
program, and was supported by the National Science Foundation (REU #1156832 and CAREER #0953698).