'Out of the Classroom Experiences': The Importance of Qualitative Experiences in Student Academic Success

摘要

Over the past decade the total enrollments for engineering students at the Nation's colleges and universities has declined significantly. Although there are many reasons expressed why this decline has occurred, few focus on the qualitative and "out of the classroom" challenges college and university students face while pursuing engineering degrees at our nation's institutions. Many of these challenges mirror issues of society-at-large but are sometimes overlooked by professionals who deal with these students. To facilitate a student's personal journey toward enhanced development and transformation, engineering professionals must keep in mind that many of the experiences encountered by students create some cognitive dissonance and challenge thought patterns, behaviors, and self-identity. To respond more effectively to their needs, the professional focus must support a student's need for a sound identity and awareness of issues that might impact their academic performance. Some of their issues might include academic, economic, motivational, family background, societal, diversity, and values challenges. Although these challenges are very complex, maintaining a comprehensive and developmental approach is extremely important. It is important because a student's future and retention in engineering will depend on how they handle academic/personal issues that impact their performance as well as mastering the academic challenges encountered in the classroom. In an effort to deal with some of these issues more effectively, Minority Engineering Program administrators at the University of Illinois at Chicago developed an academic tool titled "Roadmap to Academic Success". This roadmap can be used by professionals and students to identify appropriate academic solutions. The goal of this tool is to outline and illustrate other factors and approaches that might be considered useful while working with engineering students. It is an effective tool because it distinguishes key elements that might impact academic progression in the university environment. It sets the stage for expanding our thought patterns and problem solving approaches in a systematic manner that may have demonstrated results. It also can be used with any student, minority or non-minority, because it promotes individual discussion with a student and can serve as a self-help tool outside of the office setting. The key elements in the roadmap include (1) situation/event occurrences; (2) behavioral characteristics; (3) student attitudes; (4) academic consequences; and (5) academic solutions.