ASEE Southeast Section Conference

The Influence of Engineering Curriculum Alignment on the Success of Transfer Students

Presented at Retention

Marino Nader1, Harrison Oonge2 and Shawn A. Putnam1
1Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, 2 College of Undergraduate Studies
University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816-2362
Abstract
Curriculum alignment has been a long-time challenge for many universities and colleges. The issue manifests itself by the relative higher host university students’ success, First Time in College (FTIC) to the transfer students (TS), at least in the fundamental courses. As such, some of these TS, may fail or even drop out completely from a STEM program. Aspiring for a resolution to this issue, UCF has collaborated with its partnering universities over the past few years to unify the curricula for improved TS success. The study presented herein, was based on data collected for academic years 2016-2021. This data included students’ success for all of UCF and its partnering universities. The results were then run under Linear Regression Analysis (LRA) and the results were then compared. LRA in this case gave direction and insight to the overall performance of the study, i.e. students’ success. Except for few cases, TS success increased and in most cases the gap of success in sequence courses between the two groups of students, FTIC and TS also progressively decreased. The study included over 50 target courses with respect to the pre-requisite courses. Evidence suggests that the gradual gap narrowing was based on the continual unified agreements on curriculum alignment between the universities. However, it also be due to other factors that are not discussed in this paper. Yet, the overall performance has been enhanced and is still hoped to continue expanding and progressing to completely close the success gap between the two groups. Although focused on some engineering courses, a plan is suggested in this paper to advance this initiative to prosper and engulf other programs.

Authors

Dr. Marino Nader http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7677-1771 University of Central Florida [biography]

Marino Nader
Marino Nader is an Associate lecturer in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at the University of Central Florida and has been working on digitizing courses and exams, creating different course modalities. Dr. Nader obtained his B.Eng.,
Dr. Harrison N Oonge University of Central Florida [biography]

Dr. Harrison N Oonge is an assistant dean for academic planning in the College of Undergraduate Studies at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Harrison leads articulation and the curriculum alignment effort of 53 gateway courses between UCF and DirectConnect partner institutions. Prior to joining UCF, Harrison worked for three years at West Virginia University (WVU) as a project specialist in Undergraduate Academic Affairs and an adjunct professor in WVU’s College of Education and Human Services where he taught undergraduate and graduate-level courses. Harrison holds a B.A. in Education (Kenyatta University, Kenya), a M.A. in Special Education (WVU), and Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction (WVU). His research focuses on the role of curriculum on student access, success, and persistent.
Dr. Shawn A Putnam University of Central Florida [biography]

Dr. Shawn A. Putnam joined the MAE department at UCF in August 2012. Before joining UCF, he was the lead scientist on liquid-solid interface studies in the Thermal Sciences and Materials Branch at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (Dayton, OH). A native of the northern logging town of Cloquet, Minnesota, Dr. Putnam received B.S. Degrees in Physics and Applied Mathematics in 2001 at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. Then, he received his Ph.D. in 2007 from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Materials Science and Engineering. Dr. Putnam’s research is focused on transient energy transport at materials interfaces - primarily heat and mass transport for cooling devices subject to transient heat fluxes. His teaching primarily focuses on topics including heat transfer, engineering labs, and thermodynamics.

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