Understanding how students view Surveying Engineering at Penn State University and updating their self-beliefs

Dimitrios Bolkas

Download Paper | Permalink

Conference: ASEE Zone 1 Conference - Spring 2023
Location: State College,, Pennsylvania
Publication Date: March 30, 2023
Start Date: March 30, 2023
End Date: April 12, 2023
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 16
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--44709
Permanent URL: https://strategy.asee.org/44709
Download Count: 64

Request a correction

Paper Authors

biography

Dimitrios Bolkas Pennsylvania State University, Wilkes-Barre Campus orcid.org/0000-0002-1269-8704

visit author page

Dimitrios Bolkas, Ph.D., is currently an Associate Professor of Surveying Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University, Wilkes-Barre Campus. He has a diverse geodetic and geoscientific experience that includes terrestrial, mobile, and airborne laser scanning, digital elevation models, unmanned aerial systems, GNSS networks, geoid and gravity-field modeling. His main research interest is on building methods to increase, understand, and assess the quality/uncertainty in 3D geospatial datasets. His research develops new methods and techniques to enhance functionality of 3D geospatial data and models. In addition, recent research interests include utilizing 3D data for creating realistic environments in immersive virtual reality, as well as the application of virtual reality in engineering education.

visit author page

Download Paper | Permalink

Abstract

This is an evidence-based practice paper related to Surveying Engineering. Surveying Engineering, often referred with the modern term “Geomatics”, is an essential field of engineering. Surveying engineering has a significant role in construction and highway projects, mapping and boundary determination, building information management, land information management, monitoring engineering structures, etc. Surveying tasks include many revolutionary technologies including Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), laser scanning, photogrammetry, and mapping using small unmanned aerial systems (sUASs). However, the surveying profession suffers from low public profile, making it difficult to attract students in surveying / geomatics programs, with many surveying programs experiencing low enrollment. This issue has led to significant problems in the profession such as increasing the average age of surveyors, with unofficial estimates indicating that the average age of surveyors is between 55 and 60 years old. In our previous work we examined surveying students to find out how they found about surveying and what got them interested in this major. While this provided us with some important insights, it only reflected the opinion of students who already selected surveying. In Fall of 2022, expanded our sample by surveying first-year students at six Penn State campuses in order to understand their perceptions about surveying. A total of 215 students completed the online survey. The online survey helped students to understand the main characteristics of surveying engineering and helped them update their self-beliefs about surveying. The paper also examines survey results considering college major, race, and gender. The survey results highlight that 85% of the participants did not know what surveying engineering is, and many of them had a misconception that surveying engineering is about asking questions. Asking participants if they would have selected surveying if they knew about it, the responses were 13% “Yes”, 42% “No”, and 45% “Maybe”. While it is difficult to educate participants and change their perception about surveying in a 5-minute survey, the results are encouraging. There is a 13% that would have considered surveying if they knew about it, and another 45% that indicated “Maybe”. This suggests that there is a large pool of potential students that may be interested in surveying, but currently they do not have the necessary information. Improving communication and collaboration with the neighboring Penn State campuses could create new pathways for students who are interested to transfer in surveying engineering. Finally, of note is that 47% of the participants who responded “Maybe” are female; therefore, providing them with the appropriate information, approaching them with women role models, and providing them additional incentives (e.g., scholarships), could contribute to increasing participation of women in surveying engineering. The important insights of this survey greatly advance our knowledge about student perceptions related to surveying and assist in recruitment and marketing efforts to create pathways into surveying engineering.

Keywords: Surveying engineering, broadening participation, increasing awareness

Citation
Format

Bolkas, D. (2023, March), Understanding how students view Surveying Engineering at Penn State University and updating their self-beliefs Paper presented at ASEE Zone 1 Conference - Spring 2023, State College,, Pennsylvania. 10.18260/1-2--44709

TY - CPAPER
AB - This is an evidence-based practice paper related to Surveying Engineering. Surveying Engineering, often referred with the modern term “Geomatics”, is an essential field of engineering. Surveying engineering has a significant role in construction and highway projects, mapping and boundary determination, building information management, land information management, monitoring engineering structures, etc. Surveying tasks include many revolutionary technologies including Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), laser scanning, photogrammetry, and mapping using small unmanned aerial systems (sUASs). However, the surveying profession suffers from low public profile, making it difficult to attract students in surveying / geomatics programs, with many surveying programs experiencing low enrollment. This issue has led to significant problems in the profession such as increasing the average age of surveyors, with unofficial estimates indicating that the average age of surveyors is between 55 and 60 years old. In our previous work we examined surveying students to find out how they found about surveying and what got them interested in this major. While this provided us with some important insights, it only reflected the opinion of students who already selected surveying. In Fall of 2022, expanded our sample by surveying first-year students at six Penn State campuses in order to understand their perceptions about surveying. A total of 215 students completed the online survey. The online survey helped students to understand the main characteristics of surveying engineering and helped them update their self-beliefs about surveying. The paper also examines survey results considering college major, race, and gender. The survey results highlight that 85% of the participants did not know what surveying engineering is, and many of them had a misconception that surveying engineering is about asking questions. Asking participants if they would have selected surveying if they knew about it, the responses were 13% “Yes”, 42% “No”, and 45% “Maybe”. While it is difficult to educate participants and change their perception about surveying in a 5-minute survey, the results are encouraging. There is a 13% that would have considered surveying if they knew about it, and another 45% that indicated “Maybe”. This suggests that there is a large pool of potential students that may be interested in surveying, but currently they do not have the necessary information. Improving communication and collaboration with the neighboring Penn State campuses could create new pathways for students who are interested to transfer in surveying engineering. Finally, of note is that 47% of the participants who responded “Maybe” are female; therefore, providing them with the appropriate information, approaching them with women role models, and providing them additional incentives (e.g., scholarships), could contribute to increasing participation of women in surveying engineering. The important insights of this survey greatly advance our knowledge about student perceptions related to surveying and assist in recruitment and marketing efforts to create pathways into surveying engineering.

Keywords: Surveying engineering, broadening participation, increasing awareness

AU - Dimitrios Bolkas
CY - State College,, Pennsylvania
DA - 2023/03/30
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Understanding how students view Surveying Engineering at Penn State University and updating their self-beliefs
UR - https://strategy.asee.org/44709
DO - 10.18260/1-2--44709
ER -