Board 143: Challenges Faced by Students Transitioning from High School to College

Anika Coolbaugh Pirkey; Daniel Augusto Kestering; Lizzie Santiago

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Conference: 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Baltimore , Maryland
Publication Date: June 25, 2023
Start Date: June 25, 2023
End Date: June 28, 2023
Conference Session: Multidisciplinary Engineering Division (MULTI) Poster Session
Tagged Division: Multidisciplinary Engineering Division (MULTI)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 7
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--42471
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/42471
Download Count: 183

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Paper Authors

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Anika Coolbaugh Pirkey West Virginia University orcid.org/0000-0002-5349-3561

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Anika Pirkey is currently a PhD student and Graduate Research Assistant with the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at West Virginia University (WVU) with a research focus in computational modeling of intercellular signaling mechanisms involving Cellular Communication Network Factor 4 (CCN4) in melanoma. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BSChE and BME Certificate in 2017 from West Virginia University (WVU).

Mrs. Pirkey also works as a Graduate Research Assistant with the Fundamentals of Engineering Department as a continuation of her undergraduate research focusing on increasing retention rates of non-calculus ready first year engineering students by improving their problem solving and critical thinking skills in mathematics. Some of the six ASEE publications to which she has contributed include "Identifying Deficiencies in Engineering Problem-solving Skills" and "Introducing First Year Engineering Students to Engineering Reasoning" presented at the Annual ASEE Conferences in 2020 and 2017 respectively.

Awards include 1st Place in the Student Poster Session - Individual Researchers Category and 1st Place in the North Central US Region Student Paper Competition, both of which were received at the 2017 ASEE Zone II Conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

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Daniel Augusto Kestering

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Lizzie Santiago West Virginia University

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Lizzie Y. Santiago, Ph.D., is the Director of the Fundamentals of Engineering Program in the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources at West Virginia University. She holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and completed postdoctoral training in Neural Tissue Engineering and Molecular Neurosciences. She teaches freshman engineering courses and supports the outreach and recruiting activities of the college. Her research interests include neural tissue engineering, stem cell research, attrition and university retention, increasing student awareness and interest in research and engineering, STEM education, critical thinking skills, self-regulation, and recruitment and retention of women and minorities.

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Abstract

The COVID pandemic has caused significant disruptions in the educational system. At the university level, students are struggling with deficiencies in math knowledge and with the lack of skills needed to succeed in college. According to the 2022 report from the American College Testing (ACT), only one in five students graduating from high school are prepared to take university level courses in math and science. The ACT composite results fell to the lowest values since 1991. This generation of students is more distressed, disengaged, digitally distracted, and discouraged, compared with other cohorts.

The purpose of this project is to identify the challenges faced by students transitioning from High School to College after the COVID pandemic. Specifically, we are interested in understanding the transition of first-generation students as they experience their first semester in college. We believe that the COVID pandemic has caused significant shifts in the struggles and needs of incoming students. For the analysis, first semester students enrolled in an engineering program in the mid-Atlantic region were tasked to write a reflective essay that summarizes the challenges faced in their first four weeks in college. A thematic analysis of the qualitative data is being used to analyze the reflective essays.

This “work in progress” paper will summarize the main results of the study. Based on the analysis, we plan to propose interventions to assist students in their transition from high school to college. This project is of interest to institutions seeking to improve the retention of students in their engineering programs.

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Pirkey, A. C., & Kestering, D. A., & Santiago, L. (2023, June), Board 143: Challenges Faced by Students Transitioning from High School to College Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--42471