Erin Crede

From Ethnography to Items: A Mixed Methods Approach to Developing a Survey to Examine Graduate Engineering Student Retention.

As part of a sequential exploratory mixed methods study, 9 months of ethnographically guided observations and interviews were used to develop a survey examining graduate engineering student retention. Findings from the ethnographic fieldwork yielded several themes, including international diversity, research group organization and climate, perception of value, and individual and group learning. In this article, the authors present the final themes from the ethnographic analysis and discuss how these data were configured into constructs and survey questions. The authors discuss the final survey, including validity and reliability analysis, and how constructs were developed to test hypotheses for future studies. The article concludes with implications for mixed methods researchers interested in using qualitative methods to create new surveys.

International diversity in graduate engineering education: Development of a multi institutional survey

This study examines the experiences of one of engineering graduate schools largest populations: international students. This paper discusses the use of ethnographically guided observations and interviews in the development of a multi institution survey on graduate student experiences. The results of qualitative analysis will be briefly discussed to contextualize the survey sections and creation of individual questions. The development of this survey was the second part of a multi phase mixed methods study whose purpose was to investigate the role of international diversity in graduate engineering communities. Results of this study will help shape the future of graduate engineering education by bringing the experiences of both international and domestic graduate engineering students to the forefront. We conclude with implications for the current state of engineering graduate education as well as directions for future research.

Workshop — Challenges to using mixed methods research in engineering education

This interactive workshop is designed to help participants to design a mixed methods research project on a topic related to engineering education. It will also provide participants an overview of the different ways that mixed methods research has been used by engineering educators with a reference list. Participants will have the opportunity to develop a purpose statement and to identify a design for a mixed methods research project following a model that is supplied. They will also consider different analytical strategies to integrate or “mix” qualitative and quantitative data. Integrating findings from both qualitative and quantitative data is a key element of the definition of mixed methods. It offers a way to distinguish it from studies where members of an interdisciplinary team may each pursue the same research question from the angle of a single discipline, but never engage the “value added” of the different disciplinary perspectives.

Pursuing an engineering doctorate: Exploring the role of the combined BS/MS program

The past several years have seen an increase in hybrid degree programs for upper-class engineering students. These programs have many names, such as dual degree, five year program, and combined BS/MS programs. Structurally, these programs take many forms as well, including: support programs, professional development seminars, and opportunities for students to take graduate courses during the senior year of their undergraduate program. Various universities utilize these programs differently, attempting to increase underrepresented populations in graduate school, providing a graduate option for students who may not otherwise attend graduate school, or targeting students who might make excellent candidates for doctoral study. While universities have assessed their programs individually, there remains a need to develop a broader understanding of the motivation, recruiting practices, and purpose of these programs. In this paper we present a content analysis of public descriptions of existing programs, specifically with respect to their stated purpose and goals with the aim of contextualizing the variety of programs nationally.

Special session — Mixed methods in engineering education: Developing research questions and mixing tables

The aim of this special session is to re-introduce the concept of “mixing” as a part of a mixed methods study design. Engineering education researchers are increasingly choosing mixed methods for their study designs, but may not be obtaining the full benefit from their use. In order to highlight specific aspects of the definition of mixed methods research, groups will establish a qualitative, quantitative and “mixing” research questions using the topic of Engineering Student Retention. Through collaborative development of the mixing research question, participants will be exposed to various ways to integrate qualitative and quantitative data. After discussing the combinations of qualitative, quantitative and mixing research questions in the large group, participant teams will sketch out possible mixing tables that integrate their qualitative and quantitative data. Creation of the mixing tables will further explore the integration possibilities, allowing participants to explore ways to maximize the potential of their data. This session is highly collaborative and encourages participation from researchers from all backgrounds (qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods) and experience levels.