Maartje van den Bogaard

Attendance and attainment in a Calculus course

In this paper the relationship between attendance and attainment in a standard calculus course is investigated. Calculus could in principle be studied without attending lectures due to the wealth of material available (in hardcopy and online). However, in this study we will show that the pass rate of students attending classes regularly (>75% of the classes) is much higher than the pass rate of students attending fewer classes. We use a logistic model to investigate whether this correlation is significant. We will argue why we believe that this correlation between attendance and attainment is causal, i.e. why it is necessary for most students to attend classes in order to (improve their chances to) pass the exam.

Designing training sessions for TAs: experiences in Aerospace Engineering at Delft University of Technology

Teaching Assistants (TAs) can play a major part in project education, being an extra pair of eyes and hands for the lecturer. TAs are usually senior students and by becoming a TA these students stop being part of the group of students. They become part of the staff and take on part of the responsibility for the learning and grading of fellow students. To make sure the TAs are prepared for these tasks, the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering in Delft, the Netherlands trains the TAs to help them develop the necessary skills, and build up a relationship of trust between the TAs and the lecturer. TAs can be used in a variety of roles, requiring different competencies for each, hence requiring different contents for each training session. Over the years a lot of insight on how to go about these workshops has been gained. Both TAs and lecturers recognize the added value of the workshops because it greatly improves the quality of the teaching by the TAs. In this paper the objectives for these workshops will be discussed as well as the formats and the rationale behind these workshops to allow others to implement similar workshops.

Considering Student Retention as a Complex System: A Possible Way forward for Enhancing Student Retention.

This study uses multilayer minimum spanning tree analysis to develop a model for student retention from a complex system perspective, using data obtained from first-year engineering students at a large well-regarded institution in the European Union. The results show that the elements of the system of student retention are related to one another through a network of links and that some of these links were found to be strongly persistent across different scales (group sizes). The links were also seen to group together in different clusters of strongly related elements. Links between elements across a wide range of these clusters would have system-wide influence. It was found that there were no elements that are both persistent and have system-wide effects. This complex system view of student retention explains why actions to enhance student retention aimed at single elements in the system have had such limited impact. This study therefore points to the need for a more system-wide approach to enhancing student retention.

Updating the aims and scope

Engineering education has become a vibrant and dynamically growing field of scholarship. One indicator is that the interest to publish in the European Journal of Engineering Education has been increasing for several years. As a result, the journal has had to become more selective, and this is still true after the number of pages was raised this January from 720 to 960 per year. Lowering the acceptance rate can be seen as a simply administrative measure, a necessary adaption to avoid exceeding the available space in the journal. But when raising the threshold, the question is still what papers best earn a place and should be prioritised over other good papers, and how the new threshold could be described in qualitative terms. It has then become an editorial issue. The new Aims & Scope (see link and the back cover of the print issue) were formulated to reflect the current state of the journal. The mission of this journal is to further engineering education through scholarly dialogue. To further means to promote, to drive forward, to provide means for development. We want the journal and its papers to be recognised as relevant by the engineering education community, including specialist scholars in the field. Together with other international peer reviewed journals, and peer reviewed conferences such as the SEFI annual conference, this journal is also a key infrastructure of the field of engineering education scholarship. Hence, the impact we seek refers both to the potential to contribute to the improvement of engineering education, and influencing the scholarly work of others. The fundamental quality criteria are usefulness and scholarliness. Usefulness does not simply mean that the work reported was beneficial in the context where it was made, but that the paper can be useful to others. There are many different dimensions of usefulness, with potential readers among scholars and specialists in the field, engineering educators who lead courses and programmes, departments and institutions, as well as other stakeholders of engineering education. Scholarliness implies that a paper should be a well-crafted and coherent piece of work, with a sound approach including awareness of existing literature. These criteria do not denote two different categories of papers; they apply simultaneously to all papers, though they can be fulfilled in diverse ways. As always, it will be decided on a case-by-case basis which papers pass the threshold. We are truly grateful to the expert reviewers who will apply their best judgement in enacting these criteria and support the European Journal of Engineering Education in its important mission. Finally, we thank the Associate Editors and the Editorial Board for their support in the process of developing the new Aims & Scope.

Correction: Sandbox University: Estimating Influence of Institutional Action

A reference is omitted from the figure caption for Fig 2. Please see the complete, correct Fig 2 caption here. Fig 2 Convergence of MMST creation. The reference is: Forsman J, Van den Bogaard M, Linder C, Fraser D (accepted for publication 2014). Considering student retention as a complex system: a possible way forward for enhancing student retention. European Journal of Engineering Education.

Making connections: A blended learning approach to the Delft UT international master students introduction program

Delft University of Technology has been offering an introduction program for international master students for over ten years. The goal of this program is to help students adjust to their new social and academic environment. An important feature of the Delft academic environment is project based learning. Many international students do not have previous experience studying in such a setting. In 2008 the introduction program was scaled up to accommodate up to 700 students in a 10 day program. This required a complete new set up of the introduction program. A blended learning environment was set up. A web based community formed the basis of the program and complemented the onsite program. The community contained information on Delft and the Netherlands and homework assignments that formed input for the plenary sessions. The onsite program consisted of optional social activities and mandatory plenary sessions and project based group work. The program was successful in many respects. Most of the educational goals of the program were attained. The program could be improved by enriching the community and creating more leisure time for students to settle in their new environment.