(564c) Effectiveness of Academic Supports for Engineering and Computing Education

Engineering and Computing students often suffer from high attrition, often due to high levels of academic rigor for elementary level courses. There are many types of academic supports provided to students to help them succeed academically. In addition to traditional lectures and textbooks, students may attend tutoring sessions, meet with academic support coaches, go to supplemental instruction periods, or make use of a variety of other academic supports. Over 200 students responded to an online survey indicating their frequency of use of academic supports. The students also indicated their personal evaluation of the effectiveness of the various support mechanisms. The results of this survey will be presented, including other factors which directly impact student perseverance in engineering and computing majors. Additionally, over 100 academically successful engineering and computing students with high financial need were asked about key factors leading to their academic success. Results and trends from the responses will be categorized and presented. .