Assessment for Student Success: Delivering High-Quality Modules and Improving Educational Methods in Civil Engineering Program

Abstract

There are many internal and external factors influence student success such as optimization of student support services, campus resources, teaching methods and learning outcomes achievement, and many others. Understanding student success due to the global declining quality of undergraduate engineering students is very demanding. Post training or re-educating graduates is expensive and time consuming and can be prevented by if structured educational process took a place. The aims of this study were to identify student’s success related factors and assess how a new teaching method will impact student success. Assessment of student success within civil engineering major was analyzed. After conducting the teaching method, a structured reflective questionnaire was carried out among 50 students targeting two modules namely traffic and transportation engineering from level three, and introduction to structural analysis and design from level two. Students’ satisfaction and teaching method effectiveness emerged as significant indictors of student success. Statistical analysis was performed to evaluate student responses. Person correlation and Multiple Linear Regression were used to test and predict the relationships between the variables mainly gender, teaching method effectiveness, and overall evaluation. Gender plays a moderate to strong role in the response for method effectiveness indicator and overall evaluation indicators. The performance of Multiple Linear Regression was exceptionally well with very low average relative error (5%). Students are more likely to be engaged onsite rather than online to adjust their need and trigger academic support. Improving student support services, student’s engagement, and update module materials to be more problem based are recommended to ensure students success. In addition, proper student’s feedback analysis, formative and summative assessments were primary tools to improve teaching practices.

Received: 26 November 2020 / Accepted: 27 January 2021 / Published: 5 March 2021