Assessment of student preparedness for freshman engineering courses through assessment of math background

We present an initial investigation of the relationship between math preparedness and student status, and success in freshman electrical and computer engineering courses. We utilize prior math coursework GPA and ALEKS scores as measures of preparedness and find that, with some caveats, they work reasonably well as predictors of success. The majority of our students take freshman engineering courses after completing Calculus 1 or higher. This runs counter to our efforts to engage students in engineering courses first. Students who graduated from high school with some college credit and transfer students with 45-89 transfer credits are susceptible to low grades and high withdrawal rates.

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