Academic Skills of Engineering Psychology Majors: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Shattuck (2001) described the Engineering Psychology program at West Point and how its graduates are prepared to work in interdisciplinary design teams. The current research assessed the academic skills of senior Engineering Psychology cadets in ten basic areas, and compared them with similar measures taken among freshmen and senior leadership and management majors at the academy. Results indicated significant differences among the groups in seven areas including information gathering, groups/organizations, interpersonal, behavior management, critical thinking, research methods, and ethics/values. In general, seniors reported more developed skills than freshmen, and Engineering Psychology majors reported more research-related skills than Leadership and Management majors. Implications for program evaluation and development are discussed.