Student Satisfaction with ASEE Activities and its Impact on ASEE Student Membership

Abstract

Abstract The Impact of Student Activities on the ASEE Student MembershipAbstractThe future success of the engineering education field hinges on the interest of today’sundergraduate and graduate students. It is reassuring to see that as the field has grown, so havethe number of students participating in engineering education research, reform, and practice. Aclear indicator of increased student interest has been the steadily growing student membership ofthe American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE).Increased student involvement is likely due in part to the creation of graduate programs awardingdegrees in engineering education; yet according to a 2010 needs analysis of ASEE studentmembers, the majority of student members are not interested in strictly conducting engineeringeducation research. One possible source for the boom in student membership is the emergence ofstudent-focused activities associated with ASEE. From the first [ASEE] student chapter formedat Purdue University in 1993 to the establishment of the [ASEE] Student Constituent Committee(SCC) in 2007, there has been a marked increase in student participation in the field ofengineering education. Student chapters have provided a local platform for growth on collegecampuses, while the SCC has provided a national presence and voice for student members. Thenumber of student chapters, student members, and SCC members show evidence of significantand consistent growth encouraging continual development of student-focused activities includingfull division status of the SCC.The purpose of this study is to build upon the 2010 student member needs analysis by assessingthe impact of ASEE student-focused activities. Our study analyzes the impact the SCC andstudent chapters have had on the student membership. To accomplish this goal we intend toexamine why the current student members joined ASEE and whether or not their involvement inthe SCC or a student chapter had any bearing on their participation. To gain a betterunderstanding of the composition of the student membership, student members will becharacterized using academic year (undergraduate or graduate students), department (engineeringor non-engineering), and university (proximity and focus – research or teaching). Through thisstudy we hope to shed some light on the trends in student recruitment to the field of engineeringeducation and the impact of ASEE student groups.