Help Me Else I Might Fail! Solutions for Academically Challenged Engineering Students

Abstract

This study concerns students in an internationally accredited undergraduate mechanical engineering program who due to consistent poor grades are academically dismissed and, by existing policy, required to take a 1-year leave of absence. The purpose was to determine whether the policy could be improved to offer more proactive solutions to address performance issues of academically challenged students. A review of studies, intervention mechanisms, and policies related to academically challenged students was undertaken. Using the Golden Circle framework, improvements to the existing policy are recommended to incorporate a more proactive approach to minimize the likelihood of a student becoming academically challenged. The proposed revised policy could include assessing psychological well-being, motivation, or “grit” for new students and following up with subsequent attendance, behavior, and course performance data to determine potentially at-risk students. With the at-risk students, a group intervention could be conducted followed by individual intervention if student performance continues to deteriorate.