About Our Research

Introduction and Motivation

In early 2017, the Decreasing Failure Rates in Engineering (DEFRIE) Research Team has been tasked by the Engineering Dean's Office to investigate the top 10 courses with highest failure rates in engineering. These 10 courses have the highest enrollment and failure rates in the college and they include: CE 95 (Introductory Statics), CE 112 (Mechanics of Materials), ME 101 (Dynamics), ME 111 (Fluid Mechanics), ME 113 (Thermodynamics), ME 030 (Computer Applications), EE 98 (Introduction to Circuit Analysis), EE 101 (Circuits Concepts and Problem Solving), CMPE 102 (Assembly Language Programming), and ISE 130 (Engineering Probability and Statistics).

High failure rates in many engineering courses have plagued students, teachers, and administrators for decades, while engineering programs continue to suffer from low enrollments and high attrition. In an effort to affect this reality, our research team is working with faculty and students in an attempt to investigate the causes of such rates. The objective of the DEFRIE project is to continuously engage engineering faculty members and educators to build upon the Spring 2017 pilot data analysis which brought us clearer into the issue in a focused and intentional manner. Through collaborative learning and planning, DEFRIE seeks to provide the faculty with knowledge of student diversity and academic experience through data collection from both students and faculty teaching the 10 courses above, engage more faculty in designing related learning opportunities to decrease failure rates in engineering, and explore how to put such knowledge to use in teaching and research for more inclusive classrooms and better scholarship.