ABSTRACT

States and institutions employ articulation agreements to streamline curricular pathways. We investigate the efficacy of that streamlining by considering how course sequences, enacted through pre- and co-requisites, relate to graduation rates for transfer students at different time intervals. Applying a curricular complexity framework that quantifies the complexities of curriculum pathways, we compared the curricular complexities of transfer and first-time-in-college (FTIC) pathways in engineering and correlate those complexity scores with graduation rates at different time intervals. The institutions examined in this study include a mid-Atlantic research university and four of its largest feeder community colleges geographically distributed across the state. We found that, in aggregate, transfer student pathways are less complex than FTIC pathways, although complexity metrics vary across engineering disciplines and sending institutions. Although curricular complexity correlates with graduation rates for FTIC students at different time intervals, the same relationship does not hold for transfer students. The curricular complexity metric is useful for understanding the complexity FTIC students encounter in engineering and correlates with their graduation rates at different time intervals. However, the tool falls short of capturing some nuances of curricular complexity for transfer students. We suggest ways to enhance the metric to depict complexities in curriculum for transfer students.

摘要

国家和机构采用衔接协议来简化课程途径。我们通过考虑通过先决条件和共同条件制定的课程顺序如何与不同时间间隔的转学生的毕业率相关，来研究这种精简的有效性。应用量化课程路径复杂性的课程复杂性框架，我们比较了工程中转学和大学首次 (FTIC) 路径的课程复杂性，并将这些复杂性分数与不同时间间隔的毕业率相关联。本研究中考察的机构包括大西洋中部的一所研究型大学及其四所分布在全州的最大支线社区学院。我们发现，总的来说，转学生途径不如 FTIC 途径复杂，但复杂性指标因工程学科和派遣机构而异。尽管课程复杂性与 FTIC 学生在不同时间间隔的毕业率相关，但对于转学生而言，这种关系并不成立。课程复杂性指标有助于了解 FTIC 学生在工程中遇到的复杂性，并与他们在不同时间间隔的毕业率相关联。然而，该工具未能捕捉转学生课程复杂性的一些细微差别。我们建议如何增强衡量转学生课程复杂性的指标。尽管课程复杂性与 FTIC 学生在不同时间间隔的毕业率相关，但对于转学生而言，这种关系并不成立。课程复杂性指标有助于了解 FTIC 学生在工程中遇到的复杂性，并与他们在不同时间间隔的毕业率相关联。然而，该工具未能捕捉转学生课程复杂性的一些细微差别。我们建议如何增强衡量转学生课程复杂性的指标。尽管课程复杂性与 FTIC 学生在不同时间间隔的毕业率相关，但对于转学生而言，这种关系并不成立。课程复杂性指标有助于了解 FTIC 学生在工程中遇到的复杂性，并与他们在不同时间间隔的毕业率相关联。然而，该工具未能捕捉转学生课程复杂性的一些细微差别。我们建议如何增强衡量转学生课程复杂性的指标。然而，该工具未能捕捉转学生课程复杂性的一些细微差别。我们建议如何增强衡量转学生课程复杂性的指标。然而，该工具未能捕捉转学生课程复杂性的一些细微差别。我们建议如何增强衡量转学生课程复杂性的指标。