The Effects of Calculus I on Engineering Student Persistence

The number of students that start in engineering and persist to graduation with an engineering degree is continually declining with the attrition rate currently around 50%. This concern with engineering student retention has pointed to many issues including the early math requirements, specifically, Calculus I. Calculus I has often been referred to as a “bottle-neck” course for any engineering degree program, which implies that if a student can successfully complete this course then they are more likely to persist in the degree program. This study uses a longitudinal data set to determine how grades received in Calculus I along with other pre-college and demographic variables can predict persistence of engineering students. In many cases, this math course is taken prior to any technical engineering course, and this study shows how impactful the academic result of this course is for an engineering student. The results indicate the student outcomes after taking Calculus I, the grade distribution of students in the course, and a predictive model of persistence. The model considers the grade the student received in Calculus I, whether the student chose to retake the course, and other predictive variables to determine which students are more likely to persist in engineering or leave the engineering degree program.