Philippine E-Journals

Students’ Interest in Engineering and Average Final Grade in Mathematics as Factors in Program Retention

Jake M. Laguador

Discipline: Education

 

Abstract:

Engineering as a degree program requires the students’ inclination to mathematics to survive on carrying out various challenges of solving problems more analytically and critically. The study determined the level of interest in the Engineering Program and its correlation to average final grade in College Algebra, Trigonometry and Solid Mensuration as factors of program retention of the Filipino Freshmen engineering students enrolled in the Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU). It examined the underlying differences between gender, school year of freshmen enrolment, final grades in three basic engineering mathematics and between those students who were retained in LPU to continue their studies and those who left to look for another degree program in other universities. Descriptive type of research method was utilized in the study. Results showed that students who transferred to other universities and/ or degree programs have significantly lower level of interest towards engineering and have higher perceived level of difficulty in the program than those students who decided to stay in LPU, and female engineering students have significantly higher view of becoming engineers in the future compared to their male counterparts while the final grades of students who transferred in other universities obtained significantly lower final grades in College Algebra and Trigonometry.