Abstract :
Worcester Polytechnic Institute\´s (WPI) Insight program, funded by the Davis Education Foundation, is one component of a three-year study entitled "Curricula, Careers, Culture: Three Interventions in the First-Year Experience". One of the innovations called Insight, created opportunities in the freshman year for incoming engineering, science and technology students to develop strong mentoring relationships with faculty, staff and upper-class students outside the classroom and to assist these students in developing strong academic and social connections within the campus community. The study explored the effects of Insight on students\´ academic performance, attitudes toward the university and retention.
Keywords :
engineering education; Insight program; Worcester Polytechnic Institute; academic connections; academic performance; campus community; engineering students; first-year student; freshman year; mentoring relationships; science students; social connections; student attitudes; student retention; technology students; upper-class students; Education; Educational programs; Employee welfare; Engineering profession; Physics; Process planning; Statistics; Testing;