{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/127127"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/127127","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Transitions to post-secondary engineering studies","abstract":"Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2025-03-28 without embargo terms","abstract_html":"Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2025-03-28 without embargo terms","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Shafer, Devyn"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Physics","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Stelzer, Tim","Kuo, Eric","Eckstein, James","Krist, Christina"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-12","date_published":"2024-12","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:03Z","subjects":["Engineering Education","Physics Education","Transition To College","Ethnography","Interviews","Longitudinal","High School Settings","Introductory Physics","Suburban High Schools","Rural High Schools","Urban High Schools","First Generation College Students","Student Support Structures","High School Teachers","Social Capital Theory"],"languages":["en","eng"],"rights":["Copyright 2024 Devyn Shafer"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2142/127127","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Stelzer, Tim","Kuo, Eric","Eckstein, James","Krist, Christina"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Shafer, Devyn"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2024-12","2024-07-24"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text","Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Physics"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Engineering Education","Physics Education","Transition To College","Ethnography","Interviews","Longitudinal","High School Settings","Introductory Physics","Suburban High Schools","Rural High Schools","Urban High Schools","First Generation College Students","Student Support Structures","High School Teachers","Social Capital Theory"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en","eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2024 Devyn Shafer"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/127127"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2025-03-28 without embargo terms","The student, Devyn Shafer, accepted the attached license on 2024-07-20 at 07:19.","The student, Devyn Shafer, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2024-07-20 at 07:38.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2024-07-24 at 15:19.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #21155 on 2025-03-28 at 14:24:41","Engineering students often struggle with the transition from high school to college, whether because of new academic challenges or difficulties adjusting to a new social context. While college and high school students are typically studied in their respective contexts, few studies follow high school students into college. This study contributes to filling that gap: nine high school seniors interested in attending college for engineering were recruited from a diverse set of three high schools. Students participated in semi-structured interviews throughout their senior year of high school and freshman year of college. High school data collection included multiple perspectives of school stakeholders---teachers, principals, and counselors in addition to students---as well as observations of a variety of classes taken by the students participating in the study. We find that student experiences, opportunities, challenges, and resources vary widely by background and high school. Challenges students face in their transition to college vary accordingly. However, personal relationships are universally important for students to overcome those challenges. Through a longitudinal, in-depth, qualitative approach, we are able to gain a detailed picture of student experiences over time. This study is complemented by several studies undertaken at the university level focusing on an introductory, calculus-based mechanics course required of engineering students and typically taken in the spring of their freshman year: a quantitative demographic study of student performance in the course, an interview study of engineering seniors who had retaken the course, and a survey of students' support structures. The results of this series of studies can help guide future work to support students of all backgrounds in their transitions to college engineering programs."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Transitions to post-secondary engineering studies"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Stelzer, Tim","Kuo, Eric","Eckstein, James","Krist, Christina"],"dc:creator":["Shafer, Devyn"],"dc:date":["2024-12","2024-07-24"],"dc:description":["Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2025-03-28 without embargo terms","The student, Devyn Shafer, accepted the attached license on 2024-07-20 at 07:19.","The student, Devyn Shafer, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2024-07-20 at 07:38.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2024-07-24 at 15:19.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #21155 on 2025-03-28 at 14:24:41","Engineering students often struggle with the transition from high school to college, whether because of new academic challenges or difficulties adjusting to a new social context. While college and high school students are typically studied in their respective contexts, few studies follow high school students into college. This study contributes to filling that gap: nine high school seniors interested in attending college for engineering were recruited from a diverse set of three high schools. Students participated in semi-structured interviews throughout their senior year of high school and freshman year of college. High school data collection included multiple perspectives of school stakeholders---teachers, principals, and counselors in addition to students---as well as observations of a variety of classes taken by the students participating in the study. We find that student experiences, opportunities, challenges, and resources vary widely by background and high school. Challenges students face in their transition to college vary accordingly. However, personal relationships are universally important for students to overcome those challenges. Through a longitudinal, in-depth, qualitative approach, we are able to gain a detailed picture of student experiences over time. This study is complemented by several studies undertaken at the university level focusing on an introductory, calculus-based mechanics course required of engineering students and typically taken in the spring of their freshman year: a quantitative demographic study of student performance in the course, an interview study of engineering seniors who had retaken the course, and a survey of students' support structures. The results of this series of studies can help guide future work to support students of all backgrounds in their transitions to college engineering programs."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/127127"],"dc:language":["en","eng"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2024 Devyn Shafer"],"dc:subject":["Engineering Education","Physics Education","Transition To College","Ethnography","Interviews","Longitudinal","High School Settings","Introductory Physics","Suburban High Schools","Rural High Schools","Urban High Schools","First Generation College Students","Student Support Structures","High School Teachers","Social Capital Theory"],"dc:title":["Transitions to post-secondary engineering studies"],"dc:type":["text","Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Physics"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:03Z"}