Metacognition as a Tool for Engineering Technology Students

New York City College of Technology, “City Tech,” is the designated senior college of technology within the 24-unit City University of New York (CUNY). The college plays an important role nationally in the education of future scientists, engineers, technologists and mathematicians by offering a broad range of engineering technology majors. These majors have high enrollment annually; However, the one–year retention rates of freshman in the engineering technology associates degrees are typically 10-20% lower as compared to college wide one-year retention rates. One common reason for students changing majors or discontinuing their education after their first year is poor performance in classes. How can we, as faculty, support students and help them excel in their college coursework? According to Sandra McGuire, If you teach students how to learn, and give simple, straightforward strategies to use, they can significantly increase their learning and performance. This study looks to examine whether McGuire\u27s strategies can be replicated in engineering technology majors at City Tech. Specifically, this pilot phase looked at students majoring in Construction Management and Civil Engineering Technology (CMCE). Courses in CMCE were selected to receive the intervention and our results will look to identify correlations between grade performance and exposure to the intervention