The performance of engineering students on the Group Embedded Figures Test

The Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) measures the ability of a person to disembed or pull out specified objects from a given background. The ability to disembed has been shown to be a necessary skill in problem solving and is consequently thought of as a necessary trait for individuals interested in engineering. Therefore, the GEFT has the potential to be used as a predictor of student success in an engineering program. In order to test this hypothesis, the GEFT was given to undergraduate engineering students (with both high and low academic success) and to a control group of liberal arts students at The University of Tennessee in Knoxville. The paper presents the results of the comparisons and the implications for improving engineering student performance.