The Impact of Affective and Relational Factors on Classroom Experience and Career Outlook among First-year Engineering Undergraduates

This paper presents partial results of a study designed to explore interrelationships among affective/relational factors and perceptions of fulfillment, competency, career, and classroom experience. Three related hypotheses are evaluated regarding how affective and relational factors relate to the student's classroom experiences and career outlook. The first two hypotheses predict that positive (internal) affect and positive relationships with others will be highly correlated to positive experiences in the classroom. The last hypotheses predicts that students who experience the classroom in a positive way will have a more positive career outlook. All three hypotheses were confirmed in this study with statistically significant results