Work in progress — Academic Pathways of People Learning Engineering — An Australian study

In Australia a multi-institutional project is underway, with one of its major themes the understanding and reduction of attrition in engineering programs. The Academic Pathways for People Learning Engineering Survey (APPLES) instrument was trialled at a participating institution as a possible precursor to its application in the eight collaborating institutions. APPLES had been validated and delivered to over 4000 engineering undergraduates by the Academic Pathways Study in the US. The survey was trialled with 259 engineering students from different year levels to explore its potential to find links between students' perceptions of their motivation, skills and confidence with their goals to continue to degree completion and employment in engineering. This paper reports on the initial findings from the Australian pilot study. Matching the self reported data in the survey with statistical data has, even at this initial stage, highlighted some discrepancies and topics for further investigation.