<b>The Influence of Extra-/Co-Curricular Participation on Student Well-Being and Professional Development</b>
Creators: name: Johnson, Beata Nicole
Publisher: name: Purdue University Graduate School
Year: 2024
Subjects: classificationCode: 401002
subject: Engineering education

description: This dissertation presents a multi-method investigation of first-year engineering students’ extracurricular and co-curricular (extra-/co-curricular) participation, examining its impact on their professional development and well-being. Through three interrelated studies, this dissertation aims to broaden conceptualizations of extracurricular participation and to develop a holistic framework capturing the ways in which these activities and experiences influence students.The first study analyzed survey data from 710 first-year engineering students to characterize what about participation in a given extra-/co-curricular experience is impactful to students and to identify patterns in how students choose to participate in one or more extra-/co-curricular activities. Exploratory factor analysis identified seven dimensions of participation that characterize students’ participation experiences in a given activity, spanning social and career-related aspects: career-related experiences, professional development and networking, community engagement and leadership, financial support, social integration, peer-influenced exploration, and mentorship and peer relationships. Cluster analysis identified five profiles of participation in specific extra-/co-curricular activities: social-focused, career-preparation, comprehensive, interest-driven, and paid work. Findings show that many students seek a balance of experiences, with few activities characterized solely by engineering-specific elements and many students participating in combinations of recreational and career-preparation activities.The second study analyzed 860 short-text, open-ended survey responses, investigating how students perceived the benefits of extra-/co-curricular participation in relation to dimensions of wellness. This analysis identified four themes in how students perceived the benefits of their participation: fostering a sense of community and belonging, offering peer mentorship and support networks, facilitating authentic experiences and career exploration, and supporting stress management and overall well-being through interest-driven participation. These themes spanned multiple wellness dimensions, including social, emotional, occupational, and intellectual wellness, with patterns in the benefits students perceived by type of extra-/co-curricular activity.The third study examined the use of natural language processing (NLP) approaches to facilitate the analysis of the short-text, open-response survey datasets. This study compared NLP-facilitated results to the manual analysis of the open-response survey data, demonstrating consistency between these approaches. Findings also demonstrate areas where integrating NLP-facilitated results with manual analysis helped improve the codebook and resulting analysis.This dissertation characterizes key dimensions and perceived benefits of extra-/co-curricular participation that support students’ professional development and well-being. By investigating how first-year engineering students participate in and benefit from extra-/co-curricular activities in complement to the curriculum, this research contributes to broader efforts in engineering education to create more inclusive and engaging learning environments.