Get set for success: an update on the EngCAT project

In 2011, the Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT) funded a national project entitled 'Get set for success: Using online self-assessments to motivate first year engineering students to engage in and manage their learning'. This research project aims to identify factors that lead to success in first year engineering studies. The project will deliver a prototype model of the Engineering Career Appraisal Tool (EngCAT), an online educational resource that enables individuals to self-assess their cognitive (e.g., spatial, mathematical, and technical skills) and non-cognitive (e.g., personality traits, career interests and approaches to learning) abilities. Initial data have been collected and some initial results are available for the EngCAT project. Commencing engineering students across five Australian universities completed cognitive and noncognitive tests to help them self-assess their readiness for the programs and to empower them with self-awareness and learning skills.