Retention Implications of the Use of Hand-Held PC´s in a First-Year Engineering Intro Course

This study investigated the effects of early exposure to mobile technology on the academic success of first-semester underrepresented populations in engineering and computer science. Literature and data show that underrepresented populations (women and ethnic minorities) enrollment in engineering has been flat (or slightly declining) over the period of the last 10 years. The present study is directed at not recruiting more such students to the pool, rather, it is directed at understanding elements associated with keeping more of those who enroll initially. Namely, it involves retention. In this study it was observed that students using handheld computers increased their self confidence in using technology and that technology was not as distracting to them. However, due to the small sample population, effects on retention and matriculation rates were mixed