Undergraduate engineering project work

This work sets out to investigate the possible relationship between project results at first and final years of an engineering course. Although first year projects are introduced into the engineering curriculum, major project or research work by the students is not undertaken until they reach their final year. The results of a cohort of final year students, who finished in the minimum time, were tracked backwards to their first year. A multiple linear regression analysis was conducted in an attempt to predict final year project outcomes from first year projects only. The quantitative results showed that there is no direct predictability in grades from first year projects to final year projects. However, results from a survey of these students indicated the importance of their project work in the engineering environment.