From PIE to APPLES: The evolution of a survey instrument to explore engineering student pathways

Abstract

The Academic Pathways Study (APS) of the Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education (CAEE) is a cross-university study that systematically examines how engineering students navigate their education, and how engineering skills and identity develop during the undergraduate period. Through the collective work of the APS, two instruments have emerged the Persistence in Engineering (PIE) survey and the Academic Pathways of People Learning Engineering Survey (APPLES). This paper describes the redesign of the longitudinal PIE survey instrument for the cross-sectional administrations of APPLES as informed by emerging findings from other APS methods. We discuss the challenges of the evolution of PIE and APPLES while addressing the comparability of these instruments to each other, and outline plans for future APPLES deployments and analyses. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2008.