I.

Rationale
The purpose of conducting this research is to understand the factors in the form
of traits that keep computer engineering students in the course despite difficulties,
based on the experiences of computer engineering students. Through conducting this
research, the researchers hope to get an insight as to how the former computer
engineering students managed their way to successfully go through the course. The
researchers also hope to be able to disseminate the results that is obtained from this
research while learning from it and applying it in the academe.

II. Introduction
For most academic institutions, it seems as if it is a requirement to understand
the objective behind every student’s choice of course and the primary motivator in
making such choices so they can understand the motivation that enables individual
students’ actions and behavior. In addition to this, one factor that is uncommonly
highlighted and is also essential is the deeper understanding of the factors of
persistence which enables these students to remain in such courses despite the
encounter of different forms of difficulties. With a clearer understanding of such factors
that encourage persistence based on difficulties mentioned, which is obtained (survey)
from more experienced respondents (the seniors), the researchers can conclude and
give recommendations that can be applied to the freshmen or for the upcoming
students. In addition, although the research focuses primarily on computer engineering
students, the results of such research and similar research may potentially yield similar
results(considering only differentiating variable is the subject studied), thus, the results
of this study will potentially be beneficial especially for the upcoming students in the
alleviation of stress and in the understanding of the factors that make such stress
manageable.
III. Problem Statement
Many students that choose the computer engineering course and other
engineering courses go through a lot in their academic life that may give them struggle
and stress. Not only does it affects their lives in school but it also made a great impact
in their lives outside the premises of the school. The purpose of the study is to
determine the experience felt by computer engineering students, the factors that help
minimize stress for such students and the struggles that would affect the freshmen for
their path through the computer engineering discipline.

IV. Objectives/Goals
The objectives of this study is to:
● Determine what the 4th year and 5th year BS-CpE students think of the BS
Computer Engineering course in USC-TC,
● Determine what traits do the 4th year and 5th year BS-CpE students think have
helped them when taking the BS Computer Engineering course in USC-TC, and
● Determine what traits do the 4th year and 5th year BS-CpE students think they
should have developed to help them in the BS Computer Engineering course in
USC-TC.

V. Methodology
The methodology of the study involves only a survey. In the survey, there are
only three questions. The questions asked the respondent on what word they would use
to describe the BS Computer Engineering course, what personality traits have helped
them throughout their college life while taking this course, and what traits they wish they
have developed to help them in the course. The first question was an open response
type of question while the other 2 questions were multiple response questions where
respondents can choose more than one answer. The number of respondents for the
survey is 29 and were randomly chosen from the 4th year and 5th year USC-TC college
students who are currently taking BS Computer Engineering. The survey was held in
USC-TC, primarily in the Lawrence Bunzel building from December 12 to December 14,
2018.

VI. Results and Discussion

The first question of the survey asked the respondent to describe computer
engineering using only one word. From the 29 respondents, there were 29 answers for
this question. 4 respondents answered ‘struggle’, 11 respondents answered ‘kapoy’, 2
responded with ‘hard’, 6 answered with ‘pressure’, 3 respondents answered ‘stressful’, 1
respondent answered ‘amazing’, and 2 respondents answered ‘lisod’

Word Frequency

Struggle 4

Kapoy 11

Hard 2

Pressure 6

Stressful 3

Amazing 1

Lisod 2

Looking at the data, it can be observed that the most commonly used word by
the respondents to this question is ‘kapoy’, which makes up about 38% of the answers.
This word was then followed by ‘pressure’, which makes up roughly 21% of the
answers, and ‘struggle’, which makes up 13% of the responses. The least common
response is the word ‘amazing’, which is used as an answer once. The data suggests
that most students think that the Computer Engineering course is tiring, stressful, and
challenging. Almost all of the answers given are somewhat negative, with only one
student responding that the course is amazing above all else.
 For the second question, the respondent was asked to select which of the ten
given traits has helped them in the duration of their studies. Since this question is a
multiple response type of question, each respondent can have more than one answer.
This means there are more than 29 answers for this question in total. The responses
given by the respondents are shown on the table below.

Trait Frequency

Friendliness 23

Punctuality 8

Perseverance 16

Optimism 16

Flexibility 19

Attentiveness 17

Humility 13

Compassion 17

Independence 4

Responsibility 15

There were a total of 138 responses to this question from the 29 respondents.
Based on the responses, it can be observed that the most common trait chosen by the
respondents is friendliness with a frequency of 23, followed by flexibility with a
frequency of 19, and then attentiveness and compassion, with both of them having a
frequency of 17. The least common response is the independence, with a frequency of
4, followed by punctuality, with a frequency of 8. Based on the data, it can be inferred
that the ability to make friends is the most useful trait for the respondents, which
suggests that one cannot complete this course without help from other people. The data
also suggests that the flexibility or the ability to adjust easily has helped a lot of the
respondents in their studies. On the other hand, the few responses for independence
and punctuality suggests most of the respondents lacked these traits or these traits are
not really important in this course.
For the third question, the respondent was asked to select which of the ten given
traits do they wish they had during the duration of their studies and give additional
answers if they see fit. Since this question is also a multiple response type of question,
each respondent can have more than one answer. This means there are more than 29
answers for this question in total. The responses given by the respondents are shown
on the table below.

Trait Frequency

Friendliness 2

Punctuality 22

Perseverance 14

Optimism 11

Flexibility 9

Attentiveness 7

Humility 0

Compassion 1

Independence 22

Responsibility 15

Wise budgeting 3
skills

There were a total of 106 responses to this question from the 29 respondents.
Based on the responses, it can be observed that the most common trait chosen by the
respondents is independence and punctuality, both having a frequency of 22, followed
by responsibility with a frequency of 15. In addition to the 10 given choices, 3
respondents added they wanted have wise budgeting skills in the duration of the
studies, suggesting the importance of proper money management in this course. Based
on this, it can be inferred that many of the 4th year and 5th years BS-CpE students
lacked punctuality and independence earlier in their college life despite the two traits
being very important in this course. In addition, there seems to be a lack of
responsibility from the higher year students that they regret not having. What this means
is that in addition to the most commonly answered traits in the second question, it is
also important to be punctual, independent, and responsible if one is to finish BS
Computer Engineering.

VII. Conclusion
Based on the data collected and the interpretation of the researchers, it can be
deduced that most students find computer engineering “tiring”, “stressful” and difficult,
thus, computer engineering, just like most other courses, has its own unique set of
challenges that will entail inevitable stress and a certain degree of struggle. However,
based on the results, most students credit their friendliness (probably “paki-sama” or
studying together), flexibility and other traits as factors that have helped them in their
studies. In addition, most students also believed that punctuality and independence are
traits that would have helped them perform better in their studies. Based on this, it can
be concluded that for those taking computer engineering or other engineering courses,
or courses that provide similar objectives and require similar competencies, the traits
that will most likely benefit its students, based on the respondents’ experiences would
most likely be friendliness, flexibility, punctuality and independence.