Increasing undergraduate student retention rates

Rickinson, Barbara; Rutherford, Desmond

doi:10.1080/03069889500760181

Cited by 35 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…30 In addition, many freshmen dropout for emotional/psychological reasons. 31 Due in part to these issues, almost all higher education institutions have existing mechanisms to help freshmen with the transition to college, which can provide a framework for implementing a new prevention program. 32 …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Feasibility of a Prototype Web-Based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Prevention Program for College Students

Levin

Pistorello

Seeley

et al. 2013

Journal of American College Health

165

219

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Objective This study examined the feasibility of a prototype web-based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) program for preventing mental health problems among college students. Participants Undergraduate first-year students (n = 76) participated between May and November 2011. Methods Participants were randomized to ACT or a waitlist with assessments conducted at baseline, post and 3-week follow-up. Waitlist participants accessed the program after the second assessment. Results Program usability/usage data indicated high program acceptability. Significant improvements were found for ACT knowledge, education values and depression with ACT relative to waitlist. Subgroup analyses indicated ACT decreased depression and anxiety relative to waitlist among students with at least minimal distress. Within the ACT condition, significant improvements were observed from baseline to 3-week follow-up on all outcome and process measures. Conclusions Results provide preliminary support for the feasibility of a web-based ACT prevention program.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Feasibility of a Prototype Web-Based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Prevention Program for College Students

Levin

Pistorello

Seeley

et al. 2013

Journal of American College Health

165

219

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Although dropout rates are a significant problem throughout the entire study period, there is some evidence to suggest a substantially higher incidence amongst first year students (Rickinson and Rutherford, 1995). Studies differ slightly in their weighting of factors that influence retention, but a number of common themes emerge.…”

Section: First Year Students and The Orientation Programmementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies differ slightly in their weighting of factors that influence retention, but a number of common themes emerge. Rickinson and Rutherford (1995) found that those who dropped out in their first term left for three main reasons-feelings of being academically unready for tertiary study, abrupt realization of their own lack of emotional preparedness, and experience of welfare problems such as financial difficulties or family issues.…”

Section: First Year Students and The Orientation Programmementioning

confidence: 99%

Forms of Adjustment

Simpson

Kingston

2002

Journal of Teaching in Travel & Tourism

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In the increasingly competitive field of tertiary education in New Zealand, characterised by strong levels of institutional competition for a numerically limited pool of students, there has been an almost belated recognition of the importance of student retention strategies. In this context, the literature indicates that transition to the tertiary institute lifestyle can often result in a period of major personal re-adjustment for first year students, which sometimes manifests itself in early academic results that are below expectations-these twin factors can contribute to early perceptions of alienation and, in some instances, can result in unacceptably high dropout rates. This paper describes an intervention that attempted to increase rates of retention in a tourism study programme, through a process designed to facilitate easier assimilation into the tertiary education culture, and to consequently improve the academic results obtained in early course assessment. The nature of this approach, intended to alleviate adjustment problems and provide students with appropriate coping mechanisms, is described in outline, and the results of subsequent student evaluations discussed. The paper concludes by assessing the benefits of this intervention, and by highlighting the implications for future student intakes.

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“…These results suggest that a successful integration of first year students should occur in both academic and social domains, as both are integral aspects of students' university lives (Rickinson and Rutherford, 1995;McKenzie and Schweitzer, 2001;Devlin, 2010). Supporting the transition process from secondary school to the first year at university has long been a challenge for educational institutions.…”

Section: School Of Electrical and Information Engineering The Univermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The factors of first year students' withdrawal from university are summarized as (Tinto, 1995): -a lack of clearly defined goals on the part of the student, -a mismatch between the student and the course or university culture, and -a feeling of isolation. These results suggest that a successful integration of first year students should occur in both academic and social domains, as both are integral aspects of students' university lives (Rickinson and Rutherford, 1995;McKenzie and Schweitzer, 2001;Devlin, 2010). Supporting the transition process from secondary school to the first year at university has long been a challenge for educational institutions.…”

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confidence: 99%

Evolving the Design of a Mobile Application to Support Transition to Tertiary Education

Zhao

Pardo

2017

Front. ICT

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Students' transition to tertiary education plays a critical role in their overall postsecondary experience. Even though educational institutions have designed and implemented various transition support programs, most of them still struggle to collect detailed information and provide tailored and timely support to students. With the high adoption rate of smart phones among university students, mobile applications can be used as a platform to provide personalized support throughout the transition, which has the potential to address the shortcomings of existing programs. Moreover, the use of mobile applications to support the transition to tertiary education can benefit from emerging techniques to design applications to support individuals through transition processes. In this paper, we present the design and development process of myUniMate, a mobile application that allows students to track and reflect on information from multiple aspects of their university lives. The paper describes the user-centered design approach used in the design, the implementation process, and how the initial version evolved based on our previous study. We conducted a 4-week field trial with first year university students to validate our design.Keywords: transition, mobile, tertiary education, user-centered design, transition to higher education inTrODUcTiOn For a significant percentage of the young population, being admitted into universities is one of the many milestones in their lives (Krause et al., 2005). However, this achievement comes with challenges, as starting tertiary education requires students to conduct considerable adjustments in many aspects of their lives. It is for this reason that the first year experience is considered of critical significance to students (McInnis et al., 1995(McInnis et al., , 2000. In Australia, over one quarter of students in higher education are considering deferring study or discontinuing (Krause et al., 2005), and approximately half of the students who failed to graduate from university withdraw in their first year (Australia Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs, 2000). During the first semester, withdrawing from university is considered by one-third of first year students (McInnis et al., 1995(McInnis et al., , 2000, and events that occur in the first year also lead to withdrawals at second and third years (Tinto, 1995). The reason for withdrawal from university are diverse, however, there is a general agreement in the literature that it is the failure of adjustment to the university lifestyle or environmental factors that lead to the majority of withdrawals (Williams and Pepe, 1982;Tinto, 1995). The factors of first year students' withdrawal from university are summarized as (Tinto, 1995): -a lack of clearly defined goals on the part of the student, -a mismatch between the student and the course or university culture, and -a feeling of isolation. These results suggest that a successful integration of first year students should occur in both academic and social domains, as both a...

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Increasing undergraduate student retention rates

Cited by 35 publications

References 1 publication

Feasibility of a Prototype Web-Based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Prevention Program for College Students

Feasibility of a Prototype Web-Based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Prevention Program for College Students

Forms of Adjustment

Evolving the Design of a Mobile Application to Support Transition to Tertiary Education

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