Investigating attrition trendsin order to improvestudent retention

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -This paper aims to focus on the experience of monitoring of first year student attrition in a large metropolitan multi-campus university during 2004-2010. The paper seeks to discuss the trends in student attrition which have been found and identify key issues which have been and need to be addressed by the university in order to increase retention. Design/methodology/approach -A specially designed survey was repeated across the years and completed over the period by 2,085 undergraduate students who left the university before the end of their first year of study. Findings -The most important of issues which need to be addressed by the university are sufficient, correct and clear information provided to prospective students about the course before they enrol and high-quality course advice about subject choices after enrolment. Research limitations/implications -Sufficient, correct and clear information provided to prospective students about the course remains an area in need of improvement. Therefore, in marketing the university both locally and internationally, a particular focus needs to be on direct contact by knowledgeable staff with prospective students. Practical implications -Marketing of courses with support of academic staff, course advisers and program heads should give particular focus to the clear management of student expectations. Targeted marketing at the school/course level is needed in order to ensure clear and specific expectations management. This approach, if adopted, should help reduce attrition among those students for whom "the course wasn't what they expected". Social implications -Improving university student retention is one of the high-priority government targets in developed countries such as Australia, the UK and the USA. At the same time, higher education providers in these countries try to increase the participation of students from traditionally underrepresented groups of population in order to meet the aspirations of governments. The changes in policies and performance-based funding require universities to align the growth of numbers of students from underrepresented groups with a range of academic and general support services to support ...

El problema del abandono en estudios a distancia. Respuestas desde el Diálogo Didáctico Mediado

“…Otras causas que destacan los investigadores: problemas tecnológicos (Frankola, 2001;Dupin-Bryant, 2004); las rigideces curriculares, la elección errónea de la carrera o acceder con expectativas equivocadas (Grebennikov y Shah, 2012); motivos económicos y sociales y la dificultad de los estudios (Duque, Duque y Surinach, 2013); la baja autoestima del estudiante (Roso-Bas, Pades y García, 2016); los bajos niveles de supervisión y apoyo docente (Montalvo, 2012); la escasa motivación, inadecuados diseños pedagógicos de las asignaturas y la baja cualificación de los docentes (Frankola, 2001); la escasa calidad de los programas con contenido relevante poco estructurados (Ivankova y Stick, 2007;Perry, Boman, Care, Edwards y Park, 2008); la falta de retroalimentación docente, la gran carga de trabajo y las dificultades para estudiar lejos del campus (Choi, Lee, Jung y Latchem, 2013). Por su parte, Fozdar, Kumar y Kannan (2006) ordenan las causas de abandono de esta manera: lejanía del centro de estudios, insuficiente apoyo académico, problema del tiempo de estudio, dificultad de asistir a los laboratorios, ausencia de interacción entre pares, dificultades para estudiar ciencias a distancia, dificultad del examen presencial, escasa capacidad de respuesta del centro de estudios.…”

Inquiry-based learning to improve student engagement in a large first year topic

“…The students come from a diverse range of study, socioeconomic, cultural, age and ethnic backgrounds, representing 39 degree programs, encompassing all faculties across the university. The challenges facing students transitioning to university are well documented in the literature including engagement, establishing friendships, fostering a sense of belonging and building relationships with teaching staff (Grebennikov & Shah, 2012;Larmar & Ingamells, 2010;Lowe & Cook, 2003;Nelson, Quinn, Marrington, & Clarke, 2012). Many researchers cite engagement both in the social and academic aspects of university life as important predictors of student success and retention (Larmar & Ingamells, 2010;Lowe & Cook, 2003;Nelson et al, 2012).…”

The implications of a University of Louisville first year experience course on student success outcomes based on race and gender.

“…Students in the study reported a 90% agreement that positive relationships with their professors encouraged persistence and 86% agreed positive course experiences in their major field of study encouraged persistence. Lack of social integration also was found to be one of ten main contributing factors of student attrition in a mixed methods study by Grebennikov and Shah (2012).…”

“…Considering the mean age of employed students in the study was 30.63, whereas the mean age of nonworking students was 21.64, it is fair to presume older students have more employment commitments resulting in higher risks of attrition. This is echoed in an Australian mixed methods study by Grebennikov and Shah (2012) who found students who revealed more pressures from employment commitments and scheduling conflicts tended to be over 21 years old. In addition to identifying students most at risk of dropping out due to employment commitments and scheduling conflicts being non-traditionally aged, Grebennikov and Shah found two out of ten significant reasons students were not retained after their first year of college included employment commitments and scheduling conflicts.…”

“…The research also indicates greater graduation and persistence rates for women overall (Caison, 2004;DeAngelo, 2014;Desjardins et al, 2002;Laskey & Hetzel, 2011;Porter & Swing, 2006;Windham et al, 2014). Although academic integration is important to retention, social integration is seen as the most important factor in persistence longitudinally and in general (Allen et al, 2013;Braxton et al, 2008;Grebennikov & Shah, 2012;Kelly et al, 2012). Although living on campus in relation to social integration is key in the research (Power & Swing, 2006;Schudde, 2011), in FYE course effectiveness, commuter students show the greatest positive gains (Potts & Schultz, 2008).…”