Expectations for college and student persistence

Tinto postulates that students enter college with expectations. If these expectations are unmet, there is early disenchantment with the social and academic communities. Such disenchantments hinder academic and social integration which, in turn, influence subsequent institutional and goal commitments and ultimately student departure. These formulations are tested in a multi-institutional study of 263 first-time freshmen who entered four-year colleges and universities. The findings indicate that both academic and social integration are positively influenced by the meeting of expectations for academic and career development. Social integration is positively influenced by expectations for opportunities for personal involvement, but negatively affected by expectations for a collegiate atmosphere. Indirect effects on intentions to remain in the focal college are indirectly influenced by collegiate atmosphere and academic and career development. Implications for enrollment management and the development of linkages between theories of college choice and student departure are drawn.An earlier version of this article was presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Atlanta, GA, April 12–16, 1993.     

The impact of student misconceptions on student persistence in a MOOC

Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) provide opportunities to learn a vast range of subjects. Because MOOCs are open to anyone with computer access and rarely have prerequisite requirements, the range of student backgrounds can be far more varied than in conventional classroom-based courses. Prior studies have shown that misconceptions have a huge impact on students' learning performance; however, no study has empirically examined the relationship between misconceptions and learning persistence. This study of 12,913 MOOC-takers examines how students' misconceptions about the upcoming course material affect course completion. Using a survival analysis approach, we found that, controlling for the score in a pre-course test, students holding more misconceptions had a higher dropout rate at the start of the course, an effect that diminished over time. Other student variables were found to have a positive impact on survival that persisted throughout the entire course: U.S. location, higher age, an intention to complete, better English skills, prior familiarity with the subject, motivation to earn a certificate, and score and time spent on the previous problem set (homework). By contrast, student gender, education level, number of previous MOOCs completed, and motivation to participate in online discussion forums did not affect survival.     

What we know about doctoral student persistence

Recognizing that the focus of studies on retention has been at the undergraduate level, a hypothesis is presented that to accomplish their objectives of providing scholars for the future, doctoral degree granting universities must focus attention on the factors affecting persistence of doctoral students. Further, due to the changing nature of the doctoral student population, doctoral students must now be defined as adults. Bringing together the themes of retention, persistence, and adult education, this review of the literature presents areas for further research and study.The author wishes to express his thanks to Dr. Nancy Gadbow, Assistant Professor of Adult Education, Syracuse University and Theodore Rector, Associate Dean, School of Education and Human Development, SUNY-Binghamton for their assistance in the preparation of this work.     

The influence of prices on graduate student persistence

The topic of how prices influence graduate student persistence has seldom been examined. Using the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study of 1987 to examine the influence of prices on within-year persistence by graduate students, this analysis indicates that graduate students, especially those enrolled in public institutions, are responsive to tuition charges in their persistence decisions. The major implication of this finding is that universities should examine the potential impact of price changes on graduate student persistence when they consider tuition increases each year.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Eighth Annual NASSGP/NCHELP Research Network Conference, March 21, 1991, San Francisco, CA.     

A model of MBA student performance

A number of regression studies have attempted to predict success in an MBA program. The current study extends the work of previous investigations by proposing a model that incorporates a number of terms which represent interaction of undergraduate grade point average with undergraduate institution and undergraduate major. The resulting model has a significantly largerR ² value then previously reported studies. The largeR ² value is attributed to a more complete model and a careful scrutinizing of the data employed in model construction.     

The synergy of minority student persistence and faculty renewal

In response to increased student assessment and accountability concerns, colleges and universities have been called on to increase their efforts to improve the retention rates of an increasingly diverse student body. This article outlines a synergistic strategy for promoting minority student persistence through faculty renewal efforts that encourage faculty to question their cultural beliefs and academic values concerning the teaching and learning enterprise.Dr. Kay F. Norman is currently with Delaware State University where she is Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching. She also teaches graduate courses in Educational Assessment and Special Education Administration and Supervision. She holds an Ed.D. in Higher Education Administration with emphasis in Student Services from Texas Southern University. Her research interests are in student retention, assessment, and effective teaching. James Norman, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Education at Delaware State University's School of Education. He is a graduate of Ohio State University. Dr. Norman's research interest include special education monitoring and compliance issues, and behavioral management systems.     

The role of academic advising in student retention and persistence

Jayne K. Drake reminds us that academic advising is more than clerical recordkeeping; it is the very human art of building relationships with students and helping them connect their personal strengths and interests with their academic and life goals.     

A model for exploring student understandings of plagiarism

A clear understanding of how students view plagiarism is needed if the extensive efforts devoted to helping them engage in high-quality scholarship are to be worthwhile. There are a variety of views on this topic, but theoretical models to integrate the literature, take account of international differences and guide practitioners are limited. Using a large, international student sample, this paper presents just such a model. More than 2500 university students in the UK and Australia completed a questionnaire rating the perceived ‘seriousness' of various plagiarism-related actions in an individual assignment. Factor analysis identified three underlying themes: dishonest acts, poor referencing, and group work. Group comparisons indicated statistically significant differences in student understanding dependent on previous region of study, current faculty/school and level of study, with the former two emerging as more influential than the latter. This three-factor model provides practitioners with a methodology for integrating the many different studies in the area and gaining a broader overview of student understanding of plagiarism. In particular, it highlights how students consider plagiarism related to group work to be far less serious than other types. Given the increasing emphasis on group work in higher education, the implications of this for policy and practice are discussed. Importantly, the study also notes that effect sizes were small, suggesting that findings in this study, as in other studies, may not represent substantive differences in student perceptions. A single, universal approach to educating students about plagiarism may be as effective as approaches tailored to the individual's background.     

International student persistence in U.S. postsecondary institutions

The study used the data from the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study data set to observe the characteristics of international students in their first-year in college and examine the factors that influenced their persistence in U.S. postsecondary institutions. Results from logistic regression analysis revealed that GPA, degree plans, and academic integration were positively related to persistence of international students, while remediation in English and social integration had the negative effects on their persistence outcome. The results of the study signal the importance of encouraging collaboration between offices of international student services and other academic departments or support services on campus. The retention of international students should not be viewed as the responsibility of only international student advisors. Instead, it should become a joint responsibility of faculty, academic advisors, English language program staff, and student affairs professionals on campus.     

高校学生心理健康教育初探

高校是培养社会所需人才的地方,承担着巨大的教育职责,不仅要加强大学生的理论知识教育、政治思想教育,同时还要加强心理健康教育,培养大学生如何面对困难和挫折,提高应变能力和适应能力,促进心理健康,沉着应对新形势下的新挑战。     

Financial aid and student persistence: An application of causal modeling

This research uses path analysis to explore the relationships among a number of variables (including financial aid variables), which have been shown in both theory and prior research to be related to student persistence. The subjects were 227 full-time freshmen, who enrolled Fall Quarter 1982, in a liberal arts college at a large commuter institution of higher education, and who received financial aid. The model, which includes background and academic variables, accounted for 35% of the variance in persistence. Persistence was measured by credits completed over a two-year period. Significant variables that showed the largest total effects on persistence were college grade-point average and high school rank. The financial aid variables in the model showed no significant effect on persistence in this study of students who received aid. The model was cross-validated on a second data set and the model was supported.Revised version of a paper presented at the Twenty-Sixth Annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research, Orlando, Fla., June 22–25, 1986.     

Exploring the influences of MOOC design features on student performance and persistence

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) face persistent challenges related to student performance, including high rates of attrition and low student achievement scores. Previous studies that have examined the performance of students in MOOCs have done so using qualitative analysis and the quantitative analysis of small samples. This study is the first to examine general course features of MOOCs on a large scale and to quantify the influences of these course features on student performance. Informed by the theory of web-based online instruction, this study used two-stage K-means clustering to analyze more than 200 MOOCs that had enrolled about 300,000 students, identifying three patterns of course features among the MOOCs. A MANOVA test and follow-up statistical tests revealed that these patterns of course features influenced the MOOCs’ dropout rates and student achievement scores to statistically different degrees. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

浅论提高大学生心理素质的途径与对策

开展大学生心理素质教育不仅是深化教育改革、全面推进素质教育的需要,也是大学生自身成长与发展的迫切需要。高校要培养高素质人才就必须高度重视大学生心理素质教育,本文就如何开展心理健康教育,提高学生的心理素质做了初步的尝试与探索。     

A motivational model of persistence in science education: A self-determination theory approach

The purpose of this study was to propose and test a motivational model of persistence in science education. The model posits that science teachers’ support of students’ autonomy positively influences students’ self-perceptions of autonomy and competence. These self-perceptions, in turn, have a positive impact on students’ self-determined motivation toward science which leads to their intentions to pursue science education and eventually work in a scientific domain. This model was tested with high school students (n=728). Results from univariate analyses of variance and from structural equation modeling analyses (with LISREL) were found to support the proposed model. In addition, a direct link was obtained between perceptions of competence and intentions to pursue a science education, indicating that higher levels of perceived competence predicted higher levels of persistence intentions. The present findings support Self-Determination Theory and open the way to future research from a motivational approach in this area.     

A model of psychological well-being among international students*

This study aims to investigate the relationship between acculturation attitude (i.e. adjustment and attachment attitudes) and individuals’ psychological adaptation (i.e. life satisfaction, depression and self-esteem). Additionally, the relationship between the dimensions of psychological adaptation with psychological well-being and their mediation effect are examined. Data were collected from 974 randomly selected international students pursuing their Master or Doctoral level studies in six Malaysian public universities using a structured questionnaire. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) technique was applied to examine the relationships in the research model. The results revealed that both adjustment and attachment attitudes are significantly related to life satisfaction and self-esteem while only adjustment attitude associates with depression. All the three dimensions of psychological adaptation are significantly related to psychological well-being. Moreover, the mediation effect of life satisfaction, self-esteem and depression are supported for the relationship between adjustment attitude and psychological well-being. Study implications and contributions are presented.