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.     

论导师与研究生非指导型谈话的构建

导师经常通过交谈与研究生进行沟通,进而实施教育.在导师与研究生的谈话中,除了常见的"指导型谈话"外,还应构建一种"非指导型谈话",以体现"学生为中心"的教育思想."非指导型谈话"具有自身的特点和做法,但需要避免一些误区,以满足研究生发展的需要.     

Becoming a tutor: student scaffolding in a game-based classroom

Student interaction in school contexts is a topic that has been researched from many different perspectives. However, the role of students as tutors scaffolding other peers is not normally addressed, since studies are usually focused on the teacher. Moreover, considering the many technologies that can support students’ work nowadays, studies describing specific practices are still needed in order to understand the many possibilities and constraints that can emerge from the use of these tools in the field of education. This exploratory case study aims to extend research on scaffolding between students, presenting data from an ethnographic study where a commercial video game was introduced as part of the curricular activities. Analytically, the scaffolding metaphor is the departing point to describe in detail how the scaffolding process took place, focusing on its purposes and on the role of students as tutors. Our findings reveal how students offered mostly procedural scaffoldings, performing tutor functions such as highlighting relevant features, reducing levels of freedom or controlling the frustration. Results highlight that students can perform scaffolds, and this should be considered as part of the classroom design, making this process visible. Moreover, specific features of the video game enhanced these interactions, which should also be considered when designing game learning environments in the future.     

The role of scales in student ratings

Questions used in course evaluations should mainly measure the quality of teaching, and students' answers to those questions should not be influenced by other factors. This paper investigates how seemingly neutral rating scales and multiple-choice questions might have an impact on the results of such evaluations. In several studies, it has been shown that the way in which a scale is constructed may strongly influence the answers it elicits in surveys and tests. Whether and to what extent common course-related ratings of students are also affected by the kinds of scales used is the main topic of this paper. Four studies examined the influence of scale polarity (unipolar vs. bipolar scales), the role of different ranges in time scales, and the impact of ordering choices in a certain way. Participants' ratings and answers were strongly influenced by all these manipulations. It is recommended to pay special attention to the role of scales when constructing questionnaires for course evaluations and when interpreting course evaluation reports.     

Considering student retention as a complex system: a possible way forward for enhancing student retention

This study uses multilayer minimum spanning tree analysis to develop a model for student retention from a complex system perspective, using data obtained from first-year engineering students at a large well-regarded institution in the European Union. The results show that the elements of the system of student retention are related to one another through a network of links and that some of these links were found to be strongly persistent across different scales (group sizes). The links were also seen to group together in different clusters of strongly related elements. Links between elements across a wide range of these clusters would have system-wide influence. It was found that there were no elements that are both persistent and have system-wide effects. This complex system view of student retention explains why actions to enhance student retention aimed at single elements in the system have had such limited impact. This study therefore points to the need for a more system-wide approach to enhancing student retention.     

Issues and agency: postgraduate student and tutor experiences with written feedback

This paper examines the issues which postgraduate students and tutors experienced as they engaged in receiving, providing and requesting feedback, as well as the strategies which they adopted as they sought resolution of these issues. The study employed a case study approach, using data obtained from semi-structured and stimulated recall interviews with students and staff from three discipline areas at one university in the UK. The findings reinforce the conclusions that have been drawn in a number of previous studies in terms of the sources of dissatisfaction emerging from individual interactions and institutional practices. Additionally, however, the results expand on our current understanding of feedback and agency in higher education by illustrating how participants sought out imaginative solutions to the challenges they experienced, in order to enhance the effectiveness of the feedback process. The diversity of the strategies used provides evidence of student and tutor agency, and has implications for current feedback practices and future research in this area.     

Selected student and tutor perceptions of ICTs in further and higher education in England

By 2008 a total of 87, 339 students were studying on foundation degrees in the UK (Foundation Degree Forward 2009 Foundation Degree Forward. 2009. “Forward 10.” http://www.fdf.ac.uk/uploads/journal10.pdf. [Google Scholar]). This article reports on the views of selected students and academic tutors regarding ICTs (Information Communication Technologies) associated with the Early Years Sector Endorsed Foundation Degree (EYSEFD) in England. The students study part time at five further education (FE) colleges working in partnership with a UK higher education institution (HEI). The research project has gathered data on the views of students and programme tutors about ICTs since October 2009. Data has been gathered through questionnaires with students and focus group discussions with selected students and tutors about the perception of ICTs. A main finding is that the students in this study associate ICTs with computers and software whereas their academic tutors focus on the wider pedagogical learning associated with technology. The article discusses some of the debates that surround pedagogical practice and ICTs in further and higher education. The students’ association of computers and pedagogical best practice appears to reiterate current neoliberal educational values as opposed to reflecting the learning goals of their academic programme. This article presents the findings of this study and the conclusions that are drawn will be of relevance to those involved in the delivery and development of higher education in further education contexts.     

导师与研究生之间的和谐关系研究

良好的研究生与导师之间的关系是提高高校研究生教育质量的重要保证。因此研究其间的和谐关系有很重要的意义。影响其间关系的主要因素有研究生的培养特点、导师的指导风格与素质、研究生培养目标等。导师和研究生之间的关系有权威型、松散型、功利型、和谐型等几种类型,但导师与研究生之间最基本的关系仍然是师生关系,其本质是一种教与学的关系,和谐"导学"是这种关系的集中体现。     

Logit analysis of graduate student retention

A logit model is developed to predict the retention of graduate students. The use of the BMDP4F procedure to develop a logit model for graduation student retention is outlined, and the model is applied to data from a major university. In this study, predicted retention rates for master's students were independent of age and sex, but were a function of race/visa status, registration status, and the interactions between academic division and registration status and between academic division and race/visa status. Predicted rates for doctoral students were independent of age and race/visa status, but were a function of registration status, academic division, and the interactions between academic division and registration status and between academic division and sex.     

The effect of gender composition of faculty on student retention

The gender composition of faculty is an important issue on many campuses. Substantial efforts are taken by colleges to hire a diverse faculty where women are equitably represented. Several papers suggest that female faculty can act as role models for female students. This issue is particularly emphasized in science and engineering programs. However, empirical research finds mixed support for this hypothesis. We provide a new test of this issue by examining whether female students have higher first-year retention rates when a greater percentage of their classes are taught by female faculty. There is a positive relationship between retention of female students and the percentage of their science and mathematics classes taught by female faculty. Also faculty gender has a greater impact on female students when their classes have few female students. Thus this study provides support for gender-based programs for hiring.     

论学生社团在校园文化中的作用

学生社团在管理方式和规模限制上都显得比较宽泛,吸纳的学生人数也比较多;在形式上,学生们根据共同爱好,自发组织、自我教育、自我服务,体现了更多的自主性。因此,学生社团以其影响的广泛性、参与者的自愿性以及活动方式的多样性和活动效果的有效性,在校园文化中的影响力也日益彰显,发挥着独有的作用。     

Providing Space for Teacher Renewal: The role of the facilitator in school-university partnerships

This article uses the process of a teacher renewal partnership programme to explore the role of the university academic as a facilitator of change. Responses to a series of interview questions relating to change were used to explore and examine the dimensions of the facilitator's role. Facilitators report that the role is complex, often uncertain and requires an understanding of the school and its culture and schools' and teachers' previous experiences in professional development programmes. The findings from this article suggest that an effective facilitator creates, for the teachers involved, a space for discussion, reflection and challenge and that this space provides for and legitimates teacher renewal.     

Deriving individual student marks from a tutor’s assessment of group work

The use of group work, in which three or more students jointly produce a piece of work for summative assessment, is an established aspect of teaching and learning in higher education. Opinions vary however about whether their marks should vary according to the respective contributions they made to the work. This paper is based on the assumption that if adjustments are to be made, they should be made on sound statistical grounds. Current methods for adjusting student marks do not allow the size of the adjustments to be controlled and empirical data are presented which show that very large adjustments can occur. This paper presents a method for deriving final student marks from a single tutor mark and ratings which students make of each other’s contributions. The method incorporates a mechanism for directly controlling the size of the adjustments made. It is demonstrated using data from students following a degree programme in computing. A spreadsheet has been written which undertakes the calculations necessary to apply the method.     

The impact of communication apprehension on college student retention and success

Communication apprehension is conceptualized as a causal agent in student success. It is implicated in both academic and interpersonal success, two factors identified by prior resesarch as primary predictors of persistence. A four year longitudinal study of the impact of communication apprehension on grade point average and persistence at the university level was conducted. Results indicated high CA students were significantly more likely to drop out and attain lower grade point averages compared to low CA students. The impact of CA was strongest during the first two years. A replication of the study confirmed the impact of CA on student persistence. It is concluded the impact of CA on the probablity of high CA students’ survival in college is substantial and this impact adds to the case favoring the provision of training programs to assist such students overcome their apprehension about communication.     

The role of teacher instructional practices in student collaboration

Prior research on collaborative learning identifies student behaviors that significantly predict student achievement, such as giving explanations of one’s thinking. Less often studied is the role of teachers’ instructional practices in collaboration among students. This article investigates the extent to which teachers engage in practices that support students’ explanations of their thinking, and how these teacher practices might be related to the nature of explanations that students give when asked by the teacher to collaborate with each other. The teachers observed here, all of whom received specific instruction in eliciting the details of student thinking, varied significantly in the extent to which they asked students to elaborate on their suggestions. This variation corresponded to variation across classrooms in the nature and extent of student explanations during collaborative conversations and to differences in student achievement.     

Racial origin and student retention in a Canadian University

In the United States, research into the relationship between racial origin and university attrition has a relatively long history. In such research it has usually been found that particularly Black students and those of Hispanic origin have far lower retention rates than White students and those of Asian origin. In Canada, however, it has only been in recent years that large numbers of non-Whites from primarily British Commonwealth countries have immigrated to Canadian cities. As a result, there has been no investigation of race and student retention in Canadian universities.In this article, attention will focus on the first year voluntary and involuntary withdrawal of students of various racial origins enrolled full-time at York University, Canada's third largest university, located in Toronto. Students who withdraw involuntarily are those who because of low academic standing are debarred from continuing for a second year. Information for the study was obtained through end-of-year surveys carried out in 1993, 1994, and 1995 and from administrative records.In general it was found that differences in overall retention rates for Blacks and students of South Asian, Chinese, other non-European, and European origins are small. Moreover, a logistic regression analysis indicated that while racial origin is not a predictor of voluntary withdrawal from university at the end of first year, it has a slight effect on involuntary withdrawal.     

Affairs of state and student retention: an exploratory study of the factors that impact student retention in a politically turbulent region

This study examines the impact of a country’s security unrest on student retention. It draws on the key factors that influence retention worldwide, adopts Bourdieu’s notion of cultural capital and also brings in concepts related to terrorism and security unrest traditionally absent from theories on student retention. Based on a case study carried out in Israel on 50 full‐time undergraduate students, this study suggests that the difficulties created by a country’s political environment alone do not play a significant role in student retention. However, when coupled with the salient features that negatively impact retention worldwide, difficulties created by a country’s security situation may increase tendencies to leave or consider leaving higher education.