Student Attrition Intent: Basis for Comprehensive Student Retention Program Development

The purpose of this descriptive study was to determine the level of student attrition intent in the selected bilingual schools in Pathumthani Province, Thailand and become the basis for a possible school retention program. Topics addressed in this study include the different factors that may cause student attrition intent. These factors are classified into academic, motivational, psychosocial, and financial when analyzed by the respondents‘ gender, educational attainment, and economic status. Results of the study showed that in relation to economic status of the respondents, there is a significant difference in the motivational factors and psychosocial factors. On the other hand, there are no significant differences in the academic and financial factors. In relation to the educational attainment of the respondents, only the financial factor had a significant difference while the other factors had none. Lastly, in relation to the respondents‘ gender, none of the factors appeared to have a significant difference. Based on the foregoing findings, the following conclusions were drawn: Gender is not a factor in determining the level of student attrition intent. Motivational and psychosocial factors have significant differences when analyzed by economic status. Financial factors have a significant difference when analyzed by educational attainment. The following recommendations were offered: Implementation of the different comprehensive student retention programs that will improve the student academically and psychosocially. The schools should see to it that there would be equal treatments among students whether they come from a less fortunate family or from a rich family and replication of this study, using indicators not covered is highly recommended to the researchers to investigate further the factors influencing student attrition intent

Understanding STEM career choices: a systematic mapping

STEM disciplines are considered essential for human development, and they are associated with low unemployment rates and good economic prospects. However, many countries are faced with the problem of too few STEM graduates, which raises the question of why more students do not choose STEM majors. This study presents a systematic mapping of studies published prior to 2021 in Web of Science or Scopus in order to examine the research trends on the factors that cause students to choose a career in Computer Science, or more generically, in the STEM fields. These factors have been identified and classified in 3 categories: Environmental factors, Social influencers and Personal factors. The categories are made up of 4 levels of subcategories. We analyzed (1) the countries in which the study was conducted, (2) the characteristics of the study and (3) the frameworks used. The results show that the bulk of the studies were conducted in developed countries, mainly in North America and Europe. The frameworks most commonly used in the studies are Expectancy-Value Theory and Social Cognitive Career Theory, and consequently, the most commonly studied factors for STEM degrees are those related to personal psychological factors. For Computer Science degrees, the most frequently studied factor is career prospects. On the other hand, a small number of studies on the impact of social media on the choice of studies in the technology field were detected. Among the studies analyzed, there is great interest in determining the factors that specifically affect women and the differences between men and women, especially in studies dealing with the Computer Sciences. Furthermore, there are few studies that analyze the effect of informal educational experiences among women. Given that this kind of experiences has become very popular in recent years among women, future research should analyze their impact on the choice of STEM studies. Taking into account the current relevance of the social media, additional research on their impact on the choice of studies should be conducted. It would also be necessary to analyze the situation in underdeveloped countries, especially among women, given that this field is currently a driver of economic development.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Factors Affecting the Student Persistence in Online Education: A Qualitative and Quantitative Investigation

Online education has been gaining popularity thanks to the advent of the Internet. There has been success in providing online education to many students who otherwise would not have had access to higher education. However, many students were dropping out of the online program. In addition, only a few studies have looked at this phenomenon closely and intensively for the purely online students. The current study was therefore initiated to not only find the manifest factors of persistence that apply to online students in degree-granting institutions, but also to discover latent structures and linkages among those factors. The study is unique and vigorous in that it used two methods of data collection and two methods of data analysis. The data collection methods were content analysis and questionnaire, and the two data analysis methods were qualitative and quantitative techniques. A content analysis of over 500 research studies was performed to identify the factors that affect student persistence from the body of literature. The factors were submitted in a survey to faculty members who teach online courses, with a request for comments and/or addition to the list. The resulting list from the two data collection methods was then used in a survey of online students to determine what factors were important to them for persisting in the online program. Qualitative analysis of data was conducted through open coding with the help of a content analysis software. Quantitative analyses were performed which included descriptive statistics as well as three multivariate techniques (i.e., factor analysis, cluster analysis, and multi-dimensional scaling). The latent structure discovered in the study categorized the factors into four groups, namely, personal commitment, social support, institutional commitment and academic confidence. The findings of the study have significant pedagogical, technical, and administrative implications for online education. In pedagogy, the factors found in academic confidence and institutional commitment can be used to enhance persistence-promoting programs, courses, and projects. Implications in technology come from the institutional commitment factors that can be applied to HCI, user experience, and the development of supporting devices and applications. The administration of online education can benefit from factors in personal commitment and social support

Motivations, factors and issues concerning students at West Virginia University

Motivations take on different forms and strengths. There are many goals that students reach for, especially graduating with a degree. Throughout the years many individuals lose interest or get side tracked. The purpose of this study was to look at the many factors that motivate students to begin their education at West Virginia University, and the reasons that they stay. The study was limited to 320 students enrolled in the Agricultural and Extension Education courses 101, 110 and 220 for the 2010 spring semester. The final set of useable surveys numbered 281 (90.9%). The students were presented an online survey, which was broken into five separate sections. Many of the findings included that the students\u27 perceptions of the atmosphere at WVU encouraged students to pursue higher education. The study also found that the financial security that higher education provides is a determining factor to their pursing a college degree

An Analysis Of Predictors Of Enrollment And Successful Achievement For Girls In High School Advanced Placement Physics

A problem within science education in the United States persists. U.S students rank lower in science than most other students from participating countries on international tests of achievement (National Center for Education Statistics, 2003). In addition, U.S. students overall enrollment rate in high school Advanced Placement (AP) physics is still low compared to other academic domains, especially for females. This problem is the background for the purpose of this study. This investigation examined cognitive and motivational variables thought to play a part in the under-representation of females in AP physics. Cognitive variables consisted of mathematics, reading, and science knowledge, as measured by scores on the 10th and 11th grade Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests (FCAT). The motivational factors of attitude, stereotypical views toward science, self-efficacy, and epistemological beliefs were measured by a questionnaire developed with question taken from previously proven reliable and valid instruments. A general survey regarding participation in extracurricular activities was also included. The sample included 12th grade students from two high schools located in Seminole County, Florida. Of the 106 participants, 20 girls and 27 boys were enrolled in AP physics, and 39 girls and 20 boys were enrolled in other elective science courses. Differences between males and females enrolled in AP physics were examined, as well as differences between females enrolled in AP physics and females that chose not to participate in AP physics, in order to determine predictors that apply exclusively to female enrollment in high school AP physics and predictors of an anticipated science related college major. Data were first analyzed by Exploratory Factor Analysis, followed by Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), independent t-tests, univariate analysis, and logistic regression analysis. One overall theme that emerged from this research was findings that refute the ideas that females have lower achievement scores, lower attitude, lower self-efficacy, and more stereotypical views regarding science than males. Secondly, the only significant differences found between males and females enrolled in AP physics were for stereotypical views toward science and one factor from the epistemological views questions, both of which favored females. Although the non AP boys significantly outscored non AP girls on science FCAT scores, the only other significant differences found between these groups of students were related to attitude, with the girls scoring higher than the boys on both counts. There were significant differences found for numerous variables between AP and non AP females, however, most of the same differences were found between the two ability groups of male students as well. This leads to the conclusion that these factors certainly play an important role in AP physics enrollment for both genders. But the few significant differences found exclusively between the two female ability groups; reading ability, stereotypical views toward science, and the epistemological beliefs regarding branches of physics being related by common principles and aspects of physics need to be inferred instead of directly measured, may play a more important role in increasing enrollment numbers of females

Participant motivation and satisfaction with off-campus agricultural credit programs

The off-campus credit programs in agriculture at Iowa State University were evaluated to determine the motivation for participation and to gain knowledge of the degree to which participant\u27s needs and expectations were being met. The target population was participants in off-campus credit programs in the College of Agriculture;The Education Participation Scale (EPS) was used to determine the motivation for participation. The EPS has been factor analyzed. The factors were: social contact, social stimulation, professional advancement, community service, external expectations, and cognitive interest. The study revealed the cognitive interest factor mean score to be rated highest. All factor mean scores, with the exception of that for professional advancement, were statistically significantly lower than the normative group. Government service organization personnel (Extension, Soil Conservation Service, etc., employees) were found to be more motivated by professional advancement opportunities and external expectations of supervisors than individuals in other occupations. Government Service personnel also had the lowest mean factor score for cognitive interest. The study concluded that Master of Agriculture degree-seekers were more socially motivated than other participants. The factor means of the social contact factor and the social stimulation factor were found to be higher among this group of participants;Participant satisfaction was also studied. A researcher-developed instrument was used. The instrument was comprised of three parts. Part I assessed personal benefits derived through participation in the off-campus programs. Part II included statements with respect to institutional and programmatic functions of the off-campus programs. Part III gathered demographic information. Composite scores from Part I, Part II, and a total score were used data analysis;A high statistically significant difference was observed on the Part II composite score when data were grouped by occupation and also registration status (graduate vs undergraduate). A statistically significant difference in the overall composite mean scores was observed when grouped by program involvement. In general, the researcher felt that the data in this section of the study were quite consistent among participants. Participants were satisfied with the off-campus programs; however, a relatively low level of agreement with the satisfaction indicator statements was observed

E-Learning and gender

This study is to examine gender differences and the adoption of technology in tertial education students. We have used TAM model to measure the acceptance and use of elearning of the respondents. ANOVA and Partial Least Squares (PLS) was used, specifically, the PLS multi-group analysis, to compare differences between groups. In summary, results show that students’ behavior of acceptance of e-learning technology do not manifest statistically significant differences between women and men

Online Learning Success: Underlying Constructs Affecting Student Attrition

With the advent of the Internet, distance education has achieved a new meaning. Online delivery has become one of the most convenient ways to impart knowledge and education, and it has opened new educational possibilities for some who prefer this method of learning, rather than the traditional classroom setting. The purpose of this critical analysis of theoretical and empirical literature is to explore the relationships among, online student progress, student characteristics of successful online completers, and to identify areas of future scholarly inquiry. The review examines how social and academic integration are predictors of course performance and course persistence in course completion. An exploratory (comparative) and explanatory and predictive (correlational) online survey research design employing survey research methods which will examine the relationships among demographic characteristics, distance education student progress, course performance, and course persistence of undergraduate students who take online courses. The sample population estimated to be approximately 1,100 students used in this study, consisted of non-traditional degree-seeking online students at a medium sized private university in south Florida. A total of 877 agreed to participate. There are three implications the researcher believes to be important. The first implication of this research study reveals that there is a correlation between course performance (GPA) and student retention. It is interesting to note that students who withdrew from school showed a tendency to agree less with social integration questions and showed a lower GPA. The second implication deals with academic incompatibility. The academic incompatibility subscale had a low but significant positive correlation, and the third implication of this study reflects a statistical significance difference between the means of those students who remained and those who withdrew on the external attribution subscale. The research found that there are more female students taking online classes than men and the majority of these females are white. The research also found that social integration and academic incompatibility are important predicators in student retention and that academic incompatibility plays an important role in the GPA of students who withdrew

Exploring Common Characteristics Among Community College Students: Comparing Online and Traditional Student Success

This study examines course entry characteristics of students in both the regular and online sections of an introductory computer class in a North Carolina community college. These characteristics are compared to student performance on a standardized final assessment, focusing on demographics, technology self-efficacy, and motivation. The research design used in this study utilized correlation analysis and stepwise multiple regression to determine if the independent variables might predict the dependent variable, student performance on a standardized final exam. The analysis revealed that neither demographics, technology, nor motivation could be used as predictors in the seated courses. Demographics could not be used as predictors in the online courses. Eleven technology and nine motivation factors were found to be significant in the online environment. The results of this study support the premise that technology self-efficacy and motivation play a role in a student’s ability to be successful in the online environment. As the use of the internet to deliver course material increases and the community college student continues to demand the flexibility and convenience of this mode of delivery, administrators and faculty in the community college environment must understand the factors that contribute to online student success

An Empirical Examination of the Composition of Vocational Interest in Business Colleges: MIS vs. Other Majors

Given the diminishing number of Management Information Systems (MIS) majors, an understanding of the factors which influence student choice of major is crucial. It has been noted in many previous studies that interest in a major and career significantly influences the student’s choice of college major; indeed, in most studies, it is the strongest influence. Yet extant studies treat interest as a one-dimensional construct; in fact, interest is multi-dimensional, that is, it is comprised of many factors. This study examines the construct of interest and in particular the factors which contribute to vocational interest among business college majors. Using a sample of 452, it compares and contrasts the significant influences on vocational interest among two groups: MIS majors and non-MIS business majors. Findings indicate both similarities and differences between the two groups, leading to constructive recommendations for increasing interest in MIS with the intention of increasing the number of majors