HERE to Stay? A 3 year study into the relationship between doubting, engagement & student retention

Ed FosterStudent Engagement ManagerCentre for Academic Development & QualityNottingham Trent Universityed.foster@ntu.ac.uk

Agenda

• Student retention

• Background to the HERE Project

• Methodology

• Doubting

• Key findings

• Changing the University to support retention

• Discussion

Student Retention in the UK

• Over 40% of young people study at University

• £9,000 per year tuition fees & £4,000 living cost loans • (fees increased in 2012)

• Selective recruitment systemStudents apply half way through their pre-university educationThey are offered a place based on predicted outcomes, confirmed in the summer

before they arriveMost study A levels, increasingly BTEC diplomas

• Progression from first to second year (2011/12)• Approx. 7% of students withdraw• However, approx. 7% transfer, change courses, repeat the 1st year

• Best Performing University 1.5% drop out• Worst performing University 25% of students drop out

Course completion (2011/12)• 81% of students expected to complete their course within 4 years

Retention Research

• In the US, first study in retention looked at ‘student mortality’ (McNeeley, 1938, in Berger & Lyon, 2005)

• More sustained research since 1970’s

• Research in the UK, Australasia & Europe became more prevalent from the late 1990’s

– Sector expansion and Widening Participation

– More recently tied to issues such as student engagement

Some students are more at risk of leaving early

• Students with weaker entry qualifications

• Black & Minority Ethnicity students (BME)

• Science Technology Engineering & Management courses (STEM)

• Male students

• International students

• Students with vocational qualifications

• Mature students (21 or older)

• Some students with disabilities

But why?

• Reasons for withdrawal (Yorke & Longden 2004):– ‘Poor’ initial choice of course– Dissatisfaction with the academic experience– Personal problems (including finance)– Lack of clear routes & strategies for coping

• Farsides & Woodfield (2003)- Attendance at classes has a strong impact on retention

• Castles (2004)- Reasons to stay were about support, coping strategies, ‘life challenger’,

love of learning & prior academic success

• Kuh et al (2008)- Entry qualifications, family background and student engagement

• Torenbeek, Janssen & Hofman (2010)- Prior success, time on task and academic success

• Witte, De Jonge & Schoonman (2014)- Student self perceptions of ability to cope, dealing with problems, dealing

with stress

Tinto’s model of institutional departure (1993)

Pre-entry Attributes

Family Background

Skills & attributes

Prior Schooling

Goals/ Commitments

Intentions

Goal & institutional commitments

External commitments

Academic system

Social System

Academic performance

Faculty/ staff interactions

Extracurricular activities

Peer group interactions

Integration

Academic integration

Social integration

Goals/ commitments

Intentions

Goal & institutional commitments

External commitments

Outcome

Departure decision

Is this model accurate?

• Tinto’s model is ‘near paradigmatic’

• However, are academic & social factors held in equilibrium?

• Bryson & Hardy (2014) found that social factors come first • Students feel that they fit in first socially and use that sense of belonging

to then feel part of the academic community

Braxton, Hirschy & McClendon (2004)

Student entry characteristics

• Motivation• Control issues• Self-efficacy• Empathy• Affiliation needs• Parental

education• Anticipatory

socialization

Initial Institutional commitment

Internal campus environment

• Academic communities

• Active learning• Learning

communities• Cost• integrity• commitment to

welfare

External environment

• Finances• Support• Work • Family• Community

Academic integration

Subsequent institutional commitment

Persistence

Background to the HERE Project

NAO & PAC reports

• HERE Project was one of seven projects

• NTU, partnered with Bournemouth & Bradford

• Set out to test two hypotheses

• What impact does student doubting have on retention & success?

• What impact do course teams have on retention & success?

• Focus on first year students

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/what-works-retention

Methodology

Methodology

• Mixed methods approach

• Doubting

• Seven large scale online surveys (over 3,000 responses)

• Interviews and focus groups with respondents

• Monitored progression of survey respondents

• Impact of course teams

• Audited ten course teams – Interviewed staff– Surveyed students– Analysed course literature and processes

‘Doubt is not a pleasant condition,but certainty is an absurd one’Voltaire

Doubting

• Defined as having doubts about the course/ university serious enough to consider leaving

• How many students are doubters in the literature?– 21% Rickinson and Rutherford (1995) – 39% Sodexo (2010)– Yorke & Longdon – 25% rising to 40%

• Doubting as a cause of withdrawal– Gradual accumulation of doubts Ozga and Sukhnandan (1998)– If this model is right, then it’s potentially extremely valuable

• Differences between doubters and leavers– Internal factors - Mackie (2001), ability to adapt - Roberts et al (2003)

Key Findings

Approximately one third of first year students have experienced doubts sufficiently strong to make them consider withdrawing at some point during the first year.

Doubters reported a poorer quality experience than students who have not doubted

• Measured 17 student experience factors– For example ‘my subject is interesting’

– Tested both the importance and actual experience of a factor• In most instances importance was higher than the actual experience• Exceptions – social, peer & family support

– Average gap for non-doubters = 12%– Average gap for doubters = 29%– Tested seriousness of considering leaving in 2011, more serious doubts = poorer

experience

Poorer quality experience continued

• Doubters reported:– Less likely to understand the differences between pre-university & university– Less likely to have had difference explained– Less likely to find pre-arrival course info accurate

– Finding course less enjoyable– Fewer friends– Less likely to feel that they belonged– Found studies harder – Feeling less confident to ask for help

• Overall gave an impression of being far less well engaged with their peers, their course and their university

• Evidence about UCAS tariff was inconclusive

“I don’t seem very involved with the University to be honest …

probably if I see my tutor on the road, he wouldn’t recognise me”.

Primary concerns were academic

• Lack of confidence coping

• Lack of sense of progress

• Lack of feedback

• Felt isolated from peers and tutors

There were four main reasons cited by doubters for staying

• ‘Support from friends and family’

• ‘Adapting to course/ university’

• ‘Determination/ internal factors’

• ‘Future goals/ employment’

• Impact of friends & family = undervalued by students

• In 2009, open question – Friends & family most important (particularly friends made at university)

• In 2011, when asked to choose from options– Personal determination– Future goals & employment– Then friends & family

Changing the institution

Toolkit – Series of recommendations & actions– Written guide – Recipe cards

– Designed to be used by course teams in meetings/ staff development

– www.HEREproject.org.uk

HERE Project RecommendationsFocus on supporting students in the following ways:

• Identify & respond to students at risk

• Transition to HE

• Relationships & communications with staff

• Choosing the right course

• Improve social integration

• Sense of belonging

• Student motivation & goals

• Active engagement

• Good communications & access to student support

Learning Analytics• NTU has developed a student dashboard

Student Departure

Conclusions & discussion

Conclusions

• Doubting is an important factor concerning persistence– Doubters are more likely to leave early– Warning signs are there & can be managed

• Doubters are less engaged, more disconnected from their peers, course & university– Seem to be less able to understand the differences

• Doubting is primarily related to the course experience– Strongly suggest that institutional responses are therefore focused on the

curriculum and the course first– Other factors are very important to particular groups

• Overall strategy– Manage the factors that lead to doubting & support doubters– At NTU we are beginning to use learning analytics to support staff

Dank u wel

• How does this chime with your experience?

• Do you have any questions or observations?

• Ed.foster@ntu.ac.uk

• www.HEREproject.org.uk