The Impact of Engagement on the Academic Performance and Persistence of First-year College Students at a Four-year Public Institution PDF Download

Author: Juan Zhou
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 93

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ABSTRACT: Higher education stake holders and policy makers attach great importance to the accountability issue. Among the accountability measures, student academic performance and persistence are the two most commonly used college outcomes. Numerous studies have been focused on the factors affecting academic performance and persistence to provide implications for institution administrators in improving the accountability issue. Among the various factors, student engagement is a very popular variable that is demonstrated to be related to college outcomes.

Author: Wesley R. Habley
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470888431
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 513

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INCREASING PERSISTENCE "Of all the books addressing the puzzle of student success and persistence, I found this one to be the most helpful and believe it will be extremely useful to faculty and staff attempting to promote student success. The authors solidly ground their work in empirical research, and do a brilliant job providing both an overview of the relevant literature as well as research-based recommendations for intervention." GAIL HACKETT, PH.D., provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs; professor, counseling and educational psychology, University of Missouri, Kansas City Research indicates that approximately forty percent of all college students never earn a degree anywhere, any time in their lives. This fact has not changed since the middle of the 20th century. Written for practitioners and those who lead retention and persistence initiatives at both the institutional and public policy levels, Increasing Persistence offers a compendium on college student persistence that integrates concept, theory, and research with successful practice. It is anchored by the ACT's What Works in Student Retention (WWISR) survey of 1,100 colleges and universities, an important resource that contains insights on the causes of attrition and identifies retention interventions that are most likely to enhance student persistence.?? The authors focus on three essential conditions for student success: students must learn; students must be motivated, committed, engaged, and self-regulating; and students must connect with educational programs consistent with their interests and abilities. The authors offer a detailed discussion of the four interventions that research shows are the most effective for helping students persist and succeed: assessment and course placement, developmental education initiatives, academic advising, and student transition programming. Finally, they urge broadening the current retention construct, providing guidance to policy makers, campus leaders, and individuals on the contributions they can make to student success.

Author: Eva Frey Johnson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : College students
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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"This study explored the persistence and engagement of first-generation college students at a four-year institution with relation to engagement variables in order to determine the engagement behaviors that support first-generation college student success. Specifically, Astin's (1984) input-environment-output (I-E-O) model was used to investigate the differences between first-generation and non first-generation college students' behaviors of engagement. Recent literature suggests that first-generation college students and non first-generation college students have similar educational experiences when independent variables are controlled (Kuh & Pike, 2005; Tinto, 2002; Hurtado & Carter, 1996). The null hypothesis stated that first-generation college students and non first-generation college students would have similar educational experiences. The inputs for this study consist of the independent variables of sex, student of color status, income level, standardized test scores high school GPA, and generation status. The environment was compromised of the five benchmarks from the National Survey for Student Engagement (NSSE). The outputs consist of the dependent variables of persistence to the next semester or graduation. The college students included in the sample data are from a mid-sized regional, religiously affiliated institution located in the Pacific Northwest. The sample was 1,280 first year and senior students, of which 232 were first-generation students and 1,048 were non first-generation students, who had completed the NSSE instrument in 2005, 2007, and 2009"--Abstract.

Author: Jimmie A. Schlinsog
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Academic achievement
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
This study explored the relationship between engagement in educationally purposeful activities during the first year of college and academic achievement, persistence, and graduation. The study focused on the impacts of engagement on student outcomes related to academic achievement, persistence, and graduation at a comprehensive university located in the mid-South region of the United States. Differences in engagement and outcomes between first generation and continuing-generation students were also explored. This longitudinal panel study utilized an Input-Environment-Output assessment model for the design and analysis. The input variables consisted of background characteristics including gender, ethnicity, high school preparation, and first-generation status. The chief environmental variable was engagement as measured by the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). The outcome variables included academic achievement, persistence, and graduation within the six-year reporting cycle for the Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) in the state of Kentucky. The results indicated that first-generation students were less well prepared in terms of high school GPA and ACT, typically earned a lower first-year GPA and fewer credits, and were less likely to persist and to graduate compared to continuing-generation students. Those that did graduate, however, did so with a similar GPA to continuing-generation students. The significant predictors of academic achievement at the end of the first year of college were high school GPA and ACT. High school GPA and ACT were also significant predictors of the likelihood of persistence and graduation within six years. Surprisingly, engagement did not emerge as a predictor of the likelihood of persistence or graduation for either first-generation or continuing-generation students nor were there significant differences in engagement between first-generation and continuing-generation students. Significant differences in engagement did, however, emerge according to ethnicity and gender with students of color indicating higher levels of engagement than White students and women being more engaged than men. Implications for practice and suggestions for future research are also considered.

Author: Robert S. Feldman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316819469
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 367

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This book is premised on a very powerful social/educational concern about college retention rates: one-third of first-year students seriously consider leaving college during their first term, and only half of all students who start college ultimately graduate. This book examines the first year of college from a variety of perspectives to paint a comprehensive picture of the intersecting challenges facing today's students and higher education institutions. Technological advances, increases in college attendance costs, and increasing political pressure on colleges to prove their value have changed the landscape of the first year of college, but researchers have identified new approaches to improve student and institutional success that have shown considerable success and promise. In this comprehensive volume, top educational researchers explore topics of student success, persistence, and retention in the first year of college.

Author: Ryan D. Padgett
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118993756
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 104

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Book Description
What factors contribute to students' lasting success? Much research has explored the impact of the first year of college on student retention and success. With the new performance-based funding initiatives, institutional administrators are taking a laser-focused approach to aligning retention and success strategies to first-year student transition points. This volume enlightens the discussion and highlights new directions for assessment and research practices within the scope of the first year experience. Administrators, faculty, and data scientists provide a conceptual and analytical approach to investigating the first-year experience for entry-level and seasoned practitioners alike. The emerging research throughout this volume suggests that while many first-year programs and services have significant benefits across a number of success outcomes, these benefits may not be universal for all students. This volume: Examines sophisticated empirical models Provides critical assessment practices and implications. Examines the four-year college and the two-year institution, which is just as critical. This is the 161st volume of this Jossey-Bass quarterly report series. Timely and comprehensive, New Directions for Institutional Research provides planners and administrators in all types of academic institutions with guidelines in such areas as resource coordination, information analysis, program evaluation, and institutional management.

Author: Nicolas A. Valcik
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1498711804
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
American higher education faces a challenging environment. Decreasing state appropriations, rising costs, and tightening budgets have left American colleges and universities scrambling to achieve their missions with ever more limited resources. Campus leaders have therefore increasingly relied upon institutional research and strategic planning departments to make transparent and rational decisions and to promote good stewardship of critical but finite resources. Institutional Research Initiatives in Higher Education illustrates the wealth of institutional research activities occurring in American higher education. Featuring chapters by a prominent mix of authors representing community colleges, traditional undergraduate institutions, land grant institutions, research and flagship universities, and state agencies, this book provides numerous insights into the contemporary challenges, innovative programs, and best practices in institutional research. With contributors from a variety of regions and types of institutions, each chapter provides rigorous analysis of campus-based research activities in areas such as strategic planning, admissions and enrollment management, assessment and compliance, and financial planning and budgeting. Like the departments it studies, Institutional Research Initiatives in Higher Education is an invaluable resource for university administrators, researchers, and policymakers alike.

Author: Erin Bentrim
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000980375
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
Sense of belonging refers to the extent a student feels included, accepted, valued, and supported on their campus. The developmental process of belonging is interwoven with the social identity development of diverse college students. Moreover, belonging is influenced by the campus environment, relationships, and involvement opportunities as well as a need to master the student role and achieve academic success. Although the construct of sense of belonging is complex and multilayered, a consistent theme across the chapters in this book is that the relationship between sense of belonging and intersectionality of identity cannot be ignored, and must be integrated into any approach to fostering belonging.Over the last 10 years, colleges and universities have started grappling with the notion that their approaches to maintaining and increasing student retention, persistence, and graduation rates were no longer working. As focus shifted to uncovering barriers to student success while concurrently recognizing student success as more than solely academic factors, the term “student sense of belonging” gained traction in both academic and co-curricular settings. The editors noticed the lack of a consistent definition, or an overarching theoretical approach, as well as a struggle to connect disparate research. A compendium of research, applications, and approaches to sense of belonging did not exist, so they brought this book into being to serve as a single point of reference in an emerging and promising field of study.

Author: Nicholas D. Young
Publisher: Vernon Press
ISBN: 1622736133
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 185

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Book Description
What role does student engagement play in educational achievement on the post-secondary campus? And, what factors affect each student’s ability and motivation to engage with the full college experience, both in and outside of the classroom? It is now widely acknowledged that post-secondary institutions must not only focus on facilitating the transition from high school to college, but that they must also make a concerted effort to listen to the needs and experiences of their students in order to achieve maximal involvement within the college environment. Students need to be captivated by at least one element of their college experience - whether that be in the classroom, dorm, or extracurricular activities - in order to form a bond with their institution and feel motivated and attached enough to put in the hard work until graduation. Campuses that capture their students’ interests and passions, provide spaces for them to develop as individuals, and opportunities to form meaningful professional and personal relationships have a far greater chance of both retaining their students to graduation and helping them develop as whole human beings who will contribute. This book studies the many facets of student engagement as it attempts to define student engagement, differentiating it from involvement, and covers seminal theories of college student engagement. The contributions to this volume discuss the powerful role that relationships play in helping students identify their interests and talents, and other examples of best practice when it comes to creating engaging classroom experiences, such as collaborative projects with peers, study abroad, and learning that is situated in real-life problems that are of importance to the student.

Author: Kelly Smith Lockeman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : College students
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
College completion is an issue of great concern in the United States, where only 50% of students who start college as freshmen complete a bachelor's degree at that institution within six years. Researchers have studied a variety of factors to understand their relationship to student persistence. Not surprisingly, student characteristics, particularly their academic background prior to entering college, have a tremendous influence on college success. Colleges and universities have little control over student characteristics unless they screen out lesser qualified students during the admissions process, but selectivity is contrary to the push for increased accessibility for under-served groups. As a result, institutions need to better understand the factors that they can control. High-impact educational practices have been shown to improve retention and persistence through increased student engagement. Service-learning, a pedagogical approach that blends meaningful community service and reflection with course content, is a practice that is increasing in popularity, and it has proven beneficial at increasing student learning and engagement. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether participation in service-learning has any influence in the likelihood of degree completion or time to degree and, secondarily, to compare different methods of analysis to determine whether use of more complex models provides better information or more accurate prediction. The population for this study was a large public urban research institution in the mid-Atlantic region, and the sample was the cohort of students who started as first-time, full-time, bachelor's degree-seeking undergraduates in the fall of 2005. Data included demographic and academic characteristics upon matriculation, as well as financial need and aid, academic major, and progress indicators for each of the first six years of enrollment. Cumulative data were analyzed using logistic regression, and year-to-year data were analyzed using discrete-time survival analysis in a structural equation modeling (SEM) framework. Parameter estimates and odds ratios for the predictors in each model were compared. Some similarities were found in the variables that predict degree completion, but there were also some striking differences. The strongest predictors for degree completion were pre-college academic characteristics and strength of academic progress while in college (credits earned and GPA). When analyzed using logistic regression and cross-sectional data, service-learning participation was not a significant predictor for completion, but it did have an effect on completion time for those students who earned a degree within six years. When analyzed longitudinally using discrete-time survival analysis, however, service-learning participation is strongly predictive of degree completion, particularly when credits are earned in the third, fourth, and sixth years of enrollment. In the survival analysis model, service-learning credits earned were also more significant for predicting degree completion than other credits earned. In terms of data analysis, logistic regression was effective at predicting completion, but survival analysis seems to provide a more robust method for studying specific variables that may vary by time.