Exploring student non-completion in higher education using electronic footprint analysis
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Transcript of Exploring student non-completion in higher education using electronic footprint analysis
Exploring student non-completion in higher education using electronic footprint analysis
Dr John Buglear
Nottingham Business School
This work was supported by funding from the Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA)
20 April 2023 2
‘The Origin of the Thesis’
• Retention matters but institutional retention data is unreliable
• Why students leave is related to when they leave
• Virtual learning environments are an intrinsic part of the modern undergraduate experience
• From an academic management perspective tracking electronic engagement is more robust than physical registers of attendance
• Electronic engagement data is an information resource capability for developing retention strategies
20 April 2023 3
The studyBuilding on pilot research of business students (Buglear, 2009)
• Final electronic engagement of first year undergraduates leaving their course in 2008/9 by type of leaver
• The final electronic engagement by each leaver, the last login – The last visit to the university electronic environment as a registered user
• Why first years?– Most students who leave prematurely do so in their first year
• Defining types of leaver– Notifiers; the ‘decided’, those giving formal notification of their
departure, recorded as e.g. ‘Transferred to other institution’, ‘Gone into employment’, ‘Other withdrawn’.
– Non-notifiers; the ‘drifters’, those giving no such notification, recorded as e.g. ‘Written off after lapse of time’, ‘Dormant’. ‘Academic failure’ is included in this category as the last logins preceded the examination period.
20 April 2023 4
The case study
• Nottingham Trent University (NTU), UK
• Student population of approximately 25,000 in 2008/9
• In 2008/9 nine schools located on three campuses
20 April 2023 5
Results
• Total last logins to May 2009 = 435
• 217 last logins in the first half year (October to January)
• 228 last logins in the second half year (February to May)
• Notifiers = 257 (59.1%)
• Non-notifiers = 178 (40.9%)
20 April 2023 6
Last logins over time
MayAprilMarchFebruaryJ anuaryDecemberNovemberOctober
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2008/ 9 academic year
Last
login
s
20 April 2023 7
Last logins over time by notificationYes = notification of departureNo = no notification of departure
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Last
login
s
YesNo
Variable
20 April 2023 8
Last logins by school and notificationTotal Yes = notified departures from the schoolTotal No = departures from the school not notified
School
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Last
login
s
Total YesTotal No
Variable
20 April 2023 9
First half year: 71/217 last logins were non-notifiers (32.7%)Second half year: 108/218 were non-notifiers (49.5%)
Test for difference in proportions = 0, P-Value=0.000Difference is significant
Half year Feb-MayOct-Jan
250
200
150
100
50
0
Last
login
s
YesNo
Variable
20 April 2023 10
Animal, Rural and Environmental SciencesDifference in proportions is not significant(Fisher’s exact test P = 1.000)
Feb-MayOct-Jan
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Last
login
YesNo
Rural & EnvironmNotify_Animal,
20 April 2023 11
Architecture, Design and the Built Environment Difference in proportions is significant at 5%(Fisher’s exact test P = 0.016)
Feb-MayOct-Jan
40
30
20
10
0
Last
login
s
YesNo
Design andNotify_Architecture
20 April 2023 12
Art and DesignDifference in proportions is significant at 10%(Fisher’s exact test P = 0.098)
Feb-MayOct-Jan
50
40
30
20
10
0
Last
login
s
YesNo
& DesignNotify_Art
20 April 2023 13
Arts and HumanitiesDifference in proportions is not significant (Fisher’s exact test P = 0.747)
Feb-MayOct-Jan
25
20
15
10
5
0
Last
login
s
YesNo
HumanitiesNotify_Arts &
20 April 2023 14
Education Difference in proportions is not significant (Fisher’s exact test P = 0.384)
Feb-MayOct-Jan
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Last
login
s
YesNo
Notify_Education
20 April 2023 15
Nottingham Business SchoolDifference in proportions is not significant (Fisher’s exact test P = 0.286)
Feb-MayOct-Jan
40
30
20
10
0
Last
login
s
YesNo
Business SchoNotify_Nottingham
20 April 2023 16
Nottingham Law SchoolDifference in proportions is not significant (Fisher’s exact test P = 1.000)
Feb-MayOct-Jan
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Last
login
s
YesNo
Law SchoolNotify_Nottingham
20 April 2023 17
Science and TechnologyDifference in proportions is significant at 10%(Fisher’s exact test P = 0.099)
Feb-MayOct-Jan
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Last
login
s
YesNo
& TechnologyNotify_Science
20 April 2023 18
Social SciencesDifference in proportions is not significant (Fisher’s exact test P = 0.282)
Feb-MayOct-Jan
50
40
30
20
10
0
Last
login
s
YesNo
SciencesNotify_Social
20 April 2023 19
Discussion
• Financial aspect– Approximately 180 first year students drifted out of NTU programmes in
2008/9. – Consequent loss of tuition fee revenue ≈ £2m.
• Pedagogical aspects– first-semester decisions to exit […] are most aptly characterised as driven
by external factors’ (Peel et al., 2004)– ‘second semester [leavers] seemed more disillusioned and unhappy, […]
expressing feelings of loneliness, isolation, and lack of recognition’, feeling that ‘lecturers were “never there” or “always regard failure with disdain” or “never gave me the help I needed” ’ (Peel et al., 2004)
20 April 2023 20
Discussion
•The Fitzgibbon and Prior (2003) timeline model– ‘Zone 1: enrolment, induction and the first two weeks of teaching’,– ‘Zone 2: late enrolment, late induction and early weeks of
teaching’,– ‘Zone 3: middle to end of teaching period, first/second
assessments’,– ‘Zone 4: final assessment period, revision and examination or
assessment’ – Zone 3 is when ‘students who have poorly established […] study
habits, really come under pressure’ and ‘students […] receive feedback from their first assignment [;] constructive feedback and reassurance is […] crucial’
– Yet by this stage ‘staff assume students have settled […] but this is frequently not the case [,] students are still seeking significant levels of contact with their tutors for a whole range of issues’
20 April 2023 21
DiscussionRetention strategies
•The Beatty-Guenter four-stage retention strategies model (1994)– Sorting students ‘into meaningful subsets […] to create strata that can be
matched with appropriate targeted retention strategies’ – Supporting, ‘making it more likely that they will be able to maintain their
status as students’ – Connecting, ‘bonding between a student and the institution’ – Transforming ‘students from uncommitted to committed, from uninvolved
to involved, from passive to active, or from failure threatened to achievement motivated’
•How did we do?– Sorting – partially applied e.g. international students– Supporting – Welcome weeks, induction– Connecting and Transforming – assumed to be intrinsic
20 April 2023 22
Conclusions
• A significantly greater proportion of second half year leavers than first half year leavers didn’t tell us they were going
• Considerable variation between schools
• The majority, 60% of last logins before the examination period were by students who told us they were going, the ‘decided’ – The notification suggests some form of dialogue about their departure
• The remaining 40% were by the ‘drifters’. – The lack of notification suggests an absence of dialogue about their
departure
• The extent of non-notified departure is the scope for pay-off from Zone 3 Connecting and Transforming strategies
• Not the whole retention picture, but another perspective of it
20 April 2023 23
References
• Beatty-Guenter, P. (1994) Sorting, supporting, connecting, and transforming: Retention strategies at community colleges. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 18, 113-129.
• Buglear, J. (2009) Logging in and dropping out: exploring student non-completion in higher education using electronic footprint analysis. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 33, 381-393
• Fitzgibbon, K and Prior, J. (2003) Student expectations and university interventions – a timeline to aid undergraduate student retention [online]. BEST Conference: Creativity and Innovation in Academic Practice, Brighton, 9-11 April 2003.
• Peel, M., Powell, S., and Tracey, M. (2004) Student Perspectives on Temporary and Permanent Exit from University: A Case Study from Monash University. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management 26 (2), 239-249.