An investigation of factors which influence the retention and success of undergraduate students in c

1
An investigation of factors which influence the
retention and success of undergraduate students
in computing science

• Pirkko Harvey, Ray Adams, Carl Reynolds
• School of Computing Science
• ISL Conference 2004, Birmingham, 6-8 September
  2004

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Introduction to the project

• The School of Computing Science
• Large intakes of students in recent years
• Widening Participation and increased pressure on
  recruitment
• Many students recruited through clearing
• Diverse student intake

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Introduction to the project

• Computing as a subject area
• One of the high drop-out rates nationally
• Possible reasons according to research
• Misconceptions about what computing degree
  entails
• Poor maths and problem solving skills

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Introduction to the project

• How the project originated
• University Mini Bid funding
• Why do the project
• Better understanding of the issues that affect
  students retention and success
• How
• by consulting students themselves in years 1, 2
  and 3
• Use of structured questionnaire

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Introduction to the project

• We needed to know about
• Student expectations
• Teaching
• Student support
• What do our students value?
• And hopefully - what makes a student succeed when
  others fail
• The findings so far give interesting insights how
  students perceive their critical success factors
• The project is on-going

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Methods

• Questionnaire of 23 items
• Three cohorts
• Year One 54 students,
• 53 full time
• 45 male
• 46 home
• Average age 21.21

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Methods

• Year two 17 students,
• 16 full time
• 13 male
• 12 home
• Average age 22.64

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Methods

• Year three 36 students,
• 36 full time
• 24 male
• 23 home
• Average age 23.19
• Importance of a good degree 4.62 / 5

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A good student main choices
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A good student less popular
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Critical success factors
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Critical success factors
13
Student support more popular
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Conclusions

• Students want to be successful.
• They want a good degree.
• Some students are working for unrealistically
  high hours.
• Similar scores on what students perceived as
  being a good student across all three years.
• We were expecting some changes!

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Needful Things

• Students wanted things given to them
• Good teaching
• Good resources
• Less Emphasis on doing things
• Attendance
• Being proactive
• As a School we have a policy of encouraging
  learner autonomy.

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Changes

• Help students develop time management skills.
• Foster a higher regard for attendance and class
  contribution.
• Report back to staff that the academic duty tutor
  is seen as an important resource

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Future Work

• Close the semantic gap
• Students referring to good teaching are also
  referring to availability of lecturer and e-mail
  answering times.
• Follow students longitudinally through their
  degree and monitor the impact of work and
  changing attitudes.
• Break down what appeared to be very simple issues