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STUDY OF SPECIFIC VARIABLES ASSOCIATED WITH ATTRITION AT A POLITECHNICAL INSTITUTION OF HIGHER LEARNING IN VENEZUELA

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Date Issued:
1987
Summary:
The purposes of this study were: (1) To determine each variable's individual relationship with students' persistence during the first semester of the freshman year at the Colegio Universitario de Cabimas, and (2) To generate a model to classify accurately persisters and non-persisters. The subjects were 187 students randomly selected from the population of students enrolled during the first semester of the academic year 1986-1987. A questionnaire was given to the students in the sample at the beginning of the second semester. A chi-square test was performed to examine each variable's individual relationship with persistence. Subsequently, a predictive discriminant analysis was conducted to consider models useful for predicting persistence and to examine the accuracy of such models. The results indicated that: (1) The variables related individually to persistence were age, marital status, distance from the student's residence to school, high school and freshman academic performance, educational goals, satisfaction with college services, satisfaction with social integration, the number of hours devoted to study, and employment status; (2) The only variable not found to relate individually to persistence was gender; and (3) The model that manifested the greatest accuracy correctly classified 78% of the non-persisters, 83% of the persisters and 81% of the total group. The six variables that constituted that model were: distance from the student's residence to school, financial assistance, high school performance, the number of hours devoted to study, frequency with which college services were used, and satisfaction with those services. All these separate-group and total-group classification accuracies were clearly statistically significant (p <.0001). Based on the results of this study, the following recommendations are suggested: (1) Replication of this study in other three-year institutions and five-year universities in Venezuela is advisable. (2) The development of a dropout prevention plan that takes into account the discriminant variables identified in this study. (3) The application of the model generated to classify persisters and non-persisters in an initial screening to help students who are "at risk" for nonpersistence providing them with the services of a dropout prevention plan. (4) The testing of the other alternative accurate equations derived from this study. (5) Conduct future similar studies that would encompass other variables not included in this study.
Title: A STUDY OF SPECIFIC VARIABLES ASSOCIATED WITH ATTRITION AT A POLITECHNICAL INSTITUTION OF HIGHER LEARNING IN VENEZUELA.
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Name(s): OSORIO DE PARRA, NELLY.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 1987
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 147 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: The purposes of this study were: (1) To determine each variable's individual relationship with students' persistence during the first semester of the freshman year at the Colegio Universitario de Cabimas, and (2) To generate a model to classify accurately persisters and non-persisters. The subjects were 187 students randomly selected from the population of students enrolled during the first semester of the academic year 1986-1987. A questionnaire was given to the students in the sample at the beginning of the second semester. A chi-square test was performed to examine each variable's individual relationship with persistence. Subsequently, a predictive discriminant analysis was conducted to consider models useful for predicting persistence and to examine the accuracy of such models. The results indicated that: (1) The variables related individually to persistence were age, marital status, distance from the student's residence to school, high school and freshman academic performance, educational goals, satisfaction with college services, satisfaction with social integration, the number of hours devoted to study, and employment status; (2) The only variable not found to relate individually to persistence was gender; and (3) The model that manifested the greatest accuracy correctly classified 78% of the non-persisters, 83% of the persisters and 81% of the total group. The six variables that constituted that model were: distance from the student's residence to school, financial assistance, high school performance, the number of hours devoted to study, frequency with which college services were used, and satisfaction with those services. All these separate-group and total-group classification accuracies were clearly statistically significant (p <.0001). Based on the results of this study, the following recommendations are suggested: (1) Replication of this study in other three-year institutions and five-year universities in Venezuela is advisable. (2) The development of a dropout prevention plan that takes into account the discriminant variables identified in this study. (3) The application of the model generated to classify persisters and non-persisters in an initial screening to help students who are "at risk" for nonpersistence providing them with the services of a dropout prevention plan. (4) The testing of the other alternative accurate equations derived from this study. (5) Conduct future similar studies that would encompass other variables not included in this study.
Identifier: 11911 (digitool), FADT11911 (IID), fau:8832 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Thesis (Educat.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1987.
College of Education
Subject(s): College students--Venezuela
Persistence
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/11911
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.