Hybridoma Technology ( Production , Purification , and Application )
HERE Project Interim Report 2008-2009
1. What Works? Student
Retention and Success
Programme
Interim report 2008-9
The HERE Project
Submitted: 25th September 2009 to inclusion@heacademy.ac.uk.
HERE Project Interim Report 2008-09 Page 1 of 129
2. Introduction
1.1.Institutional context
The HERE project is a joint collaborative project operated by Nottingham
Trent University (NTU), Bournemouth University (BU) and the University of
Bradford (UB). NTU is the lead partner.
The project team is as follows:
Nottingham Bournemouth University of
Trent University University Bradford
Steering Group Professor Nigel Dr Janet Hanson Professor Geoff
Representatives Hastings, Pro-vice Head of Academic Layer, Pro-Vice
Chancellor Services Chancellor
(Steering Group (Learning &
Chair) Teaching)
Project Staff Ed Foster, Study Christine Keenan, Becka Currant,
Support Co- Teaching Fellow, Dean of Students,
ordinator, Centre School of Design,
for Academic Engineering & Ruth Lefever,
Standards & Computing Research Assistant
Quality (CASQ)
Natalie Bates,
Sarah Lawther, Research Assistant,
Learning & School of Design,
Teaching Officer Engineering &
(CASQ) Computing
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3. Project Background
1.2.Project background, to include:
1.2.1.Aims and objectives
1.2.2.Primary topic/focus and other topics/foci (e.g. academic support,
personal tutoring, study skills development etc)
1.2.3.Target group(s) (if any);
1.2.4.Stage of student lifecycle;
1.2.5.Levels of intervention (individual, discipline/department/faculty,
institution)
The HERE Project aims to research two areas related to student retention:
student doubters and programmes with better-than-peer rates of
retention. We are looking to investigate two areas:
Student Doubters
If a higher proportion of students consider leaving than actually leave, what can
we learn from those ‘doubters’ about staying in higher education? Are there any
systematic differences between doubters and leavers? A basic hypothesis
suggests that students who are less satisfied with their experience, have doubts
about being on the right course, or have considered leaving are more likely to
withdraw from their programme than those who have no doubts1. Different
studies have shown that between 21% (Rickinson & Rutherford, 1995) and 46%
(Ozga & Sukhnandan, 1998) of students have considered leaving their
programme. In 2004-05, 8.4% of UK students did not progress into the second
year (NAO, 2007). However, researchers (Mackie (2001) and Roberts et al
(2003) found differences amongst groups of doubters that meant that many
doubters remained on their courses despite their concerns.
The HERE project is therefore targeting first year students to explore the issues of
doubting:
• Are doubters actually more likely to become leavers than non-doubters?
1
This may be more ‘normal’ amongst young students. There is some evidence that amongst
mature students and those with family commitments, it is often an external crisis (for example
a partner being made unemployed or family illness) that leads to withdrawal (Ozga &
Sukhnandan (1998), Quinn et al (2005)
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4. • Are there any factors amongst doubters that appear to be stronger predictors
for withdrawing? (For example do doubters who leave have lower levels of
satisfaction with course factors, future goals or friendships?)
• Amongst doubters who stay, what factors helped them remain at university?
What were the most important issues and how can institutions make use of
these findings?
Programmes with better-than-peer rates of retention
There is a high degree of variation between the withdrawals rates of students on
different programmes. Some are nationally recognised as having poorer rates of
retention (typically STEM subjects, Business Studies etc) and others traditionally
have very high rates of progression (Law and Art & Design). However within
ostensibly similar programmes there are often striking differences in retention
rates. Staff at NTU conducted an analysis of withdrawals amongst first year
programmes (2005-06 data set) and within programmes requiring 240 UCAS
points on entry, student withdrawals ranged from 0% to 21%.
The second strand of research will seek to explore programmes that appear be
from subject disciplines with ‘average’ or ‘normal’ rates of retention and yet
appear to have a higher rate of retention than their peers. We will be seeking to
uncover any practices that may account for better rates of retention.
Our primary target will be on exploring the experience of first year students. We
will ensure that over the three years we gather data that includes:
• Students on STEM subjects
• Students from BME backgrounds
• Students studying on part-time programmes
At this stage, we believe that the interventions will be at the institutional and
programme level. Our preliminary feedback from student doubters suggests that
the social factors play a particularly important role in motivating students with
doubts. If this trend is confirmed when we are able to analyse students
withdrawals data (October – December 2009), we will be making
recommendations that institutions consider the manner in which they support
student socialisation. The second strand of research (programmes with better-
than-peer rates of retention) will primarily focus on academic programmes,
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5. although we expect that there will be implications that arise for institutions and
individual teaching/ pastoral support.
Glossary of terms
Doubter – student who has responded ‘yes’ to the survey question ‘have you
considered leaving university at some point this year’ on the Student Transition
Surveys.
Non-doubter – student who has responded ‘no’ to the survey question ‘have you
considered leaving university at some point this year’ on the Student Transition
Surveys.
Retention – We use this word generally to indicate the number or percentage of
students who remain at university rather than strictly meaning the number who
graduate.
Progression – Where we use this phrase we are describing a student who
completes the first year and re-enrols on the second year
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6. 1.3.Evaluation approach and methodology
The evaluation approach is as follows:
Strand A - Student Doubters
a. Pilot Study - October 2008 (NTU only)
Targeted at first year students within a larger Welcome Week survey
b. Main Survey March – May 2009 (Bournemouth, Bradford & NTU)
40-question online survey actively promoted to all first year students. This was
disseminated by the market research team at NTU and by the team at Bradford
for Bradford and Bournemouth universities.
c. Focus groups May 2009 (NTU)
4 focus groups (1 hour workshops, 13 students in total)
• Control group of non-doubters
• Selection of doubters
• STEM subject doubters
• Mature student doubters
Initial data analysis conducted summer 2009, more detailed analysis looking for
stronger indicators of key risk factors (see e below)
d. Analysis of Students’ Union Leavers’ Survey June 2009 (Bournemouth
University)
6 first year students were surveyed after withdrawing part way through the
2008-09 academic year.
e. More-detailed analysis of student outcomes Oct 2009 – Jan 2010
(Bournemouth, Bradford & NTU)
All student respondents who gave permission for student records are to be
reviewed to be analysed to identify students who actually withdrew or remained.
This data will then be added to results from the survey to identify factors with the
strongest influence over actual withdrawal or retention.
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7. The cycle of analysis is to be repeated in 2010 – 11. There will be an interim
analysis in 2009 – 10 to help modify the research for the final year.
Strand B - Programmes with better than peer rates of retention
a) Developing Research Methodology (All)
The proposed research methodology is to select programmes with a higher level
of retention than their peers and then to survey the programmes for the presence
of a range of interventions, for example the existence of personal tutoring and its
level of support within the programme.
• Grey literature such as course documentation will be reviewed
• A range of programme staff interviewed
• Students on the programme will be interviewed or surveyed
The data will be triangulated from the three sources and findings will be
compared across programmes to see if there are common practices amongst
successful programmes.
A draft questionnaire has been developed identifying a range of possible
interventions. These questions will be developed and we will use the different
iterations to create a Programme Audit Tool for individual programmes to use to
review their own retention practice.
Over the three years, we propose to review seven programmes at each institution
(21 in total). At this stage we propose to analyse some programmes common to
each institution, for example all three have similar business and social science
courses. We will also ensure that some of the programmes are STEM subjects
and will survey part-time courses.
We are testing the programme audit tool and are aiming to share it with other
interested institutions in 2010-11. It is our intention that they will be able to
contribute to its development.
b) Pilot study of two nursing programmes (Bournemouth University)
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8. The pilot study of two programmes at Bournemouth University gave the
programme team some practical experience working with programme staff and
students and has helped shape the development of the Programme Audit Tool.
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9. 2.Progress
2.1.What have you done this year? (Progress against plan, additional activities,
dissemination etc)
Project Management
The project team have been working together since confirmation was received
from HEFCE in August 2008. However, there have been some delays setting up
the contractual and financial arrangements between the three institutions that
were not fully resolved until summer 2009. This has had a particular impact upon
work at the University of Bradford who, without a subcontract and confirmed
payments, were unable to complete the recruitment process for a research
assistant until August 2009.
Research staff were appointed earlier at NTU (October 2008) and Bournemouth
University (April 2009).
The steering group has met twice, June and September 2009, to receive progress
reports and shape the future directions of the work. A more-detailed work plan
has been developed to ensure that we achieve the project’s objectives.
In some respects the project has been able to start quickly. The three key staff
have worked together previously on the Learnhigher CETL. However, the delay in
initial funding and contracts meant that there has been a delay starting the
project. Its effect has been more marked at Bradford University, although we are
confident that we will regain lost ground in years 2 & 3 of the project.
Research Management & Ethical Approval
Ethical approval was sought at NTU from the Joint Inter College Ethics Committee
(JICEC) for both Strand A and Strand B of the research. Approval was granted
for Strand A on 23 March 2009, Strand B was approved 13 May 2009.
Strand A – Student Doubters
Doubters’ Pilot Survey (October 2008)
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10. At NTU, a pilot survey was disseminated to first year students as part of the
Welcome Week2 evaluation in October 2008. 1,059 students responded (16%
response rate). The findings were used to shape the Student Transition Survey.
Although the questions were aimed at the student experience prior to the first
year, we have evidence from doubters about factors that helped them remain in
education.
Student Transition Survey (March – May 2009)
Students were asked 40 questions about a range of factors such as satisfaction
with elements of the course so far, how hard they were finding the studies, and
whether they understood the differences between studying in FE/ VI form and at
university and what made them consider leaving and stay.
NTU
All first year students were invited to respond to an online survey. 656 students
responded (9% response rate), of these, 37% had considered withdrawing during
the first year.
Four focus groups were then facilitated to garner a deeper understanding about
the issues faced by students:
• Control group of non-doubters,
• Random sample of doubters
• Mature students
• Students studying on STEM subjects
In total 13 students participated in the focus groups.
The data has been analysed and preliminary hypotheses developed. The team at
NTU have arranged for statistical analysis experts from the School of Social
Sciences to conduct more detailed analyses of the data.
Bournemouth University
89 students completed the survey, of these 46% had considered withdrawing.
2
Welcome Week is how NTU brands ‘freshers’. It is a collaborative project between the University
and Students’ Union offering an extended range of activities that goes beyond alcohol consumption
and is particularly targeted at the needs of groups such as local students, international students and
mature students.
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11. Furthermore, 6 interviews with students who had withdrawn from university
during the 2008-09 academic year were conducted and analysed.
Students’ Union Leavers’ Survey (June 2009)
The team at Bournemouth worked with the Students’ Union to survey students
who departed during the 2008-09 academic year.
University of Bradford
128 students completed the survey. Initial findings suggest broadly similar
patterns to Bournemouth and NTU, more-detailed analysis is timetabled for the
first term of the 2009-10 academic year.
At this stage though, we have to be a little circumspect about our findings. Our
data demonstrates that a number of factors were important in motivating
students to stay until May 2009, but not necessarily until the end of the academic
year. We are therefore waiting to access the final data sets for the 2008-09
academic years when they are completed at each institution. The academic year
for data collection purposes only ends at the start of the 2009-10 academic year;
final data will only be available to us after October 2009.
Programmes with better-than-peer rates of retention
Bournemouth University
Staff at Bournemouth completed a pilot study looking at the experience of staff
and students on two nursing programmes at physically distinct locations. 150
students were asked to complete a 10-question survey either side of their first
practice (November – December 2008). Programme staff were interviewed for
their opinions about a range of factors associated with student retention.
NTU
Staff at NTU completed an analysis of the student data set for the 2007-08
academic year to identify programmes with better than peer rates of retention in
two academic schools within NTU: Science & Technology & Social Sciences.
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12. The methodology has been written up and shared within the team to allow the
three partners to use broadly similar approaches.
2.2.What remains outstanding in your plans for 2008-9 and why?
Strand A – Doubters
Due to delays recruiting a research assistant at University of Bradford, we have
been unable to complete the data analysis for the doubters’ survey. This analysis
will be completed between October and December 2009.
Strand B - Programmes
Unfortunately the process of identifying successful programmes has become more
complex than expected. The staff at NTU started by analysing programmes
within the School of Science & Technology and whilst there are programmes that
appear to have a higher rate of retention, they are taught as part of a common
first year with a number of other programmes. The team at NTU will therefore
work with a different school (Social Sciences) in 2009-10. We are therefore
behind the original schedule, as we’d intended to conduct up to two analyses in
the first year. We have re-scheduled our work and plan to conduct a minimum of
four programme analyses in 2009-10. This will bring us back on schedule.
An initial analysis of two nursing programmes at Bournemouth has been
conducted. However, once again the delay recruiting a research assistant has
meant that only a preliminary analysis has been carried out. This analysis has
presented a flavour of the responses from both programmes. The findings have
not been separated into those from the programme with better retention and the
one with poorer and are presented here as an indication of the responses
gathered. In the 2009-2010 academic year, responses will be separated into the
relevant programmes.
2.3.Successes and challenges and implications for future work
Successes
We have surveyed over 2,000 students to identify how many students have
considered leaving their studies. We have detailed information about factors that
lead to students considering leaving and those factors that contribute to staying.
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13. We have extensive information about learning, teaching and lifestyle factors that
impact on the likelihood of doubting.
We are set up to be able to then conduct detailed analysis of those students who
actually withdrew from their studies and be able to compare doubters with
leavers.
Challenges
Delays starting project
As stated earlier, the project started more slowly than we would have liked due to
delays with the initial contract and finance and then setting up the subcontracts
between the partner institutions. The delay has been most noticeable at
University of Bradford, due to the internal operating procedures.
At the June and September Steering Group meetings a revised project plan was
approved and put into action detailing our work plan, dissemination events and
internal reporting mechanisms. We are now confident that we will deliver the
project outcomes.
Better than peer programmes
It has taken longer to develop our methodology for working with academic
programmes than originally intended. This, combined with the high workload
from developing the other half of the project, has meant that we are behind
schedule. The programme analysis is also potentially more challenging as there
are many more variables associated with analysing a programme rather than an
individual’s response to the HE experience.
Nature of respondents
Although the doubters’ surveys have provided us with valuable findings, there are
issues associated with the voluntary nature of the responses. Clearly we are
gathering data from more-motivated students who read their emails, but may not
be reaching some of the more at-risk students.
Different institutional response rates
Different response rates to the Doubters surveys have created some issues. The
response rates vary between 5 – 10% and whilst initial analysis suggests that
similar findings are coming from the different surveys, there is some variation.
But if fewer students respond at one institution, are they the more satisfied (and
HERE Project Interim Report 2008-09 Page 13 of 129
14. therefore happier) or the angry dissatisfied? This makes comparisons more
difficult. In a later section, we have asked for some guidance from the HE
Academy in future years.
Repeating research across the three institutions
The initial proposal has been to repeat the same basic research process at all
three institutions, and whilst we plan to continue with this, it has raised issues,
particularly about combining results and developing a coherent set of conclusions.
We will work hard to ensure that at the end of the project we don’t end up with
three related, but disconnected reports. We have begun preliminary discussions
about having a tighter methodology for the Strand B research, but this would be
an area that we would particularly value input from the HEA team.
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15. 3.Findings: impact and
understanding
This section should be the main body of the report, and should provide
information about your findings from this year.
Key Findings
This section is split into two
Strand A – Student Doubters
Strand B – Programmes with better than peer rates of retention
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17. Pilot Study
NTU October 2008
In October 2009, all 6,600 new students at NTU were asked whether they had
considered withdrawing from their prior courses of study. If they had, or had
actually withdrawn, they were asked follow up questions about the factors
involved. 1,059 students responded to the survey (16% of the first year), of
these:
• In total, 23% of students had doubted or had actually withdrawn from
their previous programmes of study
• 36 students (3%) actually withdrew from their previous programmes of
study, citing 52 reasons for actually doing so (1.4 reasons per student)
• 215 students (20%) had considered withdrawing from their previous
programmes of study
• When asked the follow up question, ‘what helped keep you on the course?’
the 215 student doubters cited 337 reasons for staying (1.4 reasons per
student)
The data was collected anonymously, and although overall the majority of the
1,059 had most recently studied a further education course at FE or VI Form
College, a number of respondents appear to be describing how they had
withdrawn from a higher education course.
Unfortunately as the three questions were asked as part of a much larger
Welcome Week/ induction survey, in order to save space, we didn’t students who
had considered leaving why (only those who actually departed), although this
question was asked in the main Student Transitions Survey (March-May 2009).
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18. Student Leavers
Figure 1 – NTU pilot: reasons for withdrawal
Reasons why students withdrew from
their previous studies (prior to October
2008)
Survey conducted at NTU in October 2008
37 responses from 36 respondents
30
25
25
20
Responses
15 Series1
10
7
5 3
2
0
Course/ institutional Home/ personal Other Finance
factors
The 36 students who withdrew from their previous studies cited the following
reasons:
Course/ Institutional Factors
The most commonly-cited reasons related to course and institutional factors.
Most common were concerns about the wrong choice of course/subject
(mentioned 12 times, 23% of total reasons given), for example ‘I was too young
and didn't know which direction I was going so the course was not for me’ or ‘I
realised that I wasn't ready for university at the time and also I had chosen the
wrong course for me.’ Lack of enjoyment or interest in the course was mentioned
9 times (17% of total reasons given). The third course-related thread was
concerned with criticisms of the course e.g. ‘the course was a joke’ or ‘there was
a huge lack of organisation, and the research skills module had some very
disorganised lecturers’.
Lack of support was mentioned by two students although it was unclear as to
whether this referred to academic or pastoral support and from whom.
In total, course-related factors accounted for 25 of the 36 reasons (69%) cited for
withdrawing from prior studies. It’s interesting to note that not one of these
HERE Project Interim Report 2008-09 Page 18 of 129
19. responses relates to students struggling to keep up with their studies. This is
perhaps entirely understandable, we are less likely to see entrants to university
who failed or withdrew because they couldn’t cope with studies at a lower level.
We also suspect that there’s an under-reporting of personal academic matters
and some casting blame onto the teaching staff or institution, for example ‘it was
multimedia design, it was shit.’
Home/ Personal Factors
As might be expected there were a number of students (7) who withdrew due to
personal reasons such as ‘family problems’ and, possibly the best answer to a
survey in 2009, ‘I was young, silly and I fell in love.’.
Finance
Finance was only mentioned by two students as the main reason for withdrawing.
Student Doubters
Student doubters are those students who expressed concern/ doubt about being
on the right course, but continued nonetheless. It is important to note that the
reasons these students gave for remaining on their course are not the opposites
of those reasons that students withdrew. For example we don’t see a large block
of responses associated with the course.
HERE Project Interim Report 2008-09 Page 19 of 129
20. Figure 2 – NTU pilot: reasons for remaining
Reasons why students remained on their
courses despite having doubts (prior to
October 2008)
Survey conducted at NTU in October 2008
302 responses from 215 respondents
70 66 66
60
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40 40
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30
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Reasons for remaining despite doubting
The two most popular responses were both future-facing and oriented around
goals and personal objectives, accounting for 132 of the 302 responses (44%).
Wanted to go to university
In the first, 66 respondents stated that wanting to go to university was a reason
that they remained on their programme. For these students getting to university
and being a student were highly important motivators, for example, ‘I wanted to
go to university, so I stuck it out’ and in some there is a palpable sense of
excitement ‘I didn't want to prolong coming to Uni!’. We hadn’t expected to see
university as such an important factor and were interested to see how important
a part of the students’ expectations and goals it appeared to be.
Future Goals
Future goals were usually career-related, e.g. ‘Finding a career path that I
wanted to follow’. Some were about achieving the qualification ‘I thought I was
too tired and stressed to stay on the course as had a 6 week old baby when I sat
the A level exams!! But I just went in and sat them as I knew I needed them to
progress.’ Other responses were stated in aspirational, success-oriented
HERE Project Interim Report 2008-09 Page 20 of 129
21. language: ‘becoming successful’, ‘future plans’, ‘future prospects’ and ‘knowing
what I would get out of it at the end’. In total, 66 respondents cited future goals
as the reason for staying.
Initially, we had grouped all support from other people together, but there may
be more benefit to separating support from the social sphere and professional/
institutional setting. We have therefore created two groups: Support from family
& friends and Support from institutional staff.
Support from Family & Friends
44 students mention support from family and friends as a factor in helping them
remain at university (15%). 34 of the 44 (77%) responses mention friends and
24, family (33%), (many students mention both). Friends appear to include
‘peers’, ‘classmates’ and, in one instance a boyfriend. The most commonly-
mentioned family member appears to be ‘Mum’, e.g. ‘my mum persuaded me
stick it out’.
One student noted that they kept going as they were motivated to succeed by
‘pressure to not let my family down.’
Support from Institutional Staff
40 of the 302 respondents (13%) stated that institutional staff played a role in
keeping them on their course. Most responses appear to suggest that the
support came from a number of staff, suggesting a supportive institutional ethos,
for example ‘support of teachers who believed i was capable of passing because
they believed in me’, fewer refer to a specific tutor, but it’s clear that some
individuals had a very important role, for example ‘my tutor gave me a good
talking to’. It appears that students are referring primarily to teaching staff, 35
staff were described as ‘teachers’ or ‘tutors’ and three, as ‘staff’, there are only
two references made to pastoral/ professional support ‘student support’.
Determination/ internal factors
The next group of factors for remaining on the course (40 responses) were
related to the personal commitment and drive of the individuals. Of these, ten
are visceral in their determination not to fail or to quit, for example, ‘I hate
quitters! I will always continue it until the end, just to get the qualification and to
say that I finished it!’ Ten use the word ‘determination’, seven ‘motivation’ and
one ‘stubbornness’. Although some of these responses are future-focussed, and
HERE Project Interim Report 2008-09 Page 21 of 129
22. use the word ‘ambition’ we have separated these from the future goals as they
appear to be more about factors and motivations within the student facing up to
the problems, rather than forward looking aspirations.
Lack of Choices/ Negative Goals
There were 15 responses indicating that the students felt they had nothing better
to do, or that the other options were worse than remaining with their studies.
These rather fatalistic responses included ‘I had nothing else to do’, ‘no other
options’ and ‘didn't know what I wanted to do otherwise’. One appears to relate
to family pressure to complete studies ‘The fact that my choice was stay at
college or find my own place to live’.
Overcame the Problem
15 students stayed because they managed to overcome the problem that they
were facing, for example ‘overcoming the problems that caused me to want to
leave’; some of the problems appeared to be academic related and were solved
by changing practices ‘[I] spent extra time outside studies revising to help boost
my confidence’. It is worth noting that several of the respondents describe how
they had to change their mindset or perspective to overcome the problem ‘I came
to my senses’, ‘because I knew I was just out of my comfort zone’ and ‘I changed
my mind and I realised that the studying wasn't so hard after all.’ It also appears
that the support of family members, friends and tutors played a role in changing
this mindset, for example ‘[I] grew to like it and had good tutors’.
The Qualification
11 responses indicated that students felt the qualification itself as a factor that
helped them cope. At least one stated explicitly that this was a route to
accessing university and better career prospects. We have chosen to use the
term ‘qualification’ rather than learning and teaching because the respondents
appear to be describing the acquisition of a qualification rather than the learning
experience. Possessing the qualification is the important factor.
Other Factors
There were a smaller number of responses associated with successful learning
and teaching and overcoming the personal problems that students were facing at
the time.
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23. Conclusions from the survey
20% of the 1,059 students stated that they had considered withdrawing from
their previous studies, 3% actually withdrew.
Key findings from the pilot
‘College was a means to an end to me and I'm glad I sat it out’
Withdrawal appears to be primarily about the combination of a poor match
between the students’ goals and the reality of studying and their motivation to
continue (robustness) when faced with an uninteresting learning environment.
Persisting appears to be primarily about the motivation stemming from future
goals and the social/ professional/ familial support made available to students.
The institutional lessons from the pilot appear to be:
1) Improve the match between student goals and the reality of the
programme
a. This may mean engaging the students in discussion about the
benefits/ realities of the course and encouraging them to have
realistic outcomes
b. And creating better opportunities or systems to transfer between
programmes for those students unhappy with the experience
2) Improve the social/ professional interaction within institutions
a. Friends and the support of individual tutors features very strongly
in the survey as reasons to stay. The important point appears to
be that students describe their problems/ reasons for leaving as
systematic and process-oriented, yet describe the reasons to stay
in much more personal and emotional terms. The implication of
this first survey appears to suggest that the interaction at the point
of crisis, not just the support systems in place is very important to
motivating a student to stay.
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24. Student Transition Survey (March – May 2009)
The 40-question survey was used at each institution with minor changes to take
into consideration local factors and a few additional questions were added at
Bournemouth and Bradford.
Response rates
• At the University of Bradford, 128 first year undergraduate students
responded from a possible 2,500 (5% of cohort).
• At Bournemouth University, 89 first year students
• At Nottingham Trent University, 656 first year students responded from a
cohort of 6,600 responded to the survey (9% of cohort)
Aim of the survey
We wanted to uncover:
• How many students have had doubts about staying on their current
programme?
• Why some students thought of leaving?
• Why doubters decided to stay?
• Student priorities and satisfaction with their experiences of university, in
particular, those experiences that have been shown to affect retention in
previous research.
• More detail about these students: age, gender, their ethnic background
etc, to enable us to find any predictors for withdrawal
We also wanted to gain permission to access these students’ course marks and
enrolment status during their time at university to allow us to track whether
students who have had doubts become leavers. This survey was also used to find
students who may be willing to take part in further HERE research, such as focus
groups.
About the survey
HERE Project Interim Report 2008-09 Page 24 of 129
25. The survey was initially written in SNAP (survey software) by the NTU marketing
team and sent via email to all first year students on 23 March 2009. The survey
was open for a month for students to complete online. All completed
questionnaires were entered for a prize draw to win £50 of Amazon vouchers.
Similar prizes were offered at the other two universities.
About the questions
Please see Appendix A for full questionnaire.
The first questions asked the student for their ID number and permission to use
the data anonymously for further research. We then asked the student whether
they were enjoying their course so far and whether they had read any prior
information about their course before coming to NTU (questions 3-5).
The next questions (6-7) were aimed at finding out about the student’s
experiences of their course and university life so far, such as whether the course
was organised, whether they liked where they were living. These questions were
based on prior research on retention (such as Yorke and Longden 2008, Christie,
Munro and Fisher 2004, Willis 1993) as well as findings from the pilot study. We
presented the student with a number of positive statements about their learning
and teaching experiences and their experiences of university life so far and asked
them to rate them on a scale of 1-5, where 1 = ‘strongly disagree’ and 5 =
‘strongly agree’. The student was then presented with the same statements and
asked to rate them according to their importance to them (see example below).
Figure 3 – sample of transitions survey
Q7 Please rate how IMPORTANT the following aspects are to you.
Please use a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = "not at all important"
and 5 = "very important".
1 2 3 4 5
My subject is interesting
Q7 My course is well organised
Q7 I have enthusiastic lecturers teaching on my
course
Q7 My taught sessions (such as lectures and
seminars) are interesting
Q7 Lecturers are accessible
Q7 I feel valued by teaching staff
HERE Project Interim Report 2008-09 Page 25 of 129
26. Q7 The assessment on my course is what I expected
it to be
Q7 The feedback I receive about my work is useful
Q7 I feel confident that I can cope with my studies
This use of two sets of identical statements will allow us to compare the two sets
of answers. If, for example, a student rated that they ‘strongly disagree’ that they
feel valued by teaching staff and rated that this is ‘very important’ to them, is this
a stronger predictor of withdrawal than a student who rated that they ‘strongly
disagree’ that they feel valued by teaching staff but that this is ‘not at all
important’ to them?
Questions 8-10 asked about the student’s prior learning; whether the differences
between their prior learning and learning at university were explained to them,
whether they understood these differences and how difficult they have found their
studies this year.
We then asked about students experience of learning at university so far; how
much focus they were putting on academic studies (compared to other aspects of
their life such as family, part-time work), the grades that they were aiming for at
the end of the first year and on graduation, whether they had a personal tutor,
and how often they saw their personal tutor (questions 11-16).
Questions 17 asked ‘have you considered withdrawing (leaving) at any point
during your first year at NTU?’ (see figure 4).
Figure 4 – considering withdrawal
Have you considered withdrawing (leaving) at any point during your first
year at NTU?
Yes, but I have decided to stay at NTU
Yes, and I have decided to leave NTU
Yes, but I haven't made up my mind yet about my future plans
No, I have never considered withdrawing
Students who answered that they had decided to stay were directed to the
question ‘What has helped you decide to stay on your course?’ (Q18). Students
who answered either that they have decided to leave NTU or that they haven’t
yet made up their minds were directed to the question ‘Please tell us what made
you consider leaving NTU’ (Q19). Students who answered that they have never
considered withdrawing were directed to the following question (Q21).
HERE Project Interim Report 2008-09 Page 26 of 129
27. Questions 22-38 asked a range of questions about the student; their age, gender,
ethnic background, course, about any disabilities, accommodation, whether they
had applied through clearing, whether NTU was their first choice of university,
whether this was their first time living independently and whether they were the
first person in their immediate family to go to university. We then asked students
‘how can we improve this survey?’ (Q39).
The final two questions asked whether the student agreed to be invited to take
part in future HERE research and whether they agreed to allow their course marks
and enrolment status to be accessed from University records during the time they
are registered here and incorporated anonymously with other research findings.
How the data was analysed
A range of data (both quantitative and qualitative) was provided by the survey.
An initial analysis of the quantitative data has been carried out using Excel. The
data will be analysed in more detail when we have information about these
students progression to the second year (after October 2009) using SPSS.
The qualitative answers to the questions ‘what has helped you decide to stay at
NTU’ and ‘what made you consider leaving NTU’ were coded into themes by two
independent researchers using the approach described by Creswell, 2007, of a
‘data analysis spiral’ (Creswell, 2007, p150). The researchers will continue to
analyse the qualitative answers provided from this questionnaire using this
method.
Limitations of the data
We currently do not know how many of the students who completed our survey
will progress into the second year. This data will not be available until after
October 2009. The themes found in this survey therefore tell us about why
students have had doubts, and why they have chosen to stay (or leave) but not
HERE Project Interim Report 2008-09 Page 27 of 129
28. whether these students will eventually become persisters3 (or leavers)4. We hope
to track this data during the duration of the project.
Key Findings by Institution
Nottingham Trent University
Student Transition Questionnaire
243 (37%) of the 656 respondents had considered leaving during their time at
university so far. Of these, 28% of students had decided to stay, 1% had decided
to leave and 8% were still unsure about whether to stay or leave university.
Respondent Demographics
• 62% of respondents were females, 38% males
• 67% were aged 19 – 21, 17% 18 or under, 16% were 22+
• 94% were from the UK, 6% from overseas
• 80% classified themselves as white - British, the next largest group was
Indian, with the remaining students spread over another 16 groups
• 6% stated that they had a disability
• 13% of UK students were originally from Nottingham City, 13% from
Nottinghamshire, 21% from the East Midlands and 58% from the rest of
the UK
• 49% currently live in university halls, 15% are in the private rented
sector, 14% in private halls of residence, 11% with relatives and 11% in
their own home
• 64% were living independently for the first time
What has made you consider leaving NTU?
263 reasons were given altogether by 219 individual respondents (1.2 reasons
per student). The figures indicate the number of times a reason was given.
3
Students who stay to complete their degree (put reference for who initially used this term)
4
In our overall sample, for example, we have found that 31% of the males who completed our survey
had had doubts about staying at NTU, 41% of the females had had doubts. Our NTU data from 2004-5
however found that males were just over 2% more likely to withdraw than females indicating that
perhaps female students have more doubts but don’t necessarily leave because of them.
HERE Project Interim Report 2008-09 Page 28 of 129
29. figure 6 – NTU transitions survey – reasons for considering withdrawal
Reasons why students considered leaving
(NTU)
HERE Project March - May 2009
(263 responses from 219 individual respondents)
120 112
100
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Course-related factors
The most common theme mentioned by students for considering leaving their
studies were course-related factors, accounting for 43% of all reasons given.
These included wrong choice of course, a lack of interest in the course and
criticisms of learning and teaching. Several students commented about the
problems coping with the workload, for example ‘the workload felt too much’.
Student Lifestyle
The second most common reason given for considering leaving (38 responses,
14%) was associated with the student lifestyle. Students described factors such
as not enjoying the social life of the university, disliking the student
accommodation and having problems with flatmates. One student wrote that
HERE Project Interim Report 2008-09 Page 29 of 129
30. they were struggling to cope with ‘Really bad flat mates into drugs and partying
every night. I was unable to get any sleep and my studies were suffering badly.’
Financial reasons
The third most common reason provided by students considering withdrawal was
financial reasons (28 responses, 11%). There were also fewer doubters that
stated that they were confident that they will have enough money to complete
their course.
Personal Incidents/ Problems
The factors included here are broad and refer to a range of different issues that
happened in students’ personal lives including having twins, deaths in the family,
personal injuries and problems at home. In total students cited 26 examples of
personal incidents and problems.
The following two categories could be aggregated giving a total of 35 responses
(13%); however, we felt that as homesickness was a distinct factor in its own
right associated with the transition into university, it would be better to keep
them separate.
Personal/ Emotional
‘Everything was so new and scary, very overwhelming’. The 22 responses
included in this category cover a broad range of issues ranging from a more
general sense of ‘not fitting in’ to the more serious ‘depression’. It appears that
for some students there are a number of issues connected to how they felt about
being at university. They appeared to have struggled to develop into the new
identity of being a university student and a number describe being stressed about
the transition.
Homesick/ Missing Family
For a small minority of students, homesickness was a significant factor in having
doubts about being on their course. 13 stated that homesickness had made them
consider leaving.
Doubts about Future Goals
‘Future goals/ employment’ is the second-most common factor cited by doubters
to explain why they have stayed. Therefore it’s perhaps not surprising that
uncertainty about how the programme will fit the students’ future needs is a
factor amongst doubters. 7 students stated that they considered leaving due to
HERE Project Interim Report 2008-09 Page 30 of 129
31. ‘doubts about future goals’, for example ‘[I] didn’t know if I was doing the right
course or even wanted to be at university’.
Lack of Support
7 students cite lack of support as a reason to consider leaving. This appears to
relate primarily to the academic support provided by tutors and there are three
aspects of concern: problems accessing tutors (‘Most lecturers are not accessible
and you have to take a very long and unhelpful route to even see them about
issues or concerns.’), a sense of a lack of institutional commitment/care towards
the individual (‘[a] SEVERE LACK OF SUPPORT FROM UNI AND NO MATTER HOW
MUCH I COMPLAIN NO ONE SEEMS TO GIVE A SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’), and poor
levels of academic support (‘the feedback given from work is most of the time
illegible and in no way helpful.’).
Location
3 students describe location as a problem, two describe travelling to and from
NTU’s smallest campus as a problem, one, rather more vehemently, cites ‘Awful
university, awful city’ as a reason to consider leaving.
HERE Project Interim Report 2008-09 Page 31 of 129
32. What has helped you decide to stay at NTU?
figure 6 – NTU transitions survey – reasons for remaining
Reasons why Student Doubters stay at
University
HERE Project March - May 2009
NTU data 198 responses from 171 first year respondents
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171 students gave comments about what had helped them stay; in total they
made 198 points (1.1 reasons per student).
It’s interesting to note that the relative ordering of importance has changed; in
the FE survey, wanting to be at University and future goals account for 44% of
the reasons why doubters chose to stay on their programmes. There is no
comparable factor to the pull of university in the HE doubters’ survey, for
example no respondent mentions postgraduate studies as a motivator to remain.
For the respondents, the undergraduate course appears to be the last stage on
the educational journey before employment.
HERE Project Interim Report 2008-09 Page 32 of 129
33. Differences between the two surveys
Order of importance in FE Order of importance in HE Doubters’
Doubters’ Survey (Oct 2009) Survey (mar – May 2009)
263 responses from 215 196 responses from 171 respondents
respondents
1 Wanted to go to university Support from friends & family ↑
2 Future goals/ employment Future goals/ employment ↔
3 Support from friends & family Determination/ internal factors ↑
4 Support from Institutional
staff Adapting to Course/ University **
5 Determination/ internal Lack of options/ hard to transfer/
factors cost ↑
6 Lack of choices/ negative
choices Support from Institutional Staff ↓
7 Overcoming the problem ** Other ↑
8 The qualification Financial Difficulties Resolved **
9 Other Changed Course
** In the pilot survey, most problems students described overcoming appeared to
be of an academic nature. None were explicitly about finance. We have used a
slightly different set of labels in the HE doubters’ responses: adapting to course/
university and financial difficulties resolved. The language used to describe
overcoming the problems is broadly similar, but it does emphasise adapting to
the new learning context whereas in the FE survey, the responses appear to
relate more to overcoming specific coursework problems. It was felt important to
keep financial difficulties as a separate strand.
Support from friends & family
55 respondents (28%) of respondents mention friends and family as a reason for
persisting despite having doubts. As is the case in the pilot survey, friendships
are more important than family support and account for almost 2/3 of the
responses in the group (35 responses or 64%). It appears that support from
peers has become more slightly more important for university students; in the
pilot survey the ratios are 57% friends/ 43% family. This is perhaps
understandable as only 22% of respondents are living in their own, or their family
home and so are perhaps more reliant upon the surrogate families developed in
their new accommodation. Student responses talk of drawing comfort from
talking to people in the same position as themselves, for example: ‘talking to
HERE Project Interim Report 2008-09 Page 33 of 129
34. fellow students who felt the same way I did’ and importantly having the time to
develop more ‘solid’ friendships. One student explicitly talks about feeling more
positive about their life at university after having joined a sports club.
Future goals/ employment
34 respondents (17%) felt that the benefits to their future goals and employment
were important in keeping them at university. Most related directly to future
career prospects ‘I need a good career with good pay’, but a few appear to be
about a more fundamental issue of identity ‘my goal to become something’.
Determination/ internal factors
28 students cited determination as a factor for remaining at university. The
language was notably more measured than in the FE survey, for example ‘I have
made a commitment that I should stick with’.
Adapting to Course/ University
We coded the ‘overcoming problems’ heading used in the FE survey slightly
differently to reflect the slightly changed emphasis students place. 27 responses
describe how students have overcome doubts by adapting to the institution and
the academic expectations upon them. The language is similar in tone to the
friendship responses, primarily about acclimatising to the new environment and
having time to adjust, ‘I became more comfortable with the studies’, ‘[I became]
familiar with the structure of the course and the lecturers’ and ‘settled in more’.
9 responses indicates that this goes beyond acclimatising and they describe liking
or enjoying the course, e.g. ‘I enjoy the course too much’.
Lack options/ hard to transfer/ cost
As with the pilot survey, there are a number of students (24) who have decided
to stay due to a perceived lack of options. Unlike in the FE survey, almost half of
this group (10) state that finance and the lost opportunity cost of a wasted year
are reasons to continue with their studies. For example one student wrote that
‘the fact that if I did leave I would still have to pay my student loan but I
wouldn't have had anything to show for it.’ Some students were resigned to the
fact that they needed simply a degree and not completing a programme would
put them at a disadvantage, and others felt that they were unable to transfer
their credits to other institutions: ‘There are no other Uni’s that I can transfer my
degree to otherwise I probably would’.
Support from Institutional Staff
HERE Project Interim Report 2008-09 Page 34 of 129
35. Most typically, the 14 students described support from their tutors, but five
picked out student support services explicitly, a higher proportion than in the pilot
study.
Financial Difficulties Resolved
Again student services played a role in some of the 6 responses, along with
additional money from students’ families and help negotiating with the University
regarding payment arrangements.
Changed Course
Finally, three students had managed to change course and therefore felt that they
were on a programme more suited to their needs.
Impact of Student Demographics on incidence of doubting
Gender
41% of female students had considered withdrawing, only 31% of males had.
Age
37% of students aged 19-21 had considered leaving, incidences broadly rise with
age, 42% doubters amongst 22-25 year olds and 44% amongst 26-45 year olds.
Disability
36% of those students who declared that they had no disability had considered
withdrawing (n=595). However, 50% of those who stated they had a disability
had declared that they had considered withdrawing, as did 52% of those who
chose not to declare.
Home location
41% of students from the City of Nottingham had considered withdrawing, in
contrast with only 25% from Nottinghamshire. Those from the East Midlands and
the rest of the UK doubted at 37 and 38% respectively.
UK/ International students
39% of international respondents had considered withdrawing, 2% higher than
the 37% of UK doubters
HERE Project Interim Report 2008-09 Page 35 of 129
36. Ethnicity
NTU uses 18 different ethnic descriptors; the largest of these (White-British) had
a doubt rate of 36%, marginally below the average. The highest incidence of
doubting was amongst the five students of Mixed-Black Caribbean and White
origins (80% doubt rate), but the numbers are so small that they ought to be
treated with care. Amongst the four Asian or Asian British – Bangladeshi
students, none had considered leaving. Clearly there is a very broad spread, but
at this stage, the small sample sizes for most groups will restrict the usefulness of
the data.
First generation in Higher Education
48% of respondents to the survey stated that they were the first person in their
immediate family to come to university, 39% of them had doubts compared to
35% amongst those for whom other members of the family had already
experienced higher education.
Student Lifestyle and other factors
Route to university
Amongst students entering University through the normal UCAS process, 37% are
doubters, amongst those who entered through the clearing process, 45% had
considered leaving university. However, this is slightly contradicted as we also
asked the question ‘was this your first choice of University?’. 38% of those who
answered ‘yes’ had considered withdrawing, only 31% of those who said ‘no’ felt
the same.
Accommodation
Interestingly, 37% of students who lived away from home for the first time had
doubts and so did those students who were not living away from home for the
first time. Those living with relatives were least likely to have doubts (30%),
those in private halls the most (42%), other types of accommodation such as
NTU halls had doubt rates of 37 – 39%.
Information from the University
Most students had read the information sent to them by the university before
they started. 81 (12%) had not though. The rate for considering withdrawing
was the same amongst both groups (37%).
HERE Project Interim Report 2008-09 Page 36 of 129
37. Accuracy of information from the University
This however was strikingly different, 36 students (5%) found that the
information was either ‘not very accurate’ or ‘very inaccurate’. Although the
numbers are small, 73% and 67% of students in these groups had doubts about
being at University, against 37% who found it ‘reasonably accurate’ and only
27% of those who found it ‘very accurate’.
Understanding the nature of higher education
Only 52% of respondents felt that since coming to university, anyone had
explained the difference between learning at university and earlier educational
institutions. Amongst these students 33% had considered leaving whereas 42%
of those who had not been informed about the differences had done so.
Furthermore, when asked how much they understand the differences between HE
and other systems of education, 62% of those who didn’t understand the
differences had doubts, against 38% who understood a little and 30% of those
who understood in detail.
Coping with studies
Students were asked to report how hard they had found their studies on a scale
of 1-5 (1= not at all difficult, 5 = very difficult). Those who reported finding it
very difficult were extremely likely to have doubts (74% of the group). Those
least likely to have doubts were amongst those who found it fairly easy (27%
doubters). The small group (13) who found it very easy were marginally more
likely than average to have doubts (38%).
When asked to report how hard they were working, those working the hardest
were slightly more likely than average to have doubts (38% doubters), those not
working hard at all were much more likely to have doubts (69% doubters) and
the group with the lowest level of doubts were those who reported to be working
fairly hard (30% doubters).
Academic Outcomes
Students were asked what grade they were aiming for upon graduation and at the
end of the first year. Interestingly, 54% believed that they were going to get a
first class honours degree when they graduated. As might be expected, those
aiming for a higher classification were less likely to have doubts. Amongst those
who claimed to be aiming for a 3rd class honours degree, 100% had doubts about
being at university. Only 27% of respondents were aiming for a 1st class grade
HERE Project Interim Report 2008-09 Page 37 of 129
38. by the end of the first year and once again, there is a correlation between aiming
for a higher grade and a lower incidence of doubting.
Academic tutors/ Pastoral support
The results are slightly contradictory as 53% of respondents claimed to have a
personal tutor at NTU, but all students answered the question ‘how often do you
see your personal tutor’. It appears that there was an oversight in setting up the
questionnaire and non-respondents should have been moved to the next
question. 38% of students who reported that they didn’t have a personal tutor
had doubts against 36% who did. The most common answer to how often do you
see your personal tutor is ‘less than monthly’ and may be partly explained by the
problem with the questionnaire. The small number of students who have
fortnightly meetings with their tutors (11 students) report a 27% incidence of
doubting, 33% amongst those seeing their tutors monthly, 34% amongst weekly
and 38% amongst less often than monthly. This appears to be much les
significant than we had imagined it might be.
Mode of study
The very small number of part-time respondents (14 students) were more likely
to have doubts than their full-time counterparts (43% compared to 37% amongst
full time students).
Academic Schools
NTU has nine academic schools. When responses are analysed by school, the
highest incidence of doubting was 50% and the lowest 27%.
Campus
NTU has three academic campuses. Doubt rates were 38% at the main city
centre campus, 37% for the smaller suburban campus and 35% at the much
smaller agricultural site.
Testing Student Satisfaction about the learning environment with the
incidence of doubting
All students were asked to evaluate the importance of 17 academic and student
lifestyle factors, for example ‘I have enthusiastic lecturers’. They were then also
HERE Project Interim Report 2008-09 Page 38 of 129
39. asked to what extent they agreed with the statement on a scale of 1 – 5 (1 –
disagree strongly, 5 – agree strongly). In the next section we describe this
agreement as ‘satisfaction’ with the experience. Whilst strictly, we asked
students ‘how much did you agree’, not ‘how much are you satisfied’, we feel that
using the term ‘satisfaction’ makes the next section more readable than ‘the
extent to which the participant agreed with the statement’.
Figure 7 - NTU Student Satisfaction compared to Experience– all students
ig My subject is interesting 85%
91%
Completing my degree will help me achieve future goals 86%
89%
I have easy acess to University resources 82%
87%
On average My family is supportive 83%
84%
I have enthusiastic lecturers 67%
83%
I'm confident that I can cope with my studies 63%
82%
My course is well organised 59%
81%
Feedback on my work is useful 57%
81%
59% Agree
My taught sessions are interesting 80% Importance
Lecturers are accessible 66%
77%
I'll have enough money to finish my course 47%
74%
I like where I am living 59%
74%
I have an enjoyable social life 74%
73%
My fellow students are supportive 70%
68%
I know where to go if I have a problem 50%
68%
Assessment on my course is what I expected 60%
68%
I feel valued by teaching staff 49%
67%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
In 15 of the 17 areas, students report a higher importance than satisfaction.
Satisfaction is, on average, 12% lower than importance for this group of all
students.
For example, in response to the statement ‘My subject is interesting’, 91% of all
students report that it’s important that the subject is interesting and 85%, report
that their subject has been interesting so far. The two areas where students
indicate a higher level of satisfaction than importance are against the measures ‘I
have an enjoyable social life’ and ‘my fellow students are supportive’. It is also
interesting to note that this phenomenon is almost repeated in a third area ‘my
family is supportive’; 83% of students report that their family is supportive and
84%, that having a supportive family is important. These differences between
the importance and satisfaction about social factors are repeated in both the
doubters and non-doubters results.
We would tentatively suggest that this strengthens the case for more
consideration to the importance of social and lifestyle factors within institutions.
HERE Project Interim Report 2008-09 Page 39 of 129
40. The largest gaps between importance and satisfaction are those associated with
having enough money (27%), quality of feedback (24%) and course organisation
(22%).
Non-Doubters
413 students (63%) reported that they had not considered withdrawing from
their course. We found that across all measures they had rated both importance
and satisfaction more highly than doubters. Also the gap between importance
and experience was relatively low, on average only 8%.
Figure 8 - NTU Student Satisfaction compared to Experience– non-doubters
My subject is interesting 92%
94%
Completing my degree will help me achieve future goals 91%
92%
I have easy acess to University resources 84%
90%
My family is supportive 88%
85%
I have enthusiastic lecturers 75%
85%
I'm confident that I can cope with my studies 78%
88%
My course is well organised 66%
83%
Feedback on my work is useful 64%
84%
68% Agree
My taught sessions are interesting 83%
Importance
Lecturers are accessible 74%
79%
I'll have enough money to finish my course 55%
76%
I like where I am living 65%
75%
I have an enjoyable social life 81%
73%
My fellow students are supportive 77%
71%
I know where to go if I have a problem 55%
69%
Assessment on my course is what I expected 67%
72%
I feel valued by teaching staff 58%
71%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
The largest gaps between importance and satisfaction were the same as for the
group as a whole: money (21%), quality of feedback (20%) and course
organisation (17%).
Student Doubters
Doubters have lower scores in both importance and actual satisfaction.
Furthermore the gap between importance and satisfaction is much larger (21%
difference). We might expect a lower level of satisfaction, but it’s interesting to
see a lower score on importance too. This suggest a level of semi-detachedness,
HERE Project Interim Report 2008-09 Page 40 of 129