| Description |
1 online resource (xvii, 210 pages) : illustrations |
| Contents |
Understanding the problem : student attrition and retention in university language & culture programs in Australia -- Accounting for the missing students : calculating retention rates in language & culture programs -- Splitting the masses : methodology and data analysis -- Some detective work : comparing committed students, quitters and doubters -- The road to language capital : interpreting the findings -- Appendix 1: Questionnaire 1. Language retention study : first year students 2009 -- Appendix 2: Questionnaire: continuing intermediate and advanced level students 2009 -- Appendix 3: Questionnaire: Discontinuing students 2009 |
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Understanding the Problem: Student attrition and retention in university Language & Culture programs in Australia; 1.1. Why is it important to understand student attrition and retention?; 1.2. Attrition as a concern for university Language & Culture programs in Australia ; 1.3. The impact of government, university and school policies on language teaching in Australia; 1.4. Historical perspectives from the teaching coalface; 1.5. Research into attrition in university Language & Culture programs; 1.6. The LASP1 study; 1.7. The LASP2 study |
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1.8. Implications of the LASP1 and LASP2 research1.9. Attrition at the course level: Risk factors; 1.10. Learning anxiety as a specific risk factor in language learning; 1.11. Asking the difficult questions: Attrition as a research problem ; 1.12. A reader's guide to this book; Accounting for the Missing Students: Calculating retention rates in Language & Culture programs; 2.1. The importance of validity when calculating attrition and retention rates ; 2.2. Calculating retention rates at ANU: The complexity of language enrolments |
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2.3. The need for new ways of calculating language retention rates 2.4. Further issues impacting the calculation of retention rates; 2.5. Do retention rates vary by discipline? ; 2.6. Late starters at advanced levels-Students who speak a language other than English (LOTE) at home ; 2.7. Summary; Splitting the Masses: Methodology and data analysis; 3.1. Phase 1 methodology; 3.2. Implications of the Phase 1 findings from a methodological perspective ; 3.3. Beyond the dichotomy: Moving towards more effective statistical analyses; 3.4. Phase 2 methodology; 3.5. Summary |
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Some Detective Work: Comparing Committed Students, Quitters and Doubters 4.1. Overview; 4.2. A detailed interpretation of the cross-tabulated variables that characterise Committed Students, Doubters and Quitters; 4.3. Summary; The Road to Language Capital: Interpreting the findings ; 5.1. Characterising the three student archetypes ; 5.2. Doubters as 'students at risk'; 5.3. The concept of 'language capital'; 5.4. The concept of language capital as a means of interpreting the classroom context ; 5.5. Summary; Where to from Here? Conclusions and suggestions |
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Appendices: Online Questionnaires Used in the ANU Study. Appendix 1: Questionnaire 1. Language Retention Study: First year students 2009; Appendix 2: Questionnaire: Continuing intermediate and advanced level students 2009; Appendix 3: Questionnaire: Discontinuing students 2009; Bibliography; Figure 1.1. Factors known to have a negative effect on student completion ; Figure 1.2. Factors associated with course attrition, as identified from the literature; Figure 2.1. Comparison in the enrolment patterns of a Social Science major and two language majors |
| Summary |
This book explores the extent and causes of attrition and retention in university Language & Culture (L & C) programs through a detailed analysis of an institutional case study at The Australian National University (ANU). Using extensive data collected through student surveys, coupled with data mining of university-wide enrolment data, the authors explore the enrolment and progress of students in all ANU L & C programs. Through their detailed statistical analysis of attrition and retention outcomes, the authors reveal serious inadequacies in the traditional, and common, methodology for determining the extent of student attrition and retention in tertiary L & C programs. Readers are shown why a year-to-year comparison of students who continue or discontinue language studies using traditional statistical methodology cannot provide data that is sufficiently meaningful to allow for sound policy- and decision-making. The authors instead suggest a more valid, replicable methodology that provides a new approach potentially applicable to all disciplines and all student retention measures. The authors also demonstrate that the empirical data supports a new hypothesis for the reasons for attrition, based on students' relative belief or doubt in their capacity to complete their studies successfully. By highlighting the importance of language capital as a factor in students' concerns about their capacity for success, and hence in their decisions to stay in, or leave, a university language program, the authors show the importance of the 'doubters' dilemma'. By taking a rigorous approach to hypothesis building and testing around enrolment and attrition data, the authors provide valuable insights into attrition issues, and potential retention strategies, in L & C programs, which will be relevant to institutions, policy-makers and teaching academics |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 197-210) |
| Notes |
Print version record |
| Subject |
Educational evaluation -- Australia
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College student development programs.
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Universities and colleges -- Sociological aspects.
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Language and culture -- Study and teaching -- Australia
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EDUCATION -- Adult & Continuing Education.
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College student development programs.
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Educational evaluation.
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Language and culture -- Study and teaching.
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Universities and colleges -- Sociological aspects.
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Australia.
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| Author |
Jansen, Louise M., author
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Beckmann, Elizabeth A., author
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Australian National University.
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| ISBN |
9781760460457 |
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1760460451 |
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