CAUSES OF DROPOUT AMONG ADULT STUDENTS OF NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES (A CASE STUDY OF UNI-PORT AND RIVER STATE UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNILOGY)
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CAUSES
OF DROPOUT AMONG ADULT STUDENTS OF NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES (A CASE STUDY OF
UNI-PORT AND RIVER STATE UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNILOGY)
ABSTRACT
This
paper reports the results of a survey conducted to examine the root causes
leading to student dropout at a Nigeria distance education university. Data was
gathered from two different courses – an undergraduate course leading to a
Bachelors degree in Informatics (characterized by high dropout rates), and a
postgraduate course leading to a Masters degree in education (characterized by
low dropout rates). A comparative analysis of these two different courses
revealed important similarities in dropout percentages and the reasons cited by
students for dropping out. Our analysis also revealed important differences as
well. This paper presents the results of a survey designed to investigate the
relationship between dropout with intrinsic (student-related) factors such as
sickness, work/ school conflict etc., and extrinsic (institutional-related)
factors such as study methods and materials, educational approach, and tutor
influence.
This
study traces the root causes of dropout rates in one post-graduate course
“Studies in Education,” offered by the Uni-port and Rivers state university of
science and technology . From our research findings, it was found that the main
cause of dropping out stem from a combination of adult learners’ obligations,
specifically balancing their academic workload with their employment
commitments and family obligations (mainly for female students). The second
reason for dropout rates among adult distance education learners include
students’ miscalculation of the available time for studying and their
underestimation of the extra effort required for effective learning. These
reasons can be compared to the educational material, which, in general, was not
considered overly difficult and did not appear to compel students to abandon
their studies.
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The
establishment of Uni-port and Rivers state university of science and technology
around the world aim to address the educational and re-educational needs of
adult learners and workforce by providing a high level of studies (Evans and
Lockwood, 1994, Evans and Nation, 1996). Uni-port and Rivers state university
of science and technology typically develop educational activities underpinned
by an educational philosophy fundamentally different from those held by
conventional educational systems. The main aspect of this philosophy is to
promote “life long education” and to provide adults with “a second educational
chance” (Keegan, 1993). The educational method used in an open university
system is most typically “distance learning.”
High
student dropout rates have been reported in educational institutions using open
and distance learning methods (Cardon and Christensen, 1998). Students dropout
of their studies for a numerous reasons and factors (Eisenberg and Dowsett,
1990) ranging from academic, to non-academic, to other factors (Jones and
Watson, 1990). Factors include the degree of difficulty of courses and subjects
selected by students; miscalculation of time students need to study (Sponder
1990); health problems (Kaye and Rumble, 1991); and family problems (Allen,
1994), to name a few.
Dropout
rates reported by open and distance learning (ODL) institutions are typically
higher than those reported by conventional universities. Within ODL educational
systems, dropout rates also vary depending on the educational system adopted by
each institution and selected subjects of study (Narasimharao, 1999). In
Europe, dropout rates in distance education programs typically range from 20
percent to 30 percent (Rumble, 1992) or even higher in Northern America
(Schlosser and Anderson, 1994). Asian countries have recorded rates as high as
50 percent (Shin and Kim, 1999; Narasimharao, 1999). A number of models, such
as Tinto’s model of student retention, (Bernard and Amundsen, 1989), have been
developed to help explain the dropout phenomenon in higher education. Despite
the soaring cost of higher education, older adult students are apparently still
keen on finishing their degrees. A recent survey showed that more than 8 million
non-traditional students -- defined as those 23 and older -- are now enrolled
in the nation's colleges. However, far too many of them won't complete their
courses of study and derive the benefits that come along with having earned a
degree, which include a lifetime of higher earnings and greater self esteem.
Data from the National Center for Education Statistics show that just slightly
more than a quarter -- 28 percent -- of full-time and a mere 5 percent of
part-time older students go on to finish their college studies.
What's
holding them back? As the chart below shows, more than two-thirds of the nearly
4,500 non-traditional students surveyed by the Apollo Research Institute
expressed concern about college-related expenses as a big contributor to dropping
out. About two-thirds of all college students borrow money to obtain a
bachelor's degree, according to a survey of 2007-08 graduates by the Department
of Education. Of those, the average debt in 2011 was $23,300, with 10 percent
owing more than $54,000 and 3 percent more than $100,000, the Federal Reserve
Bank of New York recently reported (via The New York Times). Tuition costs
vary, but averaged $21,447 during the 2011-12 school year at public colleges,
while private colleges charged an average of $42,224. Beyond concern about
paying for school, other big stress producers among adult students include
anxiety about spending sufficient time with loved ones and friends and having
the intellectual capacity to complete coursework, according to Apollo, which is
affiliated with the for-profit University of Phoenix, one of the nation's
largest issuers of online degrees. (The college, which operates in 40 states
and internationally and gears its programs toward working adults, has been the
subject of federal lawsuits and fines in recent years related to its enrollment
practices and course offerings.)
Having
a plan to deal with these sources of stress can go a long way toward helping
older students finish college, says Caroline Molina-Ray, executive director of
research at Apollo, which recently published a study that examined the factors
that inhibit adult college students' ability to finish degrees.
The
study focused not so much on the rate of completion, she says, but on what
kinds of issues adult students face, and how different generations of students
cope. It may sound cliched, but Molina-Ray says that it pays to keep "your
eyes on the prize," and to remember that "there's a big personal and
likely financial reward for going to school."
With
that in mind, she offers these tips for a nontraditional student planning to
pursue an associate, bachelor's or other degree:
Recognize that going back to school is a
major life decision and takes commitment, similar to losing weight or getting
married or looking for a job.
Make a plan for all of your resources --
finances, time, energy, family and friends. Once you know which resources you
have and need, you can develop a strategy during the coming weeks and months to
use those resources wisely.
Engage your family and friends in your effort to return to school, by
making it meaningful and valuable for them, too. That may mean, for example,
taking children to the library with you when doing research; doing your
homework in the same space as your kids; and sharing what you've learned.
Learn which resources your college offers.
Those include such things as tutorial services, online study aids and other
resources, such as day care, that can help adult students better manage
competing commitments to school, work and family.
Check to see if your school has online chat
rooms that allow you to communicate with faculty.
Don't isolate yourself. Build a support
network of classmates or co-workers who are also returning to school. Use
social media sites, such as LinkedIn groups, to connect with others and share
experiences and support. "People are willing to help and are willing to
serve as sounding boards," Molina-Ray says, "especially those who are
going through the same experiences."
1.2
PROBLEM OF THE STUDY
If
university "involvement" (academic and social integration into
university) and other factors reviewed have a significant effect on student
outcomes, i.e. satisfaction, study achievement and dropping out, adults may
very well experience different outcomes from higher education than their
younger counterparts. This study aims at answering the questions whether there
are differences between age groups and fields of education (faculties) of
university students in relations to their: 1. Goal orientations in university
studies; 2. Positive learning experiences; 3. Perceived academic stress; 4.
Satisfaction with the quality of teacher-student interaction; 5. Drop-out rates
and 6. Study achievements.
Procedures
and the Subjects
The
data used in this four-year longitudinal study were collected by using
large-scale, multidimensional questionnaires administered to those students (N
= 916) who enrolled in the University of Joensuu in the autumn 1995. The
follow-up studies were conducted in 1996 and 1998. Part of the data, e.g., the
students' demographic and social background information, dropping out studies
and learning outcomes (course marks), were collected from the university's
student records.
The
information of the Likert-type questionnaires was reduced to scales of
students' goal-orientations, positive learning experiences, perceived academic
stress and quality of teacher-student interaction. The scales were constructed
with the help of principal component analysis (Afifi & Clark 1996). The reliability
estimates of the scales was measured by using the Cronbach's a-coefficient
(Ary, Jacobs & Razavieh 1996). The initial items were keyed 1 - 5 with 1
meaning "totally disagree" and 5 "totally agree".
Students'
goal-orientation (Rautopuro & Vaisanen 2000) was measured at the beginning
of studies in 1995 and consisted of two sub-scales: occupational orientation
and academic orientation. The occupational orientation (a = 0.62) included
three reasons for selecting the field of study: "I wanted an occupation",
"well paid job in the future" and "secure post". The scale
academic orientation (a = 0.60) consisted of items "science is
interesting", "education itself" and "civilisation".
The scales concerning students's positive learning experiences, perceived
academic stress and quality of teacher-student interaction were constructed for
the present study and are presented in Table 1. These three scales were
constructed in each three phases of the study. Drop out of studies or student
desertion are terms that speakers of Castilian Spanish have adopted to
designate a variety of situations identified in the student’s educational
process with a common denominator, that is: detention or interruption of
studies before concluding them. This category includes:
•
involuntary drop out (for administrative non-fulfilment or violation of
regulations);
•
leaving the degree program to begin another in the same institution;
•
leaving the degree program to begin another in another institution;
•
leaving one university to go to another to complete initiated studies;
•
giving up university studies to begin training itineraries outside of
the university, or to join the workforce;
• interrupting
studies with the intention of returning to them in the future;
•
other possibilities.
The
prolongation of studies, however, is more closely linked to the traditional
concept of academic failure that De Miguel and Arias (1999) define as: the
difference between the time invested and the time theoretically predicted to finish one’s
studies. This is one more of the many indicators, among which is also drop out,
that have been defined to identify academic failure at university. Likewise,
Latiesa (1992) designates two sources of failure: one, in a broad sense,
referring to the rates of success, delay and drop out of studies (similar to
the concept of De Miguel and Arias); and another in a strict sense, which
refers to the students’ assessment (grades/marks) in the various subjects
within their degree.
The
situations identified are diverse, and the lack of clarity of terms frequently
results in confusion and contradiction. University statistics usually identify
a "case" of drop out as a student who has begun studies and, before
concluding them, does not enrol in the same areas for two consecutive courses.
Within this broad category, we find situations that cannot be classified as
drop out of initial studies, and much less of university instruction, such as:
students who complete their studies in another community or extra-community
institution (an initiative currently
highly motivated by their own university: the programs SENECA, ERASMUS, etc.);
or students who take a break in their instructional itinerary in order to
enrich it with other educational or work experiences, a common practice of
youths from other areas of Europe. (The average age of Spanish university
students is the lowest in Europe. Pérez Díaz and Rodríguez, 2001). Concretely,
in a recent study carried out by our research team (González et al., 2005; Cabrera et al., 2005), of the total registered students at
the University of La Laguna in academic courses 1998/99 (undergraduate degree)
and 1999/00 (associates degree), we found that 28% abandoned their initial
studies, and of these, 32.7% began another degree in the same university, and
13.2% began other studies in another university; the remaining 54.1% abandoned
the university indefinitely. In a similar study based on three degree majors
(Cabrera et al., 2006), we found that of those who had abandoned their studies,
66% had enrolled in another degree program in the same university (ULL-
University of La Laguna) and 4.2% had gone to another university; 30% had
dropped out of university. Although it is certain that these figures are
alarming, they allow the gross percentages of drop out to decrease by half. The
data reflects a clear intention on the part of the student body to complete
university studies, and therefore, we are not talking about university
desertion, but about vocational or academic failure, when the change in degree
major is provoked by a lack of success reflected by poor grades. From this
perspective, the meaning of each situation of drop out can vary based on who defines
or evaluates it.
For
the university, however, any situation that impels a student to interrupt
his/her studies must be viewed as failure because the educational objectives of
the program imparted have not been achieved. The student, however, may view the
interruption as success, if the decision is made, for example, to improve a
situation of dissatisfaction, such as not liking the degree major. For that
reason, the definition of drop out is closely linked to the goals or
perspectives that each person has when initiating a course of study. These
goals don't necessarily have to coincide with obtaining a degree, but could be
linked instead to the acquisition of credits necessary to obtain certifications
having professional or other ends. These circumstances will be more frequent
after the application of the Model of European Convergence, where the number of
earned credits gains relevance (through various ways), and not the attainment
of a certain degree. In this sense, there exists the paradox that a student can
be in third-cycle studies without having an undergraduate or graduate
degree.
But
the percentage of students who abandon their chosen studies is continually
growing. There exists a general consent that the high rates of drop out are
indicative of low quality, and is therefore believed that the chosen university
did not provide the necessary means for those who attempted but did not finish
their expected degree. Certain measures must be applied before matriculation so
that students can make vocational decisions in accordance with their personal
profiles (previous formation, appropriate aptitudes for the subjects that they
study, economic possibilities, vocational suitability of the selected studies,
motivation, etc.). Measures must also be applied throughout the development of
the course of study, adjusting the instructional strategies to the needs of the
student (the suitability of subjects imparted to the number of credit-hours
studied; materials and technologies placed within reach of the student;
psycho-pedagogic support offered by the centre; etc.)
In
the following section we will pause to analyse what personal, family,
institutional and social elements have been identified as participating
variables in the educational process causing a student to abandon studies. The
grouping of drop out into categories would permit us to define different types
of drop out with more accuracy. But given the shortage of empiric data on
related variables, such as follow-up studies on students who abandon undergraduate
degrees, we will refer to drop out in the broadest sense, that is: when a
student begins a degree program and abandons it before obtaining the minimum
requirements needed to obtain a certification that guarantees their training in
the discipline. With the term “prolongation”, we will refer to situations in
which the student invests more time working toward obtaining a degree than that
which was foreseen in the original plan of studies.
1.3
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
1.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors and root causes leading
student dropout.
2.
To assess the extent active taking part
in optional components of the educational process lead students to interrupt
their studies.
3.
To examine the “reasons why” students enrolled in two different distance
education programs of study opted to dropout.
4. To know the effect dropout to his future
career of adult student.
1.4
RESEARCH QUESTION
1.
To what extent is student dropout due to intrinsic (related to the student)
factors and to what extent is it due to extrinsic (non-student) factors? (e.g.,
study methods and materials)
2.
To what extent does actively taking part in optional components of the
educational process lead students to interrupt their studies?
3.
To what extent do the educational materials and/ or tutors lead students to
withdraw from their studies?
4. Are there any similarities/ differences in
dropout rates/ causes on different courses? And at what level would these be?
1.5
RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
H0:
Students do not dropout of university
due to intrinsic (related to the student) factors and to what extent is it due
to extrinsic (non-student) factors (e.g., study methods and materials).
H1:
Students do dropout of university due to
intrinsic (related to the student) factors and to what extent is it due to
extrinsic (non-student) factors (e.g., study methods and materials).
H0:
Actively taking part in optional components of the educational process does not
lead students to interrupt their studies.
H1:
Actively taking part in optional components of the educational process lead students to interrupt their studies.
H0:
Educational materials and/ or tutors cannot
lead students to withdraw from their studies.
H1:
Educational materials and/ or tutors can lead students to withdraw from their
studies.
1.6
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This
entails the beneficiaries of this research work.. The topic which says the
causes of dropout among adult students of Nigerian universities using Uni-port and River state university of
science and technology as a case study will be relevant to categories of such
as entire public, education students,
lecturers and research institutions in Nigeria.
1.7SCOPE OF THE
STUDY
This study is centered on causes of dropout among adult students of
Nigerian universities (a case study of uni-port and River state university of
science and technilogy)..
1.8 LIMITATION OF STUDY
Despite the
limited scope of this study certain constraints were encountered during the
research of this project. Some of the
constraints experienced by the researcher were given below:
i. TIME: This was a
major constraint on the researcher during the period of the work. Considering
the limited time given for this study, there was not much time to give this research
the needed attention.
ii. FINANCE: Owing to
the financial difficulty prevalent in the country and it’s resultant prices of
commodities, transportation fares, research materials etc. The researcher did
not find it easy meeting all his financial obligations.
iii. INFORMATION CONSTRAINTS: Nigerian
researchers have never had it easy when it comes to obtaining necessary
information relevant to their area of study from private business organization
and even government agencies. uni-port
and river state university of science and technilogy adult
students find it difficult to reveal their internal operations. The primary
information was collected through face-to-face interview getting the published
materials on this topic meant going from one library to other which was not
easy.
Although these problems placed limitations on the study, but it did not prevent the researcher from
carrying out a detailed and comprehensive research work on the subject matter.
1.9
DEFINITION OF TERMS
School
dropouts :Individuals who leave
school prior to high school graduation can be defined as school dropouts. From
the early 1960s into the twenty-first century, as universal secondary school
attendance became the norm, such individuals were the subject of study by
educators, educational researchers, and concerned policymakers in the United
States. With some variation in local circumstances, they are of increasing
concern around the world as the educational requirements for full participation
in modern societies continue to increase.
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