Factors affecting student drop out from the university introductory physics course, including the anomaly of the Ontario double cohort

Abstract

The course drop-out rate is the fraction of students per year who drop a course after starting it. This statistic is important both as a measure of the difficulty or relevance of the course compared to others at a university, and as one indication of the success of measures taken to improve teaching. The drop-out rate of students from the first-year university physics course at Trent University increased from about 8% in the 1980s to over 20% in 1999, primarily under the same instructor, with the exception of the Ontario “double-cohort” years 2003–2004 and 2004–2005 when it plummeted to about 9% before rebounding in 2005–2006. A similar decrease in this rate for the double-cohort years has been observed at Brock University and the University of Guelph, and so was probably widespread. It is speculated that the main cause of the decrease for these two years was an improved work ethic of the double-cohort students. Possible causes of the steady increase in the drop-out rate from the 1980s to the present are discussed including high-school courses taken; gender balance; and grade inflation. The last of these combined with a dramatic increase in the percentage of high-school students continuing their education, appears to have resulted in weaker and less motivated students being admitted to university. Results are also given of a survey of recent first-year Trent University physics students for possible reasons for dropping out of the course: students who have not taken the final-year high-school physics course, do not live in residence, or do not work together on their assignments are much more likely to drop the course. PACS No.: 01.40.gb