Tinto's Model Research Articles

Factors Affecting Student Retention: A Complex-Systemic Study of EFL Students at Cadi Ayyad University

In order to shed light on the problem of student retention (a university's ability to retain its students), this paper analyzes the implementation of complexity theory in Moroccan universities. Tinto's (1975) Student Integration model served as its main reference. Through the lenses of nestedness and networked interactions, we examine the case of the English department at the factors affecting student retention at the English department and (b) build a model that will serve as an example for student retention there. In order to address the topic at hand, the study conceptualizes student retention as an emergent phenomenon brought on by component and agent interaction in a complex system. Data was gathered from freshmen English department students. EFA (exploratory factor analysis) and correlations were used to analyze the quantitative data. Statistically significant findings supported three of the five hypotheses. According to the research, four variables from the initial model were revealed by the EFA. The following variables are: (1) Initial goal and institutional commitment; (2) Social integration; (3) Family background; and (4) Academic integration. In a nutshell, this paper seeks to investigate how complexity perspectives might be used to construct student retention models that will guide institutional decision-making at Moroccan universities.

Individual Characteristics as Predictors of Program Completion of Ph.D. Students in Makerere University

The long time to obtain a Ph.D. degree has been a source of contention (Skopek et al., 2022), and graduate schools worldwide are working to reduce the long time to degree (Geven et al., 2018). This study examined individual characteristics as predictors of program completion of Ph.D. students at Makerere University. Anchoring in Tinto's Model of persistence, individual characteristics included socioeconomic status (SES), quality of relationship with family, studies-family balance, expectations, self-efficacy, grit, writing, and prior experiences. Using a mixed methods approach, both cross-sectional and phenomenological designs were used to collect data from 104 Ph.D. graduates through self-administered questionnaires while seven participants were interviewed. Data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, while qualitative data used thematic analysis. Descriptive statistics involved the calculation of the mean, while inferential analysis involved using a regression model. Thereafter, data was interpreted using a Joint Display Table. The results revealed that individual characteristics, namely SES and prior experiences, positively and significantly predicted program completion. However, the quality of relationship with family, study-family balance, expectations, self-efficacy, grit, and writing did not. Therefore, some of the findings agree with Tinto's Model while others do not, hence recommending that the management of universities should support Ph.D. students considering their differences in individual characteristics based on their SES and prior experiences. However, management should not prioritise the quality of relationship with family, study-family balance, expectations, self-efficacy, grit, and writing

Understanding the factors that influence matriculation and persistence in Black medical students.

The Association of American Medical Colleges' (AAMC) Strategic Plan lists 10 action plans one of which is focused on understanding how systemic barriers, such as racism and access to quality education, may negatively impact diversity in academic medicine. Thus, the purpose of this study was to understand the factors that impact the matriculation and persistence of Black medical students. A qualitative phenomenological study using Tinto's Model of Institutional Departure as an organizing framework was used for this study. Participants were asked a series of questions covering topics related to their goals, their medical school experience, their preparation for medical school, what could improve their medical school experience, and advice for future Black medical students. Forty in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted during the fall 2022 term from October to December with Black medical students enrolled in over 16 US or Caribbean medical schools. Findings reported that two factors impacted matriculation for Black medical students (exposure to the medical field and resources, particularly financial resources). Findings also reported that three factors impacted the persistence of Black students once in medical school (diversity, support, and emotional resources). The five factors identified by participants that impact matriculation and persistence for Black medical students can be used by medical schools to increase their enrollment and graduation of Black students.

Creating a college adjustment index score for student veterans with and without disabilities.

Higher education is a critical public health tool to achieve economic success, upward mobility, and improved quality of life. Yet, certain groups of students, including student veterans with and without disabilities (SVDs), are at high risk for course failure and dropout, partially due to challenges related to college adjustment. The purpose of this study is to develop a new college adjustment index score for SVDs. We had a total of 4 different research studies to examine the psychometric properties of our college adjustment index score. After conducting a series of psychometric analyses, we selected a total of 18-items. This 18-item tool may help clinicians and researchers conceptualize college adjustment among students through the lens of integrative Tinto's model and positive psychology approaches. Our psychometric analyses revealed that this index tool is brief, reliable, and valid tool to capture college adjustment in SVDs.

International Student Challenges Further Amplified in the Era of a Pandemic

International students have always been in challenging situations and this pandemic amplified it further. To smoothly transition to the educational platforms and integrate into a new country, especially during and after the Covid-19 pandemic, international students need adequate support from educational institutions and governments. Integration plays a dominant role in adaptation to life in a foreign country and academic success. Based on Tinto's (2011) integration model, this study explores the unique challenges based on the lived experiences of an international doctoral student from a lower-income country, Bangladesh, enrolled in an Ontario university. It focuses on the learning experience of the international doctoral student's integration to become a scholar within this changing time. Self-reflection on the hurdles experienced and the coping strategies during the evolution inform the analysis. Finally, the study concludes by highlighting the role of adequate institutional and government support services by offering valuable recommendations for international students’ integration.

Fostering Greater Persistence Among Underserved Computer Science Undergraduates: A Descriptive Study of the I-PASS Project

Female, Black, Latinx, Native American, low-income, and rural students remain underrepresented among computer science undergraduate degree recipients. Along with student, family, and secondary school characteristics, college organizational climate, curricula, and instructional practices shape undergraduates’ experiences that foster persistence until graduation. Our quasi-experimental project, Improving the Persistence and Success of Students from Underrepresented Populations in Computer Science (I-PASS), is designed to augment students’ persistence until they earn their computer science degree. Drawing on prior research, including Tinto's model of effective institutional actions for retention, I-PASS Scholars—all low-income, female and/or members of underserved demographics groups— receive a four-year scholarship; mentoring, tutoring, advising; and opportunities to integrate into the academic and social life of the campus. Students’ written reflections and attitude surveys suggest I-PASS's components foster their retention by, among other mechanisms, enhancing their computer science identity development and sense of belonging in the major.

Students' perspectives on why they drop out and possible retention strategies

Purpose This paper aims to address the issue of why students want to drop out from a course and suggests appropriate strategies to enhance student retention.Design/methodology/approach A sample of 260 hospitality management students were surveyed based on both Tinto's model of student–institution integration and a theory of planned behavior on student departure. The research applies data mining and decision tree using the classification and regression trees (CART) method as an analytic tool to identify a group, discover relationships between groups and predict future events for segmentation.Findings The results regarding the demographics indicate that the most critical factors of dropout included residency status, financial situation, quality of class and occupation.Research limitations/implications This is a limited US sample, based on student perceptions only and not lecturer or institution perceptions.Originality/value The paper provides empirical evidence of student perspective along with institutional and learning environment factors. It includes data from students who are currently enrolled (which previous literature has not covered) by testing student–institution integration and planned behavior on student departure.

JomDataMining: academic performance and learning behaviour dubious relationship

This study contemplates the connection between undergraduate learning conduct and their academic performance by utilising the instructive data mining strategy. Tinto's model and Austin's model are utilised in the study, together with emotional conduct components to define an expectation of the undergraduate academic performance. Respondent's segment data, social polls and their present cumulative grade point average outcomes was gathered utilising a blended technique of surveys and numerous interviews. Correlational plan will be utilised to interpret the study's learning conduct and their academic performance. The selected samples of this study will be in private learning centre. Positive after effect of this study has delineated the connection between student's behaviour and practices influencing their academic performance. The findings of this study enabled a more effective classroom planning and reduction of conflicts among students.

Theory to Practice: The Use of Assessment in Shaping First-Year Student Services and Support

This article focuses on the role of theory and assessment in shaping student services and support through collaboration between student and academic affairs. Specifically, this paper highlights the use of a first-year student assessment tool that informs student support practices in the College of Agriculture at Louisiana State University (LSU). Guided by Tinto's (2012) model of institutional action, the assessment tool examined the transition experiences of first-year students, which ultimately provided feedback on ways the academic college could better support their academic and social integration. The major innovations include strategic initiatives focused on three areas: first-year seminars, goal check-in meetings, and academic and social support. The article concludes with four recommendations for scholar-practitioners to help inform practice with first-year experiences and retention initiatives within higher education broadly.

"I haven't had the fun that is portrayed": First-year student expectations and experiences of starting at university

Prospective students have both expectations and anxieties about what their imminent university experiences might entail. In this study, we compare first-year students' expectations with their experiences of being included and excluded while settling into university life. Our participants in this qualitative phenomenological research study were 322 first-year students. We use insights from social and pedagogic inclusion to critique Tinto's (1983) model of the transition of students from schooling to higher education settings. The findings indicate that participants experienced mastery of knowledge, procedures, and structures of the institution as a point of exclusion almost 8% more than they expected. The participants also experienced personal disposition and relationships to be a point of exclusion 24% less than they expected. We recommend that university orientation programmes place more focus on the academic expectations of university since this was an aspect on which participants did not focus much. In addition, these findings also have implications for how universities conceptualise and implement the move to online learning which is often viewed as the solution to increasing access to higher education.

Persistence and Performance in Co-Enrollment Network Embeddings: An Empirical Validation of Tinto's Student Integration Model

In this article, we empirically validate Tinto's Student Integration model, in particular, the predictions the model makes regarding both students' academic outcomes and their dropout decisions. In doing so, we analyze three decades' worth of student enrollments at an Australian university and present a novel methodological approach using graph embedding techniques to capture both structural and neighborhood-based features of the co-enrollment network. In keeping with Tinto's model, we find that not only do these embedded representations of students' social network predict their final grade point average (GPA), but also are able to successfully classify students who dropout. Our results show that these embedded representations of a student's social network can achieve F <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1</sub> -scores of up to 0.79 when classifying dropout and explain up to 10% of the variance in student's final GPA. When controlling for a small set of covariates and variables common to the literature, this performance increases to 0.83 and 24%, respectively. Furthermore, the performance of these methods is robust to both changes in their parameterization and to corruption of the underlying social networks. Importantly, this implies that hyperparameters may be selected to reduce the computational demands of this method without loss of predictive power. The novelty of this method, and its ability to identify student dropout, merits further investigation to preemptively identify at-risk students.

Effect of pre-entry attributes on academic persistence in science and technology in Burkina Faso: A survival analysis

Academic persistence is a challenge in Burkina Faso. Based on Tinto's (1997) model, this research assesses the effect of pre-entry attributes (father's occupation, gender, age at first enrollment in the university, place of birth, Grade Point Average [GPA], field of study in high school, time to first enrollment in the university, cohorts) on academic persistence in STEM in Burkina Faso. Using Kaplan and Meier (1958) survivor function, log rank test (Mantel & Haenszel, 1959) and Cox (1972) regression with 14 cohorts of freshmen (n = 13,891), findings reveal that less than 40% of students of a cohort were enrolled in the bachelor's degree. Father's occupation, gender, age at first enrollment, GPA and cohorts are predictors of academic persistence. Results seem to validate the use of Tinto's model in Burkina Faso. Findings will help education stakeholders (ministry of education, faculty members) to provide support aiming to improve academic persistence in STEM.

A Evasão na Perspectiva de quem Persiste: um Estudo sobre os Fatores que Influenciam na Decisão de Evadir ou Persistir em Cursos de Licenciatura em Física Pautado pelos Relatos dos Formandos

Centrados no problema da evasão em cursos de licenciatura, investigamos o processo de tomada de decisão entre persistir ou evadir a partir de uma perspectiva pouco explorada na literatura: a dos que superaram as dificuldades e se graduaram. Como parte da primeira etapa de uma pesquisa-ação que tem como objetivo institucionalizar ações de combate à evasão nos cursos de licenciatura em Física da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, entrevistamos doze formandos para investigar quais foram suas motivações para concluir o curso e de que modo a instituição pode fomentar a persistência dos demais alunos. Fundamentados no modelo de Tinto sobre persistência universitária e nas orientações metodológicas de Yin, concluímos que são elementos importantes para fomentar a persistência dos estudantes: i. as suas crenças sobre suas competências para suprirem as demandas do curso (crenças de autoeficácia) e sobre o quanto se sentem pertencentes e valorizados no curso (senso de pertencimento), e ii. a construção de uma identificação com a profissão de professor.

The influence of gender composition in a field of study on students' drop‐out of higher education

AbstractCombining Tinto's classical model of student drop‐out with Kanter's assessment of minorities, this article examines the influence of gender composition in a field of study on drop‐out from higher education. Our empirical analysis is based on a sample of students who left German higher education in 2014. Our results confirm previous findings that women in gender‐atypical subjects show a higher drop‐out risk than their male fellow students. We assess several mechanisms which could contribute to explain this effect. Contrary to our expectations, social integration, in the sense of contact with lecturers, seems to be a protective factor for women and men in gender‐atypical subjects. For women in gender‐atypical fields of study, contact with peers is an additional protective factor against drop‐out. The most important mechanism to explain higher education drop‐out is women's more negative self‐assessment of their suitability for male‐dominated subjects.

First-Generation Transfer Students' Perceptions

Obtaining and excelling in a satisfying career often depends on a college education. While community and junior colleges afford greater opportunities to obtain a college education, these opportunities do not always translate into increased educational attainment as only 9.7% of students who enroll at a two-year college complete a bachelor's degree (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2003). Research indicated that a variety of factors contribute to the lower levels of academic success among community college students (Warburton, Bugarin, &amp; Nunez, 2001). This study examines the impact of trasnferring from a two-year college on first-generation students' perceptions of university experiences. The results indicate that students who transfer from two-year colleges have lower levels of satisfaction with various aspects of the four-year university; this trend is particularly pronounced for first-generation minority students. According to Tinto's model of student matriculation, commitment to the university is key to successful matriculation, and student perceptions and experiences play a role in developing that commitment. Therefore, lower levels of satisfaction may contribute to the lower rates of graduation among these cohorts.

Learner Support Services and Retention of Distance Learners: The Case of Bachelor of Education Programmes of the University of Nairobi

Adult learners are regarded as a key and viable clientele for colleges and universities worldwide. Not only do they provide additional tuition revenue, but also bring the richness and variety of their knowledge and life experience to the classroom. Retaining and graduating students are paramount to the overall success of colleges and universities. Despite significant efforts on the part of many colleges and universities to increase student retention and graduation rates, these rates have remained relatively low. This study sought to establish how the provision of learner support services influences the retention of distance learners at the University of Nairobi. The study was grounded on the Vincent Tinto model of institutional departure, Psychological model of student departure by John Bean, Input-Environment-Outcome Model by Alexander Astin, and the Transactional Distance Theory. Quantitative data was collected through structured self-administered questionnaires while qualitative was collected through focus group discussions after research instruments were pilot tested for reliability through test-retest criterion and validity through content related method. The statistical tools of analysis for descriptive data were arithmetic mean and standard deviation while for inferential statistics were Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation (r), simple regression, multiple regressions and stepwise regression (R 2 ) and F-tests were used to test hypotheses in the study. Hypotheses test was done and results were as follows: H 01 : Academic Support Services have no significant influence on the retention of distance learners at the University of Nairobi with R 2 =0.404, was rejected and H 1 was accepted and concluded that Academic Support Services had a statistically significant influence on the retention of distance learners at the University of Nairobi. Keywords: Academic Support Services, Adequate Tutoring, Feedback, Interaction with instructors, Learner Support Services, Mentoring, Module availability, Retention. DOI : 10.7176/JEP/10-29-01 Publication date :October 31 st 2019

Development of the Engineering Student Integration Instrument: Rethinking Measures of Integration

AbstractBackgroundThere is a need for engineering‐specific theories and constructs to advance our understanding of student development. Student integration, widely used in educational research, is a suitable construct; however, it has also received some criticism. These critiques can be addressed by rethinking student integration and its use in the context of engineering education.Purpose/HypothesisThis article re‐conceptualizes student integration and describes the development of the Engineering Student Integration Instrument (ESII), which measures integration, as well as provides evidence of its validity.Design/MethodPreliminary items for the ESII were developed using open‐ended survey responses from undergraduate engineering students about the impact of co‐curricular support. These items were reviewed by multiple researchers to assess question phrasing, formatting, and face validity. The resulting instrument was administered electronically to students in the College of Engineering at a large East Coast public university. Data from 586 students were used to develop evidence of validity by conducting an exploratory factor analysis on half of the data and a confirmatory factor analysis on the other half.ResultsEvidence of validity indicates the appropriateness of the ESII for measuring integration and operationalizes integration constructs from the model of co‐curricular support (MCCS) for undergraduate engineering students, including academic, social, professional, and university integration.ConclusionsGrounded in the MCCS, the ESII begins to address several critiques of student integration as originally defined by Tinto's model of institutional departure, those related particularly to the measurement of the integration constructs.

Shifting Our Focus to Support the Educational Journey of Underrepresented Students.

The racial and ethnic distribution of RNs has been unable to keep pace with the growth seen in minority populations. Although nursing schools have recognized the need to increase the number of underrepresented students entering the profession, significant challenges with retention and graduation exist. Guided by Tinto's student integrative model, this study not only sought to understand why students leave, but also to identify what helps them persist. A phenomenological approach was used to understand the lived experience of 10 Hispanic nursing students at a Jesuit university in the northeastern United States. Three main themes emerged: Journey Into the Unknown, Creating a Culture of Acceptance, and Keeping on Course in Uncharted Territory. Although these students did describe feeling unprepared, a primary concern was not experiencing a connectedness or welcoming environment within their campus community. In addition to the academic and financial supports provided, shifting focus and targeting campus climate may help underrepresented students to be more successful. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(3):159-163.].

A Model of Co-Curricular Support for Undergraduate Engineering Students

Background Engineering student support centers (ESSCs) are common providers of assistance for undergraduate students, especially those from underrepresented groups. However, ESSCs are relatively recent, and there are gaps in our knowledge about how they are intentionally designed to function alongside engineering curricula. Purpose/Hypothesis The purpose of this article is to develop a conceptual model that graphically represents the practices of and intentions behind ESSCs. Design/Method A multi-case study design was used to examine the efforts of six ESSCs housed at four institutions. Using qualitative methods, we collected data from student-support practitioners (those who provide support) and students (those who receive support). The data were analyzed through the development of a logic model. Results The primary result of this study is an empirically based conceptual model, the model of co-curricular support (MCCS), for constructing and evaluating support systems and individual student interventions. The MCCS builds on Tinto's model of institutional departure and demonstrates the breadth of assistance required to comprehensively support undergraduate students at the college level. Conclusions The MCCS indicates how a student's interactions with the academic, social, and professional systems in a college and the larger university system can influence a student's success in an undergraduate degree program. The model combines student-retention theory with student-support practice in a way that can facilitate future collaborations between educational researchers and student-support practitioners.

A conceptual framework for understanding pre-entry factors influencing first-year university experience

Student cohorts entering universities in South Africa have become more diverse; making the first-year experience more complex to understand. In order to address these challenges, a conceptual framework that accounts for the situated circumstances of the diverse students entering higher education is explored. The conceptual framework integrates key concepts from Bourdieu's (1984; 1990) conceptual tools and Tinto's (1975; 1993) student integration model. The framework facilitates in-depth understanding of pre-entry factors influencing first-year experience. To test the efficacy of the conceptual model, an analysis of one student's negotiations through her first-year university experience is reported. This article highlights the utility of this framework, identifying the manner in which pre-entry factors from the participant's situated context assisted in explaining how habitus shaped her first-year experience and academic performance. The themes identified: determination, motivation and self-resilience, helped understand why this participant made decisions that influenced her social and academic integration at university. Study outcomes suggest some initial insights and a starting point to influence actions that might improve university transition and integration of students from relatively disadvantaged backgrounds.