Isaac Newton and Student College Completion

Abstract

Newton's First Law of Motion states that an object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion and once in motion, that is when it develops momentum, it will tend to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an external force. First elucidated in 1687 in Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, Newton's first law of motion can also be applied to study of student completion for like objects students at rest tend to stay at rest and students in motion tend to stay in motion. Once they gain momentum, that is acquire degree credits, they are more likely to stay in motion unless acted upon by an external force. Furthermore, the greater the rate at which students acquire degree credits, the greater their momentum toward degree completion and in turn the greater the likelihood they will stay in motion to degree completion even when external forces intervene (Astin & Oseguera, 2005).Gaining and maintaining momentum is key to student completion. This is but one reason why a number of states have begun to focus on the importance of student momentum to college completion. The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, for instance, utilized the analysis of the transcripts of more than 87,000 first-time community and technical college students who entered the Washington system in the 2001-2002 academic year to *Builds upon the author's recent book, Completing College: Rethinking Institutional Action, and a recent essay of the same title that appeared in the June 8, 2012 edition of Inside Higher Education.

The Complex Nature of Student Retention at America’s Community Colleges

“…These include “(a) measuring enrollments using full-time equivalents (FTEs) rather than headcounts, (b) defining the community college sector in a way that undercounts enrollment, and (c) the exclusion of noncredit course enrollments that makes community colleges look better funded than they really are” (Romano & D’Amico, 2021, p. 23). Following Tinto, the VFA drafters, Romano and D’Amico, and others, it appears that “we still have much to do as we seek to develop a more powerful theory of institutional leaving that captures the full range of behaviors that are lumped under the umbrella term of ‘student leaving’” at the community college (Tinto, 2012, p. 253; see also Horn et al, 2019).…”

“…For community colleges, the question of retention has been a key driver of public policy and scholarship since the 1960s (e.g., Attewell & Lavin, 2007; Bailey et al, 2015; Deil-Amen, 2011; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005; Rose, 2012; Rouse, 1995; Sullivan, 2021; Tinto, 1997; Zwerling, 1986). As Hagedorn (2012) suggests, “despite the plethora of articles and books on the topic, the concept of retention and its appropriate measurement tools still remain cloaked in a significant level of ambiguity” (p. 87; see also Tinto, 2012).…”

“…As Tinto and others have noted, in order to measure retention across a variety of institution types, we have developed assessment metrics that “simplify what would otherwise be very complex analyses” (Tinto, 2012, p. 252; see also Berger et al, 2012; Mortenson, 2012; Tinto, 2007). One manifestation of this simplification is the IPEDS model.…”

Why introductory psychology?

“…Regarding course factors, instructional design and delivery must clearly link the course content to concrete applications (Wang et al, 2017). In addition to course factors, motivational attributes and beliefs contribute to the forward progress of degree completion by community college students (Adelman, 1999(Adelman, , 2006Tinto, 2013). Students who lack the motivation needed to persevere when they encounter barriers and setbacks have difficulty maintaining sufficient motivation.…”

Dropout in online higher education. A scoping review from 2014 to 2018

“…From literature (Barnett, 2011;Berger et al, 2012;Escobedo, 2007;Hart, 2012;Kemp, 2002;Libby, & Catherine, 2008;Levitz et al, 1999;Martinez, 2003;Street, 2010;Tinto, 2012Tinto, , 2013 15 31.25…”