Pathway to success: using students’ insights and perspectives to improve retention and success for university students from low socioeconomic (LSE) backgrounds

Students’ Views of the Promoters and Barriers to First Year College Persistence in Ireland: A Partnership Study

“…This work documents a wide range of personal and institutional factors that impact students' experiences and therefore their persistence and retention in college (Hinton, 2007;Larsen, et al, 2013;Redmond et al, 2011;Sadowski et al, 2018;Tinto, 1993Tinto, , 2017Yonghong, 2016). Many studies identify barriers to first-year student persistence, including first generation status (Tinto, 1993), lower family socioeconomic background, (Larsen, et al, 2013), financial strain (Bexley et al, 2013), an unsuitable college course (Redmond et al, 2011;), and a lack of social integration (Hinton, 2007;Redmond et al, 2011;Tinto, 1993), personal motivation (Tinto, 2017), and preparedness for college (Larsen, et al, 2013;Redmond 2011;Sadowski, 2018). In conjunction with this, the factors that promote first-year student persistence and or retention, are well documented, by Vincent Tinto in particular, and include motivation, self-efficacy, the feeling of belonging at the institution (Thomas et al, 2017;Tinto, 2017), strong social connections, high academic ability, formal academic integration (Tinto, 1993).…”

“…There is a wealth of research on student persistence and retention to date (see for example Ketonen, et al, 2015;Larsen et al, 2013; MAP-Works TM ; Redmond et al, 2011;Ryan & Glenn, 2004;Tinto, 2006Tinto, , 2014Tinto, , 2017Yonghong, 2016). This work documents a wide range of personal and institutional factors that impact students' experiences and therefore their persistence and retention in college (Hinton, 2007;Larsen, et al, 2013;Redmond et al, 2011;Sadowski et al, 2018;Tinto, 1993Tinto, , 2017Yonghong, 2016). Many studies identify barriers to first-year student persistence, including first generation status (Tinto, 1993), lower family socioeconomic background, (Larsen, et al, 2013), financial strain (Bexley et al, 2013), an unsuitable college course (Redmond et al, 2011;), and a lack of social integration (Hinton, 2007;Redmond et al, 2011;Tinto, 1993), personal motivation (Tinto, 2017), and preparedness for college (Larsen, et al, 2013;Redmond 2011;Sadowski, 2018).…”

“…Much of the research available has adopted quantitative research methodologies (Ketonen, et al, 2015; MAP-Works TM , 2014; Ryan & Glenn, 2004;Yonghong, 2016). There is less evidence available from qualitative methodologies (Moore-Cherry et al, 2015;Redmond, et al, 2011;Sadowski, et al, 2018). The research base to-date features researchers alone interpreting and presenting the data, not in partnership with students.…”

“…One study of significance in identifying a model for working in partnership with students on persistence-related issues was carried out by Sadowski et al, (2018). This Australian study adopted an Action Research approach with a participatory methodology which included a sample of first, second-and third-year students.…”

Universities trailing behind: Unquestioned epistemological foundations constraining the transition to online instructional delivery and learning

“…In our approach we studied LMS research between 2011 and 2020 to understand their affordances. However, despite the many cases that have clearly demonstrated the potential of LMS in transforming teaching and learning and the significant improvement in access to education (Rankine-Venaruzzo, Macnamara and Griffin 2014; Rhode et al 2017;Sadowski, Stewart and Pediaditis 2018;Li 2019), South Africa has yet to realize its educational potential. Worse yet, many lecturers have not been adequately prepared to transition to ERT and do not have the necessary technological abilities.…”