The aim of this study was to investigate study skills and its relationship to student attrition and retention. The participants for this research were comprised of students recruited from a small technical college located In Central Maine. All participants were first year, full-time students who were beginning their studies at the college. This study was initiated during the Incoming students' orientation program prior to the commencement of classes, and their progress was monitored for up to two academic years.The primary assessment instrument was the Learnlnq And Study Strategies Inventory (Weinstein et al., 1987). The Learning And Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) aids the student in becoming aware of their strengths and weaknesses in areas that have been causally related to success in higher education. It is a standardized measure of reading comprehension; a measure of self-concept and self-esteem; as well as a supplementary measure examining various aspects of cognition, anxiety and motivation.Initially, the students' learning and study -strategies were assessed utilizing the LASSI. Each student In the experimental group was then Individually provided with detailed feedback of the assessment results during their first semester. When appropriate, a personalized plan for needed support services or remediation was developed and strongly encouraged. The students In the waiting list control group received their assessment results later In the academic year and did not have the individual sessions.It was hypothesized that the study skills assessment, feedback process, and short-term intrusively delivered intervention would result in increases in students' cumulative grade point average, graduation, and retention, while producing a corresponding decrease in attrition.The data generated from this study suggests that the relationship among the previously mentioned factors are essentially unrelated to students' cumulative grade point average as well as graduation, retention, and attrition.Possible confounding variables are discussed. This discussion centers around a few methodological difficulties as well as an analysis of the unique Interaction of the student and Institutional factors which may have effected the study. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/179173 |
| Date | January 1993 |
| Creators | Normandin, Denis G. |
| Contributors | Nicholas, Donald R. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | iii, 92 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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