Affective Elements of the Student Experience That Contribute to Withdrawal Rates in the General Chemistry Sequence: A Multimethod Study
- Ying Guo*
Ying Guo*Email: [email protected]Georgia Gwinnett College, 1000 University Center Lane, Lawrenceville, Georgia 30043, United StatesMore by Ying Guo
- ,
- Kevin P. O’Halloran
Kevin P. O’HalloranGeorgia Gwinnett College, 1000 University Center Lane, Lawrenceville, Georgia 30043, United StatesMore by Kevin P. O’Halloran
- ,
- Rebecca M. Eaker
Rebecca M. EakerGeorgia Gwinnett College, 1000 University Center Lane, Lawrenceville, Georgia 30043, United StatesMore by Rebecca M. Eaker
- ,
- Chantelle Lindsay Anfuso
Chantelle Lindsay AnfusoGeorgia Gwinnett College, 1000 University Center Lane, Lawrenceville, Georgia 30043, United StatesMore by Chantelle Lindsay Anfuso
- ,
- Michael Kirberger
Michael KirbergerGeorgia Gwinnett College, 1000 University Center Lane, Lawrenceville, Georgia 30043, United StatesMore by Michael Kirberger
- , and
- Thomas Gluick
Thomas GluickGeorgia Gwinnett College, 1000 University Center Lane, Lawrenceville, Georgia 30043, United StatesMore by Thomas Gluick
Abstract
The withdrawal of students from Principles of Chemistry courses is a major problem for STEM retention and graduation rates, which are topics of national interest. In order to implement effective intervention methods to reduce withdrawal rates, we must understand the underlying reasons why students withdraw. This paper presents a multimethod study on student withdrawals from Principles of Chemistry from summer 2015 to fall 2018 semester. Eleven students who withdrew were interviewed, and thematic analysis and cluster analysis were used to interpret interview data to understand their reasons for withdrawing. Practical reasons included course structure, student–faculty relationship, student personal factors, chemistry content, and study strategies and academic support. Four themes identified from thematic analysis (hopeless, uncomfortable, demotivated, and overwhelmed) provided deeper insight into the affective emotional factors that contributed to the withdrawals. Cluster analysis revealed natural groupings of student responses and motivations, suggesting that targeted interventions can be developed for different groups. To ensure that our results are comparable to previous studies on course withdrawals, students who withdrew were analyzed according to demographic data. Results revealed that some groups had higher withdrawal rates compared to students who passed the course, which may reflect different levels of academic preparedness and thus an advantage/disadvantage. The analyses presented here will be of value when considering intervention approaches to reduce withdrawals from challenging courses.
Cited By
This article is cited by 3 publications.
- Seungjin Lee, Ying Guo. Evolution of Teaching Independent Undergraduate Chemistry Research Courses and Student Skills Developed through the COVID-19 Pandemic and Forward. Journal of Chemical Education 2024, 101 (4) , 1726-1734. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c00694
- Ying Guo, Daniel Lee. Leveraging ChatGPT for Enhancing Critical Thinking Skills. Journal of Chemical Education 2023, 100 (12) , 4876-4883. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c00505
- Betül Demirdöğen, Scott E. Lewis. Investigating How Chemistry Students’ Reported Challenges Inform the Relationship between Mindset and Academic Performance. Journal of Chemical Education 2023, 100 (9) , 3252-3260. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c00452