Anatomía de la privacidad

What can lecturers do to ensure that students complete their programmes of study? In any given programme there will be two groups of students who express the desire to leave the programme. Firstly, we would have a group of students that came to the realisation that the programme does not meet their expectations, in other words the reality of the speciality is different to what they thought it would be. In this scenario we can play an advisory role. Secondly, we will have a group of students that for various reasons as was discussed in the previous section will leave the programme unless we intervene positively and put measures in place to retain those students. Retention programmes vary, but commonalities occur which will be espoused upon in the next few paragraphs.

Tinto (1993) identified six principles an institution needs adhere to in order to contribute towards attaining a successful retention programme. Firstly, the institution’s retention policy should start immediately (for example orientation programmes); secondly, the students should be the institution’s primary concern; thirdly, institutions should promote and facilitate the required academic skills; fourthly, institutions should interact with students formally but also on a personal level; fifthly, retention of students should take place systematically; and lastly, education should be the ultimate goal of retention programmes. These views are corroborated by the major contributions of Braxton (2000) and Seidman (2005) in particular foregrounding students’ experiences in relation to the institutional culture.

Many of the above principles seem to be incorporated in nursing education programmes. For example, Ramsburg (2007: 12) describes a retention programme for first year nursing students where the academic failure rate has decreased by 50%. This programme includes: creating a sense of community (orientation), faculty advisement, academic support services, pre and post review, strive for success (a one-credit-hour, ten week course such as offering study tips, critical thinking strategies, time and stress management, and so on) and opportunities for social integration (Ramsburg 2007: 15). McLaughlin (2008: 84) added another component that of using existing student data to make decisions to enhance functional and psychological support to students. At risk students are identified early in a programme and interventions started immediately instead of waiting for the summative assessment results of students. Utilising innovative teaching strategies, for example, could remedy student under-achievement. Atack and Rankin’s study (2002: 463) strongly recommend assessing computer literacy and internet skills prior to commencement of a web-based course, an orientation session where web-based learning is introduced and having an on-site facilitator to facilitate learning. Studies conducted on students not completing their programmes proposed preventative as well as curative strategies to prevent students from dropping out (Manzini 1998: 50).

2.7 Summary

In this chapter I have identified three major aspects which impact student completion and retention rates. Firstly, I have shown how institutional academic support structures could enhance student completion and retention rates. Here I have specifically shown that students have a better chance to complete their qualifications if the institution’s academic support structures are favourably utilised such as the implementation of admission policies to encourage students to make more informed vocational choices, provision of tutorial support, financial aid schemes, and effective time management strategies for coping with their studies. Here I am reminded of both Koen’s (2007) and Louw and Bitzer’s (2008) study in relation to student completion

and retention rates. Koen’s (2007) emphasis on the lack of financial support, inadequate admission policies, lack of resources, student unpreparedness for programmes, and poor vocational choices, as well as Louw and Bitzer’s (2008) emphasis on inadequate student support mechanism, student unpreparedness, and inappropriate vocational choices of students are all aspects which relate to the lack of infrastructural support. These contributions do not necessarily and secondly, invoke the application of values (I have alluded to) such as conscientiousness, motivation, commitment and agreeableness which would reinforce students’ desire to complete their studies. This is an aspect I wish to explore in more detail in relation to an analysis of my findings in Chapter Five. Thirdly, and to my mind by far the most important aspect which determines student completion and retention involves how they are taught and how they learn – an aspect which does not receive adequate attention in the studies of Koen, Louw and Bitzer and others. To a lesser extent the works of Tierney (1992), Braxton (2000) and Seidman (2005) refer to students’ learning as an issue which requires attention, but not specific to nursing education. In this regard I have alluded to the lack of appropriate assessment strategies to consistently judge students’ performance during the duration of a nursing education programme. This is an aspect which shall be addressed in Chapter Five as I shall endeavour to contribute towards the debate and practices about student completion and retention.

To sum up, this literature overview foregrounds at least three major aspects which impact student completion and retention rates: institutional or infrastructural support, values initiation, and teaching and learning practices. The literature suggests that the first aspect is always emphasised as significant to ensure student completion and retention. I do not deny that addressing institutional culture ought to be a priority if institutions were to enhance their student completion and retention rates. Yet, in my view, such an initiative is not sufficient. I contend that the aspects of values initiation and teaching and learning pedagogy are underplayed. I think that the potential contribution of this research report lies in exploring these latter two aspects – an activity which I shall embark on in Chapter Five. Suffice to say, with these

major aspects in mind which influence students’ performance in relation to completion and retention, I now move on to the next chapter where I shall discuss the research approach, design and methods for generating data I have used for this study.