DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 359 356 CE 063 962

AUTHOR Smith, Geoff; Bailey, VivienTITLE Staying the Course.INSTITUTION Business and Technology Education Council, London

(England).PUB DATE Mar 93NOTE 25p.PUB TYPE Reports Research/Technical (143)

EDRS PRICE MFO1 /PCO1 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS *Academic Persistence; Adult Education; Business

Education; Computer Science Education; *DropoutPrevention; Dropout Research; Dropouts; EducationalPractices; Engineering Education; Foreign Countries;Postsecondary Education; *School Holding Power;*Student Attrition; Withdrawal (Education)

IDENTIFIERS *Business and Techn Educ Council (Great Britain);Great Britain

ABSTRACTIn a yearlong project, Britain's Business and

Technology Education Council (BTEC) investigated why some studentsleave their educational programs before achieving their certificatesor diplomas. The project drew information on completion rates fromthe BTEC database. Views of BTEC centers' staff were canvassedthrough a national survey covering 348 programs in business andfinance, computing, and engineering. Center staff and BTEC's leadmoderators shared views on good practice and the development workgoing on in their centers to improve completion rates. Field workvisits involved interviewing program teams and 60 students andstudying programs. A postal survey obtained insights fromnoncompleting students on their reasons for leaving their programs.Analysis revealed the following: personal attention was the basicprinciple behind good retention rates; most BTEC students left aprogram with some recorded achievement; getting a job was one of themain reasons for full-time students leaving programs; loss or changeof employment and other work-related reasons were among the mainreasons why part-time students left early; and most students who leftearly did so for program-related reasons, such as poor grades or poorachievement. Examples of good practice in centers include thefollowing: improving personal attention, student support and personaltutoring; supporting large numbers of students; providing links withemployers; dealing with anxiety; providing preenrollment attention;and using open and flexible learning techniques. (YLB)

***********************************************************************

Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be madefrom the original document.

***********************************************************************

;,,41,...

,T

.. YIP

IS-

_107

401\7

.1z.,.k.1.-

t tt,

U S. DEPARTMENT Of EDUCATIONON ' Educanonat Restaich and imotouement

E 'ONALCENTER IRESOURCES

ERICIINFORMATION

Trus document nas Often reproduced es.ece..ect from tne person of ofganuanonor u3.nanng

7 Mnor cnanges nave been made to mcooveeofoduchon Quaid v

Po.nts of vito of ootn.onssteteClulttusclocumint do not neceemnly mcoesont altoOERI Rosman of 00CV

PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THISMATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY

TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESINFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)."

--'1GIE miff

iv

Im..11111111111 nti hunt

LEST CM AMIABLE

Report by Geoff Smith and Vivien Bailey

Research Project by Vivien Bailey

Edited and authorised by Beryl Jeffreys

3

Most BTEC students follow a programme

through to its conclusion, achieving the final

award. Although it is not usual for them to

leave a programme with nothing to show for

their work completing at least one module

for instance some students do leave before

the end for a variety of reasons.

WHATcauses students to leave

their study programmes early?

WHATcan centres do to maximise

student retention rates?

HOWcan adoption of BTEC's

recommended procedures help?

In a year-long project, BTEC,the Business & Technology Education Council,

has investigated why some students leave their programmesbefore achieving their awards.

This project, undertaken between1 October 1991 and 30 September 1992,

categorised the reasons and formulated a series ofrecommendations to reduce non-completion.

The findings show how centres can improve completionrates through the implementation of BTEC policy

and student-centred approaches.

4

One of the most comprehensive pieces of researchundertaken by BTEC, this project drew information oncompletion rates from the BTEC database. The viewsof centre staff were also canvassed through a nationalsurvey covering 348 programmes in Business andFinance. Computing, and Engineering. Statistics onearly leavers were obtained from programme leaders.Both non-completing and continuing students wereconsulted.

Centre staff and BTEC's lead moderators shared viewson good practice and the development work going onin their centres to improve completion rates, as well asmaking recommendations to the project.

Fieldwork visits involved interviewing programmeteams and 60 students as well as studying programmes.

A postal survey was carried out to obtain insights fromnon-completing students on their reasons for leavingtheir part-completed programmes.

The subsequent research involved detailed analysis ofthe reasons why students left early.

Registration by students with BTEC occursearly in their programme - not half way throughor towards the culmination of activities. Thisaffects completion statistics.

5

MAJOR POINTS

Personal attention is the basic principle behindgood retention rates.

Most BTEC students leave a programme withsome recorded achievement. In this context,completion of at least one unit is a minimumrecognised achievement.

Getting a job is one of the main reasons forfull-time students leaving programmes beforeachieving the relevant award.

Loss or change of employment and otherwork-related reasons are among the mainreasons why part-time students leave early.

Most students who leave early do so forprogramme-related reasons, such as poorgrades during the programme, or poorachievement in the end-of-year assessment

THEFINDINGS

6

Most

BTEC students

leave a programme

with some recorded

achievement.

...ACCORDING TO STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT BY SECTOR

BUSINESS & FINANCE CONSTRUCTION

67% 59%

FC 10%

29%

FD 10%

23%

NC 10%

27%

ND I I %

19%

HNC 8%

16%

HND 7%

FC I I %

20%

FD 14%

10%

NC 19%

20%

ND 14%

9%

HNC 12%

17%

HND I I %

8%

ENGINEERING

59% 58%

FC 15% FC 15%

24% 25%

FD 25%

59%

75% 65%

75%

69%

79%

21%

SCIENCE & CARING

62%

49%FD 18%

24% 14%

60%

NC 15% NC 13%

23% 20%

61%

ND 18% ND 14%

19% 14%

HNC II%

17%

70%

HNC 10%

18%

68%

74%

69%

65%

65%

71%

70%

65% 68%

HND 12% HND 14%

21% 16%

These charts are based on the numbers of students registered withBTEC during 1989/9, and achievements recorded at November 1992.Figures have been rounded down to the nearest whole number.

DESIGN

FC 13%

8c/..

77%

SERVICE INDUSTRIES (Includes Hotel and Catering. Loom and ref(ernant ker)

57%FC 11%

31%

79% 73%FD 9% FD 12%

10% 13%

58% 47%NC 7% NC 25%

34% 26%

76% 74%ND 9% ND 13%

13% 11%

64% 54%HNC 15% HNC 24%

20% 20%

82% 74%HND 7% HND 8%

9% 16%

COMPUTING

46%

AGRICULTURE

79%NC 19% ND 3%

33% 17%

63% 70%ND 21% HNC 23%

14% 5%

55% 83%HNC 17% HND 3%

26% 12%

65%

HND 17%

16%

% of students achieving full awards

% of students achieving one or more modulesat pass grade or above

% of students achieving no modulesor fail/refer grades only

FC- First Certificate

FD- First Diploma

NC- National Certificate

8

ND- National Diploma

HNC- Higher National Certificate

HND- Higher National Diploma

5

...ACCORDING TO STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT - A SUMMARY

FC 13%

24%

FD 15%

13%

62%

69%

NC 16%

60%

23%

72%

ND 14%

13%

70%

HNC 11%

170/0

73%

HND I I%

14%

These charts are based on the numbers of students registered with BTECduring 1989/9, and achievements recorded at November 1992. Figures havebeen rounded down to the nearest whole number.

% of students achieving full awards

% of students achieving one or more modulesat pass grade or above

% of students achieving no modulesor fail/refer grades only

FC-First Certificate

FD-First Diploma

NC-National Certificate

ND-National Diploma

HNC-Higher National Certificate

HND-Higher National Diploma

...ACCORDING TO THE NATIONAL SURVEY

Statistics were gathered from centre staff on thereasons why 2.170 students, from 254 programmes, leftearly. The students, aged 16-plus, were on BTEC First.National. and Higher National award programmes inBusiness and Finance. Computing (InformationTechnology Application in the BTEC First awardsector), and Engineering. A total of 1,086 students wereon 120 Certificate (part-time) programmes with 1.084students on 134 Diploma programmes (full-time).

The table below shows that employment-relatedreasons accounted for 31% of the total of students whodid not complete Certificate (part-time) programmes.compared with 19% on Diploma (full-time)programmes. For 18% of Certificate students who leftearly, the work-related causes concerned loss orchange of employment. The majority of Diplomastudents who left early for work-related reasons did soto take up full-time employment.

Also 44% of both Certificate and Diploma students wholeft early did so for programme-related reasons. Failureof their year one assessment was the major cause ofprogramme-related non - completion, affecting 23%of Diploma and 17% of Certificate early leavers. Inaddition, poor grades caused 16% of Certificate and 11%of Diploma non-completers to leave. A further 13% ofCertificate students and 18% of Diploma students leftearly for family/health or financial reasons.

Certificate DiplomaREASON FOR NON-COMPLETION Programmes Programmes

Took up full time employment 5% 18%

Loss of employment 7% 0.2%

Change of employment

Other work-related reasons

11% 0.3%

8% 0.8%

Failed year one assessment(adjusted to exclude First Award from sample) 17% 23%

Obtaining poor grades 16% 11%

Did not like programme 7% 7%

Other programme-related reasons 4% 3%

Family/health etc 10% 13%

Financial reasons 3% 5%

Unknown 10% 10%

Other reasons 2% 8.7%

7

...ACCORDING TOPROGRAMME SELECTED

"Did not like programme" featured as a cause of notcompleting an award in Engineering First Certificate(13% of students who left early) and Diploma (12%), inBusiness and Finance Higher National Certificate (23%)and Higher National Diploma (15%), compared withvery small proportions for the other awards studied.

Internal transfer affectea 9% of Business and Financenon-completions at HND level. 20% of Computing, and36% of Engineering.

Financial reasons were recorded for only a smallproportion of early leavers. except in ITA/Computing,where in First Diploma they amounted to 10% and inNational Diploma. 12%. (It is likely that the movetowards full-time employment masks financial reasons.)

The proportions of family/health reasons fluctuatedconsiderably between the various subject areas, beinggreatest for HND Business & Finance (18%) and FirstCertificate Information Technology Applications (27%).

It is likely that family/health, unknown, and financialreasons for leaving early have to some extent becomemixed, as these findings have been based on recordskept by staff, who may not have been fully aware ofstudents' personal circumstances.

I8

...ACCORDING TO AWARD LEVEL

The project looked at the achievement of students whoregistered in 1988-89, whose awards had beenprocessed up to Spring 1992.

A total of 62% of students achieved First Certificateawards. The figure for students who obtained successin one or more modules was an additional 13"..

A total of 69% of students achieved First Diplomaawards. The figure for students who obtained successin one or more modules was an additional 1Y.,.

A total of 60% of students achieved National Certificateawards. The figure for students who were successful inone or more modules was an additional 16%.

A total of 72% of students achieved National Diplomaawards. The figure for students who succeeded in oneor more modules was an additional 14%.

A total of 70% of students achieved Higher NationalCertificate awards. The figure for students succedingin one or more modules was an additional 11".,.

A total of 73% of students achieved Higher NationalDiploma awards. The figure for students succeeding inone or more modules was 11%. At this level, the totalnon-completion figure of 14% (all percentage figureshave been rounded down tc the nearest whole number)conceals a proportion of committed students who havetransferred to non-BTEC provision such as degreeprogrammes. especially in Engineering and Computing.

Overall, students aged 20 or below on registrationwere found to be more likely to complete anaward in the three Board areas studied than thoseaged 21 or more on registration. The "gap"between completion rates for the two age groupswas greater for Diploma (full-time) than forCertificate (part-time) programmes, suggestingthat to some extent the over-21 group foundCertificate programmes to be more "user-friendly".

10

...ACCORDING TOTHE EARLY LEAVERS

The postal survey of early leavers revealed that 45% leftfor programme-related reasons, 26% left for work-relatedreasons and 28% for "personal" reasons.

The proportion citing "personal" was higher than thatobtained via staff respondents and this may be becausestaff taking part in the national survey may not havebeen fully aware of the personal factors in operationi.e. taking up full-time work may have concealed familyor financial problems.

...ACCORDING TO CENTRE STAFF

Students who left early may have underestimated thecommitment required on all BTEC programmes.according to centre staff who took part in the project.Some students had difficulty in taking control of theirown learning and in making the transition from GCSE.Students were finding it more difficult to obtain day-release, and those who did were sometimes unable toattend because of their work commitments.

Employers might also have been unsupportive invarious ways. Students on day-release or eveningprogrammes were also under a lot of pressure incombining study with work, family, and travel,they suggested.

i3

...ACCORDING TOSTUDENTS ON CAMPUS

In interviews conducted during fieldwork, BTECstudents said they valued peer group support andshared working, and they enjoyed practical, active,"real" assignments. They appreciated staff with afriendly, approachable manner who would listento them.

Difficulties mentioned by students included obtainingaccess to advice, equipment. and resources, and theproblem of "bunching" of assignments.

Students in all three areas studied were said tohave difficulties with basic skills such as numeracyand communications. Students in Engineeringand Computing were found to lack background andunderstanding in Maths and Science.

Some students expected Engineering and Computingprogrammes to be more "practical" and "hands-on".The technical aspects of Computing programmes,particularly languages, caused problems at First andNational levels, as did the quantitative aspects ofBusiness and Finance programmes.

...AND ACCORDING TO GENDER

In almost all awards, female students were found toachieve a greater percentage of full awards than malestudents. This was true both in areas where there arelarge proportions of female students, and also in thoseareas where they traditionally form only a small minority.

GOODPRACTICEAT BTECCENTRES

The following are examples from centreswhere systems have been designed to supportstudents and provide the personal attentionneeded to achieve good completion rates withinavailable resources.

IMPROVING PERSONAL ATTENTION

Walsall College of Arts and Technology hasadopted a Student Focus Initiative. All students onprogrammes of more than 15 hours' duration enterthe college via a Centralised Admissions Unit.This ensures that students obtain appropriate guidanceand counselling and access to Accreditation of PriorLearning (APL). An individual learning programme isnegotiated with the tutor, and the Student Focus teamfor each programme group discusses student progressat six-week intervals. Detailed computerised records ofattendance and progress are kept at divisional level.Students have access to a wide range of studentsupport services.

This initiative operates within a whole-college Qualitysystem which includes a range of instruments designedto obtain student and staff feedback and channel it intoaction planning at programme level and above.

Learning support is offered through three open accessworkshops in Communication, Numeracy andInformation Technology.

Increased emphasis has been given to the support andguidance elements of the First Diploma in InformationTechnology Applications. A total of four and-a-halfhours a week, out of a 21-hour programme, is devotedto problem solving and aspects of common skills inrelation to the single weekly assignment, and enablesindividual action-planning and review.

There is also a general tutorial curriculum with plannedactivities including counselling and progression advice.

BEST COPY AVAILABLE

STUDENT SUPPORTAND PERSONAL TUTORING

At The University of Glamorgan a whole-collegeapproach to student support and personal tutoring isunder development. The role of the personal tutor hasbeen recognised as vital in identifying problems earlyand referring students for help as appropriate. A policyhas been adopted which defines the role of thepersonal tutor, acknowledging that tutoring can bepro-active and contribute to personal development, andarranging for staff development and training to carryout this role.

SUPPORTING LARGENUMBERS OF STUDENTS

At The Nottingham Trent University the use of staffand student time has been reorganised on HigherNational Business and Finance programmes. HNC andHND programmes are integrated. Learning is managedin lectures (140 students), workshops (24 students)and GAS groups (group advisory sessions - with eightstudents) to give students better access to lecturersand peer group support.

The GAS groups are a key feature of the system. TheGAS tutor takes the role of the personal tutor. trackingthe student's progress and assessing the cross-modularcore. The tutor reports problems at regular team andreview meetings.

The programme is organised into time blocks, eachwith a theme, supported by a comprehensive booklet.

13

14

LINKS WITH EMPLOYERS

At Wakefield District College there is an activeEmployer Liaison Committee for Business and Financeprogrammes. Employed students are given an evaluationquestionnaire to take back to their supervisors. Thisgives line managers a chance tc discuss the relevanceof the provision to the company's needs. Line managersalso take part in the assessment of a work-basedassignment for Higher level students. devised by thestudents themselves and related to their work.

ANXIETY TACKLED

At Stockport College of Further and HigherEducation the programme team was concerned aboutnon-completion on the Higher National Certificateprogramme in Business and Finance, which has a highproportion of mature women students. The maincauses of non-completion seemed to be the volume ofwork, the difficulty of the quantitative elements of theprogramme, and general anxiety and lack of confidence.The team adopted a number of measures which haveresulted in a reduction of non-completion rates from15% to about 5%.

Recruitment methods were developed to ensure thatall students understood the nature of the programme.Induction was also developed to ensure that it includeddiscussion of ways in which the student might involvethe employer in supporting the programme. Theprogramme structure was altered, so that studentconfidence could be built up in the first term. Forexample, the order of modules was changed so thatquantitative elements such as statistics came laterin the programme. One-to-one tutorials weretimetabled to occur five times a year, and learningsupport was provided.

The key feature of change was the conscious alterationof the "culture" of the programme. The programmeteam decided to be more nurturing and caring, and toadvertise this to students in order to make it easier forpeople to admit they have difficulties.

1$.0

PRE-ENROLMENT ATTENTION

At Park Lane College, Leeds, attention is paid to thepre-enrolment process for First and National Diplomastudents on Business and Finance programmes.Applicants' evenings are held for prospective studentsand their parents. The parental link is regarded asparticularly important in maintaining studentmotivation. Over the summer pre-enrolment period.greetings cards are sent out to maintain links.

While at the college, students are asked to completemid and end-of-programme evaluation questionnaires.The outcomes are discussed at meetings between thestaff and student representatives. Action plans aredrawn up and each student receives a copy. There iscommitment by the programme management team andclass tutors to carry out the plans.

FLEXIBLE LEARNING

At Coleraine Technical College development work isunder way to increase the use of flexible learningapproaches in Engineering. The normal timetable issuspended for a week for all First and NationalDiploma students while an Inwgrative Assignment iscarried out. There is one week's preparation duringwhich students are counselled and advised on researchand resources. All facilities such as the library andlaboratories are open during the week of the IA andopen learning materials are available. Facilities are alsoavailable at the local university. Students are expectedto negotiate their access to resources, and work incarefully selected groups. Assessment methods includepersonal interviews and presentations to an audience.

Industrial work experience and visits are also used forassessment. Structured tasks are set up around visitsand help is solicited in advance from the organisationbeing visited.

WHERE

FITS EN

BEST COPY AVAILABLE

BTEC ensures that its name is applied to good qualityprovision, without placing undue demands on centres.

BTEC will continue to publish guidance on learningand will encourage the development and use of openand flexible learning techniques.

BTEC has introduced new Criteria For Quality tomonitor its programmes.

BTEC offers centres the following suggestions aimedat maximising student retention rates...(the asterisk * indicates that the item features in the

Criteria For Quality).

A PROFILE OF THEIDEAL BTEC PROGRAMMEHow centres can maximisetheir retention rates -a guide on how best to developprogramme features

A centre which wishes to maximise its studentretention rates should ensure that

Marketing and Recruitment methods provide theindividual (and. where appropriate, her/his parents)with real insight.into the nature of the programme andits progression routes. and that contact is maintainedthrough to enrolment.

Enrolment includes meeting the teacher or tutor.

Induction includes diagnosis of possible problemareas and Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL).*

After the introductory phase, Induction continuesin a form which is integrated into the assignmentprogramme. This would include an introduction tostudy skills and self-management of learning to whichall staff would contribute.

A Personal Tutor System is in place to provide theopportunity for tutorial time for the student individuallyor in a small group. Reviews of Progress* andNegotiation of Learning Goals should take placeregularly.

Support studies*, relevant to the student's mainprogre:nme, are plannned.

There is access to resources, equipment, andadvice, to support the student's independent study.

Assignments are experiential, active, and "rear,and offer opportunities for peer group support andassessment, and employer involvement*.

Common skills are integrated and progressivelydeveloped*. and "underpinning" subjects such asmaths and science are related to the assignmentprogramme as closely as possible.

Open and flexible learning techniques are used,particularly for older students.

Timetabling of assignments is adhered to and"bunching" of assignments is avoided.

Access is provided to personal support servicessuch as counselling,. plus access to career andHigher Education progression advice.

There is a programme quality system that includesopportunities for student feedback which is noted andacted upon*.

There is a staff development programme* coveringstudent-centred learning approaches.

Non-completion is a cause for concern, but thereare ways in which BTEC and its centres areachieving and maintaining good retention rates.

First, and most important, isPERSONAL ATTENTION.

The project has identified personal attention as beingthe basic principle behind good retention rates.The more effectively a centre can develop its systemsand programmes to

* provide support for the student

* help the student make the most of learningopportunities

-A- maintain the students' motivation

* and listen to and learn from the student

the better its completion rates are likely to be.

This requires attention to marketing, enrolment,induction, programme design, learner support, tutorialsystems, teaching and learning styles, counselling andprogression advice, quality systems, and staffdevelopment.

BEST COPY AVAILABLE

During the review and design of BTEC programmesand the design of BTEC General National VocationalQualifications (GNVQs), BTEC will work to ensure that

Syllabus overload, overlap, and obsolete material iscut out.

Programme content is vocationally relevant.

Option modules offer, where possible, different routesi.e. "more technical" and "less technical" routes.

Integration of underpinning knowledge, such as mathsand science, is encouraged.

Progression from GCSE and students' other variousstarting points is properly taken into account.

The age profile of different awards is borne in mind,particularly in drawing up guidelines.

The overriding objective in encouraging goodretention rates is to emphasise the importanceof developing systems which give as muchindividual attention as possible to our students.This has always been a guiding principle ofBTEC and will continue to be so.

BTEC will continue to develop and publish guidancewhich encourages and illustrates flexible approaches tolearning. Guidelines will continue to encourage thedevelopment of collaborative. "real", and vocationally-relevant assignments. They will illustrate ways ofassisting students to become independent learners.and indicate ways of supporting and exploiting theexperience of adult learners.

BTEC will also develop its monitoring processes toincorporate information on completion rates forindividual programmes.

BTECDELIVERS

The overriding objective in

encouraging good retention rates

is to emphasise the. Importance

of developing systems which_giv e

as much individual attention aspossible to our students.

This has always been a guiding

principle of BTEC and will

continue to be so.

THE GNVQ FACTOR

The good practice identified in this project asbeing the key to good retention rates isembedded into the design of BTEC GNVQs(General National Vocational Qualifications).

As BTEC GNVQs become available,corresponding First, National, and Higherqualifications will be phased out over asensible timescale.

BTEC GNVQGENERAL NATIONAL VOCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

i

1,1 4

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

BTEC would like to thank all the staff

and students who took part in this project.

BTEC also acknowledges use in its research

of publications by many colleagues in the field.

Further copies of this publication are available from:

Publications Despatch Unit, BTEC, Central House.Upper Woburn Place. London WC111 011H.

Quote Order Code Z-115-3. Price Code 0 (Free).

Issue 1. March 1993.

rfir

'

AO

'-

t

,ffi

k40.

4 4:iv

4t

-t

r.1

1

4-'`

it

I.

p

Tit

f4.

f."

`AA

4 .1

li-t

ytt

4;.$

,-1

, (.1

i I