A Comparison of the Academic Achievement of Oregon Community College Transfer Students with that of Native Students at Oregon State University

Download or read book A Comparison of the Academic Achievement of Oregon Community College Transfer Students with that of Native Students at Oregon State University written by Bruce Carl Lenmark and published by . This book was released on 1969 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not a significant difference existed between Oregon community college transfer students and native students at Oregon State University with respect to academic achievement, persistence, and graduation. Two groups of students were selected for observation. The first included all of the 116 full-time students who transferred from Oregon community colleges with 39 or more units of collegiate work and were admitted to Oregon State University from the fall quarter 1963 through the fall quarter 1964. The second group included 116 full-time native students who were currently enrolled at Oregon State University. Each native student was selected at random to match one of the transfer students by school, age, sex, marital status, and number of units completed. Original data were obtained by surveying student records. Grade-point averages were collected at various time intervals. To evaluate persistence and graduation, students were classified as enrolled, withdrawn, dismissed, or graduated. The percentage of students in each classification was tabulated at various time intervals. Comparisons of grade-point average were made by t tests. Within the transfer group, evaluations were made for sub-groups established on the basis of school, age, sex, marital status, and class standing. The same subgroup evaluations were made within the native group. Comparisons of grade-point average also were made between the transfer and native groups as a whole and as subgroups. The academic classifications of the total transfer group were compared with those of the native group by chi-square tests. Comparisons for transfer and native subgroups were made by percentages. The findings of this investigation are summarized in three subdivisions: transfer shock, academic achievement, persistence and graduation. Transfer shock. Acute transfer shock was observed for transfer students. Recovery was slow, and grade-point averages generally did not return to their original level until graduation. The dropout rate was extremely high for the first year after transfer and included a large number of dismissals. Students in all schools suffered transfer shock and a considerable loss of grade-points. Large dropout rates for the first year were noted in most schools. Transfer shock was most noticable for the following subgroups: students enrolled in the School of Engineering, young students in the 19 to 21 age group, males, and single students. Academic achievement. When observations began and upon receipt of the baccalaureate degree there was no significant difference between the grade-point averages of transfer and native students. However, when comparing the cumulative grades for the total collegiate work of dropouts as well as graduates, the grade average of transfer students was significantly lower than that of native students. This was attributed to the loss of grade-point average associated with transfer shock. At graduation there was no significant difference between native and transfer students in any subgroup. For total collegiate work, native engineering students averaged much higher than transfer engineering students, and native males averaged higher than transfer males. Youngest native students had a higher average than youngest transfers; native juniors were higher than transfer juniors; single natives averaged much higher than single transfers, but there was no significant difference between married groups. Persistence and graduation. When transfer students were compared with native students, the persistence and graduation rates of native students were found to be significantly higher than those of transfer students at all time intervals. Dropouts from either group seldom occurred between the fourth and fifth year of collegiate work. Graduation rates for both groups increased greatly when students were given an additional year to complete degree requirements, but the largest gain was observed for transfer students. The persistence and graduation rates for native subgroups were much higher than those for corresponding transfer subgroups except in the School of Science and for students above 26 years of age. Transfer dropouts included a higher percentage of dismissals than native dropouts.