Skipping class: Do students that pay tuition on their own skip class less than students that do. not? Abdulkadir Aden. Salt Lake Community College

Transcription

1 Skipping Class 1 Skipping class: Do students that pay tuition on their own skip class less than students that do not? Abdulkadir Aden Salt Lake Community College EDU 2030 Research & Inquiry in Education Fall 2010

2 Skipping Class 2 Introduction This research explores class absenteeism among students paying tuition out of their pocket and students receiving financial aid and scholarship. Tuition comes from three financial categories; (1) not a source (2) minor source, (3) major source; I analyzed these three variables to assess possible effects on missing class. Gary Wyatt (1992) argues an absence is due to the results of disliking a class and was associated with absenteeism from that class. Further analysis confirmed the following: time spent studying was associated negatively with absenteeism from classes that students liked as well as from those they disliked; being female was associated positively with absenteeism from classes liked as well as disliked. So why would so many students spend so much money on tuition and then not show up to get what they paid for. Review of Literature Introduction Who is more motivated to come to class, students paying tuition out of their pocket or students receiving financial aid plus students receiving help from parents? One of the most puzzling things that I have noticed about college life is the propensity of many students to skip class. As a naïve young first year student, I was both surprised and intrigued by this behavior. Why would many people spend so much money on tuition and then not show up to get what they paid for? (Gary Wyatt 1992 p.201) Later I realized that paying tuition gave people much more than the opportunity to enroll in and attend courses. It bestowed a status on them as well; a status that allowed them to attend football and basketball games, to participate in intramural sports, to establish social relationships, to join clubs, to use university facilities, and to have a good time (Gary Wyatt 1992 p.201).

3 Skipping Class 3 Tuition comes from three financial categorizes: (1) not a source of income are students that receive financial aid and don t use their own income/saving to pay for tuition. (2) A minor source of income is in the category of students that use their own saving to pay tuition, or students that are working part time while also getting help from parents (3) a major source is students that use their own income/savings to pay to for the tuition. Major source of income Today there is an increasing number of students who study full time but also need to work, increasingly more and more hours, to supplement their allowances owing to the increased demands of economic and social spending. In fact, once their attendance drops substantially in it never reverts to anything like the attendance previous year. When students see they can both earn money and also manage the courses they do, it reinforces their behavior choice of combining both studying and working for a lifestyle choice (Rudolph Brown 2003 p.1,296). Students who skip class have difficulty managing time. Planning can help accomplish more and can make students feel like they have more control over their life. Students who commit to their studies financially by paying the higher education contribution scheme (HECS) fees at the start of their first year tend to be more committed. Similarly, those dependent on family as their main income source at the college are more likely to plan to stay on at the college. How effectively students manage their time and commitments at college plays a significant role in facilitating a smooth adjustment and a positive experience in the classroom. The data from the national study (Krause et al., 2005) indicate that students who commit to higher than average (that is, more than 12.5 hours) employment per week tend to be more likely to miss class. This factor does not operate in isolation however. In the study, paid work commitments were accompanied by students worrying about money and feeling that their work

4 Skipping Class 4 interfered severely with their academic progress at college. This, along with feeling overwhelmed with all that they have to do, paints a picture of a compendium of indicators which together have a deleterious effect on students adjustment and commitment to stay on at college. Students who work to meet basic needs and pay off current debts are more likely to consider dropping out than those who work for other reasons, such as paying for extras and being independent of their family (Kerri-Lee Krause, 2005 p.60). By contrast, those reliant on government support or part-time employment are more likely to come to class every day (Kerri-Lee Krause, 2005, p.55). Students keeping a schedule of daily activities will skip less class than the students that do not keep a schedule. Minor source of income Students that pay minor of their tuition tend to skip classes less than students paying full tuition out of their pocket. They tend to have a similar motivation of students that receive financial aid. Students paying tuition out of their pocket with the help of parents are equally motivated with the student that have part time job but students who receive financial aid are more motivated then student paying tuition out of their pocket. Students who take more credits may be those hard-working students who rarely miss classes. On the other hand, these students may also be too busy to attend lectures. Family income basically reflects the income of the parents of the student. It may not be necessarily related to the student s personal income, which may come from students private saving or other part-time jobs (Tai-Leung Chong, ka- Shing Cheung and P.K- Hung Hui 2009 p.38). Another reason students who fail to make a smooth adjustment to college, have difficulty understanding course material, feel overwhelmed by all they have to do at college, and express discomfort in group discussion contexts, such as small group tutorials. By contrast, potential

5 Skipping Class 5 dropouts are more likely to be those who skip classes and regularly come to class unprepared. Commitment to study features as a distinguishing element in these data. Students who spend less than the average time on study (i.e., less than 11 hours per week, see Krause et al., 2005, p.34) are more likely to consider dropping out than their peers who admit to studying more than average, and on weekends when needed (Kerri-Lee Krause 2005 p.60). Not source of income Students from poor families tend to skip class less often, whereas students who have full time job skip more class so commitment is to job not education. This shows students from poor families treasure the studying opportunity compared with richer students. Also, a failure in a course is relatively more costly financially to students from poor families. It is also understandable that those students who have a number of parts-time jobs may have to skip classes in order to work (Tai-Leung Chong, ka- Shing Cheung and P.K-Hung Hui 2009 p.39). Changing courses or institutions early in the first year and withdrawing from one or more subjects are indicators of potential withdrawal from the college. Similarly, spending less time on campus and in class, and more time in paid work tend to be associated with serious thoughts about discontinuing study. Students who received a place in the course of their first preference and who find themselves studying in a field that interests them are more likely to be settled and planning to stay and come to class (Kerri-Lee Krause 2005 p.59). Not surprisingly, students who have difficulty getting motivated to study and who find the course workload heavy and difficult to keep up with are more likely to seriously consider skipping class compared to those who are more confident about taking control of their learning and involvement with the learning community (Kerri-Lee Krause 2005 p.59). Summary

6 Skipping Class 6 Tuition comes from three financial categories; (1) not a source (2) minor source, (3) major source: students who are committed to doing their homework, assignments, and test will be coming to class every day. Students involved in activities at College will develop a sense of belonging and will decrease the student chances of skipping classes. Students who give serious consideration to leaving college are more likely to say they have little interest in extracurricular activities at the college; whereas their more satisfied peers are more likely to be actively involved in extracurricular activities (Kerri-Lee Krause 2005 p. 61). Method Introduction Students paying tuition on their own will have the confidence to go to class every day, but having nothing will motivate students receiving financial aid more. They have to come to class and maintain a good Grade Point Average, a grade C or better so they can continue receiving financial aid. The variable used to define the research was the Salt Lake Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE). CCSSE s survey instrument, the Community College Student Report (CCSR), is designed to capture student engagement as a measure of institutional quality. Participant Participants were tested using the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE). Data for this study were obtained from three groups of students paying tuition on their own and students receiving financial aid and what their motivation were to come to class. The three groups consisted of respondents in the (1) not a source of income, (2) minor source of income, (3) major source of income at Salt Lake Community College. All respondents were administered a short questionnaire with the basic objective of establishing a pattern of attendance

7 Skipping Class 7 and reasons for non-attendance. The questionnaire was designed to establish the most common reasons underlying non-attendance and did not discriminate between full- and part-time nor male and female students. It was anticipated that there might be some difference in the reasons for non- attendance by year level and this was clearly identified in the questionnaire. At this stage the research is purely exploratory in nature with a view to undertake a future longitudinal study. The data analysis is very much descriptive for the purpose of this study. Data Collection The instrument used to collect these data was the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE). The survey provides information about effective educational practice in community colleges and assists institutions in using that information to promote improvements in student learning and persistence. CCSSE s purpose is to provide member of the colleges with results that can be used to inform decision making and target institutional improvements. Student engagement, or the amount of time and energy that students invest in meaningful educational practices, is the underlying foundation for CCSSE s work. Based on my research question I used Anova test and null hypothesis test to define the means data results. Data Analysis I used the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) to analysis my data and define the t-test for my hypothesis. I tested the research hypotheses by analyzing the difference in means and by conducting ordinary least squares ( OLS) regression analysis. Significance levels were set at the.05 level. I used the null hypothesis for the analysis because the direction of relationships was not specified exactly. Summary

8 Skipping Class 8 A short questionnaire was given to students at Salt Lake Community College to identify there status of coming to class everyday, how many hours they work, and based on their enrollment they were asked to identify if they were fulltime student or part time and how many times they have skipped class, the table used was random number table test. Based on these result I created a list containing three variables of students paying tuition own their own and student receiving financial aid in cauterizes of (1) not a source, (2) minor source, and (3) major source based. Result Students paying tuition out of their pocket and students receiving financial aid are equally motivated to come to class. Students receiving financial aid are more motivated to come to class every day. Tuition comes from three financial categories: (3) Major source of income, or students using their own income to pay for college; (2) Minor source of income, students that use their own income/saving as part of the tuition while also receiving help from parent: (1) Not source of income, students who are receive financial aid and scholarship. The first chart shows the number in each group, average score on the SKIPCLAS, and the standard deviation for each group average. Table 1 Average of skipped class 95% Confidence Interval for Std. Mean N Mean Deviation Std. Error Lower Bound Upper Bound Minimum Maximum

9 Skipping Class Total Table 1 Attendance of students; (1) not a source (2) Minor source, (3) major source, and the Mean and STD for each group. The results supported my hypothesis that students are more likely to miss classes due to long hours of work, the data from the national study (Krause et al., 2005) indicate that students who commit to higher than average (that is, more than 12.5 hours) employment per week tend to be more likely to miss class or they feel that the class is boring. The tested revealed the difference between the means of missing class for gender: the results revealed no relationship between absenteeism and whether paying tuition on your own or receiving financial aid and scholarship. The second chart shows the test for the difference in the means statistically in significant. p=114 there was an 11.4% chance that the differences in means is due to random error. Table 2 SKIPCLAS Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. Between Groups Within Groups Total Table 2. Between groups of differences in gender

10 Skipping Class 10 Discussion Tuition comes from three financial categories; (1) not a source (2) minor source, (3) major source; The data and analysis contained in this paper has managed to provide a brief insight into why Students pay tuition and skip class, behavior and motivation in relation to their attendance for skipping classes. Interpretation of Results I agree with Rudolph Brown (2003) as evidence, distinct correlations do indeed exist between temporal, social and lifestyle factors as well as authentic and 'non-authentic ' reasoning. The study show that not all the students skip classes; students that are shown to skip are student working full time. Part time students and students that are not interested in the lecture are shown to skip class. Motivated Students who attended to learn understand and increase their knowledge of the subject matter, did not skip class. Implication The more financial aid the college can give the more committed the students receiving such aid may be students receiving financial aid have the tendency to come to class every day, they feel as though if they don t show up to class everyday that they will be penalized, that they will lose their resource of free tuition. These are what contribute to why students skip class: the lecture of the class is long and boring, the class size is big, and working extra-time. Between gender, females are more likely to skip class more than men. Females may have the responsibility to take care of the babies, home chores and other activities that will keep them occupied. Doing this research has lead me to some possible reason as to why students skip class. It has shown me that people have different lives depending on what they are doing in their life at that moment filled with social and lifestyle activities.

11 Skipping Class 11 Limitation There is little research addressing the specific issues on why students skip class. Research into absenteeism (Kerri-Lee Krause 2005; Wyatt 1992) has not provided adequate reasons for non attendance. Most of the studies have reported some issues relating to attendance such as Attrition (Tai-Leung Chong, ka-shing Cheung and P.K- Hung Hui 2009), a case study from Skipping Economic classes. There have been numerous studies attempting to establish the correlation between attendance and poor performance. This paper does not wish to further this but rather explore the reasons for why students pay tuition and show up to in class lecture. Future research In future research it would be interesting to find out the grade point average of students paying tuition on their own and students receiving financial aid. Whether there is a difference between the two groups. Also I want to find out for future research whether the behaviors between the two groups are comparable to that of other students that are coming to class every day. Summary My study was to identify student attendance and non-attendance and what motivates their behavior was for skipping class. Why so many students would spend so much money on tuition and then not show up to get what they paid for. my result showed that students are more likely to miss classes due to long hours of work, Paying tuition doesn t motivate students to come to class everyday but it give them an opportunity to work and miss class occasionally. Between the means of missing class for gender: the results revealed no relationship between absenteeism and whether paying tuition on your own or receiving financial aid and scholarship. But might imply females miss more because females may have the responsibility to take care of the babies, home

12 Skipping Class 12 chores and other activities that will keep them occupied. The overall objective was to gain some insight to understand the reasons for non-attendance and tuition.

13 Skipping Class 13 Reference Access Economics. (2005). Review of higher education outcome performance indicators. Canberra: DEST Kerri-Lee Krause, 2005, P: 61. Brauer, J. (1994 Summer). "Should class attendance be mandatory." Journal of Economic Perspective: Corville-Smith, J., B. A. Ryan, et al. (1998). "Distinguishing absentee students from regular attendees: the combined influence of personal, family and school factors." Journal of Youth and Adolescence 27(5): Durden, G. C. and L. V. Ellis (1995). "The effects of attendance on student learning in principles of economics." American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings(May): Freidman, P., F. Rodriguez, et al. (2001). "Why students do and do not attend classes: Myths and realities." College Teaching. Hong Kong Tai-Leung Chong, ka- Shing Cheung and P.K- Hung Hui 2009, P 39 A case study from Skipping Economic classes. Rudolph Brown (2003 Education Track). Conference Proceedings Adelaide and Marketing Education Track Wyatt. Gary teaching sociology, 1992, Vol. 20. Gary Wyatt, 1992, P: 201.