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Improving tertiary student outcomes in their first year of study

Funding year: 
2004
Duration:
2 years
Organisation: 
Massey University
Sector: 
Post school sector
Project start date: 
January 2004
Project end date: 
January 2006
Principal investigator(s): 
Nick Zepke
Research team members: 
Linda Leach, and Tom Prebble
Research partners: 
Northland Polytechnic, Manukau Institute of Technology, Waikato University, Universal College of Learning, Wellington Institute of Technology, and Christchurch College of Education

Project Description

This project identifies practical strategies for use by tertiary education institutions (TEIs) in New Zealand to improve student retention, persistence, and completion. It was designed to explore the experiences of students, teachers, and administrators in seven tertiary institutions.

The cost of non-completion is very high, and rising. Wider access to tertiary study has meant an increasingly diverse student population. The government is taking great interest in how well institutions retain learners, particularly those from non-traditional backgrounds. We wanted to offer institutions guidelines for practice that would help clarify the retention puzzle and enhance learning.

Project Outputs

2005

Presentations, conferences and workshops

Leach, L., Zepke, N., & Prebble T. (2005). Now you have got them, how do you keep them? Students' views of why they stay. Paper presented at the HERDSA colloquium, Wellington, 26 August 2005.

Zepke, N., & Leach, L. (2005). Integration and adaptation: Approaches to the student retention and achievement puzzle. Active Learning in Higher Education, 6 (1), 46-59.

Zepke, N., Leach, L., Prebble, T., Henderson, J., Leadbeater, J., & Wilson, S. (2005). Improving tertiary student outcomes in their first year of study. Paper presented at the annual conference of the New Zealand Association for Research in Education (NZARE), Dunedin, 6-9 December 2005.

2004

Presentations, conferences and workshops

 Prebble, T., Leach, L., & Zepke, N. (2004). It's not just what happens inside the classroom: Managers views on student retention. Paper presented at the annual conference of the New Zealand Association for Research in Education (NZARE), Wellington, 24-26 November 2004.