Abstract
The aim of this research project is to investigate the low retention rate among the foundation and first year undergraduate students from the School of Computing and Digital Media in a London based university. Specifically, the research is conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic using learned optimism as a lens. The research will aid the university to improve retention rate as the overall dropout has been increasing in the last few years. The current study employed an exploratory investigation approach by using statistical modelling analysis in R to predict behavioural patterns. The quantitative data analysis conducted aims to support the efforts of the School of Computing and Digital Media of a London based university to re-evaluate its retention strategies in foundation and first year computing students. The main outcome of the analysis is that students with a foreign qualification are optimistic, while students with other or not known qualification are mildly pessimistic. In addition, students with a BTECH, Higher Education diploma or A level qualification are generally more pessimistic especially if they are also black ethnicity, or if are not black ethnicity, then aged under 34 and British.
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Chrysikos, A., Ravi, I., Stasinopoulos, D., Rigby, R., Catterall, S. (2023). Retention of Computing Students in a London-Based University During the Covid-19 Pandemic Using Learned Optimism as a Lens: A Statistical Analysis in R. In: Arai, K. (eds) Intelligent Computing. SAI 2023. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 711. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-37717-4_16
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