Instructional Issues and Retention of First-Year Students

Abstract

Literature on retention for first-year students appears to focus on the emotional, interpersonal, and financial problems these students face when beginning their post-secondary education. The article accepts the importance of these issues and their effect on retention. However, the article suggests that there are other issues that should be addressed when we try to uncover reasons why some students lack the persistence and do not complete their degrees. They are respectively the cognitive development of these students, their perception of teaching and learning, and most importantly the type of instruction they receive in their beginning classes. Each of these areas is discussed and a model of instruction is presented that calls for this cohort of students to receive instruction that actively engages them in their own learning. Suggestions are provided for instructors in an effort to help them make their students more active and engaged learners.