Title:
The True Cost: An Analysis of Course Registration Patterns in the College of Sciences
The True Cost: An Analysis of Course Registration Patterns in the College of Sciences
Author(s)
Ciaccia, Julia
Advisor(s)
Spencer, Chrissy
Editor(s)
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Abstract
In the United States, less than half of college students who enroll in a STEM program will graduate
with a STEM degree (Chen 2013). Attrition rates are disproportionately high for marginalized
students, leading to a homogenous STEM workforce (Simon et al. 2021). This study, completed
at an R1 midsized southeastern university, investigates course registration patterns and student
opinions to determine what factors contribute to students leaving STEM majors through the lens
of the Deep Teaching model (Dewsbury 2019). Through survey and course enrollment data, we
determined that 1) students feel overwhelmingly negative about textbook costs, 2) financially
insecure students are significantly more likely to consider course material costs when registering
for courses and 3) students add and drop courses for a wide variety of personal, course, and
university level reasons. These results indicate that implementing Deep Teaching in the classroom,
specifically focused on self-awareness and empathy, can increase retention in STEM and reduce
attrition rates.
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Date Issued
2022-05
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Resource Type
Text
Resource Subtype
Undergraduate Thesis