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Date of Award
2015
Publisher
North Dakota State University
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Awarded
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Program
Teacher Education
Department
School of Education
College
Human Sciences and Education
Faculty Advisor
Hill, Brent
Description
The purpose of this quantitative research study was to examine survey and institutional data of NDSU current and former undergraduate students to describe, measure, and explore relationships among student retention, satisfaction, and academic performance. The study was guided by three research questions that examined factors that may predict satisfaction or intent on the part of students to re-enroll at an institution if given the hypothetical opportunity to do so. It further examined those variables for indication as to whether students remain enrolled at the institution because they are satisfied or if they elicit satisfaction within themselves during enrollment as a result of choosing to remain enrolled at the institution. Student responses to the National Survey of Student Engagement, Student Satisfaction Inventory and Sophomore Experience Survey instruments, along with institutional data were used to create variables for analysis. Potential predictive variables for this study were selected based on Rusbult’s (1980) investment theory. Linear regression was used to equate the responses for the focal variables related to overall satisfaction and desire to choose the institution again, as the survey instruments used different Likert scales for responses. The researcher used path analysis to develop a model of the relationship and direction between relevant variables associated with satisfaction and retention. The model shows that student commitment to enroll again at the institution is the only predictor of the same over time. Student commitment to enrollment at the institution does have a positive relationship with on overall satisfaction, faculty contact, and GPA, but their overall satisfaction does not predict whether they would enroll again at the institution if they were able to hypothetically choose to do so. The model also shows that relationships and interactions with faculty and peers affects students’ overall satisfaction but does not have an effect on their willingness to choose to enroll again. The model additionally indicates that students tend to remain at the institution and are thus satisfied versus remaining at the institution because they are satisfied. The results also indicate that student retention tends to model individual investment models to a greater extent than individual consumer satisfaction models.
Recommended Citation
Nash, Julie Lynn, "Relationships Among Retention, Satisfaction, and Academic Performance" (2015). Education. 126.
https://digitalcommons.ndsu.edu/education/126
Rights
NDSU Policy 190.6.2
Rights Link
https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf
Handle Identifier
https://hdl.handle.net/10365/25292