What Are They Thinking? Students' Affective Reasoning and Attitudes about Course Withdrawal
In this mixed-methods study we identify situations that impact students' decisions to withdraw from a course and examine their affective reasoning and attitudes toward course withdrawal. Exploring students' decision-making processes through the lens of self-authorship, we show that students frequently seek information from people with whom they have a personal rather than academic relationship, make decisions with little awareness of academic consequences, and often experience a feeling of dissonance when withdrawing from courses, even describing themselves as “quitters.” Our results lead to recommendations that can assist academic advisors in developing meaningful interventions that advance students' decision-making abilities and intellectual development.
Contributor Notes
Ethel Wheland is associate professor in the Department of Mathematics at the The University of Akron in Ohio. Contact her at wheland@uakron.edu.
Kevin Butler is Senior Lecturer and Manager of GIS Research (retired), Department of Geography and Planning, at The University of Akron.
Helen Qammar is an associate professor in the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering and has served as the Director of the Institute for Teaching and Learning since 2007 at The University of Akron.
Karyn Bobkoff Katz, professor emeritus of Speech/Language Pathology and Audiology, served as Associate Dean of the Honor's College at The University of Akron. She completed several community engagement projects prior to her retirement.
Rose Harris is the director of a group home for children in the foster care system in St. Petersburg, Florida. She earned her master's degree in Marriage & Family Therapy from The University of Akron while working as a graduate research assistant in the Institute for Teaching and Learning.
