Aulck Lovenoor, West Jevin
Information School, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2017 Apr 13;12(4):e0174683. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0174683. eCollection 2017.
Community colleges are an important part of the US higher education landscape, yet the aptitude and preparedness of student transfers to baccalaureate institutions is often called into question. Examining transcript records and demographic information of nearly 70,000 students across over 15 years of registrar records at a public university, this study performed a descriptive analysis of the persistence, performance, and academic migration patterns of community college transfers, transfers from four-year institutions, and freshmen entrants. We found little difference between community college transfers and freshmen entrants in terms of post-transfer grades and persistence. Transfers from four-year institutions had higher grades but also had higher attrition rates than their peers. This study also found no strong evidence of transfer shock on students' post-transfer grades. When examining the tendencies of students to shift fields of study during their educational pursuits, the academic migration patterns of transfer students were more concentrated than those of freshmen entrants.
社区学院是美国高等教育体系的重要组成部分，但转学到学士学位授予机构的学生的能力和准备情况常常受到质疑。本研究通过审查一所公立大学超过15年注册记录中近70000名学生的成绩单记录和人口统计信息，对社区学院转学生、四年制机构转学生和新生入学后的留校率、学业表现及学术迁移模式进行了描述性分析。我们发现，社区学院转学生和新生入学后在成绩和留校率方面差异不大。四年制机构转学生成绩更高，但辍学率也高于同龄人。本研究还没有发现有力证据表明转学对学生转学后的成绩有冲击。在研究学生在求学过程中转换学习领域的倾向时，转学生的学术迁移模式比新生入学后的更为集中。
