Dear Miranda, I agree with Kamal. I had also for years pregnant students, students taking care of babies, toodlers, etc.The second reason would be in the sphere of personal wellbeing and health issues. Students took special leaves agreed by the deans to recover from sickness. Recently my bachelor's level woman student was diagnosed Lesniowski-Crohn Disease, so she will probably take such dean leave and individual study organization (IOS). Some of my students went for some months researching abroad, some to study, volunteer or work. They almost always come back.

There are students who work and study at the same time. Usually those students got a high GPA. But whenit happened that some of them found it difficult to attain an educational goal, they do persist longer.

@Prof Mahfuz, thanks for your response. So you describe people like me. I had no scholarship for Masters or for PhD, and I was still teaching. And taking care of my aged aunt, with the help of an Indonesian lady.

But there will be other responses. Let's wait.

Thanks Prof Kamal, it's true!

Dear Miranda, I agree with Kamal. I had also for years pregnant students, students taking care of babies, toodlers, etc.The second reason would be in the sphere of personal wellbeing and health issues. Students took special leaves agreed by the deans to recover from sickness. Recently my bachelor's level woman student was diagnosed Lesniowski-Crohn Disease, so she will probably take such dean leave and individual study organization (IOS). Some of my students went for some months researching abroad, some to study, volunteer or work. They almost always come back.

Dear Kamal, this is good remark, as family pressure pattern. I'll think about that more in context of my students in Special Pedagogics.

I can't think of anything else Dr. Yeoh, I think its all being mentioned by our colleagues above.

Most of students that I see here are working either full time or part time to survive as well as pay tuition. In addition to that some of them are married and have a kid. Sometimes they will be working the night shift and come to the class directly from the factory. They persists and complete the degree.

Thanks dear friends. Would you agree that these persistent people had great belief in themselves and so they were willing to persevere through many challenges? They do not give up. I am not sure if I am describing expressing this quality well enough.

Miranda, generally I can describe my students all with good words and praises. But the students who persist most, as I have observed, are those who have been deprived, one way or an another. Many of my students who became the top graduates are those whose parent (mother or father) or parents are deceased, making life difficult for their family, or those who are deprived economically.

Thanks Ed. I believe you: 'the students who persist most, as I have observed, are those who have been deprived, one way or an another. Many of my students who became the top graduates are those whose parent (mother or father) or parents are deceased'.

Dear friends, just for today, on this thread, RG is UNUSUAL. I can upvote my own posts, amazing! But I won't do so, it won't be ethical :))

Dear Miranda

Education and respect for people

The educated student we never forget

@Nelson, who are your persevering students and what qualities make them so?

@Vandana, thanks: 'strong will and firm determination irrespective of all difficulties would be potential qualities of such great learners. in my view , hurdles makes people more thirsty more passionate towards their goals'.

Great link Prof Abdalla. Thanks, I will read it through...

After graduation and specialization, often the passion decreases and the daily problems increase: finding a job, to support a family, to recover part of the costs incurred by parents to send them to University for many years. What remains, then? I have noticed that if there is something that does not change is the human aspect. A loyal and honest person remains so even after many experiences and no longer need to be mandatory so. One person with an ambiguous character, continues to behave elusive even when he/she has no longer reason, no longer having to be judged as when he/she was a student. You may meet the same people even afer 20 years.

I absolutelly agree with Professor Enzo's comment.

Cheers,

JP

The comment of Mr. Enzo is very good. I complement saying that persistence is always demonstrated by those who followed studying because of a genuine feeling. I refer to those who were not studying because of their parents or others, but for him-herself.

Thanks @Enzo, Joao and Alexandre. I know of people who have just completed a Bachelor degree at 59 years old. I salute them. They didn't have a chance to study when they were younger. Then when opportunity came their way, they took up the challenge. Even their families expressed some doubt, but they did it. So different from some of my students who just enjoy eating and sleeping and outings.

Sent from mobile.

The level of persistence is more of a variable than a constant. There are younger students who are tempted to easily give up and they do. But with the passage of time and accumulation of real world experiences, these very students may change their minds and world views, and put in much more effort than they ever did maybe 10 years ago. That's the difference between school and real life. In the first, one studies and then takes a test. Life, however, throws that test straight at you and thus compels one to learn and study with greater resolve.

Also, situational factors play a role. Students in relatively easy and stable conditions are not usually pushed to a level that calls for persistence. Conversely, students in difficult situations-- financial, social or personal, may find their limits tested and may choose to either give in or not give up. Those in the second category undergo a sort of neuroplasticity that makes persistence second nature to them.

The relationship between teacher and student is most sacred relationship. Surrendering to teacher is to bow down to the reality which will guide students in the right direction in life. Only with humility is great success achieved.

Dear Monica, Lala Sukla et al., thanks for great thoughts and contributions. I agree that adverse situations are a great test of the quality of students.

@Lala, your words remind me of: 'Before honor is humility'. I think many of us could succeed because of humility. I see even President Obama is humble! Do you all agree?

Thanks Monica, good points :)

I will be back when I can, thanks.

Sent from mobile.

In my experience, the value a student places on their learning does play a big part in persistence. Those who think it is very important to do well exert more effort and persist more than those who don't. I taught a boy who I rate as one of the brightest kids his age who has no value for education so never made an effort in his work. He gave up at the slightest whiff of difficulty. He had no aspiration for his future and doesn't see how an education was going to be of value to him in the future.

Thanks Gideon. I agree that students who value learning will persist.

Friends, what about students who value their learning and are also confident that they can do it, if they just try their best? Would this belief be of some advantage?

Sent from mobile.

I haven't long experience in teaching but i have observed that persistent students are those who like studies, even in difficult conditions, for a future social-intellectual status objective. Some students who are there only because they must be or haven't other things to do could as well leave university earlier or stay there longer then usual. The same for some good students who could leave earlier university when they feel that it do not responds to there aspirations for better personal achievements (when they are not guided to more exciting studies or more hard classes or levels). I've called for a competitive ranking organization to let the best and the more persistent students achieving their goals and dreams, without pushing the others out.

Students need a sense of self-efficacy (Bandura) so they feel that they, themselves, can succeed in a particular subject area. We (my husband, John Selden, and I have written about mathematical self-efficacy and its influence on persistence.

Dear Annie,

May I have a copy of your paper on self efficacy. This is my gmail:

[email protected]

I'm doing a research on motivation in science learning. If you wish please have a look at this thread. As you can see, I am asking for resources, papers etc. Thanks.

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Who_is_keen_on_a_collaborative_study_on_K12_students_motivation_to_study_science_Do_you_have_resources_or_review_articles_on_this

Hello friends, our good friend, Lijo, has won the award for his poster at the recent conference in Cyprus. Today, he travels back to King Saud University.

So it pays to be intrinsically motivated and persistent :)

Dear Miranda,

Students with a keen interest in the subject usually succeed, combined with the urge to learn more and NOT being lazy.  This is true even if the particular student is academically not that strong.

Usually the few students in a particular group is easily recognizable that portray these qualities to be successful.

Regards. 

I would say, from personal experience, that being the child of immigrants who had essentially nothing when they came from Germany in the 30's and who had to work very hard all their lives, that knowing that the only way you can succeed in life (and not have to work hard at physical labor) is by getting an education is a very great motivator and makes for a lot of persistence. 

Thanks Prof Kamal, Stoffel and Annie for your posts.  I appreciate your views; my ancestors moved from China to Malaysia, US, Australia and other countries.  In most places there are Chinese, and most are hard-working folk.  In recent years, we succeed in many sectors of the knowledge economy.

@Annie, my research on motivation is completed.  I have sent the paper to a journal.  Now I shall look forward to doing many corrections :)

Self efficacy is very important, when we know that our effort will surely yield good results we will work with great motivation :)

few studies hilight how educational subcultures 

(understood as specific ways of interpreting the educational

context) impact on the probability of students dropping out in higher education

Imagine an undergraduate student interpreting his experience in terms of one of two

very different educational subcultures:

(1) Subculture A, seeing study as useless because of a social world where development is impossible and the university as an uncomfortable place where opportunism and conformism are the ‘rules of the game’.

(2) Subculture B, seeing the university as a trustworthy community which rewards

students’ effort and competence in terms of opportunity of future professional

success.

Different educational subcultures have different capacities of feeding student success. In my view, this capacity reflects the consistency between the beliefs, feelings and actions motivated by the educational subculture and the role demands made on the student by the training setting

Two useful frameworks that can be used to explain motivation and the strength of perseverance are: Ijzen and Fishbein (1991) theory of planned behaviour; and Self Efficacy as espoused by Bandura.

The theory of planned behaviour posits three variables that determine the INTENTION to perform a behaviour- Attitudes, Normative beliefs and Perceived Behaviour Control towards the behaviour. It's a good framework as it takes in the influence of culture in determining behaviour applicably in academic contexts.

Self-efficacy is also a very good framework as the various sources it can be developed from also determine the strength and subsequent level of perseverance in the face of difficulty.