The Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia (FT UI) held a guest lecture that brought in a resource person, Professor Joanna M. Millunchick, Dean of the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering from Indiana University. The event, which was held on Monday (7/10) at Makara 04 Smart Meeting Room, Dean’s Building, 1st Floor, FTUI, raised a theme that is very relevant and crucial in the world of education, especially the reason behind the high number of students dropping out of their studies.
In her guest lecture entitled Why Do They Drop?, Prof. Joanna provided in-depth insights based on research conducted at one of the largest research universities in the United States. This study involved 268 students who chose to drop out of introductory computer science courses for three consecutive semesters.
When explaining the results of her research, Prof. Joanna said, “Students often decide to quit not only because they are not academically capable, but more because they are not confident in their success. The expectation of success and the perception of the workload have an important role in this decision. By understanding these reasons, we can redesign the curriculum to support student success without compromising academic quality.”
What was interesting about this presentation was how Prof. Joanna used the persona approach, which is usually used in the world of product design, to understand students who are at risk of quitting. Personas are fictitious representations of users based on real data, and in this context are used to identify the types of students who have difficulty taking courses. From the analysis of the data, four main personas emerged, namely Disliking Daniel, Struggling Stef, Switching Sylvan, and Overwhelmed Olivia. Each of these personas reflects a group of students with different reasons for facing college challenges, ranging from disliking the material to excessive workload or the decision to change majors.
“One other important finding is that demographic factors such as gender, economic background, or first-generation student status do not show significant differences in dropout rates. However, students who have not chosen a major tend to have a higher dropout rate. This study also confirms that the reason for quitting is most often related to a lack of confidence to succeed, in accordance with the Theory of Expected Values,” explained Prof. Joanna.
Furthermore, Prof. Joanna suggested several solutions to overcome this problem, including by simplifying the assignments at the beginning of lectures so that students can build confidence and mastery of concepts gradually. In addition, teachers need to continue to emphasize the relevance of the lecture material to ensure that students stay motivated and see the value of what they are learning.
The Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, University of Indonesia, Prof. Dr. Ir. Heri Hermansyah, S.T., M.Eng., IPU., stated, “With this guest lecture, it is hoped that it will not only provide a new picture of the causes of student dropout, but also offer real data-based solutions that can be applied in a wider educational context, especially the quality of education at FTUI which can continue to improve.”
This guest lecture was enthusiastically welcomed by the academic community of FT UI because of its relevance to the condition of education in Indonesia. The insight conveyed by Prof. Joanna is expected to be an inspiration for teachers and education managers at FTUI to implement more effective strategies in maintaining student retention, especially in study programs that have a high level of difficulty.
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Public Communication Office
Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia
