Dissertation Project by Bianca Paczulla Study of subject-specific reasons for academic success and dropout in the subject of chemistry at universities and universities of applied sciences

For a description of the CASSIS project, go to:
https://www.uni-due.de/chemiedidaktik/cassis_startseite_en.php

Chemistry degree programmes are notable for their persistently high dropout rates, which are due mainly to performance problems (Heublein & Schmelzer, 2018; Autorengruppe Bildungsberichterstattung, 2018). If the initial study phase is unsuccessful, students are more likely to drop out. Previous studies have referred primarily to chemistry programmes at universities. Since students at universities and at universities of applied sciences differ in many respects (Middendorff et al., 2017), previous results cannot easily be applied to students at universities of applied sciences.

In the research project CASSIS, a chemistry sub-project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), subject-specific reasons for academic success and dropout at universities and universities of applied sciences are investigated on the basis of the study dropout model by Heublein (2014) and Isleib (2015), taking into account socio-demographic differences among students over a period of three semesters. In addition to final module grades, study performance is operationalised by subject knowledge acquisition in the fields of general, inorganic, analytical, organic, and physical chemistry. Subject knowledge in general, analytical and physical chemistry is surveyed at the beginning (1^st measuring point) and end (2^nd measuring point) of the winter semester 2018/2019.
Initial results provide indications that first-semester students at universities and universities of applied sciences differ in their entry requirements from a subject-related and socio-demographic perspective.