Redefining dropping out in online higher education: a case study from the UOC

In recent years, studies into the reasons for dropping out of higher education (including online education) have been undertaken with greater regularity, parallel to the rise in the relative weight of this type of education, compared with brick-and-mortar education. However, the work invested in characterising the students who drop out of education, compared with those who do not, appears not to have had the same relevance as that invested in the analysis of the causes. The definition of dropping out is very sensitive to the context. In this article, we reach a purely empirical definition of student dropping out, based on the probability of not continuing a specific academic programme following several consecutive semesters of "theoretical break". Dropping out should be properly defined before analysing its causes, as well as comparing the drop-out rates between the different online programmes, or between online and on-campus ones. Our results show that there are significant differences among programmes, depending on their theoretical extension, but not their domain of knowledge.

Proposta de Centre de Recursos per l'Aprenentatge i la Investigació (CRAI) Campus Sud

Projecte sobre Biblioteques Universitàries (PBU) presentat en la convocatòria d'oposicions a l'escala facultativa d'arxius, biblioteques i museus de la UPC de novembre de 2004.

Les biblioteques universitàries i el suport a la recerca

Peer reviewed

Qualitat, identitat i excel·lència a les universitats catòliques

-P arlar de la qualitat, la identitat i 1'excel.lencia universitaries és apuntar als ideals més elevats de la universitat. Per aixo intentarem evitar dos extrems: El primer seria fer una aproximació idealista i utopica basada exclusivament en el que "hauria de ser"; el segon consistiria a reduir llexcel.lGncia a un conjunt de regles aplicades, en forma de "receptes" de practiques excel.lents. Per tal de no caure en aquests extrems és d'una gran utilitat no perdre de vista que en aquestes reflexions ens estem referint a una situació ben real: Les universitats catoliques europees constitueixen una realitat diversa perd identificable. Aquestes universitats ja tenen la propia qualitat, identitat i excel.lencia.

Estudi comparatiu de la publicació científica en l’àmbit de la informàtica a la UPC vs. altres universitats d’àmbit nacional i internacional (2002-2012)

L'estudi analitza la producció científica de la UPC vinculada amb la informàtica i es compara amb la d'altres 16 universitats de l’estat espanyol, europees, dels Estats Units i asiàtiques, amb una notable activitat investigadora en aquest camp.

Condicionants socioeconòmics del rendiment acadèmic

In this paper we present the results of a research about the relationship betwen the social economic characteristics of the students and their academiec achievement at university level. The sample was formed with students of business administration from the business schools of Girona and Sabadell. The results show that the students can be classified in three social economic categories: low middle and high. They also show that the academic achieveent can not be associated to any dermined category. This can be explained by the fact that the educational system has alread done a selection in previous levels of studies