Performance and progression of first year ICT students

In 2006 the Computing Education Research Group from Monash University conducted a study that explored the perceptions students bring into ICT degrees and the perceptions that staff have of student expectations. Students and staff from first year undergraduate ICT degrees on the five Victorian campuses of Monash University participated in a series of data collections. The research was conducted using a mixed quantitative and qualitative research design. This paper reports on that aspect of the study that investigated influences on students' progression and performance in the first year of their undergraduate ICT degrees. This study reports the following three findings: it is difficult to predict whether students will complete a unit from their interests and expectations of the degree; students with prior knowledge of programming or who had English as a first language or who had entered the degree from high school received higher results in programming; females are more likely to drop out of technical units than are males.