An application of Bayesian Models for risk of withdrawal from calculus 2 for engineers of students at Faculty of Engineering, Rajamangala University of Technology Pra Nakorn, North Bangkok Campus

Abstract

The objectives of this research are: to study the characteristics of students in the Faculty of Engineering at Rajamangala University of Technology Pra Nakorn, North Bangkok Campus, that influence to the risk of withdrawal from Calculus 2 for Engineers; to predict the risk of withdrawal from Calculus 2 for Engineers; and to use the results of the study for planning and solving the problems of withdrawal from Calculus 2 for Engineers. The sample is 226 students in the Faculty of Engineering at Rajamangala University of Technology who enrolled the Calculus 2 for engineers in the second semester of the academic year 2009. The data are from the questionnaire. The factors considered are grad point average, the number of enrollments for the Calculus 1 for engineers, Calculus 1 for Engineers grade, the number of courses that emphasize on calculation that were enrolled in the second semester of the academic year 2009, the sacrifices of students for the Calculus 2 for Engineers course and the need to withdraw from Calculus 2 for Engineers course before other courses. The logistic regression model in which the parameters are estimated by using Bayesian methods is used for analyzing the data. The study shows that the factors that influence to the risk of withdrawal from the Calculus 2 for Engineers are grade point average, Calculus 1 for Engineers grade, the number of courses that emphasize on calculation that were enrolled in the second semester of the academic year 2009 and the sacrifices of students for the Calculus 2 for Engineers and the need to withdraw from Calculus 2 for Engineers before other courses. The factor that does not influence to the risk of withdrawal from the Calculus 2 for Engineers is the number of enrollments for the Calculus 1 for Engineers.