The Impact of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program on Student Performance in College as Perceived by IBDP Alumni College Students
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to find if there was a correlation between International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP) alumni’s satisfaction and their willingness to recommend the program to high school students. The purpose was also to measure whether these alumni perceived that the rigorous curriculum of full IBDPs in high school benefited their post-graduate experience. The correlational quantitative research design used an eight-question Likert Scale survey given to 58 volunteers for the quantitative data and an emailed interview provided answers used to embellish the quantitative data. The interview part of the survey consisted of 15 closed and open-ended questions given to 37 International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP) alumni who volunteered to participate in the interview section of the survey. Each IBDP alumni had completed at least one semester in either a 2-year or a 4-year post-secondary institution. The survey and interview covered the following topics: (a) college preparedness, (b) global-mindedness, (c) meeting academic deadlines, (d) writing skills, (e) time management skills, (f) critical thinking skills, (g) IBDP satisfaction, and (h) recommendation of the IBDP to high school students. The majority of the surveyed college students strongly agreed or agreed that the rigorous high school IBDP benefited their college experience in the topics surveyed. Using the Spearman-Rho test, a correlation was found between the degree of satisfaction with the IBDP program and the graduate’s willingness to recommend the program. Each of the participating IBDP alumni accumulated an average of 15 college credits when they entered the institution of their choice. This benefited the student with lower tuition costs, and the opportunity to take additional courses in a second area of study.
Subject Area
Continuing education|Educational evaluation|Higher education
Recommended Citation
Marlaine W Ells,
"The Impact of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program on Student Performance in College as Perceived by IBDP Alumni College Students"
(2020).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI28023626.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI28023626