A Study of Exploratory Factor Analysis Affecting Retention of Diploma Students in the Academic Year 2021 Songkhla Community College

Abstract

This research aims to study the exploratory factor analysis affecting persistence of diploma students in the academic year 2021 at Songkhla Community College in survey research. The instrument used in the research was an online questionnaire on student retention issues of 33 items with a reliability of 0.93. Data were collected from 422 students studying in the second semester of the academic year 2021 by simple random sampling. The statistics used to analyze the data were mean, standard deviation, and Exploratory Factor Analysis by using principal component extraction method. The study showed that the factors affecting retention of diploma students in 2021, Songkhla Community College consisted of 4 main components and 33 sub-components with total variance representing 72.21 percent. Each component explained the variance of 55.315, 6.542, 4.483 and 3.877 percent, namely component 1: mentoring and student development, component 2: characteristics of learners and desirable teaching and learning management, component 3: support for modern classroom management, and the fourth component: the readiness of the family, respectively.