Digging for Online Treasure:

1
Digging for Online Treasure

• Identifying Student
• Retention Factors
• Dr. Ken L. Haley
• Rita Tapp

2
Paris Junior College

• Rural community college
• Main campus located in Paris, Texas
• Satellite campuses in Greenville, Texas, and
  Sulphur Springs, Texas
• Conduct developmental math classes on the Texas
  AM-Commerce campus

3
Enrollment

• Unduplicated enrollment 4,300
• Fall 2006 duplicated enrollment
• Paris 2,709
• Greenville 1,168
• Sulphur Springs 651
• Commerce 227
• High school 784

4
Online Courses

• Survey conducted Fall 2006
• 57 courses offered via internet delivery
• 827 students enrolled (unduplicated)
• Most courses use WebCT delivery
• Does not include Virtual College of Texas

5
Purpose of Study

• To determine what is important in retaining
  students in an online environment
• Two surveys
• Students who dropped
• Students who did not drop

6
The Numbers

• A total of 485 students responded to the survey
  for a response rate of 59 for those who did not
  drop.

7
Survey QuestionsStudents who did not drop their
online course

• Was this your first online course? Yes No
• The course expectations were clearly presented.
  Strongly disagree, Disagree, Somewhat disagree,
  Somewhat agree, Agree, Strongly agree
• The course content was more difficult that I
  expected it to be. Strongly disagree, Disagree,
  Somewhat disagree, Somewhat agree, Agree,
  Strongly agree
• I was able to get technical help I needed.
  Strongly disagree, Disagree, Somewhat disagree,
  Somewhat agree, Agree, Strongly agree

• Would you take another online course? Yes No
• My computer skills were adequate for the course,
  including such things as sending/opening
  attachments and opening files. Strongly
  disagree, Disagree, Somewhat disagree, Somewhat
  agree, Agree, Strongly agree
• Did you have computer access to the internet from
  home or your living quarters? Yes No

8
Survey QuestionsStudents who did not drop their
online course

• On average, how many times per week did you have
  some contact with your instructor by email,
  discussions, phone, or other? 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or
  more
• Did your online course use multimedia support
  such as PowerPoint, movie clips, audio files, or
  other media? Yes No
• If your online course used chat or discussions,
  how important was this to the course? Completely
  unimportant, Unimportant, Somewhat unimportant,
  Somewhat important, Important, Completely
  important

• Did you have substantial problems with anything
  related to the course? Yes No
• If you did have problems, please explain them
  briefly.
• Do you have any other comments or suggestions
  concerning your experience with online learning?
• What is your age? 25 and under
• Over 25

9
Q1 Was this your first online course?

• Yes 43.7
• No 56.3

10
Q2 The course expectations were clearly
presented.

• Strongly disagree 2.7
• Disagree 2.5
• Somewhat disagree 2.7
• Somewhat agree 11.5
• Agree 43.3
• Strongly agree 37.3
• Result 92.2 agree

11
Q3 The course content was more difficult than I
expected it to be.

• Strongly disagree 6.8
• Disagree 26.2
• Somewhat disagree 13.6
• Somewhat agree 30.6
• Agree 15.3
• Strongly agree 7.4
• Result 53.5 agree

12
Q4 I was able to get the technical help I
needed.

• Strongly disagree 1.6
• Disagree 3.3
• Somewhat disagree 2.5
• Somewhat agree 13.6
• Agree 55.1
• Strongly agree 23.8
• Result 92.5 agree

13
Q5 Would you take another online course?

• Yes 89.4
• No 10.6

14
Q6 My computer skills were adequate for the
course, including such things as sending/opening
attachments and opening files.

• Strongly Disagree 1.2
• Disagree 0.8
• Somewhat Disagree 0.4
• Somewhat Agree 6.0
• Agree 30.6
• Strongly Agree 60.9
• Result 97.5 Agree

15
Q7 Did you have computer access to the internet
from your home or living quarters?

• Yes 90.7
• No 9.3

16
Q8 On average, how many times per week did you
have some contact with your instructor by email,
discussion, phone or other?

• Zero (0) 10.1
• One (1) 45
• Two (2) 26.8
• Three (3) 10.9
• Four or more 7

17
Q9 Did your online course use multimedia support
such as PowerPoint, movie clips, audio files, or
other media?

• Yes 72
• No 28

18
Q10 If your course used multimedia, how
important to the course was it in your opinion?

• Completely unimportant 7.2
• Unimportant 11.9
• Somewhat unimportant 9.9
• Somewhat important 33.8
• Important 25
• Completely important 12.2
• Result 71 important

19
Q15 Did your course use chat or discussions?

• Yes 77.5
• No 22.5

20
Q12 If your online course used chat or
discussions, how important was this to the course?

• Completely unimportant 8.3
• Unimportant 13.7
• Somewhat unimportant 10.5
• Somewhat important 28.3
• Important 24.4
• Completely important 14.8
• Result 67.5 important

21
Q13 Did you have any substantial problems with
anything related to the online course?

• Yes 17.8
• No 82.2

22
Open Questions

• Q 14 If you did have problems, please explain
  them briefly.
• Q 15 Do you have any other comments or
  suggestions concerning your experience with
  online learning?

23
Q14 If you did have problems, please explain
them briefly.

• A total of 225 students did not respond to this
  question and so may be assumed to have had not
  substantial problems.
• Another 153 students responded with something
  like no problem.
• 8.3 responded with something like course
  management system
• 3.7 cited problems with the instructor

24
Q 15 Do you have any other comments or
suggestions concerning your experience with
online learning?

• No single area dominated in response
• 280 students left no response or responded with
  something like none.
• 125 responded with something indicating the
  course was satisfactory
• These two groups accounted for 405 responses or
  84.3 of responses
• No other area accounted for more than 12 responses

25
Q16 What is your age?

• 25 and under 52.2
• Over 25 47.8

26
Responses Sorted by Problems

• We sorted the responses by those who indicated
  they had some substantial problem.
• These were compared with those who indicated they
  did not have substantial problems

27
Q2 Course expectations were clearly presented.

• Students with substantial problems
• Strongly agree 1.2
• Disagree 11.6
• Somewhat disagree 11.6
• Somewhat agree 19.8
• Agree 34.9
• Strongly agree 19.8
• Result 74.5 agree

• Students with no substantial problems
• Strongly agree 3
• Disagree 0.5
• Somewhat disagree 0.8
• Somewhat agree 9.8
• Agree 45.1
• Strongly agree 40.8
• Result 95.7 agree

28
Q4 I was able to get the technical help I
needed.

• Students with substantial problems
• Strongly agree 3.5
• Disagree 10.5
• Somewhat disagree 8.1
• Somewhat agree 22.1
• Agree 40.7
• Strongly agree 12.8
• Result 75.6 agree

• Students with no substantial problems
• Strongly agree 1.3
• Disagree 1.8
• Somewhat disagree 1.3
• Somewhat agree 11.8
• Agree 57.4
• Strongly agree 26.2
• Result 95.5 agree

29
Q5 Would you take another online course?

• Students with substantial problems
• Yes 76.7
• No 23.3

• Students with no substantial problems
• Yes 91.4
• No 7.8

30
Students Who DroppedTheir Online Courses
31
The Numbers

• Responses were collected from a total of 72
  students out of 197 who dropped for a response
  rate of 37.

32
Survey Questions

• Survey Questions
• Why are you dropping this course? If you have
  more than one reason, please place a 1 in the
  blank next to the most important reason and 2 in
  the next most important.
• Health Transportation
• Not Getting the Grade I want Not Enough Time
• Work Schedule Financial
• Family Problems Failing the Course
• Child care
• What could have been done to improve your chances
  of completing the course?

33
Q2 Why are you dropping this course?

• 49.2
• Work schedule
• Not enough time
• 23.4
• Not getting the grade I wanted
• Failing the course

• 18.8
• Family problems
• Health
• 3.9 Financial
• 3.1 Child Care
• 1.6 Transportation

34
Q5 Was this your first online course?

• Students who dropped
• Yes 55
• Students who did not drop
• Yes 43.7

35
Q3 What could have been done to improve your
chances of completing the course?

• Preferred traditional classroom 18
• Time Management 16
• Personal/Health 14
• Work/Schedule conflicts 12
• Wanted more instructor help 12
• Technical problems 8
• Finances 6
• Course too difficult 4
• Other 10

36
Q6 The course expectations were clearly
presented.

• Students who dropped
• Strongly disagree 4.2
• Disagree 8.3
• Somewhat disagree 11.1
• Somewhat agree 15.3
• Agree 40.3
• Strongly agree 20.8
• Result 76.4 agree

• Students who did not drop
• Strongly disagree 2.7
• Disagree 2.5
• Somewhat disagree 2.7
• Somewhat agree 11.5
• Agree 43.3
• Strongly agree 37.3
• Result 92.1 agree

37
Q7 The course content was more difficult than I
expected it might be.

• Students who dropped
• Strongly disagree 13.9
• Disagree 26.4
• Somewhat disagree 8.3
• Somewhat agree 22.2
• Agree 16.7
• Strongly agree 12.5
• Result 51.4 agree

• Students who did not drop
• Strongly disagree 6.8
• Disagree 26.2
• Somewhat disagree 13.6
• Somewhat agree 30.6
• Agree 15.3
• Strongly agree 7.4
• Result 53.3 agree

38
Q8 I was able to get technical help if needed.

• Students who dropped
• Strongly disagree 5.5
• Disagree 9.7
• Somewhat disagree 8.3
• Somewhat agree 13.9
• Agree 38.9
• Strongly agree 19.4
• Result 72.2 agree

• Students who did not drop
• Strongly disagree 1.6
• Disagree 3.3
• Somewhat disagree 2.5
• Somewhat agree 13.6
• Agree 55.1
• Strongly agree 23.8
• Result 92.5 agree

39
Q9 Would you take another online course?

• Yes 68.0
• No 32.0

40
Q10 My computer skills were adequate for the
course, including such things as sending/opening
attachments and opening files.

• Strongly disagree 2.8
• Disagree 1.4
• Somewhat disagree 1.4
• Somewhat agree 5.6
• Agree 36.1
• Strongly agree 51.3
• Result 93 of those who dropped agree compared
  to 97.6 of those who did not drop

41
Q11 Did you have computer access to the internet
from your home or living quarters?

• Yes 84
• No 16

42
Q12 On average, how many times per week did you
have some contact with your instructor by email,
discussion, phone or other?

• Students who dropped
• Zero (0) 25.3
• One (1) 45.1
• Two (2) 19.7
• Three (3) 7
• Four or more 2.8

• Students who did not drop
• Zero (0) 10.1
• One (1) 45
• Two (2) 26.8
• Three (3) 10.9
• Four or more 7

43
Q13 Did your course use multimedia support such
as PowerPoint, movie clips, audio files, or other
media?

• Students who dropped
• Yes 53.5
• No 46.5

• Students who did not drop
• Yes 72
• No 28

44
Q14 If your online course used multimedia, how
important to the course was it in your opinion?

• Students who dropped
• Completely unimportant 8.9
• Unimportant 6.7
• Somewhat unimportant 8.9
• Somewhat important 20
• Important 40
• Completely important 15.6

• Students who did not drop
• Completely unimportant 7.2
• Unimportant 11.9
• Somewhat unimportant 9.9
• Somewhat important 33.8
• Important 25
• Completely important 12.2

45
Q15 Did your course use chat or discussions?

• Yes 77.5
• No 22.5

46
Q16 If your online course used chat or
discussions, how important was this to the course?

• Students who dropped
• Completely unimportant 11.5
• Unimportant 4.9
• Somewhat unimportant 8.2
• Somewhat important 29.5
• Important 27.9
• Completely important 18

• Students who did not drop
• Completely unimportant 8.3
• Unimportant 13.7
• Somewhat unimportant 10.5
• Somewhat important 28.3
• Important 24.4
• Completely important 14.8

47
Q17 Did you have substantial problems with
anything related to the course?

• Students who dropped
• Yes 22.9
• No 77.1

• Students who did not drop
• Yes 17.8
• No 82.2

48
Q20 What is your age?

• Students who dropped
• 25 and under 76.4
• Over 25 23.6

• Students who did not drop
• 25 and under 52.2
• Over 25 47.8

49
Q17 If you did have problems (with the course),
please explain them briefly.

• Course management system 20
• Lack of computer/internet access 20
• Preferred classroom setting 13.3
• Difficulty or time problems with quizzes 13.3
• Problems attending chat 13.3
• Varied others 20.1

50
Q19 Do you have any comments or suggestions
concerning your experience with online learning?

• Needed more help from instructor 2 responses
• Preferred traditional classroom 2 responses
• Time management problems 1 response
• Needed more time for quizzes 1 response
• Did not like CMS 1 response

51
Conclusions
52
Conclusions

• 1. Most students who drop do so because of work,
  schedule, or health problems (68), largely
  beyond the control of the college.

53
Conclusions

• 2. Just over half of students (dropped, 51 and
  retained, 53) find that work expected of them in
  an online course is a bit more difficult than
  expected. Somehow, we need to let students know
  that an online course is not less work, but is in
  fact often more time consuming and requires more
  self-discipline and self-motivation.

54
Conclusions

• 3. The great majority of students (dropped, 93
  and retained, 97) have adequate computer skills,
  at least in their view. While we will find some
  students without adequate skills, we may be
  overly concerned about this because many of us
  grew up before computers were common. Some of us
  were born B.C.before computers.

55
Conclusions

• 4. While most students felt course expectations
  were clearly presented (dropped, 76 and
  retained, 92), the lower figures for students
  who dropped seem to indicate that expectations
  may be a factor for some students. Figures are
  similar for technical help (dropped, 72 and
  retained, 92), indicating that technical
  problems did contribute to some drops.

56
Conclusions

• Students who dropped tended to have less contact
  with the instructor (dropped 25 no contact vs
  retained 10 no contact) and they were also less
  likely to have multimedia in the course (dropped
  46 no media vs retained 28 no media).

57
Conclusions

• The ideal course likely has the following
  characteristics.
• Student/faculty contact 2 or 3 times per week.
• Use of multimedia in content delivery.
• Clear, explicit course expectations.
• Flexible delivery for content and for assignments
  to accommodate work and family obligations.

58
Contact Information

• Rita Tapp
• rtapp_at_parisjc.edu or 903-782-0212
• Ken Haley
• khaley_at_parisjc.edu or 903-782-0311