Retaining the Online Learner: I Dropped Because

1
Retaining the Online Learner I Dropped Because

• Dr. Kenneth Haley
• [phone]
• khaley_at_parisjc.edu
• Rita Tapp
• [phone]
• rtapp_at_parisjc.edu
• Paris Junior College
• 2400 Clarksville St.
• Paris TX 75460

2
Paris Junior College

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

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Enrollment

• Total enrollment approximately 4,000
• Fall 2004 enrollment
• Paris campus 2,254
• Greenville campus 852
• Sulphur Springs campus 621
• Commerce classes 220
• High school classes 679
• students who take courses at more than one
  campus are counted in each campus total

4
Online Course Offerings

• Survey conducted during Fall 2004
• 34 courses offered via internet delivery
• 687 students enrolled
• Majority of courses used WebCt for delivery
• Others used publishers websites
• Does not include Virtual College of TX

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Course Titles

• Art Appreciation (2)
• Art History I
• Nutrition
• General Biology
• Anatomy Phys II
• Intro to Mass Comm
• Microcomputer Appl (3)
• Intro to Criminal Justice
• Theatre Appreciation
• Prin of Economics I (2)
• Comp Rhetoric (2)
• General Psychology (2)
• Child/Lifespan Development

• Comp, Rhet Reading
• American Lit I
• American Lit II
• Geology I
• U S Government
• State Local Government
• U S History to 1877
• Hist of Western Civ
• Integ Software Application I
• College Algebra
• Music Appreciation
• Astronomy I
• Medical Terminology (3)

6
Purpose of Study

• To determine what is important in retaining
  students in an online environment
• Two surveys
• One for students who dropped online course
• One for students who completed online course

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Survey Questions

• Students age
• Was this your first online course?
• Were the course expectations clearly presented?
• Was the course content more difficult than you
  thought it would be?
• Were you able to get the technical help you
  needed?
• Would you take another online course?
• Do you feel your computer skills were adequate
  for the course?
• Did you have adequate computer access?
• About how many times per week did you have some
  contact with your instructor? (email,discussions,
  mail, telephone, etc.)
• Do you have any additional comments or
  suggestions concerning your experience with
  online learning?

8
Students Who Dropped

• Also asked
• Why did you drop the course?
• How could the course have been changed to make it
  more likely to be completed?

9
Students Who Completed

• Also asked
• How important was the instructors use of power
  point, slides, movie clips, or other media?
• How important was the use of chat or discussion
  postings to the course?

10
Contacting Students Who Dropped

• Report of all students who had dropped an online
  course was run bi-weekly
• Office staff attempted to call students
• Students were called at different times of the
  day including evening hours until 630 p.m.
• After several attempts, those students who had
  not been reached by telephone were sent the
  survey by email

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Response Rate

• 95 students dropped an online course by the
  withdrawal deadline
• 28 responses received
• Included students enrolled in courses taught by
  WebCT delivery and publishers website delivery
• 29 response rate

12
Students Who Completed

• After the last day to withdraw deadline, survey
  was placed on the course site for all courses
  offered via WebCt
• 488 students received the survey
• 284 responses received
• WebCT delivery only
• 58 response rate

13
Data Compilation

• 205 students were taking only one online course
• 77 students were taking two or more online
  courses
• Data was sorted separately for each group

14
Data Compilation Continued

• Responses and comments were compiled based on
• age
• the number of times students had contact with
  their instructors
• Individual classes
• First online course
• Not first online course

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Grade Comparisons

• Grade comparisons made between online courses and
  traditional classroom courses
• Overall grades online vs traditional
• By individual course
• Comparisons also made for instructors who taught
  the same course both online and in the classroom

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Grade Comparison

• Traditional and Online Courses
• Same Courses in Each Area

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Grades of A

• Traditional 33.35 (1602 grades)
• Online 34.93 (240 grades)

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Grades of B

• Traditional 27.82 (1336 grades)
• Online 26.06 (179 grades)

19
Grades of C

• Traditional 15.78 (758 grades)
• Online 11.21 (77 grades)

20
Grades of D

• Traditional 4.68 (225 grades)
• Online 3.49 (24 grades)

21
Grades of F

• Traditional 5.27 (253 grades)
• Online 7.71 (53 grades)

22
Grades of W

• Traditional 11.51 (553 grades)
• Online 14.56 (100 grades)
• (Figures Include Some Administrative Drops)

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Grades of Incomplete

• Traditional 1.58 (76 grades)
• Online 2.04 (14 grades)

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Age Distribution for First Online Course Taking a
Single Course

• 18-19 Years Old 25.23
• 20-23 Years Old 22.42
• 24-28 Years Old 14.95
• 29-32 Years Old 13.08
• 33-39 Years Old 8.41
• 40 Years and over 14.95
• 107 Students in Group

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Age Distribution for Those Taking One Course, But
Not the First

• 18-19 Years Old 7.14
• 20-23 Years Old 24.48
• 24-28 Years Old 15.30
• 29-32 Years Old 14.28
• 33-39 Years Old 19.38
• 40 Years and Over 19.38
• 98 Students in Group

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Age Distribution for Students Taking Multiple
Online Courses, First or Not

• 18-19 Years Old 27.27
• 20-23 Years Old 14.28
• 24-28 Years Old 18.18
• 29-32 Years Old 7.79
• 33-39 Years Old 19.48
• 40 Years and Over 12.98
• 77 Students in Group

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All Students Who Did Not Drop

• First Online Course Y52.11 N47.88
• Course Expectations Clear Y97 N3
• More Diff T/Expected Y28.52 N71.47
• Able to Get Tech Help Y93.66 N6.33
• Would Take Another Online Y92 N8
• Computer Skills Adequate Y98 N2
• Adequate Computer Access Y95 N5
• 284 Students in Group

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Multiple Online Courses by Age and Questions
18-19 Years Old

• First Online Course Y80.95 N19.04
• Course Expectations Clear Y100 N0
• More Diff T/ Expected Y19.04 N80.95
• Able to Get Tech Help Y100 N0
• Would Take Another Online Y95 N5
• Computer Skills Adequate Y95 N5
• Adequate Computer Access Y90 N10
• 21 Students in Group

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How Important Was Media?(PPT, movie clips, etc.)

• Very important 23.59
• Important 25
• Of Some Importance 23.23
• Of No Importance 4.92
• Did Not Use Media 23.59
• 284 Students in Group

30
How Important Was Chat or Discussion in the
Course?

• Very Important 23.94
• Important 23.94
• Of Some Importance 28.87
• Of No Importance 7.74
• Did Not Use This 15.84
• 284 Students in Group

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Students Who Dropped

• First Online Course Y53.57 N46.42
• Course Expectations Clear Y82 N18
• More Diff T/Expected Y39 N61
• Able to Get Tech Help Y80 N20
• Would Take Another Online Y82 N18
• Computer Skills Adequate Y90 N10
• Adequate Computer AccessY81 N19
• 28 Students in Group

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How Often Did You Have Contact with Your
Instructor?

• No Contact
• Dropped 17.85
• Did Not Drop 13.63
• Contact 1-2 Times per Week
• Dropped 57.14
• Did Not Drop 67.48

33
Contact Continued

• Contact 3-4 Times per Week
• Dropped 25
• Did Not Drop 14.33
• Contact Five or More Times Weekly
• Dropped 0
• Did Not Drop 3.84

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Why Did You Drop?(First Question After Age)

• Home Computer Problems 30.4
• Family/Health Issues 17.39
• Overloaded 13
• Unhappy with Course/Grade 13
• Work Schedule 8.69
• Got Behind 4.3 (1)
• Missed Personal Attention 4.3 (1)
• Transfer 4.3 (1)

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How Could Course Have Been Changed to Make It
More Likely to Be Completed?

• Nothing Could Be Done 52.63
• Course Structure 26.31
• Course Delivery Platform 10.52
• Access 5.2 (1)
• Should Be F2F 5.2 (1)
• 19 Responses

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Conclusions for Those Who Dropped

• Nearly Half Dropped Because of Personal
  Computer/Health/Family Issues (47.79) Beyond the
  Control of the College
• Only a Relatively Small Minority Indicated They
  Dropped Because They Were Unhappy with the
  Course/Instructor (13)
• Over Half (52.63) Indicated Nothing Could Have
  Been Done to Help In Completion

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Conclusions for Those Who Did Not Drop

• Grades Compare Well with No Large Shifts
• Good Online Participation in All Age Categories
• Students See Course Expectations as Clearly
  Presented
• Students Are Able to Get Tech Help
• Students Feel Good about Their Own Computer
  Skills and Access

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Conclusions Continued for Those Who Did Not Drop

• Great Majority (92) Would Take Another Online
  Course
• Most Did Not See the Course as Being More
  Difficult than Expected, But 29 Did.

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Conclusions Continued for Those Who Did Not Drop

• The Majority (71.82) Felt That Media Was of
  Importance in the Course When Used
• The Majority (76.75) Felt That Chat and/or
  Discussions Were of Importance to the Course if
  Used

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Contact Information

• Dr. Kenneth Haley
• [phone]
• khaley_at_parisjc.edu
• Rita Tapp
• [phone]
• rtapp_at_parisjc.edu
• Paris Junior College
• 2400 Clarksville St.
• Paris TX 75460