Literature Review Student attrition is a growing issue among community college administrators but there’s been little research into how community colleges’ policies and practices reflect this concern, or how they affect student attrition rates. Research has shown that students in online courses continue to experience higher attrition rates than their counterparts in traditional face-to-face classes despite the advantages offered by web-based technology (Shea & Bidjerano, 2014). In prior studies, researchers have found a multitude of factors contributing to high attrition rates among college students in online classes. A number of studies found that certain environmental/life circumstance factors can affect student attrition rates in online classes (Aragon & Johnson, 2008; Atchley et al., 2013; Harrell & Bower, 2011; Park & Choi, 2009; Wigenbach, & Akers, 2013: Shea and Bidjerano, 2014; Xu and Jaggars, 2013; Xu and Jaggars, 2014). These factors include: ● Not entering college directly after high school; ● Attending college part-time; ● Being a single parent; ● Being financially independent; ● Caring for children at home; ● Working more than 30 hours per week; and, ● Being a first-generation student. A number of studies found that student background and pre-college experiences can affect attrition rates in online classes (Atchley et al., 2013; Gregory & Lampley, 2016; Harrell & Bower, 2011; Kaupp, 2012; Palacios & Wood, 2015; Smart & Saxon, 2015; Stanford-Bowers,
In his 2011 article, “Reliance on Online Materials Hinders Learning Potential for Students,” David Smith attempts to build upon student’s obligated online interaction to make a case against online classes. Smith first shows how much today’s learners must use online materials by using the example of his own Alma Mater. By referencing his own experience at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln, with MyRED and EBSCO search engine, Smith lays the grounds for the focus of his argument. He then attempts to use what seem to be personal examples of experience with online coursework while begging the question through repeated examples. By failing to establish the credibility of his facts, attempting to force his own
There was one graduate who identified himself as an online student. Since the assumption was made that the students would be affected by social and academic in their persistence, on-line students may have a disadvantage by not having the connections of a fraternity or being a part of a team as a support system to be successful. Another aspect that could be analyzed is the persistenace from students who started at MSU as freshmen, and compare that information with students who transferred from community college or other institutions.
Hunter, B., & Austin, R. (2015). Building Community Through Online Learning in Colleges. College Quarterly, 18(1).
With all the publicity over online courses, great professors alike have been determined to find out whether online courses are just as effective as face-to-face classes. There have been some controversies over the situation; therefore, several studies have been made. One study by Adam Driscoll, Karl Jicha, Andrea Hunt, Lisa Tichavsky, and Greatchen Thompson shows that given the appropriate pedagogy or instruction, online courses is just as an effective teaching format as face-to-face classes (Driscoll, Jicha, Hunt, Tichavsky, & Thompson, 2012). The study showed that when comparing online courses against face-to-face courses, the midterm scores for both teaching platforms are the same. Given that the GPA of the students is taken into consideration, the test grades do not improve or become worse when the class is taken online. The same study showed that when comparing online courses to face-to-face courses, the student satisfaction does not increase or decrease when
While tuitions rose and salaries static, families no longer see the need to splurge on the “college experience”. Not only are students paying for the expense of academics, but on campus dorms and a meal plan as well. Although Students could choose to commute to cut out the cost of dorms, many colleges are too far away from home to do so. If living on campus and commuting were out of the question, then students may enroll in online schooling to get the education they need
In recent years, United States universities have experienced a large influx of enrollees over the age of 25, a group referred to as non-traditional students. After America’s relatively recent economic troubles, nearly all citizens feel as though higher learning is an important tool for financial success. Many non-traditional students include first-time students, and more than half of the student body over the age of 25 consists of stay at home mom attending online classes.
Attrition is the rate in which students disenroll from a post-secondary institution, which was defined in O’Keeffe’s (2013) article. Past research has suggested that the lack of participation and the culture shock of some students have contributed in such high attrition rates (O 'Keeffe, 2013). From the outcomes of these researches, universities have implemented programs to retain and increase retention rates. However, when it comes to attrition rates, it seems that one population of students goes unnoticed.
Contrary, to what others have stated about online college classes, I found that there are many advantages and disadvantages for those who choose to advance in their career. Online college courses have become worldwide allowing individuals like me to make their own decisions on how to manage their college courses. Before I made a decision to take college courses online I had to be sure I was up for the challenge. Online college classes require the same amount of commitment as the traditional colleges. As I made the decision to attend online college courses I also explore every element of life factors and different skill techniques to help me succeed in my college classes.
Information for this paper was collected through interviews with the VP of Student Services, the Associate VP of Enrollment Management, and the Director of Financial Aid. These interviews addressed distance learning, social media, operating systems, digital divide, and digital native. We discussed the trends of usage and the impacts on students and community colleges. Throughout this section, I will refer to these individuals as participates one, two, and three and this order is random to those interviewed. All participates where asked to participate in interview about technology in student services. They were provided with a copy of the paper abstract along with the following items to consider in regards to technology; current trends/issues in your area; changes since you entered the profession, and challenges.
Many colleges and universities throughout the United States and several other countries face a common problem. Student retention is a growing problem across the nation for all ethnic groups and all ages. Each individual who chooses to drop out of school has their own personal reasons as to why they do. However, many drops out can be completely avoided. When students drop out they are not clearly thinking about how it’s going to affect their future, the future of their children and even grandchildren. Although there are several reasons as to why students drop out of school, we will be exploring a few as it relates to why student retention is a growing problem.
In today’s society, so many people are continuing their education beyond high school. We realize that in order to make a decent living, a degree is most likely a requirement. In some cases even a bachelor’s degree is not enough to qualify for many positions. Nevertheless, thanks to technology, we now have the option to learn online or in a traditional classroom setting. There are very few differences between the two, and students need to understand that as much time and energy will need to be devoted to the online courses as on a campus. “A 2010 meta-analysis and review of online-learning studies concluded that online learning was as good as or slightly more effective than traditional face-to-face instruction” (Mendenhall, 2011).
Online college courses are almost becoming traditional for students. Some may perceive that a student does not receive an equal education when taking an online class. People tend to think that if a teacher is not directly giving the information about the subject, the course learning experience is different or unjust. This assumption is wrong according to the perception of many online course takers. Online college courses offer students the advantage to learn on their own time. The skills that a student learns in self-discipline, scheduling to complete graded assignments, and advantages learned with technology gives online classes equal education experience compared to classes on campus.
Non-traditional students are finding it easier and easier to maintain a job, a family, and pursuing a college career at the same time. This is possible because more and more non-traditional students are receiving an education using distance learning, as opposed to traditional, in-the-classroom teaching. Distance learning is basically taking college level, credit-bearing courses via the Internet. One of the most obvious advantages of distance learning is that it puts the classroom in your home, office, or wherever you can find a computer and log on to the Internet. However, there is much controversy regarding the quality of the courses being offered on the Internet versus the quality of
Technology is changing every aspect in our lives, even the way we learn. Online classes are a rapidly growing trend it today’s society. Online classes are a cost-effective substitute for traditional courses and more convenient for many, so more schools and universities are offering this option. Due to the increase in online course enrollment, people are questioning if students truly learn something from online classes because it’s not a traditional learning environment. Online classes are just, if not more, effective as traditional classes because grades have increased and online discussions provide students with the chance to interact through networking while earning a degree for less than what it would cost to enroll at the same university.
In many schools, online classes are becoming more available to students. Recent studies show that the use of online classes has been rapidly increasing over the past three years. Currently, there are a total of 6,700,000 students enrolled in all different variations of courses