Andrea Henne June 2013 Online Student Retention: What Does it Take for Students to Go the Distance?

Andrea Henne, EdD Dean, Online and Distributed Learning District Instructional Services and Planning San Diego Community College District

FTES Growth

Online Enrollments Duplicated Headcount

Facts at a Glance - CCC’s Distance Education (DE) Retention and Success Rates Source: CCC DataMart Statewide Snapshot: Spring 2009 DE = 11% of all credit enrollments = 423,433 DE enrollments – duplicated headcounts Retention DE = 78.67% (Numerator: Number of enrollments with A,B,C,D,F,CR,NC,I*,P,NP Denominator: Number of enrollments with A,B,C,D,F,CR,NC,W,I*,P,NP,DR) Non-DE = 84.72% 6.05% difference Success Rate (Numerator: Number of enrollments with A,B,C,CR,P Denominator: Number of enrollments with A,B,C,D,F,CR,NC,W,I*,P,NP,DR) DE = 58.01% Non-DE = % difference

Top Reasons for Enrolling in DE Course? California Community Colleges Distance Education Retention (W and DR in Fall 2008) Survey – February ,227 respondents from 44 CCCs My work schedule is heavy and a distance education course is more convenient. Personal circumstances (family, health, etc) made a distance education class more convenient. I had a good experience with a distance education course before. The same class on-campus was full. I travel sometimes and could not attend an on-campus class regularly.

Reasons at the SDCCD?

Top Reasons for Dropping DE Course? Preliminary Results from California Community Colleges Distance Education Retention (W and DR in Fall 2008) Survey – February ,227 respondents from 44 CCCs Top Reasons for Dropping DE Course: I had personal problems (family, health, job, childcare, etc). I could not handle the combined study plus work responsibilities. I got behind and it was hard to catch up. Directions to get started in and manage this course were poor. Interaction with the instructor was lacking.

Reasons at the SDCCD?

What Does it Take to Retain Online Students? Online Students Student Services Student Preparation Faculty Training and Support Course Design and Continuous Improvement

What Does it Take to Retain Online Students? Online Students Student Services Student Preparation Faculty Training and Support Course Design and Continuous Improvement

Essential Student Support Services Admissions Counseling/Advising Financial Aid Placement Tutoring Library

Essential Student Support Services Tuesday, October 6 & Thursday, October 1-2:30 EDT (2-part workshop) A case study from Rio Salado Community College will present best practices for promoting retention in an online learning environment. The session will highlight the innovative use of data to identify students who may need additional support. The use of predictive modeling analytics and how it can convert this data into action by identifying learners with the highest risk of attrition and the circumstances affecting their success will be discussed. Presenters will show how you can use this data to design a corresponding communication campaign and develop other relevant instructor strategies for retaining and reaching online students.

What Does it Take to Retain Online Students? Online Students Student Services Student Preparation Faculty Training and Support Course Design and Continuous Improvement

Student Preparation for Online Learning Success Students:  Online Learning Readiness Assessment  Tutorials  Practice Course  Orientations (online & on-campus)  “Netiquette” guidance  24/7/365 Technical Support

Well-Prepared Students are More Likely to Persist Online Learning Readiness Assessment Course Information Pages Tutorials and Student Orientation

Consistent Look and Feel Sample Login = newstudent/newstudent

What Does it Take to Retain Online Students? Online Students Student Services Student Preparation Faculty Training and Support Course Design and Continuous Improvement

Faculty Training and Support  Faculty:  Online Faculty Mentors  Blackboard Training  Pedagogy Training  Readiness Checklists  Instructional Design Support  24/7/365 Technical Support  Instructional Technology Workshops  Online Faculty Resource Center

Systematic Approach to Faculty Development  Tools & Pedagogy: Orientation followed by 8-10 hours learning online as student and as designer/instructor  10+ hours of instructional design support  One-to-one appointments ongoing Sharing, Collaborating, Modeling Breakfast of Champions Online Teaching Excellence Symposium

Pedagogy of Online Retention  Motivation  Engagement  Communication  Sense of Achievement and Progress  Support

CommunicationCommunication Excerpted from Chickering and Gamson  Encourage contact between students and faculty. Right from the start.  Develop reciprocity and cooperation among students - by creating a community of learners on the discussion board Chickering, A. W. & Gamson, Z. F. (1987). Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. AAHE Bulletin, pp (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED282491).

EngagementEngagement  Encourage active learning.  Vary the activities.  Emphasize the relevance.  Ask students’ opinions/feedback.  Experiment with online collaboration tools—blogs, wikis, VoiceThread, Google Docs, Elluminate

Sense of Achievement & Progress  Give prompt, personalized feedback.  Use rubrics to streamline grading.  Recognize accomplishments.

MotivationMotivation  Relevant  Varied  Interesting  Challenging  Encouraging

What Does it Take to Retain Online Students? Online Students Student Services Student Preparation Faculty Training and Support Course Design and Continuous Improvement

Online Teaching Proficiency Checklist Recommended Components of a Learning Module Checklist of Course Readiness Syllabus Quality Checklist Framework for Course Development /Review/Revision

Positive Feedback from Online Students  A great English professor, who was always online whenever you needed him to be; having enough time during the week to turn in all the homework, quizzes, tests, and essays; great textbook, and the variety of resources available for the student to contact either the professor, and/or other classmates.

Positive Feedback from Online Students  Everything, the prompt reply from the Professor, the way everything is organized. It is hard to not understand the instructions. They are very clear and easy to follow.

Positive Feedback from Online Students  I found the online discussion group was a good replacement for class discussion. I found the online homework assignments with teacher feedback and grading gave me a chance to stand out and show I was really putting in the effort to learn the material. This hopefully made up for the unproctored testing, which was not as stressful or challenging as a test in a classroom (although for me, I believe the online testing was effective.)

Positive Feedback from Online Students  Professor **** was extremely diligent in sending reminders for every deadline (quiz, reports, tests) as well as very responsive to any questions ed to her. She also gave advanced notice when she would not be available to log- in, giving the students ample time to look ahead and present questions before she was unavailable, i.e. weekends or gone for conferences.

Positive Feedback from Online Students  The Instructor was amazing! The discussion boards really helped to put things into perspective.

Student Name

Student Testimonial: As a re-entry student, taking Business Communications 119 as an online class has been very beneficial. I have a full-time job and am faced with the usual challenges of any working student. Initially, I was skeptical about whether I would derive as much value from taking an online class as I would if I was in a traditional classroom setting. I am excited to report that the format has worked very well for me. Online learning affords me: a flexible schedule in which to complete coursework; the structure to needed maintain momentum; the ability to engage in “conversations” with fellow students via discussion boards; and, the constructive feedback and encouragement from my instructor, xxxx, via s. The experience has inspired me to seek out other online courses as I register for the next semester. I am grateful for this new avenue of learning, as it will assist in expediting my ability to transfer to a university.

Student Testimonial: Online learning has been an outstanding experience for me. It is fun and convenient. I am a working mother of 2 and my husband works evenings. It would be quite difficult to go to school at night. Online learning is great because I can access it anytime, any day, from anywhere. Not to mention my teacher is wonderful. She is easy to contact if I need help and she also is extremely encouraging. I used to think that it would be harder for a teacher to help the students, but I was wrong, it's not. I like that I can pace myself and do as much I can. Online learning has been greatly rewarding and I look forward to continuing my education this way.

6.87% Difference

2.93% Difference

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