Rethinking access,success and student retention in Open and Distance Learning

The focus of this paper is access problems distance students encounter when required to use the Internet for their studies, and how such problems influence the students’ ability to gain access to higher education. Empirically, the paper is informed by a qualitative case study of a Master’s programme in public administration offered to a group of students in a relatively remote area of Indonesia. It shows how access problems certainly become a challenge for such students, not only because of the absence of technology but also because of social constraints related to the presence of technology. However, as there are often no proper alternatives, new technology may well be considered a step forwards for such students, even if the new technology to some extent creates serious problems.     

Exploring factors impacting student engagement in open access courses

Studies on student engagement in learning have mainly focused on undergraduate degree courses. Limited attempts have been made to examine student engagement on open access enabling courses, which is targeted to underrepresented students in higher education. Students on open access enabling courses are at high risk due to a low academic achievement in high school, the gap between schooling, work and post-secondary education, and different kinds of personal and academic barriers. This paper reports on a pilot quantitative study using a survey method undertaken at an Australian university. The study examined a range of issues related to student engagement, including learning barriers, engagement and experience in learning, skills attained, motivation to complete study, career pathway, and key reasons for selecting a particular pathway. The study found that online students are less engaged in learning and, therefore, efforts need to be made to improve their sense of belonging to the university. The findings of the study are critical due to high attrition on open access enabling courses and it argues the need to improve the engagement, retention, and success of students on such courses.     

Learning through collaboration: student perspectives

This research examines the effectiveness of collaborative learning pedagogies from the perspective of students. There is a rich history of research on collaborative learning demonstrating the effectiveness and this has led to indexing educational quality by student engagement. However, the findings from this study question the efficacy of collaborative pedagogies in their actual implementation. While collaboration was a part of the most highly rated learning experiences, these pedagogies were typically described as ineffective. Key factors that students see associated with effective collaboration are reported. The students’ perceptions of learning as reflected in their comments on collaborative learning, implications for setting expectations for college learning, and needs for faculty development are discussed.     

Teaming up: Linking collaboration networks, collective efficacy, and student achievement

Improving student achievement through teacher collaboration networks is a current focus of schools in many countries. Yet, empirical evidence on the relationship between teacher networks and student achievement and mechanisms that may explain this relationship is limited. This study examined the relationship between teacher networks and student achievement and the mediating role of teachers’ collective efficacy beliefs. Data were collected from 53 Dutch elementary schools. Using social network analysis and multiple regression we analyzed teacher survey and student achievement data. Findings indicate that well-connected teacher networks were associated with strong teacher collective efficacy, which in turn supported student achievement.     

Collaborative learning practices: teacher and student perceived obstacles to effective student collaboration

While the educational literature mentions several obstacles affecting the effectiveness of collaborative learning (CL), they have often been investigated through the perceptions of only one actor, either teachers or students. Therefore, some sources of obstacles that teachers and students encounter may not have been revealed. In this study, 19 teachers and 23 students in different disciplines at a pre-service teacher education faculty at a university in Vietnam were interviewed. In total, 47% of the teachers taught science subjects and 53% taught social subjects; 35% of the students majored in science subjects, 57% in social subjects, and 8% in primary education. With regard to study cohorts, 22% of the students were in the first and second year while 78% were in the third and fourth year of their four-year bachelor’s programme. These programmes produce qualified teachers for primary and secondary schools nationwide. Based on grounded theory analysis, four common obstacles to collaboration were identified: students’ lack of collaborative skills, free-riding, competence status, and friendship. Furthermore, the results showed three interrelated antecedents that contribute to these obstacles. Central to the antecedents is the strong focus of the teachers on the cognitive aspects of CL, which led the participating teachers to neglect the collaborative aspects of CL. These antecedents were demonstrated in the ways teachers set CL goals, provided instruction, and assessed student collaboration. This study may be useful for educators, designers, and researchers to foster the quality of student collaboration.     

Considering student retention as a complex system: a possible way forward for enhancing student retention

This study uses multilayer minimum spanning tree analysis to develop a model for student retention from a complex system perspective, using data obtained from first-year engineering students at a large well-regarded institution in the European Union. The results show that the elements of the system of student retention are related to one another through a network of links and that some of these links were found to be strongly persistent across different scales (group sizes). The links were also seen to group together in different clusters of strongly related elements. Links between elements across a wide range of these clusters would have system-wide influence. It was found that there were no elements that are both persistent and have system-wide effects. This complex system view of student retention explains why actions to enhance student retention aimed at single elements in the system have had such limited impact. This study therefore points to the need for a more system-wide approach to enhancing student retention.     

Using learning analytics to assess student engagement and academic outcomes in open access enabling programmes

Curriculum design, teaching methods, assessments and range of academic support need to be inclusive in Open Access Enabling courses. The findings of this study confirm a correlation between student access to online learning materials and a positive impact on grades in science courses. More specifically, students who frequently use the online learning system to access materials have better assessment and exam results.     

Affairs of state and student retention: an exploratory study of the factors that impact student retention in a politically turbulent region

This study examines the impact of a country’s security unrest on student retention. It draws on the key factors that influence retention worldwide, adopts Bourdieu’s notion of cultural capital and also brings in concepts related to terrorism and security unrest traditionally absent from theories on student retention. Based on a case study carried out in Israel on 50 full‐time undergraduate students, this study suggests that the difficulties created by a country’s political environment alone do not play a significant role in student retention. However, when coupled with the salient features that negatively impact retention worldwide, difficulties created by a country’s security situation may increase tendencies to leave or consider leaving higher education.     

Determinants of PhD student satisfaction: the roles of supervisor,department, and peer qualities

Understanding the determinants of PhD student satisfaction is likely to become increasingly vital for universities as student satisfaction rankings already ubiquitous at undergraduate and master degree levels extend more broadly to the PhD level. Moreover, as PhD student populations and university competition become increasingly transnational, there is a growing need to understand cross-nationally common determinants of satisfaction. Building on prior research into PhD student satisfaction, and drawing upon relevant conceptual and metrical refinements in the measurement of satisfaction from cognate domains of psychology, we use cross-sectional data (N?=?409) from PhD candidates across the sciences, social sciences and humanities in 63 universities from 20 countries to examine how overall PhD student satisfaction is determined by, respectively and in combination, supervisor, department and peer-group, in terms of both their academic qualities and supportiveness. Taken together, we find that supervisor supportiveness is the greatest predictor of PhD student satisfaction, but that supervisor academic qualities have no significant effect. However, both the academic qualities and supportiveness of departments significantly predict PhD student satisfaction, suggesting university departments and PhD supervisors would ideally work jointly, and perhaps more closely than many currently do, to achieve competitive levels of PhD student satisfaction.     

Working-class students,habitus, and the development of student roles: a Canadian case study

As their numbers at university grow, we need to gain a better understanding of the different ways in which working-class students negotiate their potential outsider status in what is often considered an essential middle-class institution. Based on data from a four-year longitudinal, qualitative study of working-class students at a Canadian university, I argue that their acceptance of the ends and means of both the academic and social demands of university contributes to the development of different student roles, which in turn affects their likelihood to succeed academically. Drawing on works by Bourdieu and Bernstein, I present four case studies of students who lived through university committed, alienated or in transition toward either commitment or alienation. I show that despite similar working-class backgrounds, study participants’ reaction to university was anything but predictable. Instead, prior socialization, clear and realistic career goals, and chance encounters at university played an important role in their approach to university life.     

Informing Institutional Management: institutional strategies and student retention

European universities are facing demands for better student retention, especially in countries where state funding is no longer based on the number of students, but on the number of graduates. An extensive literature on retention focuses on the characteristics of students who leave higher education without a degree. Much less is known about the measures taken by higher education institutions to encourage study progress. This article examines whether retention strategies are incorporated into the institutions’ overall strategies and the policies and activities developed by universities to foster study progress and enhance retention rates. The results suggest that the universities’ overall strategies and retention activities are loosely coupled and that the universities tend to use blanket measures addressing retention, regardless of why students are leaving.     

Wellbeing and retention: A senior secondary student perspective

Non-completion of senior secondary schooling continues to be a matter of concern for policy makers and practitioners in Australia today. Despite the efforts of governments to improve participation and retention rates, 30% of students drop out of school before completing Year 12. Further, some students remain at school, just biding their time until graduation. Within this context, we investigate whether the wellbeing of the students is a key factor in supporting senior students in deciding to continue at school. The article reports on the first phase of a two-year study of factors impacting on quality retention and participation of 250 Year 11 students from two school communities. This initial phase focuses on the senior students’ perspective of their wellbeing in Year 11, and includes our development of a suite of scales to measure the impact of students’ social connectedness and academic engagement on academic achievement and retention. Data from the survey of students are enriched through student focus groups. The article identifies critical dimensions of what students regard as a healthy senior school culture; that is, a culture conducive to a positive and productive experience in terms of their retention, participation and achievement. Implications for school and system policy and governance are proposed.     

Large qualitative sample and thematic analysis to redefine student dropout and retention strategy in open online education

Open online education experiences persistently high dropout rates, and the efficacy of dropout interventions has been questioned. Despite considerable research, dropout reasons are not fully understood, and further in-depth investigation has been called for. Prior qualitative retention studies have frequently relied on smaller samples that are unable to generate deeper appreciation of dropout reasons. Over 200 in-depth interviews were therefore conducted with students that had dropped out of open online education. The probability-based qualitative sample facilitated capture of subthemes down to a 5% incidence level or frequency of occurrence. Thematic analysis revealed 41 subthemes within 10 broad dropout reasons. While the broad dropout themes have been identified previously, the subthemes are new and provide richer understanding. This study also captured students' suggestions for what might have prevented their dropout. Thematic analysis identified 19 subthemes within 5 broad intervention themes that respond to the root dropout causes. Many intervention subthemes address personal and learner context dropout factors that have often been considered uncontrollable and unavoidable. This paper therefore redefines dropout in open online education and offers new insights for improving retention. It also provides a strategic framework for evaluating dropouts and prioritising student-informed interventions that respond to the main dropout causes.

Practitioner notes

What is already known about this topic

• Persistently high open online education dropout suggests existing interventions are ineffective.
• Prior qualitative retention studies identified the main dropout reasons, but small sample sizes failed to generate deeper insights and more in-depth investigation has been called for.

What this paper adds

• A probability-based qualitative sample of 226 participants captured dropout subthemes down to a 5% level of incidence or frequency of occurrence.
• Thematic analysis identified 41 subthemes, within 10 broad dropout reasons. These subthemes are new and offer richer understanding.
• Thematic analysis also identified 19 subthemes within 5 broad dropout intervention areas that students suggested could have prevented their dropout. These include new insights for addressing dropout causes that have often previously been considered unavoidable.

Implications for practice and/or policy

• The strategic framework provides a retention management approach that prioritises responding to the main dropout causes with student-informed interventions.
• This approach and the deeper understanding afforded by robust qualitative investigation should help reduce persistently high dropout rates.

     

Deconstructing the student experience on an educational studies degree,with reference to student choice,access and outcomes

Educational studies as a discipline is now a feature in many British universities, but little research has been undertaken to explore what kinds of student choose the subject, how easily they access it or how they fare as undergraduate students. This article attempts to address this paucity of research by drawing on a selection of findings from a study undertaken with undergraduate students between 2004 and 2007. The study tracks the progress of a single cohort of students, some from vocational backgrounds and some from traditional academic backgrounds, on a full-time, three-year BA Honours educational studies degree.

The article initially provides a discussion relating to the historical place of educational studies as a subject for study at undergraduate level and suggests how this links to the British widening-participation agenda. This provides a context for the subsequent sections, which present a selection of findings from the three-year research project. The project was designed to explore the students’ experiences by asking which of them were accepted to undertake the degree by admissions staff, how they fared on the degree and, critically, whether their pre-entry qualifications had an impact on their progress and success. This article provides some answers to these questions which suggest that admissions staff are more cautious in accepting vocational entry qualifications, but that the nature of these has little bearing on ultimate success on the degree. It concludes by suggesting how this knowledge might impact on information for potential applicants and on the selection of students in the future.     

Preventing retention: First grade classroom instruction and student characteristics

Retention is a frequently used strategy to support children who are struggling academically. However, the strategy is costly, and research findings with regard to positive outcomes are mixed. This study examined whether efficacious reading instruction might reduce rates of retention in first grade. We also evaluated the reading instruction the students received compared with children with similar reading and vocabulary skills who were not retained. Additionally, we examined the impact students' self‐regulation may have on grade retention. Findings reveal that it was significantly less likely for students to be retained at the end of first grade if their teacher was implementing more efficacious reading instruction. Moreover, there were substantial differences in the literacy instruction provided for children who were and were not retained. Finally, students in the efficacious reading condition who were retained exhibited significantly weaker self‐regulation skills than did their matched‐promoted peers. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Logit analysis of graduate student retention

A logit model is developed to predict the retention of graduate students. The use of the BMDP4F procedure to develop a logit model for graduation student retention is outlined, and the model is applied to data from a major university. In this study, predicted retention rates for master's students were independent of age and sex, but were a function of race/visa status, registration status, and the interactions between academic division and registration status and between academic division and race/visa status. Predicted rates for doctoral students were independent of age and race/visa status, but were a function of registration status, academic division, and the interactions between academic division and registration status and between academic division and sex.     

Navigating complexity,culture, collaboration,and emotion: student perspectives on global justice and global justice education

Recent years have seen increasing scholarly attention to the ways in which colleges and universities might contribute to educating ‘global citizens’ who work toward addressing injustice and inequity. The present study examines the experiences and perspectives of students participating in an upper level ‘global justice inquiry’ course designed to help meet this goal. Drawing from interviews with students and reflections submitted as part of their course assessment, we explore participants’ developing understanding of global justice and their experiences of learning about this topic. This investigation reveals key issues that students highlight and with which they sometimes struggle, including the complexity of global challenges, the importance of collaboration in attempting to address such challenges, the significance of navigating cultural considerations, and the potential influence of emotion on understanding and action. Implications of these findings, including the potential value of considering these issues as threshold concepts in global justice education, are discussed.