FACTORS AFFECTING DROPOUT INTENTION DUE TO ONLINE LEARNING TRANSITION AMONG ENGINEERING STUDENTS AT HIGHER LEARNING INSTITUTION

Abstract

Everyone witnesses the mushrooming of internet technology in a dynamic area, especially in the education sector that glows E-learning platform to be an essential method applied by educational institutions across the globe. Online modes glommed into higher education as the objective is to streamline students' learning as well as to equip students’ skill set to meet with digitised world demands. This affects the entire academia, and to be specific engineering students are much more affected compared to the rest as it involves technical scope of studying. Thus, a descriptive research design was undertaken to focus on examining the factors that affect engineering student’s dropout percentage due to online learning transitions at higher learning institutions. Three main dimensions were understudy namely, resilience, digital literacy and teaching competencies as the predictor of dropout intention. Correlation research design was applied, tested the named dimensions on samples of first-year students (n=1100). Further, data gathered are analyzed through Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 26. The results show three main predictors (resilience, digital literacy and teaching competencies) is a significant predictor of early dropout intention among students. The result’s implication being spotlight and the possible intervention are suggested to reduce the rate of students’ dropout intention.