High-Impact Practices and the Adult Online Learner

Pamela Duke Morris,Christina M.Cobb,Meredith Anne S Higgs

doi:10.22158/wjer.v6n4p463

Pamela Duke Morris, Christina M.Cobb + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.22158/wjer.v6n4p463

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Abstract

Institutions of higher education are challenged to get students engaged, especially adult or non-traditional online learners. In this study, the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) 2017 & 2018 data on High-Impact Practices (HIPs) are examined to understand the extent to which adult online learners are engaged in HIPs. This analysis finds that engagement levels for adult learners are lower than those of traditional learners (under the age of 24) for all HIPs surveyed by the NSSE. Moreover, the levels of engagement of the subset of adult learners who took only online courses was even lower than the levels of the broader adult population, and part-time adult online learners had the lowest engagement of all student populations examined. Based on these findings, suggestions for improving the engagement of adult and online learners in HIPs are discussed. Institutions should focus on incorporating opportunities that allow more learners to experience HIPs, as research findings suggest that HIPS increase engagement and could result in significant improvements in student success measures, such as program completion and graduate school attendance (Stoloff, Good, Smith, & Brewster, 2015).

Highlights

In the increasingly scrutinized world of higher education, institutions are being held more and more accountable for student success and retention
Questions arise: if student engagement is important, but adult learners are differently engaged in the university setting, how can adult students be engaged through High-Impact Practices (HIPs)? Are different engagement strategies needed for adult online students to enhance their engagement? 2.4 Online Learners Bodily, Graham, and Bush (2017) stress the importance of student engagement in general and point to studies that address the lack of engagement of online learners
This paper considered Hips engagement measures, with a special focus on the adult online learner

Summary

Introduction

In the increasingly scrutinized world of higher education, institutions are being held more and more accountable for student success and retention. Adult online learners, and especially part-time students, are an important student population that can have a significant impact on success measures of institutions of higher education making it critical to target institutional HIPs to this at-risk population. Collaborative learning can have a wide range of definitions including informal study groups, team-based class assignments, and long-term research projects (Kuh & AAC & U, 2008). First-year seminars and experiences are generally taken during the first semester of college, and students meet with a faculty member at least once a week During this meeting, students are presented with problem solving skills, collaborative group work, or writing assignments Another study cited by Bodily et al (2017) discussed challenges faced by online students, including child care responsibilities, financial ability to pay for school, balancing work schedule (Rovai, 2003). Rovai (2003) mentions that it is very important for institutions to have outreach programs in place to let online students know about the services and programs that are available and provide the type of support these students need

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