The Web-based community college student: An examination of factors that lead to success and risk

Abstract

The author reports a quasi-replication of Osborn [Osborn, V.I. (2000). Identifying at-risk students: An assessment instrument for distributed learning courses in higher education. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of North Texas]. Factor analysis produced seven factors that were combined with seven background variables for further analysis. Discriminant function analysis was used to analyze the influence of 14 variables on the dependent variable successful completion of Web-based classes at the community college level. Results of the quantitative analysis suggest that grade point average (GPA), study environment, age, time since last college class, and background preparation were significant discriminating factors. Using qualitative analysis, 22 randomly selected students who dropped their Web-based course were interviewed about their reasons for dropping the course. The reason given most often for dropout was that the student could not obtain, access, or install all the required learning materials in a timely manner and that they dropped the course while they still had a chance to do so.