Student Success In Online Courses Research Articles

Institutional change to support online learners: A case study for student success

AbstractThe article presents a case study on institutional change within the context of an online improvement initiative. As part of its quality enhancement plan (QEP) improvement process in support of accreditation reaffirmation, Wake Technical Community College (Raleigh, NC) implemented a multistage change process to engage the college in data‐driven change resulting in the eLearning preparedness initiative (EPIC). EPIC targeted student success in online courses by improving both student and faculty preparedness for online learning and teaching. The article first describes the need for change, provides an overview of the change initiative, then describes the transformational change process and lessons learned. The article closes with guiding questions for community college leaders and online learning change‐agents to consider when planning for and implementing strategies for improving the student experience and supporting online student success.

Does Mode of Access Make a Difference? Mobile Learning and online student engagement

Even though student use of mobile devices for educational purposes has increased in recent years, the research on the possible impact on student success or engagement has been minimal. This study investigated the impact of mobile device use on student engagement and student success in online courses. The theory of Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) was a foundation for understanding and measuring engagement behaviors of online students. The Online Self-Regulated Learning Questionnaire (OSLQ) was the basis of the survey instrument. Participants were categorized into three groups of mobile device use (low, moderate, high). These three groups were used for comparison in each of the research questions. The research questions ask what impacts mobile learning has on student engagement, as measured with SRL; what impact mobile learning has on the SRL constructs of environment structuring, task management, and time management; and what associations mobile learning might have with student success and persistence. The ANOVA showed that mobile learning had a moderate impact on engagement for students in the high group. Students in each group engaged in environment structuring behaviors more than task strategies or time management behaviors. Students in the moderate and high groups engaged in task strategies more than the low group. Students in the high group engaged in time management behaviors more than the other groups. The Crosstab analysis did not show an association between levels of mobile learning and course grade or persistence. These findings have positive implications for online pedagogy and course design. Keywords: Mobile Learning; online learning; student engagement; Self-Regulated Learning; student success

General and unique predictors of student success in online courses: A systematic review and focus group

Despite the increase in the availability and popularity of online educational programs, there is a lack of understanding of non-academic as well as academic predictors of online student success. In this study, we have investigated predictors of tertiary level student success via the Psychology discipline, a popular online subject. A systematic literature review, followed by focus groups with students and instructors from online Psychology courses, revealed several important findings including a profile of general predictors of online student success and the existence of discipline-specific online student success predictors which can be extended to a variety of health care courses. Understanding the indicators of effective online education will allow course designers and instructors to develop strategies specific to the online mode and particular disciplines, enabling implementation of evidence-based education practices, which can support academic and non-academic student success in a range of online courses.

The Role of Task Value and Technology Satisfaction in Student Performance in Graduate-Level Online Courses

Though it is well-accepted that Task-Technology Fit theory is a useful framework for examining university student success in online courses, the effectiveness of the theory has rarely been studied with graduate-level students or with a sample representing more than a few universities or programs. The current study investigated learners’ perceived performance in a national sample of students in over 400 graduate-level online learning environments through a path analysis involving five theoretically important constructs in the context of Task-Technology Fit theory. The results demonstrate that learners’ perceived performance will by and large be most greatly influenced by the value of the task. Task value was the strongest predictor after controlling for other variables in the model, followed by quality of content. Learner performance depends on how they perceive both the quality of the content as well as the design of the course itself. The Ease of use, relationships between users, and technology satisfaction had weaker relationships with performance, all leading to the understanding that online education organizations and information systems companies worldwide should emphasize usability when designing LMSs if the goal is to boost learners’ performance and satisfaction.

Examining the Role of Motivation and Learning Strategies in the Success of Online vs. Face-to-Face Students

The goal of this paper is to compare the motivations and learning strategies of online and face-to-face students, utilizing the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (Pintrich et al., 1993). Prior research (Crede & Phillips, 2011) suggest that motivation variables play a larger role in predicting student success in online courses compared to the specific learning strategies that are used, but little research has directly compared online students to face-to-face students. Results of this study found that while online students reported lower levels of motivation compared to face-to-face students, motivation variables were more strongly correlated with course performance than learning strategies, particularly for online courses. The results are discussed with implications for how to build student motivation to succeed, particularly in an online format, as well as different considerations for lower-level or upper-level students.

Faculty Perspectives on Narrowing the Success Gap Between Online and Onsite Learning

With growth in enrollment in online courses at the university level, the quality of those courses is coming under increased scrutiny. This study surveyed faculty with experience in online, onsite, and blended courses to identify factors most likely to impede student success in online courses as well as strategies to improve online courses. The most common responses for why students might find online courses more challenging focus in the areas time management, student-teacher interaction, and motivation. The strategies for improving student success in online courses fall into the categories of assignments, teaching strategies, and training for both faculty and students. Steps for students to take before enrolling in an online course and tips for faculty who want to teach online courses for the first time are also included as appendices.

A Synchronous Pedagogy to Improve Online Student Success

Despite continuous advances in the Internet and educational technology, the primary online pedagogy remains asynchronous chat, posted learning materials, and video clips. Blended learning was one approach universities have added to improve student success in online courses. The purpose of this 3-year pilot study was to evaluate the benefit of fusing weekly video classes within an online doctoral program as an alternative to on-campus classes. The sessions incorporated an interactive, student-centered pedagogy formulated to strengthen research and writing skills, increase student motivation, and reduce isolation. The level of student-student and student-teacher interaction was equivalent to face-to-face learning. Findings indicated that student satisfaction, motivation, skills, and scholarship increased. As personal bonds developed among students and faculty, student isolation decreased. The results of this preliminary study suggest that online video classes may be a cost-effective alternative to blended learning.

Grit in Online Education

Aim: This study sought to explore the role of the elusive non-cognitive skill set known as grit, or the resolve and determination to achieve goals regardless of impediments, on student success in online education. It represents an area of exploration where there is a dearth in the available literature and reports the results of a study conducted at a Mid-Atlantic minority-serving university that examined the relationship between grit and student performance in fully online courses.
 Methodology: Students were administered the standard 12-Question Grit Scale with the addition of a series of validated questions that sought to measure perceived self-learning efficacy. Additionally, student performances in online courses were recorded and correlations conducted. Basic statistical analyses such as mean, mode, standard deviation, variance, and confidence interval were calculated. Two hypotheses were introduced as part of this study and tested with Anovas and crosstabulations.
 Results: This study found that higher grit scores correlated progressively to both self-discipline and self-efficacy but that a positive relationship to student achievement in fully online courses as measured with a p value of greater than .05 could not be confirmed.
 Conclusion: As online education continues to grow, providing opportunities to foster and strengthen student success in online courses and programs is increasingly important. E-learning success requires that students exhibit strong self-regulation, self-discipline, resilience, dutifulness, conscientiousness, and low impulsivity all of which are attributes of grit. As such, grit is presented as a promising area of exploration for increasing student achievement in online education.

Strengths-Based Analysis of Student Success in Online Courses

Online courses today give a broad, diverse population access to higher education. Despite postsecondary institutions embracing this opportunity, scholarly literature reveals persistent concern over low retention rates in online courses. In response to this concern, an explanatory sequential, mixed methods study was conducted in three phases at a public research university to simultaneously explore personal, circumstantial, and course variables associated with student success from a strengths-based perspective. Existing data on student enrollments across four years were analyzed. A subset of Phase One students from a single semester were invited in the second phase to complete an assessment of non-cognitive attributes and personal perceptions, followed in the third phase by interviews among a stratified sample of successful students from the previous phase to elaborate on factors impacting their success. Quantitative analyses identified seven individual variables with statistical and practical significance for online student success. Interestingly, the combination of factors classified as predictive of success changed with student academic standing. The impact of differential success factors across academic experience may explain mixed results in previous studies. The themes that emerged from the interviews with students were congruent with quantitative findings. A unique perspective was shared when students discussed “teaching themselves,” providing additional insight into perceptions of teaching presence not formerly understood. The combination of a more contextual research approach, a strengths-based perspective, and insights from student perceptions yielded implications for educational practice.

Identification of ‘at risk’ students using learning analytics: the ethical dilemmas of intervention strategies in a higher education institution

Learning analytics is an emerging field in which sophisticated analytic tools are used to inform and improve learning and teaching. Researchers within a regional university in Australia identified an association between interaction and student success in online courses and subsequently developed a learning analytics system aimed at informing learning and teaching practices. Contemporary literature draws attention to ethical considerations and moral tensions in the implementation of learning analytics. This paper presents a case study of the ethical implications of a learning analytics implementation at CQUniversity, a regional Australian university. There was an institutional assumption that student data, consensually gathered at enrollment could be analyzed beyond the scope of the original consent. Further, academics were using the data in a manner not intended by the designers of the learning analytic system, and academics interpreted the student’s individualized data to label students based on their estimate of success. The learning analytics system is still being used and the ethical findings from this paper have implications for CQUniversity, academics and students. In order to resolve the ethical dilemmas the university could increase transparency of the process to students and obtain consent at multiple levels throughout the student journey.

Effects of Student Readiness on Student Success in Online Courses

Effects of Student Readiness on Student Success in Online Courses

Strategies to Increase Online Student Success for Students with Disabilities

Online education provides extensive opportunities for individuals with disabilities to enroll in degree and certificate programs. However, accessibility must be a key component of online program development since this can have a profound affect on student engagement in and outside of the online classroom, academic performance, and completion rates. This article provides a unique perspective on accessibility in online education. One current online student and three alumni of online programs provide video self-introductions, an overview of their online experience., and strategies for increasing student success in online courses and programs for students with disabilities. Strategies are also shared for integrating accessibility as a critical component within faculty development to ensure accessibility goes beyond the Office of Disability Services and becomes an integral part of online teaching, learning, and assessment.

Online Education in the Community College

This paper looks at three areas impacting online education at the community college level. Community colleges account for more than half of all online students in the United States as of 2006. This makes the success of online learning at the community college level a critical part of the growing online learning movement. Using data for postsecondary education in general, and where available, community colleges in particular, this paper will look at the issues that impact student success in online courses, issues that impact the faculty's ability to successfully transition learning to an online format, and issues that college administrators must consider to facilitate a successful transition. Only by understanding and addressing all three areas will online education at the community college level be successful.

Chickering's Seven Principles of Good Practice: Student Attrition in Community College Online Courses

As online enrollments escalate, so does concern about student attrition rates. There is an abundance of literature addressing student success in online courses, particularly using constructivist learning theories to create engaging learning experiences. Also emerging from the literature is the Seven principles of good instructional practice by Checkering and Gamson as an accepted rubric for evaluating effective online instruction. This study focused on whether the use of instructional strategies as measured by the seven principles had an effect on student attrition rates in online courses. Full and part-time faculty at three community colleges in Virginia who taught online course(s) in the last three semesters completed an online survey to determine the extent to which they used instructional strategies reflecting the constructivist-based seven principles in their online courses. Scores from the survey were then compared to the attrition rates in their courses. Results indicated both groups strongly used instructional strategies reflecting the seven principles of good practice in their online courses with full-time faculty scores ranging a bit higher. When the results for the principles were examined individually rather than as a set, both groups scored lower on principles reflecting innovative instructional strategies. No relation between the extent to which faculty reported using those instructional strategies and student success as measured by attrition rates were found. However, a moderate relation was found with the third principle, “encourage active learning.” This indicated that faculty who made strides toward actively engaging students found some success in reducing student attrition.

“Hits” (not “Discussion Posts”) predict student success in online courses: A double cross-validation study

The efficacy of individual components of an online course on positive course outcome was examined via stepwise multiple regression analysis. Outcome was measured as the student’s total score on all exams given during the course. The predictors were page hits, discussion posts, and discussion reads. The vast majority of the variance of outcome was accounted for by total page hits. Participation in discussion had little to no effect on performance as measured by outcome on exams. The results were double cross-validated with a sample chosen from another class. There was no shrinkage, indicating that the equations derived from the two samples were very reliable.

A Comparison of Student Grades, Floral Design Laboratory Skill Scores, and Course Satisfaction of Traditional and Online Sections of a University Floral Design Course

Performance of college-level floral design students was compared using a sample of 140 students from Texas A&M University. The experimental group was enrolled in the online version of the course, while the control group was enrolled in the traditional version of the course. Students in both groups were asked to fill out surveys at the beginning and end of the semester. In addition, student floral designs were evaluated at the beginning and end of the semester, and student grades were compared at the end of the semester. No statistically significant differences were noted in terms of student course satisfaction. However, differences were noted in course grades, with those enrolled in the traditional section of the course outperforming those in the online section. Overall, the students in both sections of the course did well in terms of grades, floral design skill scores, and course satisfaction. Results indicated that certain student characteristics may be indicators for student success in online courses.