Why Students Leave

Faculty play a significant role in student retention, both at the course level and at the institution level. Retaining a student costs institutions less money than recruiting new students; recruiting new ones to replace attritive students is most costly. Most students who drop out do so within the first year of their college experiences. There are many reasons students leave, and some of these have nothing to do with the institution or faculty. Some attrition is a result of external events; for example, students must remain integrated in their family and home communities in order to perform well in post-secondary institutions. If they feel alienated from their social groups and isolated, they are more likely to leave.

However, there are many reasons students withdraw from courses and institutions, and many of these factors are those in which faculty have direct control. Students perceive many barriers to a successful learning experience, and these, importantly, do not vary from face-to-face instruction to online instruction. Research, including student surveys about withdrawal and attrition, identify the following factors in their decisions to leave:

Issues with Writing Skills

Students who need extra writing help should be supported and encouraged. They should be made aware of online writing labs, any institutional online writing aids, resources, websites, and services. Instructors may also encourage students who have difficulty writing to reach out to the professor for proofreading and help before papers are due. Students should be encouraged to not see the need for support as reflective upon their own character, but instead as a reflection of their past experiences. Students who perceive that they benefit from these services will be more likely to engage in them (Flegle, Pavone & Flegle, 2009).

Class Atmosphere

In order to create a supportive atmosphere in the class and encourage students to support one another, having a public “Student Lounge” discussion board where students may post, ask questions of peers, and offer support to peers should be encouraged.

Peer-to-peer Interaction

The literature and research on the importance of peer-to-peer interaction in online courses is split. However, many students who withdraw report that they sought social integration in the online class that they didn’t receive (Flegle, Pavone & Flegle, 2009). Assigning mentors to students new to online learning, and offering extra points for mentors is one solution to help foster peer-to-peer interaction and a sense of community.

Instructor-student Interaction

According to Herbert (2006), 12% of students who do not complete courses withdraw due to instructor related issues (Herbert, 2006). These issues include responsiveness to needs, feedback on assignments, quality of online instruction (pedagogy), timeliness of feedback, frequency of interaction with faculty, and visibility of the instructor in the course (Sutton, 2014; van Rooij & Zirkle, 2016).

Technological Barriers

Students will occasionally meet with technological issues, whether personal or institutional; when this occurs, instructors should remain supportive, and be reasonable (but not gullible) during times of issue. For students who are returning to school after many years and may be unfamiliar with online courses, being supportive, offering assistance, and helping them by providing extra flexibility until they get the hang of online learning is ideal. On the flip-side of this coin, many students are now “anywhere, anytime” learners, and expect to be able to consume course material the same as they consume social media or other technology (2013). If a course is not challenging, well organized, and developed for consumption in small, meaningful bytes, students feel unmotivated to engage in and/or complete the course (Schell & Janicki, 2011; Flegle, Pavone & Flegle, 2009).

Financial Barriers

While financial barriers is not a factor that eCampus faculty can assist with much, the other issues are ripe for instructor action. Whenever a student approaches you with a financial concern, it is important that you remain supportive, understanding, and dedicated to helping the student look for solutions if possible.

Accessibility

Students with disabilities are more likely to enroll in online courses than non-disabled students. If students with disabilities do not have equal access and learning experiences in a course as abled individuals, then they are more likely to withdraw from a course. eCampus instructional designers are trained in accessibility and design courses based on Universal Design principles; however, when faculty personalize the course, add material, or communicate with students, they should be cognizant of accessibility issues, and ensure materials meet the needs of all learners.

Personal Issues

Additionally, most students who do not complete the courses (61%) do not do so because of time commitment issues (the course was too time consuming and conflicted with other time commitments), followed by other personal problems at 16% (Herbert, 2006). While faculty have no control over the personal lives and problems of individual students, being accepting, encouraging, supportive, and responsive in times of students’ needs is expected of eCampus faculty.

References

Flegle, L., Pavone, T., Flegle, J. (2009). The Instructor’s Role in Retention: Teaching Students to Stay in School. Merlot Voices. Retrieved from http://voices.merlot.org/forum/topics/the-instructors-role-in.

Herbert, M. (2006). Staying the Course: A Study in Online Student Satisfaction and Retention. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 9(4), 300-317.

Schell, G., & Janicki, T. J. (2013). Online course pedagogy and the constructivist learning model. Journal of the Southern Association for Information Systems, 1(1).

Sutton, R. (2014). Unlearning the Past: New Foundations for Online Student Retention. Journal of Educators Online, 11(3), n3.

van Rooij, S. W., & Zirkle, K. (2016). Balancing pedagogy, student readiness and accessibility: A case study in collaborative online course development. The Internet and Higher Education, 28, 1-7.