Motivating and Retaining Online Students E-Book

Rosemary M. Lehman

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Serie: Online Teaching and Learning Series (OTL)
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 216

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

Finally, the first research-based book of sound strategies and best practices to help instructors motivate students to complete their online courses. Although studies support the effectiveness of learning online, students often fail to complete online courses. Some studies have found that as many as 50-70% drop out of their online courses or programs. Retention is not only a growing expectation and imperative, but it is also as opportunity for faculty members to take the lead in innovating, researching, and implementing new strategies while demonstrating their effectiveness. Designed for instructors and instructional designers, Motivating and Retaining Online Students is filled with empirical research from the authors' study of motivation and retention strategies that can reduce online learner dropout. Focusing on the most important issues instructors face, such as course design; student engagement and motivation; and institutional, instructional, and informal student support strategies, the book provides effective online strategies that help minimize student dropout, increase student retention, and support student learning. While helping to improve the overall retention rates for educational institutions, the strategies outlined in the book also allow for student diversity and individual learner differences. Lehman and Conceição's proven model gives instructors an effective approach to help students persist in online courses and succeed as learners.

Leseprobe

Contents

List of Tables, Exhibits, and Figure

Preface

About the Authors

Chapter 1: Concerns and Opportunities for Online Student Retention

Evolving Concepts of Presence, Communication, and Interaction

Redefining the Characteristics of the Higher Education Learner

New Ways of Learning

Causes for Increased Enrollment

The State of Higher Education and Online Learning

Concerns for Online Student Retention

Opportunities for Online Education

New Learner Behaviors and Skills in the 21st Century

Filling the Gap: Strategies for Online Persistence

Chapter 2: Design Strategies for Retaining Online Students

Intentional Design for Online Courses

Design Elements and Strategies to Help Students Stay Motivated Online

The Impact of Intentional Design for Online Course Success

Design Strategies for Retaining Online Students

Chapter 3: Student Strategies for Staying Motivated Online

Pathway and Strategies for Staying Motivated in Online Courses

Explaining Study Findings from a Motivational Perspective

Incorporating Student Strategies into Course Design

Chapter 4: Support Strategies for Helping Online Students Persist

Types of Support Perceived as Important by Students

Support Strategies for Helping Online Students Persist

Chapter 5: Pulling the Strategies Together

Established Findings Related to Online Student Retention

Major Contributions from Our Study

New Ways of Thinking about Learning and Teaching

Persistence Model for Online Student Retention

Times of Change for Learning in the 21st Century

Implications and Conclusions for Learning and Teaching Online

Glossary

References

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

Index

Cover design by Michael Cook

Cover image: © RomanOkopny

Copyright © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by Jossey-Bass

A Wiley Brand

One Montgomery Street, Suite 1200, San Francisco, CA 94104-4594—www.josseybass.com

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax [phone], or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-748-6011, fax [phone], or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. Readers should be aware that Internet Web sites offered as citations and/or sources for further information may have changed or disappeared between the time this was written and when it is read.

Jossey-Bass books and products are available through most bookstores. To contact Jossey-Bass directly call our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 800-956-7739, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3986, or fax [phone].

Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

CIP data is available on file at the Library of Congress.

ISBN 978-1-118-53170-9 (pbk)

List of Tables, Exhibits, and Figure

TABLES

Table 1.1.

Common Reasons for Online Student Dropout

Table 1.2.

Study Participants’ Demographics

Table 2.1.

Factors Distinguishing Face-to-Face and OnlineEnvironments

Table 2.2.

Course Design Elements, Strategies, and Ways toIntegrate the Strategies into Course Design

Table 3.1.

Ways to Incorporate Motivating Strategies into CourseDesign

Table 4.1.

Instructional Support Strategies for Online Courses

Table 5.1.

Course Blueprint for the Seminar in the Philosophy andHistory of Adult Education

Table 5.2.

Managing Tasks and Prioritizing Time for the Seminarin the Philosophy and History of Adult Education(Existing Course)

EXHIBITS

Exhibit 3.1.

Time Management Strategies

Exhibit 3.2.

Prioritizing Strategies

Exhibit 3.3.

Learning Strategies

Exhibit 4.1.

Use of Synchronous Communication to Support OnlineStudents

Exhibit 4.2.

Learning How to Learn Online: Supporting Early andPersistent Success for New Online Students

Exhibit 4.3.

Self-Care Resources

Exhibit 5.1.

Instructor Checklist for Designing Online Courses

FIGURE

Figure 5.1.

Persistence Model for Online Student Retention

Preface

Participation in online education continues to grow in the United States (Allen & Seaman, 2010, 2011). However, concerns for online student retention and factors for student persistence must be taken into consideration. We know that among the reasons for student dropout are feelings of isolation, frustration, and disconnection; technology disruption; lack of contact with faculty; inadequate contact with students on the part of faculty; lack of student and technology support; lack of instructor participation during class discussion; lack of clarity in instructional direction or expectation; and lack of social interaction.

Based on the literature, we also know some factors that have a positive influence on retaining students and reducing dropout rates. Among these factors are previous experience in online courses, student preparation for online education, relevance of the course to students, learning community engagement, desire to complete a degree, and workplace support.

In preparation for writing this book we conducted a comprehensive literature review on student retention and persistence in online higher education. There was a dearth of information on strategies to retain and motivate students in online courses. To fill this gap in knowledge and expand on the existing literature, we conducted a study to investigate motivation and support strategies that could reduce online learner dropout in higher education (Conceição & Lehman, 2012, 2013).

THE FOCUS OF THIS BOOK

This book focuses on strategies instructors can use to retain online students in higher education. It offers design, student, and support strategies for instructors to motivate and support online students in institutions of higher education. This book is written for instructors from the point of view of both students and instructors. The main purpose of the book is to assist instructors when designing, teaching, and supporting the online experience of students.

WHO CAN BENEFIT FROM THIS BOOK

This book was written primarily for instructors to assist them in using effective strategies for online learning and teaching. By using these strategies instructors can better motivate and retain students in their online courses and successfully design and teach online courses. For new instructors, the book can serve as a practical guide for designing strategies to motivate and support students. Experienced instructors can use the student strategies in this book to guide students for more efficient and effective learning. Instructional designers and consultants, who work with programs and organizations, can also use this book as a guide when developing and administering online programs or assisting instructors when creating and delivering online courses.

OUR BELIEFS ABOUT LEARNING AND TEACHING

The strategies in this book emerged from an analysis of the student and instructor perspectives in our study, as well as our own experiences designing and teaching online for more than 10 years. Our thoughts about online learning and teaching are based on our core belief that education in general is developmental in nature. Students must be allowed to learn and grow at their own pace. Many of the courses we teach allow students to develop skills throughout the course period. Placing the student at the center of every task has been the hallmark of our teaching and writing. In the online environment, a learner-centered approach requires a sense of presence—in other words, a sense of the instructor’s “being there” with online learners throughout the learning experience.

As educators we believe that we must take into account the unique nature of each student. Each individual is different in terms of past experiences, learning preferences, and interests. Therefore, we believe that instruction must be designed in ways that allow for individual differences. We always place ourselves in the role of a learner. Placing ourselves in this role helps us foster confidence, enthusiasm, and transparency in our teaching.

As our teaching experiences reach out to students globally, it is essential for us to teach using strategies that address different perspectives and provide options for the diverse learners. Having an open perspective about learning and teaching can help learners meet their own needs, think and reason more broadly, and select what is most relevant to them. We believe in intentional design, a method that involves purposeful actions and takes into consideration learner characteristics, the learning environment, and the teaching process. This book takes the view that intentional design is the foundation for developing courses that are successful at online student retention.

HOW THIS BOOK IS ORGANIZED

Chapter 1, “Concerns and Opportunities for Online Student Retention,” addresses the challenges that higher education is undergoing related to online student retention. The chapter explains the causes for increased enrollment and the state of higher education and online learning. The chapter describes concerns for online student retention and opportunities for online education. The chapter also identifies new learner behaviors and skills needed to succeed in the 21st century. The chapter concludes with an explanation of the study we conducted to expand on existing literature, which served as the basis for our writing this book.

Chapter 2, “Design Strategies for Retaining Online Students,” looks at intentional design for online courses, design elements and strategies to help students stay motivated online, and the impact of intentional design for online course success. The chapter concludes with design strategies for retaining online students.

Chapter 3, “Student Strategies for Staying Motivated Online,” focuses on the strategies identified by the students for staying motivated in online courses and the pathway that emerged from our analysis of the study findings. The chapter also explains the study findings from a motivational perspective and concludes with a discussion of ways to incorporate student strategies into course design.

Chapter 4, “Support Strategies for Helping Online Students Persist,” begins with students’ perceptions about receiving support that emerged from our study and then suggests support strategies, with examples, to help online students persist with their courses and programs. Instructors can incorporate these support strategies when teaching an online course.

Chapter 5, “Pulling the Strategies Together,” brings together the established findings and major contributions from our study related to online student retention. The chapter offers a model for instructors to help students persist in an online course and explains how to put the model into practice. The chapter discusses times of change for learning and instructors’ skills for meeting students’ 21st-century fluencies. The chapter ends with implications and conclusions for learning and teaching online.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This is the third book in the Jossey-Bass Guides to Online Teaching and Learning series that we have co-authored. We continue to use the same enjoyable and rewarding process for writing our books. For this book, our writing process has become so natural that we often finish each other’s sentences. This time, we met in person only twice, making use of mobile technology for communication, Google Drive for synchronous writing, and Dropbox for digital storage.

We are indebted to the students and instructors who participated in our survey and gave us insightful information based on their perceptions and experiences. Their insightful information will be a valuable resource for other students, instructors, instructional designers, practitioners, and administrators. We are also grateful to Tammie Rivera, who pulled together a literature review on student retention and persistence; the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Consulting Office for Research and Evaluation (CORE) for helping us with the quantitative data analysis of our findings, especially Professor Cindy Walker; our colleagues Johanna Dvorak and Chip Donahue for sharing their stories; and Jennifer Freiheit, who reviewed the first draft of our manuscript. We are thankful to our editor, Alison Knowles, who provided us with support and trust as we worked through the book.

As always, our family members have provided us with patience, support, and the ability to distinguish between work and personal life as we wrote this book in our home offices. Most important, the accomplishment of this book has been the complementary nature of our expertise. We each bring unique knowledge, research, and practice in online education, educational technology, and instructional design. We truly enjoy working together and sharing our experiences with others. Our work continues through online conversations on our website, blog, Facebook, and Twitter. Look for us at http://www.einterface.me.

Rosemary M. Lehman

Madison, Wisconsin

Simone C. O. Conceição

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

About the Authors

Rosemary M. Lehman and Simone C. O. Conceição wrote Creating a Sense of Presence in Online Teaching: How to “Be There” for Distance Learners (2010) and Managing Online Instructor Workload: Strategies for Finding Balance and Success (2011). Motivating and Retaining Online Students: Research-Based Strategies That Work (2013) is the authors’ third book in the Jossey-Bass Guides to Online Teaching and Learning series. The books focus on a learner-centered approach, provide instructors with sound strategies to teach efficiently and effectively online, and help instructors guide students to successfully complete their online courses.

Rosemary M. Lehman, Ph.D., is an author and consultant in the field of distance education and a partner in eInterface. She worked for 20 years for the University of Wisconsin-Extension, as Senior Outreach and Distance Education Specialist and Manager of the Instructional Communications Systems Learning Design and Outreach Team. In these positions, Rosemary taught online and supervised faculty, staff, government, and nonprofit personnel in selecting, designing for, and using distance education technologies effectively. She received her doctorate in Distance Education and Adult Learning, and her master’s in Television and Media Critique, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dr. Lehman’s research interests and areas of expertise include instructional design; synchronous and blended technologies; perception, emotion, and cognition at a distance; educational applications for media and technology; the development and integration of learning objects; and technology accessibility. She has led numerous workshops on distance education, keynoted and presented at statewide, national, and international conferences, and was the recipient of the 2005 University of Wisconsin-Extension Award for Excellence in distance education and leadership.

Dr. Lehman authored The Essential Videoconferencing Guide: 7 Keys to Success (2001), edited Using Distance Education Technology: Effective Practices (2002), and co-authored 147 Practical Tips for Synchronous and Blended Technology Teaching and Learning (2007).

Simone C. O. Conceição, Ph.D., is professor of Adult and Continuing Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and teaches courses in the areas of distance education, use of technology with adult learners, instructional design, and principles and foundations of adult learning. She received her doctorate in Adult and Distance Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her master’s in Adult and Continuing Leadership Education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Dr. Conceição’s research interests include adult learning, distance education, the impact of technology on teaching and learning, instructional design, and staff development and training. She was born in Brazil and has lived in the United States since 1989. Her diverse background brings an international perspective to the fields of education and training. She has researched and identified many aspects of good practice in online environments and is an expert in helping instructors and trainers understand Web-based technology tools, software, and design processes. She received the 2006 Early Career Award from the Commission of Professors of Adult Education from the American Association of Adult and Continuing Education.

She co-authored the book 147 Practical Tips for Teaching Online Groups: Essentials for Web-Based Education (2000) and is the editor of Teaching Strategies in the Online Environment (2007).

Chapter 1

Concerns and Opportunities for Online Student Retention

Higher education is undergoing major changes because of increased demands for flexible learning. To meet these demands, online education is developing as an essential mode of delivery and is transforming the educational landscape. This higher education transformation presents us with institutional and instructional challenges (Conceição & Lehman, 2011). These challenges bring into question the concepts of presence, communication, and interaction; redefine the characteristics of the higher education learner; and bring into play new ways of learning.

EVOLVING CONCEPTS OF PRESENCE, COMMUNICATION, AND INTERACTION

To help the reader become aware of the challenges and better understand the evolution of the higher education landscape due to technological advances, we suggest three institutional classifications that illustrate these changes: brick-and-mortar, brick-and-click, and click-link-and-connect. These institutional classifications explain the changing concepts of presence, communication, and interaction in higher education.

Brick-and-mortar is the traditional higher education environment, where learners live on campus and are present to others in a specific location; walk to classes; attend regular courses during normal working hours; participate in campus activities; and communicate, socialize, and interact with other students and instructors within the confines of the campus area (Conceição & Lehman, 2011).

Brick-and-click is the traditional higher education campus environment, where learners reside in campus housing or near campus, or commute with the advantages of the innovative use of technology (Carroll-Barefield, Smith, Prince, & Campbell, 2005). In this environment, learners communicate with others mostly via technology but also have the advantage of being able to interact with others face-to-face.

In this book, we are introducing the term click-link-and-connect, which describes a virtual campus environment composed solely of technology, where presence is elusive, communication is electronic, and interactions take place in cyberspace.

REDEFINING THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION LEARNER

Whereas the majority of brick-and-mortar students are traditional college-age students attending classes immediately after high school, some brick-and-click students may still live on or near campus or travel to campus but also take advantage of technology, giving them opportunities to better meet their learning and working needs. The click-link-and-connect students are those who do not live on campus but learn at a distance through a virtual campus. In this group, many of the students are nontraditional, older, place-bound, goal-oriented, and intrinsically motivated and have full-time jobs and family obligations (Dabbagh, 2007).

NEW WAYS OF LEARNING

Changes in the higher education environment and in learner characteristics call for new ways of learning. Modern technologies have provided the opportunity to learn anytime, anywhere, and at any pace, both informally and formally. Learning is no longer a part of a single formal setting—rather, it is everywhere. Think of a mobile device that provides access to e-mail, the Internet, games, files, library resources, videos, music, blogs, social networking, and so on. Learning could take place through any of these applications in any location the user chooses. In this type of technology environment, the boundaries between informal and formal learning tend to blur, and students can lose focus.

Although it is more comfortable for students to interact in the informal environment, in the formal environment there is a need for purpose and guidance. With so many available applications, students can easily become distracted and overwhelmed and may lack motivation to accomplish course tasks. With proper direction on how to manage these ubiquitous technologies and focus on learning, students can be successful.

One of the major issues in online education has been students’ lack of motivation to persist in their courses or programs. This chapter addresses this issue, as well as the causes for increased enrollment and the state of higher education and online learning. The chapter describes concerns related to online student dropout or retention and persistence in higher education and opportunities pertaining to these concerns. The chapter also identifies new learner behaviors and skills in the 21st century. The chapter concludes with an explanation of the study we conducted to fill the gap in knowledge about motivation and support strategies that could reduce online learner dropout in higher education. The study served as the basis for our writing this book.

CAUSES FOR INCREASED ENROLLMENT

According to Allen and Seaman (2010), institutions of higher education can have a positive influence on overall enrollments and on the increased need for online learning in the United States. At least three causes are generating increased enrollment in institutions of higher education: the economic downturn, market demands, and the exponential rate of emergence of new technologies.

In times of economic downturn, people tend to return to school. This tendency generates higher enrollments, with an impact on institutions’ financial situations. Market demands can initiate competition, requiring institutions to reexamine their brick-and-mortar infrastructure and consider the brick-and-click option to increase enrollments and reach out to a wider population through online learning.

Another positive influence on overall enrollments is the rapidly changing development and use of technologies. The life of a technology today is very short and demands constant change and adaptation from users, who must learn new skills. Some advantages of emerging technologies in online education are the capability of creating presence, enhancing communication, and providing opportunities for interaction (Lehman & Conceição, 2010). People highly value these qualities in the face-to-face setting, and these concepts should be the basis for designing brick-and-click and click-link-and-connect environments. In these environments, higher education institutions are finding a new source of revenue without having to build additional physical facilities, recognizing increasing competition, and using emerging technologies to reach out to new audiences (Allen & Seaman, 2010; Maguire, 2005). One example related to this change is the advent of flexible degree programs that integrate MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) into their offerings (Ward, 2013).

THE STATE OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND ONLINE LEARNING

A 2009 report by Allen and Seaman (2010) shows that 66% of higher education institutions in the United States reported growing requests for new online courses and programs and 73% reported increasing demand for existing online courses and programs. This compares to 54% of growing requests for existing face-to-face courses and programs.

In an updated report, Allen and Seaman (2011) explain that in 2010 there were more than six million students (or 31% of students) in public, private, and for-profit institutions in the United States taking at least one online course. Participation in online courses has grown by 358% since 2003. Though the growth in online learning enrollments has been outstanding, there is still a misperception by academic leaders and faculty that learning outcomes for online education are inferior to those of face-to-face instruction. However, academic leaders at institutions with online offerings have a much more favorable opinion of the learning outcomes for online courses than do those at institutions with no online courses or programs (Allen & Seaman, 2011).

It is evident that online education still suffers from lack of knowledge of its potential by many leaders. In 2010, there was a small increase (2% over 2009) in the number of U.S. institutions of higher education reporting that online education is a critical part of their long-term strategy. In this instance, for-profit institutions are more likely to include online learning in their strategic plans (Allen & Seaman, 2011). Based on the 2011 report by Allen and Seaman, distance education continues to show growth. As a result, concerns and opportunities for online student retention must be considered.

CONCERNS FOR ONLINE STUDENT RETENTION

Online student retention has been a major topic of discussion in higher education for more than a decade. This discussion has focused on student dropout (or attrition) and persistence. Most articles have provided anecdotal information or individual studies carried out by universities (Angelino, Williams, & Natvig, 2007). In the past decade, there have been a few national reports on student enrollment, but none has focused specifically on dropout or persistence. What has been widely addressed in the literature is the comparison between the effectiveness of online learning and traditional learning.

Although studies support the effectiveness of learning online compared to learning in the traditional classroom (Hobbs, 2004; Tallent-Runnels et al., 2006), students often fail to complete online courses. In some studies, it is noted that as many as 50–70% drop out of their online courses or programs (Carr, 2000; Roblyer, 2006; Rovai & Wighting, 2005; Simpson, 2004). Among the reasons for student dropout are feelings of isolation, frustration, and disconnection; technology disruption; student failure to make contact with faculty; inadequate contact with students by faculty; lack of student and technology support; lack of instructor participation during class discussion; lack of clarity in instructional direction or expectation; and lack of social interaction. Another way to view the dropout problem is to look at the factors for student persistence in online education. These factors can help us determine what strategies are needed to retain students, reduce dropout rates, and help students persist in online courses or programs.

Reasons Online Students Drop Out

A review of the literature reveals many reasons for online student dropout. For example, Hara and Kling (2001) and Palloff and Pratt (1999, 2005) address the physical separation of individual students in online education as a reason for their feeling isolated and a major cause of student confusion and anxiety, leading to problems with course retention. The findings of Motteram and Forrester (2005) and Abel (2005) reveal that technology failure and lack of instructor feedback are also reasons for online student dropout. In the online environment, students tend to become frustrated when technology does not function well and lose confidence in their work when they do not receive instructor feedback. For these reasons, technology and student support are essential.