3.2 Online course offerings: issues of retention and professional  (Page 5/8)

Additional studies indicate students’ attitudes differ toward online and traditional instructional delivery. Cicco, using (2007) analysis of variance (ANOVA), reported that an online student group clearly possessed more positive attitudes toward online instruction than a student group that received instruction in the traditional face to face setting. There is additional empirical evidence pertaining to online students having expressed a desire for online instructors to provide more clearly stated guidelines among things that faculty could have done more of to assist their online learning (Guillot, 2003). Szucs Werner’s (2009) research involving online nursing students revealed that online students perceived a connection with their instructors and the university equal to that of nursing students attending class. However, students attending class had a stronger connection with other students on campus.

Student retention issues associated with online education

Nitsch (2003) stated, “Retention of adults in online programs is a persistent and perplexing problem for providers of adult education” (p. 3). With online learning, there is a greater likelihood that a student will not complete courses and stay enrolled in an online program than in an on-campus course (Palloff&Pratt, 2003). Student drop-out rates in online courses are as high as 35% to 50% (Lynch, 2001). Nitsch (2003) summarizes the reasoning behind the high attrition rates for online learners as follows:

"The online learner is isolated from much of the social activities of learning (White&Weight, 2000). The online student lacks immediate support of peers and instructors, an important element of student success as described in Tinto’s model of attrition (Tinto, 1993). In this model, several factors that impact attrition are explained with emphasis placed on the need for social integration as part of the learning process. Lonely people tend to be less involved in the learning process (Pugliese, 1994). With this lack of physical proximity, there is a decrease in the motivation to succeed in the online courses. Where many of the students seek out online learning because of its flexibility, this flexibility puts a student in the position of having to depend only on oneself to maintain the desire to complete a course. Without an adequate support system, a student could easily lose sight of the reasons for completing the program and decide to drop out" (p. 7).

Fjortoft (1995) found that students with high levels of perceived intrinsic benefits were more likely to succeed in an online program. The University of Illinois offers a list of student profiles that could be used to demonstrate the skills needed to be a successful online learner. They are:

1. Are you able to work independently?
2. Will you sacrifice personal time to complete assignments?
3. Can you write clearly and articulate your thoughts coherently?
4. Are you a self starter?
5. Are you able to manage time?
6. Do you have strong study skills?
7. Do you need direct lecture to understand materials?
8. Are you comfortable asserting yourself in a group?
9. Are you computer literate?