Twenty-sixth International Conference on Learning

Abstract

Student retention in online courses continues to be less than that of a traditional brick and mortar campus. Researchers tend to point to the fact that there is no simple solution to help students toward their degree completion or fulfill of their educational goals. Factors that contribute to student retention in the online classroom are student self-discipline, instructor engagement and response time and student support services. Of these factors being cited as reasons for leaving the University, what can be done that classroom instructors/the professor might have some control over? During this workshop, participants will be given small documents that contain reasons students leave universities. Participants will sort the items into those that in are in the control of the professor and those that are not. Blank pieces of paper will allow other reasons to be added. After the sorting, a list of proposed solutions will be shared by partners and groups. Sorting and resorting will provide brainstorming of ideas that are in the control of the classroom instructors. Students who enter a university from a background that results in low academic capital will have gaps that can prevent them from persevering and completing a degree. These students often face a disadvantage and without academic experience through interventions for success, the opportunity to advance is undermined especially in an online environment. Participants should leave this workshop with shared retention-promoting ideas that can be implemented immediately in their classrooms, whether face to face, blended, or exclusively online.