The Effect of Motivation on Student Persistence in Online Higher Education: A Phenomenological Study of How Adult Learners Experience Motivation in a Web-based Distance Learning Environment

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of motivation in the persistence of adults enrolled in online higher education. Since the 1990’s, online courses and programs have proliferated across higher education, with adults (ages 25 and over) currently making up the largest portion of online enrollments. Online courses, however, suffer from a higher rate of student attrition than their hybrid and face-to-face counterparts. Although it is difficult to attribute the high rate of attrition in online education to any one factor, research has identified a lack of motivation as a primary cause of student dropout. Likewise, studies have shown that when motivation is present, learners are more likely to persist in their coursework. In order to develop a deeper understanding of this issue, a phenomenological approach was chosen as the most appropriate method for this study. Participants for this study were at least 25 years of age and were enrolled in an online class at a large public university in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. In adhering to the phenomenological method, open-ended, in-depth interviews were used to investigate how adult learners experience motivation in online higher education. Transcendental phenomenological analysis was then used to determine the essence of this experience. During the first stage of this process, twelve distinct themes emerged from the data, including Relevance and Applicability, Communication, Flexibility, and Instructor Presence. During the next stage, three additional structural themes were identified: Relation to Self, Relationship with Others, and Time. During the final stage of analysis, the essence of this experience was revealed as the participants’ Goal Commitment and their Need for Guidance. Key findings from this study include the confirmation of motivation as a critical component in the persistence of adult online learners. In addition, a number of factors were identified as key facilitators and barriers to persistence in adults learning online. In developing an in-depth understanding of the link between motivation and persistence in this particular sample of learners, the results of this study may potentially contribute to addressing the overall larger problem of high rates of attrition in online higher education

Adult learner characteristics as predictors of performance, satisfaction and intent-to persist in online and blended environments

Online or blended adult education offers learners autonomy which makes them responsible for shaping their own learning. Considering the increased responsibility over learning, learner characteristics are important factors to consider in order to achieve educational success. With this in mind, the current study examines to what extent different learner (background) characteristics predict adult learners' intent-to-persist, satisfaction and performance in online or blended environments. The learner characteristics, namely motivation, self-regulation, internet attitudes and self-efficacy are selected based on previous research with regard to influences on persistence, performance and satisfaction. Furthermore, background variables like age, gender, having children, prior diploma, employment status and current educational level are included. Data were collected through a survey among 242 learners in online or blended adult education. Multivariate linear regressions (with intent-to-persist, satisfaction and performance as respective dependent variables) show that the motivation of learners influences all three outcomes. For both satisfaction and intent-to-persist, results show a positive relationship with controlled motivation and a negative relationship with amotivation. The autonomous motivation has a positive relationship with expected performance. Moreover, motivation is found to be the only characteristic in this study that predicts the intent-to-persist. For expected performance, negative relationships are found for the self-regulation subscale 'time management' and a positive relationship for 'self-evaluation'. The self-regulation subscale 'environment structuring' has a positive relationship with satisfaction, while 'help-seeking' has a negative relationship. As predicted, self efficacy seems to be an important variable which predicts the performance and satisfaction. Internet attitudes only relate to the satisfaction of learners. The results in the current study demonstrate that in online or blended adult education, learner characteristics are important to consider. Motivation is seen as a particularly critical variable. In this respect teachers and institutions should pay attention to the individual learner characteristics since these can serve as indicators for learners at risk

Building a Sustainable Agricultural Career Pipeline: Effective Recruitment and Retention Practices Used by Colleges of Agriculture in the United States

This national study examined effective student recruitment and retention practices used by colleges of agriculture in the United States among 1862 land-grant, 1890 land-grant, and non-land-grant institutions. Respondents reported that faculty at colleges of agriculture were primarily white. Through the analysis of sub-group percentages, the researchers found that the ethnic makeup of faculty was not reflective of the general population. The researchers found that administrators from 1862 land-grant institutions reported statistically significant differences (p \u3c .05) regarding the use of specific strategies to target underrepresented populations in student recruitment as compared to other institutional types. Further, 1862 land-grant institutions reported statistically significant differences in student retention strategies (p \u3c .05) as compared to other institutional types regarding the delivery of programs that aimed to retain first-year students. Based on key findings from this investigation, the authors developed the agricultural student retention model (ASRM) to help guide colleges of agriculture in improving their holistic retention program as they navigate inclusive and diverse institutional contexts. Additionally, key recruitment strategies were identified as well, that could facilitate holistic student recruitment efforts. Perhaps more significant progress can be made toward creating a sustainable agricultural workforce that is more reflective of U.S. population demographics using this model

Environmental facilitators and barriers to student persistence in online courses : reliability and validity of new scales

This study aimed at building a reliable and valid scale for environmental factors related to student persistence in online courses, particularly relevant for adults or lifelong learners. Drawing on Kember and colleagues (1994)’ social integration and external attribution scales and subscales as a starting point, data collected in Canadian universities were randomly split into two samples. The first sample (n1 = 385) was used to explore the data set through principal component and reliability analyses. These confirmed a two-factor environmental scale composed of encouragements (factor 1) and time-events items (factor 2), as well as a two-factor persistence scale that included potential dropout (factor 3) and cost-benefit items (factor 4). All factors showed a very good internal consistency. The second sample (n2 = 381) was used to confirm the structural validity of environmental and persistence scales through confirmatory factor analyses and to compare this new structure to Kember et al. (1994)’ subscales. While the latter resulted in an insufficient model fit, the new environmental and persistence scales yielded a very good model fit with strong goodness-of-fit indices and statistics. These results confirmed the structural validity of the new scales, which can trustfully be used in further empirical studies related to online student persistence. The new scales can also be used by practitioners to detect at-risk students early in a semester, allowing to offer them specific individual support to foster student persistence in online courses

To complete or not complete : Student persistence in post-secondary education online courses

Many factors influence learners\u27 decisions to complete or drop out of online learning courses in higher education where learners\u27 persistence is considered critical to the success of the higher education institutions. This review examines recent literature on the relationship between learners\u27 perceived Sense of Community (SOC), Social Presence, Satisfaction, and Participation and Interactions in distance education courses and learner persistence. Over 30 peer-reviewed studies published in academic journals within the past ten years were selected for critical analysis. Results are mixed and while many studies imply relationships between various learner and institution characteristics and student persistence, significant correlations are often lacking. Given the increasing popularity of on line education in higher education, identifying the characteristics of both successful students and of successful online learning environments warrants further investigation

Parenthood and Persistence of Adult Learners in the Western Region of the United States

This study explored the role of parenthood on adult learners who were parents of minor children and gaining an understanding of their needs while attending a college or university. A qualitative phenomenological approach and purposive techniques were used to identify and recruit adult learners who were parents of minor children located in the general area in the Western Region of the United States. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and Yüksel and Yıldırım (2015) guide used for phenomenological narrative data analysis. Recorded interviews were transcribed into text and NVIVO software was then used to organize the interview data and uncover any connections or themes of the data. The key findings fully supported Bean and Metzner’s (1985) theory of adult learner’s attrition model. Study participants cited that time management skills, dependable childcare, and faculty support affected their decision to persist at a college or university. Additionally, adult learner -parents indicated that their experience would be less challenging if childcare was available at the campus at the times that their class are scheduled. Based on the results of this study, it is recommended that higher education leaders tasked with serving a large population of adult learners who are parents to focus on promoting childcare centers or discounts to student enrolled at the institution at the times that they are scheduled to take classes and encourage faculty members a supportive relationship for learner-parents. Recommendations for future research include exploring the relationship between environmental, psychological, and academic supports and student-parents’ decision to persist

Factors influencing nontraditional students' persistence in online programs for nontraditional students attending a Wisconsin technical college

Includes bibliographical references.2015 Summer.The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that play a significant part in online students’ intent to persist at a Wisconsin Technical College. Specifically, this project focused on the relationships between intent to persist and the following variables: GPA, academic advising (concern), academic advising (appointment), education usefulness, student satisfaction, commitment, academic stress, outside encouragement from parents/spouse, outside encouragement from employer, outside encouragement from friends, and financial certainty. Data were collected through an online survey of FLEx students at Moraine Park Technical College in Wisconsin. The nontraditional student attrition questionnaire developed by Metzner (1983) and Bean (Metzner & Bean, 1987) was the instrument for the study. The instrument was used to examine the factors affecting intent to persist for both online and face-to-face students. Because the study included factors that the college may not have direct influence over, a separate analysis was conducted for factors that the college can directly affect. The results of this study showed that education usefulness, outside encouragement from employer, outside encouragement from friend, and financial certainty played important roles in online students’ intent to persist for both internal and external college-controllable variables. For face-to-face students, financial certainty, student satisfaction, academic stress, and outside encouragement by parents or spouse were the most important factors in intent to persist for both internal and external college-controllable variables

The Relationships between Online Adult Student CLEP Transfer Credit Subject Types and Six-Year Graduation

College Level Examination Program exams are accepted at thousands of schools, but the question remains as to whether College Level Examination Program students are prepared to graduate and whether accepting College Level Examination Program students benefits higher education institutions. While research has been done on College Level Examination Program student success, further research is needed to know whether increased College Level Examination Program exams and College Level Examination Program credits in specific disciplines correlate to an increased likelihood in online adult student graduation. College Level Examination Program exams’ relation to graduation and online adult learners’ use of College Level Examination Program exams are both understudied in the research. To this purpose, in a quantitative study, a sample of 34,927 online adult learners (25 or older) who applied College Level Examination Program exams in four disciplines (English, math, history, and science) to a four-year, private university have been studied using a logistic regression analysis, and there was at least a small effect size but significant correlation between each College Level Examination Program discipline and six-year graduation. Of the four disciplines, English was the strongest predictor, history and math were moderately strong, and science was not significantly predictive. Recommendations for further research concern the skills necessary for graduation and the roles that the College Level Examination Program has in preparing students

STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS THAT PREDICT PERSISTENCE AND PERFORMANCE IN ONLINE COURSES AND THE FACE-TO-FACE EQUIVALENTS AT A FOUR-YEAR PRIVATE NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY

Attrition in online courses is of growing concern in higher education. Many researchers and practitioners are concerned about student persistence (course completion) and performance (completion of a course with a grade of C or better) in online courses. This study investigated the undergraduate student characteristics that predict student persistence and performance in online courses and the face-to-face equivalents at a four-year private northeastern university. The sample consists of undergraduate students (42,280 observations, 25,167 unduplicated student headcount, which is the actual number of individual students in the population) who enrolled in courses, regardless of delivery format, from fall 2002 to spring 2013. This study attempted to identify the undergraduate student characteristics that predict student persistence and performance in online courses and the face-to-face equivalents while controlling for all available institutional variables such as demographics (age, gender, race/ethnicity, and financial aid) and academic performance (grade point average prior to enrollment at the institution, concurrent enrollment programs, and math and verbal scholastic aptitude test scores). The student characteristics were examined using multilevel modeling. The first level of analysis was the individual student and the second level of analysis was the academic school/college in which the student was enrolled. The findings of this study were mixed. No cause and effect claims were made. Aligning with much of the literature in this area, the results of this study consistently demonstrate that GPA prior to enrollment at the institution predicts student success in both online courses and the face-to-face equivalents. Students enrolled in the College of Engineering and Computer Science and the School of Management were more likely to succeed (persist and perform) in both online courses and the face-to-face equivalent. Consistently those students who identified their race/ethnicity as a minority, were less likely to succeed in online courses and the face-to-face equivalents