Pressure exists to attract and retain students in higher education. Online educational programs have the potential to increase the number of students who can enroll in degree-bearing institutions. Explored in the qualitative study using a modified three-round Delphi technique was the phenomenon of consistently lower student retention rates in fully online programs in higher education, as compared to student retention rates in ground-based programs. Experts suggested that student self-discipline, instructor engagement and response time in courses, and the need for institutions to offer online students an array of support services contribute to student retention in fully online programs. Panelists revealed concerns and practices that may influence student retention. These practices ultimately relate to social and academic integration. (Abstract by author)

Featuring a collection of top articles from Distance Education Report, this new Faculty Focus special report provides practical strategies for improving online student retention, engagement and satisfaction. Articles include:

• 11 Tips for Improving Retention of Distance Learning Students
• Understanding the Impact of Attrition on Your School
• Taking a Holistic View of Student Retention
• Eight Suggestions to Help You Get Your Retention Act Together Now
• Online Mentoring Builds Retention
• Nine Truths about Recruitment and Retention
• Finding Helpful Patterns in Student Engagement

Student retention in online education is a concern for students, faculty and administration. Retention rates are 20% lower in online courses than in traditional face-to-face courses. As part of an integration and engagement strategy, a face-to-face orientation was added to an online undergraduate business information systems course to examine its impact on retention. The study methodology consisted of an early email contact, distribution of course documents, a follow-up phone call, and a pre-course face-to-face orientation. The retention rate of students who attended the orientation was over 91% with a p-value of 0.9143. The retention rate of students not attending the orientation was just under 18%. Findings suggest that face-to-face orientations impact retention positively. (Abstract by authors)

Student retention and progression has exercised the HE sector for some time now, and there has been much research into the reasons why students drop out of Higher Education courses. (Allen, 2006; Buglear, 2009;). More recently the Higher Education Academy Grants Programme Briefing (HEFCE, 2010) , outlined a number of areas that emergent project data revealed as being important to both the retention and progression of students, including areas outlined by a number of researchers as being essential to student success: expectations, support, feedback and involvement. But there has been less research, particularly within the distance learning sector, into factors that encourage students to stay (O'Brien, 2002). This small scale qualitative project using qualitative research methods and based in the Open University UK, builds upon an intensive institutional research project analyzing what type of interventions make a positive difference to student progression and success. The research revealed insights into factors linked to the expectations, identities and support of students which proved influential in terms of their resilience and motivation to remain on course. (Abstract by author)

This integrated literature review examined factors associated with the ability of students to persist in an online course. Lack of persistence in online education and its' consequence of attrition, is an identified problem within the United States and internationally. Terminology has wavered between persistence and success, where each has been interchangeably used to characterize a student that completes a course and continues to program completion. Separate searchers were conducted in Academic Search Premier, CINAHL Plus, the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) Education Full Text, Ovid, and the Journal of Online Learning and Teaching (JOLT). Search terms included persistence, distance education, and online learning. Inclusion criteria included published after 1999, article from a peer-reviewed journal, and article addresses student factors leading to persistence. Exclusion criteria included article not related to factors of persistence, no original data, and article not written in English or not related to online courses. Factors associated with student persistence in an online program include satisfaction with online learning, a sense of belonging to the learning community, motivation, peer, and family support, time management skills, and increased communication with the instructor. Persistence carries the nuance of complexity beyond mere success. Factors unrelated to knowledge have the ability to provide support, thus allowing the student to overcome hardships in completing a course. If persistence factors are not present in sufficient quantity, the student may be at risk of withdrawing from an online course. (Abstract by author)

The Open University of Israel (OUI) is a higher education institution with an open
admission policy which is based solely on distance learning and self-study. The
teaching method practiced at the OUI is a combination of traditional and web-based
distance learning. One of the issues of great concern in all institutions and even to a
greater extent in open and distance learning institutions is student retention. In an
attempt to deal with this problem, the OUI decided to embark on a Retention Project
which aim is to help new students to overcome the hardships of the first course. The
new students were offered to be paired up with senior students who would
accompany and coach them throughout their first semesters. This paper describes
the Retention Project, and it presents results concerning the performance of the
coached students, their retention at the OUI and the means of communication used
by the coached students and their coaches in a distance learning environment. (Abstract by authors)

The purpose of my sabbatical was to do research on the application of mobile learning in
distance learning to improve student retention. Due to the non-availability of information on
mobile learning I expanded my research on distance learning, in general, to improve student
retention through more student satisfaction and confidence in the courses. This paper describes a
study in which I propose to investigate whether a sense of community influences student
retention and whether self-directed learning readiness influences student retention in online
distance courses. It is based on Alfred Rovai’s definition of a sense of community which defines
it in terms of four dimensions: spirit, recognition of membership in a community and bonding
that develops among learners; trust, credibility for one’s own self and benevolence for others in a
group; interaction, task-driven and socio-emotional relationships; and common expectations
(learning). It is also based on Murray Fisher’s et al., definition of self-directed learning readiness
measured by the three subscales of self-management, desire for learning, and self-control.
Finally, this paper describes a correlational research design implementing Rovai’s Classroom
Community Scale to measure students’ sense of classroom community and Fisher’s et al., selfdirected learning readiness scale to measure student self-directed learning readiness.
In the first part of this study I researched what distance learning is and how it has evolved
over the years. In the second part I defined the problem or hypotheses and stated the reason for
the study. For the third part I did the bulk of my research by reading and reviewing past studies
and research already completed and that relates to my hypotheses. Finally I defined procedures
that could be used to demonstrate my hypotheses.

The results of this study could shed light on whether building a sense of community
through student-to-student and/or student-to-faculty interaction could be related to student
retention. Additionally, they can investigate a possible relationship between self-directed
learning readiness and student retention. The successful completion of this study could also
result in a deeper understanding of the role of the instructor and/or course designer on
incorporating best practices in online courses to promote a stronger sense of community and selfdirected learning readiness, thus raising student level retention rates. (Abstract by author)

Student retention is clearly an issue of concern, the implication being that if the Open University has failed its students, the students have failed themselves. Government and financers of higher education are concerned about their investment in higher education, which they arguably perceive as squandered through student dropout. There are also issues surrounding reputation management, with dropout cited as a key indicator of poor or substandard performance. In this context, rightly or wrongly, distance education is often perceived as a model of education that has high dropout rates. With public funding of higher education in the UK linked to various performance outcomes, funding for higher education is now based on the number of students who successfully complete courses. In other words, funding may be cut if students fail to persevere and complete their coursework. (Written by author)

This paper reviews the development of thinking about student dropout in general and also how this thinking has been adapted in the field of open and distance learning. It looks critically at the two basic research approaches: surveys of dropouts to ask them for their reasons, and studies that looked at progress in relation into likely predictive variables. Then it considers the seminal work of Tinto and examines two pieces of research in open and distance learning that have attempted to empirically test his longitudinal model. In conclusion, a case is made for interventionary tactics rather than a grand theory of such a multi-faceted phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]