Online Retention Keeping the Nontraditional Student Connected. Susan Adragna, Ph.D. Sara Malmstrom, Ph.D.

Transcription

1 Online Retention Keeping the Nontraditional Student Connected Susan Adragna, Ph.D. Sara Malmstrom, Ph.D.

2 Session Overview Who is the nontraditional student? Why do they drop out? Institutional Culture Learning Community Motivation Support Methodology Action Analysis & Results 2

3 73% Female 53% Black, Hispanic, or Multi-ethnic Varied Professional Experiences Returning/Retooling Working Families Age 28+ 3

4 Why Do They Drop Out? Health Academic Dismissal Employment Natural Disaster Program Rigor Existing Condition or New Health Issue Time Management, Technology, Isolation Loss of Job, Increased Work Responsibilities, Change of Hours Hurricanes, Earthquakes, Flooding Imposter Syndrome 4

5 Institutional Culture The Culture of Retention Blame vs. Ownership Larger purpose, meaningful experience, being connected (Senge, 1990) Open Discourse (Bean, 2005) Flexibility and Creativity 5

6 Learning Community Involvement as a predictor (Tinto, 2001) Attendance Shared learning (Tinto, 2001) Common venue Cohort Connected learning (Tinto, 2001) Common thread 6

7 Motivation Building Bridges (Coley & Coley, 2010) Faculty-identify at-risk students, caring approach Staff-communication Students-perceptions Team, Value, Ownership Academic failure=stress=drop out 7

8 Commitment Institutional Mission Students first Resources Faculty High standards Communication Support Know your students Students Time Communication 8

9 Support Academic Tutoring Resource Courses People Instructors Classmates Advisors Family 9

10 Methodology Action Research Goals Purpose: To inform and improve practice Identify the Problem Plan of Action Implement the Plan Assess Effectiveness (Craig, 2009) 10

11 Data Sources Plan Monthly Drop Reports Start Date Drop Date Admissions Counselor GPA 2.7 Reasons for Dropping 11

12 Plan (cont.) Actions New Student Orientation (revised) Late Student Orientation Week 1 and 4 Student Calls Revised Week 1-Book Independent Advisor Meeting Shift in Focus Repository for Resources APA Writing Resource Socialization 12

13 Analysis and Results Analysis of Student Status Change Report 51% dismissal 18% financial reasons 1% health or family crisis 1% program too difficult 29% reason unknown/miscellaneous At-risk students 75% students with 2.7 GPA left first semester First semester drops were 58% of term drops, 40% second term, 25% third term 13

14 Treatments Analysis and Results Late Student Enrollment None dropped (previously not tracked) Week 1 and 4 Phone Calls-88% students reached Retention Meetings-LDA reduced by 28% (problem solving to proactive) 14

15 were calculated. Analysis and Results (cont.) Persistence Data (Fall 2009 Baseline) Figure 1. Student drop trends by month. January+44%, February -33%, March +66%, April -55%, June no change 15

16 Summary Early, continuous, intensive interventions (Seidman, 2005) 8 Interventions: Targeted at all students Student satisfaction: Phone calls, resource center (KUGSCAE), APA course Retention meetings: All on the same page 28% decrease on LDA report and 47% decrease in drops 16

17 Questions? 17

18 References Bean, J. P. (2005). Nine themes of college student retention. In A. Seidman (Ed.). College student retention, pp Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. Coley, C., & Coley, T. (2010). Retention and student success. Staying on track with early intervention strategies. Malvern, PA: SunGard Higher Education. Craig, D. V. (2009). Action research essentials. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Seidman, A. (2005). College student retention. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. Senge, P. M. (1990). The fifth discipline. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. Tinto, V. (2001). Rethinking the first year of college. Higher Education Monograph Series, Syracuse University. 18