7. CCRC Reports: Washington & Virginia
Washington State community and technical colleges in the fall of 2004.
Students were tracked for nearly five years, until the spring of 2009
“students were more likely to fail or withdraw from
online courses than from face-to-face courses”
“were slightly but significantly less likely to attain an
educational award or transfer to a four-year institution”
http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?UID=872
8. Say What?
• “slightly but significantly less likely”
• Translation … “I’m really, really sure
that there is a very small difference.”
9. CCRC Makes Big Headlines
http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/online-community-
college-students-more-likely-fail-withdraw-11581
10. CCRC Makes Big Headlines
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/07/19/study_finds_higher_dr
opout_rates_for_community_college_students_who_take_online_courses
11. Can’t Sleep? Read Some Comments
http://chronicle.com/article/Why-Are-So-Many-Students-Still/127584/
12. The Author Asks
“But isn't it time that we had an honest national conversation
about online learning? With countless studies
showing success rates in online courses of only
50 per cent—as opposed to 70-to-75 percent for
comparable face-to-face classes— isn't it time we asked
ourselves some serious questions? Such as: Should every
course be taught online? And should we allow every student—
or any student who wishes to—to take online courses?”
13. 1 of 126 Comments
• Online education will be big in America, because
that's what we do: we take sublime and
beautiful European classics and turn them into
pablum. We took Belgian ales and made Miller
Lite, we turned Neapolitan pizza into Dominoes,
Pasta became Spaghetti O's, and fresh French
baguettes became Wonder bread.
• We'll do the same with school, because that's
what we do.
http://chronicle.com/article/Why-Are-So-Many-Students-
Still/127584/#comment-210104173
15. U of Central Florida
• Center for Distributed Learning
– On the average, fully online courses have
slightly lower success rates and higher
withdrawal rates than either their face-to-face
or Web-enhanced counterparts
– http://cdl.ucf.edu/research/rite/dl-impact-
evaluation/#Success
16. U. North Texas – Spring 2007
• Definitions make a difference:
• Completion: finished the course –
received a grade other than a W or I.
(A,B,C,D,F)
• Success: is defined as earning a grade of
A, B, or C for an undergraduate course.
17. U. North Texas – Spring 2007
Undergraduates (n=7,730)
Success 74%
online
Success 80%
on-campus
Completion 93%
online
Completion 95%
on-campus
0% 50% 100%
18. UIS (Springfield) Online Course Data
Completion %
Compare
Summer '07
To 96%
Spring '07
On Campus
Fall '06
Summer '06
Spring '06
Fall '05
90% 91% 92% 93% 94% 95%
http://online.uis.edu/info/completion.html
19. Bellevue CC Online Course Success
http://www.sbctc.edu/docs/data/stdt_success_retention_
in_online_courses_bcc.pdf
30. First-time Learners?
Each term, how many
students are sitting in
a F2F (traditional)
classroom for the very
first time?
• Est. < 1%
31. First-time Learners?
Each term, how many Each term, how many
students are sitting in online students are
a F2F (traditional) “sitting” in an online
classroom for the very classroom for the
first time? very first time?
• Est. < .01% • Est. >= 40%
32. Instructors?
• Do we expect that the new online
instructors will have the same
success rates as experienced
online instructors?
33. Typical “Learning Curve”
90% Success Rates – New Online Instructors
80%
Instructor 1
Intsructor 2
70% Instructor 3
60%
Term 1 Term 2 Term 3 Term 4 Term 5
37. A Perspective from David Diaz
• “However, I believe that many online students
who drop a class may do so because it is the
right thing to do. In other words, because of the
requirements of school, work, and/or family life
in general, students can benefit more from a
class if they take it when they have enough time
to apply themselves to the class work.”
http://technologysource.org/article/online_drop_rates_revisited
38. A Perspective from David Diaz
• “Thus, by dropping the class, they may be
making a mature, well-informed decision that is
consistent with a learner with significant
academic and life experience. This explanation
would be consistent with their demographics
while calling into question the idea that these
students are academically unsuccessful or
possess inferior academic abilities.”
http://technologysource.org/article/online_drop_rates_revisited
40. Potential Good Practices
• To help improve completion/success rates, consider
the following:
– Required new student orientation
– Additional support mechanisms beyond the instructor
– Early intervention when they start falling behind
– Formalizing your expectations for online learners and
online faculty
41. More Potential Good Practices
• To help improve completion/success rates, consider
the following:
– Require interaction - no electronic correspondence
courses (Expectations)
– Mid-term course evaluations
– Shorter class lengths (8 wks or less)
– Provide better “consumer” information pre-enrollment
– Professional Development Opportunities
43. Why Don’t Adult Students Persist?
• From the Maricopa CC System:
– 10% due to academic reasons such as course too
hard or too heavy a load.
– 65% due to life interruptions (includes the normal
things of family or job issues, illness, etc. etc.)
Source: Ron Bleed, CIO of Maricopa CC (retired)
44. Example of Life Interruption
Psychology Psychology Psychology 12 Weeks
Invested,
12 Credits
HumanitiesHumanities Humanities Paid For,
No Credits
Earned,
Biology Biology Biology
With Little
Incentive
History History History To Return
4 weeks 8 weeks 12 weeks
45. Alternate Outcome
12 Weeks
Invested,
Psychology
12 Credits
Paid For,
Humanities 9 Credits
Earned,
With Greater
Biology Incentive
To Return
History - No
4 weeks 8 weeks 12 weeks
46. Alternate Outcome #2
12 Weeks
Invested,
Psychology
12 Credits
Paid For,
Humanities 6 Credits
Earned,
With Much
Biology - No Incentive
To Return
History - No
4 weeks 8 weeks 12 weeks