Adult learners dropping out of online education programs at an alarming rate

Statement of the Problem

The problem to be addressed in this study is that adult learners are dropping out of online education programs at an alarming rate.

Problem Statement

Adult learners have been going back to college at an increasing rate as the job market has been changing, and baby-boomers have been working longer into what would be their traditional retirement years (Jepsen, 2012). These non-traditional students have not been able to retire at the typical age of 65, but have had to start new careers in other fields as their previous ones have been phasing out of existence due to new technologies and the outsourcing of many jobs to automation and other nations’ workforces (Cummins, 2015). But these non-traditional students have had to continue working while going back to school, thus pursuing continuing and higher education online (Buxton, 2012). At the same time, many traditional students have been pursuing online higher education as well. Consequently, the online education industry has been increasing its student population at a growing rate (Hayward, 2015).

            Traditional students, however, are more accustomed to digital communication and the possible feelings of disconnection that go along with it (Schwier, & Seaton, 2013). Digital communication is a large part of what makes online education work. This is one of the reasons that it has become so popular. But online education programs have been experiencing a concerning retention problem, especially among the non-traditional students. In fact, in 2009 the US Department of Education reported that the dropout rate was six to seven times higher among online students than among students in campus based programs (Sutton, 2014). Many students complain about feelings of isolation and separation from the faculty and their classmates. The students (especially the non-traditional students) lose their motivation to participate in the online activities, fall behind, and eventually drop-out or fail their programs.

            While this problem is more prevalent among adult-learners than it is among traditional students, it is still a problem among enough of the traditional students that it may not ever stop being a concern for educators. At the very least, non-traditional students who are not used to these feelings of disconnection in the learning process will still be a concern for the next two or three decades. Most of these students utilize financial aid when paying for their tuition, so, high drop-out numbers translate into a lot of bad debt for the schools and the students. Students end up owing a lot of money without the benefits of the degree which would have likely enabled them to pay the debt if they had in fact earned the degree. They also can’t go back to school elsewhere because they owe money to their previous schools, and can’t get official transcripts from them or more financial aid money to attend other schools. Consequently, they end up stuck in a “no-win situation.”

            A variety of methods have been researched to resolve this online college retention issue. They have included instructor immediacy-behaviors, peer-counseling, and online learning communities, among others. Arbaugh (2001) addressed the concern of retention by exercising immediacy behaviors in the hopes of improving student satisfaction levels. The hope was that he could compensate for the lack of human interaction that students experience in online programs. But Duff and Quinn (2006) decided that retention issues in online learning could be reduced by using student peers as counselors to potential students before they would enroll in online programs. Diramio and Wolverton (2006) argued that the concept of learning communities is that students in an online class could create a sense of connection among the classmates by introducing themselves to each other, commenting and discussing each other’s postings, working together on projects and encouraging each other in their work through a variety of digital communication. All of these methods have been extensive. But none of them have claimed to solve the problem completely. In fact, most of them have claimed that their studies have room for more research.

            The preferred site for this research would be in an online classroom in an online university program where students' participation activity could be monitored statistically and compared with their academic results as well as their retention. This method of research would be considered quantitative. But the reality of this author's situation will not likely allow for that kind of research since access to an online class interface is not available. It is more likely that this author will have to seek out volunteers from online classes at Nova Southeastern University (a private not-for-profit university) to participate in surveys, interviews, and even focus groups. This means that the method of research would have to be qualitative in nature as opposed to quantitative.

Results from this research will benefit not only the adult learners who are likely to struggle with online learning, but also the universities and faculty who have been working hard to accommodate their recently realized need as non-traditional students who have had to go back to school so as to be able to survive in this changing new job market. The universities will have better more effective online learning systems set in place so as to retain higher numbers of these students, and carry them through to graduation. Faculty will have a better understanding of how to work with and educate this growing pool of new students. The students themselves will benefit from the research because the improved systems will be more capable of maintaining their interest and activity in the online classroom. As a result they will be more likely to graduate from their programs. Even employers will benefit from this research because they will have a greater number of experienced new employees to choose from.

References:

Arbaugh, B. J., (2001). How Instructor Immediacy Behaviors Affect Student Satisfaction and Learning in Web-based Courses. Business Communication Quarterly.

Buxton, E. e., & De Muth, J. (2012). Adult Learners’ Perceptions of a Professional Development Program Comparing Live Distance Learning Versus Live Local Learning. Journal Of Continuing Higher Education.

Cummins, P. A. (2015). The role of community colleges in career transitions for older workers. Community College Journal of Research and Practic.

Diramio, D., & Wolverton, M. (2006). Integrating learning communities and distance education: Possibility or pipedream? Innovative Higher Education.

Duff, A., & Quinn, D., (2006). Retention in online courses: Using a motivational framework and online peers to enlighten potential learners about learning online. Journal of Learning Design.

Hayward, M. S., & Williams, M. R. (2015). Adult learner graduation rates at four U.S. community colleges by prior learning assessment status and method. Community College Journal of Research and Practice.

Jepsen, C. J., & Montgomery, M. m. (2012). Back to school: An application of human capital theory for mature workers. Economics Of Education Review.

Schwier, R. A., & Seaton, X. J. (2013). A comparison of participation patterns in selected formal, non-formal, and informal online learning environments. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology.

Sutton, R. (2014). Unlearning the past: New foundations for online student retention. Journal of Educators Online.

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Eric DeRise, Ed.D.(c) is a Higher Education Expert in Tampa, FL. He’s also a Professor of video production and digital graphic arts. He’s an Ed.D. candidate at Nova Southeastern University, and earned his master’s degree in Higher Education with a focus in on-line college teaching from Purdue Global University. Eric says “I help people improve their lives and secure their financial future through higher education. I am also a teacher / trainer of digital media arts, television / video production, and journalism.” #DRDERISE