Two lines of research have emerged to study the causes and prevention of student failure in virtual (K-12) schools: studies of learner characteristics and studies of learning environment characteristics. To develop a useful model for predicting failure and promoting success in virtual school environments, a study was designed to measure the relation between a combination of student and environmental factors derived from previous research and successful course completion during one semester at a large (N = 4,100) virtual school. Study findings yielded a model that can discriminate between successful and unsuccessful online school students and is especially effective at identifying those likely to succeed.Early in the development of distance learning programs, it became apparent that dropout and failure rates tended to be significantly higher for distance students than for those in traditional, face-to-face classrooms (Bernard and Amundsen 1989;Cyrs 1997;Dille and Mezack 1991). That trend has persisted throughout the development of newer distance delivery technologies ). Two very different lines of research have emerged to study the causes of the problem and how to address it: studies of Correspondence should be sent to M. D. Roblyer, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, College of Health, Education, and Professional Studies, 615 McCallie Ave., Chattanooga, TN 37403. SUCCESS IN VIRTUAL SCHOOL STUDENTS 91learner characteristics and studies of the characteristics of learning environments. However, neither of these lines of research has yielded a consistently helpful model for addressing the problem.This study was undertaken to explore whether a combination of learner characteristics and learning environment variables derived from past research could predict success in one kind of distance learning population (virtual school students) and how organizations that offer distance courses might use findings from such a model to facilitate online learning success for future students. STUDYING THE ROLE OF LEARNER CHARACTERISTICSDuring the pre-Internet days, research on distance learning success developed around the influence of learner characteristics. The assumption was that, in light of the highly abstract quality of these learning environments, successful learners were those who were simply better equipped to deal with the complexity of learning in this new format.As distance learning expanded to include more diverse populations and younger learners at earlier levels of education, research on learner characteristics began to assume even greater significance. Hartley and Bendixen (2001) felt that if the primary reason for success or failure in distance learning lies in learner characteristics, this finding has the potential to widen an already troublesome Digital Divide. STUDYING THE ROLE OF NONSTUDENT VARIABLESNot everyone agrees, however, that learner characteristics are the overarching contributors to success. P. Smith and Dillon (1999) felt that the characteristics of distance learning delivery systems and course de...

No abstract

Boyer (Carnegie Foundation, 1990) defined six broad ideals that define a supportive college community, which can be described as purposeful, open, just, disciplined, caring, and celebrative. The authors surveyed faculty at three different institutions a community college, a public university, and a private college to determine the extent to which a sense of community existed at each institution based upon the aspects of community characterized by Boyer. The respondents at all three institutions documented a substantial sense of community, with statistically significant differences found among faculty for the community ideals of being purposeful, open, disciplined, caring, and celebrative: Faculty at the community college reported higher levels of these elements of community than those at the university, whereas those at the private college reported the highest levels.

Student participants in group therapy were hypothesized to improve on three dimensions of behavior as a result of therapy. It was further hypothesized that improvement would be related to participant eye color, with dark-eyed persons demonstrating greatest improvement and lighter-eyed individuals demonstrating lesser improvement. Differences were also expected from Ss by program. Ss were 35 male and female master's level students in clinical, counseling, and educational psychology programs, ranging in age from 23 to 39 years. Dependent measures were collected before and after therapy with the Vriend and Dyer Scale, an instrument yielding three factors: Self Defeating Behaviors, Fully Functioning Behaviors, and Personal Mastery Index. The design utilized a 3 (eye color) X 2 (program) two-way ANOVA, fixed effects model. Significant main effects were found for Fully Functioning Behaviors: by eye color (p less than .002) and by program (p less than .03). No interactions or other main effects were found.

No abstract