Case Report: The Impact of Online Forum Use on Student Retention in a Level 1 Distance Learning Module

Abstract

The importance of making online and distance education successful has been dramatically prioritized due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Student retention is a key performance indicator in online higher education. Evidence suggests that within online distance education the key to retaining students is to encourage an engaging and supportive online community. Online asynchronous forums are one method that has been employed to promote such engagement. This study investigated the relationship between online forum activity and student retention amongst 21 tutor groups on an Open University Level 1 module. It found that the volume of tutor group forum activity had a significant association with student retention (p<0.05 two-tailed, Pearson r=0.53), with student contributions having a greater impact on retention (p<0.01 two-tailed, Pearson r=0.628) than tutor contributions. Although tutor contributions did not appear to impact student retention directly the number of tutor and student posts were highly correlated (p<0.001, two tailed, Pearson r=0.86). Results indicate that asynchronous forums can be an effective tool in promoting student retention in an online distance learning environment. Important factors that impact on student retention within the educational medium of asynchronous forums are evidenced. The implications of these findings for educators are discussed. Keywords: distance learning, student retention, forum participation, online learning community.

El rol facilitador del docente en la formación online asíncrona y los resultados académicos: Un estudio exploratorio

“…Por último, nos parece de interés, que nuestra investigación arroja datos que corroboran lo señalado en estudios recientes respecto a la importancia de la implicación de los docentes online (Kurtz et al, 2022;Pinchbeck y Heaney, 2022). En esta exploración se identifica que los profesores que integran recursos adicionales al proceso formativo están obteniendo distintos resultados en los cursos que dictan.…”

“…Se ha comprobado que el reconocimiento y el interés de un docente aumenta el compromiso de los alumnos con el aprendizaje (Kurtz et al, 2022), su relevancia para apoyar el trabajo en grupo y fomentar la comprensión profunda a través de la participación (Annese et al, 2022), y su impacto en la motivación y la autonomía de los estudiantes (Tan et al, 2021). Se le atribuye ser clave para influir en la retención y participación de los estudiantes en los foros (Pinchbeck y Heaney, 2022). Todo parece indicar que la relación con los docentes es un elemento clave para orientar el proceso académico (Segovia-García et al, 2022).…”

Home / Archives / Volume 11 Issue 1 / EDUCATION & LANGUAGE STUDIES Validity Assessment Of Student's Acceptance Towards Online Distance Learning

“…On top of that, it can help to facilitate the learning space and time flexibility. Pinchbeck and Heaney (2022) stated that the demand for online learning had increased during the pandemic due to study and schedule flexibility. In addition, the lecturers can update the learning content anytime within their capacity through online learning.…”

Deaths due to COVID-19, Lockdowns, Vaccinations and Weather Temperatures: The Case of Greece

“…Papers accepted for publication in one of ATINER's journals examined the economic aspects of the pandemic (Adejare et al 2021, Jones and Comfort 2020, Uwah et al 2021; the health and medical aspects (Parodi et al 2021, Uysal et al 2020; the social dimensions (Bäckman 2021, De Falco et al 2021, Jurić 2021; the communication facets (Mengu et al 2021, Osisanwo 2021; the legal implications (Marchetti 2021); and the educational adjustments (Güvercin et al 2021, Kılıç 2021, Pinchbeck and Heaney 2021. Of course, these do not exhaust the literature, but here they are given as examples of the types of studies written to account for the unexpected phenomenon of COVID-19.…”