Factors Related to Student Persistence in Open Universities

Abstract

Student persistence has long been a major challenge for open universities. Despite the evolution of open education, an overall high student attrition rate remains. This paper examines the changes and trends in factors related to student persistence in open universities. It reviews the empirical studies from the 1970s to the 2010s which reported factors influencing student persistence. The relevant studies were searched from databases, including Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Among the 108 studies collected, a total of 284 factors influencing student persistence were identified. The factors were categorised into student factors, institutional factors, and environmental factors. Their changes and trends over the years were examined. The results show that student factors were the most frequently studied over the years examined, with the major categories being students’ psychological attributes and outcomes. Institutional factors have been increasingly studied in recent decades, with the design and delivery of programmes and courses being the strongest category. Finally, environmental factors have been decreasingly examined, with factors related to students’ family and work being the two main categories. Based on the results, the implications for developing intervention and retention strategies for student persistence in open universities are discussed.

University Students’ Persistence With Technology-Mediated Distance Education: A Response to COVID-19 and Beyond in Zimbabwe

“…Institutional factors are mesosystem factors that relate to conditions in universities that have an influence on how students perceive and persevere with TDE during the COVID-19 era and beyond. Li and Wong (2019) find that the support given to TDE students by universities through human and material resources, time, and leadership style is very important for students' development of positive attitudes towards TDE, as well as for their development of positive behavioural intentions to persist with the TDE. In their study, Bhuasiri et al (2012) find that an effective leadership style that is consultative and supportive, the provision of an adequate budget for securing adequate ICT resources, and the presence of appropriate ICT equipment are important for the students' development of positive attitudes towards TDE and their behavioural intentions to persist with it.…”

Learner characteristics attributable to completion and duration of completion in engineering and science degree programmes of OUSL

“…Au et al (2018) report that factors linked with success of learners vary depending on levels of achievements of the learners and recommend improving time management skills and student skills of weak students to enhance persistence in ODL. Li and Wong (2019), based on a review study, report 194 influential factors for student persistence along with the changes and trends in the identified factors over time. These authors have broadly categorized these factors into student factors, institutional factors and environmental factors.…”

“…Yet, many researchers worldwide have identified poor completion rates and prolonged time for completion as issues manifested in ODL systems (Ibrahim and Van der Heijden, 2019; Simpson, 2013; Taniguchi and Kaufman, 2005). Literature reveals many studies conducted internationally (Li and Wong, 2019; Radheshyam et al. , 2017) as well as locally (Aluwihare and De Silva, 2016; Dedigamuwa and Senanayake, 2012) that identify factors affecting learning and learner support is reported as one such crucial factor.…”

A public-private partnership to transform online education through high levels of academic student support

“…A number of universities across Australia are unbundling aspects of online course delivery to mitigate longstanding problems in the provision of online education including: high attrition rates (Greenland & Moore, 2014;Haydarov et al, 2013;Moore, & Greenland, 2017;Oregon et al, 2018;Patterson & McFadden, 2009;Simpson, 2012; low completion and persistence rates (Li & Wong, 2019); and length of unit (Diaz & Cartnal, 2006;Harwood et al, 2018;Jordan, 2015). This led to significant changes in the design and delivery of courses and individual units or subjects (Jaggars & Xu, 2016;Pittenger & Doering, 2010;Tait, 2018;Viberg & Grönlund, 2018); student support (Simonson et al, 2019;Simpson, 2012Tait, 2015; and student engagement and intervention strategies (Choi et al, 2018;Dixson, 2010;Revere & Kovach, 2011;Sancho-Vinuesa et al, 2013).…”