Keeping Your Sanity While Keeping Your Students: How Teacher Engagement Can Increase Student Persistence When Teaching Students During Their First College Course

Abstract

Student persistence is a common concern for online educators. Previous research has shown that student persistence rates are effected by instructor presence, creating a sense of community in the classroom, and varying classroom activities for students (Croxton, 014). Based on the authors' experiences, there Using Web 2.0 tools (Zoom, Loom, Remind, and Flipgrid), increasing discussion board posts containing personal experiences, and using effective time management tools can allow instructors to increase student persistence rates. This article provides a brief literature review regarding student persistence and an explanation of the authors' experiences for increasing student persistence, as well as suggestions for further research in the area of student persistence and instructor strategies.

Persistence of Nontraditional Undergraduate Online Students: Towards a Contemporary Conceptual Framework

“…Teaching, social, and cognitive presence are dimensions of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework, and research has shown that a combination of all three dimensions facilitates student learning in online environments (Garrison, 2017;Edmunds et al, 2021;Richardson et al, 2017). Furthermore, opportunities for online students to engage and interact with their classmates, course materials, and instructor are critical to promoting student persistence (Basko & McCabe, 2018;Kimbark et al, 2017;Stephen, 2022;Stephen, Forthcoming). Hence, certain requirements must be met at the course level to support student persistence.…”

“…It is also recommended that online courses incorporate a variety of instructional strategies. Employing various teaching styles and instructional activities can help to address the various learning preferences of nontraditional undergraduate online learners (Basko & McCabe, 2018; Rovai & Downey, 2010). Additionally, online course instructors should solicit anonymous feedback from students, preferably during the mid-point of a course, and again at conclusion, to learn more about students’ learning experiences.…”

Improving Students’ Speaking Performance and Communication Engagement through Technology-Mediated Pedagogical Approach

“…As emphasized by Basko and McCabe (2018) "…FlipGrid app can maintain students' persistence rates during the teaching-learning process". Moreover, the media can also create a cognitive, social, and teaching presence (Holbeck & Hartman, 2018).…”