FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE STUDENTS’ DECISION TO DROPOUT OF ONLINE COURSES
Open accessAbstract
Although there are many reasons why students dropout of college courses, those reasons may be unique for students who are enrolled in an online program. Issues of isolation, disconnectedness, and technological problems may be factors that influence a student to leave a course. To understand these factors, an online survey was developed to collect data from students who dropped out of an online program. Logistic regression analysis was used to compare various factors between those who persist in the program and those who dropout. The results, based on the dropouts from three cohorts in an online graduate program, show that demographic variables do not predict likelihood of dropping from a program. Instead, the students’ reasons for dropping out of an online program are varied and unique to each individual. Recommendations for further study are incorporated in the conclusions.
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Absence of learner interaction causes failure and eventual drop-out in online courses.
“Research shows that absence of learner interaction causes failure and eventual drop-out in online courses (Willging & Johnson, 2009) and the lack of learner connectedness was noted as an internal factor leading to learner drop-out in online courses (Zielinski, 2000).”
From Blended learning effectiveness: the relationship between student characteristics, design features and outcomes (2017) · cites this paper as Willging & Johnson, 2009
In “Reasons for Leaving an Online Program” (page unavailable), one respondent named lack of interaction with students and instructors as a main reason for leaving. The Summary and Conclusions (page unavailable) says there was no evidence that lack of human interaction was a primary reason students left. The paper does not establish that absent interaction causes failure and eventual dropout. (LLM, conf=0.88)
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References 15 · Cited by 446
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- Authors
- Willging, P. A., & Johnson, S. D.
- Affiliations
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- Venue
- Online Learning
- Publisher
- The Online Learning Consortium
- Published
- 2009-09-01
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 3
- ISSN
- 1092-8235 (ISSN-L)
- 2472-5730
- 2472-5749
- OpenAlex
- W2105379969
- Cited by
- 446
- References
- 15
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 42 · 2021: 39 · 2020: 35 · 2019: 35 · 2018: 37 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 29 · 2015: 26 · 2014: 33 · 2013: 24 · 2012: 14
- FWCI
- 72.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Locations
- Online Learning (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Online and Blended Learning
- Social Sciences › Demography › Evasion and Academic Success Factors
- Social Sciences › Education › Higher Education Research Studies
- Keywords
- student attrition, social isolation, technological problems, graduate students, student persistence, demographic factors
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