Motivating and Retaining Online Students (Paperback)

List of Tables, Exhibits, and Figure ix

Preface xi

The Focus of This Book xii

Who Can Benefit from This Book xii

Our Beliefs About Learning and Teaching xii

How This Book Is Organized xiii

Acknowledgments xiv

About the Authors xvii

1. Concerns and Opportunities for Online Student Retention 1

Evolving Concepts of Presence, Communication, and Interaction 1

Redefining the Characteristics of the Higher Education Learner 2

New Ways of Learning 2

Causes for Increased Enrollment 3

The State of Higher Education and Online Learning 4

Concerns for Online Student Retention 5

Reasons Online Students Drop Out 5

Factors for Student Persistence in Online Education 7

Opportunities for Online Education 10

New Learner Behaviors and Skills in the 21st Century 11

Filling the Gap: Strategies for Online Persistence 14

2. Design Strategies for Retaining Online Students 17

Intentional Design for Online Courses 19

Design Elements and Strategies to Help Students Stay Motivated Online 20

Creating the Learning Environment 20

Planning for the Teaching Process 25

Predicting Learners’ Needs 30

The Impact of Intentional Design for Online Course Success 32

Design Strategies for Retaining Online Students 34

3. Student Strategies for Staying Motivated Online 38

Pathway and Strategies for Staying Motivated in Online Courses 38

Self-Awareness 39

Self-Efficacy 40

A Purpose for Taking a Course 41

Means to Achieve Goals 42

Rewards for Achieving Goals 53

Explaining Study Findings from a Motivational Perspective 56

Incorporating Student Strategies into Course Design 59

4. Support Strategies for Helping Online Students Persist 65

Types of Support Perceived as Important by Students 66

Human Resource Support 66

Institutional Support 69

Self-Care 70

Support Strategies for Helping Online Students Persist 71

Instructional Support Strategies 72

Institutional Support Strategies 75

Self-Care Strategies 80

5. Pulling the Strategies Together 83

Established Findings Related to Online Student Retention 84

Major Contributions from Our Study 84

New Ways of Th inking About Learning and Teaching 86

Persistence Model for Online Student Retention 87

Student-Centered Model 88

Strategies for Helping Students Persist in an Online Course 89

Times of Change for Learning in the 21st Century 94

Instructors’ Skills for Meeting Students’ 21st-Century Fluencies 95

Implications and Conclusions for Learning and Teaching Online 104

Glossary 107

References 111

Appendix 1 117

Appendix 2 127

Index 135