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Module 6 Discussions

Question: Do you consider drop-out rates as measuring the risk of students to graduate?
Can this be considered as a risk attached to the students investment in education? Should
therefore drop-out rates be made public? Could that have a collateral damage in terms of
grade-creep?
In Bennett et al. (2007). Students that had specific career goals seemed more likely to be retained
than those who had no clear or specific career goals and did not seem to have a real commitment
to being a student. It seems that the shorter a course is the less drop-out rate was reported. Most
schools report their drop-out rates I dont know if it is required but the schools I have attended
report their drop-out rates to the U.S. Department of Education.
References:
-- Klees, S. J. (1995). The economics of educational technology. In M. Carnoy (Ed.),
International Encyclopedia of Economics of Education (pp. 398-406). Oxford: Pergamon.
-- Simpson, O. (2005, 20-23 June). E-learning and the future of distance education in the markets
of the 21st century. In A. Szcs, Bo, I. (Ed.), Lifelong e-learning proceedings: Bringing elearning close to lifelong learning and working life: a new period and uptake. Paper presented
at the. Helsinki University of Technology/Finland.: EDEN 2005 Annual Conference.
Question: Do you find the argument, that recruiting a new student is more cost than
keeping an already enrolled one, convincing? Why is the drop-out rate still so high in
distance teaching institutions? What would you consider the most important learner
support measures in the MDE?
I think that students drop out for different reasons and it is costly to an institution because they
lose that federal money or student loan money. Some students withdraw before classes start some
right after classes begin. I have withdrawn from a class for many different reasons such as: the
class schedule did not meet my needs, the instructor was too rigid and there was another
instructor that was better suited to meet my professional goals, or my first assignment was
graded with a low score and I thought that might be a downhill spiral for the remainder of the
course, health related matters, financial matters or family matters. All of these have been a reason
for me to drop out of a course. Some students feel that they dont get enough support or they may
need a refresher course to get them up to speed. I remember taking a Statistics course and the
learner support was wonderful. The Teaching assistant was very helpful in our class with helping
us navigate the necessary tools in order to complete the course assignments and tasks. That type
of learner support does not happen in every course, sometimes as a student we are left on our
own. Learner support should be emphasized in every online course due to the fact that it takes a
lot of self-discipline for the student to take on an online course, and most students need a support
system. A good learner support system helps to build confidence for the learner while attempting
to take the course. I think it would be less drop-out rates if learner support in the online
classroom was more prevalent.

-- Simpson, O. (2003). Student retention in online, open and distance learning. London,
Sterling, VA: Kogan Page.

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