Best Practices in Helping Students Complete Online Degree Programs
Faye L. Lesht Head, Academic Outreach Office of Continuing Education
University of Illinois Urbana, Illinois Najmuddin Shaik
Research Programmer, Academic Outreach Office of Continuing Education
University of Illinois Urbana, Illinois
Introduction
As with many institutions across the country, the Urbana campus of the University of Illinois offers a number of online courses and degree programs. Within the past few years we have noticed that some of these degree programs have particularly high rates of retention and completion. In an attempt to assist planners of online programs, we designed a study to identify factors that influence completion of online graduate degree programs from the students perceptive. Participants are alumni of three online master’s degree programs of the University of Illinois: Curriculum Technology and Education Reform (CTER) of the Department of Educational Psychology, Global Human Resource Development (HRD) of the
Department of Human Resource Education, and LEEP a program of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. Quantitative and qualitative data collection methods were used including an online survey instrument and select telephone interviews. Observations on “best practices” are drawn from results of this study, program characteristics, and related literature. Due to space constraints additional information relating to program characteristics are made available at
http://www.continuinged.uiuc.edu/outreach/research/
Best Practices
Best practices related to facilitating completion of online degree programs are multidimensional. There is no single factor that affects or helps predict student completion. Some of the factors that emerged are common across all delivery methods such as quality of instruction, organization of program,
responsiveness to students and student commitment to the work. However, the emphasis may be greater in some instances than is necessarily the case in a campus-based program. For instance, while self-motivation and persistence are common characteristics of adult students returning to complete a degree program, in the online environment these characteristics take on another dimension because the learner must be truly self-directed, able to work well without a standard classroom structure. At the same time, factors endemic to online degree program design and delivery emerged as important to the retention and completion process. Both types of practices—those that are inherent in quality education regardless of delivery method and those unique to online environments—are important to facilitating completion of online degree programs.
Program Design
Careful program design sends a message throughout the student’s experience of the program and was noted as a factor that enhanced completion. Students in these programs become part of a community in which interrelationships are highly valued and students aren’t left to feel as though they are out on their
own. There was a sense from the data that while in the program students were part of more than a learning community—almost an “extended” family--that included a variety of individuals committed to a high quality experience for the betterment of the students and the professions served through these programs.
Also important in the design of these programs is sensitivity to the amount of structure that facilitates learning and progress through the courses while maintaining the flexibility afforded by an online environment. Study participants mentioned that it was in fact the online nature of these programs, and lack of needing to travel to campus regularly, that encouraged their application to the program in the first place and their ability to complete it. So while synchronous sessions and campus visits were important, too much structure or too much resemblance to a campus course was cautioned against. What helps create this sense of cohesion and belonging?
Cohort Model
The cohort model—in which students are admitted to the program and proceed through coursework together in an articulated sequence and generally graduate at the same time—is a model used by CTER and HRE in this study. The LEEP program is considered a distance education scheduling option and is more of a hybrid cohort model in which students beginning at the same time may or may not graduate at the same time. The cohort model provides a powerful framework for supporting student learning as it fosters the sense of community important to program completion (Witte & Waynne,1998). The underlying program cohesion and emphasis on group work within these models enhances a sense of belonging and camaraderie reported to be instrumental in facilitating progress in the online program environment. This cohesion is reinforced by the cohort model. However, the cohort model in and of itself is insufficient to build community. What helps build the sense of community?
Orientation Sessions
Orientation provides an opportunity to articulate the program goals, establishes expectations and team-building strategies, develop support structures, interact with peers and the instructors, and develop a sense of community (Kerka, 1995). It helps reinforce the cooperative nature of the program, and the need for a strong commitment to the program (Lawrence, 1999) thus enabling students to make a successful
transition to the online environment. For the CTER program, the orientation helped establish expectations about the program and courses; the value of the learning community; rapport between students, instructor and staff; expectations for technologies to be used in the program and a culture of evaluation and education reform (Chandler, Levin, & Levin, 2002). As a LEEP alumni stated, that during the Boot Camp lasting friendships are made and reinforced with future regular session which also serves as a major social occasion (Ross, 2001). While orientation sessions are part of “best practices” their nature and scope vary from online sessions to two-week campus orientation. What practices help reinforce the bonds between participants, faculty, and staff throughout the program?
Learning Environments
There are a number of dimensions to creating an effective cohort learning environment that includes relevant and challenging assignments; adequate and timely feedback; flexibility in teaching and learning; support for quality interactions; and group work (Chandler et. al., 2002; Haythornthwaite, Kazmer, Robins, & Shoemaker, 2000; Johnson, Aragon, Shaik, & Palma-Rivas. 2000; Aragon, Johnson, & Shaik, 2002). Levin, Waddoups. Levin, and Buell (2001) suggest effective dimensions of an effective online environment that includes relevant and challenging assignments, coordinated learning environments, adequate and timely feedback, rich environments for interactions, and fostering flexibility in teaching and learning. The data reinforce these finding. A number of participants in the study noted that while the
program’s organization enhanced the learning environment, it was the students who created the sense of community that facilitated learning in the online environment. What factors cause students to take ownership of the learning environment? A consistent Learning Management System interface, team projects, synchronous session tasks with built in interactivity, and support services are among the factors that enhance ownership.
Services
Students need to have and be able to manipulate the technology necessary for on-line learning prior to the start of the program to progress through the program satisfactorily. Without the technical support, it is difficult for faculty to provide quality teaching because of the additional responsibilities that accompany online instruction. Of the services that emerged as strongly associated with student completion, an experienced, well managed, professional technical support staff was a critical link in the performance chain of these online programs. Technical support was among the factors mentioned most often by study participants when describing factors that facilitated their progress to degree. As one student put it, “the technology supported interactions between the instructors and the students” and thus technical services including unobtrusive troubleshooting during online sessions were important to student’s progress in the program. Also important was responsiveness of administrators and staff to student concerns. The relevance of other student services such as library services, employer reimbursement plans and financial aid varied across programs. Prompt response and timely resolution of technical difficulties were noted as “best practices” by those in the study.
Faculty Characteristics
Faculty buy-in of the program and satisfaction with the program is critical to the success of the program. In addition to the characteristics that mark quality faculty in any instructional setting, e.g.,
knowledgeable, engaging, good communication skills, reliable; there were certain qualities that emerged as best practices of faculty in online settings that fostered students’ ability to learn and progress through their coursework. Among these best practices were skillful use of technologies so the appropriate medium is used for specific tasks; comfort with technologies to the degree that a short-term technical problem does not impede the instructor’s ability to continue to teach the class and understanding the learning environment and constraints from the students’ point of view. The data reinforce this sentiment.
Student Characteristics
Sensitivity to student characteristics may help administrators of online programs in the admission process as well as in student development during an online degree program. Study participants often attributed their own determination as the single most important factor in completing the online program. While self-motivation is a common characteristic of adult learners the ability to work independently was emphasized by the participants in this study. In fact it was noted that online programs are not for
“procrastinators” and it is very important to be able to work well in an unstructured learning environment. Also, the ability to communicate and receive communication primarily through the written word was emphasized. Since a lot of the courses used group work some experience working in teams may also help students adjust to online learning environments along with basic technical skills and a willingness to learn.
Summary
Developing and maintaining an online degree program that facilitates student completion is a process with various facets. Among these are: program design, faculty and student characteristics, and the learning environment. A commitment on the part of the program designers to maintain a high quality program and
remain sensitive to the unique, and also common, concerns of learners in these programs is an important first step to a learning environment that facilitates student completion. At the same time, faculty
responsiveness and comfort with the technology, as well as multi-media that are appropriate to the material being covered, and required interaction among students and between students and faculty appear to facilitate progress through completion of online degree programs at the graduate level. While some characteristics of students who seem to do particularly well in online program are outside the control of administrators other features may be identifiable during the admission process and others may be nurtured through the program facilitating retention and completion of online degree programs.
References
Aragon, S. R., Johnson, S. D., & Shaik, N. (2002). The influence of learning style preferences on student success in online vs. face-to-face environments. American Journal of Distance Education, 16(4), 227-243.
Haythornthwaite, C., Kazmer, M., Robins, J., & Shoemaker, S. (2000). Community development among distance learners: Temporal and technological dimensions, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 6(1).
Chandler, M., Levin, J. A., & Levin, S. R. (2002). The evolution of an online community of distributed learners/teachers. Paper presented at the 2002 American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting New Orleans, LA.
Johnson, S. D., Aragon, S. R., Shaik, N., & Palma-Rivas, N. (2000). Comparative analysis of learner satisfaction and learning outcomes in online and face-to-face learning environments. Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 11(1), 29-49.
Kerka, S. (1995). Adult learner retention revisited. ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education, Columbus, OH. (No. ED 389 880)
Lawrence, R. L. (1999). Cohorts in cyberspace: Creating community online. Proceedings of the 19th Annual Alliance/ACE Conference. Saratoga Springs, NY.
Levin, S., Waddoups, G., Levin, J., & Buell, J. (2001). Highly interactive and effective online learning environments for teacher professional development. International Journal of Educational Technology, 2(2).
Ross, L. (2001). Urbana-Champaign on the Potomac: The University of Illinois' LEEP Program, Law Library Lights 44(5), 9-10.
Witte, J. E., & Waynne J. B. (1998). Cohort partnerships: A pragmatic approach to doctoral research. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 79(3), 53-62.
Bibliographical Sketches
Faye L. Lesht is Head, Academic Outreach, Office of Continuing Education and Adjunct Assistant
Professor, Educational Organization and Leadership, on the Urbana campus of the University of Illinois. She earned her Ph.D. in Continuing Higher Education from the College of Education at the University of Illinois. Her research focuses on the influence of online education on alumni giving, as well as on factors influencing retention and completion of online programs; she is also interested in academic leadership.
Address: Academic Outreach, Office of Continuing Education University of Illinois
Suite 1405, 302 E. John Street Champaign, IL 61820
E-mail: flesht@uiuc.edu
URL: http://www.continuinged.uiuc.edu/outreach/research/
Phone: 217.333.3061 Fax: 217.244.8481
Najmuddin Shaik is a Research Programmer on the Urbana campus of the University of Illinois. He has
a Ph.D. in Human Resource Education from the College of Education, University of Illinois and an MS in Computer Science from Northern Illinois University. His research and publications cover the areas of scale development, program evaluation, and online learning.
Address: Academic Outreach, Office of Continuing Education University of Illinois
Suite 1702, 302 E. John Street Champaign, IL 61820
E-mail: shaik@ad.uiuc.edu
URL: http://www.continuinged.uiuc.edu/outreach/research/
Phone: 217.244.9058 Fax: 217.244.8481
