On-Line Learning

Mandy Moore
Arkansas Tech University

Background Information
Student Retention is one of the most widely studied areas in
higher education
Heightened focus on part of institutions and states on
increasing the rate at which students persist and graduate
Still much to do and options to explore
Still a lot that we have yet to do to translate research and
theory into effective practice
Ask ourselves, What else can we do to improve effectiveness
of our work on behalf of increased student retention and
enhance institutional effectiveness?

Background Information Continued

North Arkansas College is located in Harrison, AR
Founded in 1974
Two-year college that offers transfer and technical
degree programs, customized business and industry
training, adult basic ed and non-credit education
courses
One of Five community colleges in Arkansas that offers
a complete online Associates degree

Background Information Continued

Steady increase in number of students taking online
courses
Fall 2007 nearly 4 million students participated in online
courses
30% of institutions with education related programs had
complete online programs

Background Information Continued

When asked why students take online classes, most
common answer is Convenience
Online classes see to becoming more popular avenue to
both young and old minds
Online and Face-to-Face classes have common goal: To
provide quality education to students and to help them
earn a degree
Online classes give convenience to student

Purpose of the Project

Objective is to reflect on and summarize some of the
empirical knowledge regarding the most important
determinants of student success
Do students who attend online classes perform better or
worse compared to face-to-face campus classes?

Purpose of the Project Continued

North Arkansas College is housed in Harrison, AR
Low Tuition
Cost of credit hour ranges from $85 to $180
Location is conveniently centered in middle of
surrounding counties

Problem Identified
Onsite requirements for some
students are a deterrent for
persistence in online classes
This is a problem at Northark
because if it is unable to retain
students then success rate will
slowly diminish
Important to find a solution
because we want to market
online programs as being 100%
online
Want to be able to fall in line with
mission and vision statements

Problem Identified Continued

Comparison Chart of Online versus Face-to-Face Classes
Online

Face-to-face

Instructors sense of control

1.
2.

Less sense of instructor control

Easier for participants to ignore instructor

1.
2.

More sense of leadership from Instructor

Not so easy to ignore instructor

Condition of meeting

1.
2.

No waiting for participants to arrive

No latecomers or early leavers, etc.

1.
2.

Often have to wait for others to arrive

People leave during the meeting, etc.

Discussions through text only; can be

structured; dense; permanent; limited; stark

Verbal discussions: a more common mode, but

impermanent

Don't meet in a room; no shared physical

context (other than text)

Meet in a room; strong physical context

1.
2.

Group meets continuously

Concept of 'to meet' is different since no
scheduled date and time and location
Time less important and doesn't limit group - at
least span of time is greater
No sense of leaving the meeting
Less controllable
Sometimes deadlines are not adhered to since it
is possible to extend beyond deadline to next
period of online work

1.
2.

Group meets in 'stop and start' fashion

Strong sense of when group meets - all those
involved attend at same time, date, etc.
Time important and is a limiter.
People leave during meeting for other meetings
Controllable
Deadlines usually adhered to since the
expectation to complete them on time is high,
and it is not really possible to continue into next
period of time

Mode

Physical context

3.
Time

4.
5.
6.

3.
4.
5.
6.

Problem Identified Continued

Comparison Chart Continued
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Work/discussion

6.

7.
8.

Work on multiple issues at the same time

Work not condensed-fluid and interweaved
with other activities
Group contact continually maintained
Depth of analysis often increased online
Discussion often stops for periods of time,
then is picked up and restarted
Members sometimes lose sense of where
they are in the discussions over long
periods of time(information overload)
Level of reflection high
Able to reshape conversations on basis of
ongoing understandings and reflection

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

7.
8.

1.

2.
3.

Group dynamics

4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Group dynamics not same as face-to-face;

participants have to learn how to interpret them
online
Less sense of anxiety
More equal participation, especially for females;
participants can take control of this
Less hierarchies, etc.
Dynamics are 'hidden' but traceable
No breaks - constantly in the meeting
Can be active listening without participation
Medium (technology) has an impact on
dynamics
Different expectation about participation
Slower - time delays in interactions/discussions

1.
2.
3.

4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Usually work on one issue at a time and

advance through agenda item by item
Work is condensed and focused
Little group contact in-between meetings
Analysis varies, often dependent on time
available
Discussions usually completed during
meeting
Discussions occur within a set time frame,
therefore less likely that members will lose
sense of where they are
Often little time for reflection during
meetings
Less likelihood of conversations being
reshaped during meeting
Dynamics 'understandable' to most participants
because they have experienced them before
Anxiety at beginning/during meetings
Participation unequal and often dominated by
males, but group may try to share time equally
among members
More chance of hierarchies
Dynamics evident but lost after the event
Breaks between meetings
Listening without participation may be frowned
upon
Medium (room) may have less impact
Certain 'accepted' expectations about
participation
Quicker - immediacy of interactions/discussions

Problem Identified Continued

Comparison Chart Continued
1.
2.
3.

Can access other groups easily

Can see who is working in other groups
Can participate in other groups easily

1.
2.
3.

Never have access to other groups

Can't participate in other groups
Can't see what is happening to others in
groups

Effects of group software

Effects of technology

Effects of room/location?

Effects of medium

Absence of rejoining

Psychological/emotional stress of rejoining is

high

Stress of rejoining not so high

1.

Feedback on each individual's piece of work

very detailed and focused
Whole group can see and read each other's
feedback
Textual feedback only
No one can "hide" and not give feedback
Permanent record of feedback obtained by all
Delayed reactions to feedback
Sometimes little discussion after feedback
Group looks at all participants' work at same
time

1.

Less likely to cover as much detail, often more

general discussion
Group hears feedback
Verbal/visual feedback
Possible to "free-ride" and avoid giving feedback
No permanent record of feedback
Immediate reactions to feedback possible
Usually some discussion after feedback looking at wider issues
Group looks at one participant's work at a time

Accessing other groups

2.

Giving feedback of people's work

3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Research Methods and Procedures

Primary Data to be obtained from:
University of Arkansas Community College-Morrilton
Linda Holland, Registrar

Black River Technical College

Kim Bigger, Registrar

Northwest Arkansas Community College

Tay Shay Carter, Registrar

North Arkansas College

Charla Jennings, Registrar

Research Methods and Procedures

Continued
Linda Holland, Registrar at UACC-M
Does your college offer online classes?
Yes, we over a few on-line courses.

Do on-line classes fill up faster than face-to-face?

Yes, on-line courses are normally full.

How many degrees do you offer that are completely on-line?

We are approved for an on-line Associate of Arts program, however Im not sure that every courses is currently being
offered on-line.

Is there a significant difference in the success rates of online students versus face-to-face students?
Not really, the success depends on the students ability for self-motivation. However, we do see lots of visiting
students wanting to enroll in on-line courses to meet a graduation requirement at their institution.

Research Methods and Procedures

Linda Holland, Registrar at UACC-M
Regarding withdrawals, do you have more student withdraw from online classes or face-to-face?

Normally more students withdraw themselves from face-to-face courses, but we also see many administrative withdraws from both on-line
and face-to-face courses. We have an attendance policy that applies to both types of courses. If students do not attend or participate, then
they are dropped with an AW by the instructor.

Regarding face-to-face classes what is happening in the classroom that could not be duplicated by an online class?

There might be more missed communication in the on-line courses. If you are in a face-to-face course, you get immediate feedback. But the
on-line courses, instructors may misunderstand the question or may not always respond in a timely manner.

Are online students asked to come to campus for any part of their class?

No, with web-courses the student takes all coursework on-line. But some may require proctored exams at a location near them. For
instance, our testing center proctors exams for web courses taken at other institutions as well as ours. But we do have some Hybrid
courses that does require the student come to campus for part of the course.

Do you offer an online learning help center? For example, Arkansas Tech has a Professional Studies Resource Center that allows students to communicate
with them 24 hours a day via computer, telephone or face-to-face.

No we dont have an on-line learning center, but we do have on-line tutoring offered through www.NetTutor.com that is free to UACCM
students. It does operate 24 hours per day for math and writing only, but times vary in other subjects. We do offer face-to-face tutoring in
our Academic Commons building.

Research Methods and Procedures

Continued
Charla Jennings, Registrar at North Arkansas College
Does your college offer online classes?
Yes

Do on-line classes fill up faster than face-to-face?

Typically, Yes

How many degrees do you offer that are completely on-line?

4 Associate (AA,AAS Business, AGS, AS Business)
3 Certificates (Accounting, Administrative Support, Small Business Management)

Is there a significant difference in the success rates of online students

versus face-to-face students?
Online has a slightly lower success rate in overall classes 71% compared to 74% for
face-to-face (based on C or better grade)

Research Methods and Procedures

Continued
Charla Jennings, Registrar at North Arkansas College
Regarding withdrawals, do you have more student withdraw from online
classes or face-to-face?
Online classes withdrawal rate is slightly higher than face-to-face 11% compared to 8%.

Regarding face-to-face classes what is happening in the classroom that could

not be duplicated by an online class?
Most everything is replicated in online courses same as face-2-face.

Are online students asked to come to campus for any part of their class?
Some instructors still required test to be completed on campus.

Do you offer an online learning help center? For example, Arkansas Tech has a
Professional Studies Resource Center that allows students to communicate
with them 24 hours a day via computer, telephone or face-to-face.
No

Research Methods and Procedures

Continued
Analysis
I worked with the Registrar from Northark and gathered the
data from the past 5 consecutive years to compare total
enrollment broken down by strictly online, strictly face-to-face
and hybrid classes.

Findings
When the data was compared it did show that even when
there was a decrease in enrollment there was an increase in
online enrollment.

Research Methods and Procedures

Continued
Fall 2015

Face-to-Face

Fall 2013

Fall 2014

Face-to-Face
Hybrid

Online

Hybrid

Fall 2012

Face-to-Face

Online

Online

Face-to-Face

Fall 2011

Hybrid
Face-to-Face

Online

Hybrid

Online

Hybrid

Recommended Action Plan

Online education should be viewed as a resource
Online education is a means towards supporting
statewide liberal arts and sciences
There are ways to improve enrollment for online classes
Access to Northak online classes
Allowing a traditional or non-traditional student to maneuver through
an online class example

Recommended Action Plan Continued

Ways to Improve Online Enrollment
Faculty and administration should make thoughtful effort to identify
and develop courses that are truly appropriate for online delivery
Conduct a needs assessment and demand analysis to establish
viable new online courses in targeted areas
College could incentivize faculty involvement of online courses
Northark could/should investigate the student/public need and/or
advantages of developing and implementing online classes
Efforts should be made by faculty and staff to ensure online course
offerings are of consistent high quality and keep with national
established bests practices

Thank You