Making Connections: bringing together e-learning and student retention Kyriaki Anagnostopoulou, Head of e-Learning Deeba Parmar, Senior Researcher Fellow

Aims To assist educational institutions in improving the learning experience of first- year students To learn about factors which contribute to withdrawal and progression To identify how students at risk of withdrawing from their programmes manifest themselves online

Methods and sample Tracking material from institutional VLE (quant) 42 telephone interviews (response rate of 46%) (quant & qual) 130 surveys – current students (quant & qual) Same topic guide aimed to gather both quantitative and qualitative data regarding: Self identity Establish level of participant bias Clarification of intention Context Other Extra questions (demographics)

Demographics of withdrawn sample 92 students Aligned to 12 subject areas Two thirds female Three quarters <25 years old Average age 23 years (min=18 & max=59) 57.1% withdrew within the first 4 weeks of their course

Online profile 50% participants never logged on Only 13% logged on during induction week Participants logged on 1-65 times (median score of 5.5) Significant difference Participants at the extreme ends of the age range were the ones that accessed dyslexia support materials Accessing to management tools were influenced by the discipline to which participants were aligned

English Language Support Items accessed by studentsTotal visits Average Time per VisitTotal Time% Total Visits Course Content Home108000:00:3610:51: % Calendar (what's on this week – entry x)25400:00:2501:47:074.19% Introduction11200:00:2300:43:051.69% MIDDLESEX UNIVERSITY8700:00: % Monthly8400:00:2300:32:321.27% Calendar (what's on this week – entry y):8100:00:3600:49:061.92% Grammar8000:00:2400:32:491.28% Writing6700:00:1900:21:400.85% Organising Essays6600:00:5200:57:172.24% Referencing5700:00:3500:33:451.32% Student Homepages: Everyone5400:00:2800:25:331.00% Inbox5100:00:5900:50:221.97% The Stages of Writing5100:00:1500:12:460.50% Giving Presentations4700:00:1100:09:100.36% Academic Style4200:00:1000:07:050.28% Contact a Tutor4200:00:2700:18:570.74% The importance of good organisation4000:00:1400:09:200.37% About ELLS on OASIS3900:00:1100:07:090.28% Who We Are3600:00:2100:12:520.50% What’s on? What’s happening today, tomorrow…What am I expected to do now? Context in which I am learning? Content – what’s important for me? (things I need to know & verify what I already know) Who else is studying with me? More content Who is helping me? Who are my facilitators? What are their expectations (of me)? What’s important to your students? (cohort stats) 1 in 2 students visited this online course. Why?

A B

What’s leading your students’ learning experience?

Understanding e-Learning Deficit model of e-learning Attribution to technology (e)Learning skills Synchronous Vs asynchronous

Students who withdrew/interrupted Students who persisted Provided limited descriptions of previous learning experiences Provided rich descriptions of learning previous learning experiences (delivery methods, styles, etc) Little awareness of ‘self’ in the learning process Greater awareness of ‘self’ in the learning process Inability to name skills needed for effective learning Identified skills needed for effective learning Large gap between experiential and perceptual models of effective learning Greater match between experiential and perceptual models of effective learning Research = (re)Search Deficit model of learning with technology Characteristics & abilities were attributed to the technology

Encouraging persistence Proactive approach Building on existing motivation Embedding support Managing expectations

Recommendations Accuracy of personal information Discourage account sharing Admin systems should not lead L&T systems Stronger integration of social & academic Engage with institutional technologies from the start Lurking as a valid form of learning Live databases provide snapshot IT literacy is different to e-learning Learn more about our students Embracing existing student technologies

Tutors' actions: 'Um, we were told to use it by our tutors … just to check up on any extra information…' Participant 84 ‘[The lecturer] just said go onto that and you'll see, if you miss your lectures or something, go onto that and that …I'll have all my lectures there.' Participant 46 Student views: 'I'm sure [the VLE] is there for students that actually need help with their work, and I didn't really need it at the specific moment …' Participant 78 'Um, just sort of looking up things that I don't understand, or finding additional information on things.' Participant 19 'I guess [e-learning is] like the easiest way out really … if you haven't got books and stuff…’ Participant 92 '… [e-learning] is a shortcut to learning and it also gives me time to do other things…' Participant 61 <<back

“it cuts the time in half” (Participant 61) “it opens your mind up... the internet can help you in all ways for studying” (Participant 43) “the internet opens you up... you have this infinite amount of information” (Participant 19) “...it makes you produce a good work, neat work, nice, clear and precise” (Participant 87) <<back

Access trends

‘Others’ in learning

Institutional Profile On 3 campuses 28,000+ students 74% FT, of which 47% mature (over 21) Approx 25% of FT students are international Approx 57% female, 43% male 2/3 of students are of a non-white background Approx 80% student retention

Complexities of research Definitions Live databases are a snapshot in time Local recording and interpretation Disadvantage of integration of systems Researcher/practitioner tensions