Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

2019

Document Type

Dissertation - NSU Access Only

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice

Advisor

Steven Alan Hecht

Committee Member

Anymir Orellana

Committee Member

Kimberly Durham

Keywords

retention, eMajor, distance education, online, support services

Abstract

Given the continued reporting of low retention amid increased online enrollment, there is a need to understand what factors may impact retention in online education. An educational support team joined with selected online programs within the state to provide student-centered online support. This mixed methods sequential explanatory study examined the impact of these student support services on retention within the eMajor BBA program implemented in spring 2017. Retention was calculated as term-to-term enrollment based on proportional student retention per academic term. Historical data from spring 2015 to spring 2019, resulting in 4,907 student registrations, was used to compare student retention before and after implementation of the eMajor program. Historical data from spring 2017 to spring 2019 representing student frequency of use with individual support services and resulting in 8,773 records, was used to compare the frequency of use of each service for retained and non-retained students. The qualitative data obtained through interviews with select students and staff members was used to explain the quantitative findings by documenting student experiences concerning their use of each of the student services provided by emajor.

The results of the study showed that students enrolled in the eMajor program were slightly more retained than students not enrolled. The Wald Chi Square test indicated significant differences in both the provision of the readiness assessment, a measure of a student’s readiness to take online courses, and outreach efforts, including contacts with at-risk students. However, the data derived from interviews suggest it’s the presence of a support team that may be the integral factor that positively impacts retention.

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