Retention in Open and Distance Education - Andre BIederbeck

EADTU-EU Summit 2024

1. Retention in Open and Distance Education Dr André Biederbeck, FernUniversität in Hagen

2. EADTU TF Retention TF Members: Open University of Jyväskylä (Finland), The Open University (UK), UNED (Spain), Anadolu University (Turkey), FernUniversität in Hagen (Germany), Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Spain),   UniDistance Suisse ( Switzerland ), Hellenic Open University ( Greece ), Uninettuno ( Italy )

3. The report on retention and student services The report focuses on implementation, practices and experiences,   and Shares studies and research on promoting study progress, retention and providing agile services;  Compares approaches and good practices , consulting with experts in the partnership  Identifies comparative strengths and obstacles in ODL       It supports the development of strategies to improve study progress and to offer more agile services to students in online distance education

4. Defining ‘ dropout ’ W e can widely define dropout as the non-enrolment of a student in a given number of successive semesters or courses (Marlon & Meneses , 2023). For Woodley & Simpson (2014), “student dropout is the elephant in the room” and “dropping out is the norm and the graduate is the deviant” in open and distance universities , sometimes reaching nearly 50% of new students dropping out before the end of the course (Simpson, 2013).

5. Why do students drop out?

6. General approaches to retention Curriculum design Certificate studies as alternatives to a complete BA programme Reducing the size of modules The use of data for analytic purposes More personalised study experience Predictive analytics and proactive interventions

7. Approaches along the Student Life Cycle

8. Awareness/Aspiration raising Being clear on and managing expectations in marketing materials Being realistic about how flexible we are ( e.g. assessment dates , course dates, etc. are fixed ) How much time is needed and how long it will take to qualify Providing sample materials and assessments Pointing towards diagnostics

9. Pre-entry guidance and preparation Providing alternative starting points: Using diagnostics to guide individual students to the right starting point   B ridging courses mostly focus on subject-related skills; the orientation courses/modules provide more general study skills Orientation or preparation modules (could be OERs, MOOCs, badged courses) including literacy, numeracy and digital skills T ime-management, learning techniques and self-organisation Careers guidance; post-graduation expectations

10. Thank you very much for your attention! The full report is available on: https://zenodo.org/records/11120008 For further information please contact: EADTU office, E-mail: [email protected]