ABSTRACT
Student persistence in the first year of studies is a crucial concern in online higher education. Recent accelerated growth in online programs due to the COVID pandemic has increased concerns over higher dropout rates, which are often connected to students' time challenges--time poverty, juggling multiple commitments, and fitting studies into busy lives. However, research seldom focuses on students' perceptions of time issues related to persistence. This study addresses this gap by exploring how 20 second-year students retrospectively viewed their experiences of time challenges and how they impacted their persistence in their first year at an online open university. Content analysis of in-depth interviews demonstrated that time pressure and time-conflicts were crucial barriers for success in the foundational semester, the main barrier was juggling study with multiple priorities. Most persisters had good time management and high levels of intrinsic motivation, satisfaction, and self-determination. However, even procrastinators with heavy work-family duties managed to persevere due to their resilience and personal motivation. Lastly, recommendations and strategies for effective student-based interventions to foster persistence are suggested.
ABSTRACT
Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, high school students across the United States were enrolling in online courses at increasing rates. As a result of pandemic related school closures, even more schools enrolled students in supplementary online courses as a method for delivering instruction during emergency remote learning. Despite enrollment increases in online courses for high school students, many questions remain about how to provide effective instruction virtually and the structures and supports that facilitate student success in their online courses. While previous studies have examined predictors of student success in online courses, there is less research on the influence of the enrollment process (e.g., which students enroll, who enrolls them, and when they are enrolled) on student outcomes. To fill this gap, this correlational study examines when students enroll in supplemental online high school courses and whether the timing of enrollment in an online course (i.e., prior to a semester, at the start of a semester, or during a semester already in progress) relates to students' subsequent course outcomes. The findings suggest that students who enroll on-time are more likely to complete their online courses than students who enroll late.