HRD in higher education: Why do students not succeed in distance learning
courses?
James R. Johnson
Purdue University Calumet, USA
Statement of the Problem
The explosive growth of the World Wide Web, or the internet, has caused a revolution in
higher education, just as it has in most other facets of our lives. This technology has
allowed many universities to extend their reach by offering both credit and non-credit
courses via the internet. Students may now complete entire undergraduate, graduate, and
many advanced degrees in the relative comfort of their own homes, offices, or anywhere
else they choose. Like most universities, this one in the mid-western United States has
taken advantage of the internet’s popularity by offering online learning or distance
education courses. The course schedule for the fall semester 2004 listed 85 online
learning courses that are now available at his university.
However, like many other universities, this one has a large drop-out and failure rate in its
online learning courses. One course offered in the fall 2004 semester, for example, had
19 students initially registered. At the conclusion of the fifth week of classes, 9 students
out of the 19 registered had completed none of the assignments. Similar failure rates exist
in many courses. Anecdotal evidence indicates that failure rates may range from 5% to as
high as 40%. More recently, another online course in the spring 2005 semester has 8 of
the 20 registered students who have not completed the majority of the required work.
The long term costs caused by student failures are far reaching. The university loses
tuition income and possibly the loss of the student. The student loses the educational
experience and knowledge. Perhaps the greatest loss, though, is that of future hopes,
dreams and aspirations for a better life. In order to prevent this loss to both the university
and the student, both parties must deal with the effects of this attrition rate.
This widespread problem has given rise to this proposed research project whose central
research question is: What are the barriers to success in distance learning at this midwestern university?
© 2005 James R. Johnson
Significance of the Problem
The expansion of online or distance learning, along with the number of universities that
are offering online courses is growing at an explosive rate. Since it is ‘part of an
estimated $2 billion business’ it is easy to see why online courses hold an appeal to
universities (Bocchi, Eastman and Owens Swift, 2004:245). To understand the
perspective in which this phenomenon has occurred, Shotsberger (2000) reported that
though it took radio 38 years to reach 50 million users, and television took 30 years, the
internet took merely four years to reach that level of users. To give further evidence of
its growth, ‘more than 50% of Western universities offer some type of online course’
(Bocchi, et al 2004,: 245). It has further been reported that ‘the majority of two- and
four-year college and universities across the United States are developing and delivering
online courses’ (Bickle and Carroll 2003:208).
There are a number of explanations as to why distance learning, and online courses in
particular, have become so popular both from the university and student’s perspectives.
Students are often attracted to online courses from the viewpoint of personal convenience
and flexibility. In addition, according to Bocchi, et al (2004), ‘the rapid pace of
technological changes makes it necessary for adults to continuously upgrade their
knowledge and skills to stay competitive in the job market’ (245). Online courses
provide the niche for busy individuals who might not otherwise be able to attend a
traditional class. In general, ‘online learning provides a diverse group of people the
opportunity to participate in higher education’ (Bickle and Carroll 2003: 208).
Online courses also allow them to reach a much larger audience, reaching ‘learners
nationwide or internationally’ (Bickle and Carroll 2003: 213). While online courses offer
a number of advantages and opportunities, they also bring a whole new set of challenges
and problems that need to be resolved. These include: ‘costs from the higher drop rate for
online courses compared with traditional courses…, students’ feelings of isolation …,
and their finding that such courses are more rigorous than anticipated and that faculty
members and students lack experience with online learning’ (Bocchi et al 2004: 246).
Very little empirical research has been done that can explain why students succeed, or
fail in online classes. More important, though, is that universities are unable to provide
HRD solutions to this problem unless they understand the problem fully.
Literature review
For purposes of this project, human resource development was defined as ‘organized
learning activities arranged within an organization in order to improve performance
and/or personal growth for the purpose of improving the job, the individual, and/or the
organization’ (Gilley and Eggland 1989: 5). Relatively little has been written about the
organization development component of human resource development as it is practiced in
a university environment’ (Bartlett, Crystal, Marsick, Torraco, and Watkins (2004:154).
Distance learning happens when students are in one location and the teacher is in another
remote location. In traditional classroom education, students use textbooks, listen to
lectures, and use other nearby available resources. Distance learning changes the practice
of the student coming to the teacher. It gives students and teachers more flexibility and
options concerning when and how to study and teach.
Technology has given distance learning new rank. Today, it is a normal form of
education for those in full-time employment, homemakers, and for those who choose not
to go to schools or universities for purposes of learning. This concept has allowed
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individuals to continue their education, whether it is for personal or professional
satisfaction. The teacher is still able to create, design, and plan with goals and objectives.
Also associated with distance learning is multimedia. With the use of multimedia, the
learning is literally at the ‘fingertips’ of the teacher and the learner. The long distance
allows the multimedia, or the use of video, audio, graphics, images, animation, and text,
to let the teacher relay information from one location to the learner in a completely
different location. Universities and institutions equipped with distance education and
technology attempt to provide for their students a completely structured education. The
communication is interactive in that the teacher receives some feedback from the student.
The feedback may be immediate or delayed. This type of education, typically collegelevel, allows students to work on their own at home or at the office and communicate
with faculty and other students via e-mail, electronic forums, bulletin boards, and other
forms of computer-based communication. This is an alternate process to traditional faceto-face student and faculty interaction.
Several researchers have studied this phenomenon of online courses. First, Rivera and
Rice (2002) found that technical problems with course delivery, lack of general support
from the university, and the students’ general lack of preparation contributed to this issue.
They went on to make several specific recommendations: online courses need to be
clearly identified as such, delivery platforms need to be made more stable, university
support must be expanded, and hardware, connectivity, and software specifications need
to be clearly communicated.
Second, Muse (2003) wrote that the students with higher overall grade point average,
who worked in a more conducive study environment, who were older, and who were
better prepared for the rigors of online learning were more likely to succeed in the online
course environment. He further cited the student’s inability to get the technology to work
properly as a causal factor for failure in online courses.
Schilke’s (2001) work led him to conclude that learners were generally unaware of the
difficulties inherent in online courses, were not prepared for these difficulties, and had
expectations that were contradictory to those found on the syllabus and course
description. His work led to the building of theory, later used as the theoretical
framework for this proposed study.
Research Methods
This proposed research project will utilize a retrospective, quasi-experimental design.
Merriam and Simpson (1995) defined this design as one that does ‘vary from the classical
model’ (54). Data will be collected by ‘combining qualitative and quantitative
approaches’ (Creswell 1994:174) and will employ both qualitative interviews and a
quantitative survey. Guiding the study will be the central research question: What are the
barriers to success in distance learning at a mid-western university?
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First, as previously mentioned, Schilke’s (2001) theory-building research will be utilized
as the theoretical framework for this research project. Building in Garland’s (1993)
Model of Barriers to Persistence in Distance Education, Schilke interviewed 27 men and
women enrolled in distance learning courses, and identified five barriers to success:
• Situational barriers are those that relate to the learner’s situation in life.
These include such things as lack of support from family members and
poor study environment.
• Institutional barriers are those that deal with the instructor or the
instructional design of the course,
• Dispositional barriers are those that lie within the learner. These include
such things as stress from multiple life roles, poor time management skills,
procrastination, and learning style.
• Epistemological barriers relate to content and difficulties with the course
itself. Differences in student’s perception of the course is an example of an
epistemological barrier.
• Technological barriers are those that result from the functioning of the
technology itself. Technological barriers can be either software-related,
hardware-related, or connectivity issues.
Second, qualitative interviews will be conducted with a sampling of students to identify
university-specific barriers to success in distance learning courses. Kvale (1996: 5)
defines qualitative interviews as those ‘whose purpose is to obtain descriptions of the life
world of the interviewee with respect to interpreting the meaning of the described
phenomena.’
Third, from this qualitative data a quantitative survey instrument will be developed. This
survey instrument will be administered in order to test the survey in the early fall of 2005
in seven separate classroom-based and online courses, and will be refined according to
the results obtained. Nineteen separate barriers will be included in the survey: ability to
work independently, limited instructor communication, written instructions, computer
skills, reading comprehension skills, social collaboration, time management, download
time/internet connection, processor speed, adequate computer requirements, syllabus,
discussion board participation, expectation of course, access to computer, health issues,
learning style, interest in subject, course design, and motivation.
Fourth, a list of all students, who have earned a grade of ‘F’ or who have enrolled in and
subsequently withdrawn from a distance education course at the university will be
obtained from the Office of the Registrar. This list will be provided in the late fall of
2005, will include spring semester 2005 data, will include the student’s name and
address, and will be sorted by course name and semester. Surveys will be mailed to each
of these students.
Finally, the responses will be analyzed, and the results tabulated to obtain the mean score
for each of the factors. In this way, the highest mean scores will indicate important
factors that lead to student’s withdrawing from, or failing in online courses.
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Implications to the university
This proposed research project is designed to uncover the barriers to student success,
which contribute to failure or dropping of distance learning courses at a mid-western
university in the United States. Once these barriers are identified and analyzed, university
faculty and staff may then design and develop appropriate interventions that will enable
students to overcome these barriers, thereby insuring student success and retention.
References
Bartlett, K., Crystal, F., Marsick, V., Torraco, R., and Watkins, K. (2004) ‘Organization
development in universities’. Conference Proceedings of the 2004 Academy of
Human Resource Development Annual Research Conference, Austin, TX. 154161.
Bickle, M. C. and Carroll, J. C. (2003) ‘Checklist for quality online instruction:
Outcomes for learners, the professor and the instruction’, College Student
Journal, 37: 208-216.
Bocchi, J., Eastman, J. K., and Owens Swift, C. (2004) ‘Retaining the online learner:
Profile of Students in an online MBA program and implications for teaching
them’, Journal of Education for Business, 245-253.
Creswell, John W. (1994) Research design: Qualitative and quantitative approaches,
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Garland, M. (1993) ‘Student perceptions of the situational, institutional, dispositional and
epistemological barriers to persistence’ Distance Education (14): 181-198.
Gilley, J. & Eggland, S. (1989) Principles of human resource development,. Reading,
MA: Addison Wesley.
Kvale, S. (1996) InterViews: An introduction to qualitative research interviewing,
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Merriam, S. B. and Simpson, E. L. (1995) A guide to research for educators and trainers
of adults, Malabar, Fl: Kreiger Publishing.
Muse, H. (2003) ‘The web-based community college student: An examination of factors
that lead to success and risk’. The Internet and higher Education 6: 241-261.
Noe, Raymond A. (2005) Employee training and development Boston: Irwin.
Schilke, Richard A. (2001). ‘A case study of attrition in web-based instruction for adults:
Updating Garland’s Model of barriers to persistence in distance education’
Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL.
Shotsberger, Paul G (2000) ‘Kepler and Wiles: models of perseverance. The Mathematics
Teacher 93: 680-682.
Rivera, J. and Rice, M. (2002) ‘A comparison of student outcomes & satisfaction
between traditional & web based course offerings’ Online Journal of Distance
Learning Administration V.
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