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Dissertation
Identifying learner demographic factors and engagement measures that impact successful completion of an online introductory statistics course at a community college: a learning analytics approach
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), Drexel University
Dec 2024
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00010843
Abstract
Community colleges play vital roles in higher education by providing affordable and accessible educational opportunities for learners from diverse backgrounds. To meet the high demand for post-secondary educational needs, community colleges rely on online education to offer this core service to their expanding student body. Few studies have examined which demographic factors and learning engagement measures, as measured by learning analytics tools, impact students' successful course completion in online introductory statistics courses at community colleges. This quantitative study first aimed to explore and examine how learner demographic factors/characteristics impact academic performance and successful outcomes in an online introductory statistics course at a community college. Then, I will investigate learners' learning engagement and interaction patterns, such as time spent on assignments, and how these measures lead to successful course completion outcomes and performances in an online introductory statistics course at a community college. Finally, examine which demographic factors have a moderating effect on these engagement measures. Data for the study was obtained from administrative sources, including students' academic records and performance analytics data on students' interactions with the digital learning platform MyLab Math® or MyLab Statistics®. Findings from this study suggested that female students, Federal Pell Grant recipients, and students who were single parents when enrolling in the course had lower odds of completing the course successfully. These findings can guide instructional designers, instructors, and administrators at the community college to go beyond the flexibility and convenience offered by these online introductory mathematics/statistics to provide target resources to improve the chances of these vulnerable students succeeding in these "gatekeeper" online courses. These findings also provide an avenue for more research into understanding the online learning engagement of at-risk students and provide ways to motivate and encourage students to spend more time and effort completing assigned academic tasks, improving their chances of success in online introductory mathematics and statistics courses.
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Details
- Title
- Identifying learner demographic factors and engagement measures that impact successful completion of an online introductory statistics course at a community college
- Creators
- William Ofoe Quarshie
- Contributors
- William F. Lynch (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- vi, 2, 135 pages
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- School of Education (1997-2026); Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991022019918604721