Self-reported withdrawal reasons are largely similar online and onground, led by no/other reason, transfer, and schedule conflict¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2007 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2012: baselines and conditions change
Evidence quality · No study behind this claim is a peer-reviewed article with a DOI: it rests on a source with no registered publication record (a web page, book or unpublished report). It is kept because a design page cites it; treat it as a lead to check, not an established finding.

Subclaims¶

q2 i? The top withdrawal reasons — No/Other Reason, Transfer, and Schedule Conflict — lead both lists, accounting for 85 percent of online and 65 percent of onground drops. → Jia Frydenberg 2007

Evidence¶

Jia Frydenberg 2007¶

Jia Frydenberg. (2007). Persistence in University Continuing Education Online Classes. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 8(3). https://portal.issn.org/resource/ISSN/1492-3831

q2 · i? · associational · r2

Textual analysis of voluntary written withdrawal requests coded by student services staff over two years. Nearly 50 percent of online reasons were unclassified or withheld; the top six categories accounted for 93 percent of the reduced online data. The article reports the three leading categories "lead both lists."

"‘N o/ Other Reason,’ ‘Transfer’ to another course, and ‘Schedule Conflict’ lead both lists, accounti ng for 85 percent of the online courses and 65 percent of the onground courses."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• For college students who can choose between online and in-person sections, taking a course online lowers grades both in that course and in future courses — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
• Expressed dissatisfaction with online technology, instruction, or content is not the primary reason for dropping — related
• After instruction has begun, drop rates are essentially the same in online and onground continuing education classes — related
• Online continuing education courses show lower persistence than comparable onground courses (79% vs 84%) over eight quarters — related
• Online attrition during Orientation Week is twice that of onground classes' first week — related
• Attrition did not differ significantly between cognitive apprenticeship and control sections, and withdrawing students did not cite the instructional method — related
• Differential attrition may explain the reported reduction in achievement gaps under daily online testing — related