Course Walls: localized points in a lesson sequence where student momentum to finish is significantly slowed or halted¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · 3 claims (3 for) · 1 study (1 design), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 3 claims rest on one study

Description¶

Course Walls are defined as "areas of the course's lesson sequence wherein the student's momentum to finish the course is significantly slowed or halted", arising when groups of students drop out near the same point in the course. Visualized as steep sections of a mountain being climbed, a steeper slope means a larger exodus of students between two lessons. The authors' grounded theory holds that identifying Course Walls lets designers investigate why students lose momentum at particular points and revise the course with dropouts in mind.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Graphing of the Student Momentum Indicator across lessons so that wall locations become visible

Constraints¶

• The authors state a Course Wall is not necessarily indicative of a poorly designed course, especially early in the course, since schedule changes outside course design prompt some drops and a beginning-of-course wall cannot be completely mitigated

Target Learners¶

• university-level online course students

Target Learning Objectives¶

• reducing dropout by targeting specific lessons for redesign

Claims¶

• Nine Student Momentum Graph Shape Categories [+M]
• Student Momentum graph shapes differ markedly by subject area, with math courses predominantly convex slope and political science courses predominantly steep wall [+W]
• A single Tipping Point explains dropout patterns in only about a quarter of online courses, so lesson-level dropout behavior is more complex than one critical lesson [+W]

Related Theories¶

• The Student Momentum Indicator (M): a lesson-by-lesson completion trajectory metric for online courses

Examples¶

• Use Student Momentum graphing to target and prioritize course revisions within limited designer time and resources
• Prioritize redesign of late, back-to-back, and spanning Course Walls, where momentum recovery is least likely

Key Sources¶

• Steven S. Christensen & Jonathan S. Spackman. (2016). Dropout Rates, Student Momentum, and Course Walls: A New Tool for Distance Education Designers. Journal of Educators Online. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1150708