Put Your Research Question in Conversation with Your Sources. Revise your research question to reflect your conversation with items on your bibliography. Be sure to use terms from some of the readings you have chosen to help you frame the discussion and to situate your question within ongoing debates.
Originally, my research question revolved around who was enrolling in online classes and how to cater to their needs. I decided (with your help) that I should try and think more in terms of motivation ( which has more to do with psychology) for taking online classes, doing well in online classes, and reducing failure and drop-outs. So generally, what motivates an online college student to enroll in online classes, and how can universities motivate these students to succeed independently and reduce failure and drops of classes?
I found a few sources that address the reasons behind why people take online classes. The reasons range from time flexibility, distance from schools, full time jobs, and being a parent. The average age of this student is around 42 years old, typically female. This suggests that online classes are becoming an alternative to traditional education. Unfortunately, this description is leading younger students to believe that online classes are easier an require less work .
The truth behind online classes actually contradicts this assumption. Some research I found suggests that self-regulated, online learning is more work from the get-go because it requires more determination, focus, and motivation to stay on top of the coursework. This point is important because much of my research shows that adult learners succeed more than younger students because younger students tend to fall behind and fail whereas older students are more on top of their game.
Though the importance and popularity of online classes is continuously rising, the system is obviously flawed because failure and drop-outs are substantially higher than traditional classes. It's important to strengthen this area of education because it not only help reach out to the students who rely on online education as their main means of education, but online classes can potential spark a flow of revenue to colleges once successful. This could potentially become one of the most successful ways of cutting college costs, especially in a time when education costs are rising and students are less willing to pay a higher tuition. One popular approach is Hybrid classes. This topic is something I want to interview Tisha about because I'm interested in a first-hand experience regarding the success of the classes and the reasons for failure. Once I can understand why students are failing, it will be easier to figure out a way to motivate them to do well in this type of class. My main answer to the failure and drop problem lies within the topic of motivation, and I am curious to see what it will take to fill the void of this cost-effect system of learning.
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It may turn out that the best way to help students to succeed is to do a better job of selecting them -- or helping them to self-select -- so that only those with the right motives take the course. If their motive is to find an easier alternative, then they are not going to be the highly self-motivated students most likely to succeed. But if their motive is to simply be able to take a course despite other challenges -- such as being a parent -- then they might do better. Tisha may be able to share her own findings in this regard. She found, for example, that students who failed tended to have failed many of their other classes, suggesting either than they were already over-taxed or that they simply were not putting the necessary effort into their studies and may have chosen online or hybrid because it looked easier.
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