Engaging the Open Distance Learners : a strategy to increase retention and improve graduation rates
This paper investigates the impact of the various interventions implemented by Open University Malaysia, on the learners’ level of Engagement in the Online Community developed through the interaction between the various participants; learners, instructors and management staff of the universit...
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| Format: | Conference or Workshop Item |
| Published: |
2011
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://library.oum.edu.my/repository/644/1/engaging_Richard_Ng.pdf https://library.oum.edu.my/repository/644/ |
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| Summary: | This paper investigates the impact of the various interventions implemented by Open
University Malaysia, on the learners’ level of Engagement in the Online Community
developed through the interaction between the various participants; learners, instructors and
management staff of the university. The intensity of the Online Community which is the result
of the interventions was measured using four variables: Learner-Learner, Learner-Tutor,
Learner-Staff and Learner-Content interaction. The learners’ level of Engagement and
Commitment to stay in their programmes were also measured and a correlation was then
established. Data for the research were collected from 1550 undergraduate learners of
Open University Malaysia located throughout Malaysia using self-administered
questionnaires. Results obtained from 1116 respondents showed that there was a strong
correlation between Learner-Learner, Learner-Instructor, Learner-Staff, Learner-Content,
Engagement and Commitment to stay. Multiple regression analysis carried out showed that
the learners’ Engagement explains 72 percent of the variance of their Commitment to stay.
This study is important as it will help future researcher to develop a tool to measure
engagement of learners in the Online Community. (Abstract by author) |
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