Retention strategies for online students: A systematic literature review

The purpose of this paper is to examine online retention research in higher education over a 5-year span (January 2015–March 2019) to further advance research in higher education retention. Through an academic database search, 18 articles were collected from EBSCOhost, Google Scholar, and Research Gate using combinations of the keywords online, retention strategies, and higher education. All articles were analyzed for proposed retention strategies. Retention is a global topic. As such, this study demonstrates the importance of retention and clarifies issues or challenges students encounter, which may cause lower retention rates. The data reviewed suggest the most common retention issues or strategies involved student factors/motivation as well as faculty and student interactions. Common retention strategies most often included enhancing faculty training and/or support and adding student services positions and/or support.

Job Satisfaction and Its Influence on Faculty Retention and Turnover in a Private University in Liberia

Prior research declared that increased job satisfaction among faculty can explicitly influence behaviors and attitudes in faculty within institutions of higher education: retention, job performance, institutional commitment, engagement, among others. It is important that universities monitor the satisfaction levels of their faculty to secure increased levels of their performance. The qualitative, explanatory single case study was to explore how job satisfaction influence faculty retention and turnover in a private university in Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa. The need for qualified and committed faculty in Liberia continues to increase. To meet this need for high numbers of faculty, retention of qualified faculty has become a priority. The implication of this study is the importance of having effective leadership and healthy organizational culture to improve faculty morale and job satisfaction by developing strategies to retain quality faculty and reduce turnover.

CITIES AS CENTERS OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IN THE DIMENSION OF THE OBJECTIVES OF INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT

The main tasks of inclusive growth are determined, in particular: development of human capital; improving the quality of life of citizens, reducing inequality and poverty; development of social and economic involvement; careful use of natural resources and protection of the environment; territorial unity and elimination of regional disparities. The tight dependence (R = 0.84) between the index of global competitiveness of the countries and the index of inclusiveness of development is shown. The authors reveal the relationship between the intensity of urbanization processes and indicators of natural and migration growth (reduction) of the population; indicators of economic development and quality (comfort) of life for the inhabitants of the cities of Ukraine; indicators of institutional (including infrastructure) development of cities and assessments of their inhabitants regarding quality and comfort of living; indicators of economic development and investment attractiveness of the cities of Ukraine. The current trends in the development of the IT sphere as a key driver for the implementation of inclusive development are analyzed. Priority measures for achieving the objectives of inclusive development of cities and regions are named, in particular: (i) the enhancement and effective use of human potential, which is primarily the education, retention in a city and preservation of the concentration in various fields of creative people who are able to develop creative and innovative activities; (ii) development and implementation at the national level of urban audit, such as in the EU countries; (iii) when developing an effective policy of reforms in Ukraine, taking into account not only statistical but also sociological results of the assessment of social sentiment, especially under conditions of decentralization of authority, responsibility and decision-making; (iv) use of participatory management and partner approach in developing a common vision of urban development based on inclusiveness.

Factors that Influence Student Retention

With the increase in enrolment figures from second level education to third level education over the last number of decades, non-progression rates continue to give cause for concern in certain levels and disciplines. It has been widely argued that in addition to increasing enrolment numbers, higher education must also be concerned with the success of these students. In both the Irish and the international sector, the negative consequences of non-progression has been highlighted, not just on a societal level, but also for the students themselves. It is crucial for first-year student experience to have a positive experience and be fully supported in achieving the goals of higher education. From researching several reports in the area of retention and in particular the reports published by the Irish Higher Education Authority and the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in this area, it is clear that there is a need to analyse the data available and present the findings in a clear way to the key decision makers to allow for early intervention. This paper uses the different phases of the CRISP-DM methodology and applies data mining techniques and models to a real student dataset with the aim to predict the students that will progress. Keywords: Learning analytics; Data Mining; Higher Education; Retention.

Effect of Community Participation in Education on Quality of Education: Evidence from a Developing Context

Education is an activity in collaboration. Without community participation, education cannot achieve its goals and without education society cannot think of development. A plethora of research exists on community participation in education and its outcomes. However, meager studies have been carried out to examine the relationship between community participation and quality of education. Although quality of education cannot be determined by one or two indicators. Research has already discovered many indicators of quality of education. But this study specifically investigated into three essential indicators which are contextually relevant to a developing country. The three main indicators investigated in relation with community participation were access, retention and attendance. The main aim of this study was to find out whether or not community participation in education reduces the issues of access, retention and attendance at secondary school level. To collect data, the study surveyed 200 (female) and 300 (males) total N=500 government secondary schools teachers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Data were collected, collated and statistically computed using Pearson Correlation and ANOVA to determine a correlation between the independent variable (community participation in education) and the three indicators of quality of education such as access, retention and attendance as dependent variables. Results of the study indicated a significantly positive correlation between community participation and all the three indicators of quality of education. The study proposes community participation in education as the high positive predictor of access to education, retention and attendance.