Student Retention

Because student success is contingent on retention, student persistence is a critical institutional focus. The use of technology (specifically, the LMS/CMS, coupled with learning analytics) has made student tracking and retention more efficient. Below are articles, presentations, and seminars that further discuss the growing use of technology to promote student retention.

Articles

• Building a Purpose Network to Increase Student Engagement and Retention, EDUCAUSE Review Online, August 2012.  Fort Hays State University partnered with ConnectEDU to with the purpose of improving student and parent engagement, increasing student retention rates, and tracking and collecting success metrics.
• Signals: Using Academic Analytics to Promote Student Success, EDUCAUSE Review Online, July 2012. Using existing student data and current grade information, Purdue University created Signals, a system that gives students early and frequent performance notifications and helps faculty members steer students toward additional campus resources as needed.
• Two Case Studies of Learner Analytics in the University System of Maryland, EDUCAUSE Review Online, August 2012. In this article, The University of Maryland Eastern Shore describes actions it took to increase retention and graduation rates for an at-risk student population by using a dashboard that provides actual data as well as targets for key performance indicators specific to admission, retention, and progress toward graduation.
• The EDUCAUSE Quarterly Magazine, Volume 33, Number 4, 2010 largely focuses on the topic of student retention. A few articles of particular interest in this issue include;
  • Enhancing Student Learning and Retention with Blended Learning Class Guides, EDUCAUSE Quarterly Magazine, Volume 33, Number 4, 2010
  • How the ICCOC Uses Analytics to Increase Student Success, EDUCAUSEQuarterly Magazine, Volume 33, Number 4, 2010
  • Defining IT’s Role in Mission-Critical Retention Initiatives, EDUCAUSEQuarterly Magazine, Volume 33, Number 4, 2010
  • Sustaining Students: Retention Strategies in an Online Program, EDUCAUSEQuarterly Magazine, Volume 33, Number 4, 2010

Presentations and Seminars

• Student Success at Scale: What Have We Learned from Applying Technology to Persistent Challenges?, EDUCAUSE Annual Conference, November 2012. The speaker presents the latest findings from multiple efforts to improve student engagement, learning, retention, and degree completion.
• Technology’s Role in the College Completion Agenda: An Introduction to Next Generation Learning Challenges, EDUCAUSE Live! December 3, 2010
• Success, Withdrawal, and Student Satisfaction When the Numbers are Very Large, ELI Annual Meeting, January 20, 2010
• Using Analytics to Intervene with Underperforming College Students, ELI Annual Meeting, January 20, 2010

March 2013