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Serving Students From A Distance: A Content Analysis Of Persistent Characteristics In Distance Learners, Ann L. Sorensen

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Distance learning has experienced a noteworthy increase in both the number of institutions offering alternatives to traditional classroom instruction, and the number of students participating in the various distant modalities. Accompanying the increase of students utilizing distance learning is the subsequent increase in students leaving their studies before completion. These two opposing increases have elevated the need to address retention in distance learning and specifically, online distance learning. This study utilizes the results of a Transfer Student Survey administered to criminal justice and nursing online students between 2006 and 2008. Survey results were used to determine if specific traits of …