Searching For Predictors Of Success In Community College Online Courses

The continuous growth of online learning in higher education has created a demand for more sections of more course offerings than ever before, particularly true in the community college system. Online courses can meet the needs of students who are unable to enroll in traditional courses because of outside conflicts such as work, family, class schedule or distance from the institution. Many of these students enroll in online courses with no way of knowing if they can persist or be successful in the online learning environment. This lack of knowledge has caused many students to fail or withdraw. The problem addressed in this study is the need to find predictors of persistence (completion of course) and success (performance grade of “C” or higher) for online community college students.Employing a quantitative research design and examining logistic regressions to determine if externally validated instruments measuring levels of self-efficacy, and social presence could be significant in predicting persistence and success for students enrolled in online coursework. The findings showed that measurements of learner self-efficacies were valid predictors of persistence, and that technology self-efficacy predicted both persistence and success. However, the findings showed measurements of social presence were insignificant.