A recent article in Inside Higher Ed noted positive changes in retention and persistence for colleges and universities.
Significant gains were made for students enrolled in online and hybrid courses. The article states:
…as universities across the country shifted to remote instruction during the pandemic, students became increasingly familiar with the format, perhaps making them more likely to transfer to an online-only institution. Research and training related to online learning may have also increased the quality of online instruction, resulting in fewer students stopping out, she added.
Persistence and Retention Rates Exceed Pre-Pandemic Levels, J. Alonso, Inside Higher Ed, 6/27/24
In 2023, the NSSE survey asked ISU students about course modality in three areas:
- Mostly in person.
- Mostly hybrid/blended.
- Mostly online.
A vast majority of survey respondents were in the mostly in-person and mostly hybrid/blended categories. So, I removed mostly online students from the analysis.
We know things like co-curricular involvement and meaningful and frequent interactions with others have a significant impact on belonging and student success. I was curious about differences in three areas for ISU seniors in terms of course modality:
- Self-reported learning gains.
- Belonging.
- Student-faculty interaction.
Here’s the data:
This suggests the relationship between course modality and student success is small. It also suggest that ISU is doing a good job in terms of designing and implementing courses in both an in-person and hybrid/blended environment.
There were differences by college. Fine Arts students reported higher learning gains, more belonging, and higher student-faculty interaction. That’s not surprising. Education students reported slightly higher learning gains in hybrid/blended courses, but lower student-faculty interaction. Business students in mostly hybrid/blended courses reported higher overall student-faculty interaction than students in in-person courses.
To me, it seems a hybrid/blended course delivery format has little impact on student success. I can’t speak to mostly or exclusively online programs, though. One dynamic in ISU’s favor is a traditional campus with most students living on or in close proximity to campus. This means access to activities, frequent interactions with others, belonging fostered by a connection to physical spaces, and a culture than emphasizes academic and co-curricular involvement could mitigate negative impacts of online learning, if they exist at all.
