A Comparative Study of Dropout Rates and Causes for Two Different Distance Education Courses

Authors

  • Christos Pierrakeas
  • Michalis Xeno
  • Christos Panagiotakopoulos
  • Dimitris Vergidis

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v5i2.183

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a survey conducted to examine the root causes leading to student dropout at a Greek distance education university. Data was gathered from two different courses – an undergraduate course leading to a Bachelors degree in Informatics (characterized by high dropout rates), and a postgraduate course leading to a Masters degree in education (characterized by low dropout rates). A comparative analysis of these two different courses revealed important similarities in dropout percentages and the reasons cited by students for dropping out. Our analysis also revealed important differences as well. This paper presents the results of a survey designed to investigate the relationship between dropout with intrinsic (student-related) factors such as sickness, work/ school conflict etc., and extrinsic (institutional-related) factors such as study methods and materials, educational approach, and tutor influence.

Author Biographies

Christos Pierrakeas

Dr. Pierrakeas is a Tutor Coordinator at the School of Science and Technology, Hellenic Open University, Greece. Dr. Pierrakeas can be reached via email at: pierrakeas@eap.gr

Michalis Xeno

Dr. Xenos is a both the Lecturer and the Coordinator of Inf10, offered by the School of Science and Technology at the Hellenic Open University. Dr. Xenos’s email adress is: xenos@eap.gr

Christos Panagiotakopoulos

Dr. Panagiotakopoulos is an Assistant Professor of Educational Technology at the Faculty of Primary Education, University of Patras, Greece. Dr. Panagiotakopoulos is also a member of the Board of Director of the Hellenic Open University. For more information, contact Dr. Panagiotakopoulos at: cpanag@upatras.gr

Dimitris Vergidis

Dr. Vergidis is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Primary Education, University of Patras, Greece and a member of the Board of the Hellenic Open University. Dr. Vergidis can be reached via email at: vergidis@upatras.gr

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Published

2004-08-01

How to Cite

Pierrakeas, C., Xeno, M., Panagiotakopoulos, C., & Vergidis, D. (2004). A Comparative Study of Dropout Rates and Causes for Two Different Distance Education Courses. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 5(2). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v5i2.183

Issue

Vol. 5 No. 2 (2004)

Section

Research Notes

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