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4. Inference about dropouts’ learning experiences and negative psychological experiences. The factors leading a student to drop out of school are complicated, yet generally conform to the following pattern: given favorable academic and external factors, the students will persist to the completion of schooling; given unfavorable external factors, the students’ determination to complete schooling will be crippled despite excellent scores; given a negative psychological experience, the students will be inclined to give up learning no matter how good their scores are. According to this pattern, psychological factors play a decisive role in the decision to drop out. Research shows that psychological experience is related to cognitive load, academic scores, learning satisfaction, usefulness of learning and self-efficacy. Therefore, a negative psychological experience often stems from the accumulation of various unsuccessful experiences in the course of learning, and these experiences play an important role in the learners’ decision to continue or abandon their studies.
To explain dropouts’ behavior in line with the above logic, we can draw a simple conclusion as follows: learners drop out of school because of overwhelming cognitive load due to insufficient knowledge foundation, learning ability, participation level and proficiency in distance learning methods. “Congenital” cognitive deficiency can be overcome with an increased investment of time and energy. However, busy work schedules may limit the learners’ ability to invest such time and energy, resulting in further decrease of the dropouts’ self-efficacy. Simply put, it is a poor foundation and limited time for study that makes the learners feel that they are incapable of fulfilling their assignments, thus leading to their dropping out. The inference of their negative psychological experience is supported by data related to their learning experiences. Figure 10 shows the situation faced by the dropouts while they were in school, which is divided into four categories: positive psychological experience (those who feel the examinations and courses are not difficult and who have a good foundation); level of partipation (participation in group activities, online learning, fulfilling assignments and face-to-face tutorials); frequent business trips; “readiness” at the beginning of learning (understanding the concept of independent learning, having good time management skills and background in English). It can be seen that all indexes favorable for learning are disappointingly low, except for the high index of “frequent business trips”. This data reflects a type of unfavorable learning “ecology” marked by a lack of specialized knowledge, lack of participation in the learning process, and lack of self-confidence.
5. Dropouts’ specialized learning highlights obstacles such as difficulty of the undergraduate English curriculum and teaching materials. Research data shows that the dropout rate among English programmes in distance education is usually higher than that of other programmes, and this is the reason that English undergraduate majors were chosen as subjects for research. The above four research discoveries mainly explore general factors leading to high dropout rates for distance learners. What are some unique factors leading undergraduate English majors to drop out of school?
We will now present conclusions drawn from reading and analyzing interview data. What causes the undergraduate English majors to give up is the gap between their knowledge of the discipline and the existing teaching plan at the beginning of their studies, and a lack of timely support to help close the gap. That is to say, the high dropout rate of English majors is due to the programme curriculum and difficulty being too far removed from the expectations and needs of the dropouts. In the framework of factors leading to distance education dropout, the above elements can be classified under the “academic integration” internal factors, which indicates that the curriculum setup for undergraduate RTVU English majors is not reasonable, and that the learner support services offered are not effective because dropouts’ attendance is so low.
In the interviews with the dropouts, some students expressed the discrepancy between their own background in English and the requirements of the RTVU English programme. The following are typical examples:
- Taking the English class felt like I was suddenly placed in a fifth grade class after I just finished the first grade, so I am at a loss all of a sudden. Little by little, I lose all my interest and want to give up…
- When I am totally unable to finish homework, especially the English composition, I simply don’t know where to start…
- The teachers give all the classes in English. To some extent, it’s good, but I can’t understand even one word and I can’t keep up with my classmates. So I lose my interest.
- I mainly lost confidence in English teaching materials and teaching methods. The teaching materials are too hard to keep up. There should be teaching measures tailor-made to students with non-English background...
- I am not doing a good job in my assignments. I feel ashamed to say that I may have handed in only 3 assignments. The assignments are difficult to me indeed, especially writing.
- Why there are so few specialized conversion courses? I attend lectures, and I still fall behind. It’s impossible to improve...
- When teachers ask us to ask questions, I feel that I can’t even do so. I feel confused, and I am not very clear about what the teachers teach in class.
The following comments relating to the curriculum setup for the undergraduate English programme were made by teachers who directly taught the students:
- There are too few specialized conversion courses, learner support for non-English majors is insufficient, and it’s too hard to teach while helping students with a weak foundation.
- I think more attention should be paid to specialized conversion courses to prevent students from falling behind. It’s an important way to help non-English majors catch up with the progress of undergraduate English majors. But now there are too few specialized conversion courses; the courses cannot help non-English majors make up for classes learned during the associate degree programme period.
- In regard to specialized conversion courses, I think Open English 5 and English Grammar should be combined into one subject to add to the class hours. Only in this way can the conversion classes play their due role effectively.
- Many students study English with a clear aim… most of the students in the class are engaged in foreign trade. They are incompatible with courses like Cross Cultural Communication and English in a Changing World. They think that these subjects can not directly improve their abilities in listening, speaking, reading and writing. I have tried to explain to them that English majors should be well-rounded. At the same time, we should take into consideration that they are adults and they are really very busy, and they come to study with a very clear aim. They think that these classes do not match their original expectations…
- Some foundation courses can be added, such as grammar and phonetics. Six specialized grammar conversion classes are only enough to pass examinations, it is not enough for systematic lecturing and it is bad for the students’ knowledge foundation. It causes difficulty for other subjects and the writing of the graduation thesis. Moreover, many students are poor at phonetics, and there are no designated phonetics classes at the RTVU.
- Due to the large jump from associate degree programme to undergraduate programme, some foundation subjects can be offered to improve the students’ English ability. The appropriate training will substantially improve the students’ English ability in listening, speaking, reading and writing, and raise the appeal of undergraduate education. Phonetics can also be offered to undergraduate students.
- The curriculum setup should focus on listening and speaking, emphasizing practicality.
On the matter of teaching materials, the following are comments from teachers, class supervisors and dropouts:
- I think that the arrangement and contents of teaching materials for undergraduate English lessons also affect the students when making the decision to give up. If the factor of students’ poor foundation can’t be taken into consideration in the teaching materials, heaps of new words in the teaching materials will make the students feel difficulty and have their confidence undermined. At the same time, the obsoleteness of teaching materials also affects students’ initiative to learn.
- I now find it is a common failing. It seems that the school authorities don’t have enough understanding of the students and fail to make proper estimation. It is reflected in the great difficulty students feel with each subject...
- I think that the existing teaching materials restrict the teachers from exerting their advantages and that the students can’t learn useful knowledge. Teaching materials for the undergraduate English programme should be reformed and more consideration should be given to meet the students’ needs.
- When new editions of teaching materials are to be published, the difficulty should be mitigated in line with the reality of the students and a set of teaching materials suitable for RTVU students should be compiled.
- I think there are some problems with teaching materials, and they are somewhat rigid. The teaching materials are rather difficult, some contents are outdated, and they are not easy to use. Examinations appear to be disjoint from teaching materials.
Given that certain conditions are unchangeable, such as learners’ insufficient background knowledge of the programme, unreasonable course setup and overly difficult teaching materials, what learner support can we offer to the students? We invited the dropouts in the interview to give an evaluation of their own teacher-student interaction. As can be seen from their responses, teacher-student interaction mostly happens when dropouts attend face-to-face tutorials. As only 40% of dropouts attend such face-to-face tutorials, we can infer that dropouts get limited effective learner support in school, which is why such services are ineffective at helping them through difficulties.
Discussion
To sum up, the conclusions reached through the investigation of English undergraduate dropouts for the spring term of 2010 are as follows:
1. Dropouts have experienced hardships in the course of learning. In a short period, the dropouts encounter great cognitive pressure because of their poor knowledge base and difficult courses. At the same time, the increased time and energy needed for study are limited due to frequent business trips. In addition, a great number of dropouts heavily rely on face-to-face tutorials but fail to utilize online learning resources, further exacerbating their lack of support. Faced with these difficulties, the dropouts feel puzzled and negative. They are incapable of making progress in learning or controlling their conflicts of time and space. As such, most dropouts undergo a learning process of “strong motivation at the beginning (A)→enrollment registration (B)→experience learning (C)→negative self-efficacy (D)→drop out (E)”, with the “C” link playing a decisive role in the dropouts’ decision to quit learning. Dropouts encounter a period of heavy cognitive load, feel a shortage of time and energy, and experience poor learner support. All these unfavorable factors overlap, leading to the drastic decrease of the dropouts’ high self-efficacy felt at enrollment, which ultimately forces them to terminate their studies in depression and frustration.
2. The fundamental cause for dropping out of school results from dropouts’ low academic integration with the school. Based on the classification and key variables of the “Composite Attribution Analysis Framework of Distance Learner Dropouts”, quitting school is the result of the interaction of several factors, including dropouts’ personal characteristics and student skills prior-to-admission, post-admission external factors such as work time, and internal factors such as academic integration. Although these factors all play a part, research indicates that the failure of dropouts to adapt at the academic level is the fundamental cause leading to dropout. The dropout rate of English programmes for the 2010 spring term stands at 17%. If other conditions remain the same, the other 83% of students who continue learning still face the same time pressure and the same teaching plan. They remain in the programme mainly because of their solid academic background — they are able to integrate academically with the school. The RTVU system is known for open education. One of the connotations of “open” is an openness to all types of students, and thus variation in students’ academic backgrounds and reading and writing abilities should be expected. RTVU education also involves adult education. More than 80% of RTVU students are currently employed, which indicates that they can only learn in their spare time. It is inevitable that they have limited time and energy resources to devote to studying. These established facts and necessary conditions are realities that education institutions cannot change or neglect. It would do no good to blindly blame poor academic foundation and literacy level when dropouts are unable to keep up with the curriculum or time and energy demands due to work or family obligations. Though it may appear that students drop out of school because they fail to complete assignments or keep up with the course pace, this reflects that educational institutions are failing to provide a satisfactory “learning product” that meets the unique needs of adult distance learners, leading to insurmountable difficulties that cause some to drop out.
3. Dropouts’ insufficient knowledge of RTVU learning methods constitutes a key cause leading to quitting school. At present, the RTVUs provide learner support based on a mixed teaching model. This kind of learner support model including face-to-face tutorials and online learning resources is popular with adult students. However, the survey reveals that dropouts’ utilization of online learning resources is very low (about 11% to 20%), which shows many of the dropouts are accustomed to using traditional learning methods, and that they have not adapted to the distance learning method. Even when unable to participate in face-to-face tutorials, they still fail to take advantage of online learning resources. Among those surveyed in this study, 47% say that they seldom learn online and 41% say they never experienced online learning before. These two groups combined add up to 88%, representing a high proportion of dropouts who are not able to successfully utilize online learning resources. The key difference between distance education and traditional education is that the former is able to break through the barriers of time and space to deliver learner support where needed via technological means. Educational institutions also consider online learning resources an effective means to alleviate adult students’ time pressure, investing no small sum of money in building online resources to “provide students with learner support anywhere, anytime so that they can learn in their spare time”. However, online learning resources play a very limited role in helping dropouts overcome difficulties. The lack of awareness of how to use of online learning resources decreases the opportunity for dropouts to get learner support, and this is also why dropouts feel helpless when they cannot attend face-to-face tutorials. Here is an example to describe such a situation: a pipeline filled with learning resources has been laid, but our dropouts only look at them from a distance, and they do not understand that opening the valve will fill their cup with the nutritious drink they need.
4. Poor time management skills are a hidden factor leading to quitting school. Domestic literature on dropout research always propounds work-study conflict as the major cause leading to dropout. And many insiders regard it as an insurmountable obstacle for adult learners. It was discovered in the survey that the work-study conflict reported by dropouts is actually an issue of reasonable allocation of adult learners’ time. According to the classification of the “Composite Attribution Analysis Framework of Distance Learner Dropouts”, “time management skills” are listed as a personal characteristic prerequisite for admission. Generally, academic background and information capacity are followed with interest as required entrance abilities in domestic research literature, but time management is seldom referred to or discussed. This study found that the biggest perceived obstacle for the dropouts is a lack of available time. 90% of them often go on business trips. In prioritizing important life events, many of them gave the order of “work—family—life—study” in the interviews. When asked how much time was arranged for study each week, many of them responded, “It depends (on the first three items).” It is understandable that learning has relatively low priority in their lives, but the fact that it is also considered to be a flexible item shows that dropouts do not have a good understanding of the logical relation between time and learning. They do not give sufficient consideration to their available time when enrolling, fail to plan their time well after enrolling, and are unaware of their poor time management problem during their studies. The confusion and disorder in time allocation leads to frustration on the part of the dropout, encouraging laziness, weakening their sense of responsibility, and undermining their determination, which finally leads to the seemingly logical decision to quit. In fact, the most effective time management strategy of adult RTVU students is to establish a regular schedule. A regular schedule reminds and motivates a student to see his studies through to completion, even in the face of time pressure.