Resumen de Why do open and distance education students drop out? Views from various stakeholders
Ayşe Bağrıacık Yılmaz, Sercin Karatas
While the demand for open and distance education is increasing, it also faces high dropout rates. The reasons and solutions for student dropouts need considerable attention. This study aims to uncover the reasons for student dropouts considering the perspective of students, feld experts, instructors, administrators, and support staf. Data from semi-structured interviews with 40 participants revealed that students decide to drop out mainly due to four main reasons: internal reasons, external reasons, student characteristics, and student skills. These reasons include 37 sub-factors such as academic integration, social integration, fnancial status, personality, and self-regulation. The sub-factors and selected quotations from the interviews are presented in the fndings. According to the results, administrators, feld experts, instructors, and support staf are not aware of all the dropout reasons. The results of this research are believed to guide researchers, practitioners, and administrators in enhancing the quality of open and distance education.
