Student attrition before and after modifications in distance course delivery

Student attrition and overall course grade attainment of first year university students enrolled in ‘shovelware’ (n = 76) versus ‘social interactive:cognitive teaching’ (n = 120) versions of the same course delivered at a distance are presented. Comparison of student attrition showed a statistically significant decline in student attrition in the interactive:cognitive version (a decline of 28.1%, Chi = 56.03, df=1, p=0.000) and an elevation in the proportion of students receiving pass or higher grades (Chi = 22.93, df= 9, p =0.01). This paper outlines the changes that were engineered into the social interactive:cognitive teaching version of the course (e.g., active e-mails, discussion board, time-limited lecture postings in lecturer-student and student-student dialogue models) and discusses possible reasons for the retention and grade attainment benefits reported here.