Title: STUDENT PERCEPTION OF SUPPORT SERVICES DESIGNED TO OVERCOME BARRIERS IN THE ONLINE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT OF ILLINOIS COMMUNITY COLLEGES

Abstract

This research investigated which support services meet the needs of community college Online Learning Environment (OLE) students as they encounter a wide range of barriers to successful completion.

Three Illinois community colleges were purposively selected for the study. Thirty-four faculty members invited 606 students enrolled in 60 OLE sections to complete a Web-based survey which contained 59 questions on demographics, barriers to learning, and on the awareness, use, and usefulness of the support services offered by their community colleges. The survey results were matched with class completion grades. The resulting database included 265 records which was categorized by traditional (24 and under) and nontraditional age (25 and over).

The total group of respondents were primarily female, White-non-minority, and non-ESL. Significantly few traditional completers had dependents, they earned a higher GPA than non-completers, and rated themselves more confident of mastering the class and more satisfied understanding the course content than non-completers. Nontraditional age completers were significantly younger, had significantly fewer dependents in the household, were less likely to have dependents, were enrolled in more credit hours, and indicated they were more confident of mastering the class than non-completers.

The traditional age non-completers reported lack of time, conflicts among responsibilities, scheduling conflicts, and health issues, significantly more than completers. Nontraditional non-completers reported health a significantly higher barrier than completers. Institutional and online barriers were rated as not a barrier or a slight barrier by all groups. Lack of motivation was rated not a barrier or a slight barrier by completers.

Respondents reported being aware of most services, but also reported having used only half of them. The course syllabus and college catalog were shown to be the most used and most useful to all groups. More non-completers in the total, traditional age and nontraditional age groups used a variety of services. The researcher offered implications for students, student services practitioners, OLE faculty, and administration.