Table 1
Study group characteristics
| Age | Number of participants |
|---|---|
| 20-30 | 15 |
| 30-40 | 5 |
| 40-50 | 5 |
| Gender | |
| Male | 13 |
| Female | 12 |
| Marital status | |
| Married | 10 |
| Single | 15 |
| Length of time they stayed in the programme | |
| 0-2 months | 4 |
| 2- 4 months | 2 |
| 4-6 months | 7 |
| 6-8 months | 7 |
| 8-10 months | 5 |
| Total | 25 |
Table 2
Distribution of the Study Group according to the Programmes
| Units | Type of Programmes | Number of participants | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Education Faculty | Undergraduate completion | 6 | P1, P2, P3, P5, P6, P7 |
| Open Education Faculty | Undergraduate programme | 5 | P11, P16, P17, P21, P23 |
| Centre for Distance Education | Undergraduate completion | 4 | P18, P19, P20, P22 |
| Open Education Faculty | Associate degree | 4 | P4, P8, P15, P24 |
| Centre for Distance Education | Associate degree | 2 | P13, P25 |
| Open Education Faculty | Undergraduate programme | 2 | P12, P14 |
| Open Education Faculty | Associate degree | 1 | P10 |
| Open Education Faculty | Undergraduate programme | 1 | P9 |
| Total | 25 |
Table 3
Interview Questions
| Why did you leave your department? | |
|---|---|
| 1. | What do you think are the other reasons that led you to leave your department? |
| 2. | Was there any situation about the school and the program that caused you to drop out? Can you share with us? |
| 3. | Was there any situation about the social environment that caused you to drop out of school? Can you share with us? |
| 4. | Was there anything different about yourself that made you drop out of school? Can you share with us? |
| 5. | Is there any other reason you’d like to share with us? |
Table 4
Factors Causing Students to Drop out of School in Open education and in Distance Education
| Factors | f | % |
|---|---|---|
| School and Programme-related | 86 | 66.15 |
| Social environment-related | 29 | 22.30 |
| Personal traits-related | 15 | 11.53 |
| Total | 130 | 100 |
Table 5
School and Programme-related Factors
| Factors | f | % |
|---|---|---|
| Factors stemming from the type of education | 41 | 47.67 |
| Factors stemming from course content | 23 | 26.74 |
| Factors stemming from test environment and conditions | 22 | 25.58 |
| Total | 86 | 100 |
Table 6
Factors stemming from the Type of Education
| Factors | f | % |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition fees | 15 | 36.58 |
| Face-to-face lesson support | 12 | 29.26 |
| Expectation for institutional support | 8 | 19.51 |
| Levels of interaction | 3 | 7.31 |
| Dependency on technical infrastructure | 3 | 7.31 |
| Total | 41 | 100 |
Table 7
Course Content-related Factors
| Factors | f | % |
|---|---|---|
| Need for printed books | 14 | 60.86 |
| Need for supplementary materials | 4 | 17.39 |
| Belief that course content is intensive | 3 | 13.04 |
| Presentation periods of course content | 2 | 8.69 |
| Total | 23 | 100 |
Table 8
Factors Stemming from Test Environment and Conditions
| Factors | f | % |
|---|---|---|
| Technical problems | 8 | 36.36 |
| Perceptions about the test administered on the internet | 6 | 27.27 |
| Reaching the test centres | 4 | 18.18 |
| Perceptions that test questions are difficult | 4 | 18.18 |
| Total | 22 | 100 |
Table 9
Social Environment-related Factors
| Factors | f | % |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental circumstances and conditions | 19 | 65.51 |
| Individual responsibilities | 10 | 34.48 |
| Total | 29 | 100 |
Table 10
Factors stemming from environmental circumstances and conditions
| Factors | f | % |
|---|---|---|
| Technical inadequacies | 7 | 36.84 |
| Supportive environments | 7 | 36.84 |
| Need for financial support | 5 | 26.31 |
| Total | 29 | 100 |
Table 11
Factors stemming from too many responsibilities
| Factors | f | % |
|---|---|---|
| Working conditions | 5 | 50.00 |
| Household responsibilities | 5 | 50.00 |
| Total | 10 | 100 |
Table 12
Personal Trait-related Factors
| Factors | f | % |
|---|---|---|
| Success at a course | 5 | 33.33 |
| Unfamiliarity with online education | 4 | 26.66 |
| Career expectations | 3 | 20.00 |
| Computer skills | 3 | 20.00 |
| Total | 15 | 100 |
Table 13
Reasons for Dropping out of School in Open and Distance Education
| Factors | f | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| School and programme-related factors | Factors stemming from the type of education | Tuition fees | 15 | 11.54 |
| Face-to-face lesson support | 12 | 9.23 | ||
| Expectations for institutional support | 8 | 6.15 | ||
| Levels of interaction | 3 | 2.31 | ||
| Dependency on technical infrastructure | 3 | 2.31 | ||
| Factors stemming from course content | Need for printed course books | 14 | 10.77 | |
| Need for supplementary materials | 4 | 3.08 | ||
| Belief that course content is intensive | 3 | 2.31 | ||
| Presentation periods of course content | 2 | 1.54 | ||
| Factors stemming from test environment and conditions | Technical problems | 8 | 6.15 | |
| Perceptions about the test administered on the Internet | 6 | 4.62 | ||
| Reaching the test centers | 4 | 3.08 | ||
| Perceptions that test questions are difficult | 4 | 3.08 | ||
| Social environment-related factors | Factors stemming from environmental circumstances and conditions | Technical inadequacies | 7 | 5.38 |
| Supportive environments | 7 | 5.38 | ||
| Need for financial support | 5 | 3.85 | ||
| Factors stemming from responsibilities | Working conditions | 5 | 3.85 | |
| Household responsibilities | 5 | 3.85 | ||
| Personal trait-related factors | Factors stemming from students’ personal traits | Success at a course | 5 | 3.85 |
| Unfamiliarity with online education | 4 | 3.08 | ||
| Career expectations | 3 | 2.31 | ||
| Computer skills | 3 | 2.31 | ||
| Total | 130 | 100 | ||
Figure 1
Factors influential in open education and distance education students’ decisions to drop out of school.