ENG2601 JAN/FEB SUPPLEMENTARY EXAM (ANSWERS) 2025 - DISTINCTION GUARANTEED

Well-structured ENG2601 JAN/FEB SUPPLEMENTARY EXAM (ANSWERS) 2025 - DISTINCTION GUARANTEED. (DETAILED ANSWERS - DISTINCTION GUARANTEED!)..... TEXT A 2 Overcoming Challenges in Online Learning: Retention Factors and Prime Persistence Practices. Author: Amy Winger Online learning continues to grow and evolve. In fact, in the fall of 2022, there were 18,580,026 adult learners participating in distance education (National Center for Education Statistics 2022). Adult learners find it desirable due to its variety, flexibility, and ease of access, yet despite its popularity, retention rates of online education are not comparable to traditional face-to-face learning institutions (Akers, Carter, and Coder 2021, p. 1). Three overall categories emerge as major contributing reasons for lack of online persistence: student factors, course or program factors, and environmental factors (Lee and Choi 2011, p. 593). As instructors, we are somewhat limited in influencing many factors that result in student dropout rates. For instance, we have little control over the backgrounds, psychological makeups, and skillsets students bring to our classroom. Likewise, we are often limited in adjusting curriculum outcomes, assessments, and methodology, as many online programs are subject to strict accreditation requirements; finally, we have little control over the pressures our students face regarding juggling their educational, personal, and professional obligations. We, however, are in more powerful positions to aid in student retention than we may realize. Pairing a problem negatively attributing to persistence with a high-impact teaching practice may offer ways to improve retention. Prioritization Problems and Time-management Solutions One factor resulting in lower persistence rates in online students involves the inability to prioritize and plan. In fact, in a study reporting reasons students withdrew from an online for-profit college, it was reported that the number one reason for their lack of persistence in courses was due to becoming too busy with work or family (Donovan and Sorenson 2017, 216). The challenges faced by many adult online learners, which so often include balancing full-time work or multiple jobs, children, ailing parents, and so many individualistic situations, are real. Likewise, the need to support students in this balancing act is every bit as real. A counterweight to the dysregulation faced by so many of our students is regulation, and research indicates that students who have strong self-regulation skills persist at higher rates in the online environment (Wandler and Imbriale 2017, p. 6). With the inability to balance school, work, and family accounting for so many withdrawals, the teaching of time-management skills emerges as an obvious way to support students in persistence. In fact, when directly taught, time management skills aided in retention and success rates (Gay and Betts 2020, p. 114). When it comes to capitalizing on time-management tools to promote, an emphasis on prioritization and organization are key, and the following tools provide sound options for students to consider when prioritizing and scheduling their workload. Artful Agenda is a digital planner with a paper look to aid in deadline accountability. Asana is a comprehensive project manager meant to ease workflow. Google Calendar is a scheduling program to be shared amidst family members for ease of scheduling. Pomofocus is an app supporting the use of the task completion using the Pomadora Technique. Time Timer is an app to heighten awareness of the passing of time and aid in transitions. All such apps present themselves as solutions to time-management problems too often contributing to online student withdrawal rates. Motivation Problems and Mental Contrasting Solutions While prioritization was the most prominent deterrent to persistence reported from one source, in another study published even more recently, lack of motivation was the number one reason accounting for withdrawal rates (Rahmani, Groot, and Rahmani 2024, p. 9). Motivation is an important factor in persisting in the online environment. To give emphasis to the important role motivation plays in retention, a student’s motivation directly correlates with their successful completion of each online course (Lee and Choi 2011, p. 608). Specifically, goal setting and problem-solving can be a way to help students stay motivated. One study tried to capture the results of generating self-motivation by setting up mental contrasting and implementation intentions (MCII). With this practice students examined the benefits and barriers to their goals and developed a plan for overcoming any obstacles. This practice was implemented in a study with two courses and the completion rates improved by 15% and 32% respectively (Kizilcec et al. 2020, p. 14901). Importantly, in order to produce higher 3 completion rates, the results indicate that MCII should be used multiple times across a course of learning rather than as a once-off event at the onset of a course (Wong et al. 2021, p. 12). Winger, A. 2022. Overcoming challenges in online learning: Retention practices and prime persistence practices. Read text A: 1.1. Write a well-structured, coherent essay of no more than words in which you discuss the textual and repetition cohesion, genre, register, tone and audience of the text to demonstrate how the writer tried to persuade or inform the reader of the purpose of this text. (100 marks) Use the following guidelines to structure your essays in a logical and coherent manner: • Write an introduction, body and conclusion. Do not use headings in your essay. • Do not enter into any personal discussion • Use quotations from the text to support and enhance your argument. • Use academic English (no slang, contractions). • Proof-read and edit your essay to enhance its academic quality.