Recently, I had the opportunity to blog on the Five Top Reasons for Student Attrition, yet there are also significant reasons why adult learners stay in school despite the obstacles. Each student may very well ask three categories of questions when he or she comes, or comes back, to school.
- What? What will I be expected to learn or know?
- How? How will it benefit me directly in concert with my career and/or personal objectives?
- Next? What next? How can I apply what I have learned? How does it integrate into what I already know and prepare me for what I will learn next?
Given these categories of learner questions, I would be curious to know your thoughts on student retention. As an educational administrator, what areas have you emphasized to faculty about why a student remains in school? Or, as a faculty member, what strategies have you put in place to help students connect with the material and skills they are to learn? What additional student retention strategies might there be in place?
