Retention & Withdrawal factors on the BA Enterprise online degree:a preliminary investigation

This paper examines student withdrawals associated with the online BA Enterprise programmeinitiative designed by E-College Wales (part of the University of Glamorgan). This aims to helpimprove the entrepreneurial capacity of Wales. The increase of e-learning programmes on offerfrom academia and the private sector raises significant issues in terms of the nature of learning,assessment, effective pedagogy and learner expectations. The impact and interaction of thesefactors is impacting on student retention. Semi structured interviews were undertaken withstudents at Coleg Sir Gar, one of the University’s delivery partners in the programme. Detailedcontent analysis of the respondents questionnaires was undertaken and eight prime cases forstudent withdrawal were identified, including factors such as technical problems, pressure ofwork and lack of time. The paper concludes by identifying strategies to manage these barriers toe-learning.[...]