Enrollment in university online courses continues to increase, yet high dropout rates remain a problem with online students (Lee & Choi, 2011). A number of noncognitive factors (emotional intelligence, self-discipline, and resiliency) may be affecting the dropout rates of these students. Recently, resiliency has become the focus of educational research because its promise has yet to be realized in online education (Coşkun, Garipağaoğlu, & Tosun, 2014).  Resilience typically refers to one’s ability to bounce back more easily and to cope more effectively with stress (Smith, Dalen, Wiggins, Tooley, Christopher, & Bernard, 2008). Today, many online students are nontraditional learners. These students are arguably experiencing more stress than previous generations because they are juggling school, work, and family commitments.

The main purpose of the study was to determine if there is a relationship between resilience and academic performance of online adult students at Arizona State University (ASU) Online. The final sample of this correlational study consisted of seven students. Due to the limited sample size, non-parametric correlations were used to analyze the data. Results indicated a strong, positive relationship between resilience and number of online courses successfully completed (.881, p = .009). One implication of this significant finding is that it may provide higher education administrators and instructors greater insight into how resilience is likely to influence online academic performance, retention, and student dropout decisions. Thus, it could be an innovative strategy to initiate learning and to support online students. Future studies must consider using a larger representative sample.

If you found the abstract interesting, please feel free to read the entire paper. 

© R. Dean Colston, 2016