Supporting New ODL Learners via Face-to-Face Academic Advising to Increase Retention: Sharing Open University Malaysia’s Experience
The last decade has witnessed an increased demand for tertiary education via Open and Distance Learning due to advance methods in technology for educators, administrators and learners that make a difference in effective instruction being delivered at a distance. More people too are beginning to e...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Conference or Workshop Item |
| Published: |
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://library.oum.edu.my/repository/882/ |
| _version_ | 1848801577586917376 |
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| author | Ng , Richard Santhi , Raghavan Rosli Hamir, |
| author_facet | Ng , Richard Santhi , Raghavan Rosli Hamir, |
| author_sort | Ng , Richard |
| building | OUM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The last decade has witnessed an increased demand for tertiary education via Open and Distance
Learning due to advance methods in technology for educators, administrators and learners that make
a difference in effective instruction being delivered at a distance. More people too are beginning to
embrace adult education and lifelong learning. Institutions that offer such mode of learning which
include the Indira Gandhi National Open University, Islamic Azad University, Anadolu University
and Allama Iqbal Open University, have all attained the ‘Mega’ university status with enrolment
exceeding 1,000,000 learners. Attrition rate which can be based on completion or graduation rates of
their learners is as low as 50 percent to as high as 80 percent. A high rate of attrition is always linked
to the learners’ background, which includes their academic and social background, workplace
settings, their ability to adapt to the new learning environment as well as their ability to finance their
studies. As the cost of attracting learners to an ODL institution is higher than the cost of retaining
them, thus the subject of retention has become a widely researched subject until today. At Open
University Malaysia, the retention rate is within 69-79 percent among new learners and varies from
one faculty to another and also varies for learners from different intakes. Data collected over the last
five years revealed that attrition is highest for learners in their first semester as compared to later
stages. Thus, several interventions were taken to reach out to new learners to provide support
services to engage them actively in learning. Research conducted on 6,141 learners from all over
Malaysia throughout a one-year period in 2011 found that early interventions that include face-toface
meetings
cum Academic
Advising sessions conducted
by Directors of Learning
Centers, have
successfully
increased the
retention rate of first semester learners
to
80.1 percent in January
2012.
This
study
is important
as
early
intervention
and
engagement with new learners
will
help to
improve retention rate and enable an ODL institution to remain sustainable. (abstract by authors) |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T21:09:40Z |
| format | Conference or Workshop Item |
| id | oai:eprints.oum.edu.my:882 |
| institution | Open University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T21:09:40Z |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | oai:eprints.oum.edu.my:8822013-08-18T02:36:57Z Supporting New ODL Learners via Face-to-Face Academic Advising to Increase Retention: Sharing Open University Malaysia’s Experience Ng , Richard Santhi , Raghavan Rosli Hamir, LC5800 Distance education The last decade has witnessed an increased demand for tertiary education via Open and Distance Learning due to advance methods in technology for educators, administrators and learners that make a difference in effective instruction being delivered at a distance. More people too are beginning to embrace adult education and lifelong learning. Institutions that offer such mode of learning which include the Indira Gandhi National Open University, Islamic Azad University, Anadolu University and Allama Iqbal Open University, have all attained the ‘Mega’ university status with enrolment exceeding 1,000,000 learners. Attrition rate which can be based on completion or graduation rates of their learners is as low as 50 percent to as high as 80 percent. A high rate of attrition is always linked to the learners’ background, which includes their academic and social background, workplace settings, their ability to adapt to the new learning environment as well as their ability to finance their studies. As the cost of attracting learners to an ODL institution is higher than the cost of retaining them, thus the subject of retention has become a widely researched subject until today. At Open University Malaysia, the retention rate is within 69-79 percent among new learners and varies from one faculty to another and also varies for learners from different intakes. Data collected over the last five years revealed that attrition is highest for learners in their first semester as compared to later stages. Thus, several interventions were taken to reach out to new learners to provide support services to engage them actively in learning. Research conducted on 6,141 learners from all over Malaysia throughout a one-year period in 2011 found that early interventions that include face-toface meetings cum Academic Advising sessions conducted by Directors of Learning Centers, have successfully increased the retention rate of first semester learners to 80.1 percent in January 2012. This study is important as early intervention and engagement with new learners will help to improve retention rate and enable an ODL institution to remain sustainable. (abstract by authors) 2012-10-16 Conference or Workshop Item PeerReviewed text https://library.oum.edu.my/repository/882/1/library-document-882.pdf Ng , Richard and Santhi , Raghavan and Rosli Hamir, (2012) Supporting New ODL Learners via Face-to-Face Academic Advising to Increase Retention: Sharing Open University Malaysia’s Experience. In: The 26th Annual Conference of Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU2012), 16-18 October 2012, Chiba, Japan. https://library.oum.edu.my/repository/882/ |
| spellingShingle | LC5800 Distance education Ng , Richard Santhi , Raghavan Rosli Hamir, Supporting New ODL Learners via Face-to-Face Academic Advising to Increase Retention: Sharing Open University Malaysia’s Experience |
| title | Supporting New ODL Learners via Face-to-Face Academic Advising to
Increase Retention: Sharing Open University Malaysia’s Experience |
| title_full | Supporting New ODL Learners via Face-to-Face Academic Advising to
Increase Retention: Sharing Open University Malaysia’s Experience |
| title_fullStr | Supporting New ODL Learners via Face-to-Face Academic Advising to
Increase Retention: Sharing Open University Malaysia’s Experience |
| title_full_unstemmed | Supporting New ODL Learners via Face-to-Face Academic Advising to
Increase Retention: Sharing Open University Malaysia’s Experience |
| title_short | Supporting New ODL Learners via Face-to-Face Academic Advising to
Increase Retention: Sharing Open University Malaysia’s Experience |
| title_sort | supporting new odl learners via face-to-face academic advising to
increase retention: sharing open university malaysia’s experience |
| topic | LC5800 Distance education |
| url | https://library.oum.edu.my/repository/882/ |