Increasing Doctoral Student Persistence: Strategies for

Fostering Community

Amanda J. Rockinson-Szapkiw, LPC, Ed.D.Lucinda S. Spaulding, Ph.D.

School of EducationLiberty University

About UsAmanda J. Rockinson-SzapkiwAmanda J. Rockinson-Szapkiw– B.S. in Elementary Education; M.A. in Community Counseling;

Ed.D. in Distance Education– Chair of Doctoral Research & Assistant Professor, Educational

Technology and School Counseling at Liberty University

Lucinda S. SpauldingLucinda S. Spaulding– B.S. in Elementary Education; M.Ed. in Special Education;

Ph.D. in Special Education & Educational Psychology– Assistant Professor, Instructional Design and Graduate

Research at Liberty University

Purpose

• Discuss findings of study examining factors associated with doctoral persistence.

• Present 5 practical strategies for improving doctoral persistence.

• Model specific practices that can improve doctoral programs.

• Discuss technologies and practices that can be used to improve programs.

Increasing Doctoral Student Persistence: Strategies for Fostering Community

1. Introduction2. Factors Related to Persistence and Attrition3. How to Increase Persistence 4. Tools for Increasing Persistence5. Reflection and Discussion6. Conclusion

Four Factors of Persistence

• Personal Attributes• Social integration into the university• Program structure• Program resources and services

Perceived Sense of Community

Perceived Sense of Community

• In traditional settings, doctoral attrition rates are 40 – 60%

• In online settings, the attrition rate is 10 – 50% higher among doctoral students.

• A strong sense of community in either setting can lead to higher levels of persistence among doctoral students.

Improving Community

(Garrison et al., 2000, p. 89).

Using Social Presence To Increase Persistence

• Leverage technology– Wikis– FaceBook– Twitter– LinkedIn– Ning

• Adopt a cohort model

Using Cognitive Presence to Increase Persistence

• Modeling– Critical Thinking– Reflective Processes– Organization– Summation techniques– Goal setting

• Frameworks (templates)

Using Teaching Presence to Increase Persistence

• Communicate, communicate, communicate• Provide timely feedback that is personable,

yet academically challenging• E-conferencing systems for check-ins and

manuscript reviews• Audio feedback

Increasing Persistence

• Opportunities to develop relationships with faculty.

• Peer relationships and connectedness• Cohort models• Opportunities for critical reflection and

evaluation.• Course opportunities with relevant content

Fostering Community with Technology

• SharePoint– Administration– Candidate– Committee

• E-Conferencing– Skype– Illuminate

• Audio– Audacity

The Dissertation Portal

The Administration Portal

Master Lists’Master Lists’

Communication

RecordsCommunication

Records

Forms and Templates

Forms and Templates

My Dissertation Portal

Document Libraries

Document Libraries

Task ListTask List

Discussion Forum

Discussion Forum

The Committee Portal

Document

LibrariesDocument

Libraries

DiscussionForum

DiscussionForum

Reflection & Conclusion

Fostering community in a doctoral program through practices is likely to lead to

persistence. This presentation will assist faculty and administrators in identifying how they can encourage doctoral persistence and completion through practices that increase

community.

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Contact Us

Amanda Rockinson-Szapkiwaszapkiw@liberty.eduwww.amanda.szapkiw.comhttp://works.bepress.com/amanda_rockinson_szapkiw/

Lucinda Spauldinglsspaulding@liberty.edu http://works.bepress.com/lucinda_spaulding/