Using written responses to reflection questions to improve online student retention: A text analysis approach

Online learning has been recognized as a promising approach to improve learning outcomes in developing countries where high-quality learning resources are limited. Concomitant with the boom in online learning, there are escalating concerns about academic accountability, specifically student outcomes as measured by persistence and success. This chapter examines whether evidence of reflection found in student written responses to a set of skill-building videos predicts success in online courses. Using a text analysis approach, this study analyzes 1,871 student responses to four reflection questions at a large online university in Panama. A Kruskal-Wallis test found median final course grade differences between students who showed no evidence of significant learning in their written responses and those using 1-13 words associated with significant learning. These results suggest that persistence and performance in online courses can be predicted by evidence of reflection found in student written responses to reflection questions.