– By Pushpa Sathish, Staff Writer

Getting in is easy, it’s staying there that’s the hardest part. Online education is not for those who have trouble setting their own schedules, applying themselves, and sticking out the rough road that has to be taken when work, lessons, and family have to be given priority at the same time. Retention in online courses is thus a separate course of study by itself, and Penny Merena has distinguished herself in this discipline. The doctoral graduate at the University of Delaware has been chosen as the recipient of the applied research award from the University Continuing Education Association (UCEA) for her doctoral executive position paper, “Increasing Retention in Online Distance Education Courses.”

Merena’s study zeroed in on the reasons for the increasing number of drop-outs – she concludes that the technology that is used to deliver a course and the frequency of student-teacher interaction play a large part in students completing the course. She surveyed students of online and distance education courses offered through the division of Professional and Continuing Studies and analyzed data to measure success and retention rates.