A study of the relationship between telephone contact and persistence

The addition of audio‐teleconferencing to interactive telecourses: An experimental anaysis of drop‐out rates

“…Both tutorials at the study centres and the telephone sessions are optional. Scales (1984) found a statistically significant correlation, r = +27(p < .05), between the number of calls between tutor and student and the number of assignments completed in a distance learning course. Sweet (1986) found direct telephone contact between faculty and students significantly influenced student commitment and persistence.…”

Student persistence in distance education: a cross‐cultural multi‐institutional perspective

“…Typical of the interest in the low completion rates of many distance education students are relatively recent studies by Kember (1981), Shale (1982), Scales (1984), Roberts (1984), Thompson (1984) and the recent re-publication (in 1984) of the aforementioned Rekkedal study. A review of this latter study revealed the major conclusion that it was quite likely that drop-out rates can be lowered by reducing turn-around time (1984: 250).…”

The collective affiliation of community college, commuter and distance education students : developmental math and dropout.

“…Likewise, some studies simply examined factors without a conceptual framework (Scales, 1984), while others attempted to understand the phenomenon in the context of general distance education theories unrelated to attrition (Eisenberg & Dowsett, 1990;Roberts, 1984). A year before Kember published his model, Billings (1988) …”