Assessing Satisfaction and Academic Locus of Control of Dropout Students in Online Learning Courses

Numerous studies have been conducted related to dropouts from on-campus and distance education courses. However, no clear definition of dropout from academic courses was provided. Additionally, literature suggest that students attending e-learning courses dropout at substantially higher rates than their counterparts in on-campus courses. However, little attention has been given in literature for key constructs related to this difference. This chapter explores two main constructs (students’ satisfaction and academic locus of control) with online learning. Results show that students’ satisfaction with e-learning is a key indicator in students’ decision to dropout from online learning courses. Additionally, completer students reported to have significantly higher satisfaction with online learning than students who dropped out from the same courses. Moreover, results suggest that the academic locus of control appears to have no significant impact on students’ decision to drop from online learning courses.