Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI)
The U.S. Department of Education uses Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI) to differentiate “distance education” from “correspondence education.” Distance education is eligible for Title IV financial aid while correspondence courses are not thus implementing and documenting Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI) has an enormous impact on your institution’s eligibility to receive federal financial aid dollars and provide high-quality eLearning.
A Survey of Causes of Student Attrition
Student retention continues to be a challenge for most countries, the institutions within those countries, and the individuals involved in tackling the problem. Student attrition is caused by localized social, personal, and academic causes including institutional variables as well as factors unique to the eLearning context including student and faculty technological struggles, poor course design and instructor-student connection, and insufficient institutional support for online learners, instructors, and programs.
Defining Student Retention
Types of student retention include institutional, system, academic discipline, and by course. Likewise, non-completion can be thought of in four broad categories: Drop-out, stop-out, opt-out, and transfer-out. Examining these categories as well as definitions of student persistence, the growth mindset, and student attrition allows you to thoughtfully select a definition of student retention that matters most to you and your institution’s unique needs and, in turn, implement the appropriate solutions to increase student retention rates.
