ERIC Number: EJ1373564
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023-May
Pages: 27
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1521-0251
EISSN: EISSN-1541-4167
Is Utilization of University-Sponsored Social Media Associated with Increased Social Integration and Retention among Online Students? An Examination of Social Media as a Moderator of Student Retention
Eaton, Gary; Cates, Steven
Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, v25 n1 p24-50 May 2023
Online student retention remains a problem for many colleges and universities. Retention models developed for residential students also explain the contribution to retention resulting from connecting online students with other students and the daily life of the university. Social media has been proposed as a way to engage online students to create a sense of community that may contribute to student retention. This quantitative study assessed the association between online student usage of university-sponsored social media with the Classroom and School Community Inventory (CSCI), a scale developed to quantify students' sense of academic and social community, and the association with subsequent retention at a southeastern U.S. university with a large online student population. While the effect was small, student engagement with university-sponsored social media was significantly associated with both higher scores on the CSCI and with higher reenrollment rates.
Descriptors: College Students, School Holding Power, Social Media, Social Integration, Online Courses, Sense of Community, Distance Education, Student Recruitment, Organizational Communication, Learner Engagement, Group Membership, Enrollment Rate
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2993
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A