Using Discussion Forums to Improve Student Retention Rate: Our Experience with Certificate in Information Technology (CIT) Program

E-learning programs have often been plagued with high attrition rates and poor assignment submissions. Earlier research has shown that students active in discussion forums tend to perform better. However, as there are not enough students who actively engage in e-learning interactions, the retention of students in e-learning programs tends to be poor. This is even more prevalent in rural Indian colleges where e-learning programs are offered outside the regular academic curriculum. In our case, as we, Enhance Edu were offering an e -learning program to tier 2 and tier 3 colleges in mostly rural areas consisting of students with poor English language skills and poor IT skills, the situation is even more exasperating. In this paper, we validate that those students active in discussion forums got better final grades showing improved performance. Furthermore, our multiple interventions helped to engage more students to participate, as observed in the increase in the forum participation and submissions per student, improving retention rates and producing a behavioural change.