Evaluation of Factors Influencing Capstone Project and Degree Completion: A Model for Graduate Student Success
Keywords:
online graduate student success, masters capstone/thesis, factors of masters student progressAbstract
Despite the popularity of online master’s degree programs, degree completion times vary greatly, often slowing during the final phase known as the capstone project (GP) or thesis. This exploratory, mixed-method pilot study presents health professions online graduate students’ perceptions of facilitators and barriers to completion of both the capstone/thesis project and degree requirements. Qualitative and quantitative data analysis revealed six major factors that students perceived to facilitate their progress and success toward timely completion of the GP and five factors they perceived to hinder their success. These perceived barriers and facilitators were then tested for relationships to academic performance measures (course grade, final grade point average, time in the course, and time in the program). None of the most frequently indicated barriers or facilitators was associated with academic performance measures. The study also elucidates the need for more research on institutional support for online graduate education and the factors that promote success for online master’s graduate students.
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