Academic self-efficacy, self-esteem, and grit (i.e., perseverance of effort and consistency of interests) have all separately shown to predict academic success within traditional education. In higher online education, information on these relationships is lacking, while this group of learners is growing in size and importance. We therefore investigated the total as well as the unique predictive value of academic self-efficacy, self-esteem, and grit on academic success in higher online education. Moreover, mediation effects were investigated. Students of a higher online education university in the Netherlands participated ( N = 2027, age 18–80 years) in this observational study. Participants filled out online questionnaires on the variables of interest and potential confounding variables at baseline. Academic success was measured objectively through information provided by the exam registration office and operationalized in three variables: exam attempt, study progress, and academic performance. Logistic regression analyses showed that consistency of interests significantly predicted exam attempt ( B = .43, p < .001). Generalized multiple linear regression analyses with negative binomial distribution showed that consistency of interests was a significant predictor of study progress ( B = .16, p < .001). Mixed model analyses revealed no significant predictors for academic performance ( p s > .06). The fact that of our three predictors solely consistency of interests was found to be predictive for academic success indicates that online educational institutes should pay attention to consistency of interests of their students to improve the academic success rates.

Non-completion is an ongoing concern in higher education, and even more so in higher online education. One way to address this problem is to take initiatives prior to student enrollment, enabling informed decision making. In line with this, an institution for open higher online education seeks to develop a (non-committal) online self-assessment for prospective students. To identify variables (tests) to be included in this self-assessment, the present study aims at validating variables–previously identified as “predictive of completion in higher education and open to intervention before enrollment”—within the current higher online education context. Results of correlational analyses indicate that the following modifiable variables are relevant to include: hours planned to study, employment hours, study intention, discipline, discipline confidence, basic mathematical skills, and social support. Based on a sensitivity cut-off of 95% (to minimize false negatives) about 13% of the actual non-completers could be identified correctly. Implications for future development of the self-assessment are discussed.

With modern technological advances, distance education has become an increasingly important education delivery medium for, for example, the higher education provided by open universities. Among predictive factors of successful learning in distance education, the effects of non-cognitive skills are less explored. Grit, the dispositional tendency to sustain trait-level passion and long-term goals, has raised much research interest and gained importance for predicting academic achievement. The Grit Questionnaire, measuring Perseverance of Effort and Consistency of Interests, has been shown to be a reliable instrument in traditional university student populations. However, the measurement and predictive validity of this questionnaire is still unknown for adult distance education university students who differ from traditional students in various ways (e.g., having a wider range of student ages). Based on a sample of 2,027 students from a distance education university, this study assessed the psychometric properties of the two-factor structure grit measured by the Grit Questionnaire. The findings suggest that the short form of the Grit Questionnaire is a potentially useful assessment tool for measuring the grit construct for distance learning higher education and that the Consistency of Interests factor is especially relevant to consider the improvement of learning performance for distance education in terms of courses credit and exam attempts. The measurement precision of the Perseverance of Effort factor, however, should be improved in future research to provide higher measurement accuracy and broader item coverage.

The role of learning strategies in gaining academic success has been widely investigated for campus-based college students. Within distance education (DE) students, however, research on this relationship is limited, while this group of learners is growing. The present study was designed to investigate the relationship between learning strategies and academic performance in DE students. Participants were 758 students (age 19-71 years) at a distance education university in the Netherlands. An online questionnaire was used to determine learning strategies and exam grades were obtained from the university exam database to determine academic performance. Mixed model analyses showed that management of time and effort, as well as complex cognitive strategy-use were positive predictors of academic performance, whereas contact with others was a negative predictor of academic performance. Explanations for these results as well as their implications are discussed.

Research has shown the importance of goal orientation in predicting academic performance for children, adolescents, and college students in traditional educational settings. Studies on this relationship within adult distance education, however, are lacking. To fill this gap, the present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between goal orientation and academic performance in adult distance learners. A sample of N = 1128 distance university students (age 18-75 years) filled out an online questionnaire. Their exam grades were collected from the files of the Open University of the Netherlands (OUNL). A mixed model regression showed performance approach goal orientation to be a positive predictor of academic performance, whereas performance avoidance and work avoidance were negative predictors of academic performance. Non-significant results were found for mastery approach as well as for mastery avoidance. Implications of these results are discussed.

In the current study, the underlying factor structure of the learning strategies part of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), originally designed for traditional college students, was explored and a best-fit-solution for subscales was proposed for students in adult distance education (DE). Factor analyses revealed five factors (management of time and effort; complex cognitive strategy use; simple cognitive strategy use; contacts with others; academic thinking), including fewer items, which resulted in a shorter list than the original learning strategies part of the MSLQ. Cognitive strategies and management of time and effort were used most by adult DE students, contacts with others were used least. Compared to traditional college students, the findings in adult DE may be explained by a differential interpretation of items based on differences between educational systems, living and study circumstances, and age and experiences. The newly developed subscales may be considered for future research on learning strategies of students within adult DE in which the students can determine their own time, place, and pace of study.

The goal of this study was to investigate whether single executive function (EF) tests were predictive for learning performance in mainly young and middle-aged adults. The tests measured shifting and updating. Processing speed was also measured. In an observational study, cognitive performance and learning performance were measured objectively in 851 adult students and analyzed using multiple linear regression. EFs and processing speed were measured via cognitive tests. Learning performance was evaluated after 14months. The results show that updating performance is predictive for learning performance, with a small effect size, while shifting performance was not. This means that a single updating test has predictive value for learning performance acquired over a longer period of time. However, as the effect size is rather small, the test on its own does not serve as a proper selection tool for determining whether a student will be successful or not.

Learning is crucial for everyone. The association between biological (eg, sleep, nutrition) and psychological factors (eg, test anxiety, goal orientation) and learning performance has been well established for children, adolescents and college students in traditional education. Evidence for these associations for adult distance students is lacking however. The Adult Learning Open University Determinants (ALOUD) study is the first to identify the determinants of learning performance within adult distance education. Over the course of 1 year, all new students ( n  = 4945) of the Open University of the Netherlands were approached. At baseline, 2040 students fully participated in this observational longitudinal study by filling out an online questionnaire and performing cognitive tests. At the 7 and 14 months follow-up, participants filled out a second and third questionnaire respectively, and data were given by the exam registration office to measure learning performance at these times. The ALOUD study might result in tailor-made educational innovations for adults participating in distance education and, finally, a more successful distance education student population.

Learning is crucial for everyone. The association between biological (eg, sleep, nutrition) and psychological factors (eg, test anxiety, goal orientation) and learning performance has been well established for children, adolescents and college students in traditional education. Evidence for these associations for adult distance students is lacking however. The Adult Learning Open University Determinants (ALOUD) study is the first to identify the determinants of learning performance within adult distance education. Over the course of 1 year, all new students (n=4945) of the Open University of the Netherlands were approached. At baseline, 2040 students fully participated in this observational longitudinal study by filling out an online questionnaire and performing cognitive tests. At the 7 and 14 months follow-up, participants filled out a second and third questionnaire respectively, and data were given by the exam registration office to measure learning performance at these times. The ALOUD study might result in tailor-made educational innovations for adults participating in distance education and, finally, a more successful distance education student population.

An increasing number of people is active in social media. Here, people voluntarily share information, discuss topics of interest, and contact family and friends. Since the response to the questionnaires of Statistics Netherlands continuous to decline we investigated the potential usability of the information exchanged in social media as a data source for official statistics. Because Twitter is used by a large number of people in the Netherlands and the pubic messages can be relatively easily collected, we started to investigate the content of Twitter-messages. We collected the messages in various ways, classified the topics discussed and looked at the usability of the information from an official statistics point of view. User oriented message collection was found the best approach for our purposes. Identification of th e topics discussed in the 12 million messages collected was done in two stages. First the topics in all the hashtag containing messages were determined and messages were classified. Next, a random sample of the non -hashtag containing messages was classified. The results revealed that a considerable amount of the messages collected, around 50%, could be of interest.