title: Development of a persistence scale for online education in nursing.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this research was to develop a psychometric instrument to measure the ability of nursing students to persist in online courses.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Despite the popularity of online education, lack of persistence and attrition are problems faced by many colleges. There is no current means for identifying students at risk of attrition from an online course.
  
  
  METHODS
  Factor analysis techniques were used to assess the potential for measuring persistence of the nursing student in an online program.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results indicated that the persistent student can be characterized as enjoying discussion, confident of passing, and rarely upset by unexpected events. Nonpersistent students do not enjoy discussion and do not believe completing a challenging course will help them achieve goals.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Persistence Scale for Online Education (PSOE-N) has the potential to discriminate between nursing students who are persistent and those at risk for dropping an online course.
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hart
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction; D020375:Education, Distance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D013332:Student Dropouts / Q000523:psychology*; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult