Why Do Students Withdraw from Online Graduate Nursing and
Health Studies Education?

Author Biographies

Beth Perry, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Centre for Nursing and Health Studies at Athabasca University in Canada. Athabasca University is Canada's Open University offering distance and online education.

Beth’s areas of research include innovative online teaching strategies and exemplary online teaching practices. She also studies exemplary nursing care and career fulfillment of nurses. Beth is a registered nurse and completed her doctorate in Educational Administration at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Dr. Perry may be reached at bethp@athabascau.ca.

Jeannette Bowman, PhD recently retired as an Associate Professor, Centre for Nursing and Health Studies at Athabasca University in Canada.

Dean Care, PhD is a Professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Manitoba. He has held various administrative positions in nursing education including Director of a school of nursing, Assistant to the Dean, Associate Dean, and most recently Interim Dean in the Faculty of Nursing.

Dr. Care has held several grants including a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council grant to investigate the learning experiences of Aboriginal nursing students studying with distance technologies; Canadian Health Services Research Foundation grant to study strategies for effectively integrating new nursing graduates into the workplace; and a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council to assist remotely located learners, better inform faculty teaching by distance modalities, and inform the community who supports the students. Dr. Care has published on the subjects of nursing education, distance learning, and nursing leadership. Dr. Care has an undergraduate degree in nursing as well as masters and doctoral degrees in education.

Margaret Edwards, PhD is the Coordinator of Graduate Programs in the Centre for Nursing and Health Studies at Athabasca University. The Centre offers interdisciplinary Masters of Health Studies, Masters of Nursing, and Advanced Nursing Practice degrees all online.

Margaret’s areas of research interest include innovative online teaching strategies and exemplary online teaching practices. She is also interested in exploring elderly care givers and their care recipients. Margaret is a registered nurse and holds a PhD in Educational Policy and Administrative Studies from the University of Calgary in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Caroline L. Park, PhD is a registered nurse with a PhD in Educational Administration. She is Associate Professor and Research Facilitator in the Centre for Nursing and Health Studies at Athabasca University. Since 1999, Dr. Park has been developing graduate level courses and teaching via WebCT. Her current research interest is in multi-disciplinary research teams and mobile technology to enhance clinical practice.

Prior to her current position at Athabasca University, which she finds both interesting and exciting, Dr. Park taught at a regular "bricks and mortar" university for many years and worked within the Department of Health in a provincial government as a policy advisor.