Students in distance education contexts. Variables linked to academic achievement

The article takes as a starting point the high rates of dropouts that characterize distance education, in contrast with the low percentages of students who can conclude their degree courses on time. The objective of this article is to analyze the profiles of a group of students of the first year in distance education whose studies could follow the fixed time of their career. A non-experimental and descriptive study was carried out in which first-year students of distance degree courses took part. This group of students fulfilled the condition of having regularized all the subjects included in the curriculum. For data collection, a self-report questionnaire was administered that collects information on personal and contextual variables with possible impact on academic trajectories. The results show that the personal variables which have a connection with achievement include the educational level of parents, the learning goals, and the internal and modifiable causal attributions. Likewise, contextual variables which are considered as promoters of achievement are mainly related to the availability of the professor and the speed to answer queries and offer feedback to the activities proposed. Lines of action are proposed that, based on the results of the study, are expected to contribute to the promotion of student achievement in distance education.