How do you ensure people that started with high motivation, before you get to middle of training, and you see that motivation and attendance have dwindled. This is a common problem these days spread across age, race, gender and faith.

The quick fix people often say is: “It’s because it’s free.” But the data says otherwise. More than half of the comments on a recent post on Twitter mentioned it’s because it’s free. However, many paid courses on Udemy, Coursera, ALX, Udacity also go uncompleted. Most people start but never pass 20%. Many register and start programs like the hotel.ng internship, despite incentives, but more than 80% usually drop out before the 50% mark. A lot of people are “sitting on this table,” even myself. I’ve struggled to complete courses I paid for. I have books that I finish reading easily, while others take a while, and some I never really finish.

A recent study of 16 MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) from top universities on Coursera, conducted by the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, found an average completion rate of 4%.

When people pay, they may attend more, but it doesn’t mean they will complete. Those who will drop out will still drop out. This writeup isn’t exactly about individual learning on MOOCs but cohort-based learning (virtual or physical) and boot camps. Over time, data has shown that people complete courses and learn better through cohort-based learning, where they draw motivation from each other and form a community. This is one of the ideas behind Maven, founded by the same people who founded Udemy. Here’s an interview article of Gagan Biyani by Forbes that discusses the advantages of cohort-based learning.

Even so, there’s still a challenge: external and internal factors. External factors include things beyond the training institute's control, like electricity, laptops, and financial issues. Internal factors are within the training itself, like how the program enables learners to complete their courses.

Stress-testing

We can conduct pre-assessments and pre-training before the actual cohort begins.

Pre-training could be a one-hour course, and only those who complete this will be admitted to the actual training. A small test or assessment can gauge learners’ skill levels. Sometimes, participants want to learn Data Analytics with Python or R, yet some haven’t even opened Excel before or can’t create a simple slide. Without support outside training hours, these individuals may struggle to complete the training, whether they’ve paid or not. This is why a pre-assessment of prerequisite skills is necessary. Only those who complete this training should be admitted into the program. This helps increase learner retention. Anyone unable to complete an hour-long video will likely struggle in the cohort.

Alternatively, you can give a task to submit, and anyone who doesn’t submit on time will be disqualified from attending the training. This can be done twice during Week 1 and Week 2, and by the end of Week 2, we’ll know who truly deserves to be in the class.

As a training provider, while you want the best results for your students, you can’t force them to participate. So, don’t feel guilty about cutting off undedicated students. Essentially, you’re stress-testing the participants and filtering out those who can’t keep up.

Motivation

It’s also important to constantly motivate participants. In today’s world, there are so many distractions. The situation I’ve observed times without number is that when people start training, they’re highly motivated and excited. Sometimes people register for cohort-based learning, not just to learn but to connect with the community. Some want to network with peers or the facilitator, and signing up for training is the easiest and fastest way to do that. For these people, who already have some knowledge, completing the course is less of a priority. Beyond these factors, one key approach is ensuring we admit participants who can truly commit to the training.

It’s the organizer's responsibility to find such people that can commit, whether the training is free or not. Setting clear expectations and outlining the hourly commitment allows participants to decide if they’re ready to commit.

A strong incentive or reward at the end of the training helps. For example, 5-8 years ago, a certificate of completion was a great motivator. Today, certificates alone aren’t enough. You need to demonstrate the skills beyond the certificate.

I remember teachers in secondary school (high school) who motivated us to take our studies seriously. After such motivation, you didn’t want to sleep that night. But by the following week, the motivation would dwindle, and another teacher would step in to motivate us again. This cycle helped us as young students. A facilitator must also act as a motivator, continuously inspiring learners. Inviting industry leaders to speak for 15-30 minutes at the beginning or end of a session can further engage participants. Advertising guest speakers reinforces that they’re on the right path.

Incentives

Offering a one-month internship to those who finish can be a motivator, “although it’s not truly an internship”—it’s a month for them to develop their portfolio and work on projects with each other and get supervised. You can split the training into beginner and advanced levels, with only those who complete the first batch advancing to the second. Hiring one graduate from the cohort as a facilitator for the next round could be another incentive. This can motivate the group as a whole to be serious and level-up.

Divide and conquer

Dividing learners into groups helps too. Group sizes of 4-8 participants foster networking and collaboration. When divided, they’ll work on group and individual activities, creating competition between groups. Instructors should engage regularly, asking questions, giving points, and showing a leaderboard during each class. Gamifying the process sparks interest in the competition. This method works for both young and old learners. Even though it’s training, adding an element of fun through gamification is important. This concept is tied to feel-good productivity, where people become more productive when they feel good about the result of their tasks. Closely related is gratification—rewarding students with points or small items for completing tasks, assignments, or answering questions.

James Clear, in one of his newsletters, says:

“Wanting is the desire you feel before doing something. Liking is the satisfaction you feel after doing something. Let your likes guide you.”

By gamifying through competition and rewards, students will be motivated to complete tasks because they enjoy the rewards or the competition itself.

Hook

It’s also important to include icebreakers in the training. These are elements that will wow the learners. Show them something exciting that they’ll learn and let them know what’s coming. You can introduce these at the beginning of training or at the end of each section to create anticipation. It’s like a hook in a sales pitch, where every line keeps the reader engaged. With these hooks, learners will stay eager for what’s next.

By combining some of these strategies, we can significantly increase the retention rate. However, even with all these efforts, a 100% completion rate is never guaranteed. Completing a training program requires a combination of facilitator skills, learner goals, learner attitude, peer support, and gamified success measures.

If you have read this far, I assume you are in the learning and development space, kindly share your comments and thoughts and let me know strategies you are employing.

Thanks to Rufai Mustapha for his input in this write-up.

Strategies to Increase Learners' Completion Rates