Exploring the Disconnections: Student Interaction with Support Services Upon Commencement of...

Exploring the Disconnections:

Student Interaction with Support Services Upon Commencement of Distance Education

FYHE Conference, Wellington

9th July, 2013

Mark Brown, Helen Hughes,

Mike Keppell, Natasha Hard & Liz Smith

http://www.dehub.edu.au

Acknowledgement

Support for this project and the production of this report has been provided by DEHub, funded by the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR). The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of the DEHub, Australian Government or DEEWR.

Outline…

1. Background

2. Overview of Literature

3. Research Design

4. The Participants

5. The Findings

6. Key Takeaways

Set against the backdrop of the

“Bridging the Distance Project”

1. Background

…and the challenge of

retention, progression and completion

Set against the backdrop of the

“Bridging the Distance Project”

1. Background

72%

58%

Background… 72%

58%

82%

66%

1. Background

• Wealth of literature

• Issues around attrition and completion are complex

• Further investigation required of the ‘soft factors’

• There is a growing body of literature on first year experience

• Gap in the literature on the experiences of (first-time) distance learners

• Emergence of online learning literature on student experience

• Dearth of research that presents the learner voice


Heyman (2010)…

1. Student support and connection with the Institution

2. Quality of interaction between faculty and students

3. Student self-discipline (and study orchestrations)


Heyman, E. (2010). Overcoming student retention issues in higher education online programs. Online Journal of Distance Education Learning Administration, 13(4).

To improve the supports and services available for first-time distance learners. More specifically…

Research objective…

3. Research Design


• To investigate the experiences of being a first time distance learner ‘in their own words’ from a student perspective

3. Research Design



• To investigate the experiences of being a first time distance learner ‘in their own words’ from a student perspective

• To develop a set of overarching principles for enhancing distance learner engagement and success;

• To help develop a conceptual framework for identifying the most effective use of various intervention tools, supports and resources at early stages of the study lifecycle.

3. Research Design


• Design-based research

• Mixed method approach

• Strong phenomenological dimension

Methodology…

3. Research Design

• Phase 1 - Audit of existing services

• Phase 2 - Baseline and end of semester survey

• Phase 3 - Stories of first-time distance learners

• Obtained full human ethics approval process

• Weekly video diaries using Sony bloggie™

• 140 volunteers from pool of 850 potential participants

• 20 participants broadly representive of distance learners

Method…

3. Research Design

4. The Participants

Gender Female (13) Male (7)

Age Under 25 (4), 25-29 (4), 30-39 (6), 40-49 (4), 50-59 (2)

Ethnicity Pakeha / European (12), Māori and/or Pasifika (8)

Location A campus town (11), Other urban town (3), Remote (4), Overseas (2)

Delivery Mode Distance only (17), Mixed mode (3)

Total Papers (Units) Undergraduate: One (6), Two (6), Three (0), Four (6); Postgraduate (2)

Discipline Business (8), Humanities (6), Education (3), Sciences (3)

Prior Education High school (8), Diploma (2), Degree papers (5), Degree (5)

Employment Full time (11), Part time (3), Casual (1), None (3), Full time mother (2)

Dependents None (11), One (1), Two or three (5), Four or more (3)

30 – 39 years

Maori

4 papers (units)

College of Humanities

Remote location

Not employed

7 children

4. The Participants

30 – 39 years

Maori / Pasifika

4 papers (units)

College of Business

Wellington

FT employment

1 guardianship

4. The Participants

20 – 29 years

European

2 papers (units)

College of Humanities

Urban location

FT employment

0 children

4. The Participants

50 - 59 years

Maori / European

2 papers (units)

College of Business

Auckland

Seeking employment

4. The Participants

60+ years

European

1 paper (unit)

College of Education

Remote location

Employed 3 days

4. The Participants

When asked whether, during the course of their studies,

they were contacted by anyone from the University, the majority (52%) reported to have been contacted by both their lecturer(s) and another person; 20% by another person only; 17% by their lecturer only; and 11% by nobody whatsoever.

5. The Findings

Phase Two…

Phase Three…

5. The Findings

• Support Seekers (25%)

• Lone Wolves (75%)

Support Seekers…

5. The Findings

“Moodle is very useful – I've managed to work my way around it; as well as the library website and the online tutorials.”

Support Seekers…

5. The Findings


“I went to Uni and I saw a counsellor and she was just awesome. She also put me in touch with the Teaching & Learning Centre. I came away from Uni this morning feeling so much more positive.”

Support Seekers…

5. The Findings


“My paper coordinator writes real mean in the forums... and there's been a couple of times I've wanted to write on there but I'm a bit scared of her reaction so I figure it out myself.”

“I went to Uni and I saw a counsellor and she was just awesome. She also put me in touch with the Teaching & Learning Centre. I came away from Uni this morning feeling so much more positive.”

Lone Wolves…

5. The Findings

“I think one of my papers had a contact course during semester break but because of work and stuff like that I didn't go... I couldn't make the time.”

Lone Wolves…

5. The Findings


“Moodle is available but people's base fears of putting something out there and being wrong... it's very different to leaning over to a peer and checking for immediate reinforcement.”

Lone Wolves…

5. The Findings


“I’ve been trying to integrate my wife in to talking about what I'm doing but it’s hard as it can be sometimes quite technical with writing essays and stuff.”

“Moodle is available but people's base fears of putting something out there and being wrong... it's very different to leaning over to a peer and checking for immediate reinforcement.”

"I've finished my paper [unit], which is such a relief because, in the last six weeks, I just wasn't really interested in it. Other things in

my life meant it went on the back-burner and was something that was frustrating and it got in the way of... well, life got in the way."

5. The Findings

The reality of study…

1. Stories ‘add flesh’ to the ‘soft factors’ of what it means to be a distance learner.

6. Key takeaways


2. Distance learning is perceived to enable tertiary study to fit around other life commitments; but first-time distance students have relatively little conception of the actual demands of studying from a distance.

6. Key takeaways


2. Distance learning is perceived to enable tertiary study to fit around other life commitments; but first-time distance students have relatively little conception of the actual demands of studying from a distance.

3. Efforts to support distance learners need to recognise different preconceptions of ‘what it means to study from a distance’ and foster genuine opportunities for interaction (online and offline) between teachers, students and support staff.

6. Key takeaways…

Video diaries, coupled with the researcher’s role, influenced the level of ‘student engagement’ by metaphorically providing a new cave, campfire, watering hole and mountain top for active and self-reflective learning which helped to bridge some of the disconnections.

Final comment…

Questions…

“He [she] who asks a question

is a fool for five minutes; he [she] who

does not ask a question remains a fool forever.”

Chinese Proverb

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