How Can Correspondence-Based Distance Education be Improved?: A Survey of Attitudes of Students Who Are Not Well Disposed toward Correspondence Study |
VOL. 5, No. 1, 53-65
This study explored the attitudes of post-secondary students who were negatively disposed toward correspondence-based distance education programs. Forty-eight subjects were interviewed to determine their views regarding the primary disadvantages associated with correspondence-based distance education and their suggestions as to how such programs can be improved. The results indicated that the restricted interaction with the instructor was perceived as the major disadvantage. The preferred strategy for improvement was periodic face-to-face meetings with the instructor in preference to periodic telephone conversations. Increased contact with other students studying the same course was much less important than increased contact with the instructor. Implications for practice are discussed.
Cette étude explore les attitudes des étudiants au post-secondaire qui ont des sentiments négatifs envers les programmes d'éducation à distance basés sur la correspondance. Quarante huit étudiants furent entrevus afin de déterminer leur opinion sur les inconvénients les plus sérieux des cours par correspondance et de recevoir leurs suggestions sur la façon dont on pourrait améliorer de tels programmes. Les résultats indiquent que l'interaction limitée avec le professeur constitue le plus grand inconvénient. La méthode favorite suggérée pour améliorer le modèle consiste en des entrevues régulières avec le professeur, de préférence aux conversations téléphoniques régulières. L'augmentation du contact avec les autres étudiants dans le même cours est moins importante que l'augmentation du contact avec le professeur. L'étude discute les implications pratiques.
Many educational institutions have developed distance education programs as a way of increasing access for students who are unable to attend on-campus classes. Correspondence-based distance education, as described by Holmberg (1989), continues to be the dominant mode of distance education instruction in North America. Markowitz (1983) reported that in 1981-82 there were 72 college-based correspondence programs in the United States with a total of 143,819 college course enrolments. Holmberg (1989) described a number of studies which have reported that many students register in distance education programs, such as correspondence study, due to a preference for working at their own pace. At the same time there is a concern shared by many educators that the reduced level of interaction (in frequency and duration) which many distance education students have with their instructors is a serious concern. For example, Flinck (1978) in discussing correspondence study states:
Its weakness lies probably in the lack of personal relationships. Being an `industrialized' form of education, it suffers from reduced human contacts which occur only in the feedback stage of the process. Some human contact is built into the system of correspondence education by means of the assignments for submission, but such contact is normally based on the written word. The arrangement involves a temporary delay in the feedback and the communication is mainly nonrecurrent. It takes place just once - the student answers the assignments for sub-mission, the tutor examines and comments on them.... No further communication occurs regularly....These conditions are not wholly satisfactory from an educational point of view. (p. 20)
Of course it is important to note that over the past two decades many correspondence study programs have developed significantly greater use of interactive educational technologies such as audio teleconferencing and computer conferencing. But are there still significant numbers of prospective students who view such programs as less attractive than traditional classroom instruction? If correspondence study programs are to appeal to a broad range of prospective students, are there ways in which correspondence study can be made more attractive? A number of studies have investigated why students register in correspondence study programs and their attitudes toward the instructional mode of correspondence study (e.g., Beijer, 1972; Flinck, 1978; Glatter & Wedell, 1971). But these studies have surveyed students who have chosen to register for correspondence study and may therefore be well disposed to that mode of instruction. What of those potential students who have never registered for correspondence study and who are not well disposed toward that mode of instruction? What is known of their views and preferences? The present study investigated the attitudes of such students. Specifically, the study investigated the following questions with students not well disposed to correspondence study:
The study consisted of two distinct phases. Phase 1 involved the identifi-cation and selection of subjects who were negatively disposed toward correspondence study from among a larger sample of students enrolled in university study. Phase 2 consisted of interviews with those subjects who were negatively disposed toward correspondence study in order to identify the aspects of correspondence study which they felt were most disadvantageous and ways in which correspondence study could be improved so as to be made more attractive to them.
In Phase 1 a total of 423 subjects were selected from among those students registered in evening- hour on-campus class offered at the University of Manitoba during the 1986–87 academic session. These students were registered in first year classes in English, History, Psychology, Economics, Geography, Anthropology, and Sociology. These courses were chosen because they were also offered by correspondence study and therefore the students could have chosen to undertake the courses by correspondence study rather than by regular classroom instruction. All students registered in these classes received a survey questionnaire which was mailed to their residence. The questionnaire was designed to solicit selected attitudes toward correspondence study and included a request to provide an overall ranking of correspondence study as an instructional method. The ranking was based on a Likert scale response ranging from "5" (very positive) to "1" (very negative).
Subjects were provided with a stamped, self-addressed envelope in which to return the completed questionnaire. The questionnaires were individually numbered in order to identify which respondents returned the questionnaire. Two weeks after the first mailing a second questionnaire was sent to those subjects who had not returned a completed questionnaire. A total of 319 completed questionnaires was returned which represents a response rate of 75%.
A total of 13 respondents provided an overall ranking of "1" (very negative) for correspondence study and 66 respondents provided an overall ranking of "2" (negative). The remaining 240 respondents provided an overall ranking of either "3" (neutral), "4" (positive), or "5" (very positive). The 79 respondents who were more negatively disposed toward correspondence study were selected for Phase 2 of the study in which they were interviewed. Thirteen subjects had moved or could not be contacted by telephone. A further 18 subjects refused to be interviewed. A total of 48 subjects agreed to be interviewed. The interview consisted of both structured and open-ended questions and employed a standardized format.
Table 1 presents a summary of the responses provided by subjects to the nine structured questions concerned responses identified significant differences (p < .05) in response patterns to items 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, and 8. In addition, the distribution of responses for item 5 approached the .05 level of significance (p = .08). An examination of the response distribution for items 1, 3, 6, 7, and 8 indicated that while the distribution of results differed significantly from the expected distribution they nonetheless were not items regarded as serious disadvantages. To the contrary, these results indicated that respondents viewed these items as not representing disadvantages associated with correspondence study. Only item 2 was identified by respondents as a serious disadvantage. These results indicate a perception that there is not enough interaction with the instructor. Among the structured response items this was clearly identified as the most significant disadvantage associated with correspondence study. In addition, the distribution of responses to item 5 indicated a perception that there is not enough opportunity to receive direction and feedback from the instructor although this result did not reach the .05 level of significance.
Subjects were invited to identify any other disadvantages they associated with correspondence study (not specified in the nine structured response items). A total of 27 subjects provided responses which they regarded as serious disadvantages of the correspondence method. Some subjects gave multiple responses. A total of 37 individual responses were provided. A content analysis was employed in order to aggregate similar responses. The results of this analysis are summarized in Table 2.
Table 3 presents a summary of the responses provided by subjects to the four structured questions concerned with strategies to improve correspondence study so as to make it more attractive to the respondents. Chi-square analyses of these responses indicated significant differences in response patterns to items 1 and 4. An examination of the responses reveals that only item 1 was selected as a strategy that would be expected to significantly improve correspondence study (i.e., periodic face-to-face meetings with the instructor). In addition, the distribution of responses to item 2 indicated an expectation that periodic telephone conversations with the instructor would also improve correspondence study although this result did not reach the .05 level of significance.
Subjects were invited to identify any other strategies that they felt would be very important improvements to correspondence study and that would make correspondence study more attractive to them. A total of 25 subjects provided responses. Some subjects gave multiple responses. A total of 28 individual responses were provided. A content analysis was employed in order to aggregate similar responses. The results of this analysis are summarized in Table 4.
Subjects in the present study indicated that the major perceived disadvantage associated with correspondence study is the reduced interaction with the instructor and the resultant constraints upon receiving direction and feedback from the instructor. In addition, the comments provided by subjects indicated a perception that it is too easy to fall behind in correspondence studies and an expectation that greater motivation is required to succeed with correspondence study than with conventional classroom instruction.
The primary strategy recommended by subjects in this study for improving correspondence study was periodic face-to-face meetings with the instructor. By contrast, periodic telephone conversations were perceived to be much less promising than periodic face-to-face meetings. It is interesting to note that periodic meetings and/or telephone conversations with other students in the same course were considered to be much less important than meetings with the instructor. The comments provided by subjects in response to the open-ended questions simply confirmed the conclusions stated above.
It is somewhat surprising that subjects in the present study did not perceive that correspondence students would feel isolated given the importance placed upon increased contact with the instructor. This is consistent, however, with the limited interest expressed in increased interaction with other students. It suggests that the subjects in this study perceive a need for course-specific interaction.
The size of the sample of subjects in the present study was relatively modest. Accordingly, the results should be interpreted with some caution until they can be supported by further study. Nonetheless, they suggest that the efforts made by many institutions which offer instruction by correspondence study to increase the level of interaction between correspondence students and their instructors appear to be warranted. Such opportunities for increased interaction frequently rely upon teleconferencing or individual telephone tutoring. The costs associated with telephone-mediated interaction are frequently viewed as prohibitive (Bates, 1983; Daniel & Marquis, 1983). If distance education programs such as correspondence study are to attract and serve increased numbers of students, it is important that attention be paid to strategies to increase interaction between correspondence students and their instructors. In particular, opportunities for face-to-face contact with the instructor should be explored. At the same time, there are some studies which suggest that at least some students who register in distance education programs are not desirous of high levels of interaction with their instructor and in particular do not welcome instructor-initiated contact (Beijer, 1972; Potter, 1983). Accordingly, it is possible that increased opportunities for interaction between students and their instructors should be facilitated but primarily on a student-initiated basis. The results of the present study provoke the following questions:
The results of the present study contain few surprises for educators involved in the provision of distance education. In particular, the finding that students in the present study identified increased interaction with their instructor as being the most important strategy for improving correspondence education will confirm what many have suspected. Nonetheless, this is the first study which has examined the attitudes of those who are not well disposed to correspondence study. Accordingly, it provides important confirmation of the need to provide for increased student-instructor interaction if we are to make distance education programs such as correspondence study attractive to a broader range of learners. The results of the present study should provide encouragement to distance educators. Developments in teleconferencing and computer conferencing offer promising approaches to making distance education programs more interactive. It will be incumbent upon distance educators to utilize cost-effective strategies to increase student-instructor interaction and to get the message out to potential distance education students that distance education programs provide such interaction.
The present study does not suggest that increased student-student inter-action is greatly sought after by prospective correspondence students. Nonetheless, it was suggested previously that the differential application of various instructional strategies might be desirable. Accordingly, it may be that for a minority of students it would be effective to promote increased student-student interaction.
Finally, it is proposed that those educators who are responsible for the design and delivery of distance education programs should carefully examine the balance between resources committed to courseware development and those committed to program delivery. It is possible that in some cases a disproportionately large share of resources is committed to courseware development.
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Potter, G. (1983). The potential use of the telephone as an instructional device in external studies. Distance Education, 4(1), 95–107.
Thompson, G., & Knox, A. B. (1987). Is systematic telephone tutoring more effective for some correspondence students than for others? An exploratory study. Educational Communication and Technology, 35(2), 105–117.
Gordon Thompson is the Director of University Extension at the University of Victoria. Dr. Thompson's scholarly interests include persistence/attrition in distance education and the relationship of learner attributes such as cognitive/learning styles to participation and success in distance education.