The Foundations of American Distance Education: A Century of Collegiate Correspondence Study

A century after correspondence study began in the United States, the Independent Study Division of the National Continuing Education Association has launched an ambitious project to record the history, achievements, ideas, issues, and research pertinent to practitioners, faculties, and students in distance education. The publication of The Foundations of American Distance Education: A Century of Collegiate Correspondence Study offers the profession an opportunity to gain a sense of perspective on the past, as well as on the present, that will help prepare to meet future challenges. Within this field, it has been common to cite two periods of historic development, each of which was connected to the publication of a book that had important consequences. The first is Bittner and Mallory's University Teaching by Mail (1933), which describes the origins of the field and the integration of correspondence study into American universities, and the second is Wedemeyer and Childs' New Perspectives in University Correspondence Study (1961), which assesses the incorporation of new technologies. In addition, the two volumes of the Brandenburg Memorial Essays on Correspondence Instruction (1963 and 1966), which were products of a distance education "summit" seminar in the early 1960s, prompted a new professionalism. Correspondence study practitioners began to take a modest pride in their own profession, and to insist upon steadily raising the professional level of their own scholarship and teaching. It is my hope that this new volume will have a similar influence on the profession. The past century of correspondence instruction has been a remarkable period of growth and challenge. Present demands are equally enormous: integration of more sophisticated media in instruction and management, improvement of testing and evaluation, and meeting the educational needs of an increasingly diverse population. In the past century the proliferation of the correspondence study /independent study I distance education movement has generated educational change throughout the world. Today researchers and practitioners bring into the field new concepts, perceptions, and scholarship, as well as new teaching-learning models. The lessons of the past emphasize that much hard work, innovation, and initiative are necessary to keep pace with the challenges of the times. The articles in this volume provide opportunities for reflection, practical information, and guidance for independent study' s second century

Perceptions of Profession and of being a Professional among Personnel/HRM Practitioners: A Phenomenographic Inquiry

This thesis explores the phenomena of profession and of being a professional among Personnel/Human Resource Management (P/HRM) Practitioners in the United Kingdom. The use of the term Personnel/Human Resource Management reflects a lack of consensus over nomenclature. Twenty semi structured interviews were undertaken between December 2006 and January 2007 using a purposely selected research sample stratified against qualification, experience, gender and organizational type to ensure representation across the public and private sectors. Respondents were asked about their perceptions of professions in general, their perceptions of their own roles as practitioners, about the influence of their respective work organizations on their professional status and about their perceptions of the Professional Institution the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). Phenomenography was the selected qualitative research approach as it provided a framework for describing experience and examining variations in experience. The essence of the approach is that it takes a relational qualitative perspective that aims to describe key aspects of variation in the collective experience of phenomena, rather than focusing on the individual experience. The accepted approach in phenomenographic data analysis is to start with an analysis of the interview transcripts. However, a particular feature of this study was the analysis of the actual audio recordings of the interviews; this provided an additional level of insight and data but marked a significant departure from previously 'accepted' approaches. The study revealed a changing construction of profession and a reorientation of what it means to be a professional. Professionalism was constructed as the concern of the individual rather than the collective, and is best described as the 'professional project of the self and was characterized by a reliance on individual integrity, ethics and credibility. Professionalism was influenced by the 'know how' of the practitioners, their status within the occupation and work organization and was related to their ability to acquire and demonstrate business acumen, political awareness and the skills of self promotion and critical reflection. Respondents perceived the role and influence of the Professional Institute, The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) as limited, while the work organization was perceived to have an impact on the status of the individual practitioner and the function. In the context of this study it was the ability of the practitioner to know about and contribute to the wider business agenda that enhanced their individual and collective professional credibility and status. The implications for educational policy and practice are identified as being concerned with the way in which future practitioners and new career entrants are educated, trained and supported to develop an appropriate business awareness and the new skills set required to be successful, to understand the significance of an increasing reliance on 'self' as the mediator of professionalism and to manage effectively a relationship between the practitioner and the work organization which is perceived as evolving as Personnel/Human Resource Management (P/HRM) aspires to the status of a recognised profession

The effectiveness of educating community nurses by distance learning.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the effectiveness of distance learning within post-registration community nurse education. In this context, 'effectiveness' is defined as being useful to the student or 'fit for purpose' and it focuses on the educational experience. The study, which was designed in two stages, aimed to investigate whether learning support needs were similar for full-time adult students and distance learners. In the first stage, an original survey instrument was designed and posted to a group of nursing students who had undertaken a diploma-level course (n=169). A response rate of 69% was achieved. It aimed to determine whether the learning and educational support needs were similar between these two groups. The findings suggested that the learning and educational needs were alike and suggested the need for proactive support with adult learners, irrespective of their mode of study. In the second stage, a phenomenological approach was used to determine the experiences of the first cohort of graduates from a distance-learning degree course in community nursing (n=6); their community supervisors (n=9) and the academic staff involved with the course(n=7). Each group interpreted the meaning of 'effectiveness' in varying ways. The findings confirmed that distance learning is an effective mode of education, providing that the students' learning is facilitated and supported by regular contact with course tutors and other students. The significance of this study is in the model of supportive learning which was developed in light of the findings that will assist in the effectiveness of distance learning. The model has five elements within it, addressing 'student characteristics 1, 'tutor characteristics', 'student-student contact', 'course content' and the relationship between the student and tutor. It is proposed that this model could be used for the support of students, as a framework for staff development and for course evaluation

Feedback in Higher Education: Exploring students’ appraisal, comprehension and utilisation

Whilst at University students will experience many instances of feedback on their work. Quite often such feedback is facilitated by academic lecturers in the hope that the student will utilise this and improve in their next assessment (Hester, 2001). Often feedback does not have the desired effect and is unpredictable in terms of enhancing a student’s motivation, self-confidence and subsequent effort in future assessments. The thesis reports the findings from three studies. Primarily the present thesis, inspired by phenomenography, explored student’s appraisal, comprehension and utilisation of feedback. The thesis also explored lecturer’s responses to the observed student experiences in order to offer comparative research findings. The primary data collection method utilised within the thesis was one-to-one interviews however in order to stimulate discussion prior to interview visual representations were employed. In the data collection with students (study two) a drawing activity took place prior to the interview. In the data collection with lecturers’ (study three) videos of student’s responses to feedback were shown to the lecturers. The interviews in study two were subjected to thematic data analysis and revealed 8 main themes for the students (Lecturers, Emotions, Feedback Cognitions, Efficacy Cognitions, Draft Work, Motivation, Effort and Grades) and 6 main themes for the lecturers (Efficacy Cognitions, Student Autonomy, Problems with Feedback, Effort Conceptions, Feedback Mechanisms and Understanding Students). The findings from study two with students indicated a multifaceted interpretation of the student experience. The outcome space revealed five categories of description (Broken relationship, needy, low achiever, emotionally charged and high achiever). The structure of the variation revealed a hierarchically inclusive pattern indicating how varying patterns of behaviour and emotional reactions interact to affect the students processing and subsequent utilisation of the feedback received. In study three with the lecturers, similarities in conceptions of feedback alongside mismatches between lecturers and students were very apparent. Conclusively the thesis suggests that understanding students individually through fostering lecturer and student relationships, alongside dialogic feedback, help to improve the student’s propensity to utilise the feedback received

A study of the provision of distance education for the upgrading and improvement of the qualifications of teachers in the province of Kwazulu-Natal

This research is predicated in the firm conviction that the quality of education is dependent upon the quality of teachers. Teachers as the bedrock of education must participate actively and conscientiously in their intellectual growth through various forms of INSET discussed in the research. From an international comparative perspective DE as a strategy of INSET is deemed as the most functional, if not prudent and efficacious educational experience for the upgrading and improvement of the qualifications of teachers. In this research the origin of DE in terms of its antecedents and evolution, the raison d'etre and the advantages and limitations of DE are adumbrated in order to focus on the complexity and diversity of DE. As part of the conceptual and theoretical framework various terms used synonymously with DE are considered. A syntagma of principles providing a utilitarian and pragmatic connotation for DE is then postulated. Selected theories relevant to DE provide the synthesis for theoretical perspectives. The typology of DE institutions comprising autonomous, dedicated providers of DE and those that are mixed or hybrid or dual mode systems is analyzed. In koeping with the theme of educational borrowing fundamental to comparative education studies provision of DE by the UKOU and AU for developed countries, IGNOU and the ZINTEC model for developing countries is discussed. National examples are UNISA, Vista University and SACTE. The provincial institutions discussed are the former SCE, NCE, UCFE and the newly formed SACOL. General and specific recommendations for the provision of DE programmes for the upgrading and improvement of the qualifications of teachers in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal are adumbrated. By way of conclusion, it is iterated that the provision of DE for the upgrading and improvement of the qualifications of teachers is irrefragably xxvii the quintessential factor in the new generation of teacher education and a pivotal element for INSET.Educational StudiesD. Ed. (Comparative Education

Feedback in Higher Education: Exploring students’ appraisal, comprehension and utilisation

Whilst at University students will experience many instances of feedback on their work. Quite often such feedback is facilitated by academic lecturers in the hope that the student will utilise this and improve in their next assessment (Hester, 2001). Often feedback does not have the desired effect and is unpredictable in terms of enhancing a student’s motivation, self-confidence and subsequent effort in future assessments. The thesis reports the findings from three studies. Primarily the present thesis, inspired by phenomenography, explored student’s appraisal, comprehension and utilisation of feedback. The thesis also explored lecturer’s responses to the observed student experiences in order to offer comparative research findings. The primary data collection method utilised within the thesis was one-to-one interviews however in order to stimulate discussion prior to interview visual representations were employed. In the data collection with students (study two) a drawing activity took place prior to the interview. In the data collection with lecturers’ (study three) videos of student’s responses to feedback were shown to the lecturers. The interviews in study two were subjected to thematic data analysis and revealed 8 main themes for the students (Lecturers, Emotions, Feedback Cognitions, Efficacy Cognitions, Draft Work, Motivation, Effort and Grades) and 6 main themes for the lecturers (Efficacy Cognitions, Student Autonomy, Problems with Feedback, Effort Conceptions, Feedback Mechanisms and Understanding Students). The findings from study two with students indicated a multifaceted interpretation of the student experience. The outcome space revealed five categories of description (Broken relationship, needy, low achiever, emotionally charged and high achiever). The structure of the variation revealed a hierarchically inclusive pattern indicating how varying patterns of behaviour and emotional reactions interact to affect the students processing and subsequent utilisation of the feedback received. In study three with the lecturers, similarities in conceptions of feedback alongside mismatches between lecturers and students were very apparent. Conclusively the thesis suggests that understanding students individually through fostering lecturer and student relationships, alongside dialogic feedback, help to improve the student’s propensity to utilise the feedback received