Abstract:

Student engagement is recognised as an important influence on achievement and learning in higher education. Engagement can be challenging for distance learners, who may miss out on the socio-cultural and contextual elements of face-to-face teaching that enhance socially constructed learning (Kahu 2013). Some students select a distance learning programme through choice, others do so through necessity (including most recently, through Covid). We hypothesised that such students, who might otherwise select an on-site course, may be more vulnerable to the challenges of engagement and achievement associated with distance learning.

Data collection was informed using the student engagement frameworks conceptualised by Kahu (2013) and Kuh (2001). Kahu (2013) draws on behavioural, social and psychological elements to conceptualise student engagement in terms of course structure, peer-to-peer, peer-to-faculty interactions and relationships, that we incorporated into our interview design. Using semi-structured interviews, we explored the engagement and achievements of students who selected a distance learning version of a course through choice with those whose distance enrolment was through necessity/Covid.

This research is unique in exploring the experiences of students moved (through Covid) to an equivalent, previously established distance learning programme, that runs in parallel to the on-site version. Graduates of our PGCert in Veterinary Education were contacted and invited to participate in interviews designed to explore their experiences of engaging in distance learning. A traditional thematic analysis was used to achieve analytic immersion, decontextualise the data and identify codes and themes. Next, across-case analysis was used to identify themes shared by members of the same group. This was a reflective, iterative stage, enhanced by the in-depth nature of the first stage and the social co-construction of themes by three researchers (Ayres et al. 2003). Similar to Kahu (2013) we found learner engagement to be a complex, dynamic and individual construct; each student’s engagement, and the challenges they experienced varied widely depending on individual factors. Despite these differences, common themes were uncovered relating to behavioural, social and psychological elements of student engagement, drawing specifically on peer-to-peer, peer-to-faculty relationships/interactions and course structure (Kahu, 2013). Positive influencing factors included opportunities to engage with tutors and peers in a live virtual environment, particularly assessment activities undertaken in small groups. Reduced opportunities for social learning were particularly impactful for learners from vocational backgrounds and those with little prior experience of teaching and/or learning online. In the ‘online through necessity/Covid’ group, the switch to online learning was both a positive and negative in terms of time management: it freed up time previously spent in face-to-face workshops; but then study time was no longer protected and was pushed into late evenings and weekends. An unexpected benefit of the switch to an online environment was the opportunity for learners to experience a dedicated and mature distance learning program, showcasing approaches and methods that could be explored, contextualised and implemented in the learner’s own rapidly changing workplace environment, which had also moved online due to Covid-19.

Keywords:

Distance, learning, necessity, choice, engagement, achievement.