This study explored the perceptions of 51 graduates of a distance learning health and social care programme, identifying what factors contributed to students continuing for the duration of their distance learning studies and completing their degree. An appreciative inquiry approach was used to identify the positive aspects of the students' experience. Support from family, tutors and employers as well as flexibility of studying at the Open University UK, enabled graduates to continue their studies. A key aspect of the graduates' success was the supportive feedback received from tutors, which they reported enabled them to build their knowledge, skills and confidence as they progressed to completion of their degree. Flexibility came in different forms, from being able to access their learning materials at any time around their busy lives, to tutors being very responsive to students' needs. The findings are discussed in relation to the students' development of competence and autonomy, factors that contribute to strengthen students' intrinsic motivation.
Resilience is understood to be the ability to adapt positively in the face of adversity. In relation to new students on a distance learning module, this can mean how they adapt and make sense of the demands of their chosen study to enable them to persist in their studies. This article reports a small-scale study involving semistructured telephone interviews with students on a level 1 distance learning module at the UK Open University. Students identified the challenges they experienced such as carving out time to study alongside other commitments, as well as developing their academic writing. Students also identified factors that enabled them to adapt to these challenges and be successful in continuing to study. Students rated highly the support they received from tutors in the form of tailored, detailed feedback on their assignments. Other factors that enabled students to persist in their studies were time management, self-belief and motivation.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.