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| | PRINT | | A Helping Hand Is Needed |
Umeå, August 2005 – A Swedish study at the Umeå University sought to investigate the main obstacles and opportunities that influence the adult distance learner’s studying and learning. Over thirteen weeks about 33 adult distance learners documented their experiences in a full-time introduction course in a teacher education program at college level. The six men and 27 women had an average age of 36 years, and two-thirds of them had children living at home. Also two-thirds combined studying and working; some of them worked full time.
The main obstacles were quickly identified: the circumstances and commitments of private life and labour, as well as a lack of experience with studying.
The domestic environment influenced the learners quite negatively: household work, child care, time for family needs, cooking and organizational demands decreased concentration, motivation, and learning time and increased the stressing emotions of guilt and a bad conscience. Nevertheless some families adapted to the situation and supported the learner not only by assuming additional household tasks but also by helping out with the studies.
Combining work and studies was experienced as very stressful by many learners. Time was always insufficient for both work and learning, which caused a strong feeling of dissatisfaction in both areas. Because they often prioritized the job needs; they suffered from a bad conscience concerning the learning. Strategies to handle this were the reduction of working time, more effective time management, or a decrease of ambitions in both areas.
Especially in the first weeks, nearly half of the learners identified their lack of studying experience as a significant obstacle. Missing strategies for planning and organizing their studying time, unrealistic expectations concerning the needed amount of time, difficulties in understanding the assignments, a lack of experience in writing at college level, and insufficient information about the criteria to be met in order to pass a course at university level were common problems.
As a great opportunity, nearly every learner pointed out that the communication and interaction with teacher and fellow students was very helpful for them. The teachers’ feedback increased motivation and inspiration concerning the content; the study group gave remarkable support in private situations and social problems as well as in topics related to the course.
It turned out to be significant that a face-to-face meeting to generate confidence and a feeling of security and community be offered, ideally at the beginning of a course. Simply offering a computer mediated communication system seems not to be enough for a learner as a social being. |
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