Becoming a distance student: Identifying and managing the challenges of first year distance study

Any transition to university study is difficult, but learning how to become an effective distance student carries its own particular challenges.

This research dissemination project was developed from doctoral research findings that showed that the rate of failure or withdrawal in the first year is considerably higher for distance students than for campus-based students.

Social Psychology Lecturer Ella Kahu’s doctoral research examined how mature-aged distance students dealt with their transition to university. She surveyed over a thousand students and also followed a group of students and their families through their first semester of study. The research found that many students in this group failed to comprehend the challenges both of returning to study and of being a distance student. Many took on too many courses at the start of their degree, underestimating the time required for each paper, or had not considered how they would manage when other aspects of their life did not go to plan.

I worked with Ella to develop a resource for both prospective and current distance students (although applicable to all students at any level) that would help them identify the challenges they might face in their first year and give them some ideas on how to manage those challenges. The resource is available in both digital and printed form.

The resource identified five key challenges in different areas of a student’s life: from their family and friends to the expectations of the university. Discussion of these challenges is supported by participant quotes with suggestions on what can help manage this aspect of student life. The front page of the resource features a graphic illustrating the five challenges and how to manage them (see Figure 3). This booklet cover also functions as a poster.

The final product is a resource relevant to an international audience, encouraging prospective distance students to consider from the outset how they would manage and make the most of  distance study.

The digital resources have been shared with Massey first-year distance students and will be shared each semester from now on. Printed copies were distributed at the recent Teaching and Learning Symposium on the Wellington campus.

Produced in collaboration with the Critical Heath and Social Psychology Research Cluster at Massey University, these resources are available to be freely used and distributed by educators, students and other interested parties. The materials are covered by a Creative Commons license for free use provided no alterations are made.