Joan Robson, Course Coordinator, Faculty of Education, Australian Catholic University, PO Box 256, Dickson, ACT 2602. Email j.robson@signadou.acu.edu.au
On-line, Evaluation, Discontinuation, Equity.
In the twenty-first century, increasingly on-line education is used as a vehicle for study. Following compulsory full-time study, students generally do so through face-to-face full-time study in an institution, face-to-face part-time study through institutions or community organizations, or remotely through some form of distance education. Increasingly on-line teaching is used in each of these modes (Coaldrake & Stedman, 1998, 79). Study is often undertaken in conjunction with growing employment and family responsibilities. Therefore, it is the control of time and place of study under these circumstances, that leads many people to study on-line.
However, distance education has long had a history of high discontinuation by students (Rumble, 1997, 202). The factors identified as related to this (Long, 1994) give little reason to suspect that on-line learning is different. Strangely, traditional evaluation practices do not cater for this situation by providing opportunities for discontinuing students to contribute formally or informally to the evaluation process. Most evaluation instruments are weighted heavily towards reflection on the value of the learning at the end of a session of study, with a heavy emphasis on learning outcomes.
A framework is identified to address this problem (Robson, 1999). It takes into consideration the established Spady (1971) and Tinto models (1975) of factors influencing discontinuation and is therefore pertinent in this case. Considering the importance of this group in an evaluation, the framework uses and extends their models to cater for on-line education, with the flexibility to be individualised to a specific situation, yet illustrates the permanent inter-relationships between the various factors. It is in harmony with the dominant evaluation methodologies and styles currently adopted in on-line and distance education. It is designed to facilitate input from discontinuing students and to be undertaken in a time frame which is realistic when rapidly changing technologies form part of the program being investigated.
Coaldrake, P., & Stedman, L. (1998). On the brink: Australia's universities confronting their future. St. Lucia: University of Queensland Press.
Long, M. (1994). A study of the academic results of on-campus and off-campus students; comparative performance within four Australian tertiary institutions (Commissioned Report 34). Canberra: National Board of Employment, Education and Training.
Robson, J. (1999, June). A framework for evaluation in distance education. Paper presented at the International Council on Distance Education, Vienna.
Rumble, G. (1997). The costs and economics of open and distance learning. London: Kogan Page.
Spady, W. (1971). Dropouts from higher education: towards an empirical model. Interchange, 2(3), 38-62.
Tinto, V. (1975). Drop out from higher education: a theoretical synthesis of recent research. Review of Educational Research, 45(3), 89-125.
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