FEMALE LEARNER TENACITY IN OPEN DISTANCE LEARNING SUCCESS: Life History of Sharan, Fuziah and Aleena as Open Distance Learnersa

Year 2013, Volume: 2 Issue: 4, 24 - 40, 01.10.2013

Hisham Dzakırıa

Abstract

Despite the provision for better access, flexibility, and convenience, Open Distance Learning still remain a challenge to some students. This article presents the life history of 3 female ODL learners in the state of Perlis, Malaysia in their pursuit to complete their ODL programs. Specifically, the study explored the phenomenon of female learners’ tenacity in ODL among female adult learners. The qualitative research focused on questions pertaining to learners’ tenacity and perseverance in ODL and investigated the factors supporting or hindering perseverance that have influenced the learners. Longitudinal interviews with the three participants conducted over 72 months (six years) commencing 2005 revealed the complexity of variables affecting the learners’ study completion. Findings suggested that multiple responsibilities, insufficient interaction with course tutors, technology, and coursework ranked highest as barriers to female learners’ tenacity to ODL success. Strong motivation to complete degrees, engagement in the learning community, and appreciation for the improved accessibility and flexibility of an ODL completion option facilitated the learners’ tenacity.

Keywords

Open Distance Learning; adult learners; female learners; persistence; perseverance; life history methodology; perseverance; barriers to tenacity

References

• Anderson, T. (2003). Getting the Mix Right Again: An updated and theoretical rationale for interaction. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 4(2). http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/149/708
• Barefoot, B. (2004). Higher Education's Revolving Door: Confronting the problem of student drop out in U.S. colleges and universities. Open Learning, 19(1), 9-18.
• Berge, Z. L. (2002). Active, interactive, and reflective eLearning. Quarterly Review of
• Distance Education, 3(2), 181-190. Burge, E. (1998). Gender in distance education. In C. Gibson (Ed.), Distance learners in higher education (pp. 25-45). Madison, WI.: Atwood.
• Burke, C. (2001). Women, guilt, and home computers. Cyber Psychology & Behavior, 4(5), 609-615.
• Cross, K. P. (1981). Adults as Learners: Increasing participation and facilitating learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Dupin-Bryant, P. (2004). Pre-entry variables related to retention in online distance education. American Journal of Distance Education, 18(4), 199-206.
• Dzakiria, H. & Idrus, R. M. (2003). Teacher-Learner Interactions in Distance Education:
• A Case of Two Malaysian Universities, Turkey On-line Journal of Distance Education (TOJDE),4(30): ISSN 1302-6488, http://tojde.anadolu.edu.tr/tojde11/articles/idrus.htm
• Dzakiria, H. & Walker, R. (2003). Understanding the Culturally Diverse Malaysian
• Distance Learners: Does Culture has a Role and an Effect on Learning and Practice in Distance Education, Malaysian Journal of Distance Education, 5 (1), pp.95-107. Dzakiria, H. (2004). “The Teacher is Always there, but isn’t…”Distance Learners’
• Experiences & Perspectives on Distance Learning at Universiti Utara Malaysia. Unpublished thesis. Finnegan, C. (2005). Predicting retention in online general education courses. American
• Journal of Distance Education, 19(1), 23-36. Furst-Bowe, J., & Dittmann, W. (2001). Identifying the needs of adult women in distance learning programs. International Journal of Instructional Media, 28(4), 405-413.
• Garland, M. R. (1993). Student perceptions of the situational, institutional, dispositional, and epistemological barriers to persistence. Distance Education, 14(2),181-198.
• Dzakiria, H. (2008), Students’ Accounts of the Need for Continuous Support in a Distanc
• Learning Programme, Open Learning: The Journal of Open and Distance Learning (Rutledge, Taylor & Francis Group), 23(2), 103-112
• Dzakiria, H. (2012). Illuminating the Importance of Learning Interaction to Open
• Distance Learning (ODL) Success: A Qualitative Perspective of Adult Learners in Perlis, Malaysia, European Journal of Open Distance and E-Learning, 28.11.2012.
• Herbert, M. (2006). Staying the Course: A study in online student satisfaction and retention. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 9(4) http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/winter94/herbert94.htm
• Ibrahim, D .Z. & Silong, A. D. (2002). Characteristics and Motivations of Adult Students
• Enrolled in a Post-Graduate Distance Education Program. Malaysian Journal of Distance Education, 4(1),pp.61-86. Keller, J. M. (1987). Strategies for Stimulating the Motivation to Learn. Performance and Instruction Journal, 2698),1-7.
• Kemp, W. (2002). Persistence of adult learners in distance education. American Journal of
• Distance Education, 16(2), 65-81. Kramarae, C. (2001). The Third Shift: Women learning online. Washington, DC.: American
• Association of University Women Educational Foundation. Kramarae, C. (2003). Gender equity online, when there is no door to knock on. In M.
• Moore & W. Anderson (Eds.), Handbook of Distance Education (pp. 261-272). Mahwah, NJ.: Erlbaum. Martinez, P. (1997). Improving Student Retention: a guide to successful strategies.
• Further Education Development Agency, London. Mezirow, J. (2000). Learning to Think like an Adult: Core concepts of transformation theory. In J. Mezirow & Associates (Eds.), Learning as Transformation: Critical perspectives on a theory in progress (pp. 3-33). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• McGivney, V. (1996). Staying or leaving the course. Leicester, UK.: NIACE.
• Motteram, G. & Forrester, G. (2005). Becoming Online Distance Learner: What can be learned from Student’s Experiences of Induction to Distance Programs? Distance Education, 26,pp.261-298.
• Moore, K., Bartkovich, J., Fetzner, M., & Ison, S. (2003). Success in Cyberspace: Student retention in ODL. Journal of Applied Research in the Community College, 10(2), 107-118.
• Morris, L. V., Wu, S. S., & Finnegan, C. L. (2005). Predicting retention in online general education courses. American Journal of Distance Education, 19(1), 23-36.
• Oblinger, D.G., & Rush, S.C. (Eds.) (1997). The Learning Revolution: The Challenge of
• Information Technology in the Academy, Bolton, MA: Anker. Omar, N.D., Hassan,H., Hassan, F., Zakaria, Z., & Wan Mohd Nor, W.A. (2012). Engaging
• Students in On-line Learning: Does Gender matter in Adoption of Learning Material Design? International Women Online Journal of Distance Education, 1(3), pp.15-23. Richardson, J. C., & Swan, K. (2003). Examining social presence in ODL in relation to students' perceived learning and satisfaction. Journal of Asynchronous Learning
• Networks, 7(1). http://www.aln.org/publications/jaln/v7n1/v7n1_richardson.asp Richardson, J. T. E. & King, E. (1998). Adult Students in Higher Education: Burden or Boon. The Journal of Higher Education, 69(1), pp.65-88.
• Rovai, A. P., & Baker, J. D. (2005). Gender Differences in Online Learning: Sense of community, perceived learning, and interpersonal interactions. Quarterly Review of
• Distance Education, 6(1), 31-44. Rovai,A.P. , Ponton,M.K. Wighting, M.J., & baker, J.D. (2007). A Comparative Analysis of
• Student Motivation in Traditional Classroom and E-Learning Courses. International Journal on E-Learning, 6(3), pp.413-432. Savery, J. (2002). Faculty and Student Perceptions of Technology in Teaching. The Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 1(2), http://www.ncolr.org/jiol/issues/PDF/1.25.pdf.
• (Retrieved 10 October, 2007).
• Saw, K. G., Awang, M. N., Idrus, R. M., Atan, H., Azli, N. A., Jaafar, I, Rahman, Z. A. and Latiff, Z. A. (1999). Educational Transition of East Malaysian Distance Learners, Open Learning, pp.24-36.
• Schwartz, S., and Peterson, S. (1993). Student Perceptions of Quality: Implications for retention in vocational education. Journal of Vocational Special Needs Education, 15, 13
• Segall, G. R. (1998). Points of viewing children’s thinking: A digital ethnographer’s journey. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Simpson, O. (2003). Student retention in online, open and distance learning. London, Routledge-Falmer.
• Stake, R. E. (1988). Case study methods in educational research: Making sweet water. In
• R. M. Jaegar (Ed.), Complementary methods for research in education (pp. 253-265). Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association. Tinto, V. (1993). Leaving College: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition
• (2nd Ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Tinto, V. (2006). Research and practice of student retention: What next? Journal of
• College Student Retention, 8(1), 1-19. Tresman, S. (2001). Learning Journeys and Student Retention in Programmes of Open
• Distance Education: a case study from the Open University UK, Proceedings of the 20th World Conference on Open Learning and Distance Education: The Future of Learning Learning for the Future: Shaping the Transition. April 1-5, 2001, Düsseldorf Germany.
• Walker, R. (2002) Is there anyone there? The Embodiment of Knowledge in Virtual
• Environments. Paper written for Charalambos Vraasidas and Gene Glass (eds.), Current Perspectives on Applied Technologies, Vol.1, Distance Learning. Wong, S. L., Abdul Aziz, S., Mohd Yunus, A. S., Sidek, Z., Abu Bakar, K., Meseran, H., & Atan, H. (2005). Gender Differences in ICT Competencies Among Academicians at
• Universiti, Putra Malaysia, Malaysian Online Journal of Instructional Technology (MOJIT) 2(3), pp. 62-69.