Adult learner success in distance learning higher education programs

Distance Learning

Introductory remarks and objectives of proposed research

Education is -- if we have any recollection of our classical language training -- supposed to be a drawing out rather than a putting in, which would seem to make it at least as an appropriate activity for adults as for children. Adults have their far greater basis of experience than do children and so are in many ways much more easily educated (Ravitch 2000).

Education is, after all, not simply the acquisition of facts but their synthesis as well, the creative and unique ways of putting together information about the world that those with experience in the world can achieve. Education may well be -- as it is often humorously argued -- wasted on the young, not because of any inherent fault of their own but because their range of experience is so narrow that it is difficult for them to make the best use of the facts that they are given. Unconnected to experiences and without an already established framework of other knowledge about the way in which the world works, the facts presented to the young in the course of their education are often like expensive crystal goblets sliding unanchored on a silver tray. It is almost inevitable that some of them will fall off and be smashed.

And yet, of course, young people do need to be educated, especially as the technologies of daily life and the workplace become increasingly complicated and demanding. There is so much to learn in a lifetime that if we do not begin the process of education at an early age it will be impossible ever to gain enough knowledge about the world to make our contributions. However, there is no reason that education for the child cannot be supplemented by education for the adult. This proposal outlines a research project to determine if distance learning in higher education is successful or not or whether a model of adult education (as suggested by Meziro, 2000) would be more useful.

Literature Review

The literature review for this project should examine two different sets of literature. The first of these will be generally on the adult learner, looking at what makes higher education (which is that portion of education that is aimed at the adult learner) successful, including an examination of the proper mix of applied and purely theoretical knowledge.

The second set of literature will be that which examines in a general fashion the arena of distance learning. While it is certainly true that most of those who participate in distance learning are in fact adults, some children so as well for a number of reasons: They have illnesses or disabilities that prevent them from attending a traditional school; their parents' jobs require that the family move frequently; they wish to get ahead in their studies, etc. The literature on distance learning for all ages of students should be examined.

These two sets of literatures should then be combined.

Justification of problem

Distance learning will continue to help people adjust their professional lives to the rapidly changing pace of technology. Any research that helps to make distance leaning more effective will be useful.

Hypotheses

The hypothesis that initially guides this research is that distance learning is effective for higher education, but that gender, class and cultural background are significant factors in determining who is likely to be successful so that certain groups (men in their early twenties, for example) can be expected not to succeed nearly as well as members of other demographic groups.

Operational definitions

This research depends on operationalization of the concept of education and knowledge; the former as a measurable sense of increased competence, the latter as facts acquired.

Methodology

Characteristics of the measures

The data has high validity and high reliability since it does not depend upon the reporting and mediation of other researchers. It also has high reliability because it avoids the problems of a number of the standard tools used in qualitative research, including that of the questionnaires, which is convenient for obtaining information from large numbers of respondents. However, there are a number of drawbacks to the questionnaire: The wording of the questions must intelligible to uninterested and persons with limited English skills, all of the questions must have standard and unambiguous meanings to persons of varying backgrounds, they must avoid topics that arouse resistance and refusal to complete the questionnaire, and they must not be either too complex or difficult so that people decline to finish the questionnaires. It is for these reasons that it has been avoided in addition to the fact that there are not so many qualified people in this area as to require a questionnaire.

Procedures

The subjects will each be interviewed and if possible observed at school and at work. The interviews will be analyzed for content and appropriate elements quantified.

Limitations

The measurements in this project are relatively subjective, but this is appropriate to the subject matter.

The study is limited to some extent by its qualitative methods, however no more so than other qualitative work.