Abstracts
Establishing a Community of Practitioners Through an Innovative Response to Student Retention in Online Learning: Thinking Smart at Open Universities Australia
Tuesday 5 May 2009, 1430 - 1500
Presenter: Teresa De Fazio
Open Universities Australia, VIC
Presenter Biography
Dr. Teresa De Fazio has been working on a number of research projects focussing on student progress and retentionat OUA. Her PhD thesis investigated the concept of a ‘learning collective’ as a way of conceiving the learning and teaching community that is distinctive to the online distance learning environment. Dr Michael Crock joined Open Universities Australia as the General Manager of Academic Products and Services in early 2008. Dr Crock was previously the Director of Flexible and Learning and Access Services at Griffith University, and was responsible for the ongoing design and development of the University’s online learning capabilities.
Abstract
Whilst innovation in instructional technologies provide a dynamic landscape for education, the fundamental issues relating to creating and sustaining a positive learning experience continue to prove problematic. Resolving this issue is particularly important to responding to student needs and sustaining quality programs at Open Universities Australia (OUA).
In 2007 Open Universities Australia (OUA) began an innovative long-term trial of an online tutorial intervention to deal with issues of varied levels of academic written competence amongst its students. Students demand a more individualised online learning experience which includes indepth feedback on written texts which in turn, increases pressure on tutor time. The ultimate goal of the trial was to improve student progress and address issues of student retention. This paper reports on an innovative project whereby academic tutorial support was provided through a collaborative partnership with Smarthinking forming a community of practitioners to address issues of improved:
- student satisfaction with the level and timeliness of feedback,
- retention into subsequent units,
- unit completion rates,
- and, student grades.
The paper details how the need for any intervention selected was to be online and accessible to learners at times that suited flexible study schedules (often crossing time zones). It also discusses how the learning intervention based on interactive educational technologies provided a way of personalising the e-learning experience for OUA students creating a learning community.
