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The Student Opinion Survey was sent to a random sample of 2,600 Open University (OU) students who had gained at least two credits and were studying during 1984. The response rate was 84 percent. Responses to open-ended questions on about one-third of those questionnaires were analyzed to determine the significant phenomena in students' experiences of OU study. The subject that most occupied students' minds was tutors and tutorials. Well over one-third mentioned that the decrease in the number of tutors and the inaccessible locations of tutorials had hindered them. Students indicated that the quality of tutors varied from excellent to appalling; the quality of OU material compared very favorably with other academic institutions; and OU study had contributed to their change and development. Most comments about assessment were in the form of suggestions for change. The major concern regarding courses was the number that had been dropped from OU's offerings or postponed. Criticisms about books were that there were too many, they were too expensive, or they were not relevant. Criticisms about administration included increased fees and poor course guides. The critical feedback about summer schools focused on poor quality, expense, disruption to family arrangements, and the fact that they were not optional. Students suggested that OU might economize by scrapping television and radio. (YLB)

Describes a project-based distance learning course design in an open university course. Discusses approaches to course design in distance learning and suggests that students are not as easily manipulated by instructional devices as course designers may think. (CFR)

This report reviews the work which has been carried out under the label of "research in student learning," in order to examine the significance of the findings for distance education, and to discuss some of the methodological issues raised in carrying out this research. The discussion also provides insights into conducting this type of research in distance education. It is concluded that research findings have revealed five elements for understanding student learning. The first, students' orientation to learning, is described as the collection of attitudes, aims, and purposes that express a student's relationship to a course and the particular educational institution. Orientation is concerned with a student's vocational, academic, personal, or social approach to education. The second element for understanding student learning concerns students' development as learners. This is described as a process in which students progress from memorizing facts to considering the abstraction of meaning, and the strategies students use in order to learn. The third element consists of the students' approaches to study, specifically, their distinction between a deep and surface approach to new material. The fourth element is the area of learning outcomes, or, what students actually learn from a course of study. The last element is the area of students' experiences of course design and assessment. Course design and assessment are noted as key areas where distance educators and educational technologists are able to influence the ways in which students approach their studies. (27 references) (DB)

The point of departure for this article is the title of a book edited by David Fetterman, "Qualitative Approaches to Educational Evaluation--The Silent Scientific Revolution." This article addresses the question of how the shift to a qualitative, phenomenological approach has impinged on research and evaluation in distance education. Three issues that influence the style and approach of such research are identified: (1) the role and influence of educational technology with the assumptions which it embodies about the course design process and the relationship between research and practice; (2) the nature of the organization and the structures within which research and evaluation are conducted; and (3) the individual staff involved, their backgrounds, and their interests. The discussion then focuses on the role and influence of educational technology; qualitative-illuminative studies of learning and phenomenological approaches to research and evaluation; critical theory and action research; international perspectives in research on distance education; and developing programs for research and theory. It is concluded that, although the "silent revolution" identified by Fetterman has not really occurred in distance education, important initiatives are in progress with the development and elaboration of the "new educational technology." Lists of 33 references and 35 Student Research Center Reports are included. (ALF)

Students' orientations to learning, their perceptions of gain from their studies at Great Britain's Open University, and their development as learners were studied. Thirty students were followed from their first university course, the Social Science Foundation Course, through their two subsequent years of study, using in-depth interviews to describe their experiences. It was found that students are not merely more or less motivated to study, but are motivated to qualitatively different things. Students' orientations to learning were classified as academic, vocational, and personal, and each of the orientation categories were divided into subtypes according to whether students were primarily interested in the content of the course (intrinsic interest) or meeting degree requirements (extrinsic interest). To illustrate cases where students had more than one orientation, student comments are included. Student perceptions of five types of gains after the first year of study are considered: knowledge about new subjects, making sense of society, the growth of skepticism, a broadening and perception of change in oneself, and learning how to approach academic courses. In terms of students' development as learners, attention is briefly directed to students' growing confidence and their increasingly strategic or selective pattern of study. (SW)

This report describes the work of the Study Methods Group, which uses qualitative research methodologies to determine how Open University students approach learning and why they adopt a particular approach. Research considers student orientation to learning, the relationship of learning outcomes to learning approach, and student development as learners. The report also discusses other evaluation methods and research on student learning. (Author/CJ)

The way that Open University students study technology (T100) and social science (D101) foundation courses was investigated using an inventory developed at Lancaster University. A comparison of study approaches of Open University and conventional university students, and data derived from student interviews were analyzed. The Lancaster inventory, which is appended, contains 16 scales that describe the four aspects of how students approach studying: meaning orientation, reproducing orientation, achieving orientation, and learning styles and pathologies. The way that recent research on student learning has been incorporated into the inventory is also addressed. The Open University study sample consisted of 153 T100 students and 204 D101 students. In addition to analysis of survey results, a small number of students were interviewed about their approaches to studying. Based on factor analysis, it was found that Open University and conventional university students approach studying in similar ways: the two main factors for both groups were "reproducing" and "meaning" orientations. However, D101 and T100 students are more similar in their study approaches than are conventional students of engineering and psychology. The evidence appears to suggest that Open University students have a greater interest in their studies and lower extrinsic motivation as well as a greater tendency towards a surface approach. (SW)

The conceptions of learning of 29 students enrolled in the Social Science Foundation course of Open University, Great Britain, were analyzed in relation to the five conceptual categories of learning reported by Saljo (1979). The first three of these concepts describes learning as an increase in information, knowledge as external to the student, and the process of learning as involving the transfer of knowledge from an external source to the heads of the learners. In contrast, the essence of the other two of Saljo's concepts seems to be that knowledge is construed by individuals as a result of an active effort on the part of the learner. It is suggested that the difference between these two broad concepts is very similar to the distinction between surface and deep level approaches to learning tasks identified by Marton and Saljo (1976). A deep approach is usually but not always required by Open University course materials; yet, some of the students had little awareness of these different demands. Students who adopt a surface approach to studying concentrate on trying to remember as much detail as possible rather than on trying to understand the overall meaning. The students' descriptions of learning, some of which are included, were found to fit easily into the framework Saljo offers. It is suggested that students' concepts of learning seem likely to be linked to students' approaches to individual study tasks and to their orientation to study. Understanding subject matter as a goal in itself and understanding as a route to personal development are study orientations that are similar to Saljo's conceptions of learning as the neutral abstraction of meaning and learning as the understanding of reality in a personally relevant way. (SW)

Changes in a group of students' conception of learning over 6 years of part-time study were investigated at Great Britain's Open University. The direct exploration of students' experiences of learning involved a qualitative and phenomenological research paradigm. Learning was described in the context of the natural setting based on the learner's perspective. Eighteen Open University students, who initially registered for the Social Sciences Foundation course in 1980, were interviewed before they started and at the end of their foundation course. They were then interviewed during each year of subsequent study, as they progressed toward graduation in 1985. Students told how they decided to take their courses and what they had gained from study. In the later interviews, they told about any changes in study habits and critical incidents that stood out in their careers as students. Stages of student development were identified that were linked to confidence, competence, and locus of control. At the start of their studies many students expressed lack of confidence in their ability to study: they relied on the teaching system of The Open University to control and direct their learning. It appeared that developing greater confidence was a key step in developing competence in learning. (SW)