This paper reports from a research project on assignments as means for two-way communication in distance education. The project was originally planned in two phases, first an extensive survey of the students' views on the value of assignments for their learning, submission density, workload and voluntary submissions in different subjects at different levels, hopefully followed by experimental research to test different solutions. This research at NKI Distance Education was one sub project in a co-operative project with NKS Distance Education organised by the Centre for Distance Education in Norway.
During this first phase of the project an analysis of submission density in all courses at different levels offered by all the private institutions in Norway were carried out. Further, group interviews with experienced students, intensive telephone interviews among students in a selection of courses and a large quantitative survey of students' views were carried out.
Both in theory and practice distance education has undergone large changes during the last 20 years. The new developments in media and communication technology have drastically changed the possibilities in distance education for arranging different kinds of teaching/learning situations with possibilities of real time interaction via media such as compressed video, and time independent computer conferencing. The developments have caused some writers to argue that distance education has changed from the 'first generation' of correspondence teaching to a 'third generation' based on the new communication technologies, a 'paradigm shift' that wipes out the previous clear boundaries between distance education and traditional forms of education. On the other hand, overviews of distance education in the world today indicate that concerning the number of students served, traditional media, such as printed self-instructional material and student support and guidance based on assignments for submission and two-way communication via ordinary mail, still seem to dominate.
In NKI, as in most other Norwegian distance education institutions, the changes in media, technology and methodology have been a continuous development rather than revolutionary shifts. However, most programmes today include correspondence teaching combined with telephone tutoring and seminars/face-to-face teaching as major elements. The accredited institutions are supported by state funds, which until 1993 were based on a formula containing the number of submissions in the courses as one significant variable. A new system of state funding has recognised the methodological possibilities of the new technologies and made funding dependent on 'quantity' of study completed according to a certain formula. A possible positive effect of the new funding scheme might be more creative ways of arranging for learning. However, if assignments are important means for learning, a possible negative effect might be a general reduction of the number of submissions and assignments, without really replacing these means by more effective tools for learning. In our opinion, there is a lot of informal and subjective evidence supporting that the active study of texts and problem solving and written work based on assignments for submission are efficient and effective means for learning for many students. We have noticed that in comparable programmes most other institutions nationally and internationally generally offer much fewer submissions than is the case at NKI. Thus, to be competitive there is a pressure to reduce the number of submissions and/or change the type or reduce the number of assignments to reduce costs. However, it might be that this would reduce the quality of the courses.
Studies by Bååth (1980) and Holmberg & Schuemer (1989) did not generally report significant relationships between density of assignments or workload connected with assignments and study results or student attitudes. Bååth's report of students spending longer time to complete courses having a higher density of submissions could point to a conclusion that a high submission density could represent a barrier to successful completion, especially if turn-around of assignments is slow or the tutors' comments are of little help. Studies of Marland et al. (1990) and Lockwood (1992), although not directly related to submission density and workload of assignments, indicate that distance students tend to adopt 'survival' techniques and often skip exercises and learning tasks built into the courses. Thus, it might be of large importance that the assignments for submission are designed in type, form, frequency and quantity to stimulate the necessary amount and type of mental activity to help students learn.
We hoped to find some answers to the following questions:
We started by analysing submission density in different kinds of courses based on a common data base of all courses offered by accredited Norwegian distance teaching institutions. The data base is administered by the Norwegian Association of Distance Education.
We carried out a survey among active students at NKI to 'measure' their views on submission density, workload of assignments and attitudes towards reducing or increasing the number of assignments and/or submissions, voluntary or mandatory assignments and views on other means of interaction such as telephone tutoring and direct teaching.
First, informal group interviews were carried out, just to get an impression of the students' views. In a way it was the subjective impression from these group interviews that prompted the further research. Without these interviews we might have gone more directly to experiments trying out different solutions in selected courses.
The survey was carried out in two forms, a series of telephone interviews with 40 students studying 8 different courses at different levels and a large postal survey to get an overall picture of student attitudes.
The postal survey was carried out by means of a small questionnaire distributed to the students enclosed with the return of the second last set of submission assignments with the tutor's comments. The students were asked to return the completed questionnaire together with their final submission in the course. As the students progress at their own pace the return of the questionnaires could take a long time. 3500 questionnaires were distributed. 4 months after sending out the first questionnaire we had received 793 usable questionnaires which were analysed in the study.
The base contains more than 1700 courses covering all kinds of subjects offered by 14 institutions. The courses are categorised as (1) accredited university/college courses, (2) courses following official curricula for secondary level schools (vocational and general subjects) and (3) diverse subjects. All courses are normed according to a comparison with full time education, 1 year equalling 1400 hours of study. The data base gives the normed hours of study and the number of submissions for each course.
The average number of study hours per submission varies considerably between type and level of the courses and between institutions. The differences can generally not be explained by differences in methodology or additional use of media and communication technologies. For university/college level courses and for courses following secondary level curricula, NKI seems to have on an average relatively few hours of study per submission, at university level about half of the average for the other institutions.
The differences may partly be explained by differences in subjects. For instance, NKI offers many courses in subjects like mathematics, physics and engineering that demand solving quite complex problems. However, it seems clear that NKI put much emphasis on assignments for submission as means for learning. As submission density, assignment workload and related demands on tutors' work are major cost factors, it is important really to have the best possible basis for deciding the optimal solutions in different kinds of courses with different learning objectives.
During 1993 we carried out a project on evaluation of a specific distance learning programme equivalent to a two-year full time public technical/engineering school. As part of the evaluation we carried out interviews with groups of students having completed this programme. These students had then considerable experience from individual distance learning, having studied part-time for 3 to 7 years and completed more than 200 study units (submissions) in 30 different courses covering languages, basic sciences, mathematics, management and engineering.
We approached them with the hypothesis that these successful students would be positive towards reducing the number of mandatory submissions. This expectation was not at all supported by the interviews. The students expressed generally that they had not thought much about the problem, but on reflection and discussion their answers were surprisingly clear in their preference for increasing rather than decreasing the number of submissions. They stressed the need for frequent feedback from a tutor based on active problem solving, and that the assignments for submission were the really important means for learning. They were open for a discussion of reducing the number of submissions in some courses, but generally they would have preferred even 'smaller' learning units and a higher frequency of submissions, at least in some courses like mathematics and technical subjects. These successful students were in agreement that they would not have sufficient self discipline to handle a situation of voluntary submissions.
5 students were randomly selected from each of 8 different courses, covering different subjects at different levels, the normed number of study hours per submission ranging from 12 (physics - secondary level) to 35 (management -university level).
The results from these individual telephone interviews corresponded closely with the impressions from the group interviews. The students were generally satisfied with the density of submissions, they were generally opposing voluntary submissions, and if introducing changes, they were more in favour of increasing rather than decreasing the number of submissions. To some extent it seemed that university level students were more open for considering reducing the number of assignments and/or that some submissions could be submitted on a voluntary basis.
The returned questionnaires represented 511 distance students and 276 combined education students (distance education supplemented with local classes) studying a large number of different courses (divided into 12 different course categories), different programmes (divided into 9 different categories) at different levels. Concerning submission density the courses ranged from 9 to 35 normed hours of study per submission.
The students spent generally fewer hours on their studies than specified by the norm - supporting the observation that adult students apply time-saving strategies. Mathematics being the only exception, where students reported that they on an average spent 118% of the normed hours. On the other extreme were transport and languages/social science subjects (45% and 53% of the norm respectively). The differences between the course categories concerning time spent relative to the norm were statistically significant.
Concerning attitudes towards submission density the postal survey supported the impressions from the group and telephone interviews - the overwhelming majority of the students were satisfied with the density of submissions in the courses they evaluated. Among those who preferred changes, the majority wanted an even higher submission density.
Concerning the number of assignments per submission or work load directly related to the assignments, the hypothesis of NKI students preferring fewer assignments per submission was not supported by the data.
To the question of making a certain number of submissions voluntary, 86% were negative and 14% positive. Typical open statements were:
Some few students, especially at tertiary level supported the idea of voluntary submissions stressing that an adult student should have autonomy and freedom to decide how to study and how to take advantage of the teaching resources available.
NKI has for many years, partly as a result of previous research, put large emphasis on stimulating tutors and students to communicate by telephone. Based on an impression that many NKI students, especially among those studying low level vocational courses, have relatively low reading and writing abilities, we assumed that the students would be positive to the question of substituting a certain number of submissions by telephone communication.
78% of the respondents were negative to this possibility, while 22% were positive. Typical answers stressed that
Lastly we asked the distance students whether they would prefer that the work related to assignments for submission could be reduced by arranging for seminars/face-to-face teaching. 54% responded positively and 46% negatively. The negative replies were followed by comments such as:
Other comments stressed the flexibility of pure distance study.
There were a lot of comments following a positive view on seminars/face-to-face teaching, stressing communication with other students and the need for direct help from teachers, but it seemed also that many of those responding positively were not prepared to take part themselves.The main tendencies of student attitudes concerning assignments from the group interviews, individual interviews and the questionnaire survey, were very similar. A large majority of the students seemed to be satisfied with the existing submission density, assignment workload and the emphasis put on assignments for submission relative to other forms of communication such as telephone conversations and seminars.
There may be several reasons for these results. For instance, most of the students had not reflected much on these questions. It seems that the students are satisfied with status quo, perhaps insecure about possible changes. They seem to be generally positive as long as they do not have experienced specific problems concerning the assignments during their studies.
Some few students would prefer even higher submission density. This seems especially to be the case in science and technical subjects. The students were also against voluntary assignments. Especially in the "hard" natural science, mathematics and technical courses this was clearly expressed.
Among the tertiary level students there were more students who state that they would prefer fewer and also voluntary submissions. These students seem to be more independent and autonomous in their attitudes to study and choice of learning strategies.
The students quite clearly meant that the assignments for submission are the most important means for learning in distance study.
We started the research with the idea that NKI probably ought to reduce workload and density of submissions in our studies, and that such changes perhaps would both increase the quality measured as student satisfaction and competitiveness measured by lower costs. We have concluded that one should be careful introducing changes concerning submissions density and assignment workload without a firm basis in preceding research and follow up by systematic evaluation. Thus, the project should be continued into a phase 2. If possible, the further research should include experimental studies, similar to the Bååth (1980) studies to give better basis for future developments concerning submissions and assignments.
Bååth, J. A. (1980) Postal Two-Way Communication in Correspondence Education, Lund, Gleerup.
Holmberg, B. & Schuemer R. (1989) Tutoring frequency in distance education - an empirical study of the impact of various frequencies of assignment submission. In Holmberg, B. (ed.) Mediated Communication as a Component of Distance Education, Hagen, Fernuniversität.
Lockwood, F. (1992) Activities in Self-Instructional Texts, London, Kogan Page.
Marland, P., Patching, W., Putt, I. & Putt, R. (1990) Distance learners' interaction with text while studying. Dist. Ed., 11, 1, pp. 71-91.
Rekkedal, T. & Blakstad, I.-L. (1994) Submission Density and Assignment Workload Revisited. Report 1: SEFU Project on 'Submission Density, Student Autonomy and Modes of Communication in Distance Education, Bekkestua, NKI.