This article examines characteristics and circumstances of postgraduate coursework students who tend to fly under the radar of university support systems and who often experience considerable difficulty in making a successful transition to postgraduate study. The case study described illustrates many of the issues facing postgraduate students studying at a distance, as well as the benefits of a flexible and blended learning model where such issues are addressed through opportunities to experience a face-to-face learning environment as a component of their studies. Problems arise for many students because they have either not undertaken university study for some time, or as is becoming increasingly common, have never studied at university at all. Either way, such students struggle to understand the learning objectives and expected outcomes of postgraduate study and to demonstrate the skills expected of graduates of such programs. They also are frequently unable to access academic support services because, as mature-aged learners, they predominantly study part-time in off-campus mode. For universities, these problems will be exacerbated by the recent introduction of the new Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) and the expectations of agencies that administer the AQF that graduates will demonstrate achievement of designated threshold learning outcomes. To explore these issues, this paper examines an academic program model that tries to overcome the problems identified above by combining principles of open learning, flexible learning, distance education and block teaching mode. The findings suggest that an empirical study needs to be undertaken to explore problems of off-campus study for postgraduate coursework students and to determine under what circumstances it may provide optimal learning outcomes.
展开▼
