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The Effectiveness of Models of Flexible Provision of Higher Education

Executive Summary

• The topic
• Research questions
• Research genre
• Models of flexible provision of higher education in Australia
• The effectiveness of models for flexible provision of higher education
• The cost effectiveness of models for flexible provision of higher education
• Recommendations

The topic

This study constitutes an investigation of the effectiveness of several models of flexible provision of higher education in Australia.

The study grew out of a concern about the effectiveness of flexible provision initiatives in affording study choices to students in non-metropolitan regions of Australia. The cases chosen for close investigation are ones which provide for students in non-metropolitan regions.

The notion of flexible provision is not defined in any agreed way in the research literature, nor is there a single, commonly adopted approach to it in practice. In this study the term flexible provision of higher education, does not refer to the use of a particular learning and teaching technique or technology-a meaning sometimes adopted-but to the provision of choice for learners.

In this report flexible provision refers to offering guided choice to the learner in one or more of the following domains:

• The time at which study occurs.

• The pace at which the learning proceeds.

• The place in which study is conducted.

• The content that is studied, which includes the concept of flexible entry and exit points to a programme.

• The learning style adopted by the learner.

• The form(s) of assessment employed.

• The option to collaborate with others or to learn independently.

Flexible provision of higher education, that is the provision of choice for learners, may be afforded through the employment of various strategies including the use of learning and teaching techniques and technologies such as CD-ROM, online materials, online communications, print materials, face-to-face tuition, distributed face-to-face sessions, video-on-demand, videotape/audiotape, videoconferencing, teleconferencing, TV and radio.

Flexible provision of higher education may also be afforded through the adoption of policies affecting choices for learners such as open entry, recognition of prior learning, credit transfer arrangements, articulated and embedded awards, content choices within programmes, multi-modal provision of education, and negotiated assessment.

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Research questions

The research questions were framed as:

• Are different models of flexible provision of higher education apparent in Australia?

• Are models identified effective in the provision of higher education?

The second question includes the concept of cost effectiveness.

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Research genre

The research genre adopted is interpretative. Neither universities nor programmes can be sorted into simple flexible and non-flexible categories. Each case is peculiar. In view of this the identification of factors associated with effective flexible provision of higher education has not been attempted. The investigation involves the identification and description of cases of flexible provision of higher education. The descriptions utilize both qualitative and quantitative data. The quantitative elements are employed descriptively rather than inferentially.

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Models of flexible provision of higher education in Australia

Each university in Australia was provided with the definitions employed in the study and the conceptual schema and was invited to indicate policies of the university directed at flexible provision of higher education. For each policy they were requested to provide a rationale and an example or examples of practice. All universities responded.

Three major themes emerged from the data. Many universities defined flexible provision of higher education in terms of offering choices to learners. Of these there were universities who understood flexibility to be directed at access. There were other universities who understood flexibility as being about accommodating a range of learning needs and preferences. The third common response referred to the use of new learning technologies to address the quality of learning. In this study this purpose does not come within the definition of flexible provision; however the practices that arise from it may provide flexibility and to that extent they were included.

The survey of universities indicated a wide range of approaches to the flexible provision of higher education. In fact for many universities several approaches co-existed. For the purposes of this study two broad categories and six strategies of flexible provision have been distinguished on the basis of literature and responses to the survey.

Provision affording access and convenience:

• Moving time and place of study to suit the learner.

• Removing fixed time and place constraints.

• Removing entry requirements.

Provision accommodating learning preferences:

• Providing alternative entry and exit points.

• Accommodating learning style, pace and collaboration preferences.

• Accommodating content and assessment preferences.

These broad categories and strategies provide a typology of flexible provision of higher education in Australia.

The effectiveness of models of flexible provision of higher education was explored in this investigation through case studies. The case study reports constitute descriptions of the context of the case, policies relevant to the case, practices, student participation, learning outcomes and cost effectiveness.

Ten cases were selected. The ten cases cover the notional models of flexible provision identified in the survey of universities. The cases, however, do not match the notional models. Most span two or three models. In selecting the cases a focus on provision for non-metropolitan regions was a factor.

Case study findings were summarized employing depictograms. The depictogram is a tool for providing a graphic summary of an interpretation of data derived from descriptive case studies. In the case of the evaluation and investigation of the effectiveness of models of flexible provision of higher education a set of depictograms was used to depict flexibility, effectiveness and cost effectiveness.

The findings from the individual case studies have been agglomerated in the Conclusion to give an overall picture of the flexibility, effectiveness and cost effectiveness of the cases investigated.

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The effectiveness of models for flexible provision of higher education

As a descriptive/interpretive approach is taken and as each case differs substantially from other cases, it is not appropriate to make generalized conclusions. Nevertheless the case findings can be said to indicate that:

• The cases of flexible provision of higher education investigated were indeed flexible - that is they offered choices to students.

• The cases could be classed as effective against the criteria of effectiveness adopted for the study as well as in terms of the intent of the universities in offering flexible arrangements.

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The cost effectiveness of models for flexible provision of higher education

Cost effectiveness was addressed in this investigation by separately considering effectiveness and costliness. As for flexibility and effectiveness, a picture of cost effectiveness of flexible provision of higher education emerges from the case studies which suggests that:

• As indicated above, the cases could be classed as effective.

• Flexible provision tends to make marginal additional demands on infrastructure costs. In most cases it makes additional demands on support services and academic staff time. The additional demands on the resource academic staff time are not usually reflected in additional budget allocations. The demands on academic staff time are satisfied in part at the cost of time spent on research and in part by staff working longer hours.

• The costliness of most of the cases studied is due in part to their innovative status involving establishment costs and small scale of operation.

• For institutions with established off-campus or multi-modal arrangements and which make allowance for design and development demands, flexible provision is not costly, though communication with students is increasingly demanding on academic staff time.

• There may be opportunities for adoption of more economical procedures.

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Recommendations

Each case is individual, reflecting institutional responses to their own histories, needs and environments, and the research approach adopted does not lead to generalizable conclusions. A review of the findings of the cases in conjunction with the literature does, however, suggest some possibilities for effective and cost effective flexible provision of higher education which inform the following recommendations.

It is recommended that:

• Universities, rather than making incremental and additive changes to programmes, should consider redesigning programmes for flexible provision taking into account the educational potentials of available media, opportunities for economies of scale and the constraints on available resources, particularly academic staff time.

• Universities should seek opportunities to make use of tuition materials for both on-campus and off-campus tuition and combinations of the two in order to make provision economical and to make provision flexible in terms of time, place and learning style preferences of students.

• Universities should seek opportunities to spread design and development costs of tuition materials including collaboration between institutions, voluntary or commercial pooling of learning resources using metadata tagging, and the purchase of commercially available materials.

• Universities should consider making more use of infrastructure and resources outside of the higher education sector, such as those in the workplace and the home, which are available at little cost to the education provider and are convenient for the learner.

This study suggests further areas for research:

• Further research and evaluation of learning processes and learning outcomes associated with flexible provision of higher education is required.

• This study has focused on non-metropolitan flexible provision of higher education. The effectiveness of flexible provision of higher education in metropolitan regions requires investigation and evaluation.

• This study has reflected on the extent to which campuses and programmes have attracted students from non-metropolitan regions. This does not necessarily indicate the impact of the campuses and programmes on regional participation in higher education. Changes in patterns of non-metropolitan regional participation in higher education should be investigated when new census material becomes available.

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