| Much of the research to date on distance education has examined achievement outcomes, media comparisons, learning styles, and issues of course design. This qualitative study focused instead upon the learner characteristics and life circumstances that far-end learners bring to a two-way video distance education environment. Specifically, the study looked at age, gender, socioeconomic status, marital status and history, parental status and history, other care-giver responsibilities, employment status and history, educational history of the learner, educational history of the learner's parents and siblings, affiliations, health status, disabilities, and important life events. These characteristics were examined for their impact upon learner perceptions of Transactional Distance (Moore, 1990), learner achievement, and learner satisfaction in a distance education environment. The study was conducted at Metropolitan University, a private institution in a midwestern state. The subjects of the study were members of a particular cohort enrolled in a baccalaureate Social Work program (BSW) at Metropolitan's extension center in Northland, some 200 miles away. The program utilizes a cohort structure, where classmates progress through the curriculum together in lockstep. Data for the study were collected using two instruments, a General Information Form (GIF) and a private in-depth interview. Data analysis followed the Grounded Theory approach of Strauss and Corbin (1990). Textual analysis was performed both manually and through the use of QSR NUD*IST 4.0 qualitative analysis software. The resulting hypothesized model proposes relationships between categories of phenomena describing the life realities of these adult distance learners. Among the findings, two key assertions surfaced. (1) Subjects felt that learner characteristics and life circumstances directly affected their participation in the program, but had little direct impact upon the formation of their perceptions of transactional distance. (2) Perceived transactional distance, no matter how great, was not seen as an impediment to learner achievement in the program or satisfaction with the distance learning environment. |
