Book Description

An evaluation of experimental distance courses offered by Swedish universities beginning in the academic year 1974-75, this study gathered data through questionnaires and interviews with teachers and administrators responsible for the courses (N=120), as well as questionnaires distributed to students at the beginning of the first term and the end of the second term. These provided background data and information on the students' work situations, study motives, planned and actual amount of time for study, study breaks and other problems, use of special teaching aids, and attitudes toward different components of the teaching program. Main findings include a very high degree of satisfaction among the participants (N=797) and relatively high pass rates, even though the majority of the participants worked full time while they were taking courses. A follow-up study of the students (N=571), which was conducted five years after they started, indicates that the work situation is very stable for men, though women change work frequently; interest in continuing education remains very high, with 80% of the group involved in some other kind of studies during the 5-year period; and the group is very flexible in their choice of educational organization. A discussion of the decentralized Swedish model in relation to other systems and the international debate on distance education models concludes the report. A 17-page reference list including a number of sources in English as well as Swedish, data collection instruments, and a list of related reports are included. (Author/LMM)