Bridging the transition process for first-year students in distance construction programs a case study in Australia

Abstract Bridging the transition process for first-year students in distance construction programs a case study in Australia Peng Wu School of Engineering and Technology, Central Queensland University Distance education is widely adopted to deliver courses for students who are physically separated from the lecturers. Due to the heavy role that technology plays in distance education, as well as the varied socio-economic status of the students, it is unreasonable to assume that all first-year students can successfully complete the transition process into tertiary studies and begin immediately on core content knowledge. Central Queensland University has offered the construction programs exclusively by the distance mode since 1990. The University has developed its own framework to ease the transition process of first-year students into tertiary studies. Providing an orientation course and a meta-course as well as creating learning communities are critical to address the transition problem. The results provide a good guidance of the design and delivery of distance construction programs for first-year students and will be useful for other universities who are seeking to implement the distance mode. Keywords: Distance education, First-year students; Construction education. Introduction Distance education has become a common course delivery method for a wide variety of university courses (McMullin and Owen, 2002). It is characterised by the students being physically separated from their teachers and classroom for all or substantial portion of the formal, organised training or education program (Berge, 2002). Studies have been completed to quantify the extent that distance learning is replacing traditional means of course delivery methods (McMullin and Owen 2002). Allan and Seaman (2009) found that online enrolments have continued to grow at rates far in excess of the total higher education student population, with the most recent data demonstrating no signs of slowing. In the United States, it is found that (Allan and Seaman 2009, p.1): 1. Over 4.6 million students were taking as least one online course during the fall 2008 term; a 17 percent increase over the number reported the previous year. 2. The 17 percent growth rate for online enrolments far exceeds the 1.2 percent growth of the overall higher education student population. 3. More than one in four higher education students now take at least one course online. Such trend can also be found in Australia. Oliver and Tower (2000) found that over 95% of university students reported making regular use of information and communications technology in learning. The number of students enrolling on a part time basis has increased over the years, e.g. in construction programs (Mills and Ashford, 2004). The growth of online economy and part time students has resulted in a growing demand for distance learning. 1

There are a variety challenges that first-year students may face in distance tertiary studies. First-year students have varied background and will therefore have uneven academic preparation and expectations. Kennedy et al. (2008) found that while some students have embraced the technologies and tools in distance learning, this is by no means the universal student experience. Erickson and Strommer (2005) stated that first-year students are likely to find teaching practices that are common in college unfamiliar and difficult. It should also be noted that the skills obtained from high school do not necessarily translate into the sophisticated core skills in tertiary education. For example, Kirkwood and Price (2005, p.271) found that familiarity with the use of email does not imply expertise in rigorous online debate and discussion. More importantly, the physical distance between the students and the lecturers in distance education will cause psychological and communication gap and eventually amplify the stresses. This paper therefore aims to investigate the effective strategies to ease the transition process of first-year students into distance tertiary studies in Australia. Construction education in Australia Distance learning has gone through rapid expansions over the years. According to the Department of Industry, Innovation Science, Research and Tertiary Education (2012), 243,117 students were enrolled in distance or blended learning at the end of 2011; a 6.5% increase over the number reported the previous year. The 6.5 percent growth rate far exceeds the 2.4 percent growth of the overall higher education student population and the 1.4 percent growth of the student numbers who have enrolled in the internal mode of attendance (i.e. the traditional face-to-face learning). The number of students in DLCPs (i.e. construction management, building surveying, quantity surveying, housing and property) is anticipated to increase as well. The term DLCPs refers to construction programs which are offered exclusively by the distance mode or construction programs of which substantial portion of the courses are delivered by the distance modem, e.g. in a blended learning environment. The number of student who have enrolled in construction related programs at the University of Western Sydney (UWS), the largest provider in Australia, have increased from 504 to 880; a 74.6 percent increase from 2008 to 2012. UWS is currently pushing the use of distance mode in delivering construction courses. The number of students who have enrolled in construction related programs in Central Queensland University (CQU), one of the largest distance education providers in Australia, have increased from 381 to 443; a 16.3 percent increase from 2008 to 2012. This is caused by a growing industry demands for construction graduates, as well as the increasing number of earner-learners, i.e. the students with a full time job who undertake study. Although the distance student numbers are increasing, the development of learning and teaching standards for distance education, e.g. first-year orientation, curriculum design, is left behind. The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency is currently working on developing national teaching and learning standards. However, it should be noted that there are many differences between the traditional face-to-face mode and the distance mode that cannot be overlooked. For example, due to the heavy role that technology plays in distance education, the orientation course should be comprehensive and evidence based. 2

Research methodology Overview of the case study project In accordance with the research aim of this study, which is to bridge the transition process for first-year students, the case study research method is appropriate (Yin, 1994). CQUniversity Australia has introduced the Bachelor of Building Design in 1990 and the Bachelor of Construction Management in 1995. The University now offers three bachelor programs, including Bachelor of Building Surveying and Certification, exclusively by the distance mode. The students can therefore complete the programs part time while working or seeking employment in the construction industry. The University was facing a series of problems with first-year students. The attrition rate for the three construction-related programs was very high. The attrition rate for the above three programs was 38.6% in 2007. In addition, many students are found to have difficulty in adapting to tertiary studies. Academic writing, effective research and correct citation are some of the commonly seen problems. These problems were amplified when a significant portion of students, currently 25.6% of all students, was coming from a low socioeconomic status for the above three programs. Students from low socioeconomic status backgrounds can be reluctant to seek support from academic staff with subject-related queries because they often are unsure of the validity of their questions and how staff might respond to their queries (Benson et al., 2009). In addition, they may not be equipped with the skill-set of traditional students in terms of their academic, research, computer, writing and language skills, which are all necessary skills for online learning (Kirk, 2008). More importantly, the levels of academic preparedness of students from low socioeconomic status backgrounds can sometimes be different to those of traditional students (Murphy, 2009). Several major strategies were therefore taken to address the transition problems by the University from 2007. This study is part of a larger project which aims to address teaching and learning quality in distance construction programs. The project has several stages. In the first stage, the aim is to identify the transition problems of first-year students with different demographic backgrounds, such as entry qualification, prior experience of higher education and socioeconomic status. The outcomes are to develop different transition frameworks for students with different demographic backgrounds. This paper is part of the first stage offering an overview of the case and some general strategies. Data collection and data analysis Data collection in this case study relied on many sources of evidence, including documentation, interviews and direct observations. Documentation. Documents including university/school policy and procedures to address the transition problem were referred to in this case study. Interviews. Interviews with head of program and relevant interface designers were organized. Direct observation. Direct observations were also conducted to obtain information relating to the curriculum and interface design. The strategies collected were then organized into several categories to assess their impact on the cognitive development of first-year students. The categories include creating an orientation course, a meta-course and learning communities. 3

Flexible learning platform While endorsing the fundamental importance of face-to-face contact in many teaching contexts, it is recognised that digital technologies have the capacity to present learners with opportunities to research and select information from a variety of media customised to their needs (Central Queensland University, 1999). The University is therefore taking steps to progressively shift considerable amount of workload to the flexible learning platform. The flexible learning platform is the most frequently used learning technology for distance students. The design of the platform should include all core content knowledge. However, it should not be overcrowded because an overcrowded learning site can frustrate and intimidate the students who are not technology-competent. The University is currently adopting Moodle to create the learning platform. Moodle is an open source Course Management System (CMS), also known as a Learning Management System (LMS) or a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) (Moodle, 2012). Using open source CMS has several advantages. The University can detect and fix severe defects within hours without negatively affect student learning. More importantly, by using open source CMS, the University is able to create applications or solutions that can best match student needs. For example, in a recent Moodle update, Blackboard Collaborate is embedded in the learning site due to the high demand of synchronous communication. As technology plays a heavy role in distance learning, all lecturers should be appropriately trained so that they are competent to use the technology to delivery core content knowledge and communicate with students. Various relevant and timely professional developments are provided to academic staff by the University. After each major update of the learning site, a status update report as well as Moodle support sessions, will provided to all academic and general staff. These support sessions will also be recorded and provided to distance students in the meta-course which will be discussed late in this paper. Orientation course Swan (2002) stated that there is an enormous amount of content available through the internet. However, many students, especially first year students, are overwhelmed by it. In 2007, CQUniversity has initiated a transition and orientation program which aims to provide opportunities for familiarising students with the University s virtual environment for distance student. It aims to provide activities and processes which will eventually ease the transition of students to tertiary studies. An introductory level course - Built Environment Communication and Skills, is therefore designed based on the transition program. In order to identify the needs of first year students, a survey was conducted by the University. The results showed that several areas are of critical importance for first-year students, including the delivery medium, academic writing skills, assignments and exams in an online environment and mathematical basis for construction programs. The course therefore aims to address the transition process and prepare students for later structural engineering and industry practioner courses by giving them an understanding of how graduate attributes will influence their ongoing educational development, how to use a learning management system, how to appropriately use a referencing style to avoid plagiarism, and when to use different presentation modes for communicating industry knowledge e.g. essay, technical report, reflective journal, oral, teamwork, graphics, hand sketching and basic mathematics. 4

This course has several objectives. One objective is to demonstrate how to access the Moodle learning site and other relevant computer skills. Moodle is the official site hosting all study and resource materials for the online learning environment. Blackboard Collaborate is the synchronous technology tool used to deliver lectures. Universities cannot simply assume that the students are fully aware of the technology and will make good use of them. As Kennedy et al. (2008) pointed out, while the majority of incoming university students possess a core set of technology based skills, beyond those a diverse range of skills exist across the student population. It is therefore necessary to ensure that the learning experience of incoming university students through the use of technology in the online environment is both evidence based and empirically informed. The interface design of one course in the Moodle system is chosen for illustration purposes. Figure 1. Moodle site design for the delivery of distance construction programs (Source: Wu et al., 2013) As can be seen from Figure 1, a structure of collapsed topics is adopted. Only core elements are presented in the Moodle site, which include course navigation, scaffolding, collapsed topics and interaction. Scaffolding is the term widely used to describe effective learning support (McLoughlin, 2002). Laurillard (2002) found that not all students are willing to execute the tasks and activities that lead to successful learning and a support system should therefore be designed to assist structured learning. A list of varied support systems including IT help, library help and student support centre is provided. In addition to the scaffolding system, the lecturers should also clearly state that they will be available for assistance in the welcome message at the beginning of the term. The design of each collapsed topic is also revamped to be more student-orientated. The topic designs before and after the revamp can be seen from Figure 2. As can be seen from Figure 2, only core elements of each topic, such as textbook, additional readings and workbook, are presented in the collapsed topic of each week. This is to ensure that the core elements are seamless joined in the standard template to avoid confusing the students. System stability can 5

also be ensured by only integrating the core elements so that system crashes can be avoided. Consistency over difference courses is maintained to ensure that students will not be confused. Before After Figure 2. The topic designs before after the revamp (Adapted from Wu et al., 2013) Another objective of the Built Environment Communication and Skills is to present effective academic writing skills, including correct referencing in academic study. Kruse (2003) found that without being taught to understand the differences between writing at the high school level and the university level, the students will run into many problems, e.g. plagiarism, which is very common in an online learning environment. For example, Underwood and Szabo (2003) found that academic dishonesty can be more prevalent among those who were active internet users. Step-by-step guidance is therefore offered to first-year students in this course. The guidance includes the structure in academic writing, how to write executive summary, the Harvard referencing style, etc. Program specific mathematical concepts are also provided in this course. Mathematics is fundamental in construction programs. The mathematical basis in construction education consists of a rather stable set of subjects such as linear algebra, calculus and statistics with a clear hierarchical structure (Perrenet et al., 2000). In the Built Environmental Communication and Skills, the mathematics required in the construction educations is presented to cover the 6

whole subject and in the right order to ensure that the students will not fail to learn by missing essential parts. The students can refer back to the Moodle site of this course if they encounter any mathematical problems in a few courses, such as Structural Forms and Analysis and Structural Design Processes. Meta-course design In addition to the Built Environment Communication and Skills, a meta-course (Built Environment@CQUni) is designed to facilitate the transition process. Students who have enrolled in the three construction-related programs will simultaneously be enrolled in the meta-course. It is designed as a support space as well as social forums to allow interactions. The meta-course is open for students to access weeks before the term starts. The course is designed using the template as shown in Figure 1. Several topics are listed in the meta-course to assist students, which are introduction to the Moodle site, introduction to the lecturers and a few commonly used tools in tertiary studies, such as Turnitin (which is the system to detect plagiarism), EndNote and assignment extension application. The lecturers will post various pieces of information which are useful to the students in the forum. For example, a recent post about a cadetship position has aroused various interests and discussions. The students will also post any question they may have in the forum. For example, one student made a post regarding the feasibility of a double-degree program in construction management and building surveying and was supported by many other students. It should be noted that the main aim of the meta-course is to provide a portal for informal social interaction. As Cobb (1994) stated that social interactions can influence the cognitive development of students. By encouraging social interactions among the students, appropriate learning communities can therefore be formed by students who have similar interests/goals or students who are experiencing similar problems. Learning communities A learning community is characterised by a willingness of members to share resources, accept and encourage new membership, regular communication, systematic problem solving and a preparedness to share success (Moore and Brooks, 2000). The role of learning communities to online learning can be explained by the socio-cultural theory, which states that social interactions and cultural organised activities can influence the cognitive development of the students (Cobb, 1994). In addition, distance learning can sometimes lead to sense of isolation and remoteness (Conrad and Donaldson, 2004). These problems can be addressed by creating online learning communities. Contemporary literature suggests that providing lecturers and students with appropriate access to technology and appropriate support promotes community development (e.g. Palloff and Pratt, 1999; Brook and Oliver, 2003). Online learning environments which have poor access and support will lead to low levels of participation, which has negative impact for the development of learning communities (Brook and Oliver, 2002). Currently, the university is adopting both asynchronous (Moodle) and synchronous (Blackboard Collaborate TM ) to ensure that the students will have adequate access to learning and teaching technologies. The interfaces of both technologies are very neat and easy to manipulate. For example, the students can follow the additional reading materials and post their comments in the forum in the Moodle site. The students can also comment on the reading materials during the weekly Collaborate sessions either by using the whiteboard or by instant messaging. 7

Factors at the course level, such as the design and the structure of the courses, can affect the formation of learning communities. Group projects and group presentations are sometimes used to promote collaborative learning among students. With the support of synchronous technology, the students can conduct brainstorming and presentation just like the traditional face-to-face way. According to a survey results conducted by the university, students are more willing to participate if the lecturer is enthusiastic. The lecturer therefore plays a very important role in developing learning communities. A few good strategies can be adopted. The most efficient one would be encouraging students to share experience in the online forum by posting or in the Collaborate session by presenting. For example, the discussion of floods in Australia in the online forum has led to many posts of students talking about their own experiences. Given the widespread geographic location (which basically covers every state and territory in Australia), such cognitive development is not something the students can obtain from traditional face-to-face classroom. Conclusions With a growing demand from the construction education for graduates, the student numbers of construction programs are increasing over the years, including part time students and earner-learners, i.e. students with a full time job who undertake study. Distance education offers such an opportunity for the students to complete the programs part time while working or seeking employment in the construction industry. However, the courses should be appropriately designed to help first-year students to complete the transition process. After 20 years of experience in delivering construction education programs, the current arrangement at Central Queensland University appears to provide adequate support for delivering distance construction programs. The students will feel valued if the course or the program is structured, the lecturer is enthusiastic and all other students are willing to participate. A bridging course is designed to address the transition process and prepare students for both the asynchronous and synchronous technologies, as well as later structural engineering courses by giving them an understanding of graphics and basic mathematics. A meta-course is also provided to provide opportunities for social interaction among various students, even if they are not participated in the same course. The goal is to create appropriate learning communities, including studentcontent, student-student and student-lecturer community, to support the cognitive development of first-year distance students. The framework can be seen in Figure 3. It should be noted that these elements are not all factors which will affect first-year students and it is therefore proposed that universities assess the advantages and disadvantages before implementing the distance mode in construction education. 8

Goal: Creating appropriate learning communities to support the cognitive development of first-year distance students Orientation course Course learning sites; Course topics; Effective writing skills; Effective research; Specific mathematical concepts; and Meta-course Who is who in the team? Step-by-step instructions to the technology; Commonly used tools in tertiary studies; Informal social interactions among participants Active delivery Enthusiastic lecturers Structured courses Student participation Figure 3. The house of first-year transition in CQUniversity References Allen, I.E. and Seaman, J. (2009). Learning on demand: online education in the United States, 2009. The Sloan Consortium: Newburyport. Benson, R., Hewitt, L., Devos, A., Crosling, G. and Heagney, M. (2009). Experiences of students from diverse backgrounds: the role of academic support in the student experience. In: Proceedings of the 32 nd HERDSA Annual Conference, Darwin, 6-9 July 2009, pp. 545-550. Berge, Z.L. (2002). Obstacle to distance training and education in corporate organisations. Journal of Workplace Learning, 14(5), pp.182-189. Brook, C. and Oliver, R. (2003). Online learning communities: investigating a design framework. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 13(2), pp.139-160. Central Queensland University. (1999). Review of distance education and flexible learning: A green paper prepared for Vice Chancellor and President of CQUniversity. Central Queensland University: Rockhampton. Cobb, P. (1994). Where is mind? Educational Researcher, Vol. 23(7), pp.13-20. Conrad, R. and Donaldson, J.A. (2004). Engaging the online learner. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco. Department of Industry, Innovation Science, Research and Tertiary Education. (2012). Higher education statistics [online] Available from: http://www.innovation.gov.au/highereducation/highereducationstatistics/statisticsp ublications/pages/default.aspx <cited 04 Dec 2012> Erickson, B.L. and Strommer, D.W. (2005). Inside the first-year classroom: challenges and constraints. In: Upcraft, M.L., Gardener, J.N., Barefoot, B.O. (eds.), Challenging and supporting the first-year students. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco. pp. 241-256. 9

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