Students' perspectives on delivery strategies

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ABSTRACT
This paper summarises the major findings from a series of qualitative and quantitative research projects conducted by WestOne and the Western Australian Department of Training during 2001 and 2002. These research projects examined student preferences for various delivery strategies. Of particular interest was the strength of the overall demand for flexible delivery methods and differences in delivery preferences among segments of the student population (defined on the basis of primary motivation for training). The research also looked at the relationship between quality of learning, quality of teaching and delivery strategies.

The research has shown that the experience of the majority of vocational education and training (VET) students is dominated by face-to-face teaching and, on the whole, they are fairly satisfied with this traditional and familiar method of delivery. However, there are signs that flexible delivery options are important and valued by certain segments of the student population (eg “career changers”, “skill improvers” and the “self-employed”). There are also signs that demand will build in the future as students have more experience with a range of delivery options. Furthermore, experience with alternative delivery methods appears to be associated with higher quality of learning scores, which reflect personal empowerment and confidence in one’s ability to learn.