The Reported Rewards of Part-Time Study

Abstract

A questionnaire was administered to part and full-time students of psychology at Liverpool John Moores University in order to determine the extent to which the part-time students appreciated the course. The results showed the part-time students reported themselves as having gained more from the programme than the full-time students, in terms of support and relationship with tutors, satisfaction with teaching and interest in various aspects of the programme. In terms of perceived changes in skill levels, however, there were no large differences between the two groups.Part-time study, an important feature of university education, has been the subject of a number of investigations in recent years, much of it focusing on sources of support, levels of satisfaction and the development of skills. Schuller et al. (1999), for example, in four Scottish Universities and the Open University found the main reported source of support came from students' spouse or partner (45%), followed by academic sources (19%) and other students (14%). Bourner et al. (1991) surveyed some 4,000 undergraduates on Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) programmes noting, amongst other findings, that examination stress and developing appropriate study skills were both rated as more difficult than expected by a large proportion of students. They also noted high levels of satisfaction with various features of their learning experience, for example, course content and the relationship between staff and students. Less satisfaction was noted for feedback on performance.Other studies have made use of comparisons between part-time and full-time students. In one, Callender (1997) surveyed 697 full-time and 573 part-time students in Britain asking, amongst other questions, the extent to which the students felt various skills had improved, deteriorated or stayed the same throughout the course. For part-time students skill levels tended to be assessed as staying the same across a range of aspects. A higher proportion of full-time students than part-time students felt the following skills had improved: analytic skills, absorbing information, computing, using initiative, working independently, self-confidence, communication skills and team working. For numeracy, writing, selfmotivation and planning time and work, a higher proportion of full-time rather than part-time students felt they had deteriorated.In another such comparison, Kember and Leung (2005), in Hong Kong, found that part-time students rated their capability development higher than those of full-time students on all scales except communication skills. In discussing their results, Kember and Leung point to the fact that the part-time and full-time students were taught separately, the former group in three-hour blocks after a day's work and the latter in traditional 50 minute university lectures. To aid attention in the three-hour blocks, the teaching for the part-time students was more varied than for the full-time students, leading to increased interaction between students and staff. This te...