Distance students’ preference for type of tutorial participation Presented by Naomi Noguchi School of Public Health, University of Sydney In this presentation, I am going to share our experience of offering a few different options to complete weekly tutorial tasks to distance students.

Background 2015 S1 and S2 2016 S1 2016 S2 2017 S1 and S2 Method   2015 S1 and S2 2016 S1 2016 S2 2017 S1 and S2 Method Online discussion Individual submission Individual submission OR Online discussion Participation mark No 1% of final mark each week We have had difficulties getting online students to engage with online tutorials and have tried many different approaches to increasing student participation. In summary, 1. giving small participation marks and allowing the students to work individually dramatically increased students’ participation, and 2. when students were given an option between working individually and joining asynchronous online discussions to complete the same tasks, most students preferred to work by themselves and participation was far better in this group. This semester, we offered a block mode option to distance students – which is to attend face-to-face intensive workshops in response to students’ request to have some face-to-face component in the course.

Aims To determine student preferences between individual tutorial answer submission to an online dropbox, OR weekend face-to-face intensive workshops to complete weekly tutorial tasks. To describe participation in the tutorial type of their choice. To describe their performance in the final assignment. Our aims were to determine distance students’ preference in terms of how they wish to complete the same tutorial tasks. The choice was between -individually submitting their answers for the tutorials, and -attending face-to-face intensive workshops. We will also report -their subsequent participation in the tutorial type of their choice and -their skill attainment in terms of final assignment marks.

Methods: Study sample 190 distance postgraduate students undertaking Introduction to Clinical Epidemiology at Usyd in Semester 1 2018 Most students are medical doctors who study part-time Time poor and difficult to engage Our study sample was distance students undertaking an introductory postgraduate unit in clinical epidemiology at the University of Sydney. Most students are medical doctors who study part-time who are time poor and difficult to engage. *158/190 (83%) were M/Grad Dip/Grad Cert of Med/Surg students who are medical doctors.

Methods: Tasks Weekly tutorial tasks over 10 weeks Tasks are related to formulating clinical questions literature searching critical appraisal and individualizing treatment The course runs for 10 weeks and the tutorials are aimed at applying skills students learn each week such as critical appraisal and individualizing treatment.

Methods: Options and mark allocation Submitting answers online individually Weekly due dates 1 mark for reasonable attempt at all questions Default option Weekend face-to-face intensive workshops 2 x 7-hour workshops held on Saturdays of Week 7 and 11 1 mark for active participation for each module Strongly recommended Need to opt in during Week 1 Students were offered 2 options for completing the same weekly tutorials. The first one was to submit tutorial answers online individually by weekly deadlines. The second option was to attend two 7-hour intensive workshops on weekends. Option 2 was strongly recommended to students on the learning management site and by email. Distance students were automatically allocated to online submission mode unless they opted out by emailing the unit coordinators at the start of the semester. To receive the 1% participation mark for each tutorial, online submission students needed to submit answers to all questions by the weekly deadline, and intensive workshop students needed to turn up and actively participate in discussions.

Methods: Analysis Choice of study mode Participation 5+ weeks = 1+ workshop All 10 weeks = 2 workshops Distribution of final assignment marks Feedback comments We will report -what proportion of students selected each option -the participation rate and graphically present the distribution of final assignment marks by tutorial type. We will also provide relevant feedback comments from intensive workshop participants.

Result 1 Selection and participation   n 5+ weeks OR 1+ workshops 10 weeks OR 2 workshops Online submissions 162 (85%) 154 (95%) 79 (41%) Intensive workshops 28 (15%) 28 (100%) 26 (93%) 85% chose to submit tutorial answers online and 15% selected intensive workshops. 1 workshop is equivalent to 5 weekly submissions, so we compared submitting satisfactory work for 5 or more weeks with attending at least 1 workshop and all 10 weeks with attending 2 workshops. -95% in the online submission group submitted satisfactory work for at least 5 weeks and -100% in the intensive workshop group attended at least 1 workshop that are equivalent. -41% in the online submission group submitted satisfactory work for all 10 modules and -93% in the intensive workshop group attended both workshops

Result 2 Final assignment mark distribution The median marks for the final assignment were -46 out of 60 in the online submission group and -52 in the intensive workshop group. The negative tail of the distribution was shorter in the intensive workshop group too. Most of the students who attended the intensive workshop did not seem to have prepared much but achieved higher marks in the final assignment. *Baseline knowledge was not different between groups – median pre-test marks were 10 in online submission group and 9.5 in intensive workshop group. Online submissions Intensive workshops

Result 3 Feedback comments Q. Why did you choose to attend the intensive workshops instead of submitting your tutorial answers online each week? “So I could ask questions more easily” “To make contact with others doing the same study in the hopes of being more connected and less isolated” “More flexibility with time in terms of completing tutorials” “difficulty meeting deadlines each week online” Q. What are the aspects of these workshops that you liked? “Chance to clarify things I found confusing” “Questions answered on the spot” “Interaction with other students and teacher” “Interaction between everyone. Also being able to talk about other things” 3 themes emerged in the feedback survey Students attending the intensive workshops reported that -they found it easier to ask questions in person, -They enjoyed the interaction with tutors and other students as otherwise they are studying in isolation, and -They liked the flexibility of not having to meet weekly due dates. *29/30 were happy with the choice of tutorial mode. 8/30 were interstate students.

Summary 1 in 7 distance students chose to attend intensive workshops Most students turned up on both days They performed better in the final assignment They reported high satisfaction with their learning experience Attending face-to-face intensive workshops is an effective way for distance students to learn Conclusion To summarise our findings, -1 in 7 distance students chose to attend intensive workshops -Most students turned up on both days -They performed better in the final assignment -They reported high satisfaction with their learning experience Their better performance in the final assignment may have resulted from their increased participation as we showed in our previous study. In conclusion, Block mode is an effective and efficient way for distance students to learn.

Acknowledgement Dr Fiona Stanaway: Unit Coordinator