Abstract
This chapter focuses on data collected from two of the Australian universities investigated in Chap. 11: one with students enrolled in a blended course design, and the other with students enrolled in a fully online course design. It is clear from the data that students studying in either mode routinely seek learning support for various reasons. For analytical purposes, such support across a university can be categorized generally as social, academic, or pastoral, although there is considerable overlap between these forms. The data revealed that students’ experiences of this support may be positive or negative, depending on their perception of the support services available (deep or surface awareness), and their approach to using the services (proactive or reluctant engagement). These findings from both courses in the different universities are consistent, regardless of whether students were enrolled in blended or online course designs. They suggest that if students have a proactive approach to seeking support, then they generally have a positive perception of the range and value of the support services. Similarly, if they are reluctant to seek support, they tend to have a negative perception of the support, either on-campus or online. These results suggest that if a university designs the access to its support services with students in the online environment in mind, then a teacher can play a productive role in helping shape students’ experience of the support, including the perceptions they have of it and the approaches they adopt towards it. Given that most support services are typically designed for access on-campus, an institutional rethink of the student support model for blended and online students is suggested.
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Ellis, R.A., Trimble, A., Fan, S. (2023). Designing Learning Support Services for Students Studying in Online and Blended Courses. In: Kember, D., Ellis, R.A., Fan, S., Trimble, A. (eds) Adapting to Online and Blended Learning in Higher Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-0898-1_12
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