Evaluating and Developing Quantitative Methods and Technical Skills in Master’s Level Online Distance Learning Students: Experiences of a Teaching Enhancement Project Exploring Transition Challenges

Abstract

This paper will share experiences and findings from a teaching enhancement project exploring students’ ‘readiness’ for starting a taught postgraduate course in a discipline requiring strong quantitative methods and technical skills. The changing landscape of higher education and the diversity of students’ academic, cultural and experiential backgrounds means that the transition to postgraduate level study can be more challenging, particularly where those students are distance learners. To gain an insight into students’ perceptions into their readiness for study a survey was conducted on campus-based and online distance learning students enrolled on Master of Science courses at the University of Leeds. The survey sought to explore whether students felt that additional support at, or even before, the start of their studies would have resulted in a smoother transition and a more successful learning journey. The responses indicated that students lacked experience and confidence in certain areas, in particular programming (coding) and data management software. As part of the project a resource introducing students to modelling the spread of disease using the programming software ‘Scratch’ was created and piloted with online distance learning students. Feedback was extremely positive with the request for additional resources in a similar vein.