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Eliciting and Analysing Expectations 
of Novice Distance Learners 

CYNTHIA WHITE 

DEPARTME NT OF LINGUISTICS AND SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHING 

MASSEY UNIVERSITY OF P ALMERSTON NORTH 

Students who undertake distance learning for 
the first time at the tertiary level will have had 
experience of forrnallearning in other settings, 
usually within conventional classroom 
settings. They may have certain expectations 
of learning through this new mode 
concerning, for example, what it will be like 
to be a distance learner, or what will be the 
pluses and minuses offered by distance 
learning. It is also likely that some of these 
initial expectations will not be met, or may be 
only partially met, and that new beliefs will 
emerge based on their experiences . 

A number of researchers since the 1980s 
have highlighted the importance of studying 
the experiences of distance learners. Harris 
(1987, l35) argued that 'the individual 
student, especially in distance systems with 
relatively open admission, tends to be seen ... 
in rather abstract terms'. Ramsden (1984) 
emphasised that a student's perception of the 
learning context is an integral part of his or 
her experience. A few years earlier Marton 
and Svensson (1979) highlighted the 
potential of students' conceptions of learning 
to have a limiting influence on their approach 
to study. Researchers have also pointed to the 
need to develop an increased understanding 
among tutors, administrators and others of the 
position and viewpoints of the distance 
learner. For example, Brew and Wright (1990) 
interviewed eleven Open University tutor 
counsellors and found a lack of understanding 
of the processes involved in distance learning 
seen from a student's perspective. Jegede puts 
it well when he highlights the different 
viewpoints of distance education held by 

researchers, administrators, teachers and 
students and foregrounds 'the need for more 
information in the practice of distance 
education from different perspectives' (1992, 
238). The common thread in such observations 
is that distance learners have expectations 
about learning and the learning context and 
that these expectations influence how they 
carry out their learning experiences; at the 
same time, because of the constraints of the 
distance learning context, the nature and 
impact of such expectations and beliefs may 
tend to be little understood and easily 
overlooked. 

It would be a mistake to assume that it is 
possible to characterise a set of uniform 
expectations of novice distance learners or to 
establish a set of commonly-held beliefs 
among more experienced distance learners. To 
do this would be to assume that a 'typical' 
distance learner, whether novice or 
experienced, is readily identifiable. Rather, one 
would expect to encounter a range of 
expectations and beliefs, and to counter any 
assumption that distance learners form a 
homogeneous group . Holmberg's perspective 
that 'diversity, rather than uniformity, 
characterises distance education'(1989, 128) 
was borne in mind in developing the first part 
of a study of the expectations of novice 
distance learners. 

Consider learners planning to undertake 
distance learning for the first time. What do 
they expect? Which aspects of distance 
learning do they have expectations about? 
What is foregrounded in their expectations? 

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Are there areas of experience in which their 
expectations conflict with the realities of 
distance study? Do their expectations shift 
over time as they develop more experience as 
distance learners? What are the emergent 
beliefs about distance learning which students 
develop on the basis of their experiences? To 
answer these questions a longitudinal study 
was undertaken of novice distance learners. 

RESEARCH DESIGN The researcher who 
attempts to investigate the expectations of 
distance learners faces two constraints. First, 
there are obvious difficulties of access to 
distance learners, more especially in the use 
of group-based data-gathering instruments 
(for example, focus groups, group interviews). 
Second, researchers (for example, Pajares, 
1992) have commented on the inherent 
difficulty of getting people to reflect on and 
articulate their beliefs about learning, 
particularly through a single snapshot data 
collection approach. For this study it was 
decided that the most appropriate means of 
access to distance learner expectations would 
be individual rather than group based . In 
addition, it would take place through several 
phases to permit more fine-grained 
exploration of expectations and to capture 
shifts in such expectations. Research carried 
out by Van Meter, Yokoi and Pressley (1994) 
into note-taking theories of college students 
was influential in establishing the general 
approach of the research design. They describe 
their approach as: 

... consistent with contemporary 
qualitative methodologies that stress 
the gradual emergence of the operations 
of a study as data are collected and 
analysed . Thus, rather than a single, 
fixed set of questions being used 
through the investigation, the interview 
evolved as the study proceeded so that 
students' beliefs could be explored in 
more detail in later interviews involving 
other students (Van Meter, Yokoi and 
Pressley 1994, 324). 

In this investigation of distance learners an 

iterative approach to data collection was 
adopted, involving several phases rather than 
the single questionnaire and / or single 
interview approach. Information on 
expectations was collected prior to enrolment, 
then through several phases during the course, 
of a single semester of fourteen weeks' 
duration. At each phase of the study the 
instruments were adapted according to the 
kinds of information which had emerged in 
earlier phases. 

The starting point for the study was to identify 
a number of domains of expectations which 
would then set the parameters for subsequent, 
more detailed investigation. Phase one took 
place over a period of approximately fifteen 
months and involved naturalistic, 
opportunistic interviews with prospective 
distance learners who had not studied before 
at the tertiary level through distance education 
(N=18). They were asked about their 
expectations of extramural study (the term 
used by Massey University). More general 
questions such as previous study and 
experience with learning languages were 
included at times to make the interview more 
naturalistic. Care was taken to ask only general 
questions and not to cue their replies to focus 
on particular areas. The interviews attempted 
to identify the range of student expectations 
rather than the specific details of those 
expectations. However, follow-up questions 
were asked based on their initial responses. 
Thus students who talked about, for example, 
prior learning experiences, were asked: 

Do you think extramural study will be 
very different from other learning 
experiences? 
How do you think it might be different 
from classroom-based study? 

The length of these interviews varied greatly, 
from a few minutes to around 15 minutes, 
depending on the response and interactional 
style of the student. A reflective approach was 
adopted where appropriate after the 
suggestion of Van Meter et al :'during each 
interview the interviewer continuously 

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reflected to a participant what she believed the 
participant had said ... thus providing 
opportunities to correct any interviewer 
misconceptions' (1994, 325). The interviews 
were not recorded but notes were taken 
immediately afterwards . 

DOMAINS OF EXPECTATIONS Content 
analysis of the notes from the phase one 
interviews revealed six domains of 
expectations. These are given below, with a 
paraphrase to indicate how each domain was 
defined. 

• . Conceptions of distance learning: 'what 
extramural study might be like' 

• Prior learning experiences : 'how 
extramural study may be different from 
attending classes' 

• Learner role: 'as an extramural student I'll 
have to ... ' 

• Advantages and disadvantages: 'what the 
good and not so good aspects of extramural 
study will be' 

• Success: 'to succeed I'll have to ... ' 
• Control: 'I'll be able to ... I'll not be able to 

As mentioned earlier, the aim of the phase one 
interview was to identify domains, rather than 
to explore in detail the content of expectations. 
In-depth exploration of expectations was to 
take place in subsequent phases of the study. 

The second phase of the study took place with 
an intact group of extramural students 
undertaking the study of Spanish and 
Japanese at the first year level. Students within 
these classes were invited to participate in the 
study, and ethical procedures were followed 
in approaching and interacting with them. The 
aim of the second phase was to gain more 
detailed information on each of the domains 
of expectations during their first two weeks 
of study. To do this, a questionnaire was 
constructed comprising open-ended 
questions, ranking exercises and tasks 
requiring students to evaluate certain 
statements in terms of their own experience. 
The questionnaire was mailed to students and 

the response rate was 67 percent. These 
respondents formed the main sample for the 
remainder of the study: the 'novice' learners 
(N=23) and the 'experienced' learners (N=26). 
All students in this sample had had experience 
in learning other foreign languages. Responses 
obtained from students through the 
questionnaire were analys e d, and results 
revealed that the most detailed responses at 
this phase were obtained in three domains: 
conceptions of distance learning, success and 
control. These are the subject of discussion of 
the remainder of the article. 

CONCEPTIONS OF DISTANCE 
LEARNING This domain concerns what is 
foregrounded in the student's mind about 
distance learning, in this case, extramural 
study. Responses from prospective learners 
related to what extramural study meant to 
them e.g. a flexible means of study, a way of 
working independently. In constructing the 
questionnaire items relating to conceptions of 
distance learning, the distance research 
literature was also surveyed. One conception 
of distance learning quoted in Kleist (1986) had 
not been encountered in the phase one 
interviews. This was the view that the distance 
course is the course you do when you cannot 
do the 'real', classroom-based course. A 
variation on this view is pointed to in the 
question posed by Holmberg (1989): Is 
distance education to be regarded as a mode 
of communication in its own right, or simply 
as a substitute for conventional face-to-face 
education? This interpretation was included 
to see whether it is a viewpoint held by 
students. Information from the initial 
interviews and from the research literature 
indicated seven conceptions of distance 
learning. These were included as alternatives 
in the following questionnaire item (see Table 
1). 

A summary of responses from the 23 novice 
learners are given in Table 2. The most 
frequent conceptions related to flexibility, to 
the ability to set your own pace and to work 
independently, and to the possibility of 
developing skills in independent learning. 

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First up, what do you expect? 
What does extramural study mean to you? 

V alternatives which most closely match your expectations: 

o In extramural study you can work independently. 
o As an extramural student you can study at a pace that suits you. 
o You have flexibility in the way you study as an extramural student. 
o As an extramural student you can work at your own level. 
o Extramural study is the course you do when you can't follow the classroom course. 
o Through extramural study you can develop skills in independent learning. 
o As an extramural student you are free of the constraints of the conventional classroom 

Which of the above statements most closely matches your expectations 
of extramural study? 

Underline one, or write your own statement below about what you expect of extramura 
study. 

Table 1. Questionnaire items relating to conceptions of distance learning 

None of the novice students viewed distance 
learning as a substitute for a conventional 
classroom-based course. Students were also 
asked to nominate a single item which was 
the closest to their conception of distance 
learning. Results from this more open-ended 
question were consistent with those in Table 2 
in that the flexibility characteristic of 
extramural study was chosen by 20 of the 23 
respondents. The elaborations they gave to the 
expectation of ' flexibility' revealed the 

Conceptions 

Leamer Independence 
Flexibility: pace of study 
Flexibility: means of study 
Flexibility: level of study 
Substitute course 
Development of independent learning skills 
Freedom from classroom constraints 

interpretation of this term from the leamer's 
perspective. Elaborations indicated that 
flexibility is primarily perceived in terms of 
their lifestyle rather than flexibility for 
themselves as learners in relation to the 
material. That is, flexibility is seen in relation 
to the external circumstances of their lives. 
This was expressed in terms of 'convenience', 
'flexibility with other parts of my life', 'fits in 
with my other. commitments', 'allows me to 
juggle study, work and family', 'does not 

Number of responses 

17 
18 
22 
2 
o 
15 
6 

Table 2. Response frequencies for conceptions of distance learning 

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What do you think su ccess as an extramural student depends on ? 

Rank the following statements using numbers (1 for the most important factor, down 
to 9 for the least important.) 

Success depends on ... o personal motivation 
o knowing how you learn best 
o the quality of the course materials 
o the quality of interaction with the tutor 
o attending the on-campus course 
o persistence 
o the amount of interaction with tutor 
o the amount of time you spend studying 
o confidence in yourself 

Table 3. Ranking exercise relating to success 

interfere with my professional career'. A 
number of students also recognised the 
flexibility for the learner inherent in the nature 
of distance learning, but this comment was 
never foregrounded. 

SUCCESS Success has been variously 
defined in the distance education context (for 
a discussion on this see Cull, 1993.). Among 
the learners in this study success was 
interpreted primarily as completing and 
passing their courses. A number of factors 
which students viewed as important for 

Construct 

'Effort' 

Learner characteristics 

Metacognition 

Interaction 

Materials 

success featured in the initial interviews, 
including motivation, confidence and 
persistence. Within the distance research 
literature motivation (for example, Thompson, 
1990), the quality and quantity of teacher-
learner interaction (Beaverson, 1988), and the 
quality of course materials Gegede, 1992) have 
been cited as critical to success. The extramural 
students in this study were asked to rank 
sources of success as given in Table 3. 

The nine factors in the questionnaire item can 
be seen as relating to five underlying 

Item 

Amount of time studying 
Persistence 

Confidence in self 
Motivation 

Knowing how you learn best 

Quality of interaction with tutor 
Amount of interaction with tutor 
Campus course 

Quality of course materials 

Table 4. Constructs and items relating to success 

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Success Factors 

Motivation 
Confidence in self 
Quality of course materials 
Amount of time studying 
Persistence 
Quality of interaction with tutor 
Amount of interaction with tutor 
Knowing how you learn best 
Campus course 

Mean ,Ranking 

1.3 
3.9 
4.8 
5.5 
5.6 
7.8 
8.1 
8.3 
8.9 

Table 5. Mean ranking of success factors among novice learners (N=23) 

constructs: 'effort', learner characteristics, 
metacognition, interaction, materials (Table 4). 
The first three constructs are more internal to 
the leamer, the last two relate more to external 
factors and to the institution. 

The mean ranking of results for novice learners 
are displayed in Table 5. The mean ranking of 
results for the experienced cohort are 
displayed in Table 6. 

Analysis of the results reveals that novice 
distance learners placed confidence and the 
amount and quality of interaction higher than 
experienced distance learners. Experienced 
distance learners placed 'effort' (persistence) 
and metacognition (knowing how you learn 
best) more highly than novice learners. Several 

Success Factors 

Motivation 
Persistence 
Knowing how you learn best 
Amount of time studying 
Quality of course materials 
Confidence in self 
Quality of interaction with tutor 
Campus course 
Amount of interaction with tutor 

explanations can be given for the difference 
between the two groups. It could be that 
novice learners are attuned to building up 
their confidence at the early stages of their 
experience of extramural study. Experienced 
learners on the other hand may have already 
developed their sense of confidence and are 
able to recognise the importance of other 
factors. What the results show is that the 
experienced learners rated factors internal to 
the learner as more important for success and 
novice learners appeared to be oriented more 
to external factors (amount and quality of 
interaction) as well as self-confidence. The 
study will continue to trace any shifts relating 
to success factors among the novice learners, 
to see if more internality develops with their 
experience of distance learning. 

Mean Ranking 

1.3 
3.7 
3.8 
4.0 
4.2 
4.6 
6.5 
8.1 
8.1 

Table 6. Mean ranking of success factors among experienced learners (N=26) 

Journal of Distance Leaming. Vol 3. No 1. 1997 (c) Distance Education Association of New Zealand 



An important point to note here is that 
responses to factors such as quality of 
materials and the campus course are likely to 
be related to the individual student's 
experience. If students are unable to attend the 
campus course then obviously it will not rate 
highly as a contributor to success. Similarly it 
could be that they have found the course 
materials to be quite uniform in standard, or 
expect the materials to be of a consistently high 
standard, and as such do not consider this 
factor to be of significance. Thus it was not 
possible to be entirely sure of the degree to 
which the student's individual circumstances 
and experiences shaped their interpretations 
of some of the items in this domain of 
expectation. 

CONTROL One other domain which 
featured prominently in the responses of 
prospective students related to their 
expectations of choice in distance learning and 
personal control over their learning. Early 
indications were that this is a complex 
construct, comprising varying interpretations, 
with both positive and negative attitudinal 
factors attached. It was thus decided to elicit 

Dimensions I do have control over .. . 

further information about this construct 
through open-ended questions. Learners were 
asked to provide written responses to the 
following questions: 

Do you think extramural students have 
control over their learning? 
What do you have control over? 
What do you not h ave control over? 

Content analysis of their responses revealed 
two broad categories of control: control in 
relation to the study context and control in 
relation to input and interaction. Students 
were strongly divided over whether they saw 
themselves as having control over the 
dimensions of the study context, and input 
and interaction. In addition many students 
expressed the ambiguities inherent in the 
notion of control. The responses are 
summarised in Table 7. 

Results reveal that the possibilities for control 
inherent in the distance study context also 
mean the student is vulnerable to the intrusion 
of external commitments into th e study 
process. One student put it well when she 
wrote: 

I do not have control over .. . 

Study context When I study (timing, frequency But whether I actually get the 
duration) time ... 

Where I study Time frames of the course 

How I study (pace and amount) 
(for example, assignment due 
dates, when I get feedback) 

Integrating study into my life 
External commitments 
often impinge 

Input and I can repeat, reorder ... input Low levels of interaction -
interaction Time is not wasted on materials cannot learn from others 

and interactions irrelevant to my 
Lack of immediate feedback 

needs 
Depth and extent of feedback 

Table 7. Responses relating to the domain of control among novice learners. 

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As a distance learner I think I'll have the 
time to study - I couldn't fit travelling time, 
trying to find a park .. . into my life. But at 
the same time because I'm studying at home 
I am concerned whether I'll actually get the 
time. I guess that's where you have to make 
the time. 

The opportunities to integrate study into daily 
life are seen by many novice learners as highly 
attractive but are soon found to be something 
of a two-edged sword since other pressures 
can detract from focus and priorities. 

Novice distance learners also interpreted 
control in relation to input and interaction; 
they felt they had control over input due to 
the packaged nature of the course: 

Now I have received all the material - it's 
all here - sometimes in class if your attention 
wanes you miss out on a really important 
point and then you're lost. Here I have 
everything written down, or tapes I can play 
again and again . 

Also two students referred positively to the 
control they had over their interactions: 

For me I think I like having control over 
interactions. I know I won't be able to learn 
from others in the class - their questions can 
be helpful when you realise it's something 
you're also not sure about, but mostly I 
think you waste a lot of time. This way of 
study can be more concentrated, 
streamlined, because I won't have to waste 
time sitting through things that aren't 
relevant to me. 

However these two comments were unusual. 
Most students felt the main thing they did not 
have control over was the lack of interaction 
and input, and they saw this as a detractor. 
One student wrote relating to input: 

I'm quite apprehensive. I'm very new to all 
of this. When you attend classes you get the 
input - I have to make the input. I wonder 
how I'll go. 

A typical comment concerning interaction 
was: 

At this stage I feel the lack of interaction is 
something 1 have to accept - I have no 
control over that. But I think too that I'll 
ha'&e no control over the feedback 1 get from 
the tutor - how much they give me and 
.whether it's what I really need to help me or 
not. I know I could always ring up the tutor 
- but I'm not sure I'll do that much. 

Students were asked a final general question: 

Is the freedom in extramural study an 
advantage or a disadvantage? Why? 

Replies to this question were consistent with 
the kinds of ambiguities given in earlier 
responses relating to control. For the most part 
they felt the freedom was an advantage, but 
expressed concerns about motivation and 
focus in the relatively free environment. The 
novice learners in this group expressed their 
expectation that they would have to manage 
their feelings about the learning, especially 
when feeling urunotivated. Thus freedom was 
seen as an advantage, but also as requiring of 
the learner greater affective contro l and 
discipline than in the classroom setting. A 
concern with affective control of learning 
among distance students was one of the 
findings in a comparative study by White 
(1995, 1997) of classroom and distance 
learners. 

CONCLUSION This paper has presented 
some preliminary insights into how distance 
learning is conceptualised by novice learners. 
Within this group, extramural study is seen 
as offering flexibility to the learner within the 
wider context of their lives. The notion of 
success is seen in the early stages of extramural 
study as dependent more on external factors 
(for example, quality of materials and 
interaction), and less on internal factors 
relating to the learner (for example persistence, 
self-knowledge). This domain is a promising 
avenue for investigation in later phases of the 
study to see if there is a shift from external to 

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internal locus of control as learners accrue 
experience in the n ew le arning context. Early 
stages of the study have also pointed to the 
complexities surrounding the domain of 
control and choice in distance learning. The 
possibilities for control are seen by learners as 
pertaining to the study context (this is close to 
the earlier discussion of fl exibility) and to 
input and interaction. Within these two areas, 
negative p erspectives (for example, limitations 
on spontaneous input) were viewed as 
concomitant with the more positive aspects of 
freedom (for example, freedom from 
unwanted input). The need for affective 
control and discipline was highlighted in the 
freer learning envi.ronment of extramural 
study. Finally, it is important to emphasise the 
preliminary nature of this research and that 
what is reported here relates to the first two 
phases of a longitudinal study. Although 
exploration of the expectations and emergent 
b eliefs of distance learners has barely begun, 
it is an important area of enquiry within 
distance education if we are to develop a 
deeper understanding of the distance learning 
process. 

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Cynthia White is Senior Lec turer, Department 
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