Undergraduate students’ self-directedness in relation to their examination preparation styles in Open Distance Learning.

Abstract

This article investigated the relationship between undergraduate students’ selfdirectedness and their exam preparation styles as well as the implications these have for teaching practice in the open and distance learning (ODL) context. A quantitative cross-sectional survey design was used, involving a stratified proportional random sample of 1102 predominantly early career black and female undergraduate ODL adult students in the field of economic and management sciences. Canonical correlation results indicated that the students’ level of active engagement in their academic studies was significantly influenced by factual-practical and abstracttheoretical study strategies. Multiple regression analyses revealed the examination preparation styles to be significant predictors of the participants’ self-directedness. The findings suggest that balancing factual-practical and abstract-theoretical learning strategies may be most important in enhancing students’ engagement with their academic activities, the amount of time they actively devote to their studies and their use of ODL-related study materials (study guides, tutorial letters, textbooks and assignment feedback) in preparing for their examinations. Recommendations are made for future research and teaching practice in the ODL context. Overall, it is concluded that teaching practices should aim at enhancing ODL students’ levels of self-directedness in line with their preferred examination preparation styles in order to increase their chances of success in an ODL environment