A student-centred approach: Incorporating students characteristics in
the development of the support services
Dr Mpine Makoe
Institute for Open and Distance Learning
University of South Africa
Abstract:
Increasing access to higher education can only be successful if distance
education providers understand the varying contexts and experiences of their
students in order to develop support mechanisms that are responsive to
students’ needs. A better understanding of student needs could assist
distance education policy makers, course designers and developers, lecturers
and tutors, to develop support systems that are student-centred and capable
of addressing their needs directly. The purpose of providing student centred
support services is to ensure that students derive maximum benefit from the
whole experience of being a student. This paper provides an overview of the
literature on student centredness and student support in ODL. Using
University of South Africa (UNISA) as a case study, it seeks to clarify what
constitutes student support in the UNISA context. Understanding of students’
prerequisite knowledge, their learning environment and their cultural attributes
are starting points in the development of the student-centred support services
(Anderson, 2008). In this paper, the characteristics of students are going to
be used as a guiding principle for developing an effective student-centred
support services.
Keywords:
Student support; Open distance learning; University of South
Africa; student-centred approach
1
A student-centred approach: Incorporating students
characteristics in the development of the support services
Introduction
For distance education to be successful, student support services should be
truly student-centred. By this we mean that, distance education institutions
need to recognise and understand the varying contexts and experiences of
their students in order to develop support mechanisms that are responsive to
students’ needs.
A better understanding of student needs could assist
distance education policy makers, course designers and developers, lecturers
and tutors, to develop student support systems that are student-centred and
capable of addressing their needs directly. Pulist (2001) referred to studentcentred approach as a paradigm shift in terms of students being seen in
control over their learning. It aims at developing in each student a sense of
responsibility for his or her own learning by focusing on individual student’s
experiences, perspectives, background, interests, capabilities and needs. It is
important therefore to take into account diverse variables of students’ needs,
the educational ethos of the institution and the differences within the student
body when developing student support system (Sewart1993).
An effective student support service in distance education is characterised by
responsiveness to students’ needs, that is, it personalises the learning
process; it encourages and facilitates interaction between students and
stakeholders; it facilitates learning within courses and “it evolves continuously
to accommodate new learner populations, educational developments,
economic conditions, technological advances and findings from research and
evaluations” (Brindley and Paul 2004, 45). Sewart (1993) suggests that
student support systems must be constructed in the “almost infinite needs of
the clients; should be dependent on the educational ethos of the region and
2
the institution; also dependent of the dispersal of the student body, elements
of resource and curriculum … which has been set up to serve” (12-13). This
shows that there is growing support of focusing on the students and what they
bring in the learning environment.
The purpose of providing student centred support services is to ensure that
students derive maximum benefit from the whole experience of being a
student. This paper provides an overview of the literature on student
centredness and student support in ODL. Using University of South Africa
(UNISA) as a case study, it seeks to clarify what constitutes student support in
UNISA context. UNISA was chosen as a case study because it is a dedicated
comprehensive distance education institution in South Africa. The aim is to
identify the principles that guide the planning of student support services that
is student centred. Understanding of students’ prerequisite knowledge, their
learning environment and their cultural attributes are starting points in the
development of the student-centred support services (Anderson, 2008). In
this paper, the characteristics of students are going to be used as a guiding
principle for developing an effective support service for students studying at a
distance.
Distance Education
Distance education institutions have been instrumental in developing support
services that will assist their students to perform better.
The focus on
providing student support services were driven by the need to address the
high drop-out rates that were associated with correspondence education
(Rumble, 2000). In correspondence education, distance education students
receive study material - sometimes only a wrap-around to a textbook which
they must purchase separately, and their next engagement with the institution
is when they sit for the examination (Glennie and Bialobrzeska, 2006). This
system assumes that students have the ability to work through the study
material independently. However, studies have shown that students seem to
value contact with other people even when they study at a distance (Rumble
2000; Sewart 1993; Tait 2003; Thorpe 2001).
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One of the major challenges facing distance education institutions is to
provide support for “isolated students who are left to fend for themselves,”
(Brindley and Paul, 2004, p.40). In distance education, students are
physically, emotionally and socially separated from the institution. Moore
(1993) defines this distance in terms of the responsiveness of an educational
program to the student rather than in terms of the physical separation of the
instructor and the student. He argues that distance education, not only a
geographic separation between the teachers and the learners, is a pedagogic
concept.
This separation affects the patterns of teacher and student
behaviour. In this separation there is a “psychological and communications
space to be crossed, a space of potential misunderstandings” between
instructors and students who are physically separated (Moore, 1993, p.22). It
is in this space, that Moore describes as transactional distance, where the
structure of the educational program and the quality of the interaction
between the teacher and the student determines academic performance.
This challenge of isolation which has been associated with correspondence
nature of distance education is even more acute in places of limited resources
such as rural South Africa. Students studying through distance education are
not only geographically isolated from their teachers as sources of information
and separated from their peers as sources of support. The effects of such
isolation on distance learners can inhibit any possibility for engagement with
teachers, study material and peers (Simpson, 2002). Studies have shown that
proper provision of student support services may break learners’ isolation and
meet not only the academic demands of students in distance education but
also their social needs (Brindley and Paul 2004; Rumble 2000; Tait 2003;
Thorpe 2001).
The student-centred approach
In order to support distance learners effectively, lecturers in distance
education need to be aware of the variations of experiences that students
bring into the learning environment.
They need to understand who their
learners are, where they are coming from, what type of support is needed
and how best could they help in facilitating the learning process. This could
4
be achieved through acknowledging the role of the student in the learning
process.
Once we know who our learners are, it becomes easier to look at the support
mechanisms that we can provide to our learners. This support should be
student-centred in order to address the needs of distance education students.
Student centred approaches is a method of learning and teaching that puts
the students at the centre (Beheler, 2009; Knowlton, 2000) This approach has
major implications for the design and development of the study material, the
learning processes, the assessment practices and the support services in
distance education.
In distance education, teaching is predominantly mass-produced printed study
material with some integration of technologies such as radio, television, audio
and video cassettes, computers and computers. Most of the study material
are designed from the teacher centred approach which focuses on the
lecturer who decides on the knowledge that is worthy of being studied. In the
teacher centred approach, according Knowlton (2000) the “the professor is a
giver of knowledge –the waiter or waitress who fills the empty glass …. (and)
the students are an empty glasses waiting to be filled so that they can contain
knowledge worthy of dissemination” (p.7).
This view that is usually
behaviourist in nature is often manifested in study material. In the behaviourist
view, learning is a function of change in behaviour as a result of an
individual's response to events that occur in the environment (Dahl, 2003).
They defined learning as a sequence of stimulus and response actions in
observable cause and effect relationships.
In criticising the behaviourist theories, Piaget, whose theories mark the
beginning of constructivist theory, argued that asserted that learning can only
be understood from the learners’ point of view (Dahl, 2003) . He criticized
behaviourists’ theorists for focusing on the idea that knowledge is separate to
the human mind and that it must be transferred to the learner in a teacher
centred approach (Bruner, 1996). He believed that students should be active
participants in the learning environment. Constructivists base most of their
5
research on how the learner selects and transforms information, constructs
hypotheses, and makes decisions, relying on a cognitive structure to do so
(Bruner, 1996). This theory forms the bases of student centredness approach
by viewing learning as an active process.
Vygotsky’s (1930/1978) main criticism of Piaget is that thinking develops from
the social level to the individual level (Dahl, 2003).
He suggested that
knowledge is constructed in the social context before individuals can make
sense of it. Vygotsky’s (1930/1978) believed that people use cultural practice
in which they are engaged by tailoring it to serve particular, practice-linked
cognitive function.
In his sociocultural theory of cognitive development,
Vygotsky (1930/1978) argued that knowledge acquisition is socio-historical
and a cultural process. The dynamic relationship between culture, history,
interpersonal interactions, psychological development and the important role
of language are central to Vygotsky theory. He focused on the connections
between people and the cultural context in which they act and interact in
shared experiences.
Vygotsky’s view of learning is in line with student centredness. McCombs and
Whistler (1997) defines student centredness as:
the perspective that focus on individual learners-their heredity,
experiences, perspectives, backgrounds, talents, interests, capacities,
and needs-with a focus on learning-the best available knowledge about
learning and how it occurs and about teaching practices that are most
effective in promoting the highest levels of motivation, learning and
achievement for all learners.
It is therefore important that distance education institutions and lecturers
recognise the varying context of their student in order to put in place support
mechanisms that are student centred in nature as opposed to teacher
centred approaches.
In the teacher–centred approach, lecturers dispense
knowledge to students who have to respond to knowledge given.
In a
student-centred approach, students are active participants who bring with
them a rich array of prior experiences, knowledge and beliefs as they
6
construct new knowledge and understanding (Knowlton, 2000; Beheler,
2009).
The problem of learning in distance education becomes more critical when
interaction between a lecturer and a learner is not as constant as that which
exists in a conventional face-to-face situation. In correspondence education,
the educational process is usually reduced from a dialogue to a monologue
where a teacher sends out study material to the students. The assumption is
that distance learners, do not need mediation or support as they go through
their study material. Thorpe (2001) argues that “course materials prepared in
advance of study, however learner-centred and interactive they may be,
cannot respond to a known learner” (p.4). Central to student support is a
mediated conversation between the students and the teacher through
integrated and structured dialogue in the study material and in other
interventions aimed at formative development of a student.
This paper therefore argues for a student’s centred approach that will address
some of the problems encountered by distance education students. The table
below shows the differences between the student centred approach and the
teacher centred approach.
Approaches
Student-centred
Teacher-centred
Construct their own
Centre of knowledge
knowledge with the
Transmission of information
assistance of the lecturer
from a knowledgeable
Discovery and independent
individual to a student
learning
Dominant
Constructivist and
Behaviourist or Positivist
theory
sociocultural
Processes
Personalised and
Directs and controls the
individualised responses
learning processes
Collaboration and dialogue
One-way communication
among students and lecturers
from lecturer to students
7
Process-oriented instruction
through study material
that focuses on authentic
Study, memorise and mirror
tasks and problem solving
the correct view
strategies
Roles
Students are active
Students are passive
Lecturer is a facilitator,
Lecturer focuses on the
coach, mentor and a
content – sylabbi; discipline
resource person
based
Students are responsible and
accountable for their learning
The concept of student support
The importance of the student centred-approach in the development of the
effective student support system is based on principles of active and
engaged learning. Thorpe (1995) describes student support as “elements of
learning capable of responding to a known learner or group of learners,
before, during and after the learning process” (p.201). This definition
describes the cross-functional, interactive, responsive, and individualised
nature of learner support (Brindley and Paul 2004). Sewart (1993) equates
student support services with service oriented programme where the
students’ needs as customers are paramount. Tait (2000) described student
support services in terms of the inquiry, advice, admission services, tutorials,
counseling, study and examination centres in ODL.
All these resources
serve to support students’ cognitively, affectively and systematically (Tait,
2000, p. 289).
Simpson (2001) describes student support in terms of its activities beyond
the production and delivery of course material. He divides student support
services between academic and non-academic support. Academic support is
concerned with developing cognitive and learning skills whereas the nonacademic support deals with the affective and organisational aspects of
8
students’ studies. The purpose of student support in ODL is to meet the
needs of all learners (Thorpe, 2001).
The challenge of UNISA, the oldest and the biggest distance education
institution in Africa, is to identify student support services for its over 300 000
students. UNISA has a network of community learning centres that provide
tutorial support, counselling services and peer-group support. These centres
provide a place where people can meet, attend classes and discussion
groups, study, pick up books and other materials for learning. Where it is not
possible to offer face-to-face tutoring, tele-tutoring (telephone, video,
computer-conferencing) with lecturers is also used as well to support a twoway communication between the teacher and the learner. Tele-tutoring is
utilised to reduce student’s sense of isolation because it can overcome
geographical barriers and provides immediate discussion and feedback.
Several technologies, such as UNISA’s Learning Management System,
MyUnisa, have also been used to provide interaction and resources that
supports all areas of teaching and learning. The multimedia approach that
UNISA uses is much more effective than using one method of delivery.
Despite well-meaning efforts of distance education providers, students
especially those from disadvantaged environments still find it extremely
difficult to adjust to and succeed in distance education. The present
landscape of education in South Africa could not escape the prevailing
political, economic and social factors of its creation. There are distinctive
social conditions that precede and accompany the student as he or she
enters higher education. These are student characteristics, enabling inputs
and outcomes, the social, political and economic environment.
All these
elements can only be understood if the social context in which learning takes
place is investigated. That is, how do students perceive and respond to the
demands of their learning context? If we ignore the contextual concepts of
learning, our attempts to enhance learning through providing appropriate
support services will not be successful.
9
An effective student support services should be built around six core elements
according to Tait (2000): (1) Student characteristics; (2) Technological
infrastructure; (3) Course or programme demands; (4) Scalability; (5)
Geography and Management systems. Although Tait identified six elements,
this paper will focus on the UNISA’s student characteristics in order to
understand their needs. “Identifying and understanding the implications of
such needs requires prior knowledge about the characteristics of the student
body as a whole” (Rumble, 2000, p.221). Tait (2000) asserts that the
characteristics of the student body are critical and central to the development
of an effective student support system.
Characteristics of Unisa students:
The main elements of student characteristics as proposed by Tait (2000)
should include gender, age, domestic situation, nature of employment or
unemployment, disposable income, educational background, geographical
situation, language, ethnic and cultural characteristics. Rumble (2000) argues
that the information about the students characteristics should not be based on
aggregated data, but should consider the context in which learning takes
place.
Data from both qualitative and quantitative methods was deliberately drawn
from black distance learners because studies have shown that this group find
it difficult to cope academically in distance education. Qualitative data was
collected from 60 black undergraduate students from township areas around
the main campus of UNISA and 20 who came from remote rural areas in
South Africa (Lephalala and Makoe, 2007). A questionnaire was also used to
collect data from 630 students who attended discussion classes at UNISA,
however, the analysis is based on 352 students (56%) who returned the
questionnaire. Participants are representative of the marginalised students
which is in line with current legislation on widening student participation,
higher education institutions are expected to accommodate. These students
are first generation university attendees in their immediate families or
communities and they come from families where parents are either semiliterate or illiterate
10
Age demographics
Headcounts
160000
140000
120000
100000
80000
60000
40000
20000
0
<24
25-39
40-49
>50
Figure 1: Age demographics of UNISA students in 2009.
Data collected quantitatively revealed that a majority of students who
participated are in the study were in 18-25 age group (57%) even though this
age group accounts for 28% of the total headcount. The average age of
UNISA students is 31.2 years. For many years, distance learners have
always been presented as adults who are fully employed, who are often at a
geographic distance from the campus and who pursue their study part time.
Recently, there have been changes in the demographics of the distance
learners. UNISA has seen a growing number of younger distance learners
who are studying full time and most of them have never worked. In most
Western countries, distance learning has become attractive to younger
students because it offers flexibility. However, in South Africa, younger
students enrol in distance education institutions because the tuition fees are
much lower than on contact-based institutions.
In the past, most students who enrolled at UNISA were those who were
geographically separated from the institution; now most younger students
leave their homes in rural areas to find rented accommodation in the vicinity
11
of the main campus, Unisa Mucleneuck Campus in Pretoria. These students
who call themselves “full-time” students move closer to UNISA in the hope
that proximity to the university would enable more help with their studies.
This has become a dilemma for the institution because now students require
a study area for daily use and also expect lecturers to attend to them on
demand and on a daily basis. For these students learning is contextualised in
terms of daily access to facilities like study areas, the library, lecturers and
other students in the vicinity. The support services have to take into
cognizance the changing landscape of ODL institutions while not neglecting
majority of mature students.
.
Gender issues
Unlike younger students who could move from their rural homes, most
mature students especially women do not have the luxury of relocating.
Women in rural areas are expected to spend most of their time doing
household duties and attending to community needs and in Tumi’s case
attending to duties that are usually performed by the women in her agegroup, who have left children behind to work in urban areas.
Tumi1: In these communities you are expected to be a mother, a
nurse, a social worker to the children you teach, and this is over and
above being their teacher. So you can imagine how much time do I
have left after attending to all these …. I’m left with very little time to
attend to my own schoolwork.
These added responsibilities leave very little time for studying as Mapule who
together with her husband are students at UNISA found out that:
Mapule: When we both come back from work, he goes straight to his
desk to study while I prepare supper, iron children’s clothes, help them
with their homework … you know how it is like here … he just do his
1
All names have been changed to protect participants’ identity
12
studies while I’m busy with household chores.
No wonder I’m so
behind with my school work.
This problem of juggling responsibilities is not only unique to South African
distance learners, the women in May’s (1994) study concluded that distance
study “isn’t for everyone” and it is a significantly different experience for
female students than it is for male students. It is therefore important that the
student support system is structured in such a way that it helps students like
Mapule and Tumi.
Geographic issues
The geographic distance and physical setting in which learning takes place
affects students’ participation in the learning environment. Students from both
rural and urban areas felt that they were not only physically cut off from the
institution, but were also socially deprived from actively participating in the
learning environment. Most students from rural areas reported that the
geographic distance was a major problem.
Lucas: I wish I was living much closer to the university, that way I
could … I could have more contact with my lecturers. Studying on my
own is not easy. And being far away is not helpful either. We need
regular tutorials. People in Pretoria have everything … tutorials, the
university and the lecturers and we have nothing.
However, students who lived in the township and around the university still felt
deprived from communicating with their lecturers on regular basis. Despite
the proximity to the university one student said “we are so close and yet so
far”.
ODL advances learning as linear and individualistic which seems to
isolate and marginalise students who reside in rural and urban areas. It is
generally assumed that when students register in ODL contexts, they have an
understanding of what it entails. However, most of the students come from a
culture where learning usually take place in the classroom. As a result they
are disappointed when they find themselves in an environment that does not
offer face-to-face tuition (Lephalala and Makoe 2007). The study revealed
13
that students need support and structured learning experiences even if they
are at a distance.
Cultural characteristics
To most students, learning is a collective social process whereby a student
feels the need to interact with fellow students and teachers. Peers are the
most
influential
group
with
whom
they
implicitly
negotiated
their
understandings of the study materials. It is in these groups that “students are
able to share their common beliefs about opportunity and education”
(Bempechat and Abrahams, 1999, p. 856). In these cultures, meaning
making is influenced by explicit negotiations with family members, teachers
and peers. That’s why most students prefer to set up informal study groups
where they share their fears and aspirations with other members of the
group. Belonging to a group was helpful to most students because they
studied together and in the process motivated each other.
Zodwa: When you don’t have anyone to turn to … study group seem
to be the only place where we all come together to motivate and
encourage each other … I don’t think I would have made it this far
without my study group. They have been my lifeline.
It was clear in this study that students found the culture of autonomous and
independent learning extremely problematic, partly because they felt that
they were expected to be responsible for their learning with little support from
the institution. Moore (1993) argues that where there is a high structure and
low dialogue, the responsibility of learning is on the students. And this may
lead to a feeling of isolation on the part of the learner. This shows that
different social and cultural institutions with which students interact socially
transmit the meaning and the value that students attach to the concept of
learning.
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Guiding Principles
The support system that is being proposed has to see to it that students are
participating in an active and challenging way in a learning process. In order
to support distance learners effectively, course developers and teachers in
distance education need to be aware of the variations of characteristics of the
students and what they bring into the learning environment. They also need
to understand who their learners are, where they are coming from, what type
of support is needed and how best could they help in facilitating the learning
process. This could be achieved through:

Encouraging self-help study groups amongst students

Offering support to students through tutoring

Finding creative ways of using technology for educational purposes.
Once we know who our learners are, it becomes easier to look at the support
mechanisms that we can provide to our learners. The support mechanism
has to see to it that students are participating in an active and challenging way
in a learning process. The brief analysis of UNISA students’ characteristics
indicates that students need support that is context specific. An effective
support service system should motivate the learner, encourage group
activities and provide feedback to learners. The function of learner support is
to ensure the successful delivery of learning experience at a distance.
1.
Motivational and Affective Factors
One area of concern for most students in this study is lack of social
interaction between themselves and their lecturers and other students. To
address the problem of isolation, most students who participated in the study
reported that they belonged to informal study groups even though this is
neither encouraged nor discouraged by the university. Some goes as far as
requesting an address list of other students in their area who are studying the
same courses. In so doing, “students can feel immediate identification with
others in their group and so lose feelings of isolation and over anxiety”
(Thorpe 1995, p.84). It is in these study groups that students adopt a
communal approach to learning by sharing responsibility for reading and
explaining course material (Lentell and O’Rourke, 2004). In most African
15
cultures, group interaction is a strong factor determining values and social
interaction.
Although we agree that a student should be encouraged to be independent,
he or she needs to be helped to reach that goal. In ODL, there is strong
correlation between care and learner motivation. It is therefore important that
distance education institutions need to look at other ways that can be used to
facilitate social interaction. In developing student support systems, ODL
institutions need to recognise some of the structures that are valued in
African cultures and incorporate them in the support system programme.
Students can only develop their potential if they are given assistance that is
appropriate and addresses their needs.
To help the informal study groups to become self-sustaining, distance
education providers will do well by developing guides and programmes aimed
at empowering students to help each other. Lentell and O’Rourke (2004)
argue that ODL course and curriculum developers should include selfassessment exercises in their study material so that study groups can use
them in their discussions. Supporting self-directed study groups will build
communities of practice.
Students become involved in a community of
practice which embodies certain beliefs and behaviours to be acquired (Lave
and Wenger, 1991). Learning, both outside and inside the formal educationsetting, advance through collaborative social interaction and social
participation. .
2.
Cognitive and metacognive Factors
Most students cited lack of communication with their lecturers as the major
problem.
In the absence of communication with the people who are
supposed to enhance their experience of learning, they felt lonely, alienated,
insecure and alone. Thorpe (1998) believes that the quality of the interaction
between a learner and his peers, a learner and his teacher, and a learner and
his counsellor may enhance and even influence reactions to study. It must be
kept in mind that distance learners have no one to discuss their problems
with when they find it difficult to interpret tuition material.
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In ODL, tutoring is at the centre of the learning process. While lecturers
provide content through study material and learning resources, tutors help
students to develop skills needed to comprehend, assimilate and apply the
content, according to the 2003 Commonwealth of Learning tutor handbook.
The role of the tutor therefore is to support, guide, enable and serve as a link
between the students and the institution. There is no doubt that tutoring plays
a critical role in supporting students.
The UNISA’s 2007 ODL report suggests new ways of addressing limitations of
the present student support systems. In the new system, each student should
have a personal tutor who supports and understand a student as or she grows
through the course.
The tutor also has to provide feedback and mark
students’ assignments. This role of a new tutor system is seen as “at the
heart of learner support” (Tait 2003). Although this systems works well in
Western educational institutions, Lentell and O’Rourke (2004) warns that what
works other countries in the West may not necessary be appropriate in nonwestern societies.
An efficient and effective support system should be
grounded on the strength of the student context. It is in this regard that other
tutorial systems that have been used effectively in other developing countries
should be explored. It is about time, according to Lentell and O’Rourke (2004)
that developing countries should start researching other models and methods
of providing student support in situations of large student numbers.
3.
Developmental and social factors
One area that needs to be investigated in terms of providing support for
students is the usage of technology (mobile technology) for educational
purposes. Most people in Southern Africa, even those who live in rural areas,
are more likely to own a cell-phone than a television or a computer. The
University of Pretoria study found that the majority of their students who are
enrolled in distance education programmes have access to cell phones.
These students live in remote rural areas with little or no fixed line of
telecommunication infrastructure and therefore they relied on using cell
phones to communicate with their lecturers and each other (Keegan, 2005).
17
The potential for using cell phones for education purposes is enormous in a
country of limited access to electricity and telephone networks; poor roads
and postal services; and fewer people who have expertise of using
computers. In recent years, the usage of cell phones has been embraced as
a cost-effective way of providing support to teaching and learning in
developing countries. UNISA students, who participated in a study conducted
by Nonyongo and her colleagues in 2004, said that the SMS messaging is
not only efficient, it is also convenient and reliable. Traxler and Dearden
(2005) also found that students from Kenya, who participated in an in-service
training programme showed interest in using (SMS) texting messages for
learning purposes. He recommends that SMS texting can be used to support
and encourage students, remind them about assignments, assessments or
meeting as well as to deliver content such as hints, tips, revision etc.
Although mobile learning is still not viewed as a viable tool of providing
education in ODL, Keegan (2005) argues that the incorporation of mobile
learning can afford new opportunities for teaching and supporting students in
ODL. What emerged from Makoe (2006) study is that students also need
informal academic support. The problem with academics is to assume that
all what students are interested in is the content of the material. Synchronous
communication via cell phones platforms such as “Mxit” an instant messaging
application can be used to facilitate the process of real-time text chat
between individuals and groups.
The only way that distance education institutions can address the needs of
their students, is to adopt strategies in which knowledge can be reorganized,
implement curricula that students can identify with, understand the behaviour
of students of other racial groups, and create an environment where students
feel supported. It is important that distance education institutions need to look
at other ways that can be used to facilitate support systems that are
responsive, context-specific and integrated into the whole institutional culture.
The aim of supporting learners is to empower them so that they can take
control of their learning.
18
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