Reasons Why Students attend Open University in China

Abstract

Although much has been written on the distance education system as a whole in China, little attention has been given to the individual learners, including why they chose to attend. In the past it was not seen as important for Chinese institutions to worry about student perspectives, as there was little flexibility in institutional decision-making. But as more options open up for students, institutions may need to become more entrepreneurial to survive, and thus need to address students' concerns to become more desirable to them. This study was designed to explore student motivations and other perceptions related to attending distance higher education in China. The data reported in this qualitative case study were collected at a Radio and Television University located in Northern China. The following research questions were addressed: (a) What are students' perceptions of their status as students? (b) What is the students' perceived value of the learning achieved via this radio and television university? (c) What are students’ reasons for enrolling in this university? (d) What factors influence students’ perceptions of their status as students and the learning achieved? and (e) What recommendations do students have about changing the current perceptions of distance learning? Data were collected from multiple sources using document review, observation, and interview.