‘Student on hold’: a poetic exploration into part-time distance learner experiences of deferral

Robson, Linda (2022). ‘Student on hold’: a poetic exploration into part-time distance learner experiences of deferral. In: Mobilities in Higher Education SRHE International Conference 2022, 5-9 Dec 2022, Online.

Abstract

At the Open University (UK) most students are part-time, fitting their studies around employment, family life and other commitments. Some students experience life events which prevent them from studying for a period of time. A deferral process allows students to pause studies and return on the following presentation of the module. Quantitative data shows fewer than two thirds of deferred students return by the end of the deferral period. This research is investigating why students do or do not resume their studies.
This poster presents transcript poems (Faulkner, 2017) created from interviews with sixteen students who had taken a deferral from their undergraduate studies. Poetic inquiry gives authentic voice to the participants to create an emotionally rich portrayal of their lived experiences (Carr, 2003), and offers a new and different approach to visualisation of qualitative research data (Denzin, 2014).

References
Carr, J. M. (2003) Poetic expressions of vigilance, Qualitative Health Research, Vol 13, pp. 1324-1331. Denzin, N.K. (2014) Interpretive autoethnography. 2nd ed. Sage, Thousand Oaks, California.
Faulkner, S. (2017) Poetic Inquiry. Craft, Method and Practice. 2nd ed. Routledge, Abingdon, UK.

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