Students' experiences with a flexible start pilot
Aurio, Ilona (2024)
2024
All rights reserved. This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024052817215
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024052817215
Tiivistelmä
The commissioner of the thesis, Satakunta University of Applied Sciences (SAMK), noticed that foreign students were struggling to arrive to Finland to start their studies by the assigned starting date due to various reasons, such as visa and residence permit delays. To tackle this problem and avoid foreign students missing important first year courses, the faculty of Service Business at SAMK came up with the idea of flexible start. Flexible start enables students to start their studies later into the semester and catch up on studies that started earlier in the semester.
The theoretical background of the thesis focused on instructional design and ADDIE model. The process of creating flexible start and developing it in the future was linked into the different phases of the model for the reader to better understand how the model could be used in the design process.
The objective of the thesis was to provide the commissioner with new information about how the students have experienced the flexible start pilot. The objective was also to create a first draft of a survey, which can be improved and developed in the future. The research also aimed to find out what the strengths and weaknesses of flexible start are according to the students.
The research was conducted using quantitative research methods. Empirical data was collected with an online survey. Survey questions were formed to find answers to the research question and its sub-questions. A Google Forms sur-vey was sent to 93 students via their university email address and the survey was open for responses for two weeks. After the response period was over, the survey had received 22 responses.
The research found that majority of the respondents had positive experiences with the flexible start pilot and would suggest flexible start options to other students. Students reported that flexible start helped them make more friends, balance working and studying at the same time and catch up on missed studies. The main challenges faced by students were the lack of online classes, difficulty following the schedule and flexible start adding stress and confusion at the beginning of studies. Overall, the majority of the respondents reported to have experienced more positive than negative effects from the flexible start pilot.
The theoretical background of the thesis focused on instructional design and ADDIE model. The process of creating flexible start and developing it in the future was linked into the different phases of the model for the reader to better understand how the model could be used in the design process.
The objective of the thesis was to provide the commissioner with new information about how the students have experienced the flexible start pilot. The objective was also to create a first draft of a survey, which can be improved and developed in the future. The research also aimed to find out what the strengths and weaknesses of flexible start are according to the students.
The research was conducted using quantitative research methods. Empirical data was collected with an online survey. Survey questions were formed to find answers to the research question and its sub-questions. A Google Forms sur-vey was sent to 93 students via their university email address and the survey was open for responses for two weeks. After the response period was over, the survey had received 22 responses.
The research found that majority of the respondents had positive experiences with the flexible start pilot and would suggest flexible start options to other students. Students reported that flexible start helped them make more friends, balance working and studying at the same time and catch up on missed studies. The main challenges faced by students were the lack of online classes, difficulty following the schedule and flexible start adding stress and confusion at the beginning of studies. Overall, the majority of the respondents reported to have experienced more positive than negative effects from the flexible start pilot.