Reducing the attrition of tertiary bridging students studying by distance: A practice report

This paper describes an initiative commenced in Semester 1 2012 in a small rural town in Queensland, Australia, to address the high level of attrition experienced by tertiary bridging students studying by distance in regional areas. It was hypothesised that the attrition was caused by a lack of social and academic integration into the program. The initiative involved the conducting of face-to-face teaching and a study group on a weekly basis at a partner institution. The collaboration between the university, the local partner institution and representatives of local government and community organisations involved in identifying potential students and supporting those students once enrolled is described. The major findings of the initiative to date relate to the high incidence of a change in the circumstances of students which challenged continued attendance in the bridging program, the difficulties of distance students in relation to the administrative requirements of the university and the challenges associated with the completion of a high volume of assessment in the early transition weeks of the semester. The primary relevance the initiative has for providers of distance tertiary bridging programs relates to the lack of support that distance students have when experiencing these challenges.