exploring the mediating role of graduate attributes

learning activities aimed at enhancing the academic self-directedness of students pursuingeducational studies in an ODL environment.Keywords: graduate attributes, scholarship, global/mo

Exploring the mediating role of graduate attributes in relation to academic self-directedness in open distance learning

Author (corresponding/contact person)

Prof Melinde Coetzee (DLitt et Phil)

Department of Industrial & Organisational Psychology

PO Box 392

University of South Africa

Pretoria, GAUTENG, SOUTH AFRICA

learning activities aimed at enhancing the academic self-directedness of students pursuingeducational studies in an ODL environment.

Keywords: graduate attributes, scholarship, global/moral citizenship, lifelong learning,academic self-directedness, open distance learning

to a range of different work contexts and are regarded important for successful business orprofessional practice (Barrie, 2006; Griesel & Parker, 2009; Jackson & Chapman, 2011; McNeil,Scicluna, Boyle, Grimm, Gibson & Jones, 2012) Prominent examples of these attributes arecritical, lateral and creative thinking skills, initiative and enterprise, problem-solving anddecision-making skills, working effectively with others, self-management skills, self-directedlearning, ethical practice, a life-long learning orientation, and effectively using information andsocial media technology to interact and communicate with others (Coetzee, 2012; Griesel &Parker, 2009; Jackson & Chapman, 2011; McNeil, et al., 2012)

The cultivation of generic graduate attributes in discipline-specific contexts at differentlevels of educational complexity are supposed to add to the graduateness of graduates as they areassumed to equip them as scholars, global and moral citizens, life-long learners, and effective

members of modern society who can act as agents of social good, change and innovation (Barrie,2004; Coetzee, 2012; Green et al., 2009; Steur, Jansen, & Hofman, 2012)

The objective of this study is to add to the extant literature on graduate attributes inhigher education by examining the mediating role of graduate attributes in enhancing opendistance learning (ODL) students’ academic self-directedness Globally, open distance learning(ODL) has become a common mode of delivery in higher education (Holtzhausen, 2012) asinformation and communication technologies have become central to share, spread and exchangeknowledge Distance and territorial limits are no longer barriers to commerce, contact betweenpeople, or learning in the form of formal or non-formal education (Faber, López & Prescher,2012) The ODL system is typically characterized by the physical separation of the lecturer andthe student Instruction is delivered through a variety of media, including print and otherinformation communication technologies (Jegede, 2009), interactive learning material andblended modalities of learning (Holtzhausen, 2012) Students in an ODL environment learnthrough self-instruction and material is provided through postal services and/or an electronicmedium, which encourage students to independently think and construct knowledge as theystudy and learn in their own space at their own pace (Goolamally, Yusoff, Subramaniam, & Latif,2010)

Developing students’ graduate attributes in an ODL context have become importantbecause of the high level of academic self-directedness required by the ODL environment(Botha, 2013; Coetzee, 2012; De Ture, 2004; Faber et al., 2012) Self-directed learning, self-learning skills and autonomy appear to be important in dealing successfully with the challengingnature of an ODL experience (De Ture, 2004; Faber et al., 2012) The pass and throughout rates

of students in the open and distance learning context have become a major concern in spite of

ODL providing open access to and flexible learning options and following a student-centredapproach to teaching and learning supported by mechanisms to enable students to succeed(Prinsloo & Subotzky, 2011) Students’ absence from final examinations has been pointed out as

a key factor affecting student pass and throughput rates in the ODL institutional context Asurvey conducted by Tladi (2009) at a South African higher education ODL institution, indicatednon-academic, psychological and metacognitive factors as impacting the most on students’absence from the final examinations

Although the Australian National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER,2003) mentions that graduate attributes enable students to be reflective and self-directed learners,active citizens and community participants, there seems to be a paucity of research on how ODLstudents’ graduate attributes relate to their academic self-directedness Faber et al (2012) posit inthis regard that higher education institutions face the challenge of combining their institutionalrole of cultivating well-rounded employable graduates with the individual demands andnecessities of students to learn in a self-directed manner in an expanding digitally-drivennetworked global knowledge society

The present study examined the mediating role of graduate attributes in enhancing opendistance learning (ODL) students’ academic self-directedness The next section of the articlegives an overview of the extant research literature on the constructs of graduate attributes andacademic self-directedness and leads to the research hypothesis The literature review is followed

by the research method for testing the research hypothesis The results are then reported anddiscussed, followed by a brief summary of the implications for ODL teaching and learningpractices

Graduate attributes

Barrie (2004) differentiates between three overarching enabling graduate attributes that aresupported by the development of specific skills and capabilities through the process of highereducation: scholarship (an attitude or stance towards knowledge and understanding); globalcitizenship (an attitude or stance towards the world), and lifelong learning (an attitude or stancetowards oneself) Steur et al (2012) add the notion of moral citizenship which refers to students’moral reasoning capabilities and awareness of their social responsibility toward society

Scholarship is cultivated through the ability to link theoretical and functional knowledge

in order to conscientiously solve complex problems within organizations and society (Steur et al.,2012) Barrie (2004) posits that graduates should be leaders in the production of new knowledgeand understanding through inquiry, critique and synthesis Graduate attributes relating to ascholarly attitude include research skills, problem-solving and decision-making skills, analyticalthinking skills, and enterprising skills (Coetzee, 2012; Steur et al., 2012) Underpinned bycritical or “higher order” thinking and meta-cognition, these graduate skills relate to beingventuresome, creative and proactive in the process of producing a solution to a recognized, yetoften ill-defined problem or problematic complex situation (Coetzee, 2012) Critical thinking isalso seen as reasonable reflective thinking by means of which discipline-specific knowledge andskills are applied based on one’s own judgment of a situation In the problem-solving anddecision-making process, information is analyzed, translated and integrated from different angles

in order to reach a conclusion (Phillips & Bond, 2004; Steur et al., 2012) Graduates’ capacity forindependent and critical thinking is regarded to be of great importance to employers, and seems

to be the skill that most sets apart successful from unsuccessful applicants (Hager, Holland, &

Beckett, 2002; Rigby,Wood, Clark-Murphy, Daly, Dixon, Kavanagh, Leveson, Petocz, &Thomas, 2009).

Global and moral citizenship refers to the ability to function effectively, efficiently and

responsibly as a person in communicating and interacting with people from diverse cultures,backgrounds, and authority levels, both globally and locally (Coetzee, 2012) As global citizens,graduates should have international savvy (Crossman & Clarke, 2010) and the capability tocontribute to society in a full and meaningful way through their roles as members of local,national, and global communities (Barrie, 2004) Graduate skills that relate to global and moralcitizenship include interactive skills, presenting and applying information skills, and ethical andresponsible behavior (Coetzee, 2012) Crossman and Clarke (2010) regard the ability to work inintercultural teams as vital because interactive skills impact upon problem-solving, decision-making, innovation, negotiation, conflict resolution and financial performance Graduates shouldalso be capable of using information technology to communicate knowledge, facts, ideas, andopinions (oral and written) clearly, respectfully and convincingly with the view to offer solutionsfor one’s personal benefit, or for the benefit of one’s community or workplace Ethical andresponsible behavior involves accepting full responsibility for, and taking the lead in upholdingthe code of moral beliefs and values of one’s profession, community, and/or workplace in all one

does and to exercise moral judgment (Coetzee, 2012)

As lifelong learners, graduates should develop a continuous learning orientation and be

committed to and capable of continuous reflection for the purpose of furthering theirunderstanding of the world and their place in it (Barrie, 2004; Coetzee, 2012) Steur et al (2012)posit that an attitude towards lifelong learning consist of higher-level cognitive activities, such asconnecting new knowledge to what is learned previously and reflecting upon its value andconsequences Lifelong learning requires goal-directedness, a cognitive openness toward

continuous learning and the willingness to proactively engage in the process of acquiring newknowledge, skills and abilities throughout one’s life and career in reaction to, and in anticipation

of, changing technology and performance criteria (Coetzee, 2012) Williams (2012) argues thatlifelong learning is fundamental to human evolution and also means life-wide learning, orlearning that extends beyond education to all aspects of the learner’s life

The notion of developing generic graduate attributes through the education processreflects a simplified mode of theorizing based on the assumptions and methods of cognitivepsychology The idea is that individuals are products of the education process, and theunderstanding is that knowledge is the result of experience leading to the transformation of self

or behavior (Bastalich, 2010) Jones (2012) and McNeil et al (2012) also argue that thedevelopment of the generic capabilities underpinning graduate attributes through educationalprograms is best served by learning that is situated and guided by the realistic context and needs

of a particular discipline Essential or universally applicable transformations in the capacities orattributes of individuals can only be produced if students gain experience of these graduateattributes in the discipline-specific knowledge contexts they work within or aim to work within(Bastalich, 2010) Barrie (2004) posits that graduate attributes equip graduates with a particularperspective or world-view (a way of relating to the world, or to knowledge, or to themselves) andprovide a framework for ongoing learning of new knowledge when learnt and developed as anintegral part of discipline-specific knowledge

The self-directed, experiential learner lies at the heart of the generic capabilitiesunderpinning graduate attributes (Bastalich, 2010) Self-regulated learning capabilities aretherefore seen to complement the development of graduate attributes (Rigby et al., 2009).Research suggests in this regard that the development of graduate attributes is directly motivated

and affected by students’ ability to self-regulate their learning (Boekaerts & Cascaller, 2006;Rigby et al., 2009) Self-directed learning assumes learners as active agents of the learningprocess and thus decenteres the roles of academics and educators (who are seen as facilitators oflearning), curricula and pedagogical concerns within the education process (Bastalich, 2010).The development of students’ graduate attributes is seen to require a teaching and learningprocess that focuses simultaneously on the students’ self-regulation of the learning andmotivation processes, as well as triggers in the environmental learning context that affect theseprocesses (Rigby et al., 2009) The notions of graduate attributes and academic self-directednessare therefore understood from a heutagocical teaching and learning perspective which has itsroots in the principles of andragogy (adult learning) The goal of the heutagocical approach isthat of producing learners who are well-prepared for the super complexities of today’sworkplace Heutagogy views learners as being highly autonomous and self-determined Based

on principles of double-loop learning and self-reflection, heutagogy focuses on the development

of the learner’s capacity and capability to solve real-life problems and reflect on the solving process by questioning personal values, assumptions and beliefs (Blaschke, 2012) Fromthis standpoint, it thus stands to reason that graduate attributes may influence or even strengthenthe academic self-directedness of students

problem-Academic self-directedness

The ODL environment provides an independent mode of study that requires a high level of directed learning (Botha, 2013) Rooted in the principles of andragogy, successful self-directedlearning depends on the willingness to engage in individually identified and defined learningactivities, a belief of autonomy, an independent search for information (by personally searching

self-and probing for information self-and facts), self-and engaging in self-managed, autonomous study(Ainoda, Onishi, & Yashuda, 2005) Self-directed learners are eager to participate in learningopportunities, are ingenious, resourceful and future driven They take responsibility for theirlearning, can set and chase goals and have acquired the study skills, interest and self- assuranceindispensable to their success (Botha, 2013; De Bruin & De Bruin, 2011)

Van Schoor (2011) refers to the ability to self-manage the study and learning process in

an ODL environment as situated agency Agency represents a cognitive capacity andintentionality to act and take personal control over a situation (Chen, 2006) Haggis (2003) andKahn, Qualter and Young (2012) also emphasize the importance of considering the complexities

of situatedness (location and context) and its interplay with personal factors in explaining studentlearning At a metacognitive level, the self-directed learner is capable of assessing a situation(i.e the demands of an ODL environment versus the demands of the personal and workenvironment), and based on an understanding of its demands, making decisions aboutappropriate actions to perform At an operational level (i.e the academic level), where theactions are performed, the self-directed learner is then capable to draw on a range of academicskills, information and knowledge from prior learning (Van Schoor, 2011)

Situated agency in an ODL environment requires what Botha (2013) terms as “academicself-directedness” Botha (2013) identified four cognitive-behavioral capabilities that underpinacademic self-directedness: (1) the strategic utilization of traditional officially provided learningresources; (2) a success orientation for ODL; (3) engaged academic activity; and (4)academically motivated behavior

The strategic utilization of traditional officially provided learning resources involves thewhen, how and for what purpose ODL learners in their role as active students utilize the official

learning resources (i.e tutorial letters, study guides, assignment feedback) provided by theuniversity (Botha, 2013; Fowler, 2008; Jones & Healing, 2010) A success orientation for ODLincludes the self-confidence and related problem-solving behaviors of the learner in thesuccessful pursuit of academic achievement in an ODL environment (Bashrina, 2009; Botha,2013; De Ture, 2004; Luckett & Luckett, 2009) Engaged academic activity involves theintentional, purposeful actions of ODL learners that are directly related to devoting their time andefforts in advancing their academic achievements or improving their competence, including theirpreparation for the exam component of a course (Bashrina 2009, Botha, 2013; Jones & Healing,2010; Luckett & Luckett, 2009) Academically motivated behavior involves displaying eitherintrinsic or extrinsic motivation related to students’ academic endeavors such as searching formore information and dealing with problematic ODL study-related matters (Botha, 2013; DeTure, 2004; Henderson-King & Smith, 2006; Richardson, 2002).

As an aspect of situated and personal agency, academic self-directedness can beunderstood in terms of Bandura’s (1986; 1999) social cognitive theory and in particular themodel of emergent interactive agency (Bandura, 1978; 1989) Broadly speaking, this modelinvolves the notion of triadic reciprocal causation, where action, cognitive, affective, and otherpersonal factors, and environmental events operate as interacting determinants The human mind

is seen as generative, creative, proactive, and self-reflective Knowledge structures, representingthe models, rules and strategies of effective action, serve as cognitive guides for the construction

of complex patterns of behavior (Bandura, 1999) Individuals are seen to have some activecontrol over both their environments and themselves by drawing on their knowledge andcognitive and behavioral skills to produce desired results (Bandura, 1989) People act as agents(self-reactors) over themselves by monitoring their actions and enlisting cognitive guides and

self-incentives to produce desired personal change (Bandura, 1989; Converse, Pathak, Haddock, Gotlib, & Merbedone, 2012) Elder (1999) also demonstrated that individuals areactive agents in their own positive development and aim at exerting control over their lives.Autonomous motivation has been linked to higher levels of sustained effort in achieving goalsand higher levels of effectiveness in the effort (Sheldon, 2002).

DePaul-Bandura’s (1999) conceptual arguments and other empirical findings (Converse et al.,2012) suggest a relationship between proactive agency (self-directedness) and educationalattainment Proactive individuals seem to be oriented toward learning and development(Converse et al., 2012) and are more likely to engage in self-enhancing behaviors such aspursuing further education in order to advance their careers (Seibert, Crant, & Kraimer, 1999)and developing new skills (Fuller & Marler, 2009) Research has shown that students’ activeengagement in their studies enhanced their study satisfaction and the perceived meaningfulness

of their studies (Coetzee & Oosthuizen, 2012), and to lead to persistence in achieving academicsuccess and completing qualifications (Viljoen, 2012) According to Bandura (1999), thecognitive capacities of individuals enable them to profit extensively from learning and lifeexperiences Coetzee and Botha (2013) found that graduate attributes such as a continuouslearning orientation, goal-directed behavior, analytical thinking and enterprising skills, andethical/responsible behavior relate to increased academic self-directedness (e.g successorientation in an ODL environment, learning resource utilization, engaged academic activity andmotivation) This leads to the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 1: ODL students’ scholarship attributes relate positively to their academic directedness through their global/moral citizenship and lifelong learning attributes

Participants

Following a quantitative cross-sectional survey design, a stratified proportional random sample

of N = 1102 undergraduate adult students at a South African ODL higher education institutionparticipated in the study The participants were part-time enrolled in further studies in theeconomic (50%) and management (50%) sciences field and represented 1% of the totalpopulation of students The sample predominantly consisted of 92% black students between 18and 40 years (88% - early career stage), 63% females and 57% full-time employed

Measuring instruments

The graduateness attributes were measured by the Graduate Skills and Attributes Scale (GSAS)

developed by Coetzee (2013) The GSAS is a self-rated, multi-factorial measure which contains

64 items and eight sub-scales which measure individuals’ self-perceived graduateness on a point Likert-type scale: (1) interactive skills (16 items); (2) problem-solving and decision makingskills (8 items); (3) continuous learning orientation (7 items); (4) enterprising skills (9 items); (5)skills in presenting and applying information (5 items); (6) goal-directed behavior (10 items); (7)ethical and responsible behavior (5 items); and (8) analytical thinking skills (4 items) Research

six-by Coetzee (2012; 2013) provides evidence of the construct and internal consistency reliability

of the GSAS In terms of the present study, Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients for each of the eightsubscales ranged between 79 and 96 (high) For the purpose of the present study, the problem-solving and decision-making skills, analytical thinking skills, and enterprising skills subscaleitems were clustered together to describe the overall scholarship attributes of the participants (α

= .91) The interactive skills, presenting and applying information skills, and ethical andresponsible behavior items were clustered to describe the participants’ overall global and moralcitizenship attributes (α = 93) Similarly, the goal-directed behavior and continuous learningorientation items were clustered to describe the life-long learning attributes of the participants (α

= 91)

Academic self-directedness was measured by the Adult Learner Self-Directedness Scale

(ALSDS), developed by Botha (2013) for the higher education ODL context The ALSDS is aself-report measure consisting of 4 sub-scales and 53 items, measuring the following attributesand behaviors: strategic utilization of traditional officially provided resources (e.g studymaterial); engaged academic activity (e.g utilization of time); success orientation for opendistance learning; and academically motivated behavior The ALSDS uses a five-point Likert-type behaviorally-anchored format to measure respondents’ responses on each of the items.Exploratory factor and Rasch analyses by Coetzee and Botha (2013) provide evidence of theinternal consistency reliability and construct validity of the ALSDS In terms of the presentstudy, the Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient for the overall ALSD self-directedness construct was 78(high)

Procedure

Ethical clearance and permission to conduct the study were obtained from the management andresearch ethics committee of the ODL higher education institution that participated in the study.Questionnaires were mailed to a stratified proportional random sample (N = 4850) of studentsenrolled for studies in the College of Economic and Management Sciences during 2011 Thesample was stratified by module, qualification, department and school The survey yielded n =