Factors Affecting Learning Achievement Of Distance Learners

With the development of information technology, continuous education and lifelong learning are becoming necessary requirements for people to adapt to the change of society. Since distance education is open and flexible, it is widely welcomed and extended throughout the world. However, the comparatively high rates of students' dropout, loss and Delay Graduation hinder the quality and sound development of distance education. Therefore, recognizing the regularities and features of the above problem and distinguishing the main factors that affect learners to fulfill their study are the starting point for its resolution. The dropout and maintenance of distance and adult education have been researched a lot, and have formed a series of influential theoretical achievements abroad. Yet, the study about this matter is far from enough in our country. Thus, this paper does an empirical research on the main factors which affect the distance learners to finish their studies.This paper introduces the documents which are about distance learners' dropout and maintenance both home and abroad, with the help of the survey of document. Besides, it statistically analyzes the data in annual report and censor in 2004, which concerns Delay Graduation in education experiments of distance education that include South China University of Technology, Sun Yan-Sen University, and Guang Zhou Radio& TV University. Meanwhile, it analyzes the graduating state about the students who registered in the School of Network education in South China Normal University from autumn in 2002 to the autumn in2004. In addition, with the application of questionnaire toward students in School of Network Education in South China Normal University, it compares 73 students who have finished their school work successfully with 70 Delay Graduation students. Concerning the delay and loss of distance learners, it makes a survey on the 45 employees in distance education.After interviewing and surveying the dropouts, successful learners, delay gradations and employees in distance education, along with analyzing the relevant data, it studies the factors that affect learners' fulfillment of learning from multipoint of view, discovering that the extent how hard learners work and the contradiction between work and learning are the two most important factors that affect the fulfillment of learning. Next, learners' previous foundation is also influential. Besides, the support of society, such as support from family, colleague, friends, educational agency, along with the intensity of learning motivation, interaction with teachers or classmates, interfering incidents, the consistency of major and work, as well as economic burden, all will have an effect on learners' fulfillment of learning.The creative points of this research are demonstrated from two aspects. One is to put forward and define the concept of "Delay Graduation" for the first time. It analyzes and induces the phenomenon and regularities of Delay Graduation in distance education, seeking the hidden reason for this matter, which has done a fundamental work for people to understand and to solve this problem. The other is to examine and to revise the classical theory, about the dropouts of distance education in the foreign countries, under domestic distance education circumstance. Meanwhile, it makes a pioneering work for the development of theory that involves dropouts in the area of Chinese distance education.