Effective student support services – An achievement-oriented approach

The provision of support services for students is an important component of distance education. Evidence exists to suggest that there is a positive relationship between students ’ acad mic performance and effective use of support systems. In the light of this, it is a matter of concern that large numbers of students either choose not to make optimum use of some or all of these services, or do not know how to use them effectively. Consequently it is important to understand more about students ’ perceptions and use of support systems in order to maximise the effectiveness of these to enhance students ’ performance. In order to gain more understanding about the relationship between achievement and use of support services, this paper compared a group of high achieving students ’ knowledge about, use of, and satisfaction with a range of student support services to those of a group of low achievers. Responses to a questionnaire survey indicated that, apart from face-to-face sessions, use of other services was low for both groups. A follow-up interview with a sample of the students explored whether or not they perceived the support offered by these services was in fact useful in helping them to address the problems that affected their achievement, or whether they turned to othe