{"id":287,"date":"2026-03-17T11:00:38","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T11:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/H890Conference\/?p=287"},"modified":"2026-03-17T11:00:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T11:00:38","slug":"improving-outcomes-for-non-traditional-students-in-online-distance-higher-education-a-longitudinal-mixed-methods-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/H890Conference\/index.php\/2026\/03\/17\/improving-outcomes-for-non-traditional-students-in-online-distance-higher-education-a-longitudinal-mixed-methods-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Improving Outcomes for Non-Traditional Students in Online Distance Higher Education: A Longitudinal Mixed Methods Study"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Online distance higher education (ODHE) has significantly expanded opportunities for participation in university study, enabling access for learners who may previously have been excluded from traditional higher education pathways. Many of these learners come from non-traditional backgrounds, including working-class or lower socio-economic status (SES) groups and students with lower prior educational attainment. While widening participation initiatives have increased access to higher education, disparities in retention and attainment between advantaged and disadvantaged students persist. Understanding how these disparities are experienced within online learning environments therefore\u00a0remains\u00a0an important issue\u00a0for both research and educational practice.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Existing research has examined student retention, widening participation, and online learning as largely separate areas of inquiry. However,\u00a0relatively little\u00a0empirical work has explored how these factors interact for non-traditional students studying in online distance environments. Studies\u00a0frequently\u00a0treat online learners as a homogeneous population or emphasise individual motivation and self-regulation, often overlooking the ways in which institutional practices, course design, and structural inequalities shape students\u2019 experiences. This study addresses this gap by centring the lived experiences of non-traditional students studying in online distance higher education.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The study adopts a critical research paradigm and interpretivist epistemology, informed by Freirean perspectives on education and social justice. A longitudinal qualitative design will be used to examine how students\u2019 experiences of online higher education evolve over time. Between twelve and fifteen undergraduate students studying in an online distance university will\u00a0participate\u00a0in four waves of semi-structured interviews conducted across the duration of their degree programmes. Participants will also be invited to contribute optional reflective diary entries between interview waves\u00a0in order to\u00a0capture contemporaneous reflections on their learning experiences. Data will be analysed using thematic analysis to develop cumulative case profiles that trace participants\u2019 evolving experiences of belonging, confidence, and interaction with institutional structures.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">As the study is currently at the proposal stage, the\u00a0anticipated\u00a0findings are expected to\u00a0provide\u00a0deeper insight into how non-traditional students navigate online higher education and how institutional practices shape their persistence and attainment. By integrating student narratives with institutional continuation and attainment data, the research aims to contribute to a more holistic understanding of retention in online distance higher education.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The findings are expected to inform more inclusive approaches to online course design and institutional support, contributing to ongoing efforts to ensure that widening access to higher education is accompanied by\u00a0equitable\u00a0opportunities for success.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Online distance higher education (ODHE) has significantly expanded opportunities for participation in university study, enabling access for learners who may previously have been excluded from traditional higher education pathways. Many of these learners come from non-traditional backgrounds, including working-class or lower socio-economic status (SES) groups and students with lower prior educational attainment. While widening participation [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[194,193,196,195,198,197],"class_list":["post-287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-non-traditional-students","tag-online-distance-higher-education","tag-student-attainment","tag-student-retention","tag-student-voice","tag-widening-participation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/H890Conference\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/H890Conference\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/H890Conference\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/H890Conference\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/H890Conference\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/H890Conference\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":288,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/H890Conference\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287\/revisions\/288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/H890Conference\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/H890Conference\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/H890Conference\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}