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Comparing Satisfaction, Life-Stress, Coping and Academic Performance of Counselling Students in On-Campus and Distance Education Learning Environments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 April 2014

Brett Furlonger  and
Emilia Gencic
Brett Furlonger*
Affiliation:
Institute of Human Development and Counselling, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Emilia Gencic
Affiliation:
Institute of Human Development and Counselling, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
*
address for correspondence: Brett Furlonger, PhD, Institute of Human Development and Counselling, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Building 5, Clayton Campus, Wellington Road, Clayton VIC 3800, Australia. Email: brett.furlonger@monash.edu
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Abstract

Distance education students are confronted with a range of additional challenges as part of their tertiary study experience. A quantitative approach was used to identify the challenges they face, their relative levels of satisfaction, coping strategies, and academic performance. Two hundred and ninety-five students (64 male and 231 female) participated by completing a survey that included measures of satisfaction, stress, coping, and academic performance. All were enrolled in an Australian university and studied either on campus or in one of two distance education (DE) modes, off-campus and offshore. While there were some differences in satisfaction expressed between DE and on-campus students, there were no significant differences between the groups on measures of stress or academic performance. The differences between the three groups’ use of coping strategies was less clear. Possible explanations for the differences between the groups are discussed.

Keywords

studentscopingstresssatisfactionacademicperformancedistance education
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , June 2014 , pp. 76 - 89
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Australian Academic Press Pty Ltd 2014 

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