ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the extent to which the learning conditions of distance education students influence the strategies they adopt in their studies, the consequences for the quality of learning students are able to achieve, and ways in which this can be improved. It is based on a pilot study of students enrolled in distance education courses at the University of the South Pacific, a regional institution unique in the vastness of the geographical area spanned by its member countries and the linguistic and cultural diversity of its student body. The University of the South Pacific is a regional institution which has served the people of twelve island nations in the Pacific for over 25 years. The University could offer a limited number of well-designed first year Extension courses in a new degree program which would start with a “foundation” year, possibly in Arts and Social Sciences, to avoid having to provide laboratory facilities for Science courses.
