Student preference for residential or online project work in psychology

Abstract

Psychology students at the Open University (OU) can choose whether to complete their project work at residential school or by participating in an online equivalent. This study identifies different factors governing module choice and student experience: When choosing residential school, social aspects are important, whereas for online, students are more concerned with ensuring the work fits into their lives. Students valued the opportunities to meet and make friends with peers at residential school and both residential school and online students rated working in groups highly. However group dynamics were mentioned as the worst aspect of the online experience. This report considers reasons for this and possible solutions.