Student perceptions and experience of online tutorials

Einstivina Nuryandani, Purwaningdyah Murti Wahyuni and Joko Setiyanto
Semarang Regional Office, Universitas Terbuka
Indonesia

Maximus Gorky Sembiring
Regional Office for Overseas Students, Universitas Terbuka
Indonesia

In this study, student perceptions and experience of online tutorials — one of the modes of delivery in distance education systems — was investigated, with the aim of finding out how far this service fufilled students' academic needs. The research was conducted in the Semarang Regional Office of Universitas Terbuka. It adopted a quantitative approach, and the population was the students registered in the Non-Educational Programmes in 2012 and 2014. The data were collected by using a questionnaire. Purposive sampling was used to gather information from 316 respondents in the first stage (2012) and 100 in the second stage (2014). The results showed that, in the first stage, 81% of them were aware of the online tutorial service provided by the University, but most of them (67%) did not utilize it. In the second stage, a slightly higher percentage (85%) of the respondents knew about this service, and 82% of them had activated it. This shows clearly that, while most of the students in the first stage (2012) did not use the online tutorials, the situation improved greatly in 2014 when students saw the academic benefits of online tutorials.