Computer mediated tutorial support for conventional university courses

In an effort to restore quality and flexibility to the tutorial provision on some undergraduate courses, first, second and third year psychology students at the University of Southampton have been inducted into the use of 'skywriting' as a medium for learning support. Email messages from students and tutors, primarily focussed on issues arising from the course content, are directed to a course list so that all participants receive them; both tutors and students may reply to these. The course tutor maintains a Web-based archive of threaded discussions by the occasional modification of message subject lines. Within this archive, the exchanges can be searched and read by theme, by participant, or by date. This provision is in addition to the usual lectures and face-to-face tutorial meetings. This paper examines students' participation in skywriting on three courses. Participation is examined in relation to gender, and to attitudes and experience with computers. Levels of contribution to face-to-face tutorials and to skywriting are compared, and their relation to students' learning styles is explored.