Adult Learning Open University Determinants study: Psychological determinants of study success

As our current knowledge society is changing very rapidly, aging of knowledge and skills is going faster. To keep up with these developments, it is important being able to learn on a higher age. Factors playing a significant role in being a successful learner can have psychological origins. The association between psychological factors and academic performance is well established for children, adolescents, and college students in traditional education. However, evidence of associations between these factors and study success for adult students in distance education is lacking. In the present study, the association between several psychological factors (e.g. affect, test anxiety, goal orientation, learning strategies) and study success for adult students in distance education are investigated. Approximately 2000 students of the Open University will participate in this large longitudinal study, by filling out an online questionnaire and three online neuropsychological tests at baseline. There will be a follow up after six and twelve months. Data collection of baseline takes place September 2012 till September 2013. During EARLI 2013 preliminary results will be shown. The results of this study may provide insight into factors associated with study success in adult students. Based on these results effective learning strategies can be developed in order to optimize the current curriculum.