Trust the Process: A Duoethnography of Graduates of a Low-Residency Undergraduate Program

Abstract

What are the benefits or drawbacks of a low-residency educational delivery model? How does the process of designing one's own study impact the work completed in a distance education program with this form of delivery? As researchers who found success in a low-residency undergraduate program, we engaged in a duoethnographic study to mine our experiences and better understand the advantages and disadvantages of this educational model. We engaged in four recorded conversations over the course of three weeks, with sessions ranging from 35 to 60 minutes each. Between sessions, we journaled in a shared online document, discussing our emerging understandings of the topic, responding to each other's perspectives, and pushing one another to articulate and revisit our stances. Through these oral and written dialogues, we identified six themes featured in the low-residency educational model: reduced stigma for non-traditional students, diversity of community, flexibility, self-designed study, staying connected, and clarity of boundaries.

Keywords: low-residency, distance education, duoethnography, self-designed learning, non-traditional students