In search of excellence : a study of students' perceptions of effective tutors in a part-time distance-learning context

This thesis is a study on the perceptions about effective tutors held by distance learners studying for an Open University degree in Hong Kong. It is primarily a case study based on the university in an institutional context.;By means of the Repertory Grid Technique and content analysis, the study generated different detailed lists of ranked grouped constructs and profiles representing perceived characteristics of effective tutors for all respondents as a whole and for respondents segmented into different academic performance groupings.;The findings serve to complement the existing knowledge base on teacher/teaching effectiveness in the relevant literature. Apart from its unique context (institutional, cultural and study mode of respondents) and methods of inquiry, the study was more comprehensive in terms of the richness and finer details of the data obtained when compared to other personal characteristics approach or trait view of teaching effectiveness.;The findings on ranked constructs were compared and contrasted with other relevant or significant research findings covering empirical research, which either employed the repertory grids or used the SET (Students' Evaluation of Teaching Effectiveness) approaches, namely, Reid and Johnston's codings, Feldman's categories, and the SEEQ (Student Evaluation of Educational Quality) factors. Generally, the comparison seemed to provide credibility to the construct and content validity of the findings.;The findings based on laddering up interviews provided additional understanding of the grid findings on the perceptions/constructs of effective tutors. In particular, the comparison and contrast of the laddering up findings on high-achieving and low-achieving learners in terms of desired consequences and values held showed that the two groups had distinct differences in study attitudes and approaches.