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Abstract: Distance learning postgraduate programs continue to struggle with supporting research activities of their students. Geographical dispersion, limited contact, and diversified learners' needs tend to hamper research progress, increase completion time, and intensify student isolation. In response to these concerns, this research created, introduced, and assessed an innovative, collaboratively designed eLearning support program for an MBA program of a Thai open university. Guided by a user-centered design thinking methodology, the project facilitated active co-creation by students and faculty from the outset, including needs identification and iterative development. The resulting integrative system bridged formal academic support and informal peer education. The system integrates several key components: self-paced Moodle eLearning modules for core research topics, synchronous Microsoft Teams sessions for individual advisor guidance, and Line application-based peer mentoring. These elements collectively aim to foster collaboration and reduce student isolation. Pilot testing yielded strong initial results with substantially greater on-time graduation rates than prior cohorts and high student satisfaction levels. Qualitative results also showed more collaboration and less academic isolation; peer-to-peer communication through Line was particularly useful for building community. These results validate the utility of this student-centered, co-creative design thinking process for meeting student needs and creating a positive learning environment. This study provides a replicable and empirically validated model using linked, technology-facilitated methods to build research training and stimulate student success across a variety of distance learning environments.
Keywords: eLearning, Co-Creation, Design Thinking, Peer-to-Peer Coaching, Distance Education, Postgraduate Research
1. Introduction
Postgraduate work, particularly in distance learning, faces significant challenges in adequately supporting student research. These challenges arise from inherent constraints such as geographical distance, diverse student groups, and predominantly virtual interactions with teaching staff (Gregori, Martínez, & Moyano-Fernández, 2018; Lee, 2020). Research supervision in these environments demands customized strategies to reverse learner isolation and facilitate the timely completion of academic courses (Castillo-Merino & Serradell-López, 2014; Kebritchi, Lipschuetz, & Santiague, 2017). This was worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic because of technological constraints, issues in building useful student-advisor relationships, and issues to maintain research quality from afar across nations. (Suparman, 2021) Although eLearning has gained widespread acclaim as a reliable instrument in distance learning, maintaining effective research supervision is still an onerous responsibility, particularly when conducted exclusively through online channels (Garrison & Arbaugh, 2007). The literature...