During this process, we split or combined some of the sub-domains proposed by the scholars. (1) Split the sub-domains of a few scholars. For example, ZHANG Weiyuan’s “theory and philosophy” was split and added to the two research themes of “theory and concept” and “philosophy”. Rekkedal’s “development of distance teaching and teaching materials” was split and added to “distance teaching” and “curriculum design and development”. (2) Combine the sub-domains of a few scholars. For example, ZHANG Weiyuan’s “distance learning” and “learning model” were combined into “distance learning”. Muilenburg’s “administrative management structure”, “organisational change” and “legal issues” are combined into “system management and operation”. See the final summarised statistics in Table 1 below.
Table 1 Content Framework of Distance Education Research Formulated on the Basis of Scholars’ Domain Divisions
|
Sub-domain
|
Research theme
|
Specific contents
|
Number of scholars
|
|
Theoretical research
|
Philosophy
|
Ontology, epistemology, methods and methodology
|
4
|
|
Sociology
|
Policies and regulations, culture and tradition, integration of conventional education and distance education, globalisation
|
7
|
|
|
History
|
|
6
|
|
|
System theory
|
International comparison, taxonomy, assessment, etc.
|
5
|
|
|
Theory and concept
|
Meta-research, principles, basic impetus, basic concepts, basic theories
|
9
|
|
|
Discipline construction
|
Special research, research methods
|
5
|
|
|
System construction and operation
|
System construction
|
System construction and analysis, education equality and learning opportunity, system accessibility and availability
|
5
|
|
System operation
|
Planning, organisation management; administrative management, academic affairs, policy and legal issues
|
14
|
|
|
Industry and economics
|
Economics, cost-benefit equilibrium, cooperation inside and outside the system
|
14
|
|
|
Research on development strategy
|
Higher education, elementary education, distance training, lifelong learning
|
3
|
|
|
Professional training
|
Practical guidance, training and professional development
|
8
|
|
|
Teaching management and quality assurance
|
Teaching management
|
Professional cultivation models, professional development, curriculum planning and learning objectives
|
5
|
|
Evaluation and accreditation
|
Measurement and evaluation, effectiveness of assessment approach and results
|
11
|
|
|
Quality assurance
|
Quality development
|
7
|
|
|
Teaching
resources
|
Resource construction and management
|
Resource construction, course delivery, learning resource management
|
4
|
|
Curriculum design and development
|
Curriculum theory, teaching design, presentation of disciplinary content, assessment, and revision
|
10
|
|
|
Distance teaching and learning
|
Psychology
|
Learner characteristics, learning styles, etc.
|
4
|
|
Distance teaching
|
Teaching research, adaptation of teaching theories to different learning styles, etc.
|
8
|
|
|
Distance learning
|
Learning models, strategies to boost interaction and proactive learning
|
8
|
|
|
Subject teaching
|
Research on distance teaching of the discipline
|
1
|
|
|
Face-to-face tutorial
|
Organisation and implementation of face-to-face tutorial
|
1
|
|
|
Learner support
|
Learners
|
Learner groups, student motivation, environment and conditions, survey and description of enrollment, dropout and graduation
|
6
|
|
Interactive support
|
Consultation, exchange and interaction with support organisations (teachers, consultants, administrators and other students), methods of teacher coordination and mutual assistance, etc.
|
15
|
|
|
Media technologies
|
Development of media technologies
|
Development of systems and tools
|
2
|
|
Application of media technologies
|
Technology capacity, technology support and infrastructure, technology and media teaching, transmission and communication
|
15
|
|
|
Total frequency
|
177
|
||
(Note: If one sub-domain is split into two, the total frequency is recorded as two; if two sub-domains are combined into one, the total frequency is also recorded as two.)