Masters students’ perceptions of distance and transport options

• Main Authors: Olsen, Mirjam Harkestad, Gunnþórsdóttir, Hermína
• Other Authors: Kennaradeild (HA), Faculty of Education (UA), Hug- og félagsvísindasvið (HA), School of Humanities and Social Sciences (UA), Háskólinn á Akureyri, University of Akureyri
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: University of Aberdeen 2018
• Subjects: Arctic regions; Education; Adults; Motivation; Geography; Menntun; Fullorðnir; Áhugi; Landafræði; Heimskautasvæði; Akureyri; Alta; Arctic; Norway; Iceland; North Norway; Arctic University of Norway; University of Akureyri
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/1393

This article is situated within the Arctic Regions North Norway and North/East Iceland. It presents a study on what motivates adults in Arctic regions to apply for and complete a Master’s degree in Education. Motivation is examined in relation to distance, transport options and degree completion times, focusing on whether distance and transport options were significant motivation factors for students in the Arctic regions. Data is based around two Master’s degree programmes, one at the University of Akureyri in Iceland and the other in Alta, at the Arctic University of Norway. All students who had completed the Master’s degree programme in Akureyri and Alta respectively were invited to take part in a questionnaire distributed to students’ email addresses. The results are introduced in terms of distance and travel time and the reason for choice of university. The findings indicate that difficult weather conditions do not negatively affect students’ learning processes as the students seem rather to take these conditions and circumstances for granted. The students are driven by intrinsic motivation such as determination, relatedness and coping and their motivation is thus directed by ownership of the decision; a significant decision that also affects their partner and their children. This work was supported by the Arctic Studies - Science Cooperation Fund, 2014-2015 under Grant number 2014-SCF-69450. Peer reviewed