The quality of teaching and learning of BCom honours degree students at an open distance learning university in South Africa

ABSTRACT

Student support at Unisa involves a range of stakeholders providing academic and administrative support. The study was conducted among Unisa BCom honours students. The main objective of the study was to determine the educational quality of teaching and learning offered. Students were contacted by e-mail and asked to complete an online questionnaire. New methods on problem solving, investigating problems and formulating problems were found very useful and students gained independence in developing their learning capabilities. Available resources and supervision were not utilized to the full. Adequate financial aid seemed to be a problem. Support should be optimized and students should realize that all resources made available to them are crucial for their success. Students are of all ages and levels of maturity and have different needs and views regarding their studies. Unisa should endeavour to meet as many of these needs as is practically possible.     

Student performance in Introductory Microeconomics at an African open and distance learning institution

Abstract

Introductory Microeconomics as offered by the University of South Africa (Unisa) is a compulsory module for a Bachelor of Commerce, a Bachelor of Accountancy or a Bachelor of Administration degree. Success or failure in Introductory Microeconomics directly impacts on the number of years students take to complete their degrees, and eventually also on the throughput subsidy to Unisa.

A number of exceptional institutional rules and regulations impact on the teaching of Introductory Microeconomics at Unisa, as an open and distance learning (ODL) institution. Unlike many residential institutions, Unisa does not require Mathematics at school level for registration for Introductory Microeconomics. This article reports on research done at Unisa to determine how student success in Introductory Microeconomics is influenced by variables such as race, home language, whether the students passed mathematics at matriculation level, matriculation exemption1 1. Matriculation (“matric”): In South Africa, the final school exit certificate, which is awarded with or without university exemption (“endorsement”). , gender and the passing of assignments. Although this research confirms previous research that home language and age do impact on student success, it finds that the successful passing of assignments has the greatest impact on student success.     

E-learning and technologies for open distance learning in Management Accounting

This research develops a knowledge acquisition and construction framework for e-learning for Management Accounting students at the University of South Africa, an Open Distance Learning institution which utilises e-learning. E-learning refers to the use of electronic applications and processes for learning, including the transfer of skills and knowledge over a distance. It is important to the knowledge construction process to understand how students learn in order to determine a set of suitable learning strategies. Studies have shown that e-learning applications are seldom used, sometimes because of inappropriate content and technologies. Other prohibitive factors are cost, poor or inadequate technology infrastructure (or a lack of access to such infrastructure), and a shortage of human resources. We propose a framework for addressing these concerns and consider how constructivist theories may enrich such a framework.     

远程开放教育环境下自主学习模式的探讨

随着电大远程开放教育的深入发展,加强学生自主学习能力的培养,使学生学会自主学习,提高学生参与学习的主动性和积极性,对保障教学过程顺利进行,提高教学质量具有重要意义。     

基于碎片化学习的远程开放教育移动学习模式探讨

人类学习方式经历了私塾求学、课堂学习及网络学习三个历史阶段,现代远程开放教育是社会发展的必然要求。移动学习(M-Learning)能够针对现代社会学习者流动分散的学习特征,利用碎片化学习方式,实现最佳学习效果,运用越来越广泛的移动学习必将成为未来学习过程中不可或缺的学习方式,是未来远程开放教育中的最佳学习模式。     

Teaching gender studies via open and distance learning in South Africa

The University of South Africa (UNISA) has recently redesigned its honors degree in Gender Studies. The course design team members have been mindful of three key factors while redesigning this degree. First, we are aligning our course design with the demands of open and distance learning (ODL) and UNISA’s institutional move to online delivery of all teaching materials. Second, we are guided by the theoretical principles of feminist pedagogy. Third, we are committed to producing graduates who can take on the challenge of being gender change agents in a country with an escalating rate of gender-based violence. This article charts the development of the Gender Studies curricular initiative at UNISA with reference to the pedagogical insights provided by feminist scholarship on teaching, learning, and technology. We hope that our experience will provide insight into the parameters and process of creating an effective program in Gender Studies within an ODL context.     

Exploring the mediating role of graduate attributes in relation to academic self-directedness in open distance learning

The objective of this study is to add to the extant literature on graduate attributes by examining the mediating role of global/moral citizenship and lifelong learning attributes in the relation between students' scholarship attributes and their academic self-directedness in a higher-education open distance learning (ODL) environment. The Graduate Skills and Attributes Scale and Adult Learner Self-directedness Scale were administered to a stratified proportional random sample of N?=?1102 undergraduate ODL students in the economic and management sciences field. Data analyses consisted of an analysis of correlations and two simple mediational models. The results revealed significant direct and indirect effects between the variables. The academic self-directedness of the participants was positively influenced by their scholarship, global/moral citizenship and lifelong learning attributes. The influence of scholarship attributes on academic self-directedness is significantly mediated through global/moral citizenship and lifelong learning attributes. These findings contribute new knowledge that informs the design of teaching and learning activities aimed at enhancing the academic self-directedness of students pursuing educational studies in an ODL environment.     

Africa and international policy making for lifelong learning: textual revelations

This paper discusses the relationship between international agendas for lifelong learning and financial aid for low income countries, especially those on the African continent. It argues that there are subtle differences in terminology written by policymakers respectively in Europe and South Africa for lifelong learning but that international development agendas reinscribe lifelong learning for countries in receipt of development aid. Taking a postcolonial perspective the paper provides a textual analysis of case examples from policy documents in two African countries to demonstrate how international aid priorities negatively affect government choices and policies for lifelong learning, in spite of more regional analyses of the role of education and lifelong learning for the continent's development needs. It argues that the inclusion of indigenous worldviews from the south have potential to enhance a global agenda for the social purpose element of lifelong learning.     

The political economy of attaining Universal Primary Education in sub-Saharan Africa: The politics of UPE implementation

This is the second article of a two-article review which examines how key aspects of the dominant political economy in sub-Saharan Africa are influencing the implementation of the policy of Universal Primary Education (UPE). The first article analyses three sets of factors namely new social class relations, new forms of educational competition and distancing and intensifying competition for formal sector jobs. This provides the essential contextual background for this second article which draws on political settlement analysis to explore the politics of the implementation UPE and, in particular, the level of elite political commitment to the attainment of UPE.     

远程开放教育英语专业学习者辍学现象调查(一)——来自电大系统14个省级电大样本观测点的实证研究

高辍学率是远程开放教育不可回避的一个问题。本研究对广播电视大学辍学率较高的英语专业展开实证研究,研究首先选择英语专业招生较集中的广播电视大学系统14个省级电大作为样本观测点,进而确定各观测点2010年春入学的2237名学生进入研究与学业观察范围,研究计划连续跟踪该届学生3个学期,记录每学期发生的辍学现象。到2010年秋季,研究得到了入学半年后首批辍学者名单共204人,研究者邀请到其中的118人填写了调查问卷,并对其中98名辍学者进行了面对面访谈或者电话、网络访谈。研究同时得到了195名辍学者在校学习成绩记录。研究还对辍学者身边的40名英语专业教师以及班主任进行了面对面访谈。基于以上数据,研究揭示了远程开放教育英语专业学生学习半年后发生的辍学现象及其影响因素,并提出了远程教育机构作为方向的思考。     

Musing on the memes of open and distance education

Just as genes propagate themselves in the gene pool by leaping from body to body, so memes (ideas, behaviours, and actions) transmit cultural ideas or practices from one mind to another through writing, speech, or other imitable phenomena. This paper considers the memes that influence the evolution of open and distance education. If the transmission is strong and a sufficient number of policy-makers, managers, or practitioners in various contexts are capable of faithful imitation, the meme pool will evolve to exploit these memes to the full. If the propagation is weak, this may give rise to little or no imitation of the necessary philosophical stances, service orientations, and operational capacities.     

Implementing randomised control trials in open and distance learning: a feasibility study

Randomised control trials (RCTs) are an evidence-based research approach which has not yet been adopted and widely used in open and distance education to inform educational policy and practice. Despite the challenges entailed in their application, RCTs hold the power to robustly evaluate the effects of educational interventions in distance learning and conclude on whether (or not) these interventions should be adopted and used extensively. The aim of this paper is to spark discussions around the use of RCTs in distance learning by illustrating their benefits and drawbacks including challenges in adopting RCTs in education. To achieve this aim, a RCT was implemented to examine whether a small-scale intervention in four language modules could improve attendance at an end-of-module speaking assessment, and in consequence, performance, completion and pass rates. Results raise the need for further research in order to identify what type of interventions should be designed and put into practice to elicit a positive impact on learners. The paper concludes with a discussion on why RCTs should be brought to the forefront as a viable method for the effective evaluation of the impact of open learning analytic interventions.     

Financial management of distance learning in dual-mode institutions

Dual-mode universities operating in a tough economic environment need to be able to answer a range of questions concerning their use of different teaching modes accurately and with confidence. Only an activity-based costing approach will provide them with this tool. Cost studies of other distance learning projects may provide benchmarks against which they can make judgements about their own costs, and the generalised lessons gained from recent experience may help them weed out non-viable options. However, studies on distance education costs undertaken in the 1970s and 1980s are now largely irrelevant to the issues facing those working in dual-mode systems in the 2010s.     

远程学习者学习效能、学习动机调查与分析——以江苏地区为例

远程教育学习可以帮助师生之间隔空对话,解决了在相对分离状态下学习者的学习需求和教师希望得到的学生反馈,是一举两得的好事。这是我国对继续教育发展的一种探索和实践,也是在为终身教育体系的构建创造基础。但是远程学习毕竟是一种新生社会产物,遇到各种问题和障碍也是正常的,尤其是远程学习者对学习效能的感知与学习动机的培养调动,本文就将通过实际来调查研究学习效能与学习动机之间的关系。     

New evidence on outcomes from South Asian distance education tertiary institutions: some implications for future policy

To policy planners in developing countries open and distance learning (ODL), because of its cost and delivery characteristics, is and has been a very attractive option for delivering tertiary education. Yet we have very little evidence on outcomes and the system's effectiveness. Providing some of this evidence is the main contribution of this article. South Asian institutions are some of the oldest of this type and enrol a large number of students. New data from a number of ODL tertiary institutions in South Asia, gathered though a UK DFID funded project, are presented here. This data is some of the most comprehensive material gathered on the ODL experience and offers new comparative data with conventional tertiary programmes and, data on completion rates and pass rates. All this provides the basis to reach new conclusions and reaffirm old ones on where ODL tertiary institutions are most effectively able to deliver.     

The distance learning mode of training teachers in Kenya: challenges,prospects, and suggested policy framework

Globally, distance learning has gained legitimacy as an effective mode for learning and training. This legitimacy has occurred as a result of, inter alia, its flexibility with respect to time, pace and entry requirements, affordability, cost‐effectiveness, and reputation for high quality. In Kenya, distance learning – although relatively new – is being promoted to attain the Millennium Development Goals, Universal Primary Education, and the Kenya Vision 2030 targets. The majority of those who enrol for distance learning are teachers. This paper examines the utility of a distance learning approach for training teachers in Kenya: its challenges, prospects, and the need for a policy framework. It critically interrogates the readiness of the providers, the learning and policy environments. The paper concludes that current dual‐mode providers do not meet the requirements of the defining features of distance learning, and offers specific quality assuring policy directions.     

对远程开放教育教师作用的思考与实践

现代远程开放教育是当代教育发展的必然趋势。本文论述了教师在远程开放教育条件下角色的转变以及应发挥的作用，以迎接当今世界多极化、教育国际化、知识全球化的挑战。     

Open and distance education as a strategy for human capital development in Nigeria

The development of human capital has been identified as the most important component of all the factors employed in production economics. Since independence in 1960, Nigeria has placed great emphasis on training and education for human capital formation. However, the education process as the primary means of developing human resource has failed, in its conventional mode, to fulfil the needs of the country. This paper therefore examines the impact of open and distance learning on the human capital development processes in teacher education and other areas in Nigeria, presenting an overview of human capital development efforts in Nigeria with a focus on the tertiary education system. The study also maps out the potential benefits and logical justifications for the application of distance learning systems in the training and development of professionals for the industrial and corporate sectors of the economy. In conclusion, a proposal is made for the full‐scale adoption of open and distance learning as a fundamental strategy for human resource development in the country.     

A conceptual framework for achieving good governance at open and distance learning institutions

This paper describes a good governance architecture framework that would bring significant improvements in the overall working of open and distance learning institutions in a well-structured and systematic way. The good governance framework is articulated with seven basic principles which are performance, transparency, accountability, participation, leadership, consensus orientation and fairness. These principles are structured with the good governance practices which relate to performing well for the assigned goals and objectives, promoting values for the organisation, making well-informed and transparent decisions, focusing on the organisation’s purpose and outcomes, capacity building and managing risks effectively. These principles and suggested practices in the framework would become tools for developing an improvement strategy so as to help in the smooth operation and efficient management of the institution concerned. The developed system would bring about significant improvement in the teaching–learning activity as well as in the quality of distance education. It would also enhance the efficiency, effectiveness and overall performance of the institutional management which is crucial to the continuous development of the institution concerned. Thus, the proposed good governance framework when implemented in an open and distance education institution would improve the quality of distance education and also increase its accessibility in a well-organised and structured way.