scholarly journals Effects of face-to-face tutorial and Administrative support services on the academic performance of distance education students in the University of Cape Coast

Author(s):  
Aaron Agyei ◽  
Samuel Ampofo
Author(s):  
Josephine Sam-Tagoe ◽  
Clara Akuamoah-Boateng

Abstract The study was titled Supporting Distance Learners’ for Success at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana: Learners Perspective. One hundred and seventy DE learners were used from nine out ten study centers in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. The proportional, purposive, stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to select the sample. The instrument was a structured questionnaire of six sections based on various support services. The survey research design was used for the study. Frequencies, percentages, logistic regression analysis, Software Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) IBM version 21 and Excel were used in the analysis. Findings revealed that majority of the students are aware of some of the support services put in place by CoDE for them while others are not aware of some of the services. It also came out that most of the support services are appropriate and that students are satisfied with services such as Face-to-Face, modules or learning materials whereas they are not satisfied with the administrative support, guidance and Counselling as well as library services given to them. It was again revealed that the support services bring about success in the programme. Based on the findings the study recommends that professional guidance and counselling coordinators be employed in all the regional capitals. Library facilities, particularly E-Learning libraries should be provided for students to access.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7965
Author(s):  
Hong Zhang ◽  
Wilson Osafo Apeanti ◽  
Paul Georgescu ◽  
Prince Harvim ◽  
Dianchen Lu ◽  
...  

We examine the effectiveness and sustainability of the distance teacher education program established by the University of Education, Winneba, Ghana, by investigating the differences in the academic performance of students who are trained in the teacher education program via traditional and distance education modes, respectively, from 2011 to 2015. Close attention is paid to the factors that affect the academic performance of students in the distance mode. Our findings confirm that traditional mode students perform better than their distance mode counterparts in terms of cumulative GPAs. Gender and economic demographics of distance study centers are found to affect the academic performance of distance education students significantly. The policy implications of these findings are discussed and directions of further action are outlined.


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 1012-1034
Author(s):  
Moses Segbenya ◽  
George Kwaku Toku Oduro ◽  
Fred Peniana ◽  
Kwesi Ghansah

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the proximity of study centres to the students of College of Distance Education, University of Cape Coast (CoDE/UCC) and whether further studies of distance learners who were teachers and employees could lead to absenteeism in their workplaces. Design/methodology/approach A sequential explanatory strategy was used. A self-administered questionnaire and unstructured interviews as well as observation guides were employed to collect data from 2,077 students pursuing business and education programmes of CoDE in all study centres across Ghana. Data were analysed with descriptive statistics and pattern matching of content analysis. Findings The study found that few teachers and other workers pursuing the distance education do absent themselves from the workplace or classroom on Fridays preceding their face-to-face session because they embarked on their journey to the study centres on Friday morning. Some teachers also absented themselves from work on Mondays after face-to-face sessions for a lack of means of transport on Sunday after lessons. The absenteeism of these respondents directly and indirectly affected their employers, students and customers. Practical implications It was therefore recommended that management of CoDE/UCC should open more study centres in all the regions especially Western, Ashanti, Upper East, Northern and Upper West Regions to reduce number of hours spent by students to their study centres and consider introducing the business programmes at the existing district centres to reduce average distance covered by these students to commute from their places of work to their respective centres in the regional capitals. It was also recommended that online/electronic learning and audio versions (impersonal communication) of the study modules should be introduced so that students would not necessary have to travel to the study centre to participate in lectures/face-to-face sessions. Originality/value The findings of this study will help managers and administrators of both public and private distance educational providers. In addition to providing basis and areas for establishing study centres for geographical proximity, findings of the study should prove helpful for designing and delivering electronic and audio versions of distance education modules to reduce the level of absenteeism in workplace for the students.


Author(s):  
Raphael Papa Kweku Andoh ◽  
Robert Appiah ◽  
Paul Mensah Agyei

The study explored perceptions of postgraduate distance education students of University of Cape Coast (UCC). Specifically, associations between UCC postgraduate distance students’ characteristics and satisfaction, as well as students’ perceptions of physical facilities, staff-students relationship, facilitator quality, and student support services were examined. Determinants of students’ satisfaction regarding physical facilities, staff-students relationship, facilitator quality, and student support services were also investigated. A census was used for the study, whereby a questionnaire was used to collect data from 125 students. It was revealed that satisfaction was not dependent on age, gender, or programme of study but was significantly related to study centre location and semester of study. The students were generally satisfied with physical facilities, staff-students relationship, and facilitator quality but were unimpressed with student support services. The three domains that students were impressed with were deemed to be determinants of their satisfaction. It was recommended that those aspects of the programme that received satisfactory responses should be maintained but improved on with time. Those aspects with unfavourable responses, on the other hand, were to be critically considered for immediate improvement.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-71
Author(s):  
Douglas Yeboah

This paper explored the perception of University of Cape Coast distance education students on the use of mobile technologies to facilitate interactions among students and tutors as a learning-support system. The paper aimed at establishing whether distance education students would accept to be taught using a blend of mobile technologies and biweekly direct face-to-face tutorials on weekends. A questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 300 students pursuing various Diploma, Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees by distance at University of Cape Coast using systematic sampling technique. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics. It was found that scheduled face-to-face tutorial sessions of distance education in University of Cape Coast were not supportive enough to address students’ learning needs. Also, all the respondents possessed mobile devices and perceived blending of mobile learning in distance education as an avenue to enhance collaborative learning with faculty and colleagues. It was recommended that curriculum and instructional designers of distance education courses must consider incorporating mobile learning pedagogies in the distance courses and learning experiences to address students’ learning needs using mobile technologies.


Author(s):  
Amanda Carroll-Barefield

As more emphasis is placed on offering education to the distance student and monies are spent to provide these services, institutions must ensure they reap the rewards of the investment. One avenue to ensure success in distance education is the implementation of strong student support services. This is a task that will take the teamwork of educators, administrators, instructional technologists/designers, and support personnel. For institutions transitioning to a distance format, measures must be taken to ensure that the learner, no matter what the method of delivery, has access to equivalent student support services. One approach to measuring this aspect is the determination of student satisfaction with the support services offered to distance students. A study was conducted at a public health sciences research university in the Southeast to determine whether the administrative student support services (library and technical) offered at the institution met the educational needs of allied health students enrolled in a distance education program. Results from student questionnaires were analyzed to determine the satisfaction level of distance students with administrative (library and technical) student support services. Overall responses showed that allied health students enrolled in a distance education program were satisfied with the existing student support services (library and technical) offered by the institution. Narrative responses from the participants reinforced a common theme that although the students were satisfied with the services, more emphasis needed to be placed on library and technical support services that are available to distance education students during the program orientation.


Author(s):  
Darcy W. Hardy ◽  
Robert L. Robinson

The University of Texas (UT) System has been meeting educational needs of students for over 150 years. In 1997, the UT System initiated the development of the UT TeleCampus, a centralized facilitation point for distance learning. The TeleCampus opened its virtual doors in May 1998, focused entirely on support services for students. By late 1998, the TeleCampus had begun developing what would become collaborative benchmark online programs for the UT System. As a result of having developed over 12 complete online degree programs since that time, many lessons have been learned about (1) barriers to collaboration and how to overcome them; (2) faculty development and interaction; and (3) the commitment required to build successful online programs. This article describes the UT TeleCampus initiative and how it has grown from a services-only organization to a nationally recognized model for delivering high quality distance education.


Author(s):  
Murray Turoff ◽  
Caroline Howard ◽  
Richard Discenza

Learning is enhanced by the physical and social technologies typically used in distance education. Students in distance programs typically have access to tools that allow them to repeat lectures and interact with their fellow students and faculty. Students in all classes, including face-to-face and blended courses, benefit from having similar tools and technologies available. This article will review common tools and technologies used in distance education, and demonstrate why they can facilitate learning and expand the educational opportunities for both distant and traditional students.


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