Browsing by Author "Aguti, Jessica Norah"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Determinants of Student Dropout from Two External Degree Programmes of Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
    (Malaysian Journal of Distance Education, 2009) Aguti, Jessica Norah; Nakibuuka, Dorothy; Kajumbula, Richard
    This paper reports on the results of an analytical, cross-sectional, comparative study adopting tracer methodologies to establish the determinants of student dropout from two external degree programmes of Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. Distance education (DE) has the capacity to increase access to education as an alternative to face-to-face instruction. Using stratified sampling, continuing students and students who dropped out of the Bachelor of Education (External) degree and the Commonwealth diploma in Youth in Development Work were selected as samples while purposive sampling was used to select lecturers and administrators. Findings showed that socio-cultural and financial factors mainly contributed to the student dropout. Other factors included environmental factors like the teaching and learning environment, transfers from one working place to another, loss of jobs, demanding jobs, sickness and feelings of isolation. It is recommended that there should be advocacy for the decentralisation of support activities so that services are moved nearer to students, hence reducing their expenses; materials should be printed and made available while funds should also be solicited by the Department of DE to construct a building that can accommodate the unique activities required by DE students. Employers of students should also be sensitised about the advantages of studying by distance so that they support the students and give them soft loans to enable them to meet the requirements for university study.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Learner Support in Distance Education: Unlocking the Potential of Public Libraries in Supporting Teaching and Learning In Open and Distance Learning
    (In EDEN Conference Proceedings, 2015) Nabushawo, Harriet; Aguti, Jessica Norah; Winterbottom, Mark
    This study examined the nature of services and facilities available and accessible in public libraries to ODL students in sub-Saharan Africa and the challenges these services face. Library services are central in teaching and learning processes because they expose the students to a variety of resources which facilitate in-depth study and lead to development of intended competencies. However, according to Pernell (2002), traditional library services often fail to adapt to the needs of Open and Distance Learning students especially in dual mode universities. This in the end affects students' final grades as well as the quality of education they receive. Using a cross sectional survey, from 422 respondents who include students, staff (both on campus and off campus) and librarians, data were collected though questionnaires, interviews, focus group discussions and documentary analysis. The findings reveal that due to inadequate library resources in study centres where ODL students are meant to receive remote support, the students have been utilizing library resources from the public libraries. This support from public libraries however needs to be acknowledged and fully integrated in the University policy provision for effective collaboration and knowledge sharing to ensure smooth coordination of library activities. This paper seeks to examine the potential of public libraries in supporting distance learners in Makerere University and the need for policy to guide the collaborations and while sharing library resources.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Lived Experience of Developing a Blended Learning Academic Programme in a Traditionally Presential University
    (Pan-Commonwealth Forum, 2019) Muyinda, Paul Birevu; Siminyu, Samuel Ndeda; Aguti, Jessica Norah; Mayende, Godfrey; Nampijja, Dianah; Kajumbula, Richard; Mayanja, Jamiah; Ssebbowa, Dorothy Kyagaba; Nabushawo, Harriet; Kabugo, David; Walimbwa, Michael; Mbulankende, Julius Shopi; Turyakira, Nazarius; Isabwe, Ghislain Maurice Nobert
    Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are presenting pedagogical affordances that are not only being embraced by open distance learning universities but also traditional presential universities. Presential universities are adopting blended learning and teaching approaches in their provisions albeit with some resistance from some staff. This paper shares the experiences and lessons learned from developing the Master of Instructional Design and Technology (MIDT) blended learning curriculum in a traditional presential university. The lessons are drawn from three (3) research questions, namely: 1) What process steps are traditional presential universities taking in the design and development of blended learning curriculum? 2) What is compelling presential universities to adopt blended learning? 3) How are presential universities metamorphosing into blended learning? The paper takes a case study approach employing in-depth document analysis and personal experience explications from staff at the heart of developing curriculum. Findings indicate that contemporary realities such as globalization, increased emphasis on learner-centeredness, increased proliferation of ICTs and others are disrupting the ivory tower traditions and practices of presential universities. These universities are being compelled to open up their gates to non-traditional learners through blended learning, but with a lot more caution. The caution is evidenced by the great amount of rigor invoked in the process of approving blended learning curricula as compared to traditional face-to-face curricula. As such champions of blended learning curricula in presential universities should be prepared to spend more time, energy and resources to have blended learning curricula approved. Putting in place policies and strategies for spurring blended learning; sensitizing staff on the affordances of blended learning and training faculty on how to employ blended pedagogy should take centre stage. Further, the top management of these universities need to be involved at all levels of blended learning curriculum development.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Making Sense of an Elusive Concept: Academics’ Perspectives of Quality in Higher Education
    (Higher Learning Research Communications, 2017) Nabaho, Lazarus; Aguti, Jessica Norah; Oonyu, Joseph
    Since the 1990s studies on how stakeholders in higher education perceive quality have burgeoned. Nevertheless, the majority of studies on perception of quality in higher education focus on students and employers. The few studies on academics’ perceptions of quality in higher education treat academics as a homogeneous group and, therefore, do not point out cross-disciplinary perspectives in perceptions of quality. This article explores how academics across six disciplines perceive quality in higher education. Method: The article is anchored in the interpretivist paradigm. Data was collected from 14 purposely selected academics at Makerere University in Uganda and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: The findings show that academics perceive quality in higher education as transformation, fitness for purpose, and exceptional. The findings further demonstrate that a stakeholder group or an individual stakeholder can subscribe to a notion of quality in higher education but voice divergent views on its variants. Similarly, the academic discipline, the perceived purpose of higher education, and the problems within a higher education system have an influence on stakeholders’ conception of quality in higher education. Conclusions: From the findings it can be inferred that quality in higher education defies a single definition and that stakeholders’ perceptions of quality do not take place in a vacuum. Implication for Theory and/or Practice: The multidimensional nature of quality and the contestations around it necessitate a multidimensional approach to assuring and assessing it.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    School-based reward practices and their influence on teacher motivation and teaching quality in secondary schools in Masaka District, Uganda
    (International Journal of Innovative Research and Knowledge, 2022) Lubega, Francis Xavier; Aguti, Jessica Norah; Musoke Genza, Gyaviira
    The study, from which this article is derived, was partly triggered by the need to find teacher reward practices which can promote educational quality. Two of the specific objectives are handled here: To examine the relationship between prevalent teacher reward practices and teachers’ motivation; and to examine the relationship between these practices and quality teaching. Based on pragmatism, the study was conducted in 23 secondary schools through a cross-sectional concurrent mixed methods research design, over a sample of 368 participants, using stratified random and purposive sampling. Data collected using questionnaires, interviews and documentary analysis was analysed using themes, frequency distributions, and Chi-square test of independence. Findings indicated that several reward practices are positively associated with teacher motivation and quality teaching. It was concluded that the variety of reward practices which are associated with teachers’ motivation and teaching behavior reflects the complexity of teacher motivation, implying that reward managers may not effectively sustain teacher motivation and instructional quality unless teachers’ cooperation is well utilized. It was then recommended that each school should establish a teacher-governed rewards committee which can facilitate the participation of all teachers in merit-based reward decisions and enhance the trustworthiness of the school’s reward practice. In this respect, every school should endeavor to allocate feasible funds for teachers’ merit incentives, since the activities of the proposed rewards committee cannot be possible unless the resources required to finance the reward programs entrusted to the committee are assured.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Teacher education in Uganda: Policy and practice
    (Cambridge University Press, 2016) Aguti, Jessica Norah
    Teacher education is concerned with helping teachers acquire the attitudes, knowledge and skills they need to carry out their duties and responsibilities as teachers; and this is vital since teachers are central in the school system. Perraton et al. (2002, 7) argue that ‘teachers are vital. Unless we can get more teachers, and better teachers, we will not reach the target of making quality education available to all by 2015.’ Quality education is certainly impossible to achieve without teachers. So as more and more children join schools, more teachers will be needed. The number of children needing education will continue to grow because the world population is continuing to grow. Table 1 gives the population of people aged 5–14 in the different countries of East Africa.