NRU :: Browsing by Author "Namubiru Ssentamu, Proscovia"

Browsing by Author "Namubiru Ssentamu, Proscovia"

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Enhancing Student Interactions in Online Learning: A Case of Using YouTube in a Distance Learning Module in a Higher Education Institution in Uganda
(Higher Education Research, 2020) Namubiru Ssentamu, Proscovia; Ngambi, Dick; Bagarukayo, Emily; Baguma, Rehema; Mutambo Nabushawo, Harriet; Nalubowa, Christine
One of the challenges facing higher education institutions in general and Uganda in particular, is the widening gulf between increased use of technology for teaching and learning and achieving meaningful learning outcomes, especially in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper, we report on one use of technology where a teacher’s integration of YouTube videos in teaching increased students’ levels of interaction with the content of the video, with peers and with the instructor (teacher). Guided by the sequential mixed-method design, a series of online learning activities were designed and matched with a carefully selected YouTube video. The activity was piloted and refined for use on purposefully selected teaching staff. The staff watched the videos that were uploaded on the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and responded to online learning tasks at individual and group levels. The VLE served as a knowledge sharing space for reflections. The paper concludes that lesson design was critical in enriching the VLE with carefully selected YouTube videos. Our key recommendations are: focus on the learning outcomes, design for the desired interactions, build into the task reflections, and decide whether to pre-select YouTube videos for students or to allow students to find appropriate YouTube videos; use reflections and knowledge sharing spaces. Further work has built reflective questions in the video which allows student to pause and reflect.
Health Resource Management and Service Quality of Safe Male Circumcision Program In Southwestern Uganda
(Uganda Management Institute, 2014) Byabagambi, John B.; Nabaho, Lazarus; Namubiru Ssentamu, Proscovia
The purpose of the study was to establish the extent to which health resource management influenced service quality of Safe Male Circumcision (SMC) program in Southwestern Uganda. Specifically, the study strived to establish the extent to which health human resource management, financial resource management and health supplies management has influenced the service quality of SMC in Kisoro, Rukungiri and Isingiro districts. A cross-sectional survey design was used with both quantitative and qualitative approaches on an accessible population of 239 respondents comprising district SMC focal persons, health unit managers, SMC service providers and clients who have received SMC at selected health units. Data was collected using a questionnaire, interviews and documentary review, and analyzed using percentages, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and regression analyses. The study found out that health human resource management had a high positive significant relationship with service quality and it predicted 71% of the variance in service quality of SMC. Health financial resource management had positive significant relationship with service quality of SMC and it predicted 54% of the variance in project service quality. Health supplies resource management had a very high positive significant relationship with service quality of SMC and it predicted 87% of the variance in service quality. The study concluded that the service quality of SMC significantly depended on proper management of the human, financial and health
The Influence of Teaching Practices on Quality Assurance Mechanisms in Selected Universities in Uganda
(European Journal of Education Studies, 2022) Baiko Ajuaba, David; Namubiru Ssentamu, Proscovia
The effort to enhance formal quality assurance mechanisms in the Ugandan universities started with the creation of the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) in 2003. Teaching practices are critical in the maintenance of quality assurance mechanisms in university education. The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of teaching practices on quality assurance mechanisms in selected universities in Uganda. The specific areas of interest were content delivered, methods of delivery and the adequacy of infrastructure for quality teaching. The study is based on systems theory where the inputs in a university to improve quality assurance mechanisms are the faculty and infrastructure used to implement the curricula in order to produce graduates. The study is based on the pragmatic paradigm with a cross-sectional survey design. A disproportionate stratified random sampling technique was employed to sample 300 faculty and students who expressed their opinions on questionnaires. With convenience sampling 47 students participated in focus group discussions and 20 managers were purposefully sampled for individual interviews. Frequencies, percentages and chi-square were used to analyze the quantitative data and corroborated with qualitative data. The findings revealed a positive contribution of teaching practices to quality assurance mechanisms. The study concluded that there is a moderate influence of teaching practices on quality assurance mechanisms. Therefore, the study recommends that the universities should adopt modern practices of teaching that involve the use of ICT accompanied with training and adequate provision of infrastructure.
Intellectual Curiosity or Deception? An Investigation into the Practice of Teaching outside Area of Expertise in Uganda
(Makerere Journal of Higher Education, 2017) Namubiru Ssentamu, Proscovia
Teaching outside one’s area of expertise is increasingly common in higher education institutions (HEIs). Yet institutions and scholars are treating the subject as a taboo. Debate on the subject has been kept hush-hush—citing potential jeopardy to the institutions’ image. In this paper, the authors explore the reasons for the trend. The authors adopted Carl Rogers’ Theory to answer four questions: 1) What drives academicians to teach outside their area of primary expertise? 2) What are the implications of teaching outside one’s area of expertise? 3) What is the performance of those teaching outside their expertise? 4) What strategies are in place to regulate the practice? Data was collected from two HEIs in Uganda. This was done using interviews, students’ evaluations and teaching time-tables. Staff job descriptions and profiles were also analysed. It was concluded that the practice is not affecting quality. Regardless, the paper urges HEIs to be judicious in allowing the practice.
Internal Quality Assurance Practices and Andragogy in Higher Education Institutions: Implications for PhD Training in Uganda
(African Journal of Governance and Development, 2021) Netalisile Malunda, Paul; Namubiru Ssentamu, Proscovia; Atwebembeire, Juliet
Higher Institutions of Learning will significantly contribute to the transformation of society and economic development of any country when their training approaches focus on developing graduates who generate new knowledge and skills meant to address multiple social, economic and environmental issues. Using a critical narrative literature review, this article examines the contribution of internal quality assurance practices to andragogy in higher education institutions (HEIs) in Uganda. It specifically focuses on staff development and student evaluations as key internal quality assurance practices that explain the application of andragogy in the training of Ph.D. students. The article discusses the current state of training of doctoral students in Uganda and recommends the following strategies for HEIs so as to promote the quality of delivery for doctoral students: i) pursue vigorous staff development programmes to equip lecturers with the necessary andragogical skills to facilitate students’ development of necessary work-based and other competences needed to address Uganda’s social, economic and political issues, ii) systematically and routinely monitor and evaluate the teaching and learning process to inform decision making on quality assurance and teaching practices, and iii) utilise students’ evaluations of the Ph.D. delivery approaches to establish the relevance and improvement of the curriculum.
Opportunities and Threats to Learning: Lessons from a Pedagogical Workshop for Faculty at a Higher Education Institution
(Journal of Education and Training Studies, 2014) Namubiru Ssentamu, Proscovia
Faculty quality is a key variable in the quality of teaching and learning. However, although learning is the basis for teaching, the circumstances under which faculty learn largely remain unexplained. This paper focuses on the opportunities and threats to learning by faculty at Uganda Management Institute (UMI). The paper is based on a study of the evaluations completed by faculty at a pedagogical workshop organised to strengthen their teaching knowledge, skills and attitudes. A case study confirmatory research design was used to identify and analyze the opportunities and threats affecting learning based on the theories of constructivism, social constructivism and the principles of adult learning. Findings confirm that learning opportunities and threats are dependent on the degree of support from significant others, the content, methods and environment (Reigeluth & Carr-Chellman, 2009; Aldridge & Fraser, 1999; Seaman & Fellenz, 1989). Faculty were more critical of the strengths and weaknesses of the facilitators, methods and environment than they were of the content and of themselves as learners. The evaluation of the former focused on the conduct and management of these constructs than on the constructs themselves. Limited self-reflection and criticism could be viewed from a wider Ugandan cultural perspective. Whereas the teaching of content could be evaluated differently, content itself is a context-independent variable, and therefore a stable phenomenon (Ssentamu, 2010). Based on the findings, higher education institutions could holistically focus on colleagues, facilitators, content, methods and environment as key constructs in enhancing faculty learning both at strategic and operational levels.
Research Supervision as an Antecedent to Graduate Student Progression in the Public Higher Institutions of Learning in Uganda
(International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 2021) Netalisile Malunda, Paul; Atwebembeire, Juliet; Namubiru Ssentamu, Proscovia
This study investigated research supervision as a key factor in the progression of graduate students in the public higher institutions of learning in Uganda. A cross-sectional survey design was used to conduct the study. A total of 312 graduate students on masters' degree programs were randomly selected from 4 public institutions of higher learning. The study also included 20 research supervisors who were conveniently selected and 4 purposively selected graduate school heads. A self-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect the data from the students. The supervisors and research school heads were interviewed. The ordered logistic regression and content analysis methods of data analysis were used to establish the contribution of research supervision to the graduate students’ progression. The findings revealed that the supervisor-supervisee relationship, supervisor guidance and feedback are significant antecedents of the graduate students’ progression. The study thus concluded that public institutions of higher learning institute mechanisms that address the supervisor-supervisee relationship, supervisor guidance and the promptness of any feedback in order to enhance the students’ progression. The study recommends that public institutions of higher learning institute i) annual training programs that focus on promoting a good relationship between supervisors and supervisees, ii) regular research seminars that bring together the supervisors and supervisees and iii) regular meetings between the administration, research supervisors and supervisees in order to review the students’ progress. The institutions should also emphasize adherence to the policy of giving feedback on the students’ research work within set time frames.
Staff Participation and Quality Teaching and Research in Private Universities in Uganda
(Journal of Education and Practice, 2018) Atwebembeire, Juliet; Namubiru Ssentamu, Proscovia; Musaazi, J.C.S.
This study explored the relationship between staff participation and quality teaching and research in private Universities in Uganda. The study was triggered by the persistent criticisms about the low quality of university graduates and the poor research output from the private universities. The study was approached from the positivist research paradigm and a descriptive cross-sectional survey research design was specifically used to conduct the study. Data were collected from four private chartered universities and the respondents included 181 lecturers, 23 heads of department, 5 Deans, 3 quality assurance officers, 3 Directors of research, 3 senior staff from National council for higher education (NCHE) and 39 student leaders. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and content analysis were used to analyze the data collected. Study findings revealed that there was a significant positive relationship between staff participation and quality teaching (r =0.457, P=0.000<0.05) and, staff participation and quality of research (r =0.562, P=0.000<0.05). Thus, it was concluded that the level of staff participation in planning, implementation of the planned activities, and decision making, partly corresponds to improved quality teaching and research, other factors notwithstanding. Therefore, the researchers recommended that in order to enhance quality, the private universities and the NCHE need to develop comprehensive policies that can be based upon to enhance staff participation in planning and decision making on activities that directly enhance the quality of teaching and research.
Strategies Used for Effective Research Supervision in the Completion of Postgraduate Studies in Selected Universities of Uganda
(Journal of the National Council for Higher Education, 2023) Japheth, Noel; Namubiru Ssentamu, Proscovia; Kyalo Wambua, Benjamin; Jepkoech Kurgat, Susan
Research supervision is key, yet it has been faulted for delayed completion of postgraduate studies, particularly at Master’s degree and PhD levels in Uganda. This study sought to establish the strategies for effective research supervision, especially during the COVID-19 lockdown. The study was guided by the phenomenological research design using a qualitative approach. Structured questionnaire was administered to 105 supervisors, while in-depth interviews were conducted with 3 deans/directors and 15 academic department heads. Field data was supplemented with a review of relevant documents. Data were analysed using the thematic analysis technique. Findings revealed that the sampled universities used various supervision strategies including online research supervision, corroborative supervision, coordination, workshops to (re)tool supervisors and students; and motivation and administrative follow-ups to track students’ and supervisors’ progress to enhance students’ completion of postgraduate research. The study recommends that universities design and incorporate online research supervision policies and guidelines in graduate training policies and ensure that they are operationalised. Furthermore, universities should provide a robust virtual infrastructure to enable online supervision. In addition to team supervision, continuous (re)tooling of students and supervisors, establishment of research coordination offices and progress tracks, the adoption of flipped supervision in which supervision approaches, spaces, and student and supervisor roles are varied should be considered. Universities could also consider developing courses on the pedagogy of postgraduate supervision in which research coordinators, supervisors and students receive training in the identified strategies and other strategies to improve postgraduate completion rates. Areas for further study have also been recommended.
Using Facebook to Transfer Knowledge into Practice and Aid Student, Lecturer and Content Interaction A Case of Bachelor of Information Technology Undergraduate Students at Makerere University
(2017) Bagarukayo, Emily; Ng’ambi, Dick; Baguma, Rehema; Namubiru Ssentamu, Proscovia
Employers have criticised graduates for inadequate skills to apply knowledge into practice due to the traditional teaching and learning methods which concentrate more on theory than practice. Technology affords several teaching and learning methods like social media which students are already motivated to use. The research therefore used Facebook technology to facilitate students’ application of operating systems knowledge to record and upload a video installing a virtual machine and operating system onto a group; to promote content access, and interactive and cooperative learning. The results from the study show that the overall effect of Facebook on students learning process and experience was positive because it enabled putting knowledge into practice, sharing, collaboration, interaction, flexibility and learner – centred activities, among others. Therefore, to increase learning outcome, motivation, desire and interest, new educational technologies should continuously be explored by educational institutions, educators and learners for teaching and learning in the digital era. In this light we recommend that Facebook should be assessed in more studies and integrated as a tool for learning at the university since students appreciate it, find it easy to use and familiar.

Browsing by Author "Namubiru Ssentamu, Proscovia"

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