Browsing by Author "Ssentamu, Proscovia Namubiru"

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    Addressing Pedagogical Training Needs of Teaching Staff: Lessons from Makerere University Short Professional Development Programs 2006 - 2010
    (American Journal of Educational Research, 2014) Ezati, Betty Akullu; Okurut, Charles Opolot; Ssentamu, Proscovia Namubiru
    In Uganda, university teachers are recruited on the strength of their class of degree rather than pedagogical content knowledge and skill. Given the frequent changes in technology with resultant paradigm shifts from teacher to learner-centered education and competence-based approaches, increasing demand of accountability from society, and demand for quality, among others, university teaching can no longer be left to subject expertise alone. Effective teaching and quality graduates requires university teachers to possess a combination of content and pedagogical knowledge. Using data collected through an interview guide and end-of-workshop evaluation questionnaire for a four-year training period (2006 – 2010), this article focused on the lessons learnt from a series of pedagogical training workshops offered by Makerere University management to her teaching staff. Findings show that the main training needs among the teaching staff include assessment and grading of students, managing large classes, and using ICT in teaching and learning. Overall, the staff appreciated the workshop methodology, the co-teaching approach and the sharing of experiences. However, there were concerns about the timing of the trainings and inability to implement what is learned due to institutional constraints. The study underpins the importance of undertaking needs assessment before designing any staff training program. Rather than claim that addressing individual training needs will improve quality, staff pedagogical training should be combined with institutional changes so that institutional constraints that hinder utilization of knowledge and skills acquired during training are concurrently addressed. In addition, training approaches should transcend the deficit model of continuous professional development commonly used to the use of a variety of models including the cascaded model. Through the cascade model the capacity of academic staff could be built, these would continue to learn from each other, thereby developing a critical mass at faculty or academic unit level.
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    The Influence of Academic Staffing Practices on Quality Assurance Mechanisms in Selected Universities in Uganda
    (East African Journal of Education Studies, 2024) Baiko Ajuaba, David; Ssentamu, Proscovia Namubiru; Marc, Cutright
    Quality assurance in universities has always been the professional duty of the faculty. In Africa quality assurance mechanisms (QAMs) were initiated as soon as universities were established in the continent. Although in Uganda the teaching staff are at the center of QAMs, inadequacies in academic staffing practices in the areas of remuneration, quality and quantity of the teaching staff have been some of the challenges experienced by universities in the country. This led to the establishment of the National Council for Higher Education to promote QAMs. This study established the extent to which academic staffing practices influenced QAMs in selected universities in Uganda. The study adopted the systems theory where the academic staffs are part of the inputs universities employ to offer services. The study is based on the pragmatic paradigm and cross-sectional survey design. By use of the disproportionate stratified random sampling 180 and 120 students and academic staff members respectively responded to questionnaires. In addition 47 students were conveniently sampled to participate in focus group discussions and 20 managers were purposefully sampled for individual interviews. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to analyze and interpret the quantitative data and corroborated with qualitative data. The results presented a mixed picture; chi-square test for the academic staff is not statistically significant and for students is statistically significant. The study concludes that there is moderate influence of academic staffing practices on QAMs in the selected universities in Uganda. In order to enhance QAMs, the study recommends the need to further improve levels of remuneration, quality and number of academic staff in the universities.