Professional discourse, quality assurance and a practice integrated pre-service teacher education course: The Open University PGCE

The Open University (UK) Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) programme is a distance learning pre-service course in teacher education which integrates learning in the practice setting with university-based learning. This programme, which has flexible start and finish points and either training or assessment only routes, uses a web-based Needs Analysis process to reflect on prior experience and to determine individualized university and practice-based curriculum and assessment and is set in the context of an external regulatory framework which demands that teacher education courses in England fulfil certain national requirements and that student-teachers meet identified standards or competences. These requirements and standards are inspected by the Office for Standards in Education (OfSTED) and the outcomes of inspection lead to a 'Quality Grade' which determines government funding. This PGCE course, therefore, presents a radically flexible, practice integrated programme which faces both internal, University based quality assurance processes and procedures and 'high stakes' external inspection. This paper reflects on the tensions between quality compliance and quality assurance in practice integrated learning and suggests that quality assurance processes which open up a discourse of personal and professional development and which might support the exploration of dissonance between and within practices can improve, rather than merely maintain, programme quality

Exploring the quality of students' support services in distance learning environments

Delivering education through open and distance learning (ODL) mode imposes upon ODL institutions a responsibility to provide support services deemed adequate to address students’ expectations and learning needs. Student support services are a vital part of academic success in distance learning environments because of the nature of distance education. Therefore, it is critical to provide student support services whose quality levels are acceptable to those who use them. Quality and its measurements are a contentious issue in higher education and distance education. Efforts to help service quality researchers in distance education understand service quality and its evaluation have come from marketing researchers. Among different approaches of service quality assessment is the SERVQUAL model. This study explored and examined the quality of students’ support services in distance learning environments from students’ perspective, using a modified SERVQUAL model. The objectives of the study were to examine students’ expectations and perceptions of the quality of support services; analyse the gaps between expectations and perceptions; develop and validate a service quality model and a scale to evaluate the quality of distance education students’ support services. A sequential mixed methods design was used to collect and analyse the data. Data were collected in two phases. The first phase involved collecting data qualitatively. The qualitative data were used to develop a context specific service quality model and a scale. The model and the scale were validated in the second (quantitative) phase of the study. The results of the study showed that the students’ expectations exceeded the perceived performance levels of the student support services. The largest gaps related to feedback, study material delivery and spaces for quiet learning. The study also found that distance education student support services can be measured by four service quality dimensions, namely: tangibles, reliability, delivery and assurance.Curriculum and Instructional StudiesD. Ed. (Curriculum Studies

Students’ Perception about Quality of Distance Education at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana

Student satisfaction assessment is vital in determining service quality at higher learning institutions. To remain competitive with other public and private higher education providers, it is important that the institution continuously acquire, maintain, build stronger relationships and assess the level of students’ satisfaction with regards to distance education. With the increasing number of higher education institutions in Ghana, universities are competing to attract more students. To achieve this goal, the universities are competing to provide services that will increase students’ satisfaction. This study measures the level of student satisfaction with current services offered by College of Distance Education (CoDE), University of Cape Coast and the relationship between service quality dimensions and students’ satisfaction. The descriptive survey design was used for the research. Simple random sampling and self administered questionnaire were utilized to obtain data from 300 students of CoDE, UCC within Upper East Region. Frequency, percentages, Mean and Correlation techniques were used to examine the level of students’ satisfaction and the relationship between students’ satisfaction and service quality.  Overall, students’ satisfaction level was high and results indicate strong relationships between students’ satisfaction and quality service delivered by CoDE, UCC. Keywords: Service quality, higher education institutions, students’ satisfaction

Distance Education Library Services Assessment

Abstract The primary purpose of assessment in academia is to support high-quality learning. To accomplish this tracking, monitoring and documenting student activity is important to providing excellent library service. By gathering information on student learning, assessments can pinpoint areas for improvement. Ideally, assessment should be quantitative, qualitative, and ongoing and have the ability to address different skills. Assessment is most effective when based on faculty teaching and student learning. Outcomes assessments are the only credible assessment for the distant learner. They are necessary to improve student learning results and are a means of gathering information about student learning that is built into and a natural part of the teaching-learning process. In the book, Assessing Learners Online, the comment was made “It is important to emphasize that the usefulness of an assessment depends largely on how well the domain being measured is defined or how adequately the norm group with whom students are being compared is known or described” (Oosterhof, Conrad, & Ely, 2008, p. 43). Means and methods that are developed by an institution\u27s faculty are valuable tools when based on their teaching approaches and students’ successes and learning goals. The ability to track, monitor, and document students’ activities is a necessary and productive activity for the library. It is imperative that it is ongoing and assesses different skills. It is a proven way to assess instruction and learning. Comeaux says, “In general, e-assessment methods are classified into two categories, namely quantitative and qualitative assessment tools” (Comeaux, 2005, p. 90). Assessment measures must be quantitative as well as qualitative. Quantitative methods are aimed at the amount and frequency of assessment. Qualitative assessment is one that does not rely on numbers and statistics as a method of proving a theory or identifying facts. Qualitative assessment addresses methods that rely on descriptions rather than numbers. This paper summarizes the key roles assessment plays such as providing opportunities for student feedback and measuring the library’s impact. “As the world of information becomes more complex, 2 information literacy has become an increasingly important part of the education process” (Smith, 2001, p. 13). The Distance Education Librarian at Eastern Michigan University of Ypsilanti, Michigan, has primarily relied on questionnaires as a tool to evaluate library services provided to the distance learning community. The content of the questionnaires has open-ended questions so that the students can express themselves adequately. This allows the Distance Education Librarian to measure the impact of the library services provided the distance learning community. Through assessment, educators are able to provide quality learning experiences to students and support successful educational endeavors

KAJIAN KEPUASAN MAHASISWA TERHADAP LAYANAN PROSES PEMBELAJARAN JARAK JAUH PADA PROGRAM STUDI D2 PERPUSTAKAAN

Universitas terbuka is one of university in Indonesia that implement a remote and open learning system. Learning distance requirements are not carried out by using media, both print (module) and non-print (audio/video, computer/internet, radio broadcasting, and television). To serve students spread throughout Indonesia, excellent service is required. UT continues to increase its commitment to promoting academic quality and one of the academic qualities that need to be improved is the learning process where in the learning process there are general service aspects, aspects of registration services, tutorial service aspects, either TTM tutorials or online tutorials (TUTON), practicum services, services teaching materials, Online Bookstore services (TBO), SIPAS services and aspects of service for administering examinations. This study is intended to determine the level of satisfaction of students, especially D2 Library students of FISIP-UT Library, to the services provided by UT. The method used is quantitative and qualitative methods. The results of the assessment of satisfaction and importance are ≥ 50% of students are satisfied and feel an interest in the various services provided by UT

The students’ perceptions of their online learning

This study intends to determine the perceptions of the in-service Teacher profession education program (PPG) students towards Indonesian network learning system (SPADA) hybrid learning. This study employed a survey method with a qualitative approach. Subjects in this study were 82 of 87 PPG Daljab 1 Batch 1 students. The technique of collecting data was through the instruments of questionnaires and interviews. The questionnaire was used to obtain data about the quality of online content and the assessment of online learning that has been carried out. Interviews were conducted to confirm the results of the questionnaire data to see the compatibility between the two data. Data analysis techniques in this study were conducted qualitatively and quantitatively by considering to the research objectives. The results showed that online learning had sharp quality content, can be accepted and well understood, easy to operate and use, overcomes distance and time constraints, and has benefits that are in line with the objectives of PPG implementation

Quality of experience aware adaptive hypermedia system

The research reported in this thesis proposes, designs and tests a novel Quality of Experience Layer (QoE-layer) for the classic Adaptive Hypermedia Systems (AHS) architecture. Its goal is to improve the end-user perceived Quality of Service in different operational environments suitable for residential users. While the AHS’ main role of delivering personalised content is not altered, its functionality and performance is improved and thus the user satisfaction with the service provided. The QoE Layer takes into account multiple factors that affect Quality of Experience (QoE), such as Web components and network connection. It uses a novel Perceived Performance Model that takes into consideration a variety of performance metrics, in order to learn about the Web user operational environment characteristics, about changes in network connection and the consequences of these changes on the user’s quality of experience. This model also considers the user’s subjective opinion about his/her QoE, increasing its effectiveness and suggests strategies for tailoring Web content in order to improve QoE. The user related information is modelled using a stereotype-based technique that makes use of probability and distribution theory. The QoE-Layer has been assessed through both simulations and qualitative evaluation in the educational area (mainly distance learning), when users interact with the system in a low bit rate operational environment. The simulations have assessed “learning” and “adaptability” behaviour of the proposed layer in different and variable home connections when a learning task is performed. The correctness of Perceived Performance Model (PPM) suggestions, access time of the learning process and quantity of transmitted data were analysed. The results show that the QoE layer significantly improves the performance in terms of the access time of the learning process with a reduction in the quantity of data sent by using image compression and/or elimination. A visual quality assessment confirmed that this image quality reduction does not significantly affect the viewers’ perceived quality that was close to “good” perceptual level. For qualitative evaluation the QoE layer has been deployed on the open-source AHA! system. The goal of this evaluation was to compare the learning outcome, system usability and user satisfaction when AHA! and QoE-ware AHA systems were used. The assessment was performed in terms of learner achievement, learning performance and usability assessment. The results indicate that QoE-aware AHA system did not affect the learning outcome (the students have similar-learning achievements) but the learning performance was improved in terms of study time. Most significantly, QoE-aware AHA provides an important improvement in system usability as indicated by users’ opinion about their satisfaction related to QoE

Assessment of Teaching Practice Competency Among in-Service Teacher Degree Program (PPG) in Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

The best teacher preparation programs emphasise subject matter mastery and provide many opportunities for preservice teachers to spend time in real classrooms under the supervision of an experienced mentor. Thus, teaching practice plays utmost important component of teacher training in order to produce a high quality of future teacher due to the lacking of opportunity or comfort level to work on their pedagogy knowledge while managing their first class. But this condition is slightly different for in-service teacher with diploma and upgrade to degree through the in-service teacher degree programme (PPG) path. PPG is conducted in 4 years using distance learning mode. In-service teachers will attend the courses during weekend and only five times face-to-face meeting with the lecturers. PPG aims to improve the quality of teaching and school management by increasing the teachers’ level of educational qualifications. However, issues were highlighted where teaching competency or performance among in-service teachers are varied during teaching practice observation. Due to their part-time mode of learning, there are concerns whether their performance is at par with their full time peers. Therefore, this paper aims to discuss the assessment of teaching practice competency among the PPG students. This study was applied the Documentation analyses as the research design by using the Teaching Assessment Form of Faculty of Technical & Vocational Education, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia. Descriptive statistic using mean and standard deviation were used to analyses the collected data. The result showed that the competency of in-service teachers in teaching practicum in descending order is Personality>Portfolio> Implementation of Teaching> Lesson Planning> Implementation off Innovation> Justification of Innovation>Reflection. Results also showed that in-service teachers are good in affective (M=4.33, SD=0.48), follow by psychomotor (M=4.12, SD=0.47) and cognitive (M=3.99, SD=0.56). In conclusion, in-service teachers need training for innovation in teaching and emphasise in cognitive taxonomy.&nbsp

Pengembangan dan Pengalaman Pendidikan Terbuka dan Jarak Jauh di Indonesia = Open and Distance Education: Developments and Experiences from Indonesia

Universitas Terbuka (UT) is a stateuniversity and the only institute in Indonesia that is entirely using the distance education mode of teaching. It is designed to serve Indonesian people who do not have access to face-to-face learning.UT is expected to increase access to higher education and to prompte equity of quality higher education to all citizens of Indonesia. The strategies to widen access include operating on a nation-wide basis, developing collaborationg and networking with external institutions, and offering various study programs. With these strategies, UT has been able to serve studengs at almost every corner of the country. With regard to quality. UT employs integrative learning packages that combine printed materials and audio/video/CAI programs, supplemented by encrinchment materials in the form of audio and television programs. Furthermore, UT provides a supermarket model of learning support service that includes correspondence tutorials, radio tutorials, online tutorialsand tutorials through fax-internet. As part of an effort to meet international standards and benchmarking requirements. UT has adopted the Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) Quality Assurance (QA) Framework to improve the quality of its educational service. The UT’s QA system encompasses nine components, i.e.policy and planning, human resource provision and development, management and administration, learners, program design and development, course design and development, learner support, learner assessment, and media for learning. UT has furthure developed QA manuals, and applied systems and procedures to ensure the quality of its DE products and services. In the future, it will be important to seek quality certification an accreditation from aninternational body such as the Internation Courncil for Distance Education (ICDE) in order to ensure that the distance education provision of UT meets international quality standards, and that distance learners get the needed quality service from the institution