M.Ed. / Distance students are deprived from amongst others: non academic activities, informal learning opportunies, sharing critical ideas, the establishment of social relationships and competition with the peergroup and lecturer, leadership opportunities in student groups and periodic conversation with 'experts' in their field of study. The lowering of state subsidies in higher education, compels residential educational institutions to add components of distance education to their contact teaching component, so that they are able to handle the increasing number of students on a cost-effective basis. It is so that the change from a purely contact teaching institution to a combined contact and distance teaching approach (a mixed mode approach), will not take place without problems during the implementation phase. With reference to a purely distance teaching educational institution, Fraser (1993:30) has the following to say: "Their teaching policy is modelled on that of traditional contact teaching, to some extent resulting from the fact that most of the tutors employed by these institutions are themselves products of contact teaching." Distance teaching expertise in a contact teaching milieu should not be taken for granted by lecturers - it neccesitates intensive lecturer-development and the exposure to this field for the distance teaching lecturer. Greyling (1993:181) accentuates the different roles of the distance lecturer as that of learning facilitator, "... (wat) as gevolg van hierdie afstand in die onderrig-leergebeure, 'n veel moeiliker opgaaf (het) om 'n positiewe verhouding met hulle studente te stilt en te handhaaf, doeltreffend te kommunikeer en 'n positiewe leeromgewing te skep." The latter suggests that the distance lecturer has a facilitative instead of a didactive role to play, by putting more emphasis on the learner than on the learning content. According to Ljosa and Sandvold: (1988:315) " The evaluation of fixed assignments is no longer the (lecturer's) most important task. He/she functions to a larger degree as study guide and partner in a dialogue between him/her and the student. This asks more of his/her imagination and understanding." The role that the lecturer has to play in a teaching environment where distance teaching and contact teaching is presented in a combination, still has to be that of facilitator, in order to create a positive learning environment. This area still needs a lot of research. It presupposes that the lecturer will strive to create a context which will promote learning and which has an interwoven didactic and facilitative touch. According to Siaciwena (1990:70-73) distance teaching is taught in many African countries in a combination with contact teaching as a cost-effective alternative, for the extension of the educational system and as a means of national development. In South Africa it has also become a popular option and therefore the importance of undertaking this study, should not be underestimated. The aim of this study is to research guidelines which will assist the higher education lecturer involved in the combination of contact /distance teaching (mixed mode approach) so that his/her facilitative role can be described. The most important conclusions drawn at the completion of this study were were as follows: *University/tertiary lecturers are not trained sufficiently for the demands of heterogeneous students in a combined contact/distance teaching milieu. *Invitational teaching/learning contracts can assist to facilitate the learning of heterogeneous learners in a combined contact/distance teaching mode. *There are positive implications for the use of proposed guidelines to facilitate learning in a mixed mode teaching environment, provided that the lecturer has an invitational personality (approach) and can act spontaneously in his/her teaching. Lecturers will experience that their students learn easier, and that they become more creative. Personal relationships with students will develop more easily, because students had an imput in the planning of the content and the evaluation procedures. Important aspects of the study which will need further research include the following: *The design of criteria for a (combined) mixed mode university/tertiary educational programme, keeping in mind the guidelines as set out in this study. *The design of a teaching development programme to develop specific teaching strategies of lecturers in a mixed mode teaching programme. *The development of a programme to screen/test students who aspire to become teachers/lectures in higher education, keeping in mind the guidelines for the development of teaching/lecturing abilities.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:3373 |
| Date | 28 August 2012 |
| Creators | Gettly, Michael Frank |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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