Many students in South Africa are unable to cope with the academic demands of tertiary
education as they are not fully prepared for Higher Education (HE). Various inefficiencies in
the South African HE system have been identified, including low throughput rates, student
dissatisfaction, unsatisfying graduation rates, learner dropouts, learner repetition, motivation,
self–efficacy, attitude, personality differences, maturation, the retention of failing learners and
unit costs. Student performance and satisfaction cause concern for the government and the
HE sector.
The purpose of this study is to understand student satisfaction amongst Open Distance
Learning BEd Hons students. It further aims to improve student satisfaction and quality in
the programme by recognising the context sensitive needs, expectations and experiences of
students from different cultural–language groups, as well as constructing guidelines to
improve satisfaction. The purposeful sampling consisted of Second year BEd Hons teacherstudents
enrolled for open distance learning at the School for continuing teacher education
(SCTE). A total of 34 students participated in the study. This number comprised of fifteen
students from the focus–group interviews and nineteen students who completed open–ended
questionnaires. Students were chosen according to three criteria dimensions: major
language groups, gender and number of years teaching experience. This study followed a
qualitative investigation of two semi–structured, open–ended focus–group interviews in the
format of conversations, as well as documentary analysis of the teaching and learning policy
of the North West University (NWU), and an open–ended questionnaire. The data were taperecorded
for accurate transcription and analysed by using Atlas.ti. Through the use of
Atlas.ti, I constructed categories of recurring patterns in the dataset, and explored the
relationships of these categories. Different strategies were used to enhance validity and
reliability respectively.
The findings indicated that students’ satisfaction with HE environment is influenced by the
quality of the programmes offered to them, communication between lecturers/facilitators and
students, environment at the learning centres and the support that students received from
HEI. The students in their capacity as clients with Higher education institutions (HEIs) are
influenced by the support they receive from their work environment, as well as the level of
appreciation they receive from HEI regarding their own culture and values. They also value
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the environment they experience during course facilitations at the HEIs. The various student
attributes also play a significant part in their satisfaction levels towards the HEIs.
Findings also highlighted that students were not satisfied with the support they received from
the Open distance learning (ODL) unit. It is clear that the students’ perception of the quality
of the programme influences their level of satisfaction. Students are mostly satisfied with the
quality of the programme but they feel the communication as well the support from HEI and
ODL is not adequate. The students indicated that HEI and ODL do not display sufficient
understanding and concern for students. They feel there should be a greater commitment
from HEI and ODL to understand and consider the profiles of the students. HEI and ODL
should actively consider the background, culture, values, attributes, and personal, as well as
domestic circumstances of their students. The BEd Hons programme is a valuable and
popular programme, but the responsibility rests with both HEI and ODL to ensure that both
the quality and delivery of this programme are enhanced and improved so as to guarantee
higher levels of satisfaction amongst students. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/7312 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Mdakane, Marry |
| Publisher | North-West University |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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