An Action Research on Improving Flexible Teaching – Learning Delivery in Maritime Administration (MARAD) 206 Through Continuous Improvement Process

Abstract

The action research was carried out to investigate the areas for improvement in the delivery of Flexible Learning to the School of Graduate Studies in Maritime Administration 206 as students are experiencing disruption of classes due to COVID-19 pandemic. Voice of the customers was obtained through series of structured interviews conducted to the six participants of the study via MS Teams and via Facebook. Two major questions were provided: one on the areas for improvement on the delivery of Flexible learning and the other question on the suggestions on the continual improvement of the process. Thematic Analysis which is adaptable to qualitative research to generate themes was used and four themes that needs improvement with corresponding suggestions were identified such as: a) module content; b) monitoring and supervision of students; c) student’s outputs; and d) mode of delivery. The results suggested that module content must be aligned with the STCW standards and provide more examples; on the other hand, there should be immediate and reasonable feedback in terms of the submitted outputs, flexibility on the submission is likewise requested on monitoring and supervision of students. Relative to student’s outputs, adequate support from the faculty members and the SGS were suggested. Relative to mode of delivery, distance learning with the available technology was highly recommended specifically for those students who are onboard but should have a clear policies and guidelines.