Abstract
AbstractAs a partial condition for the successful completion of school, and for certification reasons, undergraduate distance education students in Ghanaian universities are required to conduct research work. Due to the mode of teaching and learning activities, it appears such students are at a disadvantage. In this study, we examined the challenges distance education students encounter in conducting their research work in two universities in Ghana. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using 866 distance education students sampled from the study centres across the country. Results from a confirmatory factor analysis, using 5,000 bootstrap samples, revealed challenges from the students, supervisors and the institutions. Based on our results, we recommend that there should be structured policies by university management and supervisors to relieve students of the challenges they encounter when conducting their research work. The study also encouraged students to devote the needed time, commitment and motivation to complete their research work on time. Suggestions for further studies were made based on the findings.
Highlights
In education, research is an enquiry into an identified educational problem of relevance (Creswell, 2014; Pandey& Mishra, 2015)
A confirmatory factor analysis using 5,000 bootstrap samples was conducted with Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS)
We found that student-related factors which largely served as hindrances to the successful completion of students’ research work are lack of motivation, family commitment and insufficient time
Summary
This implies that whenever there is an issue of concern in education, there is the need to conduct a study to investigate the existence of the problem and come out with solutions to the problem where necessary (Amedahe, 2002; Rajasekar, Philominathan, & Chinnathambi, 2013). Take for example, when students are able to identify educational problems and research into it, they are more likely to come out with solutions which could bring about improvement in practice and developmental changes in educational policies. For this reason, Mafenya (2014) stresses that a country cannot develop meaningfully without the application of scientific research findings. From the view of Amedahe (2002), students are required to study and conduct research to discover strategies and guidelines to better understand educational issues, and to develop and/or modify the existing theory to improve educational practice
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