Abstract
Distance education becomes more accepted as a legitimate form of education and as colleges and universities attempt to meet the growing demand for courses and programmes for distance learners, one major concern that attracts the attention is the aspect of quality. The primary issue for distance learning institutions, like for conventional ones, is quality and the assurance that students are being provided with the best possible education or training with the highest possible standards. Purpose of this study was to analyze the construct of quality as perceived by distance learners of Bachelor of Management Studies program at the Open University of Sri Lanka and the influence of this perception on the students' satisfaction. The study focused on identifying students perceptions of key dimensions that define the construct of quality from students' perspective. A questionnaire was used as the key tool of data collection. Descriptive and correlational statistics were the main tools used in the study. Results of the study clearly indicated that all dimensions except perception on quality of faculty were significantly correlated with students' satisfaction. The study conclude that institutions are required to pay attention to factors such as quality of pedagogy, learner support, technological and even infrastructure as measure of meeting students' quality expectations.
Highlights
Open and Distance Education (ODE) system has been gaining widespread popularity over the years, and the advancement in technology has led the emergence of distance education as an alternative to conventional mode of teaching and learning
Findings of the study revealed that, all variables used to measure perceived quality of DE (SPQP, Support Quality (SPQL), SPQF, Students' Perception on the Quality of Evaluation (SPQE), SPQC and Students' Perception on the Quality of Infrastructure (SPQI)) were positively correlated with student satisfaction. This is s supported by previous study, which has indicated that 10 dimensions (Faculty support, Student support, Information & publicity, Interactive tasks,Institutional quality assurance mechanism, Institutional credibility, Course development, Teaching a& learning Evaluation & assessment and Infrastructure dimension)across supportive, pedagogical, and environmental domains are important in judging quality in distance education. (Jung, The main objective of the study was to 2012, Mbwesa, 2014) identify the impact of perceived quality of DE on student satisfaction
To findings of the study revealed that all dimensions except perception on faculty quality have moderate positive relationship with student satisfaction
Summary
Open and Distance Education (ODE) system has been gaining widespread popularity over the years, and the advancement in technology has led the emergence of distance education as an alternative to conventional mode of teaching and learning. The Open Universities of these countries provide academic and instructional supports to the learners with the means of being able to communicate through voice, video and data, in real time, with tutors using modern ICTs and participating in face-to-face tutorial sessions.(Jahan, Habib, &Akhtar,2012) When it comes to the education system in Sri Lanka it offers several options for secondary school graduates. The study points to the conclusion Management Studies program at the OUSL that institutions must pay attention to factors and the influence of this perception on the such as quality of pedagogy, learner support, students' satisfaction with the DE course. 1.6 Significance of the Study One of the major importances of the study is the understanding of how students perceive quality in distance education will help course designers to further enhance the quality of the programme and for similar programmes by clearly understanding their intentions. As there are few studied conducted in the perspective of students' with regard to how they perceive quality, this study might be helpful to fill the gap exists in the research area
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