Improvement of Teaching Quality in Open and Distance Learning Through Peer Mentoring: A Case Study on Bangladesh Open University

Abstract

Twenty-first-century teaching-learning has been witnessing a wider acceptance of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) in higher education. At the same time, it places the quality assurance into the forefront to make this provision more effective and relevant to all stakeholders. However, the difference between conventional and ODL education is minimizing gradually, such as philosophy, target groups and instructional design explicitly differ till today. And, teachers in ODL institutions require some different types of skills and qualities than the teachers in conventional universities. Principally, mentoring among the faculty members can offer that initial know-how techniques to novice teachers coming from non-ODL background. Therefore, this study aims to examine how peer mentoring necessarily contributes to enhance the teaching quality of Open University teachers with reference to Bangladesh Open University. To investigate the issue, this study applied some qualitative methods interview and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) among purposive number of mentor and mentee teachers of Bangladesh Open University (BOU). After exploration, it was found that most of the teachers particularly the novice teachers have acquired many skills and knowledge on open and distance education initially through peer mentoring in informal settings. Participants of the study hope for formal mentoring in the universities at large in Bangladesh.