The Practice of Learners' Assessment and Evaluation in Distance Education: The Case of Alpha and St. Mary's Distance Education
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Date
2007
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The purpose of the study is about the practice of learner s' assessment and
evaluation in distance learning, I h ave c hosen randomly 90 di s tance
learne rs and 20 tutor and/ or subject matter experts each from Alpha a nd
St. Mary's Di stance Colleges in Addis Ababa.
In my s tudy, I have u sed mainly quantitative m ethodology and
questionnaire as my instrument of data collection from distance learners. I
have a lso organized structured interview guides to get general ideas and
the attitudes from the tutors and/ or subject matter experts. The
information gathered from these sources could a lso be used to cross-check
a nd triangulate for the reliability of the data collected.
The data collected were statistically analyzed, counter checked, and
r eported .
Accordin g to the d a ta analysis , the largest majority of the re s pondents
commented that the distance program i s useful for: those who do not have
a cha nce to go to conventional sc hools for diffe rent reasons: to get a job;
for caree r development; to compensate for educational opportunities they
missed in the past due to d ifferent re a sons, etc.
The ty p es of tests (exams) they took were also in accordance with CRT
form at acco rding to m aj ority of respondents, justifying that exam
assessments are in accordance with the objectives of the distance co u r ses.
In bo th Colleges s upport services a re very limited; the majority of the
r esp ondents from both Distance Colleges commented that there is
insignificant or no tutorial support at all.
Large numbers of students are pursuing their education through distance.
For its effectiv e implemen tation the use of support services, such as
tutori a l services, preparation of standardized course materials or modules,
consistent assessments and evaluations s hould be given especial
emphasis.
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Keywords
Evaluation in Distance Education