Uganda

Makerere University

Prepared by:

Juliana R. Bbuye and Jessica N. Aguti

Brief description of the programme

Makerere University is a dual mode university running two external degree programmes (Bachelor of Education and Bachelor of Commerce). These courses are run by the Department of Distance Education, which is part of the Institute of Adult and Continuing Education. These programmes are run in collaboration with the Faculty of Commerce (for the Bachelor of Commerce) and the School of Education (for the Bachelor of Education). The two faculties are responsible for the academic component, while the institute is responsible for the administrative component.

The External Degree Programme (edp) is governed by the general regulations of the university. No special regulations were drawn to govern the External Degree Programme, an arrangement that has ensured the External Degree students receive the same quality of course content as internal students. However, without regulations that fully consider the needs of the external student, the programme has been affected by bureaucracy. As a result, the pace of various activities required for the smooth running of the programme has sometimes been slow.

The External Degree Programme study package consists of:

•      print materials;

•      face-to-face sessions;

•      assignments and tests and quizzes;

•      student study groups; and

•      audio cassettes.

The External Degree Programme admits students every academic year and at present has 2,200 students.

For administrative purposes, the Department of Distance Education is divided into three units: Materials Development Unit, Tutoring Unit, and Support Services Unit. Each of these units is headed by a lecturer. The Department’s major concern is the provision of External Degree Programmes but it is also in the process of developing short courses which include ‘Skills for Research Assistant’, ‘Writing and Publishing’, ‘Marketing’, and ‘Income Generating Activities’. Written materials for these courses are being developed now.

Problems encountered

Planning and managing distance education

The planning and management of distance education programmes in Makerere University is greatly affected by a lack of clear policies on the running of distance education programmes. Neither are there clear policies on staff recruitment and development, student registration, or library and support services for students. Instead, all are governed by the general university regulations, disregarding the special needs of distanced education programmes and students.

Implementing quality assurance

Makerere University is a dual mode university. The university therefore feels that to ensure quality, students in the External Degree Programme must sit the same examination as internal students at the same time. This has particularly been the case for the Bachelor of Commerce programme.

Course delivery and course assessment structure for the external students is not yet satisfactory. There is a general lack of reading materials, insufficient contact with tutors, and lack of a personal tutor scheme.

The tutors participating in the External Degree Programme are lecturers in the internal programmes. They already have full loads and see the activities of the External Degree Programme as an extra load. Consequently, the assignments and tests given tend to be easy to mark and do not encourage in-depth study and research. These assignments and tests end up examining mainly surface learning.

Using and integrating media in distance education

Integration of media in the Makerere External Degree Programme has been a problem, caused by the delay in the production of print materials. A situation has therefore arisen in which the cassettes accompanying print materials are ready but, due to delays in publishing the print materials, they cannot be used. To a large extent students still depend on print materials. Radio and computer-based learning are difficult to integrate because of a scarcity of resources.

Instructional design and production for distance education

The process of instructional design and production has been very slow. The causes of this slackness are:

•       inadequate staffing;

•       lecturers who are supposed to develop and review materials are busy;

•       lack of sub-editors to assist the principal editor;

•       delays at the publishing stage due particularly to the long process of procuring funds; and

•       delays by the publishing firms.

Learner support systems

There is no clear learner support system in the External Degree Programme. The programme began with no clear system and, due to a lack of resources, is evolving very slowly. Student study centres are being started in the different regions as a response to student demands rather than as part of a clear scheme.

The two most important issues: Developing a learner support system and developing study materials

Developing a learner support system

Learner support systems in Makerere Distance Education Programmes have not yet been fully developed. At the planning stage of the programme the role of the extramural centres, for example, which were supposed to play a vital role in the support system, was not fully defined. As a result, administrators, tutors, and students of the programme have failed to utilise fully the potential offered by these centres. Support is therefore very much centralised despite the scattered nature of students, who come from all over Uganda.

The scarcity of funds has made the personal tutor arrangement difficult to implement. The radio and television services have not yet been effectively used because many of the students, especially those who live in remote areas, cannot afford the accessories. It has also been difficult to use a multimedia approach to provide student support, largely due to inadequate staff and funds. For example, counselling on the telephone is almost non-existent since it is expensive and telephone services are not available in most remote areas. Students are therefore left to study mostly on their own with little support.

 

Support available to students

Learner support in Makerere University is provided in a variety of ways.

•       On admission, students receive information about the programme through the prospectus and the study guide. They receive two weeks of orientation, which enables them to receive more information concerning the programme, guidance on subject combinations and study skills, and to interact with each other. It is also mostly during that orientation week that they form their study groups.

•       The university main library and all off-campus library branches offer library services. The department also operates a small collection of rare books.

•       Study groups have also been started, are located in existing education institutions, and meet mostly on weekends.

•       Other groups meet in the evenings on campus to solicit the services of tutors.

•       Hand-outs and other references are provided to students.

•       Occasional visits are made by members of the Department of Distance Education to some of the study centres to meet with the students and to obtain feedback on their progress. The visits assist the department in the planning of materials distribution and preparation for face-to-face sessions.

Student study groups

Mainly because of a lack of study materials and the problems associated with remoteness from the centre, students have organised themselves into strong study groups. The study groups meet mostly on weekends to review previous work and discuss difficult assignments. Ongoing research has shown that groups are mainly found in areas where there is a concentration of students, not necessarily at the extramural centres. The radius of these clusters is as great as 50 kilometres so the department is encouraging students to form groups based on these clusters. This will assist the department to provide services to the students by establishing convenient centres where materials can be kept and students can go to read. These may later be developed into resource centres.

 

Personal tutors

Students have expressed their need for personal tutors. The department has also realised the urgency of establishing a strong network of personal tutors who will assist students in academic and socially related problems. Centralised support services are insufficient to cater to the large number of students. The total population of students on the External Degree Programme is more than 2,000.

The personal tutor scheme, it should be noted, has not been implemented in Makerere because of a lack of funds. A cheaper scheme can possibly be designed, for example, one in which the principals of teacher training colleges and qualified staff in other institutions and banks can be involved on a part-time basis in assisting students. They would, however, need training in handling distance learners.

Developing study materials for the External Degree Programme

The External Degree Programme was launched in 1991 and at that time no study materials had been developed. Instead, through financial assistance of The Commonwealth of Learning (col), Makerere was able to purchase written materials from Nairobi University and from the Open College uk. This acquisition of study materials was a ‘stop gap measure’ that enabled the programme to take off.

Purchasing materials from other institutions is good as a ‘stop gap measure’ but in the long run it has proven too expensive. The department has not been able to continue doing this. Also, courses can be deceptively similar on the surface, giving the impression that they are identical when there could actually be deep set differences. Where materials are purchased, there may be need for the institution buying these materials to develop supplementary materials that would ensure the students needs are fully met.

In the External Degree Programme, written materials were viewed as the core of the learning package, so to ensure that Makerere University produces its own materials col funded the initial writers’ workshops. Since then, the Department of Distance Education has run a number of other writers’ workshops. As a result a total of 40 units are at different stages of development with only five published so far. Clearly, this is far below the needs of the External Degree Programme and so the shortage of study materials is still acute.

To deal with this, the department has chosen a number of options, as follows.

 

Handouts

In nearly all the subjects, but more especially in subjects for which no written materials have been developed, students are given handouts. These may be handouts developed by the lecturers but which are not written in the distance education mode or they may be extracts from texts. Handouts are important but should be seen as either another ‘stop gap measure’ or supplementary reading material. To meet the needs of the distance learner it is still imperative that materials written for the distance leaner be developed.

 

Face-to-face sessions

Face-to-face sessions should be part of the study package but, because of inadequate study materials, a lot of time is allotted to them, which is expensive to both the students and the department. Also, there is the danger of the External Degree Programme students beginning to rely entirely on these sessions even in subjects in which study materials are available.

 

Student study groups

Student study groups are also part of the study package but, like the face-to-face sessions, they have taken on a different meaning, particularly in the Bachelor of Commerce programme, where the shortage of materials is worse. The students now rely so much on the student study groups that sometimes meetings are held daily as though they were a conventional evening programme.

Conclusion

In any distance education programme, there is no replacement for study materials. Ideally, they should be developed even before the programme is launched and, where this is not possible, production should be guaranteed. If materials must be purchased, then care is needed in the selection and, where necessary, supplementary materials should be developed.