Perceptions of Students (In-service Teachers) on OUM as an Open and Distance Learning Provider

Othman, Widad bt. and Lim, Tick Meng and Abu Bakar, Shawira bt. (2014) Perceptions of Students (In-service Teachers) on OUM as an Open and Distance Learning Provider. In: PDE Professional Development in Education Conference 2014, 11-12 Juni 2014, Park Hotel Bandung.

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Abstract

Distance learning has become a recognized method of educational delivery in institutions of higher learning. There are, however varying degree of acceptance to distance learning by learners. This paper reports on a study to investigate the perceptions held by in-service teachers about distance learning offered by Open University Malaysia (OUM). In particular, the paper reports on the findings of the research conducted to investigate the gap between factors perceived as important by the in-service teachers and those that were provided by OUM. Six factors were identified for the study: (i) access to information and administrative support; (ii) the teaching and learning process; (iii) learning support; (iv) programme implementation; (v) outreach; and (vi) academic support. A questionnaire survey was conducted using a set of questionnaire comprising two sections. The first section is aimed at depicting demographic information from the respondents. The second section of the questionnaire consists of 37 items encompassing the six factors or dimensions to be investigated. Six hundred sets of questionnaire were then distributed to the in-service teachers enrolled in the Bachelor of Teaching at twenty OUM’s learning centres throughout the country. There were a total of 178 male respondents and 402 female respondents, ranging from age 25 to 49. The results of the study indicate that teacher learners are highly satisfied with five out of the six factors investigated. A detailed analysis also reveals the services that are satisfying to teachers as well as services that have not met the expectation of the teacher learners. Information and findings gathered from this research helps OUM to identify its strengths and weaknesses, with the aim of improving its services as a leading provider in open and distance learning.

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