The Effectiveness Of Tutorial Services At Universitas Terbuka

Witarsa, P. Murlita (1995) The Effectiveness Of Tutorial Services At Universitas Terbuka. Masters thesis, University Of Victoria.

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Abstract

Universitas Terbuka (UT) is the only distance university in Indonesia. Its students are expected to learn by independent study. In an effort to help its students to cope with their learning difficulties, UT provides tutorial services. This study endeavored to assess the effectiveness of existing tutorial services by asking students for their points of view. Data were gathered by sending questionnaires to 1,200 students in two study programs, who were potential candidates for the June 1994 final Written Comprehensive Examinations. These were equally divided into a passing group, with Grade Point Average (GPA) equal to 2.0 or above, and a failing group with GPA less than 2.0. Of these 384 (32%) returned completed questionnaires. The data were analyzed by the use of descriptive statistics, 1-tests, and One-Way Analysis of variance. The results indicated that most of respondents perceived that Face-to-face and Correspondence tutorials were effective in helping them to comprehend course content. The results also indicated that there were significant differences between rural and urban respondents, in as much as rural respondents tended to rate Face-to-face and Correspondence tutorials higher than did urban respondents. Respondents without previous university experience tended to rate Face-to-face tutorials higher than those with previous university experience, while the reverse appeared to be the case for Correspondence tutorials. Overall, by far the most preferred time for scheduling Face-to-face tutorials was Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon, Saturday afternoon, and Saturday morning were preferred in order. Distance from tutorial locations appeared to be the main reason for not using Face-to-face tutorials, while the long time for a reply was the only reason indicated for not using Correspondence tutorials. The very high cost of telephone calls was the stated reason for not using Telephone tutorials. Responses to the open-ended questions mainly emphasized the poor qualifications of tutors, distant locations and the low frequency of Face-to-face tutorials. Several recommendations for improving tutorials are offered.

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