Volume 21, Issue 4

Wastage Rate of Education Graduates From University of Malawi, Chancellor College from 2005 to 2009

By Wanangwa W. N. Chikazinga, Bob W. Chulu and Richard W. Nyirongo

Reports have shown that many students that graduate as secondary teachers from the University of Malawi do not enter the teaching profession. The purpose of this study was to investigate the wastage rate of education graduates from University of Malawi, Chancellor College from 2005 to 2009. Cross-sectional data were collected from the total population of education graduates from 2005 to 2009 (n=760) through document analysis, structured interviews, and telephone-administered and self-administered structured questionnaires. The study revealed a wastage rate as high as 12.0%. Using the χ2 test of homogeneity, the calculated χ2 (1df) = 4.992, p = 0.03, exceeded the critical value of χ20.05 (1df) = 3.84 denoting that there was a difference in wastage rate in terms of gender and that more female (R= 1.842) than male (R= -1.00) graduates were likely to decline to enter the teaching profession. The study established that the most important factors influencing teacher wastage were lack of opportunities for professional development, inadequate teacher salary and availability of alternative employment. The implication of these findings entails: projections of teacher supply that do not take into account the wastage rate are bound to be inevitably inaccurate and fundamentals that attract people to an occupation should be addressed in the teaching profession without which teacher wastage would remain a major challenge.

An Assessment of Human Resources and Educational Facilities in Private Pre-Primary Schools in Ogun State of Nigeria

By Oyetunde Awoyele and Mushay A. Ogundipe

Eighty (80) private nursery schools were randomly selected in Ogun State, Nigeria, out of 196 available in the state government’s education handbook. Two questionnaires, namely Student Teachers Questionnaire on Nursery School Facilities (STQNSF), and Nursery School Resources Questionnaire for Head teachers (NSRQH) were used to gather data concerning human resources and facilities available in the nursery schools. Based on the federal government’s Guidelines on Minimum Standards in Schools nationwide, the adequacy or otherwise of the human resources and facilities were determined using simple percentages. The three research questions designed for the study are: How suitably located are private pre-primary schools in Ogun State Nigeria? How adequate are the teaching staff and head teachers of private pre-primary schools in Ogun State Nigeria? How adequate are the facilities provided in pre-primary schools in Ogun State Nigeria? It was found that most of the private nursery schools were located in conducive environment, but most were accommodated in substandard buildings. Pupil-teacher ratio in the schools was adequate, head teachers’ qualifications were adequate but teaching staff qualifications were generally inadequate. Most of the schools had inadequate facilities. Over-all, only 44.37% of the schools’ facilities were included in the study. It is recommended that an independent Pre-primary School Commission, separate from the State Ministry of Education, be put in place by each state in Nigeria, to solely see to the actualization of national standards in all private pre-primary schools. This is to ensure adequate provision of teaching staff and facilities and educational standards therein.

Planning to Meet the Expaning Volume of Online Learners:  An Examination of Faculty Motivation to Teach Online

By James M. Wright

To maintain a competitive advantage, many universities have expanded their online programs and course offerings (Allen & Seaman, 2007). The growing population of online students requires a highly qualified pool of teachers (Allen & Seaman, 2013). This is a challenge for strategic planners in higher education; more importantly, it necessitates faculty to use different skills and techniques to teach online. This article sheds light on the adoption process and confirms conditions identified in the literature, with the hopes of assisting educational planners who want to build the capacity of their faculty. A mixed-method study was used to investigate the factors that motivate and impede faculty to teach online. At a large suburban university in the Southeastern United States, 363 faculty members were surveyed and 14 faculty members were interviewed using the frameworks of Innovation Diffusion Theory (Rogers, 2003) and the theory of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1986). The findings showed flexibility and convenience were the primary motivators for teaching online, as well as, the ability to reach a wide range of diverse learners. However, the large amount of time and effort needed to teach online proved to be the major obstacles for adopting online instruction. Additionally, the participants had concerns about academic integrity and expressed a negative opinion about the quality of online instruction. These findings are beneficial to guide colleges, universities, and other organizations who want to adopt online instruction or other technology initiatives.

Planning to Effectively Motivate Digital-Age Learners by Addressing Their “High-Tech” Interests and Their “High-Touch” Needs

By Walter S. Polka, Jerald I. Wolfgang, Rosina E. Mete, Augustine Ayaga and Attique J. Khokhar

The authors of this thematic article present contemporary information about the “high-tech” usage and interests of digital-age students at all levels of the instructional spectrum as well as information about their “high-touch” learning needs in various cultural contexts. The purpose of this article is to guide educators in planning and implementing programs, projects, and learning assignments that captivate contemporary student interests and address their historical learning needs so as to improve motivation and academic achievement. Contemporary technological usage information including: hardware, software, personal communication devices, and instructional applications collected from various sources is identified to provide insight about the exponential growth of technology as well as its educational potential to capture the interests and motivate digital-age learners. This information will be synthesized with social psychology and education change research of the past half century that has demonstrated the significance of the organizational, social, professional, and personal needs of individuals associated with the successful acquisition of knowledge and skills as well as the implementation innovations. Thus, the focus of this article is to facilitate comprehension of the contemporary “high-tech” interests and usage rates of digital-age students as well as to encourage professional reflections about educational planning that combines those interests with their respective “high-touch” learning needs. Thus, the intended outcome of this article is to provide useful information in order to promote effective curriculum and instruction planning to increase student achievement in both developed and developing countries in the second decade of the Twenty-first Century.