All Ireland Society for Higher Education
| Name: | Elaine Walsh |
|---|---|
| Email: | elaine.walsh@dcu.ie |
| Institution: | DCU |
This paper will detail the findings of a study, carried out over the 2005/2006 academic year, to investigate the effects, if any, of different assessment techniques on the study patterns of distance education students undertaking degree level modules of the Bachelor of Science in Information Technology degree with Oscail (National Distance Education Centre).
The study involved two groups of students, studying two different discursive modules, who were asked to keep a daily study diary (Entwistle & Entwistle 1970 cited in Zuriff 2003) over the course of the full academic year. The first module - Human Science A - utilised a Scheduled Online Instruction (SOI) approach, which included continuous assessment with no final year examination (peer tutoring, collaborative group work and online debates). The second module - Management Science B - used the more traditional approach to assessment, specifically, three assignments and a final end of year examination.
The area of student retention is also an important concern for distance education providers. One of main contributing factors to course dropout rates for distance education or part time students is the over burdening of students with too much course work (Woodley & Parlett 1983 cited in Chambers 1992).
In this paper we address the issue of determining the minimum number of study hours required to successfully complete a degree level module of the BSc. in IT. We discuss how many hours students estimated that they spent studying, highlighting the different areas they concentrated on. We will ascertain the differences between the two modules to reveal the disparity created by using different assessment techniques in the level of study required. Finally, we examine the correlation between the number of hours spent studying and the results obtained in assignments.
References not included due to word count.