PCF5:Tracer Study

Title of session
Research into practice: what tracer studies tell us

Session details

 * Date: ...insert date here...
 * Time: 11:00 - 12:30
 * Room: Room 642

Session papers

 * Dr Jill Brown, The advantages of a good DE example, (415)
 * Rebecca Essel, Distance learners’ perception on the use of course materials and its effects: a case study of Centre for Continuing Education, University of Cape Coast, Ghana, (737)
 * Claire Millington, The use of tracer studies for enhancing relevance and marketability in online and distance education, (424)
 * Heroldt Vekaama Murangi, The role of open schooling in improving the quality of life of young Namibians, (537)

Key Issues that arose in the session

 * * Flexibility, convenience and on the job seen as main positive effects of DL
 * Need to focus on the outcome, impact of DL – tracer studies essential. This is for reasons of marketability of courses, access, and customer satisfaction.
 * Institutions often focus on inputs, but students focus on outputs
 * Providers need to focus on the needs of learners – marketability and competitiveness
 * Research can help dispel myths that ODL is inferior
 * Tracer studies also important for quality assurance and internal learning

Research Available:
 * New Zealand Correspondence
 * NamCOL/NIOS study
 * Role and function of NAMCOL
 * etc

Capacity Building experiences:
 * ODL receiving more appreciation
 * economic and access reasons
 * addresses unreachable, and also past resistence fighters etc
 * Integrates soft skills
 * leaders act as role models - they went through ODL

Gender issues:
 * Needs clear definition
 * On level of content and access
 * Need to move towards blended methodologies
 * Look at subtlty of what subjects different genders choose
 * Content - is gender addressed there?

Points for future action (Policy, recommendations, commitments etc.)

 * Role of COL in research into evaluation should be developed
 * Integrate ODL into other learning - focus on soft skills
 * Purpose of Evaluation - what is its purpose? Theme for next conference
 * Gender needs to refer to both access and content - evaluations of the subtleties need to be done. More resources into Gender issues
 * Large scale study to demonstrate effectiveness of ODL - advocacy, success stories, dissemination of good practice