Abstract

Abstract: Distance education in sub-Saharan Africa is just becoming a part of the education culture. There exists a generally held notion by stakeholders, such as prospective employers, admission officers in graduate schools and academics in the conventional institutions that certificates and degrees earned by distance learners are second-rate. This perception is further reinforced by the view that that there are greater opportunities for cheating and other forms of academic dishonesty in distance learning than in the conventional system (Kennedy, Nowak, Raghuraman, Thomas and Davis, 2000). This, predictably, creates concern about the level of quality and acceptability of the qualifications and knowledge acquired by distance learners. This study, therefore, examined the various assessment structures put in place by the ODL institutions with a view to understanding the standard of quality of course content vis-a-vis the certificates awarded by these institutions are established. Survey research method was used to carry out the study. The respondents were randomly chosen from the students of three selected distance learning institutions and the heads of various establishments that employ the graduates of the sampled ODL institutions in Nigeria. The instruments used to gather data were two different structured questionnaires, which were analyzed using appropriate statistical tools. The questionnaires were supported by oral interview of staff of the institutions. The results of this study help address the issue of paucity of literature in the area of methods of assessment in distance learning.

Citation

Ojo, O., Olakulehin, F., Remi, O., Adeoye, F. & Ibrahim, S. (2007). Evaluation of Assessment Methods as Correlates of Quality Assurance and Certification Standard in ODL Institutions. Indian Journal of Open Learning, 16(3), 245-253. Indira Gandhi National Open University. Retrieved August 9, 2024 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/187786/.