Programme and Service Evaluation by the Teacher and Non-Teacher Group of Students - Implications on Student Persistence in an ODL Institution

• Main Authors: Thirumeni Subramaniam, Latifah Abdol Latif, Nur Amalina Diyana Suhaimi
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: LC5201 Education extension. Adult education. Continuing education; LC5800 Distance education
• Online Access: http://library.oum.edu.my/repository/1054/1/library-document-1054.pdf; http://library.oum.edu.my/repository/1054/
• Institution: Open University Malaysia

A significant proportion of Open University Malaysia’s student population is made up of the “inservice teachers” sponsored by the Ministry of Education. The intake of the “in-service teachers” had stopped since 2013 and the present day students hail from various organizations whereby a majority of these students are self-sponsored. It is crucial for the university to take note of the changes that ought to be implemented to better serve the non-teacher students. This paper reports on the results of a 2015 tracer study (centrally administered by the Ministry of Higher Education) by looking at programme completion rates of the undergraduate “Teacher” and “Non-Teacher” group of students who attended their convocation in September and November 2015. The evaluation of the programmes and services by the two groups of graduates were compared, and areas that differ significantly were highlighted and discussed in the context 2 of improving completion rates. It is important to note that institutions need to be aware that there are tangible and intangible factors related to students’ persistence when it comes to finances, as in the sponsored and non-sponsored students. Keywords: in-service teachers, non-teacher group, completion rates, evaluation of programmes and services