Abstract
The study was titled Supporting Distance Learners’ for Success at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana: Learners Perspective. One hundred and seventy DE learners were used from nine out ten study centers in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. The proportional, purposive, stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to select the sample. The instrument was a structured questionnaire of six sections based on various support services. The survey research design was used for the study. Frequencies, percentages, logistic regression analysis, Software Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) IBM version 21 and Excel were used in the analysis. Findings revealed that majority of the students are aware of some of the support services put in place by CoDE for them while others are not aware of some of the services. It also came out that most of the support services are appropriate and that students are satisfied with services such as Face-to-Face, modules or learning materials whereas they are not satisfied with the administrative support, guidance and Counselling as well as library services given to them. It was again revealed that the support services bring about success in the programme. Based on the findings the study recommends that professional guidance and counselling coordinators be employed in all the regional capitals. Library facilities, particularly E-Learning libraries should be provided for students to access.
Mentoring as part of teaching practicum has emerged as an effective process through which the professional competencies of trainee-teachers are developed. The practicum experience of teacher training could be pertinent in the context of distance education where the mode of delivery is mainly by print, which do not allow the modelling of acting out ideal examples of teaching. The role of the mentor teacher in the distance education environments of public universities in Ghana therefore becomes critical in quality teacher development. The placement of teacher mentors in school locations for Distance Education trainee teachers during teaching practice helps trainee teachers to model good teaching skills. Trainee teachers are assisted to plan, teach and reflect on their lesson delivery with the view of improving their professional competencies. This paper examines the perception of Distance Education trainee teachers on teacher mentors placed at their school locations during teaching practice. A structured questionnaire was developed to collect data, which was analysed quantitatively using descriptive statistics. The results of the findings based on support for lesson preparation, teaching skills, coaching, teaching experience, and teacher mentors feedback, indicated that more attention could be focused on improving the mentorship of Distance Education trainee teachers at the University of Cape Coast during teaching practice in order to produce quality teachers for the education sector. It was however recommended that strategies to improve and strengthen the mentoring system at the University of Cape Coast, College of Distance Education be planned well to achieve the expected outcomes to the full benefit of trainee teachers.
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