Institutional Management Practices, Personal Motivation and Learner Participation in Distance Learning Programmes: the Case of Selected Distance Learning Centers of the University of Rwanda

Abstract

There is an urgent need to address issues of distance learning at universities in Rwanda. The reason for this is that there are few places available for high school graduates to join universities for face-to-face learning. The purpose of the study was therefore to establish the influence of institutional management practices on participation of learners in distance learning in the College of Education, University of Rwanda. The research objectives were to examine how provision of administrative support services influences a learner to participate in distance learning, to assess how provision of tutorial support services influences a learner to participate in distance learning, to determine the influence of provision of ICT infrastructure and services on learner participation in distance learning, to analyze the influence of combined management practices on learner participation in distance learning and to assess how personal motivation to learn, as a moderating variable, influences the association between management practices and learner participation in distance learning. The study used cross-sectional survey design and data was collected from six selected distance learning centers in the College of Education. Primary information was collected from 322 inservice teachers undertaking diploma course in education. Quantitative data was collected using a questionnaire while qualitative data was obtained using interview guide and focus group discussions from key informants consisting of administrators, lecturers, course coordinators, regional coordinators and tutors. Simple random sampling, stratified random sampling and purposive sampling were used to select the sample members. The quantitative data was analyzed by summary statistics, correlation and regression techniques to generate the means and standard deviations. Correlation and regression analyses were also performed while qualitative data was analyzed thematically. The findings showed that administrative support services did not have significant influence on learner participation in distance learning (β=0.071, t=1.2, p=0.231>0.05). Thus, the null hypothesis that provision of administrative support services had no significant influence on learner participation in distance learning was accepted. Findings on tutorial support services revealed that provision of learner support positively and significantly influenced learner participation in the distance learning programme with a regression coefficient of β=270.222, t=6389, p=0.000<0.05. Therefore, the null hypothesis on this variable was rejected and the alternative accepted. Findings on ICT infrastructure and services showed that the variable positively and significantly influenced learner participation in distance learning, with β=374.272, t=7.261, p=0.000<0.05. The alternative hypothesis that provision of ICT infrastructure and services has a significant influence was accepted. Concerning the relationship between management practices and learner participation, the findings were that provision of tutorial support services and ICT infrastructure and services have a significant influence on learner participation, with p=0.000<p=0.05 for each variable while provision of administrative support services did not, with p=0.141>p=0.05. Thus, the null hypothesis was rejected and the alternative accepted that institutional management practices have significant influence on learner participation, with the exception of administrative support services. For personal motivation to learn, the findings were that the variable positively and significantly influenced learner participation in distance learning programme as reflected in a regression coefficient of β=65609, t=0.225, p=0.001<0.05. The p-value (p=0.001) was less than the significance level (p=0.05) and so the null hypothesis was rejected and the alternative accepted that the moderating variable of personal motivation to learn has a significant influence on learner participation. The findings of this study will be useful to scholars for assessment of distance learning systems, to policy makers for directing sustainable delivery of distance learning programmes and to the University of Rwanda for practical strategies of providing necessary support services for learners.