The influence of instructional materials on academic performance: the case of Bachelor of Education (B.ED Arts) by Distance Learning, University of Nairobi

Abstract

The study sought to investigate the influence of instructional materials on academic performance on Bachelor of Education (BED) Arts students learning in distance. The performance of the students in the School of Continuing and Distance Education shows that majority of those who graduated in the last three years were rated 2nd class honors (Lower Division). The questionnaires were administered to Part (VI) 2005 group of students who were accessible in their last face to face session in the University. The group was through with the course and about to graduate. This gave the researcher a good opportunity to reach students from different geographical part of the country at a minimal time and cost. Administrators who were believed to have been involved in the development of instructional materials used by distance learners were also administered with questionnaires. The aim was to establish the challenges encountered during the process and the frequency of the material content review to accommodate new findings in the study materials. Information on performances of the students for the last three years was obtained from the university records office. The aim was to establish the trend of performances of the students academically. Ten percent of the students population was used for the study after stratified and random sampling was done and ten administrators who were purposely selected. A sample size of a hundred and twenty students was selected and the response rate was 75% of the desired sample. The study found that instructional materials used were highly accepted as they ate reviewed periodically to keep up to the date with the new research findings and international standard. The reason for the poor performance may be as a result of other factors like teaching methods used by content experts during face to face sessions and methods of assessment. This should be evaluated to improve the learner's academic performance.