Self-assessment in education management training through distance learning: A critical analysis

Abstract

In pursuit of quality, the learning process should be continuously improved by changing, among other things, the learning material and the way learning is facilitated. A concern for academics, teaching experience in the B.Ed. module: Personnel Management, a module offered by means of distance education at the University of South Africa, is to ensure that learners progress beyond the mere completion of assignments to where they commit themselves to construing the learning material and to developing management and leaderships skills. A means of achieving this is to change the assessment system of assignments. During 2003 a single, extensive assignment was set, which consisted of nine activities linked to the nine themes covered by the module. A detailed memorandum with a marking schedule for the assignment was issued to students at registration. In this article the following issues are covered: the approach to learning in the module; features of self-assessment and students' perceptions of the learning content and assessment system. Quantitative methods of data gathering were employed to explore learners' responses to the assignment and assessment system in the B.Ed. module: Personnel Management.