Assessment of an ODL class based on Thailand's qualification framework

Monwipa Wongrujira
Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University
Nonthaburi, Thailand

The quality of education has been a major concern among open and distance learning institutions. The Thai Higher Education Commission has required every higher education institution to implement the Thailand Qualification Framework (TQF) since 2009; and after the TQF had been applied for a couple of years, many classes were assessed on the basis of this framework. This evaluative research followed the framework by assessing an undergraduate class — Print Media Production — offered by the STOU's School of Communication Arts.

The research aims to assess the class in terms of (1) students' satisfaction and (2) learning skills based on the TQF; and it gives suggestions on how to enhance the quality of course materials, the mode of teaching, and students' performance.

The project used survey and interview methods to collect data from the students enrolled on the course and the professors responsible for the workshop sessions during the second semester of the year 2013. Purposive sampling was employed and statistical analyses were used to analyse the quantitative data, including frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations. Descriptive analysis was used in qualitative data analysis.

The result were as follows:

1 Students' overall satisfaction with the class materials — such as textbooks, exercises, and workshop or training sessions — was high; and they felt especially that the content was complete and well explained, and the workshops were very helpful for their learning.
2 The five learning skills based on the TQF (ethics, knowledge, cognition, relationship, and technology) were highly rated by the students, with the ethical issue as the highest. Also, the professors were satisfied with students' performance and the output of the workshops.
3 Students suggested that there should be more assignments on journalistic writing and interviewing skills. This was related to the professors' suggestion that writing skills should be highly emphasized; and that writing assignments, either online or offline, should be done before attending the workshop sessions.