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RE-ORIENTATING INSTRUCTIONAL
DEVELOPMENT PRACTICE IN HIGHER
EDUCATION: A CASE STUDY OF SULTAN QABOOS
UNIVERSITY
By
Akinyemi, A. and Al Musawi, A.S .
Centre for Educational Technology
Sultan Qaboos University, Oman
24/9/2001
Outline
•Instructional development in Higher Education
•Instructional Development Practice at SQU
•New State of the art Facilities at SQU
•Re-orientating and Re-aligning Teaching and
Learning
•Issues and Prospects
•Conclusions
Introduction
•Instructional development: the
process of assembling learning
materials necessary for teaching in
the classroom.
•A traditional age-long description,
no longer be tenable in the modern
practice of teaching and learning.
Introduction
•The art and science of teaching have
changed in several folds in the light of
research and developments in human
learning and technological explosion.
•The various systems approach models and
principles for the design of effective
instruction have emerged through
scientific research activities.
Function of a University
•Development of personnel (training
function)
•Development of knowledge (research
function)
•Provision of necessary services
(public service function)
Bajah (1993)
Functions of a University lecturer
•Authority in his/her discipline
•Planner and manager of time
•Academic guide to students
•Adviser and counselor
•Researcher and Consultant
Bajah (1993)
A Working Perspective
Practitioners have adopted from modern
technology the working hypothesis that a sort
of engineering effort is effective in solving
educational practical problems by research,
design and development.
Instructional development in Higher Education
•“Why teachers fail?”
College teaching has not been taught at all
as many lecturers (subject matter
experts) had not received professional
preparations before becoming ‘lecturers’.
Such is the practice in many Universities
and SQU is not alone in this situation.
Skinner (1972)
“Why teachers fail?”
Human behavior is far too complex to be left to
casual experience or even to organized
experience in the restricted environment of the
classroom.
Teachers need help and in particular, they need
the kind of help offered by a scientific analysis
of behavior. (formal training or short in-service
training programs).
“Why teachers fail?”
Teachers’ heavy reliance on aversive
control
Aversive pattern survives in the now almost
universal system of ‘assign and test’.
The teacher does not teach, he/she simply
holds the students responsible for
learning.
“Why teachers fail?”
The students must read books, study texts,
perform experiments, and attend
lectures……..or will suffer aversive
consequences.
examination malpractice is in the news in
many parts of the world and plagiarism
on the Internet has reached an alarming
proportion.
Instructional development in Higher Education
Teachers should by now be able to distinguish
between pedagogy (the art and science of
teaching children) and andragogy (the art and
science of teaching adults).
University lecturers need training and exposures
to the principles involved in andragogy so as to
make them more effective in the classroom.
Instructional Development Practice at SQU
•Sultan Qaboos University has been
concerned about the need for lecturers to
produce quality instructional materials
for a long time.
•The founding of the Center for
Educational Technology and the
Instructional Development Unit are steps
in the right direction.
Instructional Development Practice at SQU
•The on-going Instructional Skills
Development Workshop series of CET for
lecturers is yet another evidence of the
seriousness of the University to ensure
that the quality of materials produced by
lecturers is high.
Instructional Development Practice at SQU
IDU is planning to design and
implement a study skills course. The
course is intended to be compulsory
for all University freshmen.
Instructional Development Practice at SQU
Instructional developers of CET have
individually or cooperatively conducted
some research in areas related to teaching
and learning.
IDU conducted training workshops and
consultancies to public schools’ and HE
institutions.
New state of the art Facilities at SQU
•Three fully equipped digital studios have
been installed and have become
functional. These will cater for the audio,
video, multimedia, and photographic
instructional materials production.
•The multimedia and Web-CT training
and retraining are on-going activities
among the SQU staff.
New state of the art Facilities at SQU
•Electronic and smart classrooms are in
place in many locations on campus.
•Enhancement of the dynamic and
creative artworks involved in the
illustrations in the production of
multimedia instructional packages.
Re-orientating and Re-aligning Teaching and
Learning
•Training and retraining practice of
technical staff
•Inviting lecturers to visit the different
Units and engage in developmental
research on the technologies.
•Working with lecturers on the
technologies that will be effective and
efficient in teaching and learning.
Re-orientating and Re-aligning Teaching and
Learning
•Large-scale production of digital audio
and video instructional materials in
collaboration with lecturers is currently
in progress.
•The facilities are open to students from
all faculties for actualizing their projects,
thesis, and dissertation.
Issues and Prospects
•Lecturers’ resistance to change. Three
change strategies have been propounded,
namely; power coercive, empirical
rational and normative re-educative.
•The issue of the fast rate of technological
development. Equipment and devices
become obsolete at a fast rate and the
frequent training and retraining of staff.
Issues and Prospects
•The heavy consultancy demand by
faculty members. If and when all the
services of CET become operational and
in high demand, along with the usual
university services, it may be difficult to
cope without employing additional staff
in all CET units.
Proposed Solutions
•The possibility of cooperation in the use of
technology.
•Institute an incentive policy to reinforce
lecturers.
•The students’ assessment instrument
administered at the end of the semester may be
designed to give information to the authority on
technology infusion into teaching.
Conclusions
•Technology infusion into teaching and learning
has become a reality in Oman and no effort is
being spared to improve the quality of higher
education.
•intra-University networking between faculties,
departments and units of SQU for effective
sharing of information and knowledge.
•regional net-working of universities in the Gulf
area will accelerate and improve the quality
and quantity of e-learning materials.
Conclusions
•a Professional Society or Association be
formed to promote the growth and
development of the new field.
•academic journal can be launched to
disseminate information and knowledge
about innovations and research results as
they occur in the different parts of the
region.
