The Effectiveness of Instructional Strategies Employed at Large Class Setting in Higher Learning Institutions of Ethiopia

Meshesha Make Jobo

Abstract


The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of instructional strategies employed in Large Class Setting (LCS) at Higher Learning Institutions of Ethiopia (HLIE). It investigates the major instructional strategies currently used in LCS, examines their effectiveness and proposes effective ones that are suitable for the context of LCS at HLIE. The subjects used for this study were 700 university students who were selected using simple random sampling (lottery method) from four universities and 12 university teachers who were selected using stratified random sampling. The descriptive survey research design was employed to conduct this study using both quantitative and qualitative method of data analysis. Pertinent data were collected through questionnaire, face-to-face interview and observation. The result indicated that teachers at HLIE use lecturing as the sole instructional strategy for running teaching at LCS without giving any credit to students’ learning preferences which is considered ineffective. There are different factors responsible for the use of such ineffective instructional strategy: clear gap in teachers’ pedagogical skills, lack of appropriate teachers’ training institutions and mismatch of students’ population and the infrastructure needed for running teaching-learning process in LCS. Based on these findings, therefore, professional training and CPD are recommended for teachers to handle teaching at LCS properly and the fulfillment of infrastructure to accommodate students’ population in HLIE is recommended for concerned managements of Ethiopian universities.

Keywords


Large class size; instructional strategies; higher learning institutions

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References


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