Effects of Increased Student Enrolment on Lecturer- Student Interaction at The Islamic University In Uganda

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to assess the extent of the effect of increased student enrolment on the Lecturer- student interaction at Islamic University in Uganda. Interaction in this case refers to the process that bring lecturers and students in direct contact when the former is teaching either by imparting new knowledge to the later or by attending to their learning needs The study was conducted at IUIU. The study was guided by two Hypotheses i.e. Increased class sizes of students do not affect to a high extent lecturers’ ability to effectively provide direct teaching services. Increased class sizes do not affect to a high extent lecturers’ ability to effectively attend to students’ individual learning needs The study used cross-sectional survey design. The respondents used in the study consisted of faculty deans, lecturers and students. The data was collected using questionnaires and interview guides. Data from questionnaires was analyzed quantitatively. Testing of Hypothesis was carried out using Chi- square(x2) and data recorded from interviews with faculty deans was qualitatively analyzed. The findings revealed that increased class sizes adversely affected the two dimensions of lecturer- student interaction at IUIU. On the aspect of teaching, 72.7% of lecturers and 84.4% of students said increased class size decreases lecturer’s ability to teach. Among the teaching services adversely affected are. Attracting attention of students, communicating so that each student hears very well and assessing every student’s weakness and strength effectively. On the other hand, 79.6% of students and 64.2% of lecturers said that increased size of students’ classes decreases the ability of lecturers to attend to students learning needs. Aspects found to be detrimentally affected were:- Time for lecturers to be available and accessible to students, and ability to counsel and guide all students in need of how to appropriately change their perspectives about what is taught. In view of the above, the following recommendation were suggested: Class sizes to be reduced to manageable sizes to enable lecturers carry out meaningful assessment, more lecturers should be recruited, to create desirable lecturer-student ratio, need for public address system so that lecturers are not strained while communicating to students, teaching workload for each lecturer to be reduced to allow ample time for lecturers to attend students’ learning needs.