Factors Inhibiting the Assessment of Academic Performance of Learners in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) in Ignatius Ajuru University of Education: Solution and Implication for Development of ODL

Abstract

The study examined Factors Inhibiting the Assessment of Academic Performance of Learners in Open and Distance 
Learning (ODL) in Ignatius Ajuru University of Education: Implication for Development of ODL. The study was 
guided by 3 research questions and 3 hypotheses. The descriptive survey research design was used for the study. The 
population of this study consists of 177 Facilitators in Ignatius Ajuru University of Education in Rivers State. The 
sample size of the study was 177 Facilitators which is 100% of the total population. The study adopted the census 
sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was the questionnaire tagged “Factors inhibiting Assessment 
of Academic Performance of Learners in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) Questionnaire (FIAAAPLODLQ), 
which was developed by the researcher. The Instrument adopted a modified four point Likert scale. The instrument 
was validated by two (2) experts in measurement and evaluation and an Expert from the Department of Educational
Management, all in Faculty of Education, Rivers State University. The Cronbach Alpha yielded reliability indexes of
0.78, 0.83 and 0.79 given us the total 177 copies of the instrument administered to the respondents, retrieved and used 
for data analyses. The research questions were answered using the mean and standard deviation. The hypotheses were 
analyzed using the z-test transition at 0.05 level of significance. From the result, it was shown that lack of Information 
and Communication Technology (ICT) resources, poor facilitators’ competence and, poor communication skills 
constitute challenge to the assessment of academic performance of learners in open and distance learning in Ignatius 
Ajuru University of Education. It was then recommended that School administrators should endeavor to create regular 
workshops and seminars for both the learners and the facilitators to enhance communication flow in Information and 
communication Technology and to improve proper Assessment of academic performance of learners in open and 
Distance learning.