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Pilot Study of the Teacher Education Program

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The AVU Teacher Education Program is a unique undertaking in the sense that, for the first time on the African continent, African academic experts have come together to develop ODeL teaching and learning materials for use across Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone Africa. In order to prepare for an informed implementation of the program in all the participating institutions, a pilot study to try out the delivery process was conducted in four partner institutions between October 2008 and July 2009. The pilot test also served as an aspect of quality assurance to give the stakeholders data about the suitability or otherwise of the modules and the program as a whole. This study was concluded in 4 PIs namely: University of Nairobi, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Amoud University and East Africa University. The results show clearly that the AVU Teacher Education Program not only has the capacity to assist more learners perform better in maths and science but also contributes to eliminating the gender divide in performance in science.

 

Pilot Phase Summary Report:
The pilot study was conducted in the University of Nairobi, (Kenya), Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, (Senegal), East Africa University and Amoud University, both in Somalia. The universities were selected taking into account the following:


  • Availability of infrastructure (Dakar, Nairobi and Amoud)
  • Availability of human resources (Dakar, Nairobi)
  • Experience in distance education (Dakar and Nairobi)
  • Coverage of the AVU working languages (English and French)
  • Relative cost of implementing the pilot phase (Nairobi)
  • East Africa University was selected to represent the two institutions funded by UNDP Somalia.


The results show clearly that the AVU Teacher Education Program has capacity to: help more learners perform better in science; and to eliminate the gender divide in performance in science. It has also demonstrated that the multimedia approach adopted, that is e-learning, CD-ROMS and print help more learners access and benefit from the program as the combination over-rides the technological gap between institutions and countries.