Department of Educational Foundations,Management and Lifelong Learning

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Academic Advising and Students’ Academic Achievement in Higher Education: Experiences from Dar es Salaam University College of Education in Tanzania
(Journal of Education, Humanities and Sciences, 2015) Kavenuke, Patrick Severine
Academic advising in higher education is a mounting field of study that requires special attention as it is significant for enrolled university students to persist and retain to the point of graduation. This study aims to explore the contribution of academic advisors in enhancing students’ academic achievement in higher learning institutions. Data were collected from 58 respondents, including 48 students and 10 academic advisors both from the Faculty of Education of the Dar es Salaam University College of Education in Tanzania. The data collection methods were questionnaires, focused group discussions and unstructured interviews. A majority of student respondents (67%) revealed that their academic advisors had not contributed at all to their achievement. In contrast, 33% indicated that academic advisors had made contributions. The findings also indicated that among the challenges that students encountered when seeking for advisory services included the unavailability of academic advisors for advisory services, students’ lack of knowledge on academic advising, ability and readiness of academic advisors to the advisory roles, and psycho-social related issues. Thus, a quality academic advising programme is indispensable to increase students’ academic achievements in higher education. The study recommends a mutual relationship between the advisor and advisee that is based on trust and respect, shared responsibility and shared problem solving.
Are Pre-service Teachers Prepared to Teach? Investigating their Locus of Control, Self-efficacy and Attitude towards the Teaching Profession and Teaching Subjects
(Papers in Education and Development, 2020) Kavenuke, Patrick Severine
The study examined pre-service teachers’ preparedness to teach using a sample of final-year students (n=454) in a Tanzanian teacher education university. The study measured pre-service teachers’ preparedness to teach using four dimensions—internal locus of control, self-efficacy, attitude towards the teaching profession and attitude towards teaching subjects. With exceptions of relatively low teachers’ attitude towards the teaching profession, results indicated that student teachers have higher levels of self-efficacy, positive internal locus of control and positive attitude towards teaching subjects. Also, a significant difference (p ˂ 0.05) was found between teaching subjects on the dimension of locus of control with social science majors having higher locus of control than science and mathematics majors. Future employment intentions had significant impacts (p ˂ 0.05) on student teachers’ attitude towards teaching with those intending to work in non-teaching sector having significantly lower attitude. Regression results indicated that working with students and pre-service teachers’ persistence were strong predictors of overall pre-service teachers’ attitude towards teaching (R² = 0.319). Results further revealed that 40.2 % of pre-service teachers regret that they chose the teaching profession and 56.2% are not intending to work as teachers after graduation.
Are they Stress-Free? Examining Stress among Primary School Teachers in Tanzania
(University of Ljubljana, 2021-11) Kavenuke, Patrick Severine; kayombo, Joel Jonathan; Kinyota, Mjege
Teachers enter the profession with enthusiasm for the new adventure. Unfortunately, when they start working, they encounter circumstances that give rise to stress. Te present study, which used a sample of 550 participants from 50 primary schools selected from the Kisarawe district in the Coastal Region of Tanzania, examines the extent of stress among primary school teachers and the factors inﬂuencing stress. Overall, the results indicate that teachers’ levels of stress range from low to moderate. Moreover, the results from hierarchical regression analysis indicate that factors such as sex, class size, age, career intentions and teaching subject significantly predict teachers’ stress. Te study concludes that there is a need for the government, policymakers and school administrators to reduce teachers’ workload. Furthermore, school administrators in particular should be supportive and should design mechanisms that could develop a sense of collegiality among teachers in order to improve teacher-to-teacher relationships.
Assessing Digital Fluency among Teacher-Educators in University Schools of Education: The case of Tanzania
(The IRES International Conference, Abu Dhabi, UAE, 2020-03-03) Fulgence, Katherine
This study assesses digital fluency among university teacher educators given its relevance in education industry. Digital fluency refers to educators‘ knowledge about digital tools and ability to make critical, creative, and autonomous blending of their potentials to realize teaching and learning objectives. Largely, the teacher education curriculum the educators studied did not integrate digital fluency as a key competence making the subject of interest to explore. The study established dimensions of digital fluency as a concept through literature review. The study used SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition) model with its four levels of technology integration as a framework for assessing teacher educators‘ digital fluency. Data were collected through survey and interviews from 90 teacher educators at the university level including the management in schools of education. Findings show that most of the teacher educators perceive to have digital fluency at the substitution level, which is the lowest level. Educators with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and science backgrounds sound to be more digitally fluent compared to the ones from the fields of humanities and social sciences, partly due to discipline exposure. The study contributes knowledge towards digital fluency as a key competence for teacher educators. Higher Education Institutions need to explore mechanisms for developing digital fluency skills in line with the preparation of 21st century teachers taking into consideration variations among educators‘ disciplines. Further research can shed light on the competence profile of digitally fluent teacher educators.
Assessing the status of entrepreneurship education courses in higher learning institutions: The case of Tanzania education schools
(Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2015-03) Fulgence, Katherine
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the status of entrepreneurship courses offered in education schools. It provides recommendations for how to address the existing challenges by developing entrepreneurship initiatives in education schools. Design/methodology/approach – A survey was circulated to the management of all education schools in Tanzania, respective entrepreneurship educators and graduates from these schools. Random sampling was used to select teachers who had graduated from education schools. Findings – The findings show that all education schools have an entrepreneurship module in the development studies course, which is mandatory for all students in first year. From 2008 to date, six education schools (31.6 per cent) have introduced stand-alone courses at undergraduate level reflecting entrepreneurship in their title and 68.4 per cent are planning to introduce entrepreneurship courses both at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Although entrepreneurship educators demonstrate subject specialty, they use traditional teaching and assessment techniques. The lack of books on entrepreneurship and the large number of students were cited as the main challenges affecting their role as subject facilitators. Research limitations/implications – The study was limited to education schools in higher education institutions. Similar studies in non-business disciplines need to be conducted to establish how entrepreneurship is developed among graduates of higher education institutions. Practical implications – The study recommends that the management of all education schools should be made aware of the need to provide courses in entrepreneurship, to integrate experiential learning and innovative techniques in the teaching and assessment processes and to involve students in extra-curriculum activities. Originality/value – This is the first study to be conducted in Tanzanian higher education institutions that focuses on the teaching of entrepreneurship to education school students.
Conceptualizing Digital Fluency among Teacher Educators
(International Open & Distance Learning Conference, Anadolu University, Turkey, 2019-11-16) Fulgence, Katherine
Digital Fluency as an emerging concept needs to be conceptualized in education setting. This is important, now that technology has revolutionized teaching and learning processes as evidenced in the delivery of curriculum through online courses and increased use of open education resources among others. Against this background, digital fluency as a concept and its defining characteristics are systematically analyzed in the education context for teacher educators mostly PhD holders at the University level. The findings provide guidance as regards the conceptualization of digital fluency and the related dimensions and attributes for teacher educators. Policy implications and areas for further research are provided.
COVID-19 and Technology Enhanced Teaching in Higher Education in sub-Saharan Africa: A Case of the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
(Commonwealth of Learning, 2021-07-31) Mtebe, J. S.; Fulgence, K; Gallagher, M
This article aims to share an experience on the process taken by the University of Dar es Salaam to adopt and deliver technology-enhanced teaching and learning during the COVID-19 crisis. The university started by forming a team which conducted an audit to identify existing ICT infrastructure, skills gaps amongst instructors, and information systems that could be quickly adopted to deliver various courses during the COVID-19 crisis. The Moodle system, Zoom video conferencing system, and Postgraduate Information Management System were identified and recommended. After the audit, 340 instructors were trained on identified systems and 369 new courses were developed. Although face-toface classes resumed a few months after the training and preparations, postgraduate courses continued to be offered via the blended mode with the Zoom and Moodle systems being used. The experience gathered from this study contributes towards knowledge of ICT integration in teaching and learning and can be integrated into teaching during the COVID-19 crisis in resource-constrained universities in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond.
A Critical Review of e-Learning Research Trends in Tanzania
(Journal of Learning for Development - JLD4, 2018) Mtebe, Joel; Raphael, Christina
This study investigated research trends on eLearning implementation in Tanzania from 2007 to 2017. A total of 74 articles from electronic databases, conference proceedings, and selected electronic journals were reviewed. Using content analysis, the study found that there is an increasing interest in eLearning research with the majority of studies conducted by researchers from three universities. Students was found to be the most studied population group while quantitative research design being the most preferred research design. It was also revealed that mobile and game based learning were the least investigated eLearning technologies despite the proliferation of mobile telephony in Tanzania. Internet access and lack of support were the most ranked challenges hindering eLearning implementation in Tanzania. This study will also help policy makers to promote further research in areas where the research gaps have been identified and find interventions to overcome barriers that hinder eLearning implementation in Tanzania.
The critical thinking skills of prospective teachers: Investigating their systematicity, self-confidence and scepticism
(Thinking Skills and Creativity, 2020-06-16) Kavenuke, Patrick Severine; Kinyota, Mjege; kayombo, Joel Jonathan
Recently, researchers have shown an increased interest in studying about Critical Thinking Skills (CTSs). Indeed, the theme has become one of the most significant current discussions amongst many other international agendas. Given the perceived importance of CTSs in this 21st century, we investigated the CTSs of prospective teachers. The aim was to investigate the extent to which prospective teachers possess CTSs. Moreover, the study examined factors influencing CTSs of prospective teachers. The study sample (n = 965) was comprised of first, second and final-year students from one of the teacher education universities in Tanzania. The CTSs were measured using three dimension—systematicity, self-confidence and scepticism. Overall, the results indicated that prospective teachers had higher mean scores in systematicity and scepticism, but significantly lower mean scores in self-confidence. Also, factors such as parents’ education, parents’ occupation and year of study were significantly related to at least one dimension of CTSs. For instance, father’s education positively and significantly predicted prospective teachers’ scores on scepticism. These results have far-reaching implications for policy and future research.
A decade of technology enhanced learning at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: Challenges, achievements, and opportunities
(International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology, 2017) Mtebe, Joel S.; Raphael, Christina
For a decade past, integration of technology in teaching and learning has been received with both apprehension and skeptism from academics and student majority at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM). The study recounts real, professional and practical experiences, challenges, and opportunities of integrating educational technologies using available official documents and reports covering real practical experience in the period of ten years at UDSM . The study identifies gaps th at need to be worked upon to unleash full potentials brought by educational technologies at the university. The study recommends more support to early adopters committed to initiating blended learning programs, strengthening and expanding existing blended distance programs as well as seeding new ones and building capacity in developing and testing more reliable blended distance program innovations.
Deficiencies of Indigenous African Pedagogy
(German Adult education Association, 1989) Mushi, Philemon A. K.
Developing digital fluency among teacher educators: Evidence from Tanzanian Schools of Education
(International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology (IJEDICT), 2020-08-30) Fulgence, Katherine
This study explores how teacher educators develop digital fluency as a key competence in the contemporary world. Largely, the teacher education curriculum that the educators studied did not integrate digital fluency as a key competence. The study established dimensions of digital fluency as a concept through reviewing the literature. The study was qualitative, with data collected through interviews with ninety educators, including the management of university schools of education. The findings show that both individual mechanisms, particularly individualized learning, practice, engagement in research and consultancy, and institutional mechanisms - specifically training, infrastructure and the delivery of online programmes - contribute to the development of the digital fluency of teacher educators. The study contributes to the existing body of literature regarding digital fluency as a key competence for teacher educators. As regards practice, on-going training should be aimed at professional development, supported by continuous practice.
Does going abroad benefit my country? Views of highly skilled personnel from Sub-Saharan Africa on brain drain-brain circulation
(Mkwawa Journal of Education and Development, 2018) Kavenuke, Patrick Severine; Kinyota, Mjege
The debate on brain drain-brain circulation has been a longlasting phenomenon of interest among educators in the field of education, in particular, international and comparative education. This long-lasting debate triggered us to rethink about the effects which the concept has on the source country as well as the destination country. The study explored the perceptions of Highly Skilled Personnel (HSPs) residing in Sub-Saharan Africa on HSPs mobility. Respondents for this study comprised of 43 Sub-Saharan African scholars. Data were collected into two phases. First, all the 43 respondents actively participated in a four-day Online Focused Group Discussion (OFGD) moderated by the researchers. The second phase involved online interviews with 12 members who also participated in the first phase. Findings indicated that the majority of respondents favoured brain circulation. This implies a significant shift from brain drain to brain circulation. The socio-economic and political contexts of countries where respondents came from influenced their responses. We suggest that in the current globalized world, instead of restricting HSPs mobility, Sub-Saharan African countries need to create attractive working environment as a means to retain the best talents and motivate those who left to come back. Furthermore, Sub-Saharan African countries must work with diaspora to improve knowledge and business networks that will enable these countries to improve their economies thereby compensating the cost incurred in educating mobile talents. Finally, brain drain-brain circulation agenda should not be viewed in isolation rather as multidimensional in nature due to its overarching countless influencing factors.
Eliciting in-service teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge for 21st century skills in Tanzania.
(Journal of Learning for Development, 2018) Mtebe, Joel; Raphael, Christina
The Tanzania Vision 2025 articulates the country's aspiration of becoming an industrialized and middle-income country by 2025. The education sector, which is the main driving force towards realizing this goal, is expected to bring about the right mix of high-quality skills for the rapid development of quality and adequate human resources. The kind of revolution needed is nevertheless impossible if teachers are not equipped with the necessary skills to bring in the desirable changes. This study adapted Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) for 21st-Century skills to investigate teachers’ competence levels of 21st-Century skills using self-reported survey and classroom observations from a sample of 132 teachers in 20 schools in Pwani and Morogoro regions. The study found out that many teachers have moderate self-reported confidence in all TPACK elements with technology. Conversely, teachers self-reported confidence levels in content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge was found to be high. The findings from this study provides valuable insights on how teachers use ICT to prepare students for 21-Century skills capable of supporting the country’s efforts towards developing an industrial economy
Employability of Higher Education Institution Graduates: Exploring the influence of Entrepreneurship Education and Employability Skills Development Programmes activities in Tanzania.
(University of Siegen Library, 2016-04-22) Fulgence, Katherine
The concept of employability has over time become a topic of interest among stakeholders of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) including graduates. This has long been established by labour market studies suggesting skills gap between the labour requirements and the outputs from the education system. Although specific Employability Skills Development Programme (ESDP) activities have been identified to address employability within HEIs, individual background given its influence on competence level and mass enrolment are posing an increasing challenge in the process. In view of the above, this thesis explores the topic of employability of HEIs graduates. Specifically, it examines the influence of entrepreneurship education and ESDP activities in enhancing employability and graduate competencies. To provide for the theoretical background the study used human capital, systems and trait theories. Using triangulation approach, data were collected from 22 employers, 54 management members in schools of education at HEIs level and 554 graduates (378 from all the study fields and specifically 176 teachers who studied entrepreneurship education). The categorization of graduates also reflected their employment status comprising of employed, self employed and the unemployed. Findings indicate that employability can be enhanced through individual’s engagement in ESDP activities, which subsequently foster one’s employability skills. Taking a course in entrepreneurship has also been shown to enhance both employability and the related skills. Parent’s level of education and occupation do not influence one’s employability. The beneficial impact of ideal employability therefore depends on the interplay between an individual’s own initiatives in enhancing employability skills, the study institution and field of study. Additionally, while some employers recruit from specific disciplines, others recruit from diverse fields of study when graduates demonstrate higher level of employability and the related skills. The study therefore developed a model that can facilitate the development of employability skills among graduates. Simulation results indicate that it takes 75 months (6 years and 3 months) for an individual to acquire the required level of employability skills. And to maintain the same, a minimum of six ESDP activities is mandatory, not only during individuals’ time at HEIs but also during one’s career and throughout the life time. The study implications both practical and theoretical are further discussed. The dissertation also offered some areas for further research.
Establishing comparative education society in Tanzania: Opportunities and prospects
(World Voices Nexus: The WCCES Chronicle, 2018-02) Kayombo, Joel Jonathan; Kavenuke, Patrick Severine
Comparative education as field of study has long history in many universities in the North. For the universities in the South it dates back to the 1960s. In view of the globalization of education and the call for local actors to respond to the forces of globalization, we have analyzed the context of comparative education in Tanzania and the potential of establishing comparative education society as a response to the globalization of education.Given the wide spread of the comparative education courses in Tanzanian universities, there are potentials for establishing a strong comparative education society that can act as an intellectual home for many scholars in country.
Examining Teacher Trainees’ Attitude towards Teaching Profession and Teaching Subjects in Tanzania
(Huria Journal, 2019-09-01) Kinyota, Mjege; Kavenuke, Patrick Severine
Teacher trainees’ positive attitude on teaching is fast becoming a key instrument in teacher trainees’ motivation to teaching. Thus, it is regarded as a central policy agenda that has recently captured the minds of academics and researchers. Based on those facts, we examined the extent to which teacher trainees hold positive attitude on two dimensions—attitude towards teaching profession and teaching subjects. Additionally, we investigated whether these dimensions of attitudes are significantly related to demographic variables such as gender, GPA, whether or not they had worked before joining teacher education university programme, years of work, future work preferences and subjects of specialization. Participants for this study constituted a sample of 901 final-year teacher trainees from one of the teacher education university college in Tanzania. Findings indicated that teacher trainees’ attitude and GPA were not significantly related. Instead, a significant correlation was observed between the two dimensions of attitudes. Shockingly, findings indicated that more than 50% of teacher trainees had no preferences of working as teachers. Worse enough, the figures were similar even among science and mathematics majors who are highly demanded in the teaching career. Finally, the implications for policy and future research are put forth
Factors influencing graduates recruitment decisions: The case of Tanzania Corporate Recruiters
(Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, 19 (1): 195-216., 2015-01-01) Fulgence, Katherine
Recruitment process is one of the core functions of organizations as the quality of recruited employees affects the performance and the survival of an organization. Following mass enrolment in Higher Education Institutions, the quality of graduates brings with it a debate on how corporate recruiters recruit graduates. The study examines recent recruitment processes and recruiters search behaviour using case study approach. Interviews were conducted with human resources managers in different sectors to find out how corporate recruiters recruit graduates. Study findings reveal that graduate recruiters use more formal recruitment channels than informal channels when searching for new graduates. Both formal and informal methods are used to select potential applicants. There is a growing trend towards using assessment tests than academic qualifications during screening process. The study established communication skills, attitude, curriculum vitae presentation and behavioural qualities as important aspects that influence recruitment decisions of graduates by corporate recruiters. Study recommendations and implications for graduates and Higher Education Institutions ' stakeholders are provided.
Foreign Languages as Languages of Instruction, Liberating or Silencing: A Critical Analysis of Tanzania and Rwanda
(International Journal of Education and Research, 2017-12) Kavenuke, Patrick Severine
The debate of language of instruction particularly in Tanzania and Rwanda has drawn attention to policy makers, researchers and the entire public. The study examined the factors to be considered in introducing a foreign language as a language of instruction (LOI). It also analyzed how the selection of a given foreign language to be a LOI liberates or silences learners in the learning process. It adopted document analysis where documents such as language policy, education policy, curriculum development, language studies and previous studies related to the topic under scrutiny were reviewed. It concludes that the aim is neither to ban the use of foreign languages as languages of instruction nor to ban the use of local languages or lingua franca, given the advantages attached to each medium. Rather, it intended to critically analyze how liberating and silencing is the language adopted to become a LOI in the entire learning process. The study recommends teachers and students to be allowed to code switch and translate in their language, when need arises. Being too rigid to policy statements on the LOI, only propagate teaching but not learning.
The Fortunes and Demise of Literacy Drive in Tanzania
(1995) Mushi, Philemon A. K.

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