Use of diaries/journals as a research tool in estimating credit rating in Distance Education

A key concept used in distance education is that of credit rating. Credit rating represents the total work load that a student has to shoulder in following a study programme, and is often expressed in terms of study hours. Credit rating has to be carefully worked out in distance education programmes as the learners (most of them may be employed) should be realistically able to allocate the required number of study hours to successfully complete a programme. The paper discusses how diaries were used to collect information related to time-use by a sample of students following the Post-graduate Diploma in Education at the Open University of Sri Lanka, and to evaluate the appropriateness of the credit rating of the selected courses as used at present.

doi: 10.4038/ouslj.v1i0.369

OUSL Journal (1997) Vol.1, (pp.28-44)