Perceptions of students on staggered learning: a case study of Makerere University Students

Abstract

This study examined how student perceptions staggered learning are related to student achievement in a general education course. Most higher education classrooms today use traditional passive style lecture that does not encourage engagement in the lesson (Roehl et al., 2013). Passive lecture hinders deeper understanding of concepts; thus, emerging research conflicts with this method and instead supports the use of active learning techniques (Aburahma, 2015). Unlike passive learning, active learning increases retention of material and improves student success while focusing on meeting the needs of the learner (Freeman et al., 2015). While there is an increasing amount of evidence to support the study objective, it is still a relatively new method of teaching and more empirical research needs to be done to better understand if this method works in a variety of classrooms (Beatty & Albert, 2016). Student perception is important because students who have a positive perception of a course tend to perform better and have a continued interest in the topic (Ball, 2013), important in general education courses since they tend to have lower success rates because students are not as invested as they are with courses within their major (Strayer, 2012). The problem in higher education today is the lack of research on the impact of passive learning strategies, such as lecture, on the level of student engagement in the post-secondary classroom, though studies have shown passive learning has a negative effect on student learning and student achievement (Roehl et al., 2013). There is lack of sufficient research in the case of MUK as to perceptions of students on staggered learning. The researcher would therefore like to establish the perceptions of students on staggered learning of undergraduate students of Makerere University