Designing a teaching strategy to improve student performance in shorthand transcription (a case study of Kumasi Polytechnic)

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2003-11-28
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The aim for undertaking a research in this field was to find a method that could be adopted by all teachers of Shorthand to eliminate errors students make when transcribing Shorthand notes into longhand. When these errors are eliminated, students will produce more acceptable .transcripts and by so doing the percentage number of students who fail Shorthand tests at various examinations would be reduced. When this is done, interest in the subject would be sustained and students sufficiently prepared to suit real working life situations which is the ultimate aim of educating students. This piece is thus meant for use by all institutions offering Shorthand as a course of study. The study is an Action Research Project. Information got for the study was gathered from past and present Shorthand teaches at Kumasi Polytechnic, experienced examination officers, and HND Sec II students at Kumasi polytechnic who were the sample of the study. The report has been grouped under Pre-intervention, Intervention, Post-intervention and Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations. At the pre-intervention stage students were tested with a passage dictated at 60 words per minute for three minutes with a syllabic intensity of 1.24. Students’ scores were recorded for comparison purposes. At the intervention stage the existing methods of teaching Shorthand and transcription were employed. This was followed by the designed strategy. The aim for touching on the existing methods was to find out the difference between those methods and the designed one. The class was divided into three groups, which were under the guidance of a Shorthand teacher. The group met to discuss the principles learnt, apply them and discuss the problems the students encountered. The problems were then discussed with the other participating teachers for a final discussion with a facilitator who helped to find solutions to them. Various tests were conducted as a means of monitoring student progress during the intervention stage. At the post-intervention stage a final test was conducted at 60 words a minute for three minutes with a syllabic intensity of 1 .24. Students’ scores were recorded and compared with the scores at pre-intervention. The mean scores of student performance at pre-intervention and post-intervention were calculated to find out whether in absolute terms there had been any change in behaviour. The scores were then tested at 1% and 5% levels of significance to test whether in terms of statistics there had been any change between the entry and the exit behaviours of the students. The results showed that in terms of statistics there had been no change in behaviour even though in absolute terms there had been improvements. A summary of the study was then made, conclusions drawn and recommendations made.
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A thesis submitted to the College of Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, 2003
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