Journal of Advances in Education and Philosophy (JAEP)
Volume-3 | Issue-01 | 1-8
Original Research Article
Effectiveness of Quantitative Factors Used in the Evaluation of Lecturer’s Teaching Workload
Maoncha Evans Ombati, Simon Karume, Moses Thiga
Published : Jan. 26, 2019
Abstract
The teaching profession has one of the highest numbers of workforce grappling with heavy workload. Excessive
lecturers‟ workload causes adverse effects to both employer and employee. Lecturers are assigned lectures in multiple
independent universities and there is no platform to foster inter-university communication regarding the shared lecturers‟
employment state, tenure and lecturing obligations. Kenya‟s Commission for University Education has guidelines set to
limit the maximum lecturer workload and yet there is no way in which Commission for University Education monitors
and regulates inter-institution lecturers‟ teaching workload. There is the need to employ technology to address this
problem. Hence this study examined quantitative factors used in evaluation of a lecturers‟ teaching workload. A critical
survey of previous studies and current technologies associated with lecturers‟ workload management helped establish the
technological gaps to be filled by a web-based model for monitoring inter-institution lecturer‟s teaching workload in
institutions of higher learning. The methodology adopted by this research is the triangulation methodology while a proof
of concept methodology was applied to develop and test the model. The research questions were answered through
engaging industry experts in a validation exercise. The model‟s properties validated included confidentiality, integrity,
availability, user interface and viability. During focus groups, the model‟s confidentiality attribute received the lowest
rating of the five evaluated attributes. Participants acknowledged the need to monitor lecturers‟ workload to help in
policy formulation and ultimately improve lecturers‟ competency. Management, human and technical challenges are
anticipated during the adoption phase of the model. Feedback received from part of the participants also indicated that the
model would be an efficient tool in safeguarding lecturers against burnout arising from heavy workload.