A tracer study on the Bachelor of Arts education graduates of uew 2010 cohorts of graduates

Abstract

Graduates feedback is relevant in assessing the effectiveness or other wise of the services rendered by universities. As a result, the University together with its stakeholders share the view that there must be a continuous process of assessing the progress made by its graduates in the world of work in order to improve upon its programmes and services. This study therefore sought to explore the perceptions of the graduates about their satisfaction with the quality and relevance of the BA Art Education Programme. The study employed the sequential mixed methods approach using qualitative and quantitative methods as the primary means of data collection. Graduates of the 2010 batch of the BA Art Education programme were used for the study. Furthermore, the descriptive survey, tracer study and exploratory designs were adopted for the study. In all, sixty respondents were selected for the study. The objectives of the study were to find out the current occupational fields of the 2010 Art Education graduates of UEW and its relations to their respective areas of specialization, to explore the views of the 2010 Art Education graduates on the relevance of the undergraduate Art Education program at UEW and to investigate the views of the 2010 Art Education graduates on the quality of the undergraduate Art Education program at UEW. The study revealed graduates of the Art Education programme are mostly employed as Art teachers within various educational institution. It was further revealed that in relation graduates work experiences as wells as competencies required of their jobs the Art education programme was perceived as relevant. The study further showed that, graduates were satisfied with the Art Education programme and viewed it as quality in terms of the knowledge and competencies it provided. Lastly, the Art Education was perceived to be lagging behind in terms of the provision of opportunities for practical knowledge. It has been recommended that the Art Education programme must: provide more opportunities for practical work, incorporate of modern tools and equipment including ICT and properly linking what is taught to the world of work.