Page 87 - Open and Distance Education In Asia : Good Practice From AAOU Members

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) 67

implementation of higher education and the development of English proficiency
institutes has been required by the Ministry assessment administration (STOU-EPT).
of Higher Education. . Given the significance
of curriculum evaluation, STOU has provided Research Support and Evaluation
research funding to faculty members to There are a number of research in research
assess the effectiveness of curriculum. support and evaluation that was conducted
There is numerous research conducted by IRD researchers. Some research in this
at different educational levels to assess research category is survey research carried
quality of teaching and curriculum. There out to explore STOU researchers’ needs so as
are survey research exploring satisfaction of to provide supports that meet their needs.
different stakeholders such as graduate users Moreover, there are some research projects
concerning quality of students graduating that evaluate the effectiveness of STOU
from STOU. Also, there is a number of research activities such as granting process,
research conducted to assess the feasibility guidelines on the promotion of distance
of new curriculum. education research, and the development of
research funding.
Educational Assessment
Educational assessment is a part of instruction Student Service
and is used to collect data regarding student Students entering STOU’s educational
learning which is important to provide programs are diverse in demographic
evidence of instructional success. The uses background and qualification and hence
of appropriate educational assessment will they have different preferences and needs.
not only help student learns but also support Therefore, student services are important
STOU missions regarding the provision of and should be designed such that their needs
quality distance education. Because of the and preferences are fulfilled. There are some
importance of educational assessment, research projects conducted to develop
some research projects were granted to effective student services to STOU students.
develop educational assessment methods Examples of research in this area include the
for distance education that could provide development of electronic student support
valid and reliable assessment results. system, the development of successful
Examples of this research in this area student service model in distance education,
include the cooperative research among the guidelines on quality of graduate
OU5 universities in models and challenging development, student communication
in educational measurement and evaluation model, and the cooperative research among
in open education, a comparative study on OU5 universities in educational services
educational measurement and evaluation that support successful learning in distance
in AAOU, student grading guidelines, the education.
development of STOU quality assurance
indicators, the digital literacy assessment
of STOU students and faculty members,

Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU)