Effectiveness of the Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education Programme: A Tracer Study Rep

Abstract

This paper reports the tracer study of graduates (from nine constituent colleges) under Royal University of Bhutan (RUB) who have graduated from Samtse College of Education (SCE) with Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education (PgDHE). PgDHE is a two-year part time programme with PgCHE (a nested programme, Postgraduate Certifi cate in Higher Education) awarded as an intermediate award in the fi rst year. Both are part-time programmes of[1]fered to the newly recruited lecturers in the colleges who have not obtained any professional teacher training prior to joining their college. The tracer study was done on the graduates with the aim of fi nding the relevancy and improving the contents of the programmes and to meet the needs and demands of a dynamic higher education system in the country. For data, a survey questionnaire was administered online via Google Apps. Focus group interview was also carried out to get in-depth views and opinions from the graduates. To enrich the qualitative responses, open ended questions were included in the questionnaire. The study revealed positive perceptions of the college management, who observed improvement in the graduates’ knowledge and skills in their academic practices upon attending the PgCHE and PgDHE. The graduates shared their experiences of professional growth such as making them more effective and competent in teaching, and also improving their academic practices in the respective colleges as a result of these programmes.