AN INVESTIGATION INTO STUDENTS DISPOSITION TO THE USE OF OBJECTIVES IN DISTANCE LEARNING-MATERIALS

The use of learning objectives in study materials for external student s is an instructional design strategy which is generally accepted. How ever, with the emergence of the constructivist paradigm in learning th eory, there is the question as to whether the use of objectives, under pinned by behaviourist theory, is justified. This study was undertaken to investigate the distance education student's disposition towards o bjectives, with particular reference to the way they used them and to what their perceptions and expectations were. Responses to a questionn aire revealed that objectives were perceived by the majority of the st udents sampled as useful to their studies, and that objectives, for th em, were an integral part of their learning strategy.