Proposed Training Module on Goal Setting and Decision-making Skills for Distant Learners

Abstract

Inappropriate goal setting and decision-making skills are threat to distant learners’ completion of academic programme, development and social well-being. This was realised following two related studies carried out by the authors of this write-up in addition to facts from reviewed literatures as one of the factors responsible for low retention and completion rates among undergraduate learners in open and distance learning institution, To further x-ray the problem, a simple survey was conducted on Student counsellors’ responses with 57 Student counsellors representing 91.94% out of the 62 Student counsellors on the need to integrate training on goal setting and decision-making skills into learners support services. The findings suggested learner support services that should integrate the basic steps that were researched for setting achievable goals and decision–making skills necessary for implementing set learning goals. This paper therefore, proposed modalities that can be followed by support services unit of open and distance learning institutions in training learners diagnosed to have inappropriate goal setting and decision-making skills into modules. The modules were tested in training twelve volunteered undergraduate distance learners identified from previous study carried out by the authors. At the end of the trial testing the participated undergraduate distant learners were asked to rate the effectiveness of the activities involved in the training. The trust of the proposed module was to serve as a strategy in training the distant learners particularly, when low retention and completion rate are traced to inadequate skills for setting goals and decisions-making skills.