Sustainable Teacher Training via Distance Education: The Effect of Study Centers, Gender and Economic Demographics on Academic Performance

Abstract

We examine the effectiveness and sustainability of the distance teacher education program established by the University of Education, Winneba, Ghana, by investigating the differences in the academic performance of students who are trained in the teacher education program via traditional and distance education modes, respectively, from 2011 to 2015. Close attention is paid to the factors that affect the academic performance of students in the distance mode. Our findings confirm that traditional mode students perform better than their distance mode counterparts in terms of cumulative GPAs. Gender and economic demographics of distance study centers are found to affect the academic performance of distance education students significantly. The policy implications of these findings are discussed and directions of further action are outlined.