An Evaluation of the Master of Education Program in Curriculum and Instruction (Revised Program), B.E. 2556, School of Educational Studies, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University

Abstract

         The purposes of this research were 1) to evaluate the Master of Education Program in Curriculum and Instruction (Revised Program), B.E. 2556, which was composed of six majors: (1) Early Childhood Education;
(2) Thai Language; (3) Mathematics; (4) Social Studies; (5) English Language; and (6) Vocational and Career-Oriented Education; and 2) to investigate guidelines for revision of the Master of Education Program in Curriculum and Instruction (Revised Program), B.E. 2556. The informants included 19 program instructors and lecturers in the Master of Education Program in Curriculum and Instruction, School of Educational Studies, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University. The research sample totaling 229 persons consisted of students studying in the B.E. 2559 academic year, master’s degree graduates from the Program during in the B.E. 2555 – 2559 academic years, and supervisors or direct employers of the graduates from the Program.  The research instruments comprised a questionnaire and a form containing questions to be used as guidelines for focus group discussion. Data were analyzed with the use of the mean, standard deviation, and content analysis. Research results revealed that 1) the Program evaluation results were as follows; (1)  regarding the overall input factors of the Program, it was found that the structure of the Program was appropriate at the high level, and the Program’s documents, namely, the compiled texts, and activities plans were appropriate at the highest level; while the study guidelines were appropriate at the high level; (2) regarding the process of the Program, the overall opinions of the students and master’s degree graduates indicated that the instructional management was appropriate at the highest level; while the provision of professional experience for master’s degree graduates, instructional media and supporting resources, and measurement and evaluation were appropriate at the high level; on the other hand, the respondents had remarks that the time allocations for supplementary seminar activities were insufficient both in terms of frequency and time interval; and there tend to be problems for access to the e-Learning system; and (3) regarding the overall outputs of the Program, it was found that master’s degree graduates from the Program had qualifications based on the determined standards framework of the Program at the highest level;  and 2) the guidelines for Program revision were: there should be improvement the program structure, course descriptions, provisions of supplementary seminars and intensive seminars, instructional management via the e-Learning system, and supervision of theses and independent studies.