Assessing the Difficulty Index of Course Materials in National Open University of Nigeria

To have a sustainable learning outcome in open and distance learning there must be availability of quality course materials for the students, which is one of the criteria considered in setting up a new programme; it is also used by the public in determining the quality of education the students are expected to receive. National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) is not an exception in this regard. Therefore, this study is interested in assessing the difficulty index of NOUN course materials; which is a criterion for determining quality. The assessment of course materials is not a new phenomenon, educational researchers and practitioners have over the time recognised this. To find out the level of text difficulty of NOUN course materials, three research questions were raised – Are required course materials available? Do the available course materials meet the standard specified for ODL? What should be the criteria in reviewing course materials published in 2004? To answer these questions the survey method was used to generate responses. All registered students in Lagos Study Centre formed the population, Through judgment/purposive sampling method 100 students were selected for the sample; while systematic sampling technique was used in selecting 10% out of the total number of printed course materials that were available at the time of study. Following this, the Gunnings’s Fog Index, Flesch Reading Ease, Cloze text and Rowntree’s Complexity Quotient were used to assess the difficulty index of selected course materials; while questionnaires were designed to elicit data from the learners to get their perception on the content, format and language of the course materials including any other opinion they may share. The results showed a shortfall of course materials, fairly adequate age matching of text, a need for course material review, and fairly adequate difficulty level of text.