Teaching and Learning Environment in Tanzanian HEIs

Tanzanian higher education sector, all universities are supervised by the Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU), and non-universities HEIs that offer degree certificates and above are under the National Accreditation for Technical Education (NACTE). TCU and NACTE are statutory and regulatory organizations established in 2005 and 2006, respectively, by the Tanzanian as a government to oversee issues of the quality of teaching and learning in these Tanzania HEIs. They closely observe the ability of the institutions regarding facilities (classrooms, teaching aids, methodology, qualifications of teaching staff, etc.), curriculum quality, registration of students, students’, and teachers’ affairs, etc. In short, TCU and NACTE handle all teaching and learning matters in Tanzanian HEIs. They are authority bodies whose recognition, approval and accreditation are required before any HEI can start to operate.

2.2.1 Traditional teaching and learning in Tanzanian higher education environment

In Tanzanian colleges, recommended pedagogical knowledge, skills and attitudes in teaching subjects effectively are rarely being practiced [70].

Teaching and learning are characterized by face-to-face in classrooms [71].

Teachers are at the centre of the stage, commanding everything in classes, from preparing what to teach, teaching notes, assessments, and grading lessons. Teachers usually write on boards or give students hard copies as handouts. However, students receiving and copying notes from teachers hampers their innovative capabilities. According to Ndalichako [71], about 14% of teachers had more than 200 students in a classroom, which is a vast number if one should teach effectively and conduct meaningful classroom assessment. Frequently used assessment methods include class exercises,

Hardman et al. [72] indicated that traditional teaching and learning in Tanzania are essentially transmission-based, i.e., they are delivered through lectures in classes and emphasize a kind of hierarchical learning of knowledge and conventional teacher-fronted classroom organization. The study discovered that some of the key dimensions of pedagogical content knowledge (teaching large classes, multi-grade strategies for small schools, language code-switching, and constructivist approaches to lesson planning) were largely ignored in the teaching and curriculum materials reviewed.

The existing poor quality of teacher education and training often meant that memorization and recitation approaches to teaching and learning were the norm. The findings obtained imply that teachers themselves need an upgrade from time to time in order to improve their teaching skills and adapt to changes in technology [73], [74], [75].

2.2.2 The use of technologies as tools for teaching in higher education in Tanzania

The use of technology teaching tools in higher education in Tanzanian is imperative to help students easily understand the subject matter themselves.

There are several teaching tools in Tanzanian HEIs, depending on the nature of the institutions, the type of courses, and subjects. In the higher education context in Tanzania, and even in lower levels of education, different teaching aids and tools exist [76]. Teachers use handouts, PowerPoint slides, worksheets, and drill-exercise sheets to support student learning by supplementing the conventional textbooks and providing the learner with friendly explanations to promote students’ understanding of basic scientific concepts. Some use drawings or objects in classes to explain ideas concerning their teaching. Teaching tools, as observed in a study by Rambe and Bere [77], benefit both teachers and students, who capture concepts that would otherwise have been difficult to understand easily. It is correct to conceive that some subjects are not easily taught and easily understood without using teaching tools and the application of teaching tools. According to a study reported by Sife et al. [14], an e-learning refers to the use of ICTs to enhance and support the teaching and learning processes. Mobile phones, especially

smartphones, have been found useful tools in helping to teach and learn in HEIs [78].

Nonetheless, inadequate teaching tools in HEIs have been one of the challenges facing most teachers and students. There is a scarcity of teaching tools in Tanzanian HEIs, thereby making the understanding of concepts by the students minimal [41] [79]. ICTs and mobile technologies have indeed the capacity to accommodate the design as well as the development of different teaching tools to aid teaching and learning and therefore minimize the challenges [14]. This has allowed teachers to complement traditional learning experiences employing technologies to help them explain the subject in classrooms. Arabasz and Baker [80] reported that, in classrooms situations, teachers may use technologies such as web-based set activities for practical, recorded videos, multimedia simulations, virtual labs and/or online lecturing and testing to complement traditional teaching and learning experiences.

At the College of Business Education, for example, most teachers prepared PowerPoint slides with overhead projectors to explain complicated concepts and for the ease of students’ understanding.

2.2.3 Challenges facing higher education in Tanzania

Tanzanian HEIs have faced various challenges in their mission to deliver high-quality education. The problems range from shortage of teaching facilities, inadequate teaching and learning infrastructure, class management shortcomings, students’ motivation, large classes, and technological weakness of the teaching staff, etc. As an example, the ratio of teachers to students is very high, with some classrooms hosting more than 200 students in a single session. The situation thus forces the management of some HEIs to combine students from different departments learning the same subject in one classroom. Large classes, however, make it difficult for teachers to handle and ensure that teaching and learning are as smooth as possible.

In such courses, students often end up copying notes to revise them later.

The situation thus minimizes the quality of teaching and learning needing innovative capabilities of both the teachers and the students for effective teaching and learning.

Likewise, while some teachers are not qualified to teach the subjects that they currently teach, they use limited teaching aids, even for practical subjects that require numerous exercises. Equally, most of them ignore updating of the materials they provide to students. They use the same materials year after year, irrespective of technological and socio-economic developments.

However, another concern is that many students in HEIs are less concerned about acquiring knowledge and skills in the subjects they learn. Rather, they strive only to acquire excellent grades by any means. One of the strategies they heavily employ is copying and memorizing points that can help them pass tests and examinations. Consequently, students with good cramming capacity pass examinations, despite gaining only limited knowledge and skills.

Efforts to overcome or minimize the mentioned challenges have been and are being made in these institutions through initiatives such as investing in technology infrastructure [81], [82]. Mobile technologies, for instance, can enable learners to be innovative and control their learning through mobile learning—SRL [31]. The mobile technology can also be used to equip the teaching staff with the skills they need to impart knowledge to students anytime and anywhere [80]. Likewise, ICT and wireless mobile infrastructure have considerably solved challenges, such as that of oversized classes.

For example, the Moodle LMS gives students access to learning materials without their presence necessarily being in classrooms, thereby minimizing classroom overcrowding. Similarly, the challenge of access to teaching aids is quickly being mitigated with technologies available to both teachers and students—even virtually impaired students can access various educational simulations, programming codes, online training and demonstrations through facilities such as YouTube, Zoom and many other educational facilities [2], [83]. However, computer labs need to be equipped with quality computers installed with required educational applications, accessories, and peripherals to enable innovative teaching and learning to take place effectively.