TERM PAPER EFFECTIVENESS: PERCEPTIONS OF STUDENTS AND
LECTURERS AT ZIMBABWE OPEN UNIVERSITY

TERM PAPER EFFECTIVENESS: PERCEPTIONS OF STUDENTS AND
LECTURERS AT ZIMBABWE OPEN UNIVERSITY

R. NGARA

R. NGWARAI

Term papers are an important component of the curriculum of students studying at higher
levels of learning. At the Zimbabwe Open University students pursuing Masters Degrees
write one term paper in each of the courses they would be studying. Term papers are marked
and contribute to the final coursework mark. In some instances term papers are not just
written, they are also presented orally by students. Term papers are instrumental in
developing academic skills such as critical thinking. There are, however, some problems
associated with students’ writing or presentation of term papers. For instance, topics chosen
by students lack unique focus and there is general deficiency knowledge on how to write a
term paper on the part of many students. A survey was conducted at Zimbabwe Open
University’s one regional campus to determine the views of Masters students and their
lecturers on the effectiveness of term papers as a tool of learning and assessment. Generally,
participants were of the opinion that term papers were handy in developing student academic
skills if principles in writing term papers were religiously followed by students and tutors.
Some factors were viewed as negatively affecting the ways in which term papers could be
useful or could be good quality. Among them were little tutor-guidance, lack of versatile
materials and poor academic skills. The study recommended running of workshops for tutors
on term paper-related issues at the University’s regional campus inter alia

European Social Sciences Research
Journal

2013