Examining the Theory of Constraints in Large Class Size and Generic Skills Development in Ghanaian Public Business Schools

With Ghana's domestic economy revolving around service and agriculture, business education has over the years remained the second-largest demand among young adults. Despite the education policy reforms since the pre-colonial era to date, many university graduates in Ghana complete school with uneven quality. Consequently, low-performing students join an already over-populated labor pool. Meanwhile, generic skills development has gained widespread currency across all levels of education, particularly at the tertiary level in Ghana. While generic skills development offers considerable promise for positive graduate employability, the phenomenon of large class sizes threatens to diminish this promise. Further, the impact of large class sizes on the development of employable skills among undergraduate students in Ghanaian public business schools remains a serious management concern and has been given less attention in education research. The present study is an investigation into the impact of large class sizes on the teaching of generic skills at the tertiary level and its implications for post-graduation outcomes. The factors that hinder meaningful connections between lecturers and students in a large class learning environment as well as the instructional strategies for promoting teaching and learning in smaller classes were also examined. Adopting a qualitative multiple instrumental case study, the researcher interviewed 17 lecturers purposively selected from three public business schools in Ghana to investigate their perspectives on how the development of generic skills is hampered in large class sizes at the undergraduate level. Data from the interviews and document review were analyzed qualitatively using NVivo software. The study found that while human and non-human factors hinder meaningful lecturer-student connection resulting in the failure to develop critical thinking and problem solving, communication, and collaboration skills, lecturers' ingenuity to adopt personalized instruction, increased interaction with students, and reduction of group membership were found to promote positive learning outcome among students in smaller classes. On the policy front, the study highlights the need for government to review its fiscal policy directive that constrains public universities from engaging faculty when necessary, while making a strong case for further examination of the problem across a wider sample by adopting quantitative research design, or both, within a graduate student's context and at the same time addressing the gender gap in the selection of research participants in future investigations. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]