Nigerian Journal of Business Education (NIGJBED) Volume 7 No.

2 October 2020

EVALUATION IN BUSINESS EDUCATION: CHALLENGES OF MASTERY OF

SHORTHAND SKILLS

FADARE GRACE OLUFUNKE

Department of Office Technology and Management
Federal Polytechnic, Ede.
funkefadare2015@[Link]

Abstract
Shorthand is one of the courses offered at all levels of the secretarial studies. A
greater percentage of secretarial students have always performed very poorly in
shorthand. This situation has resulted in a number of students calling for either the
reduction of credit load allocation to shorthand or total removal of the course from
the OTM/Secretarial Studies curriculum. Various reasons have been advanced as
causes of the disturbing rate of failure which include teachers and student's factors,
lack of interest, accidental entry into the programme, assessment procedure, lack of
qualified teachers, population of students, lack of facilities and equipment. Although
some of the factors are being adequately addressed, there are some other very
serious factors that contribute to student's inability to achieve shorthand objectives of
the programme. The study adopted the survey research design. The population of the
study was 15 lecturers/Instructors and eighty-five HND IFT and HND II FT students
in OTM department of Federal Polytechnic, Ede. The instrument for data collection
used was a 4-point Likert Rating scale titled “Evaluation of Mastery of Shorthand
Skills Questionnaires for students (EMSSQS) and “Evaluation of Mastery of
Shorthand Skills Questionnaire for lecturers (EMSSQL). The reliability of the
instrument was determined using crombach alpha with a co-efficient value of 0.86.
The data generated was analyzed using mean and standard deviation. The findings of
the study revealed that the objectives of shorthand programme/course are not being
adequately met and that many strategies are employed by teachers to give the
students the false impression that they are doing well. It was concluded that lecturers
should encourage their students to work hard and students should disabuse their
minds that shorthand is no longer used in offices because shorthand skill is the only
skill that differentiate them from other students. It was recommended that the number
of hours allocated to Shorthand should be increased and that lecturers should use
various methods of teaching to impart the skill to the students.

Keywords: Evaluation, Business Education, Shorthand Skills

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Introduction
Shorthand as a cornerstone course of business education falls within the secretarial
programme and office option of business education. It is offered in both secondary
and post-secondary levels in our private and public institutions. It is also offered in
some of the registered and unregistered commercial institutes abound our cities. At
the Junior Secondary Schools, it is offered as an integral part of Business Studies as a
subject while at the Senior Secondary School, it is offered as a subject. Shorthand is
taught as a major course in Office Technology and Management Department of
Polytechnics, it is also a core course in Office Option of Business Education
Department of Colleges of Education, while at University level, it is one of the course
offered in the Business Education Department.
The concept “Shorthand” has been variously defined by scholars. Canning (1981)
defined Shorthand as the art of representing spoken words in a faster way. Davies
and Oladunjoye (1990) opined that Shorthand means the art of writing symbols
that represent sounds. According to Pitman (1975) an inventor of Pitman
Shorthand which was published in 1837 defined Shorthand as the art of
representing spoken sounds by writing signs”.
There are numerous Shorthand systems. According to Davies and Oladunjoye
(1990), Crank, Anderson, Peterson, (1982) said that a lot of individuals have tried
to invent new systems or perfect older systems which they thought would reduce
the learning difficulty associated with earlier Shorthand System. Crank et. al gave
the list of such Shorthand systems and their publication dates thus: Pitman (1837;
Gregg (1883), Machine Shorthand (1910); Speedwriting (1923); Stenoscript
(1950); Forkner (1972); Stenospeed (1953); Briefhand (1957)' Century 21 (1974);
and Quickhand (1974). Out of these Shorthand systems mentioned by Crank et.
al. Pitman Shorthand is the most widely used presently by vast majority of
Shorthand writers.
Shorthand could be said to be a subject which is designed to enable the beneficiaries
to keep pace with the speakers of the readers and record accurately words spoken or
read. It is a system of writing rapidly and speedily by substituting strokes (light or
heavy, horizontal, vertical or curve strokes) dots (light or bold), dashes (light or bold)
and signs in abbreviation for words, letters or figures pronounced.
Another uniqueness of Shorthand skill is employment opportunity. Oladunjoye
(1988) had observed that today, armed with good shorthand skills, the world is

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indeed in the armpit of shorthand writers and secretaries. However, whether this
assertion is appreciable today is difficult to substantiate. Also, Aina and Anyaduba
(1989) reported that Shorthand is the answer and insurance against unemployment.
When graduates of other courses would be looking for jobs, jobs would be looking
for proficient shorthand writers. These assertions are fundamentally true and the
position of the secretary with adequate shorthand skills are in demand and
everywhere and a look through daily papers in Nigeria today confirms this. Up till
this present moment, various organisations still advertise in the newspapers for the
position of various categories of secretaries stating the speeds based on the cadre of
secretaries they want. On the part of the students, most of them reported back to
confess that they were made to take dictation and transcribe anytime they have the
opportunity to go for the interview. It is against this background that the researcher
discusses challenges militating against students' mastery of Shorthand skills and the
strategies to be adopted for effective teaching and learning in the classroom.
The Office Technology and Management (OTM) programme was designed by the
National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) to replace the Secretarial Studies
programme which had been on stream since 1989. According to NBTE (2006)
Curriculum, the programme was designed to equip its graduates to acquire
vocational skills in OTM and socio-psychological work skills for employment in
various fields of endeavour.
As a result of this change, much emphasis was laid on computer related courses while
Shorthand as a course was de-emphasized in which just four contact hours was
allocated for the teaching of the course per week. Ever before the introduction of the
new curriculum, nearly everybody especially students have been agitating for the
removal of the course from the curriculum. The reason for this desire was that
Shorthand is a difficult subject, a hard nut that is difficult to crack. High failure rate is
another reason why students always agitating for the removal of the course. Some
reasons were also advanced for the high failure rate in Shorthand which have been
expressed in various ways ranging from lecturer's personality, incompetence in
English Language, inappropriate teaching method, lack of instructional facilities,
school environment, textbooks to mention a few are discussed below:
A teacher is the central point of learning in a classroom situation. This is because he
decides whether the subject will be of interest to the students or not. A student may
like a particular subject very well but because of the poor teaching method of the

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teacher such a student may lose interest in such a subject (Adedokun, 2014). There
are many factors that influence the teachers and students relationship towards the
teaching and understanding of shorthand such as aptitude, attitude, subject mastery,
teaching methodology, personal characteristics, the classroom environment, general
mental ability, personality, relationship with the students, preparation and planning,
effectiveness in presenting subject matters, relationship with other staff, self-
improvement, relationship with parents and community, poise, intellect, teaching
techniques, interactions with students, teaching competence demonstrated,
motivational skills, fairness in grading and teachers' attitude towards the students etc.
In Nigeria, English Language is the official language of communication and it is used
as a second language. It is the language of instruction at primary, post primary and
post-secondary levels. The importance of English Language a medium of expression
and instruction cannot be over-emphasized. According to Ademiluyi (1998), Pitman
shorthand especially was accidentally discovered while Pitman was working on
English phonetics. Thus, shorthand is an advanced, twisted form of the written
English Language. Anyone who has attained mastery in English Language is well on
the way to mastery in Shorthand. Not only must a student understand all the laws of
grammatical construction, the student must have a rich stock of English vocabulary.
Teaching is a process by which a learner is led to understand and acquire the
knowledge, which he is expected to have. Ekpenyong (1990) stated that teachers'
contribution in the high failure rate in shorthand has been expressed in various
ways ranging from inappropriate teaching method to non-teaching of essential
aspects of shorthand such as transcription and penmanship. The lecturer requires a
variety of methods and instructional materials to enrich his instruction and the
students learning process. There are varieties of methods and each has its own
strengths and weaknesses.
Oyinloye and Oluwalola (2014) described instructional facilities used in Office
Technology and Management as various office machines, equipment and devices for
the purpose of imparting knowledge and training to students. According to NBTE
(2004), Onah and Okoro (2010), instructional facilities for teaching OTM courses
include lecture rooms, digitalized laboratories, workshops, model offices, projectors,
player recorders, digital cameras, phones, modem, compact disks, radio and
television, personal computer etc. The use of instructional facilities does not only
help to facilitate teaching and learning but also results in more cooperative

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learning activities among the students. Adequate use of instructional facilities

provides lecturers with the interesting and compelling platforms for transmitting
information in order to motivate students to learn more (Amiaya, 2013).
Ayelotan and Solagbade (2014) opined that clean, quiet, safe, comfortable and
healthy environment constitute an important component of successful teaching
and learning process. Evidences shows that students lag behind because of
collapsed school buildings, inadequate typewriter, inadequate ICT laboratories,
ventilation and faulty heating system.
Textbook is a medium of instruction which have two distinct functions that of
reference source of information and that of a sequenced medium of instruction or
learning. Few textbooks are approximately sequenced for independent study and
written in a self-instructional style. When the student is studying, he will need to
have both the text and the supplementary material side by side and continually
oscillate from one to the other. Apart from the instructional textbook, students do
not buy other supplementary textbooks that they will use to supplement the
instructional textbook they are using in the classroom. This also affects their
performance and rate of failure in Shorthand.

Statement of the Problem

Experience has shown that the rate of failure of students in Shorthand has always
been a great concern for the students, lecturers, parents and society at large. In spite
of the ten hours allocated for the course in the old curriculum NBTE (1989) students'
performance in transcription has been woeful over the years. In the new OTM
curriculum, the number of hours had been reduced to four hours per week, making
the situation worst. Many research studies have been conducted on the causes of
students' poor performance in Shorthand by reputable scholars with remarkable
expertise in the course. Ademiluyi (1998) citing Laurie, indicated that 62% of
students who attempt shorthand examinations every year in U.S. always fail.
Ademiluyi further asserted that failure in Shorthand in Osun State Polytechnic, Iree in
1997 session was around 90%. Babalola (1994) asserted that during the 1991 summer
session in Pitman College, London, twenty out of the twenty-seven candidates that
sat for Shorthand failed and out of the many candidates that sat for Shorthand at 140
wpm in the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) examination of June, 1988 throughout the
numerous centres in the then eleven Northern States, only 7 candidates came out with
flying colours. He also said that out of the 60 final year ND

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students that registered for Shorthand in 1977 in the Secretarial Studies

Department, Federal Polytechnic, Bida only six (10%) graduated. Bukar (1994) in
her research concluded that students do achieve much below expectation in
Shorthand and that they cry aloud and disbelieve their results each time they are
examined.
In order to help the students to pass and have fair result, lecturers help their
students by dictating passages below the required speed, giving more than
required time for transcription, palliating severity of penalties, introducing
derivative outlines for difficult words but all the efforts have not yielded a good
result. It is against this background this paper discusses the challenges militating
against students' mastery of Shorthand skills and strategies to be adopted in
teaching and learning of Shorthand in the classroom.
Research Questions
The following research questions were formulated for this study:
What are the factors militating against students' mastery of Shorthand skills?
What are the coping strategies required for solving problems of teaching
and learning Shorthand skills?
Methodology
The population of this study comprised all the 15 lecturers in Office
Technology and Management Department and HND I and HND II students of
Office Technology and Management
Department of Federal Polytechnic. Ede. No sample was drawn because of the
smallest number of lecturers and the sample size was considered sizeable and not too
large for the study. Out of 89 students in HND I and 72 students in HND II, 53
students in HND I and 50 students in HND 1 and HND 11 totaled 103 students. The
descriptive survey design was employed for this study. The major instruments used
for eliciting responses from the respondents were questionnaire designed for the
lecturers and students separately. The questionnaire contained two sections (A and
B). The Section A contains demographic characteristics of the respondents such as
sex, age, marital status, class level and for lecturer's questionnaire, Section A consists
of sex, male, age, marital status, years of experience, qualifications and course(s)
taught. The instrument for data collection was a 4-point Likert rating scale titled
“Evaluation of Mastery of Shorthand Skills Questionnaire for students (EMSSQS)
and “Evaluation of Mastery of Shorthand Skills Questionnaire for Lecturers”

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(EMSSQL). The questionnaire for the students consisted of 29 items which were
meant to answer the research questions 1 and 2 while questionnaire for the
lecturers comprise 25 items meant to answer the research questions 1 and 2. The
respondents were made to answer separate questions based on the study. The
reliability of the instrument was determined using crombach alpha with a co-
efficient value of 0.86. The data generated was analysed using mean and standard
deviation. To answer research questions 1 and 2, the respondents were provided
with a 4-point rating scale of Strongly Agree = 4 points, Agree = 3 points,
Disagree = 2 points and Strongly Disagree =1 point. As basis for decision, any
item with mean that is 2.5 and above was considered positive and accepted while
any item with less than 2.50 will be considered negative or rejected.
A total number of 103 questionnaires were administered to the students and 15
questionnaires were distributed to the lecturers and instructors. 103 questionnaires
distributed to the students were filled and returned while 13 questionnaires out of
15 questionnaires distributed were retrieved from the lecturers and instructors.
The decision rule was that any item with 2.50 and above was regarded as Agreed
while any item with mean score of less than 2.50 was regarded as Disagreed.
Table 1: Mean and Standard Deviation of Students' Response on factors
militating against the Mastery of Shorthand Skills
S/N Items Mean S.D Remark
1. Student's lack of interest 3.02 0.006 Agree
2. Poor knowledge of English Language 3.00 0.009 Agree
3. Late admission of students affect the students 2.90 0.039 Agree
4. Strike action affect the students 3.00 0.009 Agree
5. Inadequate number of hours allocated to the course per week 2.50 0.357 Agree
6. Lack of penmanship 2.83 0.072 Agree
7. Lack of practice and drill 2.68 0.175 Agree
8. Lack of constant drilling 4.16 1.129 Agree
9. Lack of concentration on the part of the students 3.31 0.045 Agree
10. Lack of mastery of shorthand Principles 3.21 0.013 Agree
11. Inability to sound spell 3.07 0.001 Agree
12. Overcrowded students in class 2.99 0.012 Agree
13 Lecturers teaching shorthand are too harsh/strict 3.93 0.692 Agree
14 Inadequate facilities e.g. Digitalized Shorthand Laboratories/
lecturerooms etc. 3.12 0.001 Agree
15. Poor implementation of curriculum and policies 2.75 0.121 Agre
Source: Field Survey 2019

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Table 1 above which shows the factors militating against the students' mastery of
shorthand skills. All the items 1-15 show a significant result since their mean
scores are all above 2.5
Table 2: Mean and Standard Deviation of Lecturers' Response on factors
militating against students' Mastery of Shorthand Skills
S/N Items Mean S.D Remark
1. Lecturers reduce speed without letting the students know 3.31 0.421 Agree
Marks are not fully penalized as required by NBTE marking
Scheme 3.54 0.773 Agree
3. Marks are sometimes awarded across boards 2.83 0.028 Agree
4. Transcription time is increased 2.69 0.001 Agree
5. Invigilator is not strict with students copying themselves 2.31 0.123 Disagree
6. Shorthand outlines are not checked against the transcript 1.92 0.549 Disagree
Lecturers who are not skilled in shorthand are appointed as
external examiners or moderators 2.00 0.437 Disagree
8. External Examiners pass those who fail in order to be retained 2.08 0.338 Disagree
9. Students buy grades from lecturers and clerks 1.79 0.759 Disagree
The objective of 95% accuracy set for students are not strictly
adhered to 2.92 0.067 Agree
11. Number of hours allocated to the course per week is inadequate 3.15 0.239 Agree
Laziness on the part of the students isanother important factor
for not meeting shorthand speed 0.85 0.036 Disagree
Student's failure to buy additional textbooks apart from
Shorthand Anniversary 3.46 0.638 Agree
Inability on part of the students to master short forms, phrases,
intersections etc. Affects the students' performance and prevent
them from mastering the skill 3.76 1.208 Agree
15. Non-mastery of English Language which is the second language 3.31 0.421 Agree
Source: Field Survey 2019
Table 2 above which focuses on the lecturers' response on factors militating against
the students' mastery of shorthand indicates all the variables affect the teaching and
learning of Shorthand. The results in Table 3 showed that items 1, 2, 3, 4 and 10 had
mean above 2.50, this indicated that respondents considered the items acceptable.
While items 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 had mean below 2.50, which indicated that the
respondents considered those items insignificant. This means that these variables
does not have anything to do with students' mastery of shorthand.

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Table 3: Mean and Standard Deviation of Students' Response on Suggested

Solutions to the Problem of Teaching and Learning Shorthand
S/N Items Mean S.D Remark
1. Students to develop interest 3.65 0.073 Agree
2. Improvement on English Language 3.4 0.004 Agree
Inculcate the habit of reading novels and develop grammatical
ability 3.88 0.256 Agree
4. Master the principle of shorthand 3.58 0.042 Agree
5. Practise regularly 3.62 0.061 Agree
6. Learn how to write good outlines (penmanship) 3.61 0.056 Agree
7. Reduction of student's population 3.05 0.105 Agree
Employment of qualified lecturers with requisite skills and
experience 3.15 0.050 Agree
9. Proper implementation of the curriculum 2.97 0.163 Agree
Lecturer's positive attitudes towards new ideas, teaching
methodology can enhance teaching and learning 3.23 0.021 Agree
Sponsorship of lecturers to attend seminars, workshops and
Conferences can enhance teaching and learning 3.32 0.024 Agree
Purchase of textbooks apart from anniversary textbook which is
Meant for beginners 3.05 0.105 Agree
13 Master how to recognize sound (sound spelling) 3.21 0.027 Agree
14. Provision of shorthand laboratories and adequate classrooms 3.57 0.038 Agree
Source: Field Survey 2019
Data in Table 3 shows that all the respondents used for the study agreed with
these items as strategy to be adopted in solving students' problems in teaching and
learning of Shorthand in the classroom. The mean revealed that respondents
accepted all the items as solutions to the challenges to teaching and learning of
Shorthand with a mean score of
Table 4: Mean and Standard Deviation of Lecturers' Response on Suggested
Solutions to the problems of Teaching and Learning of Shorthand Skills
S/N Items Mean S.D Remark
1. Professional should be employed to teach shorthand 3.76 0.024 Agree
Showing personal interest in students and inculcate in them how
to develop interest in the course 3.53 0.006 Agree
Lecturers should be approachable and fairness in dealing with
the students 3.53 0.006 Agree
4. Giving due recognition to each student's ability and personality 3.15 0.207 Agree
5. Adoption of appropriate method of teaching shorthand 3.53 0.006 Agree

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Showing acceptance not embarrassing or humiliating students,

no matter their attitude 3.46 0.021 Agree
Availability and utilization of modern Shorthand Laboratory
will enhance effective teaching and learning 3.77 0.027 Agree
Number of hours should be increased for for effective teaching
and learning 3.62 0.000 Agree
Maximum of 35 students in a class should be adopted for effective
teaching and learning of Shorthand 3.85 0.060 Agree
Giving assignments regularly will help the students to grasp the
Rudiments of the course 3.85 0.060 Agree
Source: Field Survey 2019
As indicated by the grand mean of in table 4, the data shows that all the
respondents used for the study agreed with these items as solutions to the
challenges faced by the students. The item by item mean shows that all the items
with mean ranging from 2.97 to 3.88 are acceptable.

Discussion of Findings
From the findings, it was found out that the respondents agreed with all the items all
the factors militating against the mastery of shorthand skills, having the mean score
of 2.5 except items 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 which indicated that the respondents
considered those items insignificant. The results agreed with the opinion of Ehirheme
(2019) that lack of interesting the part of students, poor knowledge of English
Language, inabilities of the students to practise regularly and drill, laziness due to
negligence at their work, cane of nomenclature of Secretarial Studies to Office
Technology and Management programme delayed admission process into tertiary
institutions, inadequate facilities and over-population, are all factors militating
against the mastery of shorthand skills. While the respondents disagreed with the
opinion that invigilators are not strict, shorthand outlines were not checked against
the transcript, lecturers' wo were not skilled in shorthand were appointed as external
examiners/moderators, external examiners pass those who failed in order to be
retrained, students buy grades from lecturers and clerks and tat laziness on the part of
the students is another factor for not meeting shorthand speed.
The results of research question two revealed the possible solutions to the problems
of teaching and learning Shorthand. The respondents agreed with all the items 1-10
receptively. These include English Language trouble reading of novels and
development of grammatical ability, mastery of shorthand principles, reduction of
student's population, hiring of qualified lecturers, proper implementation of the

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curriculum and policies, using of appropriate methods of teaching, sponsoring

lecturers to attend seminars, workshops, and conferences, purchase of textbooks,
mastering sound spelling, and provision of shorthand laboratories and adequate
classrooms. The finding corroborates that of Ankwandu, Okoro and Ozoemenam
(2016) that teacher's attitude and behavior are very important factor and that
teachers can do a lot of help learners develop motivation in learning.

Summary of Findings
The result of data collected in respect of the 2 research questions formulated for
this study were analysed using the arithmetic mean and Standard Deviation
revealed the following major findings:
Student-teacher relationship has a significant effect in the effective
 teaching and learning of Shorthand
Personality of the teacher goes a long way in effective management of
 classroom in teaching and learning of Shorthand.
Arousing the students' interest by the teacher enhances effective teaching
 and learning of Shorthand.
 Professional lecturer should be employed in the teaching of Shorthand.
Adoption of appropriate method of teaching enhances effective classroom
 management in the teaching and learning of Shorthand,
Utilisation of appropriate instructional facilities enhances effective
 classroom management in the teaching and learning of Shorthand.
Period allotted and proper seating arrangement enhances effective
classroom management in the teaching and learning of Shorthand.
Conclusion
From the findings of this study it can be concluded that there are many factors
militating against students' mastery of shorthand skills. Since the objective of the
teaching and learning process is to bring about behavioural changes in the
learners, therefore, proper attention and consideration must be given to eliminate
all factors that can hinder effective teaching and learning processes as well as
effective classroom management.
Recommendations
The following recommendations are made to reduce the factors militating against
mastery of shorthand skills in the classroom:

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Interest is very important in whatever course one wishes to pursue. It is

advisable to admit students who have genuine interest in the profession. In
other words, students who do not make Office Technology and Management
 as their choice should not be offered admission for the course.
Manageable class size must also be considered when admitting students
into the programmes. A situation whereby the class is over-crowded, it
will be difficult for the teacher to manage them effectively. Teaching and
 learning would be difficult to take place.
Learning atmosphere should be made more conductive, well ventilated and
well equipped laboratories with constant electric power supply should be
 provided in all Shorthand laboratories.
Experienced lecturers should be given Shorthand to teach. It would be a
little difficult for a layman to handle the course.
Government should provide fund to the institutions so as to enable them
purchase materials, equipment and machines for the students' use. This
will enable them to be taught well and gain their good image as Office
 Technology and Management products.
Lecturers should understand the peculiar nature of Shorthand and apply it
in teaching the students. Assignments should always be given to students
and when assignments given must be checked and marked appropriately.
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Adedokun, C. O. (2014). Determinants of the factors affecting students'
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OTM students of Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi. Nigerian Journal of
Business Education 3(2), 296-306.

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Anyaduba, M. O. (1988). Transcription Manual for Training Secretaries. Ibadan

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