Author/s:
Frezghi, Tesfaldet*
Eritrea Institute of Technology, Eritrea (selu.tesfie@gmail.com)
Abstract:
Academic advising is an essential service in facilitating students’ educational and personal goals at higher education institutions. It guides students with the institutional policies and procedures. It fosters students’ interaction with academic advisors to exchange information about academic matters and future goals. This study examines undergraduate students’ perspectives on academic advising at Eritrea Institute of Technology. The study also identifies some challenges concerning academic advising. Using semi-structured interview, the findings revealed that the experiences of undergraduate students on academic advising is characterized by infrequent advisee-advisor communication. However, it serves as bridge to other offices, offer information and motivate students for better outcomes. In addition, the study found that lack of close contacts, advisor’s lack of follow-ups, and advisee shyness were some of the challenges identified related to academic advising. Despite its small scale, the study contributes in filling the research gap on academic advising in Eritrean higher education and enhancing the literature on the subject. In order to broaden our understanding on this area, further study is needed from the faculty members’ perspectives and the voices from other Eritrean higher education institutions.
Keywords: academic advising; students’ perceptions; higher education; Eritrea
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrse.2019.3017
*Corresponding Author