PhD Defence Abstract – Kyomugisha Agatha

Academic performance in National Teachers’ Colleges (NTCs) is a critical determinant of the quality of teacher preparation and the effectiveness of national education systems. In Uganda, persistent concerns regarding student academic outcomes in former NTCs coexist with limited empirical evidence explaining how pedagogical practices, learner characteristics, and institutional quality systems jointly influence performance. Anchored in the Big Five Personality Theory, Constructivist Learning Theory, Cognitive Theory, and Total Quality Management (TQM) Theory, the study adopted a convergent mixed-methods research design. Quantitative data were collected using structured questionnaires administered to 156 respondents, of which 120 valid responses were analysed using descriptive statistics, factor analysis, correlation analysis, and hierarchical regression, mediation, and moderation techniques. The findings revealed that teaching methods were the strongest predictor of academic performance, followed by personality traits and monitoring and evaluation practices. Monitoring and evaluation practices demonstrated a significant positive relationship with academic performance and were found to partially mediate the relationships between teaching methods, personality traits, and academic performance. Demographic variables exhibited minimal explanatory power. The final model explained 36.5% of the variance in academic performance, underscoring the systemic and interactive nature of learning outcomes in NTCs. The study concludes that academic performance in Uganda’s National Teachers’ Colleges is shaped by a dynamic interaction between pedagogy, learner personality characteristics, and institutional quality assurance systems. The study contributes theoretically by extending personality and constructivist learning theories to teacher education contexts in developing countries and by integrating TQM principles into academic performance discourse. Practically, the findings highlight the need for learner-centred pedagogy, robust monitoring and evaluation systems, and strengthened quality assurance policies in teacher education. The study is limited by its cross-sectional design, focus on selected NTCs, and reliance on self-reported data, which may constrain causal inference and generalizability. Future research is recommended to adopt longitudinal and comparative designs, explore digital monitoring systems, and examine lecturer characteristics and gender-specific dynamics to further refine and validate the proposed model.

Keywords: Teaching Methods, Personality Traits, Monitoring and Evaluation and Students’ Academic Performance in Kabale and Mubende National Teachers Colleges