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International Journal of Learning, EducationalAndTeachingResearch p1694ISSN:2493 e1694ISSN:2116 IJLTER.ORG Vol.19 No.3

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research (IJLTER) Vol. 19, No. 3 (March 2020) Print version: 1694 2493 Online version: 1694-2116 IJLTER International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research (IJLTER) Vol. 19, No. 3 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically those of translation, reprinting, re use of illustrations, broadcasting, reproduction by photocopying machines or similar means, and storage in data banks. Society for Research and Knowledge Management

The International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research is a peer-reviewed open-access journal which has been established for the dissemination of state of the art knowledge in the fields of learning, teaching and educational research. Aims and Objectives

The International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research is indexed in Scopus since 2018. The Journal is also indexed in Google Scholar and CNKI. All articles published in IJLTER are assigned a unique DOI number.

The main objective of this journal is to provide a platform for educators, teachers, trainers, academicians, scientists and researchers from over the world to present the results of their research activities in the following fields: innovative methodologies in learning, teaching and assessment; multimedia in digital learning; e learning; m learning; e education; knowledge management; infrastructure support for online learning; virtual learning environments; open education; ICT and education; digital classrooms; blended learning; social networks and education; etutoring: learning management systems; educational portals, classroom management issues, educational case studies, etc. Indexing and Abstracting

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research

Foreword We are very happy to publish this issue of the International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research. The International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research is a peer reviewed open access journal committed to publishing high quality articles in the field of education. Submissions may include full-length articles, case studies and innovative solutions to problems faced by students, educators and directors of educational organisations. To learn more about this journal, please visit the website Whttp://www.ijlter.org.earegratefultothe

with this issue. Editors of the March 2020 Issue

editor in chief, members of the Editorial Board and the reviewers for accepting only high quality articles in this issue. We seize this opportunity to thank them for their great collaboration. Editorial Board is composed of renowned people from across the world. Each paper is reviewed by at least two blind reviewers. will endeavour to ensure the reputation and quality of this journal

The

Ibrahim Suleiman Ibrahim Magableh and Amelia Abdullah Personal, Familial and Social Factors Associated with Academic Failure in University Students: A Case Control Study in Iran.......................................................................................................................................................................... Behnaz Behnam, Fatemeh Paknazar, Majid Mirmohammadkhani, Mohammad Akhbari, Shahrokh Makvand Hoseini and Parviz Sabahi

123

The Use of Smart Technologies in the Professional Training of Students of the Law Departments for the Development of their Critical Thinking........................................................................................................................... Igor M. Kopotun, Myroslav Yu. Durdynets, Nina V. Teremtsova, Lidiia L. Markina and Luidmila M. Prisnyakova

Lecturers’

. 188

174

Achievement 20

The Perceived Influence of Case Method on Students’ Performance and Critical Thinking in Business Studies Xhimi Hysa, Luca Carrubbo, Armeno Sadiku, Irma Gjana and Nensi Hazizaj

149

Manal Hendawi and Mohammad Rajab Nosair of Differentiated Instruction on Primary School Students’ English Reading Comprehension

106

VOLUME 19 NUMBER 3 March 2020 Table of Contents The Efficiency of Using the Interactive Smartboard in Social Studies to Increase Students’ Achievement and Tendency Toward the Subject Matter in the State of Qatar............................................................................................... 1

The Degree of Awareness of Science Teachers about the Concepts and Requirements of Green Economy in the upper Basic Stage in Amman from the Viewpoint of Teachers Themselves Fawaz Hassan Shehada, Wesal Hani Al Omari and Assem Nawafleh The Digital Divide in Inclusive Classrooms Badriya AlSadrani, Mohammed Alzyoudi, Negmeldin Alsheikh and Elazab Elazab Elshazly Beliefs and Agency about Active Learning in English For Specific Purposes Classes Huan Buu Nguyen Enhancing Writing Vocabulary Using Mentimeter Pei Miin Wong and Melor Md. Yunus Using Knowledge Space Theory to Delineate Critical Learning Paths in Calculus Iman C Chahine and Mark Grinshpon Promoting Work based Learning as a Praxis of Educational Leadership in Higher Education Anselmus Sudirman, Adria Vitalya Gemilang

Effectiveness

A Teaching Model of Polynomial Functions’ Learning Outcomes according to the System Approach for High School Students 229 Ahmad A.S. Tabieh Mathematics Teaching in Vietnam in the Context of Technological Advancement and the Need of Connecting to the Real World 255 Tran Trung, Tien Trung Nguyen and Thi Phuong Thao Trinh

214

The Effects of a Discovery Learning Module on Geometry for Improving Students’ Mathematical Reasoning Skills, Communication and Self Confidence Nur Choiro Siregar, Roslinda Rosli and Siti Mistima Maat

Factors Affecting English Language Teaching in Public Schools in Ecuador 276 Julia Sevy Biloon, Uvaldo Recino and Camila Munoz ESP Course Delivered to Personnel Working in Shifts for the State Emergency Service of Ukraine through a Student Tailored Model..................................................................................................................................................... 295 Kateryna Shykhnenko and Oleg Nozhovnik Discourse Marker Clusters in the Classroom Discourse of Native and Non Native EFL Teachers ........................ 310 Gloria Vickov and Eva Jakupčević Undergraduates Student Perceptions’ of Social Networking Sites to Improve English Writing Skills in Malaysia 329 Nurul Afifah Binti Azlan and Melor Md Yunus Model of Primary School Teachers Training for Work in the System of Inclusive Education by Applying Extrapolation of Poland’s Advances in Training for Work 352 Anna A. Sobchuk and Nataliia O. Mykytenko Change in University Pedagogical Culture The Impact of Increased Pedagogical Training on First Teaching Experiences.......................................................................................................................................................................... 367 Mari Murtonen and Henna Vilppu Supporting Inclusion and Family Involvement in Early Childhood Education through 'ISOTIS': A Case Study in Greece 384 Anastasia Gkaintartzi, Evi Kompiadou, Roula Tsokalidou, Konstantinos Tsioumis and Konstantinos Petrogiannis Representation of French Culture as a Foreign Language through Textbooks 404 Ninuk Lustyantie and Evi Rosyani Dewi The Degree of Achieving Development Standards Indicators among Kindergarteners from Parents’ Point of View 422 Naser Ibrahim Al Sharah and Faisal Khalif Al Sharaa Rasch Model Application on Character Development Instrument for Elementary School Students 437 Lutfi Nur, Luthfi Ainun Nurani and Dodi Suryana and Aslina Ahmad A Case for Teaching Pronunciation to Adult EFL Learners, Using Metrical Versification 460 Mahboobeh Khaleghi, Manal Batobara and Mohammad Saleem Moral Education through Dramatized Storytelling: Insights and Observations from Indonesia Kindergarten Teachers 475 Maila D. H. Rahiem, Nur Surayyah Madhubala Abdullah, Steven Eric Krauss and Husni Rahim

1. Introduction Social studies is an essential field in education, contributing significantly to human character, the various possibilities of problem solving and logical thinking, the development of the human social senses, and the creation of social identity, including the nature of knowledge and attitudes that help students understand.

Keywords: Smartboard; Achievement; Tendency; Efficiency; Social Studies

Abstract. This research aims to determine the effectiveness of the use of interactive smartboard techniques and applications in teaching a unit of a social studies curriculum for preparatory stage students in Qatar. The selected sample (47 students) is distributed into two groups, the experimental group which studied a chosen unit using the interactive smartboard, and the other group, the control group, which studied the same lesson plan conventionally The two methods administered to the groups, before and after the experiment, are codified through a cognitive performance evaluation using the three stages of Bloom, and a structured assessment of the inclination towards social studies is applied. All groups are taught the same unit, prepared by the same teacher, but with a different method of teaching. To statistically test the research hypotheses, a quantitative comparison between the scores of the two groups before and after the experiment is carried out The results indicate that the differences between the two groups in average values in favor of the trial group are statistically significant.

The Efficiency of Using the Interactive Smartboard in Social Studies to Increase Students’ Achievement and Tendency Toward the Subject Matter in the State of Qatar Manal Hendawi QatarQatarUniversity Mohammad Rajab Nosair QatarQatarUniversity

3. The Qatar MoE may take the results of this study, and formally generalize the use of smartboards in all social studies classes in government schools.

The study focuses on the impact of using the smartboard on the level of achievement of middle school students The value of this analysis stems from:

2. Literature Review

2.1 Importance of using a smartboard With the rapid progress of information systems and communication resources, direct contact and connection between the components of the teaching and learning (the teacher, student and textbook) is no longer the primary resources for receiving knowledge.

The Qatar Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoE) affirms that the State of Qatar puts science, technology and innovation at the top of its national priorities and integrates them into its National Vision 2030 strategic plans and objectives. Research studies support the view that today's use of teaching technology in classrooms is crucial for education as mentioned in the study of Kurt & Dindar (2012)

Government schools in Qatar are provided with interactive whiteboards or interactive display devices, or both, to enrich the educational process and keep pace with progress Using their programs and tools, teachers can prepare and present, in interesting ways, various lessons.

2. This research may motivate other researchers to conduct similar studies in other specialties, considering achievement or other variables.

Using the software, various parts of the screen can be shown, engineering devices can be used, a network of crossed lines can be shown, shapes, colours and various types of font can be used, and documentation and explanations of the events on screen can be given by the system (MoE, 2019).

. The MoE agrees that integrating technology into the culture increases the effectiveness of learning and student accomplishment and emphasizes technology incorporation in social studies The MoE provides curriculum instructions to coordinators and teachers in the field.

The interactive smartboard has an impact on the functioning of the educational process. It facilitates learning. Therefore, many studies have been conducted on the use of smartboards in teaching. However, the researchers have conducted a search of the literature and do not find any direct or indirect research related to the use of smartboards in teaching social studies in Qatar. Therefore, this study is considered the first to address using smartboard technology in the teaching of social studies in the State of Qatar.

1. Keeping up with the times technologically and meeting new educational needs, in line with the policy of the Qatari Ministry of Education and Higher Education to integrate technology in education.

have many ways to enhance the student learning experience. The use of smartboard technology provides students and learners with support, knowledge and skills using optical features. It can make lessons fun, because the teacher can use many different styles and teaching aids Furthermore, it helps all kinds of students, each with individual requirements, to understand the lesson at the same time. For example, ‘visual’ students can see the smartboard, while students that learn ‘by hand’ can touch the smartboard. Using a smartboard in teaching helps increase the motivation of the learners. A study in 2010 2011 in which a school provided an interactive whiteboard in classrooms, shows that, after some time, a drastic change was affected in the school system Some classes became smart classrooms, and the study found that the smartboard had a massive impact on the students’ knowledge and achievement (Davidovitch & Yavich, 2017).

Many types of research show that learners learn better when they are fully involved in the lesson activities. With the smartboard being available in the classroom, every student has the opportunity to use the smartboard, and this allows them to actively become part of the learning process. For example, most smartboards have the option of using the fingers to write directly on them. This kind of interactivity gives learners the opportunity to write or even draw. As Socrates said, “reading is very different from memorizing a speech or learning by doing” (Rotry, 2005). In a study carried out in 2014Ainur and Arasaln say that smartboards can be used to increase the involvement of students in the study process in the classroom

Scientific development has brought with it many instructional techniques that can be used to create areas of expertise for learners Students having a high degree of competence qualifies them to meet challenges (Al Hassan & Al Badawi, 2016). The use of technology such as computers, smartboards, projectors, the internet, and many other things, in education is theorized to be one of the best ways to bring effectiveness to teaching. Over the years, there have been many studies like Almajali (2016), Oigara(2017), Dahlan (2014) examined whether these technologies are useful in teaching, and interactive smartboards are among the areas of study. We can safely say that the interactive smartboard has taken over from the overhead projector in school classrooms throughout the education Smartboardsworld.

According to Cox (2019), Research shows that students benefit best if they participate entirely, and true education is one of the best ways to achieve this

Information and communication technology play an essential role in all aspects of life, as it transforms civilization and helps the reunion among nations, as distances become reduced and no barriers exist between members of the community The whole world becomes like a village. The challenges that the world faces today and the change occurring in many aspects of life, make it necessary for educational institutions to adopt modern educational technologies.

By using smartboards in classrooms, students have the ability to access the internet, where they can view websites or videos. Thus, students can easily access different tools to complete project or perform research and keep up to date with developments around the world (Bates, 2003). It is vital to use technology regularly and continue with professional progression to keep up to date with current topics in the digital world. Using this type of smartboard technology in teaching produces a youth that is increasingly complex and sophisticated It makes the process of teaching beneficial for both the educator and the learner.

Technologies formed a strategic alliance with the American company Intel, which led to further developments in the whiteboard. The company steadily expanded its products to meet the increasing global demand as the interactive board started to spread significantly within the school system.

2.3 Previous studies In 2019, a study conducted by Ahmad and Aladle examined the effect of using an interactive whiteboard on the development of the attitudes and achievements of 8th grade students in terms of learning and cognitive motivation, in primary education in the Sultanate of Oman. A group of 176 students was divided into experimental and control groups. The results showed differences between

For instance, when teaching social science, learning and understanding what a world map looks like will be different if the teacher describes the map to the students rather than encouraging them to participate in drawing the map on the smartboard. Thus, the teacher increases the level of establishment of the information in the student’s mind (Collins, 2009). Another advantage is that students can learn how to work together collaboratively.

2.2 History of the smartboard device

A smartboard is a device and digital projection panel attached to a large touch sensitive board with projection screen displays the image. The network is controlled directly or with a distinctive pen by contacting the board (Becta, In2003).the past, most schools around the world used chalk and a blackboard to teach, but the interactive whiteboard replaced chalk during the technology revolution. Many teachers believe that these electronic boards are a useful digital tool for increasing students’ levels of achievement (Schenker & Kratcoski, 2008). In 1980 a new idea was introduced, which centred around connecting a computer to a sensitive display panel that acts as an alternative to the computer screen without a mouse or keyboard, using touch to navigate instead. Very few people knew about the presence of the interactive whiteboard until 1991, when David Martin and Nancy Knowlton introduced the first whiteboard through their company Smart Technologies It provided touch controls equivalent to a Incomputer.1992,Smart

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. students in both groups in their attitude towards study, cognitive motivation and its dimensions (motivation to learn, risk of knowledge acquisition and use of knowledge) and academic achievement in favor of students using an interactive Gurbuzturkwhiteboard.(2018),conducted

a study examining the attitudes of elementary education students to the use of smartboards in classes. The researcher conducted a survey of primary and secondary schools in Malatya province during the 2016 2017 academic year. To sample consisted of the 4th to 8th grade students in three schools, and data was collected using the smartboard attitude scale (SBAS) of Şad (2012). The findings were that students in the elementary stages usually have positive attitudes to using a smartboard Their attitudes towards the smartboard were impacted by the number of students in the school and the student’s grade, but not by gender.

Oigara (2017) conducted a study investigating the effect of using smartboard technology on the mathematical achievement of fifth grade students. 40 students were nominated and divided into an experimental group who studied mathematics using the smartboard and a control group who studied mathematics using traditional methods and a blackboard Both groups took an achievement test. The findings reveal a positive effect of using a smartboard on students’ mathematical attainment. In 2016, a study conducted by Almajali and others examined the effectiveness of using a smartboard for teaching social studies on students’ achievement in public schools in Jordan. A pre and post test was applied to 258, 120 male and 138 female, 8th grade students in the 2015/2016 academic year to find their level of achievement in social studies. The experimental group were taught by using

Kaya and Yazıcı (2018) conducted a study of the self efficacy of social studies teachers using the smart whiteboards. The researchers designed a questionnaire and distributed it to 101 social studies teachers at public secondary schools in Turkey. For statistical analysis of variance, gender, age, whether they had received training on the use of information technology. The results show that the self efficacy of the sample was at a level of agreement, and there was no effect of gender or age on self efficacy. Prior training helped to increase self efficacy in using the interactive whiteboard. Davidovitch & Yavich (2017) investigated the effect of the smartboard on the school system. The researchers used a questionnaire and the sample involving of 130 students (boys and girls) who used smartboards in the 5th and 6th grades of two elementary schools in Jerusalem. The findings show that the clarification variable showed the biggest improvement since the start of using the smartboards, in favour of students in the 6th grade, and the variable of interest in supporting the girls. Overall, the study variables appear to be related and the smartboard increased the students’ achievement and improved their learning methods. Given the study outcomes, the researchers recommend the teaching technology, because it led to an outstanding level of learning and increased the educational influence of teaching technological improvement.

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. the smartboard while the control group were taught the traditional way. The study findings reveal that there were variations between the classes in favour of the experimental group. There was no difference in the success of the students by Tunaboylugender and Admire (2016) investigated the effect of using an interactive whiteboard in the mathematics teaching of 7th grade students by applying an experimental design. The research findings show that using the interactive whiteboard in the mathematics teaching process had positive effects on the students’ mathematical performance.

Dahlan (2014) examined the effect of using an interactive whiteboard on 70 7th grade students' Arabic language achievement, their leaning acquisition and conservation, and their attitudes towards it. A quasi experimental approach was used for the study. The researcher divided the students into two groups, experimental and control, and applied two tools an achievement test and an attitude scale. The findings confirm that there were statistical differences between the two groups. The result was in favour of the experimental group. Based on the results, the researcher recommends that it is imperative to supply interactive whiteboards in classrooms and train teachers to use them effectively.

In 2013 A research was performed by Alhumiadan to investigate the impact of using interactive smartboards on the achievement and attitudes of mid students who study social studies conducted a study aimed to investigate the effect of using interactive smartboards on the achievement and attitudes of middle stage school students undertaking a social studies curriculum. The sample was divided into two groups, trial and control, and the results were in favour of the experimental group, with the achievement in before and after test performance being improved in the post test. The findings from the attitude test show no differences in either group, before and after the experiment. Brand and Bester’s (2013) study investigated the effect of technology on attention, motivation, concentration and achievement in a classroom context. A sample of 45 students were selected from the 8th grade and divided into an experimental group who studied lessons in geography, English, and mathematics using technology and a control group who were taught in traditional ways. The study reveals differences in favour of the experimental group in terms of achievement and attention. A highly positive relationship was found between motivation and concentration, and a moderate to high positive connection between focus, concentration and motivation.

In 2013, Abu Hamadah conducted an experimental study aimed at revealing the effect of using a smartboard in geography teaching on the creation of geographic concepts and map skills among 9th graders in the Governorate of Gaza. The research sample consisted of 66 pupils divided into two classes, the control group taught by traditional methods and the experimental group taught using the smartboard. The findings reveal differences between the groups pre and post experiment in favour of teaching and developing geographic concepts

3. There are differences between the average scores of students in the trial group and the control group before and after the trial in support of the trial group

7 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. using the smartboard. In light of the study, the researcher recommends the benefit of technological innovation, especially the smartboard, employing it in educational situations and providing schools with smartboards in order to stimulate students and raise their levels of active and positive interaction with the educational content and classroom activities.

1. There are no differences between the average scores of students in the trial group and the control group in the pre measurement of achievement before the trial.

The following hypotheses are tested to answer the main question:

interest and orientation of the Qatari MoE in integrating technology into education in order to increase student achievement, it is necessary to conduct a study into the impact of smartboards on the effectiveness of teaching social studies and how it affects students' tendencies towards the subject. The following primary and sub research questions are formulated in response to the problems identified by the literature review. The primary questionWhatis: is the effectiveness of using the interactive smartboard in teaching social studies for preparatory stage students’ achievement in Qatar and their tendencies towards the subject?

2. There are differences between the average scores of students of the trial group and the control group in the post measurement of achievement in support of the trial group.

The first sub question is: What is the effectiveness of teaching the unit using the interactive whiteboard in developing levels of remembering, understanding and application of the unit, measured by the cognitive achievement in the study sample?

In 2008, Swan, Schenker and Kratcoski conducted a study to examine all students in the 3rd through to the 8th grades, it revealed whether students’ achievements in English language, art and mathematics improve by using the interactive whiteboard. The researchers compared the scores on state achievement tests between students whose teachers used interactive whiteboards for their teaching and those whose teachers did not. For the students in the interactive whiteboard group, the results show a marginally better performance and students in the 4th and 5th grade have the most Consideringimprovement.the

To answer the sub question, the following hypotheses are tested:

The second sub question is: What is the effectiveness of teaching the unit using the interactive smartboard in the development of the tendency towards the subject of social studies of the study sample?

1. There are no differences between the average scores of female students of the trial group and the control group in the pre measurement of tendency towards the subject of social studies before the trial

3. There are differences between the average scores of students of the trial and control groups before and after the trial measured by the tendency toward the subject of social studies in support of the trial group.

2. There are differences between the average scores of students in the trial and control groups in the post measurement of the tendency towards the subject of social studies in support of the trial group.

3.1 Design and development of research data

The research adopts a descriptive approach to determining the proposed vision for teaching the target units of the curriculum of social studies at the middle grade stage using the interactive board. It adopts a quasi experimental approach to the design and implementation of the experimental part of the study.

The researcher uses two research tools to generate the data. The first is the standardized cognitive achievement test of the three levels of Bloom`s taxonomy: remembering, understanding and application of knowledge of the unit and its concepts. The second tool is another standardized measure of the tendency towards social studies in the preparatory stage in three dimensions: the value of social studies as a subject and its function in the lives of students; enjoying studying social studies; and the social studies teacher and their teaching methods. Both tools are applied to both groups before the experiment.

3.2 Building and codifying the achievement test

3. Research Methods

An achievement test is used to measure the levels of remembering, understanding and the application of the knowledge contained in the unit taught. A table of test specifications is constructed. The test consists of 20 multiple choice questions. A statistical process is used to calculate the relative weight or importance of the two tests. The researcher uses multiple choice questions because of their objectivity in the results, their ability to cover large areas of the content, their ease of marking, their suitability for students at that stage, and the weak effect of guessing and chance.

Some simple guidelines and test requirements are formulated to make the test clear and valid. The test time is set at minutes, and the test paper is attached to a reply sheet. The test is presented to arbitrators trained in the curriculum and

6 18% 4 12% 2

Lessons

Table

3.3 Building a scale of tendency towards social studies

12 2Lesson

The researcher has reviewed many studies in the field before building the scale, and of these studies the researchers selects Maghnam (2018), Rahim (2016), Hassan (2016) and Emran (2011). Based on these studies, a scale is constructed with the three dimensions given above (section 3.1). 10 phrases for each of these 3 aspects (30 in total) are presented, half of them positive and half negative. A Likert three point scale is used for the students to grade their reaction to each expression (agree, not sure, not agree). The scale is presented to individual arbitrators who specialize in the curriculum and to middle stage teachers for their views to check the veracity of the content

Total 50% 10 30% 6 20% 100% 20

Table 2: The relative weights of the scale of the tendency toward the subject of social studies weightRelative Number Scale phrases Dimensions of the tendency towards social studiesphrasesNegative phrasesPositive 33.3% 10 2,4,6,8,10 1,3,5,7,9 The value of social studies in the lives of students 33.3% 10 12,14,16,18,20 11,13,15,17,19 Enjoyment of studying social studies 33.3% 10 22,24,26,28,30 21,23,25,27,29 The social studies teacher and teaching methods 100% 30 15 15 Total 3.4 Preparing the teaching plan and educational materials for the experiment

A pilot test is undertaken with 20 students, to clarify the scaling, and how well the students understood the instructions. The reliability was calculated, and Table 2 shows the relative weights of the scale of the tendency toward the subject of social studies.

4 12% 2

The 4th unit of the 7th year preparatory curriculum for social studies in the State of Qatar's official curriculum is selected for study. It addresses the “natural and human factors affecting the geographical distribution of the world population”. It includes two lessons scheduled for study in 6 classes. To take advantage of all

some middle stage teachers for their views. A pilot test is carried out on 20 students. The reliability is measured, and Table 1 shows the weights of unit components. 1: The weights of unit components Level achievement test questions 30% 60% 20% 8% 40%

weightrelativeContent questionsTotalRemembering Understanding Applying Weight nQuestionumber Weight nQuestionumber Weight nQuestionumber 1Lesson

After preparing all the educational material and developing six interactive presentations using the smartboard, the Active Inspire was used as a technological program used in Qatar schools,it was applied to develop the worksheets printed for the activities involved in the experiment. Then a pilot study is undertaken with one of the plans corresponding to the experiment in order to take notes. This is presented to one of the specialist subject teachers for their comments, and thus all the interactive presentations are developed and made ready for use in the class. Before starting the research experiment in the first semester of 2019, pre measurement was performed on the two groups. The achievement test and tendency scale was applied by the class teacher to the two groups. After testing the two groups statistically, the specific unit was taught to both groups.

Teaching the unit took three weeks, with a total of six classes per week, each class being 45 minutes. After three weeks, the unit was complete, and the post measurement was done by applying the same achievement test and tendency scale to the two groups.

Twoconsideredseparate experiment plans are drafted. The first includes six sub plans for the experimental group in six classes using a smartboard. The second devotes the same number of plans to teaching the unit through traditional blackboard and paper methods All the lesson plans for each class include a clear definition of the learning outcomes, resources used, concepts involved, teaching strategies implemented, learning activities, structural assessment tools, and how the differentiation between students and enrichment activities for the class are to be theachievedfirstplan integrates all the smartboard tools, focusing on the magic pens, text, pictures, animated video, electronic games, zoom lens, diagrams, two dimensional and three dimensional representative circuits, stereoscopic maps, digital codes, internet links, mental maps and other miscellaneous tools

The research population is all 7th graders in a government middle school in Qatar, a sample of 47 students from Maria Al Kobtia elementary school for girls, divided into two groups, the trial group (7th 1) consisting of 25 students from the class. and the control group containing 22 students (7th 2). Both studied the same (4th) unit with and without using a smartboard.

The students’ previous experience of the components of the unit, and the availability and quality of the technological capabilities of the class are also

3.5 Sample of the study

the available data the planning learning situations using a smartboard are selected, and the components of the study unit (cognitive domain, psychomotor domain, affective domain) are analyzed for each lesson. The physical, mental, emotional and social growth characteristics of the subject group are considered.

Tendency scale 30 0.640 0.809 Achievement Test 20 0.680 0.701 Cronbach’s alpha

As shown in Table 3, the values of Cronbach's alpha for the questionnaire and test are 0.640 and 0.680, respectively. These values are slightly below the acceptable value of 0.70. Guttman split half coefficient

3.6 Reliability and validity of the tendency scale and achievement test

Table 4: Normality test result in various scenarios Tests of normality (variable) Group Survey Statistic P-value Normality Control Before 0.933 0.14 Yes Control After 0.921 0.08 Yes Treatment Before 0.953 0.29 Yes Treatment After 0.929 0.08 Yes

According to Table 4, in all conditions, the normality assumption is satisfied. So, parametric and non parametric tests are used in the following.

By reviewing the school records for the two groups, it was confirmed that there was a convergence between the members of the two groups in academic achievement, age, economic level and nationality.

As shown in Table 3, the values of Guttman’s split half coefficient for the questionnaire and test are 0.809 and 0.701, respectively. These values are more than the acceptable value of 0.70, which indicates that the both items have relatively high internal consistency.

To determine the reliability of the questionnaire and test, Guttman’s split half and Cronbach's alpha methods are used. Table 3 shows the reliability of the questionnaire and test. To ensure tool validity, the tool was judged by a group of specialist social studies teachers in schools and faculty members of universities.

4. Statistical Analysis and Findings SPSS (version 26) is used for the analysis of the data to test the study hypotheses.

Several advanced analytical techniques are used to study the differences and, for the first and second hypotheses, independent sample T test, paired sample T test, Wilcoxon signed rank test, and Mann Whitney U test. For the third hypothesis, the generalized linear model (GLM) is used.

Table 3: Reliability of the tendency scale and achievement test

Case Number of items Cronbach's alpha Guttman’s Split Half Coefficient

4.1 Analysis of the results of the achievement test

Three hypotheses were derived from the first study question. A comparison between the trial and control groups in the measure of achievement test before the trial is calculated to test the first hypothesis. Table 5 shows the results.

Remembering 4.27 1.72 7.28 1.93 5.61** 4.41** 1: from 1%**:WhitneyMannUtestsignificantatUnderstanding 2.10 1.27 3.64 1.35 4.04** 3.69** Applying 1.32 2.48 2.48 1.12 3.73** 3.36**

asAchievementawhole 7.69 2.55 13.40 3.86 5.90** 4.78**

asAchievementawhole 8.00 2.62 7.40 3.38 0.67 0.53

To address the second question, the T and Z values are determined as shown in Table 6, a comparison of the trial and control groups on the achievement test after the trial Table 6: Comparison between the trial and control groups on the achievement test after the trial Concept groupControlN: 22 Trial group N: 25 valueT Z value1 Note Mean Sd Mean Sd

Data in table 6 indicates an average increasing in the mean values of the trial group member scores after the trial compared to the control group members in the complete knowledge of the unit, and each level.

The data in table 5 indicates that is approximate values of the mean achievement scores of the female students in the trial and control groups before the trial, in term of remembering, understanding and applying. The calculated values of T and Z indicate no differences, which means equal performance of the two groups on the achievement test before the experiment.

Table 5: Comparison between the trial and control groups for the measure of achievement before the trial Concept NgroupControl:22 Trial group N: 25 valueT vZalue Note Mean Sd Mean Sd Remembering 4.95 1.76 4.40 2.06 0.98 0.54 1: WhitneyMannfrom U at**:testsignificant1% Understanding 1.73 1.24 1.68 1.31 0.13 0.15 Applying 1.32 0.89 1.32 0.99 0.01 0.19

The calculated T and Z values for comparison between the groups indicate that there are differences between them in support of the trial group, which improved significantly in the achievement test after studying using a smartboard. To test the third hypothesis, a comparison before and after the trial of the trial group in the achievement test is calculated. Table 7 shows the results.

13 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. Table 7: Comparison before and after the trial of the trial group in the achievement test Concept Sample Pre measure measurePost valueT vZalue1 Note Mean Sd Mean Sd Remembering 25 4.40 2.06 7.28 1.93 4.69** 3.34** 1: atsignificant**:rankssignedWilcoxonfromtest1%Understanding 1.68 1.31 3.64 1.35 5.20** 4.23** Applying 1.32 0.99 2.48 1.12 4.13** 2.72** asAchievementawhole 7.400 3.379 13.400 3.862 5.66** 3.55** Table 7 indicates that an average increasing in the mean of the trial group members’ scores after the trial compared to the control group in the areas of overall knowledge of the unit and each aspect. The calculated of T and Z values for comparison between the two groups indicate differences in support of the trial group, which improved significantly in the achievement test after studying using a smartboard. 4.2 The analysis of the results of the tendency scale Three hypotheses are derived from the second question of the study. Comparison is made between the trial and control groups in the measure of tendency towards the subject before the experiment to test the first hypothesis. Table 8 shows the results Table 8: Comparison between the trial and control groups in the measure of tendency towards the subject before the experiment Dimension of socialsubjecttowardstendencytheofstudies NgroupControl:22 Trial group N: 25 valueT ValueZ1 Note Mean Sd Mean Sd The value of social studies and implitsication in the lives studentsof 1.88 0.29 1.93 0.28 0.61 1.58 1: from 1%**:WhitneyMannUtestsignificantat No significantstatisticallydifferenceEnjoyment of social studies 1.90 0.29 1.98 0.46 0.70 0.75 The methodsandstudiessocialteacherteaching 1.92 0.30 1.97 0.30 0.54 0.60 The scale as a whole 1.90 0.21 1.96 0.26 0.81 0.83

This data in table 8 indicates that is a convergence of the mean values of the students in the trial and control groups before the experiment in their responses to the items on the scale for their tendency towards the subject of social studies as a whole, and each of its three dimensions.

The methodsandstudiessocialteacherteaching 1.88 0.25 2.69 0.21 12.22** 5.78** The scale as a whole 1.92 0.15 2.60 0.21 12.73** 5.87**

The calculated T and Z values for comparison indicate no differences, which means an equal performance of the two groups in the tendency before the Toexperiment.testthesecond assumption, comparison between the trial and control groups in the dimensions of the tendency towards the subject after the experiment are calculated. Table 9 shows the results Table 9: Comparison between the trial and control groups in the dimensions of tendency towards the subject after the experiment Dimensions of the subjecttowardstendencythe groupControlN: 22 Trial group N: 25 valueT vZalue1 Note Mean Sd Mean Sd The value of social studies and implitsication in the lives studentsof 1.89 0.22 2.50 0.32 7.56** 5.06** 1: from 1%**:WhitneyMannUtestsignificantat There is differencesignificantstatisticallyaEnjoyment of studying social studies 1.99 0.34 2.63 0.29 6.90** 5.26**

The calculated T and Z values for comparison between the two groups indicate variances between them in support of the trial group, which significantly improve their level of tendency towards social studies as a subject after studying it using a smartboard. For the third hypothesis, a comparison is made between the experimental group before and after the experiment in the dimensions of tendency towards the subject and the results are shown in Table 10

These data in table 9 indicated to an average increasing in the mean values of the trial group members' scores after the experiment in comparison with the control group members, on the scale of tendency towards the subject of social studies, and each of its three dimensions.

15 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. Table 10: Comparison before and after the experiment of the trial group in the measurements of tendency towards the subject Dimensions of studiessubjecttowardstendencytheofsocial Sample Pre measure measurePost valueT vZalue 1 Note Mean Sd Mean Sd The value of social studies and implitsications in the lives studentsof 25 1.93 0.28 2.50 0.32 7.17** 4.34** 1: at**:testsignedWilcoxonfromrankssignificant1% There is a statistically significant difference Enjoyment of studying social studies 1.98 0.46 2.63 0.29 7.15** 4.18** The social studies teacher methodsteachingand 1.97 0.30 2.69 0.21 *10.30* 4.29** The scale as a whole 1.96 0.27 2.60 0.21 *10.96* 4.38** These data in table 10 indicated to an average increasing of the trial group members' scores after the experiment in their tendency towards the subject of social studies and each of its three dimensions. The calculated T and Z values comparing the two measurements before and after show variances between all factors in support of the trial group, which significantly improved their tendency towards social studies as a subject after studying it using a smartboard. 4.3 Testing the interaction effect on the tendency before and after To show whether there is any statistically significant interaction between the tendency before and after the experiment, the GLEM test is used. Table 11 shows the results Table 11: The interaction effect on the tendency before and after Source SS df MS F P Value Intercept 0.267 1 0.267 0.025 0.875 Before After 34.392 1 34.392 3.195 0.077 Tendency 147.497 1 147.497 13.704 0.000 Interaction 45.268 1 45.268 4.206 0.043 Error 968.680 90 10.763 Total 9477 94

5. Discussion

As shown in Table 11, the interaction effect before and after on the tendency is statistically significant, which means that the tendency after the experiment changed, compared to before.

The study result are explained by the fact that the interactive smartboard allows the teaching of the unit information to the students in a typically interesting, attractive and flexible way A variety of media and tools are applied, such as electronic games, images, 2D and 3D charts and multiple maps, using electronic Thepens.smartboard allows the students to positively engage several senses with the lesson plan, helping to simplify and explain the information provided, emphasizing the interrelationships, and providing various applications and Theexamples.variety of interactive smartboard tools help in various activities, individually and collectively, and the content is rich. These activities are suitable for the various levels of female student during the study of the unit. The results also show an increase in the tendency of the female students towards the subject

The results of the experiment reveal an increase in the achievement of the students in the experimental group who studied using the interactive smartboard, in remembering, understanding and the application of knowledge This outcome is consistent with the results Alhumaidan (2013), Al Hassan and Al Badawi (2016), Abu Hamadah (2013), Davidovitch & Yavich (2017), Ahmad and Aladle (2019) and Tunaboylu & Demir (2017).

To show whether there is any statistically significant effect between the control and experimental groups or bias, the GLEM test is used. Table 12 shows the results

4.4 Testing the interaction effect on the tendency between the control and experimental group

Table 12: The interaction effect on the tendency between the control and experimental groups

Source SS df MS F P-Value Intercept 3.405 1 3.405 0.317 0.575 Control Treatment 64.887 1 64.887 6.044 0.016 Tendency 48.247 1 48.247 4.494 0.037 Interaction 69.242 1 69.242 6.450 0.013 Error 966.239 90 10.736 Total 9477 94 As shown in Table 12, the interaction effect on the tendency between the control and experimental groups is statistically significant, in favour of the experimental group.

The use of a smart board should be one of the standards for teaching social studies in the State of Qatar

The multimedia presented using the smartboard contributes to satisfying the student’s curiosity and exploring issues. It facilitates learning it in a functional style related to the students’ daily lives, reducing the difficulty of social studies compared to the subject taught in its traditional way.

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. of social studies after using the smartboard which creates a stimulating and exciting learning environment, which differs from the traditional learning style and allows them to enjoy learning in the modern technological style preferred by the current generation at this stage.

The research has practical implications for Qatar’s learning system. Students are able to develop their tendency, increase their achievement and skill, and build their learning capability in social studies subjects. The overall analysis confirms that, by using a smartboard, teachers can help students secure a positive tendency and excellent achievement.

4 Mainstreaming the use of a smart board in teaching social studies to schools in the State of Qatar for its importance in increasing achievement

6. Conclusion In conclusion, this study provides evidence that using a smartboard increases students' levels of achievement and their tendency toward social studies. The students saw a positive trend in their learning capability by using a smartboard. This investigation suggests that learning using technology is an urgent need at present, and this technology must be incorporated into teaching because of its effectiveness in increasing achievement.

7. Recommendations:

In addition to differentiating the teaching strategies used in lessons with the smartboard, the teacher who applied the experiment engaged the students because of her previous training on smartboards. This may be a reason for the increase in the students’ positive tendency towards the subject, the teacher of the subject and the teaching methods This is a clear result consistent with previous results that verify the negative feelings and some of the difficulties and disinterest students feel while studying social studies in the traditional way. This outcome is consistent with the results of Gurbuzturk (2018), Oigara (2017), Dahlan (2014) and Alhumiadan (2013).

2 Provide training workshops for teachers on using the smart board effectively

3 The researcher should benefit from the results of this study by conducting similar studies in different subjects and for different levels

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20 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 20 35, March https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.20202

Keywords: differentiated instruction; reading comprehension; flexible grouping; one size fits all; content 1. Introduction Reading comprehension is a significant skill, and the development of this ability for EFL learners in EFL classes is significant because it influences students’ achievement at all students’ proficiency levels; it is essential to students’ knowledge achievement (Ismail & Al Allaq, 2019; Kent, 2005). However, teachers face a problem when teaching to a group of heterogeneous learners in

Abstract. This study explores the effectiveness of differentiated instruction strategies on EFL students’ English reading comprehension accomplishment on the fundamental level in Jordan. Four classes of (n=118) students of the primary level from 4 different schools were selected. Two levels of grade 4 students (n=59) and two levels of grade 5 (n=59) were divided into two control and two experimental groups. One level of (n=30) students formed grade 5 experimental groups, and one level of (n=29) formed the control groups. Moreover, one level of (n=30) students of grade 4 formed the experimental group, and one level of (n=29) formed the control group. The teachers followed differentiated instruction strategies of flexible grouping, tiered instruction, and tiered assignments in the areas of content, process, and product to teach the experimental group. However, they followed the one size fits all method to teach the control group. Results indicated that employing differentiated instruction was operational in improving EFL students’ reading comprehension attainment for grades four and five Jordanian students. The experimental group statistically outperformed the control group. The finding showed that differentiated education reduced classroom diversity.

Effectiveness of Differentiated Instruction on Primary School Students’ English Reading Comprehension

Ibrahim Suleiman Ibrahim Magableh USM, Universiti Sains Malaysia Malaysia Amelia Abdullah USM, Universiti Sains Malaysia Malaysia

Achievement

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. the same classroom and want to address the diversity of individual learners (Kotob, & Abadi, 2019). If teachers want to improve reading comprehension achievement for all students, teachers should implement instruction in a way that fulfills the individual needs of learners (Aliakbari & Haghighi, 2014; Hawkins, Jones, & Santi, 2019).

How can teachers deal with all the levels and students’ diversity in the same classroom when following one size fits all process? Tomlinson and Imbeau (2010) mentioned that the one size fits all process should be vanished and ended. Tomlinson (2014) explained that this traditional method does not fulfill the academic needs of individual learners because it does not deal with individuals rather than the whole class. Teachers should plan the lessons to adjust them to learners instead of expecting to improve learners to the experiences (Corley, 2005; Mavidou, & Kakana, 2019). Teachers should make sure that all learners in the classroom are both similarly served as well as equally valued. The one size fits all process does not do that. However, differentiated instruction does. Mulder (2014) defines differentiated instruction as “an approach in which teachers modify and change their teaching to address the varied needs of individual learners and small groups of students to maximize the learning opportunity for each student in the classroom by using organized procedures” (p.10). Heacox (2018) stated that distinguished instruction offers a variety of methods that provides support and supervision when learners are just starting to practice their instructional choices. Bondie, Dahnke, and Zusho (2019) explained that differentiated instruction allows teachers to plan strategically to meet individual needs where they are, and provide numerous techniques to understand, gain, and employ learning, unlike the one size fits all. In discriminated learning, teachers need to modify teaching in the areas of content, procedure, product, and learning environment depending on students’ readiness, interests, and learning profiles (Said & Ehsan, 2019). The content is what students need to learn, and to the significant concepts, skills, and principals. Teachers modify the level of complexity using various educational procedures to deliver the content to meet students’ diverse needs (Anstee, 2014). So, in this way, all learners grasp the same conceptions, skills, and principles but in different ways. The process is the methods students are learning and the procedures the teachers are teaching (Tompkins, Campbell, Green, & Smith, 2014). It refers to the ways the teachers prepare the content, and to the activities that help students to gain the concepts, the principles, and the skills intend to learn. Flexible grouping is the key to differentiate the process in which teachers arrange students by ability or proficiency level, interests, readiness, or learning profiles (Tomlinson, 2015). The product shows evidence of learning that demonstrates what students have learned. The outcome indicates whether the students have earned the concepts, the principles, and the skills and whether they apply them to solve problems. Various students can produce different outcomes based on their proficiency level, development, and learning styles (Tomlinson & Imbeau, 2010). Students should get choices to demonstrate their learning, from written reports, oral presentations, drawing, group discussions, or play roles, and they can choose to work alone or in groups if they wish. The learning environment is the

Reading comprehension in EFL classes is a challenging skill EFL learners face. English foreign language learners encounter many difficulties in gaining the reading comprehension skills easily (Kassem, 2020). Kassem explained that reading comprehension skills can be difficult to master for EFL learners. The problem statement stems from the fact that teachers in Jordan are applying the one size fits all method to deal with the reading comprehension texts (Magableh & Abdullah, 2019). Siam and Al Natour (2016) found that in the majority of Jordanian public schools, Jordanian teachers employ the one size fits all, and no differentiation takes place in EFL classes. Al Harafsheh (2016) mentioned that Jordanian teachers’ methods of teaching do not inspire students to read, which eventually influences their reading comprehension performance. AlShoura (2017) stated that the Ministry of Education in Jordan provides full classroom inclusion to all students despite their proficiency level even to the particular extreme of Special Education Need (SEN) cases. In this way, all students feel that they are equally important and no separation to students regarding of proficiency level to take place. There are advantages of mixed ability classrooms in Jordan. First, the SEN students feel that they are part of the community and no different classification happened to them. Moreover, mixed ability classrooms save money and equipment (Siam and Al Natour (2016). However, Magableh and Abdullah (2019) talked about some disadvantages like although students are in mixed ability classrooms, they are being taught the same and no differentiation takes place. With this full inclusion in Jordanian classrooms, the one size fits all method that deals with all students at the same time is no longer an appropriate way to deal with such classes. Therefore, it becomes an urgent need to use differentiated instruction to address this class diversity. Based on the idea that the amendment in the guidance and preparation might help students’ English reading comprehension accomplishment and might correspond to students’ needs, the researchers conducted this study to scrutinize the effectiveness of distinguished education in enhancing EFL students’ English reading comprehension achievement in Jordan.

setting in which students are learning; it is the climate of the classroom. Teachers can vary seating, vary lighting, change places, form learning stations, set class rules, change furniture arrangement, as well as alter the procedures and the processes (Tomlinson, 2017).

Readiness refers to the students’ level of knowledge, understanding, and the skills of particular learning (Graham, Borup, Pulham, & Larsen, 2019; Tomlinson & Imbeau, 2010). Prior to earning, life experiences, and students’ attitudes toward schools influence readiness. So if readiness level varies, the complexity of work through tiered activities must differ as well (Sebihi, 2016). Interests stem from the topics that lead to curiosity and passion, which lead to devote students’ time and effort to learn. When benefits are employed, students will be more engaged in learning. Finally, the learning profile is how learners learn the best. Differentiated instruction takes into consideration preferences for learning regarding intelligence preference, culture, and even gender. Teachers modify teaching using learning profiles by providing tasks that offer choices to master learning like videotapes, drawings, journals, presentations, role plays, project based learning, and oral explanations (Malacapay, 2019).

2. Literature Review

Many studies and researches adopted differentiated instruction in language one context, but minimal studies investigated the effect of differentiated instruction in language two environments. Many studies investigated the talented, gifted, the struggling students, or the disabled students as the primary subjects of differentiated instruction. Still, very few took modified direction in mixed ability EFL classrooms as their main subject. Recently, various studies explored differentiated instruction efficiency in different language skills like (Altin & Savaculoglu, 2018; Davidsen, 2018; Förster, Kawohl & Souvignier, 2018; Jefferson, Grant & Sander, 2017; Kotob and Abadi 2019; Magableh & Abdullah, 2019; Mavidou & Kakana, 2019; Nino Santisteban, 2014; Pastein, 2017; Shaaunessy Dedrick, Evan, Fevron, & Lindo, 2015; Stavrou & Koutselini, 2016; and Yousefi & Bouyadi, 2016). Niño Santisteban (2014) investigated the effect of differentiated learning on literacy with struggling learners. The sample consisted of 15 Spanish speaking children taking English as a foreign language. Most of the students faced interrupted schoolings in Columbia because of many social factors. Researchers used differentiation in each classroom in both English and Spanish. The researcher used qualitative and quantitative measurements to reveal the results of the study. She used three tools of the research, survey, interview, and observation. The results showed that there was minimal effect of differentiation on writing and vocabulary. However, there was a meaningful influence on reading comprehension in inference, comparison, and contrast.

Yousefi and Bonyadi (2016) investigated the result of modified learning on reading comprehension achievement on Iranian language two learners. The experimental group consisted of 30 respondents and the same number for the control group following a random sample distribution to gain the uniformity of the groups. Over twelve sessions, the experimental group developed modified learning strategies, while the control group studied traditionally. The researchers followed the pre test/post test reading comprehension as the key instrument for data collection. The findings indicated that the experimental groups’ mean scores outperformed the control groups mean scores. The results showed that differentiated instruction enriched students’ reading comprehension achievement.

Shaunessy Dedrick, Evan, Ferron, and Lindo (2015) inspected the effects of a modified reading approach on the 4th grade students’ English reading comprehension and their views toward reading. Eight primary schools in one district were randomly allocated to the investigation, which followed the Schoolwide Enrichment Model Reading [SEM R] and the borough curriculum. The control group studied the district reading curriculum only. Experimental group teachers applied SEM R as supplemental material to the city curriculum for one school year, whereas comparison group teachers used the borough curriculum. Grounded on the reading comprehension post tests scores (n=358) and the reading survey (n= 429), no statistically meaningful differences in students’ attitudes toward reading found. Still, modified curriculum students of the treatment group had significantly higher mean scores on the English reading comprehension post test in comparison to the comparison group students.

Kotob and Abadi (2019) examined the effect of modified instruction of the below average and the above average learners on academic attainment in a mixed ability classroom. The sample involved 20 students, ten below average, and ten above average. The researchers applied a pre/post test to collect data quantitatively. They implemented differentiated education strategies on both groups as an intervention. The findings showed that the average score of the

Altin and Saracaloğlu (2018) explored the effect of differentiated instruction enhanced with cultural, educational materials on English reading comprehension, vocabulary, and students’ attitudes toward English lessons.

Davidsen (2018) investigated the results of distinguished teaching on level 3 students’ English reading comprehension. The study aimed to compare the differentiated instruction strategies to traditional teaching on grade three English reading comprehension achievement. The sample consisted of 128 3rd graders. The experimental group was 64 students educated with modified instruction, while the comparison group, which was 64 students, received a traditional education. This quasi experimental study lasted a whole year to reveal the results, which showed that separated learning significantly improved the third grade students’ reading comprehension achievement.

Two levels of grade 7 students were randomly assigned to the two groups of the study. The researchers followed the quasi experimental design in which a pre/post English reading comprehension achievement test was used to obtain the results of the investigation. Over six weeks, treatment teachers trained the experimental group on reading comprehension texts improved with educational materials following differentiated learning techniques. However, the comparison group studied the standard reading comprehension instruction for the same period. The results showed that differentiated instruction positively contributed to students’ reading comprehension achievement and their views toward English learning.

Twenty eight third grade students in Germany participated in both groups of study. The treatment group’s instruction was modified on both reading comprehension and fluency, while the control group’s teaching was not distinguished. The results showed that the treatment group considerably improved in comparison with the traditional group in terms of reading comprehension and reading fluency. The findings also showed that the below average students got the maximum benefit.

Forster, Kawohl, and Souvignier (2018) investigated the effect of long term differentiated teaching on reading comprehension and on reading fluency.

Jefferson, Grant, and Sander (2017), in a quasi experimental design, searched the influence of separated instruction and intervention on reading fluency and reading comprehension. The sample involved 83 male and female grade 3 students divided into the two groups of the study. The researchers used a pre test/post test methodology to collect data: over five months, the experimental group received differentiated reading comprehension materials. However, the control group received the core curriculum only. The findings showed that the learners who trained using separated materials through modified teaching strategies showed higher mean scores compared to those in the control group.

(2019) searched the effectiveness of differentiated instruction on reading comprehension through a mixed method treatment in which the qualitative and quantitative methods were used to reveal the results of the study. The researchers used a pre/post English reading comprehension test and a semi structured interview as the instruments of the research. The sample consisted of 55 grade 7 Jordanian students from two different levels in two different randomly selected schools. Twenty eight students formed the experimental group, trained on reading comprehension through differentiated instruction, and 27 students formed the control group, studied standard reading comprehension texts using the one size fits all method. This quasi experimental study used differentiated education strategies of flexible grouping, categorized assignments, and tiered learning in the fields of content, methodology, and outcome over 12 weeks of treatment. The results revealed that modified teaching was robust in increasing reading comprehension and reducing classroom Mavidoudiversity.and Kakana (2019) examined the efficiency of differentiated instruction on children’s reading achievement. This quasi experimental study used pre test/post test instruments to explore the results of differentiated instruction of three interventions, including curriculum adjustment and differentiated content. One hundred fifty four kindergarten students participated in both groups. The investigational group consisted of 80 students from different schools to receive differentiated learning. The control group received conventional education and consisted of 74 students. The instruction of the experimental group was separated based on learners’ readiness, interests and learning preferences. The content was also distinguished and tailored to children’s proficiency level supported with tiered materials to suit the three ability levels of students, the above average, the average, and the below average. In contrast, instruction was not characterized for the control group. The process was differentiated by flexible grouping and, the product was distinguished by interests, readiness, and both together. The research findings showed a momentous positive difference between the two groups favoring the experimental group, which suggests that differentiated instruction developed students’ achievements. Moreover, differentiation by interest proved to have the highest mean score among all other kinds of differentiated strategies. Following the findings of the studies and the literature of differentiated instruction, the researchers hope that the results of the current study add valid and reliable data to the existing knowledge by providing information about the effectiveness of differentiated instruction on primary classes in Jordan concerning reading comprehension. The English language teachers in Jordan who are teaching in public schools can deal with students with different background knowledge, needs, interests, learning styles, and even struggling

Magablehstudents.andAbdullah

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. whole class was improved. Moreover, the results discovered a noticeable improvement in the below average scores, while the mean score for the above average remains somehow relatively the same. Differentiated instruction, as shown from the findings, is a strategy with a significant influence on below average

The sample of the study consisted of 118 participants. All participants were male students from the elementary levels of grade 4 (n=59) and grade 5 (N=59). Public schools in Jordan depend on separate education, which means that co education does not exist in public schools. We have girls’ schools and schools for boys. This is the reason why the researcher used male sample only. So, it would be easier for the researcher to conduct the research on male schools. Two classes of grade 4 and 2 types of grade 5, from 4 different schools in Irbid, Jordan, participated in

The researchers followed the quasi experimental quantitative model in which the investigators use the pre test/post test two group design to collect the data of the research. A pre test was conducted at the inauguration of the treatment for both groups. After ten weeks of instruction, the post test was conducted. The results were analyzed quantitatively. The design is as follows (Creswell, 2012):

RC O3 X2 O4

3. Methods 3.1 Design

3.2 Participants

RX refers to the random experimental group, RC for the random control group, O1 is the reading comprehension pre test for the experimental group, O2 is the experimental group post test, O3 the reading comprehension pre test for the control group, and O4 is the control group post test. The X1 is the experiment (differentiated instruction strategies), and X2 is the one size fits all teaching for the control group.

RX O1 X1 O2

The researchers hypothesize the null hypothesis, which indicated that there is no statistically significant difference at (α<0.05) between the students exposed to differentiated instruction and those exposed to the one size fits all method in English reading comprehension achievement.

learners in one single classroom following differentiated learning. Jordanian classes contain above average, average, below average, over achieved, and under achieved learners. Yet whatever the teachers do to deliver instruction, the teachers can only fulfill the needs of some learners, but not all of them. Teachers need to be responsive to students’ diverse academic needs (Hawkins, Jones, & Santi, 2019). To deal with this diversity, the researchers decided to employ differentiated instruction strategies of flexible grouping, tiered instruction, and categorized assignments in the content, process, and product to investigate the effectiveness of differentiated instruction on reading comprehension in the Jordanian context. To pursue the aim of the research, the treatment will answer the following question: Is there a difference in English reading comprehension achievement between the students exposed to differentiated instruction and those exposed to the one size fits all method?

Furthermore, four competent teachers participated in the study from 4 different schools. Two experimental group teachers with 14 and 15 years teaching experience holding Bachelor degrees taught the treatment students. Besides, two teachers with 15 and 16 years of experience with an MA and a B.A degree instructed the control group. The experimental group teachers were asked to use differentiated instruction strategies. They were trained in six workshops before the beginning of the experiment to acquaint them with the research strategies and another five sessions during the investigation. However, the control group teachers were informed to use the traditional method only.

27 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. the study. The investigators used the simple random sampling method to choose the four schools and the four levels of grades 4 and 5. The four schools did not apply differentiated instruction before the experiment in a systematic way, and the whole class instruction is the dominant way of teaching. The participants were randomly distributed into the two groups of study, the experimental group, which involved the two levels of grades 4 and 5 (N=60) students and were prepared using differentiated instruction strategies. The control group (N=58) students were distributed into two levels of grades 4 and 5 and received reading comprehension traditionally. Table 1 summarizes the participants’ distribution in the study groups: Table 1: The dissemination of participants in the study group Grade 4 Grade 5 Total Experimental Group 30 30 60 Control group 29 29 58 Total 59 59 118

3.3 Instrument Two pre tests/ post tests were used as the main instruments of the current research. The treatment teachers administered the reading comprehension pre test for the two groups at the start of the study. A reading comprehension pre test for class 4, and another pre test for grade 5 was administered at the onset of the research. The central goal of the pre tests is to determine the level of the students so that flexible grouping, tiered instruction, and tiered assignments are employed. However, the post test aims to investigate the effect of the treatment on the experimental and the control groups. The reading comprehension tests consisted of two familiar passages for each grade level with 25 multiple choice items with 2 points for each item. Students are acquainted with such types of texts because teachers depend on similar tests in regular classes. The test is designed like this so that students are consistent with what they are used to. The assay is out of 50, and the time for completing it is 45 minutes. Before administering the tests, the researchers ensure their validity. Both assays for grades 4 and 5 were given to a board of two EFL instructors in Yarmouk University, two English supervisors in Irbid district of education, and four English teachers who are teaching grades 4 and 5. The board was kindly asked to express opinions on the content of the tests, complexity, timing, grammar, and questions’ relatedness to content. The researchers followed the panels’ recommendations and made the amendments accordingly.

The treatment was conducted over ten weeks from the beginning of October till the end of December 2019. It was carried out in two sessions a week, with a total of 20 periods excluding the pre test/post test sessions for each class. Firstly, the researcher obtained the consent of the Ministry of Education and Irbid District to conduct this quasi experimental study. After that, the researcher trained the experimental group teachers to familiarize them with the strategies of differentiated instruction and how to implement the needed procedures. To indicate homogeneity between the two groups at the beginning of the study, a pre test for grade 4 was held, and the independent sample t test was calculated. The pre test showed uniformity of the two groups. The students of class 5 also received the pre test, and the t test was calculated and found that the two levels of grade five are equivalent at the beginning of the study. Using the data from the pre test, the teachers formed data about experimental group students. Using the data, the teachers of the experimental groups provided instruction of differentiated learning of homogeneous grouping, leveled coaching, and various tasks in the areas of content, methodology, and outcome. However, the teachers of the control groups delivered instruction based on the one size fits all method using the content of Action Pack 4 and 5 textbooks only. Students of the experimental groups were arranged into three ability groups to receive instruction based on their proficiency level. Tiered activities and tiered assignments, as well as texts with different complexities, were prepared for the various groups of the treatment group students.

To ensure reliability, the researchers followed the test/retest method. The test was steered to a whole part of class 4 consisted of 26 students from the community but outside the sample and class 5 test was driven to a whole part of grade 5 included 25 students from the same city but outside the study sample

3.5 Procedures

The main course books were Action Pack 4 for grade 4 and Action Pack 5 for grade 5. Action Pack is a series of texts taught in the Ministry of Education in Jordan from grade 1 to 10. Each material of grade 4 and 5 involves a text book, work book, teacher’s guide as well as an audio for listening. The experimental groups were supported with supplementary materials, including short stories, supplemental reading comprehension materials, and electronic sources.

3.4 Materials

The comparison group, on the other hand, received instruction without differentiation in the content, process, or product. They were taught following the one size fits all method where the teacher stands in the front and deliver instruction to all students without separating teaching. To differentiate the

The duration between the test retest was two weeks. The correlation coefficient was found to be 0.90 for grade 4 and 0.86 for grade 5. The correlation coefficient lies between 1 and 1 and is considered to be acceptable if it is 0.6 and above (Pallant, 2005). The researchers found the correlation coefficient for the two times of the test robust and adequate to conduct this research since both are above 0.8.

4. Findings Tables 2, 3, 4, and 5 present and compare the mean, the standard deviation, t test, and the effect size of the students’ achieved scores in the exams of groups Table 2 explains the results of the pre test. Table 3 compares the post test results.

Table 4 compares the results of grade 4 of both tests, the pre test and the post test, and Table 5 compares the effects of both groups of grade 5 on both tests.

The upshots of the post tests were analyzed using a t test, standard deviation, mean scores, and Cohen’s d effect size. The results of grade four students of the post test were associated to their results in the pre test. Besides, the findings of grade 5 students of the post test were also compared to their findings of the pre test using the independent sample of t test, effect size, mean scores, and standard deviations.

content for the experimental group, the teachers and the researchers modified the reading comprehension texts from the textbook to satisfy the three levels of students. They provide different leveled reading comprehension texts to suit them. In the process, flexible grouping was used. Gathering by readiness or homogeneous grouping was followed to satisfy the three levels of students. In the product, several product choices like written tasks, oral tasks, drawings, and posters were organized to show students’ learning. However, the control group students were given the same texts of the reading comprehension and the same questions to all students. The researchers administered the post tests for all the groups at the end of the study to determine the effectiveness of differentiated instruction on the primary level. The independent sample t test, standard deviation, mean scores, and Cohen’s d effect size were employed to find the results and interpret the findings.

Table 3: T test results of the experimental and control groups on the post test Test Level Group N Mean nDeviatioStd. t Sig. sizeEffect sCohen'd posttest 4Grade control 29 18.67 7.09 8.65 .0001* 2.23 lexperimenta 30 33.13 5.79 5Grade control 29 18.53 7.02 10.83 .0001* 2.79 lexperimenta 30 34.87 5.24

Table 2: T test results of the experimental and control groups on the pre test Test Level Group N Mean DeviationStd. t Sig. Pretest 4Grade control 29 18.4 7.25 0.41353 0.680experimental 30 18.82 7.59 5Grade control 29 18.20 7.53 0.545 0.724 experimental 30 18.07 7.20

3.6 Data Analysis

4 Test DF

Table 4: T test and effect size results for grade 4 students on the pre and post test for each group Table 5: T-test and effect-size results for grade 5 students on the Pre and Post test for each group Grade 5 Test DF Mean DeviationST. t Sig. Effect size Cohen's d Control pre 28 18.20 7.53 0.285 .77618 0.089 post 18.53 7.02 Experimental pre 29 18.07 7.20 10.41 .0001* 2.666 post 34.87 5.24

Control

5. Discussion

18.4 7.25 0.144 .8859

7.09

18.82 7.20 8.69 .0001*

Cohen's

Two classes of grade 4 and two classes of grade 5 were selected to examine the effectiveness of the strategies of differentiated learning on English reading comprehension attainment at primary level in Jordan. Gender did not affect the results of the study since all respondents are male students. As indicated in Table 2, the average score of the control group in level 4 was 18.4 on the pre test and was 18.82 for the experimental group. The descriptive statistic independent sample, t test, was calculated to show whether the difference is statistically significant. The t test was 0.41 and p=0.680, which is above the significant level P< 0.05. So, the alteration between the two groups is insignificant at P<0.05, which indicates that both the research groups of grade four are homogeneous at the beginning of the treatment. For level five, the mean score of the control group was 18.20 and 18.07 for the experimental group. The researcher used the independent sample t test to show if the dissimilarity in the two mean scores is significant. The t test value was 0.545, and the significance was p=0.724. So, P>0.05, indicates that the difference is insignificance, and both groups of level five are also homogeneous at the onset of the treatment. After implementing the treatment, the post tests were held to show the difference in reading comprehension accomplishment. As indicated in Table 3, the mean score of the control group of grade 4, who received instruction on the one size fits all method, was 18.67. In contrast, the mean scores of the treatment group, which followed differentiated education strategies, were 33.13. The mean scores show that the treatment group outperformed those of the comparison group. The independent sample t test was measured to distinguish if the difference is meaningful. T test is the most suitable statistical analysis for the two homogeneous groups as in this study. T value was 8.65 (sig. = 0.0001) indicates that the difference is statistically noteworthy. Therefore, the null Grade Mean DeviationST. Sig. Effect size d pre 28 0.037 post 18.67 Experimental pre 29 2.18 post 33.13

5.79

A remarkable notice is indicated from the findings of the results of grades 4 and 5 experimental groups related to standard deviation. As presented in Table 4, the standard deviation of the grade 4 experimental group was 7.20 before the treatment, and reduced to 5.79 after the experiment which indicates that modifying education did not only improve reading comprehension achievement for level 4 but also reduced students’ diversity and changed the mixed ability classroom to be more homogeneous. However, the standard deviation for the control group was 7.25 and became 7.09. Nearly no change happened to reduce classroom diversity in the control group, which was taught traditionally. Moreover, level five students’ experimental group standard deviation, as shown in Table 5, was 7.20 and reduced to 5.24 after the experiment. Like level 4, modified learning helped reduce classroom diversity and turned it to be more homogeneous for level 5. However, the level five control group’s standard deviation nearly stayed relatively unchanged; it was 7.53 and became 7.02,

31 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. hypothesis is rejected, and the alternative hypothesis is adopted because of the P<0.05 level of significance. So, it is safe to say that using differentiated instruction strategies was considered useful in developing level four reading comprehension achievements. Moreover, the post test mean score for level five’s control group was 18.53 and 34.87 for the experimental group. Level five experimental group mean score outweighed the control group’s mean scores.

The t test value was 10.83 and P= 0.0001, which is less than the level of significance P<0.05, indicating that the variance in the mean scores was statistically noteworthy. The null hypothesis is rejected, and the difference between the two groups is related to using differentiated instruction. Differentiated instruction also helped to develop grade 5 reading comprehension achievements. To compare the results of each level, as shown in Table 4, the level 4 control group gained no statistically significant variance between the pre and post test. In other words, the traditional method, which was the one size fits all, did not affect students’ English reading comprehension achievement. The mean score for the pre test was 18.4 and was 18.67 in the post test. The variance between the two tests was statistically insignificant; the t value was 0.144, and the P value was 0.8859, P>0.05, which is bigger than the level of significance P<0.05. Compared to the treatment group, the pre test mean score was 18.82 and rose to 33.13 on the post test. The difference is statistically significant at P<0.05. The t value was found to be 8.69 at sig=0.0001, so P<0.05. Therefore, differentiated instruction affected grade 4 students’ reading comprehension achievement positively. For grade 5, as shown in Table 5, the control group gained no progress between the pre test and post tests. The pre test’s mean score was 18.20 and became 18.53 on the post test. The variance is insignificant at P<0.05. The traditional method did not help students’ English reading comprehension achievement improved significantly. However, the experimental group prepared following differentiated learning strategies was utterly different. The pre test mean score was 18.07 and rose to reach 34.87 on the post test. The difference is statistically considerable at P<0.05. The t value was 10.41, and P was 0.0001, which is below P<0.05. Therefore, differentiated instruction effectively improved level five reading comprehension achievement.

the effect size was highlighted. Cohen’s d formula was used to figure out the variance between the two means of level four and the two groups of level five. Cohen explained that the value of 0.2 expresses a small effect size, and 0.5 illustrates a medium effect size, and above 0.8 indicates a large one (Sullivan and Feinn, 2012). The effect size presented in Table 4 for grade 4 was 2.18, so it is a large effect size for differentiated instruction for level four. As indicated in table 5, the effect size for class five was 2.666, which is also a large effect size, and suggests that implanting differentiated instruction was effective in increasing reading comprehension achievement for both types four and five. However, for the control groups of grades 4 and 5, the effect size was 0.037 and 0.089, respectively, which showed a petite effect size on both classes to show that traditional teaching did not affect levels 4 and 5 English reading comprehension achievement in Jordan. The findings of the research are in line with Shaunessy Dedrick, Evan, Ferron, and Lindo’s (2015) findings in that differentiated instruction improved grade 4 students’ reading comprehension achievement. The results are also consistent with Yousefi and Bonyadi’s (2016), Jefferson, Grant, and Sander’s (2017), Altin, and Saracaloğlu’s (2018), Davidsen’s (2018) and Mavido and Kakana (2019)’s whose findings indicated the effectiveness of differentiated learning on students’ reading comprehension attainment. Moreover, the results of the study were also comparable to Magableh & Abdullah’s (2019) results in that differentiated instruction develops reading comprehension achievement and reduced classroom diversity to be more homogeneous.

6. Conclusion Data analysis revealed that distinguished learning had a positive impact on English reading comprehension achievement in levels 4 and 5 in Jordan. Distinction significantly developed students’ performance in reading comprehension at the primary levels. Besides, the results of the study showed that implementing differentiated teaching in a mixed ability classroom reduced students’ diversity to be more homogeneous. At the primary level, students do not know how to read, learn, and do not know how to complete assignments. So, implementing differentiated instruction strategies like differentiated content, tiered activities, and tiered assignments contributed to their accomplishment. It is a fact that students in one single and mixed ability classroom are not the same. They have different interests, starting points, attitudes, bits of intelligence, and various skills. So, differentiated instruction can help reduce this classroom diversity by separating the content, process, and product. This study mainly revealed that implementing modified education on primary students can lead to improving their reading comprehension development. Differentiated instruction strategies, as shown in this research, have a sizable effect size on EFL students’ English reading comprehension learning, unlike the one size fits all way, which has a minimal effect size, and did not reduce students’ diversity. Primary level students do not know how to learn independently, so it is the teachers’ methods

Anstee, P. (2014). Differentiation pocketbook. Management Pocketbooks. Teacher’s pocketbooks. Hampshire, UK. Bondie, R. S., Dahnke, C., & Zusho, A. (2019). How does changing “one size fits all” to differentiated instruction affect teaching? Review of Research in Education, 43(1), 336 362. Corley, M. A. (2005). Differentiated instruction: Adjusting to the needs of all learners. Focus on Basics, 7, 13 16. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732x18821130 Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research Davidsen, D. L. (2018). Effect of Differentiated Instruction on Reading Comprehension of Third Graders. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Walden University, ERIC ED592186, ISBN: 978 0 4386 0735 4. Förster, N., Kawohl, E., & Souvignier, E. (2018). Short and long term effects of assessment based differentiated reading instruction in general education on reading fluency and reading comprehension. Learning and Instruction, 56, 98 109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2018.04.009

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. that lead them toward gaining their goals. The primary students still depend heavily on the different techniques their teachers are following. Differentiated instruction helped improve the primary students’ reading comprehension in Jordan. The study is limited due to the small sample, and to the short duration of the treatment. Moreover, the procedure is limited because only one instrument was used for data collection in which the quantitative method is used. It would be better to have more schools from different districts with a more extended period of implementation.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no possible conflicts of interest concerning the research, production, and or publication of this article. Any organization did not fund this research.

Acknowledgment

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36 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 36 47, March https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.20203

Personal, Familial and Social Factors Associated with Academic Failure in University Students: A Case Control Study in Iran Behnaz Behnam Neuromuscular Rehabilitation Research Center, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran

Shahrokh Makvand Hoseini, Parviz Sabahi Faculty of Psychology, Department of Psychology, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran

Abstract. The objective of the study was to identify the main personal, familial and social factors associated with the academic failure of Iranian students. This was a case control study conducted in Semnan University. The case group consisted of the students who had failed academically and the matched control group was selected randomly from among the classmates of the students in the case group. The conditional logistic regression model was used for analysis at the 5% significance level. In the present study, 34 women (42.5%) and 46 men (57.5%) were interviewed as the case group and the same number of people were interviewed as the control group. Working part time as a student (OR=6.78, P<0.001), higher levels of parents' education (OR=0.16, P<0.001), pre existing psychiatric diseases (OR=5.67, P=0.029), interest in the major of study (OR=0.18, P<0.001), recent experience of stress (OR=4.14, P=0.009) and cigarette smoking/alcohol consumption (OR=3.31, P=0.022) were shown to be associated with academic failure respectively and independently. Identification of the conditions associated with academic failure in the students is the prerequisite to taking effective and timely measures. It is highly suggested to pay more attention to tertiary students who were less interested in their major of study, have recent experience of stress, working part time as a student, lower levels of parents' education, and smoking or alcohol consumption in addition to screen and address pre existing psychiatric diseases.

Fatemeh Paknazar* , Majid Mirmohammadkhani, Mohammad Akhbari Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran

Keywords: Academic Failures; Students; Universities; Sociological Factors

* Corresponding author: Fatemeh Paknazar, Email: Paknazar2306@yahoo.com

Perhaps the most important complication of academic failure is its influence on the student retention rate in the college. In other words, it makes the student unable to complete his or her study program due to failure to graduate in many situations (Aljohani, 2016).

Entering university is an important event in everyone's life that causes different reactions in individuals depending on the psychological backgrounds and environmental features. Study in an academic environment makes the student gain new experiences of life. Separating from the past living environment, adapting to the new environment, changing the type of social communication, facing new problems and undertaking new duties, are considered some of the main relevant experiences affecting different aspects of students' lives (Kenny, Academic1990).

academic failure is not considered a psychiatric disorder by itself, its backgrounds and consequences may make the individual need consultation with a psychologist or psychiatrist. It is very important to prevent academic failure

1. Introduction

failure is considered an important aspect of students' lives which depends to a large extent on their response to the new changes (Montgomery & Côté, 2003). Many students adapt themselves to new conditions quickly. However, in some cases entering university reveals individuals' weaknesses in characters or mental weaknesses or leads to an aggravation of effects of economic, cultural and social deprivations on their lives and this leads to the increase in students' level of concerns and failure in their academic performance (Kuh, Kinzie, Buckley, Bridges, & Hayek, 2006). In some cases, no effective and efficient adaptation is made and the student which finally results in inefficiency and failure of the student. Academic failure and its consequences in a vicious cycle not only lead to the underlying pathological reactions, but they also affect their general performance in individuals' life and social relations. Faults in interpersonal relations, aggression, apathy, desperation, physical symptoms, anxiety, depression, psychosis and even suicide are considered some consequences that can complicate the problem (Sarason, Johnson, & Siegel, Although1978).

Improving student academic accomplishments is of great importance. Defining the factors influencing the students’ academic failure, and the timely identification of high risk students can prevent the loss of money and manpower (Shakurnia, Tavalla, Aslami, & Elhampour, 2019). Psychologically academic failure not only leads to learner’s low self esteem but also causes stress to the parents (Alami, 2016; Kol, 2013). From a sociological point of view, there is also a strong relationship between academic failure and social problems (Pahlavan, Shojaei, & Salehi, 2018; Stadtfeld, Vörös, Elmer, Boda, & Raabe, 2019).

“Academic failure is characterized by difficulties in teaching school goals or to fail to obtain the fundamental skills of literacy” (Ilhan, Ozfidan, & Yilmaz, 2019).

Academic education plays an important role in the improvement of a country.

From a methodological and statistical perspective, to predict the failure of students is a complex task (Attar & Kulkarni, 2015). Achieving a realistic analysis requires the use of correct statistical models. There are several methods for modeling. One of the most important and widely used methods for model building is the application of linear regression models (Jewell, 2003). The main advantage of these models is the simplicity both in execution and interpretation. There are more advanced and sophisticated ways to do this. They include algorithms used in data mining (Attar & Kulkarni, 2015; Sarra, Fontanella, & Di

So far, the scientific analysis of factors related to academic failure has been done based on different theoretical models using several analytical methods. The literature on low academic achievements and student retention is rich in the theoretical models that gained consideration among researchers. For a long time, the studies relied heavily on physiological views that emphasized the individual students’ attributes and shortcomings. However, recent models and studies have been classified under more various categories; for example, psychological, sociological, organizational, environmental, interactional and economic (Aljohani, 2016). From a perspective, the factors involved in students’ poor academic performance can be categorized into four major groups; student related factors, teacher related factors, family related factors and some other factors including marriage, health problem, smoking, working while attending at college, friendships and transportation problem which can be named social related factors (Alami, 2016).

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. and the relevant problems effectively and timely, and it is necessary to know the relevant background factors in the cultural background of the society to succeed in this Absenteeism,regard.lateness and irregular college attendance are certain factors that are believed to be responsible for general poor academic performances (Alami, 2016). Numerous economic, social and family factors may affect academic failure. In many studies, it has been attempted to investigate these factors among the students (Dennis, Phinney, & Chuateco, 2005; Ghasemi, Hasanvand, & Valizadeh, 2014; Mahdion, Khatony, Abdi, & Jafary, 2016; Meftagh, 2017; Rahimi, Heshmati, & Moghaddam, 2014). The results of these studies show that some other factors such as age, gender, birth order, psychological backgrounds, socioeconomic level, level of interest and motivation in education, environmental factors at home and university, and the important and stressful events in life as well as the talent and attempt of the students are completely effective in acquiring knowledge and educational skills (Ebrahimzadeh, Ghorbani, Naserian, & Mardani, 2016). The results of a study conducted in Ahvaz University in Iran showed that in addition to some psychological health related factors, having lower average grade at the high school level and benefiting the quota in the exam for entrance to the university were the most influencing educational factors for poor academic achievement (Shakurnia et al., 2019). The findings of a study on the causes of poor academic performance among Omani students showed that while student related factors have the highest impact on students’ performance, teacher related factors had the lowest effect (Alami, 2016). The results of a study in Hong Kong showed a mutual correlation between stress and academic failure among students (Lee, 2017).

This is a case control study in terms of methodology that was conducted in the first semester of the academic year 2018 at Semnan University. The cases were the students who had gone to the psychiatrist serving at the student consulting center of the university in the above mentioned time interval at the discretion of the educational affairs office and due to their academic failure. For each subject of the case group one of his/her classmates of the same sex and major was selected randomly and included in the study as a control group subject. Another condition that had to meet in selecting the control group subject, as well as the conditions of sameness of sex and major, was that they had not experienced any academic failure before. All participants were asked to provide consent forms to participate in the study. The information was collected from the participants through interviewing and data gathering forms filled out by the participants. Each participant was interviewed separately by a well trained interviewer. Each one of the students participating in the study was questioned about age, gender, birth order in the family, marital status, family income, benefiting the quota for admission to universities, education level, student's residency status, interest in the major of study, family income level, parents' education levels, working part time as a student, pre existing psychiatric diseases personally or in the family, cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption, an adequate period of sleep, the domesticity of students and recent experience of stress (including financial, emotional, illness, etc.) and the obtained information were recorded in a datagathering form based on the answers. Considering the minimum of 20% difference between the case and control groups in terms of the relative frequency of the studied characteristics, the sample size was estimated to be at least 200 people (100 people in each group) using G*Power 3.1.9.2 software, with 95%

2. Methodology

It is of special importance to identify these factors to the greatest and most exact possible extent to find the possible and feasible solution to identify early the students who are at the mercy of academic failure at the beginning and during their studies and to prevent their academic failure. The effective interventions in this regard can help the students achieve social success after graduation and use the sources of their courtiers optimally to invest in the higher education sector. Each of the previous studies in the country analyzed some of the risk factors of academic failure in students and they heavily have focused on psychological related factors. The present analytic study has been conducted to identify the main personal, family and social factors associated with academic failure of the students at Semnan University, Iran in a multiple model. In this study we want to answer the question of what factors can be associated with academic failure in students? Theoretically, the main emphasis in this study is on socio familial related factors, and we have used linear models for statistical analysis avoiding unwanted complexity in implementation and interpretation.

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. Zio, 2019), path analysis (Loehlin & Beaujean, 2016), structural equations (Loehlin & Beaujean, 2016), causal models (Greenland & Mansournia, 2015), causal graphs (Greenland & Mansournia, 2015) and causal mediation analysis (Imai, Keele, & Tingley, 2010; Imai, Keele, Tingley, & Yamamoto, 2010). Each strategy has its advantages and limitations.

Table

3. Findings In the present study, 34 women (42.5%) and 46 men (57.5%) were interviewed as the case group and the same number of people (with the same sex distribution) were interviewed as the control group. In each group there were 6 associate's degree students (7.5%), 68 bachelor's degree students (85%) and 6 master's degree students (7.5%). Among all 52 participants (32.5%) were 20 years old or less, 97 (60.6%) participants were 22 26 years old and the remaining participants were older than 25 years old. The frequency distribution of the students in terms of personal, family, social and educational particulars can be seen separately in table 1. 1: Comparison of personal, family, social and educational characteristics of participants in the study in case and control groups Count (%) Pa Control(N=80) Case(N=80) Total(N=160) Age(year) ≤20 24(30.0) 28(35.0) 52(32.5) 0.442 21 25 52(65.0) 45(56.3)

40 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. confidence and power. Participants in both groups were randomly selected according to the inclusion criteria. The obtained data were analyzed in three phases. In the first phase, the particulars of the students in the two groups were reported and compared using the frequency table and the chi square test. In the second phase, the characteristics with liberal p value (p<0.2) were included in multiple conditional logistic regression model as well as the characteristics with significant p value (p<0.05) and the relationship of each one of the characteristics with the dependent variable (academic failure) was assessed and reported using adjusted Odds ratio estimate. In the third phase, the reduced model was derived as the final model from the multiple model using a backward LR approach and the ultimate interpretation was made based on it (Jewell, 2003). The employed software was STATA 11 and the level of significance was considered to be (p<0.05) for all tests.

Characteristics

97(60.6) >25 4(5.0) 7(8.8) 11(6.9) dormitoryResidenceinthe No 42(52.5) 47(58.8) 89(55.6) 0.426 Yes 38(47.5) 33(41.3) 71(44.4) Interest in the major No 14(17.5) 36(45.0) 50(31.3) <0.001 Yes 66(82.5) 44(55.0) 110(68.8) Birth order First 41(51.3) 45(56.3) 86(53.8) 0.147 2nd 24(30.0) 15(18.8) 39(24.4) 3th 5(6.3) 12(15.0) 17(10.6) Higher 10(12.5) 8(10.0) 18(11.3) (millionincomeFamilyRial) <10 7(8.8) 8(10.0) 15(9.4) 0.036 10 30 29(36.3) 45(56.3) 74(46.3) 30 50 24(30.0) 18(22.5) 42(26.3) >50 20(25.0) 9(11.3) 29(18.1)

experienceRecentofstress d Financial 12(15.0) 16(20.0) 28(17.5) <0.001e Emotional 19(23.8) 27(33.8) 46(28.8) Sickness 1(1.3) 11(13.8) 12(7.5) Related marriageto 1(1.3) 6(7.5) 7(4.4) Not stated 13(16.3) 11(13.8) 24(15.0) No 34(42.5) 9(11.3) 43(26.9) a Chi Square Test, b No habit versus stating any kind, c Single versus married/divorced, d In the past year, e No stress expressed versus stating any kind As it can be seen in Table 1, there was some significant difference (p<0.05) between the two groups in 7 particulars namely interest in the major study, family income, parents' education level, working part time as a student, pre existing psychiatric disorders, cigarette smoking or alcohol consumption, and having a stressful experience over the past year. Although the independence of the two variables of birth order in the family and pre existing psychiatric disorders in the family from academic failure could not be rejected, these two variables, as well as 7 above mentioned characteristics (9 characteristics in total), were included in the multiple regression model considering the p value in the liberal limit (p<0.2). The results obtained from fitting the initial multiple model and reduced model can be seen in table 2.

41 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. ineducationHighestlevelofparents Under High School 3(3.8) 17(21.3) 20(12.5) <0.001 High school Bachelorand 54(67.5) 58(72.5) 112(70.0) Master and levelshigher 23(28.8) 5(6.3) 28(17.5) partWorkingtime No 67(83.8) 39(48.8) 106(66.3) <0.001 Yes 13(16.3) 41(51.3) 54(33.8) Past psychiatrichistoryofdiseases No 77(96.3) 65(81.3) 142(88.8) 0.003 Yes 3(3.8) 15(18.8) 18(11.3) psychiatrichistoryFamilyofdiseases No 78(97.5) 74(92.5) 152(95.0) 0.147 Yes 2(2.5) 6(7.5) 8(5.0) Habits Smoke 10(12.5) 14(17.5) 24(15.0) 0.003b Alcohol 0(0.0) 5(6.3) 5(3.1) Both 2(2.5) 9(11.3) 11(6.9) No 68(85.0) 52(65.0) 120(75.0) Maritalstatus Married 12(15.0) 13(16.3) 25(15.6) 0.527c Single 68(85.0) 65(81.3) 133(83.1) Divorced 0(0.0) 2(2.5) 2(1.3) Benefitingthequota No 67(83.8) 64(80.0) 131(81.9) 0.538 Yes 13(16.3) 16(20.0) 29(18.1) Domesticity Yes 8(10.0) 11(13.8) 19(11.9) 0.463 No 72(90.0) 69(86.3) 141(88.1)

Table 2: Results of fitting of multiple initial and final reduced models of conditional logistic regression Characteristics Multiple model Final reduced model AdjustedOR P AdjustedOR P 95% CI for OR Lower Upper Interest in the major study 0.18 <0.001 0.18 <0.001 0.06 0.47 Family income 0.82 0.509 Parents' education level 0.17 0.001 0.16 <0.001 0.06 0.42 Working part time 7.12 <0.001 6.78 <0.001 2.44 18.79

Past history of diseasespsychiatric 5.43 0.037 5.67 0.029 1.19 27.02 Family history of diseasespsychiatric 3.31 0.318 Birth order 0.96 0.891 Recent experience of stress 4.02 0.015 4.14 0.009 1.43 11.97 Cigaretteconsumptionsmoking/alcohol 3.50 0.020 3.31 0.022 1.18 9.27

OR: Odds Ratio, CI: Confidence Interval

According to table 2, it can be seen that working part time as a student (OR=6.78, P<0.001), higher levels of parents' education (OR=0.16, P<0.001), pre existing psychiatric diseases (OR=5.67, P=0.029), interest in the major of study (OR=0.18, P<0.001), recent experience of stress (OR=4.14, P=0.009) cigarette smoking or alcohol consumption were the factors which were shown to be associated with academic failure respectively. 4. Discussion Academic failure of students has been explained with a variety of individual and socioeconomic problems (Ibabe, 2016; Stadtfeld et al., 2019). According to the results of the present study, the factor of working part time as a student showed the greatest connection with the academic failure such that the presence of this factor aggravated the academic failure of students by seven times which completely aligned with the previous evidence and studies (Mahdion et al., 2016). Working part time as a student not only imposes some time limits on the students in doing the academic assignments effectively and makes them do the educational activities outside the hours of the classroom, but it can also make him stay away from the practical and theoretical lessons. Also, it may make them have a preoccupation with some issues other than their studies. One of the main reasons for working part time as a student is the financial problems that

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. can be associated with the socioeconomic level of the students and leading an independent life as a student or having a married life. In this regard, two important determinant factors are the socioeconomic level of the students i.e. student's family income and parents' education level (Dehbozorgi & Mooseli, 2002), and the distribution of both these factors were significantly different between the case group and control group. However, they lost their significance in the ultimate model due to a high correlation. As for the marital status, although the number of single subjects in the control group was a little greater than that of the control group; since most of the students were single, no significant effect exerted by this factor on academic failure was reported. In this regard, it can be seen that the higher levels of parents' education, independent from other factors, show a significant connection with academic failure such that each increase in the levels of parents' education leads to an 83% decrease in student's academic failure. To explain this finding, it should be mentioned that higher levels of parents' education make the student enjoy greater proper support and guidance from their families. In terms of parental involvement in students’ education, some studies indicated that parents can facilitate and promote their children's classwork (Dennis et al., 2005; Kol, 2013). Chen et al. have shown a large difference between students in high income and low income families in terms of academic failure. They found that the receipt of financial aid is related to narrowing the dropout gap between students from low and middle income groups, although overall the interaction between that and income is not significant. They showed that loans and work study aid both have similar effects on student academic failure and drop out across all income groups (Chen & DesJardins, 2008).

Pre existing psychiatric diseases making the students 5 times more susceptible to academic failure, stands third among the factors shown associated with academic failure, and this result completely confirms the results of the previous studies (DeBerard, Spielmans, & Julka, 2004; Wang et al., 2014). Since the mental disorders can originate from genetic or environmental similarities among the family members, which may, on the other hand, affect the education quality of the students; in the present study, the pre-existing mental disorders of at least one member of the student's family, as well as those of student, were examined for which no significant relationship could be reported, though its relative frequency in case group was a little greater than that of the control group. Therefore, it can be concluded that the pre existing mental disorders among the family members cannot be considered an important factor in the academic failure of the students as opposed to the pre existing mental disorders of the students themselves.

The present study showed that being interested in one's major of study decreases the odds of academic failure by 80% confirming the results of the previous studies (Gump, 2004; Mahdion et al., 2016). Interest in the major of study makes the person try eagerly to acquire the knowledge and skills and provide the student with the motivation to achieve academic success. The results of the present study showed that the students who had experienced an important stressful event in their lives over the past year were four times more susceptible to academic failure such that odds of facing the type of stress just mentioned in the case group and control group were stated to be 88.7% and

There is an extensive literature on model building for regression analysis, for all linear models, and logistic regression, specifically. In our analysis the approach was used model building was based on Hosmer and Lemeshow strategy declared by Jewell (Jewell, 2003). The main advantage of this method is its simplicity compared to more advanced models such as the causal mediation analysis. Causal mediation analysis is widely used across many disciplines to investigate possible causal mechanisms (Imai, Keele, Tingley, et al., 2010). It has been implemented within the framework of linear structural equation models in the social sciences. Such an analysis allows researchers to explore various causal pathways, going beyond the estimation of simple causal effects (Imai, Keele, & Tingley, 2010). In our study, not using novel methods such as causal mediation analysis should be considered as a limitation for causal inference. Some previous studies focus on what institutional characteristics may contribute to conditions that reduce student academic failures and dropout risks. Evidence indicates that institutional expenditure on student services is negatively associated with student dropout behavior(Chen, 2012). In our study the variables related to the facilities available in the colleges have not been investigated and therefore cannot be judged. The previous studies in the country confirm that academic failure in male students is more common than female students (Ebrahimzadeh et al., 2016; Ghasemi et al., 2014). As a limitation, it should be mentioned that because the control group subjects were selected from the classmates of case group subjects and they have been matched in terms of gender, education level and major of study (and naturally to some extent in terms of age), it was not possible to examine the effect of these variables on academic failure. Of course, in the case group the number of male students was a little greater than female students and this difference can originate to some extent from the sex distribution of the students during the study. Another limitation of the present study is the limitation of the statistical population to one single university and not conducting a comprehensive examination of all factors that may affect the students' lives such as lifestyle, parents' jobs, etc. One of the strengths of the present study is that it has been conducted at a large

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. 57.5% respectively. The emotional stress, not related to marriage, has been stated as the greatest one among different types of stress while the financial stress has been stated to stand in line.

Causal inference is considered as an important goal of social science research (Imai, Keele, & Tingley, 2010). To achieve this, model building is required (Ranganath & Perotte, 2018). We used logistic regression to build our model.

The results of a study based on the data from the NEURO HIV Epidemiologic Study in Baltimore, Maryland, indicated that academic failure was associated with earlier alcohol initiation (Trenz, Harrell, Scherer, Mancha, & Latimer, 2012). In 2006, academic failure was significantly more prevalent among students who reported the use of chewing tobacco, bidis, or cigarettes, as compared with nonusers (Dhavan, Stigler, Perry, Arora, & Reddy, 2010). The study conducted by Rahimi et al. concluded that cigarette smoking led to the academic failure of the students (Rahimi et al., 2014). The result of the present study confirms the same point. In the present study, we have questioned the students about cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, illegal use of drugs in general.

6. Acknowledgment

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. university offering many different majors of studies at different levels, though the study did not include the students studying beyond the master's degree level according to the regulations of the university.

5. Conclusion Academic failure depends on some factors and conditions, and it is expected to be possible to take preventive actions by identifying and screening exactly those factors and conditions. Identification of the conditions associated with academic failure in the students is the prerequisite to taking effective and timely measures. The results of the present study showed that working part time as a student, pre existing psychiatric diseases, disinterest in the major of study, recent experience of stress and cigarette smoking or alcohol consumption are the main factors and indicators associated with academic failure, and it is suggested that they should be certainly noticed to identify early the students who are susceptible to academic failure. Based on the results of our study and in line with previous studies universities in the country are highly suggested to incorporate protective factors for students with a higher vulnerability that generate a resilient environment for student learning, adaptation, and retention. Some suggestions include quantitative and qualitative strengthening of student counseling centers, planning training along with practicing and applying related skills for students, identifying and removing the reasons for students' lack of motivation in university, the full introduction of college courses for high school students and helping them to choose the right field of education regarding interest and awareness, identifying and examining the reasons for student smoking or alcohol use, and helping students reduce their stress, especially helping them overcome financial difficulties and concerns.

This study was conducted with the support of the Social Determinants Research Center of Semnan University of Medical Sciences. The authors express their gratitude to the center. References Alami, M. (2016). Causes of Poor Academic Performance among Omani. Students. International Journal of Social Science Research, 4(1). doi:10.5296/ijssr.v4i1.8948 Aljohani, O. (2016). A Comprehensive Review of the Major Studies and Theoretical Models of Student Retention in Higher Education. Higher Education Studies, 6(2), 1 18. doi:10.5539/hes.v6n2p1 Attar, S. F. S., & Kulkarni, Y. (2015). Precognition of students academic failure using data mining techniques. Int. J. Adv. Res. Comput. Commun. Eng Chen, R. (2012). Institutional characteristics and college student dropout risks: A multilevel event history analysis. Research in Higher education, 53(5), 487 505. doi:10.1007/s11162 011 9241 4

Dhavan, P., Stigler, M. H., Perry, C. L., Arora, M., & Reddy, K. S. (2010). Is tobacco use associated with academic failure among government school students in urban India? Journal of School Health, 80(11), 552 560. doi:10.1111/j.1746 1561.2010.00541.x Ebrahimzadeh, F., Ghorbani, M., Nasseryan, J., & Mardani, M. (2016). Incidence of academic failure and its underlying factors in Lorestan University of medical sciences. Yafteh, 17(4), 14 24 Ghasemi, F., Hasanvand, S., & Valizadeh, F. (2014). Frequency of academic failure and its associated factors from the viewpoint of students with and without academic failure in the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Khoramabad, Iran. Journal of Nursing Education, 3(1), 71 79. Greenland, S., & Mansournia, M. A. (2015). Limitations of individual causal models, causal graphs, and ignorability assumptions, as illustrated by random confounding and design unfaithfulness. European journal of epidemiology, 30(10), 1101 1110. doi:10.1007/s10654 015 9995 7 Gump, S. E. (2004). Keep students coming by keeping them interested: Motivators for class attendance. College Student Journal, 38(1), 157 161. Ibabe, I. (2016). Academic failure and child to parent violence: family protective factors. Frontiers in psychology, 7, 1538. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01538 Ilhan, F., Ozfidan, B., & Yilmaz, S. (2019). Home Visit Effectiveness on Students’ Classroom Behavior and Academic Achievement. Journal of Social Studies Education Research, 10(1), 61 80. Imai, K., Keele, L., & Tingley, D. (2010). A general approach to causal mediation analysis. Psychological methods, 15(4), 309. doi:10.1037/a0020761 Imai, K., Keele, L., Tingley, D., & Yamamoto, T. (2010). Causal mediation analysis using R Advances in social science research using R (pp. 129 154): Springer doi:10.1007/978 1 4419 1764 5_8 Jewell, N. P. (2003). Statistics for epidemiology: CRC Press. doi: 10.4324/9780203496862 Kenny, M. E. (1990). College seniors' perceptions of parental attachments: The value and stability of family ties. Journal of college student development Kol, V. (2013). Parental involvement in education. (Master Master thesis), Royal University of Phnom Penh, Education Resource Center(ERC). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/554 Kuh, G. D., Kinzie, J. L., Buckley, J. A., Bridges, B. K., & Hayek, J. C. (2006). What matters to student success: A review of the literature (Vol. 8): National Postsecondary Education Cooperative Washington, DC Lee, W. W. S. (2017). Relationships among grit, academic performance, perceived academic failure, and stress in associate degree students. Journal of adolescence, 60, 148 152. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2017.08.006

46 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. Chen, R., & DesJardins, S. L. (2008). Exploring the effects of financial aid on the gap in student dropout risks by income level. Research in Higher education, 49(1), 1 18. doi:10.1007/s11162 007 9060 9 DeBerard, M. S., Spielmans, G., & Julka, D. (2004). Predictors of academic achievement and retention among college freshmen: A longitudinal study. College student journal, 38(1), 66 80. Dehbozorgi, G. R., & Mooseli, H. A. (2002). The Assesment of Educational Droupout Risk factors among Medical Students. Iranian Journal of Medical Education, 2, 21. Dennis, J. M., Phinney, J. S., & Chuateco, L. I. (2005). The role of motivation, parental support, and peer support in the academic success of ethnic minority first generation college students. Journal of college student development, 46(3), 223 236. doi:10.1353/csd.2005.0023

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47 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. Loehlin, J. C., & Beaujean, A. A. (2016). Latent variable models: An introduction to factor, path, and structural equation analysis: Taylor & Francis doi:10.1177/0146621605280602

The Degree of Science Teachers’ Awareness about the Concepts and Requirements of Green Economy in the Secondary School in Amman from the Viewpoint of Teachers Themselves

tocurricula)students,the(Understandtheconceptandrequirementsofagreeneconomy,RealizingimportanceoftheconceptandrequirementsofthegreeneconomyforandRealizinghowtousethegreeneconomyineducationalwithconfirmedvalidityandreliability.Thisscalewasappliedthesamplesconsistof161(

Moreover, it is demonstrated that there was no statistically significant difference to the degree of science teachers' awareness of the green economy requirements attributed to the variables of gender, years of service, and the interaction between them.

Keywords: Science Teachers; Green Economy; Concepts; Awareness, Secondary School

48 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 48 68, March https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.20204

Fawaz Hassan Shehada Faculty of Education Middle East University, Jordan Wesal Hani Al-Omari Faculty of Education Yarmouk University Assem Hani Nawafleh Graduate Studies, University of Jordan, Jordan Abstract: This study aims to understand the degree of science teachers’ awareness of the concepts and requirements of the green economy in the Secondary School in Amman, from the viewpoint of teachers themselves. The descriptive survey method was used in this study. To collect data, a scale consisted of 27 items distributed in 3 fields 89 male and 72 female) teachers from University brigade schools in Amman. The results of the study showed that the degree of science teachers' awareness of the green economy

conceptsandrequirementsinsecondaryschoolwasmoderate.

1. Introduction

Hassan (2012) notes that the educational process was linking the school and other social institutions. It works to strengthen the relationship between the school and the environment, whether nature or human. Environmental studies have acquired a prominent position between the applied and basic sciences. In addition, the scientific and applied importance of environmental planning and ecological

To meet these challenges, Huaguo (2018) stresses that it is necessary to find a new form of culture and search for a suitable living environment for the future of humanity, which is the construction of green culture. People are vigorously defending the construction of environmental culture. The improvement of a green economy has become an essential means of economic development today. The background to the smooth development of this situation is the ecological culture and the green economy. The ability to achieve innovation and green technology is the central issue for developing a "green economy". "The green economy" is a type of economic behaviour that stimulates the conventional economy, or is useful in protecting environmental activities. To green the conventional economy and benefit from environmental protection activities, science and technology help is Withintegral.the introduction of the technology era and the explosion of awareness, the school must keep pace with this change. This era demands teachers of the twenty first century to possess a set of powers represented in developing higher thinking powers, managing life powers, managing students' abilities, and leading educational technology. This needs mastering the art of education, understanding the calendar, and practicing it effectively. This requires constructing teacher powers before and during service by exposing him to a set of training courses that support his work (Hefny, 2015; Forrant & Silka, 2017).

The current era is witnessing rapid changes, challenges, and construction in society. At the forefront are the technical and the awareness revolution, the increase of economic competition, the growing phenomenon of globalization, the green economy, green education, and the use of information and communications technology. All of those need coexistence with all global variables to develop several purposes. First, to keep pace with those changes, challenges, and developments. Second, to prepare the individual (citizen) for living in the twenty first century. Third, to construct their idea and refine their behaviour and conscience. Fourth, to be able to advance their community and nation in light of global trends and education construction policies that took several forms including e learning, teacher professional construction, and other construction methods (Zaitoun, 2015).

Education is one of the most essential pillars of human construction for any community as it is closely related to other indicators of construction because it has an essential role in the life of the individual, family, and community as a whole. The standards of work in the field of human construction focus on increasing the effectiveness of available services, programs, and activities that lead to facing the problems of society (Abu Al Nasr, 2016).

sciences have increased due to the occurrence of multiple exchanges between environment and development. Most countries seek to obtain a clean environment as it is one of the civilizational measures that classify people. Those measures include developing projects aimed at stimulating tree planting, reducing emissions of polluted gases, preserving wealth, rationalizing energy consumption, introducing renewable energy as a clean energy source, and addressing organic waste to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and benefit from it in power generation (Abu Dayyeh, 2010; Hess D, Mai Q, Skaggs R, et al. 2018; Nuggent J. 2011). Interest in the concept of the green economy has increased recently even though the concern about its policies and trends is not recent. A green economy achieves sustainability in a balanced way and reduces problems causedby the traditional economy such as poverty, food security, unemployment, and lack of equitable distribution of wealth. The green economy concept provides a greater understanding of how to define development, growth, and progress (Al Bareedi, 2015). Analogically, the "green economy" has emerged as a robust political trend in the United States of America to provide investment in infrastructure for a range of initiatives including alternative energy technologies that will reduce dependence on foreign oil supplies (Peters & Britez, 2010).

Al Fiqi (2014) indicates that the green economy adopts the use of various types of green energy generated by renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy. Green economy also provides green employment opportunities, encourages green production including green stores, achieves real and sustainable growth, and prevents environmental pollution and natural resource depletion. Habib and Nassira (2014) state that the green economy is the main engine for achieving the dimensions of sustainable development, whether

The green economy, which appeared recently, is one of the concepts that support the clean environment. The term green economy was first used by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in 2008; then it was adoptedby the United Nations General Assembly in January 2009 when it issued its decision to hold the (Rio + 20) conference in 2012 in Brazil entitled the green economy (Al Fiqi, 2014).

The countries participating in the (Rio 20+) Conference (2012) defined the green economy as an essential way to achieve the future that they want, which leads them to sustainable development and relieve them from poverty. Al Fiqi (2014) defined him as an economy in which growth in income is directed at the national and global levels and in the workforce through investments made by the public and private sectors so that this enhances the efficiency of the use of natural and human resources. Chapple (2008) has defined it as improving the quality of the environment, saving clean energy, improving the use of natural resources, and the ability to produce clean power. Instead, it includes technologies that allow more honest production processes.

The thinking about the transformation of the green economy came due to the striking decline in environmental resources, economic and financial crises, as well as a collapsing global market. Therefore, the transition to a green economy requires a long and arduous process starting from the highest political legislation to the mass participation along with their interaction to achieve it (Khanfar, 2014).

In the field of education, the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia / ESCWA (2011) determined that the green economy requires changes in business practices with private sectorparticipation providedthat the educational programs and university degrees benefit from the new vision of development. In addition, it set rules concerned with the green economy and linked innovation and research systems development through coordination of relations between research institutions and the private sector. This leads to improved education and strengthened training and vocational training programs.

Samuel and Rufus (2011) pointed out that the transition to a green economy requires strengthening educational programs, adapting technologies, and strengthening development partnerships to meet contemporary environmental challenges. Meanwhile, Nawar (2013) mentioned that a green economy requires skill development, capacity building, training, and education.

socially, environmentally or economically, It strikes a balance between the needs of current and future generations, promotes social justice and provides job opportunities while taking into account the environmental aspects by creating more green jobs in many sectors such as agriculture, renewable energy, and others. That contributes to increasing the income of the poor and fighting poverty while preserving the environment.

The Jordanian Ministry of Environment also launched the 2018 2019 Ministry of Environment strategic plan in cooperation with the Global Institute for the Green Growth (GGGI) and partnership with all relevant authorities from the public and private sectors, non governmental institutions, international organizations, educational institutions and universities, civil society institutions and experts. The plan is based on what has been accomplished in previous national policies and strategies and links it to the Kingdom's vision for 2025 to achieve common goals. These goals are related to economic growth and preservation of natural resources by working to develop the green growth programs in the energy, water, waste, agriculture, transport, and tourism sectors.

In the green economy category, The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan ranked 60th out of 80 countries and 50 cities in Arabia in the 2016 green economy index issued by the Dwalesteezen Institute. This evaluation was based on the opinion of international organizations, policymakers, and private sector clients who are keen to improve their performance in the green economy (Jafra News, 2016).

The green economy requires the return of adopting national strategies for renewable energy efficiency, working to invest in water rationalization, and paying attention to the field of environmental and cultural tourism, recycling of solid waste, achieving benefit from neglected materials, and allocating important investments in scientific research. All of those aim to emphasize the green economy, the advancement and conservation of natural resources alongwith their exploitation to create job opportunities for citizens (Khanfar, 2014).

Abu Alyan (2017) recommended studying the concept of the green economy as it is one of the essential and contemporary issues due to its principles which are practical instruments for achieving sustainable development, economic growth, and green job opportunities in many fields. By applying the green economy, the ten sectors identified by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) are energy, transport, hunting, tourism, construction, water, sanitation, technology, industry, and waste recycling. A green economy affects adult education and workforce development. When adult workers search for skills, awareness will help them find success in work and life. Recent years have brought increased attention to green job training and discussion. Since the introduction of the Green Jobs Law in 2007, questions about how to train workers for jobs in a changing economy have attracted the attention of legislators, educators, and the public in general. Demanding new skill sets and refocused experience requires workers and educators not only to improve core skills but also to provide educational opportunities that meet the needs of the contemporary workplace (Wagner, 2013).

The studyof Gamal El Din, Ahmed, andHassan (2014) aimedto know the concept of green economy and its requirements in Cairo education. The study used a descriptive method that requires literature and reference analysis related to the phenomenon as an instrument. The results showed that the green economy is concerned and sought to advance the society, environment, and economy without reducing their balance while preserving future generation rights of natural resources. Besides, the basis of the green economy begins from education as one of the most important ways to modify values and attitudes.

Among the studies related to the green economy is the review of Alex (2010) which aims to identify obstacles to implementing education for sustainable development in secondary schools in Nairobi. The study used the descriptive method with a questionnaire as the data collection method. The results showed that there is insufficient awareness of students andteachers on environmental and sustainable development issues as a result of not being included in the curricula Alwell.Hawwal (2014) investigated the role of conscious environmental behaviour for Kuwaiti students in supporting sustainable development and revitalizing the green economy. The study adopted the descriptive analytical method with a test as an instrument conducted on a sample of 100 (male and female) students from university colleges. The results showed general approval of the variable of conscious environmental behaviour among students and the variable of promoting sustainable development and economy revitalization. The results also showed that there were no significant differences in the conscious environmental behaviour of Kuwaiti students and the support of sustainable development and economy revitalization according to the differences in age, gender, and demographic characteristics.

Daoud and Ibrahim (2015) conducted a study aimed at identifying the role of the green economy in achieving sustainable development in Egypt between 1975 and 2011. The study used the inductive process in addition to using the analytical process. The results showed that the concept of sustainability means ensuring that individuals have access to development opportunities without tolerating future generations because sustainable development achieves the link between the green economy and the environment, it seeks to meet the lack of the present without neglecting the lack of future generations.

Abu Alyan’s, study (2017) aimed to verify the role of the green economy in achieving sustainable development in the light of goals set by the United Nations Environment Program and economic growth in Iraq. The study adopted the descriptive analytical method to identify the green economy and the quantitative method to analyze and explain the effect of the green economy on economic growth and unemployment by conducting a study on 80 countries including developed and developing countries. The results showed a direct connection between economic growth and the green economy index, while there was no clear connection between the green economy and unemployment.

In Kazakhstan, economic reforms have impacted the environmental education system since Dlimbetova, Zhylbaev, Syylmbetova & Aliyeva (2016) conducted a study aimed at exploring how people use "green skills" in sectors such as catering, car service, and waste management. The authors conducted a social survey and observation to find out how widespread awareness, skills, opinions, and types of behaviour related to "green skills" were among respondents. The comparative analysis showed that the application of environmentally friendly operating procedures in institutions operating in the formal and informal sectors varies, in which many employees view "green skills" as environmentally friendly and do not have a proper understanding of the role of "green skills."

To find out the main aspects of developing effective national education systems to provide academic education for individuals and prepare future human resources to work within the economy in a specific way with the idea of the "green economy" Dudin et al. (2016) reached key conclusions that this period of modern culture development indicated by the aggressive and wasteful exploitation of the natural resources is about to end. The main condition for our culture to be truly sustainable is the transition to a "green economy," a new global concept that involves a trend towards ensuring social equality, availability of resources, and education on the basis that our anthropogenic and technological impact on the environment will not be aggressive. Education systems and the preparation of national human resources are the strategic basis that determines the uniqueness of national social and economic development which should be transformed and strengthened while working to thwart any disastrous scenarios for society and economic development there.

The study of Lee & Heijden (2019) is about the influence of higher education institutions as a driver of green economic growth, especially assessing their effect on the development of green jobs. Green jobs have been described as an essential

As for the current study aimed to get acquainted with the degree of awareness of science teachers about the concepts and requirements of the green economy in the Secondary School in Amman from the teachers’ viewpoint. It also varied in terms of the instrument used, since the use of the questionnaire in line with Alex research (2010), while some research agreed in the use of data analysis as a tool such as the research of JamalAl Din, Ahmed and Hassan (2014), Dawood and Ibrahim (2015 ), and Abu Alian (2017). Whereas Qablain (2005) used interviews and observations, and Al Hawwal (2014) used the test as a tool.

strategy to simultaneously address economic downturn and environmental degradation. The economic awareness effect has been empirically evaluated on green jobs in the top 100 metropolitan areas in the United States. The results indicated that the departments and centers promoting higher education and sustainability have a positive effect on the development of green jobs in urban Previousareas.

The current research benefited from previous studies in presenting and enriching theoretical literature, as well as in preparing an instrument for concepts and requirements of the green economy. Besides, previous studies also help in developing an environmental awareness instrument in the current research to achieve its goals, defining the used methodology, as well as interpreting and discussing the results. The current study was distinguished from other related studies as it was the first research within the limits of researchers’ awareness that aimed to identify the degree of science teachers' awareness of the concepts and requirements of the green economy in the Secondary School in Amman from the viewpoint of teachers.

The concept of the green economy is one of the concepts seeking to achieve sustainable development by creating a clean environment, to improve environmental resource investment, and to overcome the crises experienced by societies as a result of the resource shortage. Many countries have endeavored to include the green economy culture in all economic sectors to achieve sustainable development and to alleviate the economic crises that have emerged recently. The issue of preserving the environment has become a purely pedagogical issue that relies on environmental awareness for individuals through their learning, education, and training because of the use of modern technologies accompanied by the scientific development that led to the depletion and imbalance of environmental resources (Barghouti, 2013).

1.1. The Study Problem and its Questions

studies have varied in terms of objectives, some of them pointed to factors affecting education for achieving sustainable development, such as the research of Qablain (2005) and Alex (2010), while other studies pointed to the role of the green economy in achieving sustainable development such as the studies of JamalAl Din, Ahmed and Hassan (2014), Dawood and Ibrahim (2015), Abu Alyan (2017), and Al Hawwal (2014).

1.3. The Significance of the Study

The Rio 20+ Conference (2012) stated the emphasis on integrating sustainable development topics into educational materials. This Conference called for supporting educational institutions to conduct research and studies that achieve sustainable development. The study of JamalAl Din and Ahmed and Hassan (2014) also recommended that education should play a major role in achieving the green economy concept through educational programs. From the foregoing, the importance of Jordan's green economy can be emphasized by investing its resources and supporting the transition to a clean environment. Besides, it is also important to study its inclusion in the curricula of Jordanian universities in general and the concerned colleges in particular. Therefore, the researchers wanted to study this topic. The study problem is determined by answering the following questions:

1. “What is the degree of science teachers' awareness about the concepts and requirements of the green economy in secondary schools in Amman from their point of view?”

1.2. The Aims of this Study

JamalAl Din (2017) points out that there are differences between development that considers the environmental aspects (green development) and economic development that was called (black development) because its priorities are purely economic and have become the subject of criticism from all circles and global institutions. To emphasize the activation of the green economy, it is vital to focus on individual environmental awareness as a necessary component. Therefore, attention should be paid to learning and teaching the goals and objectives of the green economy. In addition, the way of achieving a green economy is also vital as it includes several instruments for achieving progress in many areas that must be studied through developing educational programs that push towards sustainable development. Therefore, the role of curriculum planners is highlighted by incorporating green requirements into the curricula to fill the jobs that contribute to shaping the green economy.

2. “Are there statistically significant differences in the degree of awareness of science teachers about the concepts and requirements of the green economy in the secondary school in Amman from their point of view attributed to the variables of (gender, years of service and interaction between them)?”

The study aims to recognize the degree of science teachers’ awareness of the green economy concepts and requirements in a secondary school in Amman from their point of view. In addition, this study also aims to know whether there are statistically significant differences attributed to the variables of (gender, years of service and interaction between them).

It is hoped that this study enriches theoretical literature in libraries and can be used as a suitable theoretical reference for the requirements of the green economy.

Besides, it is hoped that this study may serve researchers and those interested in this field. Its results are expected to benefit the officials of the Jordanian Ministry of Education to direct the evaluation of the curricula in the relevant disciplines.

years 66 41.1 Total

1.4. Study Terms

The study used the descriptive method based on describing, explaining, and analyzing a phenomenon.

variables variable Level / Category Number percentage Gender Male 89 60.8 Female 72 39.2 Total 161 100.0 Years of service Less

years 41 25.4 From

The study sample was limited to a group of science teachers of the secondary school in Amman for the first semester of the 2019/2020 academic year. The extent of the validity and reliability of the study instrument as well as the accuracy and objectivity of the response of the sample members were also limited. Its results are only circulated to the same community from which the sample was drawn and other similar societies.

Table

individuals according

ten years 54 33.5 More

The educational authorities may benefit from it to plan methodological and non curricular activities at different levels of academic stages.

1.5. Limitations of the Study

2. Research Method and Procedures

Green Economy is defined by the United Nations Environment Program (2011) as the economy that results in an improvement in human well being and realization of the principle of social equality, while notably reducing environmental risks and environmental shortages. Green economy requirements are a set of needs that, if available, is applied to a green economy that seeks to provide green sectors for sustainable development. Procedurally, it is defined as the degree obtained by the members of the study sample to answer the items of the green economy instrument.

The study population consists of all 284 teachers of secondary school in Amman, the university district Amman. However, following the official statistics obtained by researchers from the Queen Rania Center for Education and Information Technology, the sample consisted of only 161 male and female teachers chosen in a simple random manner. Table 1 shows the distribution of the study sample according to their variables. 1: Distribution of study sample to their than five five to than ten 161 100.0

2.1. Study Population and Sample

2.3. Validity To ensure the validity of the study instrument, it was presented to a group of referees from the Faculty of Educational Sciences at Jordanian public and private universities. This is to judge the extent to which the items belong to the fields in which they were placed, and the extent of their validity and comprehensiveness, as well as to assess the level of language drafting or any other notes they see appropriate to the amendment, change, or deletion. The items that obtained 80%

2.2. Instrument To collect study data and then answer its questions, a questionnaire, as the study instrument, was developed to identify the degree of science teacher’s awareness about the concepts and requirements of the green economy in the secondary school in the Amman from the viewpoint of science teachers. This instrument was developed after referring to the theoretical research including some Arab and foreign research and previous studies related to the subject of the survey conducted in this field as the study of Alex (2010) and the study of Abu Alyan (2017). The questionnaire, in its primary form, consists of 27 items distributed in three fields (awareness of the concept and elements of the green economy, awareness of the importance of the idea and elements of green economy for students, awareness of how to use green economy in educational curricula). Table (2) shows the distribution of the number of items in these fields.

Total sum 27 A five layer Likert scale was used, as five levels were identified as alternatives as follows: very high degree of awareness (5), a high degree of awareness (4), medium degree of awareness (3), low degree of awareness (2), very low degree of awareness (1). The category length was calculated as the following: Category Length: (5 1) / 3 = 1.33. The degree of awareness was determined as follows: Degree of awareness category Low degree of awareness 1 2.33 A moderate degree of awareness from 2.34 less than 3.67 A high degree of awareness from 3.67 5

Table 2: Distribution of items of the study instrument in its fields Sequence Fields of a study instrument The number of items 1 Understand the concept and requirements of a green economy 9 2 Realizing the importance of the concept requirementsandof the green economy for students 9 3 Realizing how to use the green economy in educational curricula 9

0.77

Total

Table 3: Correlation coefficients between paragraphs and the overall instrument with domains levelSignificance levelSignificance It is noted from the analysis results of Table 3 that all the values of correlation coefficients were both acceptable in the research and statistically significant at the level of significance (α = 0.05) ranging between 0.71 0.43. This enhances the validity of the study's internal consistency and appropriateness.

Items coefficientCorrelation

58 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. or more referees’ approval were retained and the necessary amendments proposed by the referees were made that resulted in 27 valid items included in the questionnaire. The validity of the internal consistency was also verified by calculating the correlation coefficients between the items and the instrument as a whole and Table 3 shows the results of this analysis.

1 0.64 0.000 15 0.59 0.000 2 0.48 0.007 16 0.44 0.014 3 0.40 0.009 17 0.64 0.000 4 0.69 0.001 18 0.54 0.002 5 0.67 0.000 19 0.66 0.000 6 0.43 0.002 20 0.68 0.007 7 0.69 0.000 21 0.71 0.000 8 0.55 0.016 22 0.55 0.001 9 0.44 0.000 23 0.44 0.000 10 0.67 0.000 24 0.67 0.002 11 0.59 0.014 25 0.59 0.000 12 0.44 0.000 26 0.44 0.016 13 0.49 0.002 27 0.64 0.000 14 0.45 0.000

2.4. Reliability To verify the consistency of the study instrument, it was applied to a survey sample consisting of 25 science teachers from the study population and external samples using re application after two weeks. Table 4 shows the results of this analysis.

Items coefficientCorrelation

Table 4: Alpha consistency coefficients for the Cronbach alpha tool Fields Cronbach's alpha coefficients Understanding the concept and requirements of a green economy 0.82 andRecognizingtheimportanceoftheconceptrequirementsofthegreeneconomy Recognizing how to use the green economy in educational curricula 0.83 0.88

2.7. Study procedures

The current study included the following variables: Independent variables, including: Gender category: male teacher and female teacher category.

• View the relevant theoretical literature.

• Find the validity of the instrument by presenting it to competent referees and statistical treatment.

• Calculate the stability of the study instrument.

• Distribute the questionnaire to the study samples.

2.5. Study variables

• Restore the distributed questionnaires.

• Analyze statistical data.

It is noted from the analysis results that all the values of the stability coefficients were relatively high. This enhances the stability and accuracy of the instrument and its suitability to obtain accurate results.

2.6. Statistical processing

The following procedures were followed to implement and apply the study:

The dependent variable is represented by the degree of science teachers’ awareness about the concepts and requirements of the green economy in the upper basic stage in Amman from the viewpoint of teachers and supervisors.

• Develop the study instrument.

• Monitor data in special tables.

• Provide recommendations and suggestions.

To answer the first question, arithmetic averages, standard deviations and ranks were used. To answer the second question, the values of the mean and standard deviations were calculated. Finally, to reveal the significance of the differences, the multiple variance analysis was used.

3. Findings and Discussions

Years of service category: less than 5 years, 5 10 years, and 10 years or more.

• Determine the study population and sample.

• View and discuss data.

To answer this question, mathematical averages, standard deviations, and ranks were extracted to the degree of science teachers' awareness of the concepts and requirements of green economics in the upper secondary stage in the capital, Amman, from their point of view. Table (5) shows the results of the analysis:

60 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. Table 5: Means, standard deviations, and ranks for the degree of science teachers’ awareness about the concepts and requirements of the green economy Rank numberitemThe items Mean deviationstandard Degree Awarenessof requirementsUnderstandtheconceptandofagreeneconomy 1 3 I understand the importance of vocational training programs to enhance my ability in the green economy. 3.33 .770 High 2 9 I am aware of environmental issues related to the water field. 3.19 .750 High 3 8 I appreciate the importance of using alternative energy that reduces pollutionenvironmental 2.68 .650 Moderate 4 6 I understand the active role of waste recycling in preserving the environment. 2.98 .780 Moderate 5 1 I think the recycling of plastic and glass materials is good. 2.60 .810 Moderate 6 4 I do research and review references for topics related to the green economy. 2.20 .790 Moderate 7 2 I appreciate that continuing environmental awareness campaigns contribute to the spread and promotion of a green economy culture. 2.98 .790 Moderate 8 5 I realize the importance of using methods that reduce environmental pollution. 2.39 .900 Moderate 9 7 Ihavea senseofresponsibility to protect the environment. 2.93 .530 Moderate The field as a whole 2.93 0.53 Moderate Realizing economyofrequirementsconceptofimportancethetheandthegreen 10 17 I am interested in providing systematic, non class activities that maintain a clean environment. 2.79 .690 Moderate 11 18 I tell my students about the importance of using various energy sources and making good use of them. 2.87 .780 Moderate 12 15 I urge my students to rationalize and conserve energy. 2.34 .650 Moderate 13 10 I am trying to transfer the impact of learning that includes environmental issues and its application inside and outside the school. 2.91 .790 Moderate

2.11 .680 Moderate 23 24 The science curriculum promotes the concept of environmental conservation through my discussions with students. 2.24 .630 Moderate 24 26 Science curricula help to create solutions to environmental problems.

2.27 .620 Moderate 22 27 The science curricula cover environmental topics that support the preservation of environmental resources.

curriculaeducationaleconomythehowRealizingtousegreenin 16 14 I offer lab experiences for my students, providing practical experiences that are concerned with the green economy.

3.50 .780 High 21 20 The science curriculum offers a variety of opportunitieslearninglinked to the requirements of a green economy.

2.77 .900 Moderate 11 I seek to establish a practice in my students in a way that achieves a clean environment.

3.16 .750 High 17 13 I am interested in providing systematic, non class activities that maintain a clean environment.

2.50 .690 Moderate

2.81 .800 Moderate 20 25 The curriculum encourages the necessity of viewing library resources and references to enrich their awareness about the green economy.

2.64 .700 High The field as a whole 2.77 0.61 Moderate 19 22 The science curriculum motivates me to scientific research to develop green technology.

3.01 .760 High 18 16 I encourage my students to place recyclable materials (paper, plastic, metal) in their designated places.

2.27 .680 Moderate 19 The science curriculum is concerned with providing systematic, non class 2.61 .750 Moderate

2.51 .740 Moderate

27 23 The science curriculum promotes the concept of environmental conservation through my discussions with students.

The degree for the instrument as a whole 2.71 0.33 Moderate

It is noted from Table 5 that the arithmetic averages, standard deviations, and ranks show the highest degree for the field of realizing the concept and requirements of the green economy, as the arithmetic average reaches 2.80 and the moderate evaluation degree. The field of realizing how to use the green economy for students came in second place since the arithmetic average reaches 2.77 with a moderate evaluation degree. Following that, the field of realizing how to use the green economy in educational curricula came in the third and last rank since the arithmetic average reaches 2.53 with a moderate degree. Meanwhile, the total arithmetic means on the study as a whole reach 2.71 with a moderate evaluation degree. The table shows the arithmetic averages, standard deviations, and ranks for each item in the fields to which they belong, as they were as follows:

Second: The realization of the importance of the concept and requirements of the green economy

First: The realization of the concept and requirements of the green economy

It is noted that means for the items in the realization of the concept and requirements of the green economy ranged between 2.20 3.33 and the level of evaluation ranged from high to medium from the degree of estimation for the items. As for the field as a whole, it obtained a moderate arithmetic average of 2.80 and a standard deviation of 0.56 with a moderate evaluation degree.

Individually, item 3 states "I understand the importance of vocational training programs to enhance my ability in the field of the green economy" ranked first since the arithmetic mean reaches 3.33 with a standard deviation reaches 0.77 and a high evaluation degree. The item 7, which states “I conduct research and review references for issues related to the green economy” ranked last since the mean reaches 2.20 and the standard deviation reaches 0.79 with a moderate evaluation degree.

It is noted from the table that the arithmetic averages on the field of cultural awareness ranged between 2.34 3.16 with a moderate evaluation degree from the degree of estimation of all items. Meanwhile, the field as a whole obtained an arithmetic average of 2.77 and a standard deviation of 0.61 with a moderate evaluation degree. In this field, item 16, which states “I offer laboratory experiments when my students provide practical experiences that are concerned

The field as a whole 2.53 0.63 Moderate

2.48 .710 Moderate

Item 22 states "Curricula encourage the necessity of accessing library resources and references to enrich their awareness about economics" ranked first with an arithmetic average of 3.50 and a standard deviation of 0.78 at a high evaluation degree. Item 23 that states "The science curriculum deals with environmental issues that support the preservation of environmental resources" came in the last rank with an arithmetic average of 2.48 and a standard deviation of 0.71 at a moderate evaluation level. This result can be attributed to the fact that the requirements of the green economy are still not clear to science teachers which showed an average degree of awareness in their responses to the study instrument. Results related to answering the second question: To answer this question, arithmetic averages and standard deviations were extracted to the degree of science teachers' awareness of the green economy requirements in the upper secondary stage in Amman from the teachers’ point of view according to different study variables (gender and years of service). Those results are shown in the table below. 6: Means and Standard Deviations for the Degree of Science Teachers'Awareness of the Green Economy Requirements Experience Number SMA* deviationstandard

Gender

Male 5 years or less 18 2.78 0.39 From 5 years to less than 10 years 29 2.76 0.34 10 years and more 42 2.66 0.36 Total 89 2.72 0.36 Female 5 years or less 23 2.75 0.22 From 5 years to less than 10 years 25 2.65 0.32 10 years and more 24 2.69 0.36 Total 72 2.70 0.31 Total 5 years or less 41 2.77 0.30 From 5 years to less than 10 years 54 2.71 0.33 10 years and more 66 2.67 0.36 Total 161 2.71 0.33 * A maximum score of 5

Third: The field of realizing how to use the green economy in educational curricula From the table, the arithmetic means for each item of the field of the realization of how to use the green economy in educational curricula range between 3.36 3.75 with an evaluation degree ranges between high to the medium. As for the field as a whole, the arithmetic average reaches 3.53 and the standard deviation reaches 0.63 with a very high evaluation level.

Table

64 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. It is noted from Table 6 that there are apparent differences between the averages and the standard deviations of the responses given by the study sample individuals. These differences in the fields of the degree of science teachers’ awareness about the green economy concepts and requirements in the upper secondary stage in Amman from the teachers’ point of view attributed to the variables of gender and years of experience. To reveal the significance of these differences in the arithmetic mean, two factor analysis of variance with a factor design of 3 × 2 was used. Table 7 shows a summary of this. Table 7: The test results of multiple variance analysis of the gender and experience impact on the field of the degree of science teachers’ awareness about the green economy concepts and requirements Variables The field Sum of squares freedomofDegrees AverageSquares F value Level significancestatisticalof SquaredEta Gender Understanding the concept and requirements of a green economy 0.534 1 0.534 3.830 0.052 0.024 Realizing the importance of the concept and requirements of the green economy for students 0.002 1 0.002 0.011 0.918 0.000 Realizing how to use the green economy in educational curricula 0.044 1 0.044 0.203 0.653 .0010 Overall performance 0.054 1 0.054 0.465 0.496 .0030 Years experienceof Understanding the concept and requirements of a green economy 0.017 2 0.008 0.061 0.941 .0010 Realizing the importance of the concept and requirements of the green economy for students 0.584 0.292 1.566 0.212 .0200 Realizing how to use the green economy in educational curricula 0.896 0.448 2.065 0.130 .0260 Overall performance 0.215 0.107 0.923 0.399 .0120 Interaction Understanding the concept and requirements of a green economy 0.003 0.001 0.009 0.991 .0000 Realizing the importance of the concept and requirements of the green economy for students 0.238 0.119 0.637 .0.530 .0080 Realizing how to use the green economy in educational curricula 0.722 0.361 1.662 0.193 .0210 Overall performance 0.134 0.067 Error Understanding the concept and requirements of a green economy 21.614 0.139

Realizing how to use the green economy in educational curricula 33.642 0.217 Overall performance 18.048 0.116

Realizing the importance of the concept and requirements of the green economy for students 29.796

*Statistical significance level (α = 0.05)

Realizing how to use the green economy in educational curricula 35.673 Overall performance 18.460

The results of Table 7 show there are no statistically significant differences at the level of statistical significance (α = 0.05) between the averages of the individuals of the study sample in all fields. Besides, there are no statistically significant differences at α = 0.05 attributed to the variable of gender. This means that the degree of science teachers’ awareness about the green economy concepts and requirements in each of the three areas related to the degree of awareness and in the fields combined (the instrument as a whole) is one regardless of their gender. This indicates that the degree of science teachers’ awareness does not differ according to gender. This result can be explained by the fact that male and female teachers have been subjected to the same information and concepts related to the green economy and its requirements as they are subjected to the same training courses during the service. In addition, the surrounding influences and media contribute to creating a degree of awareness of the green economy concepts and requirements among teachers. The local environment where both male and female teachers live in the same and issues related to the green economy are similar which are reflected in the existence of convergence in the degree of awareness between them. There were no statistically significant differences at the level of α = 0.05 between the averages of the study sample individuals in all fields attributed to the variable of years of service. Likewise, there were no statistically significant differences at the level of 0.05 = α on the instrument as a whole attributed to the years of service variable. This means that the degree of science teachers’ awareness about the green economy concepts and requirements in each of the three fields related to the level of awareness and in the combined fields (instrument) as a whole was not related to the number of their years of experience. In the sense that the degree of

Realizing the importance of the concept and requirements of the green economy for students 28.971 0.187

Total Understanding the concept and requirements of a green economy 22.201

There was no statistically significant differences at the level of α = 0.05 between the averages of the study sample in all fields attributed to the interaction between the two variables (gender and years of experience), and the absence of statistically significant differences at the level of statistical significance (α = 0.05) on the instrument as a whole attributed to the interaction. This means that the degree of science teachers’ awareness about the green economy concepts and requirements in each of the three fields related to the level of awareness and in the combined fields (instrument as a whole) is not related to the interaction between gender and number of years of experience. This means that the two variables (gender and years of service) are not interactive and therefore independent. This makes the effect of one level does not differ with the change of the other levels.

awareness of the green economy concepts and requirements among science teachers did not differ according to the number of years of experience (less than 5 years, 5 10 years, 10 years or more. This result can be attributed to the fact that science teachers have common denominators regarding the process of creating the degree of awareness concerning the green economy concepts and requirements in the upper secondary stage since they have been subjected to one pre service course. Further, the teachers’ educational experiences are academic in the field of specialization and not in the field of teaching green economy issues. Hence, in the degree of awareness, the experience factor does not consider an environmental impact for them.

The concept and requirements of the green economy are still not clear to science teachers which showed an average degree of awareness in their responses to the study instrument and the green economy concepts and requirements. In each of the three areas related to the degree of awareness and in the fields combined, it is demonstrated that they have the same degree regardless of their gender and years of service. Science teachers have common denominators regarding the process of creating a degree of awareness of the green economy concepts and requirements in the upper secondary stage. Consequently, the degree of awareness is not an environmental impact factor.

4. Conclusion and Recommendations

From the results, the study recommends working to update and develop science curricula according to the requirements of needs and environmental changes. In addition, creating various learning opportunities related to the green economy and setting environmental strategies that support the green economy concept along with its inclusion in science curricula are also required. Finally, reviewing methodological and extracurricular activities inside and outside the school and holding seminars and workshops are needed to increase students’ awareness of the economic awareness concept.

Al Braidi, A. (2015). Sustainable development Saudi Arabia, Riyadh: Al Akiban House for Publishing and Distribution. Al Hawwal, S. (2014). The role of conscious environmental behaviour for Kuwaiti students in supporting sustainable development and revitalizing the green economy, Fikr, and Ibda Journal, 8(8), 473 439. Dawood, Y., & Ibrahim, M. (2015). The role of the green economy in achieving sustainable development in Egypt during the period (1975 2011). The Scientific Journal of Commercial Research, Egypt, 4(2), 107 6. Dlimbetova, G., Zhylbaev, Z., Syrymbetova, L., & Aliyeva, A. (2016). Green Skills for Green Economy: Case of The Environmental Education Role in Kazakhstan's Economy. International Journal of Environmental & Science Education, 11(8), 1735 1742. https://doi. 10.12973/ijese.2016.550a Dudin, M., Frolova, E., Kucherenko, P., Samusenko, T., &Voikova, N. (2016). Creating an Effective System of Education to prepare Future Human Resources within the Context Provided by the Global Shift toward a “Green Economy”. International Journal of Environmental & Science Education, 11(15), 8706 8717. Fiqi, M. (2014). Green Economy. Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine Environment, Kuwait, Safat. Forrant, R., & Silka, L. (2017). Inside and out: Universities and education for sustainable development. New York: Routledge. Hess D , Mai Q , Skaggs R , & Sudibjo, M. (2018). Local matters: political opportunities, spatial scale, and support for green job policies. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 26, 58 170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2017.03.003. Huaguo, Z. (2018). Analysis on Development of Green Economy in Tibet from the Perspective of Ecological Civilization. Journal of Landscape Research, 10(5), 69 72. https://doi. 10.16785/j.issn 1943 989x.2018.5.013 Jafra News. (2016, September 29). Jordan 60 globally with the green economy index. Retrieved from http://www.jfranews.com.jo/more 155776 21 JamalAl Din, N., Ahmed, S., & Hassan, M. (2014). Green economy. Journal of Educational Sciences, Egypt, 3(1), 48 44. Jordanian Ministry of Environment (2014). Green Economy Retrieved from http://www.moenv.gov.jo Khanfar, A. (2014). Environmental economics "green economy". Assiut Journal of Environmental Studies, Egypt, 39. 53 63. Retrieved from https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM

References Abu Al Nasr, M. (2016). The development of the educational process. The Egyptian Arabic Republic, Cairo: The Modern Academic University Book. Abu Alyan, H. (2017). Green Economy and Sustainable Development in Palestine Proposed Strategies (Master’s thesis). Al Azhar University, Gaza. Abu Dayyeh, A. (2010). The Environment in Two Hundred Questions. Lebanon, Beirut: Dar Al Farabi for Publishing and Distribution. Al Habib, T., & Nasirah, B. (2014). The role of the green economy in creating green jobs and contributing to poverty reduction. The convention of the International Forum on assessing poverty reduction policies in the Arab countries, Algeria.

525592 Lee, T., & Heijden, J. (2019). Does the Awareness economy advance the green economy? An evaluation of green jobs in the 100 largest metropolitan regions in the United States. Energy & Environment, 30(1), 141 155. https://doi.org/10.1177/0958305X18787300.

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Nawar, M. (2013). Green Economy and Job Creation. Paper presented at Sustainable Development Challenges and Prospects Conference, Cairo, The Egyptian Arabic Republic. Njeru, A. (2013). Identifying the Barriers to Implementing Education for Sustainable Development in Kenyan Secondary Schools: a Case of Southlands of Nairobi (Master’s thesis, Kenyatta University Institutional Repository, Kenya, Kahawa, North East of Nairobi). Retrieved from http://ir Nuggent J. (2011). Changing the Climate: Ecoliberalism, Green New Dealism, and the Struggle over Green Jobs in Canada. Labor Studies Journal, 36(1), 58 82.

Peters, M., & Britez, R. (2010). Ecopolitics of ‘Green Economy’, Environmentalism and Education Journal of Academic Research in Economics, 2(1), 20 35. Samuel, A., & Rufus, O. (2011). The imperatives of green economy and the transformation of Africa's agricultural sector Paper presented at an international conference on sustainable development of natural resources in Africa, 5 7 December, university of Ghana, Accra, pp1 12. United Nations Environment Programme. (UN Environment) (2011). A Green Economy intheContext ofSustainableDevelopment andPovertyEradication:Whatare the Implications for Africa? Retrieved from http://www.greengrowthknowledge.org/resource/green economy context sustainable development and poverty eradication what are implications United Nations Program (2011). Towards a green economy Pathways to sustainable development and poverty eradication Retrieved from http://www.unenvironment.org/resources/report/towards green economy pathways sustainable development and poverty eradication 10 Wagner, C. (2013). Adult Learning Meets the Green Economy: Lessons from a Green Jobs Education Project. General Education Journals: Adult Learning, 24(1), 14 21. https://doi 10.1177/1045159512467324.

The Digital Divide in Inclusive Classrooms

Information and communication technology (ICT) has become ubiquitous; it is part of people’s daily activities (OECD, 2000; Wu, Chen, Yeh, Wang, & Chang, 2014). Recent statistics estimate that 4.1 billion people around the world more than half the total global population—used the Internet in 2017 (Warf, 2018). ICT promotes social interaction and plays a significant role in the education process, as well as equalizing learning practice (Assimwe & Khan, 2013; Elen et al., 2010).

The study found that, although all of the students, irrespective of disabilities, have equal access to ICT resources, various factors including a lack of training, insufficient resources, heavy workloads, and a shortage of human resources are expanding the digital divide in inclusive classrooms. This study discusses ways to overcome the challenges and implications; it recommends research avenues for future studies.

Keywords: Digital divide; inclusive classroom; disabilities; ICT; SWOT

69 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 69 85, March https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.20205

1. Introduction

Several studies have proven the benefits of ICT for students without disabilities (Assimwe & Khan, 2013; Basak & Govender, 2015; Dobransky & Hargittai, 2016; Knott, Steube, & Yang, 2013). Likewise, ICT has been shown to be beneficial for students with disabilities, as it enhances learning and facilitates their participation in classroom activities (Batorowicz, Missiuna, & Pollock, 2012; Obradović, Bjekić, & Zlatić, 2015; Wu et al., 2014).

Badriya AlSadrani, Mohammed Alzyoudi, Negmeldin Alsheikh and Elazab Elazab Elshazly College of Education United Arab Emirates University Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

Abstract The digital divide affects equity in inclusive classrooms. It can create a gap in accessing information communication technology (ICT) resources or inequalities in skills and effective use. The present study is a qualitative SWOT analysis; it explores teachers’ views on access and use issues that widen the digital divide in inclusive classrooms in the UAE. Six teachers from intermediate and secondary level schools were interviewed to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with ICT use and access in their inclusive classrooms. The semi structured interviews were analyzed, using thematic analysis.

While nations are striving to promote equity in education through inclusive education (Anati, 2012; Leatherman & Niemeyer, 2005; Moriña, 2017), the influence of ICT on equal classroom practice has become an issue (Mølster, 2016; Wu et al., 2014). Inequality in the extent to which disadvantaged students are able to access and use ICT has created a digital divide (Van Dijk, 2012). A digital divide has been described as thegap between thosewhohave access to ICT services (such as the Internet) and related content and those who do not (Sossa, Rivilla, & González, 2015). However, Van Dijk (2012) has extended the definition to include the motivation, skills, and usage of ICT. To enhance equal learning opportunities in inclusive education, all students must have equal access to and the ability to use ICT resources. To date, few studies have explored digital access, usage, and skills for students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms. The present study therefore focuses on exploring the challenges and opportunities associated with the equal use of ICT in inclusive classrooms. Knowledge of different forms of technology, including the use of ICT, is essential in the twenty first century; it also creates an area of focus, in which the ability to access and use such services is limited to certain individuals in society (OECD, 2000). Technology have been shown to be beneficial for all students, with or without disabilities (Batorowicz et al., 2012; Dobransky & Hargittai, 2016; Wu et al., 2014). However, it is impractical to use ICT and other technological processes in inclusive classrooms if this practice creates other forms of social segregation for students with special needs. Access inequality and the challenges that some students experience when using ICT creates a digital divide. This issue mainly arises when limited resources and limited competencies make it difficult for students with special needs to access and benefit from ICT and other technological resources, in comparison to peers without special needs. Although many countries have discussed the digital divide affecting special needs students (Dobransky & Hargittai, 2016; Arais, 2019; Mølster, 2016; Wu et al., 2014), there is little research on this issue within the context of the UAE. This study will add to the literature from a different contextual perspective, while reinforcing thedigital divide issue within the literature. It will also identify potential policy recommendations and instructions in this area. This study will try to answer this question: What views do public school teachers hold on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with equal ICT access and use in inclusive classrooms?

The present study explores issues related to the digital divide between special needs students and their non disabled peers, based on the perspectives of cycle two and three teachers’ within the UAE context. It examines the challenges and opportunities for equal ICT use in inclusive classrooms. The study provides a comprehensive overview of the ways in which equality is handled in UAE inclusive classrooms. To foster inclusivity and equity and highlight the need to incorporate technological processes effectively in classroom activities, this study will focus on ICT access and skills in inclusive classrooms. Thereafter, the present study will answer this following question: What are the public school teachers’ views about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for the equal ICT access and use in inclusive classroom?

The physical access gap can be prevented through the equal distribution of ICT resources to all schools. To avert a digital skills gap and promote equal technology usage in inclusive classrooms, students must acquire core skills and learn to use ICT tools effectively to enhance their own learning. These skills go beyond the capacity to use hardware and software; they involve to searching for information, communicating, and creating content (Van Dijk, 2013). The usage gap reflects the frequency, variety of usage applications, and active, creative use of technology involved in ICT usage in daily life (Van Dijk, 2013). For example, when some students have more frequent access to the Internet than others, the usage gap increases. This suggests that teachers should not limit the ICT related creativity of special needs students, but should instead raise their expectations, just as they would for students without disabilities (Obradović et al., 2015).

Digital skills and effective use

Figure 1. The Van Dijk Stages of ICT Access

The conceptual framework of this study is based on Van Dijk (2012), who argued that the digital access gap could be divided into differentiated stages (see Figure 1). These stages were as follows: access motivation, physical and material access, digital competencies and effective use, and usage. The interaction between motivation, materials, skills, and usage explains the digital divide (Jupin, 2019; Ghobadi, & Ghobadi, 2013). The motivation gap is a lack of desire to access ICT tools (Van Dijk, 2012; Yuen, Park, & Cheng, 2016); the desire to access is considered a prerequisite for using ICT (Van Dijk, 2012). For this reason, students with and without disabilities should be equally encouraged to access ICT; this must be done by providing materials, resources, and skills to adapt technology in inclusive classrooms.

ICT Access

Access motivation

Conceptual Framework

Physical and material access

Usage application,diversity(frequency,ofactiveandcreativeuse)

The digital divide is the gap in ICT resource distribution, technical knowledge, and usage effectiveness (Van Dijk, 2012). It is a challenge facing all nations, in relation to access, ICT skills, and appropriate use (Yuen et al., 2016). While access to ICT remains important, individuals with access to technology can have unequal skills or usage (Van Dijk, 2013). The success and sustainability of technologies used in educational settings are also determined by the accessibility and quality of ICT support (Damodaran & Sandhu, 2016). Various studies have shown that narrowing the digital divide in inclusive classrooms can foster learning equality and improve the quality of life for marginalized students with special needs (Batorowicz et al., 2012; Chadwick, Caroline & Fullwood, 2013; Clarida, Bobeva, Hutchings, & Taylor, 2015; Mølster, 2016; Wu et al., 2014). To facilitate equity in ICT access and usage, we need to understand the challenges behind the digital Stages

A lack of interest in learning new technologies widens the digital gap between students (Ghobadi, & Ghobadi, 2013). The lack of motivation to access technologies is associated with a reduced desire to access or use ICT resources, such as Internet connections, social interaction platforms, and search engines; this is related to various socio economic factors, including a lack of education and low economic status (Ghobadi, & Ghobadi, 2013). For example, students with less desire to access or use ICT are likely to be inactive in their use of technology, relative to their active classmates. Some individuals are satisfied with a basic computer or smartboard and have little interest in learning advanced ICT skills (Yuen et al., 2016). If these individuals are teachers, their attitude may reduce students’ motivation to access ICT, thus creating digital inequity. Lack of time is another factor that influences a teacher’s desire to access and use ICT (Basak & Govender, 2015; Ghobadi, & Ghobadi, 2013; Raman & Yamat, 2014; Van Dijk, 2013). A study carried out by Raman and Yamat (2014) revealed that, in schools with substantial resources, the teachers’ workloads, lack of time, lack of ICT skills, and teaching experiences affected their motivation to use ICT in the classroom. Time pressure can negatively affect the integration of ICT into teaching content if teachers are struggling with a demanding curriculum or workload (Basak & Govender, 2015; Raman & Yamat, 2014). However, the relationship between ICT and workload is a controversial issue because some teachers believe that ICT reduces the workload and increases classroom productivity (Basak & Govender, 2015; Sahito & Vaisanen, 2017). Various factors can hinder a teacher’s ability to integrate ICT into an inclusive classroom, shaping student attitudes toward technology and preventing students with and without disabilities from accessing and using ICT.

2.1. Access Motivation

divide. We also need to explore opportunities to incorporate technology effectively in inclusive classrooms, using the Van Dijk (2012) access gap model (motivation, physical and material access, skills, and ICT usage).

Lidström and Hemmingsson (2014) carried out an extensive literature review on the extent to which students with visual, speech, and motor impairments benefit from using digital technologies in school activities. The researchers compiled 32 studies, half of which were intervention studies. Most of the studies involved learners with motor impairments. In their results, the authors indicated that the types of ICT used to teach students with disabilities varied in accordance with the type of disability. Moreover, digital assistive technologies offered clear benefits for students learning to write, spell, and communicate (Lidström & Hemmingsson, 2014). These advantages should be strengthened by integrating ICT into inclusive classrooms to enhance the learning of students with special Martínezneeds. (2011) investigated whether students with disabilities had the necessary resources and support from teachers to use adapted forms of ICT appropriately in inclusive classrooms. The study recruited a sample of 37 students with special needs, enrolled at a university and secondary school in Spain. The use of ICT, student experiences, and the support provided by teachers to students with

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. disabilities were analyzed using a questionnaire. The study results indicated that students with disabilities felt ready to use ICT resources in their classrooms (Martínez, 2011), but that teachers did not offer students with disabilities the support they needed. The special needs students felt that their teachers did not try to adapt the ICT resources or modify the available technology to accommodate their disabilities (Martínez, 2011).

Although some researchers have argued that physical access to computers, the Internet, and mobile technology closes the digital divide (Van Dijk, 2017), there is a gap in the degree of physical access that creates inequalities in schools (Valadez & Durán, 2007). For example, Valadez and Durán (2007) found that teachers in well resourced schools had access that is more physical and used ICT more frequently than those in poorly resourced schools. Materials and access to resources are directly influenced by income (Ghobadi, & Ghobadi, 2013; Van Dijk, 2013). Research has also shown that teachers in well resourced schools are more eager to use various ICTs in their teaching and motivate their students to communicate and engage in classroom activities. These findings also affect students in well resourced schools, who are more likely to use ICT for experimental and creative purposes than students in poorly resourced schools (Valadez & Durán, 2007). Similarly, people with disabilities seem to have less ICT access and use, due to exclusion factors, such as economic and social attitudes (Chadwick et al., 2013). Device complexity also makes it difficult for some disabled students to use ICT use for some disability’s students (Palmer, Wehmeyer, Davies, & Stock, 2012). Different types of disability can influence an individual’s degree of ICT access and use (Chadwick et al., 2013). Other challenges that can affect digital inclusion in the classroom include a lack of professional training for educators and a lack of funding and ICT supportive resources (Ali et al., 2013; Al Okaily, 2013; Chadwick et al., 2013). Flexible, open, and cost effective technologies are needed to bridge the digital divide in inclusive classrooms (Kelley Salinas, 2000). Schools need appropriate technical support, available at all times, to help teachers and students overcome various technical difficulties that make it difficult to access and use ICT (Al Okaily, 2013).

2.2. Physical and Material Access

2.3. Digital Skills and Usage

The motivation to use technology in the classroom is not enough; teachers must adopt new programs, explore web platforms, and subscribe to various applications to support their teaching. To actually use technology, people must know why, when, and how to use ICT; they must have competencies and frequent opportunities to use it in creative ways (Van Dijk, 2017). For this reason, teachers who use ICT more frequently can inspire students to develop technological access and skills. Teachers must however identify the specific types of technology that suit their own students in inclusive classrooms. For example, students with disabilities may require assistive technologies, such as hearing or vision aids, to participate actively in the classroom (Lyons & Tredwell, 2015). To use these assistive technologies, teachers, students, and their parents will need training (Lyons & Tredwell, 2015). In the modern digital era, parents play a significant role

in mediating their disabled and non disabled children’s ICT use and developing their skills. The parents’ own ability to use ICT influences their children’s ICT use (Kelley Salinas, 2000; Yuen et al., 2016).

3. Research Methodology

When it comes to the issue of effective ICT implementation in inclusive education, researchers have questioned whether the digital divide is a significant issue for learners with disabilities (Wu et al., 2014). Wu et al. (2014) investigated whether there was a digital divide between non disabled students and those with learning disabilities (LD) in Taiwan. The study employed a self reported questionnaire that covered degrees of access to ICT, ICT competency, and digital participation rates among elementary school students. The study recruited 117 learners with disabilities and a similar number of non disabled students a total research sample of 234 participants. Although the study found no difference between disabled and non disabled learners’ levels of access to computers or the Internet at home or in school, the authors did find that learners with disabilities had lower levels of ICT competency than their normal colleagues. The study identified a need for an ICT curricula specifically designed for students with disabilities.

According to Seale, Georgeson, Mamas, and Swain (2015), even when special needs students have equal access to ICT resources, the resources are not effective because the students need special assistive technologies. Disabled students face a digital divide in accessing and using suitable ICT resources to support their learning process. Lyons and Tredwell (2015) have proposed a five step process for integrating technology into inclusive classrooms. The process starts by assessing the students’ ICT background and skills, before involving students in developing rules for classroom ICT use. The third step uses ICT program policies or the professional guidelines adopted by schools to mediate best practice and acquire suitable technology, based on the students’ abilities and/or disabilities. The fourth step brings technology into the curriculum by selecting ICT resources that connect learning standards with instructional strategies, providing students with various equal engagement classroom activities. The final step collects data through a formative assessment, monitoring the achievement of curricular objectives. By monitoring student progress, teachers are able to choose appropriate applications and tools to support learners with and without disabilities (Lyons &Tredwell, 2015). The literature reveals that motivational, physical, and material access, digital skills, and usage constitute benefits of digital ICT; they also present challenges that can interfere with ICT use in inclusive classrooms. The literature suggests ways of narrowing narrow those gaps.

This study has used a qualitative SWOT analysis, which was well suited to addressing the research questions. The underlying rationale behind this qualitative SWOT analysis approach to research was to explore and assess the strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the digital divide in inclusive classrooms. The SWOT analysis explores and reflects on current situations and issues involving the digital divide in inclusive classrooms, demonstrating study validity (Phadermrod, Crowder, & Wills, 2016). A SWOT analysis is considered a significant tool in situational analysis (Gürel, 2017).

3.2. Data Collection

Area Al Ain Al Ain Al Ain Al Ain Al Ain Al Ain

3.1. Study Sample

Table 1: A table of participants Participant A B C D E F Male Male Male Female Female Female Grade 5&8 10&12 12 9 9&10 9 Type Public Public Public School Years Experienceof 15 27 19 13 3 11 Education Master’s Master’s Master’s Bachelor’s Bachelor’s Master’s

Gender

Subject English English Mathematics English Biology English

An individual semi structured interview, including both open and close ended questions, was used in this study. Open ended questions are essential for promoting further exploratory research; close ended questions help to identify demographic tendencies in the responses provided. The interviews covered background information, such as grades taught, overall experience, and the highest level of participant education. They also included questions about the SWOT analysis (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threat) (see Appendix A). Each interview took 20 30 minutes and was audiotaped. The interview questions were reviewed by a research expert to eliminate bias or ambiguity. To ensure the quality and internal validity of the interviews, each transcribed interview was reviewed and confirmed by the participants.

3.3. Data Analysis

To explore the research question and achieve its purpose, the study engaged public school teachers and used purposive and snowball sampling as its qualitative sampling techniques. Purposive sampling is a type of non probability sampling, in which the researcher draws a sample that reflects the type of participant of interest to the study. Snowball sampling was used to overcome the difficulties involved in accessing teachers (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2011). The sample consisted of three women and three men (n=6). All of the teachers worked in public schools, teaching different subjects to various grades in cycles two and three. The teachers had worked between three and twenty seven years. Four held Master’s degrees, while two held bachelor’s degrees (see table 1).

Public Public Public

The semi structured interviews were analysed using a thematic analysis approach. We coded the data by identifying the main themes, coding them, and classifying the participants’ responses under the main themes (Cohen et al., 2011). We then linked the themes to the research question and SWOT analysis methodology, grouping the themes into four categories (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats [see Appendix C]) and incorporating these into the four-quadrant SWOT matrix that represented our results (Gürel, 2017). For example, similar views expressed by teachers were grouped together under each category in the matrix.

School

Similarly, teachers D and E commented, “all students have equal access to ICT.”

Teachers B and C also indicated that they used ICT in their daily lessons; teacher B said that [he] “use[d] almost the same kind of technology with all the students.”

Three main themes emerged from the interview analysis, based on the strengths that teachers associated with accessing and using ICT in inclusive classrooms; these are discussed below. Equal access. Most teachers (A, B, C, D, and E) said that there was no digital divide in their classrooms when it came to physical access to ICT, as all students had equal access to ICT resources. For example, Teacher A said, “All [special needs students] access it like other students [students without a disability].”

The four SWOT analysis groups were used as the main categories in our findings, followed by the emergent themes, to address the research question: What are primary school teachers’ views on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with equal ICT access and use in inclusive classrooms? Figure Illustrates the strengths and other SWOT analysis findings. Strengths in Inclusive Classrooms

Figure 2. A SWOT Analysis of the Digital Divide in Inclusive Classrooms (Teachers’ Views) STRENGTHS •Equal access to ICT resources •Variety of ICT resources (Internet laptops,smartboards,access,headphones,computerlab). •Convenient to use in an inclusive classroom •ICT availability saves time for both students and teachers •Support: School support and self help to find ways to promote equal access. WEAKNESSES •Lack of training •Unequal ICT usage •Lack of supportive ICT tools •Financial issues •Insufficient support from administration and SPED teachers •Workload •Lack of time •Teachers belief (that students misuse technology) •Restricted Internet access OPPORTUNITIES •Training •Financial support •Teachers' autonomy •Parents' involvement •Schools' partnership THREATS •Widening the digital divide •Shortage of human resources •Disability types and severity •Limited planning (less continuous intervention from policy makers) •Lack of national studies and assessment of such issues

ICT

Other issues. Some teachers (B, C, and D) saw various ICT resources, such as Internet access, the computer laboratory, laptops, headphones, and smartboards, as a strength that supported equal access to technology for students with and without disabilities. As teacher, B said: “We have access to the Internet…I always use YouTube videos to introduce some ideas for the students…we have smartboards and a resource center [that] can help students in their learning.”

Teacher C stated that he used “some applications to jot down some [mathematical] functions…students have laptops in the classroom.” Similarly, teacher D indicated that students had similar levels of access to various kind of ICT resources. However, teachers B and C mentioned that their school administration supported them in finding ways to promote equity in access, while teachers A and F depended on self help, using differentiated instruction. As teacher A stated: “I depend on myself [to] support these students. Unfortunately, I cannot provide other resources for them.”

In relation to obstacles, the main theme that emerged involved problems with accessing and using ICT in inclusive classrooms. All of the teachers believed that a lack of training was the most significant impediment to equal ICT usage in their classrooms. For example, teacher F stressed that teachers “lack training in how to use ICT for special needs students…MS certification does not give [us] a lot of training in this area [inclusive classrooms].” Three teachers (A, D, E, and D) pointed to inequities in ICT usage among students with and without disabilities. They emphasized that the special needs students were not as engaged in ITC as their non disabled classmates. The reason, according to teacher A, was “because they have different characteristics, they need special tools and equipment [to facilitate equal engagement].”

Teacher D agreed that ICT “reduces time and effort.” Teacher A reported, “[he] feels that the students are more engaged when [he] uses these ICT strategies and tools.” Similarly, teacher F stated, “ICT or technology helps students to achieve more, especially those with special needs, particularly when it comes to hearing or vision aids or tools …also, the interactive games attract them and help them learn better.”

The benefits of using ICT in inclusive classrooms. All of the teachers acknowledged that ICT offered some benefits in inclusive classrooms. The benefits included convenience of use, saving time, facilitating the teaching and learning process, and engaging and supporting special needs students. According to teacher B: “[ICT] makes the process of teaching easier for me when I use technology… [It challenges] the students to get ideas faster… I can use the Internet to download pictures, for example, which makes things easier and faster for me. So, this technology saves time for both the students and me.”

Likewise, teacher F said, “I always try to give everyone a fair chance and cater for different learning styles; I try to vary my technology [use] to address student needs.”

ICT Weaknesses in the Inclusive Classroom

Teacher F also highlighted the lack of ICT resources: “there are also schools who don’t [have the tools], especially in remote areas.” Financial issues were considered a factor that produced inequalities in ICT use in inclusive classrooms. Teacher E believed that such inequalities were due to the type and severity of the students’ disabilities, while teacher F believed that teachers’ unwillingness to teach was a factor that hindered the effective use of ICT. Other reported factors were the lack of time (D, E, and F) due to the “intensive curriculum,” a lack of cooperation between general and special needs teachers (A, C, and D), limited teacher autonomy (E and F), misuse of technology (C and F), large class size (E), and restricted Internet access (F).

All of the interviewed teachers made the same suggestion: to provide training programs to help teachers identify the best ICT resources and strategies for use in inclusive classrooms. According to teacher E: “All teachers are focusing on their job, and they always want to be better and more helpful [to] their students, so if there is more professional training, everything will be [good].”

Teachers (A and F) suggested that school teams should allocate a reasonable budget for assistive technologies and tools to support students with disabilities. As teacher A said, “We should provide the resources and budget that are necessary to deal with them.” Teacher F said more specifically, the “administration will use the funds to support special needs students and buy equipment and teaching tools to help them.”

Opportunities

Threats Three teachers (A, E, and F) felt that staff shortages were a threat that could exacerbate the digital divide in inclusive classrooms. Teacher A predicted that the gap would increase in future: “Because [for] five years or more we still have the same problem, and nothing happened before they [policymakers] paid more attention to these

Teachers A and F identified a need for parental involvement to give students with disabilities access to ICT. However, teacher D pointed out the importance of establishing a school partnership to exchange information about and benefit from various experiences. Teacher A summarized the opportunities in one statement: “If we want to really engage these students and help them, we should have enough staff, enough budget, enough resources, [and] enough training for teachers.”

Autonomy or professional independence was another idea proposed by teachers (E and F) to help teachers make decisions to support student learning. As teacher E said, “the support for teachers is to [let the teacher decide].” Similarly, teacher F said: “Unfortunately, teachers don’t have the authority to download any application on school computers…we need support from the ADEC [Abu Dhabi Education Council] or Ministry of Education to let us have the authority to download applications or access websites that [are] useful for our students.”

Similarly, teachers D and F expressed concern about inadequate planning and interventions from policymakers on issues such as providing technical support, resources, and classroom assistants. Teachers A, D, and E were concerned about the different types of disability and the need to provide equal ICT access and usage. Teacher F addressed the lack of national studies and assessments of this issue.

Few teachers mentioned the benefits of using ICT in inclusive classrooms; most benefits related directly to general classrooms. This finding shows that the teachers were largely unaware of the advantages of technology for special needs’ students; they were not necessarily motivated to explore them. For this reason, students with disabilities might not get the ICT support they needed. However, this can be explained by the teachers’ lack of time and training and their extensive curricula and workloads; these factors can make teachers wish to integrate active ICT access and usage in their instruction (Ghobadi, & Ghobadi, 2013; Raman & Yamat, 2014). The teachers also said that adequate resources would motivate them to adopt appropriate ICT strategies (Valadez & Durán, 2007) to promote equity in inclusive

5. Discussion Like Wu et al. (2014) and Van Dijk (2017), the present study found that all students, with or without disabilities, had equal access to the ICT resources in their classrooms. Surprisingly, various factors expanded the digital divide for special needs students in Abu Dhabi schools; these factors included the type of disability, a lack of training, resources, financial and technical support, a lack of time, the overall workload, restricted Internet access, and a shortage of human resources (Figure 2). Other researchers reported similar results in relation to students with and without disabilities (Ali et al., 2013; Al Okaily, 2013; Basak & Govender, 2015; Dobransky & Hargittai, 2016; Lyons & Tredwell, 2015; Martínez, 2011; Raman & Yamat, 2014). In a study of types of disability, special needs students were seen to be more disadvantaged in relation to effective ICT usage than students without disabilities (Chadwick et al., 2013; Dobransky & Hargittai, 2016; Lidstrom and Hemmingsson). For this reason, the main finding was that special needs students are thought to be less engaged in using ICT, even with equal access. Seale et al. (2015), who emphasized the need for assistive technology to promote equity in inclusive classrooms, have reported similar findings.

Importantly,classrooms.theteachers were found to need training on how, when, and why to use ICT (Van Dijk, 2017). Training would not only provide teachers with the competencies needed to motivate them and their students to use ICT dynamically, but would also allow them to differentiate their technology use, based on student needs and disabilities. Professional training should be continuous, as the ICT field is constantly evolving. Lyons and Tredwell (2015) reflected on the training argument by highlighting the need to involve students and their parents in training, to promote favorable ICT integration. Such involvement could have a positive effect on special needs students’ ability to use technology creatively. A collaboration between various stakeholders, such as school administrators,

6. Limitations and Recommendations for Future Research

7. Conclusions

This study has explored teachers’ views on the digital divide in inclusive classrooms. It has discussed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with equity in accessing and using ICT for students with and without disabilities. The findings identified several weaknesses and threats, as well as various strengths and opportunities, exploring suggestions in the literature and discussing ways to overcome them. Overall, the results revealed that disabled students had equal access to available ICT resources in the classroom. However, special needs students were seen as less engaged and more disadvantaged than their classmates were when it came to using ICT. Many factors were perceived to extend the digital divide; these included a lack of training, time, resources, funds, and types of disability. The teachers agreed that training was a necessary solution to reduce the effect of the digital divide in inclusive classrooms.

8. Implications for Practice

The study raises questions about equity in inclusive education. School administrators and teachers should examine their ICT practice and policies, not just to ensure equal access, but also to include digital competencies and effective and creative uses of ICT for students with and without disabilities. The study has exposed various factors that school administrators and teachers should consider; it has also suggested some solutions and ways to create a culture of equity by using technology to support disadvantaged students. The present study provides guidance on ways to formulate an appropriate digital inclusion school policy for inclusive education.

Although this study has delivered significant insights on the topic of the digital divide in inclusive classrooms within the UAE educational context, it is nevertheless a preliminary investigation. The limitations of the study include the small sample size, drawn from one Emirate (Abu Dhabi); future studies should aim to give a satisfactory answer to the research question, while ensuring generalizability. Further studies with different methodologies, involving a larger group of participants that includes students, teachers, parents, and school administrators, could provide a fuller picture of the digital divide within a similar context. Furthermore, researchers should consider the ICT access and use of students with disabilities at home, as well as in school, to obtain a broader picture.

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B. What subject you teach?

B. What factors make it difficult for special needs students to become equally involved in inclusive classrooms?

1. Background Information: A. What grade do you teach?

D. What kind of ICT resources do you use to support equal access to ICT in your school?

A. Do all students (with and without disabilities) have equal access to ICT? How? (give examples).

C. What can support you in promoting equal access to ICT in inclusive classrooms? Explain.

3. Questions about the way in which teachers maintain weaknesses or are challenged for accessing and using ICT in inclusive classrooms:

C. How long have you been teaching? (experiences)

D. What is your highest level of education?

5. Questions about the teachers’ views of threats associated with ICT usage in inclusive classrooms: A. What obstacles do you currently face in integrating ICT teaching in inclusive classrooms?

E. School type F. Area 2. Questions that investigate teachers’ views of the advantages of using ICT in an inclusive classroom:

B. What actions do you usually take to achieve equity when using ICT in an inclusive classroom?

B. What are some alternative solutions to the need to provide equal ICT access for students with and without disabilities?

4. Questions that deal with opportunities to use ICT effectively in inclusive classrooms:A.How do other schools deal with similar issues?

B. From your point of view, what obstacles are likely to make it difficult for teachers to maintain equal ICT access in inclusive classrooms?

C. What potential opportunities exist to increase the digital divide in inclusive classrooms?

C. How do you maintain weaknesses; are you challenged for accessing and using ICT in an inclusive classroom? Explain.

Semi Structured Interview

Questions

A. What are the advantages of using ICT in inclusive classroom?

C. What support do you get from school administrators to ensure equal access to ICT in inclusive classrooms?

85 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. Appendix B Final list of codes: Strengths • Equal access • Benefits of ICT • OtherSupportICTissuesresourcesteaching & learning Weakness • ObstaclesTrainingSupportive resources RestrictionCollaborationBudgetWorkloadTimeon Internet use Opportunities • Training • Budget • Autonomy • Parental involvement • School partnership Threats • Staff shortages • Digital divide • Type of disabilities • Planning • National research

Lecturers’ Beliefs and Agency about Active Learning in English For Specific Purposes

Classes Huan Buu Nguyen Can ThoVietnamUniversity

86 ©2020 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 86 105, March https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.62020

1. Introduction Much research has been done about the role active learning plays in higher education over the last few decades as it is viewed as student engagement, participation in, and responsibility for their learning process (e.g., Bonwell & Eison, 1991; Freeman et al., 2014; Mintzes & Walter, 2020) From the constructivist student centered approach to date there has been an increased emerging need for active learning in tertiary education in Vietnam and this trend influences how teachers change their beliefs and instructional practices (Prince, 2004). Yet, teaching at universities is mostly grounded on lecture mode (Nguyen, 2014), thus, the current shift from traditional lecture views towards a student centered active

Keywords: agency; active learning; ESP; beliefs; change process

indicateperceivedfocusobservations,ofinterperceiveHowever,instructionallearning.Thus,itrequiresteacherstochangenotonlythinkingaboutnewwaysbutalsoroleshiftinimprovingstudentlearning.thereisapaucityofresearchintohowsciencelecturerstheirpracticechangesasimprovingstudentlearninginactiveanddynamicways.Thispaperdrawsondatacollectedaspartaqualitativeactionresearchstudyincludinginterviews,classroomandplanningmeetingsoverthreesemesterperiods.Theofthisstudyisonthedatawhichexaminedhowfivelecturersandimplementedactivelearningstrategies.Thefindings

Abstract. This paper examines how English for Specific Purposes lecturers changed their teaching strategies that align with their beliefs about active learning at a Vietnamese university. There is a growing interest in making changes in tertiary instructional practices to involve students in active learning in response to increasing international contexts. Significant reforms of higher education in Vietnam have called for the quality of education, particularly foreign language teaching and

lecturers’ positive beliefs about the change process and their growingawarenessoftheneedfor rolechangesintheirpractices,thereby associating change with their agency in the change process Pedagogical implications for policymakers and ESP lecturers are also considered.

Integrating more active learning strategies, therefore, involves substantial changes in the beliefs, roles, and decision making of lecturers. Understanding such challenges, therefore, suggests that lecturers in ESP classes perceived themselves as agents of change in their teaching practices in line with new government policies. This paper provides insights from a study that examined lecturer agency about the change process that aligns with their beliefs in ESP classes to enhance student learning. The research question that guided the study reported in this paper was: ‘How do ESP lecturers change their teaching strategies in line with their beliefs about active learning?’

The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. learning approach is a real challenge for lecturers and students (Nguyen, Haworth, & Hansen, 2019) Also, there appears to be little research into science teachers’ agency about the active learning process in English for Specific Purposes classes to enhance student learning within the context in Vietnam. This paper therefore presents a new lens of active learning in the teacher change process that science lecturers perceived the need for change and then implemented their new strategies in their ESP classes. To effect changes in instructional practices and to promote student active learning in response to increasing international contexts, the Vietnamese Government has called for role changes of lecturers. This guiding principle necessitates lecturers’ innovative teaching strategies to enhance student learning, including their greater responsibility and participation in their learning process In particular, the National Foreign Language Project 2020 have called for the quality of teaching and learning foreign languages, including English at all levels of education to meet the needs of students (Ministry of Education and Training, 2008) These strategic policies present a real challenge for lecturers since teaching practices at Vietnam higher education institutions have been lecture based (Pham, 2010).

2. The literature

2.1. Active Learning Research into active learning has indicated its role as an alternative to traditional based approach (e.g., Armbruster, Patel, Johnson, & Weiss, 2009; Watters, 2014) Specifically, active learning strategies exert a strong impact on student learning (Prince, 2004). There are several perspectives on active learning in the literature. In this paper, two key features of active learning are discussed. Firstly, active learning refers to the notion of what students are engaging in doing activities and thinking about what they are doing (Bonwell & Eison, 1991). Their view entails the vital role of higher order thinking processes (e.g. analysis, synthesis and evaluation) as highlighted in Bloom’s (1956) taxonomy Once students are engaged as active participants in the learning process, their learning attitudes and skills may occur as a result (Smith, Sheppard, Johnson, & Johnson, 2005). This constructivist view suggests that students are likely to take greater responsibility for and involvement in learning. Secondly, active learning is that it “provides opportunities for students to talk and listen, read, write, and reflect as they approach course content through problem

solving exercises, information small groups, simulation, case studies, role playing, and other activities, all of which require students to apply what they are learning” (Meyers & Jones, 1993, p. xi) In this definition, active learning is particularly associated with the integration of skills mediated by the lecturer to help students learn. Thus, active learning places a strong emphasis on the role of the lecturer (Arthurs & Kreager, 2017; Auster & Wylie, 2006; Keyser, 2000) and importantly, the implementation of new strategies such as problem solving, technology advanced tasks, or evidence based instruction (Strubbe, Stang, Holland, Sherman, & Code, 2019). From these perspectives, active learning is viewed, for this study, as an interactive process in which students construct and utilize knowledge in critical and meaningful ways.

2.2. Lecturer agency

The notion of agency refers to the exercise of control over one’s behavior (Bandura, 1997; Holland, LachicotteJr., Skinner, & Cain, 1998); the power to act purposefully and reflectively (Inden, 2000); the power to make decisions that bring positive change (Moore, 2008); or the capacity to understand personal goals towards actions (Edwards, 2009). Bandura (1997) and Holland and his colleagues (1998) furtherdescribe agency asa causative interaction ofself efficacy beliefs influencing change (Water & Gerson, 2007). From these perspectives, effective teaching is likely to depend upon or is driven by the teacher or lecturer agency. There is a growing interest in teacher agency in response to the call for curriculum and instruction change initiated by the government; therefore, teachers are likely to act their roles as ‘agents of change’(Priestley, Biesta, & Robinson, 2015), ‘ecology’ (Biesta, Priestley, & Robinson, 2017), or ‘agentic professionals’ (Simpson, Sang, Wood, Wang, & Ye, 2018) As its name suggests, teachers are believed to play an indispensable role within the social, political, and cultural mediated contexts in which they work to effect changes (Willis, McGraw, & Graham, 2019). Such agentic beliefs are associated with lecturer commitment (Tao & Gao, 2017) and their passion for teaching. Lecturers, therefore, with a strong sense of agency can provide students with an effective learning environment, which contributes to their personal and social growth (Calvert, 2016; Tschannen Moran & Hoy, 2007; Tschannen Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001). The present study reported in this paper examines how lecturers' sense of agency was modified over time.

2.3. Lecturers’ beliefs, Self-efficacy Despite a growing concern of content based instruction taught through English as a challenge to lecturers and students in Asia (Feryok, 2008, 2012; Nunan, 2003), few studies have examined lecturers’ beliefs about change concerning active learning strategies presented to students within the ESP teaching and learning context where lecturers language and science are Vietnamese (Nguyen, 2013) This study is about lecturers’ beliefs about the change process and their implementation of active learning strategies. Lecturers’ beliefs refer to the ways that lecturers think about their actions (Clark & Peterson, 1986; Dewey, 1933; Martin, Park, & Hand, 2019). Beliefs influence lecturers’ actions in specific classroom practices for the sake of enhancement of

2.4. English for Specific Purposes and teacher change

The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. student learning (Dewey, 1933; Nespor, 1987; Pajares, 1992), including that of science education (Boesdorfer, Del Carlo, & Wayson, 2019; Lumpe, Haney, & Czeniak, 2000; Martin et al., 2019) Boesdorfer and colleagues (2019) reveal that science teachers’ beliefs about student learning of science and their instructional practices are connected and that teachers’ practices are viewed as enactment of what teachers believe is best for student learning. However, since beliefs are likely to be hard to change (Pajares, 1992), lecturers may need support and involved in new instructional activities that result in a change in their beliefs, knowledge, and practices (Bakkenes, Vermunt, & Wubbels, 2010). In other words, belief change is likely to promote practice change (Clark & Peterson, 1986; Cronin Jones, 1991). Self efficacy plays an important part in understanding the impact of lecturers’ beliefs and their instructional practices (Bandura, 1977; Hoy & Miskel, 2001; Pajares, 1992). Bandura (1977) defines self efficacy as “beliefs in one’s capacities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments” (p. 3). In this definition, self efficacy refers to a person’s judgment of his or her potential success in performing a given task, as noted in Hoy andMiskel (2001), Hansen (2004), and Kazempour (2008). Self efficacy beliefs are thus integral to teaching concerning motivation and student learning. Such beliefs help lecturers to "determine how much effort people will expend and how long they will persist in the face of obstacles and aversive experiences" (Bandura, 1977, p. 194). Other literature also supports the view that highlights the impact of self efficacy beliefs on lecturer practice (Hoy & Miskel, 2001; Pajares, 1996; Usher & Pajares, 2008). If lecturers have strong beliefs in their capabilities, then they are motivated toaccomplish theirtasksby developinginstructional activities oractive learning strategies that are important and relevant to their student learning in specific subjects or disciplines.

Over the last four decades, English for Specific Purposes has gained its increasing recognition in English language teaching and learning in science education (Basturkmen, 2006; Dudley Evans & St John, 1998; Khan, 2020) to meet the needs and interests of learners (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987; Ramirez, 2015) within multifaceted contexts of life, including education The terms ‘learner needs’ ,‘goal oriented’, and ‘process oriented’ all denote the defining characteristics of English for Specific Purposes (Kırkgöz & Dikilitaş, 2018; Nunan, 2003). ESP instruction, therefore, entails lecturer knowledge of the interplay of complexities of student learning, course content, and instructional practices English for Specific Purposes, as its name and above features suggests, demands that lecturers should make changes in practices to ensure student learning in effective ways. To keep up with ever changing globalized world of academia and work, English for Specific Purposes lecturers in Vietnamese tertiary context are no exception in shifting roles and making innovative instructional decisions to move students forward. While science lecturers recognize English for Specific Purposes as a crucial part in their teaching practices, the challenges as teachers’ lack of teaching skills,

The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. knowledge, and inadequate preparedness for the instruction are identified in the literature (e.g., Alsharif & Shukri, 2018). In Vietnam, students with mixed levels of English proficiency challenged lecturers in science classes A more recent study about teacher beliefs about active learning by Nguyen and his colleagues (2019) has identified big class size, unqualified subject specific lecturers; inactive students, and resources as key issues while experiencing change (Nguyen et al., 2019). Therefore, there is a pressing need for lecturers to tailor their instruction and syllabi, which in turn, drives them to change

3. The Study 3.1. Design and participants

Over the three semester periods, data gathered through semi structured interviews, observations, and planning meetings were electronically recorded.

3.2. Instruments

The first investigative tool focused on an in depth examination of lecturers’ beliefs about active learning and changes in their teaching practices. Extracts from observation and planning meetings were identified as the role change of lecturers and their decision making process in line with their beliefs in the change process.

The lecturers were first interviewed at the beginning and at the end of the action research process where they expressed their beliefs about active learning, the impact of beliefs on their role changes in science teaching over time. Each interview lasted approximately one hour. The lecturers were then observed in each class once a week from four to six times over the three semester period. Each

This paper reports on an aspect of a wider study that used qualitative action research undertaken at a university in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam to explore how lecturers in science classes implemented changes in line with beliefs about active learning and their role change. The criteria for selecting the lecturers focused on their similar tenure, professional and research knowledge, and English proficiency. However, these five science lecturers who were not trained with English for Specific Purposes teaching experienced new teaching strategies while endeavoring to improve their teaching practices through enhancing students’ active learning. These lecturers were working in five different colleges at university voluntarily participated in the study. At the time of the study, years of teaching experience of the lecturers varied from 14 to 32, with an average of 21.8 years. In this research the researcher played a facilitative role, working alongside the lecturers to develop active learning activities and reflect on their change practices. Pseudonyms are used to protect lecturers’ identities.

As action research focuses on bringing about changes and improving practice (Burns, 2010; Elliott, 1991; McNiff & Whitehead, 2010), the present study qualitatively recorded ways that both the researcher and participating lecturers collaboratively planned, acted, observed, reflected, and made action plans for changes. These opportunities allowed the lecturers in this study to understand the benefits of change, increase their capacity for change, and enhance their learning and professional growth.

This section presents the findings from the qualitative action research examining how science lecturers experienced the change process in English for Specific Purposes classes. Analysis of data is organized into three themes identified as lecturers’ beliefs about implementing active learning, awareness of role change, and their agency in the change process over time.

These comments indicate the increased involvement of both the participating lecturer and his students in the co construction of new knowledge. Another lecturer revealed that the implementation of active learning was necessary because this awareness indicated their students’ responsibility for learning sciences In a planning meeting, this lecturer further noted that active learning could allow students to contribute their ideas to what was presented to them (Bach, planning meeting notes).

3.1. Data analysis

4. Findings

The first theme identified from interview data was that all of the participating lecturers believed active learning was related to student centeredness and this trend was found to grow stronger in the implementation of change over time. For example, Tung said: “I think active learning was useful although I had to do many things and spent hours preparing new lesson plans and problem solving. In previous classes, I had not considered the answers to questions raised by students because they were passive (Tung, follow up interview)”

Initially, Tham believed that promoting active learning meant being student centered. She contended that

4.1. Lecturers’ beliefs about implementing active learning

fifty minute observation of lecturers’ lessons were video recorded, transcribed, and translated into English. Observation categories of the five stage lesson plan allowed lecturers to reflect on the effects of their role change in practice, and for the researcher to encourage further thinking and action plan through the key incidents in lecturers’ practices. Following the class observation, planning meetings were set with each lecturer to revisit the action, reflect on or evaluate the change effects, and then develop new active learning strategies for subsequent classes. Follow up interviews were finally conducted with the lecturers at the end of each semester of the study.

Interview data were analyzed using the thematic analysis (Boyatzis, 1998). This type of analysis helped identify categories and themes, as noted by Craig (2009) with reviewing data as ‘units of meaning’, as noted by Stringer (2008) These themes along with observation scenarios and planning meeting notes examined changes in lecturers’ beliefs, roles and practices over time.

Thus, Tham’s view recognized the importance of high order thinking that required students to utilize what they learned and expanded such learned knowledge for their new learning experience. At the end of her action project, Tham confirmed her beliefs about active learning that fitted into her teaching. She said: “Through students’ attitudes, I realize that they like this course. They express more ideas, speak more in English, and participate in more activities in a friendly and collaborative way. They can make presentations in class well whereas previously they were not told to do so (Tham, follow up interview).”

The theme of viewing students as active participants in their learning process happened again along with other interviewees about vocabulary teaching in context as a means of relating prior to new knowledge. Such changes in lecturers’ beliefs indicated that the higher order thinking he utilized could help students to learn more actively. Thus, students could learn, internalize their learning, and apply new knowledge.

For most lecturers, as change progressed, active learning had fitted into their teaching as a result of students’ increased participation in activities planned as part of the study. One lecturer stated:

“Active learning is focused on the role of the students, particularly how to help them build up new knowledge from previous experience and how to connect that knowledge ”

These above views suggest that these lecturers were more aware of students who were independent of their lecturers in learning new knowledge through interactions and implementation of technological resources. Their instructional change was therefore closely related to their motivation to promote student Atautonomy.theonset of the study, Bach associated change with the role of the students in their learning process. He said it was a real issue as active learning depends on student involvement and their accountability for their learning outcomes (Bach, initial interview). While participating in the change process, Bach acknowledged that active learning had fitted into his teaching and had been a positive experience up to this time: “Active learning is needed because it has fitted my role. Previously, I lectured and my students listened. They only knew the literal interpretation by translating texts and were passive. They forgot many things. Now, I have my students do many activities; therefore, they can use words with various meanings to fit in the context of their discipline (Bach, follow up interview) ”

It can be found that Tung shifted his roles in moving students beyond traditional ways of learning assigned tasks at different stages of his lessons and that by doing so, students as active participants of developing subject specific knowledge could involve in learning and thinking about the tasks presented to them instead of being asked to do. At the end of the action plan, Tung positively reflected on his role change: “I kept asking what students know and want, such as ‘What else can you say about this?’ rather than having them listen to me all the time as I did previously. In pairs or groups, they learned from interacting with others.”

The second theme was that the participating teachers were aware of their roles in the change process as they viewed themselves as facilitators of active learning. They indicated that they only provided students with basic knowledge and require them to find further information. The following extracts illustrate their views.

“I do think active learning has been part of my lesson plans and would be sustained if more time was provided. Biology terms are the most complicated ones in this paper. Well, it is therefore through discussions with peers, students are expected to learn more (Tam, follow up interview).”

Overall, despite some varying degrees of positive beliefs about active learning in the change process, their belief change to some extent could influence how they attempted alternative ways to get students involved in taking charge of their learning in English for Specific Purposes classes.

“I think now I act as a facilitator rather than a controller. Otherwise, students are still passive. I try to help them with ideas and keywords and make them think about what they want to study and to discuss” (Tung, follow up interview)

These comments suggest that Tung had changed his views on the lecturer student relationship, which allowed students to take more active roles. By taking a facilitative role, he engaged students in a dialogue that entailed thought provoking and shared ideas. In line with beliefs about active learning as noted earlier, Bach indicated a shift between his roles as a knowledge provider, a lecturer, and a facilitator: “The teacher has to master the vocabulary. Therefore, in the first lesson, I play the role of a guide. When students present ideas or opinions, I provide them with translating new terms. While students work in groups, I facilitate their tasks.”

This reflects how Bach conceptualized active English for Specific Purposes teaching as engaging his students in an interactive learning process.

4.2. Awareness of the role change

Recognizing the need for a role shift from a controller to a facilitator during teaching, Tham further said that she wanted to help less able students in practicing English skills. Thus, by taking a facilitative role, Tham provided her students with an opportunity to speak more English since they were seen as owners of new knowledge in their learning process. After she participated in the study, Tham revealed an increased awareness of her role change: “I provide students with the knowledge and the way to approach that knowledge. However, I focus more on teaching them how to learn, depending upon the stages of the lesson. I have different roles such as being an observer, a facilitator, or an assessor. I think the role of a facilitator or a guide dominates.”

Initially, Tham noted that by interweaving her roles, she was able to help move students beyond the passive learning they were used to. She said: “I am a controller of in class activities. In the role of an instructor, I assign them exercises and then correct their mistakes to help them know where they are. Besides, I act as a facilitator in leading group discussions.”

These reflections suggest that the lecturers played more supportive roles as time progressed as they focused upon the active roles of the students as autonomous learners instead of seeing them as passive recipients of knowledge. They also saw that the lecturer student relationships were established to contribute to more active learning of students in their classes

These comments suggest that by taking a facilitative role, Tham perceived her students as active learners who were becoming more responsible for constructing their knowledge. Two lecturers noted that towards the end of their participation in the study, they recognized the importance of the weaving of three roles in delivering their lessons. These role changes include a provider, a guide, and a facilitator at different stages of his lessons, as noted in the following two extracts: “First, I take the role of a knowledge provider. Second, [I am] a guide who shows students how to find references, and a controller throughout activities. When students take advanced papers, they will be more autonomous and I will act as a facilitator.” (My, planning meeting notes) “I teach students vocabulary and content knowledge. During the group discussion and exercises, I position myself as a facilitator. When students do not know what to do next for a given task, I play the role of a guide. Towards the end of the course, well, I talk less but my students talk more during the lesson” (Tam, planning meeting notes)

4.3. Self-efficacy and agency driving change Self efficacy

They expressed a strong sense of self efficacy about the change process. While Tung and Bach believed that the need for change was part of their work or responsibility, two other lecturers (Tham and My) expressed their sense of self efficacy tomake changesin pedagogical practices, particularly teachingstrategies.

The participating lecturers expressed varying degrees of self efficacy, which is a key component of personal beliefs about making changes.

All lecturers believed that they were agents of change in the implementation process of change in English for Specific Purposes science classes.

One good example that reflects personal efficacy is the case of Bach who said, “Lecturers have to find their ways to teach their papers. As a teacher, academic advisor, or supervisor, I know what to do for my students in learning this paper” (Bach, follow up interview) This quote suggests that Bach’s sense of self efficacy was based upon his teaching competence and roles rather than external or contextual influences by the university and college. Also, he became aware of not only general teaching efficacy but also English for Specific Purposes teaching efficacy that could drive him to make changes in his teaching practices.

With further regard to the self efficacy beliefs of lecturers, Tham’s case is an interesting example. She expressed her self efficacy beliefs about her planning of new teaching strategies, “I strive to engage my students in practicing as many exercises as possible to acquire sufficient English and find their ways to learn” (Tham, follow up interview) Tham’s assertion reflected her dedication to change in active learning practice as she viewed students taking responsibility for their learning process. Such beliefs may influence the choices of the strategies she could make, which were relevant to the needs of her students. In contrast, Tam's view on self efficacy expressed how change related to personal and professional pride, before she implemented the change process. She said, “I want my students to get through what I present to them. It would be my shame if my students did not understand my lesson” (Tam, follow up interview). Her response perhaps came as much from her expectations of herself as a teacher as from her teaching philosophy. Agency drives change

“Change is expected to perfect my desired goals bringing students to a higher level. Moreover, seeing students enjoy working with their businesses is an intellectual capital for me” (My, follow up interview).

His personal goals for student learning and their future work drove him to change while implementing new instructional practices

’s strong sense of agency demonstrated that his commitment and determination to make changes in his teaching profession was related to his role as an agent of change. He said, “If the University does not provide any support, I will still make changes.”

Tham also revealed that she had a strong sense of agency about his professional identity. She said, “If I do not make any changes in teaching, I will be left behind and cannot improve my teaching” (Tham, follow up interview).

Inherent in Tham's view concerning her role as being an agent of change was also the commitment she had to drive changes that allowed students opportunities to Mylearn.

In Tam’s case, she held a strong sense of agency about student learning. What she expected students to see her as a role model seemed to reflect not only the construction of identity about student learning outcomes but also her identity about moral values she could perceive.

I always want to help them to learn better and to be a role model” (Tam, follow up interview).

Tham viewed herself as a person who was ready to change. Her teaching philosophy of being an agent of change, as a science lecturer perhaps came from the strong link between the teaching goals set for her and her strong sense of professional identity, which could bring about change in her classroom practices.

In My’s words, he believed change was more likely to come from the lecturer himself rather than being contingent upon the institution. Unlike other lecturers in the present study, he believed change was a major part of his professional goals and closely linked with his identity as a science lecturer. He said,

Evidence of responsibility and roles about change can be seen in the case of Tam who said, “If I do not make any changes in my ways, students will not learn much.

Aligned with the beliefs about active learning noted earlier, the science lecturers were observed while implementing more active and interactive activities in their English for Specific Purposes classes, as evidenced in the following extracts of observation notes.

Likewise, at the beginning of the project, Bach stated that reading and translation were key to his teaching. He contended that these two skills in chemistry were needed to assist students in understanding technical terms (Bach, planning meeting), as presented in the observation notes: “Students were asked to read online a short text on chemistry for two minutes and then to translate into Vietnamese. In groups of four, they list the major points or ideas and then each group leader/ representative presents their completed task.” (Bach, observation notes #1) Bach further provided his students with an opportunity to take greater responsibility for their learning through watching short video clips of the ‘Human body and life process’.

“The teacher had students watch a video clip, ‘Biology: Seven life processes’. The time for the task is four minutes. Students were asked to complete the blanks provided on the blackboard. The teacher replayed the recording two times. Then, he asked students to read out loud the answer for each slot of the blanks to answer the questions mentioned on the board ” (Bach, observation notes #2) Similar to Back, Tham used reading and translation strategies in her class. However, as change occurred, she put students into interactive group work activities through brainstorming and concept mapping as she thought these two strategies provoked student thinking, as noted below.

Initially, Tung focused on teaching reading and speaking activities as two integral parts of his change process. He had students seat in groups of five and complete the reading task for ten minutes. In guiding students to interact with other peers, he and the researcher provided them some prompts, moved around the class to check if they needed help (Tung, observation notes). In a planning meeting, Tung shared that he now understood reading for main ideas was essential because students needed an exact content knowledge (planning meeting). Near the end of the study, Tung utilized interactive ways such as panel discussion, brainstorming, and concept mapping to allow his students to take more active roles, as shown below.

“Each group member [student] first presented one section on ‘Bacteria growth phases’. Students were asked to brainstorm some ideas related to each of the five phases (from lag to death phases). Then, they were given some new words and their meanings for clarity. Later, students were asked to link ideas and to develop the logic of the topic” (Tung, observation notes) One can see that Tung shifted his role to a facilitator while encouraging students to speak more English. During the planning meeting, he said these new strategies could expose students to a deeper thinking about the lesson.

“Students were asked to tell what they knew about the cell (definition, functions and history) before watching slides of ‘Parts of the cell’. In pairs, students were asked to observe the diagram, answer true false questions, read the passage, and translate these segments into Vietnamese. Pronunciation of new words was included” (Tung, observation notes #2) Thus, Tung believed that the use of questioning accompanying video clips helped students learn. This practice indicates thathe integratedall English language skills into the lesson to enhance students’ speaking opportunities and familiarize them with critical thinking. He went on to explain that when students worked in pairs, they tended to feel more relaxed and to interact with other students (planning Throughoutmeeting).

the study, Tung was more aware of the usefulness of the role of the students as active learners while positioning himself as a facilitator, as illustrated in the following episode “Tung had students do the matching exercise on two cell categories (prokaryotic and eukaryotic). He pointed to three students who were completed the task and checked their answers. Students then presented their work. Then, Tung explained cell parts illustrated by a picture” (Tung, observation notes #3).

Through reflections, Tham acknowledged the benefits of collaborative undertaking with the researcher “This co working research is useful because it allows me to change a lot and forward my professional growth. Action means improvement and commitment to inquiring into classroom practice. I think I will continue new ways to make students learn better” (Tham, planning meeting)

From Tham’s joint decision making, it can be concluded that she understood the effects of changes in practice were in close connection with professional growth. As part of implementing active learning, Tung used a questioning technique, matching, and reflective writing. These activities aimed to provide students with more opportunities to take more active roles in their learning (planning meeting).

“The teacher asked students to brainstorm what factors affect the development and growth of trees. Students were then asked to connect ideas using maps. The teacher finally had students discussed with their peers and report the final work” (Tham, observation notes # 4)

Observation notes below illustrated how Tung initiated the changes.

The observed changes in Tung’s strategies indicated that he considered students to be the center of the learning process. In particular, he asked students to write a short passage about the topic just presented and indicated he would continue to use journal writing as a lesson closure. He shared that this strategy not only enabled students to think about what they learned and improve writing skills as

The present study contributes to the lecturer agency about active learning literature in language and teaching of English as a foreign language, particularly involving lecturers in integrating English skills with subject content as a result of working alongside with the researcher. In understanding the need to place students in the center of their learning, the science lecturers change to view themselves as facilitators rather than traditional lecturers. Teacher change in this study was found to be a dynamic and collaborative process in that the stages of developing, implementing, reflecting, and then planning further actions occurred Overcyclically.the semester periods, the implementation of active learning strategies reflected the intricacies of lecturers’ strong beliefs bout change and increased

The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. well but also allowed him to reflect on the effects of his new actions on student learning (planning meeting). Tung also expressed his positive views on the change process about active learning: “It is a good opportunity for me not only to learn more about the methods to teach this paper but also to gain other perspectives about teaching. After sharing experiences with you, I learned to make the syllabus available to students from the very beginning of the class because I can save time for other class activities; and the syllabus offers students a whole picture of what is going on within the whole year.” (Tung, follow up interview)

“Before ending her class, Tam asked students to write reflections on ‘fish morphology.’ Time for this task was ten minutes.” (Tam, observation notes #4)

5. Discussion

Throughout the interactions, Tung learned more about other aspects of teaching practice, thereby nurturing his personal and professional growth. Tam showed how she developed her teaching strategies over the semester of her participation through the use of video clips, pictures, and reflective writing to engage students in taking more active roles. Her changes are described in the following scenarios. “Tam had students watch an online broadcast on tiger shrimp and fish base. Students observed, took notes, and identified key concepts from the picture of a fish. Time for the listening and observing task was three minutes. Students were asked to jot down the names of thirteen parts of a fish. Then Tam had them free practice.” (Tam, observation notes #3)

The observed changes illustrated how Tam employed new active learning strategies in the change process to enhance students’ listening and writing, promote lecturer student interactions, and particularly her new understanding of the value of collaborative involvement.

The varying degrees of lecturers’ self efficacy were found to drive lecturers to make changes in their English for Specific Purposes teaching practices. While some lecturers perceived the need for change as part of their work and responsibility, others expressed their self efficacy to make changes in pedagogical practices, particularly planning new strategies. Such beliefs were articulated in line with changed practices as they viewed themselves as agents of change, reflecting their strong commitment of the lecturers. It may be that their sense of self in enhancing student learning was intertwined with their beliefs about meeting the needs of students. This finding is important because their beliefs about active learning were more likely to be driven by their personal and professional identities. Agency and identity are closely connected (Beauchamp & Thomas, 2009; Holland et al., 1998; Tao & Gao, 2017; Wenger, 1998); therefore, once lecturers’ beliefs changed, theywere likely toreconceptualize orchange roles and embark on experimenting with agentic teaching practices to promote student learning.

6. Conclusions

This study examined lecturers’ beliefs and agency about how active learning was utilized in English for Specific Purposes classes at a university. The findings of this study contribute to agency literature about science teaching at a tertiary non western context, particularly in Vietnam, in several ways. This study enhances understanding of the meaning of teacher change and its close connection with the process of learning and professional growth. The lecturers’ reflections on the change process provided insights into the impact of lecturers’ beliefs on their decision making processes. The potential to implement new approaches has expanded the theory of change in science teaching. This research illustrates how action and change can occur in Science classes in Vietnam, thereby promoting further investigation into how lecturers’ beliefs about change influence their agency. In other words, lecturers of different disciplines could consider ways to reflect on their practices and enhance their beliefs about the capacity for change over time. As a result of such benefits, more lecturers may move forward by participating in qualitative action research

awareness of change about their role shifts. In particular, it is interesting to note that in the collaborative change process, the lecturers’ beliefs about active learning were consistent with the ways they changed their practices. Their beliefs support the literature that indicates the value of recognizing the active roles for students in their learning process (Bonwell & Eison, 1991; Mintzes & Walter, 2020). The insights that these lecturers had were developed through interviews, observations, and planning meetings. Despite slight variations within their views on active learning, they came to understand the need to shift their teaching roles fromlecturers tofacilitators of student learningoract interwoven roles at different stages of their lessons in the change process, thereby encouraging students to voice their ideas, select and construct new knowledge. This awareness is consistent with the literature on learning space design in higher education (Harrop & Turpin, 2013; Savin Baden, 2008), indicating that informal learning spaces allow students to have greater engagement in active learning.

The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. projects or initiatives on a large scale. Awareness of the nature of the lecturer agency about active learning raises some implications for policymakers and ESP lecturers. Policymakers should consider providing lecturers with high demands for change and better resources to ensure change occurs and becomes part of lecturers’ personal and professional growth. As belief change could heighten their self efficacy through active learning strategies, lecturers should be encouraged to research into improving their practice by observing how other academic colleagues teach their papers. Thus, these beliefs together with their roles could influence and inform their future actions. The lecturers can discover the worth of collaborating with others through conducting action research into how active learning strategies that change their existing practices.

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106 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 106 122, March https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.72020

Corresponding author: Pei Miin Wong, Email: dorricewong@gmail.com

Keywords: Mentimeter; vocabulary; writing; cooperative learning

Abstract. This paper aimed to examine the effectiveness of using Mentimeter, which is an online virtual platform to enhance the writing vocabulary among pupils. By using Mentimeter, they can access the platform to collaborate with their peers and teacher regardless of the time frame, geographical and self confident factors. This collaborative discussion platform would expand pupils’ word bank and understanding about the writing task; thus helping them in accomplishing their writing tasks. An action research based on Kemmis and McTaggart model was carried out with 40 pupils with a marginal passing rate by using pre and post test, questionnaire and unstructured interviews. The findings showed a significant difference between the results of pre and post test and positive feedbacks from the pupils. In conclusion, Mentimeter is an effective tool to enhance pupils’ writing vocabulary. The results of this study may be beneficial to educators in employing Mentimeter in teaching of writing vocabulary. However, this paper is only focused on the effectiveness of using Mentimeter to increase the vocabulary of pupils in writing within the targeted group thus further study is needed to ascertain the efficacy of using Mentimeter and to generalise the findings to a larger population.

Enhancing Writing Vocabulary Using Mentimeter

Pei Miin Wong* and Melor Md. Yunus Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Selangor, Malaysia

1. Introduction 21st Century Learning is widely spread among education throughout the globe to ensure the learning of pupils is relevant to the globalisation of education. Proficiency needed in the 21st century differs from the previous centuries due to the emergence of the revolution of information and communication technologies (ICT) (James & Ron, 2010) and the skills to learn and practice in daily life are changing rapidly, including the need to master learning and innovation skills, digital literacy and career and life skills (Bernie & Charles, 2009). In other words, pupils nowadays are anticipated to be able to initiate their learning, collaborate with others while working, solve problems either critically or creatively, and

Clearly,revamp.theMalaysian

However, the Malaysian Ministry of Education reported that VLE usage by teachers, students and parents was exceedingly low, that was between 0.01percent and 4.69percent in 2014 (MoE, 2014). The low participation of the above mentioned parties were indeed reviewed in the statistic tabulated (Frog Asia, 2016), showing the usage of Frog VLE between 12 18 October 2015 by students, teachers and parents in Kuala Lumpur:

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. acquire different knowledge and information through a variety of media or ICT. To furnish the pupils with the 21st century skills, they should be taught using the 21st century teaching approach (Pamela et al., 2016) and ICT can be utilised as a learning tool in education (Yunus et al., 2013). According to Simin et al. (2016), “Due to ICT’s importance in society as well as in the future of education, identifying the possible challenges to integrating these technologies in schools would be an important step in improving the quality of teaching and learning.” It is undeniable that ICT plays an important role in the current trend of education as Dawes (2001) stated that current technologies can provide opportunities for adequate communication between teachers and pupils, thus the education seems to be able to

government emphasise the innovation in ICT to improve teaching and learning processes as what mentioned in the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013 2025. Thus, the education industry has been expected to prepare teachers, pupils as well as other people in this society to be competent in technologies, make use of it, and to contribute toward the attainment of the national goal, which is to transform Malaysia into a developed and world known country (Garba et al., 2015). The government therefore has implemented new policies with huge funds allocation to provide the infrastructure and facilities needed for ICT integration in the education industry (Ong & Ruthven, 2009). For instance, Frog Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) was introduced in Malaysia public schools since 2012 as an extension from 1Bestari.net (MoE, 2016), the previous fundamental ICT in almost all schools in Malaysia. Frog VLE is a media rich platform comprising various interactive activities and contents for teachers to share their teaching ideas in a trustworthy environment (Hew & Syed Abdul Kadir, 2016). It was aiming to create a 21st century learning environment (Kim et al., 2012) in Malaysian schools and to improve the teaching and learning process. With the sufficient technologies provided in schools, it is hoped that teaching and learning of all subjects, including the learning of English as a second language (ESL) could be conducted in a way which fulfils the requirements of 21st century learning. According to Cheok and Wong (2016), ICT enhances teaching and learning with pupils having the authority to access to more content that is more engaging and interactive and they will be responsible on their learning at their own pace. Educators, on the other hand, will have access to local and foreign resources to improve their teaching and learning. The assorted range of technologies available for use in language teaching and learning has promoted its functionality in language practice (Yunus, 2018) and it is relevant to the needs of improving the learning ESL, including the writing (Yunus, 2007).

the education system in Malaysia is still exam oriented although the government is trying to improve the system by amending the syllabus, teaching methods, assessment means and variety ICT based teaching management system. Pupils who go for public schooling are required to receive six years of primary education and sit for the Malaysian Primary School Achievement Test (UPSR) by the end of their primary education. For English, pupils would have to sit for two papers: the comprehension paper and the written paper. Pupils are expected to acquire the language after six years of ESL learning. Surprisingly, “New UPSR Format Sees Big Drop in Straight A Scorers” (2016) reported 12% of the candidates failed the comprehension paper while more than 23% of them failed to achieve the minimal passing grade for their English written paper in the 2016 UPSR and it showed slight improvement in the following years. Pupils could not answer the papers due to reasons.

108 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. Table 1: Usage of Frog VLE (12 18 October 2015) within primary and secondary schools in Kuala Lumpur (Frog Asia, 2016) Participants Total number of. Total logged in of. Percentage Schools 300 271 90% Teachers 17955 4161 23% Students 227652 13939 6%

Besides, the contract of the Malaysian Education Ministry with the network provider of Frog VLE, which is YTL Communications Sdn Bhd (YTLC) ended on 30th June 2019. According to “Ministry: We didn’t terminate YTLC contract” (2019), the Education Ministry secretary general Datuk Dr Mohd Gazali Abas mentioned that the ministry had paid YTLC around RM3.8billion for 1Bestari.net but the improvement of it was scarcely seen. The ministry as well needed to respond to schools’, teachers’ and parents’ comments that 1BestariNet and Frog VLE were rather problematic. Therefore, the functionality and effectiveness of Frog VLE in the teaching and learning of ESL is certainly questionable and there is a need to look for an alternative to address the existing Moreover,problem.

Table 1 showed the usage of Frog VLE within schools in Kuala Lumpur. The result was indeed disappointing as Kuala Lumpur is the capital of Malaysia and is equipped with the best infrastructures, internet services and education resources. Despite internet and Frog VLE are provided to 90percent of the schools in the country, the usage of Frog VLE was at a very minimal rate where only 23percent of teachers and 6percent of pupils who logged in the VLE. It is undeniable that some of the participants might have just logged into their account, without really using it as many teachers commented that they were facing time constraint and it was rather troublesome to use Frog VLE as they were burdened with their heavy workload and unstable internet connections in schools (Norazilawati et al., 2013; Kaur & Hussien, 2014).

2. Literature Review

1.1 Research Gap Due to that, the researcher had researched the inability of Year 4 pupils (aged 10) in writing because they are incapable in constructing correct sentences and due to the wide transition gap between the Year 3 (aged 9) and the Year 4 exam formats. Later, the researcher discovered that the Year 5 pupil (aged 11) in her school are as well unable to comprehend questions and to express their ideas accurately due to the lack of vocabulary; resulting them unable to complete the writing task and showing least interest in writing activities. It is similar to Rifaat (2019) who mentioned that “The lack of vocabulary, worry about having mistaken, have no idea to start writing, or have no good strategy to write are the common problems faced by the students when they are asked to write the paragraph.” Meanwhile, it is also coherent to Ariyanti and Fitriana (2017) who supported that implementation of vocabulary is one of the difficulties faced by pupils in writing.

1.2 Research Purpose To elucidate this problem, the researcher employed ‘Mentimeter’, a free web based platform, to help pupils to increase their writing vocabulary. Barker and Gossman (2013) proved that virtual learning environment is capable of bringing a positive impact on pupils’ learning. It increases their motivation to learn and promotes communication and cooperative learning. Thus, this study aimed to explore to what extent does ‘Mentimeter’ help in increasing pupils’ writing vocabulary?

2.1 Importance of VLE Virtual learning environment (VLE) has gradually gained its place within the education sector as the variety of tools and their functionality in supporting pupils, teachers and schools (Alves et al., 2016). It serves as a great learning tool and offers many features including communication facilities, document submissions, Information sharing, linking external sources; and embedding content in different forms (BBC Active, 2010). Bouhnik and Marcus (2006) have listed four advantages of e learning, including the freedom to decide when each online lesson will be learnt, lack of dependence on the time constraints of the lecturer, freedom to express thoughts and ask questions without limitations and the accessibility to the course’s online materials at students’ selection. Zaki and Yunus (2015) also agreed that it is possible to integrate it into writing lessons so pupils could acquire knowledge in different ways and learn how to perform better in their writing task. Eom (2012) conducted a study on the successfulness of the e learning system based on the multi dimensional research model developed by Wang, Wang and Shee (2007). In the study, 674 undergraduates participated in the survey. The data analysis showed that self-efficacy and satisfaction of the users are influenced by system and information quality. Besides, Eom (2012) also argued that expository power in understanding learners’ satisfaction and effectiveness of the system in the e learning context is restricted despite of its extensive success in other contexts.

Thus, it is important to have VLE introduced in schools to promote an interactive learning system that has no limitations and boundaries. Pupils acan learn without any barrier and in a more flexible way. Therefore, pupils can reach out to the latest learning materials and gaining extra knowledge other than the textbooks. Likewise, low achievers are encouraged to learn at their own pace through the VLE platform as they are given chances to get back to the previous materials to have a better understanding. Alternatively, high performers are allowed to carry on with the following subject areas and certainly they are motivated to strive for a more desirable outcome in learning. Barker and Gossman (2013) also proved that virtual learning environment is capable of bringing a positive impact on pupils’ learning by increasing their motivation to learn and promoting communication and collaborative learning.

On contrarily, there are also hiccups in using VLE. Leonardo (2017) mentioned that the capacity of laboratories, sufficient supply of computers and stability of internet connection remained the major challenges in implementing VLE. Chetwynd (2017) also argued that developing a VLE could be time consuming as teachers were required to prepare and upload materials on the platform whilst some of them might be little or no experience in using websites in their practice. They also need to deliver the content beforehand so the learners could be on the right path of using the VLE within the given framework or task content. Besides, some of the learners might take VLE as a ‘dumping ground’ which they post and upload a variety of materials and information without proper organisation; and finally lead to frustration in using the sites. However, if the above mentioned shortcomings are solved, the implementation of VLE would be beneficial to the learners (Leonardo, 2017).

2.2 Mentimeter Mentimeter is an online, audience response system, which encourages interactive learning to take place (John, 2018). It becomes a popular tool among educators since 2014 (Mayhew, 2019) as it is a very convenient tool for both teachers and pupils, free and does not require further downloads nor installation (Jurgen, 2018; Puspa & Imamyartha, 2019); thus reducing a lot of hassle during its usage. To use Mentimeter, pupils could enter a unique six digit code to access to specific pages assigned by their teachers and start sending responses. The only criterion to use Mentimeter is that one must have access to the internet. In other words, Mentimeter can be used by pupils during the class as long as they are provided with internet and can engage pupils in real time (Emma, 2018) and instant feedbacks, ideas and outcomes of discussions could be collected. The use of such electronic system or tool simultaneously encourages greater engagement and a higher participation rate and offers in class anonymity which traditional discussions do not (Heaslip et al., 2014); and is useful in actively engaging students (Morrison, 2015). Mentimeter promotes collaborative learning as it allows pupils to share their thoughts (Quang, 2018) as they post their ideas on the same page (Lina & Annika, 2015). Also, pupils who lack of ideas or who have lower proficiency could refer to their peers’ feedback, and try to express their thoughts; thus

2.3 Writing Vocabulary

In language learning, writing is one of the components which strongly related to vocabulary learning as studies shown that there is a significant relationship between vocabulary knowledge and academic performance (Ruth, 2016). “Written language is far more complex than spoken language in terms of organisation, vocabulary, and sentence structure,” (Cudd & Roberts, 1993). Olinghouse & Leaird (2009) also defined that vocabulary in writing symbolises the maturity and authenticity of written work produced by ESL learners. According to Alfaki (2015), people can share their ideas, feelings, persuading and convincing others through their writing; and some people may write for personal enjoyment.

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. reducing negative participation in the class. It also “supports quality learning through encouraging interaction and discussion from even the most introverted students” (Crump & Sparks, 2018).

However, many pupils are unable to perform in their writing task due to limited exposure to the language and for their lack of vocabulary and language skills (Daud et al., 2005; Linse, 2005; Nguyen & Dong, 2015); and “Knowing a word's definition is not all that can be learned about a word” (Marco, 2018). To produce a piece of good writing, it is necessary to enrich the vocabulary of the pupils (Cindy et al., 2018) by providing a certain level of understanding. Pupils as well, are concerned over the teachers’ feedback on their writing and their word choice (Karakoc & Kose, 2017). According to Bakhsh (2016), teaching vocabulary through interesting means is important to ESL learners because they sustain enjoyment and interest in learning and use the vocabulary learned more creatively. Thus, the use of Mentimeter in teaching vocabulary is considered as an interesting way for learners to engage in the learning activities.

Vocabulary is one of the important language elements that one must acquire in mastering a language (Bambang & Utami, 2008). Vocabulary is defined as all the words in a particular language (Wehmeier et al., 2005). The language learners need to learn vocabulary because “the building blocks of language learning and communication are not grammar, function, notions, or some other unit of planning and teaching but lexis, that is, word and word combinations” (Richards & Rodgers, 2001).

Furthermore, researches showed that pupils expressed favouritism towards Mentimeter and recommended it be used by others as it provides variety for questions, layouts and most importantly, it does not preclude routine questions and answers of the pupils (Davina & Kelly, 2017). According to Chris and Keele (2016), “Mentimeter offers highly customisable activities which can facilitate an instant analysis of responses, provide downloadable data sets and create an interactive teaching and learning experience for groups of varying sizes.” Therefore, it is indeed a suitable tool to use in education, especially in the learning of English (Puspa & Imamyartha, 2019).

Sufficient vocabulary is the key factor to produce meaningful and comprehensible written work. If the vocabulary acquired by the learners is insufficient, the written production would not be perceived (Maskor & Baharudin, 2016). Research has shown that lack of vocabulary contributes to writing difficulty for ESL learners (Santos, 1988).

ConsensualknowledgeCommonknowledgeHarmonisedknowledge acquisitionvocabulary

CooperativeLearning

2.4 Cooperative Learning Learning is an on going process involving interaction between educators and learners; learners and learners; and learners and the learning resources in a learning environment. In other words, both learners and educators need to cooperate to ensure learning takes place. Cooperative learning is an educational approach which aims to organize classroom activities into academic and social learning experiences. Li and Lam (2013) defined cooperative learning as “A student centred, instructor facilitated instructional strategy in which a small group of students is responsible for its own learning and the learning of all group members.”

According to Slavin (1995), “In cooperative learning methods, student work together in four member teams to master material initially presented by the teacher.” Anita Lie (2000) also mentions that cooperative learning takes place when a group of four to six people work together towards the goals that have been determined. It can be argued that cooperative learning can arouse pupils’ interest and enthusiasm in learning; thus optimum results could be achieved. Isjoni (2010) has identified six benefits of cooperative learning for pupils in English. For instance, positive interdependence or the reciprocal relationship that is based on a common interest or feelings among the group members, the recognition of individual differences in responses while face to face interaction or discussing takes place, pupils are involved in planning and classroom management including what to study and when to study, relax and fun classroom atmosphere, the establishment of a warm and friendly relationship between pupils and teachers and opportunities to express one’s idea. It is undeniable that some of the pupils are introvert and reluctant to participate in the traditional classroom discussions. Thus, a virtual discussion might help them to build a reciprocal relationship with their peers.

2.5 Conceptual Framework

Writing

Figure 1: Conceptual framework of the study Mentimeter Lowinachievementwriting Insufficientwritingvocabulary

3. Material and Method To study the effectiveness of Mentimeter in enhancing writing vocabulary among year 5 pupils, the researcher employed action research in a primary school in Seri Kembangan, Selangor. When referring to Roscoe (1975), the appropriate sample size for a study ranged from 30 to 500 and the use of sample size about 10per cent is recommended. The population consists of 342 pupils. Thus, purposive sampling was adopted by the researchers where 40 pupils (11.7per cent) from a class were chosen as the samples in this study. They are placed in the class at the beginning of the year because of their average achievement in all the co subjects being taught in school including English. Hence, the study concentrated on the results of Mentimeter in enhancing their writing vocabulary.

The framework of the study is as shown in the Figure 1. It is divided into three main parts, which are the reasons for the implementation of Mentimeter, the underpinning theory and the outcomes of using Mentimeter. From the observations made by the researchers, pupils have shown dissatisfactory achievement in their UPSR written paper due to several factors, including the factors being explored in this study, which is the insufficient writing vocabulary among pupils. The second part concentrates on the cooperative learning among pupils. Mentimeter is a tool which promotes cooperative learning. The pupils with common knowledge, or the vocabulary they know in this study, contributed and cooperated with their peers and produced the harmonised knowledge at the end of the implementation of Mentimeter, which is the vocabulary they can use in respective writing tasks. Next, the benefits of using Mentimeter are being discussed in this study. The investigated aspects including the acquisition of writing vocabulary by using Mentimeter in teaching and learning of writing vocabulary are discussed in this study.

Next, data was collected through both quantitative and qualitative method.

Firstly, pre and post test had been administered before and after the implementation of Mentimeter to evaluate the ability of pupils to use appropriate and effective vocabulary in writing. The same material and test questions were used for both pre test and post test. The test was designed in a way that pupils were required to write a descriptive essay based on a series of 3 pictures given. 5 words are given in each picture to aid the pupils in their writing. The work was read as a whole and marked by the teacher in school following a scheme similar to the UPSR marking scheme, with 80 100 marks for pieces with sophisticated sentences, well planned ideas and effective use of vocabulary; 60 79 marks for pieces with well planned ideas, minimal errors in the sentences, correct use of vocabulary; 40-59 marks for pieces with ideas which are generally well planned, some errors in the sentences and correct use on some vocabulary; 20 39 marks for pieces with attempts to sequence ideas logically, multiple errors in the sentences and attempts to use vocabulary in very limited range; and 1 19 marks for pieces with chunking of ideas and very limited use of vocabulary. The means of the tests were compared. Inferential data analysis had also been carried out to identify the significant difference between the results.

6040200 Pre-test Post-test ScoreMean Pre and Post Test Mean Score of

and

Figure 2: Comparison of mean between pre test and post test

Mean

As for qualitative data, an unstructured interview was conducted with 5 of the pupils who participated in the study. The interviews were conducted after the completion of questionnaires to identify if the use of Mentimeter can solve the problems faced by the pupils. The pupils who participated in the interviews were interviewed by the researcher individually in the classroom as mentioned above. The feedback from the pupils were recorded, transcribed and further elaborated to support the findings of the study.

For pre test, pupils obtained total marks of 1638 with a mean score of 40.95. For post test, pupils obtained 2038 marks with a mean score of 50.95. The rise of 10 mean score indicates the pupils had completed their writing task and performed better in their post test. 40.95 50.95 Pre Post Test

Then, the researchers surveyed the use of Mentimeter to investigate the effectiveness of Mentimeter in enhancing their writing vocabulary. The researchers adopted the investigator administered questionnaire where the questionnaires were filled up in the presence of the researcher to assist the pupils when there is a need. Besides, the pupils answered the questionnaires in a classroom with separated sittings, thus no discussion was made among them during the process of answering the questionnaire. Furthermore, pupils are required to answer the questionnaire on their own pace, thus reducing anxiety caused by a limited period. The questionnaire consist of 2 sections: 3 questions about the demographic profiles of the pupils and 10 questions about the research question. All the questions in the questionnaire are closed ended questions with a four point Likert scales: strongly disagree (S.D), disagree (D), agree (A) and strongly agree (S.A). The choice for neutral was omitted from the scales as Asians tend to choose the midpoint on the scales (Lee et al., 2002). The data obtained from the questionnaire was analysed, tabulated and discussed in the following section to obtain the average responses of the pupils towards the effectiveness of Mentimeter in enhancing their writing vocabulary.

This study aimed to find out the effectiveness of Mentimeter in enhancing pupils’ writing vocabulary. The results derived from the pre and post test are presented in Figure 2.

4. Results and Discussion

Table 2: Test of normality Test Shapiro-Wilk Statistic df Sig. Pretest .971 40 .382 Posttest .967 40 .287

Later, paired two sample t test has also been done to compare the difference between means for pre test and post test. According to Kitchin and Tate (2013), p<0.05 would indicate a significant result and often termed ‘highly significant’.

The pre post test results indicated the use of Mentimeter can help pupils to achieve better learning outcomes, which is the ability to complete their writing task. From what the researcher had observed, the post test done by the pupils reflected better use of vocabulary in constructing correct sentences and presenting ideas. The use of Mentimeter is showing significant results towards pupils’ writing vocabulary. However, it is not to forget that the same material and test questions were used for both pre test and post test. The post test was carried out a month later than the pre test. Although the pupils were not informed that the questions would be the same, they did know that there would be another test after the use of Mentimeter, as mentioned by one of the pupils, “My teacher already told us that there will be another test, a similar one, after we finished the program.” It is undeniable some of the pupils might have revised on what they had done in the pre test and had prepared themselves for the post test; which their actual ability to use the vocabulary in their writing is not tested. According to one of the pupils, “We already know that there will be another test. So, I did some revision at home. I remembered the words we learned in class and found something similar in my books. I’m quite lucky that I read the essay before, thus I can write better in the second test.”

According to Riffenburgh (2012), normality of a distribution could be tested by using the Shapiro Wilk test when the sample size, n<50. Since there were only 40 samples in this study, Shapiro Wilk test had been conducted and the data collected are normal with sig.=0.382 for pre test and sig.=0.287 for post test, p>0.05; therefore parametric test was used in this study.

Table 3: Paired sample T test

The study has shown a significant difference between means for pre test and post test with t(39)= 14.326, p<0.05.

Paired Differences Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean t df Sig. tailed)(2 PosttestPretest 9.500 4.194 .663 14.326 39 .000

A pupil stated that: “Sometimes I really can’t think of the right vocabulary to use on the theme given by my teacher. But, when I look at the answers posted by my friends, I got some ideas and they help me in getting more words for my writing.”

Another pupil also mentioned that, “My English is not good. My friends’ answers helped me a lot.” Mentimeter allows pupils to brainstorm ideas and indirectly, they can learn from one another. Generally, the feedbacks of the pupils are coherent to Quang (2018) who concluded Mentimeter as a collaborative learning tool as it promotes idea sharing among the users. However, there was one pupil who responded differently, “Although this app is not bad, I think some of my friends copied my answer and I’m not happy with that.” Besides, pupils also complied that Mentimeter had provided them with more writing vocabulary (mean=3.23), thus making them to be more confident in completing their writing task (mean=3.20).

116 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. Thus, the effectiveness of Mentimeter is investigated through the following questionnaire. Table 4: Effectiveness of Mentimeter in improving writing vocabulary No. Item S.D D A S.A Mean 1. Mentimeter helps in improving my writing vocabulary. 2 4 20 14 3.15 2. I posted the vocabulary that I know on Mentimeter. 0 8 21 11 3.08 3. I learn vocabulary posted by my friends on Mentimeter. 3 6 12 19 3.68 4. I understand more vocabulary given in my writing task. 2 12 18 8 2.80 5. I can use more vocabulary in my writing. 0 4 23 13 3.23 6. I am more confident in my writing. 2 2 22 14 3.20 7. I think Mentimeter is useful. 0 2 21 17 3.38 8. I think Mentimeter is not useful at all. 29 11 0 0 1.28 9. I will continue to use Mentimeter. 2 2 23 13 3.18 10. I will introduce Mentimeter to my friends. 0 3 24 13 3.25

Based on the results derived from the questionnaire, pupils reflected that they collaboratively learned vocabulary by using Mentimeter (mean=3.68) and acknowledged Mentimeter as a useful tool in learning vocabulary (mean=3.38).

5. Conclusion Based on the results and data gathered from the 40 pupils who participated in this study, it is clearly shown that the use of Mentimeter has significant results towards pupils’ writing vocabulary and leading them to outperform in their writing task. The findings imply that pupils agreed Mentimeter is an effective tool which enables them to enhance their writing vocabulary and provide them with a collaborative learning environment. They were comfortable to learn from their peers and indirectly increase their confidence in completing their writing task. Thus, it is hoped that educators should be aware of the functionality and potential of Mentimeter, and integrate it in their teaching and learning process. However, this paper is only focused on the effectiveness of using Mentimeter to increase the vocabulary of pupils in writing within the targeted group thus further study is needed to ascertain the efficacy of using Mentimeter in teaching and learning of other language skills, such as grammar items, so the pupils would be beneficial from the studies and to generalise the findings to a larger population.

“I think I’ve learned a lot of vocabulary by using Mentimeter,” commented by one of the pupils. The other pupil also responded that: “Last time I don’t know what the right words to use in my writing are.

My teacher always put a lot of wavy lines in my exercise, saying that I’m using the wrong vocabulary. Mentimeter helps me to learn a lot of new vocabulary needed for my writing.”

Based on the statement above, the pupil thought that Mentimeter has provided them with the necessary vocabulary in producing better writing. She added that, “I feel really upset when I see a lot of wavy lines in my essay. But now, I feel better as I’ve some improvements. I think I can do better next time.” Also, most of the pupils (mean=3.18) agreed that they would continue to use Mentimeter in their future writing task and recommend the tool to their friends (mean=3.25). “I enjoy using Mentimeter. I think it is very good as it helps me a lot in getting the right words for my writing. I wish I can still use it after this, and maybe with my friends” responded by one of the pupils. Another pupil also stated that: “I don’t want to stop using it. It gives me a lot of ideas on vocabulary that I can use in my essay. Furthermore, it is fun to learn this way, where my friends and I can learn from one another. It is interesting to see different answers popping out on the Mentimeter.”

It is in conjunction with Atay and Ozbulgan (2007) who stated online vocabulary teaching can provide individualised language learning experience and raise the awareness of language learning strategies which learners can utilise it in their studies after leaving the language classroom.

6. Recommendations Based on the findings of this study, the researcher would like to suggest a few factors to be investigated in the future. First of all, Mentimeter is a real time responses tool. In this study, the pupils used Mentimeter for the teaching and

Besides, this study is conducted with 40 Year 5 pupils in Selangor, who were selected purposively based on their exam results. The effectiveness of Mentimeter in enhancing pupils’ writing vocabulary might not be the same if it is conducted elsewhere with other pupils. Hence, further studies are needed to be done with a larger sample size so the results of the studies could be generalised to a larger population.

This study is beneficial for the pupils as they acquired more writing vocabulary. They can use the vocabulary more effectively in their writing. This will help them to produce better writing and achieve better grades when they sit for the written test. Next, Mentimeter serves a modern learning tool for the pupils. They no longer need to study everything using the traditional approaches. It makes their lesson fun and engages them in the teaching and learning activities. It also gives opportunities for pupils with higher proficiency to facilitate the weaker pupils by modelling their answers. Besides, this study has offered a new teaching tool to the teachers. Teachers could adapt Mentimeter in their classrooms, regardless of which subjects they are teaching, as it is coherent to the needs of 21st century education. The teachers need to ensure that they are equipped with computer and internet literacy so they could implement it in their practice. References Alfaki, I. M. (2015). University students’ English writing problems: Diagnosis and Remedy. International Journal of English Language Teaching, 3(3), 40 52. Alves, P., Miranda, L., & Morais, C. (2019). The Importance of Virtual Learning Environments in Higher Education. In I. Management Association (Ed.), Computer Assisted Language Learning: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications (pp. 109 131). Hershey, PA: IGI Global. doi:10.4018/978 1 5225 7663 1.ch005 Anita, L. (2000). Cooperatif Learning. Jakarta. Alfabeta : Grafindo. Ariyanti, A., & Fitriana, R. (2017). EFL students' difficulties and needs in essay writing. In the Proceedings of the International Conference on Teacher Training and Education 2017 (ICTTE 2017). ISSN: 2352 2398. doi:10.2991/ictte 17.2017.4 Atay, D., & Ozbulgan, C. (2007). Memory strategy instruction, contextual learning and ESP vocabulary recall. English for Specific Purposes, 26(1), 39 51. Bakhsh,doi:10.1016/j.esp.2006.01.002S.A.(2016).Usinggamesas a tool in teaching vocabulary to young learners. English Language Teaching, 9(7), 120 128. doi: 10.5539/elt.v9n7p120 Bambang, Y. C., & Utami, W. (2008). The teaching of EFL vocabulary in the Indonesian context: The state of the art. TEFLIN Journal, 19(1), 1 17. Retrieved from http://journal.teflin.org/index.php/journal/article/view/94

7. Implications

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. learning of writing vocabulary during school hours. It means pupils need to use it together, at one time, to achieve the optimum results. Therefore, pupils would not be able to learn through Mentimeter if less people are using it at the same time. There is a need to find out the effectiveness of Mentimeter in teaching and learning practices for classrooms with fewer pupils.

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Using Knowledge Space Theory to Delineate Critical Learning Paths in Calculus

123 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 123 148, March 2020 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.8

Abstract. This study examined the effects of using tutorials in pre calculus content on college students’ performance in Calculus 1 as measured by the levels of conceptual development delineated through critical learning paths based on their achievement scores and quizzes. Our main objective is to provide evidence that a strong grounding in pre calculus concepts is necessary for students’ success in Calculus and beyond. We employed Knowledge Space Theory (KST) to analyze data collected on a set of calculus questions that reflect different levels of conceptual development. These calculus questions were given to a group of students enrolled in calculus classes at a Southeastern urban university in the United States. Three tests were examined and the knowledge states were extracted for each test (using Visual Basic software) and knowledge trees were constructed (using an R package) to determine students’ critical learning paths. The findings of this study revealed that critical learning paths supported evidence that a strong foundation in Precalculus is necessary for students’ success in Calculus and beyond. Juxtaposing the succession of knowledge states and critical learning paths reflected student understanding of the basic calculus concepts and proposed a systematic approach to supplemental enrichment and remediation.

Keywords: Knowledge space theory; Precalculus; Calculus teaching; Critical learning paths; Problem based learning 1. Introduction As undergraduate students continue to struggle in calculus courses, the mainstream belief that these courses act as gatekeepers preventing students from majoring in STEM fields is further confirmed. According to a study conducted

Iman C Chahine SDL Research Unit North West University Potchefstroom, South Africa University of Massachusetts Lowell Massachusetts, USA Mark Grinshpon Georgia State Georgia,UniversityUSA

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), about 47% of students received a D or better in Calculus I (Ganter & Haver, 2011). The other 53% either failed the course or dropped the class. This high “failure” rate raised serious concerns among educators and mathematicians. Such concerns are exacerbated for women as typically they are twice less likely to continue beyond Calculus I, even when Calculus II is a requirement for their intended majors (Bressoud et al., 2013). Not surprisingly, Freeman et al. (2014) argue that the majority of failing grades occur in classes that use the more traditional lecture method of teaching rather than student centered approaches. To compensate for the dismal success rate in calculus, the National Science Foundation (NSF) supported grants that addressed the undergraduate calculus curriculum and failure rate (Ganter, 2001). These grants created a nationwide effort to reform the way calculus was taught at the undergraduate level. While reform methods for teaching calculus differed across the nation, some common themes emerged. Cooperative grouping, writing, and effective use of technology were found to be very effective in curbing the high failure rate in calculus courses amongst undergraduates (Pilgrim, 2010). With the increased funding and research being poured into calculus studies, one would think that the national failure rate would be tremendously lower now than in the mid eighties or nineties. However, current data suggest the opposite. Pilgrim (2010) and Reinholz (2009) both agree that the national failure rate, a D or F, for students initially enrolled in Calculus I is about 40%. Once most programs of study require a letter grade of C or higher, grades of D and F would both be considered failing. A true comparison cannot be made between the mid eighties and today and the true cost of the national failure rate in calculus remains difficult to calculate. Is failing first year calculus causing students to change majors? Drop out of planned careers? Or even shorten their college careers altogether by withdrawing from school? According to the US National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), of all the bachelor’s degrees awarded in 2009, only 16% were in mathematics, computer science, physical sciences, and engineering (Snyder & Dillow, 2010). The latest data shows that women earned 60% to 62% of all associate’s degrees awarded between 2000 and 2015 (National Science Foundation (NSF), 2018). The proportion of women earning science and engineering associate’s degrees, however, declined from 48% in 2000 to 44% in 2015. Most of the decline is attributed to a decrease in women’s share of computer sciences associate’s degrees, which dropped continuously from 42% in 2000 to 21% in 2015 (National Science Board, 2018a &b). In contrast to the declining college success of students in Calculus I, high school enrollment in Precalculus, Advanced Calculus, and dual enrollment has never been higher. A 2015 report of the National Center for Educational Sciences (Kena et al., 2015) showed that about 15% of ninth graders typically earn at least some high school credit in calculus; while about 9% of students could reach Algebra I or less. Moreover, about 37% of fall 2009 ninth graders had earned high school credit in an AP or IB course by 2013, and 15% had earned AP or IB credit in

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. math, while 14% had earned such credit in science. With more high school students taking calculus courses in high school, why does the failure rate at the college continue to increase?

Extensive literature has provided numerous recommendations on the usefulness of calculus and the promising ways to increase the percentage of students passing calculus classes. Berkaliev and Kloosterman (2009) explained that students' perception of their chances to obtain a passing grade of C or higher either helps or impedes the learning of mathematics. In another vein, and according to Bishop Clark et al. (2010), dual enrolment can change the attitudes and readiness of high school students for college mathematics. The authors found that students who were enrolled in career technical education programs at the high school level were significantly more likely to "graduate, more likely to enroll in college, more likely to enroll in a four year college, and more likely to progress faster in post secondary degrees" (p. 90). Students' beliefs and attitudes towards mathematics can also affect how they choose to approach mathematical problems (Bonne & Johnston, 2016). If students do not have an understanding of the usefulness of the mathematics courses in facilitating future career choices, then student motivation and time spent on solving mathematics problems will likely decline. Likewise, Rajagukguk (2016) showed that students who have a positive attitude towards learning calculus are more likely to have a higher success rate in Calculus than those who do not. Therefore, a common assumption held by those that research student attitudes toward mathematics is that there is a relationship between attitude and academic achievement. Currently in calculus research, there are several common interventions that researchers have found to decrease the failure rate in post secondary calculus. These include writing about calculus concepts and technology (Kay & Kletskin (2010), hands on explorations (Klymchuk & Zverkova, 2010), higher level questioning and cooperative learning groups (Cardetti & McKenna, 2011). When these interventions were implemented, students succeeded at a higher level than students in a traditional calculus course taught through instructor driven lectures. For example, Karaali (2011) found that students were able to think critically when asked to write about why they were taking calculus and what they were getting out of it. Based on Bloom's Taxonomy, the researcher noted that students purposefully engaged in writing activities that required performance at the highest level of the taxonomy, namely evaluation. Toward the end of the course, Karaali (2011) had the students evaluate their contribution to the course by allowing the students to write as "coherently as possible" and this "created a more reflective, more conscious, and thus a more effective learning experience for all involved" (p.732).

In another research, Klymchuk et al. (2010) conducted a parallel study at two different universities, one in Germany and the other in New Zealand. The study examined engineering students’ difficulties in “the formulation steps of solving a typical application problem from a first year calculus course” (p. 81).

Klymchuk et al. (2010) explained that common application problems tend to be long and mathematized. The authors noted that, while students were not

The third common area of research that has been conducted in calculus classes is the cooperative learning groups. In this context, Cardetti and McKenna (2011) argued that several different factors motivate undergraduate students to engage in cooperative learning environments. Intrinsic satisfaction, competition and the formation of sharing groups are three important incentives the researchers cited to increase undergraduate students’ mathematics scores.

The second common area in calculus research is technology. Different forms of technology have long been implemented in the undergraduate learning environment. For example, utilizing the TI 84 and higher calculators has become standard in most classrooms. Naidoo and Naidoo (2007) found that when students in their undergraduate classes used the computer to perform tasks for "their compulsory project (they) had the advantage of using constructive interactive methods and cooperative learning strategies to aid their understanding of concepts" (p. 62). The blended method of teaching helped offset the large class sizes and the weak preparation by the students. The students also felt that the computers helped with the "disinterest in the subject" (p. 55). In a similar vein, Kay and Kletskin (2010) explained that the students who used online mini clips felt that they were more prepared for class and used the mini clips "to review past lessons and examples" (p. 103). Some of the features that undergraduate calculus students found useful about the mini clips were the ease with which they could follow the lessons, the clear explanations, and the freedom to view the clips on their own time. It is worth mentioning though that, when incorporating the computer into any classroom setting, computer software design is important. If the programs are too advanced for the learner, then the result could be the same as having a lecturer at the front of the room while a class full of undergraduates sit and wonder when they should drop the class.

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. required to collect or analyze data to make assumptions, in many application problems they still “have to go through the formulation step of the mathematical modeling process that often requires choosing/constructing a formula or setting up a function for further investigation" (p. 81). The findings of this study provided evidence that calculus courses need to reinforce basic skills in solving application problems early on and that writing the steps in detail help students solve real life problems that require mathematical modeling skills in other classes and their future careers (Crouch & Haines, 2004).

While improving STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education in the United States has been a critical national concern, the pipeline of students entering STEM does not meet the current demand for future scientists and engineers. One of the reasons identified for this attrition has been students’ underperformance in calculus classes and their inadequate preparation in Precalculus content. Hence, addressing this national need requires research and development of the best pathways to remediate the teaching of Precalculus and calculus concepts, which would translate into efficient models of providing support to students in learning the content.

Specifically, the study addresses the following question: What is the effect of using tutoring of pre calculus concepts/content on students’ achievement in calculus as measured by the levels of conceptual development delineated through KST critical learning paths?

2. Knowledge Space Theory: A Framework to Evaluate Student Knowledge Admittedly, assessing students’ conceptual understanding of mathematics, particularly at the college level, can be a daunting task. With many different methods to evaluate performance, it is hard to know which are effective, considering the depth and breadth of knowledge that students are required to master. Principled by a structural analysis of responses to assessment tools, Knowledge Space Theory (KST) is a formal method or model for representing students’ knowledge in a given context (Sanghoon, Belkasim, Chahine, & Grinshpon, 2014). The structure created provides details related to students' knowledge and the learning paths taken to acquire that knowledge. As an assessment procedure, KST can inform the instructor of the order in which a group of students are mastering different concepts given during instructional periods. Falmagne et al. (1990) and Doignon and Falmagne (2015) introduced KST as a "means to formally describe the structure of a given domain of knowledge" (p. 201). Broadly, the structure is depicted through the problems that students can answer correctly. Students' responses on a given assignment or test become a subset of the overall structure and a learning path can be traced from the null set of problems attempted (none correct) to the complete set (all Bycorrect).thesame token, Arasasingham et al. (2005) employed KST to assess learning in chemistry at two different universities. They found that “secondary students leave high school with significant deficiencies in their understanding of basic chemical principals” (p. 1522). Their KST analysis showed that students’ logical framework of understanding basic chemistry was very weak. Their analysis revealed that while students may know basic factual information, they were not able to transfer and utilize this knowledge to solve conceptual problems. The researchers connected these problems to the teaching methods at the high school level and the textbooks used. They further indicated that students’ inability to connect factual information and conceptual problems “was not surprising since the information students use to construct their knowledge comes from either texts or instruction, both of which tend to present the material in this manner” (Arasasingham et al., 2005, p.1522). Arasasingham et al. further explained that KST “is a useful tool for revealing various aspects of students’ cognitive structure” (p. 1522) and that not only can KST be used as an assessment tool but

In this study, we examined the effects of using tutorials in pre calculus content on students’ performance in Calculus 1 as measured by the levels of conceptual development delineated through critical learning paths. Performance is reflected in their achievement scores and quizzes. Using Knowledge Space Theory (KST) approaches our main objective is to provide evidence that a strong grounding in pre calculus concepts is necessary for students’ success in Calculus and beyond.

According to Steiner et al. (2009), KST can also be blended to integrate two teaching pedagogies, namely self regulated learning and competence based enhanced online learning. KST has also been adapted to aid in assessing the clinical responses of an in depth psychological assessment (Spoto et al., 2010).

Generally, in the KST framework, a field of knowledge is specified by a finite set of items. This set consists of the problems or questions that a student may or may not be able to solve on a given assessment (Sanghoon, Belkasim, Chahine, & Grinshpon, 2014). Each student can be described by his/her knowledge state, which is the subset that is created by the number of problems or questions they answered correctly (Doignon & Falmagne, 2015). After each member of the class has a subset or their knowledge state determined, the subsets are combined to create the field of knowledge. The field of knowledge shows the learning paths that the entire group took to maneuver from the null set ∅ (all responses incorrect) to the complete set Q (all responses correct). It is worth mentioning that the learning paths do not necessarily follow the assessment questions in chronological order. For example, if the learning path for five questions was 1 3 2 5 4 then it can be said that before question two can be answered correctly, question three must be mastered. It is important to note that not all possible subsets of items are knowledge states since a prerequisite relationship between the assessment items could exist. The set of all possible knowledge states is called a knowledge space. The method to select these states is an orderly trial and error process using the χ2 analysis. Chi Square statistic (χ2) is based on the difference between the actual response states and the expected knowledge states. To begin, the most populated response states are added and subtracted to minimize the χ2 value, forming an interconnected network where each state (other than ∅ and Q) has a preceding state and a succeeding state. Each successive state has exactly one more question than the preceding one. At first, many of the largely populated response states are combined with other possible response states to form a provisional knowledge structure that is then modified by the addition and subtraction of states in an evolution toward a final knowledge structure with its

Besides chemistry and mathematics, KST has been employed to identify learning pathways in many different settings, such as comparing textbook assigned homework versus online homework (Arasasingham et al, 2005), and finding the best model to teach the concept of describing an ion (Tóth & Ludányi, 2007).

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. also as “a pedagogical tool to address a number of student learning issues” (p. 1523). As an assessment tool, KST has the potential to monitor the development of students’ conceptual understanding of the taught concepts. Moreover, with its facility to delineate learning trajectories, KST can also gauge how well students can use the concepts taught and utilize them in solving problems across situations. According to Arasasingham et al. (2005), not only can KST help analyze the nature of the knowledge that students bring to a course, but it can “assess whether students have conceptualized the content as intended after the conclusion of the course” (p. 1523).

minimum χ2 value. The χ2 calculation indicates how well the selected states represent the original data set. The resulting knowledge structure can reveal several learning pathways that students use to learn. Stahl and Hockemeyer (2019) defined a learning path as “a maximal sequence of knowledge states, which allows learners to gradually traverse a knowledge structure or space from the empty set (∅) (or any other bottom state) to the full set of domain problems Q” (p.9). Beginning at the empty set (∅), to full mastery state (Q) the learning pathways can be mapped out. Once the knowledge structure has been created, the approximate probability value for each knowledge state is found from the χ2 fit. The probability value for each knowledge state represents the portion of students in the classes who are in the knowledge state. From the largest probability knowledge states, the best or most probable learning pathway is identified as the critical learning pathway consisting of response states, which best define the class. If some of the most populated responses do not appear on the critical learning pathway, that means that getting that sequence of questions correct on the test does not necessarily mean that there is not a logical framework or true comprehension of the material. Once the critical pathway is established, it is then possible to compare each student to the general class performance as well as to the top performers (the Q set).

The participants in this research study were students enrolled in the Calculus I course. This is a 4 credit course required for the university’s undergraduate students majoring in Mathematics, Statistics, Physics, Chemistry, Computer Science, Actuarial Science, and Geology. Many students from other majors also take this class, most notably Biology majors (on average approximately 25 30% of the total number of students enrolled in Calculus I) on the pre med track. A typical enrollment in one section of Calculus I is 40 47 students, and there are usually 8 10 sections of the course each semester. At the beginning of the study, two sections of Calculus I taught by the same instructor were chosen and randomly assigned as the experimental and the comparison group. Early in the semester, students were given a "Prerequisite Skills Check" a quiz consisting of 24 basic Precalculus problems, each involving a Precalculus concept or skill that is necessary for calculus; the same quiz was administered at the end of the semester. The pre quiz measures the incoming students' baseline knowledge of Precalculus, hence a comparison between the pre and post quiz results measured the change in that knowledge. Throughout the semester both sections completed their regular coursework, which includes practice homework, 10 15 online graded quizzes, in class tests, and a comprehensive final exam all testing the calculus material taught in class. The experimental group (hereafter the TUTORING group) was also offered scheduled tutoring sessions with a teaching assistant. Students were

3. Study Methods Participants

We used three instruments to collect data: 1) tutoring observation logs, 2) calculus tests and final exam, and 3) pre and post Precalculus Skills Check quizzes. Some problem items in the regular tests were specifically redesigned as multiple part questions to obtain separate numerical scores on both Calculus and Precalculus aspects. Tests were graded by a set of graders who worked with each instructor exclusively and were also responsible for the weekly homework assessments, which consisted of just three or four questions.

Procedure and Data Collection

Table 1. A list of Precalculus tutoring topics

Three Roots and radicals Four Trigonometric functions and the unit circle Five Composition of functions Six Unit Circle Seven Review of elementary functions. Eight Solving algebraic inequalities

The tests were graded by a group of Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) graders, each working with a particular instructor. They were also responsible for the weekly homework assessments, which consisted of just three or four questions. Weekly meetings were held for the homework graders to ensure consistency of scoring. The meetings were designed to preview the following week's homework, point out potential pitfalls, and allow graders to share how they graded the previous week's questions. The weekly meetings were led by one of the instructing faculty members, allowing graders to see first hand examples of what the faculty was expecting. The leading faculty member consistently gave several possible methods to obtain the correct response to the assessment questions and the graders were also asked to prepare potential solutions to the following week's assessment questions. This arrangement kept instructors and graders engaged and informed of the direction that the calculus homework grading was taking.

Weekly meetings were led by one of the instructing faculty members, allowing the graders to see, first hand, the level of performance that the faculty was expecting. The leading faculty member consistently shared several possible

Topic One Properties of exponents

continuously encouraged to attend these sessions, which were student centered, and focused on individualized tutoring tailored to specific students’ needs with emphasis on Precalculus problem solving skills (See Table 1).

Two Simplifying rational expressions

Week Precalculus

Nine Solving trigonometric equations and inequalities. Ten Graphs of functions Eleven Area under the graph Twelve The laws of limits Thirteen Limits of functions

Data Analysis using KST

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. methods to obtain the correct response to assessment questions and graders were also encouraged to produce possible solutions to the following week’s assessment questions. Engaging the graders to co create grading schemes with faculty was necessary to clarify the expectations for grading calculus homework and to ensure consistency of scoring. The meetings were designed to preview the following week’s homework, point out potential pitfalls, and allow the graders to share how they graded the previous week's questions.

We employed knowledge Space Theory (KST) (Falmagne et al, 1990; Arasasingham et al., 2005) to analyze and extract critical learning paths to assess performance in two calculus classes: experimental and comparison class. The experimental calculus course included requisite Precalculus concepts taught in a constructivist manner, using problem based learning that is less restrictive than the traditional calculus course, which typically involves students sitting quietly while an instructor lectures. We hypothesized that incorporating Precalculus concepts using multiple representations and through cooperative learning techniques in the experimental calculus class could create a learning environment more supportive of meaningful learning. Such an assertion is supported by our belief that calculus cannot be learned through watching and listening it is learned by doing. Using data collected from both groups of students and analyzing questions reflecting different levels of conceptual development allowed us to determine the critical learning paths of students in the Calculus class. Three tests were examined and the knowledge states were obtained for each (using visual basic software) and knowledge trees were constructed (using an R package) to determine these critical paths. We hypothesized that concepts acquired by students include: solving algebraic inequalities (Pre calculus), finding the velocity and the acceleration as derivatives (Calculus), sketching two graphs and the region between them and finding their points of intersections (Pre calculus), finding an anti derivative (Calculus), evaluating anti derivatives (Pre calculus), and integrating to find the area (Calculus) Using (KST), we were able to map students' knowledge structure on solving pre calculus problems which depicts students' knowledge structure and state at different levels of the intervention. For example, we were able to monitor students' initial knowledge upon entering the class and assess the additional knowledge states that students acquired as a result of explorations and intervention. Based on this knowledge structure, we were able to detect the critical learning pathways during course assessments. In the next section, we discuss in detail the process of examining student knowledge based on KST approaches. To process the data, we utilized Potter’s Visual Basic code, which converted the response structure into knowledge structure and allowed the detection of the critical learning pathways. The raw data from the test results were obtained and the highest point (completely correct answer) of each question was coded as ‘1’

As indicated in Table 2, the first column before the comma represents the knowledge states for each student on questions 1 to 10, with ‘1’ representing a correct answer and ‘0’ representing an incorrect (partially or fully) answer. The second column right after the comma indicates the number of students at the same response state. In the case of Test 1 for the comparison group, there were 31 knowledge response states. The rows after the 31st row are the knowledge states of assumed/expected knowledge structure, which have a 0 right after the comma for each row (see Table 3).

Table 2 Coded test results data

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. and the points lower than the highest point (correct or partially correct) was defined as ‘0.’ Table 2 shows data entered into a text file as the input file.

Copying this text file into Potter's Visual Basic program allowed us to automatically generate the output file. Before running this program, however, we checked the directories of input and output files, the number of questions, the number of students, and the number of responses and assumed responses in the file. The Visual Basic code that was used in this case already had an estimated 10% probability for both lucky guess and careless errors. After running the program, we obtained the output file in Table 4.

In Table 4, n is the number of initial response states, m is the number of states in the assumed knowledge structure, and the population is 44 in the comparison group. The first column includes knowledge states for each student on questions 1 to 10, which similar to that of column 1 in Table 2. The second column represents the probability of the population in the given response state, and the third column is the predicted population in the assumed state. The fourth column represents the real population in a certain state while the last column is the χ2 value calculated from the real population and predicted population. The total χ2 value indicates whether the assumed knowledge structure fits the original response structure. In this case, the degree of freedom (df) can be defined as the summation of the number of knowledge states and the number of lucky guess and careless errors minus 1. In Table 3, the degrees of freedom are given by the following equation: df=m+10∙2 1=44+20 1=63 Extracting the response state, predicted population, and real population from

The knowledge structure (KS) for the experimental group (Test 1) was created by entering the following: Ks ← kstructure where7,8),set(4,5,9),set(4,5,10),set(7,8,9),set(1,5),set(4),set(7),set(9),set(10)))(1,3,4,5),set(1,7,8,10),set(3,8,9,10),set(4,5,7,8),set(7,8,5,6,7,8),set(1,4,5,7,8,10),set(2,3,4,5,7,8),set(1,4,5,9,10),set(1,4,7,8,9),set(3,4,5,7,10),set3,4,5,8,10),set(1,2,4,5,7,8,10),set(2,4,5,6,7,8,10),set(1,2,4,5,7,8),set(1,2,6,7,8,9),set(1,4,(set(set(1,2,3,4,5,7,8,9,10),set(1,2,3,4,5,7,9,10),set(2,4,5,6,7,8,9,10),set(1,2,9,10),set(1,4,5),set(3,4,5),set(3, kstructure is the function to create a knowledge structure and it is stored as Ks. Next, the command Ksp ← kspace(Ks) generates the knowledge space and store it as Ksp. Typing t(convert(Ksp)) shows the knowledge space structure in 0 and 1. In this case, the knowledge space structure is quite large, consisting of 151 knowledge states of the generated knowledge space.

Figure 1: Knowledge states for Test 1 comparison group Since the size of data is large for this test, the result of the plot is not decipherable. As a result, we were unable to determine the critical learning path based on the Figure depicted above.

Table 3, we obtained either response state and real population or knowledge state and predicted population. After loading skills function in the R package, a test on the response structure of the comparison group for Test 1 was conducted. A function called kspace() was used to create a knowledge space that includes one state for the empty set {}, one state for the full set of domain items, and a state for the union of any two knowledge states.

Figure 2 shows the output Table and Figures 3a & 3b depict the knowledge states and critical learning paths for Test 2 experimental group.

Furthermore, we show the knowledge structure of the experimental group in Test in Figure 3a. The number at the upper right corner of a box means the predicted population who can solve the items that are listed in the box. For instance, the number 0.83 denoted an exponent in means that 0.83 predicted students can solve questions 1 through 7. The knowledge states in Figure 3a fit very well (>99.9%; p<0.001) to the initial response states.

Figure 2: Output file for Test 2 experimental group

We also generated the knowledge structure for the experimental group for Test 2 in a similar way by typing the following code: Ks ← kstructure(set(set(1,2,3,4,5,6,7), set(1,2,3,4,5,6), set(1,2,3,4,6,7), set(1,3,6),set(1,3set(2,3,5,6,7),set(1,2,3,4),set(1,2,4,6),set(1,2,5,6),set(1,2,6,7),set(1,3,6,7),set(1,2,6),set(1,2,3,5,6),,7),set(2,5,6),set(3,5,6),set(1,6),set(3,6),set(4,6),set(6,7),set(6))) Ksp ← kspace(Ks)

The seventh level of the knowledge structure tree had six different knowledge states. This shows that among the students who answered six out of the seven questions correctly, they are still experiencing greater variations with many

Figure 3a: Knowledge states for Test 2 experimental group (χ2=11.502; df=65; p<0.001; >99.9%)

When looking at the knowledge structure tree for the experimental group for Test 2, we noticed eight levels of knowledge states. The knowledge state at the bottom of the tree is considered the null set where nothing is answered correctly. The predicted population to obtain this outcome is indicated by the number above and to the right of this box. For the experimental group for Test 2, the predicted population is 3.43. The second level of the knowledge structure tree has one knowledge state with the number six in it. This number indicates that of all the students who correctly answered one question on the test, the highest frequency of correct responses was depicted for question six. The predicted population for this knowledge state is 3.95 students. The first edge of the learning path was created when these boxes were connected.

The third level of the knowledge structure tree had four different knowledge states. The learning path is connected to the knowledge state that has the highest predicted population and is connected to the previous knowledge state levels. Both of these conditions must be met to continue the critical learning path. If the box with the highest predicted population outcome is not connected to the knowledge state, then the second highest connected knowledge state must be Theselected.fifth and sixth levels of the knowledge structure tree had fifteen and fourteen knowledge states respectively. This shows that the knowledge structure tree had greater variation and is not considered very organized. The total number of knowledge states for the entire knowledge structure tree is 52. Ideally the number of knowledge states should be less than the population of the class.

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. different potential critical learning paths. The seventh level also has two knowledge states that are larger than the knowledge state selected for the critical learning path. The knowledge state just to the right of the selected knowledge state for the critical path has a predicted population of 0.88. The knowledge state selected for the critical learning path is only 0.47. On the seventh level, there is yet another knowledge state that had a larger predicted population than the knowledge state selected for the critical learning path. As mentioned previously, these two knowledge states with higher predicted population outcomes (0.88 and 0.65) are not connected to the previous level knowledge state. Therefore, the critical learning path cannot be connected to either of these higher predicted population knowledge states. We also delineated the critical learning pathway for Test 2 experimental group that depicts the knowledge states with the highest populations (See Figure 3b).

To determine the critical learning path, we selected the knowledge state with the highest population and fewest questions as the head of the critical learning path. Then, we identified the highest population superset of the selected head as the second set. By repeating the steps, all sets can be connected by the relationship between the subsets and the supersets. The critical learning pathway can be determined by these selected sets. For instance, the critical learning path of Test 2 for the experimental group is 6 → 3 → 1 → 7 → 2 → 4 → 5 (Figure 3b). The questions that are related to this critical learning path are: taking a second derivative (Calculus) → taking a derivative (Calculus) → solving simple equations for one of the variables (Precalculus) → solving an algebraic inequality (Precalculus) → finding the rate of change as the derivative (Calculus) → taking a derivative (Calculus) → evaluating a trigonometric expression (Precalculus).

For the comparison group, the knowledge states and critical learning paths were extracted as shown in Figures 4a & 4b. The knowledge structure tree showed traits of disorganization similar to the knowledge structure tree found for the experimental group. The fourth, fifth, and sixth levels have large numbers of knowledge states. There was a total of thirty knowledge states on these three levels accounting for 61 percent of all knowledge states, which provided evidence that the knowledge structure tree is also not very organized. The total number of knowledge states, forty four, greatly exceeded the population of the

Figure 3b: Critical learning path for Test 2 experimental group

class. On the sixth level of the knowledge structure tree, there was a knowledge state that had a higher predicted population outcome than the knowledge state selected for the critical learning path. This result was expected since the fifth level knowledge state was not connected to this higher knowledge state on the sixth level as previously explained.

Figure 4a: Knowledge states for test 2 comparison group (χ2=7.78; df=57; p<0.001; >99.9%) To delineate the learning path, we noted the following trajectory: 6 → 1 → 7 → 2 → 3 → 5 → 4 corresponding to the question items: taking a second derivative (Calculus) → solving simple equations for one of the variables (Precalculus) → solving an algebraic inequality (Precalculus) → finding the rate of change as the derivative (Calculus) → taking a derivative (Calculus) → evaluating a trigonometric expression (Precalculus) → taking a derivative (Calculus) (See Figure 4b).

Figure 4b: Critical learning path for Test 2 comparison group

It was obvious that the path for the experimental group is different, with the main difference being the order of question 3, which is related to taking a derivative. Question 4, which is also about the derivative, is considered as a difficult question for both groups. Test 2 for the comparison group contains only

26 knowledge states (Figure 4a), which is simpler than that of the experimental group. Simpler knowledge structures in the comparison group indicate better organized knowledge (Arasasingham et al., 2005) However, we only can assume that different groups may have different levels of understanding of the calculus of taking derivatives.

For Test 4, we used the same process to generate the output of knowledge states and to create the knowledge structure for the experimental (Figure 5a) and comparison groups (Figure 6a). We found the critical learning path of Test 4 for the experimental group (Figure 5b) to be: 1→ 2 → 5 → 3 → 4 → 6, which is: solving algebraic inequalities (Precalculus) and finding the velocity and the acceleration as derivatives (Calculus) → sketching two graphs and the region between them and finding their points of intersections (Precalculus) → finding an antiderivative (Calculus) → evaluating antiderivative (Precalculus) → integrating to find the area (Calculus).

Figure 5a: knowledge states for Test 4 experimental group (χ 2=4.067; f=29; p < 0.001; > 99.9%)

A close comparative examination of the knowledge structure trees for Test 4 in the experimental group revealed the greatest organization of all four of the knowledge structure trees that emerged for both groups. There were only six total levels because none of the students correctly answered only one question on the test. Therefore, the second level of the knowledge structure tree effectively did not exist. We considered this knowledge structure tree to be more organized because it has a total of only 18 knowledge states. This number is considerably closer to the class population than the previous knowledge structure trees. Furthermore, the critical learning path for this knowledge structure tree (See Figure 5b) passed through the highest predicted population

The critical learning path also passed through each of the highest predicted population knowledge states for each level (See Figure 6b).

outcomes for each knowledge state at each level, showing a more direct learning path from the null set at the bottom to the complete set at the top.

Figure 5b: Critical learning path for Test 4 experimental group Similarly, the knowledge structure tree for the comparison group on Test 4 also showed better organization than the two knowledge structure trees from Test 2 (See Figure 6a). The knowledge structure tree had seven levels and thirty knowledge states. The fourth and fifth levels of the knowledge state tree contained the majority of the knowledge states with about fifty seven percent of the knowledge states occurring on these levels.

Figure 6a: knowledge states for Test 4 comparison group (χ2=7.846; df=31; p < 0.001; > 99.9%)

Similarly, we performed the analysis for the final exam, which had a total of 14 questions, 6 of which are related to Precalculus concepts. We generated the output of knowledge states and created the knowledge structure for the experimental (Figure 7a) and comparison group (Figure 8a). For the final exam in the experimental group, the critical learning path that emerged is 6 → 4 → 2 → 5 → 1 → 3 (Figure 7b) and the related topics were: sketching and finding the area → finding the domain and intercepts → evaluating to find the limits → taking a derivative → finding maximum value → evaluating to find limits

Figure 6b: Critical learning path for Test 4 comparison group

This pattern of critical learning path is also different for the comparison group for Test 4, which is: 2 → 1 → 6 → 5 → 3→4 (Figure 6b). The corresponding questions are: solving algebraic inequalities (Precalculus) → finding the velocity and the acceleration as derivatives (Calculus) → integrating to find the area (Calculus) → sketching two graphs and the region between them and finding their points of intersections (Precalculus) → finding an antiderivative (Calculus) and evaluating antiderivative (Precalculus). The major difference in the critical learning pathways between the comparison and experimental groups is the order of question 6. We concluded, in this case, that the experimental group did not fully comprehend the integration concept.

Figure 7a: knowledge states for final exam experimental group

Figure 7b: Critical learning path for final exam experimental group

The critical learning path for the comparison group was found to be 4,6 → 2 → 5 → 3 → 1, and the related topics were: finding domain and intercepts and sketching and finding the area → evaluating to find the limits → taking a derivative → evaluating to find limits → finding maximum value (Figure 8b).

Figure 8b: Critical learning path for final exam comparison group

Figure 8a: Knowledge states for final exam comparison group

When we implemented the knowledge structure theory in our first assessment, the test consisted of 10 questions. The possibility of a large number of subsets led to a knowledge structure tree that was too difficult to follow; consequently, it was not an easy task to determine a critical learning path (see Figure 2). After this first attempt, we implemented the knowledge structure theory for two shorter assessments. Test 2 was given within the first six weeks of the class. And although the knowledge structure trees on Test 2 already differed between the comparison and the experimental groups, it is in Test 4 that knowledge structure trees showed a greater change in the critical learning paths, thereby indicating a more developed understanding of concepts.

The experimental group also had a large reduction in the number of knowledge states from the second test to the first test. The number of knowledge states for Test 2 was 52, but for Test 4 there were only eighteen. This is a decrease of 61 percent. The comparison group, on the other hand, had a smaller reduction in the number of knowledge states going from 42 in Test 2 to 30 in Test 4. This is a decrease of only 31 percent. Our results for Test 2 showed that the experimental group, which received extra instruction in Precalculus concepts weekly, completed question 3, finding derivatives much sooner than the comparison group. The experimental groups' critical learning path showed that the class had a better understanding of completing the first derivative and second derivative questions. We hypothesized that the comparison group only memorized the method for taking the second derivative and that is why their critical learning path has a substantial number of questions between the two derivative questions. It only makes sense that taking the derivate (question 3) and then taking the second derivative (question 6) should be next to each other on the critical learning path, not at either end in reverse order.

Additionally, the knowledge structure tree diagrams for Test 2 & Test 4 revealed that both experimental and comparison classes did very well on concepts taught immediately before the test. For example, question 5 was first on the critical

When comparing the total knowledge states for Test 2, we detected eight more knowledge states in the comparison group than in the experimental group; and for Test 4 there were twelve more knowledge states for the comparison group.

4. Findings and Discussion

Overall, this study showed that the knowledge structures of the comparison group were less complex than those of the experimental group, which indicates that the knowledge states of the comparison group are more organized. Based on the degrees of freedom, the levels of knowledge organization for both groups were similar in Test 4. We also found that different groups have different understanding levels on the derivative questions. For the experimental group, perhaps the teacher needed to spend more time explaining how to solve advanced derivative questions, even though students understood how to solve relatively simpler ones. The performance of the experimental group also indicated that integration problems are more difficult to complete.

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. learning path for the comparison group and second on the critical learning path for the experimental group. Question 5 asked students to sketch the region bounded between two given curves and to find their points of intersection. This concept, according to the course syllabus, was taught immediately before administering Test 4. Both classes received instruction on how to take the second derivate just before the assessment. The critical learning path for both classes started with question six in which students were asked to find the second derivate. The knowledge structure tree critical learning path for the experimental group also revealed that students completed the calculus questions sooner on the critical learning path than the comparison class. Moreover, the experimental groups’ critical learning path had questions four and five correctly ordered. To complete question five correctly on the critical learning path, students needed to answer question four accurately. And while the experimental group navigated these two questions in the correct order, the comparison group answered these two questions in reverse order. This result may mean that the comparison group was either guessing here or had several concepts confused. Therefore, students were not able to correctly apply the concepts to systematically solve the trigonometry application portion of the question.

5. Conclusion In this study, we showed that an employment of knowledge space theory provided an efficient procedure to represent the structure of a group of students’ domain of knowledge in calculus. Such methodology was meaningful in formatively assessing students’ skills and knowledge, which provided useful insight into potential remediation needed to improve students’ performance.

Furthermore, Test 4 critical learning path for the experimental group showed that the class was very successful in completing questions 1 and 2. These two questions involved finding the derivate and then using the results from question 1 to solve the algebraic inequality for question 2. The experimental groups' critical learning path also revealed that students completed questions 3 and 4 in the correct order. To correctly complete question 4, students first had to correctly solve question 3, which involved finding an antiderivative and then question 4 was evaluating the antiderivative. For the comparison group, on the other hand, the critical learning path for Test 4 indicated that students were neither able to find the derivate or anti derivate nor apply it correctly. Questions 1 and 2 on the critical learning path were not only in reverse order but they were also separated by question 3. The comparison group completed questions 3 and 4 in the correct order, but they were separated on the critical learning path by question 1. It was interesting to note that the comparison group continued to have greater difficulty taking the derivate on Test 4 than the experimental group. This supported our assumption that the comparison class might have been memorizing how to take the derivate and not learning the concepts meaningfully. As the calculus course progressed through the semester, the comparison group’s critical learning path continued to depict derivative and application questions in a reversed manner.

It is the intention of this study to champion the use of KST approaches as a means to assess student learning across diverse disciplines and at all school levels. We argue that an investigation of the critical learning paths of different assessment strategies would give instructors the ability to generate knowledge structure trees that depict student acquisition of concepts, to provide guidelines for instructors to adjust the order of the concepts taught, and to potentially customize the instruction based on the expected mastery level.

While improving STEM education in the U.S. has been a critical national concern, the pipeline of students entering STEM does not meet the current demand for future scientists and engineers (Carlson, Oehrtman, & Engelke, 2010). One of the reasons identified for this attrition has been students’ underperformance in calculus and their inadequate preparation in Precalculus content. Hence, addressing this national need requires the development of pathways to remediate the teaching of such concepts, which would translate into efficient models for supporting meaningful learning. It is our conviction that evidence based approaches driven by conceptually designed models such as KST can positively contribute to student retention and their future success in Calculus courses and beyond.

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Overall, critical learning paths supported the conclusion that a strong foundation in Precalculus is necessary for students’ success in Calculus and beyond. Juxtaposing the succession of knowledge states and critical learning paths reflected student understanding of the basic calculus concepts and proposed a systematic approach to supplemental enrichment and remediation.

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Steiner, C. M., Nussbaumer, A., & Albert, D. (2009). Supporting self regulated personalized learning through competence based Knowledge Space Theory. Policy Futures in Education, 7(6), 645 661. Tóth, Z., & Ludányi, L. (2007). Using phenomenography combined with knowledge space theory to study students’ thinking patterns in describing an atom. Journal of Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 8, 327 336

Anselmus Sudirman English Education Department, Universitas Sarjanawiyata Tamansiswa, Yogyakarta, Indonesia Adria Vitalya Gemilang English Education Department, Universitas Sarjanawiyata Tamansiswa, Yogyakarta, Indonesia Abstract. This study outlines the contributions of work based knowledge to the praxis of educational leadership in higher education. The research method is mainly concerned with a systematic review of literature that maps out relevant published articles on work based learning and educational leadership using research guidelines namely 1) eligibility criteria,2)data selectionprocesses,and3)data analysis. Theresults show that work based learning has been touted as a pathway to learning transformation, participation in real work situations, learning challenges and cultural contexts. More importantly, the appreciation of cultural values provides fertile ground for collaboration and lifelong learning in communities of practices and related organizations. Other componential parts of work based learning potentials have influenced students to promote learning quality, authentic experiences, technology enhanced knowledge, and work flexibility. Educational leadership has emerged as a means of leadership formation that highlights leadership emancipation and gender justice, role models [qudwa hasana] in Islamic guidance, and leadership roles including affective qualities and mentoring, problem solving and knowledge creation. Both work based learning and flexibility.namelyeducationalleadershipcorrelatetoeachotherintermsofsomeconditionscollaboration,culturalcontext,engagement,andlearning

Promoting Work-based Learning as a Praxis of Educational Leadership in Higher Education

Keywords: Work based learning; Educational leadership; Higher education; Collaboration; Mentoring; Role models

149 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 149 173, March https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.92020

1. Introduction One of the essential current discussions in work based learning mainly deals with concepts of students’ involvement and responsiveness central to the autonomous and self determined academic activity and learning culture in the workplace contexts.

In this learning platform, Brook & Corbridge (2016) offer insights into the feasibility of “deep rooted pedagogical concerns” in that work based learning deals with the extent to which knowledge should be transferred through documents and values worth investigating and assessing within learning environments. For this reason, Norman & Jerrard (2015) explore the influential impact of reflective practice on the work based learning in which an assessment plays a crucial role to foster peer learning and evidence based assessment (metacognition). Through this model of assessment, students learn to appreciate confidence, professional attitudes, (Rees, Collett, Crowther & Mylrea, 1998), self esteem, more valued feelings, controlled and less intimidated atmospheres of learning in the widths of respectful colleagues or senior managers. The students’ involvement plays a pivotal role in addressing the issue of cutting edge technologies towards new ideas and practices. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in work based learning and its dominant contribution to the future of higher education. Lemanski & Overton (2016) argue that work based knowledge has a significant element that shapes the workforce and its futuristic development. Work based knowledge is a combination of concepts and experiences within either a traditional or digital domain of learning in higher education. The evaluation in terms of work based knowledge prioritizes performances, skills enhanced platforms, motivation, personal development, and productivity. In light of this insight, work based learning provides a lifelong way of learning opportunities for adult learners and paves the wayforre conceptualizingtheir pedagogical schemes. The commitment of teachers towards the learners’ involvement is a crucial guideline for sequential designs of curriculum development, and educational transformation (Nottingham, 2017) worth considering. Meanwhile, researchers have shown an increased interest in the impact of educational leadership on work based learning recently. As a useful practice, educational leadership aims to establish high performing teams, implement strategies, monitor projects, plan presentations, and share experiences (Gerhardt, 2019). In a broader sense, educational leadership is a contextual model for work based learning to embody values of character education, namely morality, cooperation, modeling, loyalty, collective responsibility, compassion, containment, flexibility, solidarity, equality, caring, and educational equity (Arar & Haj Yehia, 2018). A primary concern of educational leadership is critical dialogue and interrogation, diversity understandings, engagement, well developed thinking skills, and problem solving (Niesche, 2018; Wisniewski, 1999).

Students generate learning opportunities at the university level to carry out engagement, collaboration, and responses to skills and knowledge. In this sense, the mentorship (Edward, 1997) in the classroom learning environment is required to support cutting edge technologies. In a distance learning sphere, the theory of (Ramage, 2014) provides a vital account of how mentors conceptualize skills to uphold learning activities, learning autonomy and transformation. The dominant characteristics of this learning are the provision of training flexibility, communication skills and creativity that underscore workplace professionals. In what follows, learning as a work based principle examines the contribution of experiences to knowledge (Nottingham & Akinleye, 2014).

The role of educational leadership completely depends on how work based learners pursue knowledge concerning human resources, manage or advocate extra curricular activities (Davids & Waghid, 2019). Other scholars emphasize that educational leadership is responsive to fairness and morality in a discourse between educators and learners (Arar & Haj Yehia, 2018). Hence, maintaining the moral quality is the biggest challenge for the entire intelligence community, whereas the leadership quality contributes to uniting the community, and generate affective qualities through mentoring and empowering, teaching excellence, research, and scholarship (Fields, Kenny, & Mueller, 2019). It is also worth noting that prospective educational leaders in higher education learn to possess such qualities in making their future leadership careers. The broad commonalities of educational leaders include emotional, moral, participative and structural constructions of leadership (Oplatka & Tako, 2009). Within this praxis, the focus of work based learning paves the way for reflection, self directed learning, leadership, and confidence (Gerhardt, 2019). To rearticulate such insights, the primary aim of this article is to critically explore a theoretical ground based on the research questions, as follows:

1. What features does work based learning describe in higher education?

The glaring combination between instructional leadership and work based learning leads to the diversity of learners or the sensitivity for diversity (Arar & Haj Yehia, 2018), deliberate engagement and inquiry, democracy, continuous change, assuring quality, securing accountability, working with and for the community (Davids & Waghid, 2019).

In the digital era, higher education seeks to sustain the dynamics of work based learning through creativity that, in turn, changes the way students learn. Pässilä, Owens, & Pulkki (2016) state that work based knowledge deals with “engaging in the mode of creativity” to put forward imagination in performing dialogues, and revitalizing transformation. Each session of the dialogue performances encourages personal or collective participation as an integral part of transformative knowledge elevation. In this platform, work based learning aims to position learning activities at the forefront of dialogues, and discussions of learning problems and concepts. The essence of this pedagogy offers an insight into collaboration or engagement that continues to be fundamental, but challenging. This notion of collaborative and dialogical learning creates new patterns of transformation, i.e., learning to reshape pedagogical paths (Pässilä, Owens & Pulkki, 2016) that become more diverse within higher education.

2. What features does educational leadership describe in higher education?

2. Literature Review

Work based learning evolves in a broader perspective of “the knowledge economy” (Garnett, 2016) that provides a variety of challenges, putting more emphasis on funding supporting system for the higher level of learning achievements (Österlind, 2018). Learning in this context is practice oriented for

3. To what extent does work based learning relate to the praxis of educational leadership in higher education?

Work-based Learning

The curriculum development fosters the qualities of social media used “as a way of reviewing the inquiry process with peers” (Nottingham & Akinleye, 2014) to provoke thoughts and discussions within learning communities. Learners develop an appreciation of promoting diversity, acknowledgment, and respect towards “the possibility of a wide range of learning experience” (Nottingham & Akinleye, 2014), but they learn to understand “a formal theoretical framework” (Talbot & Lilley, 2014) through lectures, workshops, and tutorials. The curriculum

systematic results of individual or collaborative learning that resonates with personal and professional development. The availability of teaching media or other related facilities leads to transformation concerning sensitive issues of climate change, “realistic learning context” (Österlind, 2018), research university, and awareness of local movements for global environmental sustainability impacts. Indeed, a global transformation is rooted in indigenous people’s policies, and learning community initiatives (Mitchell, 2019) to help people take action and preserve the cultural dimension of work based learning. Work based learning is a strategic action to establish “good interpersonal relations” (Nevalainen, Lunkka, & Suhonen, 2018), engagement, development of knowledge andskills (Zhang, Yin, David, Xiong,& Niu, 2016); and values of social justice, equality and empowerment (Hamilton, 2019) in higher education. In certain circumstances, work based learning provides a strong foundation for “the different aspects and dynamics of learning through work” (Nikolova, Van Ruysseveldt, De Witte, & Syroit, 2014). Learning in this context of workplace underpins “academic quality standards” (Abukari, 2014), experiential learning, provision of devices and positive learning atmosphere. Nottingham (2016) is of interest for the development of work based learning directly involving practical learning flexibility and pedagogical understanding of the workplace or work related dimensions of learning in higher education. This notion is in line with three major principles, namely discipline centered learning, learner centered learning, and employee centered learning. Discipline centered scholarship focuses on learning and teaching innovations, students’ engagement in work related problems, experiential learning, preparatory curricula, situated learning and subject specific platform of education (Nottingham, 2016; Sin, 2015 & Kullmann, 2016). Learner centered education emphasizes learners’ active involvement to carry the responsibility of learning by doing and preparing them for the situated knowledge acquisition (Nottingham, 2016; Lee & Branch, 2017). Some educational programs must advocate for a learner centered instruction approach (Altay, 2014; Brinkmann, 2019 & Kenna, 2017) within which flexible learning projects with the small scale community projects (Mitchell, 2019) can promote equity, accountability, and excellence. Employer centered learning has something to do with the curriculum development, workforce facilitation, co created and client focused learning orientation (Nottingham, 2016). It also articulates a variety of university sustainability (Jackson, Rowbottom, Ferns, & McLaren, 2017), business related functions (Nottingham, 2016), exchange of knowledge and strategic interactions between learners, academics and higher education institutions (Reeve & Gallacher, 2005; Keeling, Jones, Botterill, & Gray, 1998).

Likewise, Algers, Lindström, & Svensson (2016) assert that work based learning is a response to “students’ interests and previous learning experiences” to enhance potentials. Students learn to use the language appropriately to communicate with other people. In one way or another, they are in a position to promote full time studies and interrupt their careers for hectic schedules. This learning style constitutes an urging demand to develop professional and personal life, education and work. The weaknesses of this learning scheme lie in the minimum attendance of regular courses, work commitment or difficulties in managing time, hindered contacts with other students, and faraway workplace (Norman & Jerrard, 2015). Work based learning promotes what is called a work based facilitator as well as a university tutor (Dalrymple, Kemp, & Smith, 2014). Instructors are encouraged to facilitate learning and teaching activities that open up opportunities for autonomous learning, creativity, innovation, and critical thinking. Accordingly, students learn to master theories and practice skills (Christensen, Henriksen, Thomsen, Lund, & Mørcke, 2017) to gain knowledge, master competencies, and work towards achieving expertise (Pojani, Johnson, Darchen, & Yang, 2018)

Moreover, work based learning offers guided practice about “the on campus skills training sessions” (Pojani, Johnson, Darchen, & Yang, 2018) through lectures, workshops, tutorials, and seminars.

Baker, Peach, & Cathcart (2017) add that work based learning has several characteristics, namely labor market orientation intended to increase the enrolment and vocational graduate numbers every year. More specifically, standards and quality deal with new practices beyond traditional lectures and classroom delivery styles because of current trends of skilled workers’ mobility (migration and mobility aspects) in different countries. The credit and recognition of prior learning is another factor that determines institutional traditions and increased competence in the VET sector. Work based learning aims to enhance pathways concerning funding alternatives for students, vocational providers, small independent providers, government, and higher education funding solutions. Finally, responsiveness measures a sense of added demands and workloads for staff, alternative educational programs, and the work based course content.

Work based learning is at the heart of the university level education that pertains to skills and capabilities, work related contexts of learning conventional modules, lectures, and workshops (Major, 2016). This perspective sheds light on mastering theories and practices, the value of the employer led project (Brook & Corbridge, 2016), and the development of communication skills through professional learning (Norman & Jerrard, 2015). Thus, work based learning is a combination of skills, practical knowledge, and values concerning how higher education maintains the dynamics of learning and teaching.

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. also puts forward “a learner centered strategy” (Nottingham & Akinleye, 2014) that highlights employment as an obvious target of work based learning through critical pedagogy and job related experiences. For this reason, it is vital to enhance practical knowledge, the use of social networking, media, and the facilitation of positive learning environments (Talbot & Lilley, 2014).

Educational Leadership

Work based learning is closely connected with students’ preparation ahead of global market competitions (Sun & Kang, 2015) that may lead to a revitalization of vocational education and training in conjunction with emerging workforce trends that transform critical roles into more independent networking involving efforts and critical mind sets. Work based learning prepares and releases the potential of the twenty first century workforce (Sun & Kang, 2015). The issue of the workforce is a much debated topic because it investigates the prevalence of vocational graduates’ competitions, knowledge, and skills.

Raelin (2016) explores work based learning in parallel with integration between theories and practices, acknowledging explicit and tacit knowledge individually and collectively. The underlying reason behind this work based learning is that collective and reflective experiences remain powerful concerning the leadership transformation (Raelin, 2016). There has been a need it right now framework to change the broader structures of higher education institutions through fundamental principles such as ingrained values, beliefs, ethics, responsibility and knowledge sets in the twenty first century (Wall, Russell, & Moore, 2017) This echoes the principlethat work based learningcan bridge a gapbetween ideas and practices. As Nottingham & Akinleye (2014) put, “the curriculum provides a flexible means for bridging academic and workplace learning”, and it principally accommodates students’ different disciplines, cultural backgrounds, leadership training, cultural values, and climate change education. Work based learning outlines the curriculum extended from the current disciplinary specific sustainability, existing circumstances, and common core values. The curriculum, in a broader sense, appreciates cross cultural varieties that portend norms of inclusion, equality, responsibility and legitimate decision making (Wall, Russell, & Moore, 2017) Work based learning acknowledges the effectiveness of advanced knowledge, skills, and values of partnerships. The success of work based learning in higher education rests on the required work related resources and skills, learning environments and continuity of professional experiences (Stewart, Campbell, McMillan, & Wheeler, 2019). This transformative learning is likely to mark the inclusion of four variables for work based learning activities, namely the teacher centered delivery, employer centered delivery and students’ outcomes concerning skills, performances, and knowledge (Lemanski & Overton, 2016)

A large number of researchers assess the significance of educational leadership. Davids & Waghid (2019) highlight the role of educational leaders in terms of promoting transformation as a judgment exercise, reasonable but responsible decision making, caring, respect and equal dignity. It is now well established that educational leaders should have good personal merits such as honesty, transparency, and integrity (HTI). They are unlikely to be manipulative, selfish and discriminative (Oplatka & Tako, 2009) in carrying out the leadership profession. Besides, good educational leaders have “an increased need for collaboration and interaction” (Alvunger, 2015). As role models, they influence others in achieving goals and visions strategically (Simons & Harris, 2014). Thus,

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. educational leaders should bring about changes or transformations through individual leadership qualities in collaboration with other parties in social communities.

The critical issue in educational leadership accentuates “meta practices” (Wilkinson, Olin, Lund, Ahlberg, & Nyvaller, 2010) that refer to the context of leadership practices at a school level through words and actions. Without collective values and commitments, these leadership practices might not gain insights into maintaining human relations, the development of people’s good behaviors, and the advancement of industries and enterprises (Simons & Harris, 2014) as an integral part of leadership decision making, policies, and enacted practices (Uljens & Ylimaki, 2015). Although these theories pay too much attention to the nature of educational leadership practices, each of them is taught in university programs to find out leadership voices in a global approach (Bates & Eacott, 2008). In short, to lead others is to empower meta practices within a worldwide demand that words and actions must go hand in hand in every contextual leadership role. The urgent need nowadays is that educational leadership is more likely a role model that potentially drives students to be future leaders deplete with creativity and other leadership challenges (Staunæs, 2011). In what follows, educational leadership evolves in contextual cultures, including the higher education environments where students learn to instill a cross cultural understanding and appreciate indigenous values (Blakesley, 2008). For the sake of a long term sustainable educational leadership, learning processes form certain directions in which students recognize qualities of good leaders in managing, leading and cultivating industrial or network society. In a digital era, educational leadership seeks to optimize leadership technologies alike (Staunæs, 2011). In other words, educational leadership promotes cultures as a local system of values based appreciation and inculcation. Higher education is a place where future leaders learn and where digital citizens transform technologies into leadership roles to Inplay.the wake of global educational leadership, growing concern on innovation and creativity (Waite, 2017a) is of interest in shaping a set of standards for leadership decision making. In an Indonesian context, educational leaders are individuals who capture opportunities for creative ways of leading others, managing conflicts, and risk taking efforts to keep commitments firm and consistent (Amtu, Siahaya & Taliak, 2019). This leadership dimension is in the spotlight, whereas educational leaders work in tandem with community organizations, and local leaders as well. The community based platform of leadership advances the community equity that sustains the capacity for values, ethics, related knowledge, skills (Green, 2018), inclusiveness, and social justice (Hart, 1999; Sarid, 2020).

(2) Conducted the online article search for about 100 published articles.

(1) Cross checked the critical terms in the subject area search using the work based learning (WBL) and educational leadership (EL) subject area headings online. WBL and EL were used to find out related articles from the online database and advanced the search for other keywords such as leadership, leadership styles, and workplace learning.

(3) Undertaken an analysis to meet the eligibility criteria including the appropriate year of publication, indexes, and the relevance of issues under discussion. As a result, we selected 40 articles considerably through which 20 items discussed work based learning, and 20 items discussed the educational leadership.

As a systematic review of literature, we determined relevant published articles on both the work based learning and educational leadership using research guidelines or steps namely (1) eligibility criteria, 2) data selection stages, and 3) data analysis.

The data analysis was in line with the guidelines of a systematic review of articles. This aims to sustain the objectivity in mapping out the originality of ideas or interpretations within current literature perspectives. First, even though it was time consuming, each component of work based learning issues in 20 articles was classified into several blueprint categories, as evidenced in the following table.

3. Research Method

Data Analysis

(4) The last process was reading 40 research articles, beginning with the exploration of topics, keywords, and contents to review.

This research includes data selection processes through the following stages:

Principle 2: Research articles discussed determinant issues around work based learning and educational leadership specifically regarding features or qualities of work based education and educational leadership, and relations between or among them. The criterion is likely to answer research questions.

The eligibility criteria are vital for classifying research samples based on data analysis guidelines, as follows:

Principle 1: Forty original published articles, each of which was open access (an online platform) over the last five years (2015 2020) within the timeframe of research published in different countries and reputable journals and indexed by Thomson Reuters, Scopus, and ISI, and the publication content areas were the work based learning and educational leadership. This criterion was likely to facilitate the accessibility of research data.

Eligibility Criteria

Data Selection Processes

Second, the content area of 20 articles on educational leadership was an entity that encouraged critical reviews through which we described the components of data analysis involving the theme framework and its detailed specifications, as shown in the following table.

Table 2. A sample of educational leadership features in the journal articles

analysiscontentHermeneutic Arar & Haj Yehia, 2018 Israel rolesTransformative To inspire the world in terms of personal, relational, institutional and global scopes of educational leadership

Quantitative Laksov & 2017Tomson, Sweden

Third, to answer the third research question, we needed to specify to what extent work based learning correlates to the praxis of educational leadership. Therefore, a series of reviewing activities aimed to criticize core issues, and their relevant classifications, as shown in the table below.

The learningmodelpersonalof Individual learners initiate critical thinking performances

The learningmodelglobalof throughinShareandorganizedutiesaglobalcontextlocalactions

FrameworkTheme Features of LearningWork-based(WBL) ResearchMethods References Countries Open (ODL)LearningDistanceand To put forward topical areas, explorations and their contextual use in organizations and communities of practices

Table 1. A sample of work based learning features in the journal articles

Qualitative Abukari & 2019Ahmed, Ghana

Quantitative Zhang, Yin, XiongDavid, & Niu, 2016 UK

FrameworkTheme Features of LeadershipEducational(EL) ResearchMethods References Countries De leadershipgender To encourage leadership emancipation and gender justice frameworkConceptual Ma & 2019Shouse, China leadershipIslamic In Islam, educational leaders are credibly supervised by God and become role models [qudwa hasana]

Quantitative 2016Garnett, Australia

Table 3. A sample of relationships between work based education and educational leadership in the journal articles Relationships between work based learning and educational leadership articlesofnumberThe References

4. Findings and Discussion Features that Describe Work based Learning around the World

The systematic review of international journal articles on work based learning in Ghana, Australia, and the UK shows obvious transformation categorizing into four main components namely Open and Distance Learning (ODL) (Abukari & Ahmed, 2019), personal (Garnett, 2016) and global (Zhang, Yin, David, Xiong & Niu, 2016) learning models in higher education. In terms of Open and Distance Learning (ODL), work based learning puts forward topical areas, explorations and their contextual use in organizations and communities of practice. Personal and global learning models promote individual learners’ critical thinking, and the transformation in the work based learning aims to share responsibilities through local activities that contribute to global changes. Critical factors of the work based learning in Norway, China, Finland, and Sweden coincide with students’ participation in the communities of practices (Lafton & Furu, 2019), real work situations focusing on the knowledge of real experiences (Zhang, Yin, David, Xiong, & Niu, 2016), and learning challenges to study, share and organize duties independently (Nevalainen, Lunkka & Suhonen, 2018). In response to the cultural inheritance, work based learning is likely to expand cultural contexts of learning in real situations deplete with workplace demands (Österlind, 2018). Thus, socio cultural conditions of learning need students’ involvement to pursue knowledge in workplace circumstances and Workplacechallenges. learning in UK, Finland, Denmark, and Australia is familiar to students because of its flexibility in terms of collaboration, partnership, project based, learner centered and managed platforms of learning beyond trans disciplinary contexts (Garnett, 2016). In line with arts, learning rearticulates art based values that preserve transformation, networking, inspiration and soft skills (Pässilä, Owens & Pulkki, 2016). The collaboration with institutions, communities, and stakeholders can strengthen students’ competence, reduce costs and develop professional skills (Toledano O’Farrill, 2017). In this stance, work based learning offers insights into lifelong learning skills (Baker, Peach, & Cathcart, 2017; Helyer,

Collaboration 5 Garnett (2016), Yada & Jäppinen (2019), Alvunger, (2015), Toledano O’Farrill (2017), Normore & Lahera (2019) Cultural contexts 4 (Österlind, 2018), Ferrández Berrueco, Kekale, & Devins (2016), Tian & Risku (2019), Laksov & Tomson, (2017)

practices reviewTheoretical

learningmodelPersonalof

construct knowledge of real experiences Qualitative

critical performancesthinking Quantitative

communities

Table 4. Features of work based learning around the world as discussed in the journal articles

FrameworkTheme Features of Work based(WBL)Learning ResearchMethods References Countries Open (ODL)LearningDistanceand put Abukari & Ahmed, 2019 Ghana Individual learners initiate Garnett, 2016 Australia

Quantitative Zhang, Yin, David, Xiong & Niu, 2016 UK Participation To involve in the of Lafton & Furu, 2019 Norway situationswork To Zhang, Yin, David, Xiong & Niu, 2016 China To study share and organize LunkkaNevalainen, & Suhonen, 2018 Finland

global context through local actions

organize duties

Real

learningmodelglobalof

2015), including transformative strategies to master theories and their applications in daily actions. Fundamental pillars of work based learning, as reflected in the UK’s and USA’s higher education, entail multidisciplinary contexts intended to develop professional skills, learning quality, authentic experiences and culture (Gerhardt, 2019; Ferrández Berrueco, Kekale & Devins, 2016). However, corporate governance fully supports workplace inclusiveness, work flexibility and lifelong learning (Wall, 2017). In a nutshell, work based learning puts forward such fundamental standards that enrich experiential and technology enhanced learning in the digital era. In line with pedagogical principles, several researchers point out that work based learning generates entrepreneurial, managerial and technical skillsets (Lloyd, Martin, Hyatt, & Tritt, 2019), transfer of knowledge, education and reflective practice (Abukari, 2014), learning potentials and challenges (Algers, Lindström & Svensson, 2016), and learning quality (Brook & Corbridge, 2016). In general, the coverage of work based learning is described in the following table.

practicescommunitiesintheirexplorationstopicalforwardareas,andcontextualuseorganizationsandof Qualitative

challengesLearning

The To share and in a

independently,

duties reviewLiterature

160 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. learningcontextsCulturalof To promote learning in real cultural situations and workplace demands Qualitative Österlind, 2018 Sweden flexibilityLearning To centbased,curricpartnership,collaboration,supportflexibleulum,projectandstudenteredlearning reviewLiterature Garnett, 2016 Australia Art valuesbased To skillsinspirationnetworking,transformation,maintainandsoft Qualitative Owens,Pässilä, & Pulkki, 2016. &DenmFinland,arkUK Collaboration To professionalcosts,competencies,strengthenreduceanddevelopskills reviewLiterature Toledano O’Farrill, 2017 Australia learningLifelong To justify learning outside formal education contexts reviewLiterature Baker, Peach & Cathcart, 2017 Australia learningLifelong skills To transform strategies of work based learning, articulate theories and changes in actions reviewLiterature Helyer, 2015 UK aryMultidisciplincontexts To develop professional skills Qualitative Gerhardt, 2019 UK learningworkpillarsFundamentalofbased To articulate learning quality, culturedevelopmentexperiences,authenticandof Case study Kekale,Berrueco,Ferrández & Devins, 2016 UK learningofSustainabilityworkbased To develop the 21st employability(technology,workforce, and competition) reviewLiterature Sun & Kang, 2015 USA Critical areas of work learningbased lifelongflexibilityinclusiveness,workplacegovernance,Topromotecorporateworkandlearning Critical review Wall, 2017 UK Engagement To sustain students’ involvement in managerialentrepreneurial,developing and technical skillsets Case study Lloyd, Martin, Hyatt, & Tritt, 2019 USA

experiencesMeaningful

The characteristics of educational leadership in Sweden, Australia, USA, Finland, and Canada include collaboration, sharing, cooperation, and interaction (Yada & Jäppinen, 2019) concerning “moral and value based aspects” (Alvunger, 2015). For this purpose, mutual empowerment is vital to foster cooperation, interaction, assessment and reflection (Welton, Mansfield & Lee, 2014). One of the influential aspects of educational leadership is leadership preparation as a gateway to develop leadership skills (Normore & Lahera, 2019), affective qualities in mentoring and empowering orientedto actions, teachingexcellence, research, and scholarship (Fields, Kenny & Mueller, 2019). Educational leaders should be well prepared through situated practices that prioritize quality outcomes, flexibility, innovations and “institutional self reliance” (Simons & Harris, 2014).

161 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. Work learningrelated To enhance learning behaviors and the development of competenciesrelevant for job seekers Quantitative CoeftjensVangrieken,Grosemans, & Kyndt, 2020 Belgium projectsNegotiated To generate learning potentials and challenges Quantitative LindstAlgers,röm &

2016Corbridge, UK Features of Educational Leadership in Global Higher Education Educational leadership in the 21st century is an integral part of character education. China, for example, has initiated de gender leadership that sustains leadership emancipation and gender justice (Ma & Shouse, 2019). In Israel, educational leadership connects to Islamic leaders who are credible and supervised by God and become role models [qudwa hasana] in every leadership role they play (Arar & Haj Yehia, 2018). Meanwhile, educational leadership has a transformative role to play in Sweden, namely inspiring the world through personal, relational, institutional and global scopes of administration (Laksov & Tomson, Educational2017).leadership roles in Australia, USA, Norway, and Sweden deal with leadership towards outcomes by maintaining the missions of organizations (Simons & Harris, 2014), the engagement that encourages cooperation among students and learners as social actors (Niesche, 2018) in learning to perform professional actions, initiatives and mentoring roles (Waaland, 2016), cognitive development based on socio cultural contexts of learning, communities of practices, interaction, and communication (Laksov & Tomson, 2017)

Finland has embarked on practices of distributed educational leadership through the curriculum reform that entails inclusion, multidisciplinary learning, student

2016Svensson, Sweden To learningandknowledgeemphasizetransferqualityof Qualitative Brook &

162 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. centered assessment and operational culture (Tian & Risku, 2019). Furthermore, Ghana has initiated instructional leadership practices by setting an academic atmosphere in which students learn to rapport performances, instructions, and evaluations, get rewards and punishments. The effective methods of curriculum reform and instructional leadership in part depend on students’ engagement, problem solving and knowledge creation (Niesche, 2018a) as reflected in Australian higher education. Educational leadership qualities in USA and Indonesia comprise strengthened solidarity, partnership, engagement, values, knowledge, and skills (Green, 2018), creativity, development of talent people, positive work environments, creativity, innovations, and positive attitudes towards others (Frémeaux & Pavageau, 2020; Waite, 2017), as shown in the table below. Table 5. The educational leadership features around the world as described in the journal articles FrameworkTheme Features LeadershipEducationalof(EL) MethodsResearch References Countries De leadershipgender To emancipationleadershipencourage and gender justice frameworkConceptual Ma & Shouse, 2019 China Islamic leadership In Islam, educational leaders are [becomesupervisedcrediblybyGodandrolemodels qudwa hasana] analysiscontentHermeneutic Arar & Haj Yehia, 2018 Israel roleTransformative To inspire the world in terms of educationalandrelational,personal,institutionalglobalscopesofleadership Quantitative Niesche, 2018 Australia The andcritiqueradicalofsocietyculture To promote a neutral school culture, the value of leadershipjusticeadvocacydiversity,culturalandofsocialineducational reviewLiterature Sarid, 2020 Israel practicesLeadership To uphold aspectsmoralinteraction,collaborationtheandarticulateandvaluebased Quantitative 2015Alvunger, Sweden behaviorsleadershipServant To foster engagementthein daily servant experiencesbehaviors,leadershipand Qualitative Liao, Lee, Johnson & Lin, 2020 USA

163 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. leadershipInstructional To encourage active learning and teaching, managerial aspect and leadership culture Qualitative Abonyi & Sofo, 2019 Ghana preparationLeadership To develop leadership skills, and abilities reviewLiterature Normore & Lahera, 2019 USA characteristicsMain of leadershipeducational To promote effective qualities, mentor and empower actions, teaching scholarshipresearch,excellence,and Case study Fields, Kenny & 2019Mueller, Canada autonomyLearning To accentuate mentoringinitiatiprofessionalindependence,trainingactions,ves,androles Quantitative Waaland, 2016 Norway hindrancesleadershipCurriculum To leadershipfromandlogistics,barrierscurriculumovercomeleadershipsuchasresources,lackofsupporttheschool Qualitative Tapala, van Niekerk & Mentz, 2020 AfricaSouth lDistributedeadership To support curriculumthereform that prioritizes andcenteredlearning,multidisciplinaryinclusion,studentassessment,operationalculture Mixed Tian & Risku, 2019 Finland leadershipEducationalroles To develop thinking, initiate learning based on socio communicationinteraction,ofcontexts,culturalcommunitiespractices,and Qualitative Laksov & Tomson, 2017 Sweden practicesleadershipInstructional To create conditions,academicimprove students’ academic evaluationspunishments,rewardsinstructions,performances,getand reviewLiterature Ma & Shouse, 2019 Ghana effectivenessLeadership To focus creationsolvingchallenges,engagement,onproblemandknowledge reviewLiterature Niesche, 2018 Australia

The leadership formation in Morocco operates within the contextual practice of religious establishments, aiming at preventing Moroccans from extremist ideologies. For a long term purpose, regional power emerges as a strong foundation of setting counter terrorism strategies, and religious based cooperation through religious school traditions (Hmimnat, 2018). In Israel, Islamic leadership formation is one of the spearheads of success through which educational leaders become role models [qudwa hasana] (Arar & Haj Yehia, 2018) in managerial positions. Under God’s guidance and supervision, they manage conflicts to find out proper solutions toward problems. They work through other people by coordinating their activities to achieve leadership or organizational goals. This leadership role depends on engagement, challenges, problem solving and knowledge creation (Niesche, 2018). Therefore, educational leaders promote managerial values, such as cooperation, sharing, collaboration, and interaction (Yada & Jäppinen, 2019). In an academic context, they promote a neutral school culture, the value of cultural diversity, and advocacy of social justice in educational leadership (Sarid, 2020).

Watts, Steele, & Mumford (2018) point ou that leadership formation starts with the vision formation involving the construction of a future state. Visionary leaders

164 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. qualitiesleadershipEducational To pay attention to solidarity knowledge,engagement,partnership,andsustainvalues,andskills reviewLiterature Green, 2018 USA leadersMeaningful To encourage moral towardspositivepersonalprofessionalcommunityexemplarity,spirit,andsupport,attitudesothers Qualitative Frémeaux 2020Pavageau,& France Special issues in leadershipeducational To maintain creativity and innovationsadvance reviewLiterature Waite, 2017 USA Features leadershipeducationalof To collaboration,harness sharing, and interaction reviewSystematic Yada Jäppinen,& 2019 Finland

Educational Leadership Formation through the Lens of Leadership Roles, Emancipation and Gender Justice

Educational leadership positions play a crucial role in maintaining organizational balance. Like warlords in a competitive global era, educational leaders have the task of ensuring the accuracy, availability, information security, and organizational arrangements to achieve organizational goals while enhancing collaboration and interaction, articulate moral and value based aspects (Alvunger (2015). Success in carrying out this task force requires multidisciplinary capabilities, including engagement in daily servant leadership behaviors, and experiences (Liao, Lee, Johnson & Lin, 2020).

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. articulate communication for task forces, organizational and social purposes. For example, they inspire others to realize the organization's vision that serves to manage leadership visions and constructs mental models to get engaged in solving complicated problems. Visionary leaders continue to develop leadership skills (Normore & Lahera, 2019), such as supporting the viability of visions, executing the art of sensemaking, demonstrating leadership development initiatives, and encouraging active learning and teaching, managerial aspect and leadership culture (Abonyi & Sofo, 2019).

According to Rincon Gallardo (2019), educational leadership plays three essential leadership roles in the school networking context, such as lead learner, culture shifter, and system changer. In line with the lead learner, leadership roles aim to liberate learning in and through school networking systems. Better school networks are effective to sustain learning outcomes that serve as a means of liberating learners from pedagogical hindrances. This leadership role requires further social movement that not only deals with the most dominant scientific paradigm but also the vital aspects of a leadership role in plural societies.

Educational leaders must find out solutions toward emancipation related problems following the impacts of global change. Samier (2015) explores women’s higher educational leadership formation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In terms of the global culture, Emirati women leaders support the national identity building and Islam while staying liberal and free to preserve modern culture in multicultural societies. Leadership emancipation as such encourages women to put forward moral exemplarity, community spirit, professional and personal support, positive attitudes towards others (Frémeaux & Pavageau, 2020). In another sense, leadership emancipation makes a real contribution to gender justice (Ma & Shouse, 2019) through positive behaviors.

reality, educational leadership plays pivotal roles in both formal and non formal educational institutions. The most fundamental issue is that educational leaders manage educational organizations to gain the trust of the community. This leadership role includes inspiring the world in terms of personal, relational, institutional and global scopes of educational leadership (Niesche, 2018). An educational leader is a person who is good at reading the situation because his or her sensitivity determines the decision making processes, for example, assigning task forces to his or her subordinates based on socio

In the framework of management, educational leadership pays attention to a benchmark for achieving goals, namely a series of leadership activities to foster good collaboration between individuals within educational environments. Educational leaders may undertake activities that influence, and determine certain educational situations so that they harness cooperation, sharing, collaboration, and interaction (Yada & Jäppinen, 2019) within learning Inenvironments.thecurrent

Educational leaders are cultural movement builders involvingthe cultivating, and supporting system of culture. Every social movement shapes the way they revitalize the collective identity, develop strategic plans, and change the world through the proper working system, leadership practice, power capacity, creativity, and innovations (Waite, 2017).

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. cultural contexts, communities of practices, interaction, and communication (Laksov & Tomson, 2017). An educational leader builds a good social relationship that can add colors to the dynamics of work. It is well known that educational leadership promotes effective qualities that give rise to the educational standard of management. This dynamics of organization seeks to plot mentorship to empower actions through teaching excellence programs involving research, and scholarship (Fields, Kenny & Mueller, 2019). Through these activities, educational leaders have the power to exert and influence their subordinates concerning to what extent task forces accentuate training independence, professional actions, and mentoring roles (Waaland, 2016). However, educational leaders must provide solutions toward curriculum barriers such as logistics, resources, and lack of support (Tapala, van Niekerk & Mentz, 2020) in higher education. On the basis of that awareness, educational leadership prioritizes inclusion, multidisciplinary learning, student centered assessment, and operational culture (Tian & Risku, 2019). Curriculum reform creates academic conditions that enhance students’ academic performances, instructions, and evaluations (Ma & Shouse, 2019). Relevant efforts are also fundamental to advance higher education leadership programs that require partnership with foreign institutions to sustain engagement, values, knowledge, and skills (Green, 2018). This educational goal seeks to further harness collaboration, and interaction (Yada & Jäppinen, 2019) with world class institutions. As an integral part of planning and organizing management, educational leadership aims to influence others topromote emancipation, leadership roles and gender justice. Educational leaders may be weak managers if they fail to include such dominant features in their managerial planning. As a result, educational leaders may take the wrong direction to lead others. Although they can initiate teamwork, they do not achieve organizational goals. To respond to the global challenges, which are marked by tough competitions, a high level of coordination helps educational leaders manage higher education appropriately. Therefore, educational leaders are imperative to describe the collaboration between higher education structures and outcomes.

Relationships between work based learning and educational leadership in global higher education Both educational leadership and work based learning emphasize collaboration to create learning flexibility. Therefore, students and instructors must collaborate with communities of practices, stakeholders, and organizations to revitalize project based activities (Garnett, 2016). In terms of educational leadership, qualities of leaders (Yada & Jäppinen, 2019) rely on the ability to collaborate with other institutions, individuals, departments, organizations, companies, and nations. The leadership praxis dominantly requires collaboration (Alvunger, 2015; Normore & Lahera, 2019; Toledano O’Farrill (2017); Garnett (2016), Yada & Jäppinen, (2019) In other words, collaboration dominantly appears in the journal articles followed by the emergence of cultural contexts (Österlind, 2018); Tian & Risku, 2019) that accommodate local traditions or actions for global

transformative effects. The development of culture (Ferrández Berrueco, Kekale, & Devins, 2016) is an integral part of work based learning. Besides, critical thinking is based on socio cultural contexts, communities of practices, interaction and communication (Laksov & Tomson, 2017), engagement (Lafton & Furu, 2019; Niesche, 2018; Green, 2018), and challenges (Niesche, 2018; Algers, Lindström & Svensson, 2016; Nevalainen, Lunkka & Suhonen, 2018), as evidenced in the following table.

Table 6. Relationships between work based education and educational leadership in the journal articles

Relationships between work based learning and educational leadership articlesofnumberThe References Collaboration 5 Garnett (2016), Yada & Jäppinen, (2019), Alvunger (2015), Toledano O’Farrill (2017), Normore & Lahera (2019) Cultural contexts 4 Österlind (2018), Ferrández Berrueco, Kekale, & Devins (2016), Tian & Risku (2019), Laksov & Tomson (2017) Engagement 3 Lafton & Furu (2019), Niesche (2018), Green (2018) Challenges 3 Niesche(2018); Algers,Lindström & Svensson (2016); Nevalainen, Lunkka & Suhonen (2018)

5. Conclusion This research puts more emphasis on the systematic review of journal articles on work based learning and educational leadership in different countries in the last five years (2015 2020). Pertinent theories outline qualities of work based learning and leadership education and to what extent they correlate to each other as praxis concerning the importance of collaboration, learning flexibility, engagement, and socio cultural contexts in higher education. Work based learning describes a wide range of qualities concerning socio cultural contexts of education, engagement in workplace circumstances, and learning challenges. Moreover, learning transformation seeks to appreciate cultural values that provide a pathway for cooperation, autonomy andlifelonglearningin several communities of practice. Related organizations also promote work based learning potentials that emerge from learning quality, active participation, authentic experiences, multi disciplinary skills, technology enhanced learning, pedagogical beliefs, and work flexibility. Educational leadership, as reflected in the journal articles, is mainly concerned with leadership formation through the lens of leadership roles, leadership emancipation or gender justice. This truism can be subsumed under role models [qudwa hasana] in Islamic leadership that go hand in hand with leadership features

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168 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. namely collaboration, engagement, mentoring roles, affective qualities, knowledge creation and problem solving. Work based learning has a significant correlation to educational leadership in terms of engagement, collaboration, learning flexibility, and cultural contexts in the 21st century.

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Department of Theory of Law and State, Law Faculty, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine

Lidiia L. Markina Department of Psychology and Pedagogy, Dnipropetrovsk State University of Internal Affairs, Dnipro, Ukraine Luidmila M. Prisnyakova Department of Psychology and Pedagogy, Dnipropetrovsk State University of Internal Affairs, Dnipro, Ukraine

Abstract The objective of this study was to find out how effective the use of smart technologies is in the professional training of students of the law departments, in particular for the formation and development of their criticalthinking.According tothe author, the combination of the potential of smart technologies in learning and the development of critical thinking in students allows the most optimal solution of the contradictions between the needs of a modern society and the current practice of professional training of students, in particular, students of the law departments. The experimental model with the use of smart technologies was tested in the academic courses “Intellectual Property and Copyright” and “Fundamentals of Administrative Law”, which are part of the special subjectsof the educationaland professionaltrainingprogramfor students of the Speciality 081: Law. In order to analyze the results obtained and the efficiency ratio of the experimental model against the traditional model and STATA Software was applied. The study showed the efficiency of the use of smart technologies in the formation and development of critical

Department of Philosophy of Law and Legal Logic, National Academy of Internal Affairs, Kyiv, Ukraine

The Use of Smart Technologies in the Professional Training of Students of the Law Departments for the Development of their Critical Thinking

Nina V. Teremtsova

174 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 174 187, March https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.102020

Igor M. Kopotun Academia HUSPOL, Hranice, Czech Republic Myroslav Yu. Durdynets

1. Introduction

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. thinking in future lawyers. The author concluded that the use of smart technologies in the professional training of students of the law departments also facilitates feedback, which increases students’ learning motivation and allows monitoring of changes in student development. This model can be applied to teaching other subjects in both full time and distance learning.

The analysis of researches and publications shows that the subject of active search of Ukrainian and foreign scholars is theoretically grounded standardization of the conceptual framework of the problem under study (Cademia & Kobisia, 2016; Singh & Miah, 2020), the advantages of ubiquitous learning over traditional forms of organization of the educational process (Kearney, Burden & Schuck, 2019), pedagogical conditions for improving the quality of professional training of future specialists (Isaienko & Kushmar, 2016; Borawska Kalbarczyk, Tołwińska & Korzeniecka Bondar, 2019). Comprehensive research into the problem of using innovative learning environments in the context of informatization was conducted by Korsunska (2013). Dychkivska (2013) consider smart technologies as innovative pedagogical technologies in her works. Glazunova (2013) focuses on the study of innovative approaches to the organization of school education, and Solomko (2013) on the use of innovative technologies in the conditions of modern higher education. Krasylnyk (2013) explores individual aspects of the use of information technologies in the process of teacher training. Zeer (2010), Pozdnyakov (2012), Tykhomyrov (2011), Tikhomirova (2012) and others work on the development of issues of quality assurance of professional training and development of necessary abilities of using smart technologies. Ways of applying smart technologies and their adaptation to the use in the educational environment are analyzed in publications (Bonch Bruevych, Abramov & Kosenko, 2007; Yakubov & Yakinin, 2011; Vasylenko & Kyrda, 2014). However, the problem of the use of smart technologies in the process of professional training of specialists is still not well studied. We believe that the effective way of overcoming the contradictions between the needs of modern society and the current system of training specialists is the transition to a new educational paradigm where the main role belongs to the person, and to the widespread use of smart technologies in the process of professional training in higher educational institutions. The spread of personal computers arose the idea of engaging them for the acquisition of knowledge and skills, and the concept of e learning emerged in scientific works (Bonch Bruevych et al., 2007; Rosenberg, 2005; van Seters, Ossevoort, Tramper & Goedhart, 2012; Uskov et al., 2016). The search of scholars has led to the emergence of blended learning concepts (Arbaugh, Desai, Rau & Sridhar, 2010), mobile learning (m learning) (Moore, 2000; Ahn & Lee, 2016), ubiquitous learning (u learning) (Kim, 2008; Alsheail, 2010; Gros, Kinshuk & Maina, 2016) and seamless learning (Chan et al., 2006). Currently, the term “smart education” means organized interaction of all subjects of the educational process, which aims at forming systemic multi

Keywords: SMART education; Innovative educational technologies; Smart technologies; Critical thinking; Professional training of specialists

This quantitative study was conducted in four stages, using general scientific theoretical, empirical and statistical methods. In order to determine the levels of formation of critical thinking in the future lawyers by means of smart technologies in the process of professional training, students were offered various diagnostic methods, taking into account the structure of the phenomenon under study. Thus, the level of the development of the motivational and value component of future lawyers was determined by means of a questionnaire survey: “Studying the

The above identified the choice of the topic of our study, which was to identify the degree of efficiency of the use of smart technologies in the formation and development of critical thinking in future lawyers.

On the present stage of development of higher education in Ukraine we consider the idea of using digital manuals in the educational process (Joo& Lim, 2015) and that of applyingwidely smart technologies in the practice of professional training of a competitive specialist (OECD, 2018) to be extremely interesting and highly Thepromising.statement of Zhang and Lu (2008), that a special role in the system of results of smart education is given to cognitive competence when forming a complex vision of the problem, the ability to see complex structures of phenomena, causes of their occurrence, alternatives, to give their own judgment, to defend their point of view etc. Zhang and Lu (2008) has become another cornerstone of our study, as such understanding is closely related to our understanding of the role of critical thinking in professional training of future professionals. The problem of the development of critical thinking is extremely urgent because the task of the modern high school is to prepare a specialist who is able to use knowledge in practice, critically evaluate the achievements and seek ways of self improvement (Holdsworth & Thomas, 2016; The Ontario Public Service, 2016).

Different aspects of the introduction of computer information technology into the educational process have been considered in the works of many domestic and foreign authors, however, the issue of the use of smart technologies in higher education has not been studied enough.

In our study, we consider smart technologies as: “a set of innovative technical means of designing an educational and developmental environment of a higher educational institution, aimed at ensuring systemic realization of educational goals and comprehensive mastering of the content of professional training, as well as introduction of appropriate forms, methods, techniques with significant developmental potential into the educational practice” (Dychkivska, 2013, p. 29).

dimensional vision of the subject of studied science in students, and is carried out through technical innovations and the Internet (Hwang, Yang & Kim, 2010; Zhu, Yu & Riezebos, 2016). All concepts are united by the understanding that now learning and innovative technologies (smart technologies) form a mutually predetermined model of technology enhanced learning that is accessible to a student in time and space (Spector & SLFG, 2018)

2. Research Methods

The study was prolonged and was conducted in four stages: 1) preparatory; 2) summative; 3) formative; 4) final. The research design is presented in Figure 1. Figure 1: Research design

Final stage: interpretation of statistical indicators; comparison of the results obtained with those expected; development of recommendations

Experimental stage: conducting a formative experiment with the use of electronic manuals on the training courses "Intellectual Property and Copyright" and "Fundamentals of Administrative Law"; collecting and processing the data obtained

Summative stage: forming a valid study sample; conducting a summative experiment; processing of obtained data

Motives of Students’ Educational Activities” (Badmaeva, 2004). Data on the manifestation of the cognitive component in future lawyers were obtained through testing: “Determining the Level of Students’ Knowledge and Results of Students’ Achievements” (author’s development). The level of the development of the activity component of future lawyers by means of smart technologies was determined by means of questionnaire survey: “Diagnosis of the Level of Mastering Personal Computer and Internet Resources” (Fedoruk, 2014). Data on the manifestation of the communicative component in future lawyers was determined through testing: “Assessment of Communicability and Organizational Skills” (Fetiskin, Kozlov & Manuilov, 2012). The level of the development of personal component in future lawyers through smart technologies was determined using the author’s diagnostic test: “Questionnaire Aimedat Identifying the ExistingLevel of Innovative Culture of Future Lawyers”.

Preparatory stage: study and analysis of scientific sources on the problem; substantiation of reasonability of the use of smart technologies in educational activity; development of an experimental model using e guides for the courses on Intellectual Property and Copyright and Fundamentals of Administrative Law; selection of diagnostic tools

2.1. Research Design

Two training courses “Intellectual Property and Copyright” and “Fundamentals of Administrative Law” were selected for conducting the experiment after interviewing 408 students of Bachelor programs in speciality 081 “Law” of the Khmelnytsky University of Management and Law, Chernihiv National Technological University, State University of Infrastructure and Technologies (Kyiv) and the Academy of Labour, Social Relations and Tourism (Kyiv). An important factor in the choice was the availability of digital manuals for the specified training courses, the ability to use smart board by teachers when delivering lecture material, access to Internet resources and the ability to connect

At the preparatory stage, 408 2nd year bachelor students of the speciality 081: Law’ and 14 teachers of higher educational institutions (Khmelnytsky University of Management and Law, Chernihiv National Technological University, State University of Infrastructure and Technology (Kyiv), Academy of Labour, Social Relations and Tourism (Kyiv)) were involved in this study The total number of participants was n=422 people. A valid sample calculator was used to determine the representative sample. The sample was 50 people for total of n = 422 people. The experimental (EG) and control (CG) groups were formed taking into account the indicated number. The experimental group (EG) consisted of 25 people; the control group (CG) had the same number of persons (25). The comparative analysis was carried out within existing academic groups by model programs. In

During the preparatory stage of the study, the following components and indicators for the development of critical thinking (cognitive competence) of lawyers in the application of smart technologies were identified during the development of an experimental model using iSpring platform based digital manuals for the courses (Intellectual Property and Copyright; Fundamentals of Administrative Law): motivational and value component (the level of development of professional interests in the field of law; positive attitude to theoretical and practical training; interest in continuing professional development); cognitive (deep knowledge of the theory of law; mastering of innovative research technologies; innovative legal thinking; variability of legal thinking); activity (ability to receive, store, process, transfer and present information with the help of modern devices and technologies; ability and skills to work on a personal computer using operating systems which are adequate to the set tasks, etc.); communicative (ability to clearly express and reason their opinions, build evidence; skills to analyze and establish interpersonal relationships; ability to choose the best style of communication, organize and maintain dialogue); personal (understanding of the social significance and value of the professional activity of the future lawyer; the level of development of professionally necessary qualities, including responsibility, organization, independence, honesty, sociability; formation of value attitude to health).

The motivational criterion is determined by the criterion for the development of the motivational and value component of cognitive competence of future lawyers, general scientific cognitive, information computer activity, social communicative and self regulating personal. These components and indicators have become a prerequisite for identifying the high, medium and low levels of critical thinking in future lawyers by means of smart technologies.

2.1.1. Sampling

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. to the network of students’ personal gadgets in classrooms or libraries (reading rooms). Lecture materials (in the form of video lectures and lecture notes), as well as instructional materials for practical and seminar classes were developed and / or modified by the instructors of the courses “Intellectual Property and Copyright” and “Fundamentals of Administrative Law”, integrated into online manuals on the iSpring platform. This platform enables students to use the materials of the online manuals to independently develop the academic content of the training courses.

ІV

179 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. the control groups, professional training was carried out according to standard methods, and in experimental groups according to the method where the critical thinking in the future lawyers was formed by means of smart technologies. At the summative stage, students of the control and experimental groups were diagnosed according to the questionnaires and tests determined in the methodological framework of the study to establish the initial levels of the development of components of critical thinking (cognitive competence) in students. The data obtained during the summative experiment are presented in Table 1.

Table 1: The level of development of critical thinking in students of experimental and control group (summative stage) (numberGroups of people) Levels of development high medium low

V According to the criterion of the personal component development EG (25) 12.00 % (3) 52.00 % (13) 36.00 % (9) CG (25) 8.00 % (2) 52.00 % (13) 40.00 % (10)

Thus, according to the criterion of the motivational and value component development in both the experimental and the control group, the highest proportion was students with low levels (64% and 68%, respectively). Approximately one third of students showed medium level (32% and 28%, respectively). A high level of motivation development was identified in students, which accounted for 4% of the total number of respondents. According to the

І According to the criterion of the motivational and value component development EG (25) 4.00 % (1) 32.00 % (8) 64.00 % (16) CG (25) 4.00 % (1) 28.00 % (7) 68.00 % (17) ІІ According to the criterion of the cognitive component development EG (25) 28.00 % (7) 72.00 % (18) CG (25) 32.00 % (8) 68.00 % (17) ІІІ According to the criterion of the activity component development EG (25) 20.00 % (5) 32.00 % (8) 48.00 % (12) CG (25) 24.00 % (6) 28.00 % (7) 48.00 % (12) According to the criterion of the communicative component development EG (25) 16.00 % (4) 72.00 % (18) 12.00 % (3) CG (25) 8.00 % (2) 84.00 % (21) 8.00 % (2)

According to the criterion of the activity component development, slightly less than half of the students made up the share with the low level of development of the specified component (48% in both groups); the proportion of students with a medium level of component development was 32% in the experimental group and 28% in the control group. Other students were diagnosed with a high level of development of the activity component 20% (experimental group) and 24% (control group). According to the criterion of the communicative component development in both groups, the highest proportion was students with an average level of development of this characteristic (experimental group 72%; control group 84%). However, the low level of the component development was found in 12% of the students of the experimental group, and there was only was only 8% of such students in the control group. There is a different picture regarding the high level of communication component development: it is 16% in the experimental group of students and only 8% in the control group. According to the criterion of personal component development, about forty percent of students showed low level of development (experimental group – 36%; control group –40%); the proportion of students with a medium level of personal component development was the same (52%); high level of personal component development was shown by 12% of students of the experimental group and 8% of students of the control group. As we can see, at the initial stage of the study, the characteristics of the experimental and control groups are quite different, but they are quite comparable.

2.1.2. Tools for collecting and processing statistics

Quantitative methods were used to accomplish the research objectives, in particular such as: test results performed by students from both groups; questionnaires for students and teachers; focus group survey to determine the impact factor of the proposed training organization model. The following methods wereused to analyze thequantitative data: Chi Square statistical method and triangulation (Zulfiqar & Bhaskar, 2016; STATA Software, n.d.). To analyze the responses of the focus group participants to determine the categorical framework of the study, we used the online tool Text Analyzer, following the guidelines for conducting research in focus groups (OMNI, n.d.; Krueger & Casey, 2000; Onwuegbuzie, Dickinson, Leech & Zoran, 2009).

3. Results After conducting a pedagogical experiment on the use of smart technologies for the development of critical thinking in students (future lawyers), repeated measurements were made according to the same determined diagnostic questionnaires and tests. Their results are shown in Table 2. Comparison of the indicators of the summative and formative stages of the experiment shows that positive changes have taken place in all components of the critical thinking

criterion of the cognitive component development, the vast majority of students in both groups showed low (experimental group 72%; control group 68%) and medium level of the component development (28% and 32%, respectively); no students with high levels of cognitive development have been identified.

І According to the criterion of the motivational and value component development EG (25) 20.00 % (5) 60.00 % (15) 20.00 % (5) CG (25) 8.00 % (2) 52.00 % (13) 40.00 % (10)

V According to the criterion of the personal component development EG (25) 24.00 % (6) 64.00 % (16) 12.00 % (3) CG (25) 16.00 % (4) 56.00 % (14) 28.00 % (7) However, the greatest “shifts” were noted in those students who, by the level of development of different components, belonged tothe proportion with a low level at the beginning of the experiment. According to Criterion I, the proportion of students with low levels of motivation “lost” from 28 to 44 percent; according to Criterion II from 20 to 32 percent; according to Criterion III from 16 to 28 percent; according to Criterion IV 4 percent; according to Criterion V from 12 to 24 percent. The proportion of students who were diagnosed with the medium level of the development of each component during the formative experiment underwent fewer quantitative changes compared to the summative experiment, but it should be remembered that part of the students with a predetermined medium level became a source of positive shifts for the proportion of students with a high level of development of individual components, as well as students with a predetermined low level (summative experiment) “fed” the proportion of

ІІ According to the criterion of the cognitive component development EG (25) 12.00 % (3) 48.00 % (12) 40.00 % (10) CG (25) 8.00 % (2) 44.00 % (11) 48.00 % (12) According to the criterion of the activity component development EG (25) 28.00 % (7) 52.00 % (13) 20.00 % (5) CG (25) 24.00 % (6) 44.00 % (11) 32.00 % (8)

development in the lawyers of both the experimental and control groups (see Table 2). Table 2: Critical thinking development in students of experimental and control group (experimental stage) (numberGroups of people) Levels of development high medium low

ІІІ

ІV According to the criterion of the communicative component development EG (25) 20.00 % (5) 72.00 % (18) 8.00 % (2) CG (25) 12.00 % (3) 84.00 % (21) 4.00 % (1)

Table 3: The efficiency ratios of the proposed model of the development of components of critical thinking in students of experimental and control groups

ІІ

3.1. Limitations of the study

4. Discussion For a more visual comparison of the results of the study, we will apply the method of determining the efficiency of the experimental model for each of the components of the critical thinking development in lawyers.

ІІІ

ІV

Object of diagnosis Efficiency ratio Ке Motivational and value component development 1, 1489 Cognitive component development 1, 1184 Activity component development 1, 0764 Communicative component development 1, 0064 V Personal component development 1, 0792

According to Dychkivska (2013), the efficiency ratio of the model, which is tested experimentally, is calculated by the formulas: Кe = (Ве(±)ΔВ) : Вk ; ΔВ = Вk' Вe' where Be' is the mean score of the object of diagnosis "α" of the experimental group before the forming experiment; Вk' is the mean score of the object of diagnosis "α" of the control group before the forming experiment; Be is the mean score of the object of diagnosis "α" of the experimental group after the forming experiment; Вk is the mean score of the object of diagnosis "α" of the control group after the forming Moreover,experiment.if Ke> 1, then the efficiency of the experimental model is higher than the control one, if Ке<1, the efficiency of the experimental model is lower than the control one, if Ке=1, the efficiency of both models is the same. The mean scores of each of the objects of diagnosis (motivational and value component, cognitive component, activity component, communication component, personal component) were calculated by IBM SPSS Statistics 25.0.0.1. software. The results of the calculations are presented in Table. 3.

The main limiting factors of this study are the short time spent on the implementation of the experimental phase (1st semester, i.e. 15 weeks), the specialization of students, the heterogeneous level of students’ skills of using gadgets and the teachers’ readiness to use existing smart technologies in the teaching process.

The conducted research revealed a number of side results, namely: the need to find a higher education institution with the proper material and technical base

The results obtained on the efficiency of the use of smart technologies in the professional training of lawyers to develop their critical thinking require some explanation and comparison with the expected results of the study. Although the experimental model has proven to be more effective compared to traditional techniques across all objects of diagnosis (ratios are higher than 1), the experimental data indicate that the use of smart technologies in the professional training of lawyers has the greatest impact on the formation and development of motivations and values (motivational and value component) and assimilation of knowledge by the students (cognitive component). In general, such “leading” characteristics of these components are not unexpected: many studies claim that smart technologies have a significant impact on the development of motivation, a positive attitude to learning, the formation of deep theoretical knowledge, etc. (Minchekar, 2017). The development of personal and activity components is second, according to our results. If the slightly more modest results of the experiment on the personal component can be explained by the objective psychological characteristics of personality formation (it takes some time to change personal stereotypes and gain new ones; these timescales are wider than the period of our experiment), the results of the experiment on the activity component were lower than we expected. A possible explanation is that students’ level of information competence was different, students had to expand their computer skills, and sometimes to master unfamiliar ways of processing and transferring information using a computer and other gadgets (mastering new operations also take some time). The slowest pace of development of the communicative component was quite unexpected. One of the explanations for this result is the lack of logical and linguistic training of students. However, in order to make more confident conclusions, an additional analysis of the current situation is needed.

Teaching by traditional technologies does not fully contribute to the motivation for learning of students who are already accustomed to the use of traditional learning technologies in the educational processes. At the same time, developing a strong motivation for student learning is one of the most important aspects of improving the quality of professional training in the global educational space. The use of innovative methods or at least their elements is of interest, encourages students to try their hand, involves active exchange of experience and ideas, leads to “subjectivization” of learning depending on its tasks and competences, saves much time on revision of already available educational material. In order to develop strong motivation for learning, the teacher should be able to recognize students' reactions, provide timely feedback, and apply, as far as possible, an individual approach. Our research has shown that these tasks often cause difficulties for teachers, and sometimes psychological opposition. However, teachers who are open to innovation understand that the use of Smart technologies in the training of future professionals provides ample opportunity for effective learning and further personal development, and subsequently for increasing competencies at any stage of training.

Alsheail, A. (2010). Teaching English as a Second/Foreign Language in a Ubiquitous Learning Environment: A Guide for ESL/EFL Instructors (Master thesis). California State University, Chico, CA

The study showed the effectiveness of the use of smart technologies in the formation and development of critical thinking in future lawyers. The most significant influence of the use of smart technologies in the process of professional training of lawyers is revealed in the high level of the development of students’ professional interests in the field of law, a positive attitude to theoretical and practical training; in deepening the knowledge of the theory of law, mastering innovative technologies of research by students; in mastering the ability to obtain, store, process, transfer and present information using modern devices and technologies; skills of work on the personal computer with the use operating systems which are adequate to the task set, etc. in improving students’ ability to express and reason clearly their opinions, build evidence, analyze and make connections; in understanding the social significance and value of the professional activity of the future lawyer, the formation of professionally necessary qualities, including responsibility, organization, independence, sociability.

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. and insufficient training of teachers to use the full range of various opportunities of smart technologies in the educational process in higher educational institutions. There are, undoubtedly, positive moments pointed out by both students and teachers involved in the experiment: in the conditions of using digital educational technologies it becomes impossible to miss a class or to fail to fulfill the task because of a missed class; smart technologies make it possible to effectively organize team work of students in class and independent work out of class; allow you to individualize the learning process and to modernize practical lessons. Conclusions

An important factor in the effective use of smart technologies in the professional training of lawyers is the creation of feedback that promotes student motivation; organization of the availability of an array of educational materials for shared or individual use; integrating individual educational resources and making them more user friendly; monitoring of constant changes in the development of new technologies. Thus, the use of smart technologies changes the nature of the interaction between lecturers and students (the role of the student in the process of his professional training increases, and the lecturer becomes the coordinator of the educational process). This model can be adapted for teaching other subjects in both “full time” and distance learning in order to improve professional training of specialists.

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188 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 188 213, March https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.120201

The Perceived Influence of Case Method on Students’ Performance and Critical Thinking in Business Studies

Xhimi Hysa Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Epoka University, Albania Luca Carrubbo Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry “Scuola Medica Salernitana”, University of Salerno, Italy Armeno Sadiku, Irma Gjana and Nensi Hazizaj Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Epoka University, Albania

Keywords: Case method; Performance; Critical thinking; Harvard Business School; Epoka University 1. Introduction Throughout the years, teaching methods have undergone a massive change, and a movement has been noticed from teacher focused methods to student centered approach of learning and education (Davis & Wilcock, 2003). Nowadays, teaching

Abstract. Business schools have globally applied the case method as an initiative to assimilate real life business knowledge and skills. Researchers have found that the case method, compared to other teaching methods, provides an excellent opportunity for students to participate in the analysis of different business situations, as well as to invent solutions, generating interest and positive motivation towards learning. This study aimed to examine students’ perceptions about the influence of the case method on students’ performance and critical thinking. The sample included 141 freshman undergraduate students from Business Informatics and Economics programs at Epoka University enrolled in a management course that utilizes the case study method. Forty seven questionnaires were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics. Questions were divided in three categories: general perception, performance, and critical thinking. The result showed a positive general perception of the case method. Additionally, the study found a positive perception on students’ performance and critical thinking through the case study method.

Although the importance of the case method is relevant, especially in applied sciences, still researchuniversities face difficulties in implementing such amethod onto large classrooms. There are even more extreme views that consider case studies as “research destroyers”, accusing the case method as lacking research support and being superficial (Shugan, 2006). Yet, concepts are the building blocks of cases, and concepts are supported by theory, likewise the latter by research. Additionally, using the case method does not mean to abandon theory and research; in contrast, the practical sessions (supported by cases) and the theoretical ones (supported by research) can nurture each other by contributing to the capacity building of students Recent movements in academia, coming from applied sciences universities, are designing integral approaches based on competence oriented research education that enhances the learning process and organizational resilience (Schoiswohl, 2016).

does not only consist of explanations, but it has taken the form of a conversation, as well as the shape of exchanging ideas betweenprofessors and pupils. This looks more like a leadership process that involves leaders (instructors) and followers (students), which by means of exchange of information may invert positions causing a “dancing relationship” with reciprocal influence. In other words, from unilateral teaching (i.e. professor to students) the logic becomes that of the learning co creation. Different universities and countries have applied the case study learning strategyhas been applied in several areas. Schools of law, business, and health have used cases as an alternative to teacher based learning methodology and increased the interactivity of courses by using real life industry problems where solutions are sought out by students (Lee et al., 2009). Business Schools have effectively used the case method as an initiative to assimilate real life business knowledge and skills from previous experiences and problems that companies face daily.

The existing body of research provides limited evidence in understanding the benefits of the case study method. Moreover, among those few current studies none of them include a sample of business students. With regards to performance, only one article was located that considered the influence of case method (in biology courses) on improving student performance, knowledge, skills, and other learning achievements (Bonney, 2015). The empirical research investigating the relationship of the case method and critical thinking is more optimistic. In his paper, Grossman (1994) shows how psychology students are encouraged to think more critically about course theories when provided with case studies and team based learning. The case method has proven to be successful in promoting critical thinking abilities, even in online classes (Brooke, 2006). In a more generalist perspective, Popil (2011) reveals the benefits of case method for assisting nurse educators in facilitating active learning, improving problem solving skills of students, and developing critical thinking for healthcare professionals. However, what is missing are studies that combine simultaneously a general perception of students about the case method, and how the latter impacts performance and critical thinking. When business students seek such studies, we must especially be contented with general information coming from the case method platform of Harvard Business School. Consequently, not being able to find similar studies, the current research aimed to measure the perceived influence of the case study teaching method on students’ performance and critical thinking. The inclusion of

A case study is a historical study of a situation that contains neutral, authentic and often incomplete text about a real life business problem that managers face at a particular moment (Barnes et al., 1994). The presentation of cases usually takes a narrative form that encourages participation and requires a solution to a given problem. The content of a case study centers around the main actor (entity), it includes different types of data and analysis, and other small unique details must be captured, inferred and analyzed. These characteristics mean that it is the students themselves who need to tease the important elements out of the true sloppiness of contradictory and complex data that exist inside cases. Narrative cases provide the background of an issue, and it is in this background that the Figure 1: The research model

case studies as a core method in the learning process is a recent attempt at Epoka University (Department of Business Administration) The case method has been applied in teaching (e.g. teaching with cases) and research (e.g. master theses).

The main research question addressed to gather the data is structured in the following manner: RQ1: What is the perceived influence of the case study teaching method on students’ performance and critical thinking?

The objectives of this research are: to discover the general students’ perception of the case study teaching method, to find out the perceived influence of case method on the performance of students (i.e., GPA), to find out the perceived impact of the case method on students’ critical thinking. Figure 1 represents the research model of this study.

2. Origins of the case study method: from performance to critical thinking

191 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. students are given the ability to identify different alternatives and engage in evaluations as to why these results occurred over other more optimal solutions. According to Labov (1972), a case study typically addresses three questions: 1) “What was this about?”; 2)“What, who, when, and where?”; 3)“What happened then?”. Case studies have an abstract and a title, orienting the reader to answer the three questions to present what happened and the problem that needs to be solved. Cases do not show the problem clearly, and they do not lead to a single answer. Compared to examples that are used in lectures and textbooks for discussion, cases are different in that they contain facts and descriptions but provide no analysis of the problem (Volpe, 2002, 2015). A good case study should be “the vehicle by which a piece of reality is brought into the classroom to be worked over by the class and the instructor. A good case keeps the class discussion grounded upon some of the stubborn facts that exist in real life situations” (Lawrence 1953, p. 215). This means that in large classrooms, it is very challenging to keep an interactive class discussion. While used widely in subjects such as business, law, and medicine, the case studies teaching methodology may also be an effective tool in many other areas. According to Davis (1993), an effective case study needs to tell a real story and raise an issue. It must contain elements of conflict, promote empathy, but does offer a clear right answer. Finally, it must encourage students to think critically, portray the actors as existing in moments of decision making, all the while providing enough data and be relatively concise. The case method originated back in 1870 at Harvard University.

Christopher Columbus Langdell was the founder of the case methodology while he was the Dean of Harvard University Law School (Shugan, 2006). According to Shulman (1986), Professor Langdell believed that students should not memorize the laws written on the book, but instead they should be able to learn by applying the law in different situations. By using case studies, the students would be helped to improve their legal reasoning, as well as acquire skills that aid them in real life situations. Later in the early 20th century, the case method was adopted in the Harvard Business School. Motivated by the success that the case method had at Harvard Law School, the Harvard Business School (HBS) became the first Business educational institution to apply this method. A Harvard professor named Arch Shawn was responsible for the implementation of the case method to the Business School in 1911. The implementation of the case methodology in business schools emerged fast because of the lack of materials related to business theory (Buckles, 1998). Following the successful implementation of this method at Harvard University, the case study method become popular all over the world, with its application reaching not only in law or business but also in medicine and many other fields of study. In his research, Cruikshank (1987) describes how the case method was implemented at the HBS. Professor Arch Shaw did not have a ready case to use with students, so he had to invite business managers in the class to share with the students their real life dilemmas and problems. The case was divided in three sessions. In the first session, the manager would explain his problem and give answers to the students’ questions related to the case. A second session was held a couple of days later where the students would deliver written recommendations of possible solutions afteranalyzing theproblem.In the third session, the manager would discuss student recommendations. The method of providing the cases to

b) The case method imposes the opportunity of self learning.

f) The case method is economically efficient. Nadkarni and Stich (1969) explained the use of the case method by evaluating the effectiveness of the method as a tool for teaching management in McGill and Boston University. The authors based the study on their own experience in teaching management through using the case study method and support the theory by a conducting a questionnaire on the graduating students of McGill and Boston University. Studyfindings were different in the two institutions. At McGill University, what was observed was that the opportunities provided by the case study discussions helped students exchange ideas and made them more enthusiastic about the variety of cases and the situations that they had to deal with. Moreover, the study observed that students were highly motivated to deal with real life business situations compared to made up scenarios for teaching purpose. They furthermore appreciated the opportunity to make oral presentations or reports about the case, or to even play a role in the case discussions. Finally, students approved that the case study teaching method brings to them an exercise in finding the key issues that impact on real business Onsituations.theother hand, at Boston University, the authors used a different case method. The cases handled at Boston University were focused primarily on the Top Management, and the attention in the case teaching method was more concentrated on identifying the problem than solving it. Thus, the manager had to extract the business problem in the environment they were operating in instead of the problem itself being presented straightforwardly. The cases were not as long as at McGill, but short and simple, with little quantitative data to prevent in depth involvement with unneeded information. Students worked divided into teams and they had to handle the cases within the class. The instructor did not participate with the students, but he took notes and assisted them in clarifying the facts of the case. Nadkarni and Stich (1969) elaborate on the instructors’ observations, as well as what they found through the questionnaires distributed to the students attending these classes. The main findings were that most of the

d) The case method creates an interface that connects teachers with the business world.

the students evolved throughout years at HBS. The cases were prepared before class hours and then delivered into a written format showing a real world problem of mainly senior business executives. In an evaluation of the case study teaching method at HBS, Christensen and Hansen (1987) reflected on how this method empowered students to create their own framework of understanding, approaching and dealing with real world business problems. According to Christensen and Hansen (1987) there are six core advantages in implementing a casea)method:Thecase method empowers students to find and build up their own structure for dealing with business issues.

e) The case method supports innovation and critical thinking.

c) Every class provides the students with new experiences.

In practice, this means teaching students to question the basis for numbers as well as the results of analysis: Where do the numbers come from? Can we trust them? When we have done our calculations, what do they mean and how much should we trust them? According to Andersen & Schiano (2014), it also means ”how to do back of the envelope numerical analysis, make assumptions, and use calculations to derive conclusions from descriptions that do not apparently lend themselves to numerical analysis” (p. 174). From a managerial perspective, in the future students will face real business contingencies that require critical decisions, in depth evaluations (e.g., a SWOT analysis), and problem diagnosis (i.e., identifying the root causes of a problem). To anticipate such challenges, the case method helps students to build skills for analyzing decision scenario situations, evaluation scenario situations, and problem diagnosis scenario situations (Ellet, Cases2018).

While teaching, instructors should aim to develop both brain hemispheres of students. One of the problems with case studies is the belief that cases use only the qualitative methodology which is supposed to involve mostly the right brain. Consequently, future students’ performance may suffer due to a lack of analytical skills. From the research perspective, case study research rather than a methodology is a strategy that involves both qualitative and quantitative methods and instruments (Yin, 2017). From a teaching viewpoint, “cases create opportunities for learning by flipping the hard and the soft by being qualitative on quantitative cases and quantitative on qualitative ones.

performance, research concludes that business graduates, through the case methods, had acquired the knowledge and skills that a manager needed in order to define business problems properly, and find suitable solutions to them.

Finally, the students unanimously stated that the case method was a useful tool in learning management because of the opportunity it offered to relate to real business situations and to define the problems and tasks that top management Regardingfaces.

still nowadays remain as narrative explorations of real world business problems that help students accumulate experience in their academic years, and thus be more prepared for the issues that they might face as business managers or just as specialists. By applying the case method, both scientifically and artistically, students may develop their leadership potential through critical and creative thinking abilities (Greenhalgh, 2007). Regarding critical thinking, this is a concept that has its roots from the teachings of Socrates, which were recorded by Plato. The idea of critical thinking has been defined differently by researchers because of its complex subject. Paul (1995) defines critical thinking as a determining process in which students systematically impose criteria and intellectual standards upon their thought. A shorter and more precise definition of critical thinking is described by Glaser (1941) as the process

students faced difficulty and felt uncomfortable at the beginning of the course, but in the end, most of them lost that feeling and enjoyed the case studies assigned. They also found that students had a tendency to break the case into separated parts according to sales, finance and production and that those students lacking business experience always thought that there were singular right answers to each of the case studies, even when repeatedly told that no right answer existed.

This research has been designed through a quantitative approach, supported by a survey study and using simultaneously descriptive and inferential statistics for data analysis. Unlike other research types, this approach is structured, and the gathered data can statistically infer the population. The answers of the students weregrouped togetheraccording tothe type of questions. Questionsweredivided into three categories: i. The general perception that students have about case studies; ii. The perceived impact of case method on students’ performance; iii. The perceived impact of case method on students’ critical thinking.

According to Sandstrom (2006), critical thinking can be promoted through active learning which includes, case studies, discussions, experiments, field trips, group debates, role play, and Socratic questioning. Daly (2002) shows the impact of the case study methodology on students’ critical thinking. He reveals that this approach increases the written and oral communication skills of the students and makes them more collaborative and open minded. Dealing with real life business situations, students can gain managerial skills, such as deciding, finding a solution, giving a presentation, negotiating and holding a meeting. According to Youngblood and Beitz (2001), the case method promotes critical thinking by triggering the cognitive processes.

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. of analyzing the facts to form a judgment. He also describes three main things that are involved in the ability to think critically. Firstly, an attitude of being disposed to consider in a thoughtfully the problems and subjects which come within the range of one’s experiences. Secondly, the knowledge of the methods of logical inquiry and reasoning. Thirdly and finally, the skills in applying these methods.

3. Method Design

Instrument A structured questionnairewas administered toundergraduate students of Epoka University that were confident with the case method, thus fulfilling the data collection purpose. The questionnaire was distributed to the students after they were familiarized with the case study method used by their respective lecturer in the course Management and Organization, performed during the spring semester of AY 2018 2019. Hence, students had enough experience to express general opinions about the method and to answer questions related to the impact that the teaching method had on their performance and critical thinking. The questionnaire included 15 statements constructed around key terms that aimed to find the perceived influence of case method on students’ performance and critical thinking. Each item provided in the questionnaire was rated on a 5 point Likert scale ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”. The items of the questionnaire were grouped in three categories. depending on the information each item was supposed to gather, each category contained five statements. Table

The general part of the questionnaire included statements targeted to discover the perception of students about the case study as a teaching method. It also included concepts such as effectiveness, interest towards the course, entertainment, fast material coverage, and quality of the teaching method. Regarding performance statements, the key terms used were participation, progress, involvement, effort, and results. The critical thinking statements in the instrument utilized key concepts such as creative thinking, problem solving, analytical skills, communication skills, and open mindedness. This questionnaire did not include statements which asked about other factors besides how students perceive the influence of case studies in their performance and critical thinking, since it would be out of the study’s scope.

The data analysis process was divided in four main steps. The first step showed the general student perception of the case study teaching methodology. The second one placed in focus how students’ performance changed when using case studies in their courses. The third step monitored changes in critical thinking when the case method was applied. In the last step, results were compared together to find differences between categories.

1 elaborates on the grouping of each item in their respective categories: General Perception, Performance, and Critical Thinking. Table 1: Questions grouped per each category of evaluation Questions Categories 1, 3, 5, 9, 10 General Information 2, 4, 6, 7, 8 Performance 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 Critical Thinking

Sample

Analysis

This study used a convenient sampling technique. To get the most accurate responses, the target sample included freshman undergraduate students of Epoka University, who have taken at least one business course that was developed and assessed with the case method. So, the sample included 141 freshman undergraduate students from Business Informatics and Economics programs, out of a population of around 250 freshman students registered at the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. Though the questionnaire was distributed to the whole sample, only 91 responses were received. From a total of 91 collected responses, only 47 were considered valid because some students did not provide their name at the end of the questionnaire. In this way we could overcome the limitation of data duplication. In addition, some students answered the questionnaire 2 or 3 times, each of them having different answers.

Figure 2: Case study method effectiveness

Q1: It is more effective than other teaching methods. This item measured whether the students believed that the case study teaching method was more effective than other teaching methods. According to Figure 2, more than half of the students (53%) agreed, 23% stayed neutral (neither disagree nor agree), and 17% of students strongly agreed with this affirmation. Only 6% of the students disagreed with the statement that using case studies in classroom learning was not more effective than using the traditional teaching methodology.

Q2: This method made me participate more in the course. This item measured the students’ belief that the use of case studies in their courses increased their participation. According to Figure 3, 40% of them agreed that when professors have used case studies to explain the lesson, they have found themselves participating more in the course. 38% of the students strongly agreed with the affirmation, 19% decided to stay neutral on their answer, and only 2% showed a disagreement with the statement.

According to the descriptive statistics table (see Appendix I), the numerical average of answers for this item was 4.148 out of 5, which means that the answers of the students were significantly positive. The standard deviation was 0.807, which is relatively low, which means that the answers of students were closer to the average, and not unequally spread.

DisagreeStrongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

1. It is more effective than other teaching methods. 0 1 9 19 18

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4. Findings from the descriptive analysis

According to the results (see Appendix I), the numerical average for answers of this statement was 3.808 out of 5, which means that the answers of the students were significantly positive. The standard deviation was 0,797, the lowest of all statements, which means that the answers of students were closer to the average and not unequally spread.

Figure 3: Motivation to participate 0 3 11 25 8

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Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

2. This method made me participate more in the course.

1 2

This statement measured whether the case study method increased the students’ interest in the course topics. According to Figure 4, 40% strongly agreed with the statement, 30% of the students still agreed that cases increased their interest on the course, while 23% chose to stay neutral, 2% strongly disagreed, and 4% disagreed with the statement. Based on the results, the numerical average of answers for this item was 4.021 out of 5, which means that the answers of the students were significantly positive. The standard deviation was 1.010, which means that the answers of students were spread, but mostly they are closer to the average.

1 2

DisagreeStrongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree 3. My interest in the course topics has increased. 10 25 9 23 30

1580

Q3: My interest in the course topics has been increased.

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DisagreeStrongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree 4. I made progress achieving course objectives.

Figure 4: Interest in the topics of the course Q4: I made progress achieving course objectives. This item measured the students’ belief whether they made progress achieving the correspondent course objectives with the use of case studies. According to Figure 5, 53% agreed with the statement, and 19% strongly agreed. Meanwhile, 21% stayed neutral and were not sure if the cases were the factor that has helped them in the progress of achieving course objective. Finally, 4% disagreed and 2% strongly disagreed, thus showing that using cases may not be the most important factor that may help students to make progress in the course objectives. According to the results (see Appendix I), the numerical average of answers for this item was 3.829 out of 5, which means that the answers of the students were significantly positive. The standard deviation was 0.867, which is relatively low, which means that the answers of students were closer to the average and not unequally spread.

Figure 5: Progress in achieving course objectives 11 14

Figure 6: Lesson satisfaction

This item measured the students’ enjoyment of the lesson when using case studies. According to Figure 6, 43% strongly agreed with the statement, 38% agreed, and 15% remained neutral. Only 4% disagreed with the statement, thus showing that when professors use case studies most of the class finds the lecture more Accordingenjoyable.tothe

Figure 7: Involvement in the study process 0 2 7 18 20

results (see Appendix I), the numerical average of answers for this item was 4.191 out of 5, which means that the answers of the students were significantly positive. The standard deviation was 0.850, which is relatively low, meaning that the answers of students were closer to the average, and not unequally spread.

Q6: I got more involved on what I was studying. This item measured the students’ involvement on the content they were studying through the use of case studies. According to Figure 7, 45% of respondents strongly agreed, and 36% agreed with this statement. Only a small number of students (17%) chose to neither disagree nor agree with the statement, while only 2% answered that the use of case studies as a teaching methodology has not impacted their involvement in what they are studying. According to the results (see Appendix I) the numerical average of answers for this item was 4.234 out of 5, which means that the answers of the students were significantly positive. The standard deviation was 0.813, which is relatively low, which means that the answers of students are closer to the average, and not unequally spread.

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DisagreeStrongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree 5. The lesson is more enjoyable. 1 8 17 21

DisagreeStrongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

Q5: The lesson is more enjoyable.

6. I got more involved on what I was studying.

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Figure 8: Study efforts

7. I studied and put more effort in the course. 5 3 20 16 3 DisagreeStrongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

8. It helped me reach high results.

Q7: I studied and put more effort in the course.

Q8: It helped me reach high results.

2520151050

This item measured students’ belief on the level of effort they put in the course. According to Figure 8, 42.5% of respondents strongly agreed with the statement, 42.5% agreed, 11% remained neutral, 2% disagreed and finally, 2% strongly Baseddisagreed.onthe

This item measured the students’ belief that the case study method helped them achieve better results. According to Figure 9, 34% of students agreed and 6% strongly agreed that case method has helped them reach high results. Nevertheless, the highest percentage of students (43%) were neutral to this question and answered neither agree nor disagree. The rest (17%) disagreed and strongly disagreed that case methodhas helped them reach high results. Referring to the results (see Appendix I), the average of answers for this item was 3.191 out of 5, the lowest average among all other statements. The standard deviation was 1.035, which is high, meaning that the answers of students are unequally spread.

results (see Appendix I), the numerical average of answers for this item was 4.212 out of 5, which means that the answers of the students were significantly positive. The standard deviation was 0.883, which is relatively low, meaning that the answers of students are closer to the average and not unequally spread.

Figure 9: Performance in terms of GPA 1 1 5 20 20

Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

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9. The pace at which all the materials of the course were covered was fast. 5 5 15 17 5

Regarding the results (see Appendix I), the numerical average of answers for this item was 3.829 out of 5, which means that the answers of the students were significantly positive. The standard deviation was 0.916, which shows that most of the answers are close to the average.

80 15 3023

Figure 10: Efficiency of the case study method

The average of answers for this item was 3.255 out of 5, which means that the answers of the students are slightly positive. The standard deviation of this question is 1.131 the highest among all questions, meaning that the answers of students are spread unequally but most of them are closer to the average.

This item measured students’ belief regarding the quality of the methodology of the case study. 36% of the students agreed and strongly agreed that the methodology has had a high quality for them, 32% stayed neutral, and 22% stated that the methodology was not of high teaching quality.

DisagreeStrongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

Q9: The pace at which all the materials of the course were covered was fast.

This item measured the students’ belief that the use of case method was more efficient with the timing of lectures, through explaining the course content at a faster pace than traditional teaching. According to Figure 10, most of the students, (62%) agreed and strongly agreed. 32% were not sure about this statement and neither agreed nor disagreed. Finally, 6% assumed that the pace at which the materials of the course were covered was not fast.

Figure 11: Perceived quality of case-based teaching methodology 0 3 15 16 13

DisagreeStrongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

10. The quality of the methodology was high

Q10: The quality of the methodology was high.

The numerical average of answers for this question was 3.851 out of 5, which means that the answers of the students are significantly positive. The standard deviation was 0.833, which is relatively low, which means that the answers of students are closer to the average and not unequally spread.

This item measured the students’ belief that the case study teaching method aided them in identifying problems and findings solutions faster. According to Figure 13, 23% of them strongly agreed, 43% agreed, 30% remained neutral, and only 4% disagreed. Most respondents (66%) believed that case method has improved their ability to identify problems and find solutions.

Q12: I can identify problems and find solutions faster.

Figure 13: Problem diagnosis and resolution 0 4 8 17 18 DisagreeStrongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree 11. I improved my creative thinking. 0 2 14 20 11 Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree 12. I can identify problems and find solutions faster.

The numerical average of answers for this item were 4.042 out of 5, which means that the students’ answers were significantly positive. The standard deviation was 0.954, which means that most of answers were closer to the average.

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Q11: I improved my creative thinking.

Figure 12: Case study influence on critical thinking

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This item measured students’ belief regarding improvement of their critical thinking due to the case study method. Most of the students agreed and strongly agreed that case method had an impact on the improvement of their creative thinking. More specifically, 38% of students strongly agreed, 36 % agreed, 17% neutral, and 9% disagreed. From these responses, we can see a total of 74% of students thinking that case method has an influence on the improvement of their creative thinking.

Q14: This methodology made me more open minded. This item measured students’ belief that the case study methodology made them more open minded. According to Figure 15, the majority of the students agreed and strongly agreed that the case study method has made them more open minded towards other people’s opinion: 45% of students strongly agreed, 17 % of them agreed, 30% were neutral, and only 8% responded with disagree or strongly disagreed. So, 62% of the students considered the case method to be influential on their open mindedness, while 38% were not sure if the method had an impact on being open minded. As per results, the numerical average of answers for this item was 3.680 out of 5, which means that the answers of the respondents were significantly positive. The standard deviation was 0.911, which means that most of the answers are close to the average.

Figure 14: Case study influence on analytical skills

average of answers for this item was 4.063 out of 5, meaning that the answers of the students are significantly positive. The standard deviation was 0.869, which is relatively low, which means that the answers of students were closer to the average and not unequally spread.

This item measured the students’ belief that the case study method improved their analytical skills. Most of the students agreed and strongly agreed that case study method has had a positive impact. According to Figure 14, 36% of students strongly agreed, 38 % of them agreed while 21% were neutral and only 4% Thedisagreed.numerical

Figure 15: Case study influence on open mindedness 2 10 18 17

Q13: I improved my analytical skills.

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14. This methodology made me more open minded.

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Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree 13. I improved my Analytical skills. 1 3 14 21 8 0 DisagreeStrongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

QUESTION

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5.000 QUESTION

3.0002.0001.000

15. This methodology improved my communication skills. 3.8085 4.0213 4.1915 3.8298 3.2553 4.000 1 3 5 9 PERCEPTION

The numerical average of answers for this item was 4.021 out of 5, which means that the answers of the students were significantly positive. The standard deviation was 0.896, which means that the answers of students were closer to the average, and not unequally spread.

QUESTION

General perception about case method Items 1, 3, 5, 9 and 10 referred to the general perception of the students about how they perceive case study as a teaching method for their studies. Figure 17 shows a graphical representation of the overall average for those questions. The averages of these statements are over 3. This means that students’ general perception about the case study teaching method is mostly positive.

Q15: This methodology improved my communication skills.

5. Findings from the inferential analysis

Figure 17: The general student’s perception of case study method 0 3 9 19 16 DisagreeStrongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

QUESTION

QUESTION 10 GENERAL

Figure 16: Case study and communication skills

The final item in the questionnaire measured the students’ belief that the case study methodology improved their communication skills. According to Figure 16, most of the students agreed and strongly agreed with this statement. In synthesis, 34% of students strongly agreed, 40 % of them agreed, 19% were neutral, and only 6% disagreed. Hence, 74% of the students thought that case study method has had a positive influence regarding communication, while 25% of them were not sure or disagreed with this statement.

The hypotheses that have been tested are disclosed as follows: H0: μ≤ 3: Business students have a negative or neutral perception about the case study teaching method. H1: μ>3: Business students have a positive perception about the case study teaching method. The rejection region for this test is: Reject H0 if t>2.132(t Critical one tail) or p value>α (0.05). In table 2, the t Stat =5.206 can be noticed, which is greater than t Critical one tail=2.132 and the p value=0.0032 As a Rejectresult:H0 because t=5.206>2.132 and p value=0.0032<0.05

Mean 3.821276596 Variance 0.124400181

In addition to the previous analysis, a hypothesis T test was conducted for each category of statements. The results of the one tailed T test for the general perception items are shown in Table 2. Table 2: Hypothesis T test on general perception of students about case study teaching method

Observations 5 Hypothesized Mean 3 df 4 t Stat 5.206716634 P(T<=t) one tail 0.0032431 t Critical one tail 2.131846786 P(T<=t) two tail 0.0064862 t Critical two tail 2.776445105

To conclude this test, we can say that there is enough evidence to infer that the average answers of students are significantly greater than 3 which means that students have a positive perception about the case study teaching method. As a conclusion related to the general statements, we can say that business students think that the case study teaching method: a. Is more effective than other teaching methods. b. Increased their interest in the course.

205 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. c. Made the course more enjoyable. d. Fastened the pace at which the materials of the course are covered. e. Has had a high quality of learning. Case method and students’ performance Items 2, 4, 6, 7 and 8 referred to the perceived influence of case study method on students’ performance. Figure 18 shows a graphical representation of the overall average for those statements. The numerical averages of these items are over 3 which means that students perceived the influence of the case study teaching method on their performance mostly as positive. Figure 18: Perceived influence of case study teaching method on students’ performance In addition to the previous analyses, a hypothesis T test was conducted for the performance related statements. The results of the one tailed T test are shown in table 3. Table 3: Hypothesis T test for the performance of students Mean 3.923404255 Variance 0.193888637 Observations 5 Hypothesized Mean 3 df 4 t Stat 4.689220927 P(T<=t) one tail 0.004691587 t Critical one tail 2.131846786 P(T<=t) two tail 0.009383173 t Critical two tail 2.776445105 4.1489 3.8298 4.234 4.2128 3.19155.0004.0003.0002.0001.000 QUESTION 2 QUESTION 4 QUESTION 6 QUESTION 7 QUESTION 8 PERFORMANCE

d. Motivated students to put more effort in the course.

Figure 19: Perceived influence of case study teaching method on students’ critical thinking 4.0426 3.8511 4.0638 3.6809 4.0213 11 13 14 THINKING

Case method and students’ critical thinking

Items 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 referred to the perceivedinfluence of case study method on students’ critical thinking.

a. Made students participate more in the course.

c. Motivated students to get more involved in what they were studying.

5.0004.0003.0002.0001.000 QUESTION

b. Made students achieve their course objectives.

QUESTION 12 QUESTION

The rejection region for this test is: Reject H0 if t>2.132(t Critical one tail) or p value>α (0.05). At the table 4.2.1, we can find the t Stat =4.689 which is greater than t Critical one tail=2.132 and the p value=0.0047. As a result: Reject H0 because t=4.689>2.132 and p value=0.0047<0.05

e. Helped students to achieve high results.

The hypotheses that have been tested are disclosed as follows: H0: μ≤ 3: Students perceived the influence of the case study teaching method on their performance as negative or neutral.

H1: μ>3: Students perceive the influence of the case study teaching method on their performance as positive.

QUESTION 15 CRITICAL

Figure 19 shows a graphical representation of the overall average for those statements. The averages of these items are over 3, which means that students perceive the influence of case study teaching method on their critical thinking as mostly positive.

QUESTION

To conclude this test, we can say that there is enough evidence to infer that the average answers of students are significantly greater than 3 which means that business students perceive the influence of case study teaching method on their critical thinking as positive. As a conclusion related to the critical thinking statements, we can say that students think that case study teaching method: a. Improved their creative thinking. b. Helped them identify problems and find solutions faster. c. Improved their Analytical skills d. Improved their Communication skills. e. Made them more open minded.

207 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. Table 4: Hypothesis T-test for the critical thinking of students Mean 3.931914894 Variance 0.026799457 Observations 5 Hypothesized Mean 3 df 4 t Stat 12.72911644 P(T<=t) one tail 0.000109715 t Critical one tail 2.131846786 P(T<=t) two tail 0.000219431 t Critical two tail 2.776445105

In addition to the previous analyses, a hypothesis T test was conducted for the critical thinking questions. The results of the one tailed T test are shown in table 4. The hypotheses are as follows: H0: μ≤ 3: Students perceive the influence of the case study teaching method on their critical thinking as negative or neutral. H1: μ>3: Students perceive the influence of the case study teaching method on their critical thinking as positive. The rejection region for this test is: Reject H0 if t>2.132(t Critical one tail) or p value>α (0.05). At the table 4.2.1, we can find the t Stat =12.729 which is greater than t Critical one tail=2.132 and the p value=0.0001 As a result: Reject H0 because t=12.729>2.132 and p value=0.0001<0.05

6. Discussion

5.0004.0003.0002.0001.000 GENERAL

PERFORMANCE CRITICAL

CASE

PERCEIVED

In their research findings, Christensen and Hansen (1987) described six elements of the case method that have a high importance. Out of them, one aspect is closely related with the current research findings of the present study: “the case method supports innovation and critical thinking.”.

The case study learning methodology provides a versatile style where the lecturer can use real life business problems to develop critical thinking skills of students.

Figure 20: General perception of case study influence as a teaching method

Another study has shown that: “case study teaching increases student perception of learning gains” (Bonney, 2015). This falls in line with the findings of the current study that general perception on case studies by Epoka University business students is positive (as shown in Figure 20). Typically, students are attracted by practical affairs as they think they will be useful to them in the future. Thus, instead of being intimidated by new situations in a job interview or as employees in front of job demands, they afford these challenges with higher self confidence and self efficacy (Bandura, 1997). The emergent phenomenon of applied science universities in some countries is not casual. They teach students with a “hands on work” to prepare them to successfully overcome future business challenges.

Whenever it is possible to engage students in informative and focused classroom discussion, the application of the case method may facilitate learning (Kunselman & Johnson, 2004) As Flynn and Klein (2001) reported in their research, the case study teaching method increases students’ motivation to participate in class discussions by enhancing their learning and performance. The findings of his study strongly connect with the findings of this study, which have shown the high impact that case method has on students’ participation and performance. Case studies are fit to the collaborative learning schema (Barkley et al., 2014) that generates more interactionism. According to Lewin (1951), it is precisely the interactionism property that produces the internal and external dynamics of a group. Consequently, there is more participation, which is a precondition for evaluating performance. Hence, if you don’t give students the chance to participate and learn 3.923 3.932 PERCEPTION THINKING STUDY INFLUENCE

3.821

This was expected to happen as critical thinking does not happen without facing a real experience. Case studies are experiences that unfold the best practices to be replicated (with adaptation) or worst practices to be avoided. Facing such experiences, students learn why and how they should act in a defined manner.

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. by the “trial and error” technique (typical of case studies), they won’t have the opportunity to perform. Performance is a direct consequence of participation. As a result, they will not understand the tolerance to error (typical of innovations). Also, they won’t be able to assess their own and others’ performances. Likewise, they will struggle to understand which best practices to replicate and which worst practices to avoid. As today’s knowledge students and tomorrow’s knowledge workers (Drucker, 1959), if they do not possess the appropriate theoretical and practical knowledge, they may cause significant harm to organizations and society. In other words, this remains a big responsibility for business schools. As quoted by Ghoshal (2005, p. 76, 87), “by propagating ideologically inspired amoral theories, business schools have actively freed their students from any sense of moral responsibility…in essence, social scientist carries an even greater social and moral responsibility than those who work in the physical science because, if they hide ideology in the pretense of science, they can cause much more harm”. This is an actual global concern since education strictly relates with values, and the way we teach can directly influence what Barile (2009) labels as “categorical values”. That is why the education is a “curved road” (Alimehmeti & Hysa, Nadkarni2012).and Stich (1969) studied the case method in a management setting in an experiment with Boston University business students. Their findings support the results of the present research. Specifically, they concluded that most of the students face difficulty and feel uncomfortable at the beginning of the course with the case method, but at the end most of them lost that feeling and enjoyed the assigned case studies. Similar behaviors have been shown by business students of Epoka University that during the course either dissolved or were not shown anymore. Coherently, based on the students’ surveys related to the course method and instructor, students’ satisfaction was high (see also figure 6), and the class GPA was relatively high, thus showing a net separation between good grades and bad grades (with few intermediate grades). Hence, this method also created an unintentional self classification of students: the engaged group and the careless Moreover,group. from a close perspective with Nadkarni and Stich (1969), Reynolds (1980) supports the results of this study by showing the reasons why the case method is effective in teaching management. According to him, there are five reasons and one of them is: “Students enjoy them [cases] more and are willing to put more hours in learning”. This statement supports the research results as disclosed in figure 3, 6, and 8, where motivation to participate, learning satisfaction, and study efforts have all been increased. In synthesis, the general perception of students about case studies and the perceived influence that they have on performance and critical thinking is positive. The results of this study are backed up by the relevant literature. The overall average of answers for each category (i.e., general perception, performance, and critical thinking) which resulted to be higher than 3, prove that the perceived influence is positive for all three categories. Based on the results of the hypothesis t test, there was ample evidence to infer that the average answers of students are significantly greater than 3, thus reinforcing the graphical findings,

Teaching with cases: A practical guide. Harvard Business Review Press. Bandura, A. (1997). Self efficacy: The exercise of control New York: Freeman. ISBN:9780716728504 Barile, S. (2009). Management Sistemico Vitale: Decidere in contesti complessi [Vital Systemic Management: Deciding in complex contexts] Torino: Giappichelli. Barkley, E. F., Cross, K. P., & Major, C. H. (2014). Collaborative learning techniques: A handbook for college faculty. John Wiley & Sons.

7. Conclusions

This study aimed to find how students perceived the influence that case studies have in their performance and critical thinking. The analysis done in the study was divided into three steps: first, getting the general perception that students have on case study methodology; second, finding the perceived influence of case study method on students’ performance; third, finding the perceived influence of case study method on students’ critical thinking. The study found that students, in general, regarded the influence of the case method as positive, meaning that the use of case studies instead of teacher centered lessons is more effective and helps students reach a higher performance, improving their critical thinking regarding real life business situations. Besides the strong potential of this research, there are present some unavoidable limitations. Based on literature, there is a gap for Albania since no conducted studies regarding teaching methodologies and especially case study methods, only some reports undertaken from international organizations provided information about Albanian Higher Education. Moreover, the estimates may be biased since our evaluations were focused only on a sample of 47 students enrolled in business courses at Epoka University. Our assessments can be conservative and may not show the full picture of the effect of case studies as a learning

Nevertheless,methodology.besidesusing a more significant sample than 30 participants, and fulfilling the assumption of normality, a larger sample size could give better comparable results. For the future, we recommend further studies in Albania and the whole region of Western Balkans involving more students’ groups and higher educational institutions. Furthermore, future studies can focus on finding the differences of how students perceive the influence of case study teaching method in both undergraduate and graduate levels. References Alimehmeti, G., & Hysa, X. (2012). Why the Europeanization of Bologna process is a curved road? Trying a response throughthe viable systems approach in reference to Albania. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 47, 722 728. Andersen,doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.06.724E.,&Schiano,B.(2014).

Lee, S. H., Lee, J., Liu, X., Bonk, C. J., & Magjuka, R. J. (2009). A review of case based learning practices in an online MBA program: A program level case study. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 12(3), 178 190. Lewin, K. (1951). Field theory in social science: Selected theoretical papers. New York: Harper & Row.

211 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. Barnes, L. B., Christensen, C. R., Hansen, A. J., & Hansen, T. L. (1994). Teaching and the case method: Text, cases, and readings Harvard Business Press. Bonney, K. M. (2015). Case study teaching method improves student performance and perceptions of learning gains. Journal of microbiology & biology education, 16(1), 21. doi:10.1128/jmbe.v16i1.846 Brooke, S. L. (2006). Using the Case Method to Teach Online Classes: Promoting Socratic Dialogue and CriticalThinkingSkills. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 18(2), 142 149. Buckles, S. (1998). Using cases as an effective active learning technique. Teaching economics to undergraduates. Alternatives to chalk and talk, 225 240. Christensen, C. R., & Hansen, A. J. (1987). Teaching with cases at the Harvard Business School. Teaching and the case method: Text, cases, and readings, 16 49. Cruikshank, J. L. (1987). A delicate experiment: the Harvard Business School, 1908 1945. Harvard Business Press. Daly, P. (2002). Methodology for using case studies in the business English language classroom. Internet TESL Journal, 8(11), 1 7. Davis, B. G. (1993) Tools for Teaching San Francisco: Jossey Bass. Davis,C.,&Wilcock,E.(2003). Teaching materialsusingcasestudies In C.Baillie(SeriesEd.), The UK Centre for Materials Education. Retrieved from http://www.materials.ac.uk/guides/1 casestudies. pdf. Drucker, P. F. (1959). Landmarks of tomorrow New York: Harper& Row. Ellet, W. (2018). The case study handbook: A student’s guide. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press. Flynn, A. E., & Klein, J. D. (2001). The influence of discussion groups in a case based learning environment. Educational Technology Research and Development, 49(3), 71 86. doi:10.1007/bf02504916 Ghoshal S., (2005), “Bad Management Theories are Destroying Good Management Practices”, Academy of Management Learning and Education, 4(1), pp. 75 91. doi:10.5465/amle.2005.16132558 Glaser, E. M. (1941). An experiment in the development of critical thinking (No. 843). Teachers College, Columbia University. Greenhalgh, A. M. (2007). Case method teaching as science and art: A metaphoric approach and curricular application. Journal of Management Education, 31(2), 181 194. doi:10.1177/1052562906291306

Grossman, R. W. (1994). Encouraging critical thinking using the case study method and cooperative learning techniques. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 5(1), 7 Kunselman20., J. C., & Johnson, K. A. (2004). Using the case method to facilitate learning. College Teaching, 52(3), 87 92. doi:10.3200/ctch.52.3.87 92 Labov, W. (1972). Language in the inner city: Studies in the Black English vernacular (Vol. 3). University of Pennsylvania Press. doi:10.2307/412879 Lawrence, P. R. (1953). The preparation of case material. In K. R. Andrews (ed.), The Case Method of Teaching Human Relations and Administration: An Interim Statement, pp. 215 224, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. doi:10.4159/harvard.9780674594500.c20

Reynolds, J. I. (1980). Case method in management development: guide for effective use ILO. Sandstrom, S., 2006. Use of case studies to teach diabetes and other chronic illnesses tonursing students. Educational Innovation, 45(6), 229 232. doi:10.3928/01484834

Appendixes Appendix I: Descriptive statistics of each question Q 1 Q 2 Q 3 Q 4 Q 5 Q 6 Q 7 Mean 3.808 4.148 4.021 3.829 4.191 4.234 4.212 Median 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 Maximum 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 Minimum 2 2 1 1 2 2 1 Std. Dev. 0.797 0.807 1.0105 0.867 0.850 0.813 0.883 Skewness 0.426 0.524 0.809 0.877 0.801 0.693 1.383 Kurtosis 2.903 2.433 3.111 4.237 2.920 2.576 5.444 Jarque Bera 1.442 2.782 5.151 9.026 5.046 4.113 26.685 Probability 0.486 0.248 0.076 0.010 0.080 0.127 0.000 Sum 179 195 189 180 197 199 198 Sum Sq. Dev. 29.276 29.957 46.978 34.638 33.276 30.425 35.872 Observations 47 47 47 47 47 47 47

212 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. Nadkarni, V., & Stich, R. S. (1969). Teaching Management by the Case Method. Management International Review, 109 116. Paul, R. (1995). Critical thinking: How to prepare students for a rapidly changing world Foundation for Critical Thinking. Popil, I. (2011). Promotion of critical thinking by using case studies as teaching method. Nurse education today, 31(2), 204 207. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2010.06.002

20060601 07 Schoiswohl, M. A. (2016). Das CORE Prinzipalsganzheitlicher Ansatz fürUnternehmens bzw. Organisationsresilienz [The CORE principle holistic approach for corporate or Organizational resilience]. In Vernetze Mitarbeiter, stifte Sinn (pp. 37 71). Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden. Shugan, S. M. (2006). Save research Abandon the case method of teaching. Marketing Science, 25(2), 109 115. doi:10.1287/mksc.1060.0202 Shulman, L. S. (1986). Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching. Educational researcher, 15(2), 4 14. doi:10.3102/0013189x015002004 Volpe, G. (2002). Case studies Bristol: Economics Network. Volpe, G. (2015). Case teaching in economics: History, practice and evidence. Cogent Economics & Finance, 3(1), doi:10.1080/23322039.2015.1120977 Yin, R. K. (2017). Case study research and applications: Design and methods Sage publications. Youngblood, N., &Beitz, J. M. (2001). Developing critical thinking with active learning strategies. Nurse Educator, 26(1), 39 42. doi:10.1097/00006223 200101000 00016

213 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. Q 8 Q 9 Q 10 Q 11 Q 12 Q 13 Q 14 Q 15 3.191 3.829 3.255 4.0425 3.851 4.063 3.680 4.021 3 4 3 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 1 2 1 2 2 2 1 2 1.035 0.916 1.131 0.954 0.833 0.869 0.911 0.896 0.627 0.172 0.514 0.691 0.173 0.523 0.548 0.590 3.103 2.050 2.616 2.5201 2.301 2.410 3.316 2.562 3.101 1.998 2.357 4.192 1.191 2.825 2.549 3.104 0.212 0.368 0.307 0.123 0.551 0.243 0.279 0.211 150 180 153 190 181 191 173 189 49.276 38.638 58.936 41.914 31.957 34.808 38.212 36.978 47 47 47 47 47 47 47 47 Appendix II: Sorted questions according to the highest mean Nr. Question Mean 6 I got more involved on what I was studying. 4.234 7 I studied and put more effort in the course. 4.212 5 The lesson is more enjoyable. 4.191 2 This method made me participate more in the course. 4.148 13 I improved my Analytical skills. 4.063 11 I improved my creative thinking. 4.042 3 My interest in the course topics has been increased. 4.021 15 This methodology improved my communication skills. 4.021 12 I can identify problems and find solutions faster. 3.851 4 I made progress achieving course objectives. 3.829 9 The pace at which all the materials of the course where covered was fast. 3.829 1 It is more effective than other teaching methods. 3.808 14 This methodology made me more open minded. 3.680 10 The quality of the methodology was high. 3.255 8 It helped me reach high results. 3.191

*Corresponding author: Roslinda Rosli, Email: roslinda@ukm.edu.my

214 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 214 228, March https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.120202

Nur Choiro Siregar, Roslinda Rosli* and Siti Mistima Maat

Abstract. The aim of the study was to examine the effectiveness of the Discovery Learning Module on Geometry (D Geometry Module) in improving reasoning skills, communication, and self confidence in mathematics among secondary school students. The research design was a quasi experimental with a non equivalent control group with pre test and post test design, where 128 students were grouped according to gender and the group of the intervention as well as a traditional group. Mathematical reasoning skills, communication, and self confidence instruments were administered towards the students involved. Two way MANOVA analysis showed that there was a main effect of the grouping. The finding showed that the integration of learning theories and discovery learning in Geometry could improve students’ reasoning, mathematical communication, and self confidence. Students’ engagement is more dominant through the Discovery Learning Module rather than traditional learning. Therefore, the D Geometry module should be used as a teaching resource for teachers, students, and curriculum 2013 (K 13) to facilitate classroom instruction

The Effects of a Discovery Learning Module on Geometry for Improving Students’ Mathematical Reasoning Skills, Communication and Self-Confidence

The National University of Malaysia Selangor, Malaysia

Keywords: Discovery learning; Reasoning; Communication; Self confidence; Geometry 1. Introduction Success in education is highly dependent on teachers as facilitators in delivering learning materials. Besides, other factors of success are derived from the content taught by teachers (Fyfe & Brown, 2020; Martin & Towers, 2015). According to Bier, Sherblom, Berkowitz, and Coulter (2016), learning mathematic improves, andconfidence. Besides,mathematical educationshould be able tocreatestudents who can apply mathematical concepts in their daily lives (Hansen, 2020). However, most of the mathematics learning process that takes place in Indonesia

Mathematical reasoning skills, communication, and self confidence are aspects that students need to consider in the T&L mathematic process. Reasoning skills are widely used in mathematics and one of the basics for success in other disciplines and the basis for developing students' cognitive aspects (Barnes, 2019; Dumas, Alexander & Grossnickle, 2013). On another note, mathematical communication is a significant part of the mathematical learning process because, through mathematical communication, students can explain and expand their understanding and link between mathematical solutions and the arguments that they studied (Tabach & Nachlieli, 2016). However, the results of previous studies found out that math communication skills are not effectively implemented by teachers. Therefore, the students are less likely to ask teachers questions if there are unclear questions about topics (Goldhaber, Krieg & Theobald, 2020; Ryve, Nilsson & Pettersson, 2013).

Teachers also said that students' mathematical values were still low due to their low self confidence, especially when expressing their opinions, as they did not believe in the skills they had. Students' self confidence was strongly influenced by students' internal factors (Julaihi, Ying, Li & Bakri, 2020; Kleitman, Stankov, Allwood, Young & Mak, 2012). Students who find themselves weak in math subjects have low self confidence and often lack the skills needed to complete math tasks. Besides, the findings of Kleitman and Gibson (2011) show that students' self confidence is positively related to their mathematical reasoning and Onecommunication.ofthemost challenging topics for many students is geometry (Adolphus, 2011; Suantoa, Zakaria & Maat, 2019). Geometry is a topic learned from elementary school through secondary school. The subjects studied are cube, prism, and pyramid that was taught in their secondary school in the second semester. The geometry topic is the mathematical subjects that students were challenging to understand (Hua, Tang, Sun & Han, 2019). The difficulty of understanding students in the topic of geometry lies in the basic concepts and the application of formulas in solving problems (Fonna & Mursalin, 2019). Students are not allowed to practice reasoning, which makes them findit difficult to answer complex questions and to propose solutions to mathematical problems. At the same time, the constructivism theory also emphasizes meaningful teaching that involves students of the teaching and learning (T&L) process. Some experts encourage mathematical reasoning to be incorporated into the school curriculum as it is widely used during the T&L process (Dumas et al., 2013; Edson, Phillips, Slanger Grant & Stewart, 2018). Therefore, given that students' mathematical reasoning, self-confidence, and communication aspects play a critical role in learning mathematical, researchers expect that skills should be embedded in the T&L process (Bier et al., 2016).

inclines on mastering mathematical principles and lacks the connection between mathematical lessons and daily life, which leads to the lack of emphasis on thinking, communicates mathematically, and thinks mathematically (Siregar, Rosli & Maat, 2019).

(a) H01: There were no differences in mean scores of students' mathematical reasoning by group and gender; (b) H02: There were no differences in mean scores of students’ mathematical communication by group and gender; (c H03: There were no differences in mean scores of students' mathematical self confidence by group and gender.

1.1. Review of Literature Curriculum 2013 Curriculum 2013 (K 13) is a construct that integrates two major frameworks of student's competence and character (Wachidi, Rodgers & Tumanov, 2020). The learning process implemented in K 13 is through a scientific approach. Scientific approaches enable students to “discover” new knowledge through experimentation (Ginting, Joebagio & Si, 2020). Therefore, this approach has a significant relationship to the goal of education. The current curriculum situation in Indonesia requires student engagement and active in the T&L. One of the learning approaches adopted by Curriculum 2013 is to use the discovery approach. Through a discovery approach, it is believed that a learning environment that contributes to student activities in the T&L process will emerge. One of the strengths of discovery learning is the model of learning in the educational world, as this approach trains students to construct knowledge during the learning process (Shofiyati, Retnoningsih & Ridlo, 2020).

Reasoning during the learning of mathematics can foster students' cognitive skills in making mathematical hypotheses and thinking logically (Kılıç & Sağlam, 2013) Reasoning ability is a benchmark of student intelligence that cannot be separated from mathematical learning (Mayer, Sodian, Koerber & Schwippert, 2014). Reasoning ability guides students to understand mathematics topic more deeply and is a cornerstone of success in other subjects (Kılıç & Sağlam, 2013). The principle of mathematical reasoning is to train students to relate one context of

a) To what extend is there an impact of a discovery learning module on geometry towards students' mathematical reasoning by group and gender?

Learning approaches that can improve student reasoning during the T&L process at school are needed. There have been many teaching approaches to enhance students’ quality in mathematics, including discovery learning. Discovery learning is essential because it could help students to solve problems and make mathematical conclusions, generate meaningful knowledge for students, actively engage students in T&L, help process information to long term memory levels (Darkis, 2020). The general objective of this research is to examine of discovery module geometry effect to improve secondary school students’ mathematical reasoning skills, communication, and self confidence. This study attempts to answer the following questions :

(c) To what extend is there an impact of a discovery learning module on geometry towards students' self confidence by group and gender?

The research hypotheses are

Mathematical Reasoning Skills

(b) To what extend is there an impact of a discovery learning module on geometry towards student mathematical communication by group and gender?

Mathematical communication is a vital part of the learning process (Diez Palomar & Olive, 2015). Developing mathematical communication skills require specific standards that students want to achieve. According to NCTM (2014), the standard aspects are: (a) organizing and integrating their mathematical thinking through communication, (b) communicating their mathematical thinking logically and either to teachers and other students, (c) analyzing and evaluating on the thinking strategies of solving mathematics by others and (d) using mathematical language to convey mathematical ideas accurately. Through mathematical communication, students would be able to discuss ideas, value friends' opinions, expand theirunderstanding, and the link between mathematical solutions and the arguments used (Tabach & Nachlieli, 2016). The application of mathematical communication in the T&L process can be critical and responsive (Diez Palomar & Olive, 2015). It is found that students are becoming less interested in asking difficult questions to teachers, while the students were needed the guidance of teachers to develop students' communication skills (Moschkovich, 2015). Self-Confidence

mathematics topic to another during the T&L process. The aspects that can develop students’ mathematical reasoning skills are the aspects that can improve students’ mathematical reasoning skills are the process of identifying patterns, hypothesizing, supportive arguments, and evaluating conclusions (Otten, Gilbertson, Males & Clark, 2014). According to Ferguson, Maloney, Fugelsang, and Risko (2015), low students' mathematical reasoning will influence students to have high levels of math anxiety that, in which case would lead to their mathematical learning ability, does not exist. Experts recommend that mathematical reasoning be incorporated into the school curriculum and implemented in the T&L process (Kaufmann, 2019). Therefore, learning approaches and the role of teachers is crucial for developing student reasoning during the T&L process.

Confidence in this context can be defined as faith in one's own ability to solve mathematic materials and problems (Stankov, Kleitman & Jackson, 2015). However, the lack of self confidence in mathematic subjects among students is higher than in other subjects (Stankov, Lee, Luo & Hogan, 2012). Students’anxiety over mathematic subjects is one of the factors contributing to their low confidence (Kleitman & Gibson, 2011). Low confidence among high school students is a problem that teachers pay less attention to. Be that as it may, if this condition is ignored, it will negatively impact the students’ mathematical achievement in their future (Humble & Dixon, 2017). Student mathematics achievement is influenced by the student's self confidence (Kleitman et al., 2012).

Mathematical Communication

Impact of Gender

Gender also influences students' mathematical reasoning, communication, and self confidence. The results of previous studies show that male students are better in terms of mathematical reasoning, communication, and self confidence than female students (Voyer, Voyer & Saint Aubin, 2017). There are differences between male and female students in the mathematical problem solving process (Murhayati et al., 2019; Voyer et al., 2017). Furthermore, the overall self

2. Research Methodology

The design used in this quasi experimental study was the pre test and post tests with non equivalent groups. There are tests performed before the data were collected. The actual experiments were conducted and then presented with the results of the post test (Rogers & Révész, 2020). This design was conducted

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. confidence of female students has a negative average. However, some researchers have found that the differences between male and female students are relatively small in the mathematical learning process (Cho, 2017).

2.1 Research Design

Theoretical Framework

There have been many teaching approaches that tried to improve the quality of students in mathematics, including discovery based approaches (Siregar et al., 2019). Discovery learning applied three theoretical learning in the T&L process, such as cognitive, constructivism, and behaviorism (Siregar et al., 2019). Students’ involvement in their exploration is the application theory of constructivism. The exploration process can actively affect students' cognitive processes. As a closing T&L stage, each group tends to demonstrate the results of a mathematical solution as a form of their understanding and skills that they possess. The application of discovery learning ensures to improve intelligent and knowledgeable students. Students finding solutions to their problems will lead to the improvement of their self confidence, communication skills, and academic achievement. This method emphasizes the constructions, cognitions, and practices that would be associated with their everyday life and, at the same time, ensures that the students have innovative skills (Cetin Dindar, 2016). Through discovery learning, students would participate to the extent that they have a positive impact on developing critical thinking skills, analyzing, and interpreting information (Edwards, 2015; Majid & Majid, 2018).

Discovery Learning

The discovery learning module is developed on three learning theories, namely constructivism, cognitive, and behaviorism. The constructivism principles such as (a) student generated knowledge, (b) student centered learning process, (c) teacher role as facilitator, and (d) learning goals focused on non final processes (Bakar, Mukhtar & Khalid, 2019; Baroody, Clements & Sarama, 2019). Whereas, cognitive learning theory relies on information processing theory and cognitive load theory. Cognitive theory plays a significant role in helping students understand mathematical reasoning, communication, and self confidence.

Cognitive aspects are strongly related tostudents’mental activity. Thesecognitive aspects comprise six stages, including (a) knowledge, (b) understanding, (c) application, (d) analysis, (e) synthesis, and (f) evaluation (Bloom, Engelhart, Furst, Hill & Krathwohl, 1956). On the other hand, for behaviorism, learning is a change in behavior as a result of the relationship between stimulus and response that takes place in one’s life (Morrison, Ross, Kalman & Kemp, 2013). Through this module, students learn actively in constructing knowledge based on learning experiences (Von Glaserfield, 1989; Norton & Alibali, 2018), and utilize their cognitive ability to solve various mathematical problems.

2.2 Participants

There is a difference between the T&L of the D Geometry process and the traditional T&L process in class. In the D Geometry process, teachers will focus on four main components, such as (1) lesson plan, (2) teacher's book, (3) student book, and (4) the student activity sheet. Table 1 below showed the T&L process in D Geometry. The implementation of traditional learning was carried out as practiced in schools. Traditional learning methods are teaching methods that were either delivered by the teacher directly to the student or teacher centered, and the T&L process presented by the teacher was passive and memorable. In the traditional classroom, teachers will provide information related to the topic of geometry and give students time to solve questions in the textbook (Lessani, Yunus & Burn, 2017).

because, in this study, there were treatment classes and control classes (Cook, Campell & Shadish, 2013). Measurements were collected at the same time for both experimental (discovery module) and control (traditional) groups. The method of data collection is through testing of three instruments, namely mathematical reasoning and communication test, and self confident questionnaire. The test performed consists of several steps. Firstly, both groups (discovery module and traditional) were given a pre test. Secondly, the implementation of learning use with the discovery module and traditional learning. The learning process and components of the discovery module are based on the section in 2.3. Traditional learning processes are (a) teachers conducting T&L processes, students responding, and (b) teachers implementing assessments of students' responses (Luguetti, Aranda, Nuñez Enriquez & Oliver, 2019). Lastly, both groups performed the post tests.

The procedure for selecting respondents in the study was through purposive sampling for the chosen school. This technique is used to derive similarities from the sample, the quality of the study participants was in terms of knowledge and experience and the willingness of the participants to participate in the study (Cresswell & Plano Clark, 2011). The study involved 128 students in grade VIII from secondary school (SMP) at Padangsidimpuan, Indonesia. The experimental group consisted of 22 males and 42 females, while the control group consisted of 24 males and 40 females. The justification for the selection of SMP as respondents in this study was due to (a) students from applying the K 13 with grade A and less than 1 2 years, (b) grade 8, (c) classes consisting of male and female, and (d) taught in geometry topics. Also, (e) the homogeneity of student groups in the classroom, (f) the teacher experience more than four years, and (g) good collaboration between teachers and school principals.

2.3 Classroom Instruction

PlanningSixth: solution

Table 1: The T&L process in D Geometry Question Steps of GeometryD Students Activities

The instruments consist of three parts to measure (a) reasoning, (b) mathematical communication, and (c) self confidence. The mathematical reasoning and

problemsIdentifyingSecond: The process of identifying various problems is one of the ways students find solutions to the topics they are learning.

First: Prerequisite Prerequisite topics are the process of students' exploration and thinking activity.

The planning solution process is not limited to specific forms of problem solving. Students can take many forms as long as the answers they make are correct and follow the appropriate mathematical concepts.

PlanningThird: collectinganddata Students can explore various sources related to the topics.

ProcessingFifth: data

ConcludingTenth: Students will make conclusions and receive feedback from the teacher.

ArgumentationSeventh: The argumentation is one of the best opportunities for students to share different ideas and to build knowledge.

A rectangular prism shaped swimming pool, which base area is a trapezium. It is known that the size of the trapezium is 17 m, and the length of one side is three times the length of the other side. If the sum of the two sides of the samesizeis32 mand the depth of the pool is 2 m, then (a) sketch the pool and its dimensions; (b) calculate the volume of water needed to fill the pool to the full.

The data process is the result of a combination of the first until the fourth steps that the student has taken.

CommunicatingNinth: Students finding presentations in the classroom is one of the forms of communication carried out.

AssessingEighth: Identifying student errors and making corrections based on correcting analysis results are called “assessing ”

2.4 Data Collection, Analysis, and Tools

AnalyzingFourth: data Students should analyze the data to support the finding that they have obtained.

Two categorical variables consist of two or more categories of categories (the second Independentassumption).observation can be explained as there is no relationship between observations in each group, for the third assumption. The fourth assumption is to detect the value of outliers. According to Hair, Black, Babin, and Anderson (2010), when the sample size is > 80, then observations with a Z score of 3 or < 3 are extreme outliers. The fifth assumption is the test of normality. This stage is to see

communication parts contain five subjective questions aimed at measuring students' mathematical reasoning and communication skills. The self confidence part is developed to determine students' level of self confidence in learning geometry using a Likert scale. The self confidence instrument contains four constructs consisting of 26 items. Valid instruments facilitate researchers in obtaining correct, accurate, and reliable data. The inter rater was calculated to present the item analysis on mathematical reasoning and communication. This study involved two teachers as inter rater agreement or interrater reliability. Thirty two students participated in the test that satisfies the requirement for Cohen’s Kappa calculations (Bujang & Baharum,2017). Table 2 shows the analysis result of the mathematical reasoning and communication instruments.

Mathematical Communication 0.66 Good agreement

Mathematical Reasoning 0.67 Good agreement

Table 2: Reliability of mathematical reasoning and communication instruments

Instrument Kappa Index Interpretation

The Kappa Index in Table 2 shows that mathematical reasoning and communication questions are in good agreement and can be used in the actual study, whereas the reliability coefficient of the self confidence instrument indicates that the self confidence item is in the “High” category with a Cronbach Alpha value of 0.86. Therefore, all items are reliable for use during the study. The data collected through this study were analyzed descriptively and inferentially using SPSS version 21.0 software. The inferential analysis is a statistical inference based on data. The analysis was performed with Two Way Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) because it had two factors, namely group (D Geometry and traditional) and gender (male and female). In the MANOVA test, the independent variable is the factor (Pallant, 2016). The Two Way MANOVA test contains at least two independent data categories. Two way MANOVA was used to examine the effects on categorical variables (group and gender) simultaneously on the mean scores of students. The results of this analysis can provide information on students' mathematical reasoning, communication, and self confidence, based on the interaction effect When the results show that there is interaction, then it can be extended to see the "main effects" of each independent variable. Before conducting the Two Way MANOVA test, there are underlying assumptions that must be satisfied. The first assumption is that the dependent variable is measured at a continuous level, in which the data are in the form of an interval or ratio scale of measurement (Aryadoust & Raquel, 2019).

3. Research Results and Discussion

Table 3: Results of the multivariate test for the post data Effect Pillai’s Trace F F0.05(3,128) p Group 0.57 54.82 2.68 0.000 Gender 0.67 84.12 2.68 0.007 Group*Gender 0.06 2.83 2.68 0.041

Descriptive statistics serve as a means of collecting data and presenting useful information. The mean values of the mathematical reasoning, communication, and self confidence scores of the students who experienced T&L using the D Geometry method are higher than that of students who experienced traditional learning methods. The mean values T&L using D Geometry method are higher than traditional learningmethods in reasoning(male, min = 79.31 and female, min = 79.23), communication (male, min = 76.59 and female, min = 76.30), and self confidence (male, min = 81.40 and female, min = 81.40). Whereas, the value that students participated in the traditional learning process is the reasoning (male, min = 53.59 and female, min = 53.50), communication (male, min = 55.83 and female, min = 55.62), and self confidence (male, min = 65.79 and female, min = 65.57). Table 3 is the result of the Two Way MANOVA test for all three variables according to group and gender.

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. the normality of the distribution of reasoning test data, communication, and confidence among the groups compared then the severity test was conducted. The last assumption is the test of homogeneity. The Levene test was performed to determine the relative variability of the variance. The variance values of the dependent variables across all groups in the independent variables were similar. The distributions had identical variation based on p values for equal variances assumed is higher than 0.05 (Pallant, 2016).

The multivariate tests in Table 3 have shown that p = 0.041 (p < 0.05), which shows that there was a statistically significant interactional effect based on the group. There was no significant interactional effect between gender and group on dependent variable F (3,128) = 2.83, p = .041; Pillai’s Trace = .065. Table 4 refers to the results of the test of between subjects effects.

Table 4: Results of the test of between subjects effects Effect Dependent Variable df F p Group Mathematical Reasoning 1 43.63 0.00 Mathematical Communication 1 37.60 0.00 Self confidence 1 67.77 0.00 Gender Mathematical Reasoning 1 8.11 0.07

This module implements active participation between male and female students. Therefore, there was no difference between male and female students for mathematical reasoning, communication, and self confidence levels. The result of this study fits the conclusion of previous studies, in the case that it was inferred that genderdoes not affect the students’ mathematical reasoning, communication, and self confidence (Lauer & Lourenco, 2016). The result exists because male students and female students had the same experience in T&L. On another note, both the male and female students have the assumption that mathematic is a

Mathematical Communication 1 16.24 0.09 Self confidence 1 0.69 0.40

Table 4 showed that there was a main effect of grouping on students' reasoning, communication, and self confidence F (1,128) = 43.63; 37.60; 67.77, p < 0.001. Therefore, indicates that there are significant differences in students' reasoning, communication, and self confidence between the control and experiment groups. Furthermore, there was no main effect of students' reasoning, communication, and self confidence based on gender F (1,128) = 8.11; 16.24; 0.69, p < 0.05 and group*gender F (1,128) = 5.20; 1.10; 2.12, p < 0.05.

Some of the positive impacts of using the D Geometry module includes encouraging students to develop skills in assessing, analyzing, drawing conclusions, giving ideas, being creative, and thinking critically and actively. The type of questions in the student activity sheet that teachers create can foster reasoning, especially in terms of formulating mathematical solutions. The D Geometry Module can reduce anxiety and skepticism during the process of ideas exchange. Each group member works together in generating ideas and making excuses to find the best solution. This module helps students to link the mathematical theory studied with their previous knowledge (Siregar et al., 2019). Among the goals of mathematics education are aspects of mathematical communication (Tabach & Nachlieli, 2016). The impact of the D Geometry Module on students' mathematical communication can be seen through (1) using mathematical vocabulary, (2) improving understanding and thinking processes, and (3) connecting between mathematical concepts (Kosko & Gao, 2015; Tabach & Nachlieli, 2016). In module questions encourage the active participation of students in building knowledge to enhance their mathematical communication and self confidence. The principle of learningwith the D GeometryModule is that teachers allow students to discover their problems in different ways. Each group has the opportunity to present their work in front of all students, which will encourage and foster their confidence (Charalambous, 2015). Students' self confidence positively affects their math skills (Bates, Kim, & Latham, 2011).

3.1 Effects of Learning Discovery Module and Traditional on Students

Group*Gender Mathematical Reasoning 1 5.20 0.12

Mathematical Communication 1 1.10 0.29 Self confidence 1 2.12 0.14

5. Recommendation

Future studies are recommended to use more participants from different regions in Indonesia and increase the duration of the study to avoid bias in the study results In addition, future researchers are also advised to build more specific questions on student activity sheets and integrate a discovery learning approach into other difficult mathematics topics.

This study produced a discovery module on geometry topics in the form of learning plans, teacher books, student books, and student activity sheets. Therefore, this module can have implications for (a) learning theory, (b) mathematics T&L practice, and (c) curriculum design of K 13 on mathematics subjects. The learning theories of constructivism, cognitive, and behaviorism are implemented in this module. Teachers only have as a facilitator in the T&L process. Therefore, the source of information that students gain is no base on

A learning process that promotes active engagement among students can create effective learning of skills in any subject area. Among the skills that the students gained is fostering high level thinking, creativity, and innovation. Teachers need to take into account the teaching methods that students need to achieve their learning goals. The T&Lprocess implementedin the D Geometry Module is direct engagement through learning in small groups. Group learning can overcome students' anxiety to learn mathematics. Also, this module encourages students to undertake the construction of existing knowledge in mathematical T&L. The results of the T&L with the D Geometry Module have significant differences in the aspect of mathematic scores. The scores of the students who experienced learning with the module are higher than the scores of the students experiencing traditional learning. For all three study variables, it was found that male students' scores were the same as female students. The D Geometry Module has a positive impact on students' mathematical reasoning, communication, and self confidence. Therefore, this module is one of the alternative ways that teachers and policymakers can utilize in the future. The implementation of the D Geometry Module in the process of learning mathematics is appropriate with the objectives of K 13.

4. Conclusion

6. Implication

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. strenuous subject (Wolfe, 2019). However, there are differences in the T&Lprocess in schools that have traditionally adopted learning methods. In a typical mathematics classroom, there is no active involvement of students in learning. Utilizing a learning method with active student engagement has more positive effects on learning outcomes than traditional (Borko, 2019). The traditional teaching approach, usually a teacher provides information to students and is not allowed to present ideas during the learning process. The teachers are active in giving information about geometry without the active participation of students. So, students are good at memorizing geometry concepts without understanding concepts. Besides, students study individually without engaging the group. Classroom centered around the teacher and each student sitting behind a separate desk (Naseri, 2019).

7. Limitation

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. teachers. Students should note the knowledge they have gained from various sources. The K 13 draftsman implies that geometry topics can be integrated with discovery methods to solve students' problems in learning mathematics.

This study was conducted only for the secondary students (SMP) at Padangsidimpuan that implemented the K 13 based teaching process. The modules of the T&L process only use the discovery learning approach. The discovery module is limited to geometry topics (cube, cube, prism, and pyramid). The duration of the study was included as short as 6 weeks.

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Keywords: Teaching Model; Learning Outcomes; System Approach; Polynomial Function; High School 1. Introduction Learning mathematics helps students acquire the necessary tools for tackling the daily problems they face in various domains of life (Amalia, Surya, & Syahputra,

Abstract. This study aims at designing a model for teaching polynomial functions’ learning outcomes based on the system approach (LOSA Model). The model includes procedural mechanisms for implementing each of its parts, yielding the model’s outputs, i.e. the tools needed to use the model in teaching high school students. The study consists of three phases: designing the LOSA Model, development of the procedural mechanism of the LOSA model, and formulating the necessary outputs needed to use the model in teaching. This study provides a model for teaching the learning outcomes of polynomial functions, consisting of six domains: the mathematical content; the equipment; teaching methods; evaluation methods; the students; and the teacher. In each domain, the inputs were processed to produce the required outputs through a procedural method based on the system approach. In addition, the study provides an electronic procedural guide that shows precisely how to use each and every constituent of the model. It also provides the outputs of the model which are its usable tools as a teaching model. These outputs are the learning outcomes and their prerequisites; the mathematical content of polynomial functions; the supporting electronic content on Blackboard; the initial, formative, and summative evaluation tools; the mechanisms for preparing the equipment; the teaching methods; and the training methods that qualify the students and teachers to work with the model. The study was applied to a cluster sample of 138 experts in education and mathematics, and the methodology employed the quantitative and qualitative research

229 ©2020 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 229 254, March https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.120203

A Teaching Model of Polynomial Functions’ Learning Outcomes According to the System Approach for High School Students

Middle East University, Amman, Jordan Faculty of Educational Secince

Corresponding author: Ahmad A.S. Tabieh, Email: atabieh@meu.edu.jo

Ahmad A.S. Tabieh*

2017). Consequently, it has been increasingly important and has been stressed on the highest pedagogical levels (Eviyanti, Surya, Syahputra, & Simbolon, 2017).

To face the challenge of learning mathematics, there has been a growing tendency to focus on students as the center of the learning process by identifying their capabilities and inclinations as inputs that undergo processing to achieve optimum learning results (Stelmach, Adams, & Brandon, 2019). Such successful learning depends greatly on determining learning outcomes, which were defined by Adam (2006) and Gudeva, Dimova, Daskalovska, & Trajkova (2012) as the written statements that identify what a learner is expected to achieve by the end of a unit, course, or an educational stage. Consequently, there has been a spreading international movement towards structuring courses based on learning outcomes (Darling Hammond, 2017). For example, level three courses in European higher education institutions are being redesigned in a way that reflects the extent of achieving learning outcomes (Alexandrov & Sancho, 2017).

Another example would be the establishment of the National Council of the Teachers of Mathematics, NCTM, which outlined the general principle and standards of learning outcomes in all fields of mathematics (Naja, 2018; Wilson, 2020). It is worth noting here that learning outcomes represent a more modern and inclusive model. While the traditional approach views inputs as the content, learning outcomes centralize students in the learning/teaching process highlighting outputs as an indicator of students’ competence (Isdale, Reddy, Juan, & Arends, 2018; Rothaermel, 2016), and providing teachers with insight into their students’ level (Oudman, van de Pol, Bakker, Moerbeek, & van Gog, The2018).argument above necessitates designing a model for teaching learning outcomes in a systematic approach that centralizes students in the learning process and utilizes their inputs to achieve the outputs, i.e. learning outcomes, through processing while at the same time enabling teachers to evaluate their students. The researcher of this study, therefore, employed the system approach for designing such a model. Barkley & Major (2020) defines the system approach as an analytical method which organizes the parts in a system whereby these parts consolidate, each according to its function, to achieve the goals set for a certain task. The researcher applied this model to the polynomial functions’ unit of the College Algebra course for high school level / pre university students as it is the only compulsory mathematics course for all students at all universities within the study’s community. In addition, according to the records of the previous academic year, the students scored lowest in polynomial function questions, reflecting difficulty in comprehending the polynomial functions unit of the

The biggest challenge of learning mathematics is perhaps the fact that students have their own idiosyncrasies for thinking and processing when dealing with mathematical concepts (Curto Prieto, Orcos Palma, Blázquez Tobías, & León, 2019). This can distract students from achieving the learning goals, which causes them to feel frustrated and bored with learning mathematics thinking that it requires special capabilities not attainable by everyone (Clements, Fuson, & Sarama, 2017; Tan, 2017).

One of the most prominent teaching models for learning outcomes in mathematics was designed by Sari & Surya (2017) in which they analyzed the learning outcomes observed from students’ responses to mathematical problems. These responses, which provide tools for teaching mathematics, were classified into five levels. Level one is characterized by impulsiveness where the responses bear no direct relevance to the concepts required to solve the problem, and the student makes no discernible connection between these concepts

A teaching model is a design for teaching that describes the processes which identify and produce educational environments that prompt students to interact in a way that creates a specific change in their behavior (Sinha, 2018). This definition is in keeping with the perception of Hofer & Harris (2019) for a teaching model as a plan or pattern that can be used to structure a course, design content, and create an instructional guide for the classroom. In this context, the classroom is viewed as an interactive environment between students and teachers; an environment that allows the exchange of knowledge which ultimately leads to a better educational system (Korhonen, Ruhalahti, & Veermans, 2019; Lamb, Annetta, Firestone, & Etopio, 2018).

The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. course. Furthermore, the researcher ensured that the learning outcomes be created according to the standards of the NCTM so that this model for teaching learning outcomes based on the system approach is internationally applicable

2.1 Teaching Models in Mathematics

2. Background The literature related to the idea of this research can be reviewed under three major fields. Teaching models in general and teaching models in mathematics are reviewed first. Then, the review covers the concept of learning outcomes in mathematics and their relatedness to teaching models in mathematics. Finally, the system approach is discussed as a tool for designing a teaching model in mathematics that is based on learning outcomes.

DuPlass (2006) classifies teaching models into five types, the first of which is “disposition modeling.” Disposition modeling is based on students and teachers sharing ways of thinking, and it requires a creative teacher who is able to identify successful strategies for this model. In the second type, “task and performance modeling,” a teacher highlights the tasks in which students are expected to be initiative, which makes them feel at ease with undertaking new tasks. The third type, “meta cognitive modeling,” foregrounds the importance of the way of thinking by focusing on interpreting information and analyzing statements to arrive at results for what has been learned. In “modeling as scaffolding technique,” Webb, Massey, Goggans, & Flajole (2019) stress the teacher’s responsibility to identify students’ role in the learning process. This entails that a teacher, on multiple occasions, lay out tasks for students to do while helping the students who face difficulties. Finally, in “student centered modeling,” a teacher helps students identify the learning outcomes expected of them allowing the teacher to utilize the students with knowledge of the learning outcomes in question to help their classmates.

2.2 Learning Outcomes in Mathematics

Learning outcomes are defined as the statements that identify what a learner is expected to comprehend, know, or perform after the completion of a learning process (Kizilcec, Pérez Sanagustín, & Maldonado, 2017; Murtonen, Gruber, & Lehtinen, 2017). In addition to specifying what a student is expected to perform, well written learning outcomes must be observable, measurable, and achievable within the time limit and available resources (Tractenberg, Lindvall, Attwood, & Via, 2020). As for the domains of learning outcomes, they were outlined by Bloom (1956) as the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains. The cognitive domain involves intellectual processes such as comprehension, analysis, and evaluation while the affective domain covers inclinations, feelings, and values such as appreciation and tolerance. On the other hand, physical activities, such as assembling and dismantling, fall under the umbrella of learning outcomes of the psychomotor domain. It is important to note that in order for most mathematical concepts to be acquired, there has to be graduality of mental processing. This means that mathematical concepts have to be divided into levels that are suitable for each learning stage, starting from basic levels and culminating in the acquisition of these concepts by the end of the last learning stage. This graduality allows the retention of information for a long time which is essential to the acquisition of mathematical concepts. Ross, Bruderle, & Meakim (2015) points out that learning outcomes enhance basic understanding and develop the skills which improve retention, leading eventually to the internalization of these concepts. As a result, the NCTM emphasizes that learning outcomes be logically ordered in a way that reflects the priority of learning each mathematical concept.

The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. (Hasibuan, Saragih, & Amry, 2018). In level two, the responses show a partial possession of the concepts without fully grasping the relation between them and how they should be connected to achieve the solution. In level three, the student shows complete possession of the concepts; however, connecting these concepts to get to the solution is still somewhat lacking. The responses in level four show profound understanding of the relational connection between the concepts and an appreciation of how these concepts interact to deliver the solution. Finally, level five is marked by a high degree of confidence whereby the student transcends the mastery of the concepts and their relations to the point where he/she tries to impart knowledge onto other students.

2.3 System Approach in Mathematics

The system approach is presented in education as an approach for managing, controlling, and improving educational processes and outcomes (Taylor, Oberle, Durlak, & Weissberg, 2017). This approach is built on the concept of the system which is defined by Ackoff (1971) as a group of interrelated and coherent elements that integrate to form a unified whole. Therefore, viewing the learning/teaching process as a unified system of integrated elements (such as the students, the teachers, the content, the facilities, etc.) improves its effectiveness compared to each element functioning independently.

One of the applications of the system approach in teaching is that of Mat, Yassin, Ishak, Mohammad, & Pandaragan (2012). In this model, the learning/teaching process starts, before the beginning of teaching, with preparing inputs which include the content, lessons, teachers, facilities, and other resources. In the next stage, the activities that students do while learning are covered. Finally, the learning outcomes are achieved in the form of developed skills while allowing students to give their opinions and feedback about their performance. Another application of the system approach in learning is the model of Gupta & Gupta (2013) which consists of several steps, namely analysis, design, development, execution, and evaluation.

Asmathematics.formathematical

The importance of the system approach can be seen from different angles. It perceives of the learning/teaching process as a whole rather than individual parts. It also serves as a systematic educational framework that facilitates decision making. In addition, it fully utilizes educational resources; offers an evaluation system that leads to immediate feedback; and improves teacher training programs (Rodríguez, Pérez, Cueva, & Torres, 2017). Another point in favor of the system approach is the fact that the mathematics learning/teaching process involves several elements such as students, teachers, content, and other resources. This entails a system that unifies and processes these elements to attain an effective learning/teaching process. Employing the system approach, therefore, is ideal for achieving high quality in learning and teaching

content, it is essential to shape it based on the system approach for a number of reasons. First, mathematical principles and concepts are structural in nature; they integrate to form areas of mathematics. Moreover, they are sequential in the sense that many of these concepts function as the corner stone for subsequent ones. Graduality is another characteristic of mathematical concepts. Each concept requires different levels of thinking to be grasped which means it needs to be studied in multiple stages with varying levels, starting from basic and concluding in the acquisition of the concept.

Narrowing the argument to the polynomial functions content, the researcher of this study chose this content as it is a mathematical field that lends itself perfectly to the system approach and because functions are an important tool in building mathematical models (Kitchen & Berk, 2016). This applicability of the system approach to functions is corroborated by the NCTM as it specifies that functions at the school stage represent numerical inputs and outputs which are expressed algebraically and that the functions’ processes represent the calculations which transform the inputs to outputs. The NCTM also points that functions enable checking for correct answers which in turn represents the feedback in the system. This input process output approach to functions establishes relevance to real life applications. From this point of view, the content can serve as a thinking framework that enables a learner to determine their inputs and process them to arrive at the outputs. It also enables verifying these outputs and accordingly improving or fixing them.

3 Creating the LOSA Model’s outputs (the tools that makes it usable in teaching) resulting from implementing the procedural mechanisms.

3. Study Objectives

2 Developing the implementable procedural mechanisms of the LOSA Model which lead to its outputs.

Phases, Methodology, and Data Collection Tools for Each Phase STUDY PHASES Description Designingateachingmodel forpolynomialfunctions’learning outcomesbasedonthesystemapproach(LOSAModel) meDevelopingimplementableproceduralchanismsforeachpartofthemodel,yieldingthemodel ’soutputs Creatingthemodel’soutputswhich constituteitsusabletoolsasateachingmodel Methodology Qualitative Qualitative Qualitative Data Collection Interviews FocusGroups FocusGroups Documents thmodcmathCollectingtheanswersofematicseducationexpertsduringindividualinterviewsoncerningaproposedteachingeloflearningoutcomesTheanswerswerecodedintomainemesthatrepresentthemodel ’s thdomainsinadditiontominoremesthatformeachdomain’s constituentsThenumberof answersrelatedtoeachthemewasalsodocumented eFormingfocusgroupsofmathematicsducationexpertswherebyeachgroupisresponsibleforcreatingtheproceduralmechanismsforimplementingtheinputs,process,andoutputsofeachofthemodel ’sdomainsThesemechanisms parethenshapedintosuccessiveroceduralstepswhicharelatertransformedintoanelectronicproceduralguide. swmathFormingfocusgroupsofematiciansherebyeachgroupisresponsibleforhapingthelearningoutcomesofonelessonofthepolynomialfunctionsunit. Teacherswithexperiencein teachingtheCollegeAlgebracourseresponsibleforreshapingthemathematicalcontentofeachlessonofthepolynomialfunctionsunitaccordingtotheteachingmodelwmathFormingfocusgroupsofematiciansherebyeachgroupisresponsibleforshapingthetestsforevaluatingthelearningoutcomes Phase2:DevelopmentoftheproceduralmechanismofLOSAModel Phase3:Pre-ImplementingFinalizationPhase1:DesignofLOSAModel

The study’s primary objective is designing a model for teaching polynomial functions’ learning outcomes based on the system approach (LOSA Model). The model includes procedural mechanisms for implementing each of its parts, yielding the model’s outputs, i.e. the tools needed to use the model in teaching high school level students. The study’s secondary objectives are the following:

1 Designing a teaching model for polynomial functions’ learning outcomes based on the system approach (LOAS Model) used for teaching the polynomial functions unit for high school level students.

4. Research Design

This study represents the first part of a project for producing and evaluating a teaching model of learning outcomes based on the system approach. This project consists of four phases, three of which are in this first part, namely design, development, and pre implementing. These three phases were all implemented during the second semester of the 2018-2019 academic year. The fourth phase of this project was the implementation and evaluation phase which will take place in the second part of the project executed in the second semester of the 2019/2020 academic year. Figure 1 below describes the study phases, the study’s methodology, and the data collection tools. Study

Figure 1:

The method used in this study was carefully designed based on the study’s three phases.

5. Participants

Table 1:

This study was implemented in three Jordanian universities: The University of Jordan, Middle East University, and Amman Arab University. These universities were chosen because of their proximity to each other and because the researcher is a faculty member at one of them, Middle East University. The study participants are faculty members of these universities with MS’s and PhD’s in mathematics, mathematics education, education technology, and information technology. The researcher formed a cluster sample (138) for this study, and Table 1 below shows the distribution of the participants in the study sample to the study phases based on their specialties and the phases in which they took part. Distribution of Study Sample to Study phases Sample Method

Specialize ModeltheDesigningLOSA modelofmechanismproceduralofDevelopmentthetheLOSA teachingmodeltooutputstheFormulatingnecessaryneededusethein 84 43 EducationalTechnology ✓ ✓ 97 50 MathematicalEducation(Experts) ✓ ✓ 31 16 Mathematicsteacher ✓ 49 25 Mathematicians ✓ 8 4 InformationTechnology ✓ 6.

6.1 Phase One: Designing a Model for Polynomial Functions’ Learning Outcomes Based on the System Approach (LOSA Model)

The researcher conducted individual interviews for fifty experts from the study sample specialized in mathematics curriculum and teaching methods to collect their responses to three open ended questions about the inputs, processes, and outputs required for creating a model for teaching polynomial functions based on the learning outcomes. Within each of the model’s constituents (the inputs, processes, and outputs), the responses were coded into major and minor themes, and the number of responses for each theme was recorded. Based on the coded main themes, the researcher, with the help of some experts, induced the elements of the learning/teaching process as covered by the responses. These

Community

INPUTSOF DOMAIN PROCESS OF INPUTS OUTPUTS OF INPUTS OUTPUTSOF DOMAIN PROCESSOF DOMAIN O IMP OUTPUTSOFALL DOMAINSAS INPUTSOF IMPLEMENTATION PROCESSOF IMPLEMENTATION (PM) OFEBREGGCAETHIN(DESIN) GNIRUDANDAFTERGCAETHIN(IMPLEMENTATION) OMPM pabStudentswithfullreportsouttheirachievementinolynomialfunctionscontentQualifiedteachertoteachpolynomialfunctionaccordingtoLOSAMODELTHEKEYINPUTMECHANISMSOFLOSAMODELINEACH DOMAIN MECHANISMSOFLOSAMODEL ASOVEARALL 4 36125 MATHEMATICAL CONTENT EQUIPMENT TEACHING METHODS EVALUATION METHODS STEACHER TUDENTLODOMAINSOFSAMODEL

Figure 2:

elements were named the model’s domains; they are the mathematical content, the equipment, the teaching methods, the evaluation methods, the students, and the teachers. The experts were then asked to order the six domains according to what is best for the model’s design. Based on the experts’ responses, the major and minor themes were reordered as they will appear in the model whereby the inputs, processes, and outputs of each domain will include their major and minor themes.

The committee also remarked that the model’s domains, with their final outputs, are in fact the tools necessary for using the model in teaching which requires a work plan for the model that consists of two systematic and successive stages. The first stage would be the designing of the model which takes place before teaching. The second stage would be the implementing and evaluating stage which coincides with the beginning and completion of teaching whereby the model’s final outputs in all domains serve as the inputs of this stage. These inputs would eventually culminate into students who acquired the learning outcomes of polynomial functions as well as teachers who are qualified to teach polynomial functions according to the model. Figure 2 below illustrates the model in its final configuration. LOSA Model

Next, the model, in its new format, was presented to a new committee from the experts to get their feedback. The committee pointed out that the responses under the inputs of each domain include some themes which, in and of themselves, are preliminary outputs other than the final outputs at the end of each domain. For example, in the mathematical content domain, the theme of ‘learning outcomes and their prerequisites’ constitutes a preliminary output which will undergo processing to yield the final output, i.e. the mathematical material of polynomial functions. Since any output, whether preliminary or final, results from a process, the committee recommended creating an internal system of (inputs, processes, and outputs) for the inputs alone. The researcher, with the help of the committee, reclassified the themes under the inputs into preliminary inputs, processes, and outputs. This dynamic is shown in Figures 2.1 and 2.2 below.

237 ©2020 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. Figure 2.1: LOSA Model for each Domain, Part One Figure 2.2: LOSA Model for each Domain, Part Two INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT 1 M A T H E M A T C A L C O N T E N T 2 E Q U I P M E N T GOTOTHENEXTLESSON LESSON INTRODUCTION SUMMARLESSONY ORGANIZATIONOFEACH COS UITREATMENTNSIDECLASSSINGGROUP AEXAMPLESANDCTIVITIESINSIDECLASSMATHEMATICALMATERIAL PCOS tudents into groups whereby each arnng tswth EXIST D ACH D AC D EXTRA EXERCISES THROUH ELECTRONIC COURSE EDONOT XIST EXERCISESINSIDECLASSGOTOTHENEXTCOS ACHIEVEMENT REPORTOFCOS (for ) ACHIEVED ANOTCHIEVED THROUGH REVISION CLASS Mathematicalmaterialbasedonlearningoutcomesinpolynomialfunctions PI.Cognitiveorganizationofmathematicalmaterialbasedonlearningoutcomes polbaElectroniccoursesedonlearningoutcomesinynomialfunctions(ECLOSYSTEM) Classroom&computerlabtobecompatiblewithteachingbasedonlearningoutcomes(ClassroomandComputerlabSetting) Classroom&computerlabcompatiblewithteachingbasedonlearningoutcomesinpolynomialfunctionsCourssCollegeAlgebrabook&contenttandardsofpolynomialfunctionsProceduresforwritinglearningoutcomeseoutcomestatementsforpolynomialfunctions(COS)&Prerequisitesofcourseoutcomestatementsforpolynomialfunctions(PCOS)PhysicalneedsProceduresforpreparingthephysicalneedsthatwereselectedClassroom&computerlab INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT 3 T E A C H I N G M E T H O D E S 5 S T U D E N T 6 T E A C H E R 4 E V A L U A T O N M E T H O D E S Teachingmethodsprocessingaccordingtolearningoutcomesin eachstageofthelessoninsidetheclass:lessonbeginning,duringthelesson,andattheendofthelesson Teachingbygrouping accordingtolearningoutcomesinpolynomialfunctions(TGLOMETHOD)Teachingusingcomputeraccordingtolearningoutcomesinpolynomialfunctions(TCLOMETHOD) Evaluationmethodsprocessingtodeterminethestudents’capabilityto Evalachievethelearningoutcomesbeforetheteaching/learningprocessuationmethodsprocessingtodeterminethestudents ’capabilityto achievethelearningoutcomesduringtheteaching/earningprocess Evaluationmethodsprocessingtodeterminethestudents’capability toachievethelearningoutcomesaftertheteaching/learningprocess Courseoutcomestatementstestinpolynomialfunctions( COST) Prerequisitesofcourseoutcomestatementstestinpolynomialfunctions( PCOST) Achievementreportofcourse outcomestatements Mechanismoftrainingteachersin:teachingmaterial,ECLOSYSTEM, teachingmethods(TGLO&TCLO)andevaluationtools(PCOST,ACHIEVEMENTREPORT&COST) Trainedteachersin 1.TEACHINGMATERIAL 2.ECLOSYSTEM 3.TGLO&TCLOMETHODS 4.PCOST 5.ACHIEVEMENTREPORT 6.COST Allteachingmethods CharacteristicsshouldbeincludedintheteachingmethodstoteachbasedonlearningoutcomesTraditional,teachingbygroups&teachingusingcomputerAllevaluationmethods Characteristicsshouldbeincludedintheevaluationmethodswhichareneededtoevaluatethestudents ’ capabilitytoachievelearningoutcomesInitialevaluation,formativeevaluation,andsummativeevaluationThelevelofallstudentschoosingtherightlevelofthestudentstobefitwiththeinputofmathematicalcontentdomainHighschool-levelstudentswhowillstudytheCollegeAlgebracourseTeachersofhighschoollevelwhowillteachtheCollegeAlgebracourseThelevelofallteachers ’experience choosingtherightlevelofthe teachers’experiencetobefitwiththe inputofmathematicalcontentdomain Preparingthedetailsoftrainingcourse(ECLOSYSTEM)WhichWilltaketotheselectedstudentsTheMechanismforTrainingStudentsintheECLOSystem TrainedstudentsinECLOSYSTEM

Finally, the experts were asked to evaluate the electronic guide by responding to a special evaluation form of (Singh, 2003), consisting of twenty five items that covered eight features of the guide (purpose, researcher’s information, accuracy, subjectivity, consistency, inclusiveness, technicalities, and general characteristics). The experts rated each of the eight features on a scale of 0 10 whereby 0 is “unachieved” and 10 is “fully achieved.” The following is the link to the electronic guide (https://www.cognitoforms.com/ElectronicForms1/LOSAMODEL).

6.3.1 Learning Outcomes and Their Prerequisites

6.2 Phase Two: Developing the Implementable Procedural Mechanisms of the LOSA Model’s Constituents for each Domain to Yield Its Outputs

In the next stage, after trying several online form builders and consulting information technology experts, the researcher transformed the implementable procedural mechanisms into an electronic procedural guide using the online form builder (https://www.cognitoforms.com).

6.3 Phase Three: Preparing to Implement the LOSA Model to Produce Its Outputs Which Are Considered Its Usable Tools as a Teaching Model

The researcher divided the mathematics education experts into six focus groups whereby each group was responsible for creating the implementable procedural mechanisms for one of the model’s six domains. Each group was asked to write the implementable procedural steps required to process the inputs of each domain to yield its outputs. The domains of the mathematical content, the teaching methods, the evaluation methods, and the teachers were assigned to a group of ten male experts while the domains of the equipment and the students were assigned to a group of five female experts. The assignment of these experts to these groups was based on each expert’s specialties and relevant experience. Each group’s contribution (shown in Appendix I) was shaped into the final form of the procedural mechanisms of the model’s domains before returning them to the group for further feedback and suggestions.

Based on the recommendations of mathematicians and mathematics education experts, the researcher chose the most suitable basic algebra textbook and identified the polynomial functions unit as the focus. Next, three standards of polynomial functions were taken from the recommendations of the National Council for the Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), namely interpreting functions; building functions; linear, quadratic and polynomial functions. The mathematics experts of the study sample were then asked to derive and create the learning outcomes for each lesson of the polynomial function’s unit of the chosen

Once the electronic guide was completed, forty three educational technology experts were given a week long access to test the guide’s procedural validity and inclusiveness of all constituents, and the experts’ feedback was utilized in making the necessary modifications.

Relying on the electronic procedural guide, the researcher identified the model’s outputs to be prepared, namely polynomial functions learning outcomes and their prerequisites; the mathematical and electronic content; teaching methods; evaluation methods; and training. These outputs have been included in the electronic procedural guide which can be consulted when using the LOSA Model in teaching.

FunctionsInterpreting •

• Solving any quadratic equation , where BF FunctionBuilding

• The ability to construct the equation of the line under given conditions The knowledge of the quadratic function forms: standard and shifted

• Rewriting a given linear equation with more than one variable in terms of one of its variables

•

• Determining the type of polynomial graph

MCS-F***

• Writing X and Y intercepts as an ordered pair Understanding the relationship linesparallel/perpendicularbetween

•

• Applying the

•

textbook according to a form prepared by the researcher for creating learning outcomes. The experts were divided into three groups with each group assigned the learning outcomes of one lesson. The groups’ responses were used to create the learning outcomes that were then returned to the mathematics education experts to verify their cognitive sequence; determine the standard for mathematical content for each outcome; and identify the prerequisite(s) for each outcome. The learning outcomes were revised into their final form shown in Table 2 below.

• The ability to reconstruct any quadratic functions from standard to shifted or vice versa Using the graph of any quadratic functions to build the

•

Table 2: The (COS) and (PCOS) according to the Mathematical Content Standards of Functions (MCS F) COS* PCOS** IF The ability to determine the slope of horizontal, vertical, and any line passing through two points Defining X and Y intercepts for any line Using the graph of any linear function to define the features intercepts as well as slope Defining the basic features of the quadratic function: vertex, minimum maximum value and equation of symmetry Defining the basic features of polynomial functions

• Understanding the concepts of: O, undefined Determining a point that lies on any given linear equation or on its graph Solving any linear equation with one variable

• The ability to design the graph of the polynomial model:

The researcher divided the teachers of the study sample into four groups of four teachers. To write the mathematical content, each group was provided with the learning outcomes and their prerequisites; the standard for every outcome; the chosen algebra textbook; and the LOSA Model to follow its cognitive organization of the mathematical material. The groups were also given access to the electronic procedural guide to utilize its procedural steps related to writing the mathematical content. The first three groups were charged with writing the mathematical content for polynomial functions, with each group responsible for one of the three lessons, i.e. linear functions, quadratic functions, and polynomial functions of higher degree. The fourth group, which consisted of the most experienced teachers, had a supervisory role and revised the content written by the three groups to ensure its compatibility with the procedural guide. Finally, the mathematical content was presented to mathematics experts whose feedback was employed in modifying the content into its final form. The electronic procedural guide for the outputs of the first domain, the mathematical content, contains the mathematical material for the first lesson as an example.

• Using the table to graph linear equation with two variables

• Defining the zeros of any equationspolynomialwritten in factored form

6.3.2

• Defining decreasingincreasingintervals for any polynomial graphs

• The ability to design the graph of quadratic model

• Constructing the poly with integer coefficient from real zeros degree LE: PolynomialQuadratic,Linear,andModels

• Defining the degree and substitute for any factorable polynomial

The Mathematical Content

• The ability to design the graph of linear model: constant, vertical, and oblique

• Solving any factorable polynomial equation Course Outcome Statements, **Prerequisites of COS’s, *** Mathematical Content Standards of Functions

• Using the graph of any polynomial function to construct its equation completing square technique to the quadratic function

• Using the table to sketch the graph of any non linear equation with two variables

The researcher provided the information technology specialists in the study sample with the mathematical content created by the teachers to build an electronic course on Blackboard with the help of the supervisory group of the most experienced teachers. The implementable mechanisms of the procedural guide related to the mathematical content domain were also utilized in creating the electronic course. After completion, the electronic course was tested and evaluated by information technology specialists to ensure it is operating properly. Finally, it was evaluated and reviewed by education technology experts whose feedback was taken into consideration to finalize the course.

An administrative committee was formed to prepare the classrooms and labs in accordance with the procedural mechanisms of the second domain, the equipment. Enough classrooms and labs were designated and prepared to be used by the students of the LOSA Model in the spring semester of 2015/2016. In

6.3.4 Classroom and Labs

The electronic course was created on Blackboard to supplement and reinforce the material given in class. This electronic course is accessible to the students from anywhere at any time, enabling them to navigate the material, the drills and exercises, as well as various tutorial videos related to the material. At the end of every class, the teacher logs the achieved and unachieved outcomes for each student which are later transferred to the electronic course. The electronic course, as a result, provides additional exercises, prepared by the teacher, assigned for certain learning outcomes and accessible only to the students who failed to achieve those outcomes. This feature offers another opportunity for the students to improve on what they could not achieve in class.

When it comes to feedback, the electronic course provides individual reports for each student showing their achieved and unachieved outcomes. It also contains a comprehensive report of the students achieved and unachieved outcomes (Achievement Report of COS) which is then used by the teacher to form study groups for a separate revision class.

The researcher chose the content for polynomial functions because the students of the previous year scored lower in polynomial function questions than they did in any other area of the mathematical content of the course. Therefore, if the model proves effective in improving the students’ performance in the unit they were worst at, this will give it greater credibility to be applied to other units. In addition, it was the experts’ recommendation that the model be applied to the polynomial functions unit since it is taught in the spring semester of the academic year which coincides with the second part of this project when the model was intended to be implemented and evaluated.

6.3.3 The Electronic Content

The electronic system utilizes the discussion board feature of Blackboard as a means of achieving outcomes. On the discussion board, students are able to communicate with one another about their achieved and unachieved outcomes. This communication is intended to help the students who have unachieved outcomes engage in dialogue with their classmates who achieved those outcomes, ultimately resulting in achieving all outcomes.

Figure

Teaching by Grouping according to Learning Outcomes (TGLO)

Part Two StatementsCourseReportAchievementOfOutcome Groupe Section A B J ExperimentalExperimentalExperimentalExperimentalExperimentalExperimentalExperimentalExperimentalExperimental l:Linearl:Linearl:LinearFunctionsFunctionsFunctions 1 2 3 4 5 Note 6 3 8 1 8 1 6 3 9 AchievedAll CourseOutcomeStatementsStudentName 1 2 3 4 5 Student Name 1 2 5 3 4 Achievedthefirstlearningoutcome AA AC AF AG A JAB AD AE A I Studentswhoachievedpartsofthelearningoutcomes AA AE AB AD A I AC A G A F J Each group contains the fewest number of students who between them, all learning outcomes are achieved That is, each student with unachieved outcome(s) has another studentwhohasalreadyachievedthe corresponding outcome(s) The students who achieved all learning outcomescomplementanyshortagein the groups and if any remain they work with the teacher to help the groups Distinguishing the students who achieved all learning outcomes from those who achievedpartsofthem STEPI STEPII Studentswhoachievedalllearningoutcomes Achievedthethirdlearningoutcome Ahi dthefifthl rningout

6.3.5

The researcher conducted a discussion session with the experts to create a procedural guide for teaching by grouping inside the classroom. Depending on the procedural guide of the teaching methods domain, the general guidelines of teaching by grouping were established. The teaching by grouping method depends on the achievement report of COS whereby the students are sorted out in study groups for a separate revision class. The groups are created in such a way that the students of different achieved and unachieved outcomes are joined together. This means that in a group, each student with unachieved outcome(s) has another student who has already achieved the corresponding outcome(s) so that between them, all outcomes are achieved by the end of the revision class. During the revision class, the teacher hands out separate worksheets for each learning outcome containing various exercises related to that outcome. The students in a group work only on the sheet(s) of their unachieved outcome(s), and the teacher, meanwhile, checks the students’ performance to ensure that all outcomes are achieved. Figure 3 below illustrates the mechanism of forming and using the study groups. 3: LOSA Model for each Domain,

The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. the labs, the electronic course was installed on each computer, and the classrooms were provided with the necessary equipment for implementing the model (chairs; whiteboards; hard copies of the mathematical content for each student and teacher; and learning outcomes achievement form for the teacher of each section). Then, the teachers of the study sample were assigned the sections they will be working with. Finally, some of the experts of the study sample were asked to evaluate the suitability and readiness of the classrooms and labs according to the implementable procedural guide.

Course Outcome Statements Test (COST) which is the test that measures the extent to which the learning outcomes have been achieved after teaching. The test with its answers was written by the second group according to the learning outcomes in Table 2 above. It was revised by the first group into its final form of 14 one mark each, multiple choice questions. This test is also found in the electronic procedural guide of the fourth domain, the evaluation methods

6.3.6 Evaluation Methods

Achievement Report of Course Outcome Statements: this report is a type of formative evaluation which uses the results of the students in the exercises for each learning outcome to assess the extent to which each outcome has been achieved by every student. This report serves as a reference for each student about their performance in each outcome as well as a reference for the teacher who updates it on the electronic course on Blackboard after teaching each

The second group revised the test into its final form with 17 one mark each, multiple choice questions covering all the prerequisites of the learning outcomes of polynomial functions. This test serves as an initial evaluation before the beginning of teaching in order to identify the extent to which the students possess the prerequisites and prior knowledge of each outcome. The results of this test function as a reference for the teacher to address the relevant shortcomings during class and to utilize the students who possess the prior knowledge of certain outcomes to help their classmates who lack this knowledge. This test is found in the electronic procedural guide of the fourth domain, the evaluation methods.

The researcher divided the mathematics specialists into two groups responsible for creating three instruments: Prerequisites of Course Outcome Statements Test (PCOST) which was written with its answers by the first group based on the prerequisites of Table 2 above.

Theoutcome.evaluation

instruments above were revised by the experts to verify their comprehensiveness on two levels: first, whether each question in the tests comprehensively covers the learning outcome/prerequisite for which it was written and second, whether the tests are inclusive of all learning outcomes and their prerequisites. Then, the tests were applied to a pilot study of thirty students of the previous year’s College Algebra course to verify their validity and reliability. The PCOST and the COST had a Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient of (0.79) indicating high reliability for both tests. As for content validity, the correlation coefficient for the standard of interpreting functions in all related questions of the Prerequisites of Course Outcome Statements Test (PCOST) and the Course Outcome Statements Test (COST) was 0.72. The correlation coefficient for the standard of building functions in all related questions of the PCOST and the COST was 0.74 and 0.72 respectively. The correlation coefficient for the standard of linear, quadratic, and polynomial functions in all related questions of the PCOST and the COST was 0.77 and 0.72 respectively. Finally, the correlation coefficient between the marks allocated for the three standards in the PCOST and the COST and the tests’ overall mark was 0.77 and 0.83

The teachers of the study sample were divided into four groups to be trained in four of the training axes that were deemed necessary, namely teaching the mathematical content; the electronic system; teaching methods; and evaluation methods. Four experts were designated as trainers, with each expert responsible for one of the training axes, and then assigned a group of teachers which they trained in one of these axes. Each expert was then provided with the learning outcomes and the training mechanisms found in the procedural guide under the teacher domain. Finally, the scheduling of each group’s training was completed.

on Designing

Tables 3 8 below represent the responses of the experts to the open ended questions designed to create the inputs, processes, and outputs for each of the model’s domains. Table 9, on the other hand, shows the experts’ responses to the most suitable order of the model’s domains. In total, fifty experts responded. 3: Thematic Content of Experts’ Narratives the LOSA

Model within the Mathematical Content Domain Category Subcategories No. narrativesof Input College algebra book No Subcategories 33(66%) International standards of polynomial functions content No Subcategories 47(94%) Writing learning outcomes criteria No Subcategories 35(70%) Course learning outcome statements for polynomial functions No Subcategories 49(98%) Prerequisites of course outcome statements for polynomial functions No Subcategories 44(88%) Process Organizations of course outcome statements at lesson level Introduction 48(96%) Summary 37(74%) Feedback 39(78%) Organizations of Each course outcome statements Prerequisites of Learning outcome 38(76%) Learning Outcome Content 49(98%) Class Activities(examples) 41(82%) Class exercises 40(80%)

After the four day training was over, each teacher was asked to train his prospective students in how to use the electronic content. This training took place in the first week of the following semester (the second semester 2018/2019 academic year) so that both the teachers and the students are fully prepared to work with the teaching model.

Table

7.1 Qualitative Results

6.3.7 Training

7. Findings

Based on the method used, the study yielded both qualitative and quantitative results which are presented in Tables 3 10 below and discussed in detail.

245 ©2020 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. Achievement feedback 42(84%) Treatment of unachieved 46(92%) Output New mathematical materials for polynomial functions based on Course outcome statements No Subcategories 38(76%) Supported Electronic course on blackboard No Subcategories 31(62%) Domain Percentage 82% Note. The percentage = (No. of narratives / 50) Table 4: Thematic Content of Experts Narratives on Designing LOSA Model within the Equipment Domain Category Subcategories No. narrativesof Input Physical Needs Detect Physical Needs 50(100%) Procedures of Preparing the Physical Needs No Subcategories 44(88%) Classroom No Subcategories 30(60%) Computer lab No Subcategories 31(62%) Process classroom setting Prepare classrooms to be compatible with teaching based on learning outcomes 36(72%) computer lab setting Prepare computer labs to be compatible with teaching based on learning outcomes 33(66%) Outputs Classrooms ready to use No Subcategories 50(100%) computer labs ready to use No Subcategories 44(88%) Domain Percentage 80% Note. The percentage = (No. of narratives / 50) Table 5: Thematic Content of Experts Narratives on Designing LOSA Model within the Teaching Methods Domain Category Subcategories No. narrativesof Input Characteristics should be included in teaching methods selected to teach based on course outcome statements No Subcategories 32(64%) Traditional Teaching No Subcategories 30(60%) Teaching Using Groups No Subcategories 49(98%) Teaching using computers No Subcategories 41(82%) Process Teaching methods processing according to learning outcomes in each stage of the lesson inside the classroom: lesson beginning, during the lesson, and at the end of the lesson Teaching by grouping 37(74%) Teaching using computer 33(66%) Outputs Teaching by grouping according to learning outcomes in No Subcategories 49(98%)

246 ©2020 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. polynomial functions Teaching using computers according to learning outcomes in polynomial functions No Subcategories 41(82%) Domain Percentage 78% Note. The percentage = (No. of narratives / 50) Table 6: Thematic Content of Experts Narratives on Designing LOSA Model within the Evaluation Methods Domain Category Subcategories No. narrativesof Input Characteristics should be included in evaluation methods selected to evaluate based on course outcome statements No Subcategories 41(82%) Initial Evaluation evaluate student in the Prerequisites 40(80%) Formative Evaluation evaluate student in each Course outcome statements 48(96%) Summative evaluation evaluate the overall achievement student after learning all course outcome statements 50(100%) Process Evaluation methods processing to determine the students’ capability to achieve the learning outcomes before the teaching/learning process 33(66%) during the teaching/learning process 39(78%) after the teaching/learning process 36(72%) Outputs Prerequisites of Course outcome statements test in polynomial functions No Subcategories 38(76%) Achievement report of course outcome statements according to observation No Subcategories 49(98%) Course outcome statements test in polynomial functions No Subcategories 50(100%) Domain Percentage 85% Note. The percentage = (No. of narratives / 50)

247 ©2020 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. Table 7: Thematic Content of Experts Narratives on Designing LOSA Model within the Students Domain Category Subcategories No. narrativesof Input choosing the right level of the students to be fit with the input of mathematical content domain No Subcategories 42(84%) High school level student s who will take the College Algebra course No Subcategories 48(96%) Process Identifying the training axes which will be given to the selected students using the (ECLOelectronicsupportingcourseSYSTEM) 31(62%) Preparing the details of the (ECLO SYSTEM) training Which Will be given to the selected students No Subcategories 31(62%) The mechanism for training students in the supporting electronic course on Blackboard No Subcategories 31(62%) Outputs Trained students in The Blackboardelectronicsupportingcourseon 36(72%) Domain Percentage 73% Note. The percentage = (No. of narratives / 50) Table 8: Thematic Content of Experts narratives on Designing LOSA Model within the Teachers Domain Category Subcategories No. narrativesof Input High school teacher level who will teach college algebra course No Subcategories 48(96%) choosing the teachers with the right level of experience to fit the input of mathematical content domain No Subcategories 42(84%) Process Mechanisms of training workshop to train teachers on Teaching material 38(76%) Electronic course based on learning outcomes in polynomial functions 30(60%) Teaching Methods 33(66%) Evaluation Methods 48(96%) Outputs Trained teacher in Teaching material 38(76%) using Electronic course based on learning outcomes in polynomial functions 30(60%) Teaching Methods 33(66%) Evaluation Methods 48(96%) Domain Percentage 78% Note. The percentage = (No. of narratives / 50)

248 ©2020 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. As shown in the tables above, the total number of responses was 2318 out of 2900 which means that the total percentage of responses was 80%, indicating the validity of these themes to be constituents of a teaching model based on the system approach. The domains of the model achieved significant percentages of responses ranging 73 85 %, with the domain of evaluation methods achieving the highest percentage while the student’s domain achieved the lowest percentage. Table 9: The Responses to Ordering the LOSA Model Domains Domain No. of responses in each order (out of 50) First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth contentMathematical 32 6 4 0 6 2 Teachers 5 6 4 6 4 25 MethodsEvaluation 6 5 1 24 2 12 Equipment 1 33 9 2 3 2 Student 1 0 4 12 31 2 Teaching methods 5 0 28 6 4 7 Note. Number of responses in each order (out of 50) Table 9 above indicates that the mathematical content domain ranked first whereas the equipment; the teaching methods; the evaluation methods; the students; and the teachers came in second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth respectively. 7.2 Quantitative Results Table 10 below shows the average for the responses of forty three education technology specialists to a questionnaire evaluating the electronic guide of the teaching model. The eight item, 0 10 rating questionnaire was created based on the standards for evaluating electronic resources of Singh (2003). Table 10: Means and Standard Deviation of Evaluator of Electronic Procedural Guide for the LOSA Model Dimension Mean Std. Deviation Variance Purpose 7.98 1.83 3.36 Authority 7.85 1.23 1.52 Accuracy and Currency 8.14 0.73 0.54 Objectivity 8.43 1.11 1.22 Reliability 8.42 0.89 0.79

Responses to the Supporting Electronic Course on Blackboard: As for the designing of the model, the responses of the experts were lowest when it came to the supporting electronic course on Blackboard under the mathematical content, the students, and the teacher’s domains, ranging from 60 62%. This was due to the small number of information technology specialists within the study sample compared to the other participants. This lower ranking of the electronic course prevented it from being the main and alternative learning resource. Instead, it was employed as a technological solution serving two purposes: offering additional learning opportunities for the students who did not achieve the learning outcome(s) in the classroom (Singh, 2003) as well as providing forums on Blackboard for students to exchange knowledge whereby the students who failed to achieve a certain outcome(s) can communicate with their outcome achieving classmates.

In addition, the model consists of several systems that integrate and interact to yield the outputs. On the one hand, there is an internal system of inputs functioning within the overall system of the model. On the other hand, there is an interactive relation between the constituents of each domain (inputs, processes, and outputs) and between the domains themselves. Flexibility is another trait of the model as it allows the improvement and modification of the preliminary outputs in order to reach the targeted final outputs.

8. Discussion Characteristics of the LOSA Model: It is worth noting that the model is inclusive of all elements of the learning/teaching process (Tan, 2017), throughout its six domains, covering the pre teaching, during teaching, and post teaching stages.

The results in Table 10 above show that the overall average of the responses to evaluating the electronic guide was 8.16. The guide scored 7.85 8.43 in all evaluation fields with the (authority) filed getting the highest score while the (objectivity) filed scoring lowest. These scores corroborate the electronic procedural guide’s suitability to be used.

Responses to the Equipment Domain: In the equipment domain, responses to the traditional classroom/lab as an input were at a low 60%. This is understandable as it shows the experts’ conviction that the traditional classroom/lab is unsuitable as Viji & Raja (2017) said, and has to be specially prepared, for learning and teaching outcomes. After processing the classrooms/labs into usable outputs, the responses were at a maximum 100%.

Coverage 7.92 1.05 1.10 Format and Presentation 8.14 0.68 0.46

Special features 8.24 0.85 0.73 Overall 8.16 0.32 0.10

Responses to Initial Evaluation: The lowest percentage of 66% was that of the initial evaluation. This reflects the experts’ point of view that designing the mathematical content with exercises on the prerequisites of each outcome is almost sufficient enough to bridge any gaps in the prerequisites (Lallemand, 2018). However, the initial evaluation remains significant in assessing each student’s knowledge of the prerequisites; it saves effort and enables the students to help each other based on the outcome(s) they did or did not achieve (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM, 2000).

9. Conclusion and Suggestions

This study provides a model for teaching the learning outcomes of polynomial functions, consisting of six domains: the mathematical content; the equipment; the teaching methods; the evaluation methods; the students; and the teachers. In each domain, the inputs were processed to produce the required outputs through a procedural method based on the system approach. In addition, the study provides an electronic procedural guide that shows precisely how to use each and every constituent of the model. It also provides the outputs of the model which are its usable tools as a teaching model. These outputs are the

Responses to the LOSA Model as a Whole Structure: After analyzing the responses to the model as a whole structure with inputs, processes, and outputs, it can be seen that the lowest responses were to the processes stage with 70 80 %. This can be attributed to the numerous details involved in the processes as it is the stage that handles the procedures. As a result, the responses were varying and unfocused, and this was one of the main reasons that led the researcher to design the model by identifying the procedural mechanisms and transforming them into an electronic procedural guide that facilitates using the model in the classroom.

Responses to the Evaluation of the Electronic Procedural Guide

On the other hand, in the teacher’s domain, the responses to the field of ‘teaching methods training’ were lower at 66%. Seemingly contradictory, this is because the responses related to teaching methods as processes and outputs were not limited to ‘teaching using groups;’ rather, they also covered ‘traditional teaching’ and ‘teaching using the electronic course,’ and because these two fields had low responses, they affected the overall percentage.

: The responses of the education technology experts to the evaluative form designed by Singh (2003) for the electronic procedural guide were very good because the guide was already tested by information technology specialists whose feedback was utilized in making the necessary modifications. Furthermore, the evaluators thought that the guide was essential in making the model practical and user friendly.

Responses to the Teaching Methods Domain: The domain of the teaching methods had the highest percentage of responses, 98%, in the field of ‘teaching using groups’, whether as inputs or outputs. This fit with the believes of Gupta (2013) that teaching outcomes based on the system approach depends greatly on students themselves working together to exchange and bridge any gaps in knowledge.

Acknowledgements: The author is grateful to the Middle East University, Amman, Jordan for the financial support granted to cover the publication fee of this research article.

11. Limitations

3 Conducting studies that seek creating mechanisms and standards for classifying students according to their achievement of learning outcomes at all levels: textbook unit, course, or academic program.

251 ©2020 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. learning outcomes and their prerequisites; the mathematical content of polynomial functions; the supporting electronic content on Blackboard; the initial, formative, and summative evaluation tools; the mechanisms for preparing the equipment; the teaching methods; and the training methods that qualify the students and teachers to work with the model. It is worth noting that in the second part of this project, the researcher applied the model to a sample of students to verify its effectiveness in helping the learners acquire the standards for the mathematical content of polynomial functions according to NCTM (2000)

Time Limitations: the study was implemented during the 2018 2019 academic year. Content Limitations: the mathematical content chosen for the model was the polynomial functions unit of the College Algebra course taught for high school level / pre university students.

Geographical Limitations: The University of Jordan, Middle East University, and Amman Arab University according to the official approvals that were attained to implement the study.

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Conflict of Interest: No Conflict of interest has been declared by the author.

10. Recommendations

The researcher recommends the following:

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The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. Webb, S., Massey, D., Goggans, M., & Flajole, K. (2019). Thirty five years of the gradual release of responsibility: scaffolding toward complex and responsive teaching. The Reading Teacher, 73(1), 75 83. http://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1799 Wilson, J. (2020). Reflections on Mathematics Education Research: 1970 1982. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 51(1), 3 11. http://doi.org/10.5951/jresematheduc.2019.0004

Abstract. In the context of fundamental and radical reform of education and training in Vietnam, the educational goals are changing towards students’ competencies instead of knowledge and skills for students as in the past. Vietnam’s mathematics curriculum is going to innovate after 2018. Mathematical education constructs the connection between mathematical ideas, between mathematics and other subjects, and between mathematics and real life. This article investigates two significant issues in mathematics teaching in Vietnam: the purpose of learning mathematics among Vietnamese pupils and mathematics teaching methods concerning reality. Based on the findings from these questions, the article proposes some recommendations for mathematics teachingregardingthemethodsand

appropriateextenttowhich teachers should connect mathematics to the real world in the context of rapid science and technology development as well as the adjustments to the current mathematical content at schools. Also, this article presents some examples of exploring practical content problems and designing real life contexts in mathematics teaching to develop students' competency in Vietnam. The researchers also suggest that Vietnam's national mathematics curriculum needs reforming to keep up with the pace of 1 Corresponding author: Trung Tran, trungt1978@gmail.com

Thi-Phuong-Thao Trinh Thai Nguyen University of Education, Thai Nguyen, https://orcid.org/0000Vietnam00016277

4907

255 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 255 275, March https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.142020 Mathematics Teaching in Vietnam in the Context of Technological Advancement and the Need of Connecting to the Real World Trung Tran1 Vietnam Academy for Ethnic Minorities, Hanoi, https://orcid.org/0000Vietnam0002 0459 7284 Tien-Trung Nguyen Vietnam Journal of Education, Institute of Theoretical and Applied Research, Duy Tan University Hanoi, https://orcid.org/0000Vietnam0002 3320 8962

Mathematics is a science that arises, develops from real life and serves as practical tools for real problems (Boyer & Merzbach, 2011; Schubring, 2014). Therefore, mathematics teaching must be linked with the reality in society as well as in learner’s life. Nevertheless, in many cases, instead of originating from real life, some mathematical knowledge derives from the creativity of mathematicians, which go beyond and hidden from reality. It’s the matter of the fact that mathematics is a shared playground of those with the particular intelligence of mathematics or logic as called by Gardner in his multiple intelligence theory (Gardner & Hatch, 1989)

Keywords: mathematics education; practical situation; mathematics teaching method; the real life context in mathematics; Vietnam

There is a great deal of research in the field of mathematics teaching that concerns the connection of mathematical knowledge to the real world for different levels, from elementary to college in Vietnam, such as (Dung, Duyen, An, Giang, & Phuong, 2019; Nam, 2016; Nghi, 2018; Tam & Ngu, 2017; Tong, Loc, Uyen, & Giang,2019; Trung, 2018; Trung, Thao,& Trung, 2019; Vui, 2018), etc. The findings of those studies also focus on various aspects such as mathematical culture, the connection of mathematics with reality, mathematical competencies, organization of mathematics lessons to use mathematical knowledge for solving mathematical problems with useful contents or practical issues to develop and enhance learners’ mathematical abilities. It is the educational approach that learning activities, must start from and directing towards reality.

development in the field of information and communication in the country.

Mathematical education in New General Education Curriculum in Vietnam constructs and develops students' core qualities, standard capacities, and mathematical capabilities with core components: mathematical thinking and reasoning, mathematical modeling, mathematical problem solving ability, mathematical communication ability, ability to use mathematical tools and medium; construct knowledge and skills and provide opportunities for students to experience, apply mathematics to real life (Linh & Phuong, 2019; Ministry of Education and Training, 2018). The application of Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) in Vietnam was rare from its introduction in 2005 to 2010; however, following Resolution 29 in 2013, RME received extensive attention from not only the government but also the public, and teachers (Trung et al., 2020) The Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) developed by the Freudenthal Institute is also known as “real world mathematics education”. The development of the new curriculum (Ministry of Education and Training, 2018) in general and its focus on realistic mathematics in particular promises major adjustments in Vietnamese mathematics education.

1. Introduction

Moreover, it should be noted that: Mathematics is a process of actively working. To learn mathematics, the first thing to do is practicing mathematical problem solving, i.e., to solve mathematical problems and learn the techniques to solve them. Therefore, students need to be equipped with primary and minimum knowledge and sufficient skills to solve math at the general level. The general level is a level that is designated generally

Differently from the approach of many countries in the world, in the documents on mathematical education in Vietnam, the concept of mathematics teaching is referred to more than the concept of "mathematics learning". Putting it simply, "mathematics teaching" is a teacher's activity to organize students to perform "mathematics learning". This shows the significant focus and attention on the activities of teachers in the school during teaching and learning. Hence, we try to answer the question: How mathematics teaching is suitable for the context of technological advancement in Vietnam and to connect to real life? By analyzing the status and role of mathematics, the mathematics learningprocess and achievements, the development of science and technology, international integration in education, and studies on the relationship between general and academic mathematics, we pointed out some notes in mathematics teaching. After that, some of the teaching situations were built based on those notes and fitted into the Vietnamese context.

It’s also necessary to state that the rapid development of science and technology has led to widespread impacts, sometimes dramatic changes in social life, which enables the application of science and technology in education, as well as emerging challenges and problems for education in the context of the explosion of science and technology. For example, the robust development of software, including mathematical software, mathematical games and education software has tolead to the opportunities to develop, apply and exploit them in mathematics teaching. Technology development entails new requirements for new personnel whose education could be contributed to mathematics.

2. Mathematics learning goals

According to research on mathematics education in the world, it is necessary to aim for several objectives and to set learner's internal goals as follows: (i) Understanding the values of mathematics (meaning, application); (ii) Developing competence of doing mathematics exercises (mastering necessary skills and techniques, understanding concepts and effectively exploiting theorems, lemmas, consequences to do the exercises, etc.); (iii) communicating in mathematics and developing thinking skills (in particular mathematical thinking); (iv) understanding theories and mathematical theories to build a scientific world view and apply into practice and (v) developing general problem solving competence, in particular, mathematical problem solving. Therefore, it can be seen that learning mathematics to the real world will contribute significantly in fulfilling objectives (i), (iv), (v).

Firstly, mathematics teaching in the first place should focus on equipping learners with mathematical knowledge and skills such as concepts, theorems, lemmas, axioms, consequences, processes, rules, etc. The better learners master the above experience and expertise, the higher the chances they can apply them to solve mathematical problems with problem solving skills, proving skills, etc (Björn, Aunola, & Nurmi, 2016)

mathematics is not just learning arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and analysis. Mathematics is also presented in finance, economics, medicine, biology, sociology, etc. in life, and mathematics must be applied in those areas. Only then will mathematics become valuable, useful and attractive to many students (Barab et al., 2007; Tam & Ngu, 2017; Vui, 2018)

Secondly, another important goal of mathematics teaching is to develop thinking skills, especially logical thinking, dialectical thinking and creative thinking with mathematical characteristics. Therefore, mathematics teaching should focus on developing thinking (Palinussa, 2013) Thirdly, it is necessary to effectively strengthen the connection between mathematical knowledge, ideas and the real world (social life, real life of learners). Through exploiting practical situations to teach students the mathematical concepts and principles (such as the idea of expanding numbers sets, structural thinking in mathematics, variable thinking, continuous thinking; optimal thinking, the concept of function, or problems of connection, the interdependence between objects in nature, and society, the design of sets, etc. some essential principles such as the Dirichlet principle, discrete extremal principle, descent principle, etc.) (Nam, 2015; Viet, 2013).

Fourthly, it’s advisable to enhance information technology application in mathematics teaching (Cowan, 2006; Wang, 2018), in the aim of focusing on learner’ thinking skills and problem solving skills with the use of mathematics and widespread and fundamental types of mathematical thinking as a tool at the same time calculators, computers, mathematical software, etc. are the instruments to accomplish that goal, regardless of the related discipline (within mathematics or in other areas). Therefore, information technology (calculators, computers, software, etc.) should be used more widely in the classroom, as part of learning activities rather than as a presentation tool or search engines, most of which are just by teachers (Dabbagh et al., 2016). For example, it is advisable to reduce the requirements for calculating skills that pocket calculators are now so available; consider the system of using dots “.” or comma “, ” in decimal numbering in Vietnam (to be in line with many countries and compatible with calculation software, such as Microsoft Excel); consider teaching students how to use

From the analysis of the status and role of mathematics, the mathematics learning process and achievements, development of science and technology, international integration in education, and studies on the relationship between general and academic mathematics, some notes in mathematics teaching can be pointed out as follows:

Analysis. This problem helps teachers foster, develop, and evaluate students’ mathematical application competence, mathematical thinking competence, and mathematical calculation competence (written in priority order) (Ly, 2013). The problem asks students to perform an activity. To complete this activity, each group of students must fulfill two sub activities:

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. mathematical software right at general education (typing formulas with Mathtype, drawing with Geogebra, necessary calculations with Mapple, etc.) to improve students’ competence and increase the time using mathematics to solve

should be given to adjusting teaching content appropriately to ensure the interlinking with the tertiary education program. Some issues to be considered include: increasing the volume and lowering the level of statistics and probability knowledge in the program; deciding on the same rules on writing matrix, determinant (solving the linear equation in two and three variables), the coordinates of points, vectors; etc. for both the general and tertiary education programs.

+) Activity 1. Developing a method for cutting paper on a scrap paper (including two sub activities: selecting a cutting method and then determining which plan gives more flags and most flags);

Fifthproblems.ly,consideration

Figure 1: Students cut 20 flags Figure 2: Students cut 18 flags 12cm 9cm 4cm 9cm 12cm 4cm 6cm

Problem 1. (for grade 4 5 students, from 10 to 11 years old) To prepare for the celebration of the new school year, the teacher presents students with the following problem: Each student group has half of a red A0 paper with the size 40  60cm. Cut that A0 paper into small rectangular flags with a size of 9  12cm to get the most flags.

In the following section, we would like to present some examples of mathematical problems that can be explored in mathematics teaching in schools in a way that connects them with a practical situation to develop students’ competence.

3. Teaching mathematics in relation to reality: some preliminary samples

+) Activity 2. Cutting according to the plan chosen.

Some possible causes: Case 1. Students cut 20 flags; Case 2. Students cut 18 flags; Case 3. Students cut 21 flags; Case 4. Students cut 17 flags. In which, cases 1, 2, 3, 4 correspond to Figures 1, 2, 3, 4 below.

Problem 2. (for grade 4 5 students, from 10 to 11 years old) A coffee shop owner needs to replace the glass for all of his coffee tables. His shop has 12 round coffee tables, each with a diameter of 1.2m. The best quotations he gets from some companies are as follows

Moreover, it should be noted that despite such a maximum amount of banners, we cannot cut to have the maximum number as calculated! So there is a gap between the calculated and real life. In this sample, mathematical thinking provides students with optimal thinking presented as a way of working and economic thought in real life.

Figure 4: Students cut 17 flags

Figure 3: Students cut 21 flags

Note that students may also propose different options, but the option presented in Figure 3 is the best one (cut the most flags). The most critical matter is the way the teacher creates the opportunities for students to debate and analyze, push it toward the dissatisfaction with the two cutting options shown in figure 1 and figure 2. For example, the teacher can compare the total areas of small rectangular flags in the options shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2 with the area of the given paper: The more significant number minus, the lower number is an area which is higher than 108cm2 , more substantial than a small rectangle flag! Is there any chance of saving paper more? etc. Also, it is advisable to instruct students to determine the maximum number of cut flags by dividing the area of the given paper by the space of a small rectangular flag. Specifically, we have a division with the remainder (40x64): 108 = 22 (rest of 24), so we can cut up to 22 flags.

a) For the most economical option, what kind of glass will you advise to the coffee shop owner?

b) With the selected option, how much does the coffee shop owner pay?

9cm 12cm 13cm 12cm 12cm 9cm 12cm 54cm

When asking groups of students to tell their number of cut flags and how to do it, teachers can encourage students to argue and cooperate in brainstorming and finding the optimal solution (a most significant number of flags). Sometimes that option can also be raised from Case 2, with only 18 flags.

Analysis. This problem helps teachers foster, develop and evaluate students’ competence of processing mathematical information, applying mathematics to practical situations, mathematical thinking and mathematical calculation (written in priority order). The problem asks the student to fulfill two sub activities. To complete these activities, each group of students must perform two sub activities: +) Activity 1. Selecting the type of glass: Students can choose one of two options, line 2 and line 5 (requires 12mm lens), however, if students read carefully, they will see only the option inline 5 is appropriate (because of the tempered glass necessity); +) Activity 2. Determining the investment cost of the coffee shop Teachersowner.

Table 1. Quotations of glass for a table, division wall from Window Vietnam Investment Limited Company No. Product specification Unit Unit price Ordinary glass 10 mm Viet Nhat m2 380, 000 Ordinary glass 12 mm Viet Nhat m2 490, 000 White clear tempered glass 8 mm Viet Nhat m2 580, 000 4 White clear tempered glass 10 mm Viet Nhat m2 650, 000 White clear tempered glass 12 mm Viet Nhat m2 680, 000 White transparent laminated glass 10.38 mm (division wall) m2 650, 000 7 White transparent laminated glass 12.38 mm (division wall) m2 720, 000 (Notes: This price already includes cutting and shipping fees within Hanoi city and VAT)

can evaluate the competence of students through the results of activities 1 and 2. For example, inactivity 1, if the student cannot identify correctly, it shows that not all requirements in the problem are carefully examined. Inactivity 2, students must determine the area of each table to determine the total area of 10 tables and find out the total cost for cutting glass. In this second activity, many students may make mistakes that can only be seen in the practical situation rather than in the book, as follows: The area of a table is: 3.14  0.6  0.6 = 1.1304m2

The area of 10 tables is: 10 1.1304 = 11.304m2

The total cost (total expenses) is (if selecting the option inline 5): 680 000  11.304 = 7 686 720 (VND) However, it is necessary to bear in mind that the company cuts the glass and charges as in figure 5: Figure 5: the way the company cuts the glass and charges 0 06m 6m

30 000 20 000 10 000O 100 200

The total cost (total expenses) is (if selecting the option inline 5): 680 000  14.4 = 9 792 000 (VND) This is a practical problem that students, parents or close relatives may encounter in life. To solve it, it is necessary to understand the reality, the solution to the problem in real life to be able to apply mathematical knowledge in the problem solving process (herein it is how the glass company charges the buyer). Mathematical thinking in this problem is the optimal thinking, what to apply in life is to save, think, act and work economically.At the same time, students should be reminded to apply the knowledge they have learned following reality, in the way of practice, not just as in theories and books.

In other words, the buyer must pay for the area of cut glass and the unusable, leftover part (the white part in Figure 5). Therefore, the cost should be calculated as Thefollows:areaof a table is: 1.2  1.2 = 1.44m2

50 000 40

Problem 3. Next, the teacher can introduce the grade 10 students (16 year old students) a mathematical problem that can be solved and modeled with knowledge of functions and graphs of linear and quadratic functions. This is a problem related to economic issues with some new concepts to students. Mathematical knowledge is not too complicated for students to approach and understand.However, we needtoexplain some conceptshere. Firstof all, we have the concept of a demand function (the function that determines the correlation of the goods demand to the price of a product), its graph is called the demand curve. For example, we can understand through the following example: By researching the market for the same type of bike, we find that the demand function for that type of bike is in the form: Units Sold = 70 000 200P (whereas, P is the price or cost) of the bike, unit is in dollars (USD). We can understand better through the “demand curve” graph as follows: 80 000 70 000 000 000 300 400 y x Figure 6: “demand curve” graph

The area of 10 tables is: 10  1.44 = 14.4m2

Now we will solve the following problem of helping a small business start building its product and brand: a new type of bike. Assuming that the business produces a new bike, according to market research, the graph showing the correlation (demandfunction) between the price and sales is as above.At the same time, we have the following information: 1) The total amount to spend on designing and advertising products is 700 2)000USD,Thecost of producing a bike is 110USD

Helping the business determine the price of the bike (the best price) so that it can sell with the highest profit. Note that we have the formula: Profit (P) = Sales (S) Cost From(C).there, the teacher can organize some activities as follows: Activity 1: Students do the calculation using the formula P = S – C. expected result can be made steps: bike see that

according to these

The

For example: According to the demand function, no manufacturer wants to sell a bike for 0 USD, but if you sell for 350 USD then no one will buy it; if sold for 310 USD, the estimated number of the bike to be sold will be 8, 000 bikes.

▶Number of bikes sold: 70 000 200x, x is the selling price of a

▶Sales = Number of bikes sold with the cost of x = (70 000 200x)x = 70000x 200x2 ▶Cost = 700000 + 110(70 000 200x) = 8400000 22000x So, we have: P = S C = 70000x 200x2 (8400000 22000x) = 200x2 + 92000x 8400000 Therefore, we

From the above demand curve, it is possible to evaluate the price of the product. For example, we cannot set prices too high, because if the item’s price is too high, no one will buy them and of course all manufacturers need to calculate the highest price that can satisfy the most number of subjects, i.e., sell the most goods to bring the highest profit.

the profit of the production process depends on determining the x price of the product. If x is a variable, we have the profit function as follows: P(x) = 200x2 + 92000x 8400000 1000150020002500500O 100 200 300 x (selling price) unit: USD y (profit) unit: thousand USD BestprofitHighestselling priceFigure 7: the L(x) function graph

Considering the ��(��) function graph as shown below (Students can draw function graph or use online graphing software, or some simple graphing software to draw Fromgraph).the function graph, we can conclude that the proposed selling price for the product should be: around 230 USD, of which the profit will be L(230) = 2180000

NoteUSD.that the teacher can instruct the student to divide the right side of L(x) by 200 so that the calculating of L1(x)= x2 +460x+42000 functions to be simpler and more convenient. Through this problem, students are introduced to some concepts related to the business such as product pricing, cost, and profit determination, demand function, knowledge of the dependence of market prices on product price and of product price on sales volume, etc.; the students have the opportunity to explore and build a function by themselves from the original knowledge and information, to use the function graph to solve a practical problem, etc. Students can apply mathematics in an exciting and real situation. They can deeply understand the concept of a function and the maximum and minimum values of a function to use them in real life. Students will see the effectiveness, practicality of mathematics and find that mathematics is closer to life.

4. Program Analysis and learning situation construction for students 4.1. Some approaches of Sine theorem in triangles Sine theorem in triangle states that: “In an ABC triangle with BC = a, CA = b, AB = c, and R is the radius of the circumscribed circle, we have abc 2R sinAsinBsinC === ” (Hao, Hy, Doanh, & Huyen, 2006; Quynh, Cuong, Khue, & Nghi, 2014) A theorem is a tool for “solving triangles”: Find an element of a triangle when you know sufficient factors: length of three edges; length of two sides and one angle; two angles and one side. It is possible to analyze and point out two approaches to this theorem: Firstly,inanyABCtrianglewithBC=a,CA=b,AB=c,wehave abc sinAsinBsinC == Secondly(*)., in any ABC triangle with BC = a, CA = b, AB = c, and R is the radius of the circumscribed circle, we have abc sinAsinBsinC2R;2R;2R ===

Thus, in the first approach, the theorem content may not involve the limited circle with a triangle, and in the second approach, it is related to the circumscribed circle

Teaching situation 1: (applying the first approach): Given the practical problem as follows: Activity 1. The teacher asks students to discuss and explain how engineers measure the height of the Hanoi flagpole, Vietnam.

Contents: Engineers’ method: Use the goniometer, at point A, determine the angle A = 300; at point B the corner CBH = 450; segment AB = 29.3m; then, determine the height of Hanoi flagpole. Please explain how they measure it and calculate the height of Hanoi flagpole in metres?

From the above methods, we design three different teaching situations, which help the students construct the sine theorem in the triangle, and present the summary as follows.

Figure 8: Hanoi flagpole, Vietnam Figure 9: Description of how to measure the height of Hanoi flagpole HCA B29.3m 450300

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. with a triangle. It’s also important to note that, in the textbook, there are two examples (in Hao et al., 2006) about the application of sine theorem in a triangle, both of which do not involve the circumscribed circle. In the proof, however, the textbook presents the second approach, i.e., it is proved that a 2R sinA = . 4.2. Some samples of teaching situations of sine theorem in the triangle according to the presented method to develop learners’ competences

Using the hypothesis of the problem, the students calculate the height CH = h as follows: 00 hBCsin45;hACsin30 == Finding out 0000 BCsin45ACsin30asin45bsin30 == (1) 00 ab sin30sin45 = (2) Giving that, 0 sin45sinB = so (2) becomes: ab sinAsinB = (3).

The next issue is how to exploit the third hypothesis. There are two ways to do this: The first way, students can apply the same steps (because the role of A, B, C as well as a, b, c are similar) they will have acbc ; sinAsinCsinBsinC == , i.e. there will be (*). The second way: students may add altitude BH1, deduce bc sinBsinC = (just like the above way), and so there (*). Because they already know the value of angle C (from the hypothesis inferred), know c (assumption), they should see the cost c sinC . Then calculate a (or b) and thus calculate the height h. At this point, the students discover an exciting property (rule), described by (*), through a particular case. Activity 2. Organizing events for students to speak up and prove the theorem.

The teacher asks students to express the (theorem) properties by words, formulas (in the form of a guess) and ask students to prove their guesses. Students will use the same way as the case of the two angles A and B given above in the general case to prove their guesses Teaching Situation 2 (applying the second approach): There are two ways of the organization to construct the theorem for students which can be summarized as follows (demonstration activities can be presented in the same way as in Hao et al., 2006) but still by the process of reasoning, constructing below): Method 1. Activity 1 Motivating the constructing mechanism of the theorem.

The teacher asks students to do the task and answer the question: Giving circle (C) with center I, radius R and point A fixed (Figure 10). Using perpendicular to draw two right triangles at A, inscribed circle ABC, AB1C1 (Figure 11) Commenting on the length of BC, B1C1 and explaining Figure 10 Figure 11 A B B1 A C1 C

266

0 R I A C1 B1

1 1

1 R I C B C1 B1 A

0 1

Teacher: If angle A is not square, are BC and B1C1 equal? Students: Please refer to some specific and individual cases. Teacher: Dividing the class into four groups; each group solves one exercise in a handout with the content described below: HANDOUT 1 (similar to, 2, 3, 4) Giving circle (C) with center I, radius R and fixed point A. From A we draw the triangles ABC, AB1C1 with the angle A equal to 300 (similar to, 600 , 1200 , 1350) as shown in Figure 12a (related to Fig. 12b, 12c, 12d). Comparing the lengths of BC, B1C1 and explaining Figure 12a Figure 12b Figure 12c Figure 12d It’s easy for students to conclude that: B1C1 = BC and B1C1 depends on the angle A, to be more specific, its length increases when angle A A increases within the range (0; 900); the longest is 2R, when A = 900; decreases when A increases within the range of (900; 1800). Compared to the table of trigonometric value of unusual angles (Hao et al., 2006, p. 37), students may reflect and predict that BC has some connection with 2R and sine A. Activity 2. Construction of theorem The teacher suggests that students transform the given exercise situations to the known task situation of the right triangle case (as shown in (Hao et al., 2006, p. Students51)). draw figures, put on known cases (Activity 1) and detect: 0 11 BC2Rsin30 = or 0a2Rsin30 = (Figure 12a) I 300 300 C1 B1 C B A R 600 60 11 R A CB B1 C1 120120 135 B C B

The teacher asks the students to comment on each case, the task (drawing the figure with the facts of acute and obtuse angle A), and make a judgment in the general Proposalcase.of students: In the general case, a2RsinA = and similarly, b2RsinB = , c2RsinC = . Accordingly, resulting in the same ratio, stated in the form of Method(*).2.

C4 C

0 11 BC2Rsin60 = or 0a2Rsin60 = (Figure 12b) 0 11 BC2Rsin120 = or 0a2Rsin120 = (Figure 12c) 0 11 BC2Rsin135 = or 0a2Rsin135 = (Figure 12d)

Activity 2. Construction of theorem (similar to Activity 2, shown in Method 1). 3 C2 B4 B3 B2 B1 C1 I R C B A

Activity 1. Creating motivation for theoretic construction. The teacher will let students work in groups to answer the following questions: Give circle (C) with center I, radius R and fixed point A. From A, draw the triangles ABC (B, C lie on the circle) with angles A of 300 , 600 , 900 , 1200 , 1350 in the same figure. In what case is BC the longest? Why? Comment on the changes of BC length when angle A changes? Can you predict the dependence of BC on angle A or trigonometric values of angle A? Students can easily conclude that: B1C1 = BC and B1C1 depends on the angle A, specifically, its length increases when angle A increases within the range of (0; 900); the largest value is 2R, when A = 900; its length decreases when A increases within the range of (900; 1800). (Figure 13) Figure 13 Compared to the table of trigonometric value of unusual angles (Hao et al., 2006, p. 37), students may reflect and predict that BC has some connection with 2R and sine A.

a) In your opinion, which position should the goalkeeper choose in order not to make position mistakes? Explain your choice.

Figure 14: Modeling the direct free kick situation Analysis. Students need to use the knowledge of geometry (angle, bisector, etc.), the real life knowledge of football (shot angle, ball speed, defending and corner closing ability, etc.). Theoretically, if the free kick is placed at the position M0, the goalkeeper should stand in the middle of the goal. If the free kick is placed at position M1 (similar to M2), the goalkeeper should stand at position P1 so as not to make position mistake, because P1 is the foot of the bisector of the corner AM1B on the edge AB (similarly, The goalkeeper should be at position P2 so as not to make position mistake because P2 is the foot of the bisector of the AM2B on the edge AB). In Figure 15, it can be seen that l1>l2, so t1>t2 (t1, t2 is the time for the ball to move from the free kick position to the goal, in the same shooting condition). In this example, if students use the software, the problem can be solved more smoothly. Furthermore, as discussed above, the calculation of numbers is not necessary here. Students must find the way, the tools, and steps to solve the problem. The estimate by using some additions, subtractions, multiplications, graphing, etc. can be done by a computer. M 2 M0 M1 A

Problem 5. Let's consider a situation in football Direct free kick situation: Assuming that the positions of the ball M0, M1, M2 (figure 14) and the goalkeeper only runs on the vertical line, on segment AB.

5. Relationship between information technology and mathematics teaching in schools First of all, starting from several practical problems, the teacher organizes activities for students to solve them in different ways and means.

b) Considering the cases in the Video (some videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_QvpF84TZc) and identify the goalkeeper who made a mistake and who didn’t? Compare the video with the results of calculation and comment!

A P1P2 B M2 M1M0 M1 In

l2 l1 C BG A

Figure 16: Free kick situation are cut out from the video Figure 17

Figure 15: The position of the free kick When analyzing the video, it’s the fact that when catching the ball, the goalkeeper tends to stand to the right of the shot but not in the position of the foot of the bisector as calculated. Thus, students need to have appropriate explanations, based on understanding and learning about football and even mathematical analysis.

Problem 6. Continuing to consider a free kick situation in problem 4. Usually, the free kick position is M1; then, the barrier will be as shown in Fig. 18. Some initial information is as follows: The distance between the setpoint and the wall is 9, 15m; the wooden frame height is 2.44m, the wooden frame width is 7.21m, the maximum height of the players at the wall is 1.8m, the highest jump ability to block the ball is 0.4m, the distance from the setpoint to point B is 23m. Supposing that the player kicked in angle B, the shot was over the barrier. Calculating the angle between the ball and the ground when the ball leaves the field at the time of kicking? Students may use software and pocket calculators. which: M1: position of ball l1, l2: the orbit of the ball D

The teacher should instruct students to perform several tasks: establishing the curve equation; calculating the angle of the ball to the ground; trying drawing the graph after forming the equation (on software), etc. Through the depiction, the teacher can instruct students to recognize the curve of the ball movement as a parabola. From there, the students have the direction to build and find that Theequation.

Barrier

parabolic demonstrating function is quadratic 2 yf(x)axbxc(a,b,cR,a0) ==++ On the demonstrating line of the curved motion of the ball, we identify 3 points: O(0; 0); H(9.15; 2.2); A(23; 2.44). So we have two systems of equations: 2 2 (9.15)a9.15b2.2 23a23b2.44  +=  += 

Figure 19. The path of the ball from the setpoint to the corner of the goal

Analysis. This problem helps teachers develop or evaluate students' modeling competencies. One note is that, when organizing students to work in a group to solve a problem, teachers need to guide them to focus on problem solving, using free online software applications to support them in finding the results and avoid spending too much time on solving equations, the system of equations, etc. Supposing that you can describe the path of the ball from the setpoint to the corner of the goal as shown below:

Performing equation solving by Quickmath software (online, free) we can find two co efficient a, b of function f(x): H y A 0.4 9.15 2.44 2.2 xO 23 α 1.8 1 H BAM1

Figure 18. the barrier in free kicks situation

software Thus,

272 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. Figure 20. Using quick math software to solving the equation So the function we need to find is: 2 yf(x)0.00970037565x0.329195595x ==−+ . The curve line demonstrates the motion of the ball (drawn with the Graph software):

. Using

below, we

180:

online

Figure 21. Drawing function graph with the Graph the angle of the ball to the ground is arctan(0.329195595)= the software conclude that the angle to kick the ball is over

References Barab, S., Zuiker, S., Warren, S., Hickey, D. A. N., Ingram goble, A., Kwon, E., … Herring, S.C.(2007).Curriculum:RelatingFormalismsandContexts. Science Education, 91, 750 782. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce Björn,P.M.,Aunola,K.,&Nurmi,J.E.(2016).Primaryschooltextcomprehensionpredictsmathematicalwordproblemsolvingskillsinsecondaryschool.

6. Conclusion

Educational Psychology, 36(2), 362 377. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2014.992392 Boyer, C. B., & Merzbach, U. C. (2011). A history of mathematics. John Wiley & Sons.

This research initially contributes to the stage of reviewing and adjusting the content of teaching mathematics in high schools in Vietnam. At the same time, research has also attempted to clarify the levels and methods of teaching mathematics concerning real life to an appropriate extent. The authors also highlight the need to avoid teaching pure mathematics with complicated manipulations, which is not suitable for the majority of students. However, it is also crucial to prevent overgeneralization that teaching mathematics should always be concerning real life. It is advisable that mathematics teaching is focusing on developing learners' competencies to solves problems related to mathematics and logical and scientific thinking. The proposed samples serve as the researchers' recommendations for the design, development, and publication of general mathematics curriculum in schools in Vietnam in the context of international integration, the radical development and application of information and communication technologies and, in particular, the educational reform towards learners’ competencies.

Figure 22: Using the online software to calculate the angle With the organization of teaching activities through the abovementioned examples and sequence, students perform the activities in a similar way to thinking function: identifying the correspondence; setting correspondences (through the expression of the first or second class function); exploiting the correspondences (using the knowledge of functions to solve the problem and apply in practice).

Dung, T., Duyen, N. T., An, N. T. T., Giang, N. T. N., & Phuong, T. M. (2019). Bridging to mathematical modelling: Vietnamese students’ response to different levels of authenticity in contextualized tasks. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 1 20. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020739X.2019.1648890

Linh, N. Q., & Phuong, H. (2019). STEM education in the General Education Program. TNU Journal of Science and Technology, 206(13), 111. Ly, P. V. (2013). Enhancing problems with practical contents in teaching differential calculus, integration of variable function in pedagogical college. Journal of Science, Hanoi National Universty of Education, 58(3), 147 153. Malmia, W., Makatita, S. H., Lisaholit, S., Azwan, A., Magfirah, I., Tinggapi, H., & Umanailo,M.C. B.(2019).Problem basedlearningasanefforttoimprovestudent learning outcomes. International Journal of Scientific and Technology Research, 8(9), 1140 1143. Ministry of Education and Training, (2018) V, General Education Program Nam, N. D. (2015). Simulative capacity of mathematics of high school student. Science Magazine, Hanoi University of Pedagogy, 60(8), 44 52. Nam, N. D. (2016). Modelling in Vietnamese School Mathematics. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 15(6), 114 126. Nghi, B. V. (2018). Some contents integrating mathematics and physics. Vietnam Journal of Education, 5(2009), 9 13. Palinussa, A. L. (2013). Students’ critical mathematical thinking skills and character: IndoMS.J.M.E, 4(1), 75 94. Quynh,D.,Cuong,V.N.,Khue,P.V.,&Nghi,B.V.(2014).

Gardner, H., & Hatch, T. (1989). Multiple Intelligences Go to School: Educational Implications of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Educational Researcher, 18(8), 4. https://doi.org/10.2307/1176460

Geometry10(advanced).Vietnam Education Publishing House Limited Company. Schubring, G. (2014). On historiography of teaching and learning mathematics. In Handbook on the history of mathematics education (pp. 3 8). https://doi.org/10.1007/978 1 4614 9155 2_1 Tam, D., & Ngu, P. N. H. (2017). Designing and using situations in teaching Mathematics based on RME’s core principles. Vietnam Journal of Education, 1, 32 36. Tong, D. H., Loc, N. P., Uyen, B. P., & Giang, L. T. (2019). Developing the competency of mathematical modelling: A case study of teaching the cosine and sine theorems. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 18(11), 18 37. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.18.11.2 Trung, N. T. (2018). Some suggestions on the application of the realistic mathematics education and the didactical situations in mathematics teaching in Vietnam.

Hao, T. V., Hy, N. M., Doanh, N. V , & Huyen, T. D. (2006). Geometry 10. Vietnam Education Publishing House Limited Company. Hiebert, J., Carpenter, T. P., Fennema, E., Fuson, K., Human, P., Murray, H., … Wearne, caseD.(1996).Problemsolvingasabasisforreformincurriculumandinstruction:Theofmathematics. Educational Researcher, 25(4), 12 21. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X025004012

Cowan, P. (2006). Teaching mathematics: A handbook for primary and secondary school teachers. London: Routledge. Dabbagh, N., Benson, A. D., Denham, A., Joseph, R., Al Freih, M., Zgheib, G., … Guo, Z. (2016). Evolution of Learning Technologies: Past, Present, and Future. In Learning Technologies and Globalization (pp. 1 7). https://doi.org/10.1007/978 3 319 22963 8_1

Trung, N. T., Thao, T. T. P., Hang, N. V. T., Anh, H. N., Trung, T., Hiep, P. H., & Nghi, B. V. (2020). Realistic Mathematics Education in Vietnam: Recent Policies and Practices. International Journal of Education and Practice, 8(1), 57 71. https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.61.2020.81.57.71

Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1340(1), 1 14. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742 6596/1340/1/012032

Viet, D. Q. (2013). Basic ideas contained in high school mathematics. Vietnam Education Publishing House Limited Company, Vietnam. Vui, T. (2018). Bringing Mathematics Education into the global orbit to develop thinking, logic and creativity in solving realistic problems with closed open approach. Vietnam Journal of Education, 5, 28 33. Wang, Y. (2018). Research on the Application of Internet Information Technology in Higher Mathematics Classroom Teaching. In the Proceedings of the 2018 5th International ConferenceonEducation,Management,Arts, EconomicsandSocialScience (ICEMAESS 2018). https://doi.org/10.2991/icemaess 18.2018.166

Trung, N. T., Thao, T. T. P., & Trung, T. (2019). Realistic mathematics education (RME) inanddidacticalsituationsinmathematics(DSM)inthecontextofeducationreformVietnam.

The above factors are the findings from the first phase of a two year research project that were found that can aid and impede EFL in the country based on the participants of the focus group and classroom observations in public schools and these findings will play a role in shaping EFL/ELT education in the future

Introduction In Ecuador, the reality of English as a foreign language (EFL) is shown in a study completed by Education First (EF) about the level and English competence of language speakers in the country in 2019. This new study has shown that while there is an implementation of the 2016 curriculum, which is supposed to improve EFL in the country and there is a raising importance of EFL around the country, the actual level of knowledge of English has declined in the last few years and is currently ranked 19 out of 19 in English language proficiency compared to other Latin American countries (2019, EF). This study supported the data found in this paper through the observations completed by the authors that public schools’

276 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 276 294, March https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.120205

Keywords: EFL factors; Use of L1; ELT; Pedagogy related factors; ELL

Factors Affecting English Language Teaching in Public Schools in Ecuador

Julia Sevy Biloon, Uvaldo Recino and Camila Munoz Universidad Nacional de Educación (UNAE) Azogues, Ecuador

Abstract. The 2016 Ecuadorian curriculum mandates students must graduate high school with an intermediate or B1 in English. However, it has been found there are factors that aid and/or impede EFL and ELT in the Ecuadorian context. For this reason, the researchers conducted exploratory qualitative research practices such as observations in public schools and round table discussions with EFL public school teachers. For this research, the authors asked the following research question: what are the factors that affect ELT and EFL in the country of Ecuador? To answer this question, the overall aim of this paper is to identify the factors that impede and aid EFL teaching and learning in the country of Ecuador. The round table discussions were transcribed and put through maxQDA qualitative analysis software to retrieve various codes and revealed the factors impeding and aiding ELT in Ecuador. They were then grouped into 5 categories, which are pedagogy related factors, use of Spanish, perceptions and status of ELT, infrastructure and educational policies. These show the various positive and negative factors, which affect language learning and teaching in the country

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. students are not graduating with the mandated level of English and teachers are struggling to follow the methodologies and strategies included in the curriculum. Research completed discusses English language teaching and learning, focusing primarily on the various factors that can aid and impede EFL and English language teaching (ELT) in public school classrooms in Ecuador. Though, Acosta and Cajas (2018) explain how Ecuador is attempting to make EFL a top priority in Ecuadorian education. Many professionals from different regions in the world who work and complete research in EFL classrooms , such as Noom ura (2013), Gulnaz, Ahmad & Mandouh (2016), Paker and Karaagac (2015), Dakhiel (2014) , and Hjalmarsson (2015) discuss various factors that affect English language learning in different levels of schooling beginning with young children up to teenagers. Many of these points that have been previously discussed can be compared to the factors as they play a role in the success or difficulties of EFL when it is considered part of the curriculum in public and private schools in Ecuador and around the world. In Ecuador, English is seen by educational policy makers as an important tool to move forward in the global world in many different aspects and areas and this is shown in the new planning in the Curriculo lengua extranjera (2016), which is the new language curriculum in the country. With the change of the curriculum came up to date methodologies, strategies and various types of technology to promote English language learning throughout the country. The methodologies discussed in Currículo lengua extranjera (2016) include content and language integrated learning (CLIL), communicative language teaching (CLT) and the use of technology for educational purposes, which support and aid in EFL learning Adding to 2016 curriculum, the 2018 curriculum has also mandated that students must graduate high school with an intermediate level of English in reading, writing, listening and speaking and this can be found in Currículos de niveles de educación obligatoria (2018) which is a B1 according to the common European framework (CEFR), which is the base or evaluation guidelines for deciding students’ levels and knowledge of EFL in Ecuador.

The National University of Education (UNAE), one of the four emblematic Ecuadorian universities, aims: “to contribute to the training of people in the educational system for the construction of a democratic, free and fair society, generating excellent educational models, characterized by a scientific approach of rights and interculturalism” (Pérez Gómez, 2015, p.1). The mission of the university implies that through the formation of new education professionals Ecuador will be able to respond to the current challenges throughout the country and transform the educational system. When referring to the current needs of the Ecuadorian society, Dr. Angel Pérez Gómez, former president of the academic committee of the management committee of UNAE, emphasizes the foundations of the pedagogical model in the university which states that, “teacher training for these demands requires a radical transformation of the traditional approaches. It is necessary to train expert professionals in the respective knowledge domains. They must be competent and committed to provoke, accompany, encourage and guide the learning of every citizen” (Pérez Gómez, 2015, p.11).

The above mentioned situation has led the authors to ask the following research question: what are the factors that impede and aid EFL teaching and learning in the country of Ecuador?

This paper will identify base findings for what impedes and aids EFL learning and teaching from an Ecuadorian perspective compared to the international realm to have a better understanding of the reality of EFL and ELT in Ecuador and ultimately give a basis for transforming English language teaching and learning to increase the proficiency in the country Literature Review

Based on the aims of the university, an exploratory research project was opened in theUniversidad Nacional de Educación (UNAE) The research project stemmed from the need to identify the varying factors that are impeding and facilitating EFL to begin to understand why students are not learning and attaining the mandated goals in the EFL curriculum as mentioned in Currículos de niveles de educación obligatoria (2018).

There are many researchers around the world presenting data about factors that aid and impede ELT in classrooms. Noom ura (2013) discussed various literature that lists multiple factors that can impede English language learning for EFL learners. Some of those factors cited by Noom ura (2013) are discussed by Dhanasobhon (2006) ONEC (2003), and Wiriyachitra (2002) and explain how teachers who are poorly trained and have insufficient knowledge of the English language, unmotivated students, classes with many students, teachers who have too many assigned class hours, insufficient hours given to EFL classes and inadequate infrastructure, which Gulnaz, Ahmad and Mandouh (2016) go onto explain that these factors ultimately demotivates students to improve and learn EFL. However, through the study completed in Thailand by Noom ura (2013) the main components found that impede learning are student’s inability to connect to the language and the fact that they have very little access to English outside of the Dakhielclassroom(2017), Valsecchi, Barbeito, and Olivero (2017) and Fareh (2010) completed studies in different parts of the world about EFL programs that found various factors. They found information that students, teachers and administrators felt a textbook was very important to EFL learning and the teacher’s ability to explain and teach to this textbook was equally important. The author also explained impeding factors such as inadequate technology and infrastructure such as no air conditioning, small classrooms and lack of projectors in the classroom impeded language learning As these seem to be general trends of reoccurring problems in EFL around the world this paper will look at various literature from different countries that discuss the use of L1 or native language in the classroom, the effects of teacher knowledge of L2, inclusion in the classroom, evaluation, methodology used for teaching and learning, educational policies that affect EFL classrooms and general views of EFL in countries and the classroom around the world.

General factors that impede and aid ELT in the classroom

Use of the L1 in the classroom

Professionals in English language teaching have been debating the positive or negative use of the L1 or the first language in the classroom for a long time. The use of the L1 in an EFL classroom is one of “the most long standing controversies in the history of language pedagogy” (Stern, 1992, p. 279) It can be seen there are many factors that can aid and impede the learning of a foreign language in a classroom. Gulnaz, Ahmad and Mandouh (2016) explain that the use of the L1 or L2 by the teacher of a foreign language classroom can ultimately motivate or

There are many factors related to pedagogy that can affect language learning and teaching around the world. Acosta and Cajas (2018) found that in Ecuador communicative language teaching (CLT) is the most mentioned and widely used methodology, though they found it is not used correctly in most instances. Many educators would preach the use of CLT, but what was the actual reality in the classroom was much different. Another problem was many of the topics teachers used were not interesting or created a disconnect for students as they were based on places outside of students’ knowledge and not focused on Ecuador or Ecuadorian culture shaping the students views of English as a foreign language as something that is not directly associated to the learners daily lives and reality. However, Hjalmarsson (2015) found that with the use of ICTs, CLT and CLIL could create authentic spaces in non English speaking countries when the teachers are trained properly and use the methodologies correctly.

According to Hjalmarsson (2015) information and communication technologies (ICTs) are an increasingly popular methods for increasing learner autonomy, teaching to student’s needs, increasing motivation and improving overall development of various EFL skills. However, the author points out that these positive effects can only occur when ICTs are used correctly as a teaching tool to promote language learning. Teachers must be prepared and understand how to use ICTs as a tool especially when they are used together with CLT and CLIL.

Pedagogy related factors

Another important aspect is class size. According to Almulla (2015), there have been more and more studies confirming smaller class sizes have positive impact on student learning and a teacher’s ability to teach. According to UNESCO as quoted by Kormos and Kontra (2008) inclusion of special educational needs or SEN includes all students who have needs that come from learning problems and physical disabilities. This idea also functions for EFL teachers throughout the countries public and private schools. However, it can be seen through research from Russak (2016) that most EFL teachers are unprepared to teach students with special needs as they do not have the necessary training or knowledge of the multiple need’s students have. Many of the teachers in the study agreed that if there was an aid who was specialized in special education assisting the special needs students in the classroom this would overcome many of the problems found, but in most countries that teach EFL there is no policy to mandate a special needs teaching assistant. This study also found that teachers are unable to give SEN students the attention and care they need when they have been incorporated into large classes. When these teachers did not have proper training, they would tend to feel inadequate and unable to do their jobs when SEN students were in their classes creating unmotivated teachers.

demotivate students to succeed in learning the L2 depending on how it is used, and the individual student’s needs.

Atkinson (1987) was one of the first pioneers that demonstrated the L1 could aid in EFL when it is used strategically as a tool for teachers to use in the classroom.

When Juarez and Oxbrow (2008) found through their research that the use of the L1 in their case Spanish specifically aided in English language learning for grammar explanation and linguistic content and found that difficult concepts directly related to language learning were better understood and accepted by students when the L1 was used, while communicative activities and student interaction could be conducted in the L2 language without any L1 assistance. This study gave basis to an up to date study of Paker and Karaagac (2015) which identified many reasons teachers use the L1 in the classroom such as, clarify and explain grammar, give overall general information, teach new vocabulary and check students understanding of the activities and content of the class. Another study that supports the idea of using the L1 in specific situations was conducted by Anh (2012). The author specifically focused on the use of Vietnamese in an EFL classroom and found it aided in checking for student understanding, teaching new grammar and new vocabulary. The author found the use of the L1 language saved time and aided in student understanding of difficult topics, but Anh (2012) pointed out that it is important to not overuse the L1 in language classes and the level and age of the students can play an important factor in when and how to use the AnhL1.(2012)

goes on to explain that many teachers feel the use of the L1 has been frowned upon with the rise of the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach and gained increasing popularity amongEFL teachers around theworld but particularly in Southeast Asia. Anh (2012) completed a study to find out if teachers who use CLT in the classroom find the use of L1 to have a positive and negative effect on language learning. However, more and more studies are showing that the use of L1 in certain instances can aid in the foreign language learning process, specifically in English language learning. Paker and Karaagac 2015) also explained that many teachers tend to feel guilty or do not want to admit they use L1 regularly in their English language classrooms. However, their study also showed that the appropriate use of L1 can aid in language learning when it is used for specific explanations about the content and checking for student

Then Juarez and Oxbrow (2008) went on to explain in a more recent study that these original ideas of Atkinson (1987) are beginning to return. They focus on the positive use of L1 in the classroom. These authors explained that L1 can aid in L2 learning when it is used to facilitate the learning process. They pointed out that the L1 can have a positive effect on learning a foreign language if it is used in small doses for specific activities such as giving directions, explaining activities and checking that students understand the tasks they are participating in. Based on the mentioned pioneers in the use of L1 in the classroom, Clancy, (2018) looked at students’ perspectives of the use of the L1 in the classroom and found similar results specifying that when used for specific purposes, students prefer the teacher use it. They feel more motivated when they understand what is happening in the classroom and can use it to increase their L2 knowledge and gain proficiency quicker when the L1 is used purposefully.

Perceptions and status of EFL It can be seen through the literature and data that most teachers enter the classroom with preconceived notions of ELT and of their students. Parra (2008) discussed various factors in Colombia and in EFL in general that may impede EFL learning forstudents. The authorfocused on howstudents’ and teachers’ personal views, attitudes or pre conceived notions of foreign language learning could have a huge impact on being able to process and improve in EFL. The author goes on to explain that the research findings show that the teaching strategies chosen by the teacher can improve initial negative preconceived notions of EFL students in Colombia. The strategies which aid in this process can be verified through action research completed by the classroom teacher. Another study carried out by Valsecchi, Barbeito and Olivero (2017) explained that most of the participants believed English was one of the most important subjects to learn for their academic and economic future but many also did not have any intrinsic motivation to achieve language competency. It was found that the students thought all motivation to increase language competence depended solely on the teacher and not the students themselves. Therefore, the study expressed that even though students understood and viewed English as an important tool for their future this did not affect their intrinsic or extrinsic motivation to increase their L2 language skills.

Gulnaz, Ahmad and Mandouh (2016) and Susilo, Suhatmady, Sunggingwati, Farisa, Nurul & Ilmi (2017) demonstrate that students are not motivated to learn a language because they have no social contact outside of the classroom with the L2 language and no authentic interaction other than the classroom. Students do not have authentic reasons to use the L2 in their daily lives and therefore do not feel motivated to internalize or learn it. A study conducted by Zappa Hollman (2007) in Argentina found that teachers who worked in areas of poor economic backgrounds perceived that since these students had many social problems that stemmed from being economically poor, the teachers were not properly trained to teach them English and therefore when these students did not improve in their language skills the teachers could not be held accountable. Infrastructure According to Gulnaz, Ahmad and Mandouh (2016), having the necessary resources and infrastructure in an EFL classroom are very necessary for EFL learners to be able to increase their knowledge and be successful L2 learners. When the teacher does not have different types of resources such as technology or teaching aids an EFL class can be monotonous and an ineffective learning environment. Gulnaz, Ahmad and Mandouh (2016) points out that when infrastructure does not allow for smaller classes and teachers are made to teach overpopulated class sizes and this can also impede L2 learning and teaching. However, Negi (2016) points out that the resources available, the number of

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. understanding. On the other hand, they point out that if a teacher uses the L1 too much they can become dependent on it and this can hinder L2 learning because students lose opportunities for direct contact with the foreign language. The initial data in Ecuador has shown that when a teacher uses the L1 in a classroom for specific purposes teachers explain that have found it to be helpful, but when it is over used or used as a crutch it can impede EFL learning and teaching.

Educational policies Around the world assessment and evaluation, factors can either impede or aid in EFL for students. A lot of this can depend on the policies put into place by the country where foreign language learning is taking place. Fareh (2010) explains that when educational policy creates assessment techniques that allows for students to just study for an exam that can create an EFL classroom where teachers begin to teach specifically for a test and stops being about gaining competency or increasing language skills and knowledge. This author emphasizes that when this occurs basic skill learning and critical thinking abilities are forgotten. Two other authors, Alcazaren and Rafanan (2017) conducted a broad study of various countries in Asia and Africa where they found that poor planning and implementation of educational policies can have a large effect on language learning in schools. They saw that when pedagogical, professional training, teacher’s previous language knowledge and infrastructure factors are not considered by policy writers language learning and teaching are generally negatively affected.

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. students in a classroom and the technology available are not aspects a teacher normally has control over. These are circumstances decided by the educational system of the country and teachers and schools must find alternative forms to better L2 teaching and learning when the infrastructure and resources available are not ideal. Zappa Hollman (2007) describes similar situations in Argentina where the class sizes are too large and there are not enough resources, which create a difficult environment for teachers to teach EFL according to the standards set by the government in the curriculum.

According to Bonilla Carvajal and Tejada Sánchez (2016) negative views and beliefs and low motivation can stem from changing educational policies with foreign language learning in a country. The author goes on to explain that when educational policies are dictated by the economy, not the reality of education within a country it can create an environment that does not promote learning and motivation to increase knowledge of a subject, in this instance language. Another problem found is that when a government put unattainable policy into place without first researching if the teachers are at a level to reach the politically set goals students and teachers become disenfranchised and unable to reach the unrealistic standards set by governments. Teachers are then expected to follow sets of foreign standards that have no connection to what is occurring in the classroom. This creates a situation where teachers are not teaching, and students are not learning. Bonilla Carvajal and Tejada Sánchez (2016) found that when students must attain a high level of knowledge specifically in English it becomes impossible when teachers are not prepared and students have no real connection to the language itself besides having to pass various evaluations to move forward in their educational career, because it has been decided through educational policy that for the country’s economic growth English at a high level is a necessary tool for all. Zappa Hollman (2007) can also describe a situation in Argentina where the country ambitiously adopted a new curriculum for EFL, however did not have trainings of the curriculum, ways to manage the classroom and the reality of EFL in the country.

Methodology

Zappa Hollman (2007) found that newly implemented policies for EFL functioned on paper but made EFL teaching and learning more difficult in the country.

The participants were 40 EFL teachers from public schools whose profile followed certain criteria. All the teachers had a B2 level of English according to the CEFR and this was certified through a countrywide exam given to all English language teachers including speaking, reading, writing and listening skills Second, they all had to be currently teaching in a public school in elementary, middle or high school in Ecuador. Lastly, they had to have at least two years of teaching experience in public schools in Ecuador.

To provide the initial exploratory data classroom observations were completed for 15 of the 40 EFL public school teachers in different areas to provide a general picture of classrooms in the country. Once all the observations were complete, they were analyzed, and main themes were identified to serve as the topics for each round table discussion, which was completed with all forty participating Tteachers.heseteachers and others from the same area were invited to the workshop: Contextualizing English Teaching: Bringing to the fore teachers’ views through roundtable discussions and workshops. It was organized in six round table discussions run by a group of researchers’ part of an overarching two year research project. There were two research project members conducting these roundtables based on different topics. The topics chosen from the observations and used in the round table discussions were the use of L1 in teaching EFL, resources used in the classroom, class organization, methodology, and responding to students’ needs during “teaching moments”. These project members led the round table discussions but did not participate actively in the discussion itself. They were only there to facilitate and record the discussion. Workshops focused on the needs of the teachers that were found during the observations and were offered during these two working days intertwined throughout the day with the round table discussions

The data was recovered from the 40 participants of the round table discussions. These teachers shared their perceptions and knowledge about the various topics

The present exploratory study following a qualitative approach was based on initial observations of public school teachers in the classroom. This study is part of a two year research project funded through UNAE. The data presented in this article is the data collected in the first phase of the project. The data collection techniques used were chosen based on the methodology used in the project.

The data collected was grouped into specific themes for roundtable discussions where codes were then created through content analysis These codes were then categorized into the areas that are discussed in the results section. The main techniques used were observations of EFL classes in public schools in Ecuador and three round table discussions developed in a workshop carried out at the National University of Education (UNAE) in Cañar province in Ecuador The participants of the research came from public schools with EFL areas in Ecuador.

presented from the observations. The round table discussions were then transcribed and put through maxQDA qualitative analysis software to retrieve various codes explaining different areas that aid and impede EFL. Once the coding was completed, the content was analyzed and grouped into 5 categories that are shown identifying the characterizations that aid and impede EFL in Ecuador. Discussion

Figure 1: Factors affecting ELT in Ecuador.

The research has presented various factors effecting ELT in Ecuador. The information has been grouped into five categories that seemed to affect language learning the most. These categories are pedagogy related factors, use of Spanish, perceptions and status of ELT, infrastructure and educational policies including professional development. Each of these categories identifies the different factors that were found through focus groups made up 40 teachers from various public schools who taught different levels of EFL. The obtained results show similar findings to other places in the world that are discussed in the literature review.

To answer the scientific question and to accomplish the research objective that led to this article and based on the literature review, the identified categories are defined as follow: Pedagogy related factors identified in this research are those related to the application of the current language teaching approaches CLT, ICTs and CLIL. These include classroom management and organization, planning and teaching strategies, teaching methods and strategies, planning and teaching lessons as well

Through the teachers’ comments the authors can infer that teachers feel the different skills are important and strategies such as games are used a lot in the

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. as other factors about inclusion of special educational needs students in the EFL classroom Coincidently, with what was stated in the literature review, the use of Spanish or L1 in the classroom stated by round tables participants can have a positive or a negative effect. Participants referred to factors such as the need and importance of the use of Spanish for grammar explanations and the necessity to speak Spanish according to the students’ level. The perception and status of EFL refer to students and teachers’ personal views, attitudes or pre conceived notions and judgements of foreign language learning. In our research, the participants referred to motivation and academic and economic factors such as support from school administrators, teaching English through Spanish and the influence of indigenous languages as L1. Another category was related to infrastructure, which can be defined as the necessary resources in an EFL classroom. These are necessary according to the teachers participating in the round tables. Participants referred to English labs, the use of projectors, screens, as well as the number of students in the classroom as areas of infrastructure The educational policies create assessment techniques and their planning and implementation can have a large effect on language learning in schools. The conducted research revealed factors such as lack of academic training and the influence of national public educational system essentially those related to the mandated textbook for ELT in Ecuador The results will now be presented and discussed in more detail. Results Pedagogy related factors Pedagogy related factors discuss various areas of ELT such as teaching methods and strategies, inclusion with difficulties of teaching special needs students incorporated into the classroom, the use and implementation of lesson plans and the way classes are organized and managed. Pedagogical has been defined “as the teaching methods that a teacher engages in a classroom that focused on achieving his lesson objectives” (Kagenyi, 2016) The authors of this paper found varying factors related to this subject mentioned by public school teachers in Ecuador. These teachers believe pedagogy in ELT to be made up of the different areas mentioned above. Teachers 1,4,7 and 8 commented, “some teachers simply fill the book and that is all” When discussing how they taught they said they, “start with motivations, and usually bring up some reflections on activities” “usually I work with the four skills listening, speaking, reading and writing” “I always make competitions”

Teacher’s 10, 12, 8 and 4 comments were, “no, no we do have the support of the administration for English activities”

“We only have to complete with some exercises. we don´t plan in advance, we don´t have to. In addition, for example in my case I am not only an English teacher, I teach other things, other subjects” “I think that planning is also important within the organization. Before we have to teach a class, it is important to see how we are going to work, what is the topic that is going to be addressed, if we are going to work in individual groups”

These comments showed that some teachers felt planning was a very important pedagogical factor, while others do not, but would plan more often if properly trained and given more time to do so.

Teachers 1, 3, and 15 explained that in each of their classes they, “organize the students and sit them in different places, especially the students who have more needs, I put him in the front near of the stronger students in English or I can help them, help them to figure out what to do and what to do in the class” “I start class with the warm up, our classes are very large: We have, usually we have forty, thirty eight or forty students. Ah, it is

“All planning for English class cannot be improvised, because that is when we speak a lot of Spanish”

classroom. There was not much talk in sequenced planning with the use of various methodologies that are discussed in the current curriculum. Another factor that affect EFL and ELT related to pedagogy is planning and teaching lessons according to the mandated Ecuadorian curriculum. Many said that it was very difficult to plan and implement in their classrooms because they had not been trained in the pedagogical areas mentioned in the curriculum and are not given enough time to plan. Many teachers also mentioned that when they did try and do English clubs or extra activities to promote English language learning the authorities of their school did not support them and in the end, they could not complete the activities they would plan.

Classroom management is a very important part of EFL pedagogy. The way students are organized in pairs or groups greatly influences the development of communicative competence of foreign language learners. Many of the teachers participating in the round tables also found classroom organization as an important pedagogical factor since they normally had large class sizes in small classrooms which is defined by Almulla (2015) as how many students a teacher has allotted to them in the attendance roster. Teachers made it clear they face challenges of organizing their classrooms to manage them because of how many students they have. This is a problem because having many students in the classroom has been shown as an impediment to teaching and learning.

Use of the L1 As previously stated in the literature review, the use of the L1, Spanish in this case, in an L2 language classroom is controversial. The use of Spanish in the classroom was a widely discussed topic in the round tables conducted in the workshop. It focused on how it can aid or impede EFL depending on how and how much it is used by the teacher. Juarez and Oxbrow (2008) point out that the positive use of the L1 is mostly advocated by the teachers themselves through research studies. This is important to understand when reviewing the data provided below. Many of the teachers who participated in the round table discussions felt the use of the L1 or Spanish was very important in the EFL classroom. Teacher 31 explained this was for various reasons such as aiding in teaching grammar, for young learners, giving context to the course content, and support students understanding.

“They send us children with different needs that unfortunately we were not trained for, like Braille and we are asked to include or integrate these children and we are not trained……the end result of all this is we are not forming high school graduates with the profile they request, we are forming beings that will be unable to face the world because then they will not have aids, supports, or anything… they will not be a useful person to society.”

uncomfortable to work in groups, I usually work in groups with the skill of reading” “I sit them in different groups, then assign roles and establish dates for all activities.”

It is clear these pedagogical related factors can either aid a teacher or impede a teacher in ELT depending on how that teacher structures the classroom and the other factors that are found in this paper. Teachers are struggling to find ways to teach and deal with special needs children that are placed in their classrooms without having the proper training to help them thrive.

Another major pedagogical factor mentioned by the teachers is the mandated law that all students must be included in the regular classroom. This was explained that in almost every class there is one or more special needs student included in the general population and it is the teachers’ job to create materials for them, plan activities and use methodology that includes these students, so they have an equal education. They made this clear that for them this is a problem, because they have many other students and most teachers are not trained to teach to the specific needs of these types of students. However, the teachers explained how they felt about these students and some of the strategies they use to include them. Teachers 32, 5, 6 and 2 said, “I always ask one or the best student to support them” “they don´t understand, the students with the special needs, they need to understand more”

“I have problems because I work with special educational needs (students) in 3 classrooms, so they work differently”

Teachers 19 and 25 went on to discuss with each other aspects of the use of the L1 that could aid in English language learning in the classroom. The teachers said, “grammar needed to be explained in Spanish, so they understand how it functions in Spanish” and “the use of Spanish firstly if it depends on the student's level and the age and depends a lot on the topics that we are going to deal with”

Perceptions and status of EFL and ELT In Ecuador, EFL is a mandated subject and is affected by the status and perception of the language by the EFL teachers in the country. According to Gulnaz, Ahmad & Mandouh (2016), pre conceived notions and little support for from authorities can be demotivational for students and teachers in EFL classrooms. With negative pre conceived notions teachers cannot motivate their students to improve.

Teacher 15 explained especially in the context of teaching young learners that “they do not understand, and it is necessary for me to try to use the mother tongue so that they can perform and fulfill their activities”

The literature review revealed that social context with L2 and socio economic conditions of the country where the EFL teaching learning process takes place influences foreign language learning. It was made clear in the focus group that neither parents nor school authorities consider English as an important subject.

The participants said that students might struggle to learn English because of pre dominant language barriers such as Spanish being their second language, so the teachers cannot communicate with the students.

At the end of the discussion teacher 38, who said she had many years of experience teaching English commented on how Spanish can also impede increasing language competence.

Dakhiel (2017) also found that the administration plays a role in the success of EFL. This author pointed out that without the support for language learning from the staff, ELT can be much more difficult and not thrive. Based on the teachers experiences this category shows that perceptions teachers have about student language barriers, overall perceptions of language acquisition in Ecuador, perceived notions of a student’s socio economic background can affect their language learning abilities, and a student’s intrinsic motivation to learn English.

The use of the L1 in the classroom is also a controversial topic for Ecuadorian EFL teachers. Some feel it is a necessary tool to use in specific instances, while others see it as a crutch to use in a language teaching classroom.

“it’ s a fallacy of Ecuador to speak in Spanish, that is, if you must speak Spanish, but only when it is really necessary not all the time, or not for comfort, we (teachers) prefer to speak Spanish so as not to improve our English, because when one practices English one improves, if we do not practice English we forget it and the students cannot learn it”

“it is necessary and important to use Spanish when we are giving our classes, because, in the context itself our students all come from or are Ecuadorians”

Finally, Teachers 1, 16, 21, 30 and 38 commented how they do not have much support from their school authorities. Different teachers pointed on that “there is a new class the administration wants to include, so now we have only two hours a week of (English) class, not three hours” They said that when there is something extra or a different activity, the administration always plans them during the class hours of English, but not during other subjects.

Many teachers have pre conceived notions about how EFL should be taught. Teacher 34 made clear, “if we are sincere, we didn't have English since school, we went to school and teachers taught us in Spanish so, I think that obviously according to our reality, we have to speak to them in Spanish, give instructions, explain grammar..……I do consider the culture we have had in the past to be a problem”

Teacher 21 said, “students whose first language is Quichua, I do not know Quichua” Teacher 4 believes that “our reality is different; I am in a rural school. There are stereotypes in rural sectors, our students do not have the same opportunities”

An important variable in ELT that was considered by the teachers is the infrastructure that is available or not available in the public schools where EFL is taught. CAF (2016) describes educational infrastructure as a comfortable space specifically designed for learning. This space includes adequately sized classrooms, which are designed with enough light, running water and necessities. This also includes spaces for teachers, outdoor areas for students to do sports and play, learning spaces such as libraries, laboratories and medical facilities. The teachers who participated in these focus groups saw infrastructure mostly as technology and classroom size. In the round table discussions, many teachers complained about having small classrooms for too many students and they said that this did not allow them to conduct group and pair work activities to put CLT into practice and the lack of technology such as projectors, screens, internet access, and whiteboards. These were the comments from teachers 5,12 and 22 about the infrastructure of different classrooms in Ecuador. “We use material that is not suitable for small children, because, they need projectors, and a big screen”

“Sometimes I want to use internet because we don´t have internet in our schools and I only use my flash memory. I work with the computer to watch some videos”

Teachers 6 and 13 believe that in the current educational system, “Only students with money will benefit or really put their part to learn English in the educational system”

Infrastructure

Teacher 20 and 33 also pointed out that, “English is not my area of study, but I teach it to children”

Another mandated policy is EFL textbooks. These are supposed to promote learning in the classroom and help the teacher do their job. There were very different opinions of the use of the textbooks in an EFL classroom. Some were

The participants also explained that educational policies are mandated in the school and can have positive or negative effects on ELT and EFL. These policies effect promotion of students, specifically the leniency of students’ promotion to the next year or level, teacher qualifications needed or not needed for ELT, the 2016 English language curriculum, includes the mandated use of textbooks, and general policies teachers must follow in various areas of ELT and methodologies and strategies teachers should use in planning their classes. Educational policies are defined as “rules that are intended to help schools teach students efficiently, fairly and safely. These rules determine how students are taught, what they are taught, and how schools manage students and school personnel” (Classroom, 2020). However, the participants of this study do not see the educational policies in Ecuador in this way. They see them as specific rules for students to follow or a hinderance for student learning. Teachers do not see these policies as help for teaching and learning in the ELT/EFL public school environment.

Educational Policies

Teachers must have certain levels of English to teach EFL in public schools. However, some teachers in Ecuador have degrees in English and are qualified to teach this subject, while others are not. Teacher 19 admitted during the round table discussion that, “in my particular case I am working 2 years with English, I am not academically prepared person in this area. Due to the needs in the school, they forced to impart me this subject”

“when we wanted to create an English lab, I was looking for funding, but the principal said, no we will take care of this, but until now, we have no English lab” It can be seen from these quotes that many teachers see the infrastructure available in public schools inadequate, but they do not look at what is available, only what is not. Most of the participants did not mention how or if they used the learning spaces outside of the classroom or what spaces were available in the public institutions that they worked in.

Teacher 23 said, “the public education system is very fragile, especially when considering a free education system and it is considered the duty of the government, the authorities or teachers to give them all materials, call them, look for them while as teachers we feel quite demotivated and we no longer work 100% and we simply try and meet the policies that have been mandated through the curriculum.”

While educational policies are supposed to support the teacher and promote learning in some instances the participants explained that is not happening. We can see from the teacher’s discussions that there is a disconnect from the English language curriculum and policy and the actual classroom reality. This finding may be a main reason that English language competency may be low throughout the country.

Teachers 8 and 12 believed that how you use the textbook is important, “what I do, is have the student, fill in the books, I work with the activities, not those of the book and I develop the activities and I complete it with a real experience”

“I DO NOT FOLLOW THE BOOK, I create the situation myself, I take the subject, I take the objectives from the book but I create the situation, context, and activities. That fascinates me because it is really the context where they are, it is what they now like, so if we get hooked on it, the children will develop and they discover what the grammatical point is or what I need to express”

A large problem many teachers mentioned are the number of hours required for English every week. Teachers 1, 5, 6, 9, 14, 20, 22, 34 and 40 do not feel they are given a sufficient number of hours to teach.

“the book does help me a lot, because, it has activities like reading, writing, speaking, that for me is good”

Another issue is some teachers said they received the guide for the textbook and others did not. Teacher 13 said, “The school has not given it to me” or “the administration should give it to every teacher”

“The book for me is not so good because it has enough problem, errors, … ehh, it´s too complicated”

“I understand the rules of the Ministerio de Educación, but I don´t agree with that because it´s only three hours with them and they need more”

positive such as serving as a “reference” or a “learning tool” and some were negative. Teacher 7, 11 and 34 mentioned that, “it is not a matter of sitting with the students to fill the books, no, but it is a very good support material for us”

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Conclusion It has been proven through international studies discussed in this article that Ecuador has a very low level of proficiency in the English language. Therefore, identifying the factors that came to light because of the teachers involved in the focus groups will be the first step in identifying what will aid and impede EFL in schools and this will lead to more studies and is very important to improve proficiency around the country. That is why exploratory qualitative research practices such as observations of EFL classes in public schools and round table discussions to provide the awareness and knowledge of a large sample population of EFL public school teachers were necessary to reveal the data presented in this paper. The professional development or training of EFL teachers, infrastructure, perceptions and status of EFL, pedagogical related factors and educational policies that effect EFL were the areas that were discussed and seemed to affect the participating teachers the most These categories will be shared with the Ministry of Education and various public schools to attempt to improve EFL and ELT in Ecuador and affect future policy writing in the region for EFL at the school level to ultimately aid in making educational changes that will improve English language proficiency for future generations. Now that the factors have been identified that aid and impede EFL, the next step will be to find deeper meaning to the categories and attempt to identify forms of improving English language learning in Ecuador through future interviews and surveys of larger populations based on the findings of the focus groups and the future interviews. References Acosta, H., & Cajas, D. (2018). Analysis of teaching resources used in EFL classes in selected Ecuadorian universities. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 8(1), 100 109. https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v8i1.11469 Alcazaren, H. K. G., & Rafanan, E. R. (2017) A Cross Cultural Analysis of Language in Education Policies and their Implementations in Developing Countries: The Case of Selected Asian and African Countries. TESOL International Journal, 12(2), 92 102. Retrieved December 5, 2019 from https://www.tesol international journal.com/volume 12 issue 2 2017/ Almulla, M. A. (2015)AnInvestigationof Teachers’Perceptionsof the Effectsof ClassSize on Teaching. International Educational Studies, 8(12). http://doi.org/10.5539/ies.v8n12p33

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Abstract. The purpose of this research was to identify whether there had been an enhancement in students’ language skills and perception of the ESP course if it had been delivered through a blended mode student tailored model. The latter was aimed at training each English language skill separately. Reading and listening skills were trained online, the writing was taught both online and offline, and speaking was trained offline using speaking clubs that were held once a week. The TUTORROOM system was programmed to deliver materials online. The ongoingandfinalassessmentswereadministeredoffline.Apre test post test research design was utilised to analyse the change in variables which were students’ English Language fluency (proficiency), cognitive ability, learning motivation, and learning styles. The study used a set of quantitative and qualitative empirical, experimental and statistical methods. The intervention improved the sampled students’ English language skills, their cognitive ability and learning motivation The use of the student tailored ESP model led to the shift from the teacher driven to autonomous learning. It had been proved by the responses of the interviewedstudentsthattheyfelt‘convenient’(16 out of19respondents), ‘efficient’ (13 of the interviewed students), benefited (6 of the interviewed participants), ‘motivated’, and ‘responsible’ for their progress in language fluency. The experiment showed that the model promoted students’ responsibility for the learning outcomes which resulted in improved performance.

Keywords: ESP teaching; blended learning; student tailored teaching model

ESP Course Delivered to Personnel Working in Shifts for the State Emergency Service of Ukraine through a Student Tailored Model Kateryna Shykhnenko Institute of Public Administration and Research in Civil Protection Kyiv, Ukraine Oleg Nozhovnik Kyiv National Economic University Kyiv, Ukraine

295 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 295 309, March https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.120206

Addressing the demand of the students working in shifts like the officers from the State Emergency Service was a rationale for implementing a blended mode based student tailored model because it could both engage learners’ individual learning styles and cognitive skills, enhance their learning motivation, and fit the learners’ schedule.

1. Introduction English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is commonly taught as a classroom subject for tertiary students in Ukraine (Borg, 2019; Grytsyk, 2016a; Tarnopolsky, 2018; Lytovchenko et al., 2018) The instructors have little freedom when it comes to the ESP course content, structure, and delivery tools as it is regulated by curriculum and unit/faculty level regulatory documents of the university (Grytsyk, 2016b).

Notably, the system of the State Emergency Service is less flexible because the officers work in shifts and traditional learning, which is based on the classroom homework only model, does not fit their working schedule. As a result, students miss from 30 to 50% of classes and find it difficult to catch up. They often feel dissatisfied, frustrated, and demotivated. For these reasons, they often decide to drop the ESP course, yet reporting that the English languageis cruciallyimportant to them as they are often involved in international joint training sessions

Student tailored system and its impact on learners’ learning styles, cognitive skills, and learning motivation

A student tailored or personalised approach to ESP teaching and training is proved to have a positive effect on learners’ autonomy, cognitive ability, motivation, and language skills (Santipolo, 2017; Shirokikh, 2018; Xu, Chan & Yilin, 2018; Tuzlukova & Singh, 2018). For example, Shirokikh (2018) found that students are more enthusiastic when the content fits their professional field of knowledge. The learners’ language skills improved due to a better managed teacher student interaction with the domination of the students’ autonomy, and the online resources serve as an additional cognitive load. Moreover, students perceive this approach positively.

Interestingly, there is a growing demand for using tailor made materials in the ESP courses and for an ESP teacher who is capable of developing them(Minasyan, n/d; Ibrahim, 2019). Blended learning mode and its impact on learners’ performance, cognitive ability, learning motivation, and learning styles

Literature review on the use of blended learning mode in the ESP training found that there is the relation between the mode and learners’ performance, cognitive ability, learning motivation, and learning styles (Banditvilai, 2016; Bielousova, 2017; Radosavlevikj, 2015; Whyte & Sarré, 2017; Tawil, 2018; Tuomainen, 2016). For example, Radosavlevikj (2015) found that 80% of the surveyed students showed greater motivation in taking the online courses than in the in classroom based ones. Banditvilai (2016) experimentally proved that there was a 10% increase in the Achievement Test scores in the experimental group and the mean values for the Questionnaire aimed to identify the learners’ perception of the impact of the e learning course component on their language skills (4.3 out of 5 by Likert scale). Tawil (2018) indicates that the blended learning mode seems efficient ‘in increasing the knowledge pool’ due to additional cognitive load like

Internet related assignments based on searching, synthesising and summarising information. Lu & Mustapha (2020) found that students had experienced an improvement in their ‘intrinsic goal orientation’, ‘expectancy’ and ‘task value of value’ due to various informal assessment tools that are available in a blended learning ESP course.

The benefits of the mode seen in terms of learning outcomes are a shift to enhancing practical language skills and self learning skills. This is supported by the research conducted by Aswardi & Nellitawati (2020) who experimentally established the advantageous difference of using the blended learning model over the conventional one in terms of acquiring job related skills. Cognitive ability also improves due to blended learning because in this case cognitive load is consistent and can be controlled by students themselves (Sithole, 2019). For this reason, the use of cognitive load theory (CLT) principles to design the materials is advocated by the studies to have been examined (Sweller, 2016; Nikolayeva & Lezhneva, Learning2019)

The quantitative component was a priorityin the study, anda qualitative one used as secondary to increase the reliability of the data (Morgan, 2014).

Additionally, the blended learning mode was found ‘effective and motivating for adult students’ by the overwhelming majority of the surveyed ESP teachers from the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute” (Lytovchenko et al., 2018).

motivation also increases due to students feeling ‘comfortable with technology and believe that technology can save their time effort’ (Tafazoli & Chirimbu, 2015). Students’ learningstyles becomemore efficient as this modeuses both tailored and balanced approaches to involve every learning style dimension (Lee, 2018). The purpose of this research was to identify whether there had been an enhancement in students’ language skills and perception of the ESP course if it had been delivered through a blended mode student tailored model. The research questions were as follows: 1) how a blended mode based student tailored ESP training model effects English language fluency (proficiency), cognitive ability, learning motivation, and learning styles of the student officers for the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, and 2) how the students from the experimental group perceive the way the course was delivered.

2. Method A quasi experimental research design of a pre test post test type was utilised to analyse the change in variables which were students’ English Language fluency (proficiency), cognitive ability, learning motivation, and learning styles. These were measured before and after the experiment using mixed methods. These were as follows: an English Language Achievement Test, a Cognitive Ability Test (FCATP, 2019), a Foreign Language Learning Motivation Questionnaire (Gonzales & Lopez, 2015) and Kolb’s Learning Style Questionnaire (2005 2006).

The study used a three stage procedure. All the treatments were conducted throughout 2018 and 2019. The empirical stage was dedicated to planning and organising the experiment, and designing the modules of skill based materials to train reading, listening, writing and speaking separately. Following that, all the learning content was uploaded into the CRM system (TUTORROOM Learning Management System). Pretesting was administered to both experimental and control groups to know whether the sample had been homogeneous The valid diagnostic research instruments were selected At the experimental stage, the experimental group was taught using blended and skill based student tailored materials, and the control group was trained using course books only and attending classes twice a week Upon finishing the experimental treatment, both post testing and self reflection were administered to the sampled students. See Fig 1. visualising the research model. 1: The Abstract Structure of the Research Model

The instructional components of the ESP training programme for both sampled groups presented in Table 1. Table 1: Instructional Components of the ESP training programme Component of the learning environment EG CG Course book ✓ Separate skill development purpose modules ✓ Classroom activities ✓ Speaking club ✓ Home assignments ✓ ✓ Professionalism related topics ✓ ✓ Online learning ✓ CRM system ✓ Note: EG Experimental Group; CG Control Group. Prior Experimental work • Obtaning consent from the Board of Academics of the Institute of studyProtectionResearchAdministrationPublicandinCiviltorunthe •Planning, CRMprogrammingdiagnosticlearningdevelopingorganising,thecontentandapparatus,thesystem •Sampling and forming the EG and CG TreatmentExperimental •Skill based student tailored treatment of EG using blended learning environment •Traditional teaching of CG •Post testing •Quantitative and qualititive data collection Reflection, Analysis and Interpretation of Results •EG students' self assessment through semi interviewstructured •Data interpretationprocessinganalyses,and

Figure

Research Procedure Model

It was a 120 hour ESP course (52 classroom hours and 68 out of classroom hours) that was based on the use of a blended and skill based student tailored learning environment in which each skill of the English language was trained and assessed separately. Reading and listening skills were trained online, the writing was taught both online and offline, and speaking was trained offline using speaking clubs that were held once a week. Prior to the experiment, the EG students provided a written consent to attend at least 80% of the offline classes.

After completion of five lessons, the students in both groups were assignedto take an English language progress test. The final test was administered offline; it was task based and covered the four language skills.

Description of an ESP training programme

The topics, learning activities (LAs) and assignments (As) that were delivered online and offline were arranged in the way it is presented in Table 2.

The ESP training course varied in topic related workload, activities, assignments, content, and assessment approaches. The latter intended to foster students’ field specific English language and communication skills. The tutors were two Assistant Professors for the Department of Language Training who were involved in the materials design and classroom work throughout the course.

1. Public Administration as an sciencedisciplineacademicandsocial Use of language Internet research reports. Web quizzes. Writing assignments.

Furthermore, a student tailored approach meant that the learning material was selected to address the student’s level of language proficiency and the field of Civil Protection (emergencies, fire prevention security, hydro meteorological service, an inspection of safety of a technogenic environment, etc.) they were working in. The CRM system (TUTORROOM) was programmed to deliver materials and approach a student of the experimental group in three steps: first, to remind them (in an encouraging and motivating manner) that they were going to have an English Language class (time and duration); second, to let them know (or remind them) which skill they were supposed to train and what the lesson objectives were; third, to conduct the lesson. Each student could get postponed feedbackfrom theirtutoron the assignments theyhad done. There were deadlines for reading, listening, and writing assignments and there was a flexible schedule for the speaking club classes. They took place every week, but it happened sometimes that some classes were either rescheduled or repeated for those (four or more) students who were involved in dealing with the accidents and could not make it on the agreed day. It required the increased commitment to the course goals for both students and tutors.

Table 2: The outline of the topics, LAs and As delivered online and offline in the EG No Topic LAs and As Reading,onlinedeliveredlistening,andwritingskills LAs and As offlinedelivered Speaking and writing skills

Presentations. Skills training lessons.Machu Picchu,Prezi Software presentations.based Peer

8 Emergency response planning: key aspects Writing an essay to compare the emergency response planning in two countries. ‘Speaking Club format: Think Pair Share’, ‘Write Pair Share’ ‘One Minute Paper’ activities.

4. Inspection of the safety of a preventionenvironmenttechnogenic(firesecurity) Use of language and communicative grammar drills. Designing an instruction for inspection of safety of a technogenic environment Speaking Club format: Case study, ‘Illogical story telling’ TopicPeeractivity,assessment.basedlistening check.

‘Speaking Club format: Think Pair Share’, ‘Write Pair Share’ ‘One Minute Paper’ activities. Case study Peer assessment.

2. Business Management and AdministrationPublic Theoretical concepts. Use of language. Internet research. Information collection and processing. Participating in the Skype conference with colleagues from abroad. Students’ written feedbacks on their groupmates’ presentations. Speaking Club format: Think Pair Share’, ‘Write Pair Share’, Topic based listening check.

5. Hydro servicemeteorological Making videos of the students’ presentations. Case study. Peer assessment. Skills training activities Teamwork, Topic based listening check.

9 Managing search and rescue operations Making videos of the students’ presentations. andproblemWritingthesolutiontotheessayonsearchrescueoperations.

7 Decision making in emergencies Recommended reading. Writing a review. Think Pair Share’, ‘One Minute Paper’ activities. Topic based listening check. Peer assessment.

6. Communicating in an emergency Internet research for best practices in communicating in emergencies in European countries. Writing the report. ‘Illogical story telling’ activity. Presentational skills training.

3. Bureaucracy in Civil Protection Searching information to prepare for the debate. Speaking Club format: The debate entitled “Bureaucratical roller coasters of governmental bodies in Ukraine: blessing or curse?” Tutor feedback and peer assessment.

assessmentofa presentation Peer proofreading home assignment.

Sample A two stage sampling approach was used in this study. First, the Needs Analyses Questionnaire was administered to 97 students doing the ESP course run at the Institute of Public Administration and Research in Civil Protection to find out, among the other things, whether the students needed flexible or tailored ESP training programme. Following that, the sample group (Experimental Group EG) of 19 volunteers was drawn randomly from those who indicated their needs of a tailored approach based on their work schedule. Concurrently, the Control Group (CG) of the same number of volunteers (��=19) was also selected randomly. The sample size of the EG (19 people) was found sufficient from the perspective of the classroom and out of classroom management effectiveness. Four quantitative tools the English language achievement test, the cognitive ability test, the foreign language learning motivation questionnaire, and Kolb’s learning style questionnaire were used to ensure that the members of both groups were relatively homogeneous. The mean results of the administered tests and questionnaires are presented in Table 3

Note: ELAT English Language Achievement Test; CAT Cognitive Ability Test; FLLMQ Foreign Language Learning Motivation Questionnaire; KLSQ Kolb’s Learning Style Questionnaire. Table 3 reveals that the figures seemed approximately equal for both groups, which were the indicator that the sampled groups (EG and CG) could participate in this experimental study and the data obtained could be considered reliable. Moreover, the p value, which is highly statistically significant (0.002), for ELAT suggests that overall students’ performance in English fluency corresponds to the null hypothesis though the data for other parameters do not. Instruments

Table 3: Means of ELPT, CAT, FLLMQ and KLSQ scores (��=��) questionnaireTest/ Pooled EG (n=19) CG (n=19) Differences Subtractiongroupsbetween �� Value* ELAT 3.26 3.19 3.34 0.146 0.002 CAT 3.27 3.27 3.27 0.001 0.992 FLLMQ 3.25 3.24 3.37 0.131 0.199 KLSQ 3.14 3.19 3.09 0.099 0.824

The Needs Analysis Questionnaire (NAQ) that was used at the empirical stage of the study modified the items of the one designed by Hussam (2013). It consisted of nine sections of 28 items to address the importance of the ESP course, in general, for their career, the importance of various listening, reading,writing andspeaking

The study used a set of quantitative, qualitative and statistical instruments. The achievement test, the cognitive ability test, the foreign language learning motivation questionnaire and Kolb’s Learning Style Questionnaire, the English Language Progress and Final Tests were the quantitative instruments. A semi structured interview was used to collect qualitative data.

302 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. skills, their needs concerning the format of the course. Cronbach’s Alpha Formula was used to measure the internal reliability of the questionnaire The reliability score of 0.95 was obtained which was greater than the standard rate cut off point of 0.85 (Hussam, 2013). Table 4: The reliability scores the NAQ distributed by sections (��=��) (modified from Hussam, 2013) No Section Item Reliability 1 Level of English language fluency as perceived by students 0.86 8 2 Importance of the ESP course for a career 0.78 6 3 Importance of the ESP course for promotion 0.82 8 4 Importance of listening skills 0.65 5 5 Importance of reading skills 0.70 6 6 Importance of writing skills 0.80 5 7 Importance of speaking skills 0.83 6 8 Using English in the civil protection tasks 0.83 14 9 Importance of the tailored format of the course 0.87 6 Total 0.95 56 Kuder Richardson Formula 20 (KR 20) was used to measure the reliability of the achievement test, the English Language Progress and Final Tests. The internal consistency reliability coefficients were found sufficient ranging from 0.86 to 0.92 compared to the estimated 0,763 (Kara, & Çelikler, 2015). The IBM SPSS Statistics 25.0.0.1. Software was utilised to process the whole data set. Semi structured Interview Questions 1. Use three words to describe your experience of participating in the ESP course based on the student tailored system. 2. What made you feel positive or negative about the course? 3. Did the course address your needs? 4. Did the course meet your expectations? 5. What improvements could you report as a result of doing the course based on the student tailored skill based system? 6. What challenges did you experience while doing the course? 7. What would you suggest doing to meet the challenges you have mentioned? 3. Results Overall, both sampled groups (EG and CG) showed dynamics associated with the research variables like students’ English Language fluency (proficiency), cognitive ability, learning motivation, and learning styles. However, the positive change in the above research variables in EG students was more significant. See the graphic representation of the results in Fig 2.

Semi structured Interview (EG students, ��=19, �� = 2)

Figure 2: Means of ELAT, CAT, FLLMQ and KLSQ scores before and after the treatment

1. Use three words to describe your experience of participating in the ESP course based on the student-tailored approach. The most frequently mentioned noun was ‘convenience’ (16 out of 19 respondents), the second most commonly used noun was ‘efficiency’ (13 of the interviewed students), the third one was ‘value’ (6 of the interviewed participants). The nouns like ‘ progress’, ‘motivation’, and ‘responsibility’ were also mentioned by the interviewed students.

EG before treatment CG before treatment EG after treatment CG after treatment

The interview was intentionally conducted to increase the reliability of this study. The results of the interview are NOT presented proportionally since the topics (dimensions) of the responses overlapped.

Note: ELAT English Language Achievement Test;CAT CognitiveAbilityTest; FLLMQ ForeignLanguageLearningMotivationQuestionnaire;KLSQ

Kolb’s Learning Style Questionnaire.

2. What made you feel positive or negative about the course? Regarding positive feelings, seventeen students indicated better suited to theirjob content and sixteen ELAT CAT FLLMQ KLSQ EG before treatment 3.19 3.27 3.24 3.19 CG before treatment 3.18 3.27 3.27 3.12 EG after treatment 3.31 4.11 3.72 4.10 CG after treatment 3.36 3.28 3.30 3.41 0.00 0.50 5.004.504.003.503.002.502.001.501.00

The above suggests that the EG students experienced a statistically significant change in their English language fluency (proficiency) with an increase in scores from 3.19 to 3.44, cognitive ability (the rise from 3.27 to 4.11), learning motivation (dynamics from 3.24 to 3.72), and learning styles (positive change from 3.19 to 4.10) while the figures for the variables of the CG were noticeable with an increase by 0.16 points in ELAT, 0.01 points in CAT, 0.03 points in FLLMQ and 0.29 points in KLSQ. The subtraction values for the parameters also changed. They were as follows: ELAT 0.148; CAT 0.008; FLLMQ 0.137; KLSQ 0.109. The �� value figure remained the same for ELAT (0.002). It decreased for CAT (0.814), for FLLMQ (0.1437), and for KLSQ (0.631), which also indicated statistically important positive change.

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. of the interviewed students reported improved course management. Twelve respondents mentioned the assessment approach. Students experienced negative feelings about being out of the community (11 respondents), not having a paper book (9 people), and being treated (at times) by several tutors at the same time (3 respondents).

4. Did the course meet your expectations? Sixteen people answered positively, while two students were not certain, and one person responded to this question negatively.

6. What challenges did you experience while doing the course? Seventeen respondents confessed they suffered from using technology Sixteen people lacked a competitive environment within the class. Three volunteers experienced challenges with adjusting themselves to the path of learning.

5. What improvements could you report as a result of doing the course based on the student-tailored skill-based programme? Fourteen participants reported progress in their writing skills. Eleven people felt they had performed better in the understanding of non adapted texts. Ten people had done better in spoken interactions, while eighteen respondents improved their self study skills The same number of the interviewed (18 students) reported they had been better in summarising, paraphrasing, synthesising and systemising of information.

4. Discussion The study attempted to explore how a blended mode student tailored ESP training model effected English language fluency (proficiency), cognitive ability, learning motivation, and learning styles of the student officers working in shifts for the State Emergency Service of Ukraine and how the students from the EG perceived the way the course had been delivered. It was found that the above ESP training programme increased EG students’ English language fluency (proficiency) by 0.23 points, and their learning motivation by 0.48 points, it improved their cognitive ability by 0.84 points and led to the shift from teacher

3. Did the course address your needs? The majority of the interviewed students 17 people confirmed that the course met their professional and educational needs. Only 2 (out of 19) students were hesitant to answer this question.

7. What would you suggest doing to meet the challenges you have mentioned? To deal with the greatest one, training the students in the use of technology before the treatment is seen as a solution by eighteen interviewed students. Nine people suggested resolving the problem of a lack of a competitive environment through the use of webinars, team projects, etc. The issue of the adjustment to the path of learning is seen by the respondents as a motivation related one It is suggested to be overcome by awarding additional scores for students’ greater efforts and quicker learning (responses of 16 students).

The students’ responses to the interview questions supported the results of the experiment andshoweda generallypositive perception of the ESP trainingsystem using the blended mode to build up a skill based student tailored learning environment.

5. Conclusion

The study contributed to the investigation of the problem of teaching ESP, in particular to the students who need a flexible training system. This research boosted the theory and methods of the ESP training (Susilowati, 2008; Laborda & Litzler, 2015; Fălăuş, 2017), in general, and in terms of the use of the blendedlearning environment in ESP teaching (HAN Jia jia, 2019), skill based ESP teaching/training (Kostadinovska Stojchevska, 2015; Mulleneaux, 2017:12 14; Rajeswaran, 2018), creating the student tailored learning environment (Johns & Price Machado, 2001; Pranckevičiūtė & Zajankauskaitė, 2012; Marjanovikj Apostolovski, 2019).

The results of the study suggest that the use of the blended and skill based student tailored learning environment helps students improve their English language skills reading, listening, writing and speaking evenly, develops students’ cognitive ability, accelerates their learning motivation, and leads to the

The study also attempted to deal with the insufficient target learner engagement which resulted in a lack of motivation to study the ESP and to get rid of the reading translation format of the assignments that do not improve students’ cognitive thinking (Bolitho & West, 2017).

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. driven learning to autonomous learning preferences. The results obtained from the experiment met expectations of this study and complied with literature as the learning environment ensured a more considerate attitude of the teacher to the student That was in line with Xu, Chan & Yilin (2018) stating that a personalised or student tailored learning environment is efficient for the training of ESP when it is integrated with technology, and when it is goal oriented (Zarei & Gilanian, 2014) This study is also consistent with the findings of Abel et al. (2018) who proved that personalised feedback to students writing works had been much better. According to Shirokikh (2018), the student tailored approach to teaching challenges a teacher with multifunctionality of their role and significance of closer teacher student interaction while teaching the course. The results agree with the previous research conducted by Banditvilai (2016) and Tawil (2018) that proved the effectiveness of using the blended learning mode in the ESP training as it enhanced learners’ performance, cognitive ability, learning motivation, and learning styles. The experiment provides a new insight into ESP course management whose delivery might be based on the CRM system, which could maintain a teacher student contact and provide automated guidance to a student throughout the course.

It was found through the interview that the training system increased students’ confidence as learners and created the situation of success. The study attempted to dispel a myth that the English language can be trained successfully only through the classroom only teaching

The results should be taken into account when considering using digital devices because the study suggests that creating a learning environment based on technological advances is a challenging technical task for both instructors and students, though perceived as worthwhile

References Abel, S., Kitto, K., Knight, S., & Shum, S. B. (2018). Designing personalised, automated feedback to develop students’ research writing skills Proceedings of the 35th International Conference of Innovation, Practice, and Research in the Use of Educational Technologies in Tertiary Education: Open Oceans: Learning Without Borders, Australia, 15 24. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10453/137482

8. Implications & Limitations

The duration of the experiment one year might cause discussions on the signiﬁcance of the ﬁndings obtained in this research The number of students sampled for the experiment might be claimed to be insufficient. The instruments could be also considered a limitation to this experimental study.

7. Acknowledgements We are warmly grateful to every research team member involved in student tailored materials design to support teaching and students’ learning, and address the needs of the learners so that this study could be conducted smoothly.

The EG interview results implied that currently students more appreciate challenging learning activities using English as a medium of gaining new knowledge than the conventional ones that are based on the course book The delivery approach using the CRM system for online training implied that it could be used to automate the whole course losing no quality.

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shift from teacher driven learning to autonomous learning preferences. This ESP model also addressed the students’ needs in the tailored or personalised learning environment and enhanced students’ satisfaction. Though the reliability of the study was impacted by the intrinsic nature of the components like cognition and motivation, it had been proved by the responses of the interviewed students that they felt ‘convenient’ (16 out of 19 respondents), ‘efficient’ (13 of the interviewed students), benefited (6 of the interviewed participants), ‘motivated’, ‘responsible’ for their progress in languagefluency. Since it was positively perceived, the model might be implemented into educational settings that could be dependent on shifts based working schedules for the learners of other majors as it boosts the methodology of vocational training of the student civil servants working in shifts. The experiment showed that this model promoted autonomy in learning, responsibility for the learning outcomes and enhanced each student performance.

Further research is needed to explore whether this model could be automated through placing the course on the Chatbot to partially or wholly substitute the teacher.

UKRAINE

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Gloria Vickov and Eva Jakupčević Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Split Split, Croatia

Discourse Marker Clusters in the Classroom Discourse of Native and Non-Native EFL

Keywords: discourse marker clusters; non native teachers; native teachers; teacher talk 1. Introduction Over the last few decades, discourse markers (DMs), words and phrases such as okay, well, you know and anyway, have become a popular research topic, at the same time managing to elude strict definitions and conclusive explanations (for a detailed theoretical overview see Maschler & Schiffrin, 2015). In general, DMs are multifunctional linguistic units, syntactically independent from the rest of the utterance, principally non propositional and semantically optional (Müller, 2005). They fulfil textual and interpersonal functions, providing support for discourse participants in interaction by directing them in choosing the right meaning out of all possible meanings (Aijmer & Simon Vandenbergen, 2011). This makes them an essential element of pragmatic competence (Müller, 2005),

310 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 310 328, March https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.120207

Teachers

Abstract. The present study focuses on the DM cluster use of three native and three non native (Croatian) teachers of English working in Croatia, based on an analysis of a corpus of their talk in the classroom. As essential elements of fluent and coherent speech, discourse markers (DMs) are ubiquitous in discourse, with numerous uses in the foreign language classroom. A specific feature of DM use is the tendency of speakers to combine them, i.e. use them in clusters. The quantitative analysis of the corpus of teacher talk has revealed that native and non native teachers differ in their use of DM clusters in classroom discourse. Native teachers use DM clusters significantly more frequently and with more diversity, while non native teachers seem to be less flexible in their use. The qualitative analysis provides insight into the functions of the most frequent clusters in the speech of the teachers, pointing to a variety of valuable functions of these units in the classroom. The results indicate the need to bring DM cluster use to the attention of non native teachers in the course of their training to enable them to make full use of the potential benefits of these units in their classroom discourse.

The importance of DMs for both teachers and learners in the FL classroom cannot be overstated. DMs have been shown to facilitate the comprehension of lectures (Flowerdew & Tauroza, 1995; Jung, 2006), in addition to helping teachers lead students through discourse, hold their attention, announce a change in activity and signalize the beginnings and ends of lesson phases, making sure learners do not lose their way in the discourse (Walsh, 2013). In other words, appropriate DM use can help students to better understand both the teacher’s language and the demands of the classroom context. In addition, DMs play a role in establishing interpersonal relationships and reducing social distance between the teacher and the students, thus stimulating the creation of shared space and a potentially better atmosphere for active participation (Othman, 2010; Walsh, 2006). Language teachers are not only the managers of classroom discourse but also an important source of input for their students, and modelling the target language is one of their main tasks in the classroom (Walsh, 2006). Thus, by using DMs in their speech, teachers are making their language and purpose more comprehensible, at the same time demonstrating DM use for their students and, finally, creating a more inviting classroom environment.

Despite the recognized importance of FL teachers as managers of classroom discourse and key sources of language input for FL learners in pedagogical settings (Walsh, 2006), research reporting on the DM use of non native FL teachers is rare. Similarly to the results of the abovementioned studies of non native speakers’ use of DMs, the results of the existing studies of DM use of non native FL teachers also indicate varying trends when it comes to DM use in the classroom. While some studies point to the teachers´ inappropriate use of DMs (Khazaee, 2012; Shahbaz, Sheikh, & Ali, 2013), others demonstrate more positive patterns of use. For example. Chapetón Castro (2009) describes an example of one non native teacher’s successful use of DMs to structure his talk in the

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. and insufficient and incorrect use of DMs may reduce communication effectiveness and impede interpersonal and intercultural interaction (Lahuerta Martínez, 2004; Lam, 2010). One interesting aspect of DM use, which has been somewhat overlooked in research to date (Cuenca & Crible, 2019), is the tendency of speakers to use these units in combinations, or clusters, especially in spoken, spontaneous conversations and in lectures (Amador Moreno, O’Riordan, & Chambers, 2006; Flowerdew & Tauroza, 1995; Pons Bordería, The2018).present study was undertaken in an attempt to provide a comparison between the way native and non native teachers in Croatia use DMs, focusing on a specific and pervasive feature of DM use DM clusters. The results of this study are expected to shed more light on the way native and non native teachers combine DMs to fulfil important communicative, interpersonal and organizational functions within FL classroom settings. This comparative study will hopefully contribute to the limited existing knowledge of DM cluster use in native and non native FL teacher talk.

2.1. Discourse Markers in the Language Classroom

2. Literature Review

As previously mentioned, DMs have been shown to commonly appear in clusters, which seem to be a typical characteristic of how these linguistic units are used (Lohmann & Koops, 2016). According to Cuenca and Crible (2019, p. 175) “two or more DMs co occur when they are contiguous and have partial or total scope over a discourse unit that they connectively relate to a previous segment or discourse unit.” Research of speakers of different L1s has confirmed the prevalence of these units in speech (for a more detailed overview, see Cuenca & Crible, 2019). For example, in the French English corpus (DisFrEn) analysed by Crible and Cuenca (2017), the authors found that 20% of all DMs appeared as a part of a DM sequence. Maschler (2002) found a high frequency of DM clusters in Hebrew English bilingual talk and noticed the tendency of DM to cluster at verbal activity boundaries. Cuenca and Marín (2009) focused on the combinations of DMs in Catalan and Spanish, finding that they are ubiquitous in both languages, carrying out important functions such as indicating transition places and performing as phatic cues.

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. classroom. Furthermore, a study of six Croatian EFL teachers (Vickov & Jakupčević, 2017) has shown that, although they use just a narrow range of these units frequently, they use them strategically to structure classroom discourse and maintain interpersonal relationships in the classroom. However, what these studies have in common is that they exclusively focus on non native teachers, without a comparison with their native counterparts which could provide more insight into what kind of a model non native teachers are for their students when it comes to DM use.

Although it is clear that DMs tend to cluster in speech, there is still no agreement as to why this happens. On the one hand, according to Flowerdew and Tauroza (1995), if we see DMs as ‘empty’, or void of any semantic meaning, the use of more than one marker at a time is likely to increase processing time and thus provide a greater chance for improved comprehension. Thornbury and Slade (2006) similarly claim that the main use of DM clusters is to help buy time for speakers, and Aijmer (2004) also asserts that the tendency of markers to combine suggests that they have little function in themselves. They thus represent one of the many dysfluencies occurring in natural speech as a consequence of the demands of ‘on line’ communication requiring instant cognitive processing, which can present great demands on the attention and memory of interlocutors (Bortfeld, Leon, Bloom, Schober, & Brennan, 2001; De Klerk, 2005). This makes DM clusters important tools which provide the speakers with time to plan what to say next or to choose a new orientation of discourse (Aijmer, 2004).

However, if we view DMs as carrying meaning, their clusters might serve as a more emphatic indication of whether or not a new mental model should be invoked (Fleischman & Yaguello, 2004). In that case, the co occurrence of markers is not a redundancy, in that each DM in a cluster still retains its function while working together in combination. This has been confirmed by Fairbanks (2016) in his study of DMs in the Ojibwe language, in which DMs have been found to commonly cluster together with each particle typically contributing some meaning or function to the cluster. As the meanings of the individual

2.2. Discourse Marker Clusters

The present study aims to provide insight into how native and non native teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) in Croatia use DM clusters in their speech in the classroom. Our goal is to find out whether there were any

2.3. Discourse marker clusters and non-native FL teachers

3. The present study

The significance of DM clusters for native speakers suggests that these combinations would also be useful for non native speakers. However, there is insufficient research focusing on DM clusters in the speech of language learners or non native teachers, with this topic only mentioned in some studies. For example, in her comparison of native (London Lund Corpus of Spoken English) and non native (Swedish) speakers of English, Aijmer (2004) touches upon their use of DM clusters. She found that both native and non native speakers use DM clusters to gain thinking and planning time, make a new start and reformulate what they have just said. However, only the native speakers used them to reinforce the phatic function of the markers, which implies that non native speakers might not have a full understanding of all of their functions. As for the classroom context, the research is even scarcer. A rare example is a study by Amador Moreno et al. (2006), in which the authors briefly state that DM clusters are present in the language of native and non native teachers of French and Spanish, despite the limited number of individual DMs and their functions used by all four groups of teachers in the study.

In conclusion, although it is obvious that the use of DM clusters plays an important role in the speech of both native and non native speakers of a language, the dearth of existing research makes it difficult to draw any useful conclusions on the role these units might play in the non native teachers´ discourse in the FL classroom.

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. markers remain obvious in clusters, speakers can use “tailor made combinations” for specific contexts (Fairbanks, 2016, p.149). Whether DM clusters serve purely to facilitate processing or to create joint meaning on a global level, existing research gives support to the idea that discourse marker clusters are indeed highly relevant for speakers.

Taking into account the features of DM clusters described above, if DM clusters can be used to make the speaker’s intended meaning more salient, they could support teachers in making their language more explicit and avoiding misunderstandings, which would be especially beneficial in classrooms where a foreign language is taught. The fact that DM clusters provide planning time for the speakers and help them emphasise that a new topic is being introduced (Aijmer, 2004) would also make them an invaluable tool for both native and non native language teachers, making their language clearer and helping their students to stay focused on the message. Non native FL teachers would be expected to additionally benefit from their use given that communication in a foreign language can cause a lot of stress for non native speakers who are simultaneously trying to express their ideas and are doing so in a language that is not their mother tongue (Aijmer, 2004).

3. What are the most commonly used DM clusters and their functions in the talk of native and non native EFL teachers?

1. Are there any differences between the frequencies of DM clusters in the talk of native and non native EFL teachers working in Croatia?

More specifically, our study aims to answer the following research questions:

Table 1:

The main instrument in the study is a corpus consisting of two subcorpora, one containing the speech of native and the other of non native teachers. It is based on recordings made during lessons with upper intermediate to advanced adult

differences in how native and non native EFL teachers use DM clusters in comparable classes with upper intermediate students. Moreover, we want to determine the main functions of the most frequent clusters in classroom discourse to provide more insight into the functions of DM clusters in this specific context.

A mixed method approach will be used to answer the research questions. A small corpus of teacher talk will be analysed, and the first two questions will be answered using a preliminary, small scale quantitative analysis. The third question will be answered using a qualitative approach, with examples of DM clusters used by the teachers analysed in context.

2. Are there any differences between the numbers of unique DM clusters used by native and non native EFL teachers working in Croatia?

4. Methodology 4.1. Participants

The participants in the present study were six EFL teachers working in Croatia, three native (one Canadian, two Australian, referred to as NT1, NT2 and NT3) and three non native speakers of English (L1 speakers of Croatian, referred to as NNT1, NNT2 and NNT3), all with over 8 years of teaching experience (Table 1). All of the teachers hold a language teaching degree. The non native teachers were highly proficient speakers of English (level C2) and the native teachers had all been living and working in Croatia for over 10 years. Although the six teachers worked in different institutions, they all taught upper intermediate to advanced students, and a communicative approach focusing on speaking activities was used in all recorded lessons. Information about the teachers. Age Work(years)experience 36 12 NS2 40 15 NS3 38 10 NNS1 33 8 NNS2 31 8 NNS3 33 10 4.2. Instrument

Teacher

NS1

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. students (level B2 and higher). Between 65 and 90 minutes of classroom talk were recorded for each teacher, amounting to a total of 496 minutes of EFL classroom talk (Table 2). The classes recording included a range of activities, largely focused on the students’ spoken production. There were no specific differences when it came to the teaching approaches of the native and non native teachers, as the method of teaching in all the classes, according to the teachers themselves, was based on the communicative approach.

1. It signalizes the relationship between preceding discourse and the discourse that follows.

Table 2: Length of the recording. Teacher Session 1 Session 2 NS1 43 min 45 min NS2 45 min 43 min NS3 28 min 37 min NNS1 44 min 38 min NNS2 40 min 44 min NNS3 45 min 45 min 4.3. Analysis

3. The utterance remains grammatically untouched if the element is removed. It was important to perform the analysis manually as words that act as DMs can often have other functions depending on the context. For example, in addition to

The recordings were transcribed using standard orthography and the transcripts were subsequently rechecked. The transcripts were then analysed in detail, and the occurrences of individual DMs were identified and coded. The analysis was first performed by one of the authors and later checked by the other author, with any differences in DM identification discussed and resolved. This identification primarily rests on Fung and Carter’s (2007) framework of DM use in the pedagogical setting, grounded on Schiffrin’s (as cited in Fung & Carter, 2007) muti dimensional model of coherence, which enables a functionally based account of the functions of these units in the classroom context. Their list of DMs has been supplemented, as needed, by those of other authors (e.g. Brinton, 1996; Swan, 2016), while keeping in mind the following three conditions that a linguistic element must fulfil to be considered a DM (Fuller, 2003):

The teachers and students gave their consent for the recording. The teachers recorded the classes themselves, without the presence of the authors, using a speech recorder placed on their desk to minimize interference and keep the classes as natural as possible.

2. The semantic relationship between elements remains the same if the element is removed.

113.53 Number of

109 13 122 NS

containing more

719

28.76 10.58 19.64 Number of unique

Table 3:

In order to answer the first two research questions regarding the differences between the DM cluster use of native and non native teachers, a statistical analysis was performed using the RStudio software (R Core Team, 2013). More specifically, two independent samples t tests were conducted to determine whether the differences between the frequencies of DM cluster use and the number of unique DM clusters employed in the speech of the two groups of teachers were significant. Due to the small sample, the quantitative analysis was seen as a basic, preliminary analysis to serve as an indication of potential directions for further research. Finally, with the aim of answering the third research question, a more extensive qualitative analysis of the functions of the most frequent DM clusters was performed. Instances of the five most frequent DM clusters were extracted from the corpus and analysed in context by determining their most common functions and patterns of use. Finally, examples of interesting instances of individual teachers’ DM cluster use as well as longer DM clusters were also extracted for analysis. Results Quantitative Analysis shown in Table 3, our corpus of teacher talk contains 36597 words in total, relatively evenly distributed between the two subcorpora, with the native speaker subcorpus consisting of 18253 words and non native one of 18344 words. There are 4155 instances of DM use in the corpus, with a frequency of 113.54/1000 words. The participants used 50 unique single DMs in total. there are 719 occurrences of DM clusters in the corpus, with an overall frequency of 19.64 /1000 words. Information about theNScorpora. single DMs 1752 Single DMs/1000 words 95.51 unique DMs DM clusters 194 DM clusters/1000 words DM clusters clusters clusters than two DMs native speaker subcorpus, non native speaker subcorpus

2403

Furthermore,

5.1.

316 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. acting as a DM, so can be used as an intensifier or to avoid repeating a previously mentioned phrase, among its many uses. After the coding of single DMs, the transcripts were analysed once more to count the occurrences of DM clusters. In the present research, we take a DM cluster to be any co occurrence of two or more discourse markers in speech. Although Cuenca and Crible (2019) exclude some cases from the group, such as those with longer pauses between the elements or cases of re starts and repetitions, in order to simplify our analysis we have counted all co occurrences of either two or more different DMs and sequential repetitions of the same DM as DM clusters.

34 35 50 Number of

525

4155

301 113 372 DM

containing repetitions 56 10 66 DM

NNS

NNS total Number of words 18253 18344 36597 Number of

131.65

Out of the total 719 individual occurrences of DM clusters, there are 66 instances (a little under 10%) of clusters consisting of or containing repeated markers. The most frequently used repetitions are ok ok, yeah yeah, yes yes and alright alright (used in 10, 10, 6 and 5 instances, respectively). Moreover, there are 122 instances (or 17%) of DM clusters consisting of three or more DMs in the corpus. The largest DM clusters found consist of 5 DMs (e.g. alright ok ok alright but, ok ah ok alright alright), and they usually contain repetitions.

Table 5: Five most frequent DM clusters per subcorpus.

NS NNS DM cluster Occurrences DM cluster Occurrences ok so 37 and then 15 and then 31 ok so 13 alright so 24 mhm yeah 8 right so 12 ok alright 6 ok and 10 ok but 6 NS native speaker subcorpus, NNS non native speaker subcorpus

Out of the 719 DM clusters that appeared in our corpus, native teachers used 525 (27.98/1000 words), while non native teachers used 194 (10.63/1000 words) (Table 3). Native teachers thus used DM clusters almost three times more frequently than non native teachers. In addition, native teachers used almost three times as many unique DM clusters than non native teachers, with the two groups employing 301 and 113 unique markers, respectively (Table 3). The results of the independent samples t test confirmed the relevance of these results, showing that there was a significant effect of group on the number of clusters used (t(4) = 5.695, p=.005), as well as on the number of unique clusters (t(2) = 3.784, p = .03). Thus, the native teachers in our sample used significantly more DM clusters and more unique DM clusters than non native teachers.

Finally, out of the 122 clusters consisting of more than two DMs, non native speakers used only 13, while out of the 66 clusters containing repetitions, this group employed only 10. The data for individual teachers (Table 6) show that non native teachers used 9.45, 10.12 and 12.31 DM clusters/1000 words, i.e. they used DM clusters with

DM cluster Occurrences DM cluster Occurrences ok so 50 ok ok 10 and then 46 yeah yeah 10 alright so 28 but then 9 ok and 12 yeah but 9 right so 12 yes so 8

Table 4: Ten most frequent DM clusters in the corpus.

In total, 372 different DM cluster combinations were used by the subjects. Interestingly, only 7 unique DM clusters appear more than 10 times in the corpus (Table 4). The non native teachers used only two DM clusters on more than ten occasions, while the native teachers used five (Table 5)

318 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. similar frequencies. On the other hand, two of the native teachers (NT1 and NT3) used a comparable frequency of DM clusters (31.41 and 31.19 DM clusters/1000 words), while one, NT2, used DM clusters somewhat less frequently (22.35/1000 words), although still almost twice as much as the non native teachers. The results are similar when it comes to the number of unique DM clusters, with non native teachers using 32, 41 and 58 unique clusters, while the differences among the native teachers are more expressed. Once again, NT1 and NT3 used similar numbers of unique clusters (121 and 134, respectively), while NT2 used only 80, but still more than the all of the non native teachers in our corpus. Table 6: Individual teachers’ use of DM clusters. Teacher No of clustersDM No of clustersunique clusters/1000DMswords Total No of words NT1 220 121 30.41 7004 NT2 116 80 22.35 5190 NT3 189 134 31.19 6059 NNT1 65 41 12.31 5277 NNT2 46 32 9.45 4863 NNT3 83 58 10.12 8204

The qualitative analysis of the corpus was performed by investigating the functions of the most frequent DM clusters used by the teachers in our corpus (Table 4) in context. Five DM clusters were used more than ten times in our corpus, which brings them into the focus of our qualitative analysis, together with some examples of individual teachers’ DM use. Ok so The most frequent cluster in our corpus is ok so, used by all six teachers in our study. Both constituent DMs in this cluster are useful and versatile units, commonly used in classroom talk (Fung & Carter 2007; Othman, 2010). A common function of the cluster ok so in our corpus is to emphasize that a new topic is being introduced and to focus the listeners’ attention to a new task. This is in line with the functions of these two markers as described in the literature, with ok commonly used to open or close topics or as an attention getter (Fung & Carter, 2007; Othman, 2010), and with so contributing to this function by acting as a focusing device or a transition marker (Buysse, 2012). This is not only a recurrent function, but it is also a key one in classrooms where it is crucial to make sure that students are paying attention especially carefully at task transitions (Examples 1a 1b). (1a) NNT2: Ok so please open your notebooks, put the dates it’s the 11th of November. (1b) NT1: Ok so tell me a little before we continue with the book, how was um your prom, so M. knows what to expect tonight.

5.2. Qualitative Analysis

(1c) NNT1: Ok so I might join I may join I could join completely the same thing.

(1e) NT2: It says which of the following things can be mown, ok so what will you circle there? (1f) NT1: Ok so are you allowed to uhm I don’t know, depending on your subject, but are you allowed to use the internet for sources of information?

(2a) NT3: Yeah cause it seems it should be, but it then you get something that would happen, that they would, someone gets clever and creative and they wanted to for whatever reasons try something new and then without testing it it gets sent to the market and then people are having these reactions and then they get sued they get huge things so it gets down to money.

(1h) NT2: No, when we when we’re talking about spawning we usually refer to fish, fish fish lay eggs ok so the literal meaning of spawn is to lay eggs. And then The second most frequent DM cluster in our corpus is and then, almost invariably used by our participants to express a result (Examples 2a and 2b) or a sequence. This sequence can either be temporal (Example 2c), refer to a sequence of instructions (Example 2d) or steps that need to be taken (Example 2e) or even, as in Example 2f, a sequence of gradations.

(2b) NT2: Alright well well can you talk to me in English please and then I might be able to understand you (2c) NNT1: Ok let’s check this one and then you’re all free to go.

(1g) NNT2: Ok so class, let’s ask B. some questions.

(2d) NNT3: I don’t think they’re too expensive, they’re like ten kunas maybe, this huge bag of marshmallows, and then you put them on a stick you

The discourse marker ok is commonly used to acknowledge a response, which is another function relevant to the classroom as the acknowledgement forms the final part of the common tripartite pattern of pedagogic talk – initiation, response, feedback (Walsh, 2013). In combination with so, this function becomes acknowledgement and rewording of the student’s response for emphasis or correction. In the following examples, the teachers acknowledge, reword and add to the answer (Example 1c) or ask a further question (Example 1d, with the question prefaced with another instance of so).

(1d) NT2: Ok so the soldiers fought, so number one is? The DM so can serve to introduce a question, a set of instructions or a summary (Müller, 2005). In the following examples, the addition of ok before so acts as a method of focusing the attention of the listeners on the upcoming question (Examples 1e and 1f), instruction (Example 1g), or summary of relevant information (Example 1h). These are important points in the course of a lesson and the teachers use this cluster to make sure that students know that their attention is needed.

(2f) NNT3: Um anger is not strong enough, you have fury and then you have rage. Alright so The third most frequent DM cluster is specific because, as opposed to the first two (ok so and and then), which are used by all speakers, alright so is used (in 23 out of 28 instances) overwhelmingly by a single teacher, NT1. This indicates a personal preference of NT1 for this specific DM cluster, which we cannot contribute solely to the fact that he is a native speaker as this cluster is not used that frequently by the other two native speakers. In fact, NT1 uses the individual DM alright at the beginning of many of his turns, which is in line with Schleef’s (2008) observation that speakers commonly show a preference for particular structural markers in their speech (e.g. ok, alright, right).

(2e) NNT3: I’ll give you a minute to read these three sentences and then you have on the right one two three and the box you have to match a meaning of get in one two three with a sentence.

The functions of the cluster alright so are comparable to those of ok so, which is unsurprising due to the similarity between the uses of the DMs alright and ok, with alright also acting as a focusing device or a marker of acknowledgement (Bangerter & Clark, 2003). For example, this cluster is used to focus the attention of listeners on an explanation or elaboration of a previous statement (Examples 3a and 3b) or a question (Example 3c) (3a) NT1: Alright so do you see the point always the answers were if you look at it the answers were constantly given (…) (3b) NT2: Alright so it means that to move quickly it’s a very um precise fluttering, darting movement, ok? (3c) NNT1: Alright so how did it go?

Additionally, alright so is used to acknowledge the response to a student´s statement and add a comment or an evaluation of the previous utterance (Examples 3d and 3e).

(3d) NT3: In the country ok clean fresh air, alright so the exception to the rules (3e) NT1: Alright so it’s just to occupy him, right? Ok and and right so The fourth and the fifth most frequent clusters in our corpus were both used 12 times by our teachers. The first one, ok and, is used to acknowledge a response and to preface an elaboration or a follow up question (examples 4a 4b), while in example 4c this cluster is used to acknowledge the previous turn of the student (in this case, the student’s reading of a text) and continue the task with another student. Finally, in example 4d the teacher uses ok and to introduce a digression, with the cluster acting as an indicator that the question which follows is connected to the previous discourse.

(5a) NT2: Well yeah there will be nothing left ok so that’s why when you have things like this (…)

(5b) NT2: (…) because you’re used to the way of life here where it’s very slow well actually it’s not very slow it’s slow, easy going (…)

(4b) NT3: Ok and why, what’s the main impetus, what do you think the klinci [kids] as we call them, the little kids, the little school kids, why do klinci start smoking so early?

(4h) NT3: If you choose this topic for pro con essay you’ll come back and look at this list and choose a few of them to comment on, right so they have here animal experimentation does not actually make animals suffer someone says that so please XX start us off with the letter c.

(4d) NT1: Ok and since we’re on the subject what kind of um what does he do what type what type of travelling is this? These examples are in line with functions of the DM and as described in the literature, where it has been found to act as an elaboration marker (Fraser, 2015), and it is also commonly used to introduce questions, especially in an institutional environment such as the classroom (Heritage, 2013).

(4c) NT3: Ok and please next, with the animal right legal protest?

Finally, given that the DMs alright and right are comparable in their functions, the final cluster, right so, fulfils similar roles as the previously described cluster alright so. The combinations of DMs right and so are used in our corpus to focus the listeners’ attention to an explanation or a summary (Examples 4f 4h).

(4f) NT3: Yeah this chemical what keeps it like though what keeps anything on a shelf the shelf life possible? Chemicals, right so it’s man made it’s not natural, right?

Individual teachers’ DM cluster use A closer analysis of the corpus points to the individual preferences of the participants for specific clusters, such as the already mentioned predilection of NT1 for the cluster alright so. Similarly, clusters containing the DM well are used by NT2 more frequently than the other teachers combined (26 out of the 50 occurrences in the corpus). The DM well fulfils many textual and interactional roles in speech (Müller, 2005), which makes it surprising that it is not used more by the other five teachers in our corpus. Participant NT2 used well in combination with yeah as a way to emphasize that the previous statement was in line with her expectations (Example 5a). In example 5b, it was used in combination with actually, and both of the DMs are used to introduce a self correction. In this way, we can see two markers with the same function reinforcing each other. Finally, in example 5c, well is used in combination with alright and ok as a way of conceding to the previous turn and accepting the statement and then contributing a different point of view.

(4g) NT1: Usually moms are nervous when they’re cooking the kids are screaming around them, right so I don’t know, it seems too happy for my point of view.

(4a) NNT2: Ok and food can be spoilt as well, right.

Another interesting case is the cluster in example 5f, where the seemingly opposite DMs yeah and no co occur, which seems unusual, but is, in fact, common and serves as a topic shift device, changing the mood of the discourse, in our case from joking to serious (Lee Goldman, 2011). This is why it is followed by the contrasting but and I mean once again to soften the impact of this (5f)change.

These examples show that, while NT2 used fewer DM clusters than the other native teachers, she used them skilfully to perform textual and interpersonal functions that might have been overlooked by the other participants. Another interesting example which shows teachers´ personal preferences is the DM yeah which is used intensively in DM clusters by two teachers, NT3 and NNT3 (66 and 44 occurrences respectively), while all the other teachers combined used it only 38 times. This DM has also been found to be useful in the academic context with its signalling and turn taking features (Othman, 2010). Among its other uses, yeah can be used to denote cooperation, responses and confirmation (Chapetón Castro, 2009). When it comes to its use in clusters in our corpus, NT3 used yeah in combination with I mean in six instances. In example 5d, yeah is used as a sign of agreement with the previous statement, while I mean introduces a further elaboration of the speaker’s opinion. In Example 5e, yeah is ‘sandwiched’ between two occurrences of I mean. In this particular cluster, but introduces a contrasting opinion, while the two instances of I mean are used to soften the impact of this contrast and the DM yeah between them is used as a turn keeper, a way to gain time while the speaker is considering her reply.

(5d) NT3: Yeah I mean how many do we need yeah how many the selection how many do we need in this day and time (…) (5e) NT3: But I mean yeah I mean is it something does it help do you think those people you know who smoke does it help them through the day.

(5c) NT2: Well alright ok you said that maybe in Croatia in Croatia it would come to a fistfight but um let’s look at from a metaphorical point of view what does it suggest?

NT3: (…) to pump them up with chickens yeah no but I mean this is all we we take it all for granted.

Similarly, in Example 5h, the teacher is emphasizing an acknowledgement of a response while giving herself time to think. She ends the sequence with the DM but to introduce a contrasting thought or a correction.

There are several instances of clusters containing up to five DMs in our corpus, with these multiple clusters often containing repetitions, which can be taken as a sign of dysfluency of the speaker. For instance, Example 5g contains DMs that are strung together to emphasize an acknowledgement of a student’s reply, with the final DM and indicating that the stance of the interlocutor will be elaborated on. The other four markers were most likely uttered to gain thinking time.

As opposed to the two previous examples in which markers with similar functions are clustered together, in Example 5i each of the four markers retains and performs its function adding at the same time to the overall meaning of the cluster, as required by the context. The DM yeah is used to acknowledge a comment, but introduces a contrasting statement, you know is used to soften this contrast by appealing to common knowledge and, finally, on the other hand reinforces the fact that a contrasting view follows.

The analysis of our corpus has shown that DM clusters are frequently used by EFL teachers in classroom discourse, with over 700 instances of DM cluster use, out of which only 7 unique clusters were repeated more than ten times. This low number of ‘fixed’ or ‘prototypical’ combinations can be seen as evidence of the variety of possible ways in which DMs can combine, and it is also an indication of how personal preferences or linguistic habits of speakers (that is, their idiolect) influence DM cluster use. An obvious example, as described in the qualitative analysis, is the cluster alright so which was used 28 times in total, 23 of which by a single participant, NT1. The quantitative analysis of our corpus has demonstrated that native teachers utilize DM clusters significantly more frequently than their non native counterparts, in addition to using almost three times as many unique DM clusters on average. It is interesting to note, however, that the number of unique single DMs used is almost the same for both groups, with non native teachers even employing slightly more unique DMs than native teachers (35 and 34 different DMs on average, respectively). This would indicate that the non native teachers were indeed familiar with the variety of DMs available for use in speech, prompting the question of why they used DM clusters at such a lower frequency and with less variety.

(5g) NT3: Ok ok alright alright and it could be true, but other statistics other facts may be considered.

To sum up, despite the similarities in the functions of the most commonly used DM clusters in the corpus, a closer examination highlights the differences between the individual teachers when it comes to their use of specific DM clusters, which most likely stem from their personal preferences.

(5i) NNT1: Yeah but you know on the other hand motorcyclists behave like rats when they’re driving on the road (…)

6. Discussion

One possible explanation is that non native teachers are less aware of the possibilities of using DMs in this way or less flexible in doing so. The fact that both groups used a variety of single DMs in our corpus does not necessarily imply that non native teachers are familiar with the whole range of their potential uses or combinations. The differences between the two groups are further emphasized when it comes to the use of more than two DMs in a cluster, with non native teachers using just a little over 10% of all such instances. Also,

(5h) NT2: Alright ok ok alright but here we’re not talking about the suburbs because the suburbs really like everywhere.

By using fewer repetitions, non native teachers might be missing out on this useful tool. When we look at the teachers individually, all three native teachers used more unique DM clusters than the non native teachers, although NT2 used approximately 30% fewer unique clusters than the two other native teachers (80 as opposed to 121 (NT1) and 134 (NT3)), which is either a sign of individual preferences of the said teacher or indicates a different attitude towards the language used in the classroom, as will be discussed later.

DMs are specific in that they commonly perform a whole range of functions, depending on many factors such as the context or the roles of the speakers (Fuller, 2003), with Aijmer and Simon Vandenbergen (2011) even claiming that the number of these functions could theoretically be infinite. Moreover, Svartvik (1980) pointed out that DMs belong to fine, subtle discourse pragmatic aspects of language which are a constituent part of its socio cultural values commonly shared by native speakers. We can, therefore, assume that, while native speakers have an inherent ability to master DMs and interpret their array of functions despite the diverse ways they can be used by different speakers (Aijmer, 2004), non-native speakers might have difficulty interpreting or using all of them. In other words, despite being aware of the variety of DMs that can be used in speech, non native speakers seem not to be able to use them as flexibly when it comes to their combinations and repetitions. This is in line with Aijmer’s (2004) findings with Swedish speakers of English as an L2, who did not use DM clusters for the same range of functions as native speakers did. Another possible explanation lies in the potential differences between native and non native speakers as language teachers. Reves and Medgyes (1994) mention the ability to communicate spontaneously as one of the advantages of native teachers, so it might be the case that their speech is less restrained and bears more resemblance to speech outside the classroom than the speech of non native teachers. More natural speech leads to more disfluency and more repairs, which in turn leads to more DM clusters being used. On the other hand, as non native teachers share an L1 with their students, they might also be more adept than native speakers at adapting their language to their students’ needs. Árva and Medgyes (2000) suggest that both native and non native speakers have their qualities as language teachers, with non-native speakers often teaching more systematically as they frequently have more pedagogic training and more understanding of their students’ needs, and native speakers having the benefit of a generally higher level of linguistic competence. Therefore, it might be possible that the native teachers in this study focus less on adapting their language to their students and speak more naturally.

the use of repeated DMs appears to be another characteristic of native speakers’ use of DM clusters, as out of the 66 such instances, only 10 can be attributed to the non native teachers. As stated before, DM repetition is a sign of the natural disfluency which is found in the everyday speech of proficient, native speakers, and which aids instant cognitive processing, leaving the interlocutors time to plan what to say next or to choose a new orientation of discourse (Aijmer, 2004).

The results of the qualitative analysis of our corpus indicate that native and non native English teachers use the most common DM clusters to manage classroom interaction by making the transitions between activities salient and focusing the students’ attention on the task, question or issue at hand. However, our quantitative analysis has shown that the classroom language use of these two groups pointedly differs when it comes to the frequency and diversity of DM clusters, DM repetitions, and clusters with multiple DMs. These differences suggest that non native teachers lack the awareness of the variety of possibilities of combining these units. However, the intensive use of DM clusters by the native teachers might not necessarily reflect on their teacher talk positively as it may be an indication that their language in the classroom is too natural, containing features that might be undesirable in the formal classroom context where comprehensible input is still crucial to learning. Whether a higher frequency of these features might act as a discriminating factor in supporting EFL students’ comprehension could only be answered by further studies focused on both teachers´ and students´ language use. Nevertheless, the fact is that DM clusters are pervasive in native teacher speech, and that by using them less frequently, non native teachers might be missing out on a useful tool. The pedagogical implications of this study thus lie in highlighting the need to raise the awareness of non native teachers of the way native speakers use DM clusters to perform a range of essential and useful functions in speech. However, further research with a much larger sample is required to make statistical generalizations. Finally, as the present paper has provided, we believe, valuable insights and findings in the field very scarcely researched so far, it will hopefully trigger further discussion and research that will involve non native EFL teachers with different native languages.

Our third research question focused on the functions of the most frequent clusters in our corpus. Firstly, the qualitative analysis has found support for both views on DM clusters described in 2.2, as they are used by the teachers in our study both as combinations of DMs which each retain their meanings and functions (e.g. 5i) as well as ‘empty’ clusters of DMs strung together to buy time for the speaker (e.g. 5g). Furthermore, the qualitative analysis of the corpus has shown that the ten most frequent DM clusters consist of nine different individual DMs, namely ok, so, and, then, alright, right, yeah, but, yes, with so used in four of the top clusters. This demonstrates that, although there are over 300 different DM clusters in the corpus, the most common ones consist of a limited number of DMs, which are also those used most frequently in classroom discourse (Fung & Carter, 2007). Except for the individual preference for the cluster alright so, there is not much difference between the two groups of teachers when it comes to the functions of these most frequent and, in the pedagogical setting, we might say basic DM clusters. This is hardly surprising, as the functions they perform are those of opening topics, focusing the listeners’ attention, acknowledging, elaborating and modifying responses all crucial functions for classroom discourse. These similarities can also be attributed to the constraints and limitations that the typical classroom context exerts on both teacher and student talk (see Romero Trillo, 2002; Hellermann & Vergun, 2007).

7. Conclusion

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https://doi.org/10.1215/00031283

Undergraduates Student Perceptions’ of Social Networking Sites to Improve English Writing Skills in Malaysia

* Corresponding author: Melor Md Yunus, Email: melor@ukm.my

Abstract. This article presents the perception of the use of SNSs in improving English writing skills among undergraduates’ students. English writing skills are among the most critical skills that every level of the student requires to empower. However, it was discoverable that university students particularly still facing trouble in English writing. Therefore, this study is to investigate the students’ perception in the use of SNSs in improving English writing skills and also to identify the students’ SNSs preferences to practice English writing. As to garner the data, survey questionnaires were distributed comprises of open ended and close ended sections that were distributed among 118 undergraduate students. The respondents were ESL learners from different faculty from MARA University of Technology Malaysia (UiTM) and University Technology Petronas (UTP) in Malaysia. The quantitative and qualitative research approach is used to interpret the collected data. Descriptive statistics are used to showcase the data gathered from the findings. The findings from the survey conducted displayed that the respondents respond affirmatively on the usage of SNSs in improving English writing skills. Thus, the inculcation of SNSs in teaching and learning activities could allow educators and learners to practice English writing. Further studies on the effectiveness of the application of SNSs should be conducted among the undergraduates’ students as it is also in line with the needs of the 21st century learning and teaching approach.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Bangi Selangor, Malaysia

Keywords: SNSs; English Writing Skills; 21st Century Learning; Vygotsky’s Social Cultural Theory; Perception 1. Introduction Fundamentally, four main components of English need to be learned by the ESL, which are reading, writing, speaking, and listening. According to Yang Silin & Andrea Chan (2015), in today’s setting, the ability to produce an excellent piece of writing allows a person to have the opportunity to share their ideas and opinions

Nurul Afifah Binti Azlan and Melor Md Yunus

329 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 329 351, March https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.120208

globally. In Malaysia, English writing is examined throughout the exam from every level of education. As to continue to tertiary level, students need to sit for (Malaysian University Examination Test (MUET), and writing is part of the test components. Furthermore, students are also required to take the English course at university and college. However, writing could be one of the complicated tasks to be done by the students, particularly when they need to have an extensive vocabulary and to combine the ideas to produce a piece of writing ( Yunus, Hashim, Edwin, Ho, 2019). In relevant to that, by referring to the specific comments by the examination board from the Malaysian Examination Council (MEC), in 2018 MUET’s report, the students were having trouble in presenting the correct overview and conclusion, use simple vocabulary, repetitive sentence structures and also misunderstood the task. The other issues identified from the report, the students, or candidates failed to link to the information in the visuals given, correct sentence structure, and logical connections. Therefore, the problem is continuous every year, not only for the candidates but possibly for the other Thisstudents.research aims to identify the use of SNSs (SNS) to develop English writing skills by examining the perception of undergraduates and their SNSs’ preferences for English writing practice. The significance of the study is to find another platform to teach and learn the skills of English writing. Moreover, this research is also intended to cultivate a contemporary approach of assisting the learners to enhance English writing. Penprase (2018) also claimed that, in the 4.0th Industrial Revolution, there is a potential for a revolutionary form of the curriculum to be created with more degrees of choices and new programs in general education designed to produce a wide range of studies through the selection of elective courses. In addition, with the growth of online education and the intensifying use of AI, new strategies are required to provide a theoretical foundation for digital pedagogy (Penprase, 2018). Therefore, this study hopes to assist the learners to improve their English writing skills.

Although it was found that a significant number of participants showed a positive attitude and willingness to use SNS in writing classes by considering the attitude

(Altakhaineh & Al Jallad, 2018), they reported that the implementation of Social Media could facilitate educators to coordinate the textbooks curriculum and training with the new technology. Moreover, as quoted in (Altakhaineh & Al Jallad, 2018), it was found that Facebook has become the substitute approach endorsed to deliver English writing lesson and prove to influence their English writing (Yunus et al., 2013.). In addition, after learning the lessons in their blog posts, students strengthened their English writing (Alsubaie & Madini, 2018)

Concerning the study, the use of SNS has become the norm in today's’ life, including in the implementation of SNS as part of the curriculum. Few studies were done to evaluate the effectiveness and potential of SNS for teaching at higher learning institutions. However, there is still the need to explore the undergraduates’ perception and their SNS’ preferences in improving English writing Accordingskills.to

2. Literature review To obtain further clarification on this study,the review will explore on the Social Networking Sites(SNS) and English writing skills, perception on SNSs in improving English writing skills in concurrently with learning theories applied for this study which are social constructivist learning theory from Vygotsky’s and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM).

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. and perceptions of SNS in improving their skills as a writer Sakkir, Rahman, & Salija, 2016) Likewise, (Mohammad, Ghazali, & Hashim, 2018) discovered that the participants showed strong use expectations of the usage of Google+ towards ESL Duewriting.tothat, as to achieve the primary purpose of this research, survey questionnaires consisting open ended and close ended have been distributed among undergraduates’ students from University Technology Mara, Shah Alam, and University Technology Petronas, Perak, Malaysia.

2.1 Social Networking Sites Gupta & Bashir (2018) notes that the use of SNSs means online space for students to interact, chat, or maintain ties for education, entertainment, socialization, and other purposes. In addition, SNSs’ role as a communication medium is rapidly growing, mainly as mobile applications thrive (Gupta & Bashir, 2018). Apart from that, most SNSs enable users in their networks to share their opinions, preferences, activities, and events (Yunus, Salehi, & Chenzi, 2012) They also added that the SNSs are social network based and give users various ways of communicating via the internet, e mail, or immediate messaging (Yunus, Salehi, and Chenzi, 2012). It was stated that Facebook and Twitter had been the most popular preferences among the users (Yunus, Salehi & Chenzi, 2012). However, until recently, it has still been actively using by everyone globally. Moreover, Facebook and Twitter are not only the most preferred by the users since the emerging of the different channels such as Blogspot, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram, Google+, Tumblr, WeChat, YouTube, LinkedIn, and more. According to J.Clement (2020), from the survey conducted globally, it has been identified that Facebook was the highest preferred, which is 2,449 million, followed by YouTube(2000 million), Whatsapp(1600million), WeChat(1151 million), Instagram (1000million), and more. There is no doubt as this SNSs allow the users to share their information either in written form, videos, and also photos. The users also can easily download the application and access it anytime. The friendly and interactive interference from the website and applications has attracted the users to use it for various reasons in their daily activities. Meanwhile, recent studies in Malaysia in 2018 show that Facebook has the highest users, with 97.3% preceded by Instagram (57%), YouTube (48.4%), Google+ (31.3%), Twitter (23.8%) and others. As for messaging applications, WhatsApps is the largest (98.1%) accompanied by Facebook Messenger (55.6%), WeChat (36.8%), Telegram (25%), and more. Therefore, most studies included these SNSs, including these websites and

2.3 Perception on the use of SNSs

Few studies have been carried out on SNSs and English writing skills. The studies are carried out because of its functionality that enables the users to engage and create active communication. According to (Belal, 2014), the students and the teachers were able to create collective discussions that allow them to switch their thoughts, share information on the course, assignments requisition and evaluation, and helps students develop their performance in writing and speaking. In other respects, (Alnatsheh, 2018) said, web 2.5 is a live term that describes innovations in global web technology and web design that encourage creativity, knowledge exchange, collaboration and accessibility, the latest advancement in knowledge and communication. Consequently, using SNSs in education may benefit the consumer significantly.

Furthermore, according to (Abd, Ali, Ahmed, & Arabia, 2016), the use of Facebook has been shown to aid the learners in developing their English writing skills by enhancing their use of grammar during practice. Meanwhile, (Altakhaineh & Al Jallad, 2018), their results revealed that participants strengthened their knowledge about writing mechanics in English by using Twitter more than by using Facebook or vice versa.

One of the studies revealed that the pupils’ grades are increasing after the implementation of high five fingers and snack bars, which is SNSs is part of the learning and teaching platform (Chandran, Plaindaren, Pavadai, & Yunus, 2019)

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. communications applications, to investigate the potential of its function in integrating into the education curriculum and system. Meanwhile, in this study, the researcher includes other websites such as Tumblr and Blogspot as the websites provide more functions for writing activities. The researcher also includes popular SNSs to discover the respondents’ preferences. By looking at global and nationally performed statistics and polls, this can be used as part of the analysis.

Moreover, according to Özdemir & Aydın( 2015), found that blogging users had better written skills in their studies on the outcomes of blogging on writing achievements. In the meantime, the blog was used as a resource for encouraging the development of the English writing skills of ESL learners and inspiring English writing learners (Yunus et al., 2014) Another popular SNSs that has the potential to assist in English writing development is YouTube. The main findings have shown a substantial increase in the number of correct questions posed in sub test results, which suggests an awareness of social speech (Raj, Ann, Subramaniam, & Yunus, 2019). Thus, any kind of SNSs has its potential and has contributed to the development of English writing.

2.2 SNSs and English writing skills

There have been researches centered on the idea of students using SNSs to develop their English language writing skills. According to Vikneswaran and Krish (2016), the participants had a positive standpoint that the application of the Facebook page enhanced their writing skills. It was also discovered that the

Furthermore, to measure the perception of SNSs, it involves the functionality of the apps and websites itself. The famous theory to measure and relate it was the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) by Davis in 1989. According to Robert (2008), he defined perception as the process of recognizing, organizing, and interpreting individual perceptions. Technology Acceptance Model, also known as TAM, is a prominent research model to anticipate the application and approval of information systems and technology by individual users. TAM could assist in developing a questionnaire as to measure; (i) usefulness, (ii) ease of use (iii) ease of learning, and (iv) satisfaction. According to Davis (1989), perceived usefulness refers to what extent a particular individual will upgrade his or her work efficiency using a particular technology Whereas, perceived ease of use indicates the level of the individual belief in employing the precise system would be exempt from any exertion. As quoted in Davis (1989), ease of use and ease of learning are similar and associated with one another (Roberts and Moran, 1983).

Therefore, it is possible to inculcate the use of SNS in the class for English writing lessons by considering the experience and perception in various aspects.

Whereas, according to Ismail(2019), he found that there were 74% of the respondents agree that the inculcation of social media within the classroom context established positive consequences on the learning activity. Consequently, by referring to Alnatsheh, (2018), the researchers have concluded that SNSs, have huge positive consequences for the educational process, and that flexibility can be achieved. Furthermore, according to findings (Yunus, Salehi & Nordin, 2012), most respondents showed affirmative acceptability that the use of the cellular phone in class could improve their performance during learning and teaching.

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. students could produce a piece of writing without any feeling pressured from the teacher and peers. Similar to this study, where a large number of respondents approved that Facebook had certainly facilitated language learning in the online atmosphere (Shukor, 2015). Besides that, according to Sakkir, Rahman, & Salija (2016), they found that the students have showcased an excellent attitude and inclination to apply SNSs in the writing classroom. Meanwhile, according to a study conducted by (Khoiriyah & Safitri Sa’adah, 2017), student impressions of the use of Twitter in the English language were found to be optimistic.

2.4 Vygotsky’s Sociocultural theory

The other theory for this study is Vygotsky’s Sociocultural theory as it involves relationships and connections within the community. According to Jalaluddin, Yunus, and Yamat(2018), Vygotsky’s Sociocultural theories attempt to comprehend the social context of development. Jalaluddin, Yunus, and Yamat (2018) explained that the theory emphasizes on in what way an individual child comes to comprehend his/her world through communications with more proficient individuals in cooperative societies. Likewise, according to Allazzam(2015), he described Dewey’s believed that learning was dynamic, and he believed that children should attend the school as to practice with others in a community that provide them experiences to share with a society like students should participate in real life and build a linking between what they have experienced and what they learned in school. Allazzam (2015) also added

This research primarily aims to investigate the perception of undergraduates on the use of SNSs to improve the writing skills of the English language. Second, the researcher attempts to classify the preferences of the SNS among students of undergraduates. With regard to obtaining the results, the holistic views of the analysis are achieved using jointly quantitative and qualitative methods. This method is central in the study' s goals because it provides insight into the pedagogical approach to English, particularly English writing, which currently serves as a means of teaching and learning. This approach is also useful for respondents to express their views and strengthen English writing skills

3.3 Research Instruments

3. Methodology

3.1 Research Design

As to garner the data, there were two main instruments used, which are close ended questionnaires and open ended questions for the respondents. The questionnaire survey was divided into three different parts which were Part A, Part B, and Part C. Part A involved close ended questions on demographic details, and part B was about the perceptions of undergraduates of the use of SNSs to improve skills in English and the preferences of SNSs to practice English writing, and part C was primarily for the open ended question. Part C was open ended questions in relation to whether it is beneficial to use SNSs for the learning and practice of English writing, and the second question was whether the use of SNSs could be

3.2 Sampling In this research, purposive sampling was adopted. The samples’ selection requirements were among undergraduates’ students that are compulsory to enroll in an English course in the respective university. Another requirement was the foundation students that require to take MUET( Malaysia University English Test). The students are required to write reports, assignments, and essays in English. Hence, these samples are significant to the objectives of the study. Two separate universities: the University of Mara, Shah Alam, and University Technology Petronas, Perak, Malaysia, have been selected as the respondents of this research. The respondents were from different departments, including the Faculty of Engineering, the Faculty of Information and Technology, Faculty of Dentistry, the Faculty of Business Management, and the Faculty of Health Sciences. In total, 118 respondents participated in this study.

The statement is similar to Zainuddin, Abdullah, & Downe, (2011) where they simplified that Vygotsky’s social cultural theory has been extensively denoted by learning societies such as teachers, lecturers, researchers, and students for his famous study on cognitive theoretical within the zone of proximal development to accomplish the capacity expansion for the learners. Meanwhile, according to Hashim et al. (2018), The socio cultural Vygotsky theory of human knowledge sets learning as the social conceptual model and the beginning of human intelligence civilisations or societies.

regarding Vygotsky’s theory that community plays a significant part in the learning process, primarily through parents’, teachers’ , and tutors' interaction

Apart from the three sections of close ended questions that comprised the demographic information and also the perception of the usage of SNS in improving English writing skills, and SNS’ preferences to practice English writing, there were three open ended questions added to support the close ended questions broadly. As to analyze the data, percentages, frequency, and mean were used to describe the quantitative data and triangulate with the qualitative data obtained. The findings and discussions were set apart, following the significant objectives of this study. The results were divided following the themes and research constructs, which were the perception of personal use, academic, and functionality. Then, it was followed by further discussion from the results.

Purposive sampling was employed to collect data among undergraduate students. Altogether, the real sample involved is 118 respondents among undergraduates’ students from University Technology Mara ( UiTM) and University Technology Petronas (UTP). Data collected are then presented using descriptive analysis, which includes mean score, frequency, and percentage. Qualitative and quantitative were used to analyze the data collected.

Meanwhile, for the procedure, the researcher provided the concern letter and gave it to the selected universities for permission and concern purposes. The lecturers of the selected faculty were also aware and agreed upon the study conducted. The information about the respondents was kept enclose to the researcher. The questionnaires were distributed after the pilot study has been conducted.

The results were described following the demographic information of the respondents, research objective one, and research objective two. Firstly was regarding the demographic information. Then followed by the explanations of the results obtained that emerged into different themes, which are personal purposes, academic purposes, and functionality. These themes could help to get a better

beneficial for English writing skills. The third questions are for the respondent to justify the reasons for SNSs' preferences. Two categorical questions were taken, and 30 items were adapted from previous, relevant research from 'Social media and its impact on students' writing skills' (2018), as well as ‘the view of ESL students on the use of Facebook as a collaborative writing platform for enhancing writing performances’ (Shukor,2015).

3.5 Data Analysis and procedure

4. Results

3.4 Reliability and validity

Subsequently, the questionnaire was reviewed by the knowledgeable and expert lecturer in the fields of education and social media who examined the face and content validity of the items. As to further validating the research instrument, a pilot study has been carried out with 30 Malaysian undergraduate students in the local university, and the SNSs engagement scale revealed an acceptable internal consistency, with a Cronbach Alpha coefficient reported of .859. Generally, according to Taber (2017), a Cronbach’s alpha of .70 was considered as indicative of acceptable reliability. Meanwhile, it could practice that the acceptable values for Cronbach Alpha are from .070 to 0.95 (Tavakol & Dennick, 2011). Thus, from the values obtained, the items in the instrument can be used for the actual study.

MUET Band

Percentage

Table 4.2 Respondents’ reported MUET results Frequency (F) (%) Band 2 6 5.1 Band 27 22.9 Band 4 31 26.3 5 5 4.2 6 Not yet sitting for the 49 41.5

Band 1

Band

examination

Table 4.1 displays the respondents’ demographic information, including gender, age group, university, and faculty. A total of 86 (72.9%) females, followed by 32 (27.1%) males involved in the survey. The overall figure for the age range between 18 years to 23 years were 117(99.2%), with subsequent 1(8%) for the age range between 24 to 29 years old. A total of 69(58.5%) of the respondents were from the University of Technology Mara (UiTM), and they were pursuing their bachelor’s degree in the respective university. Meanwhile, there were 49 (41.5%) from the University of Technology Petronas, and they were the foundation studies student who is preparing for the continuation of studies for a bachelor’s degree. The respondents were among the different fields of study and faculty. Most of the respondents were from the faculty of Engineering, which were 53 (44.9%). The second highest was from the Faculty of Dentistry, which was 29 (24.6%). There were 20 (16.9%) from faculty of Information of Technology, 10 (8.5%) from faculty of Business and Management, and 6 (5.1%) from faculty of Health Sciences. As to gauge the respondents’ English language proficiency, their MUET results are also part of the essential data for this study.

Band

336 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. picture of the results gained. Table 4.1 The structure of the respondents for the categories mentioned above. Demographic Info Category Frequency (F) Percentage (%) Gender Male 32 27.1 Female 86 72.9 Age Group 18 to 23 years old 117 99.2 24 to 29 years old 1 8 University UiTM 69 58.5 UTP 49 41.5 Faculty Business managementand 10 8.5 InformationTechnologyand 20 16.9 Engineering 53 44.9 Health Sciences 6 5.1 Dentistry 29 24.6

Table 4.2 shows a total of 31(22.9%) of the respondents achieved band 4 for their MUET results, and it indicates they are the modest English users. There was 27 (22.9%) achieved band 3, followed by 6(5.1%) band 2 and 5(4.2%) for band 5. From the results reported it to indicate that mostly had an average English proficiency. Meanwhile, There were 49(41.6%) have not taken and sat for the examination, which recorded 49(41.5%). They were among foundation studies student from TableUTP.

4.3 shows the mean score interpretation for each item to respond to the research objective, which is undergraduates’ student perception on the use of SNSs in improving English writing skills. Table 4.3 Mean Score Interpretation Mean Score Phase 1.00 2.33 Low 2.34 3.67 Medium/average 3.68 5.00 High Landell(1997) Research objective one; to investigate the students’ perception of the use of SNSs in improving English writing skills. Table 4.4 Frequency of perception on the personal use of SNSs Category Statement SD D N A SA Mean Personal I feel comfortable to practice English writing on SNSs with my friends. (8%)1 (19.5%)23 (43.2%)51 (28%)33 (8.5%)10 3.24 I feel confident to use English on SNSs (1.7%)2 (9.3%)11 (26.3%)31 (41.5%)49 (21.2%)25 3.71 I feel good to use English language on SNSs (1.7%)2 (13.6%)16 (36.4%)43 (38.1%)45 (10.2%)12 3.42 I felt comfortable having my peers read my writing in English through the SNS. 0 (3.4%)4 (11.9%)14 (34.7%)41 (50%)59 4.31 I felt comfortable giving feedback to my peers on their writing in English using SNS. 0 (9.3%)11 (39.8)47 (36.4%)43 (14.4%)17 3.56 I felt comfortable posting ideas or opinions on SNS. (8%)1 (5.1)6 (38.1%)45 (42.4%)50 (13.6%)16 3.63 Total Mean Score 3.65 Table 4.4 displays the frequency of perception on the use of SNSs for personal purposes. It was found that the highest mean score for personal use is for the item I felt comfortable having my peers read my writing in English through the SNS, which is(M= 4.31). From the item, it could also be supported by the open ended section where the respondent stated that “yes, because when people give feedbacks

Table 4.5 shows the frequency of perception on the use of SNSs for academic purposes. The highest mean score is (M= 4.10), which is for the item I think online Category Statement SD D N A SA Mean PurposesAcademic I think online chatting helps me to improve my English writing. 0 (8%)1 (13.6%)16 (60.2%)71 (25.4%)30 4.10 I think SNSs (writing status, comment) helps me to improve my writing. 0 (2.5%)3 (20.3%)24 (61%)72 (16.1%)19 3.91 I think SNSs language influence my formal writing positively. (1.7%)2 (5.9%)7 (29.7%)35 (53.4%)63 (9.3%)11 3.63 I use SNSs to enhance my English writing skill. 0 (2.5%)3 (21.2%)25 (63.6%)75 (12.7%)15 3.86 I use SNSs for learning and academic purposes. 0 (3.4%)4 (30.5%)36 (51.7%)61 (14.4%)17 3.77 I prefer to write in English when using SNSs 0 0 (28%)33 (41.5%)49 (30.5%)36 4.03 I believe that SNSs is the platform to learn. 0 (8%)1 (20.3%)24 (55.9%)66 (22.9%)27 4.01 I found it easy to complete my essay using SNS 0 (8.5%)10 (29.7%)35 (49.2%)58 (12.7%)15 3.66 I prefer writing on SNS than writing in classroom discussion context because it saves my time. (2.5%)3 (11.9%)14 (37.3%)44 (33.9%)40 (14.4%)17 3.46 Total mean score 3.82

Table 4.5 Frequency of perception on the use of SNSs for Academic purposes

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. about my writing, it can be my guider to improve myself.” Meanwhile, one of the respondents stated that, yes, because it is a place we can be comfortable with the English language and able to make mistakes. As quoted in (Yunus, Zakaria, & Suliman, 2019), the students should be provided with a tool that they can feel comfortable to achieve the task assigned ( Allen and Tay, 2012). By looking at the use of technology (Sorensen, 2013) stated that the students are more comfortable using technology for language learning.

The second highest for personal use is (M= 3.71) for the item I felt confident to use English on SNSs. According to research by (Hashim et al., 2018), it was found that 48(52.7%) of the respondents agree that they feel confident to use English on Social Media. One of the respondents stated that “yes because it makes me even more confident to talk and write in English, plus now I can learn English anywhere and anytime that I wanted.” Besides that, the average mean score for perception on the personal use of SNSs is (M=3.63) for the item I feel comfortable posting ideas or opinions on SNS. From the findings above, it indicated that the respondents have positives perceptions of the use of SNSs concerning the application of English for writing the contents.

Table

3.95

chatting helps me to improve my English writing. It is followed by another high mean score which is (M 3.91) for the item I think SNSs (writing status, comments) help me to improve my English writing. One of the respondents mentioned that, “yes, because not only I could improve my English skills, but also have some good times with my friends.” Besides that, one of the respondents stated that “yes, because we use SNSs everyday, so the more we use it, the more we can improve our English writing skills.” Similar to a study conducted by (Hashim et al., 2018) where they found that 60 (66.0%) agree that online chatting helps to improve English writing. By looking at the applying media in education, it will not only improve their language, but they also easy to comprehend the lessons. (Lubis, Embi, Yunus, Wekke, & Nordin, 2009). Besides that, by looking at the perspective as using SNSs as a platform to learn, it has a high mean score, which is (M=4.01). The respondents also tend to use SNSs to improve English writing, which has a high mean score (M=3.81). One of the respondents agrees that “yes, because the sites are like a platform for me to practice.”Moreover, one of the respondents also stated that “yes, it helps me to enhance my vocab as well as my capability to write essays.”

(8%)1

SNS really helped me to improve my writing in English. 0 (3.4%)4

use for perception on

when I write on SNSs (Chat, comment and write status 0 (5.1%)6

Meanwhile, by looking at their intention, there is also a high mean score (M=3.77) for the item I use SNSs for learning and academic purpose. From the responses, it could be said that the respondents portrayed positive perception and attitude to the utilization of SNSs in improving English writing. It also displayed the potential of SNSs in incorporating in teaching and learning process. (Villarruel, Lima, Rivera, & Morán, 2017) mentioned that from the positive attitude of students towards technological tools are the aspects that will promote Social Networks in the educational development. 4.6 SNS functionality (16.1%)19 (28%)33 (43.2%)51 (9.3%)11 conscious about grammatical structure SNSs (2.5%)3 (16.1%)19 (47.5%)56 (33.1%)39 conscious about spelling I on SNSs. (chat, comment and write) (1.7%)2 (11%)13 (52.5%)62 (33.9%)40 conscious about punctuation (26.3%)31 (44.1%)52 (24.6%)29 the (28.8%)34 (54.2%)64 (13.6%)16 Mean Score

Category Statement SD D N A SA Mean Functionality My friends will correct my mistakes on my status or comment. (3.4%)4

3.89 I am

(8%)1

4.17 I am

3.78 Total

Frequency of

when I write on

write

4.09 I am

when

3.86 Peer comment on

The NetworkingSocial Site I prefer for my English Writing practice is YouTube (3.4%)4 (8.5%)10 (22.0%)26 (35.6%)42 (30.5%)36 3.81

Frequency of SNS preferences in improving English Writing Skills MediaSocial Statement SD D N A SA Mean Facebook

Table 4.7

The second highest mean score is (M=3.89) for the item my friends will correct my mistakes on my status or comment. It has been mentioned by one of the respondents, “yes, people understand what I want to tell about, and if I do a mistake they will correct me.” One of the respondents also mentioned that “yes, because people will correct us and we will improve ourselves to write or post something on SNSs without any grammar error.” Significantly, there is also a high mean score for peer comment on SNS helped me to improve my writing in English, which is (M=3.78). The findings are similar to a study conducted by (Hashim et al., 2018), where there are 65 (71.4%) of the students agree that their friends will correct the mistakes, which include spelling and grammatical errors. Therefore, when the users are aware of the spelling, grammatical structure and have feedback from the other users, it could assist them in improving English writing. Moreover, the process could work simultaneously either from the friends or from the auto-correct or spell-checker function in SNSs Research objective two; to identify the SNSs’ preferences to practice English writing.

Table 4.6 shows the frequency of SNS use for the perception of functionality. The highest mean score is (M= 4.17), which is for the item I am conscious about spelling when I write on SNSs (chat, comment, and write). It is not only looking at their consciousness of spelling, but the users also commented on the features that appear in the SNSs, and mobile phones. There is also a high mean score, for I am conscious of grammatical structure when I write on SNSs, which is (M=4.09)

The NetworkingSocial Site I prefer for my English Writing practice is Facebook (11.9%)14 (39.8%)47 (31.4%)37 (11%)13 (5.9%)7 2.59 Instagram The NetworkingSocial Site I prefer for my English Writing practice is Instagram (5.1%)6 (11%)13 (31.4%)37 (43.2%)51 (9.3%)11 3.41 YouTube

The respondents also agree that I am conscious of punctuation when I write on SNSs, which has a high mean score (M=3.86). One of the respondents mentioned that “yes, because Social Networking Site gives me time to think twice and wisely before posting anything. I will be able to check for any grammar or spelling mistakes, especially when my auto correct keyboard is turned on ” . Furthermore, according to (Abd et al., 2016), it was found that the spell check feature correction could help the users to lessen their spelling mistakes.

Blogspot The NetworkingSocial Site I prefer for my English Writing practice is Blogspot (5.1%)6 (11%)13 (33.1%)39 (33.9%)40 (16.9%)20 3.47

Google+ The NetworkingSocial Site I prefer for my English Writing practice is Google+ (2.5%)3 (11%)13 (32.2%)38 (33.9%)40 (20.3%)24 3.58 Tumblr The NetworkingSocial Site I prefer for my English Writing practice is Tumblr (11.9%)14 (28%)33 (37.3%)44 (16.9%)20 (5.9%)7 2.77

Twitter The NetworkingSocial Site I prefer for my English Writing practice is Twitter (5.1%)6 (12.7%)15 (21.2%)25 (29.7%)35 (31.4%)37 3.69

Table 4.7 shows the SNSs’ preferences to practice English writing skills among undergraduates’ students. The highest mean score is 3.81, which is for the item The SNSs I prefer for myEnglish writing practice is YouTube. The result is parallel to one of the studies where the highest mean score for the item SNSs I would use for practice English language is Youtube, which is 4.35 ((Villafuerte & Romero, 2017). Apart from that, (AlShoaibi & Shukri, 2017) also discovered that male students commonly used YouTube. By referring to the respondents’ perspective, it was said that “I prefer YouTube because most of the viewers are foreigners, and I am forced to write in English.” Interestingly, one of the respondents mentioned that “I prefer YouTube because YouTube mostly contains full of good videos in English that I can learn from it and test my listening skill. So from that, I can gain useful information for my writing” . As to look at the potential of YouTube in improving English language skills, it was found that the results are gradually increasing after the use of YouTube to teach social expression (Raj, Ann, Subramaniam, & Yunus, 2019)

WhatsApp The NetworkingSocial Site I prefer for my English Writing practice is WhatsApp (1.7%)2 (16.1%)19 (34.7%)41 (36.4%)43 (11%)13 3.39

Telegram The NetworkingSocial Site I prefer for my English Writing practice is Telegram (3.4%)4 (11.9%)14 (43.2%)51 (33.1%)39 (8.5%)10 3.31

The second highest mean score is (M=3.69), which is for the item; the Social Networking Site I prefer for my English writing is Twitter. The result is similar to a study by (Ezumah, 2013) where they found that there are 67% of the respondents

5. Discussion Results obtained helped to shows that many students who use SNSs are among the 18 23 years of age. This particular knowledge is parallel to most SNSs users in Generation Z. As quoted in (Aziz, Hashim, & Yunus, 2019), Generation Z is among the children that grow up with the Millenials, where they are familiar with the technology. Therefore, this group age employed technology and Social Media since at a very young age (Aziz et al., 2019). Findings from the data obtained also show that most of the respondents are female. It was quite surprising, as most of the respondents were from the Faculty of Engineering, which are 53(44.9%), where most of them were male students. However, one study showed that male students' perceptions and attitudes towards the utilization of SNSs have been more positive than women with negative perception and attitude in learning English (AlShoaibi & Shukri, 2017)

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. prefer to use Twitter. It was also found that the users ranked Twitter as the highest for a 24 hour log on. Meanwhile, by referring to the open ended section, the users mentioned that “I prefer Twitter, of course because Twitter usually spread many useful information or oftenly using thread as to educate people.” One of the respondents also mentioned that “I learned to so much from Twitter because it requires you to read. You read because you want to know the information” . It was found from another study that the use of Twitter for informational purposes has a positive response from the respondents (Hughes, Rowe, Batey, & Lee, 2012) Meanwhile, the average mean score is (M=3.58) for Google+ followed by (M=3.47) for Blogspot, (M=3.41) for Instagram, (M=3.39) for WhatsApp, (M=3.31) for Telegram, (M=2.77) for Tumblr and only (M=2.59) for Facebook. Blogspot is one of the SNSs that solely help the users to practice English writing. According to (Said et al., 2013), it was found that blogging assists the users to improve their English writing and increase their motivation. There is no lowest mean score for the SNSs preferences to practice English writing. Therefore, it is still possible to use other SNSs to practice English writing.

In regards to the perception of the use of SNSs for different purposes, the highest was because of the functionality, which was (M= 3.95), followed by academic purposes, which were (M=3.82) and for social purposes which were (M=3.65). One of the surveys conducted by (Villafuerte & Romero, 2017), found that there was a high mean score, which was (M=4.44), where the respondents agree that the functionality of the SNSs should be used for English language practice in the higher learning institution. The significant results display that most of the respondents are aware of the spelling, grammar, and punctuation when they are starting to write on their profile. Besides that, there is also auto correct from the profile, which helps the users to correct their mistakes. Therefore, from their consciousness and assistant from the auto correct feature, it could minimize their mistake. From that process, the users are allowed to learn how to write appropriately. (Rimbar, 2019) discovered that the function of spell checker could assist the learners in improving their spelling and dictation. According to a survey conducted by (Rahimi, Gholizadeh, & Shahryari, 2019), Male and female students have positive perceptions about the use of automatic English language correction software. The findings revealed correlates to the benefits of SNS's features and

functionality, where it encourages innovation, teamwork, and accessibility throughout the internet (Alnatsheh, 2018) Hence, the functionality of SNSs could also contribute to the positive perception in the use of SNSs in improving English writing skills instead of consciousness and helps from friends.

Regarding the perception of the use of SNSs for academic purposes, the respondents display a positive perception towards the purpose. The results display that the users do not only use SNSs for personal use but also to seek information and knowledge. The users also tend to share their information and knowledge with the other users. The results indicate a significant with the perceived usefulness. According to Davis (1989), perceived usefulness refers to the degree to which a specific person can enhance his work performance through a particular system. For instance, Using Twitter has helped participants to develop their understanding of the fundamentals of writing in English more than using Facebook or vice versa (Mohammad et al., 2018). Besides that, (Hussein, Omar, & Zayadah, 2016) added that the application of IT is not limited to sharing knowledge but also contributes to the development of teaching and learning to be more flexible, particularly for educators and students. Meanwhile, (Al Rahmi & Zeki, 2017) stated that Social Media is known as the platform to relocate the information and knowledge among the communities and the educators. Thus, it is beneficial for the users to get the knowledge from SNSs, and at the same time, the users could practice English writing with the opportunity given. Next is regarding the perception of the use of SNSs for personal and social purposes. Most of the respondents are comfortable to use SNSs to post ideas, feedback sharing among the other users when they use English to write. From the perspective, it could influence their daily attitude in the use of SNSs and assist the process of learning and teaching English writing. The activities that happened also could develop collaborative learning where it could benefit the users. According to (Zainuddin et al., 2011), the applications from websites enable the users to update profiles, active discussion via comment, and chat tool as well as giving feedback throughout the activities. It has been discovered that feedback from peers can increase students’ critical thinking, level of confidence, creativity, increase the level of motivation, and improve their assignments (Farrah, 2012) This method and development are in line with the theory of learning in which, according to Hashim et al. (2018), Vygotsky's socio cultural theory defines learning as a social process and the commencement of the human intelligence or Furthermore,society by looking at the SNSs preferences to practice English writing, it was found that YouTube has the highest mean. YouTube is useful as it integrates listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The users can listen and read from the videos displayed then could write on the comment sections. The users are not restricted to only watch and listen only but also can write any comments there. In addition, One of the research on the usage of YouTube as a learning medium has shown that there has been a substantial increase in the number of related questions in post test results, thereby indicating comprehension of so called social speech. In conclusion, YouTube visualization is an excellent resource that can keep participants informed and want to know more about the language (Raj et al.,

Generally, the results of the research indicate that the use of SNSs to improve the English skills of undergraduate students is positive. It is imperative to consider the students’ perspective in the inculcation of SNSs in improving English writing skills. Moreover, (Villarruel et al., 2017) stated that the usage of digital social networks as a technical instrument that is regarded as useful and beneficial for teaching and learning in higher education institutions needs to be reconsidered

7. Implication and recommendation. This study, therefore, helps students to practice English writing on different channels. This study also helps educators provide their students with a more engaging and insightful learning platform. As a result of Pandemic Covid 19, which impacted learning and education systems globally, SNS and LMS could become the platform for learning and teaching purposes This implementation also provides a great opportunity for the parents to monitor and assist their children's learning growth. In the meantime, the researcher has an excellent opportunity to monitor the progress of the framework for improvisation and conduct further research. This study can assist the process of uncovering critical areas that the researchers are looking for to expand the educational development.

6. Conclusion In reliance on the findings, it could be inferred that there are positive perceptions from the undergraduate students in the usage of SNS as a tool to practice English writing. From the respondents’ responses, it also indicates that the utilizing of SNS in the classroom teaching and learning activities could assist them in enhancing the English writing skills. Furthermore, English writing teaching and learning are not limited to the same group but also globally, whereby it is applicable to gain more experience and feedbacks. Besides, the use of SNS has the potential to be an effective cybergogy, as it requires close interaction between learners and educators. The use of SNSs is also favorable to numerous group range. While it can be used as a medium for teaching and learning. Consequently, more research on the effectiveness of the use of SNSs in English writing should be carried out to provide a more detailed overview. Further studies on the use of SNSs in other components, such as reading, speaking, and listening, also should be conducted.

The2019).second highest mean score is Twitter. Twitter is famous for the use of threads to display any information. According to the action research carried out by (Alqunayeer, 2016), The findings indicate that since the use of Twitter in the teaching and learning process, the vocabulary of the students has increased. Apart from that, (Khoiriyah & Safitri Sa’adah, 2017) discovered the respondents believe that Twitter is a valuable online medium for English learning and helps students increase their confidence in the application of English in their daily lives

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7 1 19.pdf

348 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. ResearchAppendixInstruments (Survey Forms) Section A Demographic factors Please tick ( / ) the relevant box for each of the following: A1. My gender: A2. My age group: A3. Currently I am doing A4. I am from A6.Others:A5.Others:Faculty_________________MyMUETresultis:Male Female 18 to 23 yrs 24 to 29 yrs 30 to 40 yrs above 40 yrs FacultyUTPUMPUiTMUndergraduateFoundationofBusiness and Management Faculty of Information and Technology Faculty of Engineering Band 1 Band 2 Band 3 Band 4 Band 5 Band 6

349 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. Section A-Students’ perceptions on the use of Social Networking in improving English Writing skills. No Students’ perception of the usage SNS in English Writing 1. I think online chatting helps me to improve my English writing. 1 2 3 4 5 2. I think social networking sites (writing status, comment) helps me to improve my writing. 1 2 3 4 5 3. I think social networking sites language influence my formal writing positively. 1 2 3 4 5 4. I use social networking sites to enhance my English writing skill. 1 2 3 4 5 5. I use social networking sites for learning and academic purposes. 1 2 3 4 5 6. I prefer to write in English when using social networking sites. 1 2 3 4 5 7. I believe that social networking sites is to the platform to lea 1 2 3 4 5 8. I feel comfortable to practice English writing on social networking sites with my friends. 1 2 3 4 5 9. I feel confident to use English on Social networking sites. 1 2 3 4 5 10. I feel good to use English language on Social networking sites 1 2 3 4 5 11. My friends will correct my mistakes on my status or comment. 1 2 3 4 5 12. I am conscious about grammatical structure when I write on social networking sites. 1 2 3 4 5 13. I am conscious about spelling when I write on social networking sites. (chat, comment and write) 1 2 3 4 5 14. I am conscious about punctuation when I write on Social networking sites (Chat, comment and write status) 1 2 3 4 5 15. Peer comment on the SNS really helped me to improve my writing in English. 1 2 3 4 5 16. I felt comfortable having my peers read my writing in English through the SNS. 1 2 3 4 5 17. I felt comfortable giving feedback to my peers on their writing in English using SNS. 1 2 3 4 5 18. I felt comfortable posting ideas or opinions on SNS 1 2 3 4 5 19. I inculcated a more positive attitude towards learning English as a second language after using SNS 1 2 3 4 5 20. I found it easy to complete my essay using SNS 1 2 3 4 5 21. I prefer writing on SNS than writing in classroom discussion context because it saves my time. 1 2 3 4 5 Strongly agree 1 2Agree 3Neutral 4Disagree 5disagreeStrongly

350 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. Section B Students’ Social Networking Sites preferences to practice English writing skills. Strongly agree 1 2Agree 3Neutral 4Disagree 5disagreeStrongly No Students’ preferences of SNS in English writing skills 1. The Social Networking Site I prefer for my English writing practice is Facebook. 1 2 3 4 5 2. The Social Networking Site I prefer for my English writing practice is Instagram. 1 2 3 4 5 3. The Social Networking Site I prefer for my English writing practice is YouTube 1 2 3 4 5 4. The Social Networking Site I prefer for my English writing practice is Blogspot 1 2 3 4 5 5. The Social Networking Site I prefer for my English writing practice is WhatsApp 1 2 3 4 5 6. The Social Networking Site I prefer for my English writing practice is Telegram. 1 2 3 4 5 7. The Social Networking Site I prefer for my English writing practice is Google+ 1 2 3 4 5 8. The Social Networking Site I prefer for my English writing practice is Tumblr 1 2 3 4 5 9. The Social Networking Site I prefer for my English writing practice is Twitter 1 2 3 4 5 Section C-Open Ended Questions Do you think it is good to use Social Networking Sites as a learning and practice English writing skills? if yes, why? If no, why? Do you think the use of Social Networking Sites could be helpful for your English writing skills? if yes, why? If no, why? Between the 9 options of Social Networking Site, which one do you prefer the most for English writing practice? Why?

I use social networking sites for learning and academic purposes. I prefer to write in English when using social networking sites. I believe that social networking sites is the platform to learn. I found it easy to complete my essay using SNS I prefer writing on SNS than writing in classroom discussion context because it saves my time.

I felt comfortable having my peers read my writing in English through the SNS. I felt comfortable giving feedback to my peers on their writing in English using SNS.

I feel comfortable to practice English writing on social networking sites with my friends.

I am conscious about grammatical structure when I write on social networking sites. I am conscious about spelling when I write on social networking sites. (chat, comment and write)

I inculcated a more positive attitude towards learning English as a second language after using SNS

My friends will correct my mistakes on my status or comment.

I think online chatting helps me to improve my English writing.

I feel confident to use English on Social networking sites. I feel good to use English language on Social networking sites.

I think social networking sites (writing status, comment) helps me to improve my writing. I think social networking sites language influence my formal writing Ipositively.usesocial networking sites to enhance my English writing skill.

PurposesonPerceptionAcademic

I felt comfortable posting ideas or opinions on SNS.

offunctionalityonPerceptiontheSNS

I am conscious about punctuation when I write on Social networking sites (Chat, comment and write status) Peer comment on the SNS really helped me to improve my writing in English.

Table 4.A Research construct and items feelingsPersonalonPerception

Table 4.A displays the research construct and items following the themes emerge from the theories to answer the research questions. It has been emerging to a perception of personal feelings, perception of academic purposes, and perception of the functionality of SNS.

Abstract. The purpose of the study was to develop a model of vocational training of primary school teachers for work in the system of inclusive education by applying extrapolation of Poland’s advances in training for work and to identify how it was evaluated by the experts in Pedagogics.

Keywords: inclusion; inclusive education; model; vocational training; primary school teacher; Republic of Poland

352 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 352 366, March https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.120209

Model of Primary School Teachers Training for Work in the System of Inclusive Education by Applying Extrapolation of Poland’s Advances in Training for Work

Anna A. Sobchuk and Nataliia O. Mykytenko Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine

The study was based on four stages which were as follows: a baseline study, model design, and description, expert evaluation, and analyses. The baseline study aimed at analysing the secondary education system in the Republic of Poland, and a teacher training system of inclusive education. The model was evaluated by experts using the questionnaire. The reliability score was 0.93 which was appropriate for this field of study. The SPSS Software (version 20) was used to analyse the data. The multiple choice questions that were based on a five point Likert scale were analysed using means and standard deviations. The data drawn from the open ended questions were analysed using frequency distributions. Mann Whitney U test calculator was employed to compare attitude score differences between the respondents’ categories. A Chi square test was used for the computation of the data between the groups of respondents. P value of p<0.05 was considered sufficient. The proposed model could be considered a benchmark for the professional training and consists of four blocks: value and objective, theory and best practices related, content based and procedural, productive. The designed model requires a rethinking and adaptation to the conditions of the system of higher education in Ukraine. Further research is needed in testing its effectiveness.

The literature review found that the reform of higher pedagogical education is necessary. As Florian, Young and Rouse (2010) rightly pointed out, it is high time that it adhered to the principle of equality in education. In today’s conditions, it is necessary to build a model that prepares a teacher for work in the system of inclusive education. The need for its development is due to several contradictions that modern scholars are paying attention to, namely between: Declaring the ideas of inclusion and their practical implementation, the obstacles in the educational institutions such as a large number of pupils in the classroom, the teacher workload is excessive, the inability to pay attention to all pupils, lack of support from the part of the administration, etc. (Materechera, 2018; Schlessinger, 2018; Stepaniuk, 2018; McKay, 2016; Ineland, 2015).

The orientation of education towards the development of the potential of all categories of pupils, the need for differentiated learning, innovative methods, for example, polysensor, and the orientation of most curricula towardsa “traditional” pupil (Mugambi, 2017; Krason & Jaszczyszyn, 2006);

1.1. Literature review

The guarantees of the right of every child to quality and affordable education are enshrined in a number of international documents (UNESCO, 1994, 2000; 2003; 2009; etc). However, according to UNESCO (2009), in today’s conditions, there are still many children not covered by school education, one third of whom are children with disabilities. Other vulnerable groups include children belonging to ethnic indigenous minorities, rural population, linguistic minorities, nomads and those affected by HIV/AIDS. The theoretical foundations and practice of the implementation of inclusive education became especially topical for the solution to this problem. In a broad sense, this term is understood as an educational reform to support and promote diversity among all categories of pupils (Kugelmass, 2004). In the narrow sense, inclusive education is interpreted as a process of addressing and responding to the diverse needs of all children, youth and adults through their participation in learning, cultural activities, and community life. The purpose of inclusive education is to eliminate the exclusion of pupils from the educational process due to negative attitudes to and inadequate perception of racial, ethnic, economic, social, linguistic, religious and gender diversity (UNESCO, 2003). At the same time, the documents mentioned abovefocus on the training, activities, and role of the teacher in the process of inclusive education. The Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs Education (UNESCO, 1994) emphasised the importance of training teachers, both pre professional and part time, to ensure the education of people with special educational needs in inclusive schools. The Dakar Framework for Action, Education for All: Meeting our Collective Commitments (UNESCO, 2000) emphasises the need to improve the status, morale, and professionalism of teachers in the inclusive education system.

1. Introduction

In this regard, it is expedient to study Poland’s advances in training for work; in the system of education of the Republic of Poland, the task of teachers and educational institutions, in general, is to meet the needs of pupils related to learning difficulties, personal interests, and abilities.

Figure 1: Visualised research flow Baseline study Model Design evaluationExpert of the model Analytics

As it is known, primary education is the foundation of education, therefore, the object of the research is the process of training of primary school teachers in the Republic of Poland, and the purpose of the study was to develop a model of vocational training of primary school teachers for work in the system of inclusive education by applying extrapolation of Poland’s advances in training for work and to identify how it was evaluated by the experts in Pedagogics.

The desire of teachers to realise the values of inclusive education and inadequate vocational and pedagogical training, in particular, to create a supportive learning environment for pupils with different educational needs (Materechera, 2018; Mugambi, 2017; McKay, 2016; Black Hawkins & Amrhein, 2014).

2. Methods

The research relies on the methods which are as follows: the logic and systemic method (see the description in the baseline study section) that enabled to determine the main provisions of the education system of the Republic of Poland, in particular the system of inclusive education, as well as to study the peculiarities of the formation of human resources based on the study of the regulatory documents and scientific works of scholars; the method of pedagogical modelling made it possible to develop a model of vocational training of primary school teachers for work in the system of inclusive education by applying extrapolation of Poland’s advances in training for work; the methods of systematisation and synthesis of the processed materials contributed to concluding, comprehension of results and perspectives of their further application. The expert evaluation – a qualitative tool was used to assess the usability of the model of training a primary school teacher for work in the system of inclusive education. The study was based on four stages which were as follows: a baseline study, model design, and description, expert evaluation, and analyses (see Figure 1). The aim of the first mentioned was to study best practices of inclusive secondary education in Poland. The second one was intended to design and describe such a comprehensive pedagogical model for training primary school teachers for work in an inclusive education system which might make a framework for the university curriculum. The purpose of the expert evaluation was to raise the credibility of the model. The analytical stage was dedicated to data processing, data interpretation, and concluding.

It is important to note that the educational reform in Poland is carried out from the beginning of 2017. Its main objective is that general secondary education should be the foundation for further personal development of all categories of pupils and their competitiveness in the modern labour market. The key elements in reforming primary education are the reformation of 6 year primary schools into 8 year ones. Primary education is divided into three mandatory stages: a preparatory stage lasting a year to get basic knowledge and skills by children for admission to their first grade, and is implemented in preparatory groups based on kindergartens or in schools; first (basic) I III grades for children aged 6 7 up to 10 years, where one teacher is teaching (except for foreign language, music, and physical training); the second IV VII grades for children aged 9 10 to 13 14, where teachers are teaching different subjects (European Commission, 2019).

of preschool education an early observation and assessment of the child’s readiness for school is conducted; Primary school identifies specific learning difficulties, skills and abilities of pupils and creates a system of individual support; In the secondary school, pupils are prepared to make responsible decisions about their further learning and professional paths through providing access to information, advice, and guidance.

1) Comprehensive schools providing inclusive education;

2.1. Baseline study: Best Practices of Secondary School Inclusive Education in Poland

Of particular interest to our study is the first stage of elementary education (primary school) and training of a teacher for work in the conditions of inclusive education. It has been found that pupils with special educational needs can attend different types of institutions of general secondary education:

2) Integration classes based on comprehensive schools;

3) Special schools for the blind and visually impaired, deaf children and those with hearing impairments, children with mental or physical disabilities, sick children (these schools are located in hospitals);

At this stage of the study, it was found that a consistent model of education was introduced in the Republic of Poland, which is regulated by the Law on the Right to Education of 2016 (Planipolic, 2017). This model applies to every pupil at all stages of education and involves the implementation of the following pedagogical conditions:Inthesystem

The study of regulatory legal documents on the modern educational system in the Republic of Poland (Planipolic, 2017) makes it possible to conclude that the main principle of education is a creation of didactic situations which are supposed to enhance the inclusion of pupils with special educational needs, their development, the expansion of contacts with coevals and participation in the life of school community.

4) Centers for children and youth with social disorientation. Parents are responsible for choosing a school for a child, including a child with a disability (European Commission, 2019) Referring to the scientific researches of the Polish scholars Kulesza and Gosk (2015), Ober, Twardowski, and Pierson (2015) and others, we investigate the peculiarities of the development of staff capacity for work in the system of inclusive education. In the Republic of Poland, systemic teacher training for working with children and adolescents with disabilities began in the 1920s. The initiator of its introduction was the educator and psychologist Maria Grzegorzewska, and in 1922, such outstanding educators as Józef Joteyko, Janusz Korczak, Janina Doroszewska, Khalina Jankowska, and Natalie Khan Ilkevich taught the students of the State Institute of Special Education which was created by her initiative. Gradually, in 1970 the institute received the status of a professional college, which made it possible to implement Master’s Programs from 1973. In 1976, the college was transformed into the Higher School of Special Education named after Maria Grzegorzewska (Wyższa Szkoła Pedagogiki Specjalnej im Marii Grzegorzewskiej). In 1989, this educational institution received the right to award Doctorate in Pedagogy. The next step was the transformation of the higher school into a university (2000) the Academy of Special Pedagogy named after Maria Grzegorzewska (Akademia Pedagogiki Specjalnej im. Marii Grzegorzewskiej). At the present stage, the Academy is the leading institution of higher education in the Republic of Poland, which provides training for work in the inclusive education system.

An analysis of the Academy’s website indicates that there are many educational programs related to the education of pupils with special needs, such as Therapeutic Education, Pedagogical Therapy, Integration, and Inclusive Therapy, Pedagogy of Re socialization, etc. for the training of teachers and assistant teachers who work with pupils with intellectual, visual, auditory, speech, physical impairment, emotional and behavioural disorders at different stages of education. Students are trained to work both in comprehensive schools and in special education centres. Future specialists for social prevention, family support, culture and education services; adult continuous education systems; employment counselling services, etc. are trained using social pedagogy programs. In our opinion, a program on psychology and pedagogy of creativity, which is designed to train teachers for non standard types of educational activities with children is interesting. The artistic education program in the field of fine arts is of particular interest, which also refers to the training of teachers for work in the system of inclusive education since art performs not only aesthetic but also therapeutic and rehabilitation function (The Maria Grzegorzewska University, 2017).

Teacher training for primary education, including work in the inclusive education system, is implemented on the basis of the Faculty of Education and Psychology of the Maria Curie Skłodowska University (Uniwersytet Marii Curie Skłodowskiej) in Lublin. The Faculty participates in the European Primary Teacher Education (EPTE) International Cooperation Project. In addition to Maria

We consider that the model of training of primary school teachers for work in the system of inclusive education is an algorithm for planning and implementing the abovementioned process and covers four blocks, which reflect the interaction of structural and functional components of vocational training (Figure 2). We further present an overview of the blocks of the above model in detail.

There is also an educational program in Education and Therapy for both Polish and foreign students at the university. The objective of the program is to acquire the skills necessary to help people with disabilities to reveal their potential. The acquired competencies allow graduates to work in the fields of rehabilitation, education, professional development, employment, leisure and to cooperate effectively with people with disabilities, their families, social workers, educators, psychologists, physiotherapists, and other specialists to include people with special needs in social life. Studying under this program, which combines the study of general problems of psychology and special education with studies on inclusion, early intervention, and rehabilitation makes it possible to acquire the necessary practical skills for conducting therapeutic and rehabilitation activities with children, adolescents and adults with intellectual disabilities, limited mobility, visual and hearing impairment, chronic diseases and mental disorders (UMCS, n.d.a).

Curie Skłodowska University, the project participants are students and lecturers from the universities of Austria, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, and Slovenia. With the support of the Erasmus Foundation, Polish students as members of an international student group have the opportunity to study during the semester at one of the partner universities that implement EPTE. The curriculum consists of six subject modules that are taught in English: Pedagogy and Didactics, Multilingual and Intercultural Education, Society, Culture and Education, Mathematics, Natural and Social Sciences and Art (UMCS, n.d.b).

2.2. Description of the model For developing a pedagogical model for training primary school teachers for work in an inclusive education system, the work of Smantser and Ignatovitch (2015) is valuable to our study, who examine the teacher’s training model for work in the inclusive educational environment and understand it as a set of interrelated components: regulatory and legal, motivational and objective, content and informational, operational and technological, organizational and planning, emotional and volitional, evaluative and reflexive, productive and corrective.

The block of values and objectives relies on the purpose and objectives of vocational training, as well as the value orientations of a teacher. The purpose of vocational training is to form the readiness of the primary school teacher for work in inclusive education, and the task is to direct the teacher to the implementation of inclusive education, to urge its motives and values; to ensure the acquisition of knowledge about the essence of inclusion and skills for its implementation in the process of training of primary school pupils; facilitate teacher’s acquisition of practical experience in the implementation of inclusive education.

assessmentEvaluation& •tools and procedures to measures the progress in competencies and learning outcomes

Productive

•high level of readiness of a junior school teacher for work in the system of inclusive education

•objective and tasks of vocational training; •values and orientations of a teacher (towards a pupil, pupil group and teaching staff, parents) Theorypracticesbestandrelated

Figure 2: The model of training a primary school teacher for work in the system of inclusive education

•assimilation of the main provisions of inclusive education, awareness of its objective, concept, content, structure and strategies;

The formation of a primary school teacher’s values and orientations is particularly significant in the process of vocational training. Polish explorers Cyran, Kudláček, Block, Malinowska Lipień and Zyznawska (2017) identified positive and negative teacher’s sets when working with the inclusive class.

•mastering of new approaches for their implementation in the process of learning;

•acquisition of new specialisations related to pedagogical activity for work with different categories of pupils proceduralbasedContentand

•pedagogical conditions of forming the readiness of a junior school teacher for work in the system of inclusive education; •scientific and organisational support for the implementation of pedagogical conditions

The negative sets are the following: inclusion of pupils with disabilities will impede the planning and preparation of lessons, reduce the quality of teaching, Value objectiveand

The following are among the positive ones: the inclusion of pupils with disabilities will encourage other pupils to learn about people with disabilities, help them learn how to interact with them, help them, show tolerance, and, in turn, pupils with disabilities will experience a dynamic personal development: self esteem will be enhanced, a sense of group membership will be formed.

1) value orientations towards a pupil: the development of pupil as a personality ability to gain knowledge and skills, support of pupils’ optimism, ability to apply for help and provide it;

4) value orientations towards parents: readiness for interaction (openness to propositions, communicativeness, tolerance, and faith in their children’s success, Wehonesty).consider the above classification as meaningful and expedient since it reflects the interaction of all subjects of inclusive education children, parents, and teachers.

3) value orientations towards the educational staff of the educational institution: responsibility, readiness to work in a team (ability to accept constructive criticism, to help others, to give advice, to show mutual trust);

Other Polish scholars express a similar view, in particular, Przybylska and Wajsprych (2018), emphasise that educational practice must be adapted to the requirements and expectations of the social environment. Summarizing the thoughts of scholars, we note that the professional training of primary school teachers for work in the system of inclusive education requires the mastering of new approaches for their implementation in the educational process. For example, to develop religious tolerance and respect for refugees and their cultures, the scholars advise applying a hermeneutic approach in the process of teacher training, which consists in the assimilation of a new model of inclusive education

retard the educational progress of other pupils, and in turn, pupils with disabilities will feel discriminated against (Cyran et al., 2017). In our view, teachers’ awareness of both positive and negative attitudes in the process of working with different categories of pupils will help him learn (HOW) to regulate his emotional state, maintain a balance between the internal state and external circumstances.

2) value orientations towards a pupils’ group: the development of the class as a community, in which the needs of others are noticed, the respect for diversity, the feelings of collectivism are manifested, mutual assistance is rendered;

Polish scholar Kijak (2017a, 2017b) identifies teacher’s value orientations in the process of work in the system of inclusive education and divides them into the following groups:

The theory and best practices related block provides for the assimilation of the main provisions of inclusive education by a primary school teacher. The opinion of the Polish researcher Szpak (2017) that the introduction of inclusive education requires significant changes, firstly, in thinking, that is, an awareness of the objective of education, which consists in transforming the educational system which responds to the diverse needs of students and their provision, as well as revealing of individual potential of every pupil. Secondly, the changes in the content, concept, structure, and strategies of education are required to be made.

The authors found that the level of professional development of teachers in the Republic of Poland and the personal attitude to inclusion (BOTH) influence the effectiveness of its implementation. The researchers point out that the concept of inclusion is not fully implemented in the educational process, while integrative learning dominates. Given the above, the first pedagogical condition is defined as the formation of the system of motives and values of a future primary school teacher, aimed at the implementation of inclusive education. The second pedagogical condition is the teacher’s acquisition of a system of knowledge about the essence of inclusion and the peculiarities of its introduction into the process of teaching primary school pupils.

For effective theoretical and methodological training, a future teacher should acquire new specializations related to the pedagogical activity. Scholars Kulesza and Gosk (2015) give examples of such specialisations as speech therapy, deaf and dumb pedagogy, blind pedagogy, and others, that should be mastered by a future teacher for work with different categories of pupils.

In the justification of the third and fourth pedagogical conditions, we rely on the Decree of the Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Poland dated January 17, 2012, regarding the standards of teacher training (ISAP, 2012).

The content and procedural block reflect the pedagogical conditions for the formation of a primary school teacher’s readiness for work in the system of inclusive education, as well as scientific and organizational support for their implementation. While distinguishing and justifying the first two pedagogical conditions, we rely on the studies of Starczewska, Hodkinson and Adams (2012).

The document focuses on the importance of practical teacher training for working with pupils, including pupils with special educational needs. For this, the teacher needs the ability to develop and adjust curricula to the needs and abilities of pupils; to individualize tasks, to choose methods and content of training; to conduct individual educational activities for pupils with special educational needs. When summarising the thoughts of the predecessors, Przybyszewska (2014) emphasises the role of a teacher in creating the conditions for the development of each pupil, the selection of material and methods of work for pupils, the formation of tolerance in them, the motivation for learning and creation of opportunities for cooperative interaction between children. Therefore, the third pedagogical condition is determined to be the development of the teacher’s skills necessary for the implementation of inclusive education, and the fourth is the acquisition by a teacher of practical experience in the implementation of inclusive education

While determining the scientific and organizational support for the implementation of the pedagogical conditions for the formation of the readiness of a primary school teacher for work in the system of inclusive education, we use the work of Kulesza and Gosk (2015), who propose the following measures:

a supra confessional, pluralistic, open to becoming acquainted with other systems of religions and beliefs. Scientists Kulesza and Gosk (2015) consider it necessary for a teacher to incorporate the dialogic approach, which is realized through the following stages: acquaintance with a pupil with special needs, understanding his needs and interaction with him.

Table 1: Demographics

participating

CIPGPE, �� ± ��, % SSPU, �� ± ��, % p value Gender M 26.2 55.9 �� <0001 F 73.8 44.1 Teachers 82.9 93.1 0.108lecturersUniversity 17.1 9.9 (years)experienceWorking < 10 13 20 0.21910 to 20 years 23 24 <20 years 12 8

2.3. Sample of the experts participating in the evaluation Nineteen experts were randomly involved to participate in the evaluation of the model of primary school teachers training for work in the system of inclusive education based on best practices adopted to form the education system in the Republic of Poland. The experiment involved 254 teachers who attended the in service training course and 27 lecturers at the Chernivtsi Institute of Post Graduate Pedagogical Education (CIPGPE) and the Sumy State Pedagogical University, named after Anton Makarenko (SSPU) (see Table 1). The working experience of 47% of sampled people was more than 10 years, the working experience of 33% of volunteers was up to 10 years; the teaching experience of the rest of experts (20%) was longer than 20 years. 28% of them were qualified as “teacher methodologists”. 83% of lecturers were the holders of a scientific degree (Dr or Ph.D.) in Pedagogics. of experts in the evaluation

The evaluation block addresses tools and procedures to measures the progress in students’ competencies and learning outcomes so that the necessary adjustments could be made to the model. The productive block reflects the high level of readiness of a primary school teacher for work in the system of inclusive education. Kijak (2017a) sees the results of the teacher’s readiness in the ability to diagnose the needs and abilities of pupils and consider diagnosing as a continuous process; to develop individual educational programs, adapt them to the needs of individual pupils; to introduce new forms and methods of work; to evaluate pupils applying an individual approach.

361 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. independent choice of specializations and subjects; study of domestic and foreign sources, regulatory and legal documentation on inclusive education; own scientific researches; participation in pedagogical workshops and internships. The scholars suggest the administration and faculty to increase the number of practical classes on the methods of pupil assessment to be attended by students, methods of conducting seminars to be attended by parents; monitor the labour market and enhance the work of the Graduates Employment Unit.

The

Factors Respondents Yes TSE No Total ꭓ2 �� Theoretical valuemethodologicaland Teachers 159 72 23 254 44.36 3 <0.05Lecturers 23 4 0 27 21.87 1 appropriatenessProcedural Teachers 144 67 42 253 49.73 2 <005 Lecturers 22 4 1 27 19.91 1 relevanceenvironmentInclusive Teachers 139 68 47 254 44.07 2 <005Lecturers 19 7 1 27 8.34 1 Willingness to use it Teachers 214 25 15 254 43.39 7 <0.05 Lecturers 25 1 1 27 21.22 1 The results

Table 2: Results

be seen, about

The expert evaluation questionnaire comprised of 38 questions. There were multiple choice and open ended questions. They covered respondents’ demographics, working in the field, beliefs and attitudes, instructional intentions, theory, and methodology. Two experienced experts were involved in piloting the validation and review of the questionnaire. After the amendments have been made, the internal reliability of the questionnaire was measured with Cronbach’s Alpha Formula. The reliability score was 0.93 which was appropriate for this field of study (Bolarinwa, 2015; Solans Domènech, Pons, Adam, Grau & Aymerich, 2019).

were

The SPSS Software (version 20) was used to analyse the data. The multiple choice questions that were based on a five point Likert scale were analysed using means and standard deviations. The data drawn from the open ended questions were analysed using frequency distributions. Social Science Statistics (n.d.) was employed to compare attitude score differences between the respondents’ categories. A Chi square test was used for the computation of the data between the groups of respondents. P value of ��<0.05 was considered sufficient.

3. Results

in terms of identifying the advantages and disadvantages of

The outcome of this study was the model of vocational training of primary school teachers for work in the system of inclusive education that was based on best practices of training for working in this instructional environment in Poland (see Fig 2). The model consisted of five blocks. Those blocks were values and objectives, theoretical and methodological, content and procedural, evaluation and productive. The model might be used as a continuous cycle, every time being adjusted to meet stricter regulatory or educational requirements. The model is flexible and easily integrated into teacher vocational training. The effectiveness of the model can be monitored and measured by the progression of students in target competencies and learning outcomes. results of the evaluation of the model by experts in Pedagogics are presented in Table 2. of the evaluation of the model by experts of the evaluation of the model by experts suggestive the model. can

2.4. Instruments

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. a quarter of experts were hesitant about its theoretical and methodological value, inclusive environment relevance, and procedural appropriateness. However, the majority expressed willingness to use it which indicated that the experts could either use it as it was or modify it to meet their purpose.

The results of the study suggest that the developed model with the criterion and diagnostic block to determine and measure the criteria with the indicators of the levels of readiness of a primary school teacher for work in the system of inclusive education, as well as the reflexive and corrective for teacher’s self assessment of the level of readiness and self correction. It is, however, necessary to take into account the domestic experience of the introduction of inclusive education and the development of its staffing. In this regard, a comparative analysis of the Polish and Ukrainian experience in this field is advisable.

4. Discussion

Based on the study of legal documents and scientific works of Polish scholars, a pedagogical model of training primary school teachers for work in the system of inclusive education was developed. The proposed model is a benchmark for the process of professional training and consists of four blocks: value and objective (objective and tasks of vocational training, teacher values and orientations), theory and best practices related (main provisions of inclusive education, new approaches to the learning process, acquisition of new specializations), content based and procedural (pedagogical conditions of forming the readiness of primary school teachers for work in the system of inclusive education, as well as

This study goes in line with our literature review findings and contributes to the study of the theory and methods vocational training of primary school teachers for work in the system of inclusive education. First, the study broadened previous studies dedicated realising the values of inclusive education in teacher training (Ozel, Ganesan, Daud, Darusalam & Ali, 2018; You, Kim & Shin, 2019). It was found that more experienced instructors tended to acknowledge the influence of inclusive education on socialisation, self efficacy, cognitive development of children with disabilities. We share the point of view of the Polish scholar Szpak (2017), who emphasises that the effective realisation of the goals of inclusive education should be based on the integrated training of teachers, obtaining the necessary qualifications and competencies. However, as the researcher rightly observes, teachers are not the only link in the development of an inclusive school but are only part of a wider system. In our view, the presented model of training primary school teachers for work in the system of inclusive education by applying extrapolation of Poland’s advances in training for work will promote the development of a personal pedagogical trajectory by the teacher, the formation of an individual style of the pedagogical activity, and the creation of an inclusive educational environment. Together with the introduction of this model, the experts articulated two challenges that the teachers are supposed to meet. Those were as follows: first, adjusting to a new role (Durlak & DuPre, 2008), second, establishing enhanced colleague cooperation (Fullan, 2014).

5. Conclusions

ISAP. (2012). Rozporzadzenie Ministra Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyzszego z dnia 17 stycznia 2012 r. w sprawie standardów ksztalcenia przygotowujacego do wykonywania zawodu nauczyciela [Ordinance minister of science and higher educationof 17 January2012 on the standards of education preparing for the teaching profession]. Retrieved from http://prawo.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU20120000131

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367 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 367 383, March 2020 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.20

1. Introduction

While academics are often well prepared for research roles, many begin their teaching careers without any training in teaching (Brownell & Tanner, 2012; Kane, Sandretto, & Heath, 2002; Knight, 2002; Remmik, Karm, Haamer, & Lepp, 2011).

Abstract. This study aims to explore whether the increase in pedagogical training has had any effect on new teachers’ experiences. We consider first teaching experiences to be crucial for a teacher’s career and the development of the environment’s pedagogical culture. We hypothesised that even if new faculty begin their teaching career without any formal pedagogical training, due to the changed pedagogical culture within faculties,theyreceivemore supportfromtheircolleaguesthantheirpeers did 10 or 20 years ago. In this study, teachers with different amounts of teaching experience were asked to describe their first teaching experiences to get an overall picture of topical issues (Study A). Then, a larger sample was collected to shed more light on the assumed change in teaching cultures (Study B). According to the results, the majority (63.6%) of novice teachers with 0 to 4 years of teaching experience did not have pedagogical training. However, the amount of aid that novice teachers received from their colleagues was higher among those who had recently begun their careers compared to more experienced teachers, suggesting a change in teaching cultures. Novice teachers’ experience that teaching interferes with their research indicates that the changes in pedagogical culture are only partial, leaving the professional identity underdeveloped.

Keywords: new faculty; early career academics; pedagogical training; pedagogical culture; professional identity

Mari Murtonen TampereTampere,UniversityFinland

Change in University Pedagogical Culture –

Henna Vilppu University of Turku Turku, Finland

The classical work of Boice (1991) illustrated the problems of a novice teacher:

The Impact of Increased Pedagogical Training on First Teaching Experiences

there is no official help (e.g., education) to prepare for teaching, collegial support is mostly missing and teaching preparation takes too much work time. The absence of pedagogical guidance combined with limited time drives many new teachers to copy their former teachers’ style (Knight, 2002), despite believing that the style might not be the most effective way to teach or learn. This perpetuates a cycle wherein new teachers reproduce a pedagogical culture that does not help their students, who will later become the next generation of teachers.

The first teaching task may come at short notice, but it may also be a surprise to doctoral students who have been recruited as researchers, without a notion of teaching tasks in the contract. Thus, they might not be aware that working at a university usually includes teaching. Therefore, changes in their conceptions concerning a researcher’s job are needed. It is also possible that some academics aiming for a research career deliberately do not consider teaching to be part of their professional identity (Brownell & Tanner, 2012). Therefore, change may be necessary regarding the personal conception of professional identity, which may not be easy (Vermunt, Vrikki, Warwick, & Mercer, 2017). Insufficient training, time and incentives are the traditional obstacles to a cultural change in pedagogy, but Brownell and Tanner (2012) suggested that professional identity is also a crucial factor. This study explores how new Finnish university teachers experienced the beginning of their teaching careers, what identity related assumptions they had about a teacher’s job and whether there can be seen any change in the culture compared to their more experienced peers.

Pedagogical culture in the university Universities have been for some time and still are in some countries (such as Finland), educational institutes where one can teach without any formal teacher training. This convention harkens back to the Humboldtian tradition, according to which education happens through taking part in research (e.g., Simons, 2006).

Teachers are seen as qualified to teach because they are experts in research (Gillespie & Robertson, 2010, pp. 9 10). It is questionable whether the Humboldtian model has ever actually existed in universities (e.g., Robertson, 2007), but it is clear that the massification of higher education has set barriers for the execution of the Humboldtian ideal (Simons & Elen, 2007). When a university crams hundreds of students into a lecture hall to make teaching more cost efficient, this might hamper the teacher’s aim to provide them with education through Currently,research.thereis an urgent need to modernise higher education and improve the quality of teaching (e.g., European Commission, 2016; Hanbury, Prosser, & Rickinson, 2008). University teacher development programmes have become increasingly more organised over the past 40 years (Chalmers & Gardiner, 2015). In some European countries, such as Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom, pedagogical training of university teachers is mandatory (Chalmers & Gardiner, 2015; Gibbs & Coffey, 2004). In many countries, however, attending pedagogical training is still voluntary. In Finland, pedagogical traininghas been systematically organised in its current form since the mid 1990s. Currently, all Finnish universities offer pedagogical courses up to 60 European Credit Transfer and

Accumulation System (ECTS) credits for their teachers, but in few universities are these studies obligatory, and if they are, only 10 to 25 ECTS credits are required (Murtonen & Ponsiluoma, 2014). The problem with pedagogical courses is that they are often available only for those staff members who already teach at the university, leaving out doctoral students. Thus, these students begin their teaching careers without pedagogical training.

While formal support such as pedagogical training is often missing, there are possibilities for new teachers to receive collegial support regarding pedagogical questions. Help and emotional support from other teachers at the critical moment could at least partly cover the need for pedagogical training. Research, however, shows that spontaneous collegial support is not typical, and, instead, the lack of collegial support has been an integral part of academic life (e.g., Cipriano& Buller, 2012). According to Sorcinelli (1988), new faculty reported a lack of collegial relations as the most surprising and disappointing aspect of their first year.

Further, in a study by Ambrose, Huston and Norman (2005), over one third of the faculty members felt unsupported by their colleagues and the institution.

Recent studies show that collegial support is highly valued and desired by new faculty, and it is also a remarkable factor in their success (Clarke & Reid, 2013; Stupnisky, Weaver Hightower, & Kartoshkina, 2015). Pedagogical training emphasises the role of collegial collaboration and thus aims to foster the development of a pedagogical culture. Pedagogical courses may help in creating communities of practice that enable university teachers to contemplate and discuss their teaching with colleagues and reduce academic isolation (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Remmik et al., 2011).

While repeating the old teaching culture without any pedagogical reflection may be problematic (Knight, 2002), more experienced teachers can also serve as positive role models. Oleson and Hora (2014) pointed out that teachers should acknowledge and build upon older faculty’s cultural knowledge regarding students’ learning as well as their disciplinary understanding of the values, codes of conduct and epistemological views in the domain.

First teaching experience and professional identity Similar to students’ first year experiences, which are crucial for the success of their studies (Naylor, Baik, & Arkoudis, 2018), early career academics’ experiences are essential for their careers (Hollywood, McCarthy, Spencely & Winstone, 2019). University teachers’ careers can begin in numerous ways. One of the most common is when a doctoral candidate who has been recruited for a research project is asked to teach. Sometimes, the first teaching assignment can be assigned suddenly, and thus time and help with preparation may be limited. Novice teachers at the university often hold a double role, since as doctoral students, they are still studying (e.g., Remmik, Karm, & Lepp, 2013). This double role of a teacher and a student may cause extra tension and confusion regarding which group they belong. Further, it may create problems in relationships and communication within the faculty (Åkerlind & McAlpine, 2010). The novice teachers’ conceptions about the job as a faculty member may not match the reality, which may cause

Aim of the study In this study, we conceptualise pedagogical culture to include both teachers’ perceived support and their professional identities (Figure 1). Perceived support includes organised pedagogical training, receiving any other type of help and allocating adequate time to prepare the first teaching task. We assume that if the pedagogical culture changes, these factors will increase (i.e., better trained

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. tensions in the workplace. Further, throughout the early stages of the academic career, university teachers might find that a teaching role conflicts with their other goals, such as being an excellent researcher and working towards one’s career in the higher education sector (e.g., Fanghanel & Trowler 2008; Wosnitza, Helker, & Lohbeck, 2014). University reward systems may also have an impact on this issue. The perceived value of teaching recognition seems to remain overshadowed by research accomplishments (Alpay & Verschoor, 2014).

Being a new university teacher is emotionally and motivationally demanding (cf. Rodriguez & Mogarro, 2019). Learning to teach appears to include more than learning the subject matter, pedagogical content knowledge, theories of teaching and learning, and skills to turn that into practice; rather, it is an identity making process (Beijaard, 2019). To build a strong teaching identity, teachers must deliberately develop their teaching skills and role among the faculty (van Eekelen, Boshuizen, & Vermunt, 2005). They may avoid teaching tasks because they doubt their abilities as a teacher, which may manifest as low motivation or poor self esteem. Teachers’ self efficacy beliefs about their teaching capabilities may vary according to the discipline (Lindblom Ylänne, Trigwell, Nevgi, & Ashwin, 2006), but there is also individual variation. Teachers may think that they are not capable of teaching for innate reasons (i.e., that they were not born to be a teacher). Pedagogical guidance helps a teacher to understand that teaching is a skill that can be developed, not an innate trait. Also, building motivation to teach is very important; for example, if a researcher has not considered teaching to be part of his or her Sometimes,work.theteacher identity can be missing from the researcher’s professional identity, causingfriction when a researcher is asked to teach. Further, the scientific community or ‘tribes’ within academia may even act negatively towards its members’ intentions to develop teaching skills (Becher & Trowler, 2001; Brownell & Tanner, 2012). This kind of negativity is a sign of an academic culture that does not value teaching very highly. Additionally, the entire university may hold practices that do not foster the development of pedagogical culture, such as not crediting teaching qualifications in the recruitment processes. It is peculiar that universities boast high quality teaching, but at the same time, teaching jobs are often short term. Cross and Goldenberg (2009) found in their study that nobody seemed to know which members of faculty taught undergraduates or what their employment arrangements were. Thus, it appears that the university teachers form a heterogeneous group, and little is known regarding the quality of teaching that students receive due to a lack of pedagogical qualification requirements. A short term job may also negatively affect teachers’ motivations and opportunities to develop their pedagogical skills.

371 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. teachers, a more supportive environment and more time to prepare first teaching tasks). Professional identity is conceptualised as professional pre identity views, knowledge about teaching duties in advance and considerations about the research teaching nexus in one’s work. We claim that if academic culture changes towards a more pedagogically positive one, new teachers would be better aware of teaching tasks in advance, and they would not see teaching as interfering with research.

To study possible changes in Finnish university teaching culture, university teachers’ early career experiences were explored. A multidisciplinary sample was gathered, consisting of teachers with various amounts of teaching experience to detect a possible change in teaching culture. Since there are no recent studies on Finnish university teachers’ experiences, we first conducted a small scale qualitative study (Study A) to obtain a deeper understanding of the topical issues. Then, a larger scale study with a bigger sample size (Study B) was executed to receive quantitative information on the central topics. The research questions of the studies were:

(1) Are Finnish teachers’ first teaching experiences in line with earlier international results showing problems with both received help and professional identity towards teaching? (Study A)

Figure 1: Elements of pedagogical culture and hypothesised impact of increased pedagogical training on it

c. Are there disciplinary differences in pedagogical cultures?

2. Materials and methods

In Study B, the same faculties but different units were selected. We administered a questionnaire to the teaching personnel of 12 units. Since we assumed that a general e mail would result in a meagre response rate, we approached the teachers via paper mail. We searched for the contact information of each unit’s teaching personnel through internet pages and addressed each member of the staff an envelope with the person’s name on it, which included a questionnaire and return envelope. Teaching personnel included anyone with the title of professor, lecturer or researcher, even though we did notknow whether they were teaching or if they were even present in the unit at the moment. We received a total of 171 answers. The response rate varied between 19% and 64% in the units, with a mean response of 32%. Taking into account that all of those who were sent a questionnaire were possibly not working at the moment, we assume the real response rate to be higher.

To study teachers’ first teaching experiences over time, we conducted a cross sectional retrospective study. The sample consisted of teachers with various amounts of teaching experience who were asked to retrospectively think about the time when they started as teachers. In retrospective research, the researcher looks backwards in time to explain differences between the past and current situation (Johnson, 2001). This study aimed to see if there are differences between the teachers who began their careers much earlier and novices. The target group for this study was teachers at one middle sized Finnish university. A sample of five faculties out of a possible seven was selected for this study: humanities, mathematics and natural sciences, medicine, law and social sciences.

b. Is there a change in teachers’ professional identities, indicating an increase in the value of pedagogy?

Setting, samples and data gathering

(2) Has the pedagogical culture changed due to increased pedagogical training? (Study B) a. Is there a change in received support in terms of training, received help and increased time to prepare the first teaching task?

For Study A, one or two middle size departments or units wereselected from each faculty, for a total of eight units. In each unit, an informant was selected who had participated in university teacher pedagogical training. A snowball sampling method was used. The informants were contacted, asked to participate in the study and requested to recruit at least five colleagues in their unit to join. This procedure was implemented to motivate the teachers to participate and to receive better answer rates. The informants were instructed to select both novice and experienced teacher colleagues, as well as those who were pedagogically trained and untrained. Contact information for 53 teachers, including the informants, was received. A total of 36 responses were received via e mail or post, resulting in a response rate of 68%.

In Study A, the participants were sent a questionnaire consisting of a motivation letter, consent form, background questions about teaching experience and pedagogical training (in ECTS credits) and open ended questions about their first teaching experience. The question concerningsupport in pedagogical culture was: How much time and help did you receive for preparing your first teaching task? The questions concerning their professional identity were: How did your job as a university teacher begin? Did you consider working as a teacher a career option before your first teaching post? Did your first teaching task come as a surprise; why? The notions of having/not having enough time, receiving/not receiving help and what kind of help, teaching as a surprise/not surprise and teaching as a career choice/not a career choice were classified and quantified from the data. The descriptive results and excerpts depicting the topics are presented in the results Insection.Study

B, a questionnaire was formulated based on the results of Study A. The open ended questions were replaced with multiple choice questions concerning the topics from Study A that were found to be relevant to the teachers. For the question regarding whether or not the teacher received help, the options yes and no were given. If the respondent chose yes, they were then asked to check any of the following three statements: a) I got previous teachers’ materials (e.g., slides). b) My colleagues advised me and discussed with me about pedagogy. c) Faculty/department leaders offered me formal support (e.g., pedagogical training). For the question regarding if they were given time to prepare for their first teaching experience, the options yes or no were provided. There was space to clarify the answer. The professional identity had three questions: 1) My first teaching task started because a) the task was offered to me, b) I applied for the task, c) teaching was part of my researcher task or d) some other reason, what? 2) My first teaching task: a) was not a surprise for me, b) was a positive surprise for me or c) was a negative surprise for me. 3) Choose the claim that suits you best: a) My teaching interferes with my research. b) My research interferes with my teaching. c) Teaching and research support each other in my work. The quantitative data were analysed with IBM SPSS Statistics 25 (IBM, Armonk, NY). Since most of the examined variables were categorical, cross tabulations and Chi Square tests were used to analyse the data

3. Results Received support in Study A

Research instruments and data analysis

Voluntary participation, informed consent, and anonymity of the participants were ensured in the research process. The study did not involve intervention in the physical integrity of the participants, deviation from informed consent, studying children under the age of 15 without parental consent, exposure to exceptionally strong stimuli, causing long term mental harm beyond the risks of daily life, or risking participants' security (cf. Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity, 2019). Consequently, this study did not require a Finnish ethics review.

By examining the respondents’ pedagogical training (Table 1), we can conclude that in this sample, the old convention persists that only some novice teachers received pedagogical training (two out of six). Altogether, 69% of the teachers had pedagogical training. The teachers with 5 14 years of teaching experience were

374 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. the most educated in this sample; they all had pedagogical training, and seven of them had earned the full 60 ECTS credits. Almost half of the teachers with over 15 years of teaching experience had no pedagogical training. This sample suggests that the most experienced and most novice teachers had the least pedagogical training. Table 1: Teaching experience in relation to pedagogical training and earned study credits (0–60 ECTS credits; Study A) Teaching Experience (Years) 0 4 (n = 6) 5 9 (n = 5) 10 14 (n = 8) 15 19 (n = 9) (20+ n = 8) (Total N = 36) Pedagogical training, n ECTS(%) credits, M ± SD 2 38(33%)±32 5 50(100%)±22 8 34(100%)±22 6 25(67%)±19 4 (50%) 9 ± 5 25 (69%) 32 ± 24

When asked if they had received help for their first teaching half of the teachers (n = 18) reported that they did not receive any support for their first teaching experience at the university. A teacher with 15 years of teaching experience wrote: “I suddenly got an assistant position for a short period (they called me home and asked if I could take the job), and I had almost no time at all to prepare the teaching that began right away. I did not get any help, so the teaching was quite laborious.” (T25)

task,

Three teachers reported that they received some old materials from the previous lecturers but no any other kind of help. According to a teacher who had worked for 11 years: “When I started as a lecturer, I got previous lecturers’ materials to use or at least to look. Based on those, I built my courses. You cannot teach someone else’s materials, but it is extremely valuable to see what contents the other teachers had. Now we have the unspoken principle at our unit: you always give the materials to your successors or deputies.” (T3)

The excerpt above indicates that the teacher thinks the pedagogical culture has changed because now there is a principle of giving materials to successors. However, fewer than half (n = 15, 42%) of the teachers reported receiving collegial support or some other kind of helpin addition tomaterials. Teachers with 11 years (T26) and 22 years (T16) of teaching experience wrote: “I got help with preparing the teaching because it is a custom in our work community to help colleagues, and usually a new teacher gets guidance and materials to use.” (T26) “I didn’t get any official help for carrying our teaching, but I got lots of collegial support. Those with teaching experience gave me advice and helped in preparing lectures.” (T16)

When the participants were asked about the time available for preparing the first teaching session, seven teachers (19%) raised this as an issue, writing that they hadnot had enough time. A teacherwith 28 years of teaching experience reported: “After graduation, I applied for a teacher position, and I was selected. It came as a surprise in the sense that I had never thought during my education that I would be a teacher… There was no time for preparation; the courses (420 hours teaching per year) started right away. I was given a previous lecturer’s folder containing materials.” (T27) Professional identity in Study A

When we asked the teachers whether the first teaching task was a surprise to them, over one third of the teachers (n = 13, 36%) reported that it was. A teacher with 35 years of teaching experience wrote: “I suddenly got a deputy post (of an assistant professor) to carry out. I started a substantial preparation; I had to do two lecture series, seminars for them and examinations based on books. I got hardly any time to do it. However, I survived that half a year without any significant damages. Hardly any help for all this was available.” (T23)

The three excerpts above show that the first teaching task was a surprise in a sense that it came suddenly, they did not apply for it, and they might not have ever thought of being a teacher. The participants were also directly asked whether they had ever considered being a teacher before they received their teaching job. Out of the 36 teachers, 26 (72.2%) replied that they had thought of becoming a teacher one day, whereas for 10 (27.8%) of the teachers, it had never been a career aspiration. Five of the 10 wrote that they wanted to be researchers without a teaching role. Many of the teachers who had been interested in a teaching career explained that it had been their career aspiration from childhood or that they had family members who were teachers. Thus, the idea of being a teacher was familiar to them. They stated their awareness that a researcher position would include teaching, and some had deliberately sought a teaching role:

Some teachers were surprised because they did not think teaching would be part of a researcher’s job, as a teacher with two years of teaching experience wrote: “When I graduated as a master, I was immediately hired as a doctoral student. There was no information (e.g., when the contract was signed) that the job would include teaching. I got to know about this only when the job had already begun… The teaching obligation was a shock for me; I never thought I could be a teacher. I wanted to be a researcher.” (T18)

The notion of official help can refer to, for example, organised support by the department or pedagogical training offered by the university. None of the teachers mentioned receiving this type of support before their first teaching task.

“I did not want to be a teacher but a researcher. I considered a researcher’s job to be much more exciting and more suitable for myself.” (T12)

Table 2: Teaching experience in relation to received support and professional identity (Study B) Pedagogical Culture Teaching Experience (Years) 0 4 (n =55) 5 9 (n =32) 10 14 (n =29) 15 19 (n =19) (20+ n =36) (Total N 171)= Received Support Pedagogical training (%) ECTS credits (M ± SD) 3936.4± 37 2159.4± 20 3462.1± 21 4757.9± 25 4340.0± 29 3648.2± 28

Received support in Study B

“I did not consider teaching as a possibility. I aimed to be a researcher, particularly for the reason that I did not want to be a teacher. Being a teacher was unattractive to me because I thought it would require social and interactional capabilities that I felt I did not possess.” (T26)

“I was riveted to the research. Teaching has come on the side; you have to earn your salary from somewhere.” (T29) In Teacher 26’s answer, it can be seen that the teacher thought he/she might not have the required abilities to become a teacher. Teacher 12’s response could also be interpreted in this way. Thus, some of the teachers who were not interested in teaching had low self efficacy beliefs concerning teaching tasks. Lack of interest may also have been a cause, as in the case of Teacher 29.

“I have intentionally aimed to be a teacher. I didn’t just drift there alongside the research.” (T22) This quote mentions that it is possible at the university to drift into the role of a teacher. Some respondents confirmed that this could happen. Five respondents wrote that they wanted to do only research in their early years and did not want to teach at all:

The results of Study B (Table 2) were consistent with those of Study A in the sense that the percentage of pedagogically trained teachers was lowest for the groups with 0 4 years and over 20 years of experience. When comparing these novice (n = 55) and senior groups (n = 36) with the three intermediate groups (n = 80), the results show that the middle groups had more pedagogical training than novice and senior groups (χ2[2] = 8.49, p = .01). This difference means that the newcomers still lack training, but the situation for intermediate groups is much better than for seniors, indicating a possible change in pedagogical culture over time. However, upon examining the number of studied credit points (ECTS), we noticed a large number of credits among the novice teachers who had taken courses. There was no statistical difference among the experience groups in the number of studied credit points, which means that those who sought pedagogical training were equally active in each experience group.

Enough time to prepare for first teaching (%) 79.6 93.3 79.3 94.4 85.7 84.9

Received help (%) 78.2 68.8 51.7 57.9 38.9 61.4

Approximately two thirds (n = 109) of the teachers felt that their research and teaching complemented each other. When comparing the experience groups, novice teachers most often felt that their teaching interfered with research, while only a few of the senior teachers thought so. When comparing these two groups to the combination of the three intermediate experience groups, a statistical difference was found (χ2[4] = 15.25, p = .04). It is interesting to note that none of the novices and only one member of the intermediate group thought that research interfered with their teaching. In contrast, three respondents from the senior group felt so.

Professional Identity Teaching interferes with research (%) 42.3 26.7 33.3 22.2 12.1 29.4

Teaching was a surprise (%) 60.0 48.4 46.4 36.8 52.8 51.5 When examiningwhetherteachers receivedhelpat the beginningof their teaching careers, we found that novice teachers received the most support and senior teachers received the least (χ2[4] = 16.2, p < .01). This disparity indicates a change in pedagogical culture towards a more supportive environment. The help that the teachers reported included previous teachers’ materials (e.g., slides; 75.2%), advice from and discussions with colleagues (53.3%) and formal support from faculty/department leaders (e.g., pedagogical training; 4.8%). Thus, receiving previous materials seems to be the most typical, and only half received help through discussion with a colleague. Only five out of the total of 171 respondents stated that they had been offered some official support from the Thefaculty/department.majority(84.9%)

Professional identity in Study B In Study B, teaching was reported to be a surprise to about half of the teachers, indicating that universities are not successfully informing their future employees about their job duties. However, only 5% of the teachers stated that it was a negative surprise, whereas 46% felt it was a positive surprise. Thus, the number of respondents who felt disappointed was low. The participants were further asked how their first teaching task started. A total of 45% (n = 77) of the respondents answered that they had been offered the job, whereas 15% (n = 26) replied that they had applied for the job. A little over one third (n = 61, 36%) answered that their teaching task was inherent to the researcher position.

of the respondents felt that they had enough time to prepare for their first lesson, and there were no differences between the teaching experience groups. However, 25 teachers stated that they had not had enough time, so there is still concern regarding this factor in some cases.

Table 3: Disciplinary differences in received support and professional identity in Study B Pedagogical Culture Academic Discipline (sEconomic n = 49) (Law n = 13) (esHumaniti n = 15) ytechnologandScience( n = 60) (sciencesSocial n = 34) Received Support Pedagogical training (%) ECTS credits (M ± SD) 3351.0± 24 1946.2± 8 5280.0± 31 3240.7± 24 3844.1± 39 Received help (%) 65.3 7.7 73.3 66.7 61.8 Enough time to prepare for first teaching (%) 76.1 84.6 85.7 88.1 91.2 Professional Identity Teaching interferes with research (%) 29.5 15.4 8.3 34.5 33.3 Teaching was a surprise (%) 55.1 38.5 64.3 43.3 60.6 Discussion Based on the results of this study, it still seems to be typical for Finnish novice university teachers to teach without pedagogical training, since only slightly more than one third of them had taken any pedagogical courses. The situation was a bit better for respondents with 5 to 19 years of teaching experience, since about half of them had pedagogical training. The most experienced teachers (with over 20 years of teaching experience) had less training than the intermediate experience group, indicating that those who began their teaching careers earlier, when pedagogical training was not offered as frequently as it is now, are not as active as their younger colleagues in searching for training opportunities. Thus, there seems to be a slight positive effect due to the increase in the amount of pedagogical training available. We found no differences in the completed number of credit points between the teacher experience groups, meaning that those who have taken courses are equally active in each group in terms of how lengthy training they have participated.

Disciplinary differences Having pedagogical training was most common in the humanities, where 80% of the respondents had training (χ2[4] = 7.82, p < .01). This groupalso had more ECTS credits than any of the other faculties. Received support was cross tabulated with the faculty, and a statistically significant difference was found (χ2[4] = 17.74, p < .01). It seems that in the faculty of law, helping new teachers was not very common, but in other faculties, approximately half of the respondents reported receiving help (see Table 3). There were no differences between the faculties regarding how much time teachers were given to prepare for their first lesson or regarding teaching being a surprise. The research teaching nexus was also cross tabulated with faculty, but there were no statistically significant differences. However, Table 3 shows that in humanities and law, the respondents reported most rarely that teaching interfered research.

Although the pedagogical culture has not remarkably changed regarding ECTS credits, there was a notable difference in the experience of received support. While only about 40% of the senior teachers in Study B reported having help at the beginning of their teaching careers, almost 80% of the novice teachers stated that they had received support; the intermediate groups were between these two. Thus, we claim that the pedagogical culture has become more supportive over the last 20 years. The most typical form of help was receiving previous teacher’s materials (e.g., slides) as well as advice from and discussions with colleagues.

Based on the results of StudyA, a teaching taskcan be a surprise for many reasons:

1) the task comes suddenly, and there is little time between being notified and starting teaching, 2) teaching is assigned without applying (the novice teacher is proposed a teaching job for which they did not apply) and 3) the respondent never considered becoming a teacher and is astonished at the idea of being one. These three reasons can also coincide: some teachers reported that they never thought of becoming a teacher (reason 3), and they were asked to do a teaching job that they did not apply for (reason 2), which began immediately (reason 1). If these experiences are combined with the fact that no help is provided, it may cause that the teacher will feel helpless about the situation. In this type of situation, there is also the danger of merely copying previous practices without any deliberate development processes (i.e., ‘to teach in the way they were taught’; Oleson & Hora, 2014). In Study B, about half of all teachers reported that their teaching tasks came as a surprise, but only 5% felt negatively about this.

Some of the teachers in Study A expressed that some faculty were interested in having a research career without teaching duties. In contrast, others simply did not know that research work would include teaching tasks. Those who thought a research career without teachingwould suit themexplained that they felt insecure regarding their teaching skills (i.e., they had low self-efficacy beliefs; Lindblom Ylänne et al., 2006). Building a positive teacher identity when working at a university is thus an essential goal for staff development. Also, if teaching is considered necessary in the university, it should be valued and rewarded more highly to promote a stronger teaching culture (Alpay & Verschoor, 2014). Further, new faculty should be trained to combine research and teaching duties. In this study, novice teachers most often felt that teaching interfered with their research, which does not indicate a positive pedagogical culture. It might be that novices

What was worrying in this sample was that only 5% stated that their faculty or department had offered them official help. It appears that the amount of time allotted to preparing for teaching seems to be a marginal problem in this sample since only 15% felt that they did not have enough time. Further studies are needed in order to solve how teachers can be provided more time. Based on the conclusions above, the pedagogical culture in the form of received support (i.e. pedagogical training, received help and time to prepare forthe first teachingtask) seems tobe developingtowards a more positive one. Regarding professional pre identity views, such as knowledge about teaching duties in advance and the research teaching nexus in one’s work, development of the pedagogical culture was not so evident.

To study disciplinary differences, we compared the five faculties that participated. No remarkable differences were found, except in one faculty, where the received help was much lower than in the others. The number of the respondents in this faculty, however, was small, so this aspect requires further study. The strength of the current sample is that it came from many faculties, and teachers with different levels of teaching experience and pedagogical training participated. However, the limitation is that the response rate was quite low, and we cannot know if we reached all kind of teaching personnel. The retrospective method also requires caution in that teachers may not remember their experience clearly, especially if their first teaching experience took place long ago.

We are thankful for Elina Jakobsson, Annukka Tuomaala, Heidi Salmento, Pirjo Vahviala and Niko Aaltonen for helping with the data collection. We also want to thank all the teachers who participated in this study.

Declaration of interest statement The authors reported no potential conflict of interest.

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. are given more general teaching tasks that do not relate to their research area, causing a feeling of these two areas disrupting each other. In a recent study by Jääskelä, Häkkinen, & Rasku Puttonen (2017), many teachers reported having to work under a pressure whether to develop teaching or conducting research in their field. However, two thirds of the teachers in our sample felt that their research and teaching complemented each other. It could be that these teachers’ research interest and teaching area are thematically closer

5. Conclusions In this study, novice teachers experienced that they had received more help than senior teachers in the beginning of their teaching career at university, and intermediate teachers had more pedagogical training than senior teachers measured in credit points (ECTS). These results suggest that there has been a shift towards a more supportive pedagogical culture both in the forms of support received from colleagues and more formal university bodies, such as faculty or department leaders. However, many teachers, especially novice ones, are still lacking training and official help from their faculty or department. Also, professional identity measures indicate that new teachers are no better equipped for their job than their more experienced peers were since teaching was still a surprise for many. Novice teachers felt more than others that their teaching interfered with research, which means that the research teaching nexus is still problematic among teachers. Offering pedagogical training before the first teaching experience, for example in the doctoral studies phase, would prepare prospective teachers better for their job. Also, ensuring that all new teachers will be given opportunities for pedagogical development is crucial in developing a more supportive pedagogical culture.

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Abstract. This article presents a case study, conducted in the Greek educational context, as part of the European collaborative project, called "ISOTIS", funded by the European Union, including 17 partners and 11 countries. The main aim of the case study was the support of students' first languages and cultures through home based and classroom based activities, family involvement and the professionalization of teachers using ICT environments in early childhood education. In this paper, we particularly focus on aspects of home school partnership, as promoted through the support of children’s heritage languages and cultures, drawing from the perspectives of the parents, teachers, and professionals, who participated in qualitative, semi structured interviews and focus groups. The research findings show that home school partnership was fostered through the inclusion and support of the children's languages and cultures, the affirmation of their identities and the empowerment of their 'voices' and capitals. Last, they highlight that family involvement has a multiple impact not only for bi/multilingual families and their children, but also for teachers and all parts involved, shown to be benefited in a multidimensional way.

Evi Kompiadou, Roula Tsokalidou and Konstantinos Tsioumis Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Thessaloniki, Greece Konstantinos Petrogiannis Hellenic Open University Patras, Greece

384 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 384 403, March 2020 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.21

Supporting Inclusion and Family Involvement in Early Childhood Education through 'ISOTIS': A Case Study in Greece Anastasia Gkaintartzi University of Thessaly Volos, Greece

Keywords: parental involvement; multilingualism; early childhood education; ISOTIS

Concerning its research approach, a three step procedure was followed. First, an inventory of proven or potentially effective and promising interventions on curriculum, pedagogy and/or school social climate was created. The interventions targeted immigrant, Roma, and low income children attending early childhood education (ECE) and primary education. Specifically, over 500 interventions were identified in eight European countries and 78 interventions were analysed (Aguiar et al., 2017). Secondly, based on the national inventories created by the participating countries, one ongoing intervention for each country was selected, which met (most of the) following criteria: (a) explicit first and/or second language support, (b) explicit family involvement, and (c) ICT (Information and Communication Technology) activities. These interventions were selected for in depth case studies to identify effective characteristics and to generate concrete recommendations for the development and implementation of interventions at the classroom or school level, aiming at tackling educational and social inequalities. In this second stage of ISOTIS, seven in depth case studies of curriculum, pedagogy, and/or social climate interventions were conducted in seven European countries (England, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Portugal) from distinct geographic regions, diverse in their income levels, research traditions, education and welfare systems and immigrant 1 In Greek ʾισότηϛ (pronounced “eesótis” in English) means equality, evenness, fairness, parity. In alignment with the Greek term, ISOTIS builds on the strengths and potential of culturally and linguistically diverse families, by giving them a voice in how to adapt early education systems and support services. The central goal of the project is to combat inequalities and increase inclusiveness (from the official site of ISOTIS project: http://www.isotis.org).

1. Introduction: The ISOTIS project 'ISOTIS'1: 'Inclusive Education and Social Support to Tackle Inequalities in Society' is a collaborative project funded by the European Union, which includes 17 partners and 11 countries. In Greece, the Hellenic Open University is the partner institution participating in the ISOTIS consortium. The project started in January 2017 and was completed in December 2019. ISOTIS aims to contribute to effective policy and practice development at different system levels to reduce educational inequalities and contribute to the equality and effectiveness of educational systems, through examples of innovative practices and original educational tools and interventions. A key question for the ISOTIS project is how disadvantaged groups adapt to cultural and linguistic diversity and how they are affected by local and national integration policies and influence educational Theinequality.ISOTIS project addresses the challenges raised by the cultural and linguistic super diversity of European society and educational settings. Its main goals regard the desired contribution to: a) implementing effective programs for parents and families with different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, b) increasing and innovating inclusive and effective curriculum and pedagogy in early childhood and primary education and c) building professional development of key social agents such as teachers and other professionals.

2. The Greek Context of Immigration and Education at a Glance

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. integration policies (Aguiar & Silva, 2017). As a third step, a virtual learning environment aiming to support school professionals in developing cultural awareness and plurilingual competence among children (and families) was developed, using ICT (Vasileiadis et al., 2020).

In this paper, we present the case study, which was based on the selected intervention and was conducted in the Greek context, as part of the ISOTIS research stage of in depth case studies (Kompiadou et al., 2018). The goal of the case study was to describe the key success features and the main facilitators of the intervention in question. By identifying the success features and facilitators we could add to the current scientific knowledge, contributing to transferable solutions on how to promote inclusiveness and equity in the classroom. Also, we could inform teachers, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers on potential paths to move the field forward (Aguiar & Silva, 2017). In this paper, we particularly focus on aspects of home school partnership and parental involvement, since this issue, emerged as a key success feature from the research data of our case study.

Regarding Greece, the participating national team selected an intervention in the Greek context, from the National Inventory of Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Social Climate Interventions Tackling Social and Educational Inequalities, entitled: “Pedagogical utilization of linguistic and cultural diversity at kindergarten” (for more details, see Kompiadou, 2013). This intervention was considered as a suitable and appropriate case for the needs of the project and consistent with the positive elements and strengths based approach of ISOTIS. The selected intervention targeted children attending center based early childhood education settings and was selected as a promising and effective intervention tackling educational inequalities through curriculum design and implementation, classroom practices, and/or school social climate, in early childhood education.

Migration has been a major socio political issue in Greece since the 1990s, at first, in the case of immigrants mostly from Albania, neighboring Balkan countries and countries of the former Soviet Union while since the mid 2000s to a lesser extent from Asia, Middle East and sub Saharan Africa (Gropas & Triandafyllidou, 2005). Since 2015, refugee flows have been intensified by the Syrian war, forcing over one million people to enter the country and resulting in one of the greatest refugee and most importantly humanitarian crisis of our time (Zambeta et al., 2019). The complex socio political context of migration in Greece has posed a major challenge for the Greek educational system and policy. Official educational policies responding to multiculturalism in Greek schools have made some important steps, since the early immigration years, to support the inclusion of immigrant children, moving gradually from assimilationist to more inclusive policies (Gkaintartzi, Kiliari, & Tsokalidou, 2015). Yet, despite the positive steps, the children’s bi/multilingualism remains largely ‘invisible’ in the Greek state school (Gkaintartzi & Tsokalidou, 2011; Tsokalidou, 2012) while current educational policies and practices are mostly monolingual without taking into account the multilingual and translingual realities of these children.

The inclusion and support of children's home languages in school education is still a highly controversial and ideological issue since teachers' language practices and beliefs are shown to be oriented toward monolingualism. (Gkaintartzi et al., 2015; Gkaintartzi et al., 2019).

Concerning interventions and research programs aiming at the inclusion of immigrant students, many steps forward have been made, especially in the last 10 years (2007 2017), since drawing from the National Inventory conducted for ISOTIS, a considerable number (i.e. 56) of promising and effective interventions, according to ISOTIS criteria, are identified and recorded. These interventions, targeting early childhood and primary education in Greece, aimed at tackling inequalities experienced by children with immigrant/ethnic minority background (OECD, 2015) or from low SES (socioeconomic status) families, while also promoting multilingualism, multiculturalism, inclusion and family involvement (Aguiar & Silva, 2017). However, there is still a lot to be done in the field of multilingualism and school language education, to promote teaching policies and practices, which value and support the children's home languages and cultures in school teaching/learning while, in particular, the issue of parental involvement within this context becomes a highly complex and multidimensional issue. In Greece, parental involvement has been minimally investigated and research interest in this issue is very recent while not long ago it was included in the official educational policy agenda (Penderi & Petrogiannis, 2013). As a result, a rather superficial and typical relationship between parents and schools has been recorded in the relevant literature (Penderi & Petrogiannis, 2013). Regarding immigrant families, research in parental involvement and school family communication is even scarcer; however, research data show that immigrant parents’ involvement in their children’s education is disempowered by dominant school policies and practices, which exclude and disregard their linguistic and cultural capital (Androulakis et al., 2017). Given that inclusion and multilingualism/multiculturalism in Greek education are major issues requiring further development while parental involvement among immigrant parents needs to be more systematically addressed, researched and supported, we believe that the ISOTIS project and the case study presented can make an important contribution. Practices and interventions for supporting children's home languages and cultures while also involving their families, for increasing language awareness and implementing translanguaging pedagogy in classrooms are needed to promote inclusive education. ISOTIS is a project which involves innovative practices, educational tools and interventions aiming at reducing social inequalities and reinforcing inclusion.

Parental involvement practices refer to the type and amount of participation a parent has when it comes to ECEC, schooling and the child’s life. Epstein and Sheldon (2006, p. 118) broaden the term "parental involvement" proposing school, family and community partnerships arguing that all three groups share the responsibility for learning and developing children and focusing on their interrelationships. Parental involvement in early learning has a greater impact on children’s well being and achievement than any other factor such as parental education or family income while accordingly states are asked to adopt

The family is the most influential micro system affecting children’s development especially focusing on the first years of a child’s life (Anders et al., 2017). A further micro system with universal relevance in Europe is any form of Early Childhood Education and Care experience, such as preschool settings (Anders et al., 2017). Positive connections among these two systems refer to the mesosystemic level and consist one of the most powerful forces that boost their effectiveness in child development and learning. Parental involvement is an umbrella term that delineates these connections on the part of the family, describing parents and other family members’ behaviors, practices and relationships to foster children’s development and learning. Family socio economic background and the quality of the home environment are positively related to the quality of parental involvement conceptualized as the affective blueprint of parents’ engagement in children’s learning (Petrogiannis & Penderi, 2014). Moreover, parental involvement in schooling is positively associated with many benefits for students (Gracia, 2014). Taking into account that immigrant background children are sometimes disadvantaged compared to native children in terms of educational participation and outcomes (Riederer & Verwiebe, 2015), supporting parental involvement may be a key factor to promote their adjustment and school success. Additionally, including and building on cultural values of origin in school plays an important role in children’s school success (Nauck & Schnoor, 2015) and parents can be valuable partners in relevant activities. The socio cultural interaction between various origin immigrants and receiving countries students and families can make a large difference concerning migrant native gaps in education (Levels & Dronkers, 2008; OECD/European Union, 2015).

3. Literature review

Home school relations and parental involvement In this section key theoretical concepts, which provide the framework of our case study, are discussed and reviewed. First of all, multilingualism is a central concept to the research. The value and inclusion of the students' linguistic and cultural backgrounds in the teaching process is an important factor for their learning and overall development. School language policies and home school communication plays an important role in supporting immigrant families' multilingualism by communicating the value and respect for their languages and cultures, creating a space for them in the school curriculum, involving actively the parents and giving them 'voice' in the school context (Androulakis, et. al., 2017).

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. evidence based interventions to support good parenting (Anders et al., 2017). These interventions should emphasize sharing responsibility between families and school and recognize that schools play an important role in encouraging parents to become actively involved, while this involvement becomes an important element in promoting inclusion and supporting the children's funds of knowledge (González et al., 2005). Parental involvement in the case of families with immigrant and refugee background is an important, supportive factor for the academic development of students of immigrant origin (Jeynes, 2003; Kao, 2004; Kim, 2002; Martinez et al., 2004) their motivation and well being. Empowering parents in family engagement and involvement is an important element in promoting inclusion, combating social inequalities in education and improving the children's learning outcomes (Block et al., 2014). The concept of parental involvement is multidimensional, culturally oriented and ideologically loaded, especially in the case of immigrant parents, while aspects of language hierarchies and “legitimacy” of specific linguistic and cultural capitals may restrict their access and silence their voices, positioning them in further disempowering categories (Androulakis et al., 2017). For bi/multilingual families of immigrant background, support for first language development in early and middle childhood may face obstacles, challenges and ambivalence (Pauwels, 2005; Curdt Christiansen, 2009; Kirsch, 2012). There is, however, empirical evidence that good practices that enhance parental involvement and educational interventions to support and engage bi/multilingual families in school education promote the establishment of trusting home school relationships and partnerships and enhance students’ learning and inclusion (Mary & Young, 2017). Indicatively, “identity texts” created by children and parents give space to their voices as they produce authentic personal narratives. Cummins and Early (2011, p. 3) describe identity texts as “the products of children, creative works or performances, carried out within the pedagogical space orchestrated by the classroom teacher”. The “text” is related to the immediate and also to the wider socio cultural context, focusing on the cultural and linguistic background that comes to the foreground (Cummins, 2001; Tsokalidou, 2012) facilitating and encouraging translanguaging (Tsokalidou, 2017). Thus, identity texts can create spaces for translanguaging practices, through which children and parents can express themselves and their multilingual realities, using all their linguistic resources and a range of semiotic means.

The case study was in line with the general ISOTIS goals, aiming at contributing to family support, curriculum, professional development and inter agency coordination. Specifically, the main aim of the case study was to identify and describe the success features and facilitators of the selected intervention, as well as the obstacles experienced, while also describing and analyzing some types of solutions. The general goal of the selected intervention had been to support

4. The Case Study: Methodology

In this research, the case study attempted to apply this material in educational activities in four kindergarten classrooms. We selected the methodological approach of the case study, as it is a common method in qualitative research that locates the researcher in the real world (Creswell, 2013; Denzin & Lincoln, 2011).

A case study is an approach to explore a phenomenon within its context (Creswell, 1998) and as a unit of analysis (case) it observes the process, the time, the place within it. Furthermore, multiple case studies can be used to predict similar results, as a literal replication, contributing to the understanding of the whole phenomenon (Yin, 2003). Thus, we conducted an exploratory, multiple case study, as it explored more than a single case, using a variety of data to answer “when”, “how” and “why” the cases become significant to the research purposes (Baxter & Jack, 2008). Through in depth, semi structured interviews and focus groups with teachers and other key staff members as well as parents and via analyses of children’s perspectives and productions and observation, it aimed to identify and describe the success features and facilitators that are important in promoting inclusion, equality, and belongingness in education.

children's multilingualism and cultures with the use of pedagogical tools that promote diversity. These tools and activities included literary texts and multilingual material, biographical narratives and identity texts, ICT use, works of art, photographs, films, recordings, questionnaires, interviews with parents and children.

The case study was implemented from April to June 2018 in four pre school classrooms, in Western Thessaloniki, Greece, with 65 students, aged 4 6 years and with the contribution of 5 teachers. Western Thessaloniki was selected as the research setting, as it is a site in Greece that hosts families from disadvantaged backgrounds. It is noted that migrants (from third countries) living in the Municipality of Thessaloniki come mostly from Albania and countries of the former USSR A prior children’s study had been conducted to elicit the children's prior perceptions, reflecting on and discussing their school experience in terms of inclusion, well being, and acknowledging/respecting differences, through focus group/circle time discussions.

The five teachers (see Table 1), who implemented the activities in their classes, were interviewed in a focus group at the end of the school year. One of them was a researcher in the ISOTIS project for the Greek team and was responsible for organizing and observing the process of implementing the activities. The coordinator (project’s academic supervisor on behalf of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), the site coordinator (director of the school) and the researcher participated in individual interviews. The researcher was interviewed by another member of the ISOTIS national research team.

Table 1: Profile of the professionals and teachers

Table 1: Profile of parents Code Age Sex Education ofCountriesorigin statusFamily childrenandNumberageof Languages Employment

Professor CoordinatorSociolinguistics,inof “Polydromo2” UniversityAristotle Thessalonikiof ResearcherTeacherPreschool 3 years in private and 20 years in public schools Ph D candidate in AUTh Preschool class in ThessalonikiWestern coordinatorTeacherPreschool-Site 22 years in public schools Postgraduate degree in educationintercultural Preschool class in ThessalonikiWestern TeacherPreschoolA 10 years in private and 17 years in public schools Educational training Preschool class in ThessalonikiWestern TeacherPreschoolB 10 years in public schools trainingIntercultural Preschool class in ThessalonikiWestern TeacherPreschoolC 23 years in public schools Educational training Preschool class in ThessalonikiWestern

Three parents (see Table 2) with a migrant background participated in individual interviews respectively. In sum, one focus group with the three preschool teachers (A, B, C) was conducted, three interviews with the other professionals and three with the parents.

A. 35 F. schoolPrimary Born TurkeyRegionBlackeasternfrommotherRussia,fromherGeorgiain,fatherhertheSeaof married years8daughters,2and10old (1Russian st little)PontiacGeorgianGreek,),(a unemployed

B. 38 M. High school Born AlbaniafromparentsbothAlbania,in married 1 daughter, 8 years old (1Albanian st little)ItalianGreek,),(a retired 2 ‘Polydromo’ is an inter university group focusing on issues of language contact and bilingualism.Formoreinformationpleasevisit: www.polydromo.gr Role Professionalof experienceTeaching Specialty Site Coordinator 29 years total, 18 years in ThessalonikiUniversityAristotleof(AUth)

5. Findings In this section the findings of the case study are presented in the thematic categories, which emerged from the data analysis.

4.1 Method of Data Analysis

5.1. Parental involvement and the role of families

C. 32 F. University Born fromparentsbothSerbia,inSerbia married years5daughters,2and8old (1Serbian st EnglishGreek,), unemployed

The role of families is considered to be very important since parental involvement is shown to be among the factors that improve the educational process and to function as a link between the school and the community. As the teacher argues

Interviews and conversational material was transcribed and analyzed with the use of Content Analysis, which is a suitable qualitative method to be used with a small sample (Clarke & Braun, 2013). Specifically, thematic content analysis was employed which focuses on meanings or themes that use the text as a "window into experience" (Ryan & Bernard 2000, p. 769). The themes, that were used as a guide for interviews and focus groups and as thematic categories for the data analysis were: (1) history of the intervention, (2) key activities, including information regarding their type, structure, and content; location and timing; professionals responsible for implementation, and participants, (3) features of success, focusing on unique intrinsic features and strengths of the intervention, (4) facilitators, that is, (external) factors that contribute to the success of the intervention, (5) barriers and how to overcome them, 6) perceived impact for key actors, (7) innovative features of the intervention, (8) lessons learned and future directions, (9) country specific themes. In this paper we focus on parental involvement and home school partnership, which emerged from our data analysis as a key feature of success, along with language support and inclusion of immigrant children's home languages and cultures. The research data presented are based on the perspectives of the parents, the teachers, and professionals, drawing from focus group and interviews.

In line with the multidisciplinary approach adopted by ISOTIS employing multiple research methods, the case study involved the use of observation, focus group and individual interviewing, document analysis, expert consultation. The open methods of the qualitative interviews and case studies allow interviewees’ voices to be heard (Creswell & Clark, 2007) and thus were selected as research tools for the case study. All codes of conduct were respected and the anonymity of the participants was ensured.

According to the site coordinator: “Engaging parents and recognizing the value, the culture, the cultural background and the ecosystem of families is one of the additional strategies implemented by the kindergarten as well as the connection with the community”. Strong personal relationships with the family and a stable pedagogical staff are among the success factors which are reported. “When all children and parents are happy sharing stories from their various backgrounds and feel happy and lucky to have been involved in this project with the specific teacher researcher” Characteristically,(Coordinator).aparent

What is important to point out here is the reciprocity and mutual relationship between parental involvement and teacher motivation and role; parental involvement is considered by this teacher to affect positively their educational role and motivation. This is a very empowering teacher perspective on parental engagement considering that it is a concept mostly addressed from the view of its impact either on the children's development and/or the parents' role and efficiency (Fan & Tsen, 2001; Emerson et al., 2012).

“Very important, parental involvement has very positive results both for children and for the parents' role, but also for the relationships between them and the class teacher. The active participation of parents increases the teachers' motivation and their educational role at the same time and enhances the children's participation and their self esteem” ” (Teacher A)

in his interview talks about his own experience within the implementation of the case study against racism and is in line with the inclusive practices that ISOTIS promotes. He states: “Yes, I say that people should love other people and everyone’s culture. We live in a reality, in globalization. A Greek or an Albanian cannot say that 'We do not want Greeks here' or 'We do not want Albanians or others here'. 'It is not possible. If it were so, it would be like communism, with closed borders and just: ‘you live in here’. People now move, go from one side to another… there should be no such thing, racism, this dividing line between people…” (Parent B).

This parent argues against racism and closed borders and supports the importance of contact between different cultural groups since this is how the sociolinguistic reality is with people on the move and no divisions. Accordingly, the coordinator states: “Students and their families acquire a deeper and meaningful understanding of linguistic and cultural variation and that migrant parents feel an important part of the school process”. The father's words, below, in this direction, are very characteristic as he sees teachers as ambassadors among children and the school regarding issues of equality and social justice: “… the teacher treated all children the same way. The children were equal to each other. It was not that the one comes from Albania, the other from Russia and another from Greece. This is why I say that teachers and kindergarten teachers are the ambassadors, because children learn from them. They learn how to look to each other, how to feel nice among them without offending or without feeling as being in an inferior position, like: ‘I come from Albania and I cannot be equal to a Greek’…” (Parent B).

“I think it’s successful because... I was born in another country and there were a lot of nationalities there, and I am used to listening to another language, hanging out with people of another nationality and I like it that we communicate here as well, we learned how to communicate with people from Albania, Georgia...” (Parent A).

This parent reflects on his experience with the case study and focuses on the important role teachers play in promoting equality in the classroom. The mother below talks about the benefits of contact and building relationships among parents and schools: "The positive points. There was a very good atmosphere among children and parents … First of all, it helped me to open up more, to come closer to the other parents, with whom our relationship still holds up to today.

All of this was positive. For my children as well, although it's easier for kids than for grown ups to adjust, it was very nice" (Parent A). She reflects on the positive impact of bringing parents together, immigrants and non immigrants, with the school, which is seen to facilitate open communication, connection and a sense of belongingness.

Extensive language support and sensitivity to the local context and culture have emerged as key elements of the program, as a teacher argues: “The children came into contact, at least in our class, with languages that they had never heard before and they impressed them, that is, the Arabic language impressed them both with its writing and its accent.

5.2. Language support

While they had heard Albanian before e. g. Arabic made a great impression on them and that is a benefit. They had ... they knew more about European languages, so they now faced stereotypes about people and languages unknown and they enriched their knowledge” (Teacher A). Another teacher adds: “Besides, the children, who had never referred to their languages [before], were allowed to feel more comfortable in class concerning their origin and language. The schoolgirl who heard her language [spoken in class] showed that she enjoyed it and she was more expressive after that" (Teacher B). Apart from its benefits for supporting children's multingualism, multilingual awareness and identities, positive impacts are also found for empowering families' language views and practices, which as shown can be affected by such school interventions and practices: "I have found that it can help parents too, to change their impressions. Some families support their origin and others do not. The school can play a role in all that. To help with their inclusion” (Teacher C). In the case study, which focused on the first languages and cultures of the children’s families, their funds of knowledge (González et al., 2005), it was important to foster communication and interaction with parents of the dominant culture.

The coordinator states: “It addresses the need to cater for the smooth integration of migrant background children into preschool education and the development of a school context of creative language and culture contact”. According to the site coordinator, “It fulfills the need to develop a climate of acceptance and trust” and according to the teacher: “I believe that it will touch issues that are important but also sensitive to a certain extent” (Teacher B). The interviewees argue that focusing on multiculturalism and multilingualism has had benefits for everyone involved in

The same mother goes on to report the change she sees in herself and her children: “I think it worked positively for the parents we had the most contact with, it brought us together even more, and as for the children... I don’t know, my children are more liberated now that they speak another language. We didn’t use to be like that. When we first came we talked in a very low voice so as not to... we were embarrassed. Now my children aren’t... For example, A. is not at all embarrassed to be speaking Russian... and we owe all this to the program somehow. Because you told us: Speak Russian at home, let the children learn... the children speak Russian and aren’t ashamed, it’s not like in the past!” (Parent A). It emerges from her words that her children and herself were empowered to ‘voice’ their languages, their identities were affirmed (Cummins, 2001) while this is felt and expressed as a sense of ‘liberation’, as feeling free to speak, practice and celebrate the benefits of multilingualism. The researcher argues that: “It benefited not only the bilingual children but all the children in the class who were equipped with the qualifications and the perspective needed to enable them to become citizens of the world. The children of the host country, who are not linguistically and culturally diverse, are treated by the educational system with homogeneity despite their visible and non visible differences, from this cultural exchange they are encouraged to acquire a meaningful contact and knowledge of the languages and cultures that are next to us mainly in our schools”. Accordingly, this mother's words show the importance of highlighting the linguistic and cultural heterogeneity of the classroom: “It presented other languages to children... To children that could only speak Greek, I think they took it more... not as something huge... something strange. They took it easier and accepted it as something normal” (Parent A). This mother talks about the pride that both she and her daughter felt through the implementation of the case study since for her it is the first time that someone is with their languages and cultures; with who they are: “She felt very proud (her daughter) and I felt too; because we are concerned with it (i.e. their language/culture), I do not know if anybody else has done it before. It was shown how you deal with all the children…. These things… they are from Albania, and we are from Serbia and the other one is from Georgia… I remember the wedding we worked on with different songs from all countries of the children” (Parent C).

The obstacles, which emerged from the research data, highlight different aspects of the concept and process of home school partnership. “The reduced participation, indifference from some parents, limited school time” was mentioned by a teacher (Teacher A) while another teacher also stated: “One of the problems is the lack of time from the part of the parents” (Teacher C). It seems that parental involvement may be considered by teachers, even in the context of the case study, as the sole responsibility of parents and therefore their reduced participation may be interpreted directly as their 'indifference' or ' lack of time'. A teacher suggests providing incentives to increase parent involvement that is in line with modern media and the power of mass media that seem to influence parents as they are directed towards competitive activities: "Something that would have been competitive if we presented that the school is involved and we need your contribution perhaps. In the e Twinning program when we made a poster and we had to vote, they involved themselves in the process, respectively last year in an environmental program. I saw them to be more interested in something like that. The influence of the media is apparent here” (Teacher A).

another teacher reports: “Their participation is very important, we do not always have their response, I agree” (Teacher B). Apart from that, it is reported that sometimes they experience negative feelings not only regarding their role but also towards the school as an institution: “Sometimes there is a depreciation of

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. the educational process, thus strengthening not only immigrant identities but also those of the dominant culture, addressing and building on the aspect of the global citizen; their global identity. Diversity was presented as natural, as the norm through the activities implemented in the kindergarten. The meaningful contact of languages and cultures in the kindergarten classroom comprises, thus, an inclusive practice and a creative educational process constructing a school climate of acceptance and trust between the school and the family.

5.3. Obstacles

Parental awareness is considered important: “Few are already aware of the migrant or refugee issue in which they would show greater interest. The issue is also political ...” (Teacher B), therefore similar actions are suggested in this direction: “Through corresponding programs like this case study and awareness raising actions” (Teacher C)". Also, the same teacher reflects on the activation of parents to participate: “Parents, however, are influenced by one another. In a positive direction, for participating in the activities, the incentive is given so that someone else does something too. Incentives need to be given” (Teacher B). Participation should not be taken for granted. The teachers report as a disadvantage the reduced parental involvement in parents' gatherings and informative meetings. "It would be very important if all families were involved. I often do not get a response from everyone. In the meetings we hold for providing information about the program, all previous programs, and afternoon meetings so that they can come, half of them attend and we get a response from fewer of them, especially at the end of the year” (Teacher Accordingly,A).

According to the coordinator, intercultural competence is a qualification and a skill to cope with such phenomena as well as the corresponding material: “As members of Polydromo group all program developers had a deep and long standing understanding of migrant issues, had already formed important bonds with migrant families and communities and had access to various resources that were developed within the group’s initiatives" (www.polydromo.gr) As the site coordinator argues they had difficulties: “…to inform the few parents who did not speak Greek. Language has been an obstacle to our efforts to inform and persuade other languages speaking parents to get involved in the program. In this case, we asked for help from parents who knew the language of these families. So they functioned as interpreters, moreover as mediators”

The potential for the parents' participation in the school context, apart from their invaluable contribution to translation/interpretation processes, involves also the mediation of their funds of knowledge (González, et al., 2005) which is an important aspect of parental involvement and an empowering procedure for themselves too. For the researcher, the difficulties seem to relate to the personal exposure of people which always entails a risk, as well as when referring to historical events that are never neutral: “Dealing with the identities of people in depth has a tremendous educational interest, it constitutes a link between the family and the school environment. Personal exposure is always a difficult and sometimes sensitive issue, it touches the personal sides of the individual, and it must be done within a secure framework of communication and trust. This is not built overnight, but it is part of the school culture in which the school invests”.

the school in general" (Teacher A). Some parents think that the kindergarten does not have the same requirements as the other school levels” (Teacher C). Addressing such situations requires careful management and good organization of educational practices in terms of the school planning: “When a program starts from the beginning of the school year and focuses in depth, then participation is increased” (Teacher A). Deep knowledge of the educational framework and an approach that meets the needs of all the parents involved are also considered important.

6. Discussion Home-school partnership, as a success feature to promote inclusion and equality, is fostered through the inclusion and support of the children's languages and cultures, the affirmation of their identities, the empowerment of their 'voices' and understanding of their capitals. Language support and home school partnership are seen to be two interrelated key factors in designing and implementing interventions which promote inclusion, equality, and belongingness in education. It emerges from the data analysis that investing in good communication between the school and the families, which is based on

The importance of teacher training and professional development in designing and implementing similar (to the case study) practices and interventions is also shown, as well as its positive impact on the teachers' own professional identity.

“Incentives were given regarding participation. The emergence of personal stories e.g. in an attractive way, of the students' family trees using the computer, or their exhibition, open to the public, within the school. Sensitive historical issues were smoothed through discussion and dialogue. The parents realized that in the school context the objective depiction (to the degree that it can be objective) of historical events is necessary. Experiences remain alive and narratives always carry this risk, to capture the narrator's eye”.

Knowing, sharing and investing in all languages and cultures are seen to be key elements in school interventions and practices aiming to tackle inequalities and promote inclusion.

According to the coordinator, the evaluation of the case study points to: “The importance of sharing knowledge on different languages and cultures, the equal importance of all languages for their speakers, the importance of languages for identities for all involved in the school process (teachers, children and parents), the importance of multilingualism and multiculturalism for educational and social contexts alike”

Cultural and linguistic exchange between the school and the family is a constituent part of the educational process against social exclusion and isolation.

providing parents with clear information about school practices, procedures and expectations, interacting and engaging in ongoing contact with them, is considered a key factor facilitating their involvement. Such communication requires intercultural skills on the part of the teachers, which play an important role in their professional development and teacher identity. Communication and trust are two concepts that mediate home school communication and provide the basis for their partnership. The researcher, in the extract below, reflects on the practices for parental involvement, which were employed in the case study such as the use of personal narratives shared publicly with ICT and highlights the political and critical role schools have to play in touching upon historical and social issues, which can also motivate and engage parents.

The parents also evaluated the program by highlighting positive impacts regarding themselves, their children and the community. Among the positive outcomes, they included effective communication among all parts, recognition and promotion of linguistic and cultural heterogeneity and the use of technology. In the context of the case study, coexistence with other cultures and interaction has been reinforced while self esteem and self confidence among children and families have been strengthened as they were encouraged to participate and have a voice in the school curriculum and context. The case study and the activities implemented have equipped the children and their families with the necessary commitment and engagement to the educational

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. process, by providing space for the languages and cultures and reaching out for them, building on an open, two way, true communication. Family narratives, stories and other “identity texts” created by children and parents were used to give space to their voices as they produce authentic personal texts. This process has strengthened home school relationships, by empowering parents to participate in their children school learning and life and by also building on teachers' intercultural competence, awareness and 'openness' (Magos & Simopoulos, 2009). It emerges that the case study had a perceived impact for both parts, parents (immigrant and non immigrants) and teachers, as through the use of multilingual and multicultural activities, they were both actively and responsively engaged in their communication and collaboration as equal partners. Τhe teachers were encouraged to reverse the way of thinking and highlight among school children and their parents the heterogeneity of society and the forms of power that constitute it, to construct more collaborative power relationships (Cummins, 2001) in and out the classroom. By confronting the dominant perceptions of homogeneity and by challenging pedagogical complacency it was attempted to create a place of meaningful understanding and acceptance in school and the community (Androusou & Askouni, 2007).

Thus, the monocultural perspective gives its place to an intercultural perspective, to an extended view and critical stance, through contact and interaction with languages and cultures while also building on teachers' intercultural competence (Magos, 2005; Magos & Simopoulos, 2009; Tsokalidou, 2017). From the part of the parents, the father’s words below reflect a sense of self confidence, optimism and empowerment coming from the recognition, respect and promotion of cultural diversity seen to be experienced in the case study: “This means that something is changing. It changes, it matures through time. Now there is the chance for the children! They should now learn that it really does not exist: {you are like this and I am like that}. This is racism in everything … and I call it racism because I am Albanian or the other is Greek, but you can see racism even in fat or thin people, rich or poor. This should be taught by the teachers through education that ¨difference is nice¨. Every human is different and unique! We cannot be the same, if we were, we would be clones. As if we had come from a factory” (Parent B). This 'change' that the parent refers to also highlights the Critical Pedagogy aspect of the case study and the ISOTIS project as a whole, as it managed to actively act upon and make some changes in the school context and climate, which whatsoever had an impact and made a difference for the participants.

7. Conclusion Recognizing and appreciating diversity can be developed through educational practices and interventions, which create cooperative, open environments through the support of children's language and cultures and partnerships with their families. The limitations of our case study need, also, to be taken into account and could be addressed in future research, regarding the number of

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. participants and the practices used. Our study focused on four pre school classes in the Greek context but it could be expanded to more settings, including more participants and practices, to be able to make some generalizations of the findings. Based on our findings, directions for further research may involve future work towards a more equitable, fair, truly and mutually empowering parental involvement through school practices, which promote multilingualism and family involvement, benefiting all parts involved in a multidimensional way. It is important to become aware of and address the obstacles in home school partnership, as the further support of connecting parents immigrants and non immigrants with the school is seen to have a positive impact on inclusiveness and belongingness. Implications can also be formulated for similar targeted interventions in schools as well as for teacher training towards the intercultural competence of teachers and professionals in education. Concluding, the case study adds to the existing literature concerning parental involvement and home school relationships, by showing the multiple impact it has not only for immigrant families and their children, but also for non immigrant parents, by building on their global citizen identity, for all students, by building on multilingual and intercultural awareness as well as for teachers, by developing intercultural skills and enhancing their professional efficacy.

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https://rm.coe.int/publication

Representation of French Culture as a Foreign Language through Textbooks

Abstract. The purpose of this study is to gain an in depth understanding of the representation of French culture as a foreign language through textbooks. The existence of French as an international language gives stimulus to French instructorsand learnerstolearn not onlythelanguage but also the culture of this language. This study applies a qualitative approach and adopts the critical discourse analysis method of data interpretation Checking the validity of the data included credibility, dependability, transferability, confirmability, and triangulation of data.

404 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 404 421, March https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.222020

1. Introduction Language and culture have a very close link. Because people as language users in general have very diverse backgrounds. Due to diversities, language plays an important role in creating an appropriate cooperation through speech

Program of French Language, Faculty of Languages and Culture, Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Indonesia Evi Rosyani Dewi Program of French Language, Faculty of Languages and Culture Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Indonesia

Keywords: Culture; French; Foreign Languages and values; Instructors and Teachers; Language Textbook

Ninuk Lustyantie

The object studied was the Intermediate Level Alter Ego (B1). The findings of cultural elements indicate the existence of verbal and non verbal texts which include CulturalKnowledge (67%), which are Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité, LeFéminisme, LesArts, Cultural Practice/Behavior (19%), and CulturalArtefacts (14%). Tracing for cultural aspects through textbooks is complex and a challenging academic activity because culture isintertwined withpeople’s norms, values, attitudesand a givensociety’s way of life. This research has an impact on countries that use French as a foreign language because the cultural representation contained in it can change the viewpoints of French language learners.

Corresponding Autor: Ninuk Lustyantie, Email:lustyantienuk@gmail.com

Several other researchers, Tajeddin and Teimournezhad, view foreign language education as an intercultural subject, because all languages reflect a particular cultural context. The role of culture in language teaching and learning thus becomes prominent and is considered as one of the important components of every language teaching approach, (Tajeddin & Teimournezhad, 2015). However, the question is which cultural elements should be included in language teaching materials and how; and which culture should be reflected(Tomescu, 2019). With the increasing awareness of the importance of culture in language education and intercultural communicative competence(McConachy, 2018), a common interest has appeared in investigating the presentation of cultural information in language textbooks. Not all textbooks provide cultural content in the same way. Decisions about which cultural elements to handle, and how, are often made by material developers and policy makers, who may have their own manifest or hidden agenda to combine or discard certain cultural content based on the context, purpose and need of students for whom the textbook is intended(Adaskou, 1990)

Because language determines not only the style of culture but also the way human beingsthink. Therefore, the characteristics that exist in a languagewill be reflected in the attitude and culture of the speakers.(Wardhaugh and Fuller, 2015) The importance of the link between language and culture has long been studied by researchers from a pedagogical point of view (Byram, 2013; Kramsch, 2013). This is confirmed by Bennet and Allen (2003) who are of the view that language and culture are interrelated, which means that learning languages without having cultural elements embedded in textbooks as a base can only make students skilled at speaking,but theycannotunderstandthe culture related tothe language learnt.

communication within the society made up of people with different backgrounds (Fickel, Henderson and Price, 2017) Basing on this, the present study seeks to gain an in depth understanding of the representation of French culture as a foreign language through textbooks. With the objective of seeking to critically comprehend the representation of French culture through French Language textbooks. Up this, the study uses a qualitative approach, adopting an application of critical discourse analysis method

Some preliminary studies of culture in textbooks have been conducted by Muzna Awayed Bishara, a researcherwho analysed cultural content in teachingmaterials for teaching English speakers in Arabic high schools in Israel(Awayed Bishara, 2015). Furthermore, Karim Sadeghi and Zhila Sepahi conducted a study of what cultural elements are contained in three English Foreign Language textbooks(Sadeghi & Sepahi, 2018) Research on culture in textbooks was also carried out by Ya Chen Su, and looked at how international English is used to encourage intercultural understanding in English Foreign Language textbooks in high schools in Taiwan(Su, 2016), while student involvement was examined by Troy McConachy, specifically how students were critically involved in cultural representations in foreign language textbooks(McConachy, 2018).

With regards to the teaching of French, cultural aspects become an especially important part or dimension to be studied because languages in Europe,

2. Culture in Language Learning Language and cultural dependence is often highlighted in the literature, (Byram, 1988) hence languagecannot be taught without its cultural elements (Dinh & Sharifian, 2017; Sadeghi & Sepahi, 2018). This implies that the usefulness of culture in language teaching, is: 1) culture will always influence the use of language, 2) culture helps to preserve and maintain values of a language due to constant emphasis of certain values, words and norms attached to a given tribe or society, and 3) language and culture are believed to influence the way people think and therefore impact on how countries use one given language, including the use of French as a foreign language because cultural representation contained in it can change the viewpoints of other nations regarding the learning of French as a However,language.the language teaching with a communicative approach over the past four decades has failed to establish adequacy of cultural elements because this approach incorporates sociolinguistics competencies as constituents of communicative language skills(Alcon, 2000). The competency is limited to second language knowledge (L2) and does not take intercultural knowledge into account. Therefore, teaching cultural elements in textbooks is very necessary. Not as a unique thing that stands alone, but integrated into the context of a learning curriculum(Widodo, Perfecto, Van Canh, & Buripakdi, 2018). Intercultural competence, as a component of language, form communicative competencies such as discourse, linguistics, pragmatic and intercultural knowledge, which also involves cross cultural awareness(Usó Juan & Martínez Flor, 2008). Furthermore, according to Byram, Gribkova and Starkey (2002), intercultural competence helps students tounderstandhow intercultural interaction occurs andhow intercultural perceptions affect the success of communication. In teaching intercultural competence as a component of foreign language acquisition, language learners are made aware of their own culture and are also helped to interpret and understand various other cultures without forgetting their own cultural identity. Therefore, curriculum developers need to consider the fact that native speakers need a frame of reference for cultural development

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. including Standard Average European (SAE), are considered different from American Indian languages, HOPI, in which the grammar is oriented to the processes of the world. Meanwhile, SAE is oriented to time and space. SAE determines objects that can be counted (e.g. trees, fruits) and objects that cannot be counted (water, fire, courage), (Whorf, 1997). With this uniqueness of French, students need to be equipped with the ability to understand culture through textbooks(Boudjadi, 2012). Several discussions brought up the importance of developing the capacity of students to interpret a cultural meaning that is represented in various forms of discourse, (Kearney, 2015; McConachy & Hata, 2013)which are emphasized by the concept of an 'intercultural' perspective (Kramsch, 2013), and the need for cultural competence to avoid miscommunication (Thanasoulas, 2001) Culture is no doubt very interesting to study, but research on cultural representation in French as foreign language textbook needs to be conducted.

2.1. Learning French as a Foreign Language in Indonesia French is an official language in 31 countries such as Belgium, Luxembourg, Canada, Switzerland, Morocco, Algeria, etc Meanwhile, 43 countries study French as a foreign language (Français Langue Étrangère), including Indonesia, because French is the official language of the United Nations.

France is a country with a diverse and interesting culture to learn. There are many aspects to French culture including language, food, and art. Besse (2007) said “Cet attrait réside, de notre point de vue, en au moins deux enjeux particulièrement

déterminants : le premier est que l’apprentissage des langues secondes permet d’aborder la question fondamentale de la part d’inné et d’acquis dans l’acquisition du langage. Le second est davantage social et politique.”.In essence this means”Learning foreign languages as a second language has an attraction, one of which is social and political representation”. Culture is one of the social representations that can be learned through the acquisition of French. That statement is supported by Genevieve Zarate (2003), who said “La relation complete entre la culture maternelle et la culture etrangere doit insttituee en objet de travail spesifique …”, which means “The complete relationship between the maternal culture and the foreign culture is a task in the form of language learning that must be in line with the culture of the language being learned” In formal schools in Indonesia, French is learned at the High School level or in Vocational High Schools. Referring to the current curriculum, French is included in the elective subjects that are given starting in class X, XI, and XII. At the university level, French can be studied at universities which have courses in French. In non formal schools, French is studied at the Francais Institute, an official institution of the French Embassy for Indonesia, Institut Français d'Indonésie (IFI). These are located in Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, and Surabaya. And Alliance Française (AF) originated and relied on the Alliance Française Foundation, which is also recognized and linked to the French Embassy

(Seidlhofer, Breiteneder, & Pitzl, 2006). Cultural information is contained in descriptive texts, dialogues, writing assignments, lexical items, realia, visuals, and audio recordings (Adaskou, 1990) Textbooks can also be categorized depending on their cultural contents: (a) source culture, which is the culture of the learners themselves; (b) the target culture, which is the culture of the country where the language is spoken as the native language; or (c) international culture. Thus, a textbook conveys a series of cultural elements from the language that is being studied, a phenomenon called the 'hidden curriculum' (Tomlinson, 2003) Many cultural studies in textbooks in several countries consider textbooks as the main source of language and culture integration(Abdullah, 2009; Adaskou, 1990; Hamiloğlu & Mendi, 2010) Furthermore, Hamiloğlu and Mendi (2010) regarding culture in the ELT course book in Turkey found four elements including culture. In Abdullah's study (2009) regarding textbooks in Malaysia, it was found that most cultures are presented in the form of sociological features and character images. Most teachers in Morocco agree that only a small amount of foreign culture should be included in the textbooks(Adaskou, 1990)

For the purposes of this study, a qualitative research design has been used, adopting a critical discourse analysis method of data interpretation Checking the validity of the data included credibility, dependability, transferability, confirmability, and triangulation of data.

This is strengthened by what was said by Jarvis (2014)that in learning, especially language learning, learners are forced to function within a particular cultural framework in which in French there are two contexts of conversation that will always be used, namely the formal context (vous usage) and informal context (tu usage).Therefore, learners must not only becomefamiliarwith the cultural context of the language, but also develop the language itself. The use of French as the language of instruction in the learning process in class, and the use of the material provided in textbooks aims to allow the learners to be able to communicate using French properly and correctly 3. Methodology

Then, the teacher uses the communicative method of speaking a foreign language, which in this study is French, in the learning situation so that students can interact directly using the foreign language that is being studied.(Yu & Wang, 2009). The material used in teaching is textbooks created by French teachers who are supported by the ministry of education or books imported directly from France (Alter Ego +), which are devoted to learning French at the university level. The Alter Ego + textbook is full of cultural content, for example the use of tu and vous subjects. In this case, the use of the two subjects is very different if related to the cultural context, because tu is used in an informal context while vous is used in a very formal context. In addition, tu and vous can also be associated with learning French, specifically the conjugation of French verbs. In practice, the two subjects experience very significant differences. Therefore, learning French does not only depend on grammar but cultural aspects which are given in each teaching chapter.

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. for Indonesia. Alliance Française is available in several cities such as Medan, Semarang, and Bali. French is an international language, but is not as widely used as English. Providing French teaching materials is very different compared to English, which has been introduced to students since they are at the elementary level. Therefore, the starting point for learning French in general begins with the introduction of French phonetics so that students are able to read French texts.

3.1. Qualitative Research Design

The data source is the French Alter Ego Plus 3 Niveau B1 (Intermediate Level) textbook (Dollez & Pons, 2013), written by Catherine Dollez, published by Hachette, Français Langue Etrangère, Paris. This French textbook is used in several universities in Indonesia consisting of 9 Dossiers or 9 units of study. The research dataare in the form of French texts, both verbal texts (TV) andnon verbal texts (TNV), which include cultural representations such as: Cultural Knowledge/Perspectives (CK), Cultural Activities/Behaviors (CAB), and

The Presentation of Cultural Knowledge The Portrayal of Cultural Practice/Behavior

Cultural Categories

4. Findings

French culture has been shaped by geography, by deep historical events, and by foreign and internal forces and groups. France, and especially Paris, has played an important role as a centre of high culture in Europe since the 17th century and since the 19th century, throughout the world. In the Alter Ego Plus 3 Niveau B1 textbook, several things were found that indicate the representation of French culture. The following are the research findings.

Cultural Artefact (CAF). Verbal text and non verbal text data as well as complete page data are in table 1 below.

The Representation of Cultural Artifacts

This research study adopts critical discourse analysis to gain an in depth understanding of cultural representation in French textbooks. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is an interdisciplinary study of discourse that views language as a social activity carried out by society, which of course pays attention to the context of the language used(Wodak & Meyer, 2001). According to Halliday (1978), discourse is a text that includes process and product, created, included, and interpreted in a particular social context. Therefore, scientists in the CDA field continue to argue that the choice of words can describe the intentions, ideologies and thoughts of speakers of a language(Kusumaningputri & Author, 2018) CDA can explain very clearly about how a text and the construction of social reality can be bound based on context, have a close relationship with the ideological system, and the message conveyed can be explicit or implied (Kusumaningputri & Author, 2018) In addition, CDA also reveals how an ideological system can be reshaped through text and social activities, which can cause social representations in a particular society to be excluded or become special. (de los Heros, 2009). To have ideology tested like this, the language function systemrecommendedby Halliday(Halliday, 1978)providestoolsthat can be applied, and function properly through lexico grammatical analysis or micro languageanalysis. The analysis in this studyobserves linguistic andvisualchoices in a text, especially in French texts, which is a discourse to convey meaning at various levels or stages(Kusumaningputri & Author, 2018) Thus, the analysis is focused on the cultural elements contained in French textbooks through the stages of text data analysis, intertextual, and analysis of sociocultural practices.

Table 1. Table of Job Analysis

8. (L’Engagement)L’ONG

5. Le (LaConformismeCulturedela mode française)

The Portrayal of Practice/BehaviorCultural 19% 1. L’Apparence Physique (Les Vêtements)

4. Les Arts et spectacles (L’appréciation de l’art, Lire en Fête, Printemps des poètes, etc)

3. Les Arts (L’impressionisme, Le Fauvisme, Le Cubisme)

4. La Consommation (Le Commerce Équitable, Les modes d’achat, etc)

1. Les lieux d’artisanat (Le Bon Marché, Les Galeries Lafayette, etc)

3. Les échanges et relation (La discussion, Travaille en équipe, etc)

2. Le (LaDînerRéunion, Rendez vous, le dîner de homard à Percé, etc)

7. Les Médias (La Presse, La Radio, La Télévision, L’internet et Les Réseaux Sociaux, etc)

2. La Mode Française (La Cravate, La Veste, etc) 3. Le Graffiti 4. La Peinture (La Peinture de l’impressionnisme, La Peinture du fauvisme, La Peinture de la cubisme, etc)

1. La (Liberté,DeviseÉgalité, Fraternité)

5. Le Voyage Touristique (L’invitation au voyage, La Tradition, faire un voyage) The Representation of Cultural Artifacts 14%

5. La (LesMusiquechansons faciles, Les chansons engagées, etc)

6. Le (AlbertRomanCamus, Émelie Gaboriau, etc)

6. Éducationen France (Le système d’éducation français, LMD, Bourche d’Études)

The Presentation of Cultural Knowledge 67%

2. Le (LaFeminismeCauseHumanitaire)

Table 2. Cultural Presentation in Alter Ego Plus 3 Niveau B1 Cultural Categories Percentage Examples

7. Le (LeThéâtreMariage de Figaro, Le Barbier de Séville, etc)

8. L’Appréciation de l’Art 9. Lieux Touristiques (Le Musée, etc) 10.Transport en Commun (SNCF, RATP, TER, Métro etc)

TheKnowledgePortrayal Practices/Behavof

Representations

The third ideology, Fraternité, is defined as fraternity. It is more about moral obligations and harmony in society, as well as tolerance in Figure 1. Illustration of Fraternité

The research findings in diagram 1 show that the cultural perspective of science Plus 3 Niveau B1 book (67%).

The slogan was endorsed as the slogan of France in the late nineteenth century, at the time the French Kingdom was famous for being very authoritarian and discriminatory against lower social classes. The lower class that felt oppressed by the nobility and began to oppose this inequality. Thus, Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité Presentation of

In the general knowledge section, we find a number of things related to general knowledge about French culture. General knowledge is related to French ideology, notions and genres commonly found in French culture.

countrywherepeople are verycommittedtotheirideology.

TheFrench and has become a guiding habit which The first ideology, Liberté, is defined as freedom. The meaning of freedom consists of the ability to do something that does not harm others, hence the implementation of the human person has no limits, other than to ensure that other members of the society can enjoy the same rights, including the entitlements of all people to which is defined as equality. The citizens are equal before the law must be equally entitled to all government positions, public positions and jobs, according to their abilities; and without any other differences other than abilities and talents(Joseph

(Freedom, Equality, Fraternity) was first expressed during the French Revolution of 1789. In addition, there is also a history of feminism in France During the French revolution there was a movement to support women's rights. The first feminist congress was held in 1892. In addition to the right to vote, women also fought for equality between men and women by proposing that women be able to work on the conditions that women must have four hours to take care of the household outside of the night's rest. Equality is not only in terms of work but also in its involvement in political rights such as the right to vote(Dean & Aune, 2015).

Impressionism (L’Impresionism) is a style of painting that had been developed in France between 1860 and 1890 In this style, paintings are made in such a way using light tones (le ton clair). Paintings are created using colors that recreate accurately as possible as the original conditions of the subject. However, this causes the shapes of objects to appear as if theyare notnearly drawn. The pioneers in this painting style are Courbet, Corot, and Delacroix In addition to Impressionism, France is also famous for its paintings in the Fauvism and Cubism styles. Fauvism is a style of art that emerged before the era of modern art. The term Fauvism arose from the word "Fauve" by Louis Vauxcelles when he commented on the Salon d'Automne exhibition in 1905.Unlike Impressionism, Fauvism painting uses combinations of colors that are not seen in nature. The pioneer of this style of painting is Henri Mattise (1869). After that, there was Cubism, an artistic movement that had been developed from 1900 to 1914. The term Cubism is originated from Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso. The unique form of drawing is the main attraction of the Cubism style. Meanwhile, cultural knowledge in the field of literary works can be found in this textbook. It is about the philosophical genre, namely Absurdity (L’Absurdité). This philosophical genre is often found in novels by Albert Camus, including detective genre novels Therefore, the relationship between literature and art is getting closer, as well as the philosophy world in this textbook, which allows ideas to spread among French writers. Along with the appearance of new forms of media, such as

France is famous as an artistic country that produces a lot of great works of art, and which also influences global art. Forms of French art that are known worldwide include art works and literary works. In regard to art works, the dominant styles of painting are Impressionism, Fauvism, and Cubism.

In addition to feminism, in its history, France is also known for its historical involvement in the trans Atlantic slave trade. In the past, France implemented a slavery system. However, because it was deemed inhumane and had to be stopped, the slavery system was abolished in 1794. The slavery system was reinstated again during the reign of Napoléon in 1799, but after the start of the republic era in 1848 this system was officially abolished for good. Most of the slaves involved in the slave trade came from Western African societies. They were taken to support the course of trade, which at that time was focused on the African continent were the countries to trade. This slavery eventually had an impact on French society. After being officially abolished in 1848, many of the slaves were released and gradually became French citizens.

4.2. Cultural Practices/Behaviour of French People

The representation of culture in the behavior/habit of French people found in this book is 19%. France is a country in which the people exhibit unique behavior. As a symbol of Liberté's ideology, French people are very fond of going on vacation. Holidays are sacred in France. French people uphold human rights and vacationing is one of the rights of the French people. Activities during vacation are scheduled so that people may enjoy the vacation to the fullest and there is no possibility of disturbances from work or any other activities(Hall & Holdsworth, In2016)addition to freedom in the form of the right to take a vacation, France also upholds freedom of expression. Some societal phenomena are stated in the Alter Ego Plus Niveau B1 book, such as how people express their opinions. First, First, La Grève is a type of community action in the form of a demand This is usually carried out through strikes to protest a legal or government decision, an example of which is a strike activity in Guadeloupe. Trade unions in Guadeloupe went on strike to protest the current economic system at that time. The workers were indeed given a sizable salary, but this had an impact on the increase of goods' price and even taxes, making it difficult for workers to get the goods they wanted(Bonilla, 2010). Second, La Manifestation or demonstration, is one of the efforts of French people to express their ideas and thoughts. In 1865, the term Manifestation was chosen to define public and organized collective demonstrations. Demonstrations are usually carried out as a sign of protest against injustice. During demonstrations, people usually take to the streets and can sometimes cause scenes of civil unrest. These strikes and demonstrations can be seen to be not only a form of expression of the ideology of freedom (Liberté), but also a reflection of the behavior of people who uphold fraternity (Fraternité).

YouTube, film, and video, this causes a shift from novels to movies as a method of expression of ideas. In addition to art and literary works, France also has a society that follows the culture of conformism (Hunt & Gonsalkorale, 2018). In France it is easy to find people there using the same style of dress, especially the men. Formal wear for French men is generally suits and ties.

Next, the form of community behavior in implementing the Egalité ideology is Le Commerce Équitable, which is a fair trade system that has the aim of giving customers the best guarantee on products and product quality. This also gives benefits to small producers(Clark & Hussey, 2016). Every small producer, large producer, and trader develop fair economic condition to create a symbiosis of Theremutualismisalso a form of fraternal culture in France which is described by the Alter Ego Plus Niveau B1 book, one of which is Pourboire. France has an ethical culture concept, one aspect of which is tipping (pourboire) Tipping has become a necessity, and some restaurants even already have service charges on their bills, hence tips are already included. Tipping is usually seen in cafes and restaurants.

Another form of fraternity is that the French highly appreciate art. Art appreciation is shown by enlivening art venues such as museums or art festivals. When young people in France have an appointment to meet, they always use a museum or art festival event as a meeting place. In addition, a form of French art appreciation for works of art is to hold arts festivals. Art festivals in France are often held and have even become a regular habit in French society. Every French citizen always enthusiastically welcomes these festivals. One of the world famous French festivals is the Festival de Cannes which features a variety of the best French and world films.

Furthermore, in Figure 1, the cultural representation of artifacts in France that appears in the Alter Ego Plus 3 Niveau B1 book is 14%. There are many places that not only present French culture, but have also become iconic and world famous places. France is famous as historical city. There is many monuments and relics that represent France from various times, even from before the Common Era. France has approximately 1207 museums. Paris has 53 museums, ranging from modern art museums to doll museums. Alter Ego Plus 3 Niveau B1 book shows some of the most visited museum types. Among the 35 national museums, the most visited museums are Le Louvre (8.5 million visitors per year), Château Versailles (6 million visitors per year), Le Centre Georges Pompidou (3.6 million visitors per year), Le Musée d’Orsay (2.9 million visitors per year), and Le Musée du Quai Branly (1.3 million visitors per year). In regard to the passion of the French people to travel, France provides many places to shop, such as Galeries Lafayette Haussmann or Bon Marché. As an implementation of the La Commerce Équitable culture, exclusive goods are sold at these places, the majority of which are products from France or commonly referred to as L'Artisanat There are also shops that sell the best and latest fashions

If you want to give a tip, you must do it in cash. This is very important to do and is a habit for French people. Tipping is a part of égalité, and is for the equal rights of workers(Lynn, 2017)

The cultural form of French behavior is not only from the government system and the habits of the people, but also from the sartorial culture of French people. France is very famous for fashion and the way the people dress. They pay attention to even the smallest things, such as using ties (La Cravate). A tie was originally a scarf worn by knights in France during the kingdom of Louis XIII to Louis XVII Then, during the French revolution the size of the scarf got increasingly smaller. In the 19th century, the size of the scarf changed in such a way that it was shaped like a tie. The habit of draping a scarf then turned into a tie, and became common for men as masculine fashion characteristic. At the moment, a tie is an important accessory, a part of men's fashion. Ties are usually used with suits or other formal clothing used for big events or certain professions, such as company officials, bankers, and so on. Moreover, a tie in France is a symbol of conformism. The culture of conformism is also a masculine symbol for men(Hunt & Gonsalkorale, 2018) 4.3. France Cultural Artefcats

In order to support the mobilization of its people, France has many public transportation networks.As people wholike touse public transportation, inmajor cities of France there are public transport vehicle networks that are regulated by the local government(Mahieux & Mejia Dorantes, 2017)Paris and the Ile de France area have a special train network namely RATP (Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens) and Transilien SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français) which regulates the commuter train system including TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse). In France there are also bus and taxi networks. There are also rental based public transportation modes, such asVélo en libre service, which offers bicycle rental to the public There is also Airbus, which is the largest commercial aircraft manufacturer in the world, and is owned by France. Airbus is based in Toulouse, France. Airbus has been trusted by many countries to provide air transportation. France is known as an expressive country. As a form of freedom of the people, demonstrations often produce a unique style of written art, otherwise known in French as Le Graffiti. Graffiti is usually found during demonstration activities (La Manifestation). Unlike other countries that use graffiti as a form of vandalism, graffiti in France has its own uniqueness. They write words that have connotative and even poetic meanings to protest policies. And what makes French graffiti unique is that the graffiti is rarely encountered as a form of vandalism, as the graffiti is made on large paper media and is often displayed when demonstrations take Frenchplacepeople not only have freedom of opinion but also education. On average, many French people must have experienced college and even continued to the level of Master’s. The forms of diplomas in France are also grouped based on the focus of their education majors such as BTS (Diplôme de technician supérieur), DEUST (Diplôme d’études universitaires scientifique et techniques), DUT (Diplôme universitaire de technologie), and CPGE (Classes preparation aux Grandes École). In addition to education, there are also higher education levels specifically intended for those who wish to become candidates for top level French civil servant positions, i.e. Grandes Écoles As an art form, France is famous for its paintings. There are many typical French paintings that inspire many of the world's art genres shown in this book. Among these paintings are Pierre Bonnard's Décor à Vernon as a form of Impressionism, Henri Matisse's Femme au Chapeau as a form of Fauvism, and other paintings such as Cubism which was pioneered by Pablo Picasso.

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. in France. These stores include Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Pierre Cardin, and so on. In addition to providing clothing facilities, these shops also provide goods to support conformist culture such as the use of a tie (La Cravate) that is often found in France.

In addition to painting, France is also famous for other arts such as film, music, literature, poetry, and Theatre. Some French films that have been shown worldwide are referenced in Alter Ego Plus Niveau B1 book, such as untouchable, La Môme, and so on. With regards to music, French people have a tradition of making musical literature with poetic nuances, satire or drama. This musical literature was developed between 1950 and 1960 Some famous musical figures rose to prominence in this era, such as Édith Piaf, Charles Trenet, Georges Brassens, Barbara, and so on. After this era was over, three new trends emerged in French music: Les chansons faciles(light songs), which was popularized by Claude François, Dalida, and Jonny Hallday ; then Les chansons engagées (political/protest songs), which was popularized by Jacques Higelin, Bernard Lavilliers, and Alain Bashung; and finally Les chansons de tradition régionale (folk songs). This type of song was popularized by Thomas Fersen dan Nolwenn. In addition to works of art in the form of music and film, France is also famous for its literary works. Famous French literary works such as novel, poetry, and theatre. Many French novels are very famous and unique. Take for example the novels by Albert Camus. Camus is famous for his philosophy titledL’Absurdité, which includes several of his works such as L’Étranger and Le Mythe de Sisyphe There is also poetry, which is one of the oldest literary form. French poetry is one of the most widely expressed forms of art, whether in the form of melodies, sounds or rhythms, and has been heavily modified since the nineteenth century (like Rimbaud, who wrote music of his poetry as free verse) This book also shows the art form of theatre Theatre is a form of art that has long existed and is called staged writing. Theatre has been popular since royal times and was once the official show of aristocrats(Herzel, 2008). Some of the most famous French theatre works are Le Mariage de Figaro, Le Barbier de Séville, and Le Jeu de l’Amour et du Hasard In addition to its arts, French people have various ways to appreciate arts, one of which is by holding literary award events. Among the most prestigious literary awards in France areLe Goncourt, Le Renaudot, Le Prix Médicis, and Le Prix de l’Académie Française. Poetry also has special activities such as in the Printemps des Poétes program, which was held in March. France is the centre of art andliterature.

Figure 2. A Representation of French Paintings

Furthermore, French people's culture of behavior is a culture of solidarity, which is indeed the principle of the French people, namely Solidarité This solidarity is strongly embedded in French society, so that it is always visible and seen in everyday life. They assist each other even for trivial matters, such as helping old people carry their groceries In some cultures, other than France, maybe there is something similar, but in many other countries, coming into contact with foreigners can be considered harassment, and can even cause someone to be sent to prison. Meanwhile, cultural behavior shows ethics and manners in daily life. The uniqueness of this interaction can be seen when greeting each other with people they don't even know, such as in an apartment elevator. French people also always say sorry or pardon when they bump into one another on the street or in the metro,andsay bonjour or bonne journée as an expression of prayerfora pleasant day Another habit is the culture of kissing the left and right cheeks of people they meet as a greeting. This habit of French people is very common and unique because all French people have the same behavior as described above. The uniqueness of French artefacts in terms of dress or fashion can also be seen. The French people are very concerned about appearance with chic or fashionable clothing styles. Moreover, there are many famous French boutiques that offer a variety of typical French clothing, perfume and accessories. Therefore, France is a centre of international fashion that is highly recognized by the whole world. In addition to fashion, France is also famous for its gastronomy, which is very distinct and contributes a large part to the identity of the French people. UNESCO has recognized French gastronomy as a Non Object Cultural Heritage/Le Patrimoine Culturel Immatériel since 2010 (https://ich.unesco.org/fr/RL/le repas gastronomique des francais 00437). French gastronomyis well known all overthe world, for example the unique cheeses, such as Roquefort, Brie, and Camembert

5. Discussion In the Alter Ego Plus 3 Niveau B1 textbook, the culture that is shown is pure French culture consisting of Cultural Knowledge (67%), The Portrayal of Cultural Practice/Behavior (19%), and Cultural Authenticity, shown in such a way so as to be able to introduce French culture to the world.

The unique cultural knowledge of French people is Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité, which has been the official and distinctive motto of the French Republic since 1793 during the French Revolution. (https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/coming to france/france facts/symbols of the republic/article/liberty equality fraternity)

The authenticity of culture is displayed in such a way so as to introduce French culture to the world. Similar findings are also found in the research of Jeeyoung Shin, et al(Shin, Eslami, & Chen, 2011) Theyfound that in English textbooks today the cultures that are often shown are western cultures such as English and American cultures. The culture shown is still similar to the original culture without a mixture of cultures from other English speaking countries even though English itself has become an international language and is used as an official language in various countries

The cultural aspects found also have similarities with the findings of cultural representation in the Alter Ego Plus 3 Niveau B1 book Cultural representations that are similar to this study, such as the British people's passion for art and music like the French’s. But the cultural emphasis in their research is the type and genre of music. Meanwhile, in the French textbooks the cultural emphasis is on the art genres in France (Impressionism, Fauvism and Cubism). The same thing is also found in the economic sector In the same study, economic activity was more emphasized in the export import sector and the effects of globalization. Meanwhile, in this study it was found that the French people are more concerned with justice (Égalité) by implementing fair trade (Le Commerce Équitable). But this finding is very contradictory to research conducted by Awayed Bishara (2018) with the title “EFL discourse as cultural practice.”. In the study, it was found that there is a modification of English texts for foreign speakers. This modification greatly deviates from the original culture. According to his research, English textbooks in Israel ignore the existence of an Arab Palestinian minority in Israel. In the textbook there are no terms, text, or discourse that represents the existence of Arab Palestinian people. In some cases, they are described as traditionalist and underdeveloped. Narrative texts found in the textbook only describe places that represent Arab Palestinians as deserts and camels, and refer to the people as 'Badui' Contrary.

The cultural portrait seen in this book is highly representative of life in France. Starting from their habit of respecting others, behaving fairly, appreciating high art, to the enthusiasm of its citizens when an art festival is being held. Similar findings are also found in Sadeghi and Sepahi's research (2018) They found that there are a variety of cultures shown in English textbooks for foreign speakers.

The findings of this study prove that in the Alter Ego Plus 3 Niveau B1 book the most discussed material is knowledge (Knowledge), while the rests that include behavior/habit (Behavior) ranks second. Artefacts (Artefact) and society’s characteristics (People) are discussed less than the previous two materials This shows that there are representations of French culture in this book. Through the cultural representations, we can see that it turns out that in this textbook the highest percentageis in the presence of a scientific perspective representation. The Alter Ego Plus 3 Niveau B1 book reflects the mindset of the people in France who prioritize knowledge They talk a lot about ideas, perspectives, and everything related to knowledge in accordance with the findings of this study including the official mottoof the French RepublicLiberté, Égalité, Fraternité, LeFéminisme, LesArts (L’impressionisme, LeFauvisme, LeCubisme), Le Commerce Équitable For behavioral culture (Behavior), the most unique finding is the behavior of French people in using their sacred time off, and French people's sartorial behavior, which is very elegant. One cultural representation that is not shown in this study is People as

6. Conclusion

to that research, the culture found in this study is more natural and in accordance with the culture of people in France. The portrait of the activities shown also shows that French people uphold the fraternity (Fraternité), even to the smallest things such as tipping (Pourboire) when going to restaurants.

Byram, M., Gribkova, B., & Starkey, H. (2002). Developing the Intercultural Dimension in Language Teaching: A Practical Introduction for Teachers. Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France.

Beaman, J. (2015). Boundaries of Frenchness: cultural citizenship and France’s middle class North African second generation. Identities, 22(1), 36 52. Bennett,https://doi.org/10.1080/1070289X.2014.931235J.M.,Bennett,M.J.,&Allen,W.(2003).Developing intercultural competence in the language classroom. Culture as the Core: Perspectives on Culture in Second Language Learning, 237 270. Besse, A. S. (2007). Caractéristiques des langues et apprentissage de la lecture en langue première et en français langue seconde: perspective évolutive et comparative entre l’arabe et le portugais [Characteristics of languages and reading learing in first and second language: an evolutionary and comparative perspective between Arabic and Portuguese] Université Rennes. Bonilla, Y. (2010). GUADELOUPE IS OURS The Prefigurative Politics of the Mass Strike in the French Antilles. Interventions International Journal of Postcolonial Studies, 12(1), 125 137. https://doi.org/10.1080/13698010903553393 Boudjadi, A. (2012). La pluralité culturelle dans les manuels scolaires de FLE de l’enseignement secondaire [Cultural plurality in EFL textbooks of secondary language education]. Synergies Algérie, 15, 107 120. Byram, M. (1988). Foreign language education and cultural studies. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 1(1), 15 31 https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318809525025 Byram, M. (2013). Foreign Language Teaching and Intercultural Citizenship. Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research, 1(3), 53 62.

This study majorly recommends that due to the rapid development of media and technology, cultural representation appearingin textbooks is becominginaccurate and obsolete in reflecting the current trends in regard to France and French study as a language Experts of French Language and French culture, should therefore, should adopt each and every new media and technology for learning in a cross cultural perspective to enrich French teaching and learning in this rapidly changing world more so for the developing world, including Indonesia.

Alcon, E. (2000). The Role of Conversational Interaction in the Development of a Second Language: Its Application to English Language Teaching in the Classroom. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 16(1), 135 154.

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Abstract. The objective of this study was to uncover the degree of achieving development standards indicators among kindergarteners from parents’ point of view. Descriptive analytical approach was used, where the researcher used a questionnaire to collect data It contained 2 demographic variables, which are the mother’s level of education and the child’s ordinal position and it had 67 questions. The study population consisted of a random sample of 100 parents only. The results showed that kindergarteners achieved the development standards of the Jordanian child at a high degree. It also showed that there statistically significant differences at 0.05≤α of the degree of achieving development standards indicators among kindergarteners from parents’ point of view due to the variables of the mother’s level of education and the child’s ordinal position. The current study recommends going beyond the kindergarten scope and researches on elementary students from across the entire Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan as a follow up to this research’s findings kindergartens in Amman will benefit from this study and it would motivate kindergartens teachers in Jordan to focus equally on development standards.

1. Introduction

Keywords: development standards indicators; kindergartens; parents

The first years of child’s life are vital in which he or she gains knowledge and it is considered as the foundation of their lifelong education, making this period ‘irreplaceable’ when it comes to the development of particular skills, which cannot be obtained as easily in the subsequent periods. Thus, early childhood, especially during kindergarten, is justifiably a crucial period for the development of standard skills and behaviors (Wildova & Kropáčková, 2015).

The Degree of Achieving Development Standards Indicators among Kindergarteners from Parents’ Point of View Naser Ibrahim Al-Sharah Al Balqa Applied University, Irbid University College, Jordan, Faisal Khalif Al Sharaa Al Balqa Applied University, Al Zarqa University College, Jordan

422 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 422 436, March https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.232020

The development of a child at an early age is considered the foundation which ensures children would grow healthy and well, making it a vital factor of the goals of sustainable development, and recognizing the formative component of early childhood has increased the emphasis on lowering the risks of poor child development. It is becoming more and more necessary to improve worldwide measures of children who are at risk of poor development, as well as correctly determining challenges, the effectiveness of interferences, progress, and planning for future investments (Lu et al., 2016).

This study is important from practical and theoretical perspectives. The study is the first experimental research in the literature that searches in development standards indicators among kindergarteners by designing a learning environment based on the principles of child development and adaptation to the surrounding environment and good planning to ensure the development of children in various fields. This study can help in activating the standards and achieving the indicators found in the teacher’s standards document in the national standards for kindergartens, which make the teachers feel self confident and carry positive feelings towards their profession and the awareness that the teacher is no longer a carrier of knowledge Besides, this research can help determine the educational strategies that teachers must use to influence children, especially through the use of modern and up to date methods.

Early childhood development can be referred to as the physical, intellectual, socio emotional, and linguistic development that young children go through before entering primary schools; any defect in any of its aspects would lead to developmental gaps, which can lead to hefty consequences for these children, their families, and their societies altogether (Nadeau & Hasan, 2016).

2. Significant of the Study

As time goes by, more emphasis is put on acquiring these basic development skills, as the quality of early childhood education is starting to be considered as a complex and controversial matter to the point where it has grown to be a crucial interest of early childhood education studies during the previous decades (Fenech, 2011) According to studies, acquiring these skills efficiently and adequately can widely improve a child’s overall development and allow them to advance faster (Sylva et al., 2010) Likewise, other studies have shown that allowing the parents to engage in their children’s education proved to have a positive effect on their ability to learn and prevent any social problems that might occur Thus, cooperation between parents and teachers is perceived as a critical part of high quality early childhood education (Goff et al., 2012; Fonsén & Vlasov, As2017)a result of the importance of the kindergarten stage on the child's future development and personality, children concerned institutions have established a few development standards that kindergartens must apply and for children to achieve them. Therefore, the researcher finds it necessary to assess the role of these kindergartens in achieving these criteria for mothers, given that they are the most people who follow up with matters related to their children and their level of growth in different areas.

Statement of the Problem

The planning process calls for setting targets in an actionable program. In addition to drawing a clear picture of the future, identifying effective steps to reach this image, organizing times, and choosing priorities. This process relies on an inventory of the available capabilities and resources, studying them, and determining the procedures for using them, to achieve the desired goals during a specific period.

The challenge for a kindergarten teacher is to provide high quality educational services for the child in the kindergarten, and the success of the teacher in achieving this goal requires possessing good planning skills through which you can meet the needs of children in line with the individual differences between them, and contribute to discovering their capabilities.

Questions of the Study

The human limitation presented a major limitation, where the population of the study included mothers whose children attend the second stage of Kindergarten (KG2) in the neighborhoods of East Amman, Jordan only. Besides, the study has faced some challenges while acquiring related literature, as there was a limited amount of research that tackles such variables. The researcher sees a need for calls to investigate and conducted further research on standards Indicators among Kindergarteners.

Question 2: ‘Are there statistically significant differences at the level of significance 0.05 ≤ α of the degree of achieving development standards indicators among kindergarteners from parents’ point of view due to the variables of mother’s level of education and the child’s ordinal position?’

Indicators: Methods for measuring the performance aspects of the organization to emphasize the accuracy of achieving the desired goals (Benbenishty & Astor, 2007). Kindergarten: A small school for children aged between four and six years old to prepare them for primary education. Limitations of the Study

Question 1: ‘What is the degree of achieving development standards indicators among kindergarteners from parents’ point of view?’

Procedural Definitions of the Terms Standards Indicators among Kindergarteners: A reference that accompanies the kindergarten work and ensures that it addresses the basic needs of the child in pre school education (Nadeau & Hasan, 2016).

Standard: Model rules, reference orders, or conditions by which we judge or measure the behavior of individuals and groups, patterns of thinking, and procedures (Funnell, Brown, Childs, Haas, Hosey, Jensen, ... & Siminerio, 2008).

When these skills and behaviors are developed early, they serve as a basis for later competencies and efficiencies They can be regarded as constructing blocks that children learn to use to broaden higher level skills successfully, thus ending up as skillful readers (Brown, 2014).

At the most general level, the term ‘literacy’ involves an ability or a skill to perform the acquired skills, such as reading, writing, mathematical skills, etc., where reading literacy is generally referred to as a group of skills and abilities that employ written speech as a mean of communication, enjoyment, education, etc It’s not merely meant the ability to read written texts correctly, but it also requires understanding them, and to be able to evaluate them and derive information from it critically, which can be referred to as the functional application of reading and writing) (Wildova & Kropáčková, 2015). Literacy consists of speaking, listening, and visual abilities, including viewing, sketching, and critical thinking it is not only about reading or writing Furthermore, other literacies, such as technology, (including video games, programs, internet searching, faxing, e mails, etc.), popular culture (including films, theatres, and art), functional literacy (including roadmaps and timetables), environmental literacy (mostly for native groups) and literacies that don’t have anything to do with English have become relevant and essential in the lives of young children nowadays Thus, Kindergarten programs should base their definition of literacy on these new ones, with the aim to goal to offer the children with the base they require for a prosperous transition to literacy learning throughout their preparatory year (Raban et al., 2009).

UNICEF has provided research regarding the development standards during the first 7 years of a person’s life that reinforce their importance in early childhood years of any person, in addition to how child development is determined via many aspects related to childcare, protection, and education. Most of these elements affect the progress of the child in every developmental discipline (the physical, the socio emotional, and the cognitive domains) in a concurrent manner

In terms of reading literacy, it requires from the person to master, integrate, and apply many abilities and expertise, learning to read is a developmental process; one which almost all children follow the same pattern and the same reading behaviors when they are taught how to read, which go from appreciation and recognition of the printed material to being aware of phonetics and phonemes, up until acoustics and word recognition. On the other hand, foundation skills revolve around reading skills that primary grade students commonly improve.

Language Development and Literacy

3. Literature Review Development Standards

It has been stressed that it is not sufficient to take care of children alone, just like how it isn’t sufficient to just feed or teach them new things Children require healthy nutrition, care, attention, love, motivation, acceptance, patience, as well as a suitable environment that allows them to develop properly and provides them with the development standards to do so; neglecting any of these conditions in this time and age has long term consequences (Anghelescu et al., 2010).

4. Be able to pay attention for longer periods;

Emotional and Social Development

8. Solve some social problems on his or her own. These social and emotional experiences with either parent, caregivers, as well as interactions with peers and other adults at an early stage pave the road for future academic and personal aftermaths and might assist other development areas (Darling Churchill & Lippman, 2016).

1. Develop emotional relationships outside the family circle, otherwise known as friendships;

Social and emotional development can be defined as the developing ability of young children to ‘build lasting relationships with his or her parents, other adults, and peers, as well as experiencing, regulating, and expressing emotions in both socially and culturally appropriate manners, in addition to discovering his or her surroundings and examining the contexts of family, society, and tradition’ (Darling Churchill & Lippman, 2016).

7. Manage their overflowing emotions in socially acceptable approaches increasingly; and

Physical activities in early childhood are crucial when it comes to reducing the growing health risks that are related to motor activities, such as obesity. In such a case, the development of the child largely depends on the quality of the

2. Recognize the differences between socially what is considered acceptable behavior and what is not;

Motor skills are one of the few skills that come naturally to a child after their birth. Even though some studies came to say that early infant motions are nothing but ordinarily reflexive, involuntary, and unrelated reflexes, newer studies came to defy this idea, showing that infants perform significant motor activities since their first few minutes after delivery, and most likely even before and that these movements have to affect later development It has been understood that motor development contributes to the physical growth and healthiness of the child However, and according to previous studies and research, it is clarified how this occurs to a developing body. For example, recent investigations showed that some motor skills could be enhanced through playing, while others showed how parents, instructors, and caregivers could improve their playtime and bolster its impact on the child’ s physical development (Trawick Smith, 2014).

Motor Development and Physical Health

Children’s emotional and social development throughout their early childhood phase sets the foundation for his or her development throughout middle childhood, adolescence, etc., during which kindergarteners start to (Halle & Darling Churchill, 2016):

3. Endure difficult tasks without being overly annoyed;

Mastering motor skills is the only way that allows a person young or old to explore, experiment, and discover the countless wonders of life around them

5. Avert from interrupting others and exhibit delay of gratification skills when sharing with others;

6. Recognize and clarify their personal feelings as well as others’ feelings;

In earlier times, the focus on early childhood education has been limited to acquiring basic literacy, such as reading, writing, and simple mathematics, and didactic teaching was the prominent method of teaching in most kindergartens. However, and in recent years, the early childhood landscape started witnessing several adjustments to start up with a more progressive technique that aimed to develop critical thinking skills among kindergarten children; it, however, came across some difficulty in terms of application within the context of early childhood, and what strategies can be employed to promote critical wondering among children (Tay Lim, 2011).

expressed movements. For example, younger children love to play and move around freely without any limitations or hindrances However, while they are allowed to move freely, their performance improves drastically in terms of cognitive and emotional domains The type of freedom offers the children a tangible approach through which they can interact with the world around them (David & Gbenga, 2014).

Childcare and kindergarten based interventions aim to enhance children’ s motor skills, in which they have succeeded, the same as how school based interventions operate For example, motor development has been enhanced among first grade children and preschool by adopting a development focused program as well as an early education program; these either included motor skills with other learning skills or focused exclusively on motor development Single blinded interventions aimed primarily to enhance motor development and secondarily to reduce the level of obesity and increase physical activities among young children were conducted in childcare centers. That intervention was implemented by teaching educators about the importance of supporting physical activities in children, adapting to the childcare built environment, and even encouraged educators to get involved with the parents in motor development promotion and daily physical activities (Laukkanen, 2016).

Within the context of basic education, logical thinking can be defined as a key cognitive domain that is required for one to succeed in his or her social and academic life, given how it is a requirement for adopting and strengthening the four major language skills speaking, listening, reading, and writing To acquire and master these skills efficiently, a person needs to adopt both consciousness and deliberative activities, an achievement that is linked to logical thinking. For that reason, it’ s important to improve logical thinking skills and make it a precondition for kindergarteners to acquire the four language skills and as soon as possible, as well as finding an effective way to do so (Säre et al., 2016).

Previous Studies Lembke and Foegen (2009) conducted a study to identify the early numeracy indicators for kindergarten and first grade students. A descriptive analytical approach was used. The sample consisted of 72 Kindergarten and first grade students. The results revealed that three of the four measures examined by the study showed encouraging technical adequacy characteristics when considering the potential of these measures as indicators of student mastery in mathematics that can be applied in both examination and progress monitoring purposes, and

Logical Thinking

Tymms, Merrell, Hawker and Nicholson (2014) conducted a study aimed to identify the indicators of performance in primary schools then comparing it to entry to school performance and the progress made in the first year in four jurisdictions and England. A descriptive analytical approach was used. The population consisted of schools in New Zealand, Scotland, and England. Whereas the sample consisted of 1100 students. The PIPS validity report was defined to produce a national average to tell when the children enter schools what they can do in each country. The results revealed that cognitive scales came high in England for early mathematics, early reading, vocabulary, and phonemic awareness, while results showed that children whose first language is not English had encountered major difficulties at first.

Chang, Lehmann, Winter and Finkbeiner (2018) conducted a study, aimed to analyse the Sustainable Child Development Index (SCDI) for Countries. An analytical approach was used. The sustainable child development index currently addresses education, health, safety, environmental aspects described in 25 indicators, and finally economic status in general. By taking the benchmarks derived from the SDG goals, the results of the 2015 Sustainable Development Index in 138 countries were calculated. The results of the study indicated a significant inequality in the case of sustainable child development. European countries generally enjoy a better position in the sustainable development of children. By contrast, 76% of Asian countries and 90% of African countries are classified as countries with medium and low levels. Wood (2019) conducted a study, aimed to discover the Kindergarten Reading Readiness and Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning. A descriptive analytical approach was used. The sample consisted of 118 kindergarten students during the academic year 2016 2017. The results revealed that within group t tests revealed the group identified as not having a gap increased by 26%, t (26) = 11.47, p < .001, while the group identified as having a reading readiness gap increased their average RBI reading performance by 47%. However, the between groups (t test) comparing the groups’ RBI difference scores indicated a closed but still significant gap of 6.8 points remaining, so it was significant, t (116) = -3.12, p =. 002,

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. were consistently less positive than those of other measures. Moreover, the quantitative set scale was less reliable retest test, produced standard validity coefficients that were especially low for kindergarten students, and failed to reflect fundamental changes in student performance from fall to spring.

Pont (2013) conducted a study aimed to identify the features and application of standards in different OECD countries. It focuses on specific approaches adopted in many OECD countries and partner countries and regions and analyses relevant standards and policies in general, these countries include, Brazil, Australia, Canada, England, Chile, Germany, Mexico, Korea, New Zealand, Norway; and the United States, the analytical approach was used. The result showed that the development of newly established standards for teachers and school administrators has become a necessity in all countries. Furthermore, the educational policies’ variations, particularly those related to assessment and reporting, occur at a very rapid pace and contribute to the development of students ’skills at a young age.

The study population comprised of mothers whose children attend the second stage of Kindergarten (KG2) in the neighborhoods of East Amman, taking into consideration that they have finished kindergarten, where one division of 6 kindergartens was selected. A random sample of 100 mothers was selected, who have been classified into the demographic characteristics in Tables 1 and 2.

TableTotal 2: Demographic Characteristics of the Study Sample (Child’s Ordinal Position Sample

Child’s Ordinal Position FrequencyPercentage% 1616%First Child 4747%Middle Child 2323%Last Child 1414%Only Child 100100%Total For the mother’s level of education, it seems that Below High School received a percentage of 28%, while the percentage of High School was 20%, which is the lowest among the three, and the Bachelor’s Degree or higher had a percentage of 52%, which is the highest among the three. For the child’s ordinal position, it seems that First child received a percentage of 16%, which is the lowest between the four, while the percentage of Middle child was 47%, which is the highest between the four, the Last child had a percentage of 23%, and finally, the Only child with a percentage of 14% Research Instrument

2. Emotional and Social Development: contains 16 questions.

The Population of the Study and its Sample

Mother’s Level of Education FrequencyPercentage% 2828%Below High School 2020%High School 5252%Bachelor’s Degree or Higher 100100.0

4. Methodology

Table 1: Mother’s Level of EducationSample

The instrument questionnaire was prepared based on the development standards of the Jordanian child and its indicators, which are accredited by the Jordanian Ministry of Education. It contained 67 items that measure the degree of achieving development standards indicators among kindergarteners from parents’ point of view The questionnaire has been being distributed to the study sample by hand. The questionnaire contained 2 demographic variables, which are the mother’ s level of education and the child’s ordinal position, and had 67 questions that represent the following study variables:

1. Language Development and Literacy: contains 10 questions.

3. Motor Development and Physical Health: contains 15 questions.

4. Logic and Thinking: contains 26 questions.

Table 3: Cronbach’s Alpha for the Study Domains Value of (α)DomainN 0.939Language Development and Literacy1 0.872Emotional and Social Development2 0.873Motor Development and Physical Health3 0.950Logic and Thinking4 0.974Total Table 3 shows that the total Cronbach’ s Alpha for the study domains was above 0.60, which indicates the stability of the results of this study. The researcher used Pearson’ s correlation coefficient to check the reliability of the study tool The results revealed that all the study items were stable and positive

Table 4: Correlations for the Study Domains SigPearson CorrelationDomainN .0000.913**Language Development and Literacy1 .0000.871**Emotional and Social Development2 .0000.896**Motor Development and Physical Health3 .0000.963**Logic and Thinking4 ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2 tailed).

5. The Results of the Study Question 1: What is the degree of achieving development standards indicators among kindergarteners from parents’ point of view?

Table 5: Descriptive Statistics of the Study Domains LevelStd. DeviationMeanDomainN High0.923.85Language Development and LiteracyF1 High0.494.06Emotional and Social DevelopmentF2 High0.454.20Motor Development and Physical HealthF3 High0.584.12Logic and ThinkingF4 High0.564.06Total Table 5 shows that the Language Development and Literacy field has reached a mean of 3.85 and standard deviation of 0.92 with a high impact, while the Emotional and Social Development field has reached a mean of 4.06 and a standard deviation of 0.49, also with high impact Moreover, the Motor Development and Physical Health field has reached a mean of 4.20 and a standard deviation of 0.45 with high impact, while the Logic and Thinking field has reached a mean of 4.12 and a standard deviation of 0.58 with high impact, as the previous fields have.

Question 2: Are there statistically significant differences at the level of significance (0.05 ≤ α) of the degree of achieving development standards indicators among kindergarteners from parents’ point of view due to the variables of mother’s level of education and the child’s ordinal position?

431 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. Mother’s Level of Education To show the differences between the groups, one way ANOVA was used as shown in Table 6. Table 6: One Way ANOVA Test Domain Source Varianceof Sum Squaresof DF SquareMean F Sig. DevelopmentLanguage and Literacy Between Groups 29.448 2 14.724 25.873 .000Within Groups 55.202 97 .569 Total 84.650 99 Emotional and Social Development Between Groups 2.593 2 1.297 5.945 .004Within Groups 21.157 97 .218 Total 23.750 99 Motor Development and Physical Health Between Groups 2.897 2 1.448 8.130 .001Within Groups 17.281 97 .178 Total 20.178 99 Logic and Thinking Between Groups 5.016 2 2.508 8.575 .000Within Groups 28.370 97 .292 Total 33.386 99 Table 6 shows that there is a significant impact due to the mother’s level of education and that the level of significance for all fields was less than 0.05. Table 7: Scheffé’s Test Field Categories Mean SchoolBelowHigh SchoolHigh Bachelor’s DegreeHigheror andDevelopmentLanguageLiteracy Below High School 3.17 High School 3.48 .30714 Bachelor’s Degree or Higher 4.36 1.19368* .88654* Emotional and DevelopmentSocial Below High School 3.81 High School 4.11 .30134 Bachelor’s Degree or Higher 4.18 .37345* .07212 HealthandDevelopmentMotorPhysical Below High School 4.04 High School 4.00 .04619 Bachelor’s Degree or Higher 4.36 .31996* .36615* Logic Thinkingand Below High School 3.83 High School 3.99 .16291 Bachelor’s Degree or Higher 4.33 .50211* .33920 Table 7 shows that the differences were in favor of the Bachelor’s Degree or higher in all fields The Child’s Ordinal Position To show the differences between the groups, one way ANOVA was used as shown in Table 8.

432 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. Table 8: One Way ANOVA Test Field Source Varianceof Sum of Squares DF SquareMean F Sig. Language Development and Literacy Between Groups 14.843 3 4.948 6.804 .000Within Groups 69.807 96 .727 Total 84.650 99 Emotional and Social Development Between Groups .026 3 .009 .035 .991Within Groups 23.724 96 .247 Total 23.750 99 Motor Development and Physical Health Between Groups 2.326 3 .775 4.170 .008Within Groups 17.852 96 .186 Total 20.178 99 Logic and Thinking Between Groups 3.042 3 1.014 3.208 .027Within Groups 30.344 96 .316 Total 33.386 99 Table 8 illustrates that there is a significant impact due to the child’s ordinal position and that the level of significance for all fields was less than 0.05, except for the Emotional and Social Development field, which was more than 0.05. Table 9: Scheffé’s Test Field Categories Mean ChildFirst MiddleChild ChildLast ChildOnly DevelopmentLanguage and Literacy First Child 4.44 Middle Child 3.64 .79495* Last Child 3.51 .92446* .12951 Only Child 4.43 .00893 .78602* .91553* Motor Development and Physical Health First Child 4.44 Middle Child 4.14 .29982 Last Child 4.03 .41268* .11286 Only Child 4.40 .04167 .25816 .37101 Logic and Thinking First Child 4.38 Middle Child 3.99 .38958* Last Child 4.03 .35044 .03914 Only Child 4.39 .00515 .39473 .35559* Table 9 shows that the differences were in favor of the (First Child) in the fields of Language Development and Literacy, Motor Development and Physical Health, as well as in favor of the Only Child in the field of Logic and Thinking. 6. Discussion of the Results Question 1: What is the degree of achieving development standards indicators among kindergarteners from parents’ point of view? Table 5 shows that the achieving development standards among kindergarteners is high and has a mean of 4.06 and a standard deviation that amounts to 0.56, where none of the fields got a low degree. Moreover, it also shows that the Language Development and Literacy field scored last and has displayed a high

It is shown from the results in the Table 6 that there is a significant impact of the degree of achieving development standards indicators among kindergarteners from parents’ point of view due to the mother’s level of education, where the level of significance was less than 0.05 It is also shown in Table 7 that the significant differences were in favor of Bachelor’ s Degree or higher in all fields Language Development and Literacy, Emotional and Social Development, Motor Development and Physical Health, Logic and Thinking. This could be because parents with higher degrees take better care of their children and pay more attention to the development standards that their children need to obtain to become efficient in their lives later on than parents with lower degrees do It could be also mean that parents have high awareness regarding the importance of this stage and how crucial it is to take care of it; it also implies that the level of awareness is directly proportional to the level of education. This result is consistent with the result of the study of Steinmayr et al (2010), which showed a positive association between parents’ education and children’s academic achievement

This result agreed with Bassok et al. (2016), who showed that literacy in kindergartens has witnessed a substantial increase and started to use textbooks, practicing words by dictation to improve spelling, writing short stories and reports, and using workbooks and worksheets.

The overall result of this question can be attributed to several factors, such as the necessity of kindergarten teachers to have a Bachelor's degree in child education at a minimum; also, this study was performed in the capital city of Amman, which means kindergartens are fully equipped in terms of buildings, tools, and means; also, that most teachers are subjected to in service training courses.

On the other hand, the Logic and Thinking field scored last, still with a high impact, where the mean reached 4.12 and the standard deviation was at 0.58 This could be since the fact that the kindergarten teacher preparation programs include special courses in the development of children’s thinking as well as the various in class and extracurricular activities, that is in addition to the adoption of the teaching staff method in the daily kindergarten program and the adoption of an interactive national curriculum and the teacher's guide that has been prepared by experts and university professors.

The result of this study also agreed with Daniel and Gagnon (2011), who showed that logical thinking among kindergarteners was characterized as simply stated points of views, somewhat generalized and unjustified statements, and sometimes kindergarteners are unable to materialize a logical statement or it would contain a false or a circular justification.

impact, where it is mean reached 3.85 with a standard deviation of 0.92. This could be attributed to the fact that kindergartens teachers put more focus on teaching language and literacy related subjects to kindergarteners to set the foundation for more advanced language requirements at later stages

8. Research Limitations and Direction for Further Research

It is also shown in Table 9 that these significant differences were in favor of First Child in three out of the four fields Language Development and Literacy, Motor Development and Physical Health, Logic and Thinking This could be because parents focus their attention more on the first child, given that he or she is their firstborn, and is more special to them.

On the other hand, it has been shown from the results in Table 8 that there is a significant impact of the degree of achieving development standards indicators among kindergarteners from parents’ point of view due to the child’s ordinal position, where the level of significance was less than 0.05, except the (Emotional and Social Development) field, which was higher than 0.05. This could be attributed to the fact that parents have more time and resources to care for the only child and/or the first one, and are more enthusiastic about educating and attending to the first child in comparison to his or her siblings; as such, the child’ s ability to acquire aspects such as language, motor, and physical health, as well as logic and thinking are affected when and if parents differentiate between their children, favoring, for example, the elder son over his or her siblings

7. Conclusion The importance of achieving development standards indicators among kindergarteners has been receiving even more attention from different parties as the days go by, especially in the primary educational institutions in general, and kindergartens in specific, as they are considered to be the most fundamental institutions in any society due to their vital role in educating the young offspring and providing them with necessary skills that will serve as a solid base on which their entire educational journey will rely on. Thus, many studies have shed light on the matter of development standards, while many kindergartens have started to focus on these standards more by applying the necessary adjustments. This study tried to uncover the degree of human achieving development standards indicators among kindergarteners from parents’ point of view In light of the study results, it has been concluded that kindergartens are taking a more serious approach toward teaching development standards, given how all fields had high impacts; however, there could be room for improvement In this retrospect, kindergartens and other responsible parties should implement the development standards in kindergartens’ curriculum by making the appropriate adjustments to the curriculum and hiring adequate teachers who can apply them effectively, while taking into consideration each child’s ability, thus improving the quality of kindergarten education and the acquisition of development standards tremendously.

Many limitations must be put into consideration; such as insincerity and conflict when the members of the study sample answer the questionnaire, some of which are excluded by the researcher, then comes the human limitation, where the population of the study was limited to include parents of kindergarteners in Jordan only. The second limitation would be. The third limitation was the lack

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435 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. of resources to work with, as the topic of development standards indicators among kindergarteners was not widely addressed The current study recommends going beyond the kindergarten scope and researches on elementary students from across the entire Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan as a follow up to this research’s findings. Further qualitative research would be needed in the future to accurately assert the degree of achieving development standards indicators among kindergarteners.

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Further research into the broader degree of achieving development standards indicators among kindergarteners as well as new outcomes, whether they are positive or negative, would be highly appreciated by the researcher.

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Steinmayr, R., Dinger, F., & Spinath, B. (2010). Parents' Education and Children's Achievement: The Role of Personality. European Journal of Personality, 24(6), 535 550. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.755 Sylva, K., Melhuish, E., Sammons, P., Siraj Blatchford, I., & Taggart, B. eds., (2010) Early Childhood Matters: Evidence from the Effective Pre School and Primary Education Project. Routledge, London https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203862063 Tay Lim, J. K. H. (2011) Developing Young Children’s Critical Thinking Skills through Conversations. Paper Presented at the ERAS Conference, National Institute of Education, Jurong West, 8 9 September 2011. Trawick Smith, J. (2014). The Physical Play and Motor Development of Young Children: A Review of Literature and Implications for Practice. Center for Early Childhood Education, Eastern Connecticut State University. Tymms, P., Merrell, C., Hawker, D., & Nicholson, F. (2014) Performance indicators in primary schools: A comparison of performance on entry to school and the progress made inthefirst yearinEngland and fourother jurisdictions Research Report, Department of Education, CEM Centre, Durham University. Wildova, R., & Kropáčková, J. (2015). Early Childhood Pre Reading Literacy Development. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 191(1), 878 883. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.04.418

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Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung, Indonesia Aslina Ahmad Universitas Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Malaysia

Corresponding author: Lutfi Nur, Email: lutfinur@upi.edu

Abstract. This research was motivated by the current conditions that require the younger generation to have good character values or ethics Even nowadays humans begin to indicate that some professions will be lost and replaced by machines. However, the value of good character and ethics will not be able to be replaced by the machine. The purpose of this research is to ascertain how far elementary school students have good character values or ethics so that we can spot a trend whether character values are degenerating, getting better or simply staying the same. The research respondents were the fifth graders of SDN 1 Cikalang and the sixth graders of SDN Karsanagara. 105 participants took part in this study. A survey was carried out to measure the value of a student's character. The results showed the development of their character lied mostly in the medium category. Scores for reading interest, creativity, curiosity, perseverance (diligence, heart strength, persistence), and devotion (religious) lied mostly in the low category.

Rasch Model Application on Character Development Instrument for Elementary School

Students

Keywords: Rasch model; character; ethics; elementary school students

Lutfi Nur*, Luthfi Ainun Nurani and Dodi Suryana

1. Introduction

437 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 437 459, March https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.220204

The current phenomenon concerning degradation one’s personality are mushrooming in Indonesia community It is proven by the rise of student abuse cases. Cases of abuse do not only happen between students, but also happens between teachers and students. This is due to the loss of mutual respect and appreciation. Mubarok, Rusmana, Budiman & Suryana (2019) argued that when individuals demonstrate disrespect attitude towards each other, it will adversely affect individuals with decreased learning outcomes, declining self respect, and increased intimidation behavior to others in school as well as increasing violence or fostering unexpected immoral actions. The child's character can be influenced *

The introduction of Information Technology amongst elementary school students has become a problem that needs to be confronted (Nur, Suherman & Subarjah, 2019). Meanwhile, some researchers have indicated that sophisticated machinery can replace several professions in certain areas. However, character education cannot be taught by a lump of sophisticated machines. This means that a good character must be preserved by human beings as a hallmark of the Indonesian society. A good character can be imbued by teacher interactions with children. The term character can also be considered as a value which is closely related to culture. Transformational value is an effort or action that is done to preserve or develop the cultural values (Wahyuni, Aji, Tias & Sani, 2013). Good manners can be formed and inculcated through an educational process, which can be delivered by the teacher as a substitute of the parent’s role at school. Character is etymologically derived from the Latin word "character" or the Greek word "kharassein", which means to mark it, or the French word "caracter", which means personality. In English, the word "character" means traits and roles. Character is seen as a personality trait which is associated with mental beings, namely mental conditions, and thought forming processes. A person's character essentially consists of the qualities and relationships that exist between them. As forcharacter traits, they are more than just a momentary state of mind, and just because someone shows certain thoughts does not mean that he has these underlying traits. A character adheres to the value of a person's behavior (Desstya, 2015).

The prominent differences of children about learning, disciplined behavior, the way they dress, and the way they speak are clearly seen. These issues are caused by educational system such as zoning system (Yudha, Suryana & Nabella, 2020) Indonesia as a developing country has demonstrated its participation in the development of its people. Participation in the world of education also requires the application of policies to the school system to keep the developments in the education sector in line with global challenges (Sumintono, Said & Mislan, 2012).

This research has been carried out using the Rasch model approach through the Winstep program in order to assess the characters of elementary school students. Nurhudaya, Taufik, Yudha & Suryana (2019) have used the Rasch model because it can provide solutions to the limitations of the classical model. The use of the Rasch's model approach can also determine the reliability of research instruments without depending on the sample, unlike the classic model where reliability depends on the sample, even though reliability in a test does not always have to depend on the sample (Van Der Ven & Ellis, 2000).

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. by the emotions of the child himself. It can even interfere the learning process if negative emotions arise in the child. Negative emotions such as feeling unhappy and disappointed then the learning process will experience obstacles (Nurillah, Zerlinda, Solehuddin & Suryana, 2020) The influence of the family environment is huge, especially in children who are constantly faced with family suffering, bad care and high levels of conflict. They will grow and rise into children who will generally fail to manage their negative emotions and they can become aggressive adults (Saomah, Suryana & Adzani, 2020) This is already in the realm of the destruction of the character of children at the age of the elementary school level.

Some research on character development has been done by Putri (2018) who discussed the character education of elementary school children in the digital age. Murniyetti, Engkizar and Anwar (2016) discussed the pattern of character education implementation in elementary school students. Supraptiningrum & Agustini (2015) discussed how to build students 'character through school culture in elementary schools. Research on using computer based Rasch applications has also been widely done. Ardiyanti (2017) used a Rasch model on the development of efficacy scale in career decision making whereas Aziz (2015) applied the Rasch model for testing mental health measuring equipment in the workplace. Purba (2018) used the Rasch model to measure performance test instruments on basic subjects and electrical measurements and Makransky, Rogers, & Creed (2015) used Rasch model to assess career decisions.

However, not much research has been done on the character measurement of elementary school students, especially by using the Rasch model approach through the Winstep program. This is evidenced by the fact that there is only one study by Misbach & Sumintono (2014) on the measurements of character instrument validation. However, they focused on discussing students' perception of teachers’ morals and character rather than discussing the character of individual students. The improvement of character must start from the teacher because teacher’s discipline will affect to classroom management (Shih, Wu, Lai, & Liao, 2015). There is no research focus on the character of elementary school students using Rasch modeling. Therefore, this article discusses the results of measuring student character with the Rasch model approach, through the Winstep program. This research will answer the following questions:

1 How are the results of the distribution of instruments that reveal the character of students using the Rasch model?

According to Sumintono & Widhiarso (2015), the superiority of the Rasch's model compared to other model, especially the classical test theory, can be seen from its ability to predict missing data, based on individual response patterns. This advantage makes the statistical analysis results of Rasch model more accurate and authentic. It is certain that it the measurement of the character instrument of the primary school students is not employed based on the Rasch approach, it might cause research failure. Ardiyanti (2017) stated that the use of the Rasch model in instrument validation could result in more holistic information about the instrument and fulfill the measurement definitions. Therefore, the measurement of the character instrument of elementary school student uses the Rasch model approach to define the instrument measurements authentically and holistically.

2. Why Rasch Model can reveal the character of elementary school students?

Rasch model also has an interesting and easy advantage to apply at all scale formats. The Rasch model continues to develop not only for the analysis of dichotomous data, but also for polytomous data (Salzberger & Sinkovics, 2006) Thus, the Rasch model is an excellent model for analyzing the validity of an instrument. However, there are important things to consider, for instance the number of participants and the number of parameters measured for each item. Having too many parameters with only few respondents may lead to the extraction of incorrect conclusions from the data (Timofte & Siminiciuc, 2018).

Table 1. Selected

SDN

The instrument used in this research was in the form of a questionnaire which is used to reveal the character of students. Twenty eight questions were prepared based on the aspects of good characters, including interest (strong desire), beliefs, confidence, perseverance (persistence), devout (religious), disciplined, honesty, tolerance, hard working, creativity, independence, curiousness, respect, social care, peace, democratic, love for reading, and nationalism. These questions were presented in the form of statements and were answered based on a certain scale in accordance with the character of students. The data obtained were processed using the Rasch model application. This model is developed to overcome problems that arise when using classical test theory in instrument analysis (Boone, 2016; Jackson, Draugalis, Slack, Zachry & Agostino 2002). Thus, the Rasch model is seen as a measurement tool for mathematical analysis that can reveal the relationship between a person and the way he responds to the items in a given instrument (Jackson et al., 2002). The Rasch technique can be used to convert non linear raw data on a linear scale which can then be evaluated using statistical parametric tests (Timofte & Siminiciuc, 2018).

2. Method This study employed a quantitative descriptive method to describe the character of elementary school students in Tasikmalaya, Indonesia. A purposive sampling technique was used in the study whereby a total of 105 high grade elementary school students aged between 11 and 12 years old were taken as participants. This age range was selected because these students have the ability to think abstractly and logically. The opportunity to answer a question correctly depends on the ratio between one's ability and the difficulty level of the problem (Sumintono & Widhiarso, 2014) Detail information of this student population is presented in Table 1. Student Population School Population Total M F SDN 1 Cikalang 16 12 28 Karsanagara 35 42 77 51 54 105

Total

441 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. 3. Results Before analyzing the data further, it is worth measuring which instruments given to the respondent can be used to measure the character of elementary school students. Table 2. Undimensionality Table 3. Person Item Map

Table 2 shows that raw variance observe is 33.3%, including adequate categories, while unexplained variance in the 1st to the 5th contrast of residuals are 11.9%, 9.2%, 6.4%, 6.3% and 6.2%. The spread of the respondent (the person) and the problem (item) can be seen in Table 3.

Based on the Person Item Map as shown in Table 3, we can see that the difficulty level of the items is spreads in the range 1 to 2 logits. A total of 27 items were positioned between 2SD with +2SD, while one item, i.e., p25 number is above +2SD. The average level of ability of elementary school students (person) is above the standard difficulty level of the items.

Table 4. Difficulty level of items

From Table 4, we can see that the standard deviation (SD) is 0.54. If the elementary school value is combined with the mean value of logit (0.0), then the grain difficulty level of the instrument (item) can be grouped into 3 categories: a very difficult category with provisions greater than 0.54, a difficult category with provisions between 0.54 and 0.54 and a very easy category with value less than 0.54 This form of research instrument used multiple choice questions (MCQs). The suitability of each option is shown in Table 5.

Rating Scale Diagnostic

Table 6. Item Bias Detection Based on Table 6, it can be concluded that there are four items that are biased, i.e. item 6 (p = 0.445), 8 (p = 0.079), 12 (p = 0.047), and 15 (p = 0.031). Figure 1 (on page 9) shows that items 6 and 15 were the easiest to do for the sixth graders at SDN Karsanagara, but tends to disadvantage the fifth grade students at SDN 1 Cikalang. Items 8 and 12 were found to be the easiest ones to attempt by the fifth graders at SDN 1 Cikalang, but they were found to be more difficult by the sixth graders at SDN Karsanagara.

The value of the AndrichThresholdin Table 5 shows that there is a match between the choice of answers from 1 to 5 as evidenced by an increase in the value of alternative answers from 1 to 5, with the following values: NONE, 1.15, 0.28, 0.03, 0.97, and 2.42. From Table 6, it is concluded that there are 4 items that are biased: item 6 (p = 0.445), item 8 (p = 0.079), item 12 (p = 0.047) and item 15 (p = 0.031).

Table

-0.5-1.5-100.511.5

Figure 1.

1 2 *

Table 7 shows the Person Measure or the level of ability of students in working with the character instrument of elementary school students. The standard deviation (SD) of their abilities is 0.74. This value if combined with the mean of logit values (1.22), the individual ability level of students regardingtheir character can be grouped into three categories: a high ability category with the provision of a value greater than 1.22 + 0.74 = 1.96, a medium ability category with provisions between 0.48 (1.22 0.74) and 1.96 (1.22 + 0.74) and a low level ability category with value less than 0.48. Thus, from the 105 students who were surveyed, there are 10 high ability students, 82 with moderate ability, and 13 with low ability. Item Bias Detection (diff.)MeasureDIF Item Person DIF plot (DIF=$S5W1)

Table 8 shows the ability of students with the difficulty of each item at grain level. The criteria for checking the suitability of a person (person fit) or inconsistency of a person (outlier or misfit) are as follows: (1) an OUTFIT MNSQ value greater than 0.5 but smaller than 1.5 and closer to 1 is a good value; (2) an OUTFIT ZSTD value between 2.0 and +2.0 and closer to 0 is a good value; and (3) a value between 0.4 and 0.85 for PT MEASURE CORR is a good value. A participant can be considered fit if it meets at least 1 of these 3 criteria. Table 9 shows the instrument used for character measurement of elementary school students.

Table 9. Summary Statistics

4. Discussion Character Education in Elementary Schools

10.

Character can be defined as a set of individual psychological characteristics that affect one's ability and tendency to function morally (Osman, 2019) where moral is defined as the reality of personality. A positive character is a driver which will determine the right direction and acts as a protector against the occurrence of immoral actions (Fauziyah & Jailani, 2014). Moral is not the result of personal development by itself, but includes a person's actions and behavior, as well. It is indispensable to give examples when teaching moral education. However elementary school age students are still in the imitation stage, so it can be said indirectly that elementary school students still need something tangible so they can learn. The virtuous behavior or virtue of a person can grow through observations of other people doing such virtuous actions (Schnall et al., 2010). The discipline included in students’ character can be generated through the drive to control behavior so that it can also affect the general academic performance of students (Stanley, 2014) The teacher and his caring attitude can help students to develop positive attitudes in learning (Rahimi & Karkami, 2015). Character development should start from the moral improvement of the teacher. Elementary school age students are still in the imitation stage, so they still need concrete examples to copy and to learn from. Children aged 6 12 are at a concrete operational level where they still need something tangible to help develop their intellectual abilities (Desstya, 2015; Ibda, 2015). Giving concrete examples have more impact because it includes aspects of moral, cognitive, and motivational education (Mannan, 2017; Szutta, 2019) Character values raised by educators can be indirectly admired by their students.

Table Summary Statistics Mean SD Separation Reliability CronbachAlpha Person 1.18 0.60 2.10 0.81 0.85 Item 0.00 0.54 4.28 0.95

Referring to Table 10, reliability values for person and item are 0.81 and 0.95. This means that the instrument (character) of the elementary school students are considered reliable within a special category. As for the Cronbach Alpha value of 0.85, which represents the interaction between persons and items, this falls in the excellent category. This categorisation is based on Sumintono & Widhiarso (2014) where they considered a value which is less than 0.6 to be in a bad category, a value in the range 0.6 0.7 to be in the moderate category, a value between 0.7 and 0.8 to be in a good category and a value greater than 0.8 to be in the excellent category. There are several aspects of character in students that are different from the two schools studied. This difference occurs in one of them due to different environmental influences. SDN 1 Cikalang is located in an urban area while SDN Karsanagara is located next to an urban area. This difference can be seen in Table 6 which shows that there are some biased items, involving students at SDN 1 Cikalang and SDN Karsanagara.

Application of character education can be implemented through the Character Building (CB) subject aims at improving the quality of the students' personality so that they are ready to contribute to the community after graduation. Character education will enable them to apply many important values in life, including caring, honest, responsible, disciplined, and tolerant attitudes (Pane & Patriana, 2016). Positive characters can grow through watching films in which students are involved in discussions to foster positive thinking and develop their character (Iii & Waters, 2014). To achieve the goal of character education, it is therefore necessary to assume that educators are "knowledge brokers", effectively repackaging information and participating in teacher training (Walker et al., 2015) Character Instrument Development of Elementary School Students

The findings of the study revealed that the majority character (78.1 % or 82 students out of 105) of elementary school students are in the medium category. This means that the character and ethics of many elementary school students still need to be improved and this can be done at school. It is proven by Table 3 and Table 7 where only 10 students were in the high ability (positive character) category while the majority of the students are in the medium category. Thirteen students fell into the poor character value category.

Zagzebski (2015) noted that someone's admiration is an emotion where the object is seen as something which is acceptable. This means that the character values shown by educators can be imitated by students through the admiration to the teacher. Character education is a process of applying moral and religious values to learners through the sciences and then applying these values to oneself, to our family, friends, educators and the surrounding environment and to God the Almighty (Putri, 2018). Character development inculcates a lot of values inside students such as being careful, thorough, ability to face problems, being honest, objectivity, perseverance and tolerance (Widodo & Kadarwati, 2013).

The development of the character instrument of the elementary school students was conducted with 28 fifth graders of SDN 1 Cikalang and 77 sixth graders of SDN Karsanagara. Aspects studied includeinterest (strong desire), beliefs (mental attitude), confidence, perseverance (persistence), fear, responsibility, discipline, honesty, tolerance, hard work, creativity, independence, curiosity, respect, social concern, love, peace, democratic, and patriotism. The study was conducted using Rasch model. This model is considered as the only model that view numbers as a truth so that the results of the analysis are considered to be authentic with adequate statistical results (Van Der Ven & Ellis, 2000) Table 2 (Undimensionality table) indicates that the raw variance value of 33.3% belongs to the ‘adequate’ category. The value of Unexplained variance in the 1st to the 5th contrast of residuals is 8.0%, 6.2%, 4.3%, 4.2%, and 4.1%. All of these values are also less than 15%. The use of the instrument is measured by the character variable. The general criteria for the interpretation of the variance is as follows: unexplained variance if <15%, adequate if 20% 40%, good if 40% 60%, and very good if above 60%.

The Rasch model can provide great benefits, but researchers should evaluate it carefully and conscientiously (Boone, Staver & Yale, 2014). Table 8 shows that 99 students have been able to answer most questions to a satisfactory extent. Only 6 students were unable to provide satisfactory answers according to their abilities. This can occur due to the possibility of students choosing random answers and

Although the results of the analysis in Table 7 showed that each student has a logit value that varies from negative to positive values, this is not a problem because the average item size has a standard value of 0.0 logit (Boone, Staver & Yale, 2014)

A negative value implies that the respondent or student has an ability level less than the average difficulty of the item the instrument is measuring. Positive characters that have not embedded in elementary school students can be influenced by several factors such as environmental factors. The surrounding environment is one of the greatest influences on human growth, starting from the family, school, and community environments.

Referring to Table 3, the difficulty level of 27 items is between 2SD and + 2SD, except for item for which it is above +2SD. The difficulty level of item 25 can be considered as an outlier. It means that this item is not an appropriate one to give to students to measure character while the other 26 items are appropriate to measure the character of elementary school students. Table 4 shows that there are 6 items that are categorized as ‘very difficult’. These are items P5, P9, P17, P19, P22 and P25. There are three items that are categorized as ‘difficult’. These are item P1, P2 and P8. In the ‘easy category’, there are 16 items namely P3, P4, P6, P7, P10, P12, P13, P14, P15, P16, P20, P21, P23, P24, P27 andP28. The ‘very easy category’ includes 3 items, which are P11, P18, and P28 Items within the difficult categories are aspects of character that are not possessed by students yet. These characters are devout (religious) and interest (strong desire). These two character traits are influenced by several factors including the ability of individuals to socialize with the environment, with people whohave a high level of faith, with individuals who have the ability to adapt, and the ability of individuals to interact socially with the family, school and the community (Akbar, 2015). Besides using the scales in the character instruments of elementary school students, this research also use Likert scales with a score ranges from 1 to 5. The Likert scale were used in several questions to measure individual behavior by responding to 5 choices on each item of inquiry: strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, and strongly disagree (Budiaji, 2013) Four items are based on the aspect of perseverance (diligence, heart strength, persistence). Students of SDN 1 Cikalang was found to be weak in tolerance. Therefore, the fifth graders at SDN 1 Cikalang must be taught this value in more detail. Students at SDN Karsanagara had difficulty with managing their fear and things that could harm them. Therefore, they must be taught this aspect with more care and diligence and this can be delivered by the educator. These aspects are essential, giving rise to a biasedtendency toone ofthe groups. The aspect ofdiscipline was low forstudents at SDN Karsanagara. This could be explained by the fact that teachers are not giving the right examples, for example, by coming late to his class (Wardhani, 2018) This aspect of discipline is not so much a problem at SDN 1 Cikalang

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. therefore it is inaccurately measuring the character of these students. Based on the results obtained from the data collection, data processing and data analysis procedures regarding the development of the character of elementary school students, we conclude that the character development of the majority of elementary school students is in the medium category. This means that the character of elementary school students still needs much improvement through character education which must be integrated with the main subjects that are taught in elementary schools. The basic aspects of religion and interest must also be strongly emphasized. Moreover, five graders tend to be weak in the perseverance (diligence, strength of heart, persistence) and tolerance aspects while the sixth graders tend to be weak in devout and discipline. Thus, necessary adjustments must be made to customize the teaching of character development to each group of students.

3. The community and the society at large have a vital role to play to imbue youngsters (and especially students) with a positive character by providing a environment that is conducive for such developments.

The results of data analysis using the Rasch model revealed that the character of the majority of elementary school students is in the medium category. This means that the character of elementary school students still needs to be improved through character education which needs to be integrated with the main subjects that are being taught in elementary schools. Reading, creativity, curiosity, perseverance (strength of heart) and devotion (religion) are some of the character traits that need to be emphasized in character development education. Character development of the fifth grade students tends to be low in aspects such as perseverance (diligence, strength of heart, persistence) and tolerance while the sixth graders tend to be weak in devotion and discipline. Based on the above findings, it can be concluded that the Rasch model is able to reveal the character of students through the use of dichotomous (multiple choice questions) data by utilizing statistical parametric tests. In other words, the Rasch model is a relevant and appropriate tool to discover the relationship between a person's ability and the difficulty level of question items

2. Teachers must foster positive attitudes and values in elementary school students. Teachers are central to the life of students and they have a strong influence on how many students will live their life afterwards.

Our final recommendations are as follows:

Acknowledgments

I wish to thank the lecturers of the Learning & Evaluation course at the elementary schools who have allowed me to develop this article and provide the necessary guidance in a systematic way. A sincere thanks to all the students of SDN 1 Cikalang and SDN Karsanagara who have participated in this research

1. Both schools involved in this study, SDN 1 Cikalang and SDN Karsanagara, need to improve the strictness of their regulations so that they can get the desired character development traits from their students.

5. Conclusions and Recommendations

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Character Instrument No Dimensions/Aspects Indicator Statement ItemNo.

1 Interest (strong desire) A strong will or desire to a particular object. I am interested in fraction materials.addition 1 I want to know the actual distance by using the scale on the map.

The development of this instrument begins from the theory that character deals with distinguishing features (differentiation) which are unique (typical or single) and are owned by each nation and nations’ superiority to be considered and respected equally.

2 Beliefs withattitude(mentalassociatedtrue)

1 Devout (religious) Abstain from deviant deeds and obey the rules of his religion. I pray before the class begins. 7 I pray on time. 8 I pray Dhuha. 9

2 Responsible Self awareness towards all intentional unintentionalor behavior and actions. I apologize when I make mistake. 10 3 Disciplined Feelings of obedience and submissive to the values implemented in their environment. I do my duty to clean the classroom. 11 I come to classroom on time. 12 4 Honest No cheating, no lying. I agree if any items lying around will be returned to their owners. 13 I do my honestly.assignments 14

Behavioral conception that arises from the soul as a reaction on the basis of the situation that affects it. I am sure with my own answer. 3 3 Confidence (mental attitude of trust)) Attitude grows on the basis of confidence. I answer the questions with my own ability. 4

Behavior shows diligence. I work on assignmentsmya week before the due date. 5 I study before getting the test. 6 Character is closely related to the characteristics of a nation.

4 of(diligence,Perseverancestrengthheart,persistence)

456 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. 5 Tolerant Respect and appreciate each group or each individual . I agree to befriend with someone from different religion. 15 6 Hard working Never be tired and never stop to pursue goals. I try to answer the questions about fraction subtraction 16 7 Creative Able to bring up new ideas. I find another way to solve the question about ratio. 17 8 Independent Attitude of not depending on others. I agree to come to school without bothering my parents 18 9 Curious Behavior of finding out something, learning.investigating,exploring,and I study at home first before the teacher explains the fraction material 19 10 Respect Appreciate I value the work of others honestly. 20 I shake hands when I meet my teacher. 21 11 Social care Interest or willingness in helping others. I help my friends to understand the material about the fraction division. 22 12 Love peace Attitudes, utterances, actions that make other people feel safe and happy. I agree if the teacher gives rewards to students who have never make trouble in the class. 23 13 Democratic Discuss to appoint the class leader. I am involved in determining the class chairman 24 14 Love reading Reading textbooks, reading novels. I read at least two story books every week 25 15 Nationalism Proud as an Indonesian citizen, exalt nation face. Proud to use Indonesian products. I am proud to wear a red and white T-shirt. 26 I want to win the International Math Olympiad 27 I love local products rather than foreign products 28

457 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. Direction:1.Write down your identity in the available column! 2. Pray before working on the test! 3. Answer all the questions individually! 4. Cross (X) one of the options! Good Luck^^ 1. I am interested in fraction addition material. a. Not very interested b. Not interested c. Neutral d. Interested e. very interested 2. I want to know the actual distance by using the scale on the map a. very unwilling b. unwilling c. Neutral d. willing e. very willing 3. I am sure with my own answer. a. very unsure b. unsure c. Neutral d. Sure e. very sure 4. I answer the questions with my own ability. a. Never b. Seldom c. Sometimes d. Often e. Always 5. I work on my assignments a week before the due date a. Never b. Seldom c. Sometimes d. Often e. Always 6. I study before getting the test. a. Never b. Seldom c. Sometimes d. Often e. Always 7. I pray before the class begins. a. Never b. Seldom c. Sometimes d. Often e. Always 8. I pray on time. a. Never b. Seldom c. Sometimes d. Often e. Always 9. I pray Dhuha. a. Never b. Seldom c. Sometimes d. Often e. Always Name : Class : School :

15. I agree to befriend with someone from different religion. a. Strongly disagree b. Disagree c. Neutral d. Agree e. Strongly agree

13. I agree if any items lying around will be returned to their owners. a. Strongly disagree b. Disagree c. Neutral d. Agree e. Strongly agree

16. I try to answer the questions about fraction subtraction. a. Never b. Seldom c. Sometimes d. Often e. Always 17. I find another way to solve the questions about ratio. a. Never b. Seldom c. Sometimes d. Often e. Always 18. I agree to come to school without bothering my parents. a. Strongly disagree b. Disagree c. Neutral d. Agree e. Strongly agree

19. I study at home first before the teacher explains the fraction material. a. Never b. Seldom c. Sometimes d. Often e. Always 20. I value the work of others honestly. a. Never b. Seldom c. Sometimes d. Often e. Always 21. I shake hands when I meet my teacher a. Never b. Seldom c. Sometimes d. Often e. Always

10. I apologize when I make mistake. a. Never b. Seldom c. Sometimes d. Often e. Always

12. I come to classroom on time. a. Never b. Seldom c. Sometimes d. Often e. Always

14. I do my assignments honestly. a. Never b. Seldom c. Sometimes d. Often e. Always

11. I do my duty to clean the classroom. a. Never b. Seldom c. Sometimes d. Often e. Always

22. I help my friends to understand the material about the fraction division. a. Never b. Seldom c. Sometimes d. Often e. Always 23. I agree if the teacher give rewards to the students who never make trouble in the class. a. Strongly disagree b. Disagree c. Neutral d. Agree e. Strongly agree 24. I am involved in determining the class chairman. a. Never b. Seldom c. Sometimes d. Often e. Always 25. I read at least two story books every week. a. Never b. Seldom c. Sometimes d. Often e. Always 26. I am proud to wear a red and white T shirt. a. Strongly disagree b. Disagree c. Neutral d. Agree e. Strongly agree 27. I want to win the International Math Olympiad. a. very unwilling b. unwilling c. Neutral d. willing e. very willing 28. I love local products rather than foreign products. a. Strongly disagree b. Disagree c. Neutral d. Agree e. Strongly agree

A Case for Teaching Pronunciation to Adult EFL Learners, Using Metrical Versification

Mahboobeh Khaleghi University of Mysore, India Manal Batobara Department of European Languages and Literature, University of Jeddah, KSA Mohammad Saleem Department of English, King Abdulaziz University Rabigh branch Rabigh, KSA

460 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 460 474, March https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.220205

Abstract. Accent, rhythm, and intonation are significant features of the English language. The Intelligibility of EFL learners' speech is largely affected for lack of knowledge of correct use (or no use) of these suprasegmental features in the oral production of English The pre university EFL curriculum in Saudi Arabia ignores the teaching of suprasegmental features, whereas training in suprasegmental features should be an essential aspect of EFL teaching Metrical poetry can be used as a practical medium to teach accent, rhythm, and intonation in speech. The two fold objectives of the present research were (i) to test the efficacy of metrical poetry used as a medium to teach accent, rhythm, and intonation in English, and (ii) to argue for the inclusion of training in suprasegmental features of speech in the Saudi EFL curricula, either as a separate unit or as a larger section in the current prescribed books. In a quasi experimental study conducted at a Saudi university, a randomly selected group of 60 undergraduate EFL learners were given training in accent, rhythm, and intonation in connected speech using metrical, rhymed poetry, over a period of three weeks. A comparative analysis of the participants’ pre and post test speech samples revealed that learners made noteworthy progress in their accent, rhythm, and intonation in connected speech.

Keywords: accent; intonation; suprasegmental features; teaching English; metrical verse

The Research Background A living language has two prominent facets its syntactic structure and its sound system. In the meaning making system of the language, both the facets are complementary to each other, so much so that one has to be not only proficient in its rules of sentence formation, but also equally proficient in producing its sounds correctly. This is a common observation that native speakers of a language grasp each other’s meaning just by hearing the sounds even if the words are not fully articulated. This is more so in a language like English in which sense is invariably intertwined with sound, bestowing upon it the epithet 'highly tonal language,' to a degree that the accent on a syllable and tone in the utterance change the intended meaning. Foreign language learners need to learn this aspect of the language very carefully, through specialized training in the elements of phonetics. One major factor, among several factors, such as lack of awareness of the rules of syntax, disinterest in word spellings, and lack of knowledge of word formation rules, etc. (Avery & Ehrlich, 1992), behind the errors surfacing in the use of English by adult EFL (English as a foreign language) learners is lack of knowledge of the elements of phonetics, such as syllables, accent, and intonation in connected speech. Research in this area shows that Arabic learners of English are prone to make specific phonetic errors in English (Abdulwahab, 2015; AbiSamra, 2003; Al Badawi, 2012; Alkhotaba & Khan, 2017; Al Saidat, 2010; Hago & Khan, 2015; Shalaby, Yahya & El Komi, 2009). The reason for this is cited to be a mother tongue influence, i.e., the phonological differences in the two linguistic systems (Cook, 1992; Oldin, 1989). Arabic does not follow a particular accentual pattern, so, adult Arabic speakers learning English, to their own disadvantage, transfer and impose a similar pattern upon English.

The researchers postulate that the issue of mispronunciation of English words can be tackled if adult EFL learners in Saudi Arabia are given proper training in acquiring the elements of English phonetics. Phonetics (with reference to the sound system of English) is taught in Saudi Arabia only as a specialised subject offered at English Major Course of study. Pre university students, who are required to undergo training in English to start their university studies, but do not study English as a Major's subject have no opportunities to learn the elements of English phonetics, and are, therefore, at a loss to make up for the disadvantage and are obliged to carry forward the fossilized phonetic errors in their speech. At the most, they have to rely on the model of pronunciation, accent, rhythm and intonation on the accent of their English teachers, which may not be the standard one in many cases. At the same time, the age of the learners is also crucial since, as research has proved (Chiswick & Miller, 2007; Lenneberg, 1967), it is easier to acquire the finer elements and nuances of pronunciation of a foreign language at a younger age, whereas, the same elements are observed to evade the grasp of an adult learner. The researchers have also postulated that since Arabic and English hardly share any linguistic features (except, perhaps, some sounds, especially some of the voiced sounds, and some similar sounding words that may be called as 'loan words' transferred culturally from one language to the other) (Al Badawi, 2012; Alkhotaba & Khan, 2017), an adult

1. Introduction 1.1

The discussion above clearly indicates that teaching of English to adult EFL learners in Saudi Arabia suffers from lopsidedness. Heavy reliance on the materials intended to cater to the needs of 'functional English' syllabi, devoid of extended instructions on the prosodic features of the language, have led to the development of learners' communicative competence at the cost of their phonetic competence. Phonetic competence is one of the abilities to communicate regarding pronunciation skills (Saz, Rodríguez, Lleida, Rodríguez, & Vaquero, 2011) There is no denying the fact that EFL learners require extensive training in accent, rhythm and intonation for mutual intelligibility in a multicultural set up like that of Saudi Arabia. And yet, the courses and curricula are such that they have no space for phonetic competence, though not only in Saudi Arabia, this happens to be the case wherever English is taught as a foreign language as 'functional English' (Derwing & Munro, 2005). Global research on the issue share the researchers' concern that accent training has been side lined, or marginalised, by EFL teachers in general for various pedagogical reasons, and researchers suggest for a paradigm shift in English pedagogy (Derwing & Munro, 2005). Although, at the same time, teachers of English worldwide have shown an increased interest in standard pronunciation, as note Derwing and Munro (2005), "as evidenced by the establishment of a TESOL interest section and a proliferation of pronunciation materials for learners" (p. 379), yet in applied linguistics research contexts "it remains a very marginalized topic" (p. 382). The researchers cite the example of The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition (Doughty & Long, 2003), where the authors do not even bother to mention pronunciation research. Established scholars in the field, such as David Nunan (1999), Davies and Pearse (2000), Hedge (2000), Lightbown and Spada (1999), and Willis (1996), to mention only a few, show no interest either in ongoing research in pronunciation or in advocating inclusion of pronunciation training in EFL/ESL courses (Derwing & Munro, 2005). The attitude of English educationists is reflected in EFL curricula in countries like Saudi Arabia. Grammatical and functional aspects of the English language acquire more prominence in EFL classes, while the prosodic aspects of the language, which are equally significant since they are suprasegmental features, are generally neglected. Even if the phonetic and phonological features of the target language are taught, they are taught in isolation, in a decontextualized environment, and

Arabic speaker learning English as a foreign language finds it inordinately difficult to acquire the English phonetic system, especially the prosodic features, with its heavy reliance on accent, rhythm and intonation. Therefore, it is essential to make things easy for such learners, and one of the ways to achieve such an objective is to take recourse to emotionally appealing learning materials, for example, poetic compositions and metrical verse lines, that may be used as examples to illustrate the finer phonetic elements of the English sound system. But, teaching of literature is not favoured in Saudi Arabia, and 'teaching language through literature' also is out of vogue. Thus, both the factors discussed above have complicated the situation for adult EFL learners, resulting in a strong emphasis on communicative competence in the syllabi at the cost of phonetic competence 1.2 The Problem

1a. *I'm go to arborat. 1b. I go to airport. 2a. *He is boles man. 2b. He is a police man. 3a. *I like phone ifon prad. 3b. I like iphone brand.

2b. I watched English film Twilight. (Alkhotaba & Khan, 2017, p. 7)

1a. *My father it work tetshar. 1b. My father works as a teacher. /Ɵ/ (dental, fricative, voiceless), replaced by /t/ (alveolar, plosive, voiceless)

1b. Maybe two hours. 2a. *I wiched English TW I Lat.

1a. *Otillo. 1b. Othello.

1a. *Meby towhours

1.3 The Research Gap A preliminary review of relevant literature prompted the researchers to look for any previous research studies in Saudi Arabia, or in the Arab region, discussing the issue or advocating for the inclusion of pronunciation training in adult EFL learners' course curricula. There are none. A number of studies identify mispronunciation in the oral production of learners, especially singling out some sounds (Abdulwahab, 2015; AbiSamra, 2003; Al Badawi, 2012; Alkhotaba & Khan, 2017; Al Saidat, 2010; Altaha, 1995; Barros, 2003; Hago & Khan, 2015; Shalaby et al., 2009), but no studies have highlighted the significance of accent, rhythm and intonation in connected speech. This is equally true of the research paradigms at the global level (except, of course, a few studies, such as Derwing & Munro, 2005 and Danchenko, 2011). Second, researchers are yet unaware of the potential significance of metrical verse as examples to teach the nuances of the English sound system to adult EFL learners. First of all, research is scanty in the use of verses to encourage EFL learners' sensitivity towards elements of phonetics, without teaching them the rules of phonetics using out of context words and sentences. Second, there exist some ideas in the use of nonsense, rhyming words to teach phonetics since some researchers have identified a pattern in the nonsense words created by learners in their mother tongue on the patterns of English (Wong, 1991), but there are no attempts to replace nonsense words by verses (without content knowledge). Third, there are studies in the use

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. are based more on drill than on cognitive or functional paradigms. The outcome, in most cases, is that a number of pre university adult EFL learners are unable to perceive the difference between voiced and voiceless sounds and produce the kind of sentences as are reproduced below (sentences numbered a are the actual utterances of students, while sentences marked with asterisks are the probable utterances): /p/ (bilabial, plosive, voiceless), replaced by /b/ (bilabial, plosive, voiced)

1.4 The Objectives of the Current Research

The suggested accent, rhythm, and intonation in connected speech are derived from British standard pronunciation pattern (RP = Received Pronunciation). The standard pronunciation pattern followed in the study is adopted from Daniel Jones (1917/Revised edn. 2011)

H1: To teach the appropriate recital (in other words meter) of poetry, one has to teach the syllable structure, stressed and unstressed syllables, primary and secondary stress, rhythm in connected speech, and finally intonation. There is a requirement to teach shift in emphasis in one's speech and accordingly shift in

The present research has been taken up with two objectives in mind. The first objective is to argue for a case for the inclusion of training in the basic elements of phonetics in the course curriculum of adult EFL learners in Saudi Arabia. The researchers ardently believe that teaching of the basic elements of phonetics with a view to improve foreign language learners' pronunciation should be included in the EFL curriculum for fluency building as well. The researchers suggest that this may be done either by including a separate unit in the present prescribed books or by introducing a separate booklet for the purpose. Current research studies on the issue highlight the essential need for such training. The second objective of the current research is to argue that using metrical verse lines as the literary medium to teach stress, rhythm and intonation in connected speech in English to adult EFL learners can be more productive than teaching the same using made up sentences as examples which are commonly out of context. Metrical verse lines lend themselves to a regular rhythmic pattern, and since poetry encompasses the emotive aspects of human speech ((Beum & Shapiro, 2006; Bloom, 2004; Brooks, 1975; Corn, 2008), a particular intonation is inscribed in its very structure, making it the fittest example of human speech to teach and learn stress, rhythm and intonation in a foreign language, which to an adult foreign language learner is otherwise the most difficult aspect of a foreign language to acquire Since poetry is emotive, aesthetically pleasing, and lyrical so as to be easily remembered and enjoyed by learners, as well as fun to many learners, teaching accent and intonation using verse lines may be very fruitful.

Based on the research problem and the second objective of the current research, the researchers have framed the following hypotheses:

1.5 Hypotheses

The first objective of the study, that is, the argument for the inclusion of pronunciation training, draws on similar research studies that advocate for such an inclusion, while the second objective of the research is achieved through a small empirical study.

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. of other techniques, like music beats, to teach English pronunciation, so why not use poetry? Thus, there is a need for investigation in both the fields, especially on the expected success of verse lines to encourage EFL learners' understanding of the elements of phonetics.

2. Literature Review

Rhythm in speech is a matter of timing. As regards rhythm in English speech, Peter Roach (2009) notes that "It has been often claimed that English speech is rhythmical, and that the rhythm is detectable in the regular occurrence of stressed syllables" (p. 107). The theory commonly accepted on the nature of rhythm in English is that English has stress timed rhythm, which "implies that stressed syllables will tend to occur at relatively regular intervals whether they are separated by unstressed syllables or not" (p. 107), though Roach observes that stress timed rhythm is "perhaps characteristic of one style of speaking, not of English speech as a whole" (p. 109) since he notices that English people may speak very rhythmically at times, while at other times they may speak arhythmically. As regards defining intonation, Roach's (2009) observation is that "No definition is completely satisfactory, but any attempt at definition must recognise that the pitch of the voice plays the most important part" (p. 119). Pitch in speech is described as 'high' and 'low' though these are arbitrary terms since, as observes Roach (2009), "It would be perfectly reasonable to think of pitch as ranging instead from "light" to "heavy," for example, or from "left" to "right" (p. 119). What we study in 'intonation' is the change in the pitch of the speaker's voice that carries some linguistic information, especially when the speaker has

2.1 Stress, Rhythm, Intonation

H3: Teaching the basic elements of phonetics using metrical verse lines as examples makes the understanding of the elements easier for adult EFL learners.

H2: Teaching of the basic elements of phonetics with a view to improve foreign language learners' pronunciation builds adult EFL learners' fluency in a better way.

RQ2: Does learners’ sensitivity to rime structure, pulse (beat) pattern, identification of syntactic categories of words, and shift in emphasis for meaning in verse lines help them understand the elements of phonetics better?

In order to test the hypotheses mentioned above, the following questions need to be answered through the research study:

stress on structure words in place of content words (in view of their syntactic categories). This knowledge can easily be utilized to teach accent to EFL learners without putting emphasis on the poetic contents of the compositions or on the meter as such.

1.6 Research questions

RQ1: Does the use of metrical verse to teach elements of phonetics induce learners’ sensitivity towards proper words stress, rhythm, and intonation in connected speech in English?

Stress is generally defined from the points of view of production and perception. For instance, Peter Roach (2009) explains that in production, the speaker uses more muscular force for a stressed syllable compared to the unstressed one. From the point of view of perception, the stressed syllable stands out to be prominent owing to four factors – (i) loudness, (ii) length, (iii) pitch, and (iv) quality The same applies to primary and secondary stress in polysyllabic words primary stress is comparatively more prominent than secondary stress.

For example, look at the following verse lines in which structure words, such as 'are,' 'up' and 'in' are stressed (the stressed syllables are in bold font): Twinkle twinkle little star How I wonder what you are Up above the world so high Like a diamond in the sky

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. full control over the pitch in his/her voice (Balasubramanian, 1981; Collins & Mees, 2013; Knowles, 2014; Ogden, 2009; Wong, 1987). So, following Peter Roach (2009) and other linguists, in looking for linguistically significant aspects of speech (for instance, pitch) we must always be looking for contrasts. To determine that a change in pitch has brought about a change in the speaker's meaning, we must be able to establish a perceptible contrast in the beginning and the changed pitch, as well as a unit to measure it. To achieve this, linguists set something called "level pitch," against which are perceived the changes: the pitch either moving up or down the 'level' scale. 'Tone' is the word used for the overall behaviour of the pitch. Thus, a speaker may use 'level,' 'rising' or 'falling' tone, or a mix of the two in his/her speech. Accordingly, meanings and intentions of the speaker are derived. All this can be taught to adult EFL learners in an interesting manner using metrical poetry as example speech (Lengeris, 2012; Ti, 2017). The rhyme, rhythm, and tone create the appropriate metrical lines. The prosodic features of English can be taught in a better, contextualised manner to adult EFL or ESL learners without extensive focus on the poetic content, and with an emphasis only on the formal aspects of a poem. The learners are not supposed to scan a poem; they will be given poems marked with stressed and unstressed syllables, feet divisions and beat timing. Moreover, the learners will be learning more about contraction, elision and hiatus. For instance, syllables in poetic lines are often mashed together and, and accordingly, words like "over" can be monosyllabic (example of elision) or disyllabic (example of hiatus). Affixes (prefixes and suffixes) may or may not count as full syllables, and so on.

As has been pointed out, there is a complete lack of research studies on the issue of non inclusion of pronunciation training in the EFL curricula, either in Saudi Arabia or in the Arab region. Of course, the major reason for that is the emphasis in their education system on developing "communicative competence," as regards foreign language teaching. The focus on 'language teaching,' on the

Stress and beat are two different notions, though most often stress is the beat in poetry since beat is created by stress. And yet, to maintain the beat, quite often structure words that are not generally stressed are also stressed in verse lines.

This brings us to the significance of what the speaker wishes to highlight, a very significant point in pronunciation training. Most often secondary stress (which is commonly ignored) is also made use of in creating beats in poetry (Commercial Poetry, 2013).

2.3 Previous Studies

2.2 Beat vs. stress

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. other hand, leads to a complete neglect of teaching of literature at universities in the Arab region, which is linked to our second research objective. Since the EFL learners are hardly acquainted with English poetry and poetic meter, they cannot be blamed for not being aware of stress, intonation, rhyme, and stress timed rhythm in English language in general. There are a number of studies on the pronunciation problems of Arab speaking students learning English, and there are ample studies on teaching the elements of phonetics, but there are no studies focused on using metrical verse as examples to make that learning easier.

Poetry has been put to various uses, apart from its primary use as an object of aesthetic enjoyment (Cahnmann Taylor, Zhang, Bleyle & Hwang, 2015; d’Abdon, 2016; Harfitt & Chu, 2011; Khatib, 2011; Pushpa & Savaedi, 2014; Wiseman, 2010). Take, for example, the research study by Harfitt and Chu (2011) that used poetry to engage adult EFL teacher trainees towards language and meaning facilitating free expression of opinions and feelings. The researchers repost satisfactory success with their experiment. Wiseman (2010) made use of poetry to facilitate learning among adult EFL learners by attending to students' emotions and background knowledge and "encouraging social collaboration, and providing an authentic purpose for students to communicate through their writing" (p. 22) and found that poetry works well with learners. d’Abdon (2016) also claims that poetry is not a dead word on a page; it can perform various socio political acts, like the researcher used spoken word poetry as a tool for decolonizing and Africanizing the South African curricula. Poetry has been reported to be a successful tool in creating an East-West contact zone for scholars in TESOL teacher education (Cahnmann Taylor et al., 2015). The researchers emphasize the arts based learning opportunities work to expand all students’ potential for double vision, creating vibrant Eastern Western exchanges of intellectual thought and intercultural understanding. Poetry, as observe Collie and Slater (1990), has also been used for four different purposes in language classes: as valuable authentic material, for cultural enrichment, language enrichment, and personal involvement (pp. 5 7). Khatib (2011) realizes that teaching of literature, and particularly of poetry, has been sidelined in language classrooms, but of late, there has been a renewed interest in teaching of literature in language classrooms. Çetinavcı and Tütüniş (2012) also lay stress upon the renewed interest of learners in learning English awakened through the use of poetry. But, none of the studies reviewed above have exploited poetry to teach the finer elements of phonetics in prosaic speech, justifying the need for the present Similarly,study.studies abound on teaching phonetics and the finer aspects of pronunciation to EFL students using several methods and techniques, but none of the researchers have experimented with poetry. For example, Mitrofanova (2012) investigated the importance of EFL students’ awareness of English extended pitch sequences realised within complex utterances and text sub topics, especially its influence on reading intelligibility, and found it does affect text information of students. Saz et al. (2011) have experimented with multimodal tools for pronunciation training in second language for preadolescent learners and reported satisfactory results. Hahn (2004), in an

interesting study, examined native English speakers' reactions to non native primary stress in English discourse. The researcher hypothesised that if non native speakers place primary stress correctly, they are mostly intelligible to native speakers, otherwise not. These results are encouraging for the current study as well, emphasizing the significance of learning correct stress. The research conducted by Wong (1991) is also interesting as it attempted to find a pattern in English word stress through creating a list of nonsense words in learners' mother tongue.

3.1 Research Methodology and Procedure

But, as the researchers have mentioned time and again, none of the studies reviewed so far have investigated the potentials of English metrical verse to teach the nuances of stress, rhythm, and intonation in English to adult EFL learners. It is only Reppert's (2004) study (for Master's degree) which is somewhat similar to the present study as the researcher used children's verse literature, along with adult literature, once again in verse form, to measure the effect of poetry and children's literature in verse on fluency development of adult ESL learners (Chinese speaking graduate students at Iowa State University), and found "a very slight, though statistically significant, increase in fluency for some participants when responding to a reading prompt" (p. v). The success story reported by Reppert has encouraged the present researchers to experiment with metrical poetry to teach the nuances of pronunciation to adult EFL learners.

3. Research Design

The mixed research method has been employed in the study. Quantitative approach has been used to collect numerical data, while qualitative methodology has been adopted to interpret the obtained numerical results on the hypotheses regarding the second research objective The experimental program involved teaching of metrical, rhymed verse to participants, and pre and post test sampling of their speech in English. The test variables were stress, rhythm, and intonation in connected speech. The experimental program was conducted at King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia to test whether poetic intervention helps enhance the phonetic competence of adult EFL learners. The data, i.e., speech samples taken from participants before and after the experimental program, were tested and judged by native speaker university teachers as well as through the software Rosetta Stone. Initially, the learners were given to memorize a few limericks nursery rhymes with proper accentual patterns, without teaching them the elements of phonetics, such as the syllable, rhythm, and intonation. It was followed by teaching them five limericks (There was once a man from Nantucket; An

The present study has been designed as a quasi experimental, confirmatory research, working on a stated problem. The researcher started with a set of preconceived hypotheses the empirical truths of which were to be confirmed through analysis of data collected in an experiment on the effects of teaching metrical poetry on the phonetic competence of undergraduate EFL learners.

A total of 60 students (out of the total population of roughly 600 students) were selected to participate in the present study, through random selection technique. The reasons for random selection were (i) better generalizability of results and (ii) avoidance of possible bias in selection. The participants were Preparatory Year students learning English as a Foreign Language, at the Rabigh campus of King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, who are taught English for one year prior to be enrolled for their selected major courses, with a clear emphasis on the functional aspects of the target language; they are not given any training in phonetics, except that at the end of some units in the prescribed books (called 'authentic materials') is provided some information on word stress and stressed/unstressed syllables/words. Their English teachers are not provided with any instructional materials to teach the elements of phonetics and standard pronunciation, such as stress, rhythm and intonation in connected speech.

4.1 Discussion In a simple experiment, 60 pre university participants were given indirect training in English pronunciation by providing them with a few nursery rhymes, a selection of limericks, and a few metrical verses Samples of the participants' speech were recorded before the experiment, which were marked for correctness of stress, rhythm, and intonation by native speaker teachers at the selected university. The researchers recited the verse lines to the class before distributing the materials to participants. In addition, audio files of the selected verses were played on the laptop for an authentic recital. Along with the hard copy of the verses, participants were also given the audio version of the same to listen and practice at home. In the classes the next day, the participants were asked to recite the poems before fresh poems were handed out to them. At the end of the experiment, samples of participants' speech reading out prose sentences were

As mentioned above, speech samples from participants were taken before and after the experimental program that lasted for three weeks. The participants were taught to recite metrical, rhymed poetry in proper accent and rhythm. Since the larger number of EFL teachers on Rabigh campus are non native speakers, evaluation of participants’ progress was carried out with the help of native speaker teachers at the varsity. In addition, the software Rosetta Stone proved to be very helpful in evaluating the accent. The software provides reading prompts that present the next item in the list to the user only if the item at hand is pronounced correctly.

3.3 Measurement Technique

infatuated man from Dover; A Texas Tech grad who's a Saudi; A baker who traded in Duns; We're hearing that Eleanor White) and finally the participants were given to recite five metrical verses (The Tyger; An Essay on Man; Lucy Gray; Hope is the Thing with Feathers; La Belle Dame sans Merci) with proper rhyme, rhythm and intonation, without teaching them either the elements of phonetics or the meter in English poetry. Experimental classes were conducted after the usual teaching hours, for 30 minutes every day for three weeks.

4. Discussion and Analysis

3.2 Research Setting, Sample Size and the Participants

4.2 Analysis and Interpretation of Results

ExperimentPre 6 10 Accuracy (%) PrimaryStress

recorded. Participants read out twenty test sentences of varying length and varying kinds (assertive, interrogative, imperative and exclamatory). Excerpts of approximately 45 seconds from each participant were selected for evaluation and rating by native speaker teachers The judging teachers were unaware whether or not a sampled student had participated in the experimental teaching. Similar previous studies are found to have selected shorter or longer duration excerpts (Derwing & Munro (1997) 4.5 to 10.5 seconds; Derwing & Rossiter (2003) 45 seconds; Reppert (2004) 30 seconds At the same time, participants were asked to complete the higher level speaking tests at Rosetta Stone.

The rating of the judges showed that compared to pre experiment pronunciation and fluency (with rhythm and intonation) of the participants, post experiment pronunciation and fluency displayed marked improvement. The pre experiment speech samples of only 6 participants (10%) cleared the test for primary stress, secondary stress, fluency, and intonation with 34% accuracy. The same participants could reach Level 2 at Rosetta Stone. The post experiment speech samples of 45 (75%) participants were found to clear the test with 80% accuracy for primary stress, secondary stress, fluency and correct falling, rising or rising falling tone. Almost a similar number of participants cleared Level 4 at Rosetta Stone. The summarised results are presented in Table 1 below: Table 1: Results Obtained from Evaluation of Participants' Speech Samples Participantsof % Pronunciation SecondaryStress (Rhythm)Fluency 30 22 20 Accuracy (%) 75 75 80 80

Features of

Stage No.

Tone 34

5. Conclusion

ExperimentPost 45 75

The current study was taken up with two objectives in view. The first objective was to argue for the inclusion of pronunciation training in adult EFL learners' curriculum of study in Saudi Arabia. This objective was not to be achieved through any empirical research as it was only an argument making a case. The argument was based on research in the area advocating for a strong need for such training for EFL learners, not only in Saudi Arabia but in all EFL teaching/learning contexts (Derwing & Munro, 2005; Jenkins, 2004). The current research was inspired by Derwing and Munro (2005) who vehemently advocate for the teaching of pronunciation as well as research in this area highlighting its potential benefits: "Research of this type has much to offer to teachers and students in terms of helping them to set learning goals, identifying appropriate pedagogical priorities for the classroom, and determining the most effective approaches to teaching" (p. 379). The findings of the present study show that adult EFL learners in Saudi Arabia have no training in pronunciation in English, while they essentially need it.

6. Limitations of the Present Study

7. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Present Study

It was hard to anticipate the possible limitations of the study at the outset, however, as the research progressed, a few hindrances, given below, were observed, that might have affected the results:

8. Further Recommendations

The present study has been a small scale experiment. The favourable results obtained from the experiment are indicative of the fact that further experiments may repeat the success in a different setting, at a larger scale. More experiments with higher success rate, especially in Saudi Arabia, will make the case stronger

The primary strength of the study lies, first, in the fact that it raises a dormant issue concerning teaching of English to adult EFL learners in Saudi Arabia. All university English teachers feel the need for pronunciation training for their students but advocacy for the case is missing for lack of research in the area. The second strength of the study is its being a pioneering research in arguing for the use of metrical poetry to teach pronunciation highlighting its potential benefits. However, the study is based on a quasi experimental design, and for lack of resources the researchers could not make use of extensive statistical analysis of the obtained results to argue for the case even more strongly. This might be considered as a weakness of the study.

(a) The area of study investigated in the current research is hitherto largely unexplored, so, there are no previous studies to compare the research findings with, to visualize the findings in a perspective; (b) For the lack of enough time and resources, the study was limited to a small number of participants. The similar experiments conducted with a larger population of EFL learners might provide us with better generalizable results.

The second objective of the study was to find out if metrical English verse lines can be used as example speech to teach the finer aspects of English pronunciation to adult EFL learners in Saudi Arabia for better results. This objective was to be achieved through an empirical study answering a set of research questions. The findings of the study support the three hypotheses that (i) to teach the recital of poetry, one has to teach the syllable structure, stressed and unstressed syllables, primary and secondary stress, rhythm in connected speech, intonation, and stress shift. This knowledge can be utilized to teach accent to EFL learners, (ii) teaching of the basic elements of phonetics with a view to improve foreign language learners' pronunciation builds adult EFL learners' fluency in a better way, and (iii) teaching the basic elements of phonetics using metrical verse lines as examples makes the understanding of the elements easier for adult EFL learners. All the three hypotheses are supported by research. There were no previous studies in this research area to compare the present findings with, but the findings of the study answer the research questions satisfactorily.

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475 ©2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 475 490, March https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.3.220206

Abstract. This research looks at the insights and observations of kindergarten teachers in using stories and storytelling for Moral Education. The mainresearchquestionis howteachers tellstoriesin order for children to learn moral values from the stories. This research applied qualitative research as a method of inquiry. Fourteen teachers were interviewed from two kindergartens in the suburbs of Jakarta and collected additional data through focus group discussions and observations. The data revealed that the teachers dramatize stories by: 1) telling or reading the stories in engaging and expressive ways; 2) using facial expression and body language; 3) using costumes, props, and technology. The findings indicate that dramatization can be an important catalyst for the successful use of storytelling in Moral Education in kindergartens. Dramatization is an approach that keeps children listening and able to learn from the stories. Dramatization helps children grasp the meaning of stories and helps them to learn moral values through the stories.

Moral Education through Dramatized Storytelling: Insights and Observations from Indonesia Kindergarten Teachers Maila D. H. Rahiem UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta Jakarta, Indonesia Nur Surayyah Madhubala Abdullah and Steven Eric Krauss Universiti Putra Malaysia Serdang, Malaysia Husni Rahim UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta Jakarta, Indonesia

Keywords: storytelling; stories; Moral Education; kindergarten; dramatization 1. Introduction In almost every culture in the world, people use stories and storytelling to share values and essential events in their lives (Glassner, 2001; Hsu, 2008; Wormald & le Clézio, 2018) These stories help people make meaning of their life experiences

Many great ideas and concepts, including morality, are introduced and explained through the use of stories. Previous research shows that stories and storytelling have shown promise as a successful approach to Moral Education (Hunter & Eder, 2010) Moral Education is the teaching and learning of moral values that aim to develop moral awareness, reasoning, feeling, and doing in children (Fioretti et al., 2019; Mills et al., 2013). Stories and storytelling in Moral Education are the description of personal or fictional events, acts, situations, and characters, used to teach Moral Education (Fioretti et al., 2019; Mills et al., 2013) Stories and storytelling are used regularly in Moral Education in kindergarten (Gunnestad et al., 2015; Rahim & Rahiem, 2013; Thambu, 2017; Thompson, 2011; Woodard, 2005) In this way story and storytelling is adaptable allowing teachers to adopt it according to the needs of the curriculum they are using. As kindergarten children are not able to fully comprehend abstract concept such as morality (Piaget, 1997), teachers play an essential role in helping children understand and learn about relevant moral concepts such as consideration of others and fairness through stories. They also learn valuable life lessons from stories (Eder, 2010; Jalongo, 2004), for example, they learn about how people solve their problems (Berkowitz, 2011); how to explore emotion and treat others well (Kerry Moran & Aerila, 2019), how to be kind, share and using good manners (Sawyer & Willis, 2011; Tartar, 2009); how to think critically, realistically, and also imaginatively (Haynes & Murris, 2013; Reese, 2013; Trisciuzzi, 2017). In addition, the characters in a story help children understand issues from different perspectives and develop empathy (Bratitsis & Ziannas, 2015; Upright, 2002) Furthermore, proponents of the approach of using stories and storytelling for Moral Education suggest that the method is not just about teaching right or wrong. Stories and storytelling provide benefits that other strategies do not. From stories, children learn moral examples and imperatives that enable them to have a better understanding of moral actions (Bénabou et al., 2018), and heroic stories exhilarate children to do good things (Tucker, 2006; Walker, 2017). Stories offer children the opportunity to expand their understanding of the world, as they describe not only a general picture of morality but also display its complexity (Battaglino & Damiano, 2012; Eder, 2010). Stories and storytelling are an effective medium for discussing moral dilemmas that can develop children's rational capacity (Phelan, 2004). Stories do not only depict solutions to a problem but also help people understand moral perplexities (Phelan, 2004). Stories are an explorative source of learning for children to learn about love and kindness (Eades, 2006) In addition to playing a meaningful part in children’ thought and behavior, stories provide a snapshot of their relationships with others and can inspire good behavior within relationships. Stories portray social interactions, friendships, and relationships between different individuals. Children often learn from the characters’ experiences in stories, as stories present a picture of a person's life and mind in the form of words. Stories can affect the way children think and behave (Ironside, 2003; Scheckel & Ironside, 2006; Rodrigues et al., 2016), helping them to learn how to treat others in a positive manner. For instance, stories about humans and their interactions with others can inspire children to take moral actions above

Another contribution of storytelling in Moral Education is in providing children with a moral framework to live harmoniously with other members of society. Stories teach children about social rules and authority (Nobes & Pawson, 2003) They learn from the characters to follow the rules and the consequences that are likely to occur if they do not follow them. Despite all the encouraging ways in which storytelling can contribute positively to Moral Education, there are important factors to consider in order to make the stories and storytelling compelling for Moral Education in kindergarten. Firstly, most children in kindergarten cannot read by themselves; the teacher, therefore, reads the stories to them. Secondly, the language, vocabulary, and structures in the narrative could be new to children. Thirdly, their cognitive capacity might not be fully developed, and they may find it challenging to understand the messages often hidden amongst the stories. Lastly, young children usually have short attention spans, and it is tough for them to sit still and focus on one activity for an extended period (Altun et al., 2016; Millares, 2012). Children aged 4 to 6 years old typically stay engaged in one activity that they are interested in for around 10 to 15 minutes at a time (Altun et al., 2016) It will be harder if they are not interested in the activity, or they do not have adult guidance to ensure that they remain on task. The teacher needs to assist children to ensure they are able to understand the stories, grasp the message of the stories, and also retain their attention throughout the stories. How should stories be told or read to kindergarten children age 4 6 years old, so that they will become interested and concentrate fully on the stories, and then also be able to capture the message intended? These are the key ideas that we explored in this research.

The current study is presented as part of a larger project on kindergarten teachers' perspectives and observations in applying the method of storytelling for Moral Education. The overall study aim was to explore effective storytelling strategies that enable children to listen to stories and learn about moral values. The investigation method for the study was qualitative research. Qualitative research studies meaning and explores understanding and people's views (Creswell, 2007; Manning & Kunkel, 2014; Tewksbury, 2009) Purposive sampling was used in this research. The research samples were adjusted to specific criteria, namely that teachers must have taught for more than two years, and use stories for Moral Education in their classrooms. In total, 14

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. other actions (Gallagher & Hutto, 2008; Noddings, 2002). They learn to connect with different types of people and how to treat people nicely. Further, children also create links between themselves and their lives with the story characters' situations (Green et al., 2002). They learn about human relationships by connecting their previous knowledge and experience with the experiences of characters they read about in stories. This process teaches children sympathy and empathy. Storytelling helps to create a sense of identity and understanding of oneself, shaping one’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviour (Hibbin, 2016; Puroila, 2019; Teske, 2006).

2. Materials and Methods

How should stories be told or read to kindergarten children, so that they will become interested and concentrate on the stories, and be able to capture the message intended? The storyteller should dramatize the story by: 1) telling or reading the stories in engaging and expressive ways; 2) incorporating intonation, tone, facial expression and body language; 3) using costumes, props and technology. The following figure explained the findings:

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. teachers from two kindergartens in the suburbs of Jakarta, Indonesia, participated in this research. The teachers used storytelling in their classrooms and consistently incorporated it into teaching and learning activities. They all had extensive experience in using stories as teaching tools and had a favorable view of the use of storytelling in the teaching learning process. Pseudonyms were used to respect participant integrity and increase their confidence to talk deeply about their experiences, knowledge, beliefs, and understanding of the use of storytelling activities in their classes.

reliability and validity of the study, the researchers safeguarded the participants and their data throughout the data collection and analysis process. Member checking was also carried out to ensure that the researchers understood correctly what the participants said. Data analysis adopted the grounded theory research method (Corbin & Strauss, 2014; Glaser, 1978). Initially, the researchers identified themes that emerged from the raw data. The researchers then re examined the earlier categories and continued examining the raw data while looking for additional insights not captured by the initial open coding process The researchers then categorized concepts by linking and organizing relationships. Category conditions and dimensions were then developed. In the end, the researchers created a storyline of the concepts built from the data 3. Results

Data collected between May and July 2018. Data were primarily collected through semi structured in depth interviews and focus group discussions. The Semi structured interviews were conducted to gain in depth information by asking open ended questions to an individual or a group. The researchers prepared a set of core questions and many associated questions related to the central questions. The researchers improved the questions further during the actual interviews. The core questions are: how do you tell a story? How do you make children listen? Following interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs) with teachers were conducted in the two kindergartens. The discussions focused on the question of how teachers convey moral values in the stories to children and also how they select stories. The researchers also observed teachers in the classroom telling the children stories. The researcher observed the content of the stories, the way they told the stories, and the way they discussed and communicated during and after Tostorytelling.ensurethe

“The success of the cultivating of moral values through a story depends on the method of telling or reading aloud the story. Well, the story needs to be presented in an attractive way, children definitely will not listen if it is not attractive. So, they will not know what the story is. Based on my observations, the most essential factor is the way the teachers present the story. If it is in an interesting way, children might listen, but if a teacher, well, sorry, does not tell or read the story attractively, it is not effective.

The most important thing is the teacher, if we want to teach morals using stories, we should tell or read a story in a fascinating way, so that children, will be stimulated, and so they understand the story and would respond openly. By the response, we see how the story is understood; it may be by the core of the story, but sometimes not, it is the responsibility of teachers to ensure they understand.”

Dewi, one of the interviewed teachers, emphasized that the methods used to tell stories are the key to their effectiveness in cultivating moral values in kindergarten children. She added that telling or reading aloud a story in an attractive way is vital, as children are more likely to listen to the story and gain the message from it:

Dahlia emphasized the importance of teachers reading stories aloud in an expressive manner. She added that children have difficulty understanding stories that are read using a monotone, flat intonation and presentation. Dahlia gave an

3.1. Engaging and Expressive Ways

Cendana said stories can “move ” children in that the stories can inspire children to behave when the teachers read in an appealing manner. She explained that the teachers must understand the technique of storytelling; this does not mean making voices, but finding an effective way to deliver the message of the story: “I think a story would inspire children, well… however, it is important, the teacher masters the skill of storytelling. You may play with a variety of sounds, but it is not necessary, what is essential is that we can communicate the message of the story, the essence of it.”

Figure 1. Ways of Telling/Reading Stories for Moral Education

Santi stated that to make children listen to a story, it should be delivered expressively: “So, if through stories we want to deliver a moral message, to make children listen, the story must be told or read using lots of expressions, not flat, to begin with… come here (patting the researcher’s back), I want to tell a story… (making examples with dramatic intonation and facial expression).”

3.2. Incorporating Intonation, Tone, Facial Expression and Body Language

What about how a tiger roars, (she demonstrated the jumping and roaring). Children burst into laughter. That’s the plan, I must be animated and communicative. I recognize when the children understand the story. I can positively identify it. I asked children who look astounded, I asked them not to stare at me, but they need to listen to me. Not all children instantaneously enjoy a story, well if the story is not immediately exciting, they will not pay attention to it.”

Cendana explained that her favorite genre of story to read aloud is fables, as they can be easily read cheerfully and expressively. She added that she is a very interactive and expressive person. She moves around when she is telling or reading aloud a story, even jumping like a rabbit or mimicking the funny face of a monkey. She said she is not shy, even in front of prominent adults like the mayor of the city.

The teachers explained the importance of keeping children’s attention during storytelling. Sekar suggested being expressive in telling or reading aloud the stories. Sekar practiced different intonations for different characters and used lively facial expressions. She added that such practices are essential for building the audiences’ emotions when telling stories and for having dramatic movement. She assumed that if children enjoy the story, they will laugh and be entertained. She pointed out that from the way her children look at her, she knows if children understand or not: “Play with the sounds, different characters, and diverse voices, intonation, tone, and expression. My face speaks, if I am sad, then my face is like this (making worried expression) What about if I’m happy or angry. Be expressive in telling or reading stories; play with the emotion, Happy? (laughing). Things to practice are… intonation, expression, what else? Yeah, how we move our body should be expressive too. How a hare leaps?

example when reading aloud the story of Timun Mas by acting out the narrative and engaging with the audience. “Children will understand a story when we read aloud it in a fascinating way, not flatly. We make children more engaged with the characters in the story, so they comprehend the message of the story. There are different ways to help them become involved in the story, for example, by asking a question and telling them to act out, who wants to be the giant, Timun Mas? I encourage them to role play the characters of the story and act out the scene when Timun Mas ran away from the giant.”

“I am a very expressive person; I jump up and down. I love fables. It is the most fun story. If I am talking about a rabbit, then I dance like a rabbit! I used to imitate animals when telling or reading aloud a fable, in expressive ways. I am not shy. I can change myself into a monkey when telling the story. I can do it not only in front of children but also in front of famous people like a mayor. If it is a story about monkeys, then I transform into a monkey! I love telling stories to children, especially stories of animals.”

Nindita stated that stories have a considerable influence on children and can be a positive media for Moral Education, depending on who read the stories and how. She added that the method with which the stories are read effects whether the children listen or not. She suggested read the story with full expression, not just to see the story as text but to be the voice of it. By incorporating a more expressive approach, children will pay attention and capture the message of the story more easily. She recommended that a teacher should not be jaim, or concerned with ‘keeping their image’ when telling stories. She suggested being physically active and ready to be the laughing stock in front of students to convey the stories’ lessons.

“For me, stories have an enormous effect on children's moral development. Well, to instill the values of honesty, or compassion, the best way to do that is in a story. Stories have a significant role, they could be a huge inspiration, but it pretty much depends on who is telling or reading the stories. I can say it depends on who the storyteller is. I, well, I enjoy telling and reading aloud stories. My tips: please do not read the narrative plainly, or as if we are reading a text. The children prefer to chat rather than to listen to us if it is like that. So, package the stories and tell the story in a certain joyful way. Pay attention to the way we speak, we can exploit an extensive range of voices and intonation (she gave an example), then it will be advantageous. Kids will pay attention to us. So, the key is, children have to pay attention to us, before we tell the story, they become more receptive to the message of the story. A teacher must be dramatic. We should not be too dangerous, unsmiling, or jaim. Move our body when telling the story, do not just sit still. Kindergarten teachers must be ready to be a laughing stock; to be laughed at! They make jokes and laugh about us. For Moral Education, stories are compelling, well yes, very applicable, I have experienced the results…” Gama implied that humor is essential in storytelling to keep the audience entertained. He suggested that storytelling should be fun. His steps of storytelling

Dahlia further explained the importance of using expressions, facial gestures, and body language that will help create excitement for the children: “Check this out (showing the storybook of Timun Mas). This is an excellent story! So, please don’t read it plainly, try to spark their excitement when reading it. Here… in this scene, the scene where Timun Mas successfully escaped, and the giant died, the kids often become excited and are very focused on the story. Teachers imitate the characters in the story. Their expressions, facial gestures, and body language are essential to help make the story come alive.”

“I have a storytelling event this weekend, in another school. The story will be about the cleanliness of the environment. I am going to do it dramatically. Well, the event organizers gave me a song demo… I am going to learn the song. In telling the story, I will combine singing and magic tricks. The story is about cleanliness, keep your environment clean, do not litter, on the highway should not be speeding, and water should be kept clean. I use the given song as the idea of the story. I should be creative. I should make the storyline; it should be fun. A story is like a sport. Start with a warming up, then singing, jumping, and clapping… Fun! So, it is not only about telling the story. It is vital to involve the audience with the story, they could transform into a character in the story, be part of it.”

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. are like a sport; there should be warming up first. He then sings, jumps, and claps when telling the story. Gama had a schedule for a storytelling event a week after the interview. He shared that he would tell a story about the cleanliness of the environment in fun and expressive ways.

In addition to telling stories in dramatic ways by using facial expression, body language, intonation, and voices, Gama emphasized the need to use props and technology to make storytelling more entertaining. Gama wanted to make his storytelling as interesting as possible by dressing in costumes and carrying props, like puppets. Gama said that his storytelling trademark is the combination of storytelling and magic. He firmly believed that his young audiences are always pleased to hear his stories. “I mix storytelling and magic in a show to entertain my young audiences. Costumes! It is crucial, costumes and a variety of props, I love to surprise them and make them smile. Usually, they said without the magic shows, the stories were not fun and exciting, they were waiting and ecstatic to see my magic show. At this school, we also have a monthly storytelling activity, my show! I combined the storytelling with magic. There are also interesting characters, who wear attractive costumes, storytelling should be engaging, if necessary, bring props, and the children will be happy, delighted. Other teachers see my storytelling show; they imitate me and also create new ways of their own.”

“Well, this is a story about a cocoon who turns into a butterfly, kids should not see me as the everyday Gama, I wear the costume, the wings, and they know that it is not me. I wear a hat; I always wear a costume. I bet that's what makes a story interesting, just looking at me, they are straightaway becoming fascinated, and yeah, they instantaneously listen to me, concentrating. Yes! I am an exciting and expressive storyteller! Children love me, my story, and my show.”

Gama explained about the importance of wearing costumes. When he wears a costume, children are instantly captivated and eager to listen. He believed that when he tells or reads stories in exciting ways, children have no difficulty in understanding the story.

3.3. Using Costumes, Props and Technology

Dewi argued that storytelling needs props and interactive media to make it exciting. When telling stories about different kinds of houses, she googled the pictures and brought them to class.

Satria argued that technology made the story more alive and exciting, dramatic, fun, and fantastic. Compared to storytelling in the past, he does not make many voices himself, rather, he plays the recorded sounds: “Technology is fun, it makes storytelling activity a lot easier, you do not need to be a great storyteller that makes varied voices. Use technology, use balloons, or more advanced technology, umm… use of props, it is different from the old days, umm… No need to make a lot of voices, to make the sound of elephants, we turn on the microphone and play the recording sound, the sound of an elephant. Technology makes the story livelier, exciting, dramatic, and fantastic!”

“We use various media, we use technology, now we can get images quickly from google. Yesterday, we discussed different types of homes, we got some pics from the internet. It made children listen attentively (pausing). I brought some pics. They saw a greenhouse, hmm, and other kinds of houses, wood houses, brick houses, and others. To tell a story, do not just read the story, hmmm, use various props, and be dramatic.”

Another way of telling or reading a story is to use sound effects, stage backdrops, background music, and science props. Satria said he is different from storytellers who rely on voice and sound produced using their mouths. He relies on technology to ensure that storytelling activities are “spectacular” : “In small groups, I don’t need it. I can just read a book as it is. However, in a large group, I need a sound system, and a screen. I agree we must have the intention to read a story, preparation, prepare the storytelling as a show. For me, the activities of telling or reading a story are not a usual regular activity, but rather a spectacular show. . I always want to prepare meticulously; this is a show. One night before, I have to imagine every detail when I read the story. I should be well prepared, the prop, screen, and sound system. I do not trust myself without being well prepared for the show.”

4. Discussion

The teachers in this study explained that the success of using stories and storytelling for Moral Education in kindergarten depends on the manner in which it is told. A model emerged from this study that dramatization is the catalyst for conveying moral values to young children, and that teachers as storytellers could dramatize the stories by telling the stories in engaging and expressive ways, incorporating intonation, tone, facial expressions, and body language, and using costumes, props, and technology.

Figure 2. Dramatization and the Process of Learning

There are three groups of data patterns, each containing the same meanings and ideas, which define the concepts of dramatization from the perspectives and observations of the interviewed teachers (Figure 3).

The teachers in this research argued that children understand stories when they are narrated in interesting ways. Through this approach, children learn meanings beyond texts or words. The dramatization of a story helps children to internalize meaning. (Furman, 2000) stated that children who are involved in dramatized stories develop holistic and meaningful communication, they acquire meaning and their learning is more tangible. The dramatization of a story creates an interactive situation. Children interact with the story and also with their surroundings, classmates, and teachers. The teachers emphasized the importance of not reading the stories ‘flatly,’ without dramatization as it is essential in the success of the storytelling process. Storytelling is an enchanted activity that is both fascinating and magical (Cekaite & Björk Willén, 2018; Parkinson, 2009; Tatar, 2009). When children find the story fascinating, they will stay and listen. The dramatic storytelling creates the opportunity for children to feel the reality of life, which they may have never experienced before. Using drama in the classroom places the learners in events and places that are almost real, and the drama causes the children to listen. Teachers who use drama in the classroom have a better opportunity to increase their students' listening ability (Bamkin et al., 2013)

In order to help children, understand the stories and learn moral values, dramatization is required Stories consist of text and meaning (Schraw, 2000). The values in the texts are transmitted during the process. Children do not understand stories directly from texts; they need to listen, process information, and internalize meaning (Goldman & Rakestraw J.R., 2009). In Moral Education, children need to know the message which the moral values that are important and how they are important. So, children process the stories and internalize the meaning to grasp the moral message of the stories. Vygotsky explained the internalization process as a process where children create their way of thinking by incorporating what they see around them. Rosenblatt theorized that the process of understanding meaning from text is through a transactional process (Rosenblatt, 1994)

Children learn valuable lessons about life because they are captivated by the stories; when they listen, and make meaning of the story; therefore, they learn.

Figure 3. Data Patterns & Findings

The teachers said that the dramatization of a narrative is an engaging activity in which the reader and the text always have an interaction. The gist of a text is not in the text, but in the interface between the reader and the written word. The teachers suggested when telling or reading a story, they also act out the story and involve the children in the story, making them part of the story, asking them to be the characters in the story. (Kristjánsson, 2006) highlighted that allowing a child to act out a particular character who has a different emotional disposition is valuable, and as the outcome, children better understand their potential. He added that when a child acts out becoming an angry person, it can help him or her to realize how to handle anger in the future. Young children involved in the dramatization of a story, gain skills in dialogue, collaboration, and creative problem solving (Brown, 2017). The teacher's guidance helps them to practice Thecharacters.teachers also said that they try to dramatize the stories by incorporating intonation, tone, facial gestures, and body language. Children need excitement and engagement to help them listen and understand the stories. Teachers as storytellers use intonation, tone, facial expressions, and body language to encourage children to listen. The teachers noticed that many storytellers fail to bring excitement to a story because they are telling or reading the story flatly. (Wright et al., 2008) claimed that less experienced storytellers use a monotonous voice, so they also fail to incorporate their body's full potential for communication. Rather than focus on the content of the story, through our bodily and facial

5. Conclusion This research concluded that dramatization is the catalyst for the successful use of storytelling in Moral Education in kindergartens. Dramatizing stories is an excellent source of learning for children, it is a chance for children to conceptualize the ideas represented in the stories and translate the concepts into action; this is

Some studies recommend toy props as a useful tool for the active involvement of preschool and kindergarten students in story retelling events (Hyde, 2004). Stories were introduced with miniature items, and then children were invited to play with the items, draw memorable parts of the story, and tell each other the story again. Numerous religious educators have widely adopted this technique. The teachers interviewed also explained how puppets or dolls had been used as story props. Costumes and props help storytellers pass on the story's message to children. Children enjoy storytelling activities with fun animations; they listen and stay focused until the story ends. Besides traditional costumes and props, some teachers shared their experiences and thoughts on the use of technology in storytelling. They use sound systems, PowerPoint presentations, science demonstrations, sound recording, and microphones. Children are "digital natives" born into a world where literacy and learning are increasingly dependent on digital and multimodal forms of communication and emphasis on young learners (Bittman et al., 2011; Jones & Shao, 2011; Zevenbergen, 2007) Today, with digital storytelling, images improve the visual communication and appeal of storytelling so that these can reduce the burden of the students in mental imaging. Digital storytelling interweaves various media to support the art of telling a story (Dreon et al., 2011). Technology allows students to combine text, sound, images, and movement to enhance various learning styles. Technology also promotes communication: for obtaining information in various formats from around the world and communicating the final story with a global audience. Furthermore, technology is capable of capturing and archiving storytelling for future enjoyment and educational assessment. In short, technology can be a powerful tool for learning.

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. movements, we are able to communicate as much or even more than we do through the words we use. Furthermore, the teachers discussed the need for using costumes, props, and technology. Costumes, props, and technology are used as tools to help children understand the story by providing sensory stimulation to their imagination and thought. (Dujmović, 2006) stated that by telling stories, storytellers engage the audiences' mental imagery and imagination of the story, and this helps them associate the story with real life and, in turn, helps them to gain an insight into human behavior. Oral storytelling, however, is a challenge as it is a substantial cognitive challenge for children to understand. Since children need to use mental imagery to understand the story, they need to be able to connect it to reality and put it in context. This is not a simple task for young children because of their cognitive development, which often means that they are better able to understand concrete thoughts rather than abstract thinking (Piaget, 1997).

The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved. an abstract process and rarely accomplished in isolation, but becomes possible with the context of playacting a story (Wright et al., 2008) The teachers in this research elaborated the activities of reading or telling of stories should be fun, creative, and expressive. They also emphasized the importance of props, technology, costumes, mimic, gestures, and body movements to ensure success in making the children interested, listen, and learn from the stories. This study only looked at teachers' perspectives and experiences in dramatizing storytelling for successful Moral Education. The study did not look at the effect of dramatizing on children's moral development. The results of this study open up new agendas for future research on this topic. This research has gathered data through interviews and FGDs with teachers. For future studies, it proposed including kindergarten students as participants, for obtaining a thorough overview into how children understand moral principles in stories, and how dramatizing storytelling helps them learn from stories. For researchers planning to do a quantitative analysis, this research can be used as a guide in the development of instruments for the purpose of conducting a survey in a larger number of samples. Funding: This research received no external funding Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results. References Altun, M., Hazar, M., & Hazar, Z. (2016). Investigation of the Effects of Brain Teasers on Attention Spans of Pre School Children. International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 11(15), 8112 8119. Bamkin, M., Goulding, A., & Maynard, S. (2013). The Children Sat and Listened: Storytelling on Children’s Mobile Libraries. New Review of Children’s Literature and Librarianship, 19(1), 47 78. https://doi.org/10.1080/13614541.2013.755023 Battaglino, C., & Damiano, R. (2012). Emotional Appraisal of Moral Dilemma in Characters. In Interactive Storytelling. ICIDS 2012. Lecture Notes in Computer Science (1st ed., Vol. 7648, pp. 150 161). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978 3 642 34851 8_15

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Chief Editor Dr. Antonio Silva Sprock, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Editorial Board Dr. Fatima Zohra Belkhir Benmostefa Dr. Giorgio Poletti Dr. Chi Man Tsui Dr. Fitri Suraya Mohamad Dr. Hernando Lintag Berna Dr. Charanjit Kaur Swaran Singh Dr. Abu Bakar Dr. Eglantina Hysa Dr. Mo'en Salman Alnasraween Dr. Hermayawati Hermayawati Dr. Selma Kara Dr. Michael B. Cahapay Dr. Bunmi Isaiah Omodan Dr. Vassiliki Pliogou Dr. Meera Subramanian Dr. Muhammad Kristiawan Dr. Wahyu Widada Dr. Som Pal Baliyan Dr. Reem Khalid Abu Shawish Dr. Froilan Delute Mobo Dr. Mohamed Ali Elkot Dr. Anabelie Villa Valdez Mr. Teody Lester Verdeflor Panela International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research