IJLTER.ORG Vol 20 No 10 October 2021

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p-ISSN: 1694-2493 e-ISSN: 1694-2116

International Journal of Learning, Teaching And Educational Research

Vol.20 No.10

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research (IJLTER) Vol. 20, No. 10 (October 2021) Print version: 1694-2493 Online version: 1694-2116

IJLTER International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research (IJLTER) Vol. 20, No. 10

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Society for Research and Knowledge Management

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Editors of the October 2021 Issue

VOLUME 20

NUMBER 10

October 2021

Table of Contents Exploring Instances of Deleuzian Rhizomatic Patterns in Students’ Writing and in Online Student Interactions ... 1 Tlatso Nkhobo, Chaka Chaka Quality is Never an Accident: A Survey on the Total Quality-Management Practices amongst Selected Higher Education Institutions in the Philippines .......................................................................................................................... 23 Glenn S. Cabacang Is Robotics Education and Training Gender Dependent? A Suggestive Robotics Syllabus for Teacher Training ... 42 G S Prakasha, Joseph Varghese Kureethara, Anthony Kenneth, Peter Varkey Muttungal, Trent Grundmeyer A Methodological Analysis for the Development of a Circular-Motion Concept Inventory in a Ugandan Context

by Using the Delphi Technique........................................................................................................................................... 61 Kent Robert Kirya, K. K. Mashood, Lakhan Lal Yadav The Significance of Self-directed Learning Readiness, Academic Self-efficacy, and Problem-solving Ability Among Filipino Nursing Students ..................................................................................................................................... 83 Johnny J. Yao Jr. Cognitive Assessment of Knowledge Consolidation in a Course on the Diagnostic Evaluation of Learning Disorders in Psychology Students ...................................................................................................................................... 95 Guadalupe Elizabeth Morales-Martinez, Yanko Norberto Mezquita-Hoyos, Maria Isolde Hedlefs-Aguilar, Miriam SanchezMonroy How to Become Experienced? The Practice of Novice Lecturer Professional Development at A Public University ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 117 Hong Yu, Arnida Abdullah, Soaib Asimiran, Mohd Mokhtar Muhamad Life Sciences Teachers’ Views on Teaching Socio-Scientific Issues in Genetics using an Inquiry Approach ......... 133 Portia Ngwenya, Lydia Mavuru The Capability and Social Justice Theories: Developing a Second-Generation Model for Enhancing Epistemological Access in Flood-Prone Schools in Kenya ............................................................................................ 154 Gloria Erima, Felix Maringe Enhancing Vocabulary Memorization and Retention through LMS and MultiEx Game Platforms among Thai Tertiary Students................................................................................................................................................................. 173 Woralak Bancha, Nattapong Tongtep Definitional Skills of Learners with and without Developmental Language Disorder ............................................. 193 Ifigeneia Dosi, Zoe Gavriilidou, Chrysoula Dourou Teaching 4.0 Competency in Higher Learning Institutions: A Systematic Mapping Review .................................. 217 Melor Masdoki, Rosseni Din, Mohd Effendi @ Ewan Mohd. Matore

Beyond Play: Conceptualising the Capability of a Good Digital Game to Stimulate Interest in STEM .................. 232 Shahrul Affendi Ishak, Rosseni Din, Umi Azmah Hasran The Students’ Mathematics Communication Skill Performance After GeoGebra-Assisted EPIC-R Learning Implementation ................................................................................................................................................................... 256 Mujiasih Mujiasih, Budi Waluyo, Kartono Kartono, Scolastika Mariani Perceptions of Student Teachers on Collaborative Relationships Between University and Inclusive Elementary Schools: A Case Study in Indonesia ................................................................................................................................. 274 Rasmitadila ., Megan Asri Humaira, Reza Rachmadtullah, Rusi Rusmiati Aliyyah A Visual Pattern of Two Decades of Literature on Mobile Learning: A Bibliometric Analysis ............................... 291 Siti Zuraidah Md Osman, Ro’azeah Md Napeah Effect of Teachers’ Corrective Feedback on Learners’ Oral Accuracy in English Speaking Lessons ....................... 313 Huong Thanh Nhac Teacher Training Needs and their Influencing Factors: A Case Study of 13 Chinese Border School Teachers...... 331 Qian Fu, Jiali Yao, Qinyi Tan, Runjin Gui

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 10, pp. 1-22, October 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.10.1 Received Aug 02, 2021; Revised Oct 03, 2021; Accepted Oct 14, 2021

Exploring Instances of Deleuzian Rhizomatic Patterns in Students’ Writing and in Online Student Interactions Tlatso Nkhobo and Chaka Chaka* University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3851-822X https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3558-4141

Abstract. Globally, it is a standard practice to study students’ academic writing by using linear academic-writing models. This study investigated instances of Deleuzian rhizomatic patterns in students’ writing and in online student interactions at an open and distance elearning (ODeL) institution in South Africa. A convenience sample of 13 students’ paragraph writing samples and of 370 first-year students was used. All the participants were enrolled in a level-one module, ENG1503, in the second semester of 2020. The study followed a mixedmethod approach, and utilized AntConc and AntMover to analyse the students’ writing samples, as well as Microsoft Power Business Intelligence (MS Power BI) and Gephi, in order to analyse and visualise online student interactions. When students’ writing samples were analysed in terms of keywords (e.g., key themes) by using the software applications employed in this study, various rhizomatic patterns were detected in the students’ text files. For example, the key-word frequencies of key themes, such as religion and cult, showed that these two key themes were used differently at the end of each concordance spectrum, thereby underscoring their varying rhizomatic patterns of usage in students’ respective text files. Online student interactions on both myUnisa’s ODF and MS Teams were visualized rhizomatically. The findings of this study underscore the importance of investigating and analysing students’ writing – not only from linear models, but also from non-linear perspectives, such as a rhizomatic approach. Additionally, they underline the significance of leveraging the opportunities offered by students’ writing analysis technologies, such as those employed in this study.

Keywords: students’ writing; rhizomatic patterns; online student interactions; ODeL institution

*

Corresponding author: Chaka Chaka, chakachaka8@gmail.com

©Authors This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

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1. Introduction Most English as a second language (ESL) students enrol in open-distance learning universities with different levels of competence in written English (Du Toit, 2020; Karavas & Zorbas, 2019; Manyike, 2017; Mashile et al., 2020; Niyibizi et al., 2019; Ouma, 2019; Turmudi, 2020). Conventionally, many of these universities base students’ writing on linear-academic writing models (Lea & Street, 1998; Lillis, 2003). Linear-academic writing approaches treat students as if they learn how to write in the same way; and as though they develop their writing skills at the same pace, which is not the case, as argued in the current study. Most universities tend to use Euro-American-Australian (EAA) models of academic writing, as being universally applicable to all students, irrespective of their different educational and socio-cultural backgrounds. In this case, teaching and learning academic writing in an open and distance e-learning (ODeL) model is a challenge for institutions and students alike, especially for first-year ESL students (Boyle et al., 2019; Çelik, 2020; Flowerdew, 2019; Graham, 2019; Mitchell et al., 2021).

Linear-academic writing models do not recognise and affirm the literacies that students bring to higher educational institutions (HEIs). As a result, most students in HEIs are expected to master and model their academic writing on linear-academic writing approaches. However, the current study explored student writing from a rhizomatic perspective. It did so, in order to contribute to the area of academic writing in an ODeL environment. A rhizome is a concept that was introduced by Deleuze and Guatarri (1987). These two scholars used the concept of a rhizome to critique authoritarian practices and hierarchical structures in academia (Bozkurt et al., 2016; Cormier, 2008; Brailas, 2020a, 2020b; Hanley, 2019; Kairienė & Mažeikienė, 2021; Kinchin & Gravett, 2020); Mackness et al., 2016; Tillmanns & Filho, 2020; Webb, 2009). A rhizome is a botanical term referring to the roots of a plant growing from and spreading in different directions (Deleuze & Guattari, 1987; Ko & Bal, 2019; Tagata & Ribas, 2021). In this study, a rhizome was conceptualized in the same way, with reference to students’ writing. Therefore, instances of Deleuzian rhizomatic patterns were explored in samples of students’ academic writing (short paragraphs), and in student-engagement interactions on two online platforms, namely, myUnisa’s online discussion forum (ODF) and Microsoft (MS) Teams.

The value of a rhizomatic approach to academic writing lies in its potential to view writing as consisting of patterns of sentences and of ideas in non-linear directions on a given topic. It is an approach that searches for thought patterns manifested by students’ writing that are not necessarily linear in nature (Leander & Boldt, 2013; Kairienė & Mažeikienė, 2021; Tagata & Ribas, 2021; Turmudi, 2020; Webb, 2009). Students’ academic writing, as viewed from a rhizomatic perspective conceptualizes writing as a phenomenon that grows from different focal points. In addition, it discourages the reproduction of written texts, as is the case with linear models (Amorim & Ryan, 2005; Smagorisnky et al., 2006). Furthermore, a rhizomatic perspective regards student writing as messy and destabilised at the beginning; and consequently, it rejects linear, hierarchical models of students’ writing. Most importantly, a rhizomatic

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approach to students’ writing views students’ writing as being in the process of becoming (Brailas, 2020a; Kairienė & Mažeikienė, 2021; Tagata & Ribas, 2021; Turmudi, 2020 Amorim & Ryan, 2005; Guerin, 2013).

On this basis, the overriding aim of the current study was to explore the instances of Deleuzian rhizomatic patterns in the academic writing samples of thirteen first-year ENG1503 students (at the University of South Africa), with a view to identifying the rhizomatic patterns in such writing samples displayed.

Allied to this aim, was an attempt to discover the types of interaction patterns a cohort of 370 ENG1503 students exhibited when they interacted on two online platforms, myUnisa’s ODF and MS Teams. The study had three research questions (RQs): • RQ1 - What rhizomatic writing patterns does a cohort of first-year ENG1503 students display in their assignment paragraph responses, according to key themes (categorized by keyword frequencies, concordance, and concordance plot) and linking adverbials, as represented by the AntConc, AntMover and Gephi software applications?

• RQ2 - What rhizomatic structural moves does this cohort of students display in its assigned paragraph responses, as represented by the AntMover software application?

• RQ3 - What forms of engagement patterns do first-year ENG1503 students manifest, when they interact on MS Teams and on myUnisa’s ODF in terms of their message posts and the frequencies of their online interactions, according to MS Power BI and Gephi visualizations?

2. The Literature Review 2.1 Traditional Student-Writing Approaches Traditional student-writing approaches came into being from various parts of the world, particularly from Europe, North America, and Australia. They were introduced in these regions, in order to assist a growing number of international students who had enrolled for university education. These were students who were referred to as English second-language (ESL) speakers. Consequently, academic writing studies mushroomed, but with different approaches. For example, in Europe, Boyle et al. (2019), Flowerdew (2016), and Wingate and Tribble (2012) employed the academic-literacy approach; since the focus was on inducting students into the kinds of academic literacies practised in HEIs and on socializing them into academia In North America, literacy studies developed as compositions and rhetoric writing within disciplines (Boyle et al., 2019; Ganobcsik-Williams, 2006; Graham, 2019). These studies focused on teaching students’ writing that is applicable to, or practised in various communities of practice of the students concerned. In addition, students were taught English for specific purposes; because they were expected to know a discipline-based English discourse used in specific fields of studies. These approaches were, one could argue, remedial; because students could not easily emulate academic discourse practices envisaged by HEIs in their knowledge of academic literacy.

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On that account, there is a gap between the way students are taught writing in their pre-university or school stages, and the academic-writing requirements set by universities. Students were seen to be struggling because they could not adapt to their new sense of being, or to their new identities expected by the universities. These developments are significant for this study; since it seeks to challenge these views by arguing, instead, that there are rhizomatic patterns in students’ writing, regardless of how disjointed they may appear to be at first.

Several such studies have also been conducted in Australia, with a specific focus on genre (Elashri & Ibrahim, 2013; Iyer, 2018; Seaboyer & Barnett, 2019; Tuan, 2011). These studies were concerned with socializing students into the type of texts used in their respective fields of studies, so that they would then be able to emulate such texts in their own writing. Much of this work was based on systemic functional linguistics, which is concerned with the correct usage of language features for a particular communicative purpose and register (Gardner et al., 2019; Schlepegrell & Achugar, 2003; Schlepegrell & Go, 2007).

All these approaches view student writing as deficient, and as not meeting the required standards set by HEIs. As such, they fail to recognize and acknowledge what the students bring to academia. The approaches discussed above are still currently being used in various versions, in order to teach academic literacy in HEIs for different types of students in South Africa (Du Toit, 2020; Manyike, 2017; Van Rooyen & Coetzee-Van Rooyen, 2015). Students’ academic literacy abilities are still regarded as being deficient in HEIs. For that reason, the present study adopted a different standpoint, which views and studies students’ writing rhizomatically.

2.2 Rhizomatic Literacy Practices Studies have been conducted in recent years, in which a rhizomatic perspective has been implemented to transform the binary literacy practices in teaching and learning. These studies include those of Cormier (2008), Brailas (2020a, 2020b), Cumming (2015), Honan (2009), Hanley (2019), Johnson (2014), Johnston (2018), Kairienė and Mažeikienė (2021), Ko and Bal (2019), Mackness et al. (2016), Martin and Strom (2017), Masny (2012), and Webb (2009). Webb’s (2009) study, especially, paved the way on how academic writing could be taught in schools through the rhizomatic approach, as suggested by Deleuze and Guattari (1987).

His study focused on introducing innovative and new ways of how to teach research and writing.

He adopted Cormier’s (2008) model of a rhizome, in order to design his own models that could be used in composition classrooms, such as preparing and writing lesson plans, and writing assessment models. His study is one of the few that has explicitly provided models that teachers can use in their classrooms, in order to conduct rhizomatic teaching and learning. However, Webb (2009) cautioned that he would not dictate the way in which teachers should conduct teaching and learning; as this would be advancing the culture of linear and rigid literacy practices. He argues that literacy-instruction models are informed by historical circumstances. Moreover, he contends that for a change to happen,

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composition classrooms should adopt a paradigm shift; and students should be allowed to construct their own writing-lesson plans and their own writing maps.

For his part, Johnston (2018) investigated the literacy practices of students in a seventh-grade English classroom at a New York City’s middle school in Harlem.

He argued that the conventional literacy practices do not allow students to be creative; and they do not consider what students bring to HEIs. He collected data by means of observations, interviews, verbal and written conversations, artifacts, and a researcher journal. He used a rhizomatic perspective to study how students deviated from the normal literacy practices. He maintains that students are, mostly, tested against predetermined norms and standards, which do not accommodate what students bring to the schooling environment.

Students who possess different literacy practices are often deemed to be incompetent and deficient. Viewing literacy practices differently, and from a rhizomatic viewpoint, would enable us to leverage the affordances brought about by rhizomatic literacies.

Furthermore, the aim of Honan’s (2009) study was to investigate those patterns of academic literacy that emerged from four classrooms. He wanted to understand the kind of digital texts used in impoverished schools for teaching and learning. He, then, argued that classrooms are rhizomatic in nature, in that there are different and complex processes unfolding in each classroom. In this case, he acknowledged that conventional academic-literacy practices are hard to get rid of, even when teachers try to implement creativity into their teaching and learning practices.

In this study, Honan (2009) suggested the use of post-structural pedagogies, even in the process of teaching and learning via traditional texts. He was aware that students used various digital texts, which contributed to their learning outside school. However, such texts were not used in the classrooms to facilitate teaching and learning. He found that teachers could not comprehend the way in which students used “out-of-school” literacies, something that calls into question our teaching and learning practices, as bearers and distributors of knowledge.

3. The Research Methodology 3.1 The Study Design This study was an exploratory research (Heigham & Croker, 2009; Riazi, 2016) because it focused mainly on exploring instances of Deleuzian rhizomatic patterns in students’ writing samples and in students’ engagement patterns on both of the MS Teams and on myUnisa’s ODF. Riazi (2016, p. 115) states that exploratory research “is conducted, when the object of the study is new and has not been studied much before”. This description of exploratory research resonates with this current study, in that there are very few studies that have explored rhizomatic manifestations in students’ writing samples, especially at the institution under study. The study adopted a mixed-method approach (Christensen et al., 2015; Richards et al., 2012), which, in turn, comprised the

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qualitative and the quantitative approaches (Richards et al., 2012; Riazi, 2016).

The reason for choosing a mixed-method approach was that the data collected for the study consisted of written paragraphs, whose sentences and whose keywords, linking adverbials, and structural moves were subjected to concordance frequencies and concordance plots. Additionally, the data comprised online student-engagement patterns, which were worked out from student-message posts and from message frequencies.

3.2 Sampling The study employed convenience sampling, in order to select thirteen students’ writing samples and three hundred-and-seventy (370) first-year students (males = 165; females = 205) to participate in the myUnisa’s ODF (n = 150) and on MS Teams (n = 220). These students were enrolled in a level-one module, ENG1503, in the second semester of 2020. All of them were invited to participate on the two online platforms through an announcement on myUnisa, which is UNISA’s learning-management system. Prior to the study being conducted, an ethical clearance was granted by the UNISA’s College of Human Sciences Research Ethics Committee, with a certificate number: 2017-CHS-026.

3.3 The-Data Collection Procedure The study consisted of two datasets. The first dataset comprised 13 students’ writing samples, and it consisted of 13 paragraph responses to the assignment question. These writing samples belonged to 13 volunteer students. The assignment question had two topics that required short-paragraph responses consisting of 100 words each. These two topics were, “Read chapter 16 of the prescribed book (from page 224) and summarize the developmental stages of religion in your own words”, and “Compare and contrast a theocratic government with a democratic government”.

A copy of the assignment question was emailed to the 13 volunteer students, for them to write their responses to it during their spare time. The students were given 5 days to complete the assignment and to email their written responses to one of the authors of this paper.

The second dataset comprised two sub-data sets: the student engagement patterns of 370 ENG1503 students, who interacted on both the myUnisa’s ODF and the MS Teams during the second semester of 2020. For myUnisa, the student interactions were made up of messages that 150 students posted on the online discussion forum (ODF) during the first two weeks of August, 2020. The messages were related to a topic that was discussed during these two weeks.

Concerning MS Teams, the student interactions consisted of messages that 220 students had posted in the chat facility during one of the virtual classes offered to them on the MS Teams in September 2020. All of this was informed by Chaka and Nkhobo’s (2019) and Conde’s et al. (2015) studies that investigated online student-engagement patterns.

3.4 The Data Analysis Students’ writing samples in the form of short paragraphs and online student interactions were analysed through Rhizo analysis. Rhizo analysis has been used

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by scholars, such as Bangou (2019), Brailas (2020a), Kairienė and Mažeikienė (2021), Ko and Bal (2019), Sellers (2015), and Sherbine (2019). Then, the datasets were further analysed through the Corpus-software applications, AntConc and AntMover; and thereafter, they were visualized by Microsoft Power-Business Intelligence (MS Power BI) and Gephi. AntConc represents the text files through keyword frequencies, a concordance, and concordance plots.

For short paragraphs, the units of analysis were keywords (key themes), linking adverbials, and (rhizomatic) structural moves, while for the online studentengagement patterns, message posts and frequencies were the units of analysis.

4. The Results 4.1 AntConc Analysis: Assignment’s Keyword Frequencies, Concordance, and Concordance Plots Five rhizomatic keywords were identified from the 13 responses to the assignment. These were used to trace and map the key word in context (KWIC) in relation to the assignment question’s requirement. Rhizomatic keywords that were deemed to be relevant for this assignment were: become, cult, members, religion, and sect. The rhizomatic frequencies of the chosen keywords were analysed, and then ranked, as shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Assignment 1 keywords as extracted from AntConc Keywords’ Frequencies

become 18

cult 23

members 19

religion 25

sect 25

In this table, both religion and sect had the highest joint hits, with become having the lowest hits across the 13 responses. For example, the listing of religion in terms of its KWIC format is displayed in Figure 1.

Figure 1: KWIC concordance of religion, as it appears in the corpus of the 13 responses to the assignment question

In this figure, religion as a key word, which is in the centre and which has 25 hits, it has a list of files that were used to search for it on its left-hand side. In the

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centre, its KWIC concordance display is arranged, according to the words with which it occurs on either side of each concordance line. On the far-right hand side, the hits for religion have been ranked sequentially (with each hit appearing in its corresponding concordance line), whereas on the far right-hand side are listed the file numbers. Additionally, it co-occurred with words, such as dominant (n = 2) and (n = 2), and with phrases like stages of (n = 2) and cults become (n = 2). All of these immediately preceded it. Moreover, it co-occurred with phrases, such as starts as a cult, starts when it is still a Cult, and beliefs, and practice, and also with miscellaneous words (e.g., evolves, functions, and fully), all of which immediately followed it.

Figure 2: Concordance plot of religion, as it appears in the corpus of the 13 responses to the assignment question

In its rhizomatic-concordance plot, religion appeared in 11 assignment responses, with 4 hits in 2 assignments responses, and 1 hit each in 4 assignment responses (Figure 2). The manner in which the rhizomatic key theme, religion, was portrayed in context revealed the rhizomatic nature in which this key theme was used and presented itself across multiple students’ files, thereby displaying rhizomatic variations in each text file. Files 01 and 92 shared a joint top ranking, followed by files 78, 69, and 31. In file 01, religion was used four times in different paragraphs; in file 92, it was used four times in multiple paragraphs. In files, 78, 69, and 31, it was used three times in each file.

In this context, religion was used to explain how cults became religion, stages/types of religion, as well as modernity; and this was evident in the interconnectivity shown across multiple text files. Figure 3 further demonstrates the dominant and the superordinate nature of religion, as a key theme.

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Figure 3: Visualization of key themes, become, cult, members, religion, and sect

Figure 4: KWIC concordance of become, as it appears in the corpus of the 13 responses to the assignment question

Another keyword, become, is (together with its KWIC concordance) displayed in Figure 4. In this context, it co-occurs with words, such as to (n = 3) and can (n = 2), and with phrases like how cults (n = 7), all of which immediately preceded it.

It also co-occurred with words, such as religion(s) (n = 8), and with phrases like a sect that immediately followed it. In its rhizomatic concordance plot, become was used in 8 assignments, but, unlike religion, it was used five times in one file (77).

In addition, it had 2 hits in 4 files, and one hit in each of 2 files (Figure 5).

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Figure 5: Concordance plot of become, as it appears in the corpus of the 13 responses to the assignment question

4.2 AntMover Results for the Assignment Question: Structural Moves The rhizomatic structural moves were analysed in the 13 assignment responses at a sentence level, when using the AntMover software application. The Response-text files were processed and analysed accordingly. The text files were sorted in classes (Figure 6).

Number of occurrences

AntMover resuslts: Assignment 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 T20 T48 T67 T51 T91 T69 T92 T77 T95 T78 T01 T79 T31 Total Text file numbers Class 2

Class 11

Class 10

Class 9

Figure 6: AntMover structural moves for the Assignment Question

For example, Class 10 (announcing the principal findings) was the highest class used (n = 30 occurrences) that was prevalent in the 13 responses. For instance, in text file 31, Class 10 was used five times. However, there was a marginal difference in its usage in text files 48, 77, and 01, all of which shared it four times, as opposed to text file 31. Text files 69, 92, and 95 followed closely, as they each used Class 10 three times. By contrast, in text files 20, 51, 91, and 78, Class 10 was not used at all; since it scored a zero occurrence.

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Class 2 (making topic generalisations) was the second highest class used with the overall usage of 27 instances spread across the 13 responses. For example, text files 31, and 67 had the highest usage (4 and 3 respectively) of Class 2 in each response, while in text files 20, 48, 51, 69, 92, 77, and 01, it was used twice in each response. The lowest usage of Class 2 (n = 1 occurrence) was in text files 95, 78, and 79. On the other side, Class 9 (announcing present research) was the least-used class across the 13 responses, with an overall total of 3 occurrence instances. Text files 91, 69, and 01 had one instance of Class 9 usage in each response. Finally, the remaining text files did not use Class 9.

4.3 AntConc Results for the Assignment Question: Linking Adverbials Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman’s (1998) framework was utilized to select the rhizomatic-linking adverbials (additives, adversatives, causals, and sequentials) in the 13 responses to the assignment question. The 13 responses were loaded onto AntConc in separate text files that were used to trace and explore the rhizomatic manifestations of linking adverbials in each response. In all of the 13 responses, two rhizomatic additive linking adverbials (also and that) were used (Figure 7).

One of the linking adverbials also was used twice in text file 69. On the contrary, there was no trace of the other linking adverbials in all of the other text files. The second rhizomatic additive linking adverbial, that, appeared twice in text files 31 and 69.

Figure 7: Some of the linking adverbials used in the 13 responses, as analysed by AntConc

Rhizomatic adversative linking adverbials were traced across the 13 responses; and, actually, was the only one that was mapped in the text file 31. No evidence of the other adversative linking adverbials was discovered in the other text files.

Four causal linking adverbials, consequently, otherwise, then, and therefore, were found in some of the text files. Consequently appeared in the text 51 times only; and, similarly, otherwise, appeared in the text file 92 times only. Then was the most used linking adverbial across the 13 responses; and it appeared twice in text file 20, and once in text files 92, 67, 31, 48, and 78. Therefore was another linking adverbial that was traced once in text file 51. In all the 13 text files, two sequential linking adverbials were identified. One such example was, first, that

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was used once in text file 78. Lastly, then was the second linking adverbial that was used once each in the text files 20, 92, 67, 31, 48, 78, and 20.

4.4 myUnisa’s Online Discussion Forum (ODF) and MS Teams’ Interactions Student interactions related to student module queries on the myUnisa’s ODF were collated and converted into text files. The text files were uploaded onto AntConc, in order to trace the key themes, according to the keywords. One hundred and fifty keywords were generated by AntConc, in the form of key themes. Thereafter, they were inputted into both Microsoft Power BI and Gephi software tools for visualization purposes. Five of the highest key themes were assignment, good, find, results, and MCQ (Figure 8).

Figure 8: Power BI and Gephi visualizations of students’ myUnisa’s ODF interactions

The key theme, assignment, was ranked fifth (n = 46 hits). It was followed by good at the sixth spot (n = 39 hits). Find (n= 16 hits), results (n= 12 hits), and MCQ (n= 10 hits), each of which, was ranked twenty-sixth, forty-first, and forty-sixth, respectively.

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Figure 9: Power BI and Gephi visualizations of student-instructor interactions MS Teams

There were also student-instructor interactions, based on an MS Team’s virtual classroom that was created in the second semester of 2020. These interactions were extracted; and, they were then processed through MS Power BI and Gephi, in order to create their visualizations (Figure 9). As shown in Figure 9, in terms of student posts, a participant with the greatest number of posts (n = 6) was Noa†; and this was followed by Ane (n = 5 posts). The other participants, such as Ela, Ezi, Kwa, Lan, Af, and Log had 3 posts each; while Gwe, Apo, Si, Nya, and Iso, had one post each. By contrast, participants like Azi, Iti, Eni, Tul, and Uli had no posts.

In terms of instructor’s replies, Ane had the most replies (n = 14) to student queries. Second and third were Kek and Gam with 10 and 5 replies, apiece. Most participants, for example, Ngu, Uta, Ezi, Ini, and Lis posted only one reply.

From a different angle, Ran made 5 reactions, with Tlh, Abe and Kol having a tie of 4 reactions, each. Most participants, namely, Sie, Low, An, and Xe, posted 2 reactions, apiece. On the other hand, participants, such as Osi, Nya, Bo, Ema, and La posted no reactions.

5. The Discussion 5.1 AntConc, Keyword Frequencies, Concordance, and Concordance Plots For the assignment question, students were required to “Read chapter 16 of the prescribed book (from page 224) and summarize the developmental stages of religion in your own words”, and “Compare and contrast a theocratic government with a democratic government”. The results demonstrated that the students used similar key themes (become, cult, members, religion, and sect), but in a rhizomatic manner. The rhizomatic frequencies of the identified key themes indicated that religion and cult were used differently at the end of each concordance spectrum. The highest key theme, religion, was used almost in the same manner in 11 of the assignment responses. However, it displayed †

All the names assigned to participants are pseudonyms.

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rhizomatic variations of use in each assignment response. For example, it was used mostly in text files 01 and 92, but in different paragraphs that portrayed rhizomatic patterns of usage in each text file. In the identified text files, religion was used to explain how cults became religion, stages/types of religion, as well as modernity.

This was evident in the interconnectivity displayed across multiple text files. In contrast, the key theme, cult, was used almost identically in different paragraphs. It was also shown that the rhizomatic frequencies of the key theme, cult, were largely evident in text files 20 (n= 5 hits) and 31 (n = 4 hits). By contrast, cult was used to explain the process of becoming religious, which is dependent on a number of followers, in order to affirm a religion’s status.

Although the writing samples demonstrated that students used similar key themes, nonetheless, their use of such key themes differed in each sample; and this was evident in the concordance plot, and in the rhizomatic frequencies visualized in Figure 3.

A considerable number of studies have been conducted, in which AntConc was used to investigate the lexical bundles and/or phraseology in the written tasks, and to compare the writing patterns of native and non-native speakers of English. Three of these studies are those of Yazıcı and Çıraklı (2019), Ulfa and Muthalib (2020), and Zhang and Pan (2020). These studies have investigated the writing patterns in student writing, even though they did not do so from a rhizomatic perspective.

For example, Yazıcı and Çıraklı (2019) examined writers’ linguistic preferences and their use of repeated verbal cues in their written texts. They discovered that the play Come and Go had a prevalence of proper nouns and words that referred to a human body. In addition, they found that the word silence, left and right were highly repeated.

Zhang and Pan’s (2020) study compared the keywords generated by WordCloud and TF-IDF-LDA investigated the sentiments of the abstracts generated by SnowNLP and TextBlob, which were verified by the use of AntConc. They also examined whether authorial interactions could be improved by self-mentions.

They found that the keywords generated by these software programs were reliable. Furthermore, according to Zhang and Pan (2020), high-frequency words together with keywords can lead to finding the key information in a text; and these could help writers produce keywords for their papers. Even though the three studies cited here did not investigate any rhizomatic patterns in their respective areas of focus, the major similarities between them and the current study is that they are all advancing the idea that there are variations in students’ academic writing.

Another study, which advances the same notion of rhizomatic learning is that of Bozkurt et al. (2016). This study contends that learning in a networked environment serves as a springboard to “rhizomatic-learning practices” (p. 20); and it also accommodates “nomadic learners” (p. 8).

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5.2 AntMover and Structural Moves The rhizomatic structural moves portrayed by AntMover, which were discovered during the analysis of the 13 assignment responses, were as follows: • • •

Announcing principal findings.

Making topic generalisations.

Announcing present research.

The results revealed that even though students used similar structural moves in their responses to the assignment question, nevertheless, the rhizomatic occurrence frequencies of such structural moves differed in each text file.

Announcing the principal findings (Class 10) was the highest-used class (n = 30 occurrences) that was apparent in the responses to the assignment. However, it was used in the rhizomatic variations in each case. It enjoyed the highest rhizomatic usage (5 occurrences) in text file 31. In contrast, it displayed a variant rhizomatic usage (2 times) in text files (20, 48, 51, 69, 92, 77, and 01).

The extreme end of the results reflected the other variables’ usage of Class 10 that was portrayed in text files (95, 78, and 79). Furthermore, the results showed that Class 9 (announcing the present research) was the least-used class in the responses to the assignment question. This class was used in three rhizomatic instances (files 91, 69, and 01) in all the responses. The rhizomatic patterns in student writing in relation to Class 9 demonstrated that some of the students did not support their essays with current research. Again, this showed that some students employed different approaches to writing their essays; some used their lived experiences, whilst others depended on research only.

Some of the studies conducted on rhizomatic structural moves that have used AntMover, have mainly focused on the writing of abstracts for research articles.

Examples here are Abarghooeinezhad and Simin (2015), Bhatti et al. (2019), and Gustina (2020). In contrast, other studies have focused on either structural moves related to the findings and discussion sections (Alvi et al., 2017; Lubis, 2020), introductions in research articles (Pashapour et al., 2018; Pendar & Cotos, 2008), or conclusions in the research papers (Zamani & Ebadi, 2016). As in the previous section, most of these studies did not adopt a rhizomatic perspective in the manner in which the current study did. However, they, too, argued for variable writing patterns that were evident in the written samples.

For instance, Gustina’s (2020) study investigated the rhetorical moves and linguistic features in thesis abstracts and research-article abstracts written by undergraduate students. The study found variations in the manner in which undergraduate students wrote their theses and research-article abstracts. It further observed that Move 3, referred to as the Method, was the most prevalent move used in both of the written samples. In addition, the study discovered that students who participated in it often excluded Move 5 (Conclusion) in their written samples. Further observations in Gustina’s (2020) study indicate that no move was obligatory, except Move 1 (Introduction) and Move 3 (Method), which reached obligatory status. Alvi et al. (2017) studied the structural moves

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of a sub-genre prevalent in the discussion section of Pakistani research oscholars’ doctoral theses registered in Education, Economics, Geography, Sociology, Statistics and Psychology. They found that no structural move was obligatory. For instance, two moves (Findings – Move 3 and Recommendation – Move 9) were highly frequent or had a 66% occurrence frequency, each. Move 6 (Explanation) followed closely with 60%, Move 5 (Previous research), and Move 8 (Limitations) had a 56% occurrence frequency. The lowest move that was recorded was that of Move 4 (Unexpected outcome), which had a 30% occurrence frequency.

5.3 AntConc and Linking Adverbials The results showed the rhizomatic mapping and manifestation of linking adverbials across the 13 responses to the assignment. It was demonstrated that two additive-linking adverbials (also and that) were used twice. Also was used twice in text file 69; and that appeared twice in text files 31 and 69. Four causal linking adverbials (consequently, otherwise, then, and therefore) were identified.

Then produced the most rhizomatic frequencies, appearing twice in text file 20, and, once in text files 92, 67, 31, 48, and 78. However, therefore occurred once in text file 51, and first also featured once in text file 78. Overall, the findings, therefore, indicated that students used additive and causal linking adverbials more frequently than other types of linking adverbials.

A significant number of studies have been conducted, in which AntConc has been used to reveal the linking adverbials prevalent in the written samples.

Among these studies are Bikelienė’s (2017), Diamante’s (2020), Dutra’s et al.

(2017), and Karatay’s (2019) studies. In Karatay’s (2019) study, it was found that students tend to use linking adverbials more often in timed essays than in untimed essays. This study also discovered that students used fewer linking adverbials under the sequential and additive linking adverbials. In addition, it found that adversative linking adverbial, nevertheless, appeared with the frequency of 0.08 on timed versus the frequency of 0.19 on untimed essays.

Moreover, the study discovered that causal linking of the adverbial, consequently, scored 0.7 on timed versus 0.11 on untimed essays.

5.4 myUnisa’s ODF and MS Teams’ Interactions As pointed out in the results section, student interactions in relation to myUnisa’s ODF manifested five key rhizomatic themes in their posts: assignment, good, find, results, and MCQ. Among these, assignment ranked highly, followed by results. By contrast, in Chaka and Nkhobo’s (2019) study, it was found that the instructor was more active than the students; since he was the one asking more questions, which were intended to guide the students to the correct answers. In a different, but related context, Bagarinao’s (2015) study found that students portrayed different patterns in their online interactions. Similarly, the study conducted by Estacio and Raga Jr. (2017) discovered that students presented different online interactions.

In respect of MS Teams, the results showed the participants with the most, least, and zero rhizomatic posts. Onah et al. (2014) discovered that the use of online

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forums encouraged students to participate in such forums and contributed towards their academic success. The same can be said in the study conducted by Buchal and Songsore (2019). This study recorded positive reactions by students when the MS Teams was used for teaching and learning purposes. It also found that the majority of students had fewer difficulties, when making use of this online platform.

6. Conclusions When student writing samples were analysed in terms of keywords (e.g., key themes) by using the software applications employed in this study, varying rhizomatic patterns were detected in the students’ text files. This was in terms of keyword frequencies, concordance, and concordance plots of the keywords used in these writing samples that were subjected to AntMover. For instance, the keyword frequencies of key themes, such as religion and cult, showed that these two key themes were used differently at the end of each concordance spectrum, thereby underscoring their varying rhizomatic patterns of usage in their respective text files.

With reference to structural moves, the analysis demonstrated that while students employed similar structural moves in their responses to the assignment, but the rhizomatic occurrence frequencies of these structural moves differed in each text file. Concerning linking adverbials, it emerged that additive and causal linking adverbials were used rhizomatically more than the other types of linking adverbials, such as adversatives. Furthermore, online student interactions on both myUnisa’s ODF and MS Teams were visualized rhizomatically. Therefore, it is clear that online student-engagement patterns, of whatever type and nature, can also be represented in rhizomatic visualizations, as was the case with this study.

7. Recommendations and Limitations The findings of this study underscore the importance of investigating and analysing students’ writing not only from linear models, but also from nonlinear perspectives, such as a rhizomatic approach. They also underline the significance of leveraging the affordances offered by student writing analysis technologies, such as AntConc, AntMover, and Gephi, which were employed in this study. This is more so, firstly, since the HE sector across the globe seems to be a melting pot of cultures and traditions in terms of its student populations.

Secondly, this is even more evident; as the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic is forcing HEIs to pivot more than ever than before; in order to facilitate online teaching and learning.

The first manifest limitation of this study is the fewer student-writing samples that were used. This makes the findings non-generalizable, but, rather, contextbound. The second limitation of the study is that it is module-bound: its findings relate to the module, which is being investigated. But even then, its findings only apply to the writing practices of the students, who volunteered to participate in it, even though instances abound, in which one student’s writing practices are investigated. The third limitation is that the results are technology-bound: the

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results are based on the datasets that were generated through AntConc, AntMover, Gephi, and MS Power BI as the specific technologies that were employed in this study. Therefore, anyone who is not able to utilize these technologies may not be able to assess the student-writing approach used in the study.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 10, pp. 23-41, October 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.10.2 Received June 26, 2021; Revised Sep 27, 2021; Accepted Oct 15, 2021

Quality is Never an Accident: A Survey on the Total Quality-Management Practices amongst Selected Higher Education Institutions in the Philippines Glenn S. Cabacang, DBA De La Salle - College of St. Benilde / Polytechnic University of the Philippines College of Business Administration Graduate Studies / Ascendens Asia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9963-3128

Abstract. Total Quality Management (TQM) is regarded as a gauge of university management, in order to maintain global standards. This study examined Total Quality-Management (TQM) implementation and the practices of higher education institutions in the Philippines. It utilized a cross-sectional survey-study design to 347 respondents recruited from the total population of 3847 administrators and academic members of nine selected institutions in the Philippines. The measure of TQM adoption and practices was extracted from several sources of previous TQM researches. This study was done for six months. The analyzation and interpretation of the data were done by using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results indicated that participating Filipino HEIs had a high degree of adoption on top-management commitment, Teaching and Learning Delivery Modes, campus amenities, system and process management, customer satisfaction, and linkages. In contrast, the HEIs have a modest degree of acceptance in strategic planning and Data Management. The test of differences indicated that strong confirmation to top management commitment and strategic planning as indicators of TQM is significantly more evident in private-type HEIs; and it was placed at the university level, when compared to those of the provincial and national HEIs. The findings provide some practical implications to further enhance Filipino HEIs in the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Keywords: Total Quality Management; TQM; Higher Education Institutions; practices; Philippines; survey; High-Quality Education

1. Introduction Changes may happen exceptionally and rapidly in the current corporate world.

Throughout the framework of global competitiveness in the economic environment, companies have to adapt, in order to cope with the quick changes correctly. The colleges and higher education institutions have three major responsibilities in the education sector: instruction, research, and community ©Author This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

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service (Ellahi et al., 2019). The Total Quality Management (TQM) of university education provides a clear commitment that should mobilize institutions, improve employee engagement, or enhance nearly any system that it includes (Aminbeidokhti et al., 2016, Psomas & Antony, 2017, Sahney, 2016). With this urgent problem, higher education institutions of the globe place their priorities and plans on their framework and shape TQM practices (Khan et al., 2019, Manatos et al., 2017, Mendes & Dias, 2018, Arcinas, 2021, Sabarre et al., 2021, Charernnit et al., 2021, De Souza et al., 2021).

Total quality-management (TQM) is regarded as a new organizational philosophy that depends on a lot of modern views and theories, based on a mix of conventional managerial methods, creative initiatives, and advanced technical knowledge, in order to increase performance, and also to achieve continuous improvement (Li et al., 2018, Psomas & Anthony, 2017, Magulod, 2019, Nuncio et al, 2020, Rocha & Arcinas, 2020, Do et al., 2017, Fundin et al., 2018, Tolentino & Arcinas, 2020, Arcinas et al., 2020). TQM impacts educational institutions, and they are expected to boost returns, in order to become productive, profitable, and client-oriented, in order to improve their competitiveness (Grudzień & Hamrol, 2016).

TQM is a procedure that can assist in this educational progress. It is a theory of continuous development that may provide various skills and analytical resources that should satisfy the needs and the expectations of any higher education institution (Shams & Belyaeva, 2019, Tasopoulou & Tsiotras, 2017, De Vincenzi et al., 2018, Magulod, 2017). Within the new global economy, which is marked by accelerated technological transition, intensive knowledge transfers and increasing competition through the elimination of trade barriers and commerce, the universities around the world are compelled to gradually evolve as enterprises that are guided by the competitive necessity of market mechanisms, despite the common issues and problems that they all have to face (Baptista et al., 2019, Brint, 2019, Costandi et al., 2019, Taylor et al., 2019).

In this era of transition, it has become essential for a university to enhance its ability to adapt to its environment through ground-breaking approaches and professional academic leadership. The literature on the TQM analysis of higher education is based mainly on psychology or on the behavioural sciences, and less on administration and management as a whole (Carvalho, 2011, Dias, 2015, Pennock et al., 2015). Performance issues in HEIs include: instruction, study, facilities, and basic strategies (Cardoso et al., 2016, Stensaker et al., 2011). Studies on quality management have affirmed a positive relationship between qualitymanagement practices and competitive advantage (Brem et al., 2016, Delery & Roumpi, 2017, Elshaer & Augustyn, 2016, O’Neill et al., 2016, Ross, 2017).

The quality management of higher education institutions is reflected in the following indicators, namely top-management commitment, strategic planning, customer satisfaction, data management, system and operational management, infrastructure, the teaching and learning-delivery systems, and on the linkages (Abbas, 2020, Abu Amuna et al., 2017, Arda et al., 2019, Bromiley & Rau, 2016,

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Deshpande, 2020, Mahdi et al., 2019, Ross, 2017, Ruben, 2018, Saiz-Alvarez, 2020, Shams & Belyaeva, 2019, Tatoglu et al., 2020, Yu et al., 2020).

As to the research context, Filipino higher education has undergone a drastic increase. Depicting the fast growth of the higher education system, quality management is currently becoming a key focus in many countries throughout the last decade (Liu & Liu, 2017). With this background, several attempts have been made to establish efficient quality-management systems for university education.

It is, therefore, essential to analyse such quality-assurance systems that are being applied among the Philippine universities. Although there is a plethora of studies relating to TQM, most of the research projects have been preliminary, theoretical, and conceptual, whether concentrating on adapting the strategies of management of tertiary institutions, or by incorporating the expertise from other countries (Aljuhani, 2019, Alzafari & Kratzer, 2019, Cudney et al., 2020, Kumar et al., 2018, Murmura et al., 2016, Nurcahyo et al., 2019, Olcay & Bulu, 2017, Wen et al., 2018).

Some of the TQM studies were found to be relating to business firms, such as foods and non-food manufacturing and production (Cho et al., 2017, Ding et al., 2019, Florkowski & Jiang, 2017, Kong et al., 2016, Liao et al., 2018). Among the studies conducted that relate to TQM among universities is that of Song (2018), who identified the strategies and the impacts of a world-class research university.

It was reported that linking and institutional policies on international students are those TQM factors required to achieved world-class Filipino universities. At the same time, Yan et al. (2019) considered the TQM synergy and collaboration among universities and enterprises. Meanwhile, Wang (2019) recommended using UK and Filipino quality-assurance systems in one university, as the factor of TQM. Hou et al. (2018) attempted to develop an internal quality-assurance mechanism for universities in Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and South Korea. They reported that external quality-assurance approaches should comply with international certification, validation, and global credentialing.

Previously, Filipino institutions concentrated mainly on quality assurance by implementing the whole idea of quality management. Hence, this study investigates the quality-management systems of Filipino higher education institutions. In this study, the gap in the literature has been addressed by performing a cross-sectional survey on adopting the eight TQM criteria among the selected institutions in the Philippines. This study gives administrators and faculty members the much-needed practical consequences they require, in order to extend their knowledge on the ongoing improvement of the TQM ideas. The selected higher education institutions would also gain from the inputs into this analysis, for their strategy and policy creation and execution of the development plan concerned, together with a constant improvement of the TQM concept.

Objectives of the Study This study has generally aimed to ascertain Total Quality Management (TQM) among the selected universities in the Philippines. Accordingly, it specifically aims to answer the following research questions: (1) What is the level of TQM

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adoption of the Select Filipino Universities in the eight areas? (2) Is there a significant difference in TQM adoption, when grouped, according to the types of the selected HEIs?

2. The Method The Research Design The study is a descriptive cross-sectional survey research project, which investigates the level of adoption and the practices of the HEIs in the TQM areas.

The self-reported cross-sectional survey design was used to collect the data from the respondents. The use of a cross-sectional survey has been a form of observational study, which examines the information from a community or from a sample group at a specific point in time (Bryman, 2006, Coughlan et al., 2007, Nardi, 2018).

The Research Participants, Sampling Procedure, and Ethical Considerations The respondents of the survey comprise 347 samples from the total population of 3847 administrators and the academic members of nine selected institutions in the Philippines. A list of institutions was acquired from the data repository of the Commission on Higher Education. To allow more accessible access to the respondents, the poll was performed via an online survey. In addition, the security elements of the online study were added, such as providing a security code to responding institutions, in order to avoid anybody who could just fill out the survey.

The major respondents of the survey were the administrators and the faculty members. The inquiry started in June 2019; and it finished in August 2019. Two stages of the survey were utilized, and a total of 347 questionnaires were gathered.

Since these might not necessarily be significant, the representation of the respondents was appropriate and extremely inclusive, as a result of the use of a multi-stage stratified-sampling technique, in which the stages were based on the findings of Breslow and Weiss (2018). Raosoft was used to calculate the sampling size for a 347-item collection with a 5% margin of error, a 95% degree of confidence, and a 50% response distribution.

The online software from Raosoft was accessed via the following URL: http://www.raosoft.com/samplesize.html. Raosoft's sampling package offers power values for a given sample size and alpha level, thereby allowing for the evasion of Type I and Type II mistakes (Cuenca-Amigo & Makua, 2017, Wilson, 2016).

Table 1 presents the frequency and the percentage representation of the samples.

As regards the types of HEIs, the majority of the completed online questionnaires were sourced from provincial HEIs (37%), followed by National HEIs (32%), and the private HEIs (30%). This investigation was guided by the following ethical issues. Initially, the university's ethics committee approved the data privacy and the informed consent forms, and, in order to maintain the respondents' and institution's confidentiality, no names were mentioned.

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Table 1. Distribution of Samples Variables

Types of HEIs

Category

National Provincial Private

Frequency Distribution (n=347) 112 130 105

Percentage Distribution (%) 32 37 30

The Research Instruments The measure of TQM Adoption and practices The standard of TQM adoption and that of the methodologies was lifted from diverse sources of previous TQM research. It focuses on the eight aspects of TQM (Yaakub & Samsudin, 2019). The 72 elements were adapted from previous studies noting, however, that TQM has different meanings. The eight areas were namely: the top-management’s commitment (Vouzas & Psychogios, 2007), which consisted of items 1-9, strategic planning (Hu et al., 2018), for details 10-18, customer satisfaction (Bouranta et al., 2017) for details 19-27, data management (Yusr et al., 2017) items 28-36, system and process management (Suarez et al., 2016) contains the item numbers 45-54, teaching and learning (Martínez-Caro et al., 2015) for the items 55-63, and Benchmark (Sweis et al., 2016) for the questions 64-72. The instrument has a calculated Cronbach-alpha coefficient of 0.83.

The Procedure Generally, this study was done for six months. The procedure of obtaining study data lasted for three months. Before the formal gathering time, the authority's consent and authorization to perform the study was requested of the Commission on Higher Education. The second week began with the issuance of a notice to proceed with the research. After acquiring the proper authorization, the researcher identified the respondents by using the inclusive criteria stated in this study. Then, the design and the creation of a questionnaire, which will be uploaded online, were done. The researcher properly followed the ethical research considerations. After gathering the students' replies, they were coded and submitted to data cleaning and statistical analysis for one month. Finally, the findings’ analysis, interpretation, and report-writing were done for another month.

The Data Analysis To evaluate the study's quantitative findings, basic descriptive statistics, such as frequency count, percentage distribution, weighted mean, and standard deviation were employed, in order to understand correctly the sample background of the respondents. The descriptive statistical results of the TQM were attained, by using the five-point Likert scale. These were interpreted with the scale range and description: Strongly Agree/ Very High a (4.20-5.00), Agree/ High b (3.40-4.19), Undecided/ Moderate c (2.60-3.39), Disagree/ Low d (1.80-2.59), strongly Disagree/ Very Low e (1.00-1.79). Moreover, inferential statistics, such as the oneway Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used to examine the differences in the adoption of the practice of TQM. The Post Hoc Tukey Honest Significant

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Difference (HSD) test was used to assess whether the significant differences in the respondents’ TQM adoption and practices were taken into consideration; since this would tell exactly where the differences are to be found (Abdi & Williams, 2010).

3. The Results Research Question 1. What is the level of TQM adoption of the Select Filipino Universities in the eight areas?

Table 2 shows the level of adoption of the eight TQM areas identified in the study, and that the select HEIs have a high level of TQM adoption, as demonstrated by the grand mean of 3.96. It is also worth noting that they routinely receive a high degree of approval from top-management’s dedication (M=4.12, SD=.966), Teaching and Learning Delivery Modes (M=4.12, SD=0.75), campus facilities (M=4.24, SD=0.865), system and process management (M=4.12, SD=0.894), customer satisfaction (M=3.48, SD= 0.959), and linkages (M=4.10, SD=0.456). In contrast, the HEIs have a moderate level of adoption on strategic planning (M=3.37, SD=0.867) and Data Management (M=3.36, SD=0.910).

Table 2. Level of Adoption on the Different Areas of TQM Areas

Mean (n=347) 4.12

SD

Descriptive Interpretation Agree

Level of Adoption High

Top Management 0.966 Commitment Strategic Planning 3.37 0.867 Undecided Moderate Customer Satisfaction 3.48 0.959 Agree High Focus Data Management 3.36 0.910 Undecided Moderate System and Processes 4.12 0.894 Agree High Management Campus Facilities 4.24 0.865 Agree High Teaching and Learning 4.12 0.754 Agree High Delivery Modalities Benchmarking 4.10 0.456 Agree High Grand Mean 3.86 Agree High Legend: Strongly Agree/ Very High a (4.20-5.00), Agree/ High b (3.40-4.19), Undecided/ Moderate c (2.60-3.39), Disagree/ Low d (1.80-2.59), strongly Disagree/ Very Low e (1.00-1.79)

The high level of the assessment provided to top management’s commitment revealed that the Filipino HEIs had positive leadership aspects, which comprise the administration in respect of quality-management principles. This implies that the upper management of the different HEIs have active leadership and participation in developing and maintaining consumer attention, defining and providing ideas, principles, objectives consistently, as well as high expectations, and a governance structure that would encourage the consistency of the results.

They are capable of highlighting the fact that the internal systems and organizational practices influence students and staff, as well as the population and the creation of connections with business, stakeholders, and the public in general.

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Marin et al. (2019), in their study on the framework of quality management, reported that management and leadership are predictors of TQM. Previous studies have reported similar findings that quality assurance includes the four primary parameters of quality assurance: human competence, process & method competence, conceptual and experiential competence (Chen et al., 2020, ClayWilliams et al., 2020, Johansson & Wallo, 2019, Teoman & Ulengin, 2018, Tiwari & Kumar Sharma, 2017). Consequently, management leadership is an important factor of TQM. Meanwhile, university facilities have been scored high by the respondents, demonstrating thereby that the HEIs have high esteem in the prevision of convenience among students and other stakeholders, notably the students. The conclusion suggests that the HEIs must see to it that they place their priorities on the growth of school services and education, as well as on the learning facilities.

The academic institution is provided with a range of services, including a library, a lecture theatre, a cafeteria, a student hostel, and many more. Similarly, campus amenities are the infrastructure supplied by the university that may bring comfort and convenience to university students and to the staff. This category outlines the amenities provided and delivered by the firms to their internal or external clientele.

Studies have indicated that these facilities are regarded as the indications of TQM among colleges, which is a factor that influences customers loyalty and service quality (Kasiri et al., 2017, Meesala & Paul, 2018, Nyadzayo & Khajehzadeh, 2016.

Successively, the Filipino HEIs also ranked their system and process management as the TQM indications being high, thereby suggesting that they can recognise the possible features of systems integration, such as students’ curriculum design, instructional implementation, program, and business operations. They have a high estimation of how the critical process is intended to be creative, efficiently regulated, and to be continuously enhanced. This specifies students’ performance and improvement via the utilization of essential processes and metrics.

This topic outlines the cycle of institutional help and tactical preparation for economic management and planning, in order to increase operational efficiency.

Previous studies have confirmed that institutional processes and systems are the bridging factors towards TQM (Ferdousi et al., 2018, Helleno, 2017, Suarez et al., 2016).

In a similar way, high appraisal has been provided to the customers’ satisfaction focus by the HEIs. This area indicates that the HEIs may establish how the universities recognise the expectations, requirements, wants, and preferences of learners, partners, and the industrial emphasis. This includes establishing the multiple metrics of success, as well as how these goals may be met. The HEIs can also adopt various indications of progress, which would be created on the basis of the teaching-quality polls, school meetings and discussion meetings, business needs or feedback surveys, and the assessment of learning and teaching efficacy.

It further examines how higher education develops relationships with the

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students and with the stakeholders; and it identifies the essential elements that attract talent and provide them to the advantage of students and stakeholders.

Previous studies also showed that there is a structural relationship between TQM practices and customer satisfaction (Chen et al., 2017, Lee et al., 2010, Moreno‐ Luzon et al., 2013, Ooi et al., 2013, Phan et al., 2011).

Moreover, the teaching and learning modes were evaluated as being high by the HEI respondents, demonstrating the great importance of instruction, as a collaborative activity of the students and the instructors. They created a high conviction that learning is a circle of interaction among teachers and learners; so that the knowledge and awareness mastering process could occur. The provision of teaching and learning is an activity that involves the exchange of information between teachers and undergraduates, which is performed elsewhere. This indicator describes the systems of learning and teaching done inside an institution. The range of learning modes should help the school. Studies suggest that teachers and students are the advocates of TQM, where quality standards start in the classroom (Baig et al., 2015, Bunglowala & Asthana, 2016, Chen et al., 2017, Rampa, 2010, Shroff, 2019).

Benchmarking, as a TQM indicator, has been evaluated highly by the HEIs, demonstrating thereby that they are capable of coping with the dynamic changes effectively. In this event, the educational establishment compares its facilities and activities with those of their commercial colleagues, in order to increase the level of efficiency via benchmarking. To meet the market’s needs constantly, higher education institutions have to evaluate their programs and methods by assessing their major counterparts in the same sector, as well as in any other sectors that employ the same technique. Benchmarking has been regarded as an essential factor of TQM among HEIs in the world (Al-Zoubi, 2012, Kern Pipan et al., 2014, Levy & Ronco, 2012, Rolstadås, 2012, Sweis et al., 2015).

Furthermore, the HEIs also exhibited a modest level of adoption of strategic planning and data management, as the markers of TQM. The conclusion shows that the HIEs cannot reach the best practice of effective strategic management and data management, as indicators of TQM. Strategic planning outlines how the institution sets out its future orientation and establishes its strategic goals, in order to guide and increase the quality of all organizations. This category further indicates how well the organization transforms strategic objectives into risk assessments; and how the institution works out a series of strategic goals and plans, at all stages of the institution. Effective strategic management improves the implementation of TQM among HIEs (Bromiley & Rau, 2014, Calvo-Mora et al., 2014, Chen et al., 2017, Moldovan, 2012, Rahimnia & Kargozar, 2016).

The moderate degree of data-management practice of the HEIs, demonstrates that they have a satisfactory technique of knowledge management, as an element of TQM. Data-management elements and expertise should define the execution and the efficiency of data usage, and the necessary resources needed to enhance the overall task-related success and excellence. Furthermore, it should assure the

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security and the availability of both the key information needed for day-to-day general administration. This should, therefore, concentrate on evaluating the facts and the information, as well as reacting effectively and efficiently to the circumstances (Calvo-Mora et al., 2015, Chang et al., 2011, Corredor & Goñi, 2011, Mehralian et al., 2013, Roldán et al., 2012, Valmohammadi & Roshanzamir, 2015).

In general, the study showed that the participating Filipino HEIs have a high level of adoption on top management’s commitment, Teaching and Learning Delivery Modes, campus facilities, system and process management, customer satisfaction, and linkages. In contrast, the HEIs have only a moderate level of adoption in strategic planning and in Data Management.

Research Question 2. Is there a significant difference in TQM adoption, when grouped according to the types and the levels of the select HEIs? Table 3 shows the test of the differences in the practice and adoption of TQM when grouped, according to the types and levels of the HEIs. When taken to the types of HEIs, significant differences showed in top management’s commitment (p=0.00**) and strategic planning (p=0.004**). It shows that the national and private HEIs have better adoption and practices on top management’s commitment and strategic planning than do the Philippines' other counterparts.

Consequently, as to the levels of HEIs, strategic planning (P=0.000***) and high management commitment (p=0.046*) were seen to be significant. Consequently, this study showed a considerable difference in the level of adoption and the practices on TQM, when grouped, according to the types and standards used by the select universities.

Table 3. Test of Differences on the adoption of TQM, when grouped according to the Types and Levels of HEIs Areas Top Management’s Commitment Strategic Planning Customer Satisfaction Data Management System and Processes Management Campus Facilities Teaching and Learning Delivery Modalities Benchmark Note: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.00 ns= not significant

Types 0.000** 0.004** 0.543 ns 0.897ns 0.123ns 0.459ns 0.343 ns

Levels 0.046 * 0.000 ** 0.768 ns 0.765 ns 0.768 ns 0.476 ns 0.344 ns

0.567 ns

0.176 ns

The results suggest that national HEIs and their university status level demonstrated more vital acceptance and practices to TQM. Hence, this study provides practical suggestions for Filipino HEIs to improve their implementation of TQM further. In the framework of this study, four elements have been discovered to spelling variations in the adoption of TQM, including strategic planning, data management, teaching and learning-delivery styles, as well as benchmarking. These criteria have been identified for participating in significant

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colleges in the Philippines. Their significant attention on these issues has contributed to their quality-management structure.

Looking at the context of top management’s commitment, as a component of TQM that is favoured by the private colleges in the Philippines, Calvo-Mora et al. (2014) stated that leadership is an essential element in the success of TQM. Therefore, management should demonstrate its dedication via effective resource-allocation, in order to support the fulfilment of all the procedural goals and of the development thereof. Haffer and Kristensen (2010) emphasised that management is liable for the engagement and involvement of all their employees; and, consequently, management must encourage workers to engage in outcomemaking, and to improve their operations.

In summary, the right direction of human capital should influence the appropriate execution and the development of the organization's operations, leading to improved outcomes. Likewise, strategic management should also be developed as a significant topic to be examined by universities on their TQM application. This study has indicated that Private HEIs are innovative and intervention-oriented; and they need to establish a proper balance throughout the strategic planning process. Compared to their public counterparts, Filipino private HEIs feel that profit-making comprises a part of their motivation.

Filipino private colleges were primarily supported by their tuition fees, rather than via government money or charity contributions. As a result, private institutions depend more on customers’ (students’) experiences in their strategic planning, due to financial differences. Hayhoe et al. (2012) affirmed that the managers in private institutions are, therefore, distinct from their specified-term equivalents in public institutions, given that they often view the organization as their lifetime enterprise; and they, consequently, have a greater sense of purpose.

Moreover, strategic planning is an important performance indicator of HEIs, when TQM is taken into consideration (Li, 2012, Mok & Jiang,2016, Yonezawa et al., 2016).

4. Conclusion This study has examined the implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM), as well as the practices of selected higher education institutions in the Philippines. It has utilized a cross-sectional survey-research approach with a total of 347 respondents. The results have indicated that the participating Filipino HEIs have had a high degree of adoption on the commitment of top management, Teaching and Learning Delivery Modes, campus amenities, system and process management, customer satisfaction, and linkages. In contrast, the HEIs have a modest degree of acceptance in strategic planning and Data Management. A test of the differences indicates that the strong confirmation to top management’s commitment and strategic planning, as indicators of TQM, is significantly more evidential to private type HEIs and those placed at the university level, when compared to those of the provincial and national HEIs.

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The findings provide some practical implications to further enhance Filipino HEIs in the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Practical Teaching and Learning Implications The results of this study indicate numerous implications for the policies and the practices among higher educational institutions in the globe, in general, and the Filipino environment in particular. Firstly, there is a need to enhance further the Filipino institutions' strategic planning and their data-management skills, in order to get the maximum advantages of the Total Quality-Management (TQM) techniques. Secondly, partnerships with private HEIs could facilitate learning more about their management commitment and strategic framework. This is a strong foundation for other Filipino HEIs on which to embark. It was discovered that private HEIs place a high priority on these characteristics.

Thirdly, the universities should become more dynamic and adaptive to changes, in order to cope with the difficulties of Education 4.0 effectively. Fourthly, there is a need for Filipino HEIs to become more flexible and inventive in the following areas: top management’s commitment, Teaching, and Learning Delivery Modes, campus amenities, system and process management, customer satisfaction, and connections, in order to become successful. They should be able to assist in creating new ideas to adapt to the ever-changing environment of university education in the Philippines.

Limitations and a Future-Research Direction As with any research, this has some constraints and limitations. Future study should, therefore, expand upon this approach, by repeating the procedure across other types of institutions. A sampling approach of responses from a vast number of colleges would decrease any bias in the selection process. The study focuses on the eight aspects of TQM. The development of questions that dive further into the features of all HEIs in consideration could produce more studies. Alternatively, it might be helpful to interview those individuals, who have had this institution in the deciding set; and eventually, they have opted to attend a university. More study is needed, in order to offer a complete explanation that considers the comprehension of the various stakeholders.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 10, pp. 42-60, October 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.10.3 Received Aug 25, 2021; Revised Oct 14, 2021; Accepted Oct 19, 2021

Is Robotics Education and Training Gender Dependent? A Suggestive Robotics Syllabus for Teacher Training G S Prakasha*, Joseph Varghese Kureethara, Anthony Kenneth and Peter Varkey Muttungal Christ University, Bangalore, India https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1287-7606 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5030-3948 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7798-2389 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1953-3830 Trent Grundmeyer Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0747-2276

Abstract. Application of robotics is rapidly increasing in all fields of life.

Though robotics education became popular in the 21st century, its teaching and training has not gained much importance across the world, especially in developing and low-income countries. There are various reasons for its neglect and one of them could be gender-science stereotypes. Research studies are yet to explore the reasons for its slow emergence. The present study explores the need and training for educational robotics considering the role of students, teachers, teachereducators and parents, determining whether it is gender-dependent or not. The study also proposes to come up with a syllabus for robotics training. The study employs exploratory, sequential, qualitativequantitative mixed-method research design and applies purposive sampling techniques.

Researchers conducted semi-structured interviews, including five science teacher-educators, five science teachers, and five trainee teachers majoring in sciences to understand the need, scope and benefits of robotics education. They recruited 100 high school students, 50 teacher-educators, and 100 parents to test whether their interest in robotics is gender-dependent through Chisquare analysis. The study revealed the need for robotics education under four themes and seven subthemes. It has been found that the interest of students and parents and the readiness of teacher-educators for robotics education is gender-dependent. The study came up with a suggestive syllabus for robotics training. It recommends that future *

Corresponding author: G S Prakasha, prakasha.gs@christuniversity.in

©Authors This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

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researchers should focus on the implementation of robotics teaching for teacher and school education.

Keywords: educational robotics; robotics training; robotics syllabus; gender-science stereotype

1. Introduction Educational robotics is a modern pedagogical tool to be included in teaching and learning. 21st century learners need to learn high quality science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). As technology advances, the products resulting from such advancement permeates educational fields and students would use them in the learning process, from elementary to higher education (Casey et al., 2018). Robotics education promotes students’ interest in STEM subjects (Khanlari, 2013). It is also conceived as a branch, which deals with educating students to create and design robots (Vicente et al., 2021). The primary aim is the ability to create robots via programming and adding various functional responses. Students use a robotics kit, which is appropriate to their age (Vega & Cañas, 2018). The subject is a notable means to promote academic achievements in the field of STEM (Afari & Khine, 2017) and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) subjects (Hinojo-Lucena et al., 2020). Robotics education can promote aconstructivist classroom learning and create an active learning environment (Barak & Assal, 2018). In addition, it can be used to promote skills such as: creativity and spatial memory skills, psychomotor skills (Alemi et al., 2020), collaborative learning (Chootongchai et al., 2019), creativity (Yi, 2019), entrepreneurship (Blackley & Howell, 2019), and project-based learning skills (Caballero-González & García-Valcárcel, 2020).

2. Review of Literature A study on the attitude of students towards robotics found that girls have less robotics learning desire and confidence than boys (Kucuk & Sisman, 2020).

Another study by Sullivan showed that robotics teaching in K-12 education enhances scientific knowledge among students (Sullivan, 2008).The use of robotics in primary education has significantly increased students’ confidence and interest in science and technology (Zviel-Girshin et al., 2020). A study by Karypi (2018) showed that robotics education develops a positive attitude towards STEM and boosts cognitive and social skills of learners, making them more independent, active, and motivated. Another study by Tsagaris et al. (2019) indicated that participants are happier and more satisfied in learning science and other school subjects via robotics rather than through conventional methods.

They learn to cooperate and enjoy learning through playing with robotics.

Robotics education is emerging as a pedagogical approach to science teaching. A systematic review related to applying robotics in school education clearly articulated the presence of robotics in western education since 2000 (Kubilinskiene et al., 2017). Teacher education must emphasise the need for educational robotics training, and train future teachers to incorporate multiplatform-approaches in robotics teaching (Boyarinov & Samarina, 2020) and design approach to promote easy learning. Educational robotics activities are

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easier to use when programmed based on behaviour-based approach (De Cristoforis et al., 2013). Studies have shown the need for robotics in higher education and termed them as an “innovative approach’ towards teaching subjects like sciences and engineering (Sánchez et al., 2019). A study by Gorakhnath and Padmanabhan (2017) on educational robotics introduced educational robotics teaching and learning, leading to an understanding of the teacher’s engagement.

The gender stereotype has existed in vocational choices since the last two to three decades and will remain persistent (OECD, 2017). The global gender gap report from the World Economic Forum confirms the underrepresentation of women in STEM fields (WEF, 2017). Gender stereotypes believe that women are born to pursue humanities and men should study technical fields (Charles & Bradley, 2009). Indian women too are dropping out from STEM education and careers for various indigenous reasons (Hammond et al., 2020). A study asked pre-service teachers to teach primary school children with robotics and technology. It revealed that teachers gained confidence and knowledge, which helped them to integrate technology in their classrooms (Chalmers et al., 2012).

3. Theoretical Framework Theoretical frameworks that guided the present study include Social Identity Theory (SIT) and Social Role Theory (SRT). The central idea of the social identity theoretical framework is that people compare themselves by forming in-groups (us) and out-groups (them) to enhance their self-image (Tajfel & Turner, 1979).

This involves three-stage mental processes in the order of social categorisation, social identification, and social comparison. In social categorisation, people group themselves in order to understand the social environment. In social identification, humans adopt the identity of the group they belong to and in social comparison, they compare their own with other groups and try to maintain self-esteem on par with others. Similarly, in the present study, students, teachers, teacher-educators and parents have an implicit understanding of the group they belong to and process their behaviour accordingly. Consequently, gender-science stereotypes are evident. The social role theory suggests that the gender role is visible every day. People observe the roles of men and women and thereby form their own beliefs leading to gender stereotypes (Eagly & Wood, 2012).

4. Context of the Study In India, robotics education is a value-added programme in school education rather than a part of the school’s curriculum. One gets use to see robotics in science exhibitions, science fairs, science competition, science club events, and in engineering education, but not in the school’s curriculum, bearing in mind that teachers have no training to complement their classes with educational robotics pedagogy. In spite of several research studies on robotics as a pedagogy of science teaching, it is missing in mainstream school education. Teacher preparation colleges never attempted to include robotics training in their curriculum. Govinda, (2020), while emphasising STEM education, did mention the need for robotics teaching and training at all levels.

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Though robotics has been in India since a decade, there are not many serious discussions to utilise its benefits for science education. This could have several reasons, such as traditional Indian culture, non-materialistic value systems, huge population, financial deficit, educational infrastructure, and lack of awareness and human resources. India has the highest youth population and investments in robotics education would have been productive. Additionally, there are facts such as female literacy rate being lower than male. There is also a gender-science stereotype belief. There are more number of female teachers than male. As men opt for professions other than teaching, there are more female science teacher educators than male. There is also less representation of women in the field of science, STEM education, and engineering as in many other countries (Gupta, 2019). Some of the reasons for this include family decisions, economic issues, gender stereotypes, social differences, social expectations, male domination, and lack of role models (Gupta, 2019; Wang & Degol, 2017).

Therefore, the present study attempts to understand low representation of women in science education, more female representation as science teachers and science teacher-educators and women as parents affecting the prevalence, acceptance, and emergence of robotics education. There is a need for proper planning of robotics education, how it could be included, what content can be included, who will teach, and what kind of training is needed for pre-service and in-service teachers. Schools in India, which recognised the value of robotics education, have added it as an optional value-added programme. But a huge number of schools still lack awareness of robotics education and teachers too lack training. Therefore, the present study aims to: • Explore the need, importance, benefits, and training of educational robotics; • Test whether high school students’ interest, teacher-educators’ readiness, and parents’ interest in robotics education is gender-dependent or not; and • Frame a syllabus including theory and practicum to train teacher trainees majoring in sciences in the teacher education programme.

5. Methods The study employed an exploratory, sequential, qualitative-quantitative mixed method research design to address the research objectives that were framed.

Researchers obtained institutional, ethical clearance and followed all the necessary ethical guidelines during each type of data collection.

5.1. Qualitative Method 5.1.1. Research Design To explore the need, importance, benefits, and training of educational robotics, the study employed phenomenological interpretative research design.

5.1.2. Participants The study used convenient sampling techniques and selected 15 participants for the interview - five science teacher educators, five teacher-trainees majoring in sciences at the Bachelor of Education program, and five in-service science teachers at secondary schools. The researchers assigned pseudonyms to the

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participants as P1, P2… and P15. Table 1 presents the demographic characteristics of the interviewees.

Table 1: Showing the demographic details of the participants Sl. No P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 P10 P11 P12 P13 P14 P15

Designation Teacher Educator Teacher Educator Teacher Educator Teacher Educator Teacher Educator Teacher trainee Teacher trainee Teacher trainee Teacher trainee Teacher trainee School teacher School teacher School teacher School teacher School teacher

Age 40 42 35 38 52 25 28 30 26 29 25 30 35 32 38

Gender M M M F F M M M F F M M M F F

Teaching/learning subject Physics Chemistry Biology Mathematics Physics Physics Chemistry Biology Mathematics Physics Science Science Science Science Science

5.1.3. Interview Guide The researchers developed a semi-structured interview guide as per the objective of the study and validated it with a panel of experts, involving senior professors from three reputed universities. Table 2 presents the interview guide used for the study.

Table 2: Interview guide Questions for teacher educators ● Why do you think robotics education is important for STEM education? ● Should teacher education programs preparing science teachers have training in educational robotics? Explain ● What are the other benefits of educational robotics? ● Why do you think there is a need for robotics labs in teacher education programme?

Questions for secondary school teachers ● Why do you think robotics education is important for STEM education? ● Should teacher education programmes preparing science teachers have training in educational robotics? Explain ● What are the other benefits of educational robotics? ● Why do you think there is a need for robotics labs in schools?

Questions for secondary school teacher trainees majoring in sciences ● Why do you think robotics education is important for STEM education? ● Should teacher education programmes preparing science teachers have training in educational robotics? Explain ● What are the other benefits of educational robotics? ● Why do you think there is a need for robotics labs in a teacher education programme?

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5.1.4. Data Gathering Procedure One of the authors of the study, who holds a PhD in education and has 20 years of experience, conducted the interviews via online video-conferencing platforms such as Cisco WebEx/ Google Meet, while a few were telephonic. At the beginning of each interview, the researcher explained the purpose of the study and obtained consent from participants. The researchers gave participants the privilege to withdraw from the interview at any point of time if they were not comfortable. The researchers assured the participants of anonymity, safety, and confidentiality of data. They conducted semi-structured interviews with a funnelling approach to understand the need for robotics education. The funnelling approach helped the researchers to elicit in-depth information.

Interview recordings and transcripts were stored safely with password protection and are available only to researchers.

5.1.5. Data Analysis Procedure Researchers read and re-read the transcripts several times to carry out inductive analysis of the data. Consensus from all the researchers have evolved with major themes and subordinate themes (Marshall, 1999) presented in Table 4 of the result section. The Figure 1 below shows the inductive analysis coding process used in the study and is adapted from Creswell (2002).

Initial reading of the transcripts

Identifying specific part of the transcripts

Labelling and creating categories

Refining the categories

Creating models with major themes and subthemes

Full text

Part of the text

15 categories emerged

Retained 8 categories

4 major themes and 7 subthemes

Figure 1: Showing the inductive analysis coding process

5.2. Quantitative Method 5.2.1. Research Design To test whether the high school students’ interest, teacher educators’ readiness and parents’ interest in robotics education is gender dependent or not, the study employed descriptive survey research design.

5.2.2. Research Informants Researchers observed that many schools in India have recently started robotics coaching as an extra-curricular activity, while some schools are still planning it.

One researcher adopted purposive sampling techniques and selected a school, which is starting robotics coaching. He selected 50 males, 50 females and their parents. To obtain the opinions of teacher educators, the study used snowballsampling method and selected 25 male and 25 female teacher educators of science pedagogy in teacher education colleges across the country.

5.2.3. Survey Instrument The researcher constructed a dichotomous response type opinionnaire, which included a consent form, demographic information and opinion statements. The

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study established face and content validity of the opinionnaire with a panel of experts. Table 3 below displays the items of the opinionnaire.

Table 3: Survey opinionnaire Demographic details: Gender – Male /Female Items Student: Are you interested in the robotics coaching that your school is going to start Parent: Are you admitting your child to robotics education coaching, which the school is going to start Teacher educator: Are you ready to train your teacher trainees through robotics pedagogy if robotics theory and practicum are included in the syllabus

Dichotomous response Yes No Yes

No

Yes

No

5.2.4. Data Collection Procedure The researcher collected the opinion of 50males and 50 females about their interest in robotics education and recorded their responses. The investigator also collected the opinions of their parents related to their interest in enrolling their children to robotics coaching at school. There were 100 parents altogether, with equal representation by male and female parents. In order to maintain the objectivity of data and to avoid bias, parent’s responses were kept confidential and did not disclose anything to the child or the partner parent. The researcher also collected the opinions of 50 teacher educators (25 males and 25 females) using convenient sampling on their readiness to train science teacher trainees through robotics. The study analysed the collected data using Chi-square test of association. It helps in confirming the observed relationship with respect to the expected relationship. Chi-square test of independence is suitable, as there are two dichotomous variables - gender and interest/investment in robotics education.

In order to address the third research objective, researchers planned to construct a syllabus unit including fundamental concepts on robotics and its practicum.

The syllabus must help to initiate robotics education and training in teacher training programmes. It could be a part of science elective syllabus to train teacher trainees majoring in sciences. Researchers developed a draft syllabus and checked it for its face and content validity. One of the researchers facilitated the inter-rater reliability process of the constructed syllabus. The facilitating researcher employed a snowball sampling technique to select the panel of subject experts for inter-rater reliability analysis. The facilitating researcher in consultation with other researchers selected 20 expert teacher educators involved in preparing science teachers at teacher education colleges. The researchers briefed the panel about the research purpose, circulated the draft syllabus to the expert panel members and obtained their agreement and suggestions against each content item of the proposed syllabus, using a rating scale ranging from one to ten points. The inter-rater reliability statistics have been applied to find the reliability of the constructed syllabus. Table 11 in the result section presents the result of reliability statistics. The final draft of the

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syllabus incorporated the suggestions provided by the experts (Mahajan et al., 1976). Appendix1 presents the final framed syllabus and practicum.

6. Results and Discussion 6.1. Results of Qualitative Analysis Table 4 below represents the themes and subthemes evolved out of inductive analysis of the semi-structured interview data, addressing the need and importance of robotics education and training.

Table 4: Showing the themes and subthemes 1.

2.

3.

4.

Robotics education a. Importance b. Scope Robotics training a. Unexplored Benefits of robotics education a. Quality science education b. Innovation Robotics lab a. Investment b. Practicum training

This section discusses the essential features of the main theme and subtheme evolved out of the inductive analysis method from the interview transcripts of teacher educators, teacher trainees and teachers. The essential features involved the meaning of themes and subthemes, key characteristics, text samples, and review supports.

Main Theme 1: Robotics Education Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education has gained importance all over the world in the last two decades. Robotics change the way students learn STEM subjects and make them more knowledgeable and well-adjusted. Robotics attracts students to STEM education and brings fun, enjoyment, and satisfaction in learning. It captures student attention and interest and provides satisfying learning experiences (Eguchi, 2010). a) Subtheme: Importance Teacher educators, teacher trainees, and science teachers have unanimously mentioned that robotics is the future pedagogy for STEM education. It brings variety to the classroom and engages students actively in science learning. It encourages innovation and critical thinking. It also develops problem-solving ability.

P1 – […] Robotics boosts students’ interest in sciences…

P13 - […] it brings innovation… b) Subtheme: Scope As technology advances, the use of robotics increases in all occupations.

Students learn through the play-way method. It helps learners to understand abstract science concepts. It utilises both cognitive and social constructivist

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approaches, and enhances the computational thinking of students, which is necessary for a science career. The scope of application of robotics education is beyond imagination. With the advancement of technology, concepts like cloud computing, artificial intelligence, gamification, face-recognition, voicerecognition, and numerous innovative applications have a wide scope of application in learning sciences.

Main Theme 2: Robotics Training Schools these days are providing robotics education in various ways, such as after-school programmes, summer camps, weekend programmes, and valueadded programmes, as they believe that it benefits students’ academic performance (Rusk et al., 2008). Scandinavian countries such as Europe, UK and US have national directives to provide robotics education and enhance the quality of education. Students using robotics have excelled in STEM subjects and have won global robotics competitions for their innovative ideas. Science teachers are expected to guide students to participate in robotics competitions, but they lack knowledge in guiding them. Therefore, to strengthen the quality of science education, including robotics training for science teacher trainees in their pedagogical subject or in educational technology is the need of the hour. a) Subtheme: Unexplored Teacher educators and science teachers have mentioned that teacher education programmes must explore the opportunities to provide training in educational robotics. Even students have suggested that teachers could use robotics in science classes. Two of the female teacher educators (P4 and P5) have expressed their own doubts about robotics education, which has the potential to trigger innovation and discoveries. National policies of teacher education in a few countries of the world have taken steps to involve robotics training in their teacher education programs and recently India in its new NEP (2020) mentioned it.

P7 - […] it is helpful if our professors teach us robotics…

P4 – […] it sounds good but we do not have any professional training on it …

P5 – […] I doubt whether teacher educators would like it…

Main Theme 3: Benefits of Robotics Education Robotics education inspires children to learn the subject and attracts them towards STEM subjects. Students get to learn coding skills along with it. They become more proactive, scientific, and acquire problem-solving skills. It is an active teaching-learning pedagogy, which helps in recognising students’ creative talent and boosts their confidence in learning sciences. a) Subtheme: Quality Science Education Both teacher educators and teachers said that robotics is the best method of teaching STEM subjects. As certain science concepts are abstract, robotics helps to understand them and develops original thinking habits among students. It develops interest in STEM subjects and provides ideas for innovation. It triggers critical and creative thinking and collaborative learning opportunities (Blikstein,

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2013). It also helps people to participate in competitions such as science fares and exhibitions at the national and international level.

P6 – […] it is helpful in participating at science competitions…

P12 – […] it provides first-hand experience in learning…Science subjects… a) Subtheme: Innovation Teachers, teacher educators, and teacher trainees believed that robotics develops a scientific attitude, scientific temper, and makes students feel like young scientists. It provides a platform for youngsters to become leaders in educational technology. There are many young student inventors who have become youthful programmers, application developers and drone makers. Robotics education is often the medium to communicate their scientific ideas. It is the reason why schools in the 21st century have subscribed to educational robotics as an extracurricular activity, and believed it would be supplementary to their academics.

Main Theme 4: Robotics Lab The robotics lab helps in STEM education, which is part of a progressivist curriculum, leading to innovation in science and technology. Educational institutes must invest in establishing robotics lab and provide coaching at all levels of education. Training science teachers without educational robotics is perhaps an incomplete teacher-training programme. Teacher education has to setup robotics labs with fundamental gadgets, computers, and necessary online platforms. Teachers have to acquire the knowledge of conducting robotics practicum. a) Subtheme: Investment Teacher educators, teacher trainees and teachers have voiced the need for investment in basic robotics equipment, which has multipurpose applications.

Teacher education institutes can upgrade their technology lab with robotics instruments. Schools may also open a robotics lab to encourage science learning.

Many of the European schools have invested in FAB-LABs, Gamification LAB, and Robotics Lab (Cornetta et al., 2020). b) Subtheme: Practicum Training Teachers mentioned that hands-on training by teacher educators to teacher trainees majoring in sciences would help them use educational robotics at schools. Having trained in robotics education will enhance their job opportunities, while teaching robotics through projects and opportunities for professional development are plenty (Sullivan, 2008). Successful projects or winning in robotics events will give job satisfaction and there will be more interest and ideas to innovate. Teacher educators also mentioned that it is time to provide robotics training in teacher preparation programmes, which must include theory and practicum.

P1- robotics lab is interesting…we can also have it in the technology lab…

P8 - Robotics lab experience will make us confident teachers…and it will be useful in terms of job prospectus…

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6.2. Results of Quantitative Analysis This section covers the results of Chi-square test of association to understand whether high school students’ interest, teacher educators’ readiness, and parents’ interest in robotics education is gender dependent or not. Tables 5 and 6 present the results of cross tabulation and Chi-square test measuring the null hypothesis. There is no association between high school students’ gender and their interest in robotics education.

Table 5: High school students * Interest in robotics education cross tabulation Interest in Robotics education Interested Not interested Count 36 14 Males Expected Count 28.0 22.0 High school students Count 20.0 30.0 Females Expected Count 28.0 22.0

Total 50 50.0 50.0 50.0

Table 6: Chi-square tests for high school students * Interest in robotics education Value df

Asymp.

Exact

Exact

Sig. (2-sided) Sig. (2-sided) Sig. (1-sided) Pearson Chi-Square 10.390a 1 .001 b Continuity Correction 9.131 1 .003 Likelihood Ratio 10.589 1 .001 Fisher's Exact Test .002 .001 Linear-by-Linear Association 10.286 1 .001 N of Valid Cases 100 a. 0 cells (.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 22.00. b. Computed only for a 2x2 table

Figure 2: High school students’ interest in robotics education

From the Tables 5 and 6, it is clear that all the expected cell frequencies are less than 28, therefore we infer from Fisher’s exact test. There is a statistically

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significant association between high school students’ gender and their interest in robotics education, χ2 (1) = 10.390, Fisher’s exact tests p = .002. Cramer’s V value = 0.332 and its p = 0.01 indicating the size of the effect is medium. It is also evident from Figure 2.

Table 7 and 8 below present the results of cross tabulation and Chi-square test measuring the null hypothesis; there is no association between teacher educators’ gender and their readiness to include robotics education in teacher education programme.

Table 7: Teacher educator * Inclusion of robotics Education Cross Tabulation Inclusion of Robotics Education Total Yes No Count 18 7 25 Males Expected Count 12.0 13.0 25.0 Teacher Educator Count 6 19 25 Females Expected Count 12.0 13.0 25.0 Table 8: Chi-Square Tests for Teacher Educator * Inclusion of Robotics Education Value df.

Asymp.

Exact Exact Sig. (2-sided) Sig. (2-sided) Sig. (1-sided) .001 .002 .001 .002 .001 .001

Pearson Chi-Square 11.538a 1 b Continuity Correction 9.696 1 Likelihood Ratio 12.033 1 Fisher's Exact Test Linear-by-Linear Association 11.308 1 N of Valid Cases 50 a. 0 cells (.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 12.00. b. Computed only for a 2x2 table

Figure 3: Teacher educators’ readiness to include robotics education

From the Tables 7 and 8, it is found that the expected cell frequencies differ from observed cell frequencies and are greater than five, and therefore we infer from Pearson Chi-square value. There is a statistically significant association between

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teacher educators’ gender and their readiness to include robotics education in teacher education programme respectively, χ2 (1) = 11.538, (Asymptotic Significance) p = .001. Cramer’s V value = 0.480 and its p = 0.001 indicating the size of the effect is large (Kim, 2017). It is also evident from Figure 3 above.

Tables 9 and 10 below display the results of cross tabulation and Chi-square test measuring the association between parents’ gender and their interest to invest in robotics education for their high school children.

Table 9: Parents gender * Interest to invest in robotics coaching cross tabulation

Males Parents’ Gender Females

Count Expected Count Count Expected Count

Interest to invest in robotics coaching Yes No 76 24 58.0 42.0 40 58.0

60 42.0

Total

100 100.0 100 100.0

Table 10: Chi-Square Tests Parents’ gender * Interest to invest in robotics coaching Value df

Asymp.

Exact Exact Sig. (2-sided) Sig. (2-sided) Sig. (1-sided) 1 .000 1 .000 1 .000 .000 .000 1 .000

Pearson Chi-Square 26.601a b Continuity Correction 25.144 Likelihood Ratio 27.298 Fisher's Exact Test Linear-by-Linear Association 26.468 N of Valid Cases 200 a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 42.00. b. Computed only for a 2x2 table

Figure 4: Parents’ gender and interest to invest in robotics education

From the Tables 9 and 10, it is clear that the expected cell frequencies differ from observed cell frequencies and are greater than five, which means that we infer

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from Pearson Chi-square value. There is a statistically significant association between parents’ gender and their interest to invest in robotics education for their high school children, χ2 (1) = 26.601, (Asymptotic Significance) p = .000.

Cramer’s V value = 0.365 and its p = 0.000 revealing that the size of the effect is almost large (Kim, 2017). It is also evident from Figure 4 above.

Inter-rater Reliability The present study employed the inter-rater reliability method to finalise the syllabus framed. Researchers initially constructed the draft syllabus and checked it from its face validity and content validity among themselves. It was then processed for inter-rater reliability analysis. Accordingly, the researchers created a panel of experts who are science teacher educators, with equal representation to gender. Teacher educators willing to participate in the study were only included in the panel. Researchers briefed all the teacher educators about their purpose. After obtaining their informed consent, the draft syllabus has been shared with 20 science teacher educators, out of which 10 were male and 10 were female. Teacher educators responded to the draft syllabus on a 10 points rating scale, ranging from least to appropriate and gave their suggestions wherever necessary.

The investigators subjected the inter-rater ratings to intra-class reliability analysis. They found the Alpha value of 0.984 indicating the high reliability of the constructed syllabus. Table 11 below shows the results of intra-class correlation coefficient analysis.

Table 11: Intra-class correlation coefficient Intra-class Correlation b

95% Confidence F Test with True Interval Value 0 Lower Upper Value df1 df2 Sig Bound Bound Single Measures .753a .600 .895 62.123 12 228 .000 Average Measures .984c .968 .994 62.123 12 228 .000 Two-way mixed effects model where people’s effects are random and measures’ effects are fixed. a. The estimator is the same, whether the interaction effect is present or not. b. Type C intra-class correlation coefficients using a consistency definition-the betweenmeasure variance is excluded from the denominator variance. c. This estimate is computed assuming the interaction effect is absent, because it is not estimable otherwise.

From the above table, all the 20 raters had almost 98% agreement with the constructed syllabus. However, if you take a single measure, an agreement of 75.3% is obtained for each item of the constructed syllabus (Morgan et al., 2004).

This mixed method research revealed the perspectives of teacher educators, teacher trainees, and secondary school science teachers on the need and scope of robotics education. The inductive analysis of the interview data came up with four main themes and seven subthemes highlighting the need and scope of robotics education. The themes have revealed the need for robotics education, as

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it develops better understanding of science concepts, applications, and captures the interest and attention of learners.

All the participants readily agreed that robotics education is the future of science and students have to be educated on its use. Participants strongly believed that there is a need for investment in robotics labs and for practical training for students. It enhances students’ critical thinking ability in sciences and paves the way to innovation. It provides them a sense of the global competitive spirit and develops a scientific temper in them. However, a few of the female teacher educators expressed their own doubts about its implementation.

The study also observed that Indian traditional and cultural aspects and genderscience stereotypes affect the prevalence and implementation of robotics education. The study revealed that boys have shown more interest in robotics education than girls. Parents’ interest in investment in robotics education for their children has the influence of gender. Similarly, teacher educators’ readiness to include robotics education as part of their programme is also influenced by gender. The study found that in spite of several research studies, discussing the benefits of educational robotics, its acceptance and implementation as part of the school’s curriculum is suffering from gender-science stereotype. Teacher education colleges have not thought of initiating robotics training in their programmes nor attempted to create any syllabus. The study clearly pointed out the need for systematic planning, awareness, and a positive attitude towards providing robotics education and training. The study urged that the female audience should break this stereotyped mindset and participate in science education, irrespective of its nature, and the male audience need to encourage and accommodate women in science education. The present study brought out a suggestive syllabus on robotics education and suggestive practicum activities to be included in the training of teacher trainees majoring in science subjects. The study hopes that teacher education authorities would receive it positively and take steps to implement the suggested syllabus and the practicum. The new NEP (2020) has also emphasised the need for robotics education in schools and colleges (Govinda, 2020; Nandini, 2020). The study recommends that future researchers should work towards setting up robotics labs and include robotics education as part of school and college curricula.

7. Conclusion and Implication Educational robotics is a way forward for STEM and STEAM education and attracts students to pursue higher education in the sciences, which contributes to the economic development. Unfortunately, higher education in sciences is suffering from gender-science stereotypes across the globe. The present study clearly reveals the need for robotics education from students’, teachers’, parents’, and teacher educators’ perspectives through a qualitative method. The study clearly confirms the presence of gender-science stereotype in affecting the prevalence and emergence of robotics education. Students’ interest towards robotics learning, parents’ interest in investing in robotics coaching for their wards, and teacher educators’ readiness to offer robotics training to teacher trainees majoring in sciences are gender dependent. The study suggests a valid

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syllabus and training practicum on educational robotics to initiate robotics training at teacher education colleges. The study limited the opinion on robotics education from teacher educators, teacher trainees, teachers, students, and parents. It emphasises the need for investment in educational robotics, eliminating gender-science stereotypes and developing a positive attitude towards robotics education. The present study urges stakeholders to implement robotics in schools, colleges, and in teacher education. Only if robotics is added to the teacher preparation curriculum would teachers have the skills and knowledge to prepare students for the 21st century.

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Appendix1 Inter rater Reliability Pro Forma with Robotics Teacher Training Syllabus Syllabus content 1

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Unit title: Introduction to Educational Robotics Meaning and nature of Educational robotics Theories behind educational robotics constructivism and constructionism Potentials of robotics in education Applications of robots in daily life Demonstration of a robotics package Fundamental programming for robotics Making decision and Loop control behaviors’ in computer programs Time required teaching the unit: 10 hours Practicum Creating a Robot Time required for Practicum 10 hours

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Practicum details Teacher educator to demonstrate Robot construction plan, which involve creating a scenario, sketching a plan, executing the plan using robotics kit. After demonstration, the teacher educator may invite teacher trainees majoring in science to come up with a scenario in which robotics intervention needed, discuss the plan with teacher educator, draw a schematic diagram of the plan, chose the materials required to build the robots from the available robotics kit, construct the robots, and execute (Daniela et al., 2014). The teacher educator and trainee then hold a debriefing session to discuss the pros and cons of the constructed robot and its utility. Teacher trainees then use the robotics kit on multi-principle platforms such as Lego mind storm NXT package, Make block Ultimate Robot Kit-Blue, Bioloid STEM standard kit, Arduino Robot Kit, Sun Founder Crawling Quadruped Robot DIY Kit for Arduino Part with Nano Board Remote Control etc.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 10, pp. 61-82, October 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.10.4 Received Jul 27, 2021; Revised Oct 14, 2021; Accepted Oct 17, 2021

A Methodological Analysis for the Development of a Circular-Motion Concept Inventory in a Ugandan Context by Using the Delphi Technique Kent Robert Kirya African Centre of Excellence for the Innovative Teaching and Learning of Mathematics and Science (ACEITLMS), University of Rwanda - College of Education (UR-CE), Rwanda https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9759-6335 K. K. Mashood Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, 400088, India https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3408-1553 Lakhan Lal Yadav African Centre of Excellence for Innovative Teaching and Learning of Mathematics and Science (ACEITLMS), University of Rwanda – College of Education (UR-CE), Rwanda https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1182-8017

Abstract. Concept inventories (CI) constitute a key thread in Physics Educational Research. As such, understanding the methodology and the technique of developing a good CI is essential for all physics teachers.

This research aims to develop a circular-motion concept Inventory (CMCI) that is valid in the Ugandan context. To reach a consensus, we used the Delphi technique to collect the data from eleven experts in the physics discipline. These experts were asked to rank each CI item in the inventory, based on the relevant criteria, for assigning a degree of relevance for adoption on a scale ranging from one to four, one being "not relevant" and four being "highly relevant.” Because the technique does not require experts to meet face-to-face, they remained anonymous to one another. These experts are provided with structured questionnaires of CI items from the Rotational-Kinematics Inventory (RKI) and Rolling and Rotational Motion-Concept (RRMC) inventories in the first round, in order to adopt items relevant to circular-motion concepts in the Ugandan context. They agreed to use 31 CI items in the RKI and 14 CI items in the RRMC in the second round. The mean and standard deviation of expert replies were analysed by using descriptive statistics. We used the methodological principles of CI creation, in order to create eight CI items to fill in the missing sub-concepts. Therefore, a ©Authors This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

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total of 53 concept items were created. In order to analyse their qualities in a psychometric analysis, these will be evaluated by using field testing and psychometric analysis. Various physics instructors will access the CMCI, because the field testing aims to gauge the level of educational efficacy in their academic and research initiatives.

Keywords: methodological analysis; Delphi technique; circular motion; concept inventory

1. Introduction Over the last four decades, Physics Educational researchers have focused on expanding the pedagogical toolbox for physics teachers by designing conceptually based evaluation interventions, in order to measure the students' comprehension of physics concepts in various physics domains. The ForceConcept Inventory (FCI) (Hestenes et al., 1992) has inspired many physics and other science education researchers to create concept inventories. These items address the extent of understanding of a given physics domain, in such a way that any student who has been educated in the domain, should take the CI, e.g., CSEM, BEMA, RKI, and so on. The FCI is written with terminologies, and in a sense that students understand, according to Hestenes et al. (1992).

The items in the instrument consist of a description, usually with a diagram and four or five possible answers, as well as alternative concepts. Each alternative or distractor is developed, based on the widely held beliefs about the item concept.

The first true “CI” was developed from Hestenes’ et al. initial evaluation test over time. Because of its remarkable success in the 1990s, the FCI has been used consistently across various institutions. Its impact on physics education is inspiring, and it sparked the development of several other new CIs in physics and in other STEM fields.

Beginning in the early 2000s, physicists focused their attention on developing several of the CIs in fields. These included mechanics, heat and thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism, optics, quantum physics, electronics, nuclear physics, solid-state physics, and astrophysics, among others, by utilising a variety of methodologies (Evans et al., n.d). These CIs are alternative types of academic tests that mimic the conventional multiple-choice exams in structure, creation, and purpose; but they are fundamentally different from them. Hestenes et al. (1992) distinguished a CI from other traditional tests, by stating that anyone could complete it. It was not intended to evaluate competence levels in the knowledge domain being examined; and it does not measure learners' intellect, but instead it investigates their alternative conceptions. Hestenes et al. (1992) also stressed that CI should be written qualitatively, so that learners would understand, requiring little to no rote learning of any formulas, equations, or factual details contained in the itemconstructed course material.

In addition to the FCI, several CIs in various areas of physics have led to educational reforms in physics and other STEM fields. Learners' alternative conceptions are elicited by using the developed CIs. These CIs help teachers gain

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a better understanding of their students' beliefs and thought patterns. Educators also know their students' previous experiences. According to Savinainen and Scott (2002), CIs may positively influence by providing a clear profile of a student's knowledge, including both the content areas mastered and the areas of uncertainty. CIs help physics educators to better adjust their teaching approach to meet the needs of students, and to concentrate on those areas where the grades are the lowest (Savinainen & Scott, 2002). This can be done by understanding students' alternative conceptions. We aim to create a CMCI that will serve the explicit aims of physics educators by assessing students' conceptual understanding of circular motion and their level of concept mastery.

The CMCI would elicit learners' alternative conceptions and contribute to the body of research in developing CIs in the Ugandan educational context. The preceding sections present the scholarly writings and the initial steps, before the methodological procedure of the Delphi technique.

2. Scope of the Initial Scholarly Review – the Methodological Steps in Developing a CI For all physics teachers, understanding the steps and the procedures of creating a good CI can be a useful skill. Even though different inventory-creation methodologies exist (Lindell et al., 2007), several texts and articles on the development and the design of conceptual tests focus on producing classroom evaluations and educationally applicable instruments on a large scale. We are creating a CMCI that would be educationally valid in the Ugandan physics educational context, and for other countries that adhere to a similar context in this research. Due to the differences in syllabus definitions and terminologies across various educational environments, it must have been developed for widescale use, rather than being merely validated. We are well aware of the inventory-creation methodological procedures that encapsulate the systematic steps (Singh, 2011; Mashood, 2014) of creating a reasonable inventory of the concepts. These include designing, administration, evaluation (item analysis), and dissemination of the items to be produced in education, to the degree of acceptable usage.

Furthermore, the suggested methodological stages include a feed-back loop from the analysis to the creation phase, which assists educators in involving students in a student-centred pedagogical way, by asking questions, redesigning and developing items and distractors, in addition to revision.

The study uses a Delphi technique to create the CMCI in the initial stage, a concept area (designing concept items in the identified domain). Lindell et al.

(2007) promote the concept by stating that different researchers use different methodologies to construct CIs. They strongly urge developers to take all the steps in the design process, and to publish their procedures, so that the public can decide on the most appropriate use of the methods.

As researchers (Treagust, 1988), we have a starting point for resolving proven misconceptions, and a screening test with multiple choices, which appears to provide a relatively straightforward process. The Delphi technique and its subsequent application in the development of diagnostic tests to interpret and

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identify students’ conceptions in areas of limited scientific expertise have been established by the researchers; and these will be discussed later. The use of specially developed multiple-choice tests (CIs) that analyse learners' conceptual comprehension on a small range of topics has significantly improved physics teaching (Hestenes et al., 1992; Thornton & Sokoloff, 1998). As a result, the Delphi method gathers conceptual items that correspond to the Ugandan Advanced Certificate of Educational (UACE) physics teaching syllabi outlined.

The inventory design is predicted within the physics teaching syllabi for circular-motion concepts, described as one of the physics concepts, with which students struggle (Canlas, 2015).

Applying the Delphi technique entails measures, such as recognising the CIs developed, validated, and consistently used. The Delphi technique elicits opinions from experts, in order to achieve a group response (Okoli & Pawlowski, 2004). The Delphi method substitutes confrontation and discussion with a carefully organised, sequential series of individual interrogations, similar to questionnaires.

In the Delphi method, we chose the Rotational Kinematics Inventory (RKI) (Mashood, 2014) and the Rotational and Rolling-Motion Conceptual (RRMC) Test (Rimoldini & Singh, 2005) as questionnaires. As a rationale for their selection, the domain concepts of the two CIs are closely examined, and it was discovered that they differ slightly in content definitions from the Ugandan physics circular-motion concepts taught (National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC), 2013). In the following paragraph, the RKI and the RRMC are thoroughly examined.

The RKI consists of thirty-nine carefully formulated multiple-choice questions designed to probe students’ challenges, misconceptions, or alternate conceptions and to elicit their ill-suited thinking habits in studying physics (Mashood, 2014).

Theoretical studies, iterative empirical and analytical investigations, and methodologies, such as the think-aloud protocol, retrospective probing, and semi-structured interviews were all explored in detail, during the construction process.

The inventory has three domains: i) the rotational kinematics of a particle (having nineteen items probing the magnitude of angular velocity, the direction of angular velocity, the magnitude of angular acceleration, and the change in angular velocity, as the particle moves), ii) the rotational kinematics of a particle in rectilinear motion (with seven items investigating the aspects of angular →

→

→

velocity, angular acceleration, equation validity v =  r , linear velocity components, the relation between angular acceleration and centripetal acceleration, and the relation between angular acceleration and tangential acceleration) (Mashood & Singh, 2012a, 2012b), iii) the rotational kinematics of a rigid body revolving around a fixed axis (thirteen items created to test torque, moment of inertia, rotational energy, and rolling-motion concepts) (Mashood & Singh, 2013).

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Rimoldini and Singh (2005) created a 30-itemized CI, in order to examine students' comprehension of rotational and the rolling-motion concepts in physics and to evaluate the efficacy of instructional methods to enhance students' understanding. Like the RKI, the RRMC established a set of core methodological principles that encapsulate the development of a CI. The inventory contains eight concepts that are explored in the rotational and rollingmotion concepts. Among the 30 concept items in this inventory, there are: i) moment of inertia (4 items), ii) rotational kinetic energy (4 items), iii) angular speed/velocity (4 items), angular acceleration (5 items), torque (11 items), rolling/relative motion (4 items), rolling/role of friction and other parameters (4 items), and a sliding/tumbling cube on an inclined plane (2 items) (Rimoldini & Singh, 2005).

Since interviews are time-consuming; but they offer an excellent means of probing students' reasoning and their depth of comprehension, only a subset of the students was tested by using this approach. Rimoldini and Singh, on the other hand, claim that well-designed MCQ tests provided to a large number of students, combined with in-depth interviews with a subset of those students, were successful in understanding students’ difficulties. The following paragraph describes the circular-motion concepts prescribed within the UACE physics curriculum.

We are interested in the UACE physics curriculum, offered as a specialised subject in the higher secondary education cycle (NCDC, 2013). The NCDC is a corporate autonomous statutory body under the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoE & S) responsible for developing educational curricula for Uganda's primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions. Table 1 shows an extract from the circular-motion concepts produced by Uganda's NCDC for advanced secondary physics students in 2013.

Table 1: Extract of Physics Teaching outline for Circular motion concepts #

Circular-Motion Concepts

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Angular velocity.

Expression for angular velocity.

Acceleration and force in a circular motion.

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The expression a

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v2 =  2r . r

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The motion of a bicycle rider, car round a circular track.

Forces in a circular track

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Conditions for skidding.

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Banked tracks and their advantages

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Specific Objectives intended of the Concepts

Define angular velocity.

Derive the expression v = r .

Define centripetal and centrifugal forces.

Derive the expression, a

=

v2 =  2r r

Explain the equilibrium of forces in a circular motion.

Identify the forces acting on a car moving around a circular track.

Explain the conditions for skidding by a car, or a cyclist, moving around a circular track.

Identify the forces acting on a car moving on a banked track and explain the

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(with or without friction).

advantages of banking a track for racing cars.

9

The canonical pendulum.

v2 Derive the expression tan = for a rg

10

Applications of circular motion.

11

The motion of rigid bodies (simple treatment) Moment of inertia Rotational Kinetic energy and distinction between rotational kinetic energy and translational energy

12 13

conical pendulum.

Describe some other applications of circular motion.

Explain the motion of simple rigid bodies moving in a circle.

Define the moment of inertia.

Derive the expression for the rotational kinetic energy of a rigid body about an axis; and distinguish between rotational kinetic energy and translational kinetic energy.

Source: NCDC (2013)

The content of Table 1 is extracted as a guide for comparison with previously established CIs in physics education research. The material offers a more comprehensive guide for physics educators, acting as a foundation for soliciting circular-motion concept items from current Cis, while ensuring objectivity in this scientific investigation. The following section discusses the Delphi technique's methodological approach to this study.

3. The Delphi Technique as a Method for CI Construction The Delphi technique’s phases stipulating its justification for usage, the Delphi questionnaire developed for use by experts; and the criteria by which experts are selected, are included in this paper's methodological approach.

Selection of the Delphi Technique

Since its inception, the Delphi technique has seen a variety of extensions; and it is now used by a diverse range of disciplines (Hasson et al., 2000; Massaroli et al., 2017; Okoli & Pawlowski, 2004; Schmalz et al., 2021). Its use in scientific research to define distinct methodological perspectives has been tremendously valuable to science research, particularly physics educational research (PER). In this context, we could follow the procedures for creating a CI, including reviewing the important content by physics experts, interviewing students, and conducting a free-response questionnaire, similar to those discussed by Mashood (2014) and Rimoldini and Singh (2005).

The results are used to create the first draft, given to a small group of students, as a test. The data from the pilot study are then analysed to determine the initial inventory's validity and reliability. It is from this point that the report is usually revised, in order to produce a final draft for use. We judged the Delphi methodology to be a good fit for the Delphi method's design, implementation, and analysis. It is easy to use, it shortens the process of CI construction, and it does not require advanced mathematical skills (Yousuf, 2007). When the Delphi technique is used as a group response, a consensus is reached with one

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representative opinion from the physics experts, in order to collect the circularmotion concept items. The questionnaires used in the Delphi technique are presented in the following section.

The Delphi-Technique Questionnaire for Study

Based on a study of the literature, the RKI (Mashood, 2014) and RRMC (Rimoldini & Singh, 2005) feature material that is close to the NCDC's physics teaching syllabus outline for circular-motion concepts in Uganda (2013). We turned the RKI and RRMC into research questionnaires, with their collective concept items. We sent them to experts, who were asked to rate or evaluate each concept item of the chosen inventory by using the criterion of relevance specified by assigning a degree of relevance for adoption. For both inventories, the degree of relevance is determined by using a 4-point Likert scale.

Degree of relevance Interpretation 1= the item adopted is not relevant to the measured concept 2= the item adopted is somewhat relevant to the measured concept 3= the item adopted is quite relevant to the measured concept 4= the item adopted is highly relevant to the measured concept

Within the questionnaires, instructions were included to classify those circularmotion concept items that should be adopted. The participants accomplished this by assigning to each item a degree of relevance. Their evaluation is based on the concept items included within the circular-motion concepts of the advanced physics curriculum's teaching syllabus, with as much objectivity and constructiveness as possible. We focused on the eligibility requirements for physics educators; because this is an essential phase in the process. It directly affects the quality of the results obtained (Hsu & Sandford, 2007).

Criteria of Selection of the Experts

We, as principal investigators in this research study, identified physics educators from the faculty of education, the physics department at the Islamic University in Uganda, and the Kampala International University, as the principal investigators in this research study. Via a "nomination" process, we asked the Delphi study's principal investigators to review, pick, and identify the eligible practising physics educators that are knowledgeable and competent in the physics subject paper. We employed a nomination technique, based on the knowledge-resource nomination worksheet to find the Delphi experts (Chedi, 2017).

We were given physics educators' emails and phone numbers after they were nominated, in order to contact them and meet with them, explaining the Delphi process and requesting them to participate. We made an effort to keep the participants anonymous during the meeting with the nominated physics educators; we avoided dominance influence, thereby allowing for a fast and regulated feedback process.

During the nomination process, we decided that 11 physics educators, who we considered to be experts in this Delphi process, would be an adequate number of

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experts to participate in the study (Chedi, 2017). The 11 physics experts met the qualifications prescribed in the knowledge-resource nomination worksheet, including i) having knowledge and experience in teaching physics papers, one at UACE for a minimum of 10 years, where circular motion is a sub-topic in that portion of the subject paper; ii) being a physics examiner at the Uganda National Examination Board; iii) having the ability and desire to participate; iv) being ready to devote enough time to the Delphi process; and, v) having strong communication skills (Adler & Ziglio, 1996). Having met the selection criteria, we agreed that the nominated experts should have a deep understanding of mechanics, despite their busy schedules of teaching, testing, marking, and scouting at the national level. The following section analyses the Delphi technique's findings in phases.

4. Analysis of the Delphi-Technique Findings Expert responses were analysed quantitatively, whereas the students’ responses were taken to be qualitative. The findings were examined in three phases. The results of the first round of the Delphi technique were analysed in phase one, while the findings of the second round of the Delphi approach were analysed by using the descriptive statistics in phase two. Interviews with the students were done in the third phase, in order to design distractors for the items constructed.

Finally, the third round was utilised to create the missing sub-concepts that were not present in the inventories used to develop the expert questionnaire.

Phase I of the Delphi Technique towards the construction of CMCI. Each expert got two questionnaires (RKI & RRMC) in round one of the Delphi processes. They were asked to rate each item by using the relevant criteria, based on the instructions provided. Only 11 of the 11 experts who committed to take part in the study followed through on their promises. We used the IBM SPSS Statistics Version 21 to code all of the responses and to examine the average scores, in order to find those items that warranted more than the average score, as determined by the experts (Table 2).

Table 2: Descriptive Statistics of the Phase I Evaluation of RKI & RRMC items.

Questionnaire Items of RKI RKI01 RKI02 RKI03 RKI04 RKI05 RKI06 RKI07 RKI08 RKI09 RKI10 RKI11 RKI12 RKI13 RKI14 RKI15 RKI16

N 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11

Mean 2.8182 2.0000 2.7273 3.6364 2.5455 2.6364 3.8182 3.9091 3.3636 3.6364 3.6364 3.8182 3.7273 3.6364 3.7273 3.6364

Std. Deviation 0.98165 1.18322 0.90453 0.50452 1.12815 1.12006 0.40452 0.30151 0.92442 0.67420 0.50452 0.40452 0.46710 0.50452 0.64667 0.50452

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Questionnaire Items of RRMC RRMC01 RRMC02 RRMC03 RRMC04 RRMC05 RRMC06 RRMC07 RRMC08 RRMC09 RRMC10 RRMC11 RRMC12 RRMC13 RRMC14 RRMC15 RRMC16

N

Mean

11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11

3.5455 2.5455 3.4545 3.0909 2.7273 2.9091 2.7273 2.8182 1.8182 2.1818 2.0000 2.0909 2.4545 2.0909 2.0909 2.7273

Std. Deviation 0.68755 1.21356 0.68755 0.83121 1.00905 1.37510 1.42063 1.32802 1.07872 0.87386 1.09545 1.13618 1.12815 1.13618 1.13618 1.27208

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RKI17 RKI18 RKI19 RKI20 RKI21 RKI22 RKI23 RKI24 RKI25 RKI26 RKI27 RKI28 RKI29 RKI30 RKI31 RKI32 RKI33 RKI34 RKI35 RKI36 RKI37 RKI38 RKI39

11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11

3.8182 3.4545 1.2727 1.0909 1.2727 1.3636 1.3636 1.3636 1.4545 3.7273 3.0909 2.9091 3.0909 3.3636 3.4545 3.4545 3.3636 3.1818 3.6364 3.4545 2.8182 3.5455 3.1818

0.40452 0.93420 0.64667 0.30151 0.64667 0.50452 0.50452 0.50452 0.68755 0.64667 1.04447 1.04447 1.04447 0.80904 0.82020 0.82020 0.67420 0.87386 0.67420 0.68755 0.87386 0.68755 0.87386

RRMC17 RRMC18 RRMC19 RRMC20 RRMC21 RRMC22 RRMC23 RRMC24 RRMC25 RRMC26 RRMC27 RRMC28 RRMC29 RRMC30

11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11

2.1818 1.8182 2.0000 2.6364 2.6364 2.5455 2.1818 2.4545 2.3636 2.4545 2.4545 2.4545 3.0000 2.5455

1.25045 0.98165 1.09545 1.12006 1.20605 1.29334 1.32802 1.12815 1.20605 1.03573 1.21356 1.21356 1.26491 1.12815

We used a descriptive statistical range interval for the 4–point Likert scale (Taherdoost, 2019) to select items that did not merit, based on the replies from 11 participants for phase 1 in Table 2. The Likert scale was chosen, because it is simple to create and to produce a highly reliable scale; and it is straightforward for participants to read and to complete. As shown below, we used a Taherdoost Likert scale to compute and evaluate the experts' assessment of the degree of relevance of the items in circular-motion concepts from the questionnaires.

Interval 1.00 – 1.75 1.76 – 2.50 2.51 – 3.25 3.26 – 4.00

Interpretation Not Relevant Somewhat Relevant Quite Relevant Highly Relevant

There are 39 concept items in the first questionnaire that contain RKI concept items. Table 2 shows that the questions numbered RKI02, RKI19, RKI20, RKI21, RKI22, RKI23, RKI24, and RKI25 had average scores below 2.51. The questions in the RKI questionnaire that did not have scores above the recommended average for adoption in the CMCI are in a sub-domain describing a particle travelling in a straight line (i.e. RKI19, RKI20, RKI21, RKI22, RKI23, RKI24, and RKI25).

Thirty-one of the RKI's 39 questionnaire items had average scores, with a fairly relevant interpretation; therefore, they are evaluated, in order to be adopted.

Secondly, the RRMC research questionnaire, consisting of 30 questions, was examined. RRMC09, RRMC10, RRMC11, RRMC12, RRMC13, RRMC14, RRMC15, RRMC17, RRMC18, RRMC19, RRMC23, RRMC24, RRMC25, RRMC26, RRMC27, and RRMC28 are the RRMC questionnaire items that did not score beyond the average score to be adopted in the CMCI (Table 2). The CMCI

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includes the RRMC's remaining fourteen questionnaire items, with an average score greater than 2.51. A combination of 31 items from the RKI questionnaire and 14 items from the RRMC questionnaire have been used to create the CMCI 45 items. In the second phase, the 45 items in the questionnaire were to be evaluated.

Some of Uganda's NCDC's circular-motion concepts for UACE physics students in 2013 did not appear in the two Delphi questionnaires used. The motion of a bicycle rider, a car around a circular track, forces in a circular track, and conditions for skidding, as well as banked tracks and their advantages, are the circular-motion concepts of concern (with or without friction). The experts are concerned about the questionnaire items’ coverage from the two questionnaires during phase I of the Delphi process. This fear is well-founded, and wellobserved. Because it requires a procedural and a methodological approach, we addressed this concern in the third phase of the Delphi process.

At an early-item production stage (Pre-Delphi generative phase for phase III), we asked the experts to create fifteen multiple-choice questions for the subdomain, and to draft the CI items sent to the Delphi participants for review and revision, as needed. Because no multiple-choice survey on those circular-motion concepts has been established, we developed concept items in this procedural manner. The following section examines the outcomes of the phase I's review.

Phase II of the Delphi Technique towards the Construction of CMCI

Each Delphi participant received a second questionnaire in the second phase, which asked them to rate the relevance of the questions, based on the information supplied in the first phase. We used a controlled mechanism of communication for experts to get feedback on their thoughts, as expressed in phase I (Massaroli et al., 2017). They were asked to revise their opinions and to respond to the ideas expressed by other experts. This enabled a consensus to be achieved about those circular concepts that were to be tested at the end of the phase rounds.

The second phase is an iterative procedure that collects and distils the experts’ opinions from phase I. The second phase includes a follow-up questionnaire, based on the results of the first-phase surveys. We're no longer talking about a questionnaire, as an iterative instrument, but rather a CMCI Zeroth draft. The iterations of the zero draft CMCI could end, when the experts have reached a consensus on the circular-motion items acquired, and when theoretical saturation has been attained (Skulmoski et al., 2007). The replies were coded again in IBM SPSS Statistics Version 21, in order to analyse the average scores and to identify those items that warranted a higher score than the average (Table 3).

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Table 3: Descriptive Statistics of the Phase II Evaluation of the Zeroth draft of CMCI Items of Zeroth CMCI

N

Mean

Std. Deviation

Items of Zeroth CMCI

N

Mean

Std. Deviation

CMCI01 CMCI02 CMCI03 CMCI04 CMCI05 CMCI06 CMCI07 CMCI08 CMCI09 CMCI10 CMCI11 CMCI12 CMCI13 CMCI14 CMCI15 CMCI16 CMCI17 CMCI18 CMCI19 CMCI20 CMCI21 CMCI22 CMCI23

11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11

3.3636 2.5455 3.4545 4.0000 3.4545 3.7273 3.9091 4.0000 3.9091 3.7273 3.6364 3.6364 3.6364 3.2727 3.5455 3.7273 3.8182 3.6364 3.6364 2.7273 2.7273 3.1818 3.6364

0.67420 1.21356 0.68755 0.00000 0.68755 0.46710 0.30151 0.00000 0.30151 0.46710 0.50452 0.67420 0.50452 1.00905 0.52223 0.46710 0.40452 0.50452 0.50452 1.10371 1.10371 0.87386 0.50452

CMCI24 CMCI25 CMCI26 CMCI27 CMCI28 CMCI29 CMCI30 CMCI31 CMCI32 CMCI33 CMCI34 CMCI35 CMCI36 CMCI37 CMCI38 CMCI39 CMCI40 CMCI41 CMCI42 CMCI43 CMCI44 CMCI45

11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11

3.4545 3.0909 3.3636 2.5455 3.5455 3.0909 2.8182 2.4545 2.5455 3.0000 3.0000 3.2727 2.9091 3.0000 3.0909 3.0000 2.8182 3.2727 2.9091 3.1818 3.3636 3.0000

0.82020 0.83121 0.80904 1.36848 0.93420 0.94388 1.16775 1.29334 1.12815 1.09545 1.09545 1.27208 0.94388 1.09545 1.04447 1.09545 1.16775 1.10371 1.04447 0.98165 1.02691 1.00000

We computed the descriptive statistics of the average scores and of the standard deviation for each zeroth CMCI item, based on the replies from 11 experts for phase II, as shown in Table 3. Except for one item, the average scores for all the Zeroth CMCI items were stabilised by phase II. In the previous literature on the optimal number of rounds (stages) in Delphi investigations, the researchers tended to settle on a varying number of rounds, based on their intended level of consensus (Chedi, 2017).

Some researchers feel that this should be done until an agreement is reached; while others say it should be done in two to nine rounds, with three being the most common. We agreed that only CMCI31 had a mean of less than 2.51 out of the 45 Zeroth CMCI items to be discarded, resulting in 44 CMCI items being retained. The number of iterations in the iterative process varies, depending on the exercise's nature, purpose and group. Homogeneous groups always use two iterations to achieve the more accurate and consistent Delphi results (Hasson et al., 2000). Nonetheless, we agreed on the two iterations in this context, with the reasoning of taking into account the participants’ weariness, the nature of the study, the attrition rates, the time, and the expense of going from one expert to another.

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The experts' findings on the development of the missing CIs are discussed in the next section.

5. Phase III of the Development Strategy towards the Construction of CMCI – Construction of Missing-Concept Items.

Round 0

Instead of creating items from scratch, from an inventory identified as lacking, we decided to streamline the process. We tasked the experts to develop a list of three multiple-choice questions (MCQ) on each circular-motion concept, which students usually misunderstand, as mentioned in the pre-Delphi generative phase for this phase III. Creating functional "distractors" for multiple-choice answers in terms of their expertise in the teaching service, is critical in designing good CIs. The 15 MCQs were created by using the following concepts: bicycle rider motion, a car around a circular track, forces in a circular track, conditions for skidding, and banked tracks and their advantages (with or without friction).

Each of the 11 experts that took part in the Delphi procedure, provided 15 multiple-choice questions. The developed MCQs were received and compiled into a master list of 17 concept items unique in their structural construction. At the same time, similar, confusing or deceptive, and inappropriate items for future inventory, were discarded. The goal of revising the number of created concept items was to eliminate any repetitions and make the document more legible, precise, and comprehensive.

After establishing the initial concept questions, we amended the list to improve the question-to-concept mapping. A master list of 17 concept items was compiled; the concept items were readability-rated, before being used as the foundation for the next phase.

The Readability Evaluation

Because of the widespread usage of grade-level readability assessment (Calderón et al., 2006) in school textbooks, we employed readability evaluation, as one of the strategies utilised to assess the students' readability for reading and comprehension. We examined the sub-domain content, the structure, the writing style, the layout, and the design, while evaluating the MCQs generated. One of the characteristics supporting the reading was measured by using the FleshReading Ease Formula (FRE), which is extensively used to analyse survey readability integrated into Microsoft Word for computer-Windows programs.

The number of words per sentence in a text impacts the difficulty level, when the readability rating is computed by using a computerised formula.

The average word length and the sentence length are the best determinants of a text's readability and appropriateness (Meade & Smith, 1991). The 17 MCQs prepared in Microsoft Word for Windows were completed, and the readability statistics report of 64 per cent was disclosed by using the FRE formula. The MCQs are judged as standard and easy-to-read and understand, with 64%.

Calderón et al. (2006) concurred that a score of 60 to 70 would be adequate for determining the readability of an item (instrument) when using the FRE method.

After rating, the 17 MCQs were discussed in round 1.

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Round 1

The 17 synthesised concept items were put into a questionnaire structure and sent to each expert in round 0, using the Delphi process guidelines to score each concept, based on how crucial it is for a learner to understand the concept. For each MCQ, we used a scale based on Taherdoost's (2019) Likert scale, in order to assess the experts' perceptions of which concepts were not essential to know, and which are crucial to understand. Eleven of our expert participants ranked these 17 MCQs. The mean scores and the standard deviations derived for each MCQ from the synthesised 17 concept items in round 0, were computed and analysed by using the IBM SPSS statistics version 21.

Furthermore, the goal of this round was for experts to reach fundamental agreement on the concepts in the created MCQs. Numerous MCQs were made, but experts had to agree on the MCQs developed repeatedly and deemed relevant to have a credible instrument. The MCQs concern bicycle-rider motion, a car rounding a circular track, the forces acting on such a car, and their application. When verified in the physics education community, these are intended to be comprehensive enough to allow for long-term usage of the CI items.

Table 4: Descriptive Statistics of Phase III synthesised Concept Items Circular Motion Concepts

The motion of a bicycle rider, car round a circular track (with or without friction)

Forces acting on a car on a banked track

Application of circular motion

Synthesised Items MCQ101 MCQ102 MCQ103 MCQ104 MCQ105 MCQ106 MCQ107 MCQ208 MCQ209 MCQ210 MCQ211 MCQ212 MCQ313 MCQ314 MCQ315 MCQ316 MCQ317

Mean 3.8543 2.3925 2.9251 2.5621 1.3636 1.3872 3.2353 1.6127 1.1641 2.5281 3.4057 2.5352 1.2745 1.7449 2.6044 1.2754 1.0556

Std. Deviation 0.64742 1.22134 0.91646 1.03351 0.32195 0.42156 1.11321 1.10213 0.00221 1.31413 0.00216 1.01435 1.45895 0.57442 0.76765 0.88533 0.34716

Table 4 shows the mean scores of the 17 synthesised concept items. Eight MCQs had a mean score higher than the standard of 2.51. MCQ101, MCQ103, MCQ104, MCQ107, MCQ210, MCQ211, MCQ212, and MCQ315 were the questions (Appendix 1). Discarded MCQ items were those with mean scores less than or equal to the necessary norm. In the second round, we agreed to interview students by using the eight MCQ items. Because any distractors may need to be updated, in order to reflect the changing students’ perceptions; and the following round's interview sessions were regarded as being significant.

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Round 2

Delphi experts, who are physics educators with extensive experience of teaching physics in advanced secondary schools, were tasked with creating MCQ items.

For each MCQ item, a total of four options were developed. One is a correct response, while the other three are distractors, based exclusively on experts’ opinions. However, the distractors in the MCQ items are also found in students' alternative thinking. Furthermore, one of the FCI's strong characteristics is that the MCQ distractors are based on typical students' alternative briefs (Hestenes et al., 1992).

This logic enabled us to conduct interviews in five secondary schools, with students offering physics at the UACE. Unfortunately, this is a challenging endeavour because most physics educators, including the authors of this study, have little understanding of what happens in students' thoughts when they engage with circular-motion concepts. As a result, in addition to the proposed methodological steps, this one is critical, as it entails a process of developing open-ended question items from the 8 MCQs, which we used to interview the students in small groups of two, in each of those schools (Ding et al., 2006; Mashood, 2014; Mashood & Singh, 2013, Rimoldini & Singh, 2005).

We better understood the students' cognitive processes, due to our interactions with them, which helped us to create effective distractors. We invited the students to think aloud, as they responded to the questions included in the interview-response section ahead.

6. Interview Responses to Free-Response Items by Students As indicated in Round I, we decided to interview the students by using the 8 MCQ items in this round. The concept items that arose were the motion of a bicycle rider, a car travelling around a circular track (with or without friction), the forces acting on a car on a banked track, and the application of circular motion (Table 4).

The interview questions are phrased in such a way that they examine the students' alternative conceptions. Like the concepts in Table 4, we interviewed students. Firstly, i) a car negotiating a curve, ii) a small car and a large truck travelling around the icy banked curved road at the same velocity, iii) when a car is driven around a horizontal curve too fast, and the car starts skidding, iv) incidents encountered for the car to overturn, when driven on a horizontal circular track.

Secondly, i) a force causes a vehicle to follow the radial direction, while driving on a banked circular track; ii) a force that causes a car to follow the circular path while driving on a flat, curved road, and identifying which direction depicts the net force acting on the car rounding a very steep hill at a low speed. Thirdly, i) students' conceptions about an inelastic string attached to a stone rotating in a horizontal plane of increasing velocity breaks. To enable us to update and develop successful distractors, we reviewed all of the students' interview responses and explanations. In the preceding section, only one of the five student groups examined was provided, as a sample of their responses.

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Interview Responses of the Students 1) Interviewer: when the car negotiates a curve, the vehicle’s passengers are thrown outwards, but the cyclist bends inwards, while negotiating the same curve. Explain why this always happens?

Group 1 of Students: …………… [looking at each other] ……[one of them responds]…… since the car has four tires, so when it is negotiating a curve, the reaction will be concentrated onto one side of the vehicle, consequently throwing the passengers onto the other side. But ………… [Pausing and thinking] ………… for the cycle … it has two wheels, so the cyclist has to bend to reduce the reaction force. ……… [Colleague supplements] …. The car is heavier because it has people in it; and when reaching the curve, the driver always reduces the speed.

Interviewer: which reactionary force is it that you are talking about?

Group 1 of Student: …… It is the frictional force.

2)

Interviewer: A small car and a large truck travel around the icy banked curved road at the same velocity without slipping. The small car with a mass, m, negotiates the curve. What will happen to a big truck with a load of tons, if it also negotiates the same road?

Group 1 of Students: ……. The big truck tends to slide down towards the inside of the curve.

Interviewer: why does it happen that way?

Group 1 of students: ……… [Asks the colleague if he can explain] ……… because of centripetal force.

3)

Interviewer: When a car is driven around a horizontal curve too fast, and the car starts skidding. Which incidents explain such a scenario?

Group 1 of Students: ………… When the car is moving, the vehicle becomes too light; therefore, it has to skid.

Interviewer: Asked the colleague do you agree with the answer given?

Group 1 of students; ……. No………

Interviewer; why a no?

Group 1 of students: ………… [Pauses a little thinking]…….. for me, I think ….. that when the car is moving, the engine is moving in a straight line, therefore it is not turning as the vehicle is turning.

4)

Interviewer: On a horizontal circular track while driving a vehicle (the interviewer pictures a car moving on a horizontal curved road).

What incidents are encountered to make it possible for the vehicle to overturn?

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Group 1 of Students: ……….. [The students observe the picture, as they discuss] ………. [One of them speaks] …. We think there is a high friction on the ground; and this causes the wheels to oppose the frictional force.

Interviewer: I did not understand you when you said that the wheels oppose the frictional force? Could you please add more insight?

Group 1 of students: ………… [Pauses a little, while thinking] ………….. I was saying ….. when the car is turning, the frictional force is high because of the brakes being applied, which reduces the reaction on the ground, hence causing the car to be thrown outwards.

5)

Interviewer: Consider a car being driven on a banked circular track.

Which force causes the vehicle to follow the radial direction at the constant speed of the banking angle, as it travels through a banked-circular curve and why?

Group 1 of Student: ……………. Because while moving in a circular curve, centripetal force is applied to the body; and when the weight is also light, the body will continue moving due to acceleration and due to gravity.

Interviewer: You talked about a body; which body are you referring to?

Group 1 of the students: I meant the body of a car. ……………. [The other student added]…….. Since the vehicle is moving at a constant speed, it will continue moving in the same direction.

Interviewer: Which direction is the vehicle moving in?

Group 1 of the student: ………….. the direction of motion

6)

Interviewer: Consider a car driven on a horizontal curved road, going around a circular curve at a constant speed (the interviewer had a picture of a vehicle moving on a flat, curved highway). What force causes it to follow the circular path and why?

Group 1 of Students: ……. It is the acceleration due to gravity and the weight of the car.

Interviewer: Why those forces?

Group 1 of students: ………. [Pauses and thinks] …… because the acceleration due to gravity will pull it towards the road.

7)

Interviewer: A car rounds a very steep, sloping curve at a low speed. A front view of the car is shown (the illustration was on paper that the interviewer showed the students). Which direction depicts the net force acting on the car for the situation shown in the figure, and why?

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Group 1 of students: ….. (Discuss between themselves for a response) …………….. They agreed together that the net force is in the D direction.

Interviewer: Why would you think it is in the D direction?

Group 1 of students: …. (One of them responds) ………….. Because when a car is moving in a circular curve, the point of view is seen correctly on the opposite side.

8)

Interviewer: One end of an inelastic string is attached to a stone. The string is rotated in a horizontal plane of increasing velocity, retaining the other end (the interviewer demonstrated a string whirled in a horizontal circle with a stone attached). Why does this break at any speed?

Group 1 of Students: The students observed the demonstration ……………… (Pauses and thinks) …….the elasticity keeps increasing until at a certain point it breaks.

One looks at the other gesturing if the answer was given right …..

[Colleague smiles supplements saying] …….. because even if the person holding the string ……… the string will keep moving and this increases the tensional force due to the weight of the stone being high, thus causing the string to break.

These two-student interview sessions aimed to update the expert opinions on the distractors for the MCQ items, and to develop effective functioning distractors. Based on their historical and current understandings of the existing phenomena gathered from their spontaneous responses to the interviews, this methodology uncovered the prevalent students’ misconceptions that constitute the distractors. The three distractors for each question are derived from the misconceptions identified during the interview sessions. The distractors have been defined as the incorrect replies that commonly appeared as responses to the interview questions used to probe the students.

As a result, the most common erroneous responses across the five groups create distractors for each MCQ item.

7. Conclusion Physics experts agreed to adopt 31 CI items for the RKI and 14 CI items for the RRMC using the Delphi technique. The motion of a bicycle rider, a car around a circular track, the forces acting on a vehicle on a banked track, and the application of circular motion are among the 8 CI items of circular motion

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concepts developed by employing the methodological principles of CI development. In Ugandan education, we now foresee roughly 53 concept items addressing the circular motion concepts in total. These 53 concept items will serve as a pool for us; and we shall be selecting from them. We intend to have three concept items on average’s and to develop an inventory that the students can reply to in 1 hour.

If the students request extra time, the time restriction will not be strictly enforced. A 53-item test will be administered to as many students as possible from various secondary schools, with the results subjected to psychometric analysis. As a result, the pilot’s research findings and the psychometric indices analysis of the concept items will be used to evaluate the final items included in the final CMCI. After achieving the pilot goal, many physics educators will use the CMCI in their own instructional and research undertakings. The content scope of the study is confined to two CIs and to the Ugandan educational setting.

As a result, this study is a modest start towards constructing a Ugandan contextspecific inventory to identify the learners' circular motion alternative conceptions, in order to assess the teachers' pedagogical practices, and measure the learners' shift in conception.

Acknowledgement: "The African Centre of Excellence for Innovative Teaching and Learning Mathematics and Science (ACEITLMS) financial assistance is gratefully acknowledged".

8. References Adler, M., & Ziglio, E. (Eds.), (1996). Gazing into the oracle: The Delphi method and its application to social policy and public health (pp. 3-33). London: Kingsley. https://lib.ugent.be/catalog/rug01:000376334.

Calderón, J. L., Morales, L. S., Liu, H., & Hays, R. D. (2006). Variation in the Readability of Items Within Surveys. American journal of medical quality: 21, 49-56. https://doi.org/10.1177/1062860605283572 Canlas. I. P. (2015). The Use of Case Analysis in Teaching Circular Motion. International Journal of Education and Research. http://www.academia.edu/download/40973185/The_Use_of_Case_Analysis _in_Teaching_Circular_Motion.pdf Chedi, J. M. (2017). A Preliminary Review on Needs Analysis and Delphi Technique: Effective Tools for Data Collection. Journal of Asian Vocational Education and Training, 10, 44-52.

Ding, L., Chabay, R., Sherwood, B., & Beichner, R. (2006). Evaluating an electricity and magnetism assessment tool: Brief electricity and magnetism assessment. Phys.

Rev. ST Phys.

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Res., 2(1), 7. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.2.010105 Evans, D. L., Midkiff, C., Miller, R., Morgan, J., Krause, S., Martin, J., … Wage, K. (n.d.).

Tools for assessing conceptual understanding in the engineering sciences. 32nd Annual Frontiers in Education. https://doi.org/10.1109/fie.2002.1158151 Hasson, F., Keeney, S., & Mckenna, H. (2000). Research guidelines for the Delphi Survey Technique. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 32(4), 1008-1015. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2648.2000.t01-1-01567.x

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Hestenes, D., Wells, M., & Swackhammer, G. (1992). Force-concept inventory. The Physics Teacher, 30, 141-158. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.2343497 Hsu, C., & Sandford, B. A. (2007). The Delphi Technique: Making Sense of Consensus.

Practical Assessment Research & Evaluation, 12, Article 10. http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=12&n=10 Lindell, R. S., Peak, E., & Foster, T. M. (2007). Are they all created equal? A comparison of different concept-inventory development methodologies. AIP Conference Proceedings, 883, 14-17. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2508680 Mashood, K. K., (2014). Development and evaluation of a concept inventory in rotational kinematics [Doctoral dissertation]. Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. http://www.hbcse.tifr.res.in/research-development/ph.d.theses/thesis-mashoodkk.pdf Mashood, K. K., & Singh, V. A. (2012a). Variation in angular velocity and angular acceleration of a particle in rectilinear motion. European Journal of Physics, 33(3), 473-78. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ984285 Mashood, K. K., & Singh, V. A. (2012b). Rotational kinematics of a particle in rectilinear motion: Perceptions and pitfalls. American Journal of Physics, 80, 720-723. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.4721641.

Mashood, K. K., & Singh, V. A. (2013). Rotational kinematics of a rigid body about a fixed axis: Development and analysis of an inventory. European Journal of Physics, 36(4), 045020. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/01430807/36/4/045020/meta Massaroli, A., Martini, J. G., Lino, M. M., Spenassato, D., & Massaroli, R. (2018). Método Delphi Como Referencial Metodológico Para A Pesquisa Em Enfermagem.

Texto & Contexto - Enfermagem, 26(4). https://doi.org/10.1590/010407072017001110017 Meade, E, C. D., & Smith, C. F. (1991). Readability formulas: Cautions and criteria.

Patient Education and Counselling, 17, 153-158. https://doi.org/10.1016/07383991(91)90017-Y National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC), Uganda (2013). Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education, Teaching Syllabi for Physics. https://www.ncdc.go.ug/ Okoli, C., & Pawlowski, S. (2004). The Delphi method as a research tool: An example, design considerations, and applications. Information & Management, 42, 15-29. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2003.11.002 Rimoldini, L. G., & Singh, C. (2005). Students’ understanding of rotational and rolling motion concepts. Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research, 1(010102), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.1.010102 Savinainen, A., & Scott, P. (2002). Using the Force-Concept Inventory to monitor students’ learning and to plan to teach. Physics Education. 37, 53-58. http://doi.org/10.1088/0031-9120/37/1/307 Schmalz, U., Spinler, S. & Ringbeck, J. (2021). Lessons learned from a two-round Delphibased scenario study, MethodsX 8, 101179.

Singh, V. A. (2011). Sifting the Grain from the Chaff: The Concept Inventory as a Probe of Physics Understanding.

Physics News, 41(4), 20-31. http://www.hbcse.tifr.res.in/data/pdf/vijay-sigh-09-01-12.pdf Skulmoski, G. J, Hartman, F. T., & Krahn, J. (2007). The Delphi method for graduate research. Journal of Information Technology Education: Research, 6, 1–21. http://www.jite.org/documents/Vol6/JITEv6p001-021Skulmoski212.pdf Taherdoost, H. (2019). What Is the Best Response Scale for Survey and Questionnaire Design; Review of Different Lengths of Rating Scale / Attitude, Scale / Likert Scale, International Journal of Academic Research in Management, 8(1), 1-10. https://ssrn.com/abstract=3588604

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Treagust, D. F. (1988). Development and use of diagnostic tests to evaluate students’ misconceptions in science. International Journal of Science Education, 10(2), 159169. https://doi.org/10.1080/0950069880100204 Thornton, R., & Sokoloff, D. (1998). Assessing students’ learning of Newton's laws: The Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation and the Evaluation of Active Learning Laboratory and Lecture Curricula. American Journal of Physics, 66, 338-351. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.18863 Yousuf, M. I., (2007). Using Experts’ Opinions through Delphi Technique. Practical Assessment Research & Evaluation, 12(4). http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=12&n=4

Appendix 1: Constructed Concept Items MCQ101). The passengers are thrown outwards when the car negotiates a curve, but the cyclist bends inwards while negotiating the same turn. What happens, since (a) The car is heavier than the cycle, so the centripetal force pushing into the centre is absent from the process. (b) The cyclist counteracts the centrifugal force, which always throws out the passengers in the car. (c) While the car has four, the cycles have two wheels, so there is little friction. (d) The cyclist counteracts the centripetal force that pulls the passengers to the centre of the curve in the car.

MCQ103). A small car and a large truck travel around the icy banked curved road at the same velocity, v. without slipping, the small car with a mass, m, negotiates the curve. During the negotiation, what will happen to a big truck with a load of several tons? (a) (b) (c) (d)

Since the frictional force will be less on which to stand, the big truck cannot climb the icy banked curved path.

It tends to slide down towards the bottom of the icy banked curve road curve, as claimed.

Due to its weight, the big truck will have to topple.

Without sliding, the big truck will still negotiate the curve.

MCQ104).

When a car is driven around a horizontal curve too fast, and the car starts skidding, which of the following precisely explains such a scenario? (a) The engine of a car is not powerful enough to prevent the vehicle from being pushed out. (b) There is inadequate friction between tires and the road to keep the car in a curved direction. (c) To make the turn, the car is too heavy; since the car's weight exceeds what is required of it, the centripetal force is weaker than the car's force. (d) When the car moves, the engine is also moving in a straight line, thus not turning as the vehicle is turning.

MCQ107). On a horizontal circle track, while a vehicle is being driven, as shown in Figure A. 1, what incidents are encountered to make it possible for the car to overturn?

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Figure A: 1. A car on a horizontal circular track (a) (b) (c) (d)

The inner wheel that leaves the ground first will fall outside the base, thus the line of action of its weight.

The outer wheel that leaves the ground first will fall outside the base, thus the line of action of its weight.

The wheels both leave the ground concurrently, taking the tangent line to the circle.

Either the inner wheel or the outer wheel leaves the ground because of the high level of friction on the ground.

MCQ201). As seen in Figure A: 2, while a car is driven on a banked circular track, what force causes a vehicle to follow the radial direction at the constant speed of the banking angle, as it goes through a banked circular curve?

Figure A: 2. A car on a Banked track (a) (b) (c) (d)

If the banking angle is appropriate, the force of friction from the road would be used.

Since the car is moving, it feels the acceleration that would help it follow the circular track due to gravity and the weight of the vehicle.

A normal force that is perpendicular to the surface of the road.

No force allows the car to do this, when the car drives at a constant speed, and there is no acceleration in the circular banked direction; and thus, it can continue to operate.

MCQ211). When a car goes around a circular curve at a constant speed on a horizontal curved road, what force causes it to follow a circular path? (a) Due to the gravity and the weight of the car, the acceleration pulls the car towards the road.

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(b) (c) (d)

The force of friction between the tires and the road causes a circular path to be followed by the car.

The normal force from the road will keep the car following the circular path.

The force exerted by the engine allows the car to do this when the car drives at a constant speed, and there is no acceleration along the horizontal circular direction; and thus one can continue to drive.

MCQ212). A car rounds a very steep, sloping curve at a low speed. To the right, a front view of the car is shown in Fig A: 3. Which direction depicts the net force acting on the car for the situation shown in the figure?

Figure A: 3: A front view of a car on a banked Track

a) A

(b) B

(c) C

(d) D

MCQ315). One end of an inelastic string is attached to a stone. The string is rotated in a horizontal plane of increasing velocity, retaining the other end, as shown in Figure A. 4. At any speed, it breaks because:

Figure A. 4: A stone whirled in a horizontal plane attached to an inelastic string (a) (b) (c) (d)

The earth's gravitational force is stronger than the tension in the string.

The centripetal force provided is greater than the tension exerted by the string.

Less than the tension in the string is the requisite centripetal force.

The centripetal force is greater than the stone's weight.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 10, pp. 83-94, October 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.10.5 Received Jul 27, 2021; Revised Oct 15, 2021; Accepted Oct 21, 2021

The Significance of Self-directed Learning Readiness, Academic Self-efficacy, and Problemsolving Ability Among Filipino Nursing Students Johnny J. Yao Jr. Cebu Normal University, Cebu City, Philippines https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0566-7747 Abstract. A professional skill that permits nursing students to carry out nursing interventions in the workplace is the ability to solve health care problems. This is essential if they want to become professional nurses.

Educators have been attempting to establish effective instructional techniques to improve nursing students’ problem-solving abilities. This study examined the relationship between problem-solving ability, academic self-efficacy, and self-directed learning readiness (SDLR) among nursing students. This study utilized a descriptive correlational study and recruited 170 nursing students in a private higher education institution in the Philippines. Standardized questionnaires were distributed, and data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results show that there is a significant indirect association between problem-solving ability and SDLR (r = -0.525, p < 0.001).

Secondly, there is a significant direct association between SDLR and academic self-efficacy (r = 0.549, p < 0.001). Lastly, there is a significant indirect association between academic self-efficacy and problem-solving ability (r = -0.505, p < 0.001). The findings substantiate the assumptions of the study that academic self-efficacy, SDLR, and problem-solving ability of students have relationships with each other. Thus, students who are self-directed learners and are confident with their abilities of success in school tasks are able to solve complex problems or issues. Future research may be explored using longitudinal designs to be able to ascertain the causal link and directionality of the variables related to the present study.

Keywords: academic self-efficacy; health professions education; nursing education; problem-solving ability; self-directed learning

1. Introduction With the relatively recent implementation of the Outcomes-Based Education Framework in the Philippines, it is very important for schools and teachers to be

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able to produce graduates with the right competencies who can address the needs of society. For health professionals to be able to provide quality care, they must be able to solve relevant health care problems. This is clearly outlined in the Philippine Qualifications Framework (PQF) and one of the program outcomes for health professionals, according to the Commission on Higher Education (CHED, 2017) of the Philippines. This skill should be developed in health sciences schools so that students will be able to become competent professionals in the future (Higgs et al., 2008).

Among health professionals, nurses are a critical part of health care and make up the largest section of the health care profession. As part of their training to become professional nurses, nursing students are faced with various cases across their lifespan in different health care settings. By improving problem-solving abilities, nursing students can discover and solve patient problems using cognitive, affective, and behavioral processes (D’Zurilla et al., 2011; Karatas et al., 2017).

Nursing graduates are expected to “perform safe, appropriate, and holistic care to individuals, families, population groups, and community utilizing [the] nursing process” (Philippines. CHED, 2017). The nursing process is a problem-solving process specific to the nursing profession.

This is a very important competency to be developed. Because of the increasingly complicated health care system and technology developments in the health care environment, nurses encounter more crises and are confronted with a greater variety of difficulties. There have been observations that some nursing students have low to moderate problem-solving abilities (Altun, 2003; Durmaz et al., 2018).

A study has found that nursing students perceive themselves to have low problem-solving abilities (Altun, 2003). With a high workload and conflicting service and training demands, the clinical workplace is a fast-paced and dynamic learning environment (Irby & Bowen, 2004; Ramani & Leinster, 2008; White, 2007).

As a result, problem-solving abilities in nursing students must be improved in order to assist them to overcome the challenges they would face in clinical settings. Furthermore, this reality necessitates the development of new learning capabilities, such as self-directed learning (SDL) approaches, in order for students to enhance their problem-solving abilities (Walton & Elliott, 2006).

In order to improve problem-solving abilities and critical thinking, one must be able to modify the learning context. This is very important because outcomesbased education gives emphasis to student-centered learning as opposed to the traditional teaching methodologies. Traditional techniques are teacher-centered, giving learners little opportunity to investigate, discover, or solve complicated issues. Another traditional strategy is content-based learning, which makes students memorize the knowledge rather than analyze the true nature of the knowledge. This cannot improve higher order thinking skills such as problemsolving. Since educators want to develop higher order thinking skills such as problem-solving, SDL is an educational idea that has received a lot of attention in recent years, especially in the context of higher education. Adult learners value SDL methods, skills, and systems over assessments and subject coverage when it comes to learning (Brookfield, 1984). With or without the assistance of others,

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learners in SDL demonstrate significant initiative in assessing their own learning requirements, formulating objectives, evaluating learning resources, employing suitable learning techniques, and evaluating educational outcomes. Being able to develop self-directed lifelong learners is also one of the program outcomes common to all health professions. It is also emphasized in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, where the goal is for nursing students to “engage in lifelong learning with a passion to keep current with national and global developments in general, and nursing and health developments in particular” (Philippines. CHED, 2017). Aside from evaluating if students have become self-directed learners as an outcome, it is also important for teachers to be able to assess the readiness of the students for SDL methodologies at the outset. According to an earlier study, nursing students’ SDL readiness (SDLR) was strongly linked with their problemsolving ability, and enhancing students’ SDL preparation might assist problemsolving capacity (Choi et al., 2014; Zhang et al., 2018). As a result, SDLR and problem-solving abilities are interconnected.

Another consideration for learning is a student’s perception of his or her own capabilities of success in terms of academics or academic self-efficacy. The breadth or strength of one’s conviction in one’s own capacity to perform activities and achieve goals is known as self-efficacy (Ormrod, 2006). Self-efficacy is described

by Bandura (2004) as one’s belief in one’s capacity to succeed in certain conditions or complete a task. The way one handles objectives, tasks, and problems is influenced by one’s feeling of self-efficacy (Luszczynska & Schwarzer, 2005).

Learners who have a high level of self-efficacy are more motivated and perseverant. They put out more effort than people who have poor self-efficacy (Puzziferro, 2008). Self-efficacy has been shown to have a beneficial impact on a person’s problem-solving abilities (Zhang et al., 2018). Students will work harder and be more successful in solving problems when they have high beliefs of success in doing problem-solving activities or exercises. Self-efficacy predicts that students work harder on a learning task and understand the problem better when they have high self-efficacy.

In the Philippines, there are nursing schools that have been in existence for more than 50 years, with teachers who are used to the traditional way of teaching and learners who are not yet ready for SDL techniques (Baron, 2017). The purpose of this study is thus to examine the learning context, specifically the relationship between SDLR, problem-solving ability, and academic self-efficacy, in this specific setting. This could be instrumental in designing educational strategies and reforms to enhance students’ problem-solving abilities as well as SDLR.

2. Methodology 2.1. Study Design A descriptive correlational cross-sectional design was used to determine if there are associations among the study variables – problem-solving abilities, SDLR, and academic self-efficacy. Data were thus gathered at one point in time using this design.

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2.2. Study Setting and Population The study was conducted in a private higher education institution in Cebu City, Philippines which offers the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. The chosen institution has been offering the nursing degree program for over 60 years. It is one of the oldest nursing schools in Cebu City. It also offers other health-allied degree programs such as medical biology, medical technology, and physical and occupational therapy. Respondents were all officially enrolled nursing students.

The total number of respondents included in the study was 170. A power analysis using G-power software yielded a sample size of 112 individuals (power = 0.90; α = 0.05; medium effect size = 0.3), which is based on the statistical test used. All respondents were of legal age (at least 18 years old) and were included regardless of their academic status (regular or irregular). Since complete enumeration was used, all students enrolled for the program were recruited for the study.

2.3. Data Collection Procedure After approval by the technical and research ethics committee, data gathering started. Online administration of the questionnaires was done using Google Forms. Respondents were invited to participate voluntarily by a cover letter prefaced to the questionnaire. The purpose of the study was explained, and emphasis on voluntary participation and the right to refuse was indicated in the letter. It was also indicated that returning the questionnaire would indicate implied consent to participate in the study. The researcher made sure that any concerns and questions were addressed properly before, during, and after the administration of the questionnaires.

Three standardized tools were used as the main research instruments for this study, namely Self-directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS) for nursing education, the Problem-solving Inventory (PSI), and the Academic Self-efficacy Scale. These tools were used for this research with permission from their respective authors. The main criteria for the choice of these tools were appropriateness to the study objectives, instrument validity, acceptable reliability, as well as practical reasons, such as cost and author response and permission. No modifications were made to the tools used.

The first part of the questionnaire obtained the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of age, sex, year level, and section. The second part was the SDLRS for nursing education to assess SDLR levels. This instrument was developed by Fisher et al. (2001). It consisted of 40 items in three subscales: “selfmanagement (13 items), the desire to learn (12 items), and self-control (15 items).”

The instrument used a five-point Likert scale, with a higher score indicating a higher level of SDLR, ranging from 5 (strongly agree) to 1 (strongly disagree). The SDLRS has a cumulative Cronbach α value of 0.932, indicating high reliability.

The sum of the items is the total score of the respondents’ SDLR, with a higher score indicating a higher SDLR. The third part of the questionnaire was the PSI by Heppner and Petersen (1982), which assesses perceptions of one’s problem-solving ability as well as behaviors and attitudes associated with problem-solving style. This included three factors: problem-solving confidence (PSC), approach–avoidance style (AAS), and

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personal control (PC). PSC is defined as “an individual’s self-assurance, a belief, and trust in one’s ability to effectively cope with a wide range of problems” (Heppner et al., 2004, p. 351). Lower scores reflect higher levels of PSC. AAS refers to “a general tendency to approach or avoid different problem-solving activities” (Heppner et al., 2004, p. 351). Lower scores are associated with an approaching style rather than avoiding problems. PC refers to “the belief of control of one’s emotions and behaviors while solving problems” (Heppner et al., 2004, p. 351).

Lower scores reflect a more positive perception of control in handling problems.

Reliability estimates of the 32 items revealed that the constructs were internally consistent (α = 0.79 – 0.91) and stable over time. The PSI has been used in academe wherein it used to measure problem-based learning and risk for academic failure (Heppner & Baker, 1997). Scores for all three factors and the total PSI are continuous rather than categorical scores. A lower score indicates better perceived problem-solving abilities.

The final component of this study is academic self-efficacy. The Academic SelfEfficacy Scale by Sagone and De Caroli (2014) explores the perceived self-efficacy in the academic context and includes 30 items each measured on a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (not at all efficient) to 7 (completely efficient). This scale is made up of four variables that were determined using the principle components technique and factorial analysis (Varimax rotation and eigenvalues greater than 1): 1) self-engagement (α = 0.79), “the ability to overcome difficulties with personal involvement” (p. 225); 2) self-oriented decision-making (α = 0.79), “the ability to solve problems using themselves as helping source” (p. 225); 3) othersoriented problem-solving (α = 0.80), “the ability to solve critical issues using other people as helping source” (p. 225); and 4) interpersonal climate (α = 0.67), “the ability to create a prosocial and collaborative climate in interpersonal relationships” (p. 225). The internal consistency reliability resulted to be satisfactory for the total scale (α = 0.88). The sum of the four dimensions is the total score of the respondents’ academic self-efficacy, with a higher score indicating a higher level of academic self-efficacy.

2.4. Data Analysis SPSS statistical software was used to examine the data gathered. For continuous variables (e.g., age, SDLR, the PSI, academic self-efficacy), descriptive statistics, such as means and standard deviations (SDs), were computed. For categorical variables (e.g., sex), percentages and frequencies were used. Pearson productmoment correlation using SPSS was applied to correlate problem-solving ability, SDLR, and academic self-efficacy.

3. Results There was a total of 170 respondents who participated in the study. Of these, 132 (78%) were female and 38 (22%) were male. Furthermore, the mean age of the participants was 19.6 years (SD = 0.6), the youngest being 18 years old and the oldest 21.

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3.1. Self-directed Learning Readiness Generally, the students who participated in the study had high SDLR (M = 3.95, SD = 0.44), as seen in Table 1. Although all subscales are interpreted as high, the data show that the highest score among the subscales was the desire for learning (M = 4.20, SD = 0.41).

Table 1: Level of Self-directed Learning Readiness Rank 1 2 3

Subscale M SD Interpretation Desire for learning 4.20 0.41 High Self-control 4.00 0.29 High Self-management 3.62 0.40 High Total 3.95 0.44 High Note. 1.0 – 1.80 = very low; 1.81 – 2.60 = low; 2.61 – 3.40 = moderate; 3.41 – 4.20 = high; 4.21 – 5.00 = very high

3.2. Problem-solving Ability Generally, the students who participated in the study had a slightly positive perception of their problem-solving abilities (M = 2.95, SD = 0.88), as seen in Table 2. Specifically, the data show that the highest score among the subscales was for PSC (M = 2.67, SD = 0.62). On the other hand, the respondents had a slightly negative perception in terms of PC (M = 4.23, SD = 0.35).

Table 2: Level of Problem-solving Ability Rank 1 2 3

Subscale M SD Interpretation Problem-solving confidence 2.67 0.62 Slightly positive Approach-avoidance style 2.75 0.82 Slightly positive Personal control 4.23 0.35 Slightly negative Total 2.95 0.88 Slightly positive Note. 1.0 – 1.83 = very positive; 1.84 – 2.66 = positive; 2.67 – 3.49 = slightly positive; 3.50 – 4.32 = slightly negative; 4.33 – 5.15 = negative; 5.16 – 6.00 = very negative

3.3. Academic Self-efficacy Generally, the students who participated in the study had a moderately high academic self-efficacy (M = 4.77, SD = 1.05), as seen in Table 3. Specifically, the data show that the highest score among the subscales was for interpersonal climate (M = 5.33, SD = 0.77). Alternatively, others-oriented problem-solving received the lowest score (M = 3.52, SD = 1.12).

Table 3: Level of Academic Self-efficacy Rank 1 2 3 4

Subscale M SD Interpretation Interpersonal climate 5.33 0.77 High Self-oriented decision-making 5.27 0.44 Slightly high Self-engagement 4.75 0.67 Slightly high Others-oriented problem-solving 3.52 1.12 Slightly low Total 4.77 1.05 Slightly high Note. 1.00 – 1.86 = very low; 1.87 – 2.72 = low; 2.73 – 3.58 = slightly low; 3.59 – 4.44 = moderate; 4.44 – 5.30 = slightly high; 5.31 – 6.16 = high; 6.17 – 7.00 = very high

Results show that there is a significant indirect association between SDLR and problem-solving ability (r = -0.525, p < 0.001), as seen in Table 4. Moreover, there

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is a significant direct association between SDLR and academic self-efficacy (r = 0.549, p < 0.001). Lastly, there is a significant indirect association between academic self-efficacy and problem-solving ability (r = -0.505, p < 0.001).

Table 4: Correlation Matrix Variable 1 1. SDLR — 2. Problem-0.525*** solving ability 3. Academic 0.549*** self-efficacy ***p < 0.001, two-tailed

2

3

— -0.505***

—

M 3.95

SD 0.44

2.95

0.88

4.77

1.05

4. Discussion The majority of the respondents were female and aged 19 years old. In terms of SDLR, the findings indicate that the respondents have a strong willingness to study on their own. Based on the specific items assessed, the respondents are open to new ideas and want to learn new information. They also enjoy learning new things and to gather facts before they make any decisions. The respondents also have high self-control for their own learning. Based on the specific items assessed, the respondents set their own learning goals and are aware of their own limitations. They also believed that they are responsible for their own actions.

Furthermore, the respondents show high self-management for their own learning.

Based on the specific items assessed, the respondents manage, organize, and plan their own activities to be able to learn. Thus, these respondents demonstrated a clearer grasp of their obligation in examining themselves, as they pursue meaningful learning experiences (Brockett, 2002; Yang & Tu, 2020). The results suggest that generally the students who participated in the study are able to take the initiative to identify their learning needs, develop their learning goals, choose and implement appropriate learning strategies, and evaluate learning outcomes (Knowles, 1975; Premkumar et al., 2018; Rascón-Hernán et al., 2019).

In terms of problem-solving ability, the results show that the respondents are confident in finding solutions to problems they encounter. Based on the specific items assessed, the respondents identify the problem and think of creative and alternative solutions to solve it. They also believed that they are able to solve problems if they have adequate and appropriate resources. Hence, the respondents trust their capabilities to successfully cope with varied problems (Heppner et al., 2004). Moreover, the respondents also tend to approach problems using various strategies. Based on the specific items assessed, the respondents usually think of various courses of action to solve the problems and then evaluate the outcomes. However, they believed that there are challenges in controlling their emotions and behaviors while solving problems. Generally, however, the results suggest that the respondents believed that they are able to find solutions to difficult or complex issues (Heppner & Lee, 2002; Karatas et al., 2017).

In terms of academic self-efficacy, the results show that the respondents believed that a conducive interpersonal climate is vital for academic success. Based on the specific items assessed, the respondents believed that they are able to cooperate

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with their classmates in group activities. They also believed that they are able to build a positive climate among their schoolmates. Therefore, the respondents trust their capability to build a prosocial and collaborative atmosphere in interpersonal relationships among their peers (Sagone & De Caroli, 2014). Moreover, the respondents choose the best solutions to be able to accomplish school tasks that match with their own personal goals. The respondents believed that they can solve school problems using themselves as a helping source (Sagone & De Caroli, 2014). The respondents also believed that they are able to achieve their academic goals by employing personal learning strategies Thus, the respondents believed that they can overcome difficulties with personal involvement (Sagone & De Caroli, 2014; Luo et al., 2019). However, the respondents find it difficult to tackle crucial problems with the assistance of others (Sagone & De Caroli, 2014). Based on the specific items assessed, this may be due to their hesitancy in engaging with their teachers openly with their struggles or even disagreements. Research suggests that communication between teachers and students is a factor for academic achievement (Davis, 2001). Enhancing the student’s relationship with the teacher may compensate for these communication difficulties. But generally, the results imply that the students who participated in the study are confident in their own capabilities to be able to successfully accomplish school tasks or activities (Luo et al., 2019; Schunk, 1991; Shim, 2018).

Finally, the correlation results indicate that students who have better SDLR are more likely to have better appraisals of their problem-solving ability.

Furthermore, students who have better SDLR are more likely to have more confidence in succeeding in academic tasks. Lastly, students who are more confident in their abilities to accomplish academic tasks are more likely to have better appraisals of their own problem-solving ability.

The results of the study are supported by previous studies, which show that SDLR of nursing students was strongly associated with their problem-solving ability.

Furthermore, problem-solving ability can be improved by enhancing the SDLR of students (Choi et al., 2014; Zhang et al., 2018). Research has also shown that cultivating the problem-solving ability of students could boost their preparation for SDL (Struyf, 2005; Williams, 2004). This is important because nursing students are expected to use problem-solving abilities to provide safe, appropriate, and holistic care to people, families, population groups, and the community through the nursing process (Philippines. CHED, 2017; Rascón-Hernán et al., 2019).

Additionally, studies have shown that self-efficacy influences how students learn to solve problems in an academic setting, and the link between academic performance and confidence in self-efficacy has been established (Gore, 2006; Hayat et al., 2020; Zajacova et al., 2005; Zimmerman, 2000). Students who have high self-efficacy perform better in a learning challenge and better grasp the problem. The results further suggest that students who boost their self-efficacy can increase their performance in solving problems through studying (Hayat et al., 2020; Zhou et al., 2020). In addition, prior studies found a strong positive association with the academic self-efficacy of students and their SDLR (Meng et al., 2019; Zhang et al., 2018). In general, previous research has shown that the

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SDLR of students was strongly associated with their problem-solving performance, and the performance to solve problems could be facilitated by enhancing the SDLR of students (Choi et al., 2014; Struyf, 2005; Williams, 2004; Zhang et al., 2018). In addition, research has shown that academic self-efficacy has a positive influence on the problem-solving ability of an individual and their preparation for SDL (Meng et al., 2019; Zhang et al., 2018).

5. Limitations Potential study limitations may include having one study site and possible bias in answering self-reported measures in the study. There is a possibility that findings may not be generalizable to other settings and populations that were not included in the study. Lastly, teacher perceptions related to the study variables were not included in this study. This provides guidance in interpretations and directions of future research.

6. Conclusion and Recommendations The findings are able to support the assumptions of the study that academic selfefficacy, SDLR, and problem-solving ability of students have relationships with each other. Thus, students who are self-directed learners and are confident with their abilities of success in school tasks are able to solve complex problems or issues.

Based on the findings, it is recommended that nursing students practice developing skills related to SDL and academic self-efficacy. This will help them in accomplishing academic requirements and solving problems in class. This skill is also vital when they become professional nurses.

For teachers, they may incorporate strategies in their instructional designs to be able to enhance or develop SDLR and academic self-efficacy. They should regularly monitor the students’ SDLR and problem-solving abilities as they progress throughout the degree program. Furthermore, teachers should also try to assess their own readiness and competencies in implementing activities that support and enhance SDL. The admissions and testing office may also use SDLR as a possible method for screening or as a diagnostic test for new student applicants. They may use the data to be able to plan for the development of the students’ SDL, which is influential in the development of problem-solving ability, a crucial academic and professional competency.

School administrators should also make sure that the infrastructure and systems are in place to support and develop the SDL of the students. Moreover, teachers should also be supported so that they are able to implement teaching-learning strategies that enhance SDL, academic self-efficacy, and problem-solving.

Future researchers may explore other factors that would influence or predict problem-solving ability of students and their SDLR. Experimental research may be done to be able to employ strategies to enhance SDL and how it would affect

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specific outcomes such as the problem-solving abilities or academic performance of students. Research could be expanded to other degree programs and settings.

Future research may also be explored using longitudinal designs to be able to ascertain the causal link and directionality of the variables related to the present study. Lastly, a more holistic perspective of the phenomenon of SDL may use qualitative designs to enrich our understanding of specific contexts and situations of students.

6. Conflict of Interests The author declares no potential conflict of interest concerning this research.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 10, pp. 95-116, October 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.10.6 Received Jul 19, 2021; Revised Oct 15, 2021; Accepted Oct 18, 2021

Cognitive Assessment of Knowledge Consolidation in a Course on the Diagnostic Evaluation of Learning Disorders in Psychology Students Guadalupe Elizabeth Morales-Martinez National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4662-229X Yanko Norberto Mezquita-Hoyos Autonomous University of Yucatán, Yucatan, Mexico https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6305-7440 Maria Isolde Hedlefs-Aguilar FIME, Nuevo Leon Autonomous University, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1138-9835 Miriam Sanchez-Monroy Tecnologico Nacional de Mexico-Instituto Tecnologico de Merida, Yucatan, Mexico https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5263-1216

Abstract. This study explored the cognitive changes to long-term memory as a result of academic learning in 43 Psychology undergraduate students (91% female and 9% male). The participants carried out a conceptual definition task based on the Natural Semantic Networks technique. They defined ten target concepts related to the diagnostic evaluation of learning disorders using verbs, nouns, or adjectives as definers. After, students weighed the quality of each definer through a ten-point scale. The higher the score, the greater the conceptual relationship between the definer and the target. The data of this study (the schema behavior) was subjected to a computational simulation. Finally, the participants carried out a lexical decision task based on the semantic priming paradigm, they read pairs of words that may or may not be related to the measured knowledge schema. The task was to judge whether the second word in each pair was spelled correctly or incorrectly. The results indicated an increase in the level of conceptual accessibility derived from learning. In addition, the participants accessed their knowledge schema, first through general nodes and then retrieved through the more specific nodes. The neurocomputational activation pattern suggested that learning experiences changed the meaning of concepts for each participant along the course. At the end of the course, the students seemed to reach a ©Authors This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

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schematic consolidation. The diagnosis of these cognitive characteristics through the formation of academic schemas can provide learning opportunities closer to each student’s cognitive profile to increase the effectiveness of instruction.

Keywords: knowledge schema; chronometric learning assessment; Natural Semantic Networks; semantic priming paradigm; psychology students

1. Introduction Assessment is a central and intrinsic link between learning and teaching; it provides opportunities for students to certify the knowledge they acquire in classes. Furthermore, learning assessment offers information about the effectiveness of the educational strategies used by teachers (Lambert & Lines, 2000, Pesare et al., 2015; Wiliam, 2011). In the same way that online and face-toface education requires the implementation of new teaching and learning methods, learning assessments also require new strategies to measure learning and the effects of teaching. The creation and implementation of new means of evaluation are not an easy task since the evaluation activity has many purposes, many ways to be approached (Wragg, 2001), and has a wide range of applications and levels of operation (Corrigan et al., 2013); therefore, its effects can be widely varied (Wragg, 2001).

Generating a favorable impact of assessment on instruction and learning is not a simple matter. Heitink et al. (2016) mentioned that although the primary aim of a learning assessment is to amplify student learning, there are factors related to the nature of the assessment, the teacher, the student, and the context that affect its implementation in daily classroom activities. Furthermore, Arieli-Attali (2013) mentioned that the available assessment instruments provide information on specific moments. It is not possible to obtain a complete picture of the continuous progress of the learning process; consequently, the results obtained from these evaluations can improve a narrow spectrum of aspects of the learning and teaching processes.

In addition to the theoretical and applied complexity of learning assessment, the incorporation of new technology into its design and application is a challenge.

The current paradigms of learning assessment and its instruments require a consideration of the demands of the 21st-century classroom. Incorporating technology to design assessment instruments will reduce the gap between didactic and instructional innovation and the modernization of learning assessment tools. In this regard, Gomez et al. (2011) highlighted the importance of considering new social demands, scientific, and technological advances in innovation, and instrumentation research for the evaluation of learning. Pesare et al. (2015) mentioned that an improved digital assessment of learning must consider the use of authentic learning through digital means, involving the use of discrete measurement instruments to provide data for computer analysis. It should also provide information to improve learning and instructional strategies.

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The above points to the need to build digital learning assessment systems that go beyond the encapsulation of existing measurement instruments. In this regard, cognitive psychology offers a wide range of measurement tools to help build these new evaluation systems. For example, the Chronometric Constructive Cognitive Learning Evaluation Model or C3-LEM (Lopez et al., 2014; Morales-Martinez, 2020; Morales-Martinez et al., 2015, 2017; MoralesMartinez & Lopez-Ramirez, 2016; Morales-Martinez, Lopez-Perez et al., 2020; Morales-Martinez, Hedlefs-Aguilar et al., 2021; Morales-Martinez, TrejoQuintana et al., 2021), is an initiative that proposes the combined use of research techniques and digital tools in cognitive science to explore the mechanisms of knowledge acquisition and to promote student learning. This model is based on the principles and laws of human cognitive function from the Human Information Processing (HIP) and Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP) approach.

HIP is a cognitive approach that proposes that cognitive processes, including learning, follow a sequential processing model. From this theoretical position, the mind of a student is seen as a symbolic processor capable of storing information in cognitive structures. The student manipulates this information to form new meanings of their external and internal environment. On the other hand, the PDP proposes that the human brain processes information in a parallel and distributed way; there is no sequence to the processing. Instead, cognitive processes can occur simultaneously and happen in different neural units at the same time. From the PDP, a student's mind would act as a processor capable of simultaneously performing multiple cognitive operations, and their learning is not limited to a single brain structure. Students build and re-build their schemas every moment, and these cognitive structures are flexible, self-organized, and emerging. The laws and principles coming from HIP and PDP are helpful to enhance our understanding of how students build knowledge structures through learning experiences.

2. Cognitive principles of knowledge construction and consolidation From the perspective of cognitive psychology, students are animated cognitive systems that actively construct their internal world. According to Wiley and Jee (2011/2010), study of this inner world requires a determination of the characteristics of the information processing in the mind of a student. In this regard, the C3-LEM explores learning regarding the principles and assumptions of the cognitive function of students (e.g., active cognitive beings, goal-directed beings, schema builders, susceptibility to the influence of the internal and external environment) (Figure 1).

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Figure 1. The student as an active cognitive agent and the influences to form academic knowledge schemas.

In general, the C3-LEM takes the following into consideration: 1. Human thoughts and actions are goal-directed (Bransford et al., 2000).

Students are cognitively autonomous and goal-driven beings. These goals influence information selection, coding, storage, and use of information by the student.

2. Human beings can create mental representations and modify them based on their daily experiences (Morales-Martinez, 2020). Students create mental representations of the knowledge they learn through academic learning experiences.

3. The information acquired by a person through their experiences is stored in memory though mental structures called knowledge schemas (Seel, 2012; Rumelhart et al., 1986). Students form knowledge schemas from the information they learn in academic courses.

4. Schemas contribute to different cognitive functions such as integrating information, regulating attention, and making inferences (Seel, 2012).

Previous and new knowledge schemas influence the students’ processing of academic information.

5. Schemas are not faithful copies of world phenomena but result from the cognitive processing of information through the interaction of an active cognitive agent with the world (Rumelhart et al., 1986). Students build their knowledge schemas based on the meaning they give to the information they learn in class.

6. Schemas have different levels of complexity and abstraction (Rumelhart et al.

1986). The complexity of a student’s schema and their level of abstraction change as the student advances in their academic development; they have a greater number of learning experiences.

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7. Information can be stored in different formats (declarative, procedural, eidetic) within memory structures (Surprenant & Neath, 2009). Then, students can store and represent information in as many formats as there are types of information.

8. Declarative knowledge is stored in human memory in natural semantic networks (Busselle, 2017). Then, students represent declarative information in the form of semantic networks.

9. Semantic networks have information nodes and relational links between nodes (Busselle, 2017). The semantic networks of the students must contain conceptual nodes and semantic relationships based on the knowledge schema learned in the course. Schematic relationships should dominate in the semantic networks formed in the student's memory throughout an academic year.

10. Knowledge schemas are dynamic structures; they are enactive and selforganized phenomena of the mind (Rumelhart et al., 1986). Students' cognitive structures are flexible phenomena that emerge under specific learning contexts and are self-organized differently depending on the experiences and learning goals that elicit them.

11. Schematic flexibility and stability depend on the level of development of the cognitive structure (see Schwarting, 2003). Knowledge schemas in their initial phase tend to be more flexible and less stable; they have greater schematic permeability than when schemas are already established or when the student has a higher level of academic development.

12. The learning process always starts from an existing point (Bransford et al., 2000; Eggen & Schellenberg, 2010; Surprenant & Neath, 2009). Thus, students use their previous structures of knowledge as the cognitive basis for new learning.

13. Memory is inherently constructive; it uses the information it encodes, the keys to retrieve information, and previous memories to generate a response to a key (Surprenant & Neath, 2009). Then, students require the presentation of effective information keys to activate their memory and reconstruct schemas from information already contained in their memory.

14. All mental processes take up time according to their nature and complexity (Jensen, 2006). The time taken for students to retrieve, recognize, or manipulate information provides information about their learning process.

For example, if students learn a knowledge schema, the presentation of conceptual keys related to that schema will produce a semantic priming effect in the recognition time of the information belonging to this schema (schematic priming).

Considering the above principles and assumptions, the study of the formation of cognitive structures derived from academic learning involves the exploration of the effect of academic learning experiences on the content, organization, structure, dynamics, and time patterns of the students’ knowledge schemas.

3. Cognitive measurement of the knowledge schemas consolidation The concept of memory has different meanings within cognitive psychology.

Memory can result from changes in the brain as a response to learning; it is the

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hypothetical and unobservable product that must be inferred from cognitive performance. On the other hand, it can be seen as a retention process and the recovery of information (Crowder, 2015). From both points of view, research on the ways students encode, store, and retrieve information from their memories is essential to develop more effective learning assessments and teaching and learning strategies. In this regard, the C3-LEM is a valuable tool in the exploration and establishment of comparison parameters on the processes of assimilation and accommodation of academic knowledge (declarative, procedural, and eidetic) in the mental structures of the student (MoralesMartinez, Angeles-Castellanos et al., 2020; Morales-Martinez, Hedlefs-Aguilar et al., 2021).

In general, the application of the C3-LEM involves two evaluation phases (Figure 2). During the constructive cognitive assessment, the evaluator uses a mental representation technique to explore how students construct their knowledge structures: the Natural Semantic Networks (NSN) technique proposed by Figueroa et al. (1976). The NSNs use keys (target concepts) that allow students to retrieve the information stored in their memory (nodes, relationships between nodes, configuration of nodes, and the relationships between them) to reconstruct their knowledge schema on the topics evaluated.

Lopez and Theios (1992) described the NSN procedure as a conceptual definition task that requires the participants to define target concepts related to a knowledge schema, using different types of words (adjectives, nouns, verbs) as definers. Then they weighed each of these words in terms of their quality in this context.

Figure 2: The two phases and components of the C3-LEM. Note: From “Cognitive e-tools for diagnosing the state of medical knowledge in students enrolled for a second time in an anatomy course,” by Morales-Martinez, AngelesCastellanos et al., 2020, International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 19(9), p. 346 (https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.9.18). Copyright 2020 by the authors and IJLTER.ORG.

Subsequently, the researchers carried out a computational simulation on the data from the NSN study. From the connectionist point of view, mental processes, including learning, can be modeled through interconnected artificial neural networks. Neural networks are composed of the units and the connection

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weights (Shultz, 2011/2010). The C3-LEM contemplates the analysis of the organization and schematic dynamics by extracting the connectivity weights between the conceptual units or nodes that constitute the semantic network learned by the students. The calculation of the connectivity weights matrix is carried out with the SASO procedure or Semantic Analyzer of the Schematic Organization from Lopez and Theios (1992). This procedure includes the estimation of the probability of co-occurrence of the definers through the NSN and the construction of a co-occurrence matrix that finally feeds a neural network of satisfaction of restrictions. The objective is the observation of the activation dynamics of the nodes that make up the knowledge schema.

The second phase, the chronometric evaluation, comprises the application of mental chronometry studies and a neural network to classify the temporal patterns observed in these studies. Conventionally, the C3-LEM uses the semantic priming paradigm to observe if the stored information was consolidated in memory in terms of the knowledge schema. The semantic priming paradigm proposes that information recognition can be affected by the information that precedes it (Morales-Martinez, Hedlefs-Aguilar et al., 2021).

Usually, the paradigm includes the application of lexical decision tasks, which consists of the presentation of word pairs, which may have a semantic relationship (associative, schematic, or categorical) or may not be related. The participants read the first word (prime) after reading the last word (target) and decide if the last word is well written or badly written. In this type of task, the improvement in time or recognition accuracy of a piece of information (target) resulting from the presentation of other information (prime) is known as the "priming effect" (McNamara, 2005). When this effect is presented in a schematic pair of words, where a schematic word primes the recognition of its schematic target, the effect is called "schemata priming" (Lopez, 1996; Lopez & Theios, 1992).

The schematic priming effect is presented when students store the information learned in a course then structure and organize it into a knowledge schema (Trujillo et al., 2019). Hence, for the C3-LEM, the temporal patterns obtained from recognizing words with a schematic relationship are central to determining if the students incorporated, organized, structured, and consolidated the course information to their memory.

The results of the C3-LEM studies indicate that students enter academic courses with prior knowledge structures (Morales-Martinez, Trejo-Quintana et al., 2021).

This previous knowledge allows students to select and sift through new information based on previous experience and individual levels of academic development. In addition, these previous knowledge structures allow the student to identify and store the necessary and sufficient aspects to complement, complete, modify, and build new knowledge structures, or destroy existing cognitive knowledge structures. In this regard, Schwarting (2003) mentioned that mental structures are fragile at the initial stage of construction and become stronger or weaker over time. In line with this idea, Morales-Martinez, GarciaTorres et al. (2021) asserted that the knowledge schemas of beginners may allow

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for greater permeability to new information since their structures are less formed and therefore exhibit a greater cognitive malleability compared to the knowledge schemas of advanced students in a course.

Regardless of the student's academic development level and the stability and flexibility of their knowledge schemas, these cognitive structures constantly change with exposure to learning experiences. Gonzalez et al. (2018) mentioned that computational simulations provide information on these conceptual changes due to academic learning that cannot be observed through the visual tools of mental representation conventionally used in the classroom as mind maps or tree diagrams. In general, the results of C3-LEM connectionist studies on academic learning indicate that activated concepts can coerce information implicitly related to the activated concept (Gonzalez et al., 2018; MoralesMartinez, Angeles-Castellanos et al., 2020). They also pointed out that there are changes in the connectivity pattern related to the meaning that students give to their knowledge after being exposed to different learning experiences (MoralesMartinez, Hedlefs-Aguilar et al., 2021).

On the other hand, the chronometric studies of learning with the C3-LEM shows that the time taken to retrieve information from memory when performing definition tasks in the NSN differs before and after the course (MoralesMartinez, Hedlefs-Aguilar et al., 2021). The schematic information recognition times significantly decrease towards the end of the course compared to the recognition times initially obtained. This occurs only when academic learning affects the level of conceptual accessibility of the learned knowledge schema (Trujillo et al., 2019). This phenomenon of schematic priming occurs only when the student has formed and solidly stored a schema in their long-term memory from the information reviewed in the course. On the other hand, when students store information but do not construct the schema, they seem to have difficulties in the accurate retrieval and recognition of the schematic information (MoralesMartinez, Angeles-Castellanos et al., 2020).

The C3-LEM studies have provided information on the cognitive characteristics of knowledge acquisition in different academic domains such as moral development (Gonzales et al., 2013), cognitive psychology (Morales-Martinez, Lopez-Perez et al. 2020), anatomy (Morales-Martinez, Angeles-Castellanos et al., 2020), biology (Urdiales-Ibarra et al., 2018), and engineering (Morales-Martinez et al., 2018). However, there is still no explanation of the cognitive processes and mechanisms involved with the education on topics such as learning disorders.

This work explored the consolidation of knowledge related to the diagnostic evaluation of learning disorders in psychology students.

Since it was observed in previous studies that between the start and end of an academic year, students have different access times between the conceptual nodes of the NSN (Morales-Martinez, Hedlefs-Aguilar et al., 2021), this study explored whether these differences in Inter-Response Time (IRT) were present between the common conceptual nodes of the initial and final NSN of the evaluated course. The authors hypothesized that if the students organize the

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prior knowledge in their memory more efficiently, then the conceptual nodes common from this initial knowledge at the end of the course would present a shorter appearance time in the final NSN. On the other hand, in the computational simulation, the definers with high and low IRT were activated in the initial and final NSN to explore the co-activation patterns given the access time of the explored definers. A final objective was to determine the consolidation level of the information stored in the student's memory in the form of a knowledge schema. Some studies with the C3-LEM indicated that students who do not organize or structure information properly tend to exhibit slower recognition times for words pairs with a schematic relationship (Morales-Martínez, Angeles-Castellanos et al., 2020; MoralesMartinez et al., 2018). In this study, it was expected that if the students consolidated the information in an organized knowledge schema, their recognition times in the experimental trials with pairs of schematic words would decrease significantly towards the end of the course due to their learning experiences. In a certain sense, semantic priming in the concepts' accessibility is expected given the learning obtained during the course.

4. Method 4.1. Study objective The present study measured the declarative knowledge learning in psychology students at the beginning and end of a course regarding the diagnostic evaluation of learning disorders. With this purpose in mind, the authors applied a mental representation technique, a computational simulation, and an experimental study to determine the cognitive characteristics in the content, organization, structure, dynamics, and temporal patterns of the evaluated knowledge schema in the students' memory.

4.2. Study design

According to the C3-LEM, the authors designed a mental representation study based on the NSN technique, which involved a random presentation of the 10 most relevant conceptual nodes of the evaluated knowledge schema. This study used a conceptual definition task on these conceptual nodes using verbs, nouns, adjectives, and pronouns as definers, weighing each definer in terms of the quality of their semantic relationship with the relevant conceptual node. The authors then performed a computational simulation on the data from this first study and designed an experimental study based on the semantic priming paradigm.

4.3. Participants A group of 43 undergraduate psychology students (91% female and 9% male) participated in this study. All participants were enrolled in a course on the diagnostic evaluation of learning disorders taught in the 5th semester of psychology in a Mexican university. The mean age of participants was 19.7 years old (SD = 1.30). All participants were volunteers and received extra credits for their participation.

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4.4. Instruments and materials The design of the NSN study required the presentation of 10 conceptual stimuli (development, psychomotor, learning, dyslalia, dyslexia, dyscalculia, attention deficit, evaluation, diagnosis, and report). The semantic priming study required the creation of 45 experimental trials by using 45 facilitator-target pairs (e.g., development-psychosocial, deficit- hyperactive). The Protocol for the Collection of Target Concepts and Central and Deferred Definers served to select the NSN target concepts and the prime-target words used as inputs in this study (Morales-Martinez, 2015). This protocol is a guide to determine the concepts that encompassed the entire conceptual content of the evaluated knowledge schema and the most relevant concepts to the schema. The authors used EVCOG (Cognitive Evaluator) software to design, apply, capture, and analyze the NSN and semantic priming study data (Morales-Martinez and Lopez-Ramirez, 2018 a, b, c, d, e, f, g h). In addition, this software allowed for computational simulation on the NSN data.

4.5. Procedure

The study was developed through three phases: consent, constructive evaluation (NSN), and computational simulation, and chronometric evaluation (semantic priming). During the first phase, the participants received information about the study objectives and were informed of their benefits and rights. Subsequently, the participants gave informed verbal consent and began the study's second phase, which included the application of a conceptual definition task based on the NSN technique. Ten target concepts were presented on the computer screen.

Each target remained on the screen for a minute. Participants read and defined each target concept with verbs, nouns, adjectives, and pronouns, then rated the quality of each definer based on a ten-point scale, where small numbers indicated that the definer was a little related to the target concept and larger numbers indicated the definer was more closely related to the target concept.

The authors then ran a computational simulation with the data from the NSN study. To do this, they fed the EVCOG with the SASO matrix (see data analysis), which is a conceptual co-occurrence matrix. The software allowed the extraction of the schematic co-activation pattern from the activated concepts.

Finally, the participants performed a lexical decision task based on the semantic priming paradigm. Participants would silently read word pairs and decide whether the last word of each pair was spelled correctly. First, the participants saw a dot appear for 500 milliseconds (ms) on the screen to help draw the participant's attention to where the first word (prime) would appear. The prime remained for 250 ms, long enough for the participant to read the prime silently.

This word disappeared, and in its place, a second word was presented indefinitely until the participant decided whether it was written correctly.

5. Data analysis First, to observe the pattern of cognitive access to information, visual analysis was made regarding the pattern of the IRT obtained at the beginning and end of the course from NSN. The authors determined whether the differences observed between these patterns were significant through a student’s t-test for dependent

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samples. Subsequently, a computational simulation contributed to observing the higher and lower IRT definers' conceptual co-activation patterns. The simulation followed the procedure described in Morales-Martinez, Hedlefs-Aguilar et al.

(2021). In general, the EVCOG software was fed with the SASO conceptual cooccurrence matrix (Lopez & Theios, 1992), and finally, some relevant concepts were activated. The concepts with the highest and lowest IRTs were selected to observe their co-activation patterns. Finally, the authors performed mixed ANOVA on the data from the semantic priming study.

6. Results 6.1. Analysis of the IRT of NSN The authors analyzed the temporal pattern of recovery of the definers in the NSN to determine if it changed due to the learning process. Figure 3 shows that toward the end of the course, there were a greater number of definers recovered in less time. To the left of the X axis, the reader can observe a withdrawal in the appearance of the concepts. The definers with the highest M values are not necessarily the first to be accessed.

Figure 3. The relationship between the IRTs and the M values for the definers of the NSN obtained before and after the course.

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To determine whether the change in IRT patterns was statistically significant, the authors compared the IRTs by including in the analysis only the access times of the common definers obtained before and after the course. Figure 4 shows a significant difference between the IRT obtained before the course (M = 27.3, SD = 7.38) and those obtained after the course (M = 24.8, SD = 8.04) (t (43) = 2.05, p = .04).

Figure 4. Temporal performance to retrieve information nodes before and after course.

Furthermore, the trends in the appearance times of common definers through both measurement phases indicated that access to information seems to be more organized towards the end of the course (Figure 5). At the beginning of the course, information retrieval does not appear to follow a trend. In contrast, at the end of the course, the data suggests that students began to retrieve information through general concepts (e.g., growth, evolution, motor skills, mathematics). After, they accessed nodes more closely related to the evaluated schema (e.g., movement, evaluation, hyperactivity, diagnosis, development, tests, attention).

Moreover, as the IRTs progress, the recovery of more general definers occurs (e.g., school, learning, children, knowing), and specific definers (e.g., pronunciation) continue to appear but in smaller numbers. Additionally, a correlation analysis between the M values and IRT for the NSN indicates a negative relationship between these two indicators at the beginning (r -.48) and the end of the course (r -.56).

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Figure 5. The relationship between the IRTs and the M values for the common definers of the NSN obtained before and after the course

6.2. Computational simulation A computational simulation was carried out on the definers with higher (knowledge, phoneme) and lower (motor, process) IRTs. The goal was to observe if there were changes in the co-activation pattern towards the end of the course related to the appearance time. The computational simulation results indicated

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that the concepts with lower IRTs seem to activate different meanings at the course's beginning and end (Figure 6). For example, the concept of motor skills at the beginning of the course activated concepts related to child development, while at the end, it was oriented more to a perspective of learning disorders. The process also presented a change in its meaning. Initially, it was associated with learning development, while no definer was activated at the end of the course.

Figure 6. The pattern of co-activations of four selected concepts on their IRTs.

6.3. Semantic priming results A mixed ANOVA was carried out on the data from the semantic priming study considering a design of 2 (course time beginning vs. course time end) x 3 (associative semantic relationship vs. schematic semantic relationship vs. unrelated pairs of words) (Table 1). The level of significance was p ≤.01. This analysis considered only the reaction times of the trials that were answered correctly by 41 of the 43 participants. For inclusion in the statistical analysis, each participant’s data had to meet the following criteria: obtain at least 70% correct answers in the experimental conditions analyzed and have participated in the study at the beginning and end of the course.

Factor Course time (T) Semantic relation (S) T*S

Table 1: ANOVA of repeated measures Effect Error F df MS df MS 1 1765808.796 80 122845.511 14.374* 2 2357768.991 160 14502.390 162.577* 2 24354.065 160 14502.390 1.679

p

 p2

.000 .000 .189

.15 .67 .02

Note: N= 41; ANOVA = analysis of variance; df = degree of freedom; MS = mean square; p2 = partial eta squared. *p≤.001

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Both factors (course time and semantic relationship) presented a statistically significant effect. No interaction effect was observed between the factors. The authors conducted post hoc comparisons to explore the differences among the reaction time means obtained before and after the course. The Tukey HSD test pointed out that the mean reaction time for the recognition of schematic words decreased significantly at the end of the course (p = .001), and these recognition times were significantly different from those of the other two experimental conditions (p <.001). However, the reaction times in recognition of neutral words also showed a significant decrease at the end of the course (p <.001), and these times were significantly different from those obtained in associative pairs (p = .006).

7. Discussion One of the most relevant challenges in education is the ability to understand the academic learning to improve it. Learning assessment is a strategy to monitor the process of acquiring knowledge and skills throughout a course to implement more efficient and effective learning and teaching strategies. However, today, learning assessments are focused on the measurement of academic performance; this separates the evaluation of the learning process and the evaluation of learning (Gibbs, 2006). In addition, Arieli-Attali (2013) mentions that most assessment tools offer a sectional view of the learning process. Further, there is a gap between technological advances in instruction and the technology incorporation to innovate the methods of learning evaluation. One way to approach these challenges is to implement the inclusion of cognitive technology for the assessment of learning.

In this study, the C3-LEM framed the learning assessment; this model uses cognitive technology to measure the progress of declarative knowledge acquisition. From cognitive psychology, the learning of declarative knowledge involves the formation, incorporation, or elimination of information nodes in knowledge structures or the formation, strengthening, weakening, or disappearance of the semantic relationships between the conceptual nodes. Also, academic learning also involves changes in the activation patterns of the conceptual nodes, the temporal access patterns, the recognition and processing of the conceptual nodes, and the knowledge schema's use. Concerning chronometric measurement, the results obtained in the NSN and semantic priming studies suggest IRT and Reaction Times were effective indicators to determine the consolidation and dynamics of the knowledge schema in each student's long-term memory.

In general, the results obtained indicate that the students presented essential changes in the access to the conceptual nodes during the NSN task. At the end of the course, there is a negative bias (towards the left) in the conceptual access times (Figure 3). The decrease in IRT was statistically significant for the common concepts between the initial and final network (Figure 4). These results are similar to those reported in Morales-Martinez and Santos-Alcantara (2015) as they observed this same retraction of the IRT; however, these authors did not discuss the reasons for this time pattern. In this regard, the present authors

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assume that this finding supports the following hypothesis: if students more efficiently organize the conceptual nodes of their semantic network, access to common nodes will be faster in the final NSN. Regarding the relationship between the semantic relevance weight of the definers and their time of appearance, Morales-Martinez, Hedlefs-Aguilar et al.

(2021) pointed out that concepts with high M values tend to appear between 20 and 40 seconds between the third and fifth position of access, and hypothesized that, given its relevance, this pattern could be related to a question of cognitive load. In the present study, concepts with the highest M value generally appear from the second position in terms of access; however, there are also concepts with M values that may appear very late in the NSN. The correlation analysis between the M values and the IRTs of both initial and final NSN indicate a significant negative relationship between these indicators: the higher the M value, the shorter the IRT. Therefore, the higher the M value, the more accessible a concept is, although this does not necessarily mean they appear in the first position.

Relating to the IRT, Morales-Martinez, Hedlefs-Aguilar et al. (2021) did not reported the whole conceptual distribution, consequently it was impossible to observe if there was a pattern linked to the schema in the conceptual access.

Here, IRT distribution and the concepts distribution were presented; these distributions indicated that the participants seem to access the concepts at the end of the course in order terms of generality. As shown in Figure 5, the students first accessed the more general concepts of the knowledge schema and then accessed the more specific concepts. These findings match those observed

by Morales-Martínez, Trejo-Quintana et al. (2021); they reported that after learning course contents, students tend to recover new, more specific concepts, although general concepts still linger in their memory. This finding suggests that at the end of a course, the students' conceptual access temporal curve recovered general aspects combined with very specific definers of the schema. If this is a common conceptual accessibility pattern, it was not possible to determine with a single study. A greater number of explorations on the conceptual appearance patterns must be carried out to determine if there is a typical pattern in retrieving academic information.

The change from a general content schema to one with specific content indicates a meaning change because of academic learning. In the present study, participants reorganized definers and reweighted them at the end of the course (Figure 5). Similarly, Morales-Martínez, Hedlefs-Aguilar et al. (2021) reported a cognitive restructuration in M and IRT distribution of definers in the students' memory as a learning product. Therefore, changes in M values and IRT can be related to the changes in knowledge schema configuration and the cognitive accessibility of concepts. Then, these indicators account for the new meanings of course content that emerge from learning experiences. In fact, at the end of the course, higher M values were given to specific definers. This result shows that there was a conceptual reappraisal.

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The computational simulation results showed a different activation pattern from the beginning to the end of the course. These changes seem to be associated with a change in the meaning that students gave to the knowledge schema they learned in class. These results agree with those reported by Lopez-Ramirez et al.

(2015) in different domains of knowledge (information systems, customer service, and music). Also, in a course of moral development, Gonzalez et al.

(2018) reported a change in activation patterns resulting from learning experiences. Although this study founded implicit knowledge activation, they did not provide a discussion about the meaning of these changes in knowledge schema activity. In this regard, Morales-Martinez, Angeles-Castellanos et al.

(2020) reported that activation of implicit knowledge suggests an associative relation between knowledge schemas in other domains and the evaluated schema. In this work, the present authors suppose that the activation of prior knowledge could reflect the conceptual development level of the student. For example, at the beginning of the course in this study, activation of motricity (one of the concepts with a high M value) co-activated definers related more to typical development (development and children), while at the end of the course, this same concept co-activated definers related to learning disabilities (difficulty).

This kind of cognitive change suggests that students' minds shifted from general schema of human development to a schema more related to learning disorders.

Then students achieved a more specialized knowledge on this topic.

An interesting aspect of the co-activation pattern is that there were concepts that did not modify their activation pattern as phonemes that co-activated almost the same concepts at the beginning and end of the course. This finding suggests that some concepts retained the same meaning with which they entered the course.

These concepts may have less flexibility to change since they are concepts seen more frequently throughout academic training or are more concrete. The activation between abstract and concrete concepts, concepts reviewed more frequently, and concepts that are relatively new to students could be manipulated in new experiments. These findings are in accordance with what was stated by Schwarting (2003) about the flexibility and stability of the schemas depending on the level of consolidation of the cognitive structure. In this same line, Morales-Martinez, Garcia-Torres et al. (2021) suggested that the less information available and the less consolidated the schema is in memory, the more the schema permeability is increased. Therefore, this study indicates that the level of permeability and flexibility of the knowledge schema can vary through its different components or conceptual nodes. In the same cognitive structure, there may be variations in the configurational and organizational stability of the schema.

The data from the semantic priming study indicate that there was a significant decrease in the recognition time for the schematic targets, although this effect was also present for the associative and unrelated word pairs. In an ideal study, the schematic priming effect should de present only in schematic word pairs, as shown by Trujillo et al. (2019), who founded a clear schematic priming effect in a moral development course. However, the semantic priming effects found in the present study were more similar to those reported by Morales-Martinez,

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Hedlefs-Aguilar et al. (2021) in engineering students. They reported a significant decrease in the target recognition time in all pairs of words; however, this decrease was greater for the targets of the pairs of schematic words. The present authors propose several factors that can produce these results; for example, if the experiment in this study included a smaller number of experimental trials than the studies carried out in adolescents (moral development), it is possible the presence of a practice effect in the performance of the participants. Another possibility is that the younger the age of the students, the more careful they are to follow instructions.

In general, the present study's data indicated that the access and recognition time of the schematic words varies from the beginning to the end of the course, which suggests that the learning experiences affected the cognitive structures of students. These results provide evidence for the existence of the schematic priming phenomenon as reported by Lopez (1996) and Lopez and Theios (1992).

However, the inclusion of stricter controls regarding the application of the studies is essential; for example, inclusion of a more significant number of experimental trials could reduce the variances and the effect of practice. Also, inclusion of comparison groups or controls can help to provide more information on the experimental effects.

8. Conclusion In this study, the authors used the C3-LEM to measure the level of information consolidation in the memory of students. The study results show that the time indicators (IRT and reaction time) are helpful for exploration of the patterns of assimilation, consolidation, and recovery of the information learned during an academic year. The results suggest that the levels of conceptual accessibility seem to change in light of the students' learning experiences. These experiences also seem to influence the conformation and consolidation of the schema. After learning the course information, the improvement of the recognition times of the schematic words and the change of the neuro-computational activation pattern can indicate new meanings from the course contents.

It is necessary to consider that the scope of this study is limited by the small sample size and the lack of a control and comparison group. Hence, to determine the theoretical, methodological, and applied scopes of the cognitive assessment learning techniques suggested in this work, it is important to include new experimental controls, expand the sample size, and apply the C3-LEM to other knowledge domains in different education levels. Diversification of the application of this learning assessment model will provide more evidence on the usefulness of this type of approach in the educational field and will allow for an increased collection of more information on how cognitive properties of academic learning vary through human development and different disciplines.

The cognitive characterization of individual and group learning will open opportunities to design learning strategies that cognitively model the processes of the acquisition of knowledge and skills of students. For example, information on the temporal cognitive characteristics of the students' knowledge schemas can promote each student's metacognitive skills (assessment as learning) and

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provide valuable information to increase the effectiveness of instruction and learning strategies (assessment for learning).

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 19(9), 341-362. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.9.18 Morales-Martinez, G. E., Hedlefs-Aguilar, M. I., Trejo-Quintana, J., Mezquita-Hoyos, Y. N., & Sanchez-Monroy, M. (2021). Chronometric constructive cognitive learning evaluation model: Measuring the consolidation of the human cognition schema in psychology students’ memory. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 20(5), 56-72. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.5.4 Morales-Martinez, G. E., & Lopez-Ramirez, E. O. (2016). Cognitive responsive eassessment of constructive e-learning. Journal of e-Learning and Knowledge Society (Je-LKS), 12(4), 39-49. http://www.je-lks.org/ojs/index.php/JeLKS_EN/article/view/1187 Morales-Martinez, G. E., & Lopez-Ramirez, E. O. (2018a). EVCOG Modulo 1. Configurador RSN [EVCOG Module 1. NSN Configurator] (Version 1.1.) [Computer software].

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 10, pp. 117-132, October 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.10.7 Received Jul 19, 2021; Revised Oct 15, 2021; Accepted Oct 18, 2021

How to Become Experienced? The Practice of Novice Lecturer Professional Development at A Public University Yu Hong, Arnida Abdullah, Soaib Asimiran and Mohd Mokhtar Muhamad Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8158-0494 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6593-7310 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2981-9509 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5376-6016

Abstract. Novice lecturer professional development is regarded as a continuous process that begins during pre-service lecturer training and continues throughout the academic career. It is focused on enabling and empowering lecturers by improving their professional confidence, teaching skills, and classroom management. The purpose of this paper is to explore the professional development practices of novice lecturers and to comprehend their situation and feelings about these practices at a public university in China. Using a qualitative case study, five novice lecturers were selected to participate in this study. Relevant programs and activities on professional development are analyzed. Semistructured interviews were conducted to explore the perceptions of novice lecturers. Another data collection method was documentation.

The findings indicate that the professional development practices of novice lecturers in this selected university were done by organizing lecturer teaching competitions, teaching ability training, establishing the mentorship system, information technology application ability training.

Novice lecturers are generally satisfied with the implementation of these programs and activities and hope that the university could provide more opportunities to help them grow quickly.

Keywords: professional development; practices; activities; novice lecturers

1. Introduction Universities around the world have identified the professional development of lecturers as a key way to improve the conditions of educational institutions and meet the educational challenges of the 21st century (Hardy, 2012). In the higher education field, teaching is an important mission of universities (Zheng, 2017). ©Authors This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

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Lecturers, education leaders, and policy makers all play a vital role in higher education activities and should be central to professional development processes (Nguyen, 2019). Novice lecturers are academic staff appointed by higher education institutions for the first time. In the UK and the USA, novice lecturer is equivalent to early-career or new faculty (Brent & Felder, 2008) and sometimes novice is used in the literature for lecturers who are young and inexperienced.

For this study, novice lecturers are those with a master's degree or above and a permanent job in higher education institutions with less than three years of teaching experience.

As enthusiastic educators, novice lecturers need to develop knowledge of teaching content, including the basic elements of the teaching process, to increase the potential of attracting students and improve the quality of teaching (Yu & Abdullah, 2020). For them, professional development is focused on improving their professional confidence, learning area knowledge, skills, teaching, and classroom management (Steyn, 2011). Their quality level and knowledge reserves will directly affect the teaching work. To grasp the focus of this study, professional development refers to the process of novice lecturers in their careers to improve their teaching skills in various ways.

By the year 2019, young lecturers in China under 35 years old accounted for 28.5% of the total, and most of them were novice lecturers. They play an important role in university teaching (Zheng, 2017). The Chinese government has recognized the importance of educators in educational development and quality improvement. In 2020, six departments including the Ministry of Education in China issued the Guiding Opinions on Strengthening the Development and Reform of Teaching Staff in Higher Education in the New Era, which emphasized the important position of teaching staff in higher education institutions and stated that universities must build strong lecturer development centers and improve the lecturer development organization system. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out relevant guidelines and policies to help them grow up quickly and improve the quality of teaching (Sumarsono, 2016).

Novice lecturers are adult learners and they may have special needs and requirements. Adult learning theory (Knowles, 1978; Merriam, 2018; Willis, 2021) emphasizes that experience is the most abundant resource for adult learners; they need personalized learning and have learning motivation when learning needs to be met. Scholars such as Knowles (1978) summarized that adult actively learn to meet their own needs in the learning process; adults greatly need self-direction and adult learners need personalized learning. He combined the lifelong learning habits with learning theory. For novice lecturers, professional development policies and programs should take into consideration the achievement outcomes, motivation, instruction, feedback, and efficiency.

They already have a certain amount of experience, and they need to connect their learning with previous experience. Moreover, novice lecturers are goaloriented; they know what they want to achieve. Learning has to apply to their work to be valuable to their professional development. The adult learning theory used in this study can explain the experience of novice lecturers in early teaching

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and their perceptions in professional development practices, and clarify the importance of policies and programs for the transition of novice lecturers.

2. Literature Review 2.1 Overview of Professional Development Professional development as a concept in occupation has been used in many contexts and there are multiple conceptualizations that different scholars use to refer to professional development. Weir (2017) regards professional development as a lifelong learning process. One of the hallmarks of professionals is continuous learning throughout their careers (Weir, 2017).

Wasserman and Migdal (2019) refer to professional development like education and training. Moreover, they point out that training is a learning activity that focuses on acquiring skills and knowledge for their duties. Caena (2011) states that, in addition to initial teacher training, professional development is also related to various activities, which can improve personal knowledge, skills, and abilities. Similar to Caena's view, Day (2002) believes that professional development requires regular and planned-to-learn activities. These activities enable to enhance personal value and promote organizational development.

Evans (2014) makes a different point. He believes that professional development is closely related to personal attitude, behavior, and intelligence. Attitude is the true inner view of personal professional development. Behavior is a concrete manifestation of promoting professional development and intelligence is personal learning ability and reflection ability. In this study, it can be considered that professional development refers to novice lecturers acquiring new knowledge and teaching skills through training to enhance their ability, which may take different approaches.

The emphasis over recent years in research on lecturer professional development has shifted more in the direction of forms of professional development that are multi-faceted (Harris & Jones, 2019). Lecturer professional development is now regarded as a continuous process that begins during pre-service lecturer training and continues throughout an academic career (Harris & Jones, 2019). It is an ongoing process whereby lecturers acquire new subject knowledge and teaching method skills (Hallinger & Liu, 2016).

2.2 Challenges Faced by Novice Lecturers The problems and difficulties that novice lecturers faced in the beginning stage of work usually make them confused (Jeannin & Hallinger, 2018; Kim & Roth, 2011). Facing a large number of students, they need to stay focused for the next few hours (Wang, 2011). They often encounter shocks in the first years of teaching when they realize that the principles they have learned before may not be conducive to the real class (Wang, 2011). Tlali (2018) took the National University of Lesotho as a case. Through interviews with several lecturers at the university, he found that there are many challenges in the professional development of lecturers, such as lack of recognition, lack of resources, lack of human resources, delay in policy approval and implementation, and poor attendance of courses. Jeannin and Hallinger (2018) believe that, for

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inexperienced lecturers, teaching in different classes will make them feel uncomfortable because they do not understand students’ expectations and learning styles. They may all be unprepared for a variety of learning needs and preferences in the classroom (Jeannin & Hallinger, 2018). Ibrahim et al. (2013) believe that, although novice lecturers have certain content knowledge, they still lack teaching skills, especially in the first years of work, because the first few years’ experiences lay the foundation for their professional development and career planning.

In China, most of these novice lecturers have just graduated from university and are full of curiosity and fantasies about the profession of lecturers (Zheng, 2017).

Shi (2015) states that the most common challenge of novice lecturers is that they are difficult to adapt to new roles quickly, such as pressure on work and life, slow transition from student role to educator role, lack of education and teaching experience, and insufficient practical ability. They experience difficulties in adapting to the university culture, either due to the lack of support of relevant training or by teaching subjects that they did not receive training for (Ulvik et al., 2009). Boyd and Lawley (2009) explain that, as a newcomer, novice lecturers need to adapt to many changes, such as new colleagues, new processes, new skills, and most importantly, how to adapt to the current work. Besides, some novice lecturers have never received systematic teacher education; they have limited experience in teaching practice (Shi, 2015). The limitation of teaching strategies and wisdom will make them puzzled. Good teaching requires a variety of skills and traits. These skills need to be improved by participating in various practical activities for training and learning.

2.3 Professional Development Policies and Practices of Novice Lecturers Various countries in the world adopt different policies to ensure the professional development of educators (Ajani, 2021). The development of professional standards frameworks became a trend first in the UK. Different universities have different policies toward the professional development of their lecturers, but they are all aimed at helping them. At Oxford University, there is a program called Preparation for Learning and Teaching Program which consists of half or full-day seminars and deals with practical teaching within a subject. This is a prerequisite for teaching in collegiate discipline groups (Fredericks, 2017). For novice lecturers at the University of Roehampton, the university provides a program called the University of Roehampton Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. This course is for newly appointed early-career academics and particular focus is on teaching, learning, and action research. The program also includes observation of teaching by student consultants (Turner et al., 2013). In Australia, the University of Melbourne prepares an Induction Training Program for novice lecturers. They need to attend an online induction training course, where they can conduct group teaching and assistance in a laboratory environment. They are also recommended to participate in induction training provided by the faculties and graduate schools to prepare for a particular disciplinary setting (Hicks et al., 2010). The Young Lecturer Development Program of Peking University in China is also a good reference (PKU, 2016). The purpose of the program is to organize training and research

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activities on pedagogy for novice young lecturers. This program will be implemented every year, and novice young lecturers can complete the credits within three years. This program includes four modules with a total of 96 credits.

3. Research Purpose Current studies on novice lecturer professional development only reveal the socialization process of novice lecturers and lacked an understanding of the needs among novice lecturers (Yu & Abdullah, 2020; Sumarsono, 2016). This topic is crucial since it contributes to encouraging university leaders to design suitable programs for professional development for novice lecturers. In addition, for novice lecturers, the findings could help them understand the importance of professional development policies and practices, especially their contribution to improving individual capabilities. They could actively participate in professional development programs and activities organized by the university according to their actual situation, thereby promoting professional development.

At the institution level, the findings may enable the university management to rethink and revise some aspects of the existing organizing and managing the professional development after considering novice lecturers’ perspectives on training and capability development.

Therefore, based on the above, the main purpose of this study is to explore the practice of professional development from the perspective of novice lecturers at a public university in China. Thus, the main questions guiding this study are what are the feelings and experiences of novice lecturers as they participate during the professional development practices?

4. Methodology This study chose to conduct a qualitative case study because it allows researchers to focus on the meaning that participants give to the phenomenon under investigation (Marshall & Rossman, 2014; Merriam & Tisdell, 2015).

Merriam and Tisdell (2015) state that qualitative research is to understand how people interpret their experiences, how they construct their worlds, and what meaning they attribute to their experiences. The suitability of a qualitative method is further underscored by the aim of this study which seeks to explore the feelings of professional development practices among novice lecturers at the selected public university. The case can be a set of individuals bounded in time and place (Yin, 2017). A case study research design (Yin, 2017) was used in this study as an approach to finding out the practices of professional development in the selected university. In this holistic single case study, the researcher selected a university to explore the feelings and experiences of novice lecturers which could provide a detailed understanding of this specific topic. In this section, sample selection, data collection methods, and data analysis were discussed.

4.1 Sample Selection This study was conducted at University STN, which is a public university in Guangxi Province of China. The reason for choosing this university is that novice lecturers in Chinese public universities could have more development

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opportunities. Another reason is that this university is a newly-built undergraduate university focusing on teaching. Therefore, selecting this university will make this study more meaningful. In a qualitative study, the size of the sample within a case is relevant to the purpose of the study, and the main factor is not the number of participants, but the ability of each participant to contribute to the development of insight and understanding of the study (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). Therefore, this study used purposive sampling to select a tentative number of participants from the university. Purposive sampling is a method whereby the researcher subjectively chooses who to include in the research based on their experience and ability to provide necessary data (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). Thus, five novice lecturers from different faculties were selected and assigned pseudonyms, Ming, Wei, Song, Kong, and Wang, instead of their real names. All of them have less than three years of teaching experience in higher education institutions. Moreover, their fields are different (Table 1).

Table 1: Background information of participants Name

Ming

Kong

Wang

Wei

Song

Age

28

28

27

32

30

Research field

Preschool Education

Marxist Philosophy

Chinese Linguistic Literature

Biology

Accounting

Teaching experience

2 years

1.5 years

2 years

1 year

3 years

Academic qualification

Master

Master

Master

PhD.

Master

4.2 Data Collection Methods In a qualitative study, the researcher, as the main research tool, plays an important role in the research process (Marshall & Rossman, 2014; Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). Thus, the researcher collected the data through documentation and semi-structured interviews. As the main source of data, documents in this study are the policies and plans related to professional development, as well as news report on the participation of novice lecturers in various activities. Policies and plans are the rules formulated by leaders to promote the professional development of novice lecturers. The news report about the participation of novice lecturers is the proof and evidence of their professional development.

Another method of data collection is semi-structured interviews. The interview questions developed by the researcher are based on the literature (Nguyen, 2019) and research questions. The duration of each participant interview is 60 to 80 minutes. Through interviews, the researcher could understand the current situation of novice lecturers and their true feelings about professional development practices.

4.3 Data Analysis According to Alhojailan (2012), qualitative research requires understanding and collecting different aspects and data. As proposed by Clarke and Braun (2013),

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thematic analysis provides researchers flexibility with the type of research questions; the type of data, such as in-depth interviews, documents and focus group discussions; the volume of data, and so on. Hence, thematic analysis were used in the study to analyse data, which is a qualitative analytic method for identifying, analysing, and reporting themes within data (Braun & Clarke, 2006; Kiger & Varpio, 2020).

Thematic analysis includes many steps. After the interview, the recorded materials and documents were organized and transcribed into computer files.

Next, the researcher listened to the interviews several times while transcribing the recordings of each participant. After that, the researcher read all transcripts and reviewed the entire record of the recorded interview to verify and match the true expression of the respondents. After doing the above, coding was performed. When coding the data, the researcher carefully read the entire transcripts repeatedly. Similar data, although expressed in different words, was coded similarly and then grouped. Then, the researcher used codes to mark important pieces of information related to the research purposes and questions.

After analysing the transcript many times, the themes were established through units of information consisting of phrases, sentences, and segments of the text.

The researcher determined some broad themes based on these information units first, then reviewed the transcription and analyzed the data to make specific themes more obvious. These specific themes are relevant to this study. To enhance the trustworthiness, peer review and member checks will be used to make this study more credible. The researcher discussed all aspects of this study with professors or colleagues and asked them to comment. The transcripts were sent to participants so that they could verify the contents and give feedback.

5. Findings In this selected university, all programs and activities related to the professional development of novice lecturers are organized and managed by the Academic Affairs Office and the Human Resources Office. In March 2019, the university issued the Young Lecturers' Teaching Capacity Enhancement Plan, which provides support and assistance to novice young lecturers through teaching competition, teaching ability training, establishing a mentorship system, and improving information technology application ability.

5.1 Teaching Competition Teaching competition is an important activity to show the teaching ability and skills of novice lecturers. The purpose of the teaching competition is to promote interaction and communication between novice lecturers, which helps to create a good atmosphere for teaching in the whole university. The competition is organized by the Academic Affairs Office once or twice a year. A faculty-level competition will be held by each faculty, and then outstanding lecturers will be selected to participate in the final held by the university. Novice lecturers who perform well in the finals will be commended and recommended for higherlevel competitions.

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The competition consists of three parts. The first part is teaching design, which accounts for 20%. Teaching design refers to the assumption and arrangement of teaching activities. It mainly includes course name, teaching objective, teaching idea, course resources, teaching content, teaching key and difficult points, teaching methods and tools, teaching arrangement, teaching evaluation, preview task, and assignments. Lecturers have to prepare the teaching design of the course, which will then be graded by the judges. The second part is classroom teaching, accounting for 75%. Lecturers extract lecture sections in advance and then conduct a 20-minute lecture. The judges evaluate the teaching content, teaching organization, teaching language, teaching style, and teaching characteristics. Lecturers need to prepare the slides of the courses, and the classroom teaching content should be consistent with the teaching design content submitted. The third part is teaching reflection. After the end of the classroom teaching, lecturers combine with the classroom teaching practice of this section, from the aspects of teaching philosophy, teaching methods, and teaching process, in the 3-5 minutes given to reflect and make a statement to the judges; this part accounts for 5%. Finally, the lecturer's total score is based on the combination of three parts.

Through interviews, Ming and Song, two novice lecturers who have participated in the competition, state their views: “The teaching competition for me is like a double-edged sword. It gives me pressure, but it also encourages me. Through the competition, I could find my shortcomings and learn the advantages of other excellent lecturers.” (Ming) “I won a good place in last year's competition, which builds confidence.

The competition is a platform for lecturers to communicate and learn from each other.” (Song) Ming and Song both believed that participating in the teaching competition helped them. They regard competition as an effective way to evaluate their professional development. Through the comments of the judges, they can improve and make themselves more experienced. This is a process of continuous reflection and continuous improvement (Geng & Yu, 2021; Shu, 2012). The other three lecturers have not participated in the competition, but they all support this activity.

“I missed this year's competition, but I am ready for next year.” (Kong) “The competition is very attractive to me; it can help me adapt to teaching as soon as possible.” (Wei) “Although it is a form of competition, its purpose is to help novice lecturers to develop their professional skills. I didn’t participate this year because I was not confident enough.” (Wang) Based on a clear understanding, these three lecturers have not yet participated in the teaching competition. They know their current shortcomings, but they all say they will participate once they are ready. In addition, through the news report

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related to the teaching competition for novice lecturers held by the university, it can be seen that the teaching competition could arouse the enthusiasm of novice lecturers and the participation of lecturers is very high.

5.2 Teaching Ability Training The purpose of teaching ability training is to help novice lecturers master the preparation requirements of teaching plans, syllabus, and teaching design. The ways of teaching ability training include workshops, seminars, classroom observation, and so on. Novice lecturers need to grasp the course positioning, correctly analyze and process the teaching materials, and complete the teaching design with high quality. In addition, they must be proficient in the basic skills and teaching methods of classroom teaching and conduct evaluation and reflection.

At the university level, the Office of Academic Affairs organizes three to four workshops and seminars every year. The topics of these workshops and seminars are pedagogy, teaching research, teaching plan writing, teaching organization, and management. Because the university is a normal university that focuses on undergraduate teaching, teacher educators must understand all of these to teach students more effectively. At the faculty level, each lecturer is obliged to observe at least six other lessons every semester. The contents of the observation are mainly the lecturer's preparation, teaching plans, use of multimedia courseware, teaching content, teaching methods, and teaching attitude. Observation notes are written in a notebook that needs to be submitted at the end of each semester, which will be archived and managed by the faculty.

Teaching ability training is a basic activity to enhance professional development and every novice lecturer needs to participate.

“I always participate in these workshops and seminars organized by the Office of Academic Affairs. The professors who instruct us are all experienced professors in the field.” (Kong) “My field is biology. I lack knowledge of pedagogy and educational psychology; it was quite stressful when I first started teaching. However, as long as there is a pedagogical workshop, I will participate. This helps me.” (Wei) “I hope that the university invites more professors to instruct us because workshops could really help me.” (Ming) Kong, Song, and Ming share the same views on workshops and seminars. Both the workshop and the seminar provided help for their professional development. The interactive part of the workshop can give them a real sense of experience, which is the driving force for their progress (Cai et al., 2020).

Regarding classroom observation, lecturers have different views.

“To be frank, I feel that classroom observation is not very useful. Every time our notebook is submitted to the faculty, there is no feedback. This is a problem.” (Wei)

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“I think the significance of classroom observation lies in evaluating the lecturer, although I can learn from some experienced lecturers through classroom observation.” (Wang) “It can’t be said that classroom observation is not good, it is helpful. But I think it is not as helpful as workshop and seminar.” (Song) “This is a prescribed task; I can only say that I will complete it.” (Kong) As you can see from what the four lecturers said, they took a neutral attitude toward classroom observation, which was not fully affirmed like seminar and workshop. They don't think classroom observation is effective enough to help their professional development, but they still stick with it.

5.3 Mentorship University STN strongly encourages the implementation of the mentorship system, the purpose of which is to help novice lecturers familiarize themselves with the work as soon as possible and further improve the level of teaching and scientific research. Every year, the university will issue a notification that associate professors or above can voluntarily sign up to mentor novice lecturers.

The content of the mentoring includes teaching preparation, writing teaching plans, lectures, and evaluation. In addition, associate professors or above must also mentor or cooperate with the novice in applying for scientific research projects, and guide to write and publish more than one academic or teaching research paper. Novice lecturers can ask their mentors about teaching plans, academic and teaching questions. These five novice lecturers are all being mentored.

“My mentor is a very patient professor, and every time I communicate with him, I get all inspirations. He declared a project this year, and I joined in as a member.” (Ming) “I don't have much communication with my mentor, but whenever I asked her questions about teaching, she could answer them one by one.

For example, she told me to treat my students as friends so I wouldn't feel anxious.” (Kong) “My mentor often listens to my lecture in the classroom and gives me feedback, then tells me my weaknesses and shortcomings for improvement. He also guided me on how to apply for the project.”

(Wang) “I know that I am inexperienced in teaching, so I take the initiative to communicate with my mentor, and often listen to his lectures. Besides, I often invite him to listen to my lectures and give me opinions.” (Wei) “I think this mentoring is not very helpful to me. My mentor hardly guides me because of her busy work. She sometimes asks me to help her with trivial things, such as downloading papers.” (Song)

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From the experience of the above five novice lecturers, it is not difficult to see that the effectiveness of mentoring is inseparable from the interaction between novice lecturers and their mentors. Active mentors can give lecturers a full range of guidance and help them grow in a real sense. Some mentors are only nominal and do not guide the professional development of novice lecturers. Mentoring is an important approach to help novice employees grow quickly, and it is also widely used in other fields, such as doctors and technicians (Ramhurry, 2013).

However, how to make full use of the advantages of mentoring needs to be further explored.

5.4 Information Technology Application Ability Improvement Training The training of information technology applications aims to improve the ability of novice lecturers to acquire, communicate, process, and apply teaching information through the use of information technology. The training content includes multimedia courseware, micro-lectures, MOOC, etc. The training of information technology application ability focuses on the development of novice lecturers' information teaching ability. After each training session, each lecturer needs to submit excellent courseware or micro-class. The Academic Affairs Office will evaluate the participating lecturers. Those who fail the assessment will continue to participate in the next training session. The assessment results are filed by the Human Resources Office, the Academic Affairs Office, and the faculty, as one of the references for professional qualification recognition and job appointment of novice lecturers. Their views on this training are as follows.

“My students are normal students and they will work in kindergartens in the future. The ability to information technology applications is important for normal students. So, I have the responsibility to improve myself to better teach them.” (Ming) “I was very good at this when I was a student, so there is no challenge for me now. I will actively participate in the training organized by the university.” (Kong) “The training in information technology application is very helpful to me. I was not good at these at first, but after training, I can do better in this area.” (Wang) “I think the application of information technology is a necessary skill for university lecturers. The university organizes training to promote our skills, so I do participate.” (Wei) “I like this training very much. The application of information technology can be said to be my strong point and I also won a prize in the MOOC competition held in the province last year.” (Song) These five lecturers are all in favor of the training of information technology applications, and they are all willing to participate. The application of information technology in education adapts to the current trend of the times and can lay a good foundation for the work of lecturers. The use of information technology in education can help improve teaching efficiency and promote

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interaction between lecturers and students (Hbaci et al., 2021). Because modern educational technologies such as micro-lectures and MOOCs (Khalid et al., 2021; Wang et al., 2020) can display not only text, pictures, but also video and sound, and can be connected to the internet, they can make teaching content more vivid and interesting, and make it easier for students to understand (Wang et al., 2020).

6. Conclusion Based on the above findings, it can be concluded that the professional development practices of novice lecturers in this selected university mainly include teaching competitions, teaching ability training, mentoring, and information technology application ability training. Novice lecturers support these activities and believe that these programs and activities have provided help to their professional development. The teaching competition is a demonstration of the teaching effect of lecturers. It can not only inspire lecturers to devote more enthusiasm to teaching, but also improve their abilities by learning from excellent lecturers. Workshops and seminars in the teaching ability training are also important ways to help novice lecturers clarify the teaching tasks and improve their teaching skills. However, lecturers generally think that classroom observation, which is also one of the teaching ability trainings, is not very helpful. The consequences resulting from mentorship are determined by the relationship between the mentor and the novice lecturer.

However, most lecturers still affirm the help of mentoring. The application of information technology is an indispensable skill for university lecturers, and enhancing training in this area is of great benefit to novice lecturers.

7. Suggestions This study explores the professional development practices of novice lecturers at a selected public university in China, which not only enriches the theoretical knowledge on the development of novice lecturers’ professional development but also has practical significance for the management of the novice lecturers in universities. For theoretical, this study highlights some relevant professional development concepts from the perspective of novice lecturers, the application of adult learning theory indicates that professional development is a long process. For practical, this study is relevant to the management of universities.

Professional development of novice lecturers cannot be conducted without planning. To achieve the goal of novice lecturer professional development, universities need to encourage the deans of faculties, heads of units, and experts in the universities to participate in the process. At the same time, the university management should pay attention to the novice lecturers' views on professional development activities, and consider their feedback in the improvement of relevant policies and training, to formulate plans that meet the characteristics of novice lecturers and are beneficial to their development.

8. Limitations and Future Work In addition, this study has a potential weakness or limitations. Firstly, the researcher purposively sampled participants from one public university in China. Given the relatively small size of participants, the findings would be

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unique to themselves. Due to the large number of novice lecturers in universities, there must be more individualized problems. This means the policies in the university and the characteristics of those participants in this study are specific, so the findings might not be employed beyond the given settings. Therefore, the author hopes that future researchers may use other research designs, for example, use narrative to explore the lived experience of novice lecturers or use quantitative research to investigate the relationship between leadership practice and lecturer professional development.

Acknowledgements The author would like to thank all the participants in this study as well as the selected university.

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Appendix Interview Protocol Thank you for accepting to participate in this study. The purpose of this study is to explore the practice of professional development from the perspective of novice lecturers at a public university. During the interview, I want you to talk about your views and experiences of professional development practices. I have some broad questions for you but feel free to talk about anything that you want to about your experience. Thanks.

Background information Age

Degree/Qualification

Teaching subject

Years of teaching experience

No. 1 2 3

4

Interview questions What kind of programs and activities in your university?

Have you attended the professional development programs or activities?

If yes, tell me some specific actions.

If not, tell me why you didn’t attend.

What motivates you to participate in professional development programs and activities?

Do you feel that participating in programs and activities has improved your skills as a lecturer?

If so, what new knowledge and skills did you acquire from the training?

If not, why do you think these programs and activities do not promote your professional development?

5

Is there any follow-up by the organizer when after participating in the professional development programs and activities?

6

What do you suggest should be improved in the implementation of professional development programs and activities, and why?

7

In addition to these programs and activities, what other better programs or activities do you hope the university could provide?

8

Would you like to share anything other than the question we discussed on the topic?

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 10, pp. 133-153, October 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.10.8 Received Aug 02, 2021; Revised Oct 11, 2021; Accepted Oct 18, 2021

Life Sciences Teachers’ Views on Teaching SocioScientific Issues in Genetics using an Inquiry Approach Portia Ngwenya University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6685-2340 Lydia Mavuru University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9099-0746

Abstract. The study sought to establish teachers’ views about scientific inquiry in teaching genetics whilst addressing socio-scientific issues (SSIs). The argument was if teachers do not fully understand the holistic nature of scientific inquiry, it prevents them from using SSIs effectively to facilitate learners’ understanding of abstract concepts. The study focused on genetics as a topic with SSIs and with abstract concepts difficult to present in concrete materials. Therefore, the paper aimed to learn about Life Sciences teachers’ view in using scientific inquiry in teaching genetics whilst addressing socio-scientific issues. In an explanatory sequential mixed method research design, two questionnaires were administered to 100 Life Sciences teachers, to seek their views about scientific inquiry and understanding of socio-scientific issues respectively. Interviews were administered only to six teachers whose responses based on the analysis of data from questionnaires, were considered as informed, partially informed and naïve views. Lesson plans for selected teachers were analysed. The findings showed that the teachers were aware and appreciative of the inquiry-based approaches and socio-scientific issues embedded in genetics. The teachers however required extensive knowledge and skills on the procedures of inquiry that have to be employed when addressing socio-scientific in genetics. These findings inform teachers and teacher professional development programmes on the importance of context as the source of socio-scientific issues that tend to impact on learner understanding of concepts in topics such as genetics.

Keywords: genetics; scientific inquiry; Life Sciences; socio-scientific issues; teachers’ views

1. Introduction Learning of specific science concepts becomes meaningful and interesting to learners if it explains their life experiences (Kawasaki & Sandoval, 2020). A ©Authors This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

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deliberate use of scientific issues (socio-scientific issues) that require learners to engage in dialogue, discussion, and debate (Zeidler & Nichols, 2009) enables learners to engage with and understand abstract concepts. Previous studies have shown how teachers are constrained to address socio-scientific issues (SSIs) in their teaching because they view science as an objective body of knowledge free of values (Reis & Galvão, 2009); and some lack the pedagogical skills to deal with classroom discussions and debates that are stimulated by SSIs (Levinson & Turner, 2001). The lack of pedagogical skills was also noted by Marbach-Ad and Stavy (2009) who found that teachers struggle with connecting the values or morals engrained within learners during the teaching and learning of abstract topics to ensure holistic conceptualisation of the scientific content. It shows that the teachers lack an understanding of the nature of science (NOS) yet NOS is meant to show an epistemological stance teachers have.

Because several studies have focused on teachers’ acceptance of SSIs and their views about SSIs (Akbulut & Demir, 2020; Nida et al., 2021; Parr, 2013), the current study focuses on teachers’ views about the teaching of SSIs in genetics when using an inquiry approach. The argument is that whilst SSIs develop scientific literacy and bring the human aspect into science, i.e. its relevance and applicability in real life, the scientific inquiry approach affords the teachers the opportunity to engage learners in the construction of own knowledge without teachers imposing it on them. Scientific inquiry refers to the diverse processes through which science knowledge is produced and established as a result of the work of scientists (Hofstein & Lunetta, 2003; National Research Council [NRC], 2011). The integration of SSIs when teaching science requires innovation in selecting suitable teaching strategies to be employed (Foulk et al., 2020). To integrate SSIs, Foulk et al. (2020) designed a timeline activity in which science learners could use to determine how historical events have influenced the American people’s perceptions of nutrition. Such an activity helps teachers to integrate scientific concepts with real life events which can be economical, political or social in nature and it develops learners’ decision making in real life (Foulk et al., 2020).

In a study to determine whether specific SSIs could increase the connection between students, science and real-life problems, Vasconcelos et al. (2018) reported the use of inquiry-based learning wherein groups of students from Porto Santo in Portugal, solved a case of using sand and clay in skincare. In addition to attaining scientific concepts, the findings showed how the inquiry-based activity developed learners’ collaborative, communication, and argumentative skills (Vasconcelos et al., 2018). In addition, Vasconcelos et al. (2018) pointed out that such inquiry-based activities made learners to be critical, autonomous and creative, which Foulk et al. (2020) considered as essential competences for citizenship in society. The present study argues that if teachers do not fully understand the holistic nature of scientific inquiry, it prevents them from using SSIs effectively to facilitate learners’ understanding of abstract concepts. This is illustrated in the context of teaching genetics.

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1.1 Purpose of study Teachers’ perceptions on the teaching of SSIs affect their understanding and implementation of the curriculum, and ultimately impact on the decisions they make during planning and preparation of their teaching (Ekborg et al., 2012; Sadler & Zeidler, 2005). The purpose of the present study is to determine how inservice teachers view the teaching of abstract concepts in genetics (a topic embedded with SSIs) using inquiry approaches to foster meaningful understanding of abstract concepts in learners. It is through inquiry that teachers’ and learners’ attitudes can be transformed to allow for higher order reasoning and to help teachers address any misconceptions in learners. Consequently, the study was guided by the research question: How do teachers view the use of scientific inquiry in teaching genetics, whilst addressing socio-scientific issues?

2. Literature Review 2.1 Socio-scientific issues in science teaching and learning as a result of using SSIs have been described as authentic challenges in society which are connected to science (Owens et al., 2019). The SSIs in science emanate from the natural phenomena that try to connect scientific knowledge with the societal knowledge in answering scientific questions (Amos et al., 2017; Ariza et al., 2014). SSIs originate from the affective domain that influences teachers’ views when teaching topics or concepts that have a bearing on learner emotions, attitudes and values (Abeysekera & Dawson, 2015). These SSIs cannot be ignored in the Life Sciences classrooms because they are embedded in everyday life activities and experiences.

They are derived from social challenges that have an effect on humans and ultimately on science knowledge development (Zeidler et al., 2005).

Teaching SSIs is justified by several to an artificial & When addressed, SSIs engage learners in meaningful science learning as they require the use of evidence-based reasoning, and provide a context for understanding scientific information (Sadler, 2004; Zeidler, 2003). This is possible because learners develop a degree of moral reasoning when they discuss and evaluate ethical concerns before they make informed decisions in resolving real life problems (Zeidler & Nichols, 2009). SSIs in science are vastly becoming more prominent in effective science teaching and learning as a way of acknowledging that science should be contextual in nature (Reis & Galvão, 2009; Klassen, 2006; Rundgren & Rundgren, 2010). They are fundamental in the selection of activities or tasks to be done, which depends upon the teachers’ decision in the selection of material to scaffold learning (Reis & Galvão, 2009). As early as 1993, Schein (1993) attested that children continuously learn from the environment to which they are exposed. Teachers’ views about SSIs influence how science concepts are taught, conceptualised, and presented in the science classroom. Veugelers (2001) posited that SSIs are essential in developing learners into citizens that are critical thinkers, inquisitive about their environment, and are keen to solve societal problems.

Addressing SSIs also relates the subject content to the reality of what happens or is experienced in the society, hence developing scientific literacy among learners (Kolsto, 2001; Millar & Hunt, 2002; Monk & Dillon, 2000).

Addressing SSIs when teaching science concepts is one thing, but learners’ meaningful understanding is dependent on how the teachers scaffold knowledge

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from the known (SSIs) to the unknown (science knowledge) (Bosser, 2018).

Saunders and Rennie (2011) noted that there are immense socio-scientific dilemmas that affect Life Sciences topics like cloning, genetic engineering, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), genetic diseases and reproductive technologies that require learners to be more aware and develop skills in addressing these controversial topics. The controversy in these Life Sciences concepts emanate from SSIs which tend to generate conflict in the classroom (Hancock et al., 2019).

2.2 Teaching genetics, a topic with socio-scientific issues Genetics is the science of hereditary transmission from one organism to another where traits are inherited (Batten & White, 2014). This genetic transmission can either occur in plants or animals in the form of similar or different traits due to parental attributes. Genetic concepts e.g. deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) replication and mutations are abstract hence difficult to present in concrete materials. In a study carried out in South Africa, Kibuka-Sebitosi (2007) found that learners hold many misconceptions on genetics that relate to their lives. The sources of these misconceptions could also be pedagogical in nature in that the time between the presentation of some of the concepts in meiosis and those in genetics is too wide that learners forget and fail to make connections (Longden, 2010). Teachers should therefore use contextual materials that allow application and development of knowledge and inquiry skills that relate the concepts to learners’ experiences and the environment they live in (Pukkilla, 2004; Sousa, 2017).

Addressing SSIs in genetics entails that the teachers should facilitate or guide the development of scientific knowledge through debates, discussions, and use of real life scenarios (Zeidler & Nichols, 2009) to avert misconceptions that may arise. An example is when teaching cloning; teachers can guide learners to identify advantages and disadvantages of cloning whilst considering socially misconstrued ideas. Engaging learners in a discussion, and asking questions related to values or morality of cloning may promote critical thinking skills in learners. Globally, genetics has been taught through the use of debates, arguments, discussions, and story reflection (Klassen, 2006; Zeidler & Nichols, 2009). Smith and Wood (2016) compared the teaching of genetics to undergraduate students in the past with those in the present and the findings revealed a shift from traditional methods of lecturing to more learner-centred methods. When involved, learners’ interest, motivation and ultimately their achievement improve (Chu, 2008; Smith & wood, 2016). In a study to determine South African learners’ understanding about genetics and inheritance at grade 11 and 12 levels, Kibuka-Sebitosi (2007) found that there was a clash between the learners’ beliefs on inheritance and scientific perspectives. Such conflict arises when scientific knowledge is at loggerheads with learners’ preconceived ideas and beliefs particularly in concepts such as albinism, GMOs and cloning. Teachers need expert skills to address such issues for instance Nyamupangedengu (2015) showed how teachers could use “trigger incidents” that stimulate discussions, thereby developing critical thinking and reasoning in learners (p. 152). Such teaching strategies enhance learners’ inquiry skills as they get to ask more questions which lead to the development of higher meta-cognitive reasoning and understanding of abstract genetics concepts.

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The teaching of topics with SSIs (e.g. genetics) using inquiry, plays a crucial role in bridging the gap that exists between content knowledge teachers and learners possess and the contextual knowledge in the society (Amos et al., 2017; Saunders & Rennie, 2011). Teaching SSIs in science topics therefore requires learner autonomy afforded by inquiry-based approaches, which Pedaste et al. (2015) described as involving questioning, exploration, experimentation, interpretation and making conclusions. Addressing SSIs in genetics may be daunting to teachers particularly in classrooms where there is a multiplicity of cultures for example in the South African context. Previous studies showed that teachers faced many challenges when teaching genetics because of the abstract nature of the topic, complex terminologies associated with genetics, and differences in learners’ contextual knowledge (Saunders & Rennie, 2011).

2.3 Scientific inquiry as the conceptual framework The present study is underpinned by the scientific inquiry as the conceptual framework. In school science, learners use inquiry approaches to understand how scientists investigate the natural world (Crawford, 2014; Penn et al., 2019). As learners enact science inquiry, they collect and analyse scientific data through observations for example, make conclusions, provide explanations for evidence and communicate their findings to others (Crawford, 2014).

The NRC (2011) and Next Generation of Science Standards for K-12, have advocated for the use of inquiry to develop metacognitive reasoning among learners while considering the contextual environment. According to Harlen (2014) and Ariza et al. (2014) the inquiry-based approaches help learners to acquire the necessary social problem-solving skills, which include questioning, identifying the problem, investigating, evaluating and hence developing analytical skills. This is possible because inquiry is a form of constructivist/interactionist approach (Dewey, 1996) that strives to develop learners cognitively and socially (Bryan & Keys, 2001).

The current study presupposes that teaching SSIs in genetics through the use of inquiry-based approaches, will go a long way in improving learner understanding. Such a process will embrace the moral and value system essential for the development of more creativity and innovation among learners (Sadler et al., 2004). Teaching using inquiry does not only involve experimentation in a laboratory but can include the use of other sources to evoke the rise of new questions in science that can then be solved in relation to various societal issues (Amos & Levinson, 2018; Galano et al., 2016; Sousa, 2017). Inquiry provides an opportunity for each individual learner to have different experiences, thereby catering for diverse attitudes, values, ethics, beliefs and epistemologies (Saunders & Rennie, 2011). The process may probably alleviate the problem raised by Levinson and Turner (2001) who noted that teachers find it difficult to teach science while addressing SSIs that affect learner understanding in the science classroom. In support, Klassen (2006) indicated that if contextual knowledge (SSIs) is incorporated in science teaching, it develops critical thinking in learners particularly when teachers use inquiry-based approaches and activities that holistically develop learners emotionally, socially, and in terms of the scientific

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knowledge. Figure 1 illustrates how the use of inquiry approaches in addressing SSIs in genetics, can develop learners holistically.

Figure 1: Holistic development through the blending of SSI and inquiry approach The model in Figure 1 was developed by the researchers (authors of this article) using various literature sources (e.g. Ratcliffe & Grace, 2003; Hancock et al., 2019) to explain how SSIs in genetics can be addressed using the inquiry approach. The blending ensures the misconceptions emanating from the social contexts learners bring from their upbringing, can be addressed through inquiry practical investigations which enable deeper understanding of scientific concepts in learners (Zeidler, 2003; Ratcliffe & Grace, 2003). The use of inquiry approaches whilst addressing SSIs transforms learners’ attitudes towards the subject and topic (transformation of the affective domain), which normally is an ignored area since most teachers focus on the cognitive domain.

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The authors assume that an integration of SSIs in genetics teaching will enhance the development of morals, values and ethics in learners (Abeysekera & Dawson, 2015; Bryan & Keys, 2001; Klassen, 2006). The rationale is that the blending of inquiry and SSIs enables teachers to develop effective pedagogical approaches and cut the amount of time they spend in teaching a particular topic. By establishing how teachers view the use of scientific inquiry in teaching genetics, whilst addressing socio-scientific issues, the present study is a precursor to the development of teacher professional development programmes on the teaching of SSIs using inquiry approaches.

3. Methodology The study is located within pragmatic paradigm where the world is viewed as both real and socially constructed (Morgan, 2014). It follows an explanatory sequential mixed method research design (Creswell, 2014) in which the researchers first collected quantitative data, analysed the data, and then used the results in formulating questions used in collecting qualitative data from fewer individuals through interviews (Creswell, 2014; Subedi, 2016). The design was suited to this study as the quantitative data on teachers’ views about SSIs and inquiry approach was explained by some of the findings from qualitative data.

3.1 Selection of participants From the Johannesburg high school Life Sciences teachers, a group of 100 teachers was randomly selected, 50 from township schools (poorly resourced) and 50 from suburban schools (well resourced). The schools had a pass rate below 60% in Life Sciences. In the context of South Africa where the study was undertaken, the differences between township and suburban schools is that in addition to differences in resource availability township schools have larger class sizes (> 45) compared to suburban schools (≤ 35) (Msila, 2009). It was important to determine these teachers’ teaching patterns and approaches from the two contexts as this could have had an impact on learner performance. The sample was suitable for this study due to the high levels of diversity of teachers and learners in the schools in terms of language, values, ethnic, and cultural differences, which could influence the SSIs they held.

3.2 Data collection, instruments and analysis 3.2.1 Administration of questionnaires To elicit teachers’ understanding about scientific inquiry, only the first six questions of open ended questions of the Views of Scientific Inquiry (VOSI) instrument (Schwartzet al., 2008) (Appendix 1), were administered to the 100 inservice Life Sciences teachers. In addition, a questionnaire (Appendix 2), which sought the teachers’ understanding of SSIs in genetics and their views about the teaching of SSIs using inquiry-based approaches, was administered. All questions sought open-ended responses from teachers, which ensured teacher autonomy in the reasoning and thinking, hence the teachers’ responses were envisaged to be unbiased and reliable (Kothari, 2004). Both questionnaires were piloted first with 20 teachers who were not part of the participants and the results used to modify the clarity of the wording in the questionnaire items.

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Data from both questionnaires were analysed using the VOSI rubric with a number of possible responses for each category: naïve- 1; partially informed- 2; and informed- 3. If the responses did not resonate with the accepted views, they were deemed as naïve and were allocated a score of 1. A response was awarded a score of 2 for the partially informed view category if it had some aspects or contradictory perspective in light of the desired answers. To score 3 for the informed category, the response had to correspond with the targeted aspect of scientific inquiry, socio-scientific issues or the teaching of socio-scientific issues using inquiry. The two researchers for the present study and a science education specialist engaged in prior validation of 33 participants’ responses to the questionnaires by reading through the transcripts and scored the teachers’ responses independently using the scoring rubric, then compared the scores assigned in order to establish inter-coder reliability (Leedy & Ormrod, 2014). By the end of this process the three independent coders, attained an inter-coder reliability above 80% agreement. The remaining 67 transcripts were then analysed by the researchers. The scores were then analysed using the IBM SPSS 26 software to generate descriptive statistics.

3.2.2 Administration of interviews The results from the analysis of data from questionnaires were stratified into informed, partially informed and naïve views. A purposive stratified sampling technique was used to identify two teachers (one from township and the other from suburban school) from each stratum, and follow-up semi-structured interviews (Tongco, 2007), were administered to the six teachers individually. The interviews determined how the teachers’ views influenced their instructional conceptions when teaching genetics whilst addressing SSIs using inquiry approaches. Qualitative data was essential in authenticating the data from the questionnaire responses given, hence making the data more realistic in nature to limit biases from some of the responses (Pluye & Hong, 2014). Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim.

3.2.3 Analysis of lesson plans Six lesson plans from the six interviewed teachers were analysed to authenticate the information from the questionnaires and interviews. The teaching strategies, examples and activities planned for the lessons were analysed to assess teachers’ willingness to address SSIs in the genetics concepts to be taught. Textual data from both interviews and lesson plans were coded using manual coding (Saldana, 2009). They were then categorised using the three scales that indicated teachers’ views as naïve, mixed and informed.

3.2.4 Validity and reliability The use of different data collecting methods triangulated data and illuminated the validity and reliability of the data as issues raised in the questionnaires were authenticated by what the teachers said in the interviews and what they wrote in their lesson plans (Abeysekera & Dawson, 2015). As such, the views teachers held about scientific inquiry in teaching genetics, a topic embedded with SSIs were explicitly determined. Any identified discrepancies required administering a second round of interviews to ascertain them and only one participant warranted

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a second round of interviews. Ethical considerations were adhered to as stipulated by the Research Ethics Committee.

4. Results The results on the teachers’ views about scientific inquiry in teaching genetics while addressing socio-scientific issues are presented using three subheadings, which are: Teachers’ understandings of scientific inquiry; Teachers’ understandings of socio-scientific issues; and Teachers’ understandings of addressing socio-scientific issues embedded in GMOs a genetics concepts embedded with SSIs. 4.1 Teachers’ understandings of scientific inquiry There were more teachers who held informed views about what scientific inquiry is (97.7%) and knowledge of how it could be used in teaching genetics (90.9%) compared to those who held informed views about the sequence of scientific steps (31.8%). The teachers who indicated that the inquiry approach requires a series of sequential steps that cannot be changed despite the changes in the contextual knowledge acquired (68.2%), showed a rigid way of doing scientific inquiry. This was categorised as naïve because methods and sequencing of steps depend on the aims and objectives investigated at a particular time. These teachers did not consider that scientific inquiry steps can resume at any step depending on the context that is being investigated. For example, a scientist can start by analysing already collected data and make inferences. Table 2 shows an example of an analysis of some of the teachers’ responses to the question: If several teachers in different contexts ask the same questions and use the same procedure, will they arrive at the same conclusion?

Table 1: An example of analysis of teacher responses Teachers’ pseudonyms

Responses

Curtis

Yes, the principles of scientific inquiry are the same hence the outcome will be the same.

Use of same questions using the same procedure therefore conclusions should be the same.

I don’t think so because they are asking the same question coming from different contexts Yes but it depends on the knowledge and skill of the teacher

Tebogo

Neo

Theodore

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Teachers’ scored views 1

Reasons for the scores

Naïve view. The teacher did not consider the influence of the contextual knowledge influences.

1

Naïve view. The teacher’s response lacks consideration of individual views, contexts or the resources that can give different results.

3

Informed view because the teacher is aware of the influence emanating from different contexts

2

Partially informed view because the teacher’s knowledge and skills are not the only things that affect the development of contextual knowledge. Materials and learner knowledge influence the outcomes.

142

The finding that some teachers have partially informed and naïve views has implications for the manner in which they design scientific inquiry activities for their learners. These teachers could give learners rigid steps to follow without considering learners’ autonomy.

4.2 Teachers’ understandings of socio-scientific issues Teachers’ views about socio-scientific issues embedded in genetics are important as teachers’ views influence the manner in which they teach the concepts. Table 2 presents the distribution of teachers’ views about each question.

Table 2: Teachers’ understandings of socio scientific issues in the topic albinism

1. Learners’ environment influences content and material taught in genetics 2. The topic genetics considers learners’ diverse context 3. Instructional time should be spent teaching SSIs 4. Scientific inquiry is the best way to teach SSIs 5. How albinism can be taught in a class where there is an albino child 6. Do you think the affected learner (learner with albinism) will take offence? If so how can you minimise the discomfort of the learner(s)?

Average

Naïve % 15.9

Partially informed % 0

Informed % 84.1

18.2

25

56.8

11.4 6.8 9.1

9.1 13.6 11.4

79.5 79.5 79.5

15.9

4.5

79.5

12.9

10.6

76.5

Table 2 shows that teachers held more informed views about socio-scientific issues (average of 76.5%) compared to their informed views about scientific inquiry (average 72.73%) in the previous section. This could be because socioscientific issues are engrained in their everyday life experiences as members of the society. They are therefore cautious of them as they struggle in their classrooms when dealing with such issues. There was however a high percentage (43.2%) of naïve and partially informed views in response to question 2 compared to all the questions. The question required teachers to share their views on whether the South African Life Sciences curriculum considers learners’ diverse/multiplicity of context with regard to the topic genetics. A point to note is that in one of its specific aims the curriculum stipulates the importance of “understanding of applications of Life Sciences in everyday life” (DBE, 2011, p. 13). In the content area the curriculum only refers to consequences of abnormal meiosis in the case of Down Syndrome and harmful mutations in the case of conditions such as albinism.

Nothing is however mentioned about how the teachers can navigate such sensitive issues in the classroom. Hence the curriculum is silent about how the teaching of SSIs should be implemented in the classrooms, leaving individual teachers to identify the suitable strategies and activities by themselves. In the interviews the teachers bemoaned the insensitivity displayed by the Life Sciences curriculum when dealing with diversity in the classroom. An example given was that the curriculum is silent about how teachers should teach the concept albinism considering that there could be learners whose family members are albinos and let alone when there is a learner in the classroom with the condition. Some

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teachers pointed out that genetic disorders such as albinism are very sensitive and are controversial concepts of genetics to teach. An example is depicted by one participant who said, “I am a human being and in as much as I want to effectively teach these concepts, there are things that cannot be discussed due to community beliefs about albinism.”

Four teachers who were less experienced (less than five years’ teaching experience) and two teachers with 11 to 20 years’ experience, displayed naïve views to the question: There is an albino child in your Life Sciences class, how would you approach the concept of albinism in that class? The teachers’ responses were that it is important to ask the ‘affected’ learner to explain their condition to the rest of the class. This was categorised as a naïve perspective due to lack of respect and consideration of the individual learner or the psychological, emotional or social impact this kind of action could have on the learner. One of the teachers pointed out in the interviews that how a teacher introduces and engages learners when teaching controversial topics makes a difference. The teacher said, “It’s the way the teacher does it, you have to be sensitive and you can never use a child in a class as an example.” Three of the interviewed teachers mentioned the importance of engaging learners in research, discussion, debate and even argumentation when teaching a controversial topic so that learners can share their view points.

Such activities help learners to search for information, engage with ideas from other learners and at the end determine the most appropriate explanation to what they will be dealing with. One participant gave an example of beliefs learners bring to the Life Sciences classroom which the teacher alone cannot tackle. She said that several of her learners once said, “Ma’am do you realise that the spirits or souls of albinos don’t go anywhere after death, they get caught up in the spiritual world.” Another participant mentioned that her learners thought that albinism is a curse on the parents of such a child. Given such beliefs, it means learners with albinism will be isolated and stigmatised. Such findings show that there are many SSIs embedded in the topic genetics. If such concepts are not explored using the appropriate methods, learners may remain with these naïve ideas, which can be very dangerous particularly in today’s society where there is a lot of discrimination and violence against certain groups of people.

4.3 Addressing socio-scientific issues using inquiry approach The questions given to teachers were meant to assess their views on how socioscientific issues could be addressed. From the teachers’ responses, one could deduce their orientation with regard to the use of inquiry-based approaches in their teaching of the concepts as they explained how they handled different ideas on genetics brought to the classroom. Table 3 shows the distribution of teachers’ views about addressing socio-scientific when teaching concepts on genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The teachers were responding to questions asked in the SSIs questionnaire about scenarios of two groups of researchers. One group of researchers presents the benefits of GMOs in terms of quality food taste and disease resistant crops hence saving on pesticide usage. The other group of researchers insists that there have not been conclusive studies to show the longterm effects of GMOs on both plants and animals.

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Table 3: Teachers’ understandings on the teaching of GMOs using inquiry approach Item

Naïve %

Informed %

6.8

Partially informed % 29.5

1. How would you explain to the learners the differences in the claims made by the two groups of researchers on GMOs? 2. One teacher decided to task learners to record the views of their community members about the GMOs and compiled a report. Is this a scientific inquiry?

3. Do you think that the strategy recommended above is applicable in South African context? Why and why not, give reasons and examples.

4. Is it important to discuss ethical issues associated with the process of genetic engineering with the learners? Explain your answer.

5. If learners bring in their conflicting views in the classroom, would you consider the discussion and analysis as scientific inquiry? Explain your answer.

Average

18.2

6.8

75

59.1

6.8

34.1

4.5

-

95.5

4.5

6.8

88.6

18.6

9.98

71.4

63.6

Whilst the majority of the teachers displayed informed views about the teaching of GMOs (an average of 71.4%), there was quite a number (59.1%) who held naïve views about the applicability of the suggested teaching strategy in the South African context. The strategy required learners to interview and record community members’ views about GMOs. In the interviews when asked about the usefulness of such a strategy, most of the teachers were quick to argue that people in communities were not well informed about GMOs, hence learners would not collect reasonable information. It shows that the teachers do not have confidence in the level of knowledge community members possess, which is unfortunate because teachers are making decisions based on assumptions. Such attitudes undermine the role the community plays in the education of learners.

Another point is that these teachers display naïve views about research because by carrying out an inquiry, you do not expect to get only the results you expected and that even from unexpected responses, learners can obtain valuable information.

Most teachers held informed views on the advantages and disadvantages of genetic engineering while citing examples such as “the need to cater for the demand in food production, genetic engineering causing some diseases, genetic engineering having negative effects on health, and also causing genetic mutation of plants.” Only a few mixed views were noted in relation to the curriculum, when answering the question on whether “the strategy of teaching socio-scientific issues using inquiry is applicable in South African context.” The responses included the idea that the strategy depends on the society; the knowledge on curriculum content intensity; time frames; and assessments. The issues about diversity of societal knowledge were not taken into consideration.

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Based on the analysis of teachers’ lessons, the teachers held informed views about the methods used in teaching SSIs and their application in teaching and learning.

They gave examples like the use of videos, technology or internet in the Life Sciences classrooms. Teachers however cited the availability of resources, sizes of the classrooms, experience, technology, support systems from home, school or community, learners’ interests and attitudes, as important.

During interviews teachers had various views when asked the question: do you think that the methods used in teaching SSIs, should be universal across the country?

Those who showed informed views argued that because there are different teaching and learning environments, teaching should cater for the different contexts by using examples familiar to the learners. For instance, one of the teachers said, “If teaching at a school in the coast, then use examples from the marine world.” Those who opted for universal teaching methods argued that learners write similar examinations at the end of the year, which do not provide for the different contexts in which learners are taught. Such a justification shows that the teachers do not realise that the use of contextual materials allow learners to apply and develop knowledge and inquiry skills that relate the concepts to learners’ experiences and the environment they live in. One of the teachers, indicated that learners have inquisitive minds therefore, it is imperative that learners be engaged in inquiry activities to ensure knowledge acquisition. Some of the ‘prerequisite characteristics’ of a Life Sciences teacher mentioned by the teachers included: being an inquisitive teacher; having the ability to elicit learners’ thought processes before teaching any content; and considering diverse learners’ context. The teachers’ responses are aligned to the scientific inquiry-based approaches.

Other teachers pointed out that scientific inquiry engages learners in discovering knowledge by themselves. The teachers justified this particularly when teaching controversial topics that are embedded with socio-scientific issues where learners bring in different ideological thoughts and practices based on their upbringing.

One teacher pointed out that, “There are SSIs that when presented from the teachers’ perspective, might have an impact on some of the learners’ rights within the classroom”. The teacher suggested indulging or engaging learners in learnercentred discussions, such as argumentation, giving learners an opportunity to debate issues and explore their thought processes, whilst the teacher acts as an observer and facilitator or guide. One participant reiterated, “Learners brainstorm on these socio-scientific issues and get to understand the underlying scientific ideas inherent in those issues”. One of the teachers however cautioned that there is need for the teacher to be attentive and be wary of learners who might take issues personally and get offended in the teaching and learning process.

5. Discussions The majority of teachers had informed views about addressing socio-scientific issues in the topic genetics. This was shown in an example where 84.1% of the teachers thought that learners’ environment influences the content and material that can be taught in genetics. This is attested by the majority of teachers (95.5%) who held informed views about the importance of discussing with the learners

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the ethical issues associated with the process of genetic engineering. Such findings are supported by previous researchers who noted that the teaching of topics embedded with SSIs using inquiry plays a crucial role in bridging the gap that exists between content knowledge of the teachers and learners with that of contextual knowledge in the society (e.g. Amos et al., 2017; Saunders & Rennie, 2011). It is through inquiry that teachers’ and learners’ attitudes can be transformed to allow for higher-order reasoning as SSIs are fundamental in developing conceptual understanding, particularly in the topic genetics (Schalk, 2012).

Whilst the majority of the teachers displayed informed views about the inquirybased approaches, there were some teachers who showed naïve views. For instance, when asked if they would consider discussion and analysis as scientific inquiry when learners bring in their conflicting views in the classroom, the teachers who showed naïve views indicated that they would not consider it at all.

They viewed discussion and analysis as intrusive methods particularly when dealing with sensitive issues. Such teacher sentiments are shared by Juntunen and Aksela (2013), who found that inquiry approaches are the most effective methods but the main issue is on how teachers use them in teaching abstract topics like genetics to scaffold learning. These teachers’ views could be because of the context in which they find themselves in for instance Pope (2017) pointed out that issues of ethics, morality and religion play an role in the pedagogical practices of teachers in the classroom.

The majority of teachers displayed naïve understanding about the use of inquiry approaches in teaching GMO, a concept with SSIs. They indicated that engaging learners in recording the views of their community members is not a scientific inquiry. This indicated that teachers’ reasoning on inquiry in teaching genetics is based on testing in a laboratory to prove an idea without developing critical thinking and reasoning (Setty & Kosinki-Collins, 2015; Tsai, 2018; Amos et al., 2017; Ariza et al., 2014). There were a few teachers who were sceptical about using inquiry approaches such as engaging learners in an argumentation when addressing controversial concepts in genetics thereby denying learners an opportunity to make informed decisions. This defeats the affordances of inquirybased approach which can develop metacognitive critical thinking and reasoning in learners (Crawford 2014; Balim & Ozcan, 2014). The teachers’ naïve views are of concern considering that teachers’ views on the moral challenges associated with teaching genetics may affect the teaching of these abstract concepts (Zeidler & Nichols, 2009). It is however important to consider these teachers’ naïve views as in some cultures, argumentation is considered confrontational which Hewson (2015) considered unAfrican as it goes against the African values of communal sharing and respecting of others. It could be that these teachers felt that argumentation goes against the essence of harmony in their science classrooms.

When asked about their thoughts on whether the teaching of socio-scientific issues should be universal across the country, teachers with informed views argued for contextualised teaching. The findings from these teachers are in line with the previous studies by Abeysekera and Dawson (2015), Sousa (2017) and Kibuka-

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Sebitosi (2007) who found that the use of contextual knowledge that learners bring to the classroom, fosters metacognitive reasoning among learners. On the other hand, the teachers who held naïve views argued for universal teaching since learners would write the same examinations at the end of year. In this particular case, teachers showed a lack of understanding on how controversial issues can be handled in the classroom and is likely to negatively affect learners’ acquisition and understanding of scientific knowledge (Setty & Kosinki- Collins, 2015).

The teachers were forthcoming when it comes to teaching strategies that foster inquiry-based learning in the Life Sciences classroom particularly when it comes to giving learners autonomy to engage with their thought processes. Teachers indicated the utility value of inquiry strategies when addressing socio-scientific issues and brainstorming on controversial concepts such as albinism and GMOs. The strategies mentioned included learner-centred discussions, use of argumentation and debate whilst the teacher acts as an observer and facilitator or guide. This shows how scientific inquiry is multifaceted in nature and how it has become one of the most advocated approaches for science teaching and learning in today’s classrooms (Harlen, 2014; Ariza et al. 2014; Lederman, Lederman & Antink, 2013).

6. Pedagogical Implications and Recommendations The study sought to establish Life Sciences teachers’ views on the use of scientific inquiry in teaching genetics, whilst addressing socio-scientific issues. The findings showed that teachers’ limited understanding of the holistic nature of scientific inquiry prevents them from addressing SSIs effectively to facilitate learners’ understanding of abstract concepts in genetics. Whilst the study found that teachers held informed views about what scientific inquiry is and knowledge of how it could be used in teaching genetics, they however showed a limited understanding on how the sequence of the steps in scientific inquiry could be implemented in the classroom. As a result, teachers were not convincing in their reports on how SSIs in genetics could be taught using an inquiry approach. From a practitioner’s point of view, teachers’ views about socio-scientific issues in some science topics should be taken into consideration as views influence the manner in which teachers teach the concepts. Failure to consider teachers’ views may result in teachers’ apathy in utilising pedagogical strategies which engage learners in the desired analytical and critical thinking. Teachers therefore require professional development forums where they interrogate their views and practices when teaching controversial topics with the guide of teacher educators and curriculum specialists.

Future studies should extend the study to include learners’ views and also observe the teachers’ practices whilst they engage learners in inquiry activities in order to address socio-scientific issues, which are not only embedded in the topic genetics but other topics as well. The study contributes to a body of knowledge on teachers’ perspectives on the strategies that foster inquiry-based learning that give learners autonomy to engage with their thought processes when addressing socio-scientific issues and brainstorming on controversial science concepts.

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Acknowledgement The authors would like to extend their gratitude to Life Sciences teachers in Johannesburg who participated in the survey for this study.

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Appendix 1: Views of Scientific Inquiry (VOSI) instrument (Schwartz, Lederman & Lederman, 2008) What types of activities do scientists do to learn about the natural world? Be specific about how they go about their work.

2. What scientists choose to study and how they learn about the natural world may be influenced by a variety of factors. How do scientists decide what and how to investigate? Describe all the factors you think influence the work of scientists. Be as specific as possible.

3 (a) Write a definition of a scientific experiment?

A scientific experiment is…… b) Give an example from something you have done or heard about in science that illustrates your definition of a scientific experiment. c) Explain why you consider your example to be a scientific experiment.

1.

4. A person interested in birds looked at hundreds of different types of birds who eat different types of food. He noticed that birds who eat similar types of food, tended to have similar shaped beaks. For example, birds who eat hard shelled nuts have short, strong beaks, and birds who eat insects from tide pools have long, slim beaks. He concluded that there is a relationship between beak shape and the type of food birds eat. a) Do you consider this person’s investigation to be scientific? Please explain why or why not. b) Do you consider this person's investigation to be an experiment? Please explain why or why not.

5. Some people have claimed that all scientific investigations must follow the same general set of steps or method to be considered science. Others have claimed there are different general methods that scientific investigations can follow. a) What do you think? Is there one scientific method or set of steps that all investigations must follow to be considered science? Circle one answer: • Yes, there is one scientific method (set of steps) to science.

• No, there is more than one scientific method to science.

If you answered “yes,” go to (b) below.

If you answered “no,” go to (c) below. b) If you think there is one scientific method, what are the steps of this method? c) If you think that scientific investigations can follow more than one method, describe two investigations that follow different methods. Explain how the methods differ and how they can still be considered scientific.

6. a) If several scientists, working independently, ask the same question (for example, they all want to find out what Oregon looked like 10,000 years ago, or what the structure of a certain protein is), will they necessarily come to the same conclusions?

Explain why or why not. b) Does your response to (a) change if the scientists are working together? Explain.

Appendix 2: Socioscientific Issues (SSIs) Questionnaire 1.Teachers understandings about Socioscientific issues 1.1 Is genetics a topic with socio scientific issues that can be experimented in science or not? Explain your answer.

1.2 Give examples of SSIs embedded in genetics.

1.3 How do learners handle such issues in the classrooms?

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1.4 How do you handle any differences of opinion between what learners bring to the classroom regarding issues on genetics?

1.5 Do you think teaching the topics genetics in South African Life Sciences considers learners’ diverse/multiplicity of contextual knowledge. Explain your answer.

1.6 Why is it important in South African schools to cater for diverse contextual knowledge in schools?

1.7 As a teacher, how would you teach the topic DNA replication to your learners?

1.8 Which effective teaching strategies would you recommend in developing content continuity from grade 10 -12 when teaching genetics?

2. Teaching SSIs using scientific inquiry approaches 2.1 Do you think learners’ environment influences the content and material that can be taught in genetics? Give a reasons.

2.2 Do you think teaching the topic genetics in South African Life Sciences considers learners diverse/multiplicity of context? Explain your answer.

2.3 Do you believe it is important to spend instructional time in your science classroom to teach learners about SSIs? Give reasons.

2.4 If you think it is important what do you think is the best way to teach SSIs embedded in the topic genetics? Give examples of approaches.

2.5 There is an albino child in your Life Sciences class, how would you approach the concept of albinism in that class?

2.6 Do you think the affected learner (learner with albinism) will take offence? If so how can you minimise the discomfort of the learner(s)?

3. Genetic Engineering: Think of the pros and cons GMO foods are genetically modified organisms that have had new genes from other organisms added to their existing genes. Common genetic modifications include: adding antibacterial genes to plants, introducing genes that make the organism bigger or stronger, making new foods by adding genes from existing foods, and adding animal genes to plants and vice versa.

Some researchers claim that GMO foods’ benefits are better food quality, taste, and disease -resistant crops so that we have higher yields and more efficient production.

GMO’s allow farmer to skip steps in the production process, like spraying herbicides and pesticides, because the crops are already resistant. In some crops, they claim the foods are modified to contain additional vitamins and minerals.

Another group of researchers claim that there has not been enough testing of GMOs and no real long-term testing to detect possible problems. Another problem is allergic reactions; genetic modification often mixes or adds proteins that were not indigenous to the original plant, causing new allergic reactions to the human body. Another risk is that the modified genes may escape into the environment.

3.1 How would you explain to the learners the differences in the claims made by the two groups of researchers?

3.2 One teacher decided to task learners to record the views of their community members about the GMOs and compile a report. Is this a scientific inquiry? Explain your answer.

3.3 Do you think that the strategy recommended above is applicable in South African context? Explain your answer.

3.4 Is it important to discuss ethical issues associated with the process of genetic engineering with the learners? Explain your answer.

3.5 If learners bring in their conflicting views to the classroom, would you consider discussion and analysis of those views as scientific inquiry? Explain your answer.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 10, pp. 154-172, October 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.10.9 Received June 19, 2021; Revised Oct 07, 2021; Accepted Oct 17, 2021

The Capability and Social Justice Theories: Developing a Second-Generation Model for Enhancing Epistemological Access in Flood-Prone Schools in Kenya *Gloria

Erima Faculty of Education, University of Johannesburg, South Africa https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0399-2255 Felix Maringe Wits School of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7992-9079 Abstract. This paper draws from a larger doctoral study, conducted between 2013 and 2016 in five flood-prone schools of the Budalang’i division of western Kenya. The mixed-methods study was based on empirical data drawn from twenty-three in-depth interviews from parents, senior school managers, and Sub County Education officers.

Fifteen of these interviews were with males and eight with females. A questionnaire was completed by a total of 191 Standard Eight pupils, 49.2% boys and 50.8% girls across the five schools. Focus group discussions (FGDs) consisting of ten pupils from each of the five schools were also conducted. The study investigated the extent to which floodprone schools can generate equitable epistemological access (EEA) and how they are committed to delivering a socially just educational experience. The research was embedded in the 'critical realism framework' as the overarching philosophy, premised on Sen's capability approach and Nancy Fraser's social justice framework. The two theories offer competing predications that: 1) the development of individual capabilities improves lives 2) the development of individuals should be based on a socially just approach. Findings suggested that to develop individual capabilities, schools need to embark on a socially just approach, especially to learners who are subjected to deprivation. The paper models a capabilities and social justice approach, as a substantial contribution to our understanding of the extent to which flood-prone schools of Kenya may improve individual capability development. Apart from its implications for policy, we suggest that the model should be implemented in schools to determine its efficacy.

Keywords: assessment; capability approach; social justice theory; epistemological access; equity *

Corresponding author: Gloria Erima, erimaglo@gmail.com

©Authors This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

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1. Introduction and Background There seems to be a potentially strong and mutually enhancing relationship between Sen's capability approach and education (Terzi, 2007). The capability and social justice arguments remain at the centre of the debate around epistemological access (EA) in multi-deprived schools. Central to this debate is the whole question of schools ensuring the development of individual capabilities among all learners.

However, some learners are subjected to deprivations, bringing about a key argument on capabilities and social justice (Erima, 2017). Therefore, when schools develop individual capabilities, they need to ensure that, in so doing, they embark on a socially just approach.

The purpose of this paper is to show theoretical evidence that the heart of achieving EA lies within Sen's capability approach (development of capabilities) and Nancy Fraser's social justice theory (a socially just environment). We argue that the development of learner capability does not mean access to a place of schooling only, but equal access to quality education. The skills and knowledge acquired through education serve as a precursor to a decent life and, subsequently, to influencing the world (Du Plooy & Zilindile, 2014). Therefore, schooling becomes a basic need for all children who need to be promoted through equal education for all (EFA) and equitable epistemological access (EEA).

Working within the social justice and capabilities lenses, the paper develops a debate around an overall conceptual understanding of how EA in flood-prone schools can be understood in relation to the extent to which it fosters key capabilities that individuals, communities, and society, in general, have reason to value (Tikly & Barrett, 2011). To that end, this paper seeks to answer the questions: 1) What human capabilities do schools in flood-prone areas serve and not serve in Kenya?

2) How might a socially just pedagogy enhance human capabilities in flood-prone areas in Kenya?

2. Empirical Evidence Drawing principally on the ideas of Amartya Sen’s capability approach and Nancy Fraser’s social justice framework, the study used empirical evidence of the two approaches as tools for analysing and understanding the effect of floods in achieving EA in schools. In doing so, the study identified nine common indicators from literature likely to undermine learning within the context of floods, which constituted the conceptual framework of the research. These indicators are: timeon-task, resources, teaching methodology, instructional leadership, teacher motivation, parental involvement, school communities, the community/environment and culture (Erima, 2017).

The purpose of this research is in line with McLean and Walker (2012). The authors contend that the capability approach conceptualises people living in any form of marginalisation as being deprived of opportunities to make choices for capabilities and functionings that comprise a healthy and dignified life (McLean & Walker, 2012, p. 585; Walker, 2008). What should not be ignored is that the more

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the wide range of barriers to learning is not overcome or reduced, children in multi-deprived may not benefit from education, which might generate lifelong failure in line with their capabilities and functionings (Erima, 2017). Relevant research including that of Masese et al. (2012), Okuom et al. (2012), Achoka and Maiyo (2008) has been undertaken on what support is/should be given to pupils in flood-prone areas to enrol in schools. Unfortunately, there is little information on the acquisition of learning skills by these pupils. All other factors remaining equal, and despite the Free Primary Education (FPE), 1.8 million children are out of school owing to weather factors (Okuom et al., 2012; Munyi & Orodho, 2015).

Research Questions The doctoral study sought to answer the broad research question: How might equitable epistemological access (EEA) be achieved in flood-prone schools in Kenya? The question was driven by three sub-questions: a) How do schools in flood-prone areas promote physical access? b) How do schools in flood-prone areas promote epistemological access? c) In what ways do different school communities perceive strategies to be effective in promoting epistemological access? The overall aim of the research study was to explore how (equitable) epistemological access [(E)EA] may be achieved in flood-prone primary schools in western Kenya. The assumption was that learners in flood-prone schools experience challenges in developing capabilities from a socially just lens.

The problem Formal schooling is key in determining the skills of an individual and plays an influential role in determining his/her life chances as adults (Glewwe, 2002; see also Maina & Maringe, 2020). Though other factors including parents', friends', and individual abilities also contribute, schools occupy a special role as they are most directly affected by public policies (Munyi & Orodho, 2015). Children’s prospects for EA to basic education depend largely on their access to what type of schooling, and on what basis (Pendlebury, 2009).

Several empirical research works define education access, its challenges, and how it can be achieved in flood-prone schools in Kenya, but explore less about the potential relationship between capability and functioning in education (i.e. EA beyond the basic school functioning). There is little research that seems to look holistically at the capabilities and functionings of children in disadvantaged schools under the umbrella of social justice. The focus has been on segmented areas of physical and epistemological access under basic school functioning (Erima & Maringe, 2020). Our purpose is to have a suggested model, that incorporates a learning environment in flood-prone schools in Kenya that is appropriate for developing capabilities beyond access, using a socially just approach. The model intends to address issues on a) what human capabilities these schools serve and do not serve, and b) how a socially just pedagogy might enhance human capabilities in this context.

3. Key elements of Sen’s capability approach Capabilities and the notion of agency freedom The capability approach focuses on what people can be and do, personally and in comparison to others, to generate reflective, informed ways of living that each

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individual deems important and valuable (Sen 2017; Saito, 2003; Walker, 2008; Alkire, 2013). This, according to Sen, has to do with freedom and how such freedom enhances the ability of people to help themselves and also influence the world, which points to matters that are central to the process of development (Miletzki & Broten, 2017)). This implies that each person is a 'source of agency' and worth in their own right, with their plans and their own lives to live,' (Cheng, 2017). Therefore, the capability approach takes seriously the development of every person as an end in themselves and not as the means to some other end, such as economic development. Knowledge and skill acquisition would be judged according to how it increased our well-being and agency to live a flourishing life, with genuine choices (Walker, 2008).

Capabilities and educational equality Since there exists a potentially strong and mutually enhancing relationship between human capital and human rights in education, it becomes difficult to discuss the two dimensions without bringing in educational equality. This idea is fundamentally grounded in the egalitarian principle that social and institutional arrangements should be designed to give equal consideration to all (Terzi, 2014).

This exposes an analysis of the distribution of inputs and how these facilitate the development of key capabilities. This is because equality in education is mainly theorised along the 'divide' between equal input (however defined) and equal outcome while emphasising the importance of context. In this regard, the extent to which the needs and rights of different groups are recognised in education; how decisions about education quality are governed; and the nature of participation at all levels need to be relooked (Tikly & Barrett, 2011).

Capabilities and the quality of education The difference between a capability and functioning is like one between an opportunity to achieve and the actual achievement; i.e. the difference between potential and outcome (Tikly & Barrett, 2011). This has implications for the way that education is understood and evaluated. A key role for a quality education becomes one of supporting the development of autonomy and the ability to make choices in later life, rather than simply providing individuals with the necessary resources to learn (Erima, 2017). The key arguments of social justice consider education as a human right, which must be provided based on a socially just approach. The quality of distribution should be equitable so that people can have the same kind of opportunities and freedom to choose the kind of lives they want to live (Fraser, 1999). Educational evaluations need not be pegged only on inputs like teachers, hours in class, learning material, outputs, or earnings from a particular level of education (Unterhalter, 2007; Tikly & Barrett, 2011). Rather, evaluations should look at a) the condition of being educated; b) the negative and positive freedoms that sustain this condition; and c) ways in which this education supports what every person has reason to value. Capabilities looked at in this way become a basis for assessing quality and not simply access to resources or equality of outcomes (Tikly & Barrett, 2011), see Figure 1 (Erima,2017).

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The Capability approach

Capability (Ability to achieve)

Functionality (Achievement)

Human Development (enhancement of capacities and opportunities)

The Notion of Agency (right to make on decisions in life)

Equality (equal input, equal outcome)

Educational Equality (the egalitarian principle)

Education Quality (appropriate inputs and processes)

Epistemological Access (individual and social transformation )

Figure 1. A Conceptualisation of the Capability Approach

Nancy Fraser’s Social Justice framework - Assumptions and Key Arguments Because the capability approach (Sen 2002; Nussbaum 2001) is viewed potentially as a robust framework for social justice in education, we draw on the social justice theory, which integrates justice into equality of capabilities and equal valuing of individual diversity. This is mainly because both theories share a commitment to equality in opportunities (Saito, 2003) and would sufficiently frame the debate on (equitable) EA, based on human capital (capabilities) and human rights approaches (social justice) (Tikly & Barrett, 2011). The idea of quality and equity in education then invites us to attend to questions of social justice for pupils in disadvantaged schools. Nancy Fraser argues for equal opportunities for all eligible children through quality public schooling, for the simple reason that some people do economically better than others and can access better education facilities. Uneven distribution of resources results in large-scale inequalities.

Societies wherein life chances are not distributed equally imply a redistribution of opportunities, although the shape that such redistribution should take remains contested (Rawls, 2020). Nancy Fraser and many other agents of social justice advocate for education as a public good, from a social justice approach. This approach draws on three dimensions of social justice: redistribution, recognition, and participation.

The essential question the capability approach asks is: ‘What substantive freedom enhances the ability of people to help themselves and also influence the world?’

Educational equality is conceptualised through the capability approach by focusing on fundamental functionings, promoted by education, that are essential prerequisites for equal participation in society (Terzi, 2007). This, according to Terzi, would consist of equal and effective opportunities and access to these basic functionings (Terzi, 2007).

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4. Methods The main research objective in this study was to investigate ways in which EEA in flood-prone schools can be achieved. The research site is limited to public primary schools in Budalang'i division, in Bunyala Sub-county, Busia County in western Kenya. Budalang'i division is perennially affected by flooding (Opere, 2013). The study applied a convergent mixed-methods approach, using interviews, a survey, and focus group discussions (FGDs) to collect data (Erima, 2020). Fifteen in-depth interviews were conducted with parents and senior school managers (principals and senior teachers) in the selected schools. Eight other interviews were conducted with representatives at the sub-county education office and local government departments, as well as the disaster management department (Erima, 2017). Respondents were selected through a purposive/purposeful sampling strategy, to provide the best information on the population under study. 191 Standard 8 pupils from the five primary schools completed a questionnaire. Five FGDs were also conducted with 10 pupils, selected by class prefects, from each of the five schools. In total, there were 23 interviews and 191 completed questionnaires in the research project. All the questions were derived from the nine indicators of the conceptual framework. No secondary data was used in this research. Qualitative data were analysed using ATLAS.ti, to categorise data into codes and themes. Quantitative data was coded and tabulated using MS Excel and presented using graphs and tables. The four ethical issues: informed consent, confidentiality, anonymity, and the right to withdraw, were also adopted in this study. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee in Education of the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Protocol Number: 2015ECE001D. 4.1. Population and Sampling Table 1. Selection of schools School

Status about floods

Performance

School A

Slightly affected by floods

Low

School B

Affected by floods

Good

School C

Affected by floods

Average

School D

Affected by floods

Fluctuates

School E

Severely affected

Very low

The five schools were selected using the stratified random sampling strategy across four pre-selected sub-locations, based on the severity of floods and performance. The sampling frame consisted of a school from each category across four locations, as displayed in Table 1 (see Erima, 2017). Respondents were selected using a purposive/purposeful sampling strategy, based on our knowledge of the population.

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5. Findings The broad research question for this study was: How may equitable epistemological access be achieved in flood-prone schools in Kenya? Responses to the research question were guided by the conceptual framework for the research, which categorised the nine indicators into two: school factors and multidimensional school partnerships, see Figure 2 (Erima, 2017). These framed the interview questions and the questionnaire.

School Factors • • • • •

Time-on-task Resources (availability & use) Teaching Methods Instructional Leadership Motivation (School and teacher-driven)

Epistemological Access

Multidimensional School Partnerships • • • •

Parental involvement School communities Communities/Environment Culture

Quality/not quality Education in floodprone schools

Figure 1. The EA Conceptual Framework

Based on responses from interviews, FGDs, and questionnaires, findings point to two broad categories of indicators that flood-prone schools use in promoting physical and epistemological access to learning. Some are mediated at the school level and some at the teacher or classroom level. Themes were then carved from the two categories. The three school-mediated factors are i) school resources in terms of availability, management and utilisation ii) teacher motivation (schooldriven and self) iii) instructional leadership. Data also revealed that these schools mainly promote EA using classroom or teacher-mediated factors. These are factors that directly relate to learning and teaching, closely linked to the availability of quality teaching and learning materials (school facilities/resources) (Alubisia 2005). They include i) time-on-task and ii) pedagogy (see Figure 2, Erima, 2017).

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School Mediated Factors

Teacher Mediated Factors

• • •

Time on task Pedagogy

• •

Source: Erima, 2017

Resources (Availability management & utilisation) Teacher motivation (school-driven & self) Instructional leadership.

Figure 2. Categories of EA Indicators

School mediated factors and the physical access Resources: 'A well-functioning education system requires adequate expenditure and basic infrastructure to support educational outcomes; but these alone will not ensure higher levels of learning' (Chudgar et al., 2015). From data, it emerged that the availability of resources was a major factor contributing to the promotion of physical access. Principals, pupils, and other respondents established that educational resources were important ingredients for academic achievement in their schools. Findings generally suggested inadequate facilities and learning materials as a major and direct problem confronting flood-prone schools. The schools had a few permanent structures and could access learning materials and basic meals to support learning. However, findings suggested a lack of adequate and appropriate conventional, as well as school organisation resources in both measures. Conventional resource measures refer to the availability of textbooks, furniture, technology, electricity, blackboards, a library, and other basic infrastructure, including school buildings. Though schools received funding and tried to supplement their income, through mobilising resources and other income generation activities, it was not enough. Regarding the utilisation and management of resources, there were cases where schools misappropriated funds, while others had learning materials, like books (specifically those on disaster management), lying in the school stores without use.

Motivation: Various research studies show that teachers are not motivated by the need to achieve ideal-oriented goals. Much more specificity is required, with attention being directed towards what precisely motivates teachers, rather than why it motivates them (Evans, 1998). Findings indicated that to promote physical access, schools had incentives in place, as a way to promote their teachers. The biggest challenge with this was that schools tend to work on their own to find

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resources to motivate teachers. It was evident that they tried to provide incentives like meals and rewards, which eventually became unsustainable in the long run.

Schools also introduced gains, both monetary and non-monetary, to motivate teachers. The Board of Management (BoM) endeavoured to hire extra teachers to reduce extensive workloads teachers carry, due to extra learning time. The biggest challenge in this strategy lay in the compensation of those teachers' efforts, where schools were forced to turn to the already burdened parents for financial support.

Teachers got demoralized, because of the number of working hours coupled with overcrowded classrooms, with little or no learning materials. Borrowing from Leyendecker et al. (2008), the situation had moved from reduced instructional processes to common undemanding outdated methodologies and doubled-up classes, some of which were not attended at all. Besides, it emerged that, due to floods and extensive workloads, teachers did not prepare well for classes - and yet took the blame for poor results.

Instructional leadership: In an effective school, the principal acts as an instructional leader and effectively and persistently communicates that mission to the staff, parents, and students (Lezotte, 2011). Lezotte contends that, in many schools, instructional leadership focuses primarily on the principal and the teachers. Contrary to this approach, the author views leadership as a dispersed concept that should include all adults in the school community, in addition to the teaching staff. This concept is addressed in this study, as an attempt to elucidate that the leadership function embraces a community of shared values, giving identification to what the school community cares about. In addition, we view effective leadership as being situational and contingent on context and circumstances (Male, 2006) and that the selection process for the head teacher should relate the qualities and aptitudes of the candidate to the specific requirements of the school ̶ in this case, floods and learning challenges. From the findings, it was evident that principals understood and applied this practice to promote instructional effectiveness. Schools had and continued to manage, the instructional programme through the principal as the instructional leader.

Through this practice, schools in this study understood and embraced this spirit to build the capacity and confidence of their teachers towards their schools. It emerged from the interviews that teachers in the five schools were generally happy with the status quo and appeared to be satisfied with leadership in their schools, mostly because they participated in decision-making and the running of the school. The school climate seemed to be just fine in most schools, as every teacher got a chance to lead in respective areas. Three out of the five principals interviewed rotated responsibility amongst their teachers to build their capacity in different departments, which is positive. However, findings revealed that the standards for instructional leadership focused primarily on the principal and teachers.

Teacher or classroom mediated indicators and epistemological access Time-on-task: Learner time-on-task is broadly seen as the time spent on learning activities, which may be significantly affected by interruptions (Maina & Maringe, 2020). Learner time has a significant positive impact on EA and provides a strong indicator of students' access to learning opportunities (Leyendecker et al., 2008).

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This study revealed a distinct disadvantage for pupils in flood-prone schools, concerning the time they spent actually learning. Both quantitative and qualitative data indicated that there is little engaged time spent on learning in flood-prone schools. It is evident that a significant amount of learning time, close to three months in a year, is lost due to floods.

Based on data, 125 out of the 191 pupils had repeated a class, translating to about 65.4% cases of repetition across the five participating schools (see Table 2).

Table 2. Cases of repetition: School cross-tabulation Repetition f % f %

Yes No

A

B

35 28.0% 13 19.7%

23 18.4% 14 21.2%

School E 9 7.2% 6 9.1%

Total C

D

24 19.2% 23 34.8%

34 27.2% 10 15.2%

125 100.0% 66 100.0%

Table 3 indicates the reasons for repetition. The biggest cause of repetition, according to data, was ‘poor performance’, at 46.3%; followed by ‘effects of floods’, at 26%; and a lack of fees, at 17.9%.

Table 3. Reasons for repetition Reason

Frequency

Percent

Because of fees

22

17.9

Because of floods

32

26.0

Because of poor performance

57

46.3

Lack of a birth certificate

2

1.6

Due to transfer

8

5.7

Parents advice

4

2.4

Total

125

100.0

Poor performance was primarily due to a lack of concentration, lost interest in school, demotivation, or attention to other matters on the part of pupils, teachers, and parents. This is hardly surprising because people would naturally turn to more pressing emergencies when under pressure (e.g. protecting property or fending for means of survival), rather than prioritise education. Forced repetition largely led to dropouts and education wastage.

Data also revealed that, with a tight policy on the school calendar, schools toiled to ensure that the syllabus was completed in standard time through extra learning. Results further revealed a significant effort from schools to enhance time-on-task to promote EA. Principals, senior teachers, and Sub-county education officers agreed to extra learning hours to compensate for lost time during floods. A further result revealed that this was a workable strategy, where teachers committed to teaching extra hours early or late in the day, including weekends. It appeared that schools, pupils, and parents felt they had successfully

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met the set criteria for extra learning time. Some had even constructed basic dormitories, or turned classrooms into dormitories in the evenings, to allow pupils to cover the syllabus. Unfortunately, the Sub-county education office did not coordinate the extra learning in schools: it was fully managed by the school on their terms.

Pedagogy: Appropriate teaching methods embrace both the general teaching methods and practical learning. Teachers' knowledge would encapsulate the effective use of general cognitive theories and philosophies of teaching and learning, as grounding for a more subject-specific readiness and effectiveness (Maringe, 2017). Schools, together with the Sub-county administration, have put in a significant effort to improve teaching methodologies. They organise seminars and workshops on pedagogy to train teachers on how to complete the syllabus in a short time, among other skills. Teachers also do benchmarking and exchange programmes, to learn from each other about how to improve their teaching skills.

It emerged that practical teaching in flood-prone schools (learning aids, charts, real objects, cards, etc.) enhanced learning and made it real. Findings further revealed the willingness of teachers to employ proper teaching methodologies, but that they were discouraged by a lack of teaching aids for instruction.

Currently, there are neither teaching aids, nor libraries, to support practical learning. In order not to be held accountable for failure, teachers improvised teaching aids and, through concerted efforts, came up with practical ways of teaching. Of interest was that most of the improvised teaching aids worked well, but most were foreign to learners. It was also not surprising that there were notable negative learning effects in schools, where teaching aids were not used.

6. Discussion of Findings Based on the findings, this paper seeks to answer the questions: 1. What human capabilities do schools in flood-prone areas serve and not serve in Kenya?

2. How might a socially just pedagogy enhance human capabilities in flood-prone areas in Kenya?

A capabilities approach towards a socially just education in flood-prone schools An adequate level of inputs in an appropriate school would include, the number of teachers, adequate teaching resources, and facilities for the efficiency and effectiveness of the learning process. ‘The greater the quality and quantity of inputs, the better the quality of output, which will satisfy the expectation of the society and the government’ (Achoka & Maiyo, 2008, p 157).

From findings, it appears that all five indicators discussed are essential strategies to enhance learning and do play an important role in achieving equitable EA in flood-prone schools. Five issues emerge from findings concerning the capabilities approach towards a socially just education for learners in flood-prone schools: The redistributive justice approach and EA Nancy Fraser’s tripartite model explains justice in the realm of education using a multidimensional approach of redistribution, recognition, and representation

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(Lepianka, 2021). These are treated as three primary and inextricably interwoven aspects of justice that have broad independent applications in addressing realworld injustices (Fraser, 1999, 2009). The redistributive component is mostly related to justice conceived in distributive terms and seen as resources that can be converted into capabilities (capability inputs). As already mentioned, redistributive justice draws on distributive principles, such as merit or equality, based on a set of material and non-material goods. These factors work towards sustainable livelihoods, economic growth, and access to material and human resources (Tikly & Barrett, 2011). In the schools under study, the government has succeeded in enrolling students through Free Primary Education (FPE). Other factors notwithstanding, it is evident that this enrolment does not correlate with the schools' capacity, in terms of resources and materials. Emphasis has been put on retaining pupils in schools and the outcomes of the assessment. We agree that improved access to school equals outcomes and equity. However, the question of quality inputs has often been overlooked, especially in these schools. The question of factors, like school feeding programmes, teaching and learning materials, teacher quality, and instruction leadership, all add to the debate on how redistribution and quality can raise performance and improve scores for the socioeconomically disadvantaged. In addition, as materials and other pedagogical inputs are provided, it is fundamental that they are appropriate to the environment (i.e. the recognition of diverse needs in education).

The capability approach: Recognition of different perspectives in education Recognition within social justice concerns distinctive perspectives of marginalised groups by dint of ethnic, sexual, and religious orientation in society, among other characteristics (Tikly & Barrett, 2011). Walker (2008) states that in the learning process, capabilities are not just seen as ‘functionings’, but also as ‘becomings’.

Recognition claims therefore can be made from school, while at the same time creating the status of inequalities by meeting specific demands of educational processes, and being sensitive to how diversity in education actively shapes identities. Tikly and Barrett intimate that calling specific attention to the needs of marginalized and excluded learners is key to curricula and the teaching and learning processes that value their way of life (Tikly & Barrett, 2011).

Recognition claims of marginalised groups can be considered to illustrate some of these demands and values, amongst which are those that constitute barriers to access to schools and attainment of quality knowledge ̶ and then converting these to capabilities and functionings. This has happened in some schools in Australia and the USA, where the curriculum has been designed and implemented to accommodate the hybrid history and culture of Native Americans (Tikly & Barrett, 2011). Another good example exists in North East Uganda, under the Alternative Basic Education for Karamoja (ABEK), East Africa. The programme accommodates nomadic pastoralists' needs and lifestyles through a flexible daily schedule, to allow children to participate in household chores (Tikly & Barrett, 2011).

To this end, teaching and learning skills need to identify with a people’s culture and environment. Learning materials and teaching methodologies in environments prone to floods should be linked to their history and culture to help

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them identify themselves. This should extend to the use of local languages in the early years of primary schools, for a start. New languages of instruction may lead to dropouts, where children may feel culturally alienated and not valued in school. Determining the curricula content is one way through which a society decides the value of education. In this way, learner inputs are easily converted into capabilities (outcomes) that will enable them to live better lives in the future.

Recognition of the needs of a people usually links to societal representation.

Education and equal participation in society This concerns the component of participatory social justice vis-à-vis education quality. Building on Sen’s and Nussbaum’s notion of capability, Fraser proposes the idea of public dialogue and debate in education (Erima, 2017). Fraser particularly refers to the extent of exclusion faced by parents and communities in terms of equity and quality education (Tikly & Barrett, 2011). Going back, formal and informal schooling is central to Sen’s capability approach is a moral framework, which specifically emphasises expanding the realm of human agency and effective freedoms (Terzi, 2008). Education is among basic capabilities i.e. among ‘a relatively small number of centrally important beings and doings that are crucial to wellbeing’ (Sen, 1992, p. 44). That, an understanding of the capability approach is all about a person’s capability to live a meaningful life based on the effective opportunities the individual has. This implies living a life, free from the inequalities in well-being, and being able to choose among a set of capabilities, those that s\he has reason to value. Having effective opportunities enables people to 'stand as equals' in societal participation, which contributes to the importance of human rights, equality, and non-discrimination (Terzi, 2008). Achieving the same grade for any two students demonstrates equality. As we might agree, the outcome of these students seems equal, if we look only at functioning. The capability approach, however, requires that we look beneath this outcome at the real freedom or opportunities each student had to achieve what she valued (Walker, 2008). The evaluation of equality needs to consider freedom in opportunities, as much as of observed choices (Walker, 2008). Learners in floodprone schools need both rationality and freedom in their choices (Erima, 2017).

Without the assumption of freedom, reason cannot act.

The Expansion of Capabilities in children Education plays a crucial role in expanding a child’s capacity or ability (Saito, 2003; Unicef, 2018). Capability has to do with what education enables the child to do, whereas capacity is the broadening of the opportunities that the child is exposed to. Sen’s approach concerns the importance of the freedom the child will have in the future and not the freedom a child has now because the child must have more freedom when it grows up (Sen, 2002). It is impractical not to expose both skills and content to a child, claiming the future of the child is not known to us yet. It is also not proper to let a child choose what they want to learn, as this may restrict the range of good opportunities in the future. In the same vein, it is not proper to ignore children's capability needs, just because they are children. It is only appropriate that we promote EA in flood-prone schools for the sake of the future of children who, at the moment, depend on us. As long a person's capabilities in terms of their lifespan are considered, the capability approach seems to apply to children (Saito, 2003). Saito argues that education creates a new

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capability for a child, thus making him/her independent. This independence then allows the child to be able to make choices in his/her life (Saito, 2003).

7. Conclusions and Implications It can be argued that, when education plays an essential role in the sense of meeting a basic need, a lack of it constitutes a fundamental disadvantage (Sen, 1992). People have to meet fundamental needs to achieve well-being and so everyone should have goods and services that satisfy their basic needs (Saito, 2003). Depriving children of education during childhood (be it in formal schooling, or informal learning in social interactions) determines a disadvantage that proves difficult, and in some cases truly impossible, to compensate for in later life (Terzi, 2008). There need to be important considerations given to the kind of education that should be provided to individuals, given the complex interrelation they have with the society they inhabit. It follows that an education consistent with enabling people to achieve well-being and allowing the exercise of agency entails the promotion of functionings and capabilities. These pertain to abilities and knowledge that enable the children to become participants in dominant social frameworks, while simultaneously promoting reflection on valued goals.

It should be understood that quality in education goes beyond years spent in school, therefore expansion in educational opportunities alone may not necessarily address quality and capability concerns. Indeed, an effective school would require the input of both financial and material resources, including teacher and pupil characteristics, to produce outcomes. One reason the improvement of the quality of education has been lagging, in most national agendas, is the assumption that, if schools are basically functioning, there is no need to strive to improve on quality. Taking our cue from Tikly and Barrett, ‘basic school functioning means that staff and students can be physically present in a school building with classrooms and the minimum of furniture and they are physically, emotionally, and mentally well enough to apply themselves to teaching and learning, i.e. they are not hungry and are in good health’ (Tikly & Barrett, 2011, p. 3). Basic school functioning is a typical setting in the case of floodprone schools, where children attend school in buildings with little or no furniture. It becomes difficult for the relevant authorities to re-invent the wheel in ensuring the quality of schooling in these regions, just because the schools are seen as functioning. The model below indicates how a socially just pedagogy might enhance human capabilities in flood-prone areas (see Figure 3, Erima, 2017).

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Bhaskar s Layered Ontology of Critical Realism

Capability approach

Social Justice theory

Individual Development

Capability

Functioning

• • • • • • •

A Socially Just Environment

Equality

Redistribution

Recognition

Participation

Equitable Epistemological Access in flood prone schools (a social justice and a capabilities argument) Fostering individual capabilities Freedom to achieve Equity, Access and Quality Education Redistribution of Justice (opportunities) Recognition of Diverse needs in Education Equal Participation in Society The Capability approach, Social justice and its applicability to children

Figure 3. A stratified layered ontology and the capabilities approach towards a socially just education system in flood-prone schools

More often than not, schools prone to floods have been exposed to uniform national assessments of cognitive learning to measure cognitive outcomes. This not only overlooks but does not refer to the learning processes. Where improving the quality of education has been seriously considered, the rationale for investing in quality has simply been seen as a means to increase retention or outcomes (Tikly & Barrett, 2011). The quality of education has, in fact, declined, as governments have become progressively more successful at increasing enrolments ahead of limited initiatives to improve quality (UNESCO, 2008; Zuze, 2008). This has, in turn, reinforced a tendency, particularly within the human capital theory, to neglect the processes of teaching and learning and the question of how resources get distributed within schools (Tikly & Barrett, 2011).

In Levin’s (2003) words, equitable quality education is important to learners for three reasons: Firstly, in line with Sen’s capability theory, there is surely a human rights imperative for all people to have a reasonable opportunity to develop their capacities and to participate fully in society (Abdu & Joshua, 2019). Secondly, according to Nancy Fraser, insofar as opportunities to learn are not distributed fairly, there will be an under-utilisation of talent, as some people will not develop their skills and abilities ̶ with consequent loss, not only to them but to the society generally. Lastly, higher levels of education are associated with almost every positive life outcome: not only with improved employment and earnings but also with health, longevity, successful parenting, civic participation, and so on.

Education leads to the knowledge, skills, and understandings required to maximise learners' freedom in employment, for their development as individual

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personalities, and for producing informed and critical democratic citizens (Terzi, 2008; Walker, 2008). The capability approach, therefore, determines how EA is viewed and sees human beings as productive beings, with ethical and political concerns (Du Plooy & Zilindile, 2014). A good education system should play a role in expanding the child's capabilities and make them autonomous in the future.

8. Limitations The perspectives provided should be considered in light of the limitations of this study, which draws data from five flood-prone schools. This sample is very small compared to the population and may undermine the accuracy of findings.

Secondly, the study did not focus on the EA of children beyond the primary school level. Individual pupil development may change, as pupils progress to higher levels of learning. The transition and educational progress of pupils may play out differently in secondary schools which have more boarding facilities. Finally, the nine indicators were pre-determined and contextualised from the literature. The study did not look beyond for other factors affecting learning in these schools, but only the nine considered as those that provide the essential rationale for EA towards capability development. As a consequence, findings can be generalised only to an extent, based on a specific location and period.

9. Conclusion In this paper, we have engaged with critical realism as the philosophical basis, premised on Sen's capability approach and Nancy Fraser's social justice framework, to explore how theory can be used to explain the nature of schooling in disadvantaged communities. In so doing, we have justified the importance of the development of capabilities in a socially just environment and their relevance to equitable EA in flood-prone schools. The paper has also explored capabilities and freedom about children's education, as well as capabilities concerning autonomy and education systems.

For us, there is a need not only to develop capabilities in our education systems but to do so using a socially just approach. Attainment of meaningful learning implies fairness in the distribution of available resources; the access to these resources; and the distribution of existing opportunities. This then enables disadvantaged learners to benefit from education as a space for social transformation. The onus to transform schools, therefore, lies with educators, policymakers, and the government. This paper becomes a starting point to test areas of further research on capabilities and social justice in disadvantaged schools. It also raises the question of whether the policy should be changed from untested evidence.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 10, pp. 173-192, October 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.10.10 Received Aug 08, 2021; Revised Oct 10, 2021; Accepted Oct 18, 2021

Enhancing Vocabulary Memorization and Retention through LMS and MultiEx Game Platforms among Thai Tertiary Students Woralak Bancha and Nattapong Tongtep Prince of Songkla University, Phuket, Thailand https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1005-9079 https://orcid.org/9280-9287-0002-0000

Abstract. Although technology has been integrated into vocabulary instruction, to date, few studies have compared whether learning management system (LMS) vocabulary exercises or vocabulary online games facilitate better vocabulary acquisition. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) vocabulary lessons plus LMS exercises and TOEIC vocabulary lessons plus MultiEx games (online games) foster short-term vocabulary memorization and long-term vocabulary retention, as well as which performed better. Participants were 72 firstyear students at a university in southern Thailand. They were divided into two experimental groups, one given LMS exercises and the other MultiEx games. A word list was taken from the TOEIC word list and a pre-test was used to determine how many words students knew. The unknown words were used in the design of the vocabulary lessons. Ten lessons were provided for the students. Immediately after each lesson, a post-test was conducted to measure their vocabulary recognition. Two weeks after the final lesson, a delayed post-test was conducted to determine how many of the new words had been retained. The main finding was that both vocabulary memorization and retention were enhanced through the use of LMS exercises and the use of MultiEx games. The results showed a higher mean score for the MultiEx game group in both the immediate post-tests and the delayed post-test.

Although the differences between the two groups were not statistically significant, the findings suggest integrating technology enhances vocabulary learning outcomes.

Keywords: learning management system (LMS); long-term retention; online games; short-term memorization

©Authors This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

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1. Introduction Vocabulary, as a foundation and a key element of language acquisition, has been the focus of a great deal of English as a foreign language (EFL) research.

Inadequate vocabulary knowledge can cause learning difficulties and poor English proficiency (Ocampo & McNeill, 2019). Despite the awareness of its crucial role, many Thai university students have low levels of vocabulary knowledge, and vocabulary instruction has received little attention compared to other macro skills (Bancha, 2019). Several methods have been employed for improving vocabulary acquisition; however, autonomous learning through mediation by technology such as computer-assisted language learning (CALL) is supported by many scholars (Boulton & Cobb, 2017; Çakmak et al., 2021; Lin, 2015).

CALL is widely accepted in modern classrooms and is increasingly used in many educational institutions worldwide. CALL is defined as “any process in which a learner uses a computer and, as a result, improves his or her language” (Beatty, 2013, p. 7). Budgets have been allocated for CALL development and teacher training programmes have been conducted. Consequently, CALL has developed rapidly and in a variety of forms, meeting the demands of users in different circumstances and limitations (Beatty, 2013; Derakhshan et al., 2015).

One such form is the learning management system (LMS), which is “software used to plan, implement and evaluate a specific learning process” (Almrashdeh et al., 2011, p. 30). An LMS has been employed in a university in southern Thailand where this study was conducted. These systems provide many educational benefits to both teachers and students as shown in several studies (Han & Shin, 2016; Kumar et al., 2011). The university encourages its lecturers to utilize the LMS, which is accessible to all staff and students using university accounts.

Even though the LMS meets the demands of teaching and learning activities in general, there are some limitations on its use in language lessons on which this present study focuses. As a result, some teachers incorporate other CALL in their courses, such as teacher tool software packages provided with commercial books. Other teachers use other online software available on the market to facilitate students’ language learning. Technologies that appeal to learners can enhance language learning (Nayan & Krishnasamy 2015; Silsüpür, 2017). This study therefore investigated a new technology designed for language teaching and learning: the MultiEx game.

The MultiEx game is a journey game in which players have to complete several gap-filling tasks along their journey. In order to complete the tasks, players need vocabulary knowledge. All gap-filling tasks are at the sentence level. The tasks in the MultiEx game have been well designed to align with the objectives of the lessons. As a first step in the MultiEx game development, the TOEIC vocabulary lesson was chosen to assess English proficiency. The university has a policy to use the TOEIC as the appropriate test of English proficiency and the university’s graduation criteria. Therefore, preparing for the test is crucial, and

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mastering vocabulary will undoubtedly enable students to gain better scores in the TOEIC. As a teacher of English, the main researcher also created vocabulary exercises on the LMS using the same TOEIC vocabulary to encourage students to selfstudy and enhance vocabulary knowledge anywhere and anytime. The MultiEx game and LMS exercises were used with two different groups of students to compare their achievement in the same lessons using different CALL methods.

The results may lead to further development of CALL integration in language classrooms. Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, few studies have compared the effectiveness of these CALL methods on vocabulary memorization and retention. Therefore, the results of the present study could reduce this gap.

In this study, the TOEIC vocabulary lessons were integrated with two different CALL approaches: LMS exercises and the MultiEx games with the aim of comparing which type of practice better facilitated vocabulary memorization (short term) and retention (long term).

1.1 Purposes of the Study Accordingly, this study aims to: i) investigate whether the TOEIC vocabulary lessons plus LMS exercises and TOEIC vocabulary lessons plus MultiEx games (online games) foster short-term vocabulary memorization and long-term vocabulary retention; and ii) compare which type of practice better improved vocabulary acquisition.

In order to meet the above objectives, the following research questions are put forward: i) Which type of TOEIC vocabulary practice promotes better vocabulary memorization – LMS exercises or MultiEx games? ii) Which type of TOEIC vocabulary practice promotes better vocabulary retention – LMS exercises or MultiEx games?

2. Literature Review 2.1 Computer-assisted Language Learning (CALL) Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) is defined as “any process in which a learner uses a computer and, as a result, improves his or her language” (Beatty, 2003, p.7). CALL has been developed into a wide range of applications and language teaching and learning approaches, beginning with the drill-andpractice based programs to the virtual learning environments and mobileassisted language learning (MALL) (Shokrpour et al., 2019). CALL as a technology-mediated language learning tool has shown potential for L2 learning outcomes (Boulton & Cobb, 2017; Lin, 2015; Milton et al., 2012), including vocabulary development (Çakmak et al., 2021, Kayaaltı, 2018).

CALL research has been conducted to make comparisons between two or three experimental groups or between experimental groups and control groups and then examine the increases in vocabulary scores between pre- and post-tests. For example, Ghorbani and Jahandar (2015) found that CALL improved vocabulary retention in Iranian learners. The findings suggested that CALL provided

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extensive opportunities to learn languages in an amusing atmosphere at a convenient time. Eizadpanah et al. (2014) found that CALL had positive impacts on the vocabulary achievement and long-term memory of intermediate EFL learners. Their study showed that students benefitted from the instruction which encouraged them to learn English. Talarposhti and Pourgharib (2014) found that an experimental group performed significantly better than the other group in a retention test. Their study suggests that the presentation of vocabulary with visual, aural, and sentence contexts in CALL promotes vocabulary retention. In another study by Shokrpour et al. (2019), the experimental group outperformed the control group. The study indicated that the enjoyment and flexibility of learning and practice led to vocabulary learning. Regarding these studies, CALL has enhanced vocabulary acquisition through a number of factors.

Even though CALL offers substantially positive impacts, there is little evidence to support conclusions on the effectiveness of different CALL techniques. For instance, Kaya (2006) found that there are no significant differences in student outcomes between conventional and blended approaches. A study by Son (2001) showed no different effects of electronic glossaries on vocabulary learning and reading comprehension because “the computer-based assistance for delivering the meanings of words in each study was accompanied by different presentation methods” (p.33). Despite these arguments, it is worth noting that applying CALL based on the students’ actual needs can optimize the students’ motivation in learning English (Çakmak et al., 2021; Shokrpour et al., 2019). Furthermore, the role of technology and its impact on learning differ depending on the population (Plonsky & Ziegler, 2016).

Apart from the common methodology, underlying technology-mediated theories of L2 vocabulary learning are found to be similar. Handley (2014) reviewed CALL research with young learners from 2000 to 2010 which showed that dual coding theory, spaced learning theory, sociocultural theories, and many reading theories were the major theoretical framework. A systematic review conducted by Yang et al. (2021) found that information or cognitive theories were commonly used in studies for PreK-12 learners published between 2011 and 2020.

Even though numerous CALL studies have been conducted, some research gaps are identified. A theoretical framework was not clearly specified in the studies (Viberg & Gronlund, 2013; Yang et al., 2021). The systematic review, from 2005 to 2012 by Viberg and Gronlund (2013) and from 2011 to 2020 by Yang et al.

(2021), reveals that over 50% of studies of English language learning did not clearly state the theoretical framework. Furthermore, Macaro et al. (2012) reviewed studies between 2001 and 2010 which showed a lack of relation of their findings to previous studies or theories. Therefore, the theoretical framework and the reasons for its adoption (section 2.2) and relating previous studies or theories (section 4) were clearly articulated in this study.

In this study, LMS and MultiEx games were the two CALL platforms. In terms of LMS and vocabulary acquisition, two previous studies with Indonesian

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university students by Novitasari et al. (2018) and Mustafa et al. (2019) have been identified. Both studies supported the effectiveness of LMS as it motivated students to learn vocabulary. Likewise, many studies demonstrate/confirm? the positive effects of online games on vocabulary learning (DeHaan, 2011; Shabaneh & Farrah, 2019; Silsüpür, 2017). However, studies of games as a means of instruction in the classroom have returned inconclusive results (DeHaan, 2011). As not much LMS research has been conducted on vocabulary learning and the positive effects of games are not clear cut/definitive?, investigating the effects of LMS and MultiEX games is still worth studying in order to compare which methods of learning lead to better vocabulary acquisition.

2.2 The Role of Memory in Vocabulary Memorization and Retention 2.2.1 Definitions of Memory The main literature related to this study concerns memory. Memory involves cognitive and mental processes. Memory is defined as the capacity of taking in information, storing it, and recalling it when time passes/with the passing of time? (Sherwood, 2015). The process of memorizing is analagous to information encoding, storage, and retrieval (Baddeley, 2020). Encoding engages the sensory system to encode information. Once encoded, input or information is subsequently stored. Retrieval involves recalling the code which will be used in a process or activity (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968). Retrieval is not always successful: it depends on the effects of cues and on the type of information.

2.2.2 Types of memory Short-term memory refers to the memory that holds information temporarily (Nee & Jonides, 2013). Short term memory is related to working memory.

According to Baddeley and Hitch (1974), working memory is a multi-component system which can encode auditory and visual information. While researchers (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968) define short-term memory as a single unitary system which can hold only limited amounts of information, other researchers (Baddeley & Hitch, 1974) argue that working memory is a multi-component system that includes components other than auditory and visual information.

Working memory involves four main parts, namely a central executive, a visuospatial sketchpad, a phonological loop, and an episodic buffer (McLeod, 2017). The central executive is the most important component that enables the systems to function. It selects only attentive information to be processed in the memory (Baddeley, 1966, 2020). The other two main components for the present study include the visuospatial sketchpad and the phonological loop. The visuospatial sketchpad deals with visual and spatial information whereas the phonological loop stores and processes spoken and written information. An articulatory (spoken) code can be encoded directly in the phonological loop. This explains how information is retained through repetition. However, written words can be stored as well if they are converted into an articulatory code. To elaborate, visually presented information can be transformed into phonological codes and stored as words which are silently articulated. The evidence suggests the work of the phonological loop in the effect of phonological similarity: this means that words that share a similar sound are more difficult to remember than those with a different sound (Conrad & Hull, 1964; Pajak et al., 2016). The

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episodic buffer acts as a temporary store connecting the working memory and long-term memory. Therefore, even though working memory is a subsystem of short-term memory, working memory can retain and process information whereas short-term memory broadly refers to the single system which can hold information only for a short while.

According to Miller (1951), short-term memory can hold approximately seven pieces of information in twenty seconds. This means learners can memorize new items only for a short while. However, there are techniques that can be used to foster better retention, such as chunking and rehearsal (Oberauer, 2019; Souza & Oberauer, 2018), meaningful contexts (Anderson, 1984), the word length (Bancha, 2004; Jalbert et al., 2011), and homophones (Hanley & Bakopoulou, 2003; Liu & Winer, 2020). Furthermore, different sensory channels affect memorization. Double-channel input facilitates memorization better than a single channel. For instance, recalling words only seen (semantic encoding) is more difficult than recalling words seen together with images (semantic and visual encoding). The longer words are stored in working memory, the better they will be maintained in long-term memory (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968).

Long-term memory is a filing system and is the final stage in the memory process. Information that is stored in long-term memory will last longer than that stored in short-term memory; however, it can decay over time (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968). Information may last in short-term memory for seconds only, but can last in long-term memory for years.

There are two major types of long-term memory: implicit and explicit memory.

These two types of memory can be further divided into different types, including episodic (events), semantic (meaning of words), declarative (general knowledge) and procedural (how to do things) memory. While the first three types of memory engage explicit memory, the last type is unconscious or implicit memory (McLeod, 2017). Furthermore, recalling information from different types of memory requires different degrees of effort (Tulving, 1972). To enable words to be retained more successfully, words should be repeated, retrieved from time to time, retrieved in different activities, used in various and meaningful contexts, and personalized (Thornbury, 2006).

As with short-term memory, information transferred into long-term memory is encoded in three main ways, namely visual, semantic and acoustic encoding.

Stimuli or information encoded in long-term memory lasts for different lengths of time, depending on the way it is encoded and how many times it is noticed and recalled (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968; Baddeley, 1966, 2020). This encoding, noticing and recall is termed rehearsal (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968).

However, Baddeley and Hitch (1974) argue that Atkinson and Shiffrin’s rehearsal explanations of long-term memory are too simplistic. They argue that rehearsal does not always promote long-term memory. Information can also be transferred without rehearsal. For instance, some people can recall information that they do not rehearse, and some people cannot recall information even

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though they have read their notes several times. In addition, elaboration rehearsal or meaningful memorizing techniques that involve the use of images, thinking, and associations with words foster better recall (Raaijmakers, 2003).

Evidence suggests that factors underpinning successful transfer of information are motivation, learning strategies, and the effects of input provided (McLeod, 2017).

Among several studies of factors facilitating memorization and retention, one of the most influential, conducted by Nation (2013), emphasizes three main factors, namely noticing, retrieval, and creative use. Noticing means paying attention to the words rather than the parts of a message and is very important as learning does not occur without it (Schmidt, 2008). Retrieval takes place after noticing.

After words have been learned and comprehended, they should be retrieved during tasks. Retrieval makes a stronger memory link and enables words to be retained in the long-term memory. In addition, creative or generative use engages learners to review and use words in a variety of contexts, thereby facilitating their memorization.

Another learning theory is task-induced involvement load (TIL) (Eckerth & Tavakoli, 2012; Huang et al., 2012; Soleimani & Rahmanian, 2015), where the effects of different tasks and conditions on vocabulary learning and retention are studied. The greater the involvement of learners in tasks, the deeper the cognitive processing and the better the retention of vocabulary (Laufer & Hulstijn, 2001). However, it is worth noting that tasks with high levels of involvement do not always lead to better retention than tasks with low levels of involvement.

Thus, the main theoretical framework underpinning this study is the nature of memorization. Even though the adopted theoretical framework has been used in many CALL studies (Handley, 2014; Yang et al., 2021), the choice of this framework was explicitly articulated to fill the gap identified by Yang et al.

(2021).

3. Method 3.1 Research Design and Participants This study adopted a quasi-experimental research design (Maciejewski, 2020). A government university in southern Thailand was the setting of the study. A convenience sampling method was adopted to select participants (Creswell, 2014) who were first-year Thai students studying in scientific and language fields. There were 72 students (37 female and 35 male) who completed all the tests. They were divided into the two study groups, LMS exercise and MultiEx game. They were considered low proficiency based on mean grade scores in a common previous course of 1.33 out of 4 for the LMS exercise group (35 students) and 1.29 out of 4 for the MultiEx game group (37 students). During the data collection period, they did not take any other English courses which might have affected the results.

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3.2 Data Collection Instruments The study used three main instruments. First, before the study was conducted, students received a vocabulary pre-test to identify their unknown TOEIC words and scores. The TOEIC words used in the study were selected if they appeared in both the TOEIC word list (http://www.newgeneralservicelist.org/toeic-list) and an academic word list. The written test was designed as a simple gap-filling exercise with parts of speech and pronunciation as this met the minimum requirement for word knowledge (Nation, 2013; Thornbury, 2006) and avoided guessing issues. The value of the item-objective congruence (IOC) index for content validity was 1.00, indicating that the validity was high.

The second instrument was the immediate post-tests (IPT). IPTs, consisting of receptive and productive parts, were administered after each lesson. They combined the pre-test format (gap-filling of parts of speech and meanings) with a multiple-choice format to examine students’ receptive knowledge (parts of speech and meanings) and productive knowledge (words in use). A native English-speaking teacher checked for grammatical accuracy and three Thai teachers of English checked for content validity (IOC). The IOC scores of all the tests were very close to one (1), indicating high validity of all ten tests. Then the reliability of the multiple-choice tests was confirmed by Cronbach’s alpha. All IPTs had a value close to 1, indicating an acceptable level of reliability.

The third instrument was a delayed post-test (DPT) in which the same ten IPT tests were all administered to both groups on the same day, two weeks after the last IPT. Three hours were allocated for this test; however, most students completed it in approximately two hours.

3.3 Interventions To conduct this quasi-experimental study, three interventions were provided.

First, the students’ unknown 100 words from the pre-test were adopted to create 10 lessons with 10 words per lesson. Each lesson included the same features of the target words, i.e., functions (parts of speech), L1 (Thai) meanings, L2 (English) definitions, sentence samples and pictures representing the meaning of the words. All the lesson materials were checked by a native English-speaking teacher for grammatical accuracy, and they were uploaded to the LMS. The second intervention was the MultiEx games. The MultiEx games were researcher-developed games. The games are online instructional video games.

They were created as a journey game through a PGR Maker MV and exported as an executable (.exe) file through the Enigma Virtual Box program. Everyone could access the games from a free public platform. The games were provided as vocabulary exercises for students to check whether they could remember the target words and whether they could apply the words in use. After students selfstudied the vocabulary, they could access the link to the game and play it as many times as they liked. However, it is worth noting that this group gained more exposure to the vocabulary before and during the game journey. In the game, they needed to read an incomplete sentence and choose one of the four options to fill in the blank as shown in Image 1. At the end of the game, they could see their score. There were 10 items in a game.

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Image 1: Example of MultiEx games The third intervention was the LMS exercises. The same incomplete sentences (gap-filling) used in the MultiEx games were also used on the LMS exercises.

Vocabulary lessons and vocabulary exercises were uploaded to LMS, where students could access them as many times as desired. At the end of the test the exercises provided immediate feedback as shown in Image 2.

Image 2: Feedback of the correct answers 3.4 Data Collection Procedures Before collecting data, the target words used in the study were selected from the TOEIC word list. Then, all the instruments and procedures were piloted with another group of second-year students to examine the feasibility of the study.

After the pilot test, the actual study was conducted. Students were informed of the purposes and procedures of the study and their formal consent to participate was obtained. Students were assigned to groups, and then self-studied one lesson each morning for 10 working days, taking the IPT each day. Two weeks after completion of the ten lessons, both groups took the delayed post-test on the same day during class time.

3.5 Data Analysis This study used the Statistical Program for Social Sciences (SPSS) to analyse numeric data. The T-test was the main statistic used to compare the mean scores of the pre-test, the IPTs and the DPT. To measure short-term vocabulary memorization, an independent sample t-test of IPTs was used to compare the mean scores of two types of practice between these two groups. Then, to measure long-term vocabulary retention, a paired samples t-test was used to analyse the mean scores of the IPTs and DPT within-groups.

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4. Results and Discussion 4.1 Research Question 1: Effectiveness in Terms of Short-Term Memorization Table 1 presents the results of the ten immediate post-tests.

Table 1: Comparison of the total mean scores on the IPTs of both groups t Test Group Total Score x̄ Sig IPT

LMS exercises MultiEx games

300

266.89

-.080

.936

267.32

The findings indicate that the MultiEx game group could gain higher mean scores than the LMS exercise group; however, there was no significant difference (p < 0.05). Thus, neither practice method provides a significantly better result in vocabulary memorization. It is possible to argue that the vocabulary lessons offered dual encoding channels. As semantic encoding (meanings) facilitates the best memory (Craik & Tulving, 1975), dual channels of both semantic (meanings) and visual (pictures) encoding lead to deeper memory processing (Mayer, 2005). Furthermore, L1 translation was an easy vocabulary learning strategy (Schmitt, 2008; Walters & Bozkurt, 2009). The results support a recent study by Ugla et al. (2019) which found that low-proficiency students utilize L1based strategies. Another possible explanation why scores were high was the opportunity to practise repetitively. The results of this study are consistent with those of Ruegg and Brown (2019) who found that the number of times a word is encountered is important in vocabulary memorization. The following Table 2 presents the mean scores and the statistical significance of each IPT. Table 2: Comparison of the mean scores on each IPT of both groups t Test Group Total Score x̄ LMS exercises 23.54 IPT 1 30 -.422 MultiEx games 24.14 LMS exercises 26.11 IPT 2 30 -.872 MultiEx games 26.97 LMS exercises 26.31 IPT 3 30 -.252 MultiEx games 26.51 LMS exercises 26.57 IPT 4 30 -.624 MultiEx games 27.00 LMS exercises 27.60 IPT 5 30 .577 MultiEx games 27.19 LMS exercises 26.69 IPT 6 30 -.151 MultiEx games 26.81 LMS exercises 27.20 IPT 7 30 -1.027 Multix games 27.86 LMS exercises 27.86 IPT 8 30 1.193 MultiEx games 27.03 LMS exercises 26.91 IPT 9 30 -.396 MultiEx games 27.22 LMS exercises 28.09 IPT 10 30 1.612 MultiEx games 26.59

Note. *p < .05

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Sig .674 .387 .802 .535 .566 .880 .308 .237 694 1.12

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Table 2 shows that the MultiEx game group gained better mean scores than the LMS exercise group in most vocabulary lessons. However, the results obtained from the independent samples t-test show no statistically significant differences (p > 0.05). Therefore, MultiEx games were not significantly better than the LMS exercises in terms of short-term memorization.

It is possible that some other factors, including the time interval and the recency (words encountered last are better remembered than those encountered first), might affect their memorization (Paivio, 1986, 2014). In this current study, students self-studied and then took the IPTs after they had completed each lesson. The frequency of word encounters in the LMS exercises and MultiEx games could facilitate memorization. As the LMS exercises and MultiEx games allowed students to redo the exercises as many times as they liked, it is probable that the more students practised the exercises or games, the better the words were memorized (Hajebi et al., 2018; Laufer & Osimo, 1991; Ni et al., 2020).

Creative or generative use of the new vocabulary items in different contexts enables students to rethink uses for them, facilitating vocabulary memorization (Nation, 2013). The findings of the present study are consistent with those of Ruegg and Brown (2019) who found that the number of times a word is encountered is important for vocabulary retention in long-term memory.

Furthermore, the explanation could be that gap-filling, as a productive vocabulary task requiring students to use their cognitive and language ability to complete the task, fosters vocabulary retention. In other words, the more effort students put into the task, the more likely they are to memorise the words (Huang et al., 2012). The findings of the current study are in accord with those of Kim (2011) whose research shows that when students use their cognitive and language competence to complete a task in a given time, they process the words more deeply and retain them better. Similarly, these findings corroborate the work of Ruegg and Brown (2019) whose findings show that output tasks (requiring students to use their skills) lead to better vocabulary retention than input tasks.

4.2 Research Question 2: Effectiveness in Terms of Long-Term Retention Table 3 presents the mean scores of the IPTs and DPT of both groups to compare the effectiveness in terms of long-term vocabulary retention.

Table 3: Comparison of mean scores on each IPT and the DPT of both groups Group LMS exercises MultiEx games

N

Total score

35 37

300

x̄ on the ten IPTs 266.89

x̄ on the DPT 160.37

Difference s between both tests 106.52

t

Sig

13.85

0.00*

267.32

164.3

103.02

13.30

0.00*

Note. *p < .05 Table 3 shows that the difference between the mean score of the IPTs and the DPT of the MultiEx game group is smaller than that of the LMS exercise group (103.02 and 106.52 respectively). Data indicates that the practice of MultiEx

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games could facilitate better retention than the practice of LMS exercises. Even though paired sample t-test data show that the mean scores of both groups were significantly different (p > 0.05) or both practice methods could promote vocabulary learning in both short-term and long-term memory, the second group shows better results because of the smaller decrease in the results.

The following Table 4 presents the mean scores of the DPT on each lesson.

Table 4: Comparison of the mean scores on the delayed post-tests of both groups DPT

Group

LMS exercises MultiEx games LMS exercises DPT 2 MultiEx games LMS exercises DPT 3 MultiEx games LMS exercises DPT 4 MultiEx games LMS exercises DPT 5 MultiEx games LMS exercises DPT 6 MultiEx games LMS exercises DPT 7 MultiEx games LMS exercises DPT 8 MultiEx games LMS exercises DPT 9 MultiEx games LMS exercises DPT 10 MultiEx games Note: * means p value > 0.05.

DPT 1

Total Score 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30

x̄ 19.06 16.27 17.23 19.43 17.03 18.24 16.31 15.89 17.89 17.62 16.06 16.86 14.69 14.84 15.26 9.43 13.31 14.81 15.06 15.72

t

Sig

2.607

.011*

-1.993

.051*.

-1.100

275

.321

.749

.206

.837

-.702

.485

-.128

.899

6.397

.000*

-1.213

.230

-.571

.570

The findings indicate that, in six of the ten DPTs, the MultiEx game group of students gained higher mean scores than the LMS exercises group. However, the independent samples t-test results showed that most of the mean scores of the DPT did not show statistically significant differences (p > 0.05). This suggests that using MultiEx games for vocabulary practice did not help students retain vocabulary any better than the use of LMS exercises for practice.

The higher mean scores in the DPTs of the MutiEx games group could be due to the higher frequency of exposure to target words in this type of practice compared to LMS exercises practice. The LMS exercises only allowed students to see the target words just before beginning their practice, whilst the MultiEx games practice allowed students to see them before starting, and again along the game journey. Students practising via MultiEx games simply had more opportunities to see the target words compared to the LMS exercise group. It has been reported that the more frequently students encounter a word, the better they retain the word (Hoa & Trang, 2020). This explanation is in line with research by Eckerth and Tavakoli (2012) whose study indicated that frequency of

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exposure and task load involvement affected vocabulary learning and retention positively.

A second possible explanation might be that games increase positive attitudes toward learning. Games are reported to motivate students to learn, enable them to pay longer attention to vocabulary lessons (Saha & Singh, 2016), and make learning more enjoyable (Derakshan & Khatir, 2015; Lorenzutti, 2016), which can turn intake into knowledge (Krashen, 1992). In addition, enjoyable games encourage students to play them repeatedly, helping word repetition (Nation, 2013; Turgut & Irgin, 2009). This explanation is confirmed by Aghlara and Tamjid (2011), DeHaan (2011), Shabaneh and Farrah (2019) and Silsüpür (2017) whose studies indicate that games increase students’ vocabulary acquisition by helping to maintain their concentration on the learning activity. Research by Abrams and Walsh (2014) and Pasfield-Neofitou (2014) showed that students who learned vocabulary through games gain better scores than those who followed conventional instruction. It is possible that games lead to high motivation when students enjoy learning vocabulary, which eventually transfers the words they have learned to long-term memory (McLeod, 2017).

The results of the present study confirm the effectiveness of integrating technology with learning activities. However, the statistical results do not show a significant difference between these two vocabulary practice methods. A possible explanation might be the ease and convenience of use. Unlike the LMS practice exercise group, students in the MultiEx game group did not receive immediate feedback. It is possible that some students avoided checking the correct answers which affected their understanding of the exercises. The findings support the previous study by Iten and Petko (2016) which indicated that students’ awareness of learning benefits is more important than the feelings of fun. Furthermore, the results are concurrent with those of Park et al. (2012) whose study indicated that ease and convenience of use enhances the effectiveness of online learning.

Besides the learning effects of practice using online games and LMS exercises, the frequency of test taking might facilitate vocabulary memorization and retention. Certainly, the frequency of the immediate post-tests for ten consecutive days resulted in more opportunities for target word encounters and word retrieval. This is consistent with research by Bancha (2012) whose findings showed that the frequency of test taking motivates Thai university students to put more effort into learning vocabulary, which eventually facilitates vocabulary memorisation and retention.

Another explanation may be the effects of the vocabulary lessons which were provided to both groups. As these two groups received the same input of vocabulary lessons, it seems essential to discuss lesson effects. It is known that dual encoding channels in vocabulary lessons promote vocabulary retention (Craik & Tulving, 1975). In this study, vocabulary lessons provided both semantic encoding (written meanings in L1 and L2) and visual encoding (pictures), facilitating deeper processing (Mayer, 2014) and making the words easier to recall (Paivio, 1986, 2014). The value of using pictures in vocabulary

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lessons is highlighted in a study by Jazuli et al. (2019) that showed how, through pictures, low proficiency Malaysian students improved vocabulary acquisition and had a higher motivation to learn English. In addition, findings of a study by Ou et al. (2020) revealed that pictures are beneficial and increase vocabulary retention in young learners. Furthermore, L1 translation facilitates ease of understanding (Schmitt, 2008; Walters & Bozkurt, 2009) which was appropriate for the low-level proficiency students in this study. The findings are in line with the study by Ugla et al. (2019) which indicated that low proficiency students use L1-based strategies to acquire a foreign language. In addition, findings of a study by Nanda (2017) showed that L1 equivalents of the vocabulary items enhanced students’ retention of them.

It is worth noting that after grading students’ IPTs and DPTs, their mistakes revealed some findings reflecting the effectiveness of the vocabulary lessons and practice using LMS or MultiEx games. One of the students’ mistakes was to swap word meanings. An example was taken from the third vocabulary lesson which contained two words with the same initial letter ‘c’ and final letters ‘fy’ (clarify and classify). Some students swapped the meanings of these two words.

It is possible to explain that they were confused as they lacked opportunities to practise word spellings (word form) in the vocabulary practice of LMS exercises or MultiEx games. A second type of mistake found related to their background knowledge, which seemed to interfere with new knowledge. To illustrate, some students wrote the meaning of ‘public’ instead of the target word ‘publish’ and ‘career’ instead of ‘carrier’. It is possible that they were confused between new and known words because of their similar forms (spelling) and sounds (pronunciation). This type of mistake occurs because of phonological loop effects, where similar sounds cause difficulty for learning and recall (Baddeley, 2020). Another explanation is that they could not remember the meanings of the vocabulary and they simply guessed the answers.

5. Conclusions Technology helps promote self-directed learning and enhances vocabulary learning. The results of this study revealed that the TOEIC vocabulary lessons, with practice through both LMS exercises or online MultiEx games, facilitate vocabulary memorisation and retention, and neither form of practice promotes better memorisation or retention. Both methods make it convenient for students to learn anywhere and anytime, and both may be enjoyable. Productive types of practice also foster deep processing and cognitive involvement, facilitating longterm memorisation.

This study makes theoretical contributions to educational technology focusing on online learning with LMS exercises and MultiEx games in promoting vocabulary acquisition. Unlike previous studies investigating only the effectiveness of games and LMS on vocabulary acquisition, the findings of the present study provide a comparative result of two methods of vocabulary practice. Thus, the study contributes to filling the gap in the research of methods of practising for vocabulary memorisation and retention.

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The results confirm the important roles of dual encoding channels of semantic and visual encoding and the positive roles of technology in terms of ease and convenience of accessibility, thereby fostering vocabulary memorisation and retention. Even though the results did not show statistically significant differences between these two methods of practices, MultiEx games could lead to slightly better retention as a result of the higher frequency of word exposure in games than those of the LMS exercises.

6. Pedagogical Implications The findings of the present study could be useful for material designers and teachers when providing supplementary instructional materials to promote vocabulary learning. Regarding these findings, this study offers some implications for future practice. First, opportunities to practice how target words are spelt should be incorporated in online vocabulary lessons and practice using LMS exercises or MultiEx games. The students’ answers in the IPTs and DPT showed that students were confused by similar forms, such as career-carrier and publish-public. Thus, providing opportunities to practise spelling orally, or in writing, could help students better memorise new word forms and avoid confusion of similar word forms.

Second, apart from opportunities to practise spelling, incorporating pronunciation in the online vocabulary lessons and LMS exercises or MultiEx games might help students remember vocabulary better. Some students were confused by the words with the initial letter ‘c’ and the final letters ‘fy’ as in ‘classify’ and ‘clarify’. The students’ answers showed phonological loop effects or difficulties caused by words with similar sounds (Baddeley, 2020). In this study, only one channel of visualization was promoted as they could only see the words and pictures to aid meaning, understanding, and memorisation. If pronunciation practice is added to the online lessons, LMS exercises and MultiEx games, they aid memorisation as the visual and auditory channels are encoded at the same time (Paivio, 1986; Paivio 2014). Providing opportunities to practise the pronunciation of new words should help them recognise word forms better, which may minimise phonological similarity issues in the long term.

Third, vocabulary instruction, practice, and feedback should be combined in the same lesson. Owing to the limitation of MultiEx games, not all of these functions can be offered in the lesson. Ease of use is one of the important factors for successful online learning (Garcia-Cabot et al., 2015; Han & Shin, 2016) and autonomous learning (Park et al., 2012). Therefore, it is essential to add vocabulary practice and feedback in an online vocabulary lesson. Another option is to design online vocabulary lessons and transform these components into an application for convenient use. Fourth, a variety of exercises through LMS or online games should be provided. To attract and keep/maintain? students’ attention in self-study lessons, different types of input are essential.

Repeating the same format of practice through LMS exercises or online games might not encourage students to practise repeatedly. Consequently, a variety of exercises could reinforce the input in more interesting ways which would eventually motivate them to learn vocabulary.

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7. Limitation and Recommendations The vocabulary exercises on LMS and MultiEx game did not include spelling and pronunciation features. The more opportunities there are to practice, the better the retention. Further studies may include these two aspects of word knowledge on online platforms to promote deep processing and cognitive involvement for better retention. Furthermore, this study did not investigate students’ satisfactions with vocabulary lessons, LMS exercises and MultiEx games. Thus, further studies may include other research instruments, such as surveys, questionnaires, focus group interviews and individual interviews to further improve learning materials and gain an insight into the understanding of the study.

Acknowledgements This research was supported by the Faculty of International Studies, Prince of Songkla University. Our thanks also go to all the students who participated in the study.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 10, pp. 193-216, October 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.10.11 Received Jul 28, 2021; Revised Sep 29, 2021; Accepted Oct 18, 2021

Definitional Skills of Learners with and without Developmental Language Disorder Ifigeneia Dosi Department of Greek Philology, Democritus University of Thrace, Komotini, Greece http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4911-2049 Zoe Gavriilidou Department of Greek Philology, Democritus University of Thrace, Komotini, Greece http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5975-6852 Chrysoula Dourou Department of Greek Philology, Democritus University of Thrace, Komotini, Greece http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0767-6455 Abstract. Definitions exhibit aspects of mental lexicon organization.

Learners with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) have limited vocabulary knowledge (in breadth and depth) and, thus, less mature definitional skills. Word characteristics affect the definitional skills. This study investigated the definitional skills of learners with and without DLD considering different word characteristics. Moreover, issues like deviant vs. delayed abilities and the link between breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge are addressed. Thirty-six learners were divided into three groups (a DLD and two control groups [CG] of typically developing learners matched on either age or vocabulary). They were asked to define 16 words. Answers were scored for content and form.

Findings revealed that the DLD group scored lower than both CGs in content, while no differences were found in form. Definitions of abstract and compound words were more demanding for all. Correlations between vocabulary and definitional skills were detected only in the agematched CG. From the above, we deduce that DLD learners’ definitional skills are deviant. In addition, clinical practice should not look at effects of isolated variables, but rather investigate the interrelation of different parameters. Finally, the link between breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge may require more time to emerge in DLD learners.

Keywords: Developmental Language Disorder; definitional skills; word characteristics; breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge

©Authors This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

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1. Introduction Definitional skills depict mental lexicon organization and depth of vocabulary knowledge. Learners with DLD have reduced breadth (i.e., vocabulary size) and depth of vocabulary knowledge and, thus, they produce informal definitions. An open issue is whether the linguistic abilities of this group are delayed or deviant.

Definitional skills are affected by word characteristics; hence, definitions of abstract and compound words are more demanding. This study investigated the definitional skills of learners with and without DLD, taking into account word characteristics, such as concreteness and compoundness. Additionally, issues like deviant vs. delayed abilities and the interrelation between breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge are discussed.

1.1. Definitional skills of learners with and without language disorders The development of definitional skills provides information about content (meaning) and form (syntactic structure) (Marinellie & Johnson, 2004). Definitions can be either formal or informal. Regarding content, formal definitions include a superordinate term, and at least one characteristic of the defined object. For instance, "a guitar is a musical instrument that has six strings" (Gutierrez-Cleflen & DeCurtis, 1999, p. 23). By contrast, informal definitions include either the function of the word (chair: where we sit), or a descriptive term (sing: sounds pretty), or synonyms (bush: is a shrub), or an example (cricket: is a popular sport in England). Regarding form, a formal definition has the following structure “X is a Y that Z”, and it is syntactically more complex (Marinellie & Johnson, 2004); while informal definitions include noun or verb phrases and predominately main clauses (read: a book; funny: we laugh).

A formal word definition requires word knowledge, use of appropriate semantic features (McGregor et al., 2013), knowledge of form of definitions, as well as metalinguistic abilities. Nevertheless, word knowledge (breadth of vocabulary knowledge) does not, necessarily, imply the ability to define the word (depth of vocabulary knowledge) (McGregor et al., 2013). Schooling seems to be the most critical factor in the development of formal definitions (Schwartz & Katzir, 2012), because learners are exposed to formal language and definitions at school, whereas the home environment provides more informal language. Therefore, the development of definitional skills is closely related to language development, literacy and academic success. The development of definitions is a gradual process which starts from early childhood and continues through adulthood (Dourou et al., 2020).

Many studies focus on the way typically developing (TD) learners (aged 6 to 12 years) define words, and also on the development of definitions within this age range in terms of both content and form (McGregor et al., 2013; Dourou et al., 2020). Learners initially use informal definitions and they use more formal definitions by the end of the elementary school. Formal definitions require decontextualized language skills. The parallel development of content and form is not a simple process, which probably explains why it takes time for learners to put together the more typical forms of definition (Dourou et al., 2020).

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Examining the content of definitions, younger learners (from 5 to 9 years old) provide definitions based on the most prominent properties of objects (e.g., their functions, use or appearance). Some studies claim that learners from the age of seven use a superordinate term in the definitions of nouns (To et al., 2013). Other studies reported that even at an older age (10-year-old learners), learners’ definitions are characterized by self-reference (smart: I am smart) (Dourou, 2019).

After the age of eleven, abstract and more formal definitions are more commonly used (Dourou, 2019); the complexity of definitions increases with age, and the strategies used become more mature (Caramelli et al., 2006).

Focusing on the form of definitions, learners, initially, use nominal phrases and later more complex clauses (Friedmann et al., 2011). At the end of elementary school (12 years old) learners have enhanced their metalinguistic abilities and, thus, they are more likely to combine the correct and informative content with the appropriate form.

Studies on definitional skills of learners with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD, previously known as Specific Language Impairment/SLI) are scarce (Marinellie & Johnson, 2002; Mohammadi et al., 2011; Dosi & Gavriilidou, 2020).

DLD refers to individuals with language deficits in the absence of hearing, intellectual or emotional impairments (Leonard, 2014). An updated definition of the disorder encompasses learners whose non-verbal IQ “is neither impaired enough to justify a diagnosis of intellectual disability nor good enough to be discrepant with overall language level” (Bishop, 2017, p. 679). Research has not given a clear answer yet about the language abilities of learners with DLD. Two general approaches have been proposed: (a) an approach that locates the cause of DLD within the language system, and more specifically, attributes the disorder to deficits in the representations in the grammatical system of the language (Rice et al., 1995), and (b) another approach that attributes the disorder to a deficiency in the non-linguistic processing mechanism (Ullman, 2004). However, none of the proposed theories has explained sufficiently the language abilities of this group.

Moreover, the debate about delayed vs. deviant language abilities still continues (Meir & Armon-Lotem, 2017). The delay hypothesis supports the view that typical acquisitional patterns are followed, albeit with a delay; thus, DLD learners perform like their younger language-matched controls (Rice et al., 1995). Other studies have shown that learners with DLD score lower than their languagematched controls (Briscoe et al., 2001). By contrast, the deviance hypothesis claimed disordered/atypical acquisitional patterns (i.e., quantitative and qualitative differences) that are not detected in younger language-matched TD learners (Meir & Armon-Lotem, 2017). Language deficits in learners with DLD that persist into adolescence may suggest that the initial delay ultimately becomes a deviance (Conti-Ramsden et al., 2012).

Previous studies on learners with DLD have shown that the word definitions of this group include less information (Marinellie & Johnson, 2002) than those of other learners. Moreover, they produce predominately informal definitions compared to their age-matched TD learners (Marinellie & Johnson, 2002), possibly because formal definitions require more abstract thinking and better organization,

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and go beyond the functional use of words (Ponari et al., 2018). McGregor et al.

(2013) suggest that learners with DLD have shallower word knowledge than their TD grade-mates, and they face persistent difficulties in word organization and association. Other studies suggest that the delayed production of formal definitions in learners with DLD, is due to differences in lexical and metalinguistic development (Marinellie & Johnson, 2002). This claim is supported by Krzemien et al. (2021), who found that some aspects of lexical acquisition (i.e., word generalization) were similar to TD age-matched learners when learners were controlled for their vocabulary, which suggests that learners with DLD language abilities are delayed rather than deviant. Mohammadi et al. (2011) noted that the definitional skills of Persian-speaking learners with DLD were weaker due to their language difficulties which prevent the full meaning representation. Adding to the work of previous studies, Dosi (2021) and Dosi and Gavriilidou (2020) have found differences between learners with and without DLD definitional abilities, albeit only in content and not in form. Moreover, they did not find correlations between executive functions (i.e., inhibition, updating, and working memory), vocabulary and definitions in the DLD, while the link was only observed in the TD group. The authors suggested that the development of definitions was driven by different mechanisms in (non-)impaired learners, or the link had not yet emerged due to their delayed abilities.

1.2. The impact of grammatical categories on the development of definitional skills Another important factor to be considered is the grammatical category of the word. Nouns are more easily defined than other grammatical categories, such as verbs or adjectives, not only in content (Dourou, 2019; Gavriilidou, 2015), but also in form (Dourou, 2019; Friedmann et al., 2011). At the age of seven to eight years, learners seem to include superordinate terms in their nominal definitions (Dourou, 2019; To et al., 2013).

Verbs are harder to define because they refer to activities, motion, changes of state, causal relations, or occurrances between objects and acting persons (Gavriilidou, 2015). Furthermore, compared to nouns, verbs demonstrate a less hierarchical nature which inhibits the activation of a class term around which to construct a definition (Gavriilidou, 2015; Johnson & Anglin, 1995). Marinellie and Chan (2006) claimed that definitions of verbs produced by learners at the age of four often include relationships, associations and synonyms and often are used in infinitive phrases. Similar studies (Dourou, 2019; Gavriilidou, 2015) have found that verbs are predominantly defined based on their function or by an example. With regard to form, learners preferred to define verbs using a phrase or simple clause, and to a lesser extent, using embedded clauses (Dourou, 2019).

Definitions of adjectives are less studied (Dourou, 2019; Gavriilidou, 2015; Marinellie & Chan, 2006). The definitional skills for adjectives develop much later than the definitional skills for nouns (Johnson & Anglin, 1995). Learners often use examples, synonyms and associations in definitions of adjectives (Dourou, 2019), while in terms of form they use verb phrases or, to a lesser extent, relative clauses.

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concrete vs. abstract words) also affect definitional skills indicating that various variables interrelate, that is why they should not be investigated separately. No previous research investigated the effect of the grammatical category on definitions delivered by learners with DLD. 1.3. The impact of semantic characteristics on the development of definitional skills As implied above, semantic characteristics affect both content and form of definitions (Caramelli et al., 2006; Johnson & Anglin, 1995). Similar to the findings of Gavriilidou (2015) in pre-schoolers, studies in school-aged learners (aged 6-10 years) (Johnson & Anglin, 1995) have shown that definitions of concrete nouns have been more accurate as a result of connection with other superordinate and subordinate nouns and this can be observed after the age of seven. By contrast, the use of superordinate terms of abstract nouns has not yet been developed in lower elementary school learners (Dourou, 2019). Studies including older individuals (aged 10, 14, and 18 years) similarly found that scores on concrete nouns were higher than on abstract nouns (Dourou et al., 2020). More specifically, it was observed that the definitions of concrete nouns were based mainly on their superordinate categories and characteristics, while abstract nouns were only defined in terms of their characteristics. Definitions of abstract nouns seem to improve in late adolescence and in adulthood (Dourou, 2019). The effect of semantic characteristics on definitions produced by learners with DLD has not yet been investigated.

1.4. The impact of morphological structure on the development of definitional skills Another factor that has been less examined, but was found to affect definitional skills is morphological structure of the word (Dourou, 2019). Simple words are defined better, both in content and form, compared to compound words. More specifically, school-aged learners tend to decompose the compound words in parts (cheese pie: cheese and pie), and to use tautologies regardless of the grammatical category of the compound noun. The definitions of compound words improve as learners get older, especially those of abstract compound words that seem to be completed in adulthood (Dourou, 2019). Educational level seems to play a crucial role. The effect of morphological structure in definitions produced by learners with DLD was examined by means of word naming in the study of Grela et al. (2005). The results showed that learners with DLD had difficulty ordering Noun+Noun compounds. Ordering compounds erroneously may occur due to failing to fully comprehend the semantic relationship between the modifier and the head.

2. Aims and research questions and hypotheses From the literature discussed, it is inferred that issues still exist about definitional skills of learners with and without DLD. Addressing these gaps, this study aimed to (a) compare the definitional skills of learners with and without DLD concerning the matter of delayed or deviant abilities, (b) investigate how these skills are affected by less-researched variables such as grammatical categories, semantic characteristics and morphological structure, and, finally, (c) examine the

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relationship between breadth of vocabulary and the development of definitions (i.e., depth of vocabulary).

This study built on the research of Dosi and Gavriilidou (2020) and Dosi (2021), by delving into the definitional skills of school-aged learners with and without DLD by adding an extra vocabulary-matched control group (CG). Three interrelated questions were addressed: RQ1: Do overall definitional skills differ, in terms of content and form, between learners with and without DLD? RQ2: Do factors such as grammatical categories, semantic characteristics and morphological structure play a role in the production of word definitions, and which types of definitions are used per group?

RQ3: Do definitional skills (depth of vocabulary knowledge) of different grammatical categories correlate with expressive vocabulary (breadth of vocabulary knowledge)?

The following hypotheses were put forward: RH1: We expect that the age-matched CG will score better than the DLD group (Dosi & Gavriilidou, 2020), while the vocabulary-matched CG will exhibit a similar performance than learners with DLD (Rice et al., 1995). Two CGs were included, in order to disentangle language-level issues from agerelated issues.

RH2: We assume that (a) nouns will be defined better compared to adjectives and verbs (Johnson & Anglin, 1995; Gavriilidou, 2015); (b) concrete words will be defined better in comparison to abstract words (Johnson & Anglin, 1995; Caramelli et al., 2006); and (c) simple words will be defined better compared to compound words, in which it is expected to find tautologies (Dourou, 2019).

RH3: We expect that the breadth of vocabulary will correlate with the definitional skills (depth of vocabulary knowledge) (McGregor et al., 2013), at least in CGs (Dosi & Gavriilidou, 2020).

3. Methods 3.1. Participants Thirty-six monolingual Greek-speaking learners aged between 5.5-12 years (Mean: 8.1; SD: 1.6) participated in the study. Participants were divided into three groups (the experimental group, and two control groups - the one matched according to chronological age, and the other on vocabulary age).

Two baseline tasks were administered to all participants (Table 1), namely (a) a non-verbal intelligence task (Raven et al., 2008) and (b) an expressive vocabulary task (Vogindroukas et al., 2009), which were normed for three- to ten-year-old Greek-speaking learners. The tasks aimed to ascertain that all participants’ general non-verbal intelligence was normal (cut-off point was 85), and to detect their vocabulary knowledge abilities in order to be matched accordingly.

The experimental group (henceforth DLD group) consisted of twelve learners with DLD (age range: 7.3-11.8 years; mean age: 9.1, SD: 1.2), who were recruited http://ijlter.org/index.php/ijlter

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by Speech and Language Pathologists (SLPs). According to SLP reports, the learners met the following selection criteria in order to be included in the experimental group: absence of auditory or visual problems; no evidence of neurological impairment; absence of disorders in social interaction and communication, such as autism (Leonard, 2014). Based on SLP reports, the nonverbal abilities of the group were within the normal limits for their chronological age (Bishop, 2017), and their verbal abilities (vocabulary and morphosyntax) were at least 2 SD below the expected normative mean of chronologically age-matched peers. Their non-verbal fluid intelligence was also verified by study testing and had to be at least 85. The participants in this group had been receiving speech and language therapy for at least three years.

For the purposes of this study, two control groups of TD learners were recruited from Greek primary schools. In both cases, TD learners were described by their classroom teachers as using normal language and not having any learning difficulties. In the first Control Group (henceforth CG1), each participant was matched on age to a child from the DLD group. Each age-matched child was up to six months younger/older than the DLD child. CG1 consisted of twelve TD learners of equivalent chronological age (age range 7.2-12 years; mean age 8.5, SD 1.6). The second Control Group (henceforth CG2) consisted of twelve younger TD learners of equivalent vocabulary age as the learners of the DLD group (age range 5.5-7.5 years; mean age 6.6, SD 0.7; based on the categorization of Levy & Schaeffer, 2003). The expressive vocabulary tasks used information about the lexical age of the children based on their scores; each vocabulary-matched child, thus, was six months younger/older than the equivalent DLD child.

Since the sample was small, non-parametric criteria (Kruskal-Wallis test or Mann Whitney test) were applied. Age differences were found among the groups (H(2)= 18.575, p< .001). Further analyses showed that CG2 was significantly younger that the DLD group and CG1 (U= 1.000, p< .001 and U= 18.500, p= .001); while no difference was found between the DLD and CG1 groups (U= 48.500, p= .912).

Table 1: Participants’ profiles Group

N

DLD CG1 CG2

12 12 12

Chronological age (years; SD) 9;1 (1.2) 8;5 (1.6) 6;6 (0.7)

Expressive vocabulary scores (vocabulary age; SD) 7.2 (1.7) 10 (1.6) 6.9 (0.7)

Non-verbal intelligence (standard score; SD) 98.5 (4.5) 102.6 (3.4) 87.8 (2.8)

The results showed that the groups differed in terms of expressive vocabulary skills (H(2)= 17.952, p< .001). Mann Whitney tests among the groups showed that CG1 outperformed both DLD and CG2 (U= 14.500, p< .001; and U= 4.500, p< .001, respectively), while no differences were found between DLD and CG2 (U= 63.000, p= .630).

Regarding non-verbal intelligence, differences were observed among the groups (H(2)= 23.507, p< .001). Further tests between the groups indicated that the DLD

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and the CG1 did not differ (U= 52.000, p= .266), while the CG2 differed from the two other groups (U= 1.000, p< .001, for both comparisons).

The participants were also matched based on gender and socio-economic background. Informed consent in writing was obtained beforehand from parents/guardians of all learners included in the study. All procedures performed in the study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional Ethics Committee of Democritus University of Thrace (60589/2111/31-8-2018) and the national research committee.

3.2. Research Instruments Apart from the baseline tasks, all participants were tested by means of an elicited production task investigating definitional skills. In order to achieve comparability of the results, the definition task and the methodology adopted were similar to those used in the study of Marinellie & Johnson (2002, 2004) adapted in Greek by Gavriilidou (2015) and applied in Dourou (2019), Dourou et al. (2020), Dosi and Gavriilidou (2020) and Dosi (2021). The task included 16 items: eight nouns (concrete vs. abstract, simple vs. compound), four adjectives (simple vs. compound) and four verbs (simple vs. compound), as depicted in Table 2. Ten of the words were chosen from school coursebooks and the other six from the study of Gavriilidou (2015). In the study of Gavriilidou (2015), teachers identified, by means of a questionnaire, 500 out of 800 more frequent words in everyday class interactions and classroom activities. The criteria of item selection were high word frequency, age appropriateness, together with compliance with the criteria of grammatical category, morphological structure, and semantic characteristics.

Table 2: Definitional task items grouped per grammatical categories Grammatical categories Nouns

Morphological structure simple

Semantic characteristics concrete abstract

compound

concrete abstract

Verbs

simple compound

Adjectives

simple compound

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Task items milo ‘apple’ poðilato ‘bike’ taksiði ‘trip’ erotisi ‘question’ tiropita ‘cheese pie’ maçeropiruno ‘cutlery’ iʎovasilema ‘sunset’ makrozoia ‘longevity’ δjavazo ‘read’ xorevo ‘dance’ aniγoklino ‘open and close’ siγotraγuðo ‘croon’ astios ‘funny’ eksipnos ‘smart’ aspromavros ‘black and white’ γlikoksinos ‘sweet and sour’

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A warm-up session preceded the session, where the examiner gave an example of a formal definition and requested the participant afterwards to define a word. If the participant used an informal definition, the examiner gave corrective feedback by providing a formal definition of the word. During the main session the examiner just asked the participant, “What does X mean?” without showing any picture or object, and without any further prompt. Participants’ responses were audio-taped and transcribed afterwards.

The coding was based on the work of Marinellie and Johnson (2002, 2004).

Participants’ answers were scored for both content and form on a five-point scale.

For content-scoring, if the participant pointed at the object or used gestures in describing the word, they received 0 points. In accordance with previous literature, as Low-level responses (Table 3) were deemed Function, Descriptive, Concrete Example, and Association (1 point). As Mid-level responses (Table 3) were deemed Class-Nonspecific, Class-Specific, and Synonym (2-3 points), while High-level responses included Combination (any combination of Function, Descriptive, Concrete, and Association, or Class-Nonspecific), and Formal (combination of Class-Specific or Synonym and at least one specifying attribute such as Function, Concrete, Description, Example, Synonym; received 4-5 points).

Examples and marking per category are presented in Table 3 below.

Table 3: Examples of scoring the content of definitional types Content category

Simple word (question)

Nonverbal Function

Compound word (cheesepie)

Concrete noun (apple)

Abstract noun (trip)

Adjective (funny)

Verb (read) Points

(They show the thing or they use gestures) We ask something

I eat a cheesepie

I eat an apple

When we go somewhere

When we are doing funny things

0 I read a fairytale

1

Descriptive

It has a It’s triangular Something question and has cheese that we eat mark inside

1

Concrete example

“How are you?”

Grandma’s cheese pie

1

Association

Answer

school

juicy

airplane

jokes

a book

1

Class nonspecific

It’s a word

cheese

food

it’s a route

somebody can be

I see letters and say them aloud

2

Class specific or Synonym

problem

breakfast

fruit

holiday

amusing

to study

3

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When we go Somebody When you on vacation does funny open a book things and and you we laugh learn something It’s an apple I go with My daddy I read every on the mummy and says jokes day for the backside of daddy school my phone

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Combina- A phrase a food that has a fruit that is when we someone when I read tion with a cheese red visit a who makes words aloud question country/city us laugh and I use a mark at /island and has fun book the end Formal

It’s a A kind of pie It is a fruit When we go phrase that has cheese that we bite, to another that asks inside and it has place, to have for seeds fun, with answers different means of transport

A characte- An action ristic of that requires somebody looking at who has the words and sense of underhumour and standing makes their people meanings laugh

4

5

In form-scoring, a similar five-point scale-coding was followed: participants received 0 points if they pointed to the object or if they described it non-verbally (Table 4). As Low-level responses (Table 4) were considered the use of One Word (but not the superordinate category) and a determiner (1 point). As Mid-level responses were deemed a Verb Phrase and the words “something/thing” along with a referential phrase (2-3 points). In High-level responses (4-5 points; Table 4) were included, Partial formal definitions, giving the superordinate category or an infinitive or verb phrase; in addition, formal definitions were included. Formal definitions contained the Partial formal + a second infinitive or a nonfinite clause or a finite adverbial clause, or a prepositional phrase.

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Table 4: Examples of scoring the form of definitional types Form category

Simple word (question)

Compound word (cheese-pie)

Non-verbal

Concrete Abstract noun (trip) Adjective (funny) noun (apple) (They show the thing, or they use gestures)

Verb (read)

Points

0

One word (+determiner)

a word

cheese

red

vacation

laugh

book

1

Verb phrase

we ask something something that asks for answers

I eat it every day

we eat it

we mock

I read a text

2

something that has cheese inside

something that we eat

we go with mom and dad something that helps us to relax

something that has humour

something that I do using a book

3

Transitional (“thing” + referential sentence) Partially formal definitions (superordinate category)

a phrase that has a question mark

a pie that has cheese

a fruit that has seeds

a place that we go for vacation

a characteristic of somebody who makes jokes

an action that requires the study of a text

4

Formal definitions

a phrase that asks for answers or information

a kind of pie that includes cheese and we eat it for snack

a fruit that is round and red and it has seeds

a place to which we go for pleasure with different means of transportation

a characteristic of somebody or something that entertains us and makes us laugh

an action that requires going through a text recognizing the written symbols that it is composed of

5

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In either content or form, the highest possible total score for all categories (nouns, verbs, adjectives) was 80 points (16 words per participant with the maximum of 5 points per word). The results will be presented in percentages.

3.3. Reliability Inter-judge reliability of content coding was evaluated for all responses given by 36 subjects (in total 576 definitions). Any response coded identically by two independent evaluators was considered an agreement. A double-blind marking was followed. Identically coded responses were considered an agreement. The final percentage of agreement was determined by dividing the number of responses coded identically by the total number of coded definitions. The interjudge agreement for content was 89.1%. Inter-judge reliability of form coding was evaluated in a similar way and the agreement was 90%. To check the reliability of the task a Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient was calculated. Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient for the overall instrument was .795, suggesting a high degree of internal consistency.

3.4. Data analysis To investigate our first and second hypotheses, we performed non-parametric tests (Kruskal-Wallis tests or Mann Whitney tests), since our sample was small.

Finally, to test our last research hypothesis we run bivariate correlations between vocabulary scores and the overall scores on content and form, and the scores per grammatical category (nouns, verbs and adjectives), and for each group separately.

4. Results 4.1. Overall definitional skills For content, the three groups used more informal definitions, as Figure 1 illustrates. Differences among the groups were detected only in content (H(2)= 18.093, p< .001) and not in form (H(2)= 2.185, p= .335). Mann Whitney test analysis between the groups showed that in the content the DLD group used more informal definitions than the other two control groups (U= 1.000, p< .001, for both comparisons), while no differences were attested between the two control groups (U= 52.000, p= .226).

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Figure 1: Groups’ overall scores for content and form

4.2. Effects of word characteristics on definitional skills 4.2.1. The effect of grammatical categories Scores in the grammatical categories (Figure 2) illustrated that in content for nouns the DLD group produced more informal definitions (25.9%) than the other two control groups (CG1: 52.4% and CG2: 44.5%; CG1: U= 14.000, p= .001; CG2: U= 20.000, p= .002), while no differences were found between the two control groups (U= 53.500, p= .291). The picture is similar for verbs, where informal definitions were given by all groups but the DLD group that also gave some nonverbal responses (17.1%) compared to the two control groups (CG1: 27.7%; CG2: 24.2%; U= 36.500, p= .039, for both comparisons). The two control groups did not differ (U= 71.000, p= .977). For adjectives, the DLD group and the CG2 predominately used informal definitions (17.9% and 29.8%, respectively).

Nevertheless, the DLD group also provided some non-verbal responses, compared to the CG2; hence the CG2 outperformed the DLD group (U= 27.500, p= .008). The CG1 used more formal definitions than the other two groups (41.3%; DLD: U= 1.000, p< .001; CG2: U= 33.500, p= .024). By contrast, in form, the scores indicated that mid-level responses were used and no statistical differences were attested between the groups in both categories (nouns: H(2)= 2.424, p= .298; verbs: H(2)= 3.035, p= .219; adjectives: H(2)= 1.162, p= .559).

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Figure 2: Groups’ scores in content and form regarding grammatical categories

4.2.2. The effect of semantic characteristics In content, statistical differences were found only between the CG1 and the DLD group in concrete nouns, where the latter group produced more formal definitions than the former group (37.9% vs. 60.6%; U= 31.000, p= .017); while no other group differences were noticed (60.6% vs. 52.5%; CG1 vs. CG2: U= 57.500, p= .410; DLD vs. CG2: U= 40.000, p= .068). Abstract nouns were found to be more challenging for all groups, but particularly for the DLD group (13.8%), which provided more non-verbal responses than the other two control groups which gave informal definitions (CG1: U= 6.000, p< .001; CG2: U= 12.000, p< .001). The two control groups did not differ (44.2% vs. 36%; U= 52.500, p= .266). In form, no differences were attested between the groups - neither in concrete (H(2)= .144, p= .930) nor in abstract words (H(2)= 5.847, p= .054).

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Figure 3: Groups’ scores in content and form regarding semantic categories

4.2.3. The effect of morphological structure In content, the CG1 gave more formal definitions in simple words (51.6%) than the two other groups (DLD group: 24.9%, U= 7.000, p< .001; CG2: 37.5%, U= 27.000, p= .008), and the CG2 produced more formal definitions than the DLD group (U= 22.500, p= .003). Compound words were challenging for all groups, but particularly for the DLD group (13.7%). Most of the participants gave informal definitions; thus, the two control groups did not differ (U= 71.000, p= .977). The DLD group either gave informal definitions or did not give any response (CG1: U= 16.500, p= .001; CG2: U= 11.000, p< .001). In form, like content, the CG1 gave more formal definitions (57.3%) in simple words than the two other groups (DLD group: 46.7%, U= 36.000, p= .039; CG2: 44.7%, U= 22.500, p= .003); however, the DLD group and the CG2 performed similarly in this category (U= 55.000, p= .347).

In form of compound word definitions, no differences were found between the groups (H(2)= .187, p= .911).

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Figure 4: Groups’ overall scores in content and form regarding morphological structure

4.2.4. Definitional types per grammatical categories, semantic characteristics and morphological structure Definitional types of three groups used in terms of content are summarized in Table 5. As the table indicates, most of the participants, regardless of the group, provided low-level responses (i.e., functional definitions, examples, descriptive answers), with the sole exceptions of CG2, who produced mid-level responses (i.e., class specific definitions) for concrete nouns, and CG1, who gave high-level responses (i.e., combination) for simple nouns (both concrete and abstract) and simple adjectives. By contrast, for compound abstract nouns all groups used nonverbal responses. Interestingly, in most of the cases in compound abstract nouns the CG2 and some learners of the DLD group did not know or did not give a response or tried to describe the word non-verbally.

In form (Table 6), all groups preferred to define words using mid-level responses, by using verb phrases. A different performance was detected in CG1, who used a transitional form “something/thing” + referential sentence for simple adjectives, and in CG2, who used high-level responses (partially formal definitions) for concrete nouns.

We should note, at this point, that older TD learners used more mature definitions both in content and in form, particularly for nouns, while age-matched DLD learners still used more informal but informative definitions.

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209 Table 5: Definitional types in different categories in content per group 1

nouns

simple

concrete

abstract

compound

concrete

abstract

verbs

simple

compound

adjectives

simple

compound

DLD CG1 CG2 DLD CG1 CG2 DLD CG1 CG2 DLD CG1 CG2 DLD CG1 CG2 DLD CG1 CG2 DLD CG1 CG2 DLD CG1 CG2

Total %

1 2

NR / IDK2

Nonverbal

Function/Descrip -tive/Concrete

Class nonspecific

Class specific

Combination

Formal

Total answers

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 3 9 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 1 2 29 5.0

1 0 0 2 0 1 2 0 0 10 6 1 5 0 0 2 0 0 8 0 1 4 0 1 44 7.6

12 6 2 14 10 18 13 8 12 4 5 4 17 18 23 22 23 20 13 3 13 16 21 19 316 54.9

1 2 4 4 0 0 3 1 4 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 2 0 2 34 5.9

5 0 10 2 2 2 2 7 4 0 2 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 4 3 0 0 0 49 8.5

5 13 7 2 12 3 4 8 3 0 6 4 0 4 0 0 1 2 2 11 6 0 2 0 95 16.5

0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 1.6

24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 576 100.0

The sum and the most frequent answers are in bold (in both Tables 5 and 6).

No response (NR) or answered I don't know (IDK)

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210 Table 6: Definitional types in different categories in form per group

nouns

simple

concrete

abstract

compound

concrete

abstract

verbs

simple

compound

adjectives

simple

compound

DLD CG1 CG2 DLD CG1 CG2 DLD CG1 CG2 DLD CG1 CG2 DLD CG1 CG2 DLD CG1 CG2 DLD CG1 CG2 DLD CG1 CG2

Total %

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Non-verbal

One word

Verb phrase

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 3 9 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 1 2 29 5.0

1 0 0 2 0 1 2 0 0 10 6 1 5 0 0 2 0 0 8 0 1 4 0 1 44 7.6

3 4 4 2 1 8 6 4 7 0 0 5 3 3 5 2 2 2 0 1 1 5 13 3 84 14.6

8 3 2 17 8 11 8 12 8 3 7 4 11 16 17 16 21 20 11 5 13 10 7 17 255 44.3

“thing”+ referential sentence 7 7 6 3 9 3 5 5 4 3 2 0 4 0 1 4 1 0 5 14 8 3 3 1 98 17.0

Partially formal

Formal

Total answers

3 7 11 0 6 1 2 3 4 0 5 2 0 5 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 54 9.4

2 3 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 2.1

24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 576 100.0

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4.3. Vocabulary use and definitional skills Bivariate correlations were performed for each group separately, in order to observe possible associations. In the DLD and CG2 groups no correlations were found between the scores for vocabulary and the definitions of the different grammatical categories (nouns, verbs, adjectives), neither in content nor in form.

Correlations were detected only in CG1 in overall scores in content and form (r(12)= .734, p= .007; r(12)= .803, p= .002; respectively), in nouns (in both content: r(12)= .836, p= .001 and form: r(12)= .834, p= .001) and in adjectives, only in content (r(12)= .675, p= .016).

5. Discussion In this study we investigated (a) the definitional skills of learners with and without DLD, addressing the issue of delayed or deviant abilities; (b) the impact of grammatical categories, semantic characteristics and morphological structure on the development of definitions, and, finally, (c) the association between the breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge.

5.1. Overall definitional skills Our findings provide a mixed picture about the definitional skills of DLD learners.

Our first hypothesis was partially confirmed. Learners with DLD used more informal definitions (cf. Marinellie & Johnson, 2002; Dosi, 2021) than both control groups in terms of the content of definitions (cf. Briscoe et al., 2001). However, in respect of form all three groups performed similarly (cf. Dosi & Gavriilidou, 2020; Dosi, 2021); in contrast with other studies (Marinellie & Johnson, 2002).

Our results suggest that DLD learners’ definitional skills seem to be deviant, rather than delayed, in content, which may imply issues in the full meaning representations of this group (cf. Rice et al., 1995; Mohammadi et al., 2011), at least with abstract and compound words. In addition, the use of more informal definitions may indicate difficulties with word knowledge and organization (cf.

McGregor et al., 2013). The similar performance of the two CGs may be justified due to the mean age of the groups that was below the age of ten and, possibly, the learners were not old enough to demonstrate a developmental difference. We should note that older learners in our sample, although they were fewer, used more formal definitions (cf. Caramelli et al., 2006). Therefore, some evidence of decontextualized language use was observed, albeit still limited. A closer look at different word characteristics may provide a clearer picture.

The absence of differences in form may suggest that DLD may exhibit similar developmental patterns than TD learners (cf. Rice et al., 1995; Dosi, 2021). It can also be justified by the majority of the learners in most of the categories using midlevel responses (i.e., verb phrases), in other words, most of the learners preferred to use less complex syntactical structures (cf. Marinellie & Johnson, 2002).

We should acknowledge that the aforementioned choices may reflect the role of schooling in definitional skills (Schwartz & Katzir, 2012). The characteristics of definitions are systematically taught in the 5th and 6th grade of elementary school in Greece, probably leading to better performance of older participants in our

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sample who were found to produce more formal definitions, at least in conceptually less-complex words (i.e., simple words). Given that the instructional method applied in Greece may differ from those of other countries and has an impact on the results reported in this study, future research should focus on Greek-speaking learners and should address the impact of instructional methods on the development of definitional skills by starting with instruction in this regard with younger learners.

5.2. Effects of word characteristics Our second hypothesis also was confirmed partially. All groups more frequently provided low-level responses (i.e., functional definitions) for all words, as found in previous research (Marinellie & Johnson, 2002; Dosi & Gavriilidou, 2020). This suggests that school-age learners with and without DLD should not still use decontextualized language (Dosi & Gavriilidou, 2020). The findings showed that both control groups scored better than the DLD group in terms of content, indicating that the definitional skills of this group were deviant (Meir & ArmonLotem, 2017; Dosi, 2021). The only exception was found with concrete nouns where the vocabulary-matched group did not differ from the DLD group, which further supports the claim of delayed abilities (cKrzemien et al., 2021). The similar performances of the DLD and CG2 groups might have been due to the characteristics of concrete nouns (Gavriilidou, 2015), which are acquired first, and learners, thus, are more skilled at defining them (Johnson & Anglin, 1995; Gavriilidou, 2015). The other categories, which are more complex and demanding, may impede full meaning representations in DLD learners (Mohammadi et al., 2011). The finding of no differences between the two CGs may also indicate that TD learners perform at a similar developmental level. An exception is detected in simple words (content and form), where the age-matched group used more formal definitions than the vocabulary-matched group. The different performances of the TD learners may suggest that decontextualized language can be evident only in conceptually simpler words at this age (Johnson & Anglin, 1995; Gavriilidou, 2015; Dourou, 2019).

Compound words were found to be more challenging and to develop more gradually (Johnson & Anglin, 1995; Dourou, 2019). More specifically, learners with DLD used tautologies in order to define compound words (Dourou, 2019).

The use of tautologies might demonstrate evidence of morpho syntactical and lexical decomposition, but, still, this morphological category is not so well developed in mental lexicon. Despite what was found in previous studies (Grela et al., 2005), we did not observe any disordering of the compounds. In many cases, younger TD learners did not provide a definition of a compound word, which either suggests that they did not know the word, or they did not know how to define it. Compound abstract nouns seemed to be the most difficult to define for all groups. In this category either non-verbal responses were given (i.e., participants gestured or pointed), or most of the vocabulary-matched TD group did not respond at all. These findings suggest that either the word was not known, or if it was, it could not be decontextualized and defined (Dosi & Gavriilidou, 2020). The finding about compound words provides us with useful information about morphosyntactic abilities (decomposition), and indicates that compound

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words are hard to be decontextualized by school-aged learners, with or without DLD. In form, as mentioned before, the three groups performed similarly, using midlevel responses (i.e., verb phrases, “something/thing” + referential sentence) or high-level responses (i.e., superordinate category + relative clause) in most of the categories; except age-matched TD learners, who used partially formal definitions in simple concrete and abstract nouns and simple adjectives. This preference for less complex structures may reflect the instructional practices of schooling (Schwartz & Katzir, 2012).

From these findings, we also deduced that we should examine the interaction of different word characteristics that might affect the development of definitional skills in a different way.

5.3. Vocabulary use and definitional skills Our last hypothesis concerned the link between vocabulary use and definitions.

Our expectations were partially confirmed since correlations were attested between vocabulary and overall definitional abilities (in both content and form), scores in nouns (in both content and form) and in adjectives, only in content and only in the age-matched TD learners (Dosi & Gavriilidou, 2020; Dosi, 2021). Our findings indicate that the link between word-learning (breadth of vocabulary knowledge) and definitions (depth of vocabulary knowledge) is not present from the beginning and it requires time to appear in all grammatical categories (Dosi, 2021). Thus, possibly, it develops earlier with nouns that are conceptually simpler, depend less on the context, are more frequently used, and it is easier to imply their superordinate categories (To et al., 2013), and then in adjectives. In addition, as previous research has shown, knowing a word does not necessarily mean that we can define the word (McGregor et al., 2013). Hence, it conceivably takes time for this link to emerge, since it was not found in learners with DLD and younger TD learners. At the same time, the finding suggests that since the latter two groups performed similarly, it confirms that linguistic abilities of learners with DLD are delayed rather than deviant (Rice et al., 1995; Dosi, 2021).

6. Conclusions, limitations and further research One of the major findings was that definitional skills of DLD learners are rather deviant in content, but not in form, which implies that their abilities are delayed rather than deviant. Another important finding was that definitions of abstract and compound words were more demanding for all learners, which suggests that research and clinical practice should look at the interdependence of different parameters. Finally, breadth of vocabulary correlated with depth of vocabulary in older, typically developing learners; this link, possibly, takes time to emerge in DLD learners.

We should acknowledge some limitations of the study. First and foremost, the cohort of our participants was small (n= 12, per group). Nonetheless, it is difficult to find DLD learners without any other developmental disorders in Greece, since these learners are often misdiagnosed. Another limitation concerns the

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intervention, since not all DLD participants in the study received systematic language therapies, nor had they started their language therapies at the same age (Dosi & Gavriilidou, 2020). Additionally, each therapist applies his/her own intervention method, and this may ensue in a variation of the impact of the intervention (Dosi & Gavriilidou, 2020).

Finally, though this study is preliminary, it adds value to the existing work on definitional skills by investigating less-researched parameters in the relevant literature in a less-examined language group. We consider our findings less important in terms of firm conclusions, and more groundbreaking as an attempt to steer future research into this direction, in order to add extra, and, thus, more robust data.

7. Acknowledgments Special thanks to the children who participated in this study, their parents who gave their consent and the SLPs for their help and support. We also thank the six anonymous reviewers for their useful and insightful comments for the improvement of the manuscript.

This research is co-financed by Greece and the European Union (European Social Fund- ESF) through the Operational Program «Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning» in the context of the project “Reinforcement of Postdoctoral Researchers - 2nd Cycle” (MIS-5033021), implemented by the State Scholarships Foundation (ΙΚΥ).

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Friedmann, N., Aram, D. & Novogrodsky, R. (2011). Definitions as a window to the acquisition of relative clauses. Applied Psycholinguistics, 32(4), 687-710. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716411000026 Gavriilidou, Z. (2015). The development of noun, verb and adjective definitional awareness in Greek preschoolers, Journal of Applied Linguistics, 30, 44-58.

Grela, B., Snyder, W. & Hiramatsu, K. (2005). The production of novel root compounds in children with specific language impairment. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 19, 701–715. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699200400000368 Gutierrez-Clellen, V., & DeCurtis, L. (1999). Word definitional skills in Spanish-speaking children with language impairment. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 21(1), 2331. https://doi.org/10.1177/152574019902100104 Johnson, C.J. & Anglin, J.M. (1995). Qualitative developments in the content and form of children’s definitions. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 38(3), 612-629. https://doi.org/10.1044/jshr.3803.612 Krzemien, M., Thibaut, J.-P., Jemel, B., Levaux, E. & Maillart, C. (2021). How do children with developmental language disorder extend novel nouns? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 202, 105010. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2020.105010 Leonard, L.B. (2014). Children with specific language impairments. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

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McGregor, K.K., Oleson, J., Bahnsen, A. & Duff, D. (2013). Children with developmental language impairment have vocabulary deficits characterized by limited breadth and depth. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 48, 307– 319. https://doi.org/10.1111/1460-6984.12008 Marinellie, S.A. & Chan, Y. (2006). The effect of word frequency of noun and verb definitions: A developmental study. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 49(5), 1001–1021. https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2006/072) Marinellie, S.A. & Johnson, C. (2002). Definitional skill in school-age children with specific language impairment. Journal of Communication Disorders, 35(3), 241-259. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0021-9924(02)00056-4 Marinellie, S.A., & Johnson, C. (2004). Nouns and Verbs: A comparison of definitional style.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 10, pp. 217-231, October 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.10.12 Received Jul 30, 2021; Revised Oct 17, 2021; Accepted Oct 19, 2021

Teaching 4.0 Competency in Higher Learning Institutions: A Systematic Mapping Review Melor Masdoki, Rosseni Din* and Mohd Effendi @ Ewan Mohd. Matore STEM Enculturation Research Centre Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7011-4615 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0851-9910 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6369-8501

Abstract. Technology 4.0 has forced the education system to undergo a huge transformation by changing teaching and learning methods.

Teaching 4.0 requires teachers to apply varieties of technology used in the teaching and learning process to make it more appealing to new millennials. However, the response to this change has been relatively slow. Consequently, the preparation of effective teaching methods and strategies from educators that can benefit students through learning from differentiated learning styles. Thus, the aim of this study is to collect and extract information from the literature in searching for the research gap, and analyse the most significant studies on the teaching of 4.0 competency in a Higher Learning Institution. The searching process will focus on papers published in journals or presented at specialised international conferences from 2015 until 2021 using a systematic mapping review (SMR). A total of 380 relevant research papers from Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholars online databases and grey literature were retrieved. Nine final papers were selected in the study.

Results from the review showed that the predefined requirement criteria for Teaching 4.0 competencies were not all satisfied in literature. There are limited studies on the Teaching 4.0 competency. Thus, a conceptual framework of measurement for Teaching 4.0 competencies should be developed. It could act as a solution by providing a comprehensive competency measurement and to determine relevant 4.0 competency among Higher Learning Institution educators.

Keywords: Technology 4.0; Teaching 4.0; teaching competency; differentiated learning; Higher Learning Institution

*

Corresponding author: Rosseni Din, rosseni@ukm.edu.my

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1. Introduction Education 4.0 is defined as the new phase in which Higher Learning Institutions apply a transformation of learning methods and innovative didactic teaching, with intelligent teaching tools and sustainable infrastructures complemented by emerging educational technologies (Miranda & Molina, 2020). This education transformation has improved the processes of generating knowledge and transferring information (Miranda & Molina, 2020). The Education 4.0 transformational phase has created a significant change in the education system.

It is a change from traditional learning to technology-based learning and aligns with the trend of student learning which characterises education today (Ismail, 2011). Students tend to learn by using numerous modern applications and various means of technology through different kinds of pedagogies such as heutagogy (self-determined learning), paragogy (peer-oriented learning), and cybergogy (virtual-based learning) (Tajudin, 2021). Their readiness towards the fourth industrial revolution technology (Yunos & Din, 2019), differentiated learning style (Al Mashagbh et al., 2019), and understanding how to personalise their learning (Din, 2015; Din 2016) according to Bloom’s taxonomy (Matore, 2021) using a universal design for learning (Din, 2019; Din, 2020a; Din, 2020b) should be considered. The teaching method should be implemented by innovative pedagogical technologies and processes. Teachers play a role as a mentor, reference, and collaborator in transferring the knowledge to students by connecting the teaching and learning with digital transformations and virtualisation procedures. (Miranda et al., 2019; Miranda & Molina, 2020). More clearly, 21st-century teaching requires teachers to dominate the Industrial Revolution 4.0 by applying various technologies to make the teaching strategy and the transferred of knowledge more appealing to new millennials students known as Teaching 4.0 (Ismail, 2011).

Teaching in Higher Learning Institutions requires creative and effective skills.

This is to ensure it will benefit students who learn with differentiated learning styles. In addition, the institutions should ensure educators constantly improve their teaching methods and meet the skills in line with the current educational needs. These are the ways of making sure that the quality of teaching in Higher Learning Institutions will meet the skills requirement and criteria for appointment or promotion and also act as a process of determining the award of outstanding teachers and expert teachers. Studies show that effective teaching methods through the application of technologies and differentiated learning are able to increase the level of competence among educators (Noorashid, 2019). To achieve an excellent level of teaching competence, it needs to be supported by the use of technology as many have reported in previous studies (Barragán-Sánchez et al., 2020; Villarreal-Villa et al., 2019).

2. Technology in Teaching 4.0 Teaching 4.0 is the implementation of various technology through academic related supported teaching methodology to produce an active-learning outcome (Prieto et al., 2019). It might also be the use of augmented reality tools in a modular learning system with an interactive virtual model of the equipment (Miranda & Molina, 2020), cloud computing data, and information processed in real-time

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(Martin et al., 2018). Table 1 identified tools and infrastructures commonly used as technology in Teaching 4.0 (Bonfield et al., 2020; Mourtzis et al., 2017; Golitsynaet al., 2019; Miranda et al., 2019; Miranda & Molina, 2020; RamírezMontoya et al., 2021; Balakirshnan & Lay, 2016).

Table 1: Tools and infrastructures of technology in Teaching 4.0 Technology 4.0 Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Robotics Internet of Things (IoT)

Smart Mobile Devices Advance Network Technology & Web services

Tools and Infrastructures Smart scanner, virtual tutor and facilitator, virtual class experiment / simulation, online / real-time assessment Simulator machine, electrical and mechatronics, 3D printers Smart building IoT solutions educational environments such as school buildings, classrooms, laboratories, and more.

Smart phone, tablet, iPad, laptop, notebook, and electronic textbooks Email, social networks, cloud services, search engines, gamification

Adapting multiples technology into Teaching 4.0 effectively impacts on the teaching and learning process. The implementation of these technologies in Higher Learning Institutions are important to ensure that it aligns with the transformation of education. Higher Learning Institutions need to ensure that teachers and lecturers are capable of creatively diversifying teaching innovations using a teaching approach based on the 4.0 elements. These will require teachers to master Teaching 4.0 competencies such as i) digital literacy, ii) critical thinking, iii) problem-solving, iv) competencies in motivation and skills v) self-evaluation, vi) self-efficacy, vii) responsibility, viii) autonomy to teach, and x) ability to teach effective teaching environment (Ramírez-Montoya et al., 2021). Teachers also should have technological competencies along with good personal characteristics that can guide students with lifelong learning skills (Miranda & Molina, 2020; Himmetoğlu et al., 2020). A limited study on the combination of all these required skills provide a potential research gap.

Thus, the aim of this paper is to collect and extract information concerning teaching with technologies 4.0 from the literature and searching for the research gap. This include identifying and analysing the most significant studies relating to Teaching 4.0 skills and its contribution towards teaching competency. The studies in existing works on Teaching 4.0 competencies still lack a systematic method. Thus, this paper reports a systematic review of existing works within the scope of the study.

3. Teaching 4.0 Competencies Competence in teaching is very important to ensure that educators provide a teaching method and strategy that can achieve the objectives of a lesson. There are several characteristics of teaching competence as listed by Nessipbayeva (2012): (1) mastery of one or more skills, (2) performance, knowledge, skills, and attitudes that can be assessed and demonstrated, and (3) measurable performance. This

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would summarise how teaching competency is seen as a combination of knowledge, skills, and behaviours applied to improve performance levels and to ensure an individual is qualified or able to perform his role in a given task. It also focuses on the values, qualities, and motivations of an individual who always consistently performs in completing his tasks.

In the context of Teaching 4.0 competency, all characteristics mentioned must align to the use of 4.0 technology. This affects how an individual is able to use his knowledge, skills, behaviors, values, traits and motivation to implement 4.0 technology in his teaching. Indira et. al (2020) suggested that educators should not only act as communicators of knowledge to students but should also prepare themselves to act as knowledge providers in line with technology 4.0. There are four major types of competencies highlighted: (1) educational competence, (2) technologically competence, (3) communicatively competence, and (4) competence counselor (Indira et.al, 2020). Educators need to master technology and must be competent in order to understand problems, including psychological issues, faced by students to use 4.0 technology. Teaching 4.0 plays a big role as an effective teaching method that provides more space for creativity and innovation from educators. Therefore, educators must be prepared to apply various technologies in line with changing trends and the suitability of these to their teaching systems. Teaching 4.0 does not mean an educator must fully utilise technology as a teaching aid but they need to change their way of teaching with differentiated strategies such as self-learning methods, hybrid learning, and virtual learning all adapted to the level of student learning diversity.

4. Research Methodology This study contains three steps recommended by Guzzo et al. (1987) and Egger et al. (1997): (1) the formulation of the problem to be addressed, (2) collection and analysis of the data, and (3) reporting of the results (Egger et al., 1997; Guzzo et al., 1987; Gabarre, 2015; Gabarre et al., 2015; Gabarre et al, 2020). A brief explanation for this is in how the problem may be formulated with the following question: to what extent do recent and respected publications deal with the theme of Teaching 4.0 competency in Higher Learning Institutions? Gabarre (2015) suggested the proposal of several questions that should be identified and then categorized as variables for the studies (Gabarre, 2015). This question can be divided into five different variables: (1) Education 4.0, (2) Teaching 4.0, (3) differentiated learning, (4) teaching competency, and (5) Higher Learning Institutions. These five variables were used to categorise the articles that were selected for SMR and should meet the requirement of recent publications.

5. Review Process Systematic mapping review (SMR) is among the fourteen reviews system that have been used in a significant number of studies by Grant and Booth (2009).

According to Maisiri and Van Dyk (2020), this systematic mapping reviews is to identify research gaps in existing literature (Fernandez et al., 2015; Gordon et al., 2012; O’Cathain et al., 2013; McDaniel-Peters & Wood, 2017; Brett et al., 2011; Booker et al., 2015; Lukersmith et al., 2016). It is a review method commonly used when a focused area of inquiry is in early research development (McDaniel-Peters

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& Wood, 2017; Maisiri & Van Dyk, 2020). In comparison, systematic literature review (SLR) identifies, evaluates, interprets, and analyses the available research findings related to formulated research questions, topic areas, or phenomena. The purpose of conducting SLR is to construct a general vision, gather evidence of specific questions. and provide a summary of the literature (Mariano et al., 2017).

SLR evaluates the size, scope and quality of the evidence base, while SMR is not primarily concerned with assessing the strength of findings and concluding optimum interventions (Heeb et al., 2020).

This study was aimed at collecting and analysing the most significant studies on the Teaching 4.0 skills and competency in higher learning institution. The type of studies collected were focused on those published in journals or presented at specialised international conferences from 2015 until 2021. After this, relevant information from the literature was extracted in search for the research gap. In order to offer useful tools to promote critical awareness about the areas of research interest and to identify the topics most in need for research, this study has been carried out as a solution in finding the research gap. As reported: “A systematic mapping study provides an objective procedure for identifying the nature and extent of the research that is available to answer a particular research question. These kinds of studies also help to identify gaps in current research in order to suggest areas for further investigation”. (Fernandez et al., 2011) It is also used to categorized papers selected with sufficient detail in order to answer broad research questions (Miranda & Molina, 2020).

6. Systematic Mapping Review (SMR) Search Process A predefined search strategy was developed in this study to minimize bias during the search of papers and to find for relevant literature review (Maisiri & Van Dyk, 2020). The study used five key search terms: Education 4.0, Teaching 4.0, differentiated learning, teaching competencies, and Higher Learning Institutions.

The literature search was conducted on three different sources which are Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholars online databases and included the search of grey literature on key consulting organisation websites. This is also by expanding the data source by a dedicated search of reference lists (Maisiri & Van Dyk, 2020; Lukersmith et al., 2016). Table 2 was designed to identify and categorise the keywords which represent factors concerning teaching with technology 4.0 Table 2: Keyword and its requirement Keywords (KW) Education 4.0 (KW1)

Teaching 4.0 (KW2)

Requirements of criteria Existing works that address factors in Education 4.0 or teaching with technology 4.0 or proposed work using technology 4.0 in Higher Learning Institution (Ramírez-Montoya et al., 2021).

Papers that propose tools and infrastructures of technology in Teaching 4.0 including a technique / approach / model / framework in Higher Learning Institution (Himmetoğlu et al., 2012; Miranda et al.,

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Differentiated (KW3)

Teaching (KW4)

Learning

competencies

Higher Learning Institutions (KW5)

2019; Miranda & Molina, 2020; Peredrienko et al., 2020).

It is an instructional approach that accommodates the diversity of students (abilities, interest, level of thinking, personalities, demographic background) by adopting specific teaching strategies, invoking a variety in learning strategies, assessing individual needs, and finally pursuing optimal learning outcomes (Suprayogi & Valcke, 2016; Suprayogi et al., 2017).

The level of skills and expertise of lecturers in the use and application of a variety of technology 4.0 in their teaching methods either in the classroom or in student consultation sessions (Jafar et al., 2020; Symanyuk & Pecherkina, 2016).

Public and private universities or colleges (Azizan, 2020).

7. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria Iterative inclusion and exclusion criteria (Maisiri & Van Dyk, 2020; Shahrol et al., 2020) were conducted to select relevant studies published between 2015 and 2021.

The process consists of the following criteria: 1) A collection of papers was reviewed and sorted from the library. Priority is given to published papers from journals and conferences proceeding papers.

2) The papers should at least contain factors concerning teaching with technology 4.0 and the field of study must be related to Education 4.0. The teaching competency models or framework were included.

3) The papers were required to include keywords that attempt to define, propose, suggest, or describe existing works of Education 4.0 and /or in teaching using technology 4.0.

4) For exclusion, papers published older than 2015 were excluded.

5) Papers that do not follow the listed keyword, even if from a related field, were excluded.

6) Papers using the terms teaching competencies loosely in relation to technology 4.0.

8. Data Analysis The data analysis is mainly focused on identifying design requirement gaps in the included mapping review literature (Maisiri & Van Dyk, 2020). This process was done as measured against the predefined criteria requirements for Teaching 4.0 competencies that has been presented in Table 1. The papers that fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria were short-listed and reviewed for final selection.

There are 9 steps of systematic mapping review process as shown in Figure 1 below:

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Figure 1: Systematic Mapping Review Process & Results

The papers that fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria were short-listed and reviewed for final selection.

9. Result and Discussion A brief finding of systematic mapping reviews results and the gap analysis results will be explained in this section. Nine papers were included in the systematic mapping review. The results are as in Table 3:

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Table 3: Gap analysis result No

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Paper Title & Reference

Country

Scopus / WOS Journals

Google Scholar

Refereed Conference Proceeding

K W 1 

K W 2 ✓

Innovations in Education—The Russia Development of a New Pedagogical Technology of a Combinational Type, Focused on the Development of Personality of Student (Zhurakovskaya et al., 2020). ✓  Adapting Universities for Saudi Sustainability Education in Arabia Industry 4.0: Channel of Challenges and Opportunities (Mian et al., 2020). ✓  Teacher Education Institutions in Philippines The Philippines Towards Education 4.0 (Alda et al., 2020). ✓  Education and Learning Indonesia Challenges Based on Information Technology in the Era of Industrial Revolution 4.0 (Syamsuar & Reflianto, 2018).   The Effect of Cooperative Turkey Learning on the Learning Approaches of Students with Different Learning Styles (Colak, 2015). ✓ ✓ Driving Education in the Era of Malaysia Industrial Revolution 4.0: The Application of Islamic Values and Innovation in Teaching in Higher Learning Institutions (Abdul et al., 2020). ✓  The Preparation of Malaysians in Malaysia Realizing the Goals of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 (Jamhari et al., 2020).  Readiness In Implementing ✓ Teacher Training Programmes Malaysia Based on Industrial Revolution 4.0: Evidence From Malaysian Public Universities (Saud et al., 2018).   Students’ Learning Styles and Malaysia Their Effects on The Use of Social Media Technology for Learning (Balakrishnan & Lay, 2016).

Key: ✓ Satisfied the relevant requirement;  Relevant requirement not satisfy; / partially satisfied; KW1 = Education 4.0; KW2 = Teaching 4.0; KW3 = Differentiated Learning; KW4 = Teaching competencies; KW5 = Higher Learning Institutions

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K W 3 

K W 4 

K W 5 





✓





✓





✓

✓ ✓ ✓





✓









 ✓

✓ 



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A significant number of Teaching 4.0 competency models and frameworks reviewed in this study focused on skill requirements (Maisiri & Van Dyk, 2020) in Education 4.0. In Table 3, it can be seen that almost all articles discuss Education 4.0 at the Higher Learning Institutions level. However, only two articles discuss the teaching based on technology 4.0, namely one in Russia and another in Malaysia. Since 2015, more studies have been conducted related to Education 4.0 but there are still relatively few empirical studies examining 4.0 technology-based teaching in depth. Only two studies discussed collaborative learning with various levels of learning skills where one skill was in Higher Learning Institutions.

However, these two studies only discuss the use of technology in general and do not specialise in 4.0 technology. There is still a lack of studies that measure and evaluate the level of competence in the use of technology 4.0 specifically among lecturers.

Figure 2 show a total of 9 papers, and as many as 67% consider the teaching in Higher Learning Institution. Another 67% or 6 papers deal with Education 4.0. It should be noted that in these in all 6 papers, only 1 paper dealt with teaching with technology 4.0. In this context, the data collected shows that the researchers consider the teaching with technology 4.0 as a new transformational method for carrying out teaching activities. There are a lack of empirical studies assessing the 4.0 teaching skills and expertise. KW2 and KW3 represent 22% each, while KW3 represents 11%, which shows the existence of limited studies in measuring teaching, differentiated learning, and teaching competencies in regard to technology 4.0.

67%

Percentage

67%

22%

22% 11%

KW1

KW2

KW3

KW4

KW5

Keyword

Figure 2: Keywords results by percentage

Overall, literature explained factors concerning Teaching 4.0 in terms of digital literacy, critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and the ability to provide an effective teaching environment. All these factors can be grouped as teaching and learning methods. However, there are no specific factors concerning Teaching 4.0

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and its impact on differentiated learning (KW3). Factors such as responsibility, self-evaluation, self-efficacy, and educator’s personal characteristics may contribute to effective teaching delivery and improved teaching competency (KW4). All the factors identified were discussed separately and are yet to be studied as a group of potential variables which contribute to the measurement of Teaching 4.0 competency.

Limited studies concerning Teaching 4.0 and its method of learning provide restricted evidence on how technology 4.0 may contribute to effective and competent teaching strategies. Most studies in Higher Learning Institutions were carried out to assess the readiness of the administrators, educators, and students in adapting 4.0 education transformation. While the majority of studies on the effectiveness of technology were carried out regarding the impact on students and learners. No studies were carried out to assess the level of expertise and competency of educators in implementing technology 4.0 in their teaching process and strategy. Thus, this finding shows that there is a lack of comprehensive Teaching 4.0 assessment tools that address the skills and competency requirements for specific capability functions in Higher Learning Institutions. The reviewed models seldom provided a comparative scale to gauge the competency of teachers or educators with reference to Education 4.0 revolutions. There is a noticeable shortage of studies that can provide empirical studies concerning Teaching 4.0 and its competitiveness. Thus, this result may provide a good research gap for future studies.

10. Conclusion, research implication and future work The scope of this research is to identify and analyse the most significant studies for the Teaching 4.0 competencies in Higher Learning Institutions. The findings prove that there has been limited research done on Teaching 4.0 competency.

Thus, this can strengthen the support regarding the importance of building measurement instruments to test and evaluate the skills level of lecturers especially in terms of teaching using technology 4.0 (KW3) and their teaching competency (KW4) in institutions of higher learning (KW5). A conceptual framework of instrument measurement for Teaching 4.0 competencies should be developed.

Besides, the finding also could recommend Higher Learning Institutions to implement policies and provide various training and workshops in encouraging educators to apply technology 4.0 to their teaching processes. It may be important for Higher Learning Institutions to develop Teaching 4.0 competency assessment tools and necessary measurements. Therefore, a valid construction of instruments will facilitate the measurement process and has the potential to help provide empirical evidence that can be used as a reference for future studies.

Acknowledgements Our utmost appreciation goes to all those who supported our study, especially to Faculty of Education and the STEM Enculturation Research Centre for Futuristik (GG-2021-014) and STEM & Minda (GG-2021-002) grants. We are thankful for Dana Pecutan Penerbitan 2021 to support our publication. We would also like to

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thanks to all researchers under the Personalized Education Research Group for financial, intellectual, spiritual, and moral support.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 10, pp. 232-255, October 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.10.13 Received Jul 31, 2021; Revised Oct 17, 2021; Accepted Oct 24, 2021

Beyond Play: Conceptualising the Capability of a Good Digital Game to Stimulate Interest in STEM Shahrul Affendi Ishak and Rosseni Din * STEM Enculturation Research Centre Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6019-9400 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0851-9910 Umi Azmah Hasran Fuel Cell Institute Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1751-2550

Abstract. Digital games are one of the potential pedagogical approaches within STEM teaching and learning. The main idea behind using digital games in STEM contexts is to enhance the children’s conceptual understanding and to increase their interest in STEM. The interest in STEM is still an unsolved global issue. Most studies looking into digital games show there to be positive implications when it comes to STEM learning. This gap and the uncorrelated scenario from both the theoretical and practical perspectives need to both be solved. Here we conceptualise the usefulness of STEM digital games for stimulating an interest in STEM, particularly among children from a design perspective. The previous studies are the main qualitative sources for the interpretation of the main argument in this paper. As result, digital games have a strong empirically supportive foundational basis that acts as a medium to stimulate interest.

To achieve this, STEM digital games should be designed to be of better quality. Good STEM digital games will contribute to better STEM learning outcomes and meaningful gaming experiences that can contribute to the interest in STEM. This study proposes a comprehensive framework to understand the purpose of the design and development of STEM digital games.

Keywords: STEM digital game; STEM game design; STEM interest; 21st century pedagogy

*

Corresponding author: Rosseni Din, rosseni@ukm.edu.my

©Authors This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

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1. Introduction Digital games have been known to be one of the best pedagogical approaches to enhancing STEM education, especially for 21st century learners (Dadure et al., 2021; Ishak et al., 2021). STEM is one of the most difficult and unpopular subjects among school students. Since the STEM acronym was introduced in the early 2001 by the U.S National Science Foundation (NSF), the implementation of STEM education in curricular began at that point. The point is to ensure that the students are able to form a relationship with the interdisciplinary STEM subject for the purpose of real world problem solving (Daugherty & Carter, 2017). Maintaining the interest towards STEM subjects is challenging. Most studies support the empirical results of the STEM learning achievements that use digital games. Based on this result, most studies tend to suggest that digital games are suitable for stimulating the STEM interest.

The lack of STEM interest among school students (primary and secondary) is a global educational issue. To date, the government is still unaware of how to solve this issue (Hashini Kavishtri, 2019; Noorazura, 2020; The Star Online, 2018). This is despite many strategies having been implemented through after school programs, classroom competitions, seminars, science projects, and educational school trips purposely to increase the STEM interest. However, these activities are mainly undertaken to expose the student to and let them experience the real world of STEM. However, this strategy might require a certain cost and only some of the selected students will be able to participate in this program. To make the realworld STEM experience more inclusive and assessable, digital games should be capable of supporting this strategy (Marcelo Leandro et al., 2018; Wu & Anderson, 2015).

Digital games are one of the modern popular play activities regardless of age or gender. Children mostly spend their leisure time at home playing digital games, either through their parent’s computer, through a tablet, or on a smartphone (Dalope & Woods, 2018). This is for fun and entertainment. The advanced interactive graphic systems of digital games strongly engage them in the virtual world. This scenario in the popular gaming culture should be taken as a precious opportunity. The STEM school curricular results in an early exposure to the subject for children. As suggested, children aged between 10 to 12 years old are in the best stage to be empowered and to have their interest in STEM triggered (Bryan et al., 2016; Koehler et al., 2016). This stage is a transition from the concrete operational to the formal operational stage. Children have a high state of curiosity and experiment in their surroundings as part of a rational interpretation (Jas Laili Suzana, 2016; Kleinman, 2012). STEM learning content is being integrated into digital game mechanics purposely to enhance the STEM learning experience inside or outside the classroom.

There are two types of digital game that are suitable for STEM teaching and learning. Digital games (made for entertainment) are mainly developed for entertainment purposes, while educational digital games (made for education and fun) have integrated learning content to enhance the STEM learning undertaken in a fun and engaging environment. Despite the original purpose of their development, some commercial digital games (e.g.: Minecraft, Foldit, Angry Bird,

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Plant Vs. Zombie, and SimCity) have STEM-related concepts involved that are applicable to enhancing and applying STEM knowledge (Avraamidou et al., 2015; Herodotou, 2018; Keogh, 2014). Studies on digital games prove that using digital games empirically improves the individual STEM learning outcome. However, the idea of digital games being the best way to promote and increase STEM interest can only be found as a statement (Fisher, 2015; Krapp, 1999; Marcelo Leandro et al., 2018; Wan Nor Fadzilah et al., 2017), research implication or future perspective (Ball et al., 2018; Desmond & Michael, 2016; Halim et al., 2018; Raffety et al., 2016), without any empirical evidence.

In addition, the number of studies explaining how digital games can increase the level of STEM interest is still lacking. There must be supporting evidence to explain why scholars have made significant conclusions on the potential use of digital games to promote STEM interest. Studies show that the correlation of several attributes can be obtained as a scattered result. We strongly believe that these attributes should be combined to create a holistic explanation regarding this issue. We have diverged from the central question to ask and answer how digital games should be designed based on stimulating the player’s interest in STEM. By using the data sources from the existing studies, this conceptual paper attempts to understand and provide a comprehensive conceptual framework on how STEM digital games should be designed. To begin with, we define digital games as an indirect teaching tool that can provide a fun and entertaining STEM learning environment via a virtual world to stimulate the individual’s interest in STEM.

2. Good STEM Digital Game Defining a good STEM digital game might be subjective as it is a creative product.

Every designer and developer will claim that their design is the best even though some people will argue the matter. There are several indicators used to describe a good digital game. Studies have been conducted to understand and identify the factors and attributes that influence what makes a good educational digital game.

Since digital games have originated from the computer science field, most common scholars use the MDA framework as a foundation for game design.

Game designers use this framework to design a set of game play for the audience and to determine how the audience might interact with the game play. As digital games become educational tools, educational technology has started to study how digital games can be designed and used to facilitate learning. Several models have been proposed to indicate the factor used to design a good educational digital game. However, the models still lack the component needed to explain what a good STEM digital game as a universal product is.

The MDA framework has been practiced in most commercial non-educational digital games made for entertainment purposes. In the educational technology context, scholars in this field focus on both perspectives, specifically education and entertainment. Most models emphasise blending of the pedagogical element, learning content and game elements to achieve the needs of the educational digital game. Some models are too complex and some lack either game or pedagogical elements. This theoretical basis is important for game designers when designing educational digital games. Most game designers come from a computer science background. They might be familiar only with the MDA framework and certain

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models in their field instead of models and frameworks from the educational technology field.

Despite the MDA framework being used in game design studies, the game elements have the same core central elements when designing any digital game.

These serve as guidelines. The designer must choose the correct game elements for their game. Each digital game has its own uniqueness. While some elements might work, some might not. A lot is dependent on the purpose of the development. As STEM digital games are purposefully developed to provide a STEM learning environment, it is necessary for both perspectives to be involved, specifically design and education.

The perspectives of computer science and educational technology should be combined to identify the most important attributes for good STEM digital games to help increase the level of STEM interest. Applying the universal design model helps to ensure the quality of the design for a diverse range of users. Among the existing universal design models for digital teaching tool design and development, the latest UDin Model proposed by Rosseni Din suggests that a good digital teaching product should consist of the integration of a theory, pedagogy, strategy, content, and value (Din, 2016, 2019, 2020a, 2020b). Some studies have successfully designed and developed various platform of digital teaching media using the same model. Despite the suitability of this universal design product, the model still lacks a game perspective. Through this paper, we provide an explanation of the elements that should be used in order for a STEM digital game to be designed to stimulate an interest in STEM.

3. STEM Digital Game Design Input Discussing what makes a good STEM digital game can be subjective. Digital games are known as creative products that are developed using technology.

Digital games have become part of daily play activities and they are the most popular among children. Since it is a creative product, there is no right or wrong when it comes to designing a digital game so long as it is playable, appeal, and engaging. However, there needs to be a discussion on how to develop a good digital game through the principal design and game elements, which are the two core aspects. Two distinct gaps exist in which the game designer and developer will emphasise designing to achieve entertainment. The educational technologist will use a complex theoretical basis to purposely design the game to achieve the learning outcome (Shi & Shih, 2015). However, there are no specific guidelines on designing and developing digital games for the STEM context that emphasise these two perspectives.

An interest in STEM can be promoted by playing digital games. The players can be characterised into having more or less preferences in a STEM digital game. This idea reflects the original study by Hidi and Renninger (2006) and Krapp (2007) regarding the educational psychology of interest development. The exposure of the individual (player) to an interesting object (STEM digital game) will create individual interest (interest in STEM). Interest is developed based on four stages.

This includes phase 1 - triggered situational interest, phase 2 - maintained

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situational interest, phase 3 - emerging individual interest, and phase 4 - welldeveloped individual interest. The ontogenetic transition from situational to individual interest has been explained by the interaction of a person with the situation (conditional factors). This produces situational interest (actualised state) and later results in individual interest (enduring developmental effect) through internalisation. We have integrated the ontogenetic transition idea by Krapp (1988) into the STEM digital game context (Figure 1).

Figure 1: The ontogenetic transition from situational to individual interest via STEM digital games adapted from Krapp (1988)

We view STEM digital games as a combination of learning and entertainment.

Any entertainment media or product made for children should have the educational element. Since children have the highest level of curiosity, they tend to explore new things in their surroundings. Digital games should help constructivist learning as well as being fun. To achieve this, the theoretical foundation and practice from the two perspectives involved need to be merged.

A collaboration between the game’s creative team with educational technologists along with a STEM content expert is the priority. As a universal product, digital game development should have a higher degree of usability. Studies indicate that there are several indicators that can influence good digital game design.

Compared to the other universal design attributes, a universal design for digital teaching tools is more precise as it ensures that every aspect of product development will achieve a meaningful learning outcome. However, designing a digital game should consider some of the attributes from the game designer’s perspective. We classified the findings into six major indicators, namely theory, learning strategies, pedagogy, the STEM learning content, game elements, and game principal design.

3.1 The Need for Theory Very few studies on digital games have implementing theory as fundamental in game design. In general, theory is useful to explain certain phenomenon which in this context is learning through digital games. However, some of the studies on educational digital games support the usefulness of the theory underpinning and guiding the overall look of the game design (Ahmad et al., 2015; Clark et al., 2015; Elsattar, 2017; Ishak et al., 2021; Kiili, 2005; Mat Zin & Wong, 2013; Pereira de

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Aguiar et al., 2018; Plass et al., 2015; Rooney, 2012; Sung et al., 2017; Taylor et al., 2017; Wu et al., 2012; Zaibon & Shiratuddin, 2010). Wu et al. (2012) identified that there are four types of major learning theory used in educational digital games, namely behaviourism, cognitivism, humanism, and constructivism. Elsattar (2017) discovered another four distinct learning theories that are associated with digital games, specifically motivational, sociocultural, emotional, and cognitive (Table 1). The two main purposes of the theory used are 1) to help explain how digital games work in relation to achieving learning (game impact) and 2) to guide the design (game design).

Table 1: Eight major learning theories and their representative principles as suggested by the previous studies.

Learning Theories Behaviourism

Cognitivism

Humanism

Constructivism

Motivational

Sociocultural

Emotional

Cognitive

Representative Principles Direct instruction Programmed instruction Social learning theory Attribution theory Elaboration theory Cognitive development Conditions of learning Experiential learning Social development theory Case-based learning Cognitive apprenticeship Discovery learning Problem-based learning Situated learning Activity theory Actor−network theory Intrinsic motivation Values and interest Achievement-related goals Social context of learning Participatory learning culture Observational learning Social interaction design Relatedness and self-perception Social aspects of agency Activity theory Emotional design Situated and authentic learning Transfer of learning Scaffolding and intermittent feedback Interaction design Information design Gesture and movement Dynamic assessment

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References (Plass et al., 2015; Wu et al., 2012; Zaibon & Shiratuddin, 2010) (Plass et al., 2015; Wu et al., 2012; Zaibon & Shiratuddin, 2010) (Kiili, 2005; Sung et al., 2017; Wu et al., 2012)

(Plass et al., 2015; Wu et al., 2012; Zaibon & Shiratuddin, 2010)

(Elsattar, 2017)

(Elsattar, 2017)

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Integrating theory into the design helps the designer and developer to produce a specific targeted learning outcome. Even though the design relies on the creativity of the creative team, theory will lead the overall look of the digital gaming experience. The game world is designed based on the specific theory that will determine the engagement and type of gameplay that the user will use to interact with it. However, designing a game that can trigger STEM interest still raises the big question of how it should be designed. We looked through all of the existing theories that have been used in educational game design. As STEM digital games should be central in providing meaningful STEM learning experiences, we put forward experiential learning theory (proposed by David Kolb on 1984) and its principles is the most relevant for this context, which is to stimulate the interest in STEM. However, using experiential learning theory as the conceptual basis is not strong enough to ensure the stimulation of STEM interest via the digital gaming experience. Since some game designers will integrate more than one theory into the game design (Plass et al., 2015), other theories should be integrated in this context. We have investigated some of the other potential theories that can be integrated. In addition, there is the educational-psychological combination as part of interest development (Hidi & Renninger, 2006; Krapp, 1999, 2007) and selfdetermination theory (Malone, 1981). By looking at the individual definition of the theory, we believe that blending these three theories will ensure the development of STEM interests. The consequences of these integrated theories will perhaps produce the main output which is STEM interest.

On top of that, the idea of integrating three theories will lead to answering the question on the distinction of STEM educational digital games. Studies have discovered the outputs as a result of using digital games. The outputs are mainly focused on the learning outcome and gaming experience, while fewer studies have been conducted to study how digital games can be associated with interest, especially in the STEM context. The idea of the interrelation of digital games, learning outcomes, meaningful gaming experiences, and STEM interest as the output constructs has been defined by Ishak et al. (2021). We strongly believe that using digital games is not only directly caused by STEM interests. It is also mediated by the learning outcomes and gaming experience. This theory will act to frame the conceptual look of the designed STEM digital game. However, there are still other elements that need to be a part of this universal design, specifically the pedagogy, learning strategies, STEM learning content, game elements and game principal design.

3.2 The Need for Pedagogy Pedagogy is known as the approach to teaching. This is where the teacher commonly uses different approaches to deliver a specific learning content. In the digital game context, pedagogy plays a role in how the digital games may affect the learning of the players. This is also known as teaching using digital games (Becker, 2017). Digital has become one of the best pedagogical approaches in the digital age (Ketamo et al., 2013) despite the popular gaming culture. Digital gamebased learning (DGBL) is the common term used to refer to this pedagogy. Some

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studies indicate that pedagogy is one of the inputs when designing a digital game (Rooney, 2012).

Most of the common terms referring to pedagogy in the digital game context can be found scattered, while some are linked to learning theory. These pedagogies have been grouped into five major domains (Table 2) of instructional approach in the context of digital games. These are known as didactic (Gagné’s Nine Events, Reigeluth’s Elaboration Theory, and Merrill’s First Principles), instructionist (Spiral Instruction, Programmed Instruction, and Direct Instruction), bricolage (Problem-Based Learning, Situated Learning, and Discovery Learning), hermeneutic (Activity Theory, Constructivist Learning Environments, and ARCS), and cognitive (Advance Organisers, Information Processing, and Cognitive Apprenticeship) (Becker, 2017).

Table 2: Types of pedagogy associated with educational digital game design by Becker (2017) Instructional Approach Didactic Instructionist Bricolage Hermeneutic Cognitive

Description Prescriptive; outlines what to do and when; does not provide processes.

Algorithmic; outlines a set pattern to follow.

Heuristic/ discovery/ experiential; strongly influenced by what is at hand.

Descriptive/ explanatory; describing the pedagogical system or environment.

Science-based; designed to facilitate cognitive processes.

However, most digital games will be problem based (Chang et al., 2015; Deng et al., 2020; Hussein et al., 2019; Hwang et al., 2017; Rozhkova et al., 2017; Tudor Car et al., 2019). The problem is the core central element of the digital game (Gros, 2015; Mäyrä, 2015; Pulsipher, 2012; Williams, 2017). The central problem is designed through several game mechanics and later it forms a complete game play. In a digital game, the designed game world provides the player with a problem that needs to be solved in the form of a mission. The main goal is set for the player to achieve. The game only comes to an end if the player is able to pass through all of the obstacles. Throughout the game, the players need to construct the own understanding and a way to solve the problem to reach the end of the game. This problem solving reflects what STEM education is all about, helping children to understand scientific phenomena and showing them how to solve realworld problems (Fisher, 2015).

We suggest that problem-based learning is the most important part of the pedagogical element in the universal design of STEM digital games. The problem plays an important role in determining the learning outcome (Masek, 2015). In the STEM digital game context, the problem can be designed based on STEM-related content. The problem should be designed according to the player’s cognitive ability. It can be designed in sequence from easy to the hard. This will allow the game designer to explore more possible game challenges. The designed problem related to the topic of STEM will serve to promote the STEM experience for the player. As STEM requires the student to have good problem-solving skills, this

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integrated problem-based approach to the STEM digital game has a high learning potential.

3.3 The Need for Learning Strategies Digital games allow the player to use several learning strategies to understand the game world system (game play). The learning strategy in the educational digital game context refers to how the player uses a certain set of skills to understand the gaming system and to achieve the learning outcome. The player will observe before trying to make generalise on each interaction within the game. The cycle continues every time they move into the new level and challenge until the game end. There are a number of learning strategies that have been discovered in the modern digital age. Terry Heick’s model indicates that there are six modern learning strategies in the 21st century, two of which include play and self-directed learning. Play and self-directed learning are the most common learning strategies found to be associated with digital games. Designers need to be aware of these two elements while designing digital games, particularly STEM digital games.

Play is a core resource for learning, especially in childhood. Hoe (2015) described playing digital games as a structured form of play that is either competitive or non-competitive. It is differentiated from normal play activities (spontaneous).

Playing digital games involves play-based activities that make people engaged, relaxed and challenged. The player’s state of mind is highly conductive towards learning. While playing a digital game, the player is free to experiment, to take risks, to show ambition, to follow their curiosity, and to take the risk of creating, designing, evolving, and connecting in ways that are otherwise impossible under compulsion. Every aspect of logical reasoning matters when it comes to completing the game and achieving the goal (Logan & Woodland, 2015). The player is in control of the game. This includes an individual’s views, ideas, theories, imagination, creativity, interests, and experiences, including their experience of assuming a new identity while learning (e.g.: playing the role of game avatar).

Playing digital games involves a higher level of self-directed learning. Selfdirected learning is rooted in the application of skills (thinking, research, selfmanagement, social skills, and communication skills). Digital games are a medium that is individual-centred. It gives the player further independent practice of comprehension strategies. Even in collaborative multiplayer games, the player needs to identify, determine, and make decisions related to every action taken in the game. They take the initiative without the assistance of others when diagnosing the learning need and when formulating their constructive knowledge purposely to complete the game. To understand how the game system is designed, the players will connect to their background knowledge and schema and monitor their comprehension when evaluating the game mechanics that they are interacting with inside the game. All of this is related to the scientific process which encourages the player’s curiosity and discovery. It is also a process of hypothesis formation and testing.

While playing STEM digital games, the students practice their own scientific thinking without even realising that they are doing so. Ishak et al. (2021)

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summarised the core scientific thinking used by players while playing digital games as observing, testing, and drawing conclusions. Students need to solve the problem designed inside the game. To achieve the goal of the STEM digital games, the students need to understand and make assumptions about the game system (observation). This includes predicting and testing their assumptions through several actions (testing), in addition to the results obtained being based on the actions driving the player towards the end of the game (drawing conclusion) (Figure 2). This idea is the same as what STEM education is trying to achieve overall. With STEM educational digital games, students are not only required to solve the designed problem based on their previous existence STEM knowledge but the presence of a magic circle also triggers their basic STEM skills. After winning the game (problem solved), the students are debriefed on the learning content as it relates to declarative knowledge.

Figure 2: Core basic STEM skills used by the player while playing digital games, adapted from (Avraamidou et al., 2015; Garris et al., 2002; Ishak et al., 2021)

Game designers should pay attention to this perspective. The pedagogy and learning strategy might be similar to certain a degree but they have two distinct views in the context of digital game design. Pedagogy focuses on how to design a problem, while the learning strategy is focused more on how the designed problem should be solved within the digital game. For STEM digital games, the game designer needs to design a problem (issues in the STEM related topic) into the game play while ensuring that the player can use the learning strategy not only to play but also to solve the designed problem. Game designers are free to explore both the design and gameplay otherwise. However, the integrated STEM learning content should suit the player’s cognitive ability while still optimising the meaningful gaming experience. As a result, it will inspire in the children the desire to discover on their own as part of the nature of STEM education.

3.4 The Need for STEM Learning Content Learning content is a vital part of educational digital games. Non-educational digital games also use content as part of their design. It is impossible to neglect to include content in digital games. All studies on educational digital game design emphasise the need for learning content for all ranges of user including children (Balli, 2018; Herodotou, 2018; Kiili & Ketamo, 2017; Lowrie, 2015; van den Heuvel-

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Panhuizen et al., 2013), teenagers (Lester et al., 2014; Marcelo Leandro et al., 2018; Mohd Jamel et al., 2019; Pedersen et al., 2016; Raffety et al., 2016), adults (Brown et al., 2018; Buijs-Spanjers et al., 2020; Gaspar et al., 2020; Kuk et al., 2012; Ross et al., 2014; Vecchia et al., 2015), and the elderly (Cota et al., 2015). In the STEM digital game context, we define STEM learning content as the scientific topic, themes, beliefs, concepts, and facts related to STEM that are often grouped within each subject or learning as part of the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes that are expected to be learned in the digital game.

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects have the highest number of subtopics, respectively. The integration of STEM education in the past 20 years has been trying to make a connection with each discipline as part of an interdisciplinary subject for students, particularly at the secondary level. By integrating STEM, it allows the students to understand the important of interdisciplinary STEM learning in relation to real world problem solving (Daugherty & Carter, 2017). The matter of interdisciplinary STEM disciplines has emerged as a new curriculum project, as a range of instructional materials, and as a pedagogical approach. Studies indicate that each STEM discipline has a general definition. This is important for students to understand the subject needs and how they are related to each other.

The idea of integrating STEM topics as the content of a digital game is a good starting point to expand the theoretical foundation underlying a good game design and associated development. The interrelated STEM elements should be highlighted as part of the overall design so then the players are able to figure out and understand the usefulness of applying knowledge from each STEM discipline to drive the entire game. However, the integration of STEM content into the game mechanics (objectives and goals, feedback, challenges, levels, progress bar, rewards and badges, timers or countdowns, competition, and a leader board) will allow the player to interact with the set of rules and feedback loops applied. This interaction with the system is intended to produce enjoyable STEM-based gameplay. To implement all interdisciplinary STEM disciplines in the game, Leung (2019) suggested emphasising science and mathematics in a central role.

Engineering acts as a requirement for researching, designing, and producing, while the application of robotics, coding and programming are due to it being technology oriented. To ensure the success of the content, game designers need to collaborate with STEM content experts (STEM teacher) to fulfilling the demands of the STEM curriculum in the design.

3.5 The Need for Game Elements Game elements are a set of component yangs that make up a digital game. The original game theory proposed by John von Neumman and Oscar Morgenstern in 1944 describes games from a mathematical perspective. They stated that a game consists of an agent (player), a strategy, an outcome, and a payoff (reward). The players make a strategy for the purpose of rational action to achieve the outcomes and payoffs. This concept has been developed and used in different perspectives including sociology by Roger Caillois (1961), psychology by Eric Berne (1964), game design by Chris Crawford (2003), and game-based learning by Marc

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Prensky (2007) (Tan, 2016). More game elements have been discovered since that make digital games more appealing and engaging.

The early MDA framework requires game designers to emphasis the mechanics, system, gameplay, and player experience as the core disciplines of game design (Zubek, 2020). The four game elements in the MDA frameworks have mostly been practiced in commercial digital game development instead of educational games.

When designers explore their creativity, more elements are being used. Crawford (2003) discovered that a range of game elements are associated with a designer’s creative expression including money, interactivity, goals, competitors, and the attacks allowed. Despite the commercial value, educational digital games require the integration of an educational element with the aforementioned game elements. Some of the studies discuss several game elements that act as a factor in successful educational digital games including the core and motivating elements (Adams, 2014; Alaswad & Nadolny, 2015; Ke, 2016; Mildner et al., 2015; Ralph & Monu, 2015; Rosly & Khalid, 2017; Tan, 2016; Vandercruysse & Elen, 2017).

A recent study on digital games extracted an MDA framework and classified the game elements in detail. The increasing types of game element are due to the designer’s creative exploration of the design itself. This is done purposefully to make the game more attractive and competitive. However, some studies (Alaswad & Nadolny, 2015; Tan, 2016) have categorised the massive number of existing modern game elements into game attributes (essential elements) and game motivating elements (optional elements). Elements such as the player, the character, goals, feedback, rules, and the controls are the main attributes that make a digital game. The optional elements such as badges, leader boards, rewards, challenges, fantasies, narratives, interactions, sensory stimuli, mastery, sociality, sensation, values, threat freedom, and values can be considered by the designer. The motivating elements will help the digital game become more appealing and engaging to the audience. These elements are among the macro design concepts for general educational digital games.

All of these elements (the game’s attributes and the game’s motivational elements) will be integrated into the game mechanics, resulting in a particular gameplay for the digital game. These game elements can be represented as an artifact. Ralph and Monu (2015) proposed a unified theory for digital games. This theory suggests a different set of game element classes where the interactions of the player (aesthetics; interpreted narrative) with a select artifact (game mechanics, narrative mechanics, technology, and embedded narratives) will produce an experience (dynamics and emergent narrative). From the computer science perspective, this theory is derived from MDA and Tetrad. The three classes of game element have been made due to the game mechanics, narrative mechanics, technology, and embedded narratives as artifacts because they exist independently of any particular player. Aesthetics and interpreted narrative are referred to as the player because they only exist in the player’s mind, and finally, dynamics and the emergent narrative are classed as experience because they emerge from the player.

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3.6 The Needs of Principle Game Design Designing educational digital games should consider some core principle designs.

As most STEM educational digital games are made purposely for children, designers should consider some of the elements needed to increase the degree of usability. Understanding the player is compulsory and most designers are suggested to use the player-centric approach when it comes to designing digital games (Adams, 2014). The biggest issue when designing games for a diverse range of users is age (Fisher, 2015) and gender (Adams, 2014). Young children might not be able to play hardcore games as they require certain cognitive abilities.

Additionally, the game preferences of boys and girls are different. However, designers should understand the targeted player and design a game that both sexes are encouraged to play.

Digital games for children are different from the games are from adults. Their need, skills, and expectations are drastically different. Designing games for children need to be carefully done to ensure their appropriateness. Understanding the player is the key to overcoming this issue by emphasising the player-centric approach. The player-centric approach requires the designer to understand the player (children) and their particular needs. Most designers will use Piaget cognitive development theory as the basis to understand the level of cognitive and motor skills found among children (Adams, 2014; Fisher, 2015). In digital games, the most recognised age categories are preschool and kindergarten (ages 3 to 6), early elementary (ages 5 to 8), upper elementary (ages 7 to 12, the tweens), middle and high school (13 and up, the teens), and the late teens through to mid-20s. Late teens need to be considered because their brains are still developing. These categories of children have their own interests and abilities. This reflects that their brains and physiology are different compared to adults.

Table 3: The appropriateness of digital games based on the age categories adapted from Fisher (2015) and Adams (2014) Age categories

Babies and toddlers 0 - 2 years

Pre-schoolers 3 - 5 years

Elementary kids

Description

They are figuring out the basics. Their technology use and gameplay are limited.

Their brains and all connected skills are still developing. The game should be as simple as it can be. Accelerometers and other tools for tracking movement (tilting or shaking) are easier for them.

Pre-schooler are learning everything that they can about the world. They are explorers, believe in magic, take pleasure in mastering tasks, and enjoy showing off their skills. It is important to foster exploration and discovery via simple interactions.

Games for them should be simple.

They begin to discover their independence and preferences. They are able to strategise and keep multiple goals in mind. They are

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Very high

High

High

245

6 – 8 years

Tweens 9 – 12 years

Teens 13 and above

also able to play more complex games. Kids at this age frequently play casual games that are designed for all ages. They also start to show preferences consistent with gender.

Kids at this age are entering their teen years which means that they can vary wildly in maturity. They are fully exploring their identity and social interactions. They are unlikely to choose to play educational games on their own unless they are presented in a school setting. Games that can foster STEM thinking are very important for them. They play a large number of casual games. The type of games chosen by boys and girls are different for this age range.

Teens are basically adults who have a lack of life experience. At this age, they are able to reason, plan and explore their identities.

Designers can help to introduce information and interventions for at-risk behaviour.

They will play games that adults play.

Moderate

Moderate

Gender preferences should be considered when designing a digital game. Boys and girls have different interests and preferences. This is reflected in their game choice. Children enter their teenage years between the ages of 9 - 12 years old and they very wildly in maturity (Fisher, 2015; Jas Laili Suzana, 2016; Santrock, 2016).

Boys prefer racing games and first-person shooters whereas girls tend to choose more social and caregiving games. However, Fisher (2015) stated that children at this age have been identified as playing more casual games designed for all ages and both genders. Most popular casual digital games that ignore gender while also being associated with STEM-related concepts include Angry Bird, Plant Vs Zombie, SimCity, and Minecraft (Avraamidou et al., 2015; Herodotou, 2018; Keogh, 2014).

Children in the digital age are more IT literate. Their exposure to digital devices at an early age allows them to learn any gameplay very fast. As digital games in the third age are more focused on the children’s engagement with the games, digital games should be fast and easy to start. This means that they require only a little or no technical support and that they provide something useful for the teacher. They should not restrict the teacher’s classroom management (Ketamo et al., 2013). As for the game designers, they need to fulfil as many of those requirements as possible. Some design considerations need to be taken into account. Some of the previous studies (Adams, 2014; Chiasson & Gutwin, 2005) suggest that most digital games for children should consider the elements that involve fantasy and the imagination. This is in addition to hand-eye coordination, logic development, systematic thinking, immediate versus long-term goals, simple and focused visual design, less linguistic complexity, allowing for experimentation, less reading, and appropriate content. Boys commonly have more interest in playing digital games compared to girls. To solve this, Kaye Elling’s Five Cs Model (2006) suggests that designers should emphasise more

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elements to do with characterisation, context, control, customisation, and creativity in the game design to engage game players who are girls.

4. STEM Digital Game Output 4.1 STEM Learning Outcome All studies on STEM educational digital games indicate that learning achievements are the main output, regardless of the user demographics. The STEM learning achievements and the improvements obtained using digital games have been studied from the educational perspective. Learning theory is able to explain how the learners construct and interpret the learning content via gameplay. We strongly believe that digital games are an individual-centred medium that requires self-directed learning. By using STEM digital games, the studies indicate that the learning that occurs is constructive.

Players construct their own knowledge by interacting with the elements designed inside the game. The integration of the game elements and STEM related content forms the gameplay. Some studies argue that the game should minimise the game elements as they will distract the player from the learning content. However, most of the present studies support using a balance of these two main elements (Herodotou, 2018; Kiili & Ketamo, 2017; Marcelo Leandro et al., 2018; Mohd Jamel et al., 2019; Pedersen et al., 2016). This means that the player can achieve their learning goals within a playful environment. It is important to consider that digital games are not a tool to replace the teacher. They are a teaching tool to enhance STEM teaching and learning.

Knowledge gained as part of a learning achievement is known as either declarative (knowing what) or procedural (knowing how). Most common educational digital game studies only state that the learning achievement or learning outcome is one where the player gains knowledge. Some have stated that the results from the pre- and post-tests indicate that there is an improvement in the level of STEM conceptual understanding. This result has mostly been tested among teen and adult populations (Brown et al., 2018; Buijs-Spanjers et al., 2020; Gaspar et al., 2020; Vecchia et al., 2015). For people that have a well-developed level of brain function, their learning and conceptual understanding will improve a lot. They will be able to make a connection between what they get from play and what might be applicable in real life.

When it comes to the children’s perspective, their developing brain’s function and limited cognitive ability means that both declarative and procedural knowledge do not work at the same time. We suggest that the actual knowledge gained by playing digital games is more based on declarative knowledge than the procedural equivalent. While playing, visual interactions and gameplay via the STEM digital game allow the children to grab the scientific facts, rules, and concepts focused on a particular STEM related topic (Ishak et al., 2021). Their procedural knowledge might be subliminal as children are able to understand the learning content as what it is, including the visual representation of how the scientific facts, rules, and concepts inside the game world allow them to understand it for the purpose of a real-world application. However, they might

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not be able to experience and use the knowledge at present, even it is still valuable for them.

4.2 Meaningful Gaming Experience The gaming experience is a major part of playing digital games. Some studies have explained why players become engaged in a digital game. Well-designed gameplay should give the players full implicit control and allow them to respond intuitively to every action taken. Most studies agree that digital games act as pleasurable learning engine that deliver deeply intrinsic motivating experiences.

The flow of the experience while playing is the key to the engagement. The player’s skill versus difficulty should be maintained and balanced within the game flow. Boredom will happen when the player’s skill is high while the game difficulty is low. Anxiety occurs when the player’s skills is low while the game difficulty is high. To ensure that the players are engaged and experiencing the game world fully, designers should pay attention to these two factors while designing the gameplay. On top of that, the game is fun and engaging because it transports the player into new realities and satisfies their need for achievement and recognition while embodying a situated practice or epistemic experience.

Throughout this experience while playing the digital game, high engagement towards the game causes the game experience to be meaningful. There are a few studies that indicate this meaningful experience through digital games (Oliver et al., 2015; Rogers et al., 2017; Swayne, 2015). Players feel that the game is meaningful because of the connection within the designed game world. Rogers (2017) stated that a meaningful game helps the player to experience a strong and deep connection to the characters in the game. This is in addition to the story of the game and the moral choices allowed by the game. Their study indicates that meaningfulness is a result of the connection between the player and the in-game character compared to the story and moral choices. Other scholars (Lew et al., 2019; Oliver et al., 2015) indicate that the player engages in a meaningful experience that shows as self-determinant due to their need for autonomy (free choice), while their competence (mastery) and relatedness (social connection) are fulfilled.

We strongly believe that the STEM digital game should emphasise autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Autonomy empowers the player to meaningfully shape the narrative of the game. It allows them to act with volition in their exploration of the virtual world. They are in control of their character in the digital world. Competence allows the player to feel mastery as the game progresses while relatedness allows the player to feel a connection with the character and the story inside the game. As for the STEM context, the meaningfulness of the experience can be seen if the digital world and the gameplay are both well-designed in relation to the STEM related concept. Exposing children to this virtual world lets them feel self-determined in relation to the game. This STEM gaming experience perhaps gets them hooked as they are empowered to control the designed digital world, to master the level, and to feel a strong connection with the character and story embodied in the game.

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4.3 STEM Interest The interest in STEM is the most common statement stated by scholars when referring to the potential use of digital game in the STEM context. Edward Thorndike (1935), a founder of modern educational psychology, has indicated that interest is a psychological construct that can be changed. The changes might be influenced by the internal or external factors of the individual. The idea of using digital games to stimulate interest has been found in the work of Squire (2011). He mentioned that by playing Civilization, his engagement in the game world triggered him to become a historian (Squire, 2011). This statement seems to have been reflected in most of the studies on STEM digital games. As all of the empirical results show that the learners have to improve their STEM learning, most scholars tend to suggest that games have big implications when it comes to the interest in STEM. Studies indicate that the STEM interest can be used to look into the perception of individuals. Most of the students will have a negative perception of the STEM subject, and only a few might like it. There are several attributes that can represent the STEM interest. In general, individuals that have an interest in STEM will pay more attention. Studies (Mohd Shahali et al., 2018; Mohd Shahali et al., 2016; Mohtar et al., 2019) suggest that the interest in STEM can be identified by looking at the interest in STEM subjects, the interest in STEM careers, and their involvement in STEM-related activities.

5. The Way Forward and Future Perspectives The existing models drawn from educational technology and digital game design should be combined. We believe that the input integrates the core elements required to achieve the output of a developed STEM digital game. As we have conceptualised the capability of the digital game to stimulate the interest in STEM, further research needs to be conducted to measure the related constructs on input and output (Figure 3). A good STEM digital game design consists of theory, pedagogy, the learning strategy, the STEM learning content, game elements, and design principle that together will produce a better STEM learning outcome and gaming experience that perhaps results in an interest in STEM among children.

Figure 3: Proposed framework for the STEM Digital Game

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As a form of digital teaching media, a consideration of both computer science and an educational perspective as part of this conceptualisation framework might be useful for both industry (game designer, game developer, game programmer, and game artist) and research purposes. This framework provides a comprehensive foundation for what the STEM digital game should be in terms of its design once it has been developed. Another future perspective that should be taken into account by this study is inclusive of the instruments used to measure the STEM digital game design contracts and output constructs of the designed game. The interrelationship of the construct-purposed output constructs needs to identify whether the game designer has reached the standard required for a good quality STEM digital game.

6. Conclusion In conclusion, STEM digital games are a unique medium that can provide huge benefits for children in the digital age. Digital games are no longer been viewed as solely entertainment media. They have a rich potential for teaching and learning purposes. Children are not only getting the STEM gaming experience there is also the learning obtained by playing the digital game. This can contribute to increasing their interest in STEM. As interest is something that can be triggered and developed, digital games play a major potential role in solving the issue regarding the lack of STEM interest. However, to achieve that goal, STEM digital games should be good quality in terms of the design. The lack of studies emphasising STEM digital games led this study to conceptualise the actual need and potential of STEM digital games. This study proposes and suggests that STEM digital games should be designed based on integration theory, pedagogy, learning strategy, STEM learning content, game elements and design principles as part of a universal design. By ensuring the presence of universal input elements, the STEM digital game will produce a better STEM learning outcome and meaningful gaming experience. We propose that a good STEM digital game will not only have a direct effect on the level of STEM interest but that this might also be mediated by the STEM learning outcome and meaningful gaming experience.

Acknowledgement We would like to convey our utmost appreciation to the STEM Enculturation Research Centre (Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) for the STEM & Minda (GG-2021-002) and Futuristik (GG-2021-014) grant to support publication workshops. We are thankful to FPEND and UKM for Dana Pecutan Penerbitan 2021 to support the publication and proofreading of this study. Many thanks go to all of the researchers under the Personalised Education Research Group and Geran Universiti Penyelidikan (GUP-2016-039) for their financial, intellectual, spiritual, and moral support.

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17-35). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-31939298-1_2 Vecchia, R. D., Maltempi, M. V., & Borba, M. C. (2015). The Construction of Electronic Games as an Environment for Mathematics Education. In T. Lowrie & R. J. (Zevenbergen) (Eds.), Digital Games and Mathematics Learning: Potential, Promises and Pitfalls (pp. 55-69). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9517-3_4 Wan Nor Fadzilah, W. H., Suhaiza, M. S., & Halim, L. (2017). Pembudayaan STEM di Luar Bilik Darjah [STEM Enculturation Outside The Classroom]. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

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Wu, W. H., Hsiao, H. C., Wu, P. L., Lin, C. H., & Huang, S. H. (2012). Investigating the learning-theory foundations of game-based learning: a meta-analysis. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 28(3), 265-279. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.13652729.2011.00437.x Wu, Y.-T., & Anderson, O. R. (2015). Technology-Enhanced STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Education. Journal of Computer Education, 2(3), 245249. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40692-015-0041-2 Zaibon, S. B., & Shiratuddin, N. (2010, 12-16 April 2010). Adapting Learning Theories in Mobile Game-Based Learning Development. 2010 Third IEEE International Conference on Digital Game and Intelligent Toy Enhanced Learning, Zubek, R. (2020). Elements of Game Design. The MIT Press.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 10, pp. 256-273, October 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.10.14 Received Aug 03, 2021; Revised Oct 20, 2021; Accepted Oct 27, 2021

The Students’ Mathematics Communication Skill Performance After GeoGebra-Assisted EPIC-R Learning Implementation Mujiasih Mujiasih*, Budi Waluya, Kartono Kartono and Scolastika Mariani Universitas Negeri Semarang, Semarang City, Indonesia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6683-8576 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8834-1138 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0675-7595 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0144-8777

Abstract. Mathematical communication is a fundamental skill needed by students. An application of ICT-based learning media, such as GeoGebra, using correct approach may increase mathematic communication. Therefore, this research aimed to analyze the effect of GeoGebra-assisted EPIC-R learning in improving students' mathematical communication skills. The study was sequential and explanatory research consisting of a sample size of 35 students from the Mathematical Education program at UIN Walisongo. The treatment class was treated using GeoGebra-assisted EPIC-R learning in geometry courses. Mathematical knowledge was observed from students’ communication skills while explaining answers to an assignment and formative assessment. The GeoGebra and formative assessment were used as the X1 and X2 variables. Meanwhile, students' answers from the formative assessment worksheet, which consists of their communication level, are used as the Y variable. The results showed that the X1 and X2 variables significantly affected Y by 24%, which means that applying GeoGebra-assisted with EPIC-R learning increases students' understanding of geometry and mathematical communication skills.

However, this research is limited by providing significant reasons why students provide incomplete and insufficient answers. Therefore, further studies need to be carried out to understand students' mathematical communication by observing their main problems in explaining solutions.

Keywords: cooperative learning; geometry; problem-solving

*

mathematical

communication;

Corresponding author: Mujiasih Mujiasih, muji.asih@walisongo.ac.id

©Authors This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

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1.

Introduction

Mathematics students are expected to properly deliver learning materials according to their developmental level to carry out effective mathematical communication (Makovec, 2018). This subject uses symbols and figures to convey and deliver concepts to the students (Rohid et al., 2019). In addition, they experience some challenges, especially in geometry. Mathematical communication is defined as interactions related to its problems, including the ability to express data, images, or situations using symbols, ideas, or models.

Furthermore, the student also uses mathematical communication to explain these relations either orally or in writing, listening, discussing, and writing about the subject. Also, mathematical communication, including the ability to read and understand, written representations, and formulating conjectures, definitions, generalizing and restating a mathematical description in its language (Haji, 2019).

Mathematical communication that is not adequately developed impacts the students' understanding and lowers their learning achievement (Trisnawati et al., 2018). The Mathematics students are expected to convey mathematical concepts appropriately to help them learn and acquire a better understanding.

One of the mathematic materials with a low delivery of Mathematical Communication is geometrical materials (Tiffany et al., 2017). Generally, solving these problems requires the use of drawings and appropriate steps to be easily understood. Meanwhile, explicit, systematic, and representative images help in problem-solving. Otherwise, inaccurate representation causes misinterpretation, which makes it difficult for students to solve specific issues.

Learning geometry is fundamental because it leads to the development of Mathematical communication ability, which involves three types of cognitive processes: visualization, building ideas, and reasoning (Gera & Vijaylakshmi, 2015; Mujiasih et al., 2018).

Applying a common contextual approach in teaching increases writing skills, although not verbally (Qohar & Sumarmo, 2013). The obstacles encountered in using this procedure are caused by the students' unwillingness to present their concepts and ideas in a detailed and thorough manner. Meanwhile, expressing these arguments through mathematical communication aspect implies a comprehensive understanding of these concepts (Uygun & Akyüz, 2019).

Constructing teachers' opinions are developed using appropriate learning media. It also provides opportunities for students to create an interactive environment (Hassan et al., 2016; Zhang & Liu, 2016). Information and communication technology (ICT) based learning media involves an interactive and practical session. This has been proven through using ICT-based media to aid students in applying concepts and procedures for solving mathematical problems (Daher et al., 2018; Sivakova et al., 2017; Tamur et al., 2020). Besides, it involves both visual and verbal communication abilities (Stanojević et al., 2018).

This is supported by sharpening students' abstract ideas through experiences, prediction, interaction, communication, and reflection (EPIC-R) learning model.

According to Abed et al. (2015), it aids in conveying their ideas on geometry through an analogical process. Meanwhile, teachers are expected to adopt ICT-

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based media to strengthen visualization in EPIC-R learning, including GeoGebra. The application of this concept aids in developing students' mathematical communication skills in visualizing their ideas. Utilizing clear-cut GeoGebra and algorithms is also expected to provide systematic solutions. As a synthesis, this research is aimed to analyze the effect of GeoGebra-assisted EPIC-R learning in improving students' mathematical communication.

2.

Literature Review

The core of EPIC-R learning activities is presented in five brief explanations, including gaining experiences, developing practical skills, creating active, interactive sessions, mathematic communication, and reflection. This approach is a modified contextual learning model that is focused on improving concept development and ideas. Mathematical communication is a fundamental prerequisite for long-time experiences and knowledge (Kaya & Aydin, 2016). It aids in resolving the difficulties encountered by the students in building communication styles. Therefore, this model highlights activities that enhance their expertise in creating experiences, data-based argument, interactive and elaborate ideas, and reflect on the materials. Therefore, this study was based on experiences, prediction, interaction, communication, and reflective activities.

2.1.

Gaining Experience The development of mathematical concepts in literature is inseparable from the adaptation and addiction of the learning process that can be gained by active experiences. The student’s experiences in physical, emotional, and cognitive interactions make the learning technique in mathematics become easier (Khosrotash & Alhosseini, 2019; Pickard-Smith, 2021). The learning of mathematics directly creates long-term memory that helps students develop certain concepts. The outcome serves as primary data in making independently developed predictions, which affect the perception of the material being studied.

However, solving math problems undoubtedly affects the emotions and feelings that tend to occur (Hernandez‑Martinez & Vos, 2017). Therefore, this study facilitates students to experience the reasoning process by searching and discovering existing settlement strategies on the source problem both independently and by investigating. It simply means that mathematics learning does not only focus on the learner’s cognition, rather it also creates positive emotions (Martínez-Sierra & García-González, 2016) 2.2.

Developing Prediction Skill Mastery of mathematical concepts leads to the development of predictable and reliable analysis and logical thinking skills. This well-formed process provides the basis for solving mathematical problems. The predictive learning strategy assists in uncovering misconceptions through a schema based on validated knowledge (Lim et al., 2010). In addition, this approach uses literacy skills to obtain information which aids in making accurate and accountable predictions (Peterson et al., 2017). Indeed, this technique has been existent in mathematical problem-solving and learning. Therefore, the students' expectations of these abilities provide an overview of conceptual understanding and encourage meaningful materials knowledge. In addition, it is more vital with cooperative

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and collaborative learning models because it requires a consensus from the students (Schoevers et al., 2020).

2.3.

Creating Active Interaction Interactive activities are usually common during the teaching and learning process. Its occurrence among students is facilitated by carrying out knowledge transfer and exchanging ideas in groups to realize an elaborate concept (Bossér & Lindahl, 2019; van de Pol et al., 2019). These activities involve testing predictions, formulating agreements, and discussing reports. The exchange of ideas is the active sharing of knowledge with others. It boosts integration among students, which has also been proven to help them focus on learning activities, explore new understandings, and creating an existing learning environment (Ahmad et al., 2017; Sumirattana et al., 2017; Van Zoest et al., 2017).

Nevertheless, interaction needs to be directed in a suitable and favorable corridor.

2.4.

Presenting Mathematical Communication Communication is the primary means of conveying and exchanging ideas, including the learning process. However, for prospective mathematics teachers, especially undergraduates, this skill is not limited to dialectics. Rather, it also involves presenting and interpreting symbols, data, and images, thereby enabling its quick implementation (Pantaleon et al., 2018). This is related to the role of the teacher in achieving both professional and learning goals.

Strengthening student communication skills are essential and prepare them to become experienced teachers (Maulyda et al., 2020).

Learning mathematics aids in developing students writing and verbal skills, especially those related to symbols and solutions to visual and verbal representations (Rusyda et al., 2020). The students are expected to apply various forms and models of communication in generating and sharing ideas.

Evaluating these styles certainly helps to analyze their abilities to convey specific ideas to obtain a comprehensive picture of conceptual understanding. Therefore, in this research, foundation students share their experiences, predictions, and interactions communicated mathematically in solving problems.

2.5.

Conducting a Reflection Reflection in learning is characterized by one’s ability to re-learn, study and conceptualize the acquired knowledge to boost understanding. It is usually performed at the end of the process and serves as a strategy for achieving new ideas (Chang, 2019). This is a critical stage because reflecting on the learning activities help students to behave. In addition, it is carried out individually and evaluated as a group by comparing different strategies or ideas. The advantage gained from the reflection model is that it helps to understand the problem from various perspectives and supports the enhancement of software capabilities (Bature, 2020). In mathematics, reflection is also related to efforts to bridge mathematical problems' theoretical state and results (Breda et al., 2017). Students are able to understand and improve the concepts from various perspectives. In this study, they reflect on the learning experiences obtained either in groups or individually guided by two questions, namely 1) what concepts have been

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learned? and 2) how can what has been learned be applied? Besides, through reflective activities, it is hoped that relevant and robust mathematical concepts are formed.

3.

Method

This research adopted a mixed-method sequential explanatory approach designed by Creswell (2009). The quantitative aspect involves 35 students from Mathematics Education Study at the Faculty of Science and Technology, Universitas Islam Negri Walisongo, Semarang City, Central Java, Indonesia, that takes Geometry courses. In addition, the experimental class was randomly selected and given EPIC-R learning treatment assisted by GeoGebra.

Mathematical knowledge and communication were performed by pre and posttests. Fortunately, the pre-test scores were obtained from individual assignments and used as an X1 variable. On the contrary, the post-test scores were realized from formative assessments and presentations. The correct answers were calculated and expressed as an X2 variable.

The students' work description on the formative assessment worksheet was assessed based on the scoring indicator for mathematical communication skills used as a Y variable, as shown in Table 1. It was also used to categorize students' skills into three groups low, middle, and high skilled. Furthermore, the data were analyzed using a one-sample t-test with a classical completeness reference value of 71.00, referring to the Indonesian minimum completeness standard. The effect score was measured using regression analysis and was statistically reviewed using SPSS var.23.

The questions asked in the initial and final assignment need to comply with the guidelines in the research carried out by Viseu and Oliveira (2012). The approach includes 1) disclosed mathematical communication skills using openended model questions. 2) an existent correlation exists between the problems, including the solution strategy, and 3) fluency or flexibility in nature, which have non-single correct answers or questions solved using various models.

Therefore, interviews confirmed its influence on mathematical communication ability, which revealed the students' proficiency in verbally explaining written ideas. Meanwhile, three of them were randomly selected from the high, middle, and low skilled groups in a qualitative approach. An in-depth interview was carried out to diagnose the growth of the mathematical communication skill on each of the six indicators, namely 1) the informed value, 2) depict geometric abstraction, 3) generate new information from the acquired data or value, 4) holistic problem-solving, 5) adding related concepts, and 6) drawing an appropriate conclusion.

These were used to systematically discover the students’ problems and solutions, accompanied by communicative presentations performed with the appropriate language using GeoGebra software media. The mathematical communication growth indicator, classified into four criteria by Haji, (2019), is shown in Table 1.

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Table 1: Mathematical communication growth criteria Criteria

Code*

Excellent

E1

E5

Presents correct, complete, and precise information about data acquired from the question or problems.

Draws an apparent geometric abstraction of the main problem and proposed solution.

Writes the correct and holistic informed information systematically generated from the available data.

Clearly, correctly and systematically completes the whole problem-solving procedure.

Informs related and represented concepts correctly.

E6

Presents relatable and straightforward conclusion

G1

Presents correct and complete although unclear information about the data acquired from the question or problems Clearly presents problems in the form of geometric drawings,

E2 E3 E4

Good

G2 G3

G5

Writes the correct although incomplete informed data generated from the provided value.

Clearly, correctly and systematically completes specific problem-solving procedures. writes related concepts correctly, although not precisely.

G6

Presents complete and unclear conclusion.

M1

Writes down both untrue and true incomplete information

M2

Presents the problem in the form of an incomplete and unclear geometric drawing Writes the correct and incomplete value.

G4

Moderate

M3 M4

Bad

Mathematical Communication Growth Indicators

M5

Presents solving procedure, both incorrect or correct. However, the majority of the given information is incomplete.

Write down related and wrong concepts.

M6

Presents preliminary and unclear conclusions.

The bad criteria are given when the answer is inappropriate, as indicated by six indicators generated from the 3 criteria. * Note: The first letter of the codes represents the criteria, E = excellent, G = good, M = moderate, and B = bad. The followed number after the alphabet represents the indicator achievement.

4.

B

Result

4.1. Ability to Complete Geometric Assignments and Mathematical communication The analyzed results prove that applying the GeoGebra-assisted EPIC-R learning model in the geometric material effectively increases mathematical communication in the experimental class. However, there was an insignificant decrease in the assessment score (Table 2). The initial results also show that the students developed mathematical communication abilities, enabling them to skillfully solve problems, especially in geometry.

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Table 2: The value of the initial and final assignment of learning.

Assignment X1

Min 73

Max 93

Mean 82.138*

SD 5.981

SE 1.111

X2 74 92 80.345* 4.616 0.857 Note: Sign (*) indicates the variable has a significant mean > 71. X1 = pre-test score, X2 = post-test score. Min = minimum score of the test. Max = maximum score of the test. SD = Standard deviation. SE = Standard error.

This study also shows the effect of initial assignment (X1) and formative assessment (X2) on mathematical communication skill (Y), as indicated by the regression analysis value (Table 3).

Table 3: Results of the regression analysis of the assignment relationship on mathematical communication abilities Model R R2 Adjusted R2 SE a X1+X2 → Y 0.490 0.240 0.182 3.43594 Note: The uppercase letter a indicates the Predictors: (Constant), X2, X1. R represents regression score. X1 = pre-test score, X2 = post-test score. Min = minimum score of the test. Y = mathematical communication score. SE = Standard error.

The effect of learning strategy on mathematical communication skills shows a strong and positive correlation. The coefficient of determination of the assignment and test result abilities on the mathematical communication (R2) score is 24%. Even though other factors probably dominate, approximately 76% affect the students' skill in communicating their ideas on geometry problemsolving.

Interestingly, this study reveals that an initial assessment, followed by individual assignment and formative evaluation after applying the GeoGebraassisted EPIC-R learning, contributes to the students' mathematical communication development. The regression analysis indicates a significant influence on the test results (X1 and X2), as shown in (Table 4).

Table 4: ANOVA test results for variables X1 and X2 against Y Model

Sum of df Mean Square F Sig. Squares Regression 96.915 2 48.457 4.105 0.028b X1+X2 → Ya Residual 306.947 26 11.806 Total 403.862 28 Note: The uppercase letters (a) indicates dependent Variable; and (b) indicates Predictors: (Constant), X2, X1: R represents regression score. X1 = pre-test score, X2 = post-test score. Min = minimum score of the test. Y = mathematical communication score. SE = Standard error. F = F value. Sig. = significant value above 0.050

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However, individually, the initial assignment (X1) and the formative assessment (X2) did not show any significant influence on mathematical communication (Y), as shown in Table 5. This is possible because the positive impact percentage of each variable in increasing the mathematical communication ability value is relatively as low as 21.3% and 21.4% for X1 and X2, respectively. These results do not represent mathematical communication abilities.

Table 5: The effect of initial assignment and final assessment on student’s mathematical communication skill Model X1+X2 → Y

(Constant)

Unstandardized Coeff.

B Std. Error 44.411 12.482

Standardized Coeff.

Beta

T 3.558

Sig. 0.001

X1 0.213 0.116 0.335 1.835 0.078 X2 0.214 0.150 0.258 1.409 0.171 Note: The value of the constant model is calculated using the following regression equation ̂Y = 44.441 + 0.213X1 + 0.212X2. ̂Y = 44.441 + 0.213X1 + 0.212X2. X1 = pre-test score, X2 = post-test score. Y = mathematical communication score. SE = Standard error. T = T value. Sig. = significant value above 0.050

4.2. Student's mathematical communication skill analysis The students’ mathematical communication skill is assessed by analyzing, observing, and evaluating individual assignment results, presentations, final test outcomes, and interviews. Completion of these tasks receives feedback or reviews from lecturers, which call for improvement in subsequent ones. The analysis of students' answers on both the initial ability test (X1) and the formative assessment (X2) did not indicate that they encountered any obstacles to understanding the geometric concept. The main problems encountered are generally due to inaccuracy and time to finish the tasks efficiently.

The students’ mathematical communication skill was analyzed based on the answers provided for the test questions with a moderate level of difficulties according to predetermined indicators (Table 1). Meanwhile, three of the students were selected as interviewees to represent the formative assessment classified groups. Their worksheets were further evaluated and confirmed to determine the extent to which mathematical communication skills were developed, as shown in Figures 1 to 3.

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Transliteration

E1 E3

Informed: cube ABCD EFGH : edges length = 6 cm, then face diagonal = 6√3 cm Questioned: distance from E vertex to BDG side : shortest length from E vertex to BDG side Answer:

E2

E4

E5

E5

Distance concept is a shortest connector line (E to O point) Create a MN // CG line on ACGE plane M is middle point of EG (EG = edge diagonal) So, EM = MG = × 6 2 = 3 2 Look at ⧍GMN is a right triangle (∠M = 90°) GN = MG + MN

The wide of ⧍EGN = . EG. MN…… (1) The wide of ⧍EGN = . GN. EO……. (2) From (1) and (2) equation, got = . EG. MN = . GN. EO

The distance from E vertex to BDG side = High line from E vertex to GN edge on ⧍EGN

E6 Figure 1: Student answer worksheet in high mathematical communication skills. The answer indicators are marked with a red box and blue bricks. The code E1-E6 representing mathematical communication skill criteria

The student's worksheet indicates a complete mathematical communication skill indicator with excellent criteria. Generally, all popped up to complete the sentences. However, the mathematical communication skill was described narratively based on the student's worksheet for more understanding, as shown in Table 6.

Table 6: Mathematical communication skill description from the student with high score performance Code* E1

E3 E2

Results of Mathematical Communication Skill Analysis S1 expresses mathematical problems or situations using symbols. In the known part, S1 writes correctly and completes the information concerning the diagonal length of the sides. S2 properly mapped the commonalities of identified problems.

S1 was able to clearly and completely identify the questions related to the concept, namely the shortest link.

Problem-solving ideas are shared through the correct and complete cube image, while BDG fields are clarified with shaded areas. In addition, an auxiliary plane is created in the form of an EGN, and GMN triangles, including an MN line to determine the distance from

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point E to the BDG plane. S1 was able to apply visual similarity relationships to the problems faced by solving the task using GeoGebra.

E4-E5 At the completion step, S1 was able to state the idea clearly. The settlement procedure is represented by applying several related concepts, namely the definition of the midpoint, rectangular property, Pythagorean theorem, formula for the area of a triangle, and the transitive nature of the equation. The completion strategy applied by S1 refers to the similar approaches that were mastered during the assignment. In addition, S1 carried out the evaluation and abstraction process based on the similarities between the tasks and test questions.

Therefore, S1 was able to provide systematic solutions and make conjectures in their language.

E6 S1 generalized solutions by stating that the height of a triangle is the distance from point E to the BDG plane. * Note: The first letter of the codes represents the criteria, E = excellent, G = good, M = moderate, and B = bad. The followed number after the alphabet represents the indicator achievement.

Figure 2: The student's answer worksheet from the middle group of mathematical communication skills. The answer indicators are marked with a red box and blue bricks. E1-E6 representing mathematical communication skill criteria.

Irrespective of the fact that the students’ answers were systematically arranged and all indicator was mentioned, different from those that scored high, most of those categorized in the middle score group had incomplete sentences or information. For more description, the evaluation of the student’s worksheet is shown in table 7.

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Table 7: Mathematical communication skill description from the student with middle score performance Code* M1

M3 M2

M5

M4

G6 Note:

Results of Mathematical communication Ability Analysis

S2 was able to express mathematical problems or situations using symbols.

The information gotten from the question was added to the solution strategy section. S2 properly mapped the problem identification similarities.

S2 also clearly identified the problem, irrespective of the fact that they do not know that distance is the shortest line.

The solution strategy is represented by the correct, although less precise and incomplete, cube image. This is evident in the frontal plane, which is not presented in a square shape. The idea is also not equipped with a triangular plane to clarify the ES length reasons. In addition, S2 does not complete the ACGE auxiliary plane, and the line is parallel to AE or CG, therefore it is unable to provide a reason for getting a length of OG = 3√63√6.

S2 clearly stated the complete steps although, they are not equipped with related concepts. This results in a mismatch related to the assumption that ES is a high line and the calculated process involves irrational numbers.

The incomplete and inaccurate settlement strategy is due to the inability of S2 to isolate the structure shared in solving the assignments with the test questions.

S2 tends to properly draw conclusions, although it is not supported by complete evidence and reasons. *The first letter of the codes represents the criteria, E = excellent, G = good, M = moderate, and B = bad. The followed number after the alphabet represents the indicator achievement.

A significant difference was observed from the 3 sample student's worksheets from various groups. However, those in the low score group presented a distinctive and incomplete answer, which is correct (Figure 3). It also relates to the students' level of patience and diligence in finishing their work. However, it needs to be evaluated to reveal the main factors affecting students' mathematical communication skills.

Transliteration

M1 M3

Informed: edges length = 6 cm Questioned: distant from E vertex to BDG side

Answer:

M4

M2 Figure 3: Student answer worksheet from the low group of mathematical communication skills. The answer indicators are marked with a red box and blue bricks. The code E1-E6 representing mathematical communication skill criteria.

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Based on the analysis, there were 2 indicators with bad criteria: 1) no related concept to help strengthen and explain their answers, and 2) inappropriate presentation to draw a conclusion. The student worksheet analysis was described as shown in Table 8.

Table 8: Mathematical communication skill description from the student with low score performance.

Code* M1

M2

M3 M4

B

Note:

Results of Mathematical Communication Ability Analysis

S3 incompletely conveys relevant information from the problem. S3 only mentions the length of the ribs without giving the name of the spatial shape. S3's ability to map commonalities in problem identification is still not good.

The image representation shown by S3 is not entirely accurate. Even though the frontal plane is square, the incorrect orthogonal line length caused the depicted space to resemble a block rather than a cube.

Additionally, the OEG auxiliary image is also false. It does not include the ACGE auxiliary planeS3, which represents the OEG and isosceles triangle, besides OE and OG's lengths are different. The errors and inaccuracies made by S3 were caused by the inability to map the similarities between the assignment and test questions.

S3 can identify the question being asked however, S3 is not equipped with the fact that the distance is the shortest line At the final stage, S3 failed to determine the properties of the ACGE rectangle. This led to the reason, S3 was unable to ascertain that length OP is 6 cm. In applying the formula used to calculate the area of a triangle, S3 also failed to include the concept of transitive properties.

This weakness causes an error in stating the equation for the area of triangle EOG, which does not need to be represented as 2 triangles. S3 was also not careful in calculating rationalizing radical numbers.

Therefore, the final result is incorrect.

At the final stage of completion, S3 was unable to draw conclusions through the generalization of solutions.

Identifying the evaluation process shows that S3 was unable to isolate its structure in solving the assignments and test questions. This is the reason S3 experienced several errors and the inability to state the arguments. *The first letter of the codes represents the criteria, E = excellent, G = good, M = moderate, and B = bad. The followed number after the alphabet represents the indicator achievement.

Several students experienced low mathematical communication growth. This was caused by weaknesses in 1) using symbols and numbers to present the idea visually, clearly, and communicatively, 2) adopting correct and communicative resolution steps, and 3) linking the problems faced with those that have been resolved. The process that inhibits these weaknesses is related to identifying and isolating shared commonalities, as well as deciding on a strategy based on the similarities between the problems at hand and those experienced.

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5.

Discussion

In this study, the application of GeoGebra-assisted EPIC-R learning significantly boosted mathematical communication skills. Its use during presentations and to directly solve assignments helps train students to express themselves orally, thereby deepening their understanding of geometric concepts. Meanwhile, during presentations, some others gave excellent responses. This boosts their confidence and effort to deliver at subsequent productions. GeoGebra media also improves the students' mathematical communication abilities during some presentation activities, especially in explaining ideas (Jelatu et al., 2018). This is important because it helps student to convey related concepts appropriately (Yang et al., 2016).

The development of this skill is observed from the students’ performances and complexities in answering questions during the evaluation process. This includes the mapping technique, which solves the problem by linking commonly experienced issues (Lovett & Forbus, 2017). Abstraction is the process of isolating structures from the problem at hand (Fitriani et al., 2018).

Meanwhile, the evaluation process is an activity used to determine the completion strategy. The students have been trained on ways to apply the EPICR learning through assignments.

EPIC-R application in this research contributes to the reasoning activities as well as develops the students' thinking skills by solving problems based on various perspectives (Joyce et al., 2011; Pourdavood & Wachira, 2015). The reasoning involved in the application of EPIC-R learning to foster mathematical communication is evident in the activity of student analogical abilities, which includes 1) describing the geometric problems visually, logically, and systematically, 2) develop analog problem-solving strategies, isolate similarity in structure, and explore the problems at hand, 3) suggest various ways to solve problems commonly faced, 4) determine the settlement strategy based on similarities, and 5) draw conclusions based on the type of analogy adopted.

However, it is undeniable that certain factors also influence students' mathematical communication abilities, including anxiety, lack of written knowledge or concepts, and the inability to link images with the given explanations (Lomibao et al., 2016; Vale & Barbosa, 2017). In this study, they were not examined, and it was assumed that students did not experience anxiety when communicating the results of their work. In addition, they have been trained to adopt good strategies, and the majority adopted correct steps in solving geometric problems. According to Freeman et al. (2020), the application of GeoGebra applications in this study also proves that technology helps to improve the students' ability to communicate ideas. Therefore, the use of GeoGebra in solving problems is also one factor that affects the growth of Mathematical communication skills, especially orally.

In general, the student focus on understanding concepts and rarely focus on conveying these ideas efficiently. Güçler (2014) stated that using graphics, symbols, and notations to explore ideas plays a vital role in improving Mathematical communication ability. Therefore, this research also applied EPIC-

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R learning to support or facilitate students' Mathematical communication skills (Abed et al., 2015). They are continuously trained in proving theorems, discussing materials, and solving problems to ascertain their growth. Rohid et al., (2019) stated that mathematical communication, created from four strategies are needed, namely, (1) providing a lot of assignments or exercises, (2) seeking a comfortable environment for students to work, (3) providing opportunities to explain ideas and clarification by the teacher, and (4) directing the learners to process ideas independently.

Students' mathematical communication skills are effectively developed through continuous assignments. This allows them to provide answers verbally, which contributes to their mastery of visual representations and development (Maulyda et al., 2020). Discussion activities among them also deepen their understanding of these concepts. Furthermore, the growth of better mathematical communication impacts the students' affective aspects in taking geometry courses. This is indicated by motivation, interest in learning, and selfconfidence, during lectures. Additionally, mathematical writing activities are a way to explain their ideas in completing assignments and making presentations.

Bicer et al. (2011) stated that the strategy to foster communication in algebra and geometry improves mathematical writing skills. Training students in this aspect also helps them develop problem-solving techniques to generally increase procedural knowledge and cognitive abilities (Cragg et al., 2017; Temple & Mohammed, 2020).

Specifically, expressing ideas is done by training students to represent images thoroughly and systematically. Interactions with others allow them to significantly reflect on concepts and elaborate on their knowledge when solving problems together (Lee, 2006). The process of arranging terms requires guidance from the teacher because symbols produced by students tend to have different meanings (Godino et al., 2007; Güçler, 2014). This plays an essential role in improving mathematical communication ability, although sometimes, it indicates process and object (Güçler, 2014). The teacher uses various strategies to create discussions to make it easier for students to express ideas that involve these symbols. Mathematics education students, and student, likely represent the same notation, although they are expressed differently, thereby indicating the occurrence of miscommunication. Therefore, students' involvement in composing symbols and mathematical meanings is significant and allows them to interpret these symbols in mathematical problems.

6.

Conclusion

Applying the GeoGebra-assisted EPIC-R learning model by students of the Mathematics Education Program effectively correlates with increased communication ability. They are able to link basic knowledge with the known and acquire information and algorithms by utilizing GeoGebra as a medium for communicating mathematical ideas. This trains the students' Mathematical communication ability verbally and non-verbally. Although accuracy in solving issues is necessary, communicative problem solving is also significant for the student. It requires answering correctly, including pictures and reasons for

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decoding, and providing complete solutions steps. Mathematical, verbal communication is shown through presentation skills, discussion, or question and answer.

This study only focuses on the role of implementing GeoGebra-assisted EPIC-R learning. Observations of student barriers in carrying out the analogy process have not been carried out in-depth. This is the reason the solution to overcome the low mathematical communication skills of students caused by difficulties in making analogies was not identified. Analysis of the barriers encountered is recommended as the basis for determining a more appropriate learning method.

Furthermore, students' responses and the impact of EPIC-R learning on affective aspects also need to be evaluated to develop a more practical application of the EPIC-R process.

Acknowledgment The authors are grateful to the Mathematics Department, Universitas Islam Negeri Walisongo, Semarang, for permitting to conduct this research.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 10, pp. 274-290, October 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.10.15 Received Jul 31, 2021; Revised Oct 13, 2021; Accepted Oct 29, 2021

Perceptions of Student Teachers on Collaborative Relationships Between University and Inclusive Elementary Schools: A Case Study in Indonesia Rasmitadila, Megan Asri Humaira, Rusi Rusmiati Aliyyah and Reza Rachmadtullah Universitas Djuanda, Indonesia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0740-1611 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3969-8966 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4908-4677 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2438-8030

Abstract. This study explores the perceptions of student teachers on the collaborative relationship between inclusive elementary schools (IESs) and universities. Data were collected through online surveys and semistructured interviews with 50 student teachers studying in elementary school teacher education study programs spread across three provinces of Indonesia, namely West Java, Central Java, and East Java. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The analysis results found four main themes: inclusive teacher readiness, benefits, inclusive education insights, and inclusive education quality. This study indicates that mutually the collaborative relationship between universities and IESs is very important for the two parties specifically, and for inclusive education in Indonesia generally. Broadly, this research implies that, to establish policies and practices for inclusive education, universities, as the primary authority for producing inclusive teacher candidates, must design programs that are relevant to the problems experienced by IESs. Policymakers, namely the government through the education office, must support and encourage multi-relational collaborative relationships with all parties. To date, the implementation of inclusive education, especially the involvement of all stakeholders in developing inclusive education, follows the policies set by the government – the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology – of the Republic of Indonesia.

Keywords: student teacher; universities; inclusive elementary schools; collaborative relationship; Indonesia

1. Introduction The successful implementation of inclusive education in elementary schools requires the support and cooperation of all stakeholders. Through Government ©Authors This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

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Regulation Number 13 of 2020 concerning Adequate Accommodation for Students with Disabilities, the Government of Indonesia, in Article 5 Number 3a, states that universities that offer elementary school teacher education programs for preparing and providing educators and education staff must include the subject of inclusive education. This statement confirms the attachment to and responsibility of higher education institutions (universities) to ensure the competence of student teachers (STs) who will teach in inclusive elementary schools (IESs). Specifically, in Indonesia, graduate teacher candidates who will teach in IESs undergo an elementary school teacher education study program. In this study program, inclusive education subjects are usually taught, with study topics related to the implementation of inclusive education.

Furthermore, to implement the knowledge of theory that STs acquired at university, STs participate in practical work opportunities, do mini research projects, and undertake internships at IESs (Cosner et al., 2015). Implementing this practical work is a form of collaboration between IESs and universities. One of the collaborative relationship goals of IESs is to ensure that STs have quality competencies (i.e., pedagogic, personal, professional, and social competencies) to teach at IESs (DeMatthews, 2020; Nishina et al., 2019; Santos et al., 2016). For this reason, this collaborative relationship between IESs and universities needs to be maintained, continuously and sustainably, so that IESs experience long-term impact and benefits (Ferguson-Patrick, 2020; Buchs et al., 2016). A collaborative relationship involves interaction between two or more people to achieve a common goal, and is based on trust, respect, and shared responsibility (Cook & Friend, 2010). There are seven essential points involved in developing collaborative relationships: voluntary participation, creating shared goals, sharing resources, shared responsibility for crucial decisions, shared accountability for results, equal parity or contribution of all participants, and the trust and respect that arises (Friend et al., 1993).

The benefits of collaborative relationships with IESs include, for universities, the opportunity to develop programs (Rodriguez, 2019; Jeffries, 2019), that are relevant to the problems faced by IESs. The university gains input from IESs for course development programs for highly inclusive education, and for preparing STs to acquire quality competencies; the university’s STs also have the opportunity to practice inclusive education courses at IESs. For STs, the benefits of collaborative relationships between universities and IESs relate to the new skills in instruction they can gain by learning to provide intervention to students with special needs in instruction (Cahill & Mitra, 2008), and professional development and curriculum reform components (White et al., 1997). Meanwhile, for IESs that have this collaborative relationship with universities, research could solve problems that occur in inclusive classrooms (Santos et al., 2016; Derzhavina et al., 2021; Zelina, 2020). Therefore, IESs must open themselves to a variety of parties, including universities, to get access to quality programs and to help solve problems related to inclusive classrooms. Among the problems that are often faced by IESs are teachers' lack of understanding of student characteristics, difficulties related to identifying students who are special students, instructional design, and student assessment.

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However, in practice, there are still IESs that do not have collaborative relationships with external parties, including universities, thus, affecting inclusive practices at schools. A previous study by the authors of this paper (Rasmitadila et al., 2021) reports that it is difficult to encourage schools that are not yet collaborating with other parties (universities, NGOs, psychologists) to support the implementation of inclusive education, which results in schools feeling that they alone bear all the obligations in relation to inclusive education. The condition of IESs in Indonesia – an archipelagic country – causes various situations and problems that impact on inclusive education providers, especially in areas far from urban areas. Some areas are located far from universities offering elementary school teacher education study programs, and the lack of access to universities prevents IESs from establishing collaborative relationships with universities. In turn, not all universities have elementary school education study programs that can accommodate the needs of IESs. As a result, the various problems faced by IESs have to be solved by the schools themselves, and they cannot rely on interventions by other parties, such as universities. So far, the collaborative relationship between universities and IESs is a one-way relationship that mainly benefits the university. For example, the internship programs organized by universities for STs at elementary schools (general schools and inclusive schools) is only intended to fulfil STs' course requirements. Other programs, such as research conducted by STs at IESs, only benefit STs, as it is a graduation requirement, and the research does not provide solutions for the problems faced by IESs. In other words, IESs are merely sites that help to fulfil university needs by providing opportunities to fulfil STs' study requirements. Therefore, this relationship does not describe a collaborative relationship that benefits both universities and IESs. If universities enter into collaborative relationships with IESs, both parties can provide input, through which inclusive education can be improved (Nishina et al., 2019; Futaba, 2016; Page et al., 2021). Universities need information from IESs on events on the ground. In inclusive administration, universities must solve problems through research or by improving course content to meet IESs' needs.

Likewise, IESs could obtain input and solutions to problems related to implementing inclusive education, such as curriculum, learning, student behavior, and the procurement of infrastructure (Billingsley et al., 2018; Asiri, 2020; Aktan, 2020).

The most relevant implementation in teacher education study programs is the provision of inclusive education courses for STs. Input by IESs is essential for the development of inclusive education courses. Instruction must contain current topics, and be based on real experiences of teachers in inclusive schools and research results that can provide solutions to inclusive problems facing inclusive education. Compulsory subjects that STs must take must cover topics such as characteristics of students with special needs (SSNs), identifying SSNs, instructional design in inclusive classrooms and for individual learning programs, and instructional assessment. STs must be able to apply the theory they learn in

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practice directly at IESs, so that STs gain experience of the real picture regarding inclusive implementation. In the end, STs understand when they complete their studies that inclusive practice requires an excellent collaborative relationship between universities and IESs, and that they should apply theory to achieve accurate and relevant practice. Universities must design programs jointly with IESs, to establish mutually beneficial collaborative relationships in the future.

This study explored the opinions of STs about the collaborative relationship between universities and IESs that exists in Indonesia.

2. Methodology 2.1 Research Design This study used a case study, which is a type of qualitative research. The purpose of a case study is to provide an opportunity for researchers to obtain and examine data in relation to a particular context or phenomenon. Cases can be selected, especially in education, and could involve parents, students, school staff, educators and members of the school community (Crowe et al., 2011; Yin, 2012).

In a case study, the data is used to provide an in-depth and comprehensive overview of cases found in real life (Yin, 2012). Specifically, in this study, the perceptions of STs on the relationship between universities and IESs in Indonesia were explored in depth.

Literature was referenced to determine the conceptual and operational description of the research focus, namely data relating to the relationship between universities and IESs. The instruments used for data collection were based on conceptual and operational descriptions that focused on the relationship, benefits, and forms of university–IES relationships. Data collection was carried out in stages through an online survey and semi-structured interviews that were conducted to obtain in-depth data. Data analysis applied established procedures according to predetermined indicators (Clarke et al., 2015).

2.2 Participants The participants in this study were 50 STs at universities that run teaching faculties with elementary school teacher education study programs in three provinces in Indonesia, namely West Java, Central Java, and East Java. These three provinces were selected because they had the largest number of elementary schools, and universities offering elementary school teacher education study programs. STs were involved in this study because an ST undergoes a lecture process – theory and practice – in instruction, especially in inclusive education courses, to gain relevant competencies for teaching at IESs after graduating from university. Therefore, STs must be prepared appropriately to solve the main problems in inclusive classrooms. This condition illustrates that STs are teacher candidates who will teach at IESs. The STs involved in this study met two criteria: first, students had completed at least semester 6 (three years of study), had passed inclusive education courses and had practical experience in the field, or had done internships. Second, students had recently graduated and already have teaching experience at IESs.

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A purposive sampling technique was used and online questionnaires were distributed, using Google Forms, to representatives of research colleagues who had access to universities in the three provinces. Descriptive data on participants’ demographic characteristics, including gender, teaching experience, and semester, are presented in Table 1.

Table 1: Profile of participants Frequency

%

Male

3

6

Female

47

94

Three years

14

28

More than three years

36

72

Internship at IESs

24

48

Teaching at IESs

26

52

Gender

Duration of study (years)

Experience of teaching practice

2.3 Data Collection Instruments Data collection took place in two stages. The first stage collected data from STs who met the two criteria described in the participant section. Data was collected using an online survey with six main questions, in essay format and using Google Forms (See Appendix 1). The questions were compiled after the literature relevant to the research objectives had been studied. Data were collected from July 2, 2021– July 9, 2021, and involved 50 participants. A transcript was made of the responses of each participant, and preliminary codes were identified. Participants who met the first criterion had mostly positive opinions. Their positive opinions were possibly because, at that stage, they had not had teaching experience at IESs, so the problems faced by inclusive schools were not yet fully understood by STs. Meanwhile, participants who met the second criterion tended to respond negatively. These STs already had personal experience of teaching inclusive classes, and had first-hand experience of problems.

The second data collection stage involved semistructured interviews with four of the 50 STs who had completed the survey. Four STs were selected for interviews to obtain more in-depth data than that provided in the online survey. The answers the four STs provided were clear and easily understood by the researchers. The researchers had prepared an interview guide based on the initial codes derived from the first stage (see Appendix 2). Interviews lasted about an hour each, and were done through the WhatsApp (Video Call) application between July 11, 2021 and July 14, 2021.

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2.4 Data Analysis The data was analysed through a thematic analysis technique, in order to identify, evaluate and reveal the main themes (Braun & Clarke, 2012; Galloway & Jenkins, 2009). In the first stage, responses by or opinions of STs were allocated certain codes in the form of keywords that match the interpretation of sentences or specific terms; care was taken to prevent overlap. Next, researchers used NVivo 12 to facilitate coding and organize specific categories. The codes formed a thematic map that showed the organization of concepts, ready for further development. The code that was generated started with systematic categorization of quotations in the data obtained from each ST to find themes and patterns. In the initial step, the researchers read the data of all participants (STs) and created and applied codes to certain responses, over several coding rounds. Next, the researchers analyzed all the codes and categorizations to determine what could be merged, or split, between the codes. Finally, the remaining codes became more specific, and could be used to answer the research questions.

The credibility and dependability of research received serious consideration. The process started with the data collection instrument being based on the literature review. Furthermore, inclusive education experts were involved. After the data had been collected, member checking (Lincoln et al., 1985) was done, to check the accuracy of the recordings of the data provided by the participants (especially for the data obtained from the interviews); STs were asked to confirm that their contributions were accurately reflected in the data. Meanwhile, researcher triangulation was also conducted to reduce bias, by cross-examining participants (Shenton, 2004). Involving all the researchers in an examination of the data with the research problem in mind enhanced the integrity of the findings.

3. Results This study examined the opinions of STs about the collaborative relationship between universities and IESs in three provinces in Indonesia. The findings of this study indicate that the STs' perceptions of the inclusive university–IES relationship is essential for the development of inclusive education in Indonesia.

Four main themes emerged from the findings, illustrating that inclusive university–elementary school relationships can be a way to develop better inclusive education, including inclusive teacher readiness, to ensure benefits, to obtain insights on inclusive education, and ensure inclusive education quality. See Figure 1.

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Figure 1: Result analysis of the perceptions of student teachers of university-IES relationships (use NVivo 12)

3.1 Readiness of inclusive teachers The findings show that the readiness of inclusive teachers for teaching is one of the main determinants of success of inclusive education provided by IESs. This theme produced three subthemes: aided teachers, STs' competencies, and job opportunities.

Regarding the subtheme of aided teachers, STs argued that the role of aided teachers is one aspect of supporting successful instruction in inclusive classrooms.

Unfortunately, many IESs do not have aided teachers who can assist general teachers in dealing with SSNs. The task of general teachers becomes challenging when they have to accommodate the needs of all the students in the class.

Universities are expected to provide study programs that promote the competence of aided teachers. This opinion was expressed by an ST: Because I also think that an elementary school teacher can be used as a companion teacher in an IES later. Therefore, I believe it is important to have such a collaborative relationship, such as a department on aided teachers at universities (ST 8).

The second subtheme finding relates to the competence of STs, which must be developed by universities so that graduates can perform their duties as inclusive teachers at IESs. Therefore, STs argued that teacher competence must be adapted to the needs of IESs. Universities must provide inclusive education lecture material on topics related to the problems faced by IESs, which are interconnected.

STs believed that the relationship between universities and IESs must be maintained, especially regarding programs for inclusive education courses and the development of STs' competencies, so that, when STs graduate, they have high competence. This opinion was explained by STs:

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I think universities should continue to collaborate with IESs so that their graduates, when they become inclusive teachers, can perform their duties well (ST 4).

With cooperation universities can develop programs and what needs to be prepared for students who will become inclusive teachers of inclusive schools so that what they learn can be applied properly later (ST 21).

In addition to the findings on other subthemes related to job opportunities, STs believed that the relationship between universities and IESs has opened up job opportunities for STs who will teach at inclusive schools. Universities can develop and reach agreements with IESs about graduates working and teaching at the schools. An ST explained their opinion: The collaborative relationship between universities and IESs can be done by including STs or graduates who will teach at the IES (ST 10).

The ST states that preparing and developing inclusive teachers at universities is an important way to assist IESs. For this reason, a mutually collaborative relationship between the two entities must be established, because these STs and graduates will teach at IESs in the near future. In addition, STs implement course material in inclusive classrooms to solve problems that arise in their classrooms (Liasidou, 2015; Graham et al., 2015; Scott, 2017).

3.2 Benefits The findings on the theme of benefits perceived by STs consist of three subthemes: experience, field practice, and relationships. According to STs, relationships of cooperation between IESs will provide STs with experience when they teach at IESs. If universities have collaborative relationships with IESs, and if they offer programs, such as internships or field practice, it becomes easier for STs, as candidate teachers, to recognize the SSNs are often found in inclusive classrooms.

STs will see and experience first-hand the learning that takes place in inclusive classrooms, and will learn how to deal with SSNs, thereby providing new experiences for STs. This opinion was explained by the STs: In my opinion, if the university has a collaborative relationship, it will cause students to have new experiences about inclusive schools (ST 11).

It is important because it can improve the ST's experience in dealing with students (ST 4).

According to STs, the second subtheme finding is related to the benefits of the relationship between universities and IESs. STs can practice directly at IESs, by participating in programs designed by universities and implemented at IESs. A collaborative relationship will enable universities to carry out these programs.

Through field practice, ST candidates can apply theory or knowledge gained during lectures to practice. For example, in inclusive classroom instruction, STs will receive input from inclusive teachers who are experienced in teaching in inclusive classrooms regarding both academic and non-academic aspects; this will

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provide new knowledge to STs and confirm the theory they have been taught. An ST explained this opinion: It is necessary to have an internship at the school so that they can learn directly to see their instruction, get input and teaching experience (ST 38).

Another subtheme finding is that the collaborative relationship between IESs and universities is a relationship that could benefit both parties. The better the relationship the university establishes, the more programs can be implemented to provide opportunities for STs to develop themselves into ‘ready-to-use’ graduates. An ST explained this opinion: The more collaborative relationships that exist, the better it is for all relations. So, for example, for universities, the more relations, the more programs that can be offered, which can be implemented especially in IESs, which is very beneficial for student teachers (ST 40).

According to STs, the benefits of the collaborative relationship between universities and IESs will provide opportunities and benefits for both parties.

Universities can create relevant programs and provide support. so that the STs achieve success as prospective inclusive teachers in IESs while they gain new experiences (Sharma, 2018; Steinbeck, 2016; Dewsbury & Brame, 2019). For IESs, the input given by class teachers to STs during internships will improve the contents of lectures at universities (Sindelar et al., 2014; Hornby, 2014).

3.3 Insights on Inclusive Education Findings on the theme of insights on inclusive education resulted in several subthemes: learning environment, understanding of SSNs, development of instructions in inclusive classrooms, and socializing parents about inclusive education.

Opinions of STs regarding the learning environment are related to the implementation of the content of the course in the learning environment in inclusive classrooms when STs later teach in inclusive classrooms during field practice at IESs. STs argue that they must understand the inclusive classroom learning environment, which they can only do if the practice in the classroom is inclusive. For this reason, a collaborative relationship between universities and IESs will enable STs to experience, first-hand, the instructional activities that must be created to obtain conducive learning environments in IESs. This opinion was explained by an ST: If there is a collaboration with IESs when STs practice directly at IESs, STs will be able to see the student learning environment directly. This will add to the experience for STs (ST 42).

The other subtheme relating to insight into inclusive education is understanding SSNs. STs state that a collaborative relationship between universities and IESs will enable STs to determine the various characteristics of SSNs in inclusive classrooms. Through visits to IESs, or through internships, STs could gain handson experience of handling SSNs. It is hoped that this experience will be implemented when STs become inclusive teachers after graduating from

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university. STs are expected to discover the links between theories they have learned about in inclusive education courses, and to learn about the various characteristics of SSNs in inclusive classrooms. The opinions of STs were as follows: I think the collaborative relationship between teaching faculties and IESs is significant, and with this relationship, it can increase our knowledge about how to teach inclusive children (ST 24).

With this collaborative relationship, it will help and train an ST, especially as a prospective elementary school teacher in knowing or deepening student characteristics" (ST 23).

Another finding reflected in STs' opinions is related to understanding the development of instruction in inclusive classrooms. The opinion of STs about the existence of collaborative relationships between universities and IESs can broaden STs’ insight into the characteristics of SSN, including about the development of instruction in inclusive classrooms. This understanding occurs when students practice directly in inclusive classrooms in IESs. According to STs, the opportunity given to STs by an internship program can help STs to improve their teaching in inclusive schools. STs can interact with all students in inclusive classrooms, be aware of the latest learning developments and present it in a fun way, and apply learning theory they learned about at university. STs gave the following opinions: With the collaboration that is established between the university/faculty (teachers) and IESs, it can help STs to determine how they can teach in inclusive schools properly and correctly (ST 5).

To know the development of instruction in IESs today (ST 11).

STs expressed opinions about raising the awareness of parents about inclusive education, which could provide opportunities for universities, as higher education institutions that have the authority to educate the community and parents that inclusive education is a form of education that supports diversity. In addition, universities can help IESs. In addition, universities can assist IES in developing inclusive education, including outreach to parents and communities that do not understand inclusive education. For example, this opinion was expressed by an ST: With the help of universities, you can get elementary schools to include familiarization of inclusive education to parents who have children with special needs so that they want to send their children to IESs (ST 14).

3.4 The Quality of Inclusive Education The finding on this theme is that quality of education is one of the goals of inclusive education. STs argued that a collaborative relationship between universities and IESs can affect the quality of inclusive education. With this collaboration, STs can apply the knowledge gained in lectures at university at IESs, and practice appropriate instruction for inclusive classrooms. Programs that are mutually agreed upon between universities and IESs can improve the quality of inclusive education, especially at IESs. A ST explained this opinion:

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Because the collaboration between universities and IESs can improve the quality of education in Indonesia, especially inclusive education that combines regular students and students with special needs (ST 25).

Another opinion expressed by an ST about improving the quality of inclusive education is that, when there is a collaborative relationship between IESs and universities, STs learn the theory at university and practice it at IESs. This means that this relationship will allow STs to relate the theory they learned with actual activities at IESs. Therefore, the impact of the relationship will be felt in the long term, by improving the quality of inclusive education in Indonesia. This opinion was explained by STs: STs can practice theory in the real field to determine the development of inclusive education (ST 23).

Not only with theory, but you can practice directly at the school so that it can show the success of the education (ST 37).

Findings related to this theme indicate that IESs can improve the quality of inclusive education by developing collaborative relationships with universities.

The quality of education can be improved by STs applying the theory learned in lectures at universities during direct practice at IESs (Watkins & Meijer, 2016; Choi & Park, 2018)

4. Discussion The success of inclusive education in Indonesia is the responsibility of all parties, including universities. Moreover, the current policy in Indonesia is that all elementary schools must accept SSNs. Building collaborative relationships between universities and IESs is one way of achieving success. The collaborative relationship between IESs and universities is a significant reciprocal relationship for implementing inclusive education in Indonesia. This reciprocal relationship aims to solve problems that arise in the implementation of inclusive education in IESs (Clark, 1999; Ruairc, 2013; Kinsella, 2020). Universities should investigate all problems, especially those that relate to elementary school teacher education programs, and must design course content that addresses these problems.

Various problems that have, thus far, become central factors in implementing inclusive education in IESs in Indonesia include shortcomings in the competence of inclusive teachers – classroom teachers – who come from different backgrounds to teach in inclusive classrooms. As a result, teachers are not always able to teach inclusive classes, and are unable to meet the needs of all students with different characteristics. In contrast, an essential element of inclusive education is ensuring that all teachers are ready to teach all students, or can act as agents of change to change the view that some students are less or unable to learn (Eres, 2016; Regalla & Peker, 2017; Schwab et al., 2021). As producers of elementary school teachers, universities must design courses or programs that can produce graduates who can become inclusive teachers at IESs. The content of courses and programs that can produce competent graduates must be based on the problems that have emerged thus far at IESs.

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The collaborative relationships between universities and IESs are expected to provide benefits for both parties. For universities, real programs, such as field practice or internships for STs, will offer STs new opportunities to implement the theory learned during lectures (Hope, 2015; Davidsen & Tam, 2010). Experience gained from practical work done at IESs will help STs understand and become familiar with adapting to the work environment they will face when they graduate. In addition, through practical work and internship programs, STs will gain both broad and deep insights related to comprehensive inclusive education.

For example, STs will learn to understand the characteristics of SSNs, which they had only learned about in lectures (Lindqvist & Nilholm, 2014; Grimes, 2013; Ainscow, 2018). Practical work in inclusive classrooms will teach STs to deal with S directly and to find solutions to problems faced by SSNs. STs will also be able to collaborate with general teachers to design effective instructional systems for inclusive classrooms, and thereby to achieve learning objectives according to the goals that have been set (Kapalka, 2005; Hagiwara & Shogren, 2018). Achieving learning objectives depends on an inclusive classroom learning environment that is conducive and comfortable for all students. For this reason, STs must learn from general teachers to create a friendly and fun learning environment for all class members. All practical work activities in inclusive classrooms can serve as input for all parties, especially for universities, IESs, and educators in this collaborative relationship (Jardí et al., 2021; Bubpha, 2014; Toson et al., 2013).

The input given by classroom teachers in IESs will guide STs to improve and develop themselves, so that they are ready, upon graduation, to teach in inclusive classrooms. For universities, collaborative relationships with IESs through fieldwork programs can help to improve programs and course content for inclusive education, so that it is more relevant and in line with the rapid changes that are taking place in inclusive practice (Okabe & Tsuge, 2019; Kremsner, 2021; Done et al., 2013). In addition, universities, which have authority in the field of research, can disseminate research results to IESs to solve the problems that often arise. All research findings and evaluations of practical work or internship programs should form the basis for making changes to the development of inclusive education (Ahmad, 2018; Miles & Singal, 2010; Mulyadi, 2017), so that the quality of inclusive education in Indonesia improves.

5. Conclusion This study explored STs' perceptions of the collaborative relationship between universities and IESs. This collaborative relationship is significant and mutually beneficial for both parties, and promotes inclusive education in Indonesia.

However, considering the problems being experienced by IESs, the collaborative relationship between universities and IESs needs to be systematically and comprehensively designed through an actual program that approaches it systematically and comprehensively, which refers to the readiness of inclusive human capital and an inclusive instructional system that is needed to achieve inclusive education goals. The research results presented in this paper have implications for establishing inclusive education policies and practices for universities – as the major authority that produces graduates who move on to

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serve as inclusive teacher candidates at IESs. In addition, policymakers, namely the government through the education office, must support and encourage the establishment of multi-relational collaborative relationships between all parties, so that the implementation of inclusive education adheres to the policies that have been set so far.

Acknowledgments The authors wish to thank the Ministry of Education and Culture, Research and Technology, which funded research as part of Penelitian Terapan Unggulan Perguruan Tinggi (PTUPT) (2021). Special thanks goes to the Directorate of Research and Service of Universitas Djuanda, which supported the research.

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Appendix 1 The questions of online survey A. Profile of the participants

Answer

Name of participant (initial) Gender Length of studies (years) Experience of teaching practice B. Questions 1. Do you think it is important to have a cooperative relationship between the University/Faculty (Teaching) and IESs? Give your reason 2. What do you think the form of a cooperative relationship is?

Give an example 3. Do you think the university will benefit from the cooperative relationship with the IES? Give the reason 4. Do you think the benefits of IESsare related to the cooperative relationship with the university? Give the reason 5. In your opinion, is there a need for assistance provided by universities to IESs? Give your reason 6. In your opinion, so far, the University has provided direct and ongoing assistance to IESs? Give the reason

Appendix 2 Interview guideline Question 1. What is the long-term impact for inclusive primary schools from this cooperative relationship?

2. What is the most important material to give to students regarding inclusive education?

3. What are the most relevant forms of activity so that IESs get solutions to problems that have often occurred?

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 10, pp. 291-312, October 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.10.16 Received Aug 06, 2021; Revised Oct 22, 2021; Accepted Oct 28, 2021

A Visual Pattern of Two Decades of Literature on Mobile Learning: A Bibliometric Analysis Siti Zuraidah Md Osman* Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0627-9543 Ro’azeah Md Napeah Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2299-9719

Abstract. Mobile learning, or m-Learning, has grown in popularity significantly over the last few decades, as evidence of educators and students worldwide using the device as a teaching and learning tool continues to accumulate. The pattern of mobile-learning research from 2001 to 2020 is determined by bibliometric analysis. The study retrieved 3,874 documents for further analysis, based on the keywords associated with mobile learning in the article’s title. The maps depicted the connections between the researchers, countries, all keywords, titles, and abstracts. The title and abstract of this study are used to visualise the cooccurring terms of various phases or concepts associated with mobile learning that were extracted from the Scopus database. The findings indicate strong and direct connections between the concepts in e-learning, implying a significant and direct research connection. China was the leading country in mobile-learning research, and the leading journal was Computers and Education. The top author’s keywords in terms of cooccurrence were "mobile learning", "e-learning", "students", "learning systems", and "m-learning". To conduct a two-decade analysis, this study excludes any publications from the years 1984 and 2021. These critical analyses of prior work are valuable and indispensable resources for mobile-learning scholars and practitioners. It is believed that onlinelearning applications have increased students’ engagement; and it has eliminated the accessibility gap. Consequently, mobile learning is expected to maintain its popularity over the next few decades.

Keywords: mobile learning; m-learning; Scopus; bibliometric analysis; VOS-viewer

*

Corresponding author: Siti Zuraidah Md Osman, sitizuraidah@usm.my

©Authors This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-commercial-No-,Derivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

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1. Introduction Mobile learning, also known as m-learning, is growing in popularity, as technology and multimedia advance. Prillya et al. (2021) define mobile learning as a technology that can be used to acquire knowledge from anywhere; and it can give complete support in attaining effective learning and early appearance, as well as an assessment-based initial appearance. Mobile learning has increased in popularity recently, due to the ease with which the internet can now be accessed (Díaz-Sainz et al., 2021; Goksu, 2021). It connects the data (Sungur-gul, 2021); and it facilitates learning in various fields (Barrett et al., 2021; Díaz-Sainz et al., 2021).

According to Huang et al. (2021), mobile learning is defined as learning that occurs on mobile devices that can be accessed at any time, and from any location (Akour et al., 2021; Mutiaraningrum & Nugroho, 2021).

Simultaneously, mobile applications serve as mobile-learning devices (Goksu, 2021). Today, a variety of mobile devices are available, including smartphones, laptops and tablets. As a result of contemporary technological advances, learners now have access to affordable, more convenient, new, accessible, portable, and digital technology (Criollo-C, Guerrero-Arias et al., 2021). Students can create, own, transform, discuss, discard, share, store and disseminate ideas, opinions, images and information through mobile learning, thereby transforming their identities and communities. Due to their portability and ubiquity, mobile devices have become indispensable in our daily lives, and particularly in the educational sector (Akour et al., 2021; Díaz-Sainz et al., 2021; Sungur-gul, 2021).

Mobile technology has the potential to shift the educational paradigm away from imposed instruction and towards cooperative learning (Criollo-C, Moscoso-Zea et al., 2021). As a result, mobile devices and their capabilities revolutionise and enhance current educational practices (Criollo-C, Guerrero-Arias et al., 2021; Har et al., 2019).

The usage and effects of mobile learning have been extensively addressed, by researchers in the educational theoretical aspect, such as in a technologyacceptance model and in a mobile-technology acceptance model (Moya & Camacho, 2021; Yuan, et al., 2021). The question arises about pedagogy that has stood out in digital literacy, while the technological resources category has had the least-relevant assessment by researchers (Moya & Camacho, 2021). Indeed, interactions seem to be a major challenge experienced by students ; since they hinder the effectiveness of mobile learning (Yuan et al., 2021).

Consequently, practitioners and researchers need to have a clearer definition and a better description of the idea, allowing them to design a learning experience that is supported by more effective and flexible mobile technology (Viberg et al., 2021).

Thus, these issues require looking at the pattern of co-occurrence analysis over these two decades, which has addressed the most frequently discussed mobilelearning topics among academics and the areas of mobile learning that require additional research.

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Therefore, this study was conducted by using Microsoft Excel, Harzing's Publish or Perish, and VOS-viewer software, in order to analyse the data and the visualisation of the research-publication pattern on mobile learning. The evolutionary analysis and the co-occurrence analysis through VOS-Viewer, a software tool for creating and visualising bibliometric networks, was used to explore the evolutionary process of mobile-learning research, and to predict the future developmental trends.

2. The Literature Review Nowadays, mobile-device learning is integrated into almost all knowledgerelated activities in the classroom (Díaz-Sainz et al., 2021; Nurul & Nailul, 2018).

As today's young learners, dubbed digital natives, have developed technical skills that enable them to succeed through mobile-device learning, they are constantly drawn to cutting-edge technologies, having grown up with internet access, social media, and mobile devices. As a result, mobile learning has emerged, as being the primary strategy for educational innovation, rapidly growing in popularity and resulting in widespread educational innovation (Criollo-C, Guerrero-Arias et al., 2021; Díaz-Sainz et al., 2021).

With mobile learning's continued growth, there have been attempts to compile data on the global scientific output of mobile-learning studies (Elaish et al., 2019).

According to Shi et al. (2020), bibliometric analysis is a valid and potentially equitable method for quantifying a paper's contribution, in order to assist academics when studying this subject by narrowing their future research directions among the numerous current methods for analysing the literature. As a result, bibliometric analysis is frequently used to determine the patterns and impacts, including publishing countries, subject fields, journals and authors’ keywords (Donthu et al., 2021).

Due to the increase in the number of studies on mobile learning, the strength of the relationship between new mobile applications and mobile-learning activities is getting stronger; it has been recognised that mobile learning is a critical and growing field for improving learning performance. Although there are many studies on mobile learning, research by using bibliometric visualisation-mapping methods in a broad context and presenting network maps in diverse variables is still ongoing, which includes the keywords of mobile learning. As such, it is critical to provide an up-to-date map, visualisation and clustering of a mobile learning publication timeline for the Scopus datasets between 2001 and 2020. The current study identifies the visualisation of mobile-learning patterns; and it makes some recommendations for the direction of future research.

As such, this study will analyse and visualise the two-decade body of literature on mobile learning from 2001 to 2020. The study's research question is, first and foremost, what is the recent publication pattern in mobile learning? Secondly, what is the current citation pattern for mobile-learning publications? Thirdly, what are the most frequently discussed mobile-learning topics among academics?

Finally, what areas of mobile learning still require additional research?

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3. The Method The method used in this study is based on the data gathered and filtered through to a definitive collection of reliable and suitable data for analysis. The topic and scope of the study must be determined first in the context of the purpose of the study; in this case, we want to focus on all the studies related to mobile learning and published in the Scopus database. Scopus was chosen; because it is the world's largest abstracting and indexing database, as well as one of the largest searchable databases of citations and abstracts (Ahmi & Mohamad, 2019; Ahmi & Mohd Nasir, 2019; Burnham, 2006). The database includes 67 million records from more than 22,500 serial titles, 96,000 conferences, and 136,000 books published by more than 7,500 different publishers worldwide (Cantu-Ortiz, 2017).

As illustrated in Figure 1, PRISMA was adopted from Moher et al. (2009), to select the documents for this study, based on the research process. The data were extracted on 4th May 2021; and the following keyword combination was used to identify all the target publications on "m-learning" or "mobile learning".

Figure 1: The research protocol

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Due to the scarcity of bibliometric studies on mobile learning, we limited our search to those documents relating to mobile learning or m-learning works. As Donthu, et al. (2021) state that the scope of bibliometric analysis is broad; and the dataset is large. TITLE (m-learning OR "mobile learning") AND (EXCLUDE (PUBYEAR, 2021) OR EXCLUDE (PUBYEAR, 1984)). This query returned 3,874 documents. A series of data-cleansing operations revealed that there were no duplicate documents. As a result, the same number of documents was retained following the process. The data were then exported as research information systems (RIS) and comma-separated values (CSV) files. The primary search-query TITLES ("m-learning" and "mobile learning" and "bibliometric analysis") were used in this study to determine how much of this field had been studied previously by using bibliometric analysis; and the query returned only one result.

The dataset contains information about publications, including their type, year, the language of publication, subject area, source title, keywords, abstract, country of origin, affiliation, citations, and authorship. We performed most of the mapping analysis in this study by using the VOS-viewer software (Ding & Yang, 2020; Van Eck & Waltman, 2020). Hence, the importance and power of the linkages reflected by the network's size and interconnecting interlinking lines from the cooccurrent maps.

4. The Results The following aspects of scholarly works were analysed to address the research questions: document types, source types, document languages, subject area, publication by year, publication by country, publication by source title, publication by institutions, citation patterns in mobile learning, based on the keywords and titles, as well as by the citation patterns. Most of the data were in the form of frequencies and percentages. In addition, the publisher's name, the current Cite Score, the SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) 2020, and the Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP) 2020 for the most active source title, as reported by Scopus, were included.

SJR quantifies the weighted citations received by the source title; whereas SNIP quantifies the number of actual citations compared to the expected number of citations for the source title's topical field (Hitchcock, 2004). The citation analysis was in the form of citation metrics, and the twenty most-cited publications.

4.1 Recent Trends in Mobile Learning Publication What has been the recent pattern of mobile learning publication? We analysed the publication pattern in mobile learning by using bibliographic data to address this question. This study used the total number of publications by year, document type, publication by source title, publication by country, and the publication by subject area.

4.1.1 Year of Publication Table 1 shows the yearly publications on m-learning/mobile learning in detail, such as the total number of publications (TP); the total number of cited publications (NCP); the total number of citations (TC); the average number of

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citations per publication (C/P); the average number of citations per cited publication (C/CP); the h-index (h); and the g-index (g). According to the Scopus database, there is one article from 2001 that serves as the foundation for the research on the use of mobile learning in educational settings. Abernathy (2001) wrote the first paper. Further examination of this document has revealed that it is composed of brief writings in the form of magazine articles.

Interestingly, these papers have received only one citation, indicating the establishment of a new research environment by Talent Development magazine, the pioneers of mobile-learning publications. Additionally, this article was from the training and development cluster, specifically e-learning. This cluster implies that authors/researchers/practitioners pioneered the mobile-learning movement in the e-learning genre. The term "wireless" used in this study discusses the impact of mobile learning on training and the development that utilises face-to-face and remote methods, with instructors facilitating learning via laptops.

Table 1: Year of publication Year

TP

NCP

TC

C/P

C/CP

h

g

2001

1

1

40

40

40

1

1

2002

10

10

455

45.5

45.5

8

10

2003

9

9

610

67.78

67.78

6

9

2004

16

12

390

24.38

32.5

7

16

2005

55

51

1360

24.73

26.67

15

36

2006

64

51

655

10.23

12.84

17

23

2007

121

87

2537

20.97

29.16

19

49

2008

126

100

1936

15.37

19.36

21

42

2009

166

118

3486

21

29.54

21

58

2010

253

181

3822

15.11

21.12

29

57

2011

220

159

3030

13.77

19.06

24

52

2012

291

206

4627

15.9

22.46

33

64

2013

249

188

2899

11.64

15.42

23

48

2014

337

228

2796

8.3

12.26

27

46

2015

335

241

2699

8.06

11.2

28

41

2016

322

235

2784

8.65

11.85

28

43

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2017

314

235

1819

5.79

7.74

21

31

2018

317

213

1833

5.78

8.61

18

33

2019

343

121

1356

3.95

11.21

19

24

2020

325

124

428

1.32

3.45

9

14

Total

3874

In 2002, nine proceedings and one journal article on educational research contexts were published. Sharples et al. (2002) published an article on designing and implementing a mobile-learning resource for their children aged 9-11 by using a Fujitsu Stylistic LT Pen Tablet computer, or a HandLeR prototype. The prototype produced is based on a Conversational Framework that divides the system into two modules, which encourage a deliberate cycle of action and reflection to support a variety of activities and learning abilities, rather than adapting to specific learners. The action operations allow students to share their experiences through pictures, voices and written notes, to perform experiments, and to communicate with teachers and other students. However, the description provided can enable students to manage, connect and combine the onlinelearning activities by applying current and previous knowledge.

Attewell and Gustafsson (2002), Mifsud (2002), Nyiri (2002), Seppälä and Alamäki (2002), Seppälä et al. (2002) and Uther (2002), presented their research papers at the IEEE International Workshop on Wireless and Mobile Technologies in Education, WMTE 2002. These researchers were interested in the philosophy, the fundamental principles, the perceptions, and the challenges associated with transforming formal learning into mobile learning, conducting pilot tests on the use of mobile technology in teacher-training, developing prototypes by using mobile technology, and identifying pedagogical applications that are beneficial to higher education.

The findings indicate that flexible teaching solutions that enable students to access information via a variety of devices, and which support learning in various settings are necessary to engage young adults in learning, and to assist them in developing and achieving their lifelong learning objectives. However, this depends on the extent to which current knowledge regarding usability is best applied. Thus, this indicates improvement in the research foundations on the development and use of mobile-learning tools and environments by educators in an educational system that is increasingly moving towards student-centred learning by learners at any time and from any location.

Ichinohe and Suzuki (2002) and Houser et al. (2002) have used mobile devices in language learning, such as mobile-phone websites, cell phones, and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), among adult learners. These studies have contributed to revolutionising and quantifying the effects of mobile learning on learning activities; and they are then incorporated into a language-learning curriculum.

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Although researchers were concerned about the future of mobile learning, the study of Lo et al. (2002) developed techniques for using multi-agent systems in mobile learning platforms, in order to enhance interaction and communication between teachers and their students. This technique allows the actual needs of each student to be determined by the instructor. In addition, the use of user-client agents can monitor students’ progress in multi-agent platforms, while assisting developers in delivering international mobile-production applications. This leads to developing a mobile-learning environment into a truly dynamic and global environment. These articles frequently emphasise the flexible lesson needed, in order to accomplish the learning objectives via a wireless feature in mobile learning.

Thus, these two years of pioneering articles have established a precedent for mobile learning; and they have been cited 495 times. According to records, between 2002 and 2003, the publication grew at a relatively slow pace, reaching less than 3% in 2013; however, in early 2004, a growth of 4.34% in the number of articles published was observed. This trend fluctuated, but there was still an average of 100, 200, and 300 publications per year. The highest number of publications occurred in 2019, with 343 documents, which comprises 93%. This observation denotes the irregular and peak period of the trending practice, as exemplified by educators worldwide, who employ a mobile-learning approach, as shown in Figure 2.

This scenario was understandable when the following study was conducted, particularly in the light of those countries that were participating in this study.

Figure 2: Total publications and citations by annal trends in mobile-learning studies

4.1.2 Publication by Source Titles There is a departure from previous analyses. Elaish (2019) previously identified Educational Technology and Society as the top-ranked journal with 75 publications.

According to Goksu (2021), Computer and Education ranked first with 103

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publications. Nonetheless, Table 2 indicates that the most-active source title is Lecture Notes in Computer Science, including the sub-series Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics, with 112 publications, followed by the International Journal of Mobile Learning and Organization (90 publications) and ACM International Conference Proceeding Series (81 publications). The Journal of Educational Technology and Society is ranked fourteenth, with 24 publications, while Computer and Education is ranked seventh, with 47 publications between 2004 and 2020. The findings indicate that mobile-learning applications are still gaining traction in the field of computer science.

Table 2: Most-active source title Source Title

TP

%

Lecture Notes in Computer Science Including Subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes In Bioinformatics

112

2.89%

International Journal of Mobile Learning and Organisation

90

ACM International Conference Proceeding Series

Cite Score 2019

Cite Score 2020

SJR 2020

SNIP 2020

Springer

1.9

1.8

0.249

0.628

2.32%

Inderscience

3.1

5.2

0.896

2.015

81

2.09%

Association for Computing Machinery

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies

72

1.86%

International Association of Online Engineering

3.1

2.9

0.316

1.417

Communications In Computer and Information Science

66

1.70%

Springer

0.7

0.8

0.16

0.32

Journal of Physics Conference Series

49

1.26%

IOP Publishing Ltd

0.7

0.7

0.21

0.464

Computers and Education

47

1.21%

Elsevier Ltd

13.4

14.4

3.026

4.411

International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning

47

1.21%

IGI Global Publishing

1.9

1.9

0.225

0.409

Ceur Workshop Proceedings

45

1.16%

CEUR-WS.org

0.6

0.8

0.117

0.345

Advances In Intelligent Systems and Computing

41

1.06%

Springer Nature

0.9

N/A

N/A

0.428

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Publisher

300

4.1.3 Publication by Country The ten most productive countries in terms of publications are shown in Table 3.

Four Asian countries, including Malaysia, are ranked in the top ten (247 publications). China tops the list with 422 (10.89%) documents, followed by the United States with 358 (9.24%) and the United Kingdom with 284 (7.33%). China's dominance in publishing is not surprising, given the funding available to researchers, which results in papers that have frequently been cited with high research value, as well as with a consistent theme and clear direction of the research in areas, such as technical assistance, learning design, learning mode, and practices over the last decade (Zhang, 2020).

This finding is corroborated by Table 2, which lists the most frequently used source titles. For example, according to a further search of the Scopus database, a total of 112 articles for the proceedings have been contributed since 2003, and among the highest are Lecture Notes in Computer Science, including a sub-series of Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics. Between 2003 and 2020, this source contributed 72 articles.

During the study period, there were some countries, which produced less scholarly articles than others. Thus, this indicates an increase from three Asianbased institutions in the top ten countries in 2001 to 2010, to four Asian-based institutions in the top ten countries in 2011 to 2020. As a result, because mobile learning is linked inextricably to technological distribution, these developing countries, such as Taiwan, Malaysia, and Indonesia, can now be considered to have a relative technological advantage in education.

Table 3: Top 10 countries that contributed to the publications Country

TP

NCP

TC

C/P

C/CP

h

g

China

422

241

1860

4.41

7.72

17

35

United States

358

269

6564

18.34

24.40

43

74

United Kingdom

284

229

6253

22.02

27.31

32

74

Taiwan

282

225

7191

25.50

31.96

42

80

Malaysia

247

169

1967

7.96

11.64

23

37

Indonesia

184

101

392

2.13

3.88

10

13

Australia

177

146

2412

13.63

16.52

23

44

Spain

163

134

1741

10.68

12.99

20

37

Germany

128

85

819

6.40

9.64

13

25

Canada

107

82

1239

11.58

15.11

17

33

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4.1.4 The Subject Area According to Table 4, the most frequently written subject in computer science during this period (2001–2020) was mobile learning (65.07%). The data demonstrate a consistent pattern, since Goksu's (2021) most recent bibliometric analyses in 2019. Elaish et al. (2019), conducted a bibliometric analysis between 1982 and 2015; and they discovered that 150 out of 500 articles in the top five journals publishing articles on mobile learning originated in the field of computerscience research. A two-decade analysis from 2001-2020 found an unusual change, in which computer science now accounts for 65% of mobile learning publications, followed by social science (47.5%), engineering (21.09%), and mathematics (8.01%).

This pattern demonstrates that mobile learning is gaining traction in computer science, as was previously evident in the literature. Increased research on educational tools, applications, approaches, design and development may account for computer-science research's predominance. This is due to the popularity of mobile devices, cell phones, smart-coaching systems and interactive learning environments that have been widely used in the past two decades (Goksu, 2021). Overall, this bibliometric analysis shows that computer science research seemed slow to recognise the advantages of mobile learning at the beginning of the millennium, thereby indicating the development of research applications.

Table 4: Subject area Subject Area

Total Publications (TP)

Percentage (%)

Computer Science

2521

65.07

Social Sciences

1840

47.50

Engineering

817

21.09%

Mathematics

312

8.05%

Business, Management and Accounting

209

5.39%

Arts and Humanities

130

3.36%

Decision Sciences

129

3.33%

Medicine

96

2.48%

Psychology

89

2.30%

Physics and Astronomy

84

2.17%

Economics, Econometrics and Finance

58

1.50%

Energy

48

1.24%

Materials Science

47

1.21%

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Environmental Science

41

1.06%

Health Professions

32

0.83%

Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

19

0.49%

Nursing

15

0.39%

Agricultural and Biological Sciences

14

0.36%

Chemistry

14

0.36%

Earth and Planetary Sciences

12

0.31%

Multidisciplinary

12

0.31%

Chemical Engineering

11

0.28%

Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics

10

0.26%

Immunology and Microbiology

4

0.10%

Neuroscience

4

0.10%

3874

100.00

Total

4.2 Patterns of Citations in Mobile Learning The purpose of RQ 2 is to ascertain the current citation pattern for the most influential publications on mobile learning in Scopus. Citation analysis is used to determine the impact of articles on mobile learning (Baker et al., 2020). Citation metrics for 3,874 articles obtained since approximately 4th May 2021, indicate an average of 1,978. Ten citations per year are required, with 39,574 citations reported to address RQ2, as in Table 5.

Table 5: Citation metrics Metrics

Data

Papers

3874

Number of Citations

39562

Years

20

Citations per Year

1978.10

Citations per Paper

10.21

Cite_Authors

18342.73

Paper_Authors

1815.92

Authors’_Paper

2.79

h_index

87

g_index

140

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(As illustrated in Figure 3, the most frequently cited source titles are conference proceedings and journals). A total of 61 source titles met these criteria, based on a minimum number of the source title's documents, of which the citations are equal to five.

Figure 3: Visualisation of the citation network by country Note: Minimum number of documents of an author = 5; Minimum number of citations of an author = 5

In addition to the data in Table 2, Figure 4 illustrates the most active source titles in mobile learning research, as measured by the number of documents produced.

However, when the cite score of the most highly cited journal is examined, the following source titles (Table 2) rank in the top five: Computers and Education (14.4), British Journal of Educational Technology (7.6), Educational Technology and Society (7.2), International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning (5.8), and Education and Information Technologies (5.8). (5.4).

Figure 4: The citation by source network visualisation map

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4.3 Themes in Research on Mobile Learning To answer the third research question, which mobile learning theme is most popular among scholars? analysis of the co-occurrence of keywords and terms in the title and abstract data extracted from the Scopus database was performed.

Accordingly, for two keywords to appear in the same article, it indicates that the two concepts share a great deal of common ground (Baker et al., 2020). To ensure that the author’s keywords accurately describe the content of the article, cooccurrence and keywords were used (Comerio & Strozzi 2019).

4.3.1 Author’s Keywords Gonza'lez et al. (2018) assert that authors’ keywords and their co-occurrence provide a complete picture of what occurs in a field of study. After removing duplicates caused by spelling differences, Table 6 shows the most popular author keywords during the first two decades of the millennium (e.g., m learning, mlearning). VOS-viewer was used in mapping all the keywords for each article, which included both author and index keywords, as illustrated in Figure 5. We examined the co-occurrence of each keyword that appears in this section at least five times. This threshold resulted in the discovery of 530 keywords. The strength of the relationship between the keywords is illustrated in Figure 5, which is represented by the size of the circle, the size of the font, the colour, and the thickness of the connecting line (Sweileh et al., 2017).

Table 6: Top used keywords Author Keywords

Total Publications (TP)

Percentage (%)

Mobile Learning

2212

57.07%

E-learning

1624

41.90%

Students

737

19.01%

Learning Systems

711

18.34%

M-Learning

665

17.16%

Education

640

16.51%

Mobile Devices

623

16.07%

M-learning

540

13.93%

Teaching

491

12.67%

Computer-Aided Instruction

424

10.94%

Engineering Education

412

10.63%

Mobile Technology

282

7.28%

Higher Education

222

5.73%

Surveys

190

4.90%

Mobile-learning System

189

4.88%

Mobile Telecommunication Systems Education Computing

176

4.54%

175

4.51%

Telecommunication Equipment

175

4.51%

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Curricula

173

4.46%

Mobile Applications

171

4.41%

Figure 5: Network visualisation map of all the keywords

As illustrated in Figure 5, the terms mobile learning, learning system, augmented reality, surveys, learning outcomes, learning process and game-based learning are frequently used interchangeably; since they are closely related, and frequently occur in conjunction with each other. A different colour represents each of the eleven clusters identified in this visualisation map in this figure. Six clusters contain a top cluster containing at least 50 items. The top three clusters contain 87 items (red) on mobile learning, 83 items (green) on m-learning, and 80 items (blue) on human learning. This cluster demonstrates that human studies of mobile learning and m-learning have been conducted, particularly in computer science.

This map is also demonstrated by three additional clusters, demonstrating that this field also focuses on education, a teaching aid. That is, 72 educational items (yellow-green), 61 computer-aided instruction items (purple), and 58 computeraided instruction items (sky blue).

4.3.2 Title and Abstract This study examined the phrase co-occurrence network using the title and abstract fields. In this configuration, 61 words met the threshold. However, a relevance score was generated for each of the 61 terms, choosing the most acceptable score.

The 60% most acceptable terms have been chosen by using the default setting. As a result, the number of terms chosen was 3,502, the VOS-viewer software's default value, as illustrated in Figure 6. This visualisation map resulted in the creation of a map of these terms' co-occurrences. The distance between nodes represents the relationship between phrases or concepts in this network visualisation, whereas the nodes themselves represent the terms or concepts (Sedighi ,2016). Each colour in this illustration represents a different phase. As a result, the map will contain

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six clusters representing six distinct themes. This map depicts six themes: (red) elearning (55 items), (green) mobile learning (28 items), (blue) education (26 items), (yellow/green) students (26 items), (purple) information and communication (16 items), and (sky-blue) teaching group (14 items).

This cluster demonstrates that the theme of writing in mobile learning is focused on education, which incorporates e-learning into its teaching and learning processes.

Figure 6: Network visualisation using the title and abstract field of a phrase cooccurrence in VOS-viewer (Full Counting)

5. Discussion This section elaborates on prior findings by responding to the research questions.

RQ1: What has been the recent trend in mobile learning publications?

This bibliometric analysis of publications published between 2001 and early 2020 is timely; because it quantifies the extent to which the trend towards mobilelearning applications has persisted over the first two decades of the twenty-first century; and it will probably continue into the next two decades. The pattern of publication of mobile-learning strategies/approaches that go up and down, according to the current situation, will continue to attract more practitioners, researchers and scholars in the coming decade, in which the use of mobile learning will surely continue. Moreover, the analysis shows a high level of involvement by developing countries, especially Asian countries, in this type of research.

Guksu (2021) discovered that Asian countries were the most active in mobilelearning research between 2015 and 2019. As this study demonstrates, the results of two decades of research from developing countries run consistently with justifiable gaps; and they indicate the improvement of educational technology in these developing countries since the beginning of the millennium.

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According to the tables and data in the preceeding sections, mobile learning appears likely to be widespread in the future. The advancement of technologybased education has proven to be an excellent option, especially at difficult times when synchronous learning with face-to-face physical teaching and learning sessions are unavailable, or considered to be impractical. Hence, it increases security by customising digital educational materials, based on the student's learning style and the device's requirements (Vallejo-Correa et al., 2021). This has implications for researchers in the field of education to ensure that the use of mobile learning is a necessity for online learning where most students are more into the use of the mobile devices, and the learning styles are more into audio, visual, and hands-on, which is video.

Indeed, the current COVID-19 epidemic, for example, has prompted worldwide requests for emergency remote teaching and learning instruction. Therefore, educators need to sharpen their competencies and expand their understanding of mobile learning and its integration into the process of incorporating technology into their educational methods for today's digital natives (Rajendran & Yunus, 2021).

RQ2: What is the current citation pattern for mobile learning publications?

To date, 39,562 citations have been obtained from 3,874 documents, representing a total of 1,978.10 citations per year, 10.21 citations per paper, 1,815.92 papers per author, and 2.79 authors per paper. In addition, only 1,213 out of 3,874 documents have been cited so far. Mobile-learning studies have also achieved a 47 h-index and a 140 g-index at the time when these data were analysed. This analysis guides journal publishers to see whether publications in the Scopus database provide many citations to authors. Moreover, this analysis also provides a guideline that the publication of articles has a high allocation for acquisitional budgetbreakdown (Bowman, 1991).

Publishers need to ensure that published articles cite those articles that have been published by the journal, so that the number of citations would increase on the Scopus-database platform.

RQ3: Which mobile learning topics are most popular among scholars?

Based on the analysis of all the keywords, this study identified eleven themes, including mobile learning, m-learning, human, education, computer-assisted instructions, human interaction, mobile-technology interactions, intelligencesystem games, and engagement. Nevertheless, this visualisation map contains six clusters, based on terms occurrences in the title and abstract of Scopus articles.

These themes were classified as follows: e-learning was assigned as theme one; m-learning was assigned as theme two; education was assigned as theme three; students were assigned as theme four, information and communication were assigned as theme five, and teaching was assigned as theme six. Consequently, these issues appear to be central in mobile-learning research.

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RQ4: What areas of mobile learning require additional research?

As stated in the previous sections, at the turn of the second millennium, the global use of mobile phones increased, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in the Movement Control Order (MCO). This MCO will profoundly affect the education systems in developing countries, and the least developed and emerging countries, in which most teaching and learning occur online (Hofer et al., 2021).

Most teaching materials are uploaded online and implemented by using blended learning, flipped learning, and online-learning methods. There are no issues with internet connectivity, bandwidth, or ICT equipment in most developing and highincome countries.

However, students in the least developed low-income countries typically only have access to a telecommunication device, such as a mobile phone, which relies on mobile data to assist those with limited internet capacity. The use of social media and apps, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, WeChat, telegram, and game-based learning apps has enabled students to self-regulate their learning by uploading learning materials to an online platform by using their own, or their parents', mobile device, thereby enabling teachers to teach remotely from home via asynchronous learning by using videos.

However, because mobile learning focuses on the device, apps, and learning approach, there is concern about how interactions, engagement, motivation and critical thinking occur during online synchronous and asynchronous learning (Har et al., 2019; Thomas, 2020; Al-Shamsi et al., 2020). As a result of this concern, various instructional designs have emerged that are appropriate for the device, apps, and for the learning approach used. For instance, how to create lesson plans appropriate for online synchronous and asynchronous learning via mobile devices, apps and platforms. The future study will concentrate on the use of mobile applications by most students, who only have access to a mobile phone and mobile data, when they are learning online.

The lesson-plan design and mobile-application development of these teaching materials should consider students' interaction and engagement with teachers and teaching materials (Purarjomandlangrudi & Chen, 2020). This situation demonstrates the critical need for continuous professional development programmes, to which all educators must adhere, in order to ensure that all students receive an adequate education during this critical period (Lowenthal, 2020). The end of the pandemic is unknown. Beyond the existing applications, there is still considerable room for growth in game-based learning, learning algorithms, learning technologies, software prototyping, interface design, data security, online coaching, online facilitation, and online feedback. By identifying and exploring these approaches, this argument implies that diversifying mobile learning approaches are a real possibility.

6. Conclusion The purpose of this study was to examine the pattern of mobile-learning research, the pattern of citations, and the visualisation of the theme, and to make

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recommendations for future research directions in mobile learning. The data were gathered via keyword searches for "m-learning" and "mobile learning" with the data extracted directly beneath the "title of the article". Additional research in other areas, such as "abstracts and keywords", should be conducted, which will require further screening and filtering of the dataset. As a result, the teachers and educators identified can change pedagogy, in order to cope with the evolution of educational technology that uses mobile-learning applications.

The findings of this study will assist academics in gaining a better understanding of the global impact of mobile learning. Mobile learning is expected to continue to gain popularity over the next few decades, because of the online-learning applications that have increased students’ engagement and closed the accessibility gap. This popularity demonstrates the critical role of online learning.

Furthermore, in addition to technological advancements that have accelerated many people's adoption of mobile learning, the rise of an electronic-data security threat, due to electronic accessibility, has actively contributed to many instructors and students being placed in dangerous situations.

For example, the use of mobile-learning approaches and cyber threats in various domains of education highlights the risk associated with the collection of students’ and educators’ data over time. When users signed up for specific applications for web-based online learning resources and completed their profiles on a digital platform, they exposed themselves to cyber risk. As a result, it is a subject that requires additional attention from scholars and practitioners involved in developing lessons and mobile-learning applications. Thus, this new line of research should result in a more-advanced visualisation of mobile-learning patterns in the coming decade.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 10, pp. 313-330, October 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.10.17 Received Jul 26, 2021; Revised Oct 14, 2021; Accepted Nov 1, 2021

Effect of Teachers’ Corrective Feedback on Learners’ Oral Accuracy in English Speaking Lessons Huong Thanh Nhac Hanoi Law University, Ha Noi city, Vietnam https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0185-529X

Abstract. Corrective feedback plays a vital role in contributing to the success of English language teaching and learning at all levels owing to its essential functions in developing learners’ English capacity.

However, the ongoing debate on how effective corrective feedback is still remains controversial among educational scholars. This empirical study examined the effects of teachers’ corrective feedback on learners’ English oral accuracy at a higher education institution. The study used a before-and-after approach with the involvement of 47 law major sophomores at lower intermediate level who were divided into control and experimental groups. Specifically, the experimental group included two batches, including 16 participants companions receiving the explicit correction and metalinguistic feedback, and 15 learners provided with recast and clarification requests. In addition, there were 16 participants in the control group who were given no form of corrective feedback during English speaking lessons. The results indicate that the efficacy of corrective feedback is clearly acknowledged thanks to the contrastive analysis of the outcome in the learners' performance on the post-tests. In particular, the results of the explicit corrective feedback slightly outweighed the results of the control group receiving implicit feedback in terms of improving learners’ accurate usage of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. The findings emphasise the importance of teachers’ corrective feedback in helping students improve their English competency.

Keywords: accuracy; corrective feedback; effects; speaking English lesson

1. Introduction Recently, the teaching methodology focus has changed from being grammarbased to communicative teaching, which promotes learners’ fluency.

Specifically, the former method highlights linguistic aspects, including phonological, lexical and grammatical features, while the latter focuses on ©Author This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

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language functional patterns and communicative competence theory (Ellis, 2003). Therefore, learners are encouraged to focus on meaning rather than form (Savignon, 2006). In such a context, corrective feedback (CF), either in written or oral form, proves to play an indispensable role in foreign language teaching and learning owing to its crucial role in facilitating learner’s language development (Li & Vuono, 2019).

In the literature, there has been some polarisation of thought regarding the impact of CF on learners’ second language (L2) or foreign language (FL) acquisition process, leading to different or even contradicting theories as the effectiveness of CF differs according to classroom contexts (Li & Iwashita, 2021; Lyster et al., 2013). Nevertheless, proponents of CF affirm that CF is of great importance in teaching and learning in different L2 classrooms (Ha & Murray, 2021; Lyster et al. 2013) as it can enable students to be aware of the gap between their interlanguage forms and the target language forms. This helps them to restructure the interlanguage grammar and initiates the learning process. While consensus has been reached regarding the effectiveness of CF on students’ L2 acquisition, the debate around whether explicit or implicit CF is more effective has gained little agreement among scholars. Most of the studies conducted in L2 classroom contexts have consistently indicated that recasts are the most frequently used CF by teachers but prompts are superior to recasts in eliciting more immediate learner uptake (Ammar & Spada, 2006; Ellis et al., 2006; Brown, 2016; Wang & Li, 2020). Conversely, Ellis et al. (2006) compare implicit (recasts) and explicit (metalinguistic prompt) feedback and find that the explicit metalinguistic prompt group performs better than the implicit recast group.

However, comparing only the two feedback types does not clarify which is more associated with L2 development, explicitness (metalinguistic information), or opportunities for learners to reformulate their output. One solution to overcome this limitation is the addition of an explicit correction group that is given metalinguistic information and input. Regarding accuracy in speaking, according to Chehr Azad et al. (2017), learners’ specific spoken accuracy is able to be improved with the provision of CF. In the tertiary context of Vietnam, CF seems to be attractive to researchers. The majority of the research focuses on learners and teachers’ belief in the importance, types and timing of oral corrective feedback (Ha, 2017; Ha et al., 2021; Ha & Murray, 2020; Ha & Nguyen, 2020; Tran & Cang, 2020), the role of CF in students’ learning (Le, 2014; Pham & Iwashita, 2018; Dam, 2018) or the patterns of CF (Pham & Pham, 2018). Despite the efforts made by the researcher, it was difficult to identify documented experimental studies which were conducted on Vietnamese university EFL students on the effectiveness of teachers’ CF on learners’ speaking accuracy. This motivated the present study, which is a follow-up on an observational study on the patterns of teachers’ CF and learners’ uptake previously conducted in a law school context.

For these reasons, this study is a modest attempt to contribute to the common knowledge of the impact of explicit CF including explicit correction, metalinguistic and implicit CF in the form of recasts and clarification requests on

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learners’ oral accuracy. Three research questions are formulated to address the above issue: 1. Do metalinguistic feedback and explicit correction significantly affect learners’ accuracy in English speaking lessons?

2. Do recasts and clarification requests significantly affect learners’ accuracy in English speaking lessons?

3. Is there any significant difference in the effects of two types of CF in two experimental groups?

2. Literature Review 2.1. Oral Accuracy According to language researchers, accuracy, complexity and fluency are three important components of achieving L2 proficiency (Ellis & Barkhuizen, 2005).

The key aspect of speaking in this current study is accuracy. Ellis (2003, p.339) defines accuracy as “the extent to which the language produced in performing a task conforms to the target language norms”. Housen and Kuiken (2009, p. 466) refer to accuracy as “error-free” speech. Oral accuracy is therefore measured by the accurate use of different aspects of the target language.

Gower et al. (2005) affirm that accuracy includes the correct usage of every component, that is, vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. If a speaker uses one language that is not as accurate as the way a native speaker does, he or she is said to lack language accuracy. In other words, to achieve accuracy, learners are expected to make few language errors in the process of producing the target language.

Grammar or grammatical items refer to the set of rules by means of which words and phrases are connected to produce the target language. Language grammar is also concerned with the rules of syntax (such as verb tenses and subject-verb agreement) (Tesnim, 2019).

Vocabulary or lexical resource is defined as a learner’s use of language to express meaning. As commonly known, a ‘lexeme’, or lexical item, the smallest unit of a language, may be formed either as one word (‘look’), or by using a suffix (‘-s’), or a prefix (‘ex-‘). Moreover, the lexical resource covers the understanding and use of compound words and idioms as used by learners (Tesnim, 2019).

Furthermore, pronunciation refers to how words are pronounced. Broadly speaking, pronunciation is understood as the way in which sound or a group of sounds is produced. Pronunciation also includes the intonation, rhythm, emphasis, and pauses of the speaker’s utterance (Tesnim, 2019). This study focuses on the learners’ oral accuracy in English lessons; thus, grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation are three main criteria in examining the efficacy of CF. 2.2. Corrective Feedback One of the main roles of the language teacher is to give corrective feedback to students' work containing errors. CF has been defined and classified in different

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dimensions denoting the understanding of and interest in CF in L2 research (Brown, 2014). Lightbown and Spada (2003, p.172) define CF as “any indication to a learner that his/her use of the target language is incorrect”. Specifically, CF includes various responses following learners’ erroneous utterances. Likewise, Ellis et al. (2006) indicated that CF, acting as a form-focusing device, refers to responses to learners’ errors. The responses “can consist of (a) and indication that an error has been committed; (b) the provision of the correct target language form; or (c) metalinguistic information about the nature of the error; or any combination of these” (Ellis et al., 2006, p.340). Put simply, CF is the process of providing correction by teachers for students’ errors, either in the written form (such as teachers’ written feedback on learners’ assignments or oral form (such as teachers’ spoken responses to learners’ spoken errors). It can be seen that both modes of CF have been viewed to be effective for learners to reformulate correct target language (Li & Vuono, 2019). In the scope of this research, only oral CF was investigated, therefore CF in this article refers to CF for spoken errors.

Lyster and Mori (2006) identified six different types of CF, namely recast, explicit correction, clarification request, metalinguistic feedback, elicitation and repetition. Sheen (2011) classified oral CF strategies into two subcategories, one of which includes the CF providing the correct form, namely recasts and explicit correction. The other four feedback types are called prompts in the sense that correct forms are withheld and students are provided with clues to generate corrections (Li, 2014).

2.3. Corrective Feedback in L2 and FL Acquisition According to Lyster et al. (2013, p.31), CF in relation to linguistic focus is “an especially promising topic for further investigation”. While a variety of empirical studies have been conducted to clarify the efficiency of CF in L2 and FL acquisition, the debate over what types of CF are more effective still remains a contested topic among educators. Among different types of CF, the explicit CF includes explicit correction and metalinguistic feedback while recast and clarification request are viewed as being implicit. On the one hand, a number of studies reveal the positive impacts of explicit CF outweigh those of implicit ones.

Ellis et al. (2006) demonstrate that learners provided with metalinguistic feedback perform much better than those supplied with recasts in a delayed post-test; however, the immediate post-test results of the two groups show little difference. Similarly, Tavakoli and Zarrinabadi (2016) found that implicit CF does not influence L2 speakers’ willingness to communicate in English whereas explicit CF does by promoting their L2 self-confidence. Dabaghi and Basturkmen (2009) compare the effectiveness of explicit and implicit CF in morphological and syntactical features. The results indicate that explicit CF is clearly more effective than implicit CF. Moreover, explicit CF is more effective for morphological features in comparison with syntactical ones.

On the other hand, various studies indicate that implicit CF would improve learners’ language accuracy more effectively than direct CF in the long term (Mujtaba et al., 2020; Baleghizadeh & Dadashi, 2011; Hosseiny, 2014).

Concerning the implicit CF, recasts are able to equip learners with both comprehensible input and focus on form (Leeman, 2003). However, an important aspect is that the use of recast depends on the linguistic features.

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Recasts are said not to be useful for non-salient, hard linguistic structures (Lyster & Mori, 2006), yet exert a significant influence on salient, transparent structures (Ammar & Spada, 2006). Like recasts, clarification requests belong to implicit CF. Yet they are unlike recasts in the sense that clarification implies engaging learners to reformulate their own utterance and seek clarification of the meaning in the meantime (Loewen & Nabei, 2007). This, however, leads to the fact that learners are less likely to notice the purpose of error correction. Moreover, engaging learners in self-correction may require a higher level of comprehension and usage of language, which in turn leads to acquiring the language more effectively.

Relating to L2 and FL learning in general and aspects of speaking in particular, there have been a number of research studies on CF on promoting noticing as being useful to the enhancement of grammar accuracy (Ellis et al., 2006; Sheen, 2007; Li, 2010; Zohrabi & Ehsani, 2014). CF can also develop learners’ spoken accuracy according to the findings revealed in other studies, such as those of Chu (2011) and Chehr Azad et al. (2017). Carried out in different contexts, all studies share the similar findings, namely that CF has a positive effect on improving learners’ oral accuracy, which is illustrated by the higher scores in the post-test of the experimental group. Tesnim’s study (2019) on the impacts of oral CF on learners’ speaking skills shows that the immediate and explicit oral CF is able to affect EFL learners’ grammatical development positively, but this is yet to improve the other aspects of their oral English skills, including lexical, phonological resources and fluency. In comparison with groups without feedback, groups provided with recast show better performance, especially in terms of phonological acquisition and mastery (Saito & Lyster, 2012). Similarly, Zakian (2021) maintained that recasts significantly affect the speaking accuracy and willingness to communicate of Iranian EFL students.

In general, extensive research in CF has strongly supported its role in L2 acquisition in general and linguistic accuracy in particular in a focus on form instructional setting by means of drawing learners’ attention to the linguistic gap (Ellis, 2016). In other words, CF plays a significant role in the L2 and FL acquisition process.

The researcher carried out two observational research studies on the CF and learner uptake in a high school and a university context. The findings of the above two research studies agree with previous findings (Yang, 2009; Simard & Jean, 2011; Asari, 2017) that recasts predominantly used in the classrooms are the least likely to lead to successful uptake, whereas other types of CF, including elicitation, clarification request and metalinguistic feedback, resulted in a more negotiated form of feedback between the teacher and the learner and therefore resulted in more successful uptake outcomes. The two studies, however, do not reveal the connection between learners’ uptake and language acquisition in the long term.

This current study therefore aims to address the effects of explicit CF in the form of explicit correction, metalinguistic feedback and implicit CF in the form of recasts, and clarification requests on learners’ oral accuracy with respect to

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grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation in the context of FL acquisition at Hanoi Law University.

3. Method 3.1. Research Design This research employed a before-and-after approach to identify the efficacy on learners’ oral accuracy of two types of CF, namely explicit CF in the form of explicit correction and metalinguistic information, and implicit CF in the form of recasts and clarification requests. It comprised two cross-sectional data collections applied for the two experimental groups and the control one during 48-hour face-to-face class meeting sessions in the second term of the 2020-2021 academic year at Hanoi Law University (HLU). Basing on the pre-test and posttest scores from these groups, the screened data were treated carefully by IBM SPSS statistics application to evaluate the effects of teachers’ CF on learners’ oral accuracy.

3.2. Participants The study comprising two kinds of participants was conducted as a case study at a university of law in Hanoi. The first type involved in 47 law-major sophomores who were willing to register as subjects of the study and they were classified into three classes. Specifically, 16 students were arranged in one class labelled as the control group (C.G), which received no form of CF, whereas the experimental group was further divided into two subgroups coded as the experimental group 1 (E.G.1) and the experimental group 2 (E.G.2). The experimental group 1 comprised 16 students receiving explicit correction and metalinguistic feedback while the 15 participants of the E.G.2 were provided with recasts and clarification requests. The participants all indicated that they had spent from five years to 12 years, with an average of seven years learning English. Around 73% of the participants indicated that their studies had been mainly grammar-based at high school whereas the rest had received a mixture of both grammar and communicative instruction.

The second type of sample population included three qualified lecturers of English, with one teacher being assigned to teach the three classes, using different teaching methods for each class, over an eight-week period. The classes consisted of two hours a day of English instruction, and were scheduled for three days a week. The remaining two teachers were invited to implement pretests and post-tests for three classes to ensure the validity of the study.

Concerning the choice of the lecturers, all of them hold master degrees and have more than ten years’ experience of teaching English. They were all explained the purpose of this study, which entailed the teaching facilitator being assigned to providing CF in the two experimental groups and no CF in the control group.

3.3. Data collection instrument The research instruments entailed a pre-test and a post-test after 48 hours of learning in an English-speaking course to compare and contrast whether there were any changes when teachers used different methodological teaching strategies for each group of students. To measure the progress, all students took

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part in the before-speaking test which was constructed on the B1 Preliminary Speaking Test format1 when starting the course. Part 1 involved individual questions being exchanged between teachers and students for two to three minutes. Part 2 required two students to describe two different photos in two to three minutes before they discussed their ideas together in the same amount of time in Part 3. Part 4 included teachers’ interaction by giving questions for students to broaden the topic in Part 3 in 2 to 3 minutes. The approximate duration of the speaking test was 12-17 minutes. When completing the 48-hour face-to-face class meeting sessions, the participants took the after-speaking test, which was also adapted from the B1 Preliminary Speaking Test format. The content validity of the before-and-after English speaking tests were validated by three experienced experts on English language testing and assessment before the implementation of the tests.

3.4. Procedure 3.4.1. Data collection To ascertain the liability of the research outcome in a pre-test/post-test design, one teacher was in charge of teaching the whole English-speaking skills course for three groups. According to a pre-set teaching methodology, during eight weeks, the three groups experienced different teaching strategies. Specifically, the control received no CF for their errors in all activities whereas the two experimental groups were subject to CF treatment during speaking activities.

However, the CF types and timing for providing CF were not the same in two experimental groups. In the experimental group 2, the CF in the form of recast or clarification was provided immediately following learners’ utterance containing spoken errors. In the experimental group 1, the teacher made no correction of students’ errors but took notes during the oral activities. At the end of their performance, the teacher clarified their errors, then gave explicit correct forms or provided the whole group with some metalinguistic feedback to promote their attention and recall.

Before beginning the course, all groups took the B1 speaking test run by two separate teachers marking individually first according to the B1 Assessment Scales, then two teachers summated the scores together. After completing a 48hour speaking skills course, two teachers were summoned to carry out the same B1 speaking test with the same procedures as the pre-test exam of this course.

Their oral performances in pre-tests and post-tests were audio-recorded for the later collection. The researcher collected the raw data, screened them, and encoded them for the purpose of data analysis using IBM statistics application.

One thing noted is that fluency and complexity of the speaking skills are not the focus of this study.

3.4.2. Data Analysis The screened data were handled by IBM SPSS statistics application for the data analysis. To verify the differences and distribution density in the accuracy of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation among these participants, descriptive mean and standard deviation were employed. In addition, the paired-sample T 1

https://cambridge-exams.ch/sites/default/files/b1-preliminary-handbook-2020.pdf

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test was used to compare and contrast the disparities between the scores of before-and-after English speaking tests. To highlight the percentage of errors with reference to grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation in the pre-tests and post-tests among groups, descriptive frequency was used to differentiate these components. For analysing the effectiveness of teachers’ CF, ANCOVA was employed to contrast the differences among the control group, experimental group 1, and experimental group 2.

4. Results and Discussion As previously mentioned, the learners’ oral accuracy was evaluated regarding grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. The results, therefore, are described based on the above criteria.

4.1. Grammar and Vocabulary In order to clarify the level of oral accuracy of the participants in the three groups, at the beginning of the course a pre-test was administered to all participants to determine whether their utterances were different regarding grammar and vocabulary accuracy.

Table 1: Descriptive statistics Dependent Variable: pre-test Group Control group (C.G) Experimental group 1 (E.G.1) Experimental group 2 (E.G.2) Total

Mean 2.56 2.50 2.60 2.55

Std. Deviation .964 .966 1.056 .974

N 16 16 15 47

The descriptive statistics for the three groups in the pre-tests are shown in Table 1. The data show that there was not much difference in the accurate use of grammar and vocabulary of the control group (M = 2.56), the experimental group 1 (M = 2.50), and the experimental group 2 (M = 2.60). The differences were too small to be significant. Participants in both the control group (SD=0.964) and the experimental group 1 (SD = 0.966) were at fairly equal individual levels of grammar and vocabulary proficiency in their oral production whereas there was a slightly bigger difference in the individual participants’ grammar performance (SD = 1.056) As is illustrated in Table 2, the p-value of the participants’ post-test was less than the confidence interval (p < 0.05). The statistics reaffirmed the hypothesis that the groups performed differently in the post-tests.

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Table 2. Tests of between-subjects effects Dependent Variable: Pre-test Type III Sum of Mean Source Squares df Square Corrected 32.505a 5 6.501 Model Intercept 2.956 1 2.956 Student 1.416 2 .708 Post-test 32.377 1 32.377 Student * .030 2 .015 post-test Error 11.112 41 .271 Total 350.000 47 Corrected 43.617 46 Total a. R Squared = .745 (Adjusted R Squared = .714)

F 23.987

Sig. .000

Partial Squared .745

10.907 2.612 119.461 .055

.002 .086 .000 .946

.210 .113 .744 .003

Eta

Table 3: Paired samples statistics Mean 2.56 2.63 2.50 4.19 2.60 3.53

Pair 1 Pre-test C.G Post-test C.G Pair 2 Pre-test E.G.1 Post-test E.G.1 Pair 3 Pre-test E.G.2 Post-test E.G.2

N 16 16 16 16 15 15

Std. Deviation .964 .806 .966 .750 1.056 .834

Std. Error Mean .241 .202 .242 .188 .273 .215

Table 4: Paired-sample T test for three groups Paired differences Std. Deviati on

Pair 1 Pair 2

Pair 3

Mean Pre-test C.G – -.063 .443 post-test C.G Pre-test E.G.1 -1.688 .479 – post-test E.G.1 Pre-test E.G.2 -.933 .594 – post-test E.G.2

Std. Error Mean

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference df

Sig. (2tailed)

15

.580

-1.432

-14.100 15

.000

-.605

-6.089

.000

.111

Lower Upper t -.298 .173 -.565

.120

-1.943

.153

-1.262

14

Tables 3 and 4 depict the results of the post-tests in comparison with the pretests. As can be seen, there was a major change in the learners’ oral performance regarding the grammar and vocabulary aspects of the two experimental groups with the mean of 4.19 and 3.53, respectively in comparison with the mean of their pre-tests (M= 2.50; M=2,60). Within the two experimental groups, the effect of CF on learners’ usage of grammar and vocabulary also differs. The mean statistic showed that the participants provided with explicit correction and

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metalinguistic feedback performed much better than those provided with recasts and clarification requests. This means that explicit CF led to a more significant improvement in grammar and vocabulary accuracy than the implicit CF. Although it is clear that both types of CF proved to be useful in developing learners’ error-free lexical sentences, explicit CF helped the majority of learners to reformulate or enrich their appropriate vocabulary knowledge more than the implicit CF did. Meanwhile, although the mean of the control group in the posttest was higher than that of the pre-test, the rate was not considered to be significant (M = 2.63; sig = 0.580, but slightly higher than the confidence interval (p > 0.05).

This result further strengthened the positive effect of CF on the learners’ acquisition of grammatical and lexical resources. Indeed, explicit correction and the prompts such as metalinguistic feedback proved to be much more effective in helping the students produce accurate grammatical utterances because those CF utterances offered them the opportunity to notice the error they had made as well as the use of appropriate grammar rules. As a result, participants did not commit the same errors in their later utterances, thus they were able to produce the correct target structure. This study shared similar findings with previous studies conducted by Koşar and Bedir (2014), and Zohrabi and Ehsani (2014) in the sense that CF promotes grammar acquisition.

4.2. Pronunciation In terms of pronunciation in oral speaking, Table 5 indicates the similar situation in grading pronunciation as grammar and vocabulary aspects. There was an insignificant difference in the pre-test results of the three groups participating in the study with the total mean of 2.19. Notwithstanding, the grade of pronunciation proficiency of learners in the control group and the experimental groups provided with implicit CF varied greatly from learner to learner (SD = 1.109; 1.100 respectively). In other words, in those groups some students were good at pronunciation whereas some were much worse. Examining the participants’ scores of the post-tests, the data in Tables 6 and 7 confirm similar results in the grammar and vocabulary sections. Specifically, there was a marked improvement in the participants’ pronunciation in the groups with both explicit and implicit CF. Table 5: Descriptive statistics Dependent Variable: pre-test Group

Mean

Std. Deviation

N

C.G

2.19

1.109

16

E.G.1

2.13

.957

16

E.G.2

2.27

1.100

15

Total

2.19

1.055

47

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Table 6: Paired samples statistics Std. Error Mean

Mean

N

Std. Deviation

2.19

16

1.109

.277

2.63

16

1.088

.272

Pair 2 Pre- E.G.2 – post-test E.G.2

2.13

16

.957

.239

Pre-test C.G – post-test C.G

3.75

16

.856

.214

Pair 3 Pre-test E.G1 – post-test E.G1

2.27

15

1.100

.284

Pre-test E.G2 – post-test E.G2

3.40

15

.737

.190

Pair 1 Pre-test C.G – post-test C.G Pre-test E.G.1 – post-test E.G.1

Table 7: Paired samples test Paired differences

t

Sig. (2df tailed)

15 .004

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Std. Std. Error Lower Upper Mean Deviation Mean Pair 1 Pre-test C.G Post-test C.G

– -.438

.512

.128

-.711

-.164

-3.416

Pair 2 Pre-test E.G.1 – -1.625 .500 Post-test E.G.1

.125

-1.891

-1.359

-13.000 15 .000

Pair 3 Pre-test E.G.2 – -1.133 .640 Post-test E.G.2

.165

-1.488

-.779

-6.859

14 .000

In terms of the rate of errors, the following Tables 8, 9 and 10 indicate the increase of error-free utterances in grammatical, lexical and phonological items in the pre-test and post-tests of the three groups in the study.

As clearly illustrated in Table 7, after an eight-week course, in all of the categories the number of errors committed by learners in the control group was reduced. The percentage of grammatical errors in the pre-test and post-test was 81.3% and 56.3%; that of lexical errors was 87.5% and 68.8%; while the phonological percentage of errors was 87.5% and 62.5%, respectively.

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Table 8: Percentage of errors in the pre-test and post–test of the control group

Grammar

Valid

Pre-test

Post-test

Vocabulary

Valid

Valid

Pre-test Post-test

Pronunciation

Valid

Valid

Pre-test Post-test

Valid

No error Error

Frequency 3

Per cent 18.8

Valid Per cent 18.8

Cumulative Per cent 18.8 100.0

13

81.3

81.3

Total

16

100.0

100.0

No error Error Total No error Error Total No error Error Total No error Error Total No error Error Total

7

43.8

43.8

43.8

9 16 2

56.3 100.0 12.5

56.3 100.0 12.5

100.0

14 16 5

87.5 100.0 31.3

87.5 100.0 31.3

100.0

11 16 2

68.8 100.0 12.5

68.8 100.0 12.5

100.0

14 16 6

87.5 100.0 37.5

87.5 100.0 37.5

100.0

10 16

62.5 100.0

62.5 100.0

100.0

12.5

31.3

12.5

37.5

Table 9 shows the enhancement in the use of grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation skills in learners’ speech in the experimental group with explicit correction and metalinguistic feedback. Achieving higher scores, learners indicated their performance with a few errors, decreasing from 75% in the pretest to 18.8% in the post-test for grammatical errors, from 75% to 31.3% for lexical errors and 81.3% to 31.3% in phonological errors. This group showed the most improvement compared with the two other groups. This confirmed the results of other previous studies (Dabaghi & Basturkmen, 2009; Tavakoli & Zarrinabadi, 2016) in which explicit CF was more effective than implicit CF. Table 9: Percentage of errors in the pre-test and post–test of the experimental group 1 with explicit correction and metalinguistic feedback

Grammar

Valid

Pre-test Post-test

Valid

No error Error Total No error Error Total

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Per cent 25.0

Valid Per cent 25.0

Cumulative Per cent 25.0

12 16 13

75.0 100.0 81.3

75.0 100.0 81.3

100.0

3 16

18.8 100.0

18.8 100.0

100.0

81.3

325

Vocabulary

Valid

Pre-test Post-test

Pronunciation

Valid

Valid

Pre-test Post-test

Valid

No error Error Total No error Error Total No error Error Total No error Error Total

4

25.0

25.0

25.0

12 16 11

75.0 100.0 68.8

75.0 100.0 68.8

100.0

5 16 3

31.3 100.0 18.8

31.3 100.0 18.8

100.0

13 16 11

81.3 100.0 68.8

81.3 100.0 68.8

100.0

5 16

31.3 100.0

31.3 100.0

100.0

68.8

18.8

68.8

As it is reflected in Table 9, the students in the experimental group with recasts and clarification requests outperformed in the post-test in comparison with the pre-test, as shown by the increase in the number of students who did not commit errors in terms of grammar, vocabulary or pronunciation, accounting for more than 50% in average.

Table 10: Percentage of errors in the pre-test and post–test of the experimental group 2 with recasts and clarification requests

Grammar Pre-test Post-test

Valid

Valid

No error Error

Frequency 4 11

Per cent 26.7 73.3

Valid Per cent 26.7 73.3

Cumulative Per cent 26.7 100.0

Total

15

100.0

100.0

No error

9

60.0

60.0

60.0

6 15 3 12 15 8

40.0 100.0 20.0 80.0 100.0 53.3

40.0 100.0 20.0 80.0 100.0 53.3

100.0

Lexical Pre-test

Valid

Post-test

Valid

Error Total No error Error Total No error

7 15 2

46.7 100.0 13.3

46.7 100.0 13.3

100.0

Valid

Error Total No error Error Total No error Error Total System

13 15 7 7 14 1

86.7 100.0 46.7 46.7 93.3 6.7

86.7 100.0 50.0 50.0 100.0

100.0

Pronunciation Pre-test Post-test

Valid

Missing

20.0 100.0 53.3

13.3

50.0 100.0

In the two experimental groups the rate of errors in the participants’ speech in the post-test improved markedly after they had received the teacher’s CF in the

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form of clarification requests, recasts, metalinguistic feedback and explicit correction during the class activities.

This result implies that EFL students seem to gain an obvious benefit from both immediate and delayed CF delivered by their teacher as they showed remarkable progress in their oral accuracy relating to grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. This also confirms the hypothesis that CF treatment means that leaners are more likely to take note of the teacher’s correction; thus, it is useful to language acquisition.

One interesting finding in this study is that even for phonological errors, implicit CF in the form of recast and clarification requests is extremely beneficial.

Although the teacher did not provide the overt correction or metalinguistic information directly, the learners could nevertheless notice the deficiency in their pronunciation and reformulate it correctly. Those findings are contrary to Tesnim’s study (2019), which states that CF failed to improve learners’ pronunciation.

In general, the research questions on the effects of CF on learners’ English oral accuracy were answered depending on the presence or absence, types and timing of the CF. The descriptive statistics indicated that there were differences between pre-test and post- test results in all three groups’ performance. In particular, the experimental group’s accuracy levels were much higher than those of the control groups. This confirmed that CF plays a crucial role in language acquisition as stated in previous studies (Ammar & Spada, 2006; Ellis et al., 2006; Li, 2010; Sheen, 2007; Zohrabi & Ehsani, 2014). In this context, CF developed learners’ spoken accuracy, which was in line with the findings by Chehr Azad et al. (2017), Chu (2011), and Tesnim (2019).

Statistics of this study strongly support Schmidt’s (2001) hypothesis that CF in general and negative feedback in particular assists learners to notice the difference between inter-language forms and target language forms, which in turn results in facilitating their second language acquisition process. However, Schmidt (2001, p.13) also stated that “noticing itself does not result in acquisition” and “learners have to consciously pay attention to or notice input in order for input to become intake for L2 learning”. This confirmed that providing CF, a crucial method for drawing learners’ attention to their errors, encourages learners to become aware of theirs, thus fostering inter-language development.

Notwithstanding, that how effective it is depends on the learners’ levels of consciousness.

In the two experimental groups, the rate of grammatical, lexical, and phonological accuracy of the experimental group provided with explicit CF was higher than that of the experimental group provided with implicit CF. However, such distinctions were not demonstrably clear enough to be statistically significant, particularly for measuring phonological development. This result supported Kim and Mathes’ study (2001), which indicated few significant differences between the scores of the groups receiving explicit and implicit CF. The study also shares the similar findings with those of Rahimpour et al. (2012)

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who aimed to identify the impacts of intensive and extensive focus on form strategies on EFL learners’ oral accuracy. Rahimpour et al. (2012) demonstrated that the performance of the two groups in the oral narrative task was nearly the same. The findings are, in particular, similar to those in the study by Chehr Azad et al. (2017) which showed insignificant variance in the number of errorfree oral utterances by the participants provided with different CFs.

5. Conclusion Overall, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of CF on oral English accuracy, and based on the findings, important conclusions could be drawn.

Firstly, CF has a significant effect on improving oral English accuracy regarding grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation as indicated by the higher scores of the two experimental groups compared with those of the control group. Most of the students in the experimental groups demonstrated their enhancement in oral accuracy by committing fewer errors and successfully reformulating the correct target language. In other words, both immediate implicit CF and delayed explicit CF proved to have a positive impact on the reinforcement of the participants’ oral accuracy. This was indicated by the decrease in the rate of errors in their later utterances after receiving teacher’s CF during the class activities in the course.

Secondly, the explicit CF, including explicit correction and metalinguistic feedback, influences English oral accuracy more positively than implicit CF. Provided with explicit CF at the end of their utterance, learners find it easier to be aware of their errors, transforming the input to becoming intake for L2 learning than being provided with immediate implicit CF. Explicit CF therefore proves to have a significant effect on the L2 acquisition process. However, it should be noted that although CF significantly influences oral accuracy, the efficacy of the two types of CF is not significant. Even more interestingly, when examining the scores relating to different aspects of oral accuracy of each participant in the two experimental groups, it was revealed that both types of CF seem to be more effective for learners with lower mean scores as they can be made aware of their errors and improve their accuracy. Learners with higher mean scores seem to focus more on improving their oral fluency and complexity than their oral accuracy.

The current study, however, has several limitations. One of them is related to the duration of the research. This experimental research was conducted in only eight weeks, which was assumed to be not long enough to measure CF efficiency for long-term language acquisition. Another limitation concerns the time when the post-test was conducted. Specifically, in this study, the participants were required to take the immediate post-test after the course whereas the delayed post-test was not carried out, the results, to some extent, are less likely to reflect the prolonged effect of CFs. Moreover, the participants in this study were at a low intermediate level, thus the findings cannot be generalised to students at different levels of proficiency. The last limitation concerns the scope of the study. This study only measured the effects of CF on learners’ oral accuracy whereas fluency and complexity – the two remaining aspects of speaking skills

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were not evaluated. Consequently, further research should be carried over a longer period, focusing on all aspects of speaking with a population at different levels of English proficiency in order to address these limitations.

6. References Ammar, A., & Spada, N. (2006). One size fits all? Recasts, prompts and L2 learning.

Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 28, 543-574. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232021519_One_size_fits_all_Recast s_prompts_and_L2_learning Asari, Y. (2017). Salience-enhanced recasts and their effects on learners’ production of uptake and modified output. Journal of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics, 21, 65–84. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1155915.pdf Baleghizadeh, S., & Dadashi, M. (2011). The effect of direct and indirect corrective feedback on students’ spelling errors. Profile Issues in Teachers` Professional Development, 13(1), 129-137. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262444891_The_Effect_of_Direct_a nd_Indirect_Corrective_Feed back_on_Students%27_Spelling_Error.

Brown, D. (2014). The type and linguistic foci of oral corrective feedback in the L2 classroom: A meta-analysis. Language Teaching Research 20(4), 436-458. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168814563200 Brown, D. (2016). The type and linguistic foci of oral corrective feedback in the L2 classroom: Ameta-analysis. Language Teaching Research, 20(4), 436–458.

Chehr Azad, M. H., Farrokhi, F., & Zohrabi, M. (2017). The effects of the corrective feedback on Iranian EFL learners’ speaking accuracy and breakdown fluency.

Journal of Language Horzons, Alzabra University 1(2), 107-129. https://lghor.alzahra.ac.ir/article_3188_b82001717d99bb0da672cfceb85629ca.pd f Chu, R. (2011). Effects of teacher’s corrective feedback on accuracy in the oral English of English major college students. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 1(5), 454459.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 10, pp. 331-349, October 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.10.18 Received June 29, 2021; Revised Oct 15, 2021; Accepted Oct 29, 2021

Teacher Training Needs and their Influencing Factors: A Case Study of 13 Chinese Border School Teachers Qian Fu, Jiali Yao* and Qinyi Tan Southwest University, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5592-6693 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3903-0763 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2291-4554 Runjin Gui Guangxi University for Nationalities, Guangxi, People’s Republic of China https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9806-6291 Abstract. Teacher training is not only the way to improve the quality of teachers in China's border areas, but also one of the collaborative paths to promote the high-quality development of regional education. Teacher training needs to provide a practical reference for specific service teacher training. Through conducting semi-structured, in-depth interviews, and using the grounded-theory three-level coding method for discourse analysis, this study explores teacher training needs and their influencing factors and how such factors influenced teacher learning and the development of teaching communities in border areas, in China. In the coding process, the researchers used MAXQDA (20.4.0) for auxiliary analysis. This work has constructed a model of teacher training needs and its influencing factors. Teacher training needs in border areas include training format, training content, training intensity, training opportunities, and training practicality. The factors include subjective factors, organizational development, institutional environmental factors, and field culture factors. According to the results of the model analysis, we put forward these optimization strategies: provide special mental health courses and counseling services for border teachers; carry out school-based training to form teachers' learning community; plan special training and create an international influence of border education, which would enhance teachers’ sense of professional honor and improve the perception threshold of achievement.

*

Corresponding author: Jiali Yao, 419623499@qq.com

©Authors This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

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Keywords: influencing factors; teacher training needs; field culture factors; ethnic minority

1. Introduction and Literature Review The key to revitalizing education in border areas, in China, lies in teachers who take on the responsibility of improving the quality and creating a good image of national education. Teacher training is an effective way to promote the professional development of teachers and enhance teachers' professional qualities. The "14th Five-Year Plan" formulated by the Chinese government (2020) puts the construction of the teaching team as a link to a high-quality education system. It proposes to "build a high-quality professional teaching team" (National Development and Reform Commission, 2020). The "Teacher Education Action Plan (2018-2022)" proposed that all localities should earnestly strengthen the task of teacher training in remote and poverty-stricken areas (Ministry of Education, National Development and Reform Commission, et al., 2018). The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 2030 advocate "taking into account the needs of poor and marginalized groups" (United Nations, 2020). However, there is still significant gaps in funding, training teachers, and training quality in border and non-border areas (Zhong & Jiang, 2017). The professionalism of teachers in remote areas is out of line with the national average (Li, 2020). In this practical problem and policy orientation, it is necessary to investigate and analyze the demand for teacher training and its influencing factors in border areas.

Teacher training needs analysis is an activity to determine whether training is needed and what training is needed before planning and designing it (Zhao et al., 2010). At present, the research on teacher training needs analysis shows three trends: one is the top-down model construction of teacher needs analysis. Shen et al. (2016) constructed a "behavior-oriented teacher training demand analysis advanced model" based on the OTP model (Organization-Task-Person) * and performance analysis model. The OTP model and the performance analysis model were initially applied in industrial and commercial training, and so that the adaptability of teacher training would be further strengthened and improved. For example, the performance analysis model presupposes a priori that the cause of the performance gap is either a lack of personal knowledge and skills, or the work environment within the organization. This dichotomous factor is a fixed point of view, and the teacher is a human being. The initiative and unfinished nature of development violates harmony (Wang & Guo, 2016).

The second trend is the analysis and research based on teachers' professional standards. Researchers have conducted an analysis of teacher training needs based on the "Professional Standards for Teachers" issued by the Ministry of Education of China (Feng, 2015; Zhang, 2017), and formulated the dimensions of teacher training needs. The analysis of teacher training needs, based on * The OTP (Organization-Task-Person) model is proposed by McGehee and Thayer in "Training in Business and Industry" in 1961, and is constructed by a three-part system of organization analysis, task analysis and personnel analysis. This model is widely used in the field of teacher training in China. For further reading see McGehee, W. & Thayer, P.W. (1961). Training in Business and Industry. Wiley.

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professional standards, has authority and promotion value. Still, the homogeneity is serious, and it is challenging to take care of the different needs created by the various working environments of teachers. The research subjects were mainly teachers in non-border areas, of which there is a lack of inquiry into the training needs of teachers in border areas.

The third trend is that the research paradigm is mostly quantitative research, which lacks qualitative research. The starting point and goal of teacher training is to meet the characteristics of adult learning and the needs of teacher professional development (Zhao& Liang, 2010). Therefore, most research focuses on empirical quantitative research: the quantitative statistical analysis method of empirical investigation to focus on the quantitative characteristics, relationships, and changes of factors affecting teacher training needs (Xiao, 2020; Song, 2020; Wang & Hu, 2021). However, the limitation of quantitative research is that it pays too much attention to the information conveyed by “digital data”, and it is challenging to micro-interpret the essence of teachers as “people.” Taking the viewpoints of this research as an example, in a specific field, a teacher's "professional life quality" is related to the happiness of teachers' lives and the realization of personal values. Therefore, the starting point of teacher training is not only to focus on teachers' professional development, professional quality, and other elements, but also to give more humanistic care to teachers' "professional life quality" and teachers' mental health.

In summary, the current research results on the analysis of teacher training needs are relatively abundant, and the research methods, research objects, and research perspectives provide a lot of material and insight to this article. However, there are still some deficiencies: (1) a lack of research on the analysis of teacher training needs in border areas; (2) a lack of qualitative research paradigms, resulting in insufficient grasp of the richness and initiative of teachers’ human development; and (3) the lack of experience in bottom-up research on theoretical construction of data leads to poor applicability of the research results and limited guidance for training planning and training evaluation.

This research utilizes front-line teachers and administrators in the border areas of Guangxi as the research informants, collects empirical data through in-depth interviews, and is guided by grounded theoretical methods. The researchers suspended theory in the process of analyzing data. Through the bottom-up approach, the demand for teacher training in border areas and its influencing factors are analyzed.

Specifically, this research focuses on the following issues: (1) What are the actual training needs of teachers in border areas? (2) What are the factors that affect the demand for teacher training? (3) How do these factors affect the demand for teacher training? Finally, (4) what is the link between these factors？

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2. Methodology and Research Procedure 2.1. Grounded Theory Study This study has used the "grounded theory" proposed by Glaser and Strauss (1967), which is one of the essential research paths in the qualitative paradigm. Its focus is not to test hypotheses, but to discover, explore, and construct ideas by analyzing data. Its research purpose is to generate views based on empirical data in the research process, to collect systematically and analyze data for phenomena, and to discover, develop and test hypotheses from the data. The research results are the theorized presentation of reality.

Using grounded theory methods allows an investigation into the need for teacher training in border areas and its influencing factors can acknowledge the main demands and practical needs of teachers and avoid the shackles of theoryoriented research.

Coding analysis is the most critical part of research using grounded theory. By encoding the data, researchers can interpret the information level by level, conceptualize the original data, and then classify the concept group according to the attributes, in order to construct the theory level by level. The coding process is divided into three steps, namely open coding, axial coding, and selective coding (Kuckartz, 2014).

According to the general procedure of the grounded theory (Figure 1), the thesis needs to be tested for saturation after the coding is completed. Through repeated comparisons of coding results and circular theoretical saturation tests, a model of teacher training needs and their influencing factors is finally constructed.

Figure 1: Grounded theory research process (Morrison, 1998)

2.2. Participants and Data Collection Tools This study selected X County of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region as the field point, and semi-structured interviews were used during the fieldwork. The interviewees were 13 frontline teachers from four different types of schools in X County (X County Senior High School; X County Minority Middle School; X County S Township Central Primary School; X County Minority Middle School), consisting of six males and seven females. After obtaining their consent, each interview was recorded, and detailed interview notes were made.

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The researchers conducted interviews according to the following interview outline: Table 1. Interview outline Question category Relevant questions (General issues related to personal professional development) Core questions (6~12 questions directly related to teacher training) Extended questions within the interview outline (Specific questions based on certain information of the core question) Extended questions outside the interview outlines (New questions based on the content of the teacher’s answers)

Purpose

Examples

➢ ➢

Enter the interview scene.

Teachers talk about personal professional experience.

Have you been working in the border area?

➢

The teacher answers the core questions.

Teachers talk about the topic and express their opinions.

Ask all the interviewed teachers’ core questions.

What type of training have you attended?

What impact will these trainings have on your teaching and professional development?

Answer certain aspects of the core question.

Get more details about the problem.

Ask questions according to the teacher's answers.

It sounds like you are very familiar with the local teacher training. Can you tell us in detail about the training specifically for the mental health of border teachers?

Respond to some aspects of the teacher’s answer.

Get more details about the answer.

Ask questions based on the teacher’s answers.

You mentioned that teachers in border areas have not received the spiritual support. Can you talk about it in detail?

➢

➢ ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢

To test the theoretical saturation of the category and achieve the need for accurate model construction, the researchers randomly selected three teachers and two administrators at the field site; after the initial interview, a second semi-structured interview via telephone was conducted. After that, two teacher interview records and one administrator interview record were randomly selected for coding analysis. The other two interview records are retained as final theoretical saturation test materials. In the process of qualitative analysis of the three interview records, it was compared, refined, and revised with the coding genera group until no new concepts entered the genera group, and to reach theoretical saturation.

2.3. Three-Level Coding Process The researchers manually translated the recordings into Microsoft Word files within 48 hours after obtaining the materials. They checked them more than three times in combination with the text materials recorded during the interview. Before coding, the researchers listened to the recording three times and reviewed the transferred text repeatedly to ensure the accuracy and authenticity of the original data. The coding process was analyzed with the help of MAXQDA (20.4.0) qualitative analysis software.

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Figure 2: MAXQDA (20.4.0) Qualitative analysis software operation page

2.3.1. Open Coding Open coding is the initial stage of processing raw data. Researchers carefully read the primary data line by line; use keywords, phrases, or short sentences to conceptualize the original sentences (Table 1), and then classify those concepts from a generic category. In the open coding stage, a description of a phenomenon, the original vocabulary, and phrases can be directly transferred from the data for conceptual illustration. For example, when analyzing the sentence "Anyway, our work must be done as much as possible, relying on our sense of responsibility", the initial concept is defined as "responsibility". Concepts with similar attributes to "responsibility" (such as "love" and "dedication") is uniformly coded as "professional ethics". To classify those points more objectively, the two researchers who participated in the previous interviews independently carried out initial conceptualization, denoted by “a”. After the two researchers repeatedly checked and modified the initial concept to reach an agreement, the attributes and dimensions of the concept were further determined. The concepts belonging to similar phenomena were combined into the abstract category to which they belonged. In the open coding stage, 65 initial concepts (after deleted the same concepts), forming 23 types (Table 2), denoted by “a”, were extracted.

Table 2. Examples of initial concept extraction Original Sentence T12 (L19): But now I have not attended the top class for six years, but I have also made great achievements in these six years. When my students came in, the average score was very low, but through the past few years, they are making progress.

Initial Concept a3: Realization of personal value

T10 (L22): Expert guidance. I think expert guidance is more effective, and it is best to have an expert over to guide us on the actual situation.

a40: On-site guidance by experts

T1 (L12): We have participated in various studies in the county, and all of them.

a50: A wide variety

T11 (L16): Yes, it seems to be once last year.

a53: 1-2 times a year

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Table 3. The generalization of open coding Initial Concept

Genericization

a1 Loss of the spiritual world; a2 Fragmented teaching life; a3 Realization of personal values; a4 Contradiction between ideals and reality. a5 Professional ability; a6 Professional knowledge; a7 Self-improvement behaviour; a8 Professional development attitude; a9 Professional ethics; a10 Professional vitality; a11 Professional ideals and beliefs; a12 Professional emotions. a13 Teacher composition; a14 Title management; a15 Performance evaluation. a16 Allocation of allowances and benefits; a17 Low basic salary; a18 Imbalance of returns; a19 Large wage gap. ...... a61 Impractical; a62 Out of practice; a63 Weak operability. a64 Subjective feeling; a65 Method reference.

Points

A1: Quality of teachers' professional life

48

A2: Teachers' professional development

44

A3: Teachers' professional cognition

31

A4: The system of teachers' management

16

A5: The system of teachers' material guarantee

19

......

A22: Practical results

7

A23: Teacher experience

10

Genera generally have sub-categories and dimensions. Not all categories have the same weight. Therefore, the researchers needed to analyze the 23 types in the open coding stage (Table 3) to determine the dimensions of their categories so that they could focus on subsequent analysis.

Table 4. An Example of the analysis of the generic dimension of the open coding stage

Genus

Sub-genre

Dimension

Spiritual world Teaching life Personal value

Support-Ignore Rich-monotonous Realization-missing

Ideal and Reality

Consensus-contradiction

A2 Teachers' Professional

Professional Ability Professional knowledge Self-improvement behavior

Strong-weak Solid-weak Active-passive

Growth

Professional development attitude

Positive-negative

A3 Teachers'

Cognition, professional ethics Professional vitality Professional ideals and beliefs

High-low Strong-weak High ambitions-doing nothing

A1 Professional quality of life

professional

Professional mood interlaced

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The subcategory is related to the concept of the category, which makes the category clearer and more definite. The dimension is the extent of the change in the overall attributes of the category, which clearly explains the category and makes the theory changeable. Identifying and defining the dimensions and subcategories of the category is an essential analysis process in the open coding stage and determines the rationality and regularity of the formed category (Strauss & Corbin, 1998).

2.3.2. Axial Coding Axial coding is the further abstract of the classification of the category.

Specifically, it combines the connections established between open coding categories in a new way, generally based on coding paradigms such as conditions, contexts, strategies, and results (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). In the axial coding stage, eight main categories were finally obtained (Table 4).

Table 5. Axial coding Open Coding (generic) A1 Quality of professional life; A2 Teacher professional growth; A3 Teacher professional cognition.

A4 Teacher management system; A5 Material guarantee system; A6 Home-school communication; A7 Learning community; A8 Education and management concepts.

A9 Emphasizes business and despise education; A10 Home country sentiments.

A11 School-based training; A12 Project training; A13 Expert guidance.

A14 Subject teaching knowledge; A15 Education concept.

A16 Training funding input; A17 Training coverage; A18 Organization training frequency; A19 Auxiliary resource allocation.

A20 Rural small-scale schools are in short supply of training opportunities; A21 Disciplinary training places are limited.

A22 Practical effectiveness; A23 Teacher experience.

Main Category Main factor

Organizational development and institutional environmental factors Field cultural factors Training form Training content

Training intensity

Training opportunities Training practicality

2.3.3. Selective Coding Selective coding is a process of identifying the core genus, systematically linking all other categories with the core category, verifying these connections, and supplementing those that need further development and revision. The researchers recombined the eight main categories. Finally, the training form, training content, training intensity, training opportunities, and training practicality were classified as the core category of "teacher training needs". The subjective factors, organizational development, and institutional environment factors, and field

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cultural factors were identified as the core category of "factors affecting teacher training needs".

2.4. Accuracy and Preciseness of the Study The criteria for evaluating qualitative research include research credibility, dependability, conformability, and transferability (Creswell & Guetterman, 2019).

During the research process, the researchers participated in the field survey and data analysis process. The interview content of some early participants was used to check the theoretical saturation of the initial code to improve the credibility of the data. The reliability of the data has been ensured through in-depth and longterm discussions and discussions among the researchers through peer evaluation.

To improve data consistency, the selection of research objects maximized the difference as much as possible. Two experts in the field of teacher education research repeatedly evaluated the analysis results to confirm the consistency of the data analysis. In addition, to improve the generalizability of the data, the researchers provided sufficient data descriptions in the text so that other researchers could critically review the research result.

3. Results and Discussion Through the three-level coding process and theoretical saturation test, this research finally constructed a "teacher training demand and its influencing factors model" (Figure 3).

Figure 3: The model of teacher training needs and its influencing factors

Using the three-level coding method of grounded theory, the needs of teacher training in border areas have been summarized into five aspects: training form demand, training content demand, training intensity demand, training opportunity demand, and training practical request.

3.1. Teacher Training Needs in Border Areas

3.1.1. Training Format The needs for the form of training include the demands for expert guidance, school training, and project training. Among them, teachers generally have the

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most vital market for expert training. Expert guidance is divided into two ways: firstly, inviting experts to guide teachers and secondly, organizing teachers to participate in the "case-style" lectures presented by front-line education experts.

The purpose of "inviting experts" in one-to-one guidance is to solve the complicated problems that arise in the process of teachers' daily teaching and student management, in real-time, in a targeted manner. Teachers listen to "case type" lectures is to get inspiration from vivid and typical cases.

Corresponding to these two methods is the "dominant" addresses. A study shows that 86% of teachers are opposed to "dominant" lectures. This type of training in large-class "dominant lectures" tends to place too much emphasis on the overall unified education, ignoring individual education, practical needs, and psychological tolerance (Zhou, 2011).

The most crucial difference between "inviting experts" one-on-one guidance and "case-style" lectures and "teaching-style" lectures is the difference in the order of training subjects. The former is based on teachers as the mainstay and experts as the guidance. The latter is based on the "classroom deduction" with experts as the main body, constructing an ideal educational environment with a "utopian" language. However, it is still questionable what the real needs of teachers may be.

It is to solve the most basic and practical problems in work.

One-on-one guidance by "inviting experts" is more suitable training for teachers in border areas. It not only solves the problem of teaching practice in a targeted manner but also instantly solves the predicament that most teachers cannot go for training due to heavy teaching loads.

"Case-based" training is heuristic training. Experts vividly tell typical cases, arouse the resonance of participating teachers, and generate reflections based on their actual experiences.

3.1.2. Training Contents The training content requirements include the need for subject teaching knowledge and education concept knowledge. Teachers of different ages, educational backgrounds, and various teaching situations have different needs for training content. Compared with non-border areas, the unilateral mobility of teachers in border areas is greater (Ning & Shi, 2017), and the faculty of teachers are facing an aging structure (Zhong, 2017).

The survey also found that the age distribution of teachers in border areas showed a trend of polarization, and the design of education background was solidified.

Even if teachers have scientific-educational teaching knowledge, they still have the general problem of “unable to teach” and “can’t teach well”. The fundamental reason is that the border teachers’ local empirical knowledge and scientific teaching knowledge are not well connected. On the one hand, it is reflected in the conflict between the prescriptive pieces of the method and the teachers own local culture-cognitive elements in the process of practice, leading to the phenomenon of “can’t teach well”; on the other hand, it is reflected in the conflict between the universality of methods and the particularity of border students in their learning

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process (for example, early participation in family border trade activities leads to the alienation of ideas, “study is useless”, “business is more important than teaching” and “cross-border ethnic identity” problems emerge), which leads to the phenomenon of “poor teaching”.

The border cultural characteristics and experience of border teachers have become the support of “local capital” to launching teaching. Hence, the presence of teachers’ local empirical knowledge in the school field is essentially an integration of the two cultural spaces. Therefore, the formulation of training content should not be “totally copied” but should promote the deep connection between teachers’ local empirical knowledge and scientific, educational teaching knowledge to solve the dilemma of “unable to teach” and “can’t teach well” of border teachers.

Among them, scientific-academic knowledge provides theoretical guidance for teachers’ local practical knowledge, and teachers’ local empirical knowledge enriches the exploration space of scientific-academic teaching knowledge (Wang, 2019).

3.1.3. Training Intensity Training needs include increasing training funding, expanding training coverage, increasing the frequency of organizing training, and strengthening the allocation of extra resources. The "Teacher Education Revitalization Action Plan (2018-2022)" (Ministry of Education et al., 2018) document stipulates that kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, and secondary vocational schools shall arrange teacher training funds at 5% of the total annual public budget. In the interviews, many teachers said that the shortage of school funds has caused many teachers to be unable to reimburse the basic expenses for outside training. The school itself lacks enough financial strength to set up a special training fund. The shortage of funds has dramatically restricted the power of training. A series of training intensity problems, caused by insufficient funding of training, include limited training coverage in schools, a low frequency of participation in the activity, and incomplete allocation of additional resources (Fu, 2020).

The researchers considered that insufficient investment to explain all kinds of development difficulties in border areas has been involution. The border areas are used to the "extrapolation" development mode, caused by people's long-term poverty and backward economic development in the past. The thinking inertia of "waiting, relying on and asking" has been solidified in the concepts of school administrators and teachers in border areas.

Today, border areas are not necessarily poor areas. With the implementation of the Belt and Road (B&R) * , the interaction between China's border areas and neighboring countries has contributed to the growth of wealth and the accumulation of international social capital. According to the experience of endogenous growth theory (Krueger & Lindahl, 2001), it is necessary to change * The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road are referred to as the One Belt One Road (standard English abbreviation B&R), which is a transnational economic belt initiated and led by the government of the People’s Republic of China in 2013, which is of great significance to the development of China’s border areas.

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the thinking inertia of the development of border areas. The government should plan and promote the cooperation between education and business, and obtain social capital to participate in the development of border education. The government and schools improve teachers' quality to transform social capital in border areas into teacher human capital and augment the economic development of border areas with a high-quality education.

3.1.4. Training Opportunities Teachers’ need for training opportunities is reflected in the need for opportunities for teacher training in small-scale rural schools and the opportunities for substitute teachers to participate in the activity.

The scattered living characteristics of ethnic minorities provide geographical conditions for the widespread distribution of small-scale schools. Teachers in small-scale rural schools generally have the characteristics of "complex and diverse types, separate much training structures, and local and low-level sources" (Liu et al., 2017, pp. 106-115). They are in the "nervous ending" position in the overall teacher team construction system and belong to the marginal group of teacher professional development.

In an interview, a teacher who once taught in a small rural school said: "I used to finish the primary school in the rural area. I came here because the school was withdrawn. The teachers there have almost no training".

Other teachers also said that small-scale schools are usually substitute teachers.

Generally, schools have only one or two teaching staff. Once teachers go out for training, the school faces the suspension of classes. Therefore, teachers have very few opportunities and conditions to participate in training.

Previous studies have shown that increasing training opportunities for rural teachers has important practical significance for narrowing the gap between urban and rural students' achievement (Sun & Du, 2021). In allocating training opportunities in urban and rural areas, the department of education should favor small-scale school teachers, who seldom participate in training and take measures such as “post replacement” and “targeted assistance” to solve teacher absences when teachers go out for training.

3.1.5. Training Practicality The practicality of training is reflected in the practical effectiveness of training and teacher experience. The activity is separated from teachers' evaluation and can only be transformed into a formal teaching performance. Teachers in border areas may feel very contrary to the training experience and practical experience. One participant said: "I feel that their methods are great, but they don't apply here".

Among the interviewees, more than 70% of the teachers said that “the training effect is good”, “feels helpful”, and they “can learn from their methods”. At the same time, more than half of the teachers believe that the training content is out of touch with practice, and there are too many educational methods.

Maneuverability is weak. The contradiction between theory and practice significantly reduces teachers' expectations and effectiveness of training.

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Experiential training emphasizes that teachers should combine practice and knowledge in the training process (Wu, 2008).

3.2. Influencing Factors of Teacher Training Needs 3.2.1. Subjective Factors The main factors include the quality of a teachers’ professional life, teachers’ professional growth, and teachers’ professional cognition, which mainly affect the needs of teachers' training form and training content.

The quality of the professional life of teachers in border areas is low, which is mainly reflected in the loss of teachers' spiritual world, fragmented teaching life, the realization of personal values, and the contradiction between ideals and reality.

The teaching profession is a complex and sacred profession with multiple role groups. Teachers subconsciously set higher professional development goals for themselves. However, there is a gap between the high standard self-expectation and the reality (Zhong & Jiang, 2020), which makes teachers' self-development experience dilemmas such as mental weakness and the decline of achievement perception threshold with the growth of teaching years.

The endogenous development motivation of teachers needs to be continuously driven by the external environment and the approval of third parties. The form of expert guidance can significantly stimulate teachers’ sense of accomplishment in teaching. The state of school-based training can build a teacher’s learning community, encourage teachers to link teaching achievements with the realization of personal values, and improve teachers’ professional vitality.

Promoting the professional growth of teachers is the gist of teacher training. In recent years, teacher training has gradually transitioned to teacher learning (Chen & Liu 2016), developing from passive acceptance, to active learning. This study shows that teachers in border areas still need to be trained "passively" because they have weak professional knowledge and intense awareness of selfimprovement but they lack ability. For example, teachers have a negative attitude towards participating in scientific research, indicating that "we don't understand scientific research" and "have no one to guide us".

Professional cognition includes the professional ethics, cognition of professional ideals and beliefs, and professional emotional experience of teachers in border areas. The decreased teachers' professional awareness will cause professional alienation. Occupational burnout is a common emotion that appears with the increase of teachers' years of employment. Occupational alienation and job burnout affect teachers' development motivation. By analyzing the interview content of 13 teachers, it is found that young teachers have serious job burnout.

Some teachers want to take the civil service examination as soon as they are employed. It may be that becoming a teacher is just a transitional choice when facing the pressure of graduation and job hunting. The problems of teacher burnout, lack of motivation for development, and a lack of career planning originate from teachers' professional cognitive dilemmas. To strengthen the

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professional cognition of in-service teachers, it is necessary to add professional goals, professional development positioning, professional careers, and mental health courses in teacher training.

3.2.2. Organizational Development and Institutional Environmental Factors The prerequisite for the survival and development of any organization must be an adaption to the external environment. The institutional environment is the primary and decisive factor for the development of any school organization (Chen & Huang, 2018); the relationship between the two factors constitutes the elements of organizational development and the institutional environment that affect the training needs of the teachers.

The results of this study show that, firstly, the teacher learning community, homeschool relationship, and school management concepts constitute the essential elements of the organizational development of border schools, which affect the strength of the organization and the implementation of training. An essential basis for forming a teacher learning community in schools is implementing “teacheroriented” school-based training. The presentation of school-based training is a specific practice that the school is in a central position to offer and the driving force is to promote the professional development of its teachers. At present, schools in border areas have solid external dependence on promoting teacher development, while the interactive learning space between teachers in schools and the communication space between teachers and parents outside schools have not been well exploited and utilized. Therefore, the implementation process of school-based training in border schools presents a recurring situation of “positive beginning, weak midfield, and declining end”, resulting in teachers who can only rely on external training for development. This kind of external training dramatically reduces the training intensity.

Secondly, the teacher management system and the material security system constitute the external institutional environment for the development of the school organization, which affects the tendency of training opportunity distribution and training coverage.

It is mainly reflected in two aspects. On the one hand, the distribution of training opportunities is unbalanced, which cannot cover the elderly teachers in rural schools (referring to teachers aged about 55). This is different to the general understanding that the older the teachers are, the more valuable they are. In rural schools in border areas, the vocational competitiveness of the elderly teachers is in a weak position compared with the young teachers. The benefits obtained by older teachers participating in the training are lower than younger teachers.

Therefore, schools tend to be more inclined to young teachers when allocating training opportunities based on the principle of maximizing benefits.

On the other hand, the training coverage rate refers to the coverage in the sense of physical space. Schools with more abundant financial resources can often provide financial support and logistical support for teachers to go out for training.

According to research, schools in border areas have not yet been able to guarantee

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the input of “5% of annual training funds” (Ministry of Education et al., 2018) required by the state. There are still difficulties in material security.

3.2.3. Field Culture Factors The field culture of a border area is based on the unique social temperament formed by the natural border environment, national cultural history, and development history. The key to the impact of cultural factors on the practicability of training in border areas is that teachers are in an atmosphere that emphasizes business and derides education.

Cross-border trade is developed in the border areas, and many families are engaged in the trade industry, and the economic benefits are considerable. Since the 21st century, they have experienced a rapid expansion of wealth from poverty to wealth. The enormous financial gains have impacted people’s psychological perceptions. Local people have gradually transformed their perceptions from “education changes destiny” to “education is useless”. This kind of cognition breaks the main idea of the past that relied on education to get rid of poverty.

The frontier groups do not need to change their lives through education (Wang & Ye, 2020). The concept of “emphasizing business over education” is typical in border areas. Teachers believe that the current teaching environment is not as good as before.

One teacher said: “Parents think it makes no difference whether children go to school or not”.

A senior middle school teacher felt very embarrassed: “Many plans cannot be realized with such a source of students and such a working environment”.

The facts show that many pieces of training tend to inspire teachers more than to teach practical knowledge. The field culture of “valuing business and devaluing education” has created an increasingly harsh working environment for teachers, which dramatically compromises the practicality of training.

4. Strategies for Teacher Training Reform Based on the "Teacher Training Demand and Its Influencing Factor Model" constructed in the previous section, this study proposes three optimization strategies for teacher training problems in border areas: Firstly, more attention should be paid to the quality of life of teachers in border areas. Teachers provide specialized mental health-related courses and consulting services. The mental health of teachers directly affects the success or failure of teachers’ work and indirectly affects the level of students’ mental health. More importantly, it weakens the life value of teachers as people, not just educators and employees (Wu, 2020). Therefore, the goal and content positioning of the teachers’ mental health curriculum is to enable teachers to have an optimistic work attitude, a relaxed and happy teaching experience, be open-minded and have open emotions, and perseverance. At the same time, it provides, but is not limited to,

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an interactive psychological consulting platform and online psychological consulting channels for teachers.

Secondly, school-based training should be developed, and a teacher learning community should be constructed. Regarding the school as the basic organizational unit and the county as the organization group, they should pay attention to the on-demand training of teachers’ teaching needs and promote teachers “teaching skills”; introduce regular visits of experts into the school for on-site guidance to solve the real-time difficulties of teachers; strengthen the participation of teachers in scientific research in border areas; encourage teachers to participate in scientific research activities and hire experts for guidance.

Thirdly, exceptional training programs can be planned to create the international influence of border education and strengthen teachers' professional honor and achievement threshold. There should be a focus on the direct emotional bond between the brand’s nationality and ethnicity and teachers.

5. Conclusions & Limitations The findings in the research can be summarized as follows: • The demand for teacher training, and its influencing factors, show a five needs and three-factor structure.

• Among the three factors that affect the demand for teacher training, the main factor is the most critical and direct factor that affects the need for teacher training; organizational development and institutional environmental factors are used as intermediary factors for training institutions to affect the demand for teacher training. Also, the impact of teacher training needs is relatively small, which is an indirect factor.

• The training needs cannot be determined by any one of the three factors alone, but are often the result of the interaction of the three factors, and they form a triangular interactive relationship.

Despite the strengths of this research, it still has certain limitations. Firstly, the researchers found in the interviews that some teachers could not respond clearly on teachers’ professional development. The reason is probably that those teachers’ impression of the concept of “professional development” was vague, and the researchers converted “professional development” into “teacher” on the spot.

Questions such as "knowledge and teacher's ability" are defined as "(unanswered)" after repeated consideration during the recording translation stage. Therefore, the relationship between teachers' professional cognition and influencing factors is somewhat blurred. Future research can pre-work related concepts for teachers so that the teachers can understand professional concepts in advance.

Secondly, this research is about the analysis of teachers' training needs in border areas, and most of the border areas in China are inhabited by ethnic minorities; the influence of ethnic, cultural values is not taken into account in the research design.

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Qualitative analysis has a certain degree of subjectivity, and this subjectivity comes from the subjectivity of researchers' transcendental values and empirical data. Future research can do a quantitative study based on "the model of teacher training needs and its influencing factors in border areas" to test the conclusions of this research and reduce the subjective influence of researchers.

At the same time, through quantitative analysis, the weight of the five training needs in the model and the power of the three influencing factors can be judged.

Funding This study is part of the key project "A Study on the Cultural Confidence Crisis of Ethnic Minorities in the Southwest Frontier and Educational Responses (SWU1809001)” funded

by Southwest University.

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Appendix 1. Interview Protocol 1. Have you been working in the border area?

2. Why did you choose to be a teacher in a school in the border area?

3. Do you take the initiative to learn after work? What is the main learning content?

4. What type of training have you attended?

5. What impact will this training have on your teaching and professional development?

6. Where does the training funding support come from?

7. In terms of teacher professional development, what support do you think teachers need?

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