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

International Journal of Learning, Teaching And Educational Research

Vol.20 No.3

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research (IJLTER) Vol. 20, No. 3 (March 2021) Print version: 1694-2493 Online version: 1694-2116

IJLTER International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research (IJLTER) Vol. 20, No. 3

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

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

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Foreword We are very happy to publish this issue of the International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research. The International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research is a peer-reviewed open-access journal committed to publishing high-quality articles in the field of education. Submissions may include full-length articles, case studies and innovative solutions to problems faced by students, educators and directors of educational organisations. To learn more about this journal, please visit the website http://www.ijlter.org. We are grateful to the editor-in-chief, members of the Editorial Board and the reviewers for accepting only high quality articles in this issue. We seize this opportunity to thank them for their great collaboration. The Editorial Board is composed of renowned people from across the world. Each paper is reviewed by at least two blind reviewers. We will endeavour to ensure the reputation and quality of this journal with this issue.

Editors of the March 2021 Issue

VOLUME 20

NUMBER 3

March 2021

Table of Contents Effective Social Studies Pedagogy: Effect of Simulation Games and Brainstorming Strategies on Students Learning Outcome .................................................................................................................................................................. 1 Sunday Obro, Clifford Edore Ogheneakoke, Williams P. Akpochafo Innovative Teaching: A Qualitative Review of Flipped Classrooms ............................................................................. 18 Kevin Fuchs Elementary Teachers’ Thoughts about Distance Education and Learning 21st-Century Skills during COVID Pandemic................................................................................................................................................................................ 33 Amani K H. Alghamdi, Naimah Ahmad Al-Ghamdi English as Foreign Language Teaching in High Schools: A Chilean Case Study ......................................................... 51 Andrew Philominraj, Ranjeeva Ranjan, Rodrigo Arrellano Saavedra, Claudio Andrés Cerón Urzúa The Practicum in Times of Covid-19: Knowledge Developed by Future Physical Education Teachers in Virtual Modality ................................................................................................................................................................................. 68 Alejandro Almonacid-Fierro, Ricardo Souza de Carvalho, Franklin Castillo-Retamal, Manuel Almonacid Fierro Challenges to Online Engineering Education during the Covid-19 Pandemic in Eastern Visayas, Philippines...... 84 Perante Wenceslao, Gomba Felisa Success Indicators of Mathematical Problem-Solving Performance Among Malaysian Matriculation Students .... 97 Suriati Abu Bakar, Nur Raidah Salim, Ahmad Fauzi Mohd Ayub, Kathiresan Gopal What do Malaysian ESL Teachers Think About Flipped Classroom? ......................................................................... 117 Ngo Hui Kiang, Melor Md Yunus Initial Teacher Education of Primary English and CLIL Teachers: An Analysis of the Training Curricula in the Universities of the Madrid Autonomous Community (Spain) ..................................................................................... 132 Alfonso López-Hernández The Attitudes of Pupils towards using Flipgrid in Learning English Speaking Skills .............................................. 151 Joan Lim Ker Shin, Melor Md Yunus Effect of Accounting Lecturer Behavior on the Level of Online Learning Outcomes Achievement ....................... 169 Alwan Sri Kustono, Wahyu Agus Winarno, Ardhya Yudistira Adi Nanggala Challenges of Virtual Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Experiences of Mexican University Professors and Students ........................................................................................................................................................................ 188 Claudia Patricia Contreras, David Picazo, Aixchel Cordero-Hidalgo, Paola Margarita Chaparro-Medina Advancing Preservice Physics Teachers’ Critical Thinking through Active and Passive Microteaching Lesson Study..................................................................................................................................................................................... 205 Billy A. Danday

Ecuadorian Teachers’ Perceptions of Teaching English: Challenges in the Public Education Sector ...................... 229 Agnes Orosz, Mirdelio Monzón, Paola Velasco Constructivist Learning Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: Investigating Students’ Perceptions of Biology SelfLearning Modules ............................................................................................................................................................... 250 Aaron A. Funa, Frederick T. Talaue The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Challenges of E-Assessment of Calculus Courses in Higher Education: A Case Study in Saudi Arabia ........................................................................................................................................................ 265 Fatima Azmi, Heba Bakr Khoshaim The Effects of Physical, Emotional, and Cognitive Demands on Academic Leaders’ Performance in Malaysian Research Universities ......................................................................................................................................................... 282 Mayadah Graizi, Kenny S. L. Cheah, Kazi Enamul Hoque

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 1-17, March 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.3.1

Effective Social Studies Pedagogy: Effect of Simulation Games and Brainstorming Strategies on Students’ Learning Outcome Sunday Obro, Clifford Edore Ogheneakoke and Williams P. Akpochafo Delta State University, Nigeria https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7675-9166 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8545-6274 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8632-3323

Abstract. This study explored the effects of game simulation and brainstorming pedagogy strategies on students’ learning outcomes. In addition, the study compared the effects of three strategies on students’ learning outcomes. This study tested pedagogical strategies for effects on learning outcomes. The quasi-experimental research involved 180 students. The results reliably indicate that a simulation-game pedagogical strategy boosted students’ learning outcomes, while a brainstorming pedagogical strategy was effective on students’ learning outcomes. When equated with brainstorming and the lecture strategies in enhancing students’ learning outcomes, the superiority of the simulation-game pedagogical strategy was also observed. These findings indicate that innovative and student-centred pedagogical strategies such as simulation-game and brainstorming strategies improve students’ learning outcomes. In-service teachers should be appropriately trained through seminars and conferences on modern pedagogical strategies such as brainstorming and simulation games for better Social Studies pedagogical strategies. Keywords: brainstorming; pedagogy; Social Studies; simulation game; students’ learning outcomes

1. Introduction In the face of challenging experiences of the present time, one needs to advance and create diverse and innovative solutions for what seems like a problematic life task. In Nigeria, Social Studies is a mandatory discipline at the Basic Education level. Irrespective of the ethnic, racial and cultural differences, Social Studies is seen as a tool for building and creating a robust Nigerian nation. With recent modifications or changes in the Upper Basic Social Studies curriculum, what still dominates Social Studies classrooms is the lecture strategy with no quality or lasting learning outcomes (Essien et al., 2015). Teachers generally rely

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on the lecture strategy for imparting Social Studies knowledge and skills. This lack of an inventive, creative teaching strategy and critical progression in Social Studies lessons and classrooms can be linked to teachers’ disinclination to learn and use novel and creative teaching strategies. Also, the dictate of high-stakes experimentation and execution involves students’ churning out factoids to grasp the content. Thus, there is a lack of real motivation for teachers or students to learn more than a particular fact. Any challenging of the subject matter is regarded as unnecessary and unimportant. According to Wood (2011), the typical Social Studies classroom inhibits critical and creative thinking and strengthens the idea that facts and information are unchangeable and not free for criticism or interpretation. Students stuck in this type of Social Studies classroom or environment quickly discover that they are bored and helpless, having been taught from the standpoint that Social Studies is an assemblage of useless inconsequential knowledge. Simulation games challenge students’ understanding to comprehend difficult tasks by means other than the traditional lecture strategy. In other words, they have the potential for helping students achieve more than the conventional teaching method (Nja et al., 2019). On the other hand, a brainstorming strategy enhances the productivity of ideas and explores solutions. It helps learners to discover better solutions or answers to problems (Malkawi & Smadi, 2018). In the expository strategy, learners are passive and collect information that can be reclaimed when the teacher requires it from them (Tarman & Kuran, 2015). However, evidence has shown that knowledge gained through an active discussion strategy is generally retained better than knowledge gained through a lecture strategy. Furthermore, according to Jack and Kyado (2017), students more often favour active participation in discussion than being inactive or passive in a lecture. Through meaningful or fruitful learning, Social Studies learning need no longer be a matter of memorisation facts and principles that cannot be applied to novel problem-solving situations (Shear, 2016). Students are given the means and the opportunity to participate actively in the teaching and learning situation in activity-based learning, unlike in the conventional pedagogical strategy. Study outcomes of other research have shown that brainstorming and simulation-game pedagogical strategies aided students' learning outcomes. Customarily, students' inculcation of knowledge using a lecture strategy is inefficient to grasp curriculum contents. There are various Social Studies pedagogical strategies. Some of these strategies are thought to be more valuable and successful than others. The question is which strategy is more productive and beneficial for Social Studies teaching, specifically at the Upper Basic level. Hence, this study compares and establishes the effect of the selected strategies (simulation games and brainstorming strategies) on Social Studies students’ learning outcome. This study is intended to find the answers to the following propositions: a simulation-games pedagogical strategy will not enhance students’ learning outcomes; students instructed by means of a brainstorming pedagogical strategy may not increase their learning outcomes; and differences

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will not be found among brainstorming, simulation-games, and lecture pedagogical strategies on Social Studies students’ learning outcomes. The hypotheses listed below were formulated and tested: i) Students’ involvement in simulation-game strategies will not improve their learning outcomes. ii) Students’ involvement in brainstorming strategies will not improve their learning outcomes. iii)There is no statistically significant difference among brainstorming, simulation-games and lecture pedagogical strategies regarding students’ learning outcomes. 1.1 Practical gaps The study could provide teachers with the desired information to design and adopt the right teaching strategies to suit varied learners and enhance students’ learning outcomes in Social Studies. Similarly, the study could provide researchers in Social Studies areas with future research in instructional strategies. It could also help authors and publishers in their presentation of content to readers. Finally, the results obtained may lead to further research in other subject areas.

2. Literature Review 2.1 Simulation-Game Pedagogical Strategy As indicated by Mozelius et al. (2017), a simulation game denotes a board game, or those various teacher-made games for teaching and learning purposes. The focus of these pedagogical games is usually on the socioeconomic, religious, political and aspects of society. A variety of games is accessible which cover substantial areas of the Social Studies programme. The varieties include, among others, chess, tug of war, Diplomacy, Monopoly, Risk, Die Macher, Scrabble, and Hacienda, among others (Nja et al., 2019). Ochoyi (2018) opined that simulationassisted learning merges distinctive characteristics that make it appropriate to situations where the emphasis is on interactive or cooperative learning. It produces excitement, enhances learning and almost mirrors the real-life world. They refer to simulation games as contrived or artificial activities which match some facet of reality. A simulation game is a representation of a real social or physical situation reduced to manageable sizes to serve a particular function or purpose. It is any environment or game among challengers functioning under rules towards achieving a goal such as winning, or a victory. It has two features, namely overt rivalry or competition, and rules. Simulation games give students the understanding to comprehend difficult tasks. In other words, they have the potential for helping students achieve more than they would by means of the conventional teaching method (Nja et al., 2019). On the other hand, a brainstorming strategy enhances the productivity of ideas and explores solutions. It helps learners to discover better solutions or answers to problems (Malkawi & Smadi, 2018).

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According to Ezeudu and Ezinwanne (2013), a simulation game is often referred to as an activity that is based, partially or wholly, on the judgment and decisions of the players. It is an excellent enhancement to the standard traditional lecture. It is a didactic tool whereby students learn through the application of decision-making and theories to a simulated real-life scenario (Folta, 2010). Antunes et al. (2012) contend that simulation games are applied in the teaching-learning process because they provide fascinating challenges to learners and add interest, activity and novelty to the lesson. According to Mozelius et al. (2017), it increases their enthusiasm and leads to learning outcomes. However, despite the several positive educational benefits or advantages, it still has some shortcomings. Guy and Lownes-Jackson (2015) pointed out that teachers using the simulation game strategy must be aware that it takes much time, and students are likely to be very noisy, unmanageable and might at times be uncontrollable. Students should therefore be organised and educated on how to behave during simulation activities. Simulation games demand adequate preparation and coordination from both the teacher and the institution. 2.2 Brainstorming as a Pedagogical Strategy Hashempour et al. (2015) described the brainstorming pedagogical strategy as a group or individual creative strategy by which members attempt to solve a particular problem or issue by collecting a list of instinctive ideas contributed by its member(s). Ashammari (2015) asserted that it is called brainstorming because it involves a situation where individuals generate as many fresh ideas as possible around a particular concern or problem using guidelines which eliminate shyness and produce creative thinking and novel solutions and ideas. In that way they, they come up with several new ideas and answers. The participants or contributors shout out ideas as they come to mind and subsequently build on the ideas suggested by others. All views or opinions are recorded but not criticised or evaluated. It is only when the brainstorming session is over that students’ ideas are evaluated. Rowan (2014) defined brainstorming as a creative individual or a groupactivity in which efforts are made to ascertain a definite solution or conclusion for a particular problem by gathering facts in the form of a list of opinions and ideas instinctively contributed by the members. When used as a Social Studies strategy for teaching, particularly in introducing and laying out new facts and ideas, a brainstorming pedagogical strategy is simple, less complicated, and very useful.

Jack and Kyado (2017) opined that a brainstorming strategy is an instructional strategy that emphasises students’ participation, dialogue, input and two-way interaction. The fundamental purpose of a brainstorming pedagogical strategy is to build and boost communication andinteraction skills, enhance thinking and decision-making or judgement skills, and simultaneously foster different opinions. It is effective for the reason that it stimulates the students’ background knowledge and raises their interest. The teacher can ascertain whether the students have sufficient background experience and knowledge to go ahead

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with the study during the learning process (Rashtchi & Beiki, 2015). Brainstorming can be utilised in all relevant facets of learning. However, in spite of all the usefulness and qualities of a brainstorming strategy, weaknesses or inadequacies abound: the brainstorming strategy has its shortcomings. The major shortcoming is that brainstorming groups’ contributions and productivity may be inhibited by fear of critical evaluation. Students may desire to follow the prevalent practice and pattern of idea generation. For Owo et al. (2016), brainstorming is generally not appropriate at the primary school level because of the level of reasoning required to work out and achieve known objectives. Simultaneously, the teacher must be equipped to guide and be of assistance as necessary, bearing in mind the class environment as such considerations often determine the outcomes. As mentioned earlier, these barriers can lower levels of enthusiasm and effort when individuals work cooperatively in the classroom. When these barriers are present, the individual gives up on the group, and interaction and cooperation are reduced. Moreover, the kind and amount of time dedicated to assigned tasks may also affect individuals’ decisions to leave the group (Owo et al., (2016). 2.3 Studies Related to Simulation Games and Students’ Learning Outcome Balasubramanian and Brent (2010) explored the challenges and opportunities offered by simulation and games to improve learning with students’ ethnicity and gender as factors. They found that students from all groups exhibited significant learning outcomes through the employment of simulation and games. However, Hsu et al. (2011) found no effect of games on students’ learning outcomes. Ezeudu and Ezinwanne (2013) examined the effects of simulation games on chemistry students’ learning outcomes. They deduced that simulation games brought about improved performance in mathematics. Ahmad et al. (2013) examined the computer games’ effects on students’ interest and achievement in geometry. The study found that students taught using games did better than those instructed by means of the traditional strategy. The study of Beuk (2015) looked into the effect of sales’ simulation games on students’ learning. The research established that the academic learning of those students who were exposed to simulation games improved.. This result means that students subjected to games teaching methods did better than students in the control condition. Carenys and Moya (2016) explored students’ learning outcomes in digital game-based business and accounting education. The study found that digital game-based pedagogical strategies significantly improved students’ learning in business and accounting education. 2.4 Studies Related to Brainstorming Strategy and Students’ Learning Outcome Owo et al. (2016) examined whether the brainstorming method would improve students’ knowledge in chemistry. The study established that the brainstorming method did not improve their performance. In addition, Hashempour et al. (2015) examined the usefulness of a brainstorming strategy on students’ learning. The study found that a brainstorming strategy failed to enhance students’ learning outcomes. Also, students did not differ due to gender. Owo

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et al. (2016) explored the brainstorming strategy efficacy on students’ previous knowledge and learning outcomes in chemistry. Their finding proved that the brainstorming strategy did not boost students’ learning outcomes. However, Jack and Kyado (2017) concluded that a brainstorming pedagogical strategy resulted in students’ better learning outcomes in electro-chemistry. In addition, Malkawi and Smadi (2018) examined the effect of the brainstorming method on students’ learning outcomes in English grammar in Jordan. The study concluded that the brainstorming pedagogy method improved students’ learning outcomes.

3. Theoretical Background/Framework The present study is grounded on Albert Bandura’s (1999) social cognitive learning. The theory accentuates the importance of observation and modelling in the actions, attitude, and emotional reactions or responses of others. Therefore, it centres on learning by modelling and observation. Social cognitive learning theory explains how both cognitive and environmental factors interact to affect human learning and conduct. Its emphasis is on learning within a social setting or framework. As indicated by Bandura (1999), people learn from each other’s ideas through observational learning, imitation, and modelling. This theory is pertinent to this study because its propositions are traditionally considered necessary ingredients required for activity-based teaching. The theory provided the theoretical foundation for organising simulation-game environments and developing brainstorming, which can be utilised as practical teaching strategies. The theory has shown why teachers must promote the most creative and helpful strategies by moving away from ineffective practices and moving towards more supportive learning strategies for all students. The theory is robustly associated with this study because students will boost their learning outcomes as they actively build their knowledge through imitation, modelling, observation, and interactions with different simulation games and brainstorming exercises that Social Studies teachers provide. Furthermore, the social cognitive theory is vital to this study because it is used to examine this study's cause and effect. It is additionally suitable and relevant to highlight and relate it to pedagogical strategies (simulation games and brainstorming) on learning outcomes. Simulation Games Social Studies Learning Outcome Test (SSLOT)

Brainstorming

Control Condition Figure 1: The conceptual framework

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4. Methodology 4.1 Study Design The research design was quasi-experimental. The design encompassed three groups, namely two experimental groups (EGs) and one control group (CG). The pedagogical strategies include simulation games (SGs) and brainstorming as treatment or intervention, and the traditional lecture strategy was utilised for the control group. The study design signifies the following: Table 1: Research blueprint Groups Experimental Group 1 Experimental Group 1 Control Group

Pretest O1 O3 O5

Treatment X X

Posttest O2 O4 O6

The codes are explained as follows: O1 = Pretest measurement for Experimental Group I X1 = Treatment for Experimental Group I (Simulation games) O2 = Posttest extent for Experimental Group I O3 = Pretest extent for Experimental Group II X2 = Treatment for Experimental Group II (Brainstorming) O4 = Posttest measurement for Experimental Group II O5 = Pretest measurement for Control Group O6 = Posttest measurement for Control Group (Rogers & Révész, 2020). As detailed previously, an intervention was introduced to the two experimental groups, while there was no such intervention or no difference in treatment with the control group. Accordingly, changes observed in the posttest learning outcomes were ascribed to the intervention or treatment effect. 4.2 Participants Participants are all Upper Basic Education 2 students of the public schools in Delta and Edo States, Nigeria. The study sample consisted of 180 Basic 2 (Upper) students who constitute 0.22% of the total population as the study was an experimental study. The multistage sampling method at four levels through the balloting method was utilised to select the study sample. The first level of sampling was the senatorial districts which were used as the sampling units. For the second level of sampling, a local government area was randomly selected. In the third level of sampling, a school was chosen from the local government areas by means of a balloting method. The judgemental approach was employed in selecting all the students from the six (6) schools. Furthermore, a class of Upper Basic level eight was sampled as the fourth sampling level from each school. All the students in that class from the six (6) government secondary schools were the experimental study subjects. In selecting the schools for the study, only mixed schools were considered as appropriate for the research as gender was a variable that was investigated. The ballot method was used to assign these schools to either the experimental or control groups. The schools selected were sufficiently far off from each other, and no school had double treatment to prevent interference. Specifically, the topics were not taught at any school before

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the start of the experiment. The classes used in the research were carefully chosen using a die. 4.3 Instrument The instrument employed for the study was a test instrument titled “Social Studies Learning Outcome Test” (SSLOT) (see Appendix 1). The SSLOT contained fifty (50) items (multiple choice) which were Social Studies topics taught in Upper Basic level 2 during the period of experimentation. The test items were spread to cover the following topics: Drugs abuse, Harmful substances and Drug trafficking. In constructing the test, a specification table was worked out. It was a two-dimensional table showing the test objectives and the content to be tested. In drawing up the SSLOT, the researcher took cognisance of the taxonomy of objectives in the cognitive domain using three cognitive reasoning skills: Remembering, Understanding and Thinking (RUT). The items were shared around the three levels of Remembering (25%), Understanding (50) and Thinking (25), all totalling 100%.

TOTAL

Drug abuse

% 28%

THINKING 25 %

UNDERSTANDING 50%

REMEMBERING 25%

Table 2: Test blueprint for Social Studies learning outcomes (SSLOT)

Drug trafficking

32%

Harmful substances Total

40% 100%

6 13

10 25

5 12

21 50

SYLLABUS SECTIONS

Instrument reliability was confirmed by using 30 students in a test-retest process. Using the Pearson coefficient (r), a value of 0.74 was obtained. Thus, the instrument was deemed reliable and therefore suitable for the study. 4.4 Research Procedure The experiment took six (6) weeks. Students were assigned after selection to intervention groups and control conditions. The SSLOT was administered as a pretest. This was followed by the intervention (experimentation) through the subject matter or content instruction as presented in the curriculum using the selected instructional conditionstrategies. Two teachers were employed to conduct the experiment or treatment (that is, two treatment administrators). The students selected for the experiment (experimental group) were taught Social Studies content three days per week with each lesson lasting 40 minutes per period, making a total of 120 minutes a week. Students were pretested with the SSLOT to establish their learning outcomes level prior to experimentation.

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After six weeks of experimentation or treatment, a posttest was administered to determine students' learning outcome levels. The control groups were instructed using only the lecture strategy and both a pretest and posttest were administered. The teaching and test administration were done simultaneously in the six schools.

5. Results RQ 1 Will a simulation-game pedagogical strategy lead to enhanced students’ learning outcomes? Table 3: Students’ pretest and posttest learning outcome scores of simulation-game pedagogical strategy Strategy/ Treatment Simulation game

No 58

Pretest Standard Mean Deviation 12.50 53.34

No 58

Posttest Standard Mean Deviation 11.85 70.78

Learning outcome Gain 17.44

Table 3 shows that students taught using a simulation-game pedagogical strategy had a mean score of 53.34 in the pretest and a mean score of 70.78 in the posttest, making a pretest-posttest learning outcome gain to be 17.44. The result proved that students instructed using a simulation-game pedagogical strategy had a better learning outcome in the posttest than in the pretest. Ho1 Students’ involvement in simulation-game strategies will not improve their learning outcomes. Table 4: Results of ANCOVA of learning outcome test according to simulation game strategy Source Corrected/Adjusted Model Intercept Simulation Error Total Corrected/Adjusted Total

Sum of Square

Mean Squares

F value

Sig. of F

5476.124

35.254

.000

682325.124 5476.124 28558.197 755678.001

1 1 178 180

682325.124 5476.124 158.893

4320.159 35.254

.000 .000

33834.121

179

Table 4 shows that students involved in a simulation-game pedagogical strategy had improved learning outcomes. Data in the table revealed that simulation games' effect on students' learning outcomes was significant (F (1,178) = 35.254, p = 0.000). Consequently, the hypothesis that students’ involvement in simulation-game strategies will not improve their learning outcomes was rejected.

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RQ 2 Will students instructed by means of improve their learning outcomes?

a brainstorming pedagogical strategy

Table 5: Students’ retest and posttest learning outcome scores of brainstorming strategy Strategy/ Treatment Brainstorming

No 64

Pretest Standard Mean Deviation 50.77 12.28

No 64

Posttest Standard Mean Deviation 64.46 13.14

Learning outcome Gain 13.69

Table 5 shows that students instructed using brainstorming had a mean score of 50.77 and a standard deviation of 12.28 in the pretest and a mean score of 64.46 and standard deviation of 13.14 in the posttest, making a pretest-posttest learning outcome gain to be 13.69. The result showed that students instructed using a brainstorming pedagogical strategy had better learning outcomes in the posttest than in the pretest. Ho2 Students’ involvement in brainstorming conditions will not improve their learning outcomes. Table 6: Results of ANCOVA of learning outcomes test according to brainstorming strategy Source Corrected/Adjusted Model Intercept Brainstorming Error Total Corrected/Adjusted Total

Sum of Square

Mean Squares

F value

Sig. of F

115.824

.610

.043

630084.358 115.824 33818.287 754668.000

1 1 178 180

630084.358 115.824 189.990

3316.401 .610

.000 .043

33935.112

179

As shown in Table 6, students involved in the brainstorming conditions improved their learning outcomes. This is confirmed by the value (F (1,178) =.610, p=0.043). This demonstrates that the brainstorming strategy boosted students’ learning outcomes. The implication is that the effect on students’ learning outcomes due to treatment or teaching strategy was significant. Thus, the hypothesis was rejected. RQ 3 Will there be a difference amongst brainstorming, simulation games, and lecture strategies on students' learning outcomes in Social Studies?

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Table 7: Pretest/Posttest of students’ learning outcomes by strategies Strategies

Simulation game Brainstorming Lecture strategy (control) Total

No 58 64 58 180

Pretest Standard Mean Deviation No 53.34 12.50 58 50.77 12.28 64

Posttest Learning Standard outcome Mean Deviation Gain 70.78 11.85 17.44 64.46 13.14 13.69

45.60 49.90

55.37 63.54

12.09 12.29

58 180

10.91 11.97

9.77 13.63

Table 7 shows that at pretest, students' mean score when exposed to simulation games was 53.34, which was better than the pre-test total mean of 49.90. Brainstorming had a mean score of 50.77, which was also better than the pretest total mean (49.90), while the lecture method pretest mean score was 45.60 which was lower than the total mean of 49.90. However, at the posttest, the simulation games had a mean score of 70.78, which was better than the total mean of 63.54 and a learning outcome gain of 17.44 which was better than the grand mean gain of 13.63. The brainstorming strategy mean score at the post-test was 64.46, which was also better than the total mean of 63.54 while the learning outcome gain of 13.69 was slightly better than the learning outcome gain of 13.63. Simultaneously, the control groups had an overall mean score of 55.37 that was less than the total mean of 63.54 and a learning outcome gain of 9.77, which was lower than the total learning outcome gain. Thus, the table's results indicate that students exposed to brainstorming and simulation strategies attained a better score than the control group. In effect, simulation games proved to be superior to both brainstorming and lecture strategies in enhancing students' learning outcomes. On the other hand, the brainstorming strategy proved to be better than the lecture strategy in improving students' learning outcomes. Ho3 There is no statistically significant difference among simulation game, brainstorming and lecture strategies on students’ learning outcomes. Table 8: ANCOVA summary of the posttest according to strategies Source Corrected/Adjusted model Intercept Strategies Error Total Corrected/Adjusted Total

Sum of Square DF 8509.920 2 717131.541 1 8509.920 2 25424.191 177 754669.010 180 33935.112 179

Mean Squares F value Sig. of F 4254.960 59.245 .000 717131.541 4992.579 .000 4254.960 59.245 .000 143.639

Table 8 displays a statistically significant difference among simulation-game, brainstorming and lecture (control) pedagogical methods on learning outcomes of students’ (F (1, 177) = 59.245, p= .000). This implies that the hypothesis stating there is no significant statistical difference among simulation-game, brainstorming and lecture pedagogical methods on students’ learning outcomes

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was rejected. To prove the difference among the groups, Scheffe’s posthoc was used. The outcome is presented in Table 9. Table 9: Scheffe’s posthoc analysis by strategies STRATEGIES Control Brainstorming Simulation Sig.

No 59 64 57

1 54.2667

Subset 2

64.4561 1.000

1.000

70.7937 1.000

Table 9 indicates that significant differences existed between the posttest mean scores among the different groups. According to the results of Scheffe’s posthoc analysis, there is a significant difference among the groups of simulation (70.79), brainstorming (64.45) and control (54.27). From the result, the simulation pedagogical strategy was superior to both the brainstorming pedagogical strategy and the lecture pedagogical strategy as it obtained the highest mean score. However, brainstorming also proved to increase learning outcomes more significantly than the lecture strategy did. The posthoc scores proved that the experimental groups differ significantly from the control or lecture group. These pairs contributed to the observed significant differences among the three strategies on students’ learning outcomes. Thus, the hypothesis which stated there is no significant statistical difference among the three pedagogical strategies or methods on students’ learning outcomes was rejected.

6. Discussion Simulation games and brainstorming pedagogical strategies have been proved to increase and boost learning outcomes more significantly than the lecture strategy. Students instructed using a simulation-game pedagogical strategy improved more than students tutored by means of the lecture strategy. Similarly, students taught with a brainstorming pedagogical strategy had significantly better learning outcomes than those instructed using the lecture pedagogical strategy. The result supports the views of Balasubramanian and Brent (2010), Ezeudu and Ezinwanne (2013), Ahmad et al. (2013), Beuk (2015), Rashtchi and Beiki (2015), Owo et al. (2016) and Dankbaar et al. (2016), who had earlier testified that students instructed using a simulation-game pedagogical strategy demonstrated better learning outcomes than those students instructed by means of the lecture strategy. However, this finding is in contrast with that of Hsu et al. (2011) who proved that simulation games did not improve students' learning outcomes. Furthrmore, this study’s results also confirmed the findings of Mehr et al. (2016) and Jack and Kyado (2017), namely that the use of a brainstorming pedagogical strategy enhanced students’ learning outcomes more than the lecture strategy did. However, this finding disagreed with those of Hashempour et al. (2015) and Owo et al. (2016). A simulation game pedagogical strategy is significantly superior to brainstorming in enhancing students’ learning outcomes. This superiority of a

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simulation-game pedagogical strategy in improving students’ learning outcomes is consistent with the views of Kikot et al. (2013), Ranchhod et al. (2014), Lu et al. (2014), and Carenys and Moya (2016). They reported that a simulation-game pedagogical strategy motivates and enhances students’ learning outcomes. The limitations of students’ learning outcomes are that they may be given greater importance than they deserve. They may be treated as sacrosanct, whereas learning outcomes are merely the end product of a value judgement on the teachers’ part. It may lead to turning out students who are undoubtedly well-trained in particular areas but are inadequate in a broad range of skills, desirable attitudes and abilities associated with a comprehensive education.

7. Study Limitations The study was conducted using Social Studies teachers; however, their personalities, experience and attitudes were not considered, which may have affected the study results. The content used was also limited to what is in the school syllabus. It is believed that the application of more units of instruction might make for a better generalisation of the study results.

8. Conclusions The aims of the study were established. This study proved the effectiveness of simulation games and brainstorming pedagogical strategies as well as the superiority of simulation game strategy to brainstorming and the lecture strategies in enhancing students’ learning outcomes. It was concluded in the study that if Social Studies teachers embrace simulation games, students will achieve better Social Studies learning outcomes. Thus, rather than limiting students at the upper basic education level to conventional pedagogical strategy, introducing modern pedagogical strategies for teaching such as simulationgame and pedagogical brainstorming strategies will help students improve their learning outcomes. The study could provide teachers with the desired information to design and adopt the right teaching strategies to suit varied learners and enhance students’ learning outcomes in Social Studies. Similarly, the study could provide Social Studies researchers with areas for future research in instructional strategies. It could also help authors and publishers in their presentation of content to readers.

9. Implication of the study This study’s observable implication rests on confirming that activity-based strategies such as simulation games and brainstorming are superior to the lecture strategy in boosting students’ learning outcomes. Teachers could attract and sustain students’ interest and make learning permanent through the use of these strategies. The strategies include numerous activities that will encourage and enable both male and female students from different environments and experiences to assimilate and internalise Social Studies skills and knowledge effectively.

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10. Recommendations i) In-service teachers should be appropriately trained through seminars and conferences on modern pedagogical strategies such as brainstorming and simulation games for better Social Studies pedagogical strategies. ii) Educational institutions charged with training teachers responsiblyshould restructure the methodology course to include simulation games and brainstorming pedagogical strategies. This will ensure that Social Studies teachers are effectively trained in employing these Social Studies teaching strategies. iii) Social Studies textbook writers should include explicit instructions and illustrations in their textbooks for applying these strategies to enable teachers to utilise in teaching.

Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the participants in this study.

11. References Ahmad, S. M. S., Fauzi, N. F. M., Hashim, A. A., & Zainon, W. M. N. W. (2013). A study on the effectiveness of computer games in teaching and learning. Journal of Advanced Studies in Computers, Science and Engineering, 2(1), 1-8. https://www.academia.edu. /8177173/A_Study_on_the_Effectiveness_of_Computer_Games_in_Teaching_and _Learning_1 Antunes, M., Pacheco, M. A. R., & Giovanela, M. (2012). Design and implementation of an educational game for teaching chemistry in hgher education. Journal of Chemical Educational, 89, 577–521. https://doi.org/10.1021/ed2003077 Ashammari, M. K. (2015). Effective brainstorming in teaching social studies for elementary schools in Saudi Arabia. Journal of Education & Social Policy, 2(3), 70–75. http://jes pnet.com/journals/Vol_2_ No_3_September_ 2015/8. pdf Balasubramanian, N., & Brent, G. W. (2010). Games and simulations. Instructional Technology Forum (ITFORUM). http://itech1.coe.uga.edu/itforum/paper73/paper 73.html Bandura, A. (1999). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspec tive. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 2, 21-41. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-839X.00 024 Beuk, F. (2015). Sales simulation games student and instructor perceptions. Journal of Marketing Education, 38(3), 170-182. https://doi.org/10.1177/0273475315604686 Carenys, J., & Moya, S. (2016). Digital game based learning in accounting and business education. Accounting Education, 25(6), 598-651. https://doi.org/10.1080/09639284.2016. 1241951 Dankbaar, M. E. W., Alsma, J., Jansen, E. E. H., Van Merrienboer, J. J. G., Van Saase, J. L. C. M., & Schuit, S. C. E. (2016). An experimental study on the effects of a simulation game on students’ clinical cognitive skills and motivation. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 21(3), 505–521. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-0159641-x Essien, E. E., Akpan, O. E., & Obot, I. M. (2015). Students’ interest in social studies and academic achievement in tertiary institutions in Cross Rivers State, Nigeria. European Journal of Training and Development Studies, 2(2), 35-40. Ezeudu, F. O., & Ezinwanne, O. P. (2013). Effects of simulations on students’ achievement in senior secondary school chemistry in Enugu east local government area of Enugu State, Nigeria. Journal of Edu & Practice, 4(19), 58-66.

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Folta, E, E. (2010). Investigating the impact on student learning and outdoor science interest through modular serious educational games: A design-based research. [Doctoral dissertation, North Carolina State University]. Guy, R. S., & Lownes-Jackson, M. (2015). The use of computer simulation to compare student performance in traditional versus distance learning environment. Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology, 12, 95–109. Hashempour, Z., Rostampour, M., & Behjat, F. (2015). The effect of brainstorming as a pre-writing strategy on EFL advanced learner’s writing ability. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Research, 2(1), 86-99. Hsu, C., Tsai, C., & Liang, J. (2011). Facilitating preschoolers’ scientific knowledge construction via computer games regarding light and shadow: The effect of the prediction observation explanation (POE) strategy. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 20(5), 482-493. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-011-9298-z Jack, G., & Kyado, J. (2017). Effectiveness of brain-based learning strategy on students’ academic achievement, attitude, motivation and knowledge retention in electrochemistry. Journal of Education, Society and Behavioral Science, 21(3), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.9734/ JESBS/2017/34266 Kikot, T., Costa, G., Magalhães, R., & Fernandes, S. (2013). Simulation games as tools for integrative dynamic learning: The case of the management course at the University of Algarve. Procedia Technology, 9, 11–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.protcy.2013.12.002 Lu, J., Hallinger, P., & Showanasai, P. (2014). Simulation-based learning in management education: A longitudinal quasi-experimental evaluation of instructional effectiveness. Journal of Management Development, 33(3), 218–244. https://doi.org/10.1108/J MD-11-2011-0115 Mehr, M. M., Aziz-Malayeri, F., & Bayat, A. (2016). The effects of brainstorming as a prewriting activity on Iranian EFL learners prompted expository writing. International Journal of Educational Investigations, 3(3), 85-93. Malkawi, N. A. M., & Smadi, M. (2018). The effectiveness of using brainstorming strategy in the development of academic achievement of sixth grade students in english grammar at public schools in Jordan. International Education Studies, 11(3), 92-100. https://doi.org/10.5539/ies.v11n3p92 Mozelius, P., Hernandez, W., Sällström, J., & Hellerstedt, A. (2017). Teacher attitudes toward game-based learning in history education. ICTE Journal, 6(4), 27-35. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijicte-2017-0017 Nja, O. C., Cornelius-Ukpepi, B. U., & Orim, E. R. (2019). Effect of simulation instructional method on undergraduate chemistry education student’s academic performance in sodium reactions. European Journal of Scientific Research, 155(1), 612. Ochoyi, U. E. (2018). Effects of computer simulated games and power point on senior secondary students’ attitude and achievement in geometry in Adamawa State. [Ph.D. thesis, Benue State Univeristy, Markudi, Nigeria]. Owo, W. J., Idode, V. O., & Ikwut, E. F. (2016). Validity of brainstorming strategy on students’ prior knowledge and academic performance in chemistry in selected secondary schools in South-South Nigeria. American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences, 24(1), 113-130. Ranchhod, A., Gurău, C., Loukis, E., & Trivedi, R. (2014). Evaluating the educational effectiveness of simulation games: A value generation model. Information Sciences, 264, 75–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ins.2013.09.008 Rashtchi, M., & Beiki, M. (2015). The effect of teachers’ generated cooperative brainstorming versus learner-generated cooperative brainstorming on activating

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EFL learners’ background knowledge in essay writing classes. Indian Journal of Fundamental and Applied Life Sciences, 5(s2), 1218-1227. Rowan, K. (2014). Glossary of instructional strategies. Beesburg.com.

http://www.beesburg.com/edtools/glossary.html Shear, S. B. (2016). Does critical theory have a place in social studies research? A commentary. Journal of Social Studies Research, 40(3), 229-231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssr.2016. 03.009 Tarman, B., & Kuran, B. (2015). Examination of the cognitive level of questions in social studies textbooks and the views of teachers based on Bloom Taxonomy. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 15(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.12738/estp.2015. 1.2625 Wood, K. R. (2011). Simulation video games as learning tools: An investigation of instructor guided reflection on cognitive outcomes. [Dissertation, Georgia State University].

Appendix 1 Social Studies Learning Outcome (SSLOT) Instrument Time: 1hr INSTRUCTIONS: ATTEMPT ALL QUESTIONS Choose from the options lettered A-E the one that best answers each of the following questions and write out in your answer sheet the correct letter only. Give only one answer to each question. 1. One of these is NOT a symptom of drug abuse: A. Depression; B. Violent behaviour tendencies; C. Impaired vision; D. Lack of sleep; E. Good health. 2. ……. is the name of the agency responsible for the control and prevention of harmful substances. A. NECO; B. EFCC; C. NURTW; D. NAFDAC; E. NDLEA 3. ……… is one of the ways to prevent trafficking in drugs. A. Education; B. Conflict; C. War; D. Disturbance; E. Greed. 4. All of the following ways would help to discourage drug abuse EXCEPT........ A. strict penalties on drug offenders; B. education. C. constructive use of time; D. choosing good friends. E. belonging to cult. 5. The following are factors responsible for drug trafficking EXCEPT …… A. bad nation economy; B. education; C. greed; D. poverty; E. unemployment. 6. The agency responsible for controlling and preventing drug abuse and drug trafficking is called …. A. NDLEA; B. ICPC; C. EFCC; D. FRSC; E. JAMB. 7. The following are the effects of harmful substances EXCEPT……………. A. vomiting; B. death; C. good health; D. ill health; E. frequent stooling. 8. The following are the consequences of drug abuse to the individuals EXCEPT… A. mental disorder; B. poor attitude to work; C. good health; D. brain fatigue; E. long disease. 9. The process whereby a person prescribes drugs for him- or herself is called…. A. acceptance; B. drug abuse; C. discipline; D. protection; E. injection.

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10. These are the negative impacts of drug trafficking on a country’s economy EXCEPT …. A. currencies are buried underground; B. leads to death of victims; C. increases development; D. increases crime rate; E. increases money laundry. 11. One of the following is correct about harmful substances EXCEPT ….. A. can make people sick; B. can lead to diabetes; C. healthy growth; D. can be destructive to the body; E. damage to internal organs. 12. Which of the following is NOT a consequence of drug abuse on the individual? A. good nutrition; B. death; C. mental illness; D. depression; E. leads to crime. 13. A powerful person in an organisation that deals in illegal drugs is called… A. Drug baron; B. Distributor; C. Drug officer; D. Drug master; E. Drug seller. 14. ……… is the misuse or excessive consumption of drug. A. Drug trafficking; B. Medication; C. Drug abuse; D. Treatment; E. Operation. 15. Food that has been exposed to insects is called….. A. stale food; B. good food; C. infested food; D. expired food; E. rotten food. 16. The following are some of the causes of drug abuse EXCEPT… A. emotional disturbance; B. broken homes; C. desire to feel high; D. education; E. curiosity/ experiment. 17. …… food’s life span has been outlived. A. Expired; B. Rotten; C. Stale; D. Immature; E. Infested. 18. One who sells illegal drugs is called …… A. drug baron; B. drug dealer; C. drug carrier; D. drug runner; E. drug addict . 19. The following are the consequences of drug abuse on the community EXCEPT…. A. development of gangsters; B. insecurity of lives and properties. C. increase in crime; D. destruction of the youths in the community; E. growth and development of the community. 20. The following are consequences of drug trafficking EXCEPT …… A. Bad image for the country; B. shame and disgrace; C. improved education; D. Imprisonment; E. Death penalty.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 18-32, March 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.3.2

Innovative Teaching: A Qualitative Review of Flipped Classrooms Kevin Fuchs Prince of Songkla University, Phuket, Thailand https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3253-5133

Abstract. The extent and importance of web-based learning in higher education have increased tremendously in the last decade, triggered by new educational technologies and pedagogical approaches. Higher education lecturing has traditionally followed a teacher-centered approach, with lecturers giving classes in the classroom and students performing out-of-class activities. Under this traditional approach, the main actor in the teaching-learning process is the lecturer, while students play a passive role. The flipped classroom emphasizes the role of the student in the center of the learning environment and facilities an active learning pedagogy. This paper reviews the most recent case studies related to the flipped classroom approach in order to provide educators guidelines on the best practices, traits, and merits of the flipped classroom. A total of 22 case studies were included in this qualitative review of the flipped classroom. The methodological inquiry followed the PRISMA flow diagram that identified an initial pool of 3,764 articles. Upon identification of relevant case studies (n=22), a fivepoint Likert-type sentiment rating was assigned as the basis to structure the discussion. The rating was based on the students’ perceptions of the flipped classrooms as investigated in the articles. The assessment confirms that the majority of students have a positive perception of this learning pedagogy. However, there are concerns about increased workload for students, ambiguity in expected learning outcomes, and an initial barrier to actively contribute; these are the primary implications of this review. Keywords: flipped classroom; inverted learning; active learning; constructivism; TEFC

1. Introduction Both the importance and extent of web-based or online learning in higher education have increased vastly in the last decade. As a result, this trend has been further accelerated by new educational technologies and pedagogical approaches while educators continue to debate the best practices and approaches for their classrooms. The variety of courses have continued to increase in scale and scope and the sudden COVID-19 crisis in early 2020 has ©Author This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

further fast-tracked universities’ implementation of online teaching (Tang et al., 2020). Flexibility with regard to the workload and allowing the students to make decisions about when and what they learn are two of the primary advantages of technology-enhanced learning (TeL). Besides, research has indicated that online learning is pedagogically promising because it encourages deeper learning via its self-paced and student-centered approach (Tang et al., 2020). The flipped classroom is a versatile and well-researched pedagogical approach that facilitates active learning with the power of peer learning (Crews & Butterfield, 2014; Thai, De Wever & Valcke, 2017). It is the objective of this paper to share a review of the existing literature and provide comprehensive insights by outlining the most important traits of the flipped classroom, merits with regard to student development, and shortcoming of this pedagogical approach. It is not within the scope of this review to examine the perspective of the educator or the institution, but to provide a holistic overview from the perspective of students. The important findings of the most recent case studies in 2019 and 2020 contribute to the body of knowledge and close an identified research gap. Through the findings of this review paper, educators will be able to obtain practical guidance which will help them implement the most effective methods for their flipped classroom courses. The next chapter will provide insights into the conceptual design of a flipped classroom. 1.1. Conceptual design of a flipped classroom The design and implementation of flipped classrooms largely depends on the educators, yet there is no consensus with regard to a universal design of a flipped classroom (Thai, De Wever & Valcke, 2017). However, a recurring claim regarding the design of a flipped classroom is that there are three particular consecutive phases (Figure 1). Crews and Butterfield (2014) noted that the preclass, during-class, and post-class stages are essential elements when implementing a flipped classroom. There is an agreement in the literature that the first phase of a flipped classroom takes place as a prerequisite for students to acquire fundamental knowledge (Thai, De Wever and Valcke, 2017). During this phase, the students are expected to work individually in anticipation of the second phase. This stage is typically administered through a Learning Management System (LMS) with online tutorials, lecture notes, video clips prepared by the teacher, or other course material (Crews & Butterfield, 2014). The second phase is considered the most influential phase in the flipped classroom design and determines the impact on the students’ learning within the paradigm of active learning (Thai, De Wever & Valcke, 2017). This studentcentered approach places emphasis on discussion amongst peers, wherein the teacher acts as a facilitator of the discussion (Fuchs, 2021).

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Figure 1: A simplified design of a flipped classroom (adapted from Fuchs, 2021)

The post-class phase is designed to allow the students to reflect on the content of the pre-class phase in combination with the peer-discussion in the during-class phase (Lo, Lie & Hew; 2018). This last phase is oftentimes accompanied by a personal learning assignment to reflect on the newly constructed knowledge (Crews & Butterfield, 2014; Thai, De Wever & Valcke, 2017).

2. Methods A comprehensive review of the literature was conducted using the PRISMA flow diagram in order to cross-examine case studies and identify which characteristics of flipped classrooms were most commonly researched, as well as what additional calls for future research had been stated. Moreover, upon identifying the 22 case studies that were reviewed, a sentiment score was assigned to each paper. 2.1. The PRISMA flow diagram The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews flow diagram, or PRISMA, was developed by a delegation of 29 review authors, medical editors, consumers, clinicians, and methodologists (Liberati et al., 2009). In 2005, the focus group attended a three-day meeting and participated in extensive postmeeting digital correspondence. A consensus was reached concerning the optimal process. Henceforth, a 27-item checklist and a four-phase flow diagram was developed (Liberati et al., 2009; Stovold et al., 2014). Liberati et al. (2009) further noted, “PRISMA focuses on ways in which authors can ensure the transparent and complete reporting of systematic reviews and meta-analyses” (Liberati et al., 2009, p. 120). 2.2. The search process A search in the abstract and citation database Scopus was conducted and yielded 3,752 records in January 2021 (Figure 2). The inquiry was guided by the keywords "flipped classroom" and "flipped learning". A large volume of literature was retrieved and further criteria were applied to refine the results. The following five limits were set: • articles dated in 2019 and 2020 • a focus on social science and business as the subject area

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• • •

publication stage: final publication language limited to English source type was set to journal and conference proceeding

This exact search syntax was used: “TITLE-ABS-KEY ("flipped classroom") AND ( LIMIT-TO ( PUBSTAGE,"final" ) ) AND ( LIMIT-TO ( LANGUAGE,"English" ) ) AND ( LIMIT-TO ( SRCTYPE,"j" ) OR LIMIT-TO ( SRCTYPE,"p" ) ) AND ( LIMIT-TO ( PUBYEAR,2020) OR LIMIT-TO ( PUBYEAR,2019) )” An additional 12 publications that were not Scopus-indexed, but the content of which were familiar to the author, were included in this stage of the process based on their merits. The identification stage was concluded with a total of 1,187 items that qualified for further screening. The first stage of the screening process included reviewing each title of the 1,187 records. In this stage, a total of 752 records were excluded. In the second stage of the screening process, another 317 records were excluded based on reviewing their abstracts. A total of 118 articles were deemed eligible for full-text analysis. In this final step, 96 articles were excluded wherein 79 were out of scope, 13 had insufficient information about the methodology, and 4 were not adaptable to the scope of this review. Eventually, 22 relevant case studies were selected for indepth analysis. 2.3. Appointing a sentiment score A Likert-type rating system was utilized to assign a descriptive score to each article that was included in the review. The following descriptive scores were based on the Likert-type scale. The highest descriptive score corresponded to the label “Positive”, the second-highest “Slightly Positive”, followed by “Neutral, “Slightly Negative”, and finally “Negative”. Every article included in this paper (n=22) was assigned a descriptive score by the reviewer (the author of this report). The assessment for each score was based on the conclusion of the article in regard to the participants’ perceptions of the flipped classroom. The purpose of the sentiment score was to classify the articles into different categories and to generate a variable for further analysis. After each article was assigned a descriptive score, the author asked a colleague for an informal peer-review to validate the results. Any opposing views were discussed until a consensus was reached.

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Figure 2: PRISMA flow diagram for a review of the literature

3. Flipping Classes: Where does all the hype come from? The 22 articles that were included (Table 1) as the result of the PRISMA procedure were reports of quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods inquiries. Within the criteria that were used to retrieve the literature, the majority of articles had conducted quantitative research (n=10), followed by mixed methods (n=8) and with only four qualitative studies (n=4) reviewed. The most common means of analysis for quantitative research was descriptive analysis as opposed to thematic analysis. The sample size for the quantitative studies ranged from the smallest sample of 52 participants [No. 10] to 495 participants [18]. The mixed-methods approach utilized sample sizes ranging from 42 [No. 05] up to the largest sample of 152 participants [No. 02]. Naturally, the sample size for purely qualitative research was smaller and ranged from 13 participants for the smallest study included [No. 08] to 25 participants in the largest qualitative study [No. 15]. To collect versatile and comprehensive information on previous studies about flipped classrooms, there was no limitation placed on the geographical location of the sampling. This allowed for the generation of a broad perspective and analysis of results from different learning environments and learning cultures. While no specific limitations were applied to the origin of the study, it can be noted that four (4) studies originated from Spain, three (3) from Australia, and the remainder were single studies, each representing one of 15 countries (Table 1).

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Table 1: Summary of articles included in this review No. [01] [02] [03] [04] [05] [06] [07] [08] [09] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22]

Author/s (Year) Murillo-Zamorano et al. (2019) Castedo et al. (2019) Kay et al. (2019) Lopes et al. (2019) Goedhart et al.(2019) Cai et al. (2019) Tomas et al. (2019) Ha et al. (2019) Cilliers & Pylman (2020) Stöhr et al. (2020) Martínez-Jiménez et al. (2020) Abdekhoda et al. (2020) Colomo-Magaña et al. (2020) Alamri (2019) Wilson (2020) Alebrahim & Ku (2020) Aprianto & Purwati (2020) Aljaraideh (2019) Almisad (2019) Bhat et al. (2020) Awidi & Paynter (2019) Bicen & Beheshti (2019)

Type of Inquiry Quantitative Method

Sample N = 160

Origin Country3

Mixed Methods Quantitative Method Quantitative Method Mixed Methods Quantitative Method Mixed Methods Qualitative Method Quantitative Method Quantitative Method Quantitative Method

N = 152 N = 103 N = 152 N = 42 N = 111 N = 171 N = 13 N = 82 N = 52 N = 58

Spain Canada Portugal Netherlands China Australia Hong Kong South Africa Sweden

Quantitative Method Quantitative Method

N = 110 N = 123

Iran

Mixed Methods Qualitative Method Qualitative Method Qualitative Method

N = 52 N = 25 N = 14 N = 15

Saudi Arabia Australia United States Indonesia

Quantitative Method Mixed Methods Mixed Methods Mixed Methods Mixed Methods

N = 495 N = 27 N = 32 N = 117 N = 130

Jordan Kuwait India Australia Cyprus

Spain

3.1. The polarizing effect of flipped classrooms Due to emerging educational technology and pedagogical methods, the extent and value of online learning in higher education has increased tremendously in the last decade. Teaching in higher education has conventionally followed a teacher-centered method, with lecturers providing classroom courses and students conducting out-of-class tasks. In this conventional method, students play a passive role and the instructor is the key player in the teaching-learning process (Murillo-Zamorano et al., 2019). A new viewpoint is provided by the flipped classroom, in which education is student-centered and the lecturer has shifted into a passive role. “Flipping the classroom means that the traditional classroom becomes inverted.” (Murillo-Zamorano et al., 2019) Students are expected to regularly collect information by reading, watching recorded lectures, or listening to podcasts outside of class time. This relates to the two bottom levels of Bloom's Taxonomy, which allow students to remember and process the class information given. The student is then required to apply the knowledge they have acquired to problem-solving activities in groups through peer instruction during classroom time. These tasks may include case study research, analyzing different scenarios, and developing new problem

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solutions that conform to Bloom's Taxonomy's higher-order level. When students have a more extensive and comprehensive understanding of the content, this makes for a better learning experience (Cilliers & Pylman, 2020). Lopes et al. (2019) indicated that students are required to dedicate themselves to being self-directed in their learning. This is particularly pertinent in the classroom's e-learning aspect, which implies a cultural shift from an academic point of view that can be pursued persistently, mainly in the context of higher education (Lopes et al., 2019). The flipped classroom has been conceived as a student-centered pedagogical method aiming to enhance the performance of students. The literature recognized the flipped classroom's potential over conventional methods for teaching and learning (Murillo-Zamorano et al., 2019). Besides, to achieve comparable pre-knowledge and comprehension levels, the self-regulated pre-class learning combination through prescribed reading and video materials was considered to have merit, particularly in a diverse student population alongside in-class activities integrating collaborative learning activities which promote deeper learning (Goedhart et al., 2019; Lopes et al., 2019). Following the flipped approach to the classroom and to achieve a successful learning outcome, the results of Murillo-Zamorano et al. (2019) trigger the following essentials to be taken into account: firstly, there should be two-way input (instructor to students and vice versa) as an efficient link between in-class and out-of-class activities. Secondly, technology is used to move the lecture outside (Murillo-Zamorano et al., 2019). Even though the overall experience was pleasant, it was disappointing to see that some of the students claimed that the flipped classroom did not contribute to their learning outcomes (Goedhart et al., 2019). To effectively promote student participation and constructive learning, teachers are often expected to incorporate several in-class pedagogical modifications (Cai et al., 2019). Moreover, the author performed an informal assessment of the 22 articles that were included in the review and assigned an individual sentiment rating to each article. A peer validated the rating by consensus with the reviewer and it ranged through positive, slightly positive, neutral, slightly negative, and finally negative on a five-point Likert-type scale. This approach was adapted from Qiu et al. (2018), who used a similar technique to categorize articles based on the sentiment expressed in the conclusion. In this context, the author assigned the sentiment rating based on how the flipped classroom pedagogy was perceived by the university students in the 22 articles. Furthermore, the author modified the model from Qui et al. (2018) and sliced the results based on their type of inquiry (Table 2). This aimed to identify whether there was a pattern between the students’ perceptions and the strategy of how the data were collected.

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Table 2: Cross-examination by sentiment and method Sentiment Positive Slightly Positive Neutral Slightly Negative Negative

Type of Inquiry Quantitative Method Mixed Methods Qualitative Method Mixed Methods Quantitative Method Qualitative Method Mixed Methods Qualitative Method Quantitative Method

Case Study No. [01], [04], [09], [11], [12], [13], [18] [14], [19], [20], [22] [17] [02], [05], [21] [03], [06] [16] [07] [08] [10], [15]

It can be noted that a simple majority of the studies were assigned a positive rating. Out of the total 22 articles, 12 received a positive sentiment rating and, at the other end of the spectrum, two (2) received a rating indicating a negative perception towards the flipped classroom by the students. The remaining eight (8) case studies fall in between, wherein (3) of them were rated slightly positive, four (4) neutral, and one (1) slightly negative. The author did not identify any pattern or correlation between the strategy of inquiry and the sentiment rating of the study. While some of the flipped classroom case studies are associated with a negative perception by the participating students, it can be stated that a large majority (68%) had, at the minimum, a positive attitude towards this new active learning approach. The sentiment rating helped to determine the general tone amongst the selected case studies (Al-Natour & Turetken, 2020). In the following, a more in-depth examination into both the challenges and positive aspects of the flipped classroom pedagogy will be provided. 3.2. Flipped Classrooms: A remedy to achieve inclusive education? As a consequence of the flipped classroom approach, Wilson (2020) identified a significant problem in the students' workload. Also, it is recommended that a lower workload could be tested to determine whether the same instructional result could still be obtained. The paper highlights major concerns related to flipped learning pedagogy due to the increased workload (Wilson, 2020). Furthermore, Stöhr et al. (2020) were unable to confirm the flipped classroom's reported positive effect in higher education in a quantitative assessment that contrasted the flipped classroom with conventional lecture-based learning. Ha et al. (2019) discussed beneficial outcomes of the flipped approach to the classroom; in their case, the researchers indicated that students had adapted to a “spoon-fed” system and, thus, initially failed to respond to the flipped model of the classroom (Ha et al., 2019). A related observation was reported by Castedo et al. (2019), in which students initially failed to respond to the latest method. Kay et al. (2019) as well as Alebrahim and Ku (2020) defined positive and negative perceptions; both studies concluded that there is a need for clarification, flexibility, timely instruction, and feedback in the implementation of a flipped classroom. Besides, it was observed that the transfer of materials from the conventional face-to-face model to the computer-mediated format requires specialized expertise, time, and dedication (Cai et al., 2019). Moreover, the usage of efficient technology must be reviewed beforehand because this helps facilitate outside-class engagement amongst students (Aprianto & Purwati, 2020). These

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suggestions shared by Cai et al. (2019) and Aprianto and Purwati (2020) demonstrate that there is still uncertainty among students when it comes to technology-enhanced learning (TEL). Table 3: Empirical findings of the selected case studies No. [01] [02] [03] [04] [05] [06]

[07] [08] [09] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

[15]

[16] [17] [18] [19] [20]

Empirical findings FC has positive effects on students’ knowledge, skills, and engagement. Initial reluctance towards the FC methodology, but finally a higher attendance than traditional learning Identified a need for clarity, flexibility, timely guidance and feedback, and cognitive engagement FC requires a high level of teacher work and creativity in developing content and then properly organizing it The combination of self-regulated pre-class learning in combination with in-class activities facilitates deeper learning The migration of materials from traditional face-to-face format to computer-mediated format is a process that requires specific skills, as well as a significant amount of time and effort Respondents’ opinions regarding whether a flipped classroom motivated them to learn, or was more engaging than traditional instruction, were divided Students that were used to a “spoon-fed” approach initially struggled to adapt to the flipped classroom model The activities done in the classroom provided real-life experience that could be used for problem-solving when they enter the workplace Results do not confirm the documented positive effect of the flipped classroom in STEM education The academic results have been better in which the flipped learning methodology was implemented An approach that encourages active learning and improves student performance; meanwhile decreasing the failure rate in education Sample responded positively to the initiative to implement the flipped classroom and appreciated its potential to promote learning Results demonstrated improved student academic achievement and satisfaction, compared with the traditional lecture-based approach This study highlights important problems associated with Flipped Learning pedagogy and suggests future research in divergent pedagogies attend to the critical issues of student workload, and to consider if the same educational outcome could be achieved equally as well by a lower workload pedagogy. Positive and negative opinions depending on how they implemented the flipped classroom including the engagement of students and the environment The use of efficient technology must be reviewed prior to use because it helps facilitate outside-class engagement amongst students Generally a high satisfaction with flipped classroom, wherein difference were detected regarding the gender variable in favor of male students The results showed that the majority of the students were ready and able to this active learning method Students prefer operating in the flipped mode as it provides them the

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[21] [22]

flexibility to acquire new insights on their own time while getting an opportunity to interact with peers and teachers during the lecture time We have found positive signs that a flipped classroom approach can enhance the student learning experience and outcomes The outcome of the study revealed that technology integrated learning environments have positive impacts on students’ learning

Goedhart et al. (2019) indicated, contrary to the drawbacks described, that selfregulated pre-class learning in combination with in-class activities encourages deeper learning. This was confirmed by the research analysis of Awidi and Paynters (2019), who noticed positive signs that a flipped-classroom approach could increase the experience and results of student learning. The most prominent positive outcomes from higher education case studies relating to flipped classrooms confirmed positive results on students' understanding, expertise, and participation (Alamri, 2019; Murillo-Zamorano et al., 2019; Abdekhoda et al., 2020; Bhat et al., 2020). The fact that students adopted active learning in this method is another prominent discovery and is corroborated by research studies (Aljaraideh, 2019; Almisad, 2019; Cilliers & Pylman, 2020). Also, the chance to develop new perspectives in their own time and the provision of the opportunity to interact with peers and teachers were discussed as beneficial factors during the lecture period (Bhat et al., 2020). This main observation underlines the basic idea behind Constructivism's pedagogical ideology, in which knowledge is built in a passive role through peer interaction rather than by lecturing to the student. Cilliers and Pylman (2020) suggested that another positive aspect identified by students was real-life exposure through conversations with peers, as these could be used for problem-solving as they enter the workplace (Table 3).

4. Conclusion To conclude, among various learning cultures, the flipped classroom design and its implementation were identified as challenges that led to negative experiences of the flipped classroom pedagogy. Furthermore, the review identified that case studies that attested a positive sentiment towards the flipped classroom stated a common perception regarding the merits. Amongst the most commonly noted characteristics were improved student engagement, better academic success, and higher learning outcomes. The review contributed an outline of possible focus areas for future research. Educators would benefit from a practical guide about the best practices in designing their flipped classroom. More importantly, a qualitative inquiry to identify why the flipped classroom was successful in some cultures but failed in others would generate additional scientific value. This could be further strengthened by a meta-analysis that aims to identify a correlation between learning cultures and the perception of flipped classrooms. The purpose of the study was not to generate a versatile stakeholder perspective, but instead to identify areas of improvement through an analysis of perceptions from students in higher education. The paper validated that the majority of the samples have a positive perception towards this learning pedagogy. However, there remain concerns about increased student workload, the ambiguity of expected learning outcomes, and an initial barrier to actively contributing – these were identified as the primary implications of the review.

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5. Acknowledgements The author declares having no potential conflicts of interest concerning the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

6. Notes 1Authors’

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3253-5133. is referring to the syntax Title-Abstract-Keyword. 3Origin Country refers to the geographical location from where the sample was collected. 4Mr. Kevin Fuchs is currently a lecturer in the Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism, Prince of Songkla University, in Phuket, Thailand. He graduated with a Master of Science in Informatics from Linnaeus University in Sweden and has a keen research interest in topics that revolve around Technology-enhanced Learning (TeL), Connectivism, Contemporary Educational Theories, and the Technology-Enhanced Flipped Classroom (TEFL). 2TITLE-ABS-KEY

7. References Abdekhoda, M., Maserat, E., & Ranjbaran, F. (2020). A conceptual model of flipped classroom adoption in medical higher education. Interactive Technology and Smart Education, 17(4), 393-401. doi:10.1108/ITSE-09-2019-0058 Alamri, M. M. (2019). Students' academic achievement performance and satisfaction in a flipped classroom in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 11(1), 103-119. doi:10.1504/IJTEL.2019.096786 Alebrahim, F., & Ku, H. Y. (2020). Perceptions of student engagement in the flipped classroom: a case study. Educational Media International, 57(2), 128-147. doi:10.1080/09523987.2020.1786776 Aljaraideh, Y. (2019). Students' perception of flipped classroom: A case study for private universities in Jordan. JOTSE: Journal of Technology and Science Education, 9(3), 368-377. doi:10.3926/jotse.648 Almisad, B. (2019). Perceptions of the'flipped classroom': a case study from a developing country. International Journal of Learning Technology, 14(1), 78-98. doi:10.1504/IJLT.2019.100617 Al-Natour, S., & Turetken, O. (2020). A comparative assessment of sentiment analysis and star ratings for consumer reviews. International Journal of Information Management, 54, 102132. doi:10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2020.102132 Aprianto, E., & Purwati, O. (2020). Multimedia-Assisted Learning in a Flipped Classroom: A Case Study of Autonomous Learning on EFL University Students. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (IJET), 15(24), 114-127. doi:10.3991/ijet.v15i24.14017 Awidi, I. T., & Paynter, M. (2019). The impact of a flipped classroom approach on student learning experience. Computers & Education, 128, 269-283. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2018.09.013 Bicen, H., & Beheshti, M. (2019). Assessing perceptions and evaluating achievements of ESL students with the usage of infographics in a flipped classroom learning environment. Interactive Learning Environments, 1-29. doi:10.1080/10494820.2019.1666285 Bhat, S., Raju, R., Bhat, S., & D’Souza, R. (2020). Redefining quality in engineering education through the flipped classroom model. Procedia Computer Science, 172, 906-914. doi:10.1016/j.procs.2020.05.131

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Cai, J., Yang, H. H., Gong, D., MacLeod, J., & Zhu, S. (2019). Understanding the continued use of flipped classroom instruction: a personal beliefs model in Chinese higher education. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 31(1), 137155. doi:10.1007/s12528-018-9196-y Castedo, R., López, L. M., Chiquito, M., Navarro, J., Cabrera, J. D., & Ortega, M. F. (2019). Flipped classroom—comparative case study in engineering higher education. Computer Applications in Engineering Education, 27(1), 206-216. doi:10.1002/cae.22069 Cilliers, L., & Pylman, J. (2020). South African students’ perceptions of the flipped classroom: A case study of higher education. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 1-10. doi:10.1080/14703297.2020.1853588 Colomo-Magaña, E., Soto-Varela, R., Ruiz-Palmero, J., & Gómez-García, M. (2020). University students’ perception of the usefulness of the flipped classroom methodology. Education Sciences, 10(10), 275. doi:10.3390/educsci10100275 Crews, T., & Butterfield, J. (2014). Data for Flipped Classroom Design: Using Student Feedback to Identify the Best Components from Online and Face-to-Face Classes. Higher Education Studies, 4(3), 38-47. doi:10.5539/hes.v4n3p38 Fuchs, K. (2021). Evaluating The Technology-Enhanced Flipped Classroom Through The Students’ Eye: A Case Study. Proceedings of The 3rd International Conference on Research in Education, 2021, Vol. 1, 25-33. doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14173622 Goedhart, N. S., Blignaut-van Westrhenen, N., Moser, C., & Zweekhorst, M. B. M. (2019). The flipped classroom: supporting a diverse group of students in their learning. Learning Environments Research, 22(2), 297-310. doi:10.1007/s10984-019-09281-2 Ha, A. S., O’Reilly, J., Ng, J. Y., Zhang, J. H., & Serpa, S. (2019). Evaluating the flipped classroom approach in Asian higher education: Perspectives from students and teachers. Cogent Education, 6(1), 1638147. doi:10.1080/2331186X.2019.1638147 Kay, R., MacDonald, T., & DiGiuseppe, M. (2019). A comparison of lecture-based, active, and flipped classroom teaching approaches in higher education. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 31(3), 449-471. doi:10.1007/s12528-018-9197-x Liberati, A., Altman, D. G., Tetzlaff, J., Mulrow, C., Gøtzsche, P. C., Ioannidis, J. P., & Moher, D. (2009). The PRISMA statement for reporting systematic reviews and meta-analyses of studies that evaluate health care interventions: explanation and elaboration. Journal of clinical epidemiology, 62(10), e1-e34. doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2009.06.006 Lo, C. K., Lie, C. W., & Hew, K. F. (2018). Applying “First Principles of Instruction” as a design theory of the flipped classroom: Findings from a collective study of four secondary school subjects. Computers & Education, 118, 150-165. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2017.12.003 Lopes, S. F. S. F., Gouveia, L. M. B., & da Cunha Reis, P. A. (2019). The Flipped Classroom and Higher Education-Experiences with Computer Science Students. International Journal of Advanced Engineering Research and Science, 6(10). doi:10.22161/ijaers.610.3 Martínez-Jiménez, R., & Ruiz-Jiménez, M. C. (2020). Improving students’ satisfaction and learning performance using flipped classroom. The International Journal of Management Education, 18(3), 100422. doi:10.1016/j.ijme.2020.100422 Murillo-Zamorano, L. R., Sánchez, J. Á. L., & Godoy-Caballero, A. L. (2019). How the flipped classroom affects knowledge, skills, and engagement in higher education: Effects on students' satisfaction. Computers & Education, 141, 103608. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2019.103608

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Qiu, J., Liu, C., Li, Y., & Lin, Z. (2018). Leveraging sentiment analysis at the aspects level to predict ratings of reviews. Information Sciences, 451, 295-309. doi:10.1016/j.ins.2018.04.009 Stovold, E., Beecher, D., Foxlee, R., & Noel-Storr, A. (2014). Study flow diagrams in Cochrane systematic review updates: an adapted PRISMA flow diagram. Systematic reviews, 3(1), 1-5. doi:10.1186/2046-4053-3-54 Stöhr, C., Demazière, C., & Adawi, T. (2020). The polarizing effect of the online flipped classroom. Computers & Education, 147, 103789. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2019.103789 Tang, T., Abuhmaid, A. M., Olaimat, M., Oudat, D. M., Aldhaeebi, M., & Bamanger, E. (2020). Efficiency of flipped classroom with online-based teaching under COVID-19. Interactive Learning Environments, 1-12. doi:10.1080/10494820.2020.1817761 Thai, N. T. T., De Wever, B., & Valcke, M. (2017). The impact of a flipped classroom design on learning performance in higher education: Looking for the best “blend” of lectures and guiding questions with feedback. Computers & Education, 107, 113-126. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2017.01.003 Tomas, L., Doyle, T. and Skamp, K., 2019. Are first year students ready for a flipped classroom? A case for a flipped learning continuum. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 16(1), p.5. doi:10.1186/s41239-0190135-4 Wilson, K. (2020). What does it mean to do teaching? A qualitative study of resistance to Flipped Learning in a higher education context. Teaching in Higher Education, 114. doi:10.1080/13562517.2020.1822312

Appendix 1 Table 4: Summary of empirical key findings with sentiment rating No.

Author/s (Year)

Type of Inquiry (Sample Size)

[01]

MurilloZamorano et al. (2019)

Quantitative Method

Castedo et al. (2019)

Mixed Methods

Kay et al. (2019)

Quantitative Method

[02]

[03]

(n=160)

(n=152)

(n=103) Lopes et al. (2019) [04]

(n=152)

Goedhart et al.(2019)

Mixed Methods

Cai et al.

Quantitative

[05]

[06]

Quantitative Method

(n=42)

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Empirical Findings

Sentiment

Country

FC has positive effects on students’ knowledge, skills, and engagement.

Positive

Spain

Initial reluctance towards the FC methodology, but finally a higher attendance than traditional learning

Slightly Positive

Spain

Identified a need for clarity, flexibility, timely guidance and feedback, and cognitive engagement

Neutral

Canada

FC requires a high level of teacher work and creativity in developing content and then properly organizing it

Positive

Portugal

The combination of selfregulated pre-class learning in combination with in-class activities facilitates deeper learning

Slightly Positive

The Netherlan ds

The migration of materials from traditional face-to-

Neutral

China

(2019)

Method (n=111)

Tomas et al. (2019)

Mixed Methods

Ha et al. (2019)

Qualitative Method

(n=171)

[07]

(n=13)

[08]

Cilliers & Pylman (2020) [09]

(n=82)

Stöhr et al. (2020) [10]

[11]

Quantitative Method (n=52)

MartínezJiménez & Ruiz-Jiménez (2020)

Quantitative Method

Abdekhoda et al. (2020)

Quantitative Method

[12]

[13]

Quantitative Method

(n=58)

(n=110)

ColomoMagaña et al. (2020)

Quantitative Method

Alamri (2019)

Mixed Methods

(n=123)

(n=52)

[14]

Wilson (2020)

Qualitative Method (n=25)

[15]

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face format to computermediated format is a process that requires specific skills, as well as a significant amount of time and effort Respondents’ opinions regarding whether a flipped classroom motivated them to learn, or was more engaging than traditional instruction, were divided

Neutral

Australia

Students that were used to a “spoon-fed” approach initially struggled to adapt to the flipped classroom model

Slightly negative

Hong Kong

The activities done in the classroom provided reallife experience that could be used for problemsolving when they enter the workplace

Positive

South Africa

Results do not confirm the documented positive effect of the flipped classroom in STEM education

Negative

Sweden

The academic results have been better in which the flipped learning methodology was implemented

Positive

Spain

An approach that encourages active learning and improves student performance; meanwhile decreasing the failure rate in education

Positive

Iran

Sample responded positively to the initiative to implement the flipped classroom and appreciated its potential to promote learning

Positive

Spain

Results demonstrated improved student academic achievement and satisfaction, compared with the traditional lecture-based approach

Positive

Saudi Arabia

This study highlights important problems associated with Flipped Learning pedagogy and suggests future research in divergent pedagogies attend to the critical issues of student workload, and to consider if the same

Negative

Australia

educational outcome could be achieved equally as well by a lower workload pedagogy. Alebrahim & Ku (2020)

Qualitative Method

Aprianto & Purwati (2020)

Qualitative Method

Aljaraideh (2019)

Quantitative Method

(n=14)

[16]

[17]

(n=15)

(n=495)

[18]

Almisad (2019)

Mixed Methods

Bhat et al. (2020)

Mixed Methods

Awidi & Paynter (2019)

Mixed Methods

Bicen & Beheshti (2019)

Mixed Methods

[19]

(n=27)

(n=32)

[20]

[21]

[22]

(n=117)

(n=130)

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Positive and negative opinions depending on how they implemented the flipped classroom including the engagement of students and the environment

Neutral

United States

The use of efficient technology must be reviewed prior to use because it helps facilitate outside-class engagement amongst students

Slightly Positive

Indonesia

Generally a high satisfaction with flipped classroom, wherein difference were detected regarding the gender variable in favor of male students

Positive

Jordan

The results showed that the majority of the students were ready and able to this active learning method

Positive

Kuwait

Students prefer operating in the flipped mode as it provides them the flexibility to acquire new insights on their own time while getting an opportunity to interact with peers and teachers during the lecture time

Positive

India

We have found positive signs that a flipped classroom approach can enhance the student learning experience and outcomes

Slightly Positive

Australia

The outcome of the study revealed that technology integrated learning environments have positive impacts on students’ learning

Positive

Cyprus

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 33-50, March 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.3.3

Elementary Teachers’ Thoughts about Distance Education and Learning 21st-Century Skills during COVID Pandemic Amani K. H. Alghamdi Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8500-0266 Naimah Ahmad Al-Ghamdi Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8851-0456

Abstract. There was a dearth of research documenting the Arab World’s educational response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, female Saudi elementary teachers’ views on distance education during those unprecedented times were under-explored in the research literature. In the wake of the outbreak in Saudi Arabia, concerns have been raised about education disruption at the elementary school level and its impact on instilling and developing 21st-century skills. Conducted at a college of education in Saudi’s Eastern Province, a qualitative exploratory study examined 20 Saudi postgraduate female students’ written responses to a journal question concerning teaching elementary pupils online about the pandemic while 21st-century skills were being inculcated. A critical finding was that the participants expressed a sense of ample scope for personal and pedagogical transformation despite the enormity of the challenge. Suggestions for future research, pre-service, and in-service teacher training, and professional development were recommended around pedagogical adjustments for teaching elementary learners online while ensuring they still learn and develop their 21st-century skills. Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; elementary students; distance learning; 21st-century skills; Saudi Arabia

1. Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity to explore the subject of schooling in a new context. At present, attempts to contain the crisis encompass an adaptive response, which includes a transition to hybrid education (adopting a blend of both online and face-to-face learning strategies in both learning environments (Gagnon et al., 2020). There were concerns about whether such a new approach will strengthen learning and whether, or how, teaching will resume

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

at the end of the de-escalation (Al-Roubaie & Alaali, 2020; Khatun & Saadat, 2020; Kovačević, 2020). This exploratory study was based in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), which is transitioning to a knowledge-based and information-age economy necessitating students’ learning of 21st-century skills. In addition, the main objective of this research was to disclose female Saudi elementary teachers’ views on distance education during this unusual time. Such knowledge was beneficial and muchneeded. For clarification, these skills constituted critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, several types of literacy (information, media, technology), flexibility, leadership, initiative, productivity, social skills, and local and global connections (Abualrob, 2019; Stauffer, 2020). The most useful pedagogical approach for teaching these skills was a student-centered, selfdirected, active learning and experiential learning pedagogy (Van Gompel, 2019). Prior to the pandemic, the Saudi educational system was challenged because its teaching philosophy was detached from students’ experiences and needs. A report on new models of education for the fourth industrial revolution argued that in both developing and developed countries, many educational systems still depend heavily on passively taught and memorized learning rather than interactive, critical, and self-directed methods (Basham et al., 2020; Jung, 2020; Sekiyama, 2020). Despite the strain caused by the pandemic, the Saudi school system was pushed to make significant changes. That is to say, any resultant school reconfiguration must respond and adapt to these complex times through approaches such as online or blended learning (Campa, 2020; Khatun & Saadat, 2020; Voskoglou, 2020).Gagnon et al. (2020) defined blended learning as a synchronous online learning, which was used to enhance student learning between face-to-face sessions. Online instruction does NOT replace face-to-face time. At the outbreak of the pandemic in spring 2020, virtually all nations opted for immediate school closure; about 1.6 billion pupils from elementary school to postsecondary level were prohibited from attending face-to-face classes. Instead, pupils were instructed to study online so that learning would not be disrupted because of the severe public health concerns. The COVID-19 crisis had emphasized the need to build both connected school communities and a stronger educational relationship between homes and schools. These unanticipated and/or not well-formed connections amount to a mix of positive and negative perceptions among students, teachers, and parents of the merits of distance learning (Burgess & Sievertsen, 2020; Douglas et al., 2020). Of relevance to this paper is that this prolonged crisis presented a remarkable challenge to schools and it was further exacerbated by the widespread lack of access to high-speed internet or interactive media. This digital divide among the student population affected their perceptions of their learning experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic (Esposito & Principi, 2020; Lee, 2020; Viner et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2020). In particular, the number of Saudi Arabian (SA) young people and teens who are disadvantaged by a lack of technology was and still steadily

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growing (Alaboudi & Alharbi, 2020; Almutairi et al., 2020; Alshammari, 2020). Anchored in this and other concerns of the pandemic, SA researchers should explore the experiences of elementary school children and their teachers in online learning during the pandemic. By doing so, resultant deeper understandings can be used to address attendant challenges so students can pursue their studies at home without being academically disadvantaged. This study focused herein on teachers who were responsible for ensuring that the learning environment run well (König et al., 2020; Rapanta et al., 2020).

2. Significance of Research and Research Question The topic of teaching 21st-century skills in elementary school was underresearched (Van Gompel, 2019). This coupled with the fact that one third of Saudi citizens are aged from 0 to 14 (young learners) (Algaissi et al., 2020) and more than half of Saudi elementary teachers (52.3%) are women (UNESCO Institute of Statistics, 2019). Such a fact led the researchers to serendipitously focus not only on soliciting opinions from formally trained Saudi female elementary teachers, but also on the notion of integrating 21st-century skills into the Saudi elementary curriculum during the pandemic. The study participants, therefore, included those who had returned to university on a part-time basis to obtain a master’s degree in education. It was thought that gainfully employed elementary teachers attending the graduate school for intellectual enrichment would provide a fertile avenue for soliciting authentic data, because they could draw on lived experiences before and during the pandemic. Hence, the research question guiding this inquiry was put forward: RQ1: What are the thoughts of Saudi female postgraduates (who study elementary education) about how to develop and deliver a distance education lesson about COVID-19 the best while ensuring elementary students’ 21st-century skills development?”

3. Literature Review 3.1. Saudi Context and Global Pandemic Response Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the Arab world having a land mass of 21.5 million km2. Its population is approximately 35 million with the bulk aged 15 and 64 years. Those between 0 and 14 years accounted for 32.4% of the population with only 2.8% aged +65 years (Algaissi et al., 2020). Saudi Arabia also attracted many foreign workers with approximately 12 million overseas nationals that covered 37% of the country’s residents. It is a key destination for investors, representatives of new industries and, increasingly, tourists. KSA is also of tremendous religious importance for the almost 2 billion Muslims around the world (Hackett & McClendon, 2017). Each year, more than 2.5 million pilgrims visit the country, primarily the Makkah region, for both the five-day annual pilgrimage known as Hajj and the Islamic rite known as Umrah. With this influx of visitors, the KSA has been identified as a potential pandemic hotspot. The country has a comprehensive medical system with free medical insurance available to all citizens and a network of hospitals and clinics, both public and

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private. Although there are currently 2.2 beds per 1,000 people (Alazmy et al., 2020; Samra et al., 2020), there are calls for significant structural changes in the healthcare sector to satisfy the growing needs of the country. Despite the aim of KSA to safeguard the well-being, protection, and welfare of both citizens and pilgrims, the spread of infectious diseases worldwide is always extremely dangerous (Al Saidi et al., 2020; Aldarhami et al., 2020); the implications of a pandemic could be particularly severe. Bearing this in mind, on March 2, 2020, before the first case of COVID-19 was detected in Saudi Arabia (Alyami et al., 2020), the nation became one of the first countries to implement early and unparalleled security to deter or alleviate the spread of the disease on its soil. This included school closures and mandatory online distance education. Many studies around the world have documented school systems’ responses to the COVID-19 crisis, including Armitage and Nellums (2020), Auger et al. (2020), Hilppö et al. (2020), Loima (2020), Poletti and Raballo (2020), and Sintema (2020) among others. Triggered by the novel Corona virus, school closure was imposed in different countries such as the US, Finland, and Sweden affecting school children’s prospect of continuing their education and social life. However, few studies have been conducted within the Saudi context making this Arab-world study a valuable contribution to this bourgeoning knowledge base. In particular, Saudi female elementary teachers’ outlooks towards teaching 21st-century skills online during the pandemic were obscure. Regarding other jurisdictions, using a rapid systematic review of the literature, Viner et al. (2020) assessed the success of school suspensions, closures and management practices during Corona virus outbreaks including COVID-19. Per the latter, studies revealed two countries and a major city in the world: China, Hong Kong, and Korea that imposed school suspensions swiftly. However, school closures alone eliminated only 2%to 4% of virus transmissions relative to social distancing strategies (Bayrakdar & Guveli, 2020). Viner et al. (2020) cautioned policymakers to be aware of misguided evidence urging them to give due consideration to combinations of social distancing measures and school closures. Stringent social distancing policies were implemented over lengthy stretches of time including measures to be taken within classrooms. According to Burgess and Sievertsen (2020), the COVID-19 pandemic is essentially a safety problem. Most countries have rightly decided to close schools, universities, and colleges. Politicians, however, faced a dilemma merely in closing schools to reduce contact and potentially save lives or leave them open allowing employees to do their jobs, and keeping the economy functioning and not disrupting learning. Keeping in mind that the latter required changes in the nations’ education delivery systems. 3.2. Importance of Elementary Education Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic is creating an opportunity to explore the subject of schooling in a new context. The kneejerk reaction to minimize the learning continuation crisis was to impose distance learning or a hybrid version of learning (online and face-to-face) with negligible preparedness or readiness for all concerned parties. Perceptions and thoughts of both Saudi students and teachers about this policy decision must be explored giving the dearth of pertinent

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literature about this topic in the KSA. An investigation of this nature will reveal pedagogical implications for all levels of education with a special interest herein about the elementary curriculum provided to Saudi pupils aged six to 12 (from Grades One through Grade Six equivalent). This age group matters because elementary students starting school now are future workers and leaders in a digital world that will demand new skills and new ways of thinking. Based on this, elementary educators must be able to teach elementary pupils effectively, in particular, in the face of a global crisis, such as a pandemic. As a matter of fact, elementary school education is considered as a ladder for child’s future development. It shapes predispositions for lifelong learning and informs cognitive and social development of young generations. It is viewed as “an essential building block for a child’s future success” (Walden University, 2020). Mead (2016) concurred that the quality and success of elementary education was a powerful predictor of a child’s life outcomes. In the same line of thought, Mishrif and Alabduljabbar (2018) pointed out how important the primary and secondary education in Saudi Arabia are, because they are meant to help pupils and students adopt a positive attitude towards work and employment achieving the goals set in Vision 2030. 3.3. Teaching 21st-Century Skills in Elementary School Regarding nation building, special attention is warranted for ensuring Saudi elementary students’ learning of 21st-century skills is an effective one so that the future generations excel in a knowledge-based economy and in the modern Information Age. Young people comprised one third of the Saudi population (Algaissi et al., 2020) and will eventually assume the mantle of carrying the KSA into the future per Vision 2030, its most recent national development plan (KSA, 2016). Vision 2030 heavily depends on education to ensure its three goals: ambitious nation, thriving economy and vibrant society. All levels of education matter. In a powerful statement and as asserted by Abualrob (2019), “elementary school systems... should work to provide pupils with the dexterity they need to become engaged thinkers, resilient and resourceful learners, creative problem solvers and active members of their communities” (pp. 108-109). Van Gompel (2019) has recently affirmed, however, that “research about effective pedagogical frameworks to support [teaching of 21st century] skills in an elementary context is limited” (pp. 6). Yet, educators agreed that elementary students must be oriented to this skill set. It is never too young to start with this aspect of learning (Abualrob, 2019). To illustrate, Van Gompel (2019) explained that even for this age cohort, “creativity is required for critical thought [and] oral communication and collaborative skills are important together in order for [elementary] students to express thought and share ideas” (p. 29). Unfortunately, like many teachers around the world, Saudi elementary educators have experienced all sorts of difficulties in delivering online lessons to young learners during the pandemic. Despite Saudi schools usually offering teachers access to teaching resources, and access to the internet and information technology (IT) connection, challenges and disruptions occurred during online

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lesson delivery and lesson preparation training. With the prospect of national lockdowns and the eventual reopening of schools in several areas of the country, it is critically important to assess and evaluate the possible future of schooling and curricula delivery in the KSA. This study focused on Saudi elementary educators’ attitudes about teaching elementary pupils via distance education during the pandemic while ensuring students’ attainment of 21st-century skills. Results from surveying the internet showed some educational websites for school children that have enumerated extended lists of the 21st-century skills and personal qualities. It emphasized that new generations need to learn and build at a young age those skills. Just to name a few, they included empathy, curiosity, adaptability, resilience, self-directed skills, collaboration/teamwork, active listening, information seeking, collaboration, lifelong learning, communication, creativity, and critical thinking (Nana, 2020; Simply Learning Tuition & Consultancy, 2021).

4. Method The study employed a qualitative exploratory research design (journaling). Exploratory studies tentatively probe or investigate a phenomenon especially when little is known about it in a given context. Rather than providing conclusive and final answers to the research questions and using smaller samples and structured answers, researchers strived to provide broad and initial understandings to lay the groundwork for more conclusive studies (Dudovskiy, 2016; McGregor, 2018). 4.1. Sample Frame and Participants Education in Saudi Arabia is segregated. Female teachers are trained to teach female pupils, although this is slowly changing (Obaid, 2019). Using convenience sampling (i.e., the lead author was teaching the study participants as postgraduate students at an Eastern Province university), the final sample frame comprised of 20 female participants studying for their master’s degree in education with 14 gainfully employed and six unemployed. Participants ranged in age between 26 to 45 years old. Most of them had a BA in Education or Arts, and a few had a BSc in Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology or Physics. Their teaching experience ranged between 6 and 11 years (averaging 8.5 years), and all worked at female schools. Within this sample frame, many participants were also parents with school-age children. 4.2. Data Collection Data in the form of journal entries were collected in May2020. Participants were expected to offer their views and reflections about delivering an online class during the pandemic to elementary school pupils in the KSA. Specifically, the lead author emailed participants asking them to provide written answers and reflections on the following question: “If you were asked to prepare a distance learning-based educational lesson directed to the elementary stage on the dangers of the emerging Corona virus pandemic, how would you accomplish that?. They were further asked to write clear steps in line with teaching of 21st-century skills.

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Participants were required to return their responses via email within one week after receiving the given task. The lead author translated the journal entries from Arabic to English, and the co-authors checked the translation. Ethical considerations were observed, all the 20 participants provided signed consent (on submission of their assignments) for their journals to be used for research purposes only. One student in the class opted out of the study. All participants’ names presented in this study were pseudonyms: AB, AL, CH, DM, EH, EM, ET, FG, HD, HN, MN, MS, NJ1, NJ2, QS, RH, RW, SD, ZN, and ZR. In addition, the two analysts, both internal and external, who worked on the data set, did not have a direct involvement with the study participants to maintain the objectivity in handling the data. 4.3. Data Analysis Upon reading the data set relative to the research question, the researchers decided to present the major findings using mostly extracts (longer passages or paragraphs) rather than shorter one-to-two sentence quotes (Kirklees Council, n.d.). The whole research team read the entire data set, identified extracts deemed especially powerful and insightful, by considering the outcomes of the content analysis. To clarify, participants’ contributions were considered powerful if they covered innovative ideas that reflected how they would teach their students in such difficult times, and if they alluded to 21st-century skills. Decisions on which extracts to present were made “typically on a case by case basis” (Corden & Sainsbury, 2006, p. 14), with assurances that their “selection reflected strong patterns in the data” (Lingard, 2019, p. 362). The investigators consciously avoided presenting long extracts without analyzing, interpreting and discussing them (Anderson, 2010). Sometimes however, long extracts are exactly what is needed. The length of extracts staves off the need for readers’ inference, because longer extracts can best express the participants’ full idea (Lingard, 2019). To dissect the data set, a content analysis was also made. It revealed how the participants structured the content of their responses in these 10 categories: lesson preparation, digital set up, goals/objectives, student background knowledge, learning outcomes, lesson introduction, lesson development, consolidation, evaluation and conclusion. Erlingsson & Brysiewicz (2017, 23) affirmed that “content analysis” is a reflective process “of working and re-working your data that reveals connections and relationships”.

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Figure 1. Capturing the essence of the collected data

Figure 1 above showed the analyst-generated matrix that was used to capture and analyse the data teasing out important details about digital resources, teaching techniques, learning activities, sets of 21st-century skills and evaluation (Row 2). Indeed, all what have been contributed against the categories (Column A) were used in the content analysis and will be illustrated in the following section.

5. Findings The content analysis of the qualitative data categories into 10 areas according to the requirements of the journal task, i.e., writing steps in teaching 21st-century skills, were as follows: (1) lesson preparation, (2) digital set up, (3) goals/objectives, (4) student background knowledge, (5) learning outcomes, (6) lesson introduction, (7) lesson development, (8) consolidation, (9) evaluation and (10) conclusion. Table 1 illustrated what categories the participants had addressed. It also revealed some quantitative outcomes from the data analysis. Table 1. Responses under different categories of the content analysis Row

Participants

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

AB AL CH DM EH EM ET FG HD HN

Yes   Yes  Yes   Yes Yes

Yes  Yes Yes   Yes  Yes Yes

        Yes Yes

Yes  Yes Yes Yes Yes   Yes Yes

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Categories 5 6         Yes Yes

Yes  Yes  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Yes  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

        Yes Yes

Yes  Yes   Yes   Yes Yes

Yes        Yes 

# Clear Steps 8 0 4 0 4 5 5 7 12 6

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

MS MN NJ1 NJ2 QS RW RH SD ZN ZR COUNT =

Yes  Yes  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes *13

Yes  Yes Yes Yes  Yes Yes Yes  *13

Yes    Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 9

Yes Yes  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes  *15

 Yes    Yes Yes x Yes Yes 7

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes *18

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes *19

Yes Yes  Yes Yes Yes  Yes Yes  9

Yes   Yes Yes   Yes Yes Yes 11

Yes Yes   Yes  Yes    6

6 5 10 7 8 5 7 4 9 6 μ= 6.0

Statistically, each participant wrote six steps in average (μ = 6.0) in showing how to teach 21st-century skills online. In fact, two students (AL and DM) either talked about theories or wrote a long description as opposed to showing steps. Conversely, HD illustrated 12 steps in incorporating 21st-century skills into her lessons. Row 21 showed the frequency count (COUNT=) revealing that participants collectively focused on Lesson Preparation, Digital Set Up, Students’ Background Knowledge, Lesson Introduction, and Development (see the asterisks *). To begin, MS pensively observed that history will remember the powerful disruption that the Corona virus pandemic has brought to the world, and peoples’ memories will be passed down to the coming generations. The impact it has had in the minds of one and all―pathological, psychological, and economical―and what it has been associated with―isolation, and halt of daily-life activities―is unpresented. The world needs time to get past this and determine what we, as educators and teachers, are supposed to do in relation to the community and our students. In more depth, HN saw the importance of collaborating with parents, including goal-setting, learning outcomes, technologies for lesson delivery, parental support, deadlines for assignment submission, and answering parents’ queries, to guarantee the success of distance learning. She said, “Communicating with parents via phone or social media platforms to clarify the purpose of the lesson will introduce to them its mechanism, and make them aware of the importance of this in the lives of girls in the primary stage”. When planning lessons, HN pointed out that students’ experience must be considered. The teacher needs to “make clear the values of great loyalty to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and conclude the lesson by directing students to thank God first for the existence of a rational government that cares about us, praying for all patients, and directing them to thank their families for offering this opportunity to meet online”. EH affirmed the need for student-centered instruction related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the symptoms of the disease and the ways of prevention. According to her, “at the outset, instruction would be achieved by briefly talking about the pandemic. That is to say, the teacher will explain in details to students the symptoms of the pandemic, and the ways of prevention by means of a video

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concerning the right way of washing hands in order to avoid contracting the disease, and also another video presentation on the importance of prevention against the Corona virus. Then, I would put forward the problem to students and try to elicit a number of solutions from them with substantiating evidence (using the skills of problem solving, critical thinking, and communication). After this, I would share with them the number of positive cases of the virus [in the world and the KSA], and I would ask the question: How can we minimize these figures? I would listen to their responses”. AL drew on a specific theoretical framework to frame a journal entry: Sternberg’s (1988) theory of successful intelligence, which stated that intelligent human behaviour arose from a balance of analytical, creative and practical abilities thereby enabling people to be successful within given socio-cultural contexts. In this respect, she said, “The use of Sternberg’s theory would help students to know themselves, identify their own strengths and weaknesses, rectify limitations, and utilize their own strengths in performance improvement. According to this theory, everyone needs the ability to think, analyze, and innovate in a scientific way in order to develop useful 21st-century skills”. EM, who is in favour of distance learning, described what she had done in an online class to teach elementary students with a special focus on 21st-century skills. She said, “At the outset, I made clear, through a video, the story of this disease. What is it? Where did it begin? What are the best ways to avoid it? And how can it be prevented? Here, I stimulated the students’ thinking skills through viewing, clarifying the problem, and starting to think about solving the problem, thus combining and linking information and then analyzing and interpreting results”. As far as the lesson development is concerned, EM said, “I then displayed images, for example, ways of washing hands, mixing with people without caution, antiseptics, gloves, masks and the like. I then divided the students into groups and let them communicate and express their thoughts efficiently, using oral and written communication skills among themselves through their cell phones, because each student has her own cell phone. For class activities, NJ1 said, “Divide the students in light of this topic into some categories (doctor, nurse, rescuer, vaccine manufacturer, teacher, official, security man). The following step is to listen to their ideas and what will be presented to reduce this pandemic and address it through own profession”. ET said, “To achieve sharing and communication among students, giving them a word to search for its meaning on the internet to collect some information about it is considered a wise move. To achieve self-learning, it is significant to show some pictures that contain correct and wrong behaviours and ask pupils to critique them to achieve critical thinking. Certainly, technology here is the main tool and has been relied upon”. In addition, ZR said, “Interacting through technical media with people from other cultures benefits our pupils. Together they can identify how to reduce the

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incidence of disease, knowing what other countries are achieving, respecting the world’s views on dealing with diseases, and accepting differences in cultures and new ideas to combat the disease”. Finally, the researchers established a list of the 21st-century skills from the content analysis that the study participants had aimed to teach their pupils. Accordingly, the top 11 skills were: collaboration & communication, critical thinking, creative thinking, problem solving, information sharing, presentation skills, leadership skills & responsibility taking, research skills, respecting others’ ideas, digital skills, and self-directed learning skills.

6. Discussion and Implications Recent research affirmed that the abrupt shift from traditional in-person, classbased learning to distance technology-based instruction has prompted teachers to adapt in their role as 21st-century educators (Colaneri et al., 2020; Ferdig, 2020; Hishan et al., 2020; Mulenga & Marbán, 2020). The same seemed to hold in Saudi Arabia as far as the postgraduate elementary teachers in this sample frame are concerned. A critical finding was that despite the enormity of the challenges, participants expressed a sense of ample scope for personal and pedagogical transformation. An analysis of the collection of powerful extracts pulled from the overall data set revealed four common ideas around this finding. First, threaded throughout the data was a collection of principles the participants wanted to instil in their students. They amounted to an esprit de core or common spirit that must be respected to sustain long-term morale, enthusiasm and eventual success in dealing with COVID-19. Participants wanted elementary students to embrace the idea that the country is depending on everyone’s cooperation. Students have a duty to the nation, a responsibility to their community and to themselves, and with the latter meaning they must take responsibility for their own learning while learning to cooperate and value other’s contributions. Being the torchbearers responsible for the nation’s future is a heady aspiration for elementary students at age 5 to 12, but it resonates with the core message of Vision 2030 (KSA, 2016, p. 72). Participants’ esprit de core seems to reflect the sentiment that “we are each personally responsible for our own futures. As such, we will develop ourselves and will work to become independent and active members of society. ... We will remember our lifelong obligations to our families” (KSA, 2016, p. 72). Mishrif and Alabduljabbar (2018) maintained that elementary education is very important because it helps pave the way for a nation’s success. Elementary students must be taught how to bring out their inner talents to share responsibility for each other and their home country. The appearance of this idea in this exploratory study warranted further investigation especially on how pervasive it is among all Saudi elementary teachers, and whether they are in the graduate school or not. At first glance, it appeared that it might not be realistic for the study participants to expect their pupils to take on such a grave responsibility in shaping

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their nations’ future considering their tender age. Others, nonetheless, thought this is reasonable. Abualrob (2019) claimed it is never too early to start learning 21st-century skills, which are essential for nation building. Mead (2016) also asserted that elementary education is a powerful predictor of a child’s life outcomes and contributions. Second, as would be expected, participants commented on technical issues wherein, when preparing their online COVID-19 lesson, they intended to orient themselves and learners to the digital learning site where future learning would take place (e.g., Zoom, Collaborate, etc.). In this concern, future research should explore whether other Saudi female elementary educators would feel obligated to ensure a well-run virtual classroom, or whether this was unique to this small sample frame. Several researchers have documented the technical-related challenges teachers have faced switching to online learning and advocated for preparedness (O’Brien et al., 2020; König et al., 2020). It is the instructor’s responsibility to ensure that the learning environment operated well (König et al., 2020; Rapanta et al., 2020). Some participants also tried to affirm for themselves that distance education is beneficial and that students can learn this way. Other studies have recognized similar concerns (Al-Roubaie & Alaali, 2020; Khatun & Saadat, 2020; Kovačević, 2020). Given that this shift to distance learning was immediate and imposed, it therefore made sense that some participants sought validation of its merit and tried to ease their misgivings. Lederman (2020) concurred that doubts about its efficacy are natural and widespread with most educators rapidly embracing it. Participants in this Arab-world study appeared to be following this trend. Study participants (enrolled part-time in a master’s degree program) averaged eight years of teaching experience and seemed to be receptive to distance learning. Other researchers have reported that more experienced teachers are most receptive (Lapada et al., 2020). Future studies could discern how receptive other Saudi female elementary educators are to online learning (with a focus on work experience differences), and whether they express doubts about its efficacy to help very young children learn. Results from such research could inform pre-service, postgraduate and in-service professional development initiatives. Third, most participants commented on specific instructional strategies they would or had already used to teach an online COVID-19 lesson. Most of them indicated that before getting students to engage with the topic, they, as the teachers, would prepare and share (via PowerPoints and videos) background material on COVID-19. With this scaffolding, different instructional strategies were shared. Van Gompel (2019) observed that self-directed, active learning and experiential learning strategies are important. The development of studentcentered learning strategies in an unconventional learning environment such as an online platform will need to be further examined. University teacher-training programs, either at bachelors or masters degree level, should purposefully focus on these instructional strategies and how to implement them via distance

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education platforms. Since this paper placed focus on the teachers themselves, future investigations should be made through the lens of the pupils. Several study participants specifically commented on the need to pay attention to evaluation strategies and to regularly communicate this aspect of the course with students. Per MS’s comment, they favoured “student evaluation based on participation.”In this way, we will need to understand the shift in the new assessment method, which is unconventional in Saudi Arabia, and tailor both preservice teacher teaching and in-service professional development to this methodological shift. Due to the pandemic, study participants were veering away from the traditional rote learning pedagogy (Basham et al., 2020; Jung 2020; Sekiyama, 2020) towards more student-centered, self-directed learning with authentic assessment strategies (i.e., students demonstrate what they are learning rather than just recall facts and information) and concerted efforts to communicate this active learner participation to students. EM commented that “I have kept my students informed… making clear the evaluation policy and its strategies.” Fourth, several participants made a point to say their approach to teaching had changed upon shifting to distance learning mode. EM explicitly said, “since this crisis, I have changed my teaching methods.” Participants saw themselves as facilitators who actively ensured consensus building amongst learners, and reinforced the power of teamwork and collaborative, self-directed learning – in effect, student-centered learning (Van Gompel, 2019). With this pedagogical shift, many participants elaborated on changes in their pedagogy. Comments varied but included: (a) a deeper respect for different learning styles; (b) the merit of the problem-solving approach with substantiated evidence; (c) being mindful of questions posed to students using ones that made them think with the requirement that the teacher listen to their answers; and (d) ensuring students’ chance to learn about themselves (strengths and weaknesses) and innovate. Further research should determine if the findings from this exploratory study hold true for the majority of Saudi elementary teachers who also had to shift pedagogical gears so rapidly. Further investigation, therefore, will need to show whether Saudi elementary educators were all open to such a pedagogical change and whether the Saudi female elementary teachers were skilfully shifting pedagogical approaches in such a short time frame. Many study participants reiterated the importance of elementary students being able to learn 21st-century skills with the most frequently mentioned, including: critical thinking, problem solving, communicating, creative thinking, innovation, and analyzing (Abualrob, 2019; Stauffer, 2020; Van Gompel, 2019). Granted, part of the research design protocol specifically requested participants to ensure that elementary students can develop 21st-century skills while learning via distance education. One cannot assume safely that teachers outside the scope of this study will link this imperative with their efforts to teach using distance learning platforms. Thus, it would be needed to draw their attention explicitly to such an imperative shift. Without further investigations, it would be impossible to a certain extent to ascertain whether learning 21st-century skills is on the radar of

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Saudi female elementary educators other those who were in this postgraduate sample frame.

7. Limitations First, this exploratory study was undertaken with only 20 female postgraduate students at one Saudi university. Future studies should draw from other Saudi universities across the nation and solicit data from male elementary teachers as well who comprise nearly half of Saudi educators teaching young children. Second, the study participants were either gainfully employed or seeking employment as elementary teachers. Future studies should focus on both years of work experience and employment status of the participants to determine if these variables would impact their thoughts about what is involved in preparing lessons for online learning that ensure elementary students’ learning of 21stcentury skills. Third, there is a need for broader research using both qualitative and quantitative research designs to best represent and cross-check teachers’ experiences in such situations.

8. Conclusion Findings suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant influence on and changed the educational process for these Saudi postgraduate students who were also gainfully employed or seeking positions as elementary educators. The results were very encouraging. That is, despite the pandemic and national lockdown, participants were empowered because the shift to online education enabled them to continue their pursuit of their postgraduate studies in elementary education. They could also apply what they had learned from the university program into their online teaching incorporating 21st-century skills for their pupils. The way they put pedagogical theories and teaching methodologies into practice would benefit the younger generations who possessed adequate digital skills. No doubt, their formative years have been indelibly shaped by a global pandemic that has changed the world. Nevertheless, their teachers have stepped up to the challenge taking on the mission of educating and equipping youngsters with new, most-needed skills to thrive in the future. If other Saudi elementary teachers had also found a similar comfort level using online learning platforms to instil 21st-century skills, the future of elementary education in Saudi Arabia looked promising. Participants’ comments were thought-provoking and optimistic, reflecting their openness to using alternative modes of learning that still meet the needs of elementary pupils. The study participants contributed an array of digital resources, teaching techniques, learning activities, and evaluation methods. Subsequently, a list of the 21stcentury skills that their pupils could acquire during the lesson has emerged, as a result. This research has offered the international audience deeper insights into the teaching practices of elementary school teachers in Saudi Arabia during the pandemic.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 51-67, March 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.3.4

English as Foreign Language Teaching in High Schools: A Chilean Case Study Andrew Philominraj, Ranjeeva Ranjan, Rodrigo Arellano Saavedra and Claudio Andrés Cerón Urzúa Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca, Chile https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2251-7150 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7667-2191 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8671-3623 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6063-7642

Abstract. In Chile, English is taught as a foreign language and its poor performance, as per the English Proficiency Index report, is a disturbing factor now that Chile is an official member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This study seeks to understand the dynamics of English language teaching by focusing on the didactics, methodologies, evaluative tools, techniques and resources commonly used in the municipal schools in the city of Talca. This case study involves a quantitative method within the characteristics of a descriptive, interpretative and correlational framework. The purposefully selected participants were fifteen teachers from four municipal schools in the city of Talca to whom an open-ended questionnaire was distributed to collect the primary data. The secondary data consisted of the Sistema de Medición de la Calidad de la educación (education quality measurement system) (SIMCE) results from 2010 to 2014 and the National Study results of the English language testing in 2017. The results show that the teaching of English as a foreign language is a difficult task because the didactics and methodologies used by the teachers are not adequate to favour students’ reaching the level of proficiency established by the Chilean Ministry of Education. The findings suggest a systematic teacher training programme and continuous focus on the teaching of the English language to enhance learners’ language proficiency. Keywords: didactics; English as a foreign language; methodology; SIMCE

1. Introduction English as a foreign language has been taught in Latin America for more than a hundred years, mainly because of economic communication with the globalised world (Glas, 2013; Cronquist & Fiszbein, 2017). Chile is no exception to this reality. The substantial growth of Chile’s economy in the 1990s encouraged the

use of the English language as a tool for its competitiveness in the international market (Castro, 2011; Albuja & Merino, 2017). By the end of the decade it had become a compulsory subject to be taught at schools from the 5th grade as established by the Ministry of Education (Mineduc, 2012). The aspiration of Chile to transform the nation to the highest international standards is challenged, especially since only 2% of working adults speak a moderate level of English. Moreover, the results from the education quality measurement system, namely the SIMCE regarding the English language indicate the poor quality of English teaching in the municipal schools. One of the hypotheses to explain these results is that the didactics and methodologies currently used are not adequate, or that the teachers have failed to adapt them to the Chilean context. Chile, as per the English Proficiency Index report (EF EPI), stands 37th out of 100 countries evaluated (EF EPI, 2020). This is relatively a good position in terms of the Latin American region and indicates progress but not so encouraging at the global level. Despite the apparent progress of Chileans in English language proficiency, an analysis of the English SIMCE results from 2010 to 2014, the National Study results of the English language tests of 2017, and the EF EPI report reveal that there are still important challenges ahead. The SIMCE and the National Study are Chilean evaluation programmes which are highly relevant and referred to by the teachers to enhance their teaching practices. These programmes provide essential information on language proficiency and are carried out in a systematic process of collecting, dissecting, and interpreting information (Loi & Hang, 2021). Given this importance, the data from the abovementioned years were considered since there has been no other English proficiency assessment carried out by the Chilean Ministry of Education. The proficiency level established by the Chilean government based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Council of Europe, 2001) by the end of high school ranges from A2 to B1. The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) is an international standard for describing language ability. It defines language ability on a six-point scale from A1 for beginners, up to C2 for those who have mastered a language. The results show that more than half of the students in Chile were below level A1, indicating the lowest level of proficiency in the English language (Agencia de Calidad de la Eduación, 2017). Given such results of the English language performance, it becomes relevant to understand the underlying concept of education as a process of the development and empowerment of individuals, and as the enabler of efficient responses to the new conditions imposed by globalisation. In the development of any nation, education is a key success, and the introduction of language teaching becomes even more important (Philominraj et al., 2020). In Chile, despite the implementation of the English language education for so many years, the proficiency in this language as established by the Ministry of Education has not yet been achieved by the learners. English language proficiency enhances the capacities and skills of learners, leading to integral development and enabling success in language learning. Proficient learners are believed to possess a “good command of the language”, i.e., they have the ability to comprehend the

language without difficulty, communicate various ideas distinctly, and interact with other language users easily (Renandya et al., 2018). Therefore, educational institutions must develop a new organisational culture and innovative strategies, and design a curriculum according to the context. It is necessary to revise the teaching practices in terms of methodology, techniques of learning and reading comprehension, elements on which the Chilean school curriculum is based. It is for this purpose the literature review of the study covers educational reform, basic skills, and the didactics, methodologies, and strategies used for teaching English for a better understanding of the whole pedagogical process. Hence, the focus of the present research is to examine the didactic strategies, methodological approaches, evaluative tools, techniques, and resources employed by the teachers in urban schools in their English language teaching process. This was carried out by surveying fifteen urban municipal schoolteachers on their teaching practices that could approximate the reality of the teaching of a foreign language as that of the English language in the Chilean context (Ávila et al., 2010).

2. Educational Reform In the past, the educational reform in Chile proposed a restructuring that considered the main elements such as equity, equality, and quality education, characteristics that are essential to all schools (Bellei et al., 2018). Currently the need for learning English as a second language is on the increase, given the fact that it is a language of international communication (McKay & Brown, 2016). English as an international language has led ministries to formulate new national policies for language curricula and language teacher education (Garton, 2020). The Chilean national curriculum clearly states that the English language is considered a tool that allows global communication and at the same time permits wider access to a knowledge of information and technology. This in turn enables the country to face the demands of the global society (Barahona, 2015). The first reform to the English curriculum carried out in 1998 (McKay, 2003) was oriented towards the receptive skills of the language. Indeed, it was believed that reinforcing receptive abilities was going to facilitate access to the information network and thus, to the global economy. Therefore, productive skills such as speaking and writing were relegated to a secondary role (Barahona, 2016). Nonetheless, Ormeño (2009) states that during the 1980s, English teachers were asked to change the traditionally known grammartranslation method, giving more emphasis to the use and production of the language rather than replicating it perfectly. In 2009, and later in 2012, the English curriculum was adjusted to give more emphasis to productive skills, ensuring the development of the four skills of the language (Barahona, 2016). These modifications made by the Ministry of Education in 2012 led to aligning the objectives of the curriculum according to the CEFR to uplift the English curriculum to international standards. The educational reforms carried out by the Ministry of Education laid the foundation for the individual competencies towards English language

communication and thus considered these individualities in developing the language learning skills. However, the development of competence is due to a cognitive mediation that points to different competencies (Iglesias Ortuño, 2019).

3. Basic Skills Competence is defined as the development of a set of linguistic, sociolinguistic, pragmatic, strategic, and discursive processes and knowledge that the speakerlistener-reader-writer must put into action to produce or understand discourses appropriate to each context (Garcia & Fierro, 2017). Although the Chilean educational reform has promoted some of these in its plans and programmes, it has not been sufficient enough to achieve success and optimal management of the same (Bellei et al., 2018; Barahona, 2015). There are different competencies such as communicative, linguistic, literary, and metric; and the development of each one of these has its own different strategy. In communicative competence, for example, it is necessary to form an idiolect with knowledge and information of pragmatics. Linguistic competence demands the mediation of knowledge of linguistics, essentially in the text and rules of contextualisation. To develop these competencies new learning strategies are required. Concerning the comprehension of a text, many activities follow after the identification of the words, such as constructing propositions and ordering the ideas of the text, extracting the global meaning, and interrelating the ideas globally. These operations give rise to one of the dimensions of understanding: the textual representation or base of the text. However, the understanding also has another dimension, namely situational representation, which entails the construction of a model about the world or situation described by the text, where the readers’ previous knowledge becomes useful to accommodate the present information (Richmond & Zacks, 2017). Understanding a text requires understanding the meaning of the text and at the same time building a context-based model (Figueiredo, 2010). Subsequently, to understand each sentence within the text and construct the structure to integrate it with the knowledge that one already has means the process is divided into two blocks; on one hand, identifying the written text, a low level process and on the other hand the comprehension of the text, a high level process (García, 2006). It is important to underline that reading is something artificial that does not develop spontaneously as occurs with oral language. Speaking and reading are the two processes with clear differences, since the latter, besides needing to understand what is written to decode phonemes, also requires knowing the written word and contextualising it. The faster identification of the words results in a better understanding of the text. Reading is related to the development of phonological awareness and socioeconomic and cultural factors, which imply school performance. This proposition would explain the differences in students from a low economic stratum, those who fail to follow the reading process of the formal school programmes due to the lack of access and are also disadvantaged in cognitive and verbal scope (Libertad & Desarrollo, 2010). Students who have greater linguistic, verbal, and emotional

stimuli at an age before they enter basic education have a greater prediction of success in the reading and writing process (Hoyos & Gallego, 2017). Writing is the graphic representation of oral language since everything that is spoken must appear in the written form in the process of teaching. Therefore, the importance of written language should be emphasised as it favours the development of the teaching process, both individually and collectively (Davidson, 2019). The communicative activity in the classroom must produce a dialogue between the teacher and the student that explains situations meaningfully, both in the mother tongue and in the foreign language. In this way, the student and the teacher can share with others their affective world, emotions, expectations, and feelings. Thus, the learning of English becomes relevant, emerging as an easy, pleasant, useful, and effective task (Ramírez Ortiz & Artunduaga, 2018). On the one hand teaching is a communicative process and, on the other, it has the function of transmitting and developing communicative faculties. Therefore, the teaching process requires that the English teacher should encourage communication and avoid a monologue in which the teacher is the only one who knows and who passively transmits knowledge without taking into account the cognitive ability of the students with their preconceptions and concepts (Monsalve & Correal, 2006). In order to be successful, the English teacher should communicate in and out of the classroom, have command of the language, know how to interpret information and ideas, as well as understanding what his or her student wishes to communicate in another language efficiently. The teacher should show respect for what the students say, fostering understanding and tolerance before frustration so that the students can participate actively. The teacher must generate a communicative environment of familiarity which favours independence and creativity, and facilitates a dynamic positive group. The use of appropriate verbal language is essential; hence, the need for vocabulary and precision in ideas to express oneself effectively. The teacher could be an excellent facilitator of learning if s/he has a good command of oral language since s/he could very easily convert complicated information into something simple (Ramírez Ortiz & Artunduaga, 2018). To sum up, it could be said that facility of communication in English is vital for success in learning and teaching the language. This means the teacher should be capable of keeping the student motivated throughout the lesson by speaking only in English, in an easy, entertaining, and meaningful way. This could encourage the students to communicate in another language and ultimately make them feel capable of expressing themselves spontaneously both in and out of the classroom.

4. Didactics, methodologies and strategies used for teaching English In the process of teaching-learning, curricular disciplines and content organisation that stimulates the capacity to learn are introduced into the educational practice. This process involves methodology, didactic strategies,

evaluation, techniques, and resources. The methods form the sequence of teacher and student actions aimed at achieving the objectives of teaching. It is essentially the method which makes the process dynamic. To be consistent with the teaching didactic idea that is used, the methods must be characterised by being essentially productive carried out with expository methods; guaranteeing the active and interactive participation of students in their search for knowledge, and helping them to find solutions to their problems. At the same time, it should be directed towards promoting group work in harmony with the individual as well as teaching students to learn through developing skills of guidance, planning, supervision or control, and evaluation (Bravo, 2011). In the trajectory of the teaching of English as a foreign language, methods that are of importance and which have been frequently used are the grammar translation method, direct method, audio-lingual method, cognitive approach, natural approach, and communicative approach. The strategy of teaching is a description of learning environments; therefore, the organisation of a classroom can be considered as a strategy as it would be supported by cooperative learning. Moreover, the means and didactic resources can be considered as products of didactic strategies, such as texts or printed materials, without losing their category of being mediation tools (Muñoz, 2010). Strictly speaking, a strategy is a process of execution of the subject’s ability to learn, for which skills are chosen, coordinated, and applied. These sequences of action are strongly oriented toward the final objective to be achieved. On the other hand, Ruiz (2001) as cited in Urgellés and Hernández (2018) understands that every strategy transits through a phase of obtaining information and a phase of evolution. Strategies are designed to solve practical problems and optimise time and resources. They also involve a planning process in which target-oriented action sequences are established. Depending on the context in which the strategies are targeted, they can be pedagogical, educational, didactic, and methodological. The didactic strategy is a result of a system of actions carried out in the short, medium and long term that allows the transformation of the teaching-learning process in an assignment, level, or institution based on the components of the same and that allows the achievement of the proposed objectives at a specific time (Vergara, 2015). The term ‘didactic’ comes from the Greek didaskein meaning ’teach’ and teckne meaning ’art’. It is a pedagogical discipline of a practical and normative nature the specific objective of which is the teaching technique. This technique stimulates and guides students effectively in their learning (Amos, 1998). In any teaching, the use of pedagogy is in the foreground, taking into account the social aims and adapting these to new programmes and methods of teaching. The purpose of teaching is to provide the student with the resources of expression, comprehension, and reflection on linguistic uses (Vergara, 2015).

In terms of didactic order, the starting point to define the learning process is the theory of communicative learning, based on conflict solution, derived from the interactions of individuals with their environment. It becomes a process that evolves from the concept of transmission of knowledge to the concept of generating active learners through social interactions (Martinez, 2005). From this perspective, it is assumed that the teaching of a second or a foreign language must favour the development of a communicative learning strategy, understood as an active and constructive process. In addition, communicative learning is significant in regulating, developing, and systematising (Martínez Lagares, 2015). The following terms – methodology, didactic strategies, evaluation, techniques, and resources – are interrelated in the exercise of educational practice. As a whole, these items seek a quality result in the teaching-learning process in the geographical, social, political, historical, and cultural reality of the student, identifying the learner as an integral part of a particular social group. In the Chilean context, there has been a proposal to strengthen the English language teaching through several educational reforms, as seen in the introductory section, which is also highlighted in this literature review. These aspects discussed above indicate the lacuna, which is currently far from being addressed in the teaching of English as a foreign language in Chilean classrooms.

5. Methodology This case study involves a quantitative method within the characteristics of a descriptive, interpretative, and correlational framework. Participants The participants were fifteen teachers from four municipal schools in the city of Talca. The selection of the participants for this research was directed or purposeful (Otzen & Manterola, 2017). This was done taking into account the teachers from Marta Donoso Espejo School, Abate Molina School, Carlos Condell School, and Diego Portales School, who were teaching English as a foreign language in these schools. These schools are public schools managed by the municipality and are categorised as schools of excellence by the Agency of Quality of Education under the Ministry of Education. Research instrument In the current study, an open-ended questionnaire was used to collect the primary data. This instrument was distributed to the teachers of the abovementioned schools. It was constructed based on the categories of the Chilean National Curriculum (Mineduc, 2012), such as methodology, strategies, techniques, evaluation, and resources used in the teaching of English as a foreign language. The questionnaire was validated through a panel of experts in the field of English language teaching methodology. The secondary data consisted of the SIMCE results from 2010 to 2014 and the National Study English language results in 2017.

Data analysis The responses of the open-ended questionnaire were coded in an Excel file and were categorized thematically. These themes were the independent variables representing different categories such as methodology, strategies and techniques. The results from the SIMCE and the National Study of English constituted dependent variables with which the independent variables from the survey were correlated and the data were analysed through means of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The objective of this study was to analyse the didactics and methodologies of the English language teaching used by the teachers to understand the dynamics of teaching and consequently its impact on students’ achievement in the learning of English as a foreign language. Hence, the study aimed to describe and analyse the meaning of teachers’ actions related to the didactic sequences (Denardi, 2017).

5. Results and Discussions The independent variables and their percentages used by the fifteen sample teachers are presented in the following graphs.

Figure 1: Frequency of methodology

On comparing the most used methodologies, Figure 1 indicates that with 26.7%, the reading or oral method enjoys priority. The second most used are shared by communicative act centred on the student, meaningful learning, and the inductive methodology, all three with 20%. Lastly, the deduction with 13.3% refers to exercises and examples of daily acts that require logical reasoning on the part of the students.

Figure 2: Frequency of commonly used strategies

In analysing the most used strategies, the use of books, which are distributed free to the students by the Ministry of Education, is employed by 40%of the teachers. Group work is favoured by 26.7%, followed by 13.3% who rely on research and dissertations.

Figure 3: Frequency of techniques

In analysing the most used techniques, 46.7% of the teachers use books for reading purposes. These are commonly distributed to students by the Ministry of Education for free. The technique of extraction or simplification of content taught being used in the teaching process is favoured by 20%, while inference and transcoding are used by 13.3% of the teachers.

Figure 4: Frequency of instruments of evaluation

The written test is the assessment instrument most frequently used by 53.3% of the teachers of the municipal schools in the city of Talca. This is followed by dissertations, written texts in the English language, and interrogation, each employed by 13.3% of the teachers.

Figure 5: Frequency of resources

When considering the resource materials used by the English teachers from the participating high schools, there is a tendency to use textbooks among 33.3%, followed by multimedia projectors and the use of laptops with lectures and techniques such as PowerPoint being used by 20% of the teachers. The results of the English test collected from the four schools as published by the SIMCE are shown in Figure 6:

Average SIMCE score in English

SIMCE Results by School 110

109

105

100 95

90 85 81

75 70

Series1

Liceo Abate Molina

Liceo Marta Donoso Espejo

Liceo Diego Portales

Liceo Carlos Condell

109

Figure 6: SIMCE results by school

With regard to the results obtained between dependent variables (results obtained from the SIMCE test) and their correlations with the major relevant independent variables of this study based on the Chilean National Curriculum are presented in Figure 7 below.

Figure 7: Average of SIMCE English test by methodologies used

In terms of methodologies, the significant learning and the learning centred on students indicate the highest results in the SIMCE test. The reading or oral method implemented by the teachers (27%) in these schools has the least relevance in the SIMCE results as evident in Figure 7. This is because there may be a mismatch between the methodology used by the teachers for enhancing oral and communicative production and the evaluative criteria used by SIMCE.

Figure 8: Average of SIMCE English test by strategies used

On comparing the results of the SIMCE test with the strategies reported by the teachers, research was found to be statistically significant and to have the most influence leading to good results. It is also important to note that the use of only books in the classroom determines the lowest score in this measurement. Table 1: Average of SIMCE tests on listening and reading to evaluation instrument Instruments of Evaluation Test Results

Written Tests

53.3

Listening result Reading result

42.75 47.75

On comparing the results of listening and reading skills obtained from the the SIMCE test with one of the items from the list of evaluative instruments based on the national curriculum, the written tests were found to be the most used instrument by 53.3% of the teachers at school. The SIMCE test measures listening and reading skills to determine the achievement of the English language in students. The SIMCE does not include oral assessment which reflects a gap in their evaluative criteria. This seems to be contrary to the instrument of evaluation predominantly used by the teachers, which clearly indicates the incoherence between these two types of evaluative activities, namely the one used by the teachers to foster English language teaching and the other employed by the SIMCE to verify the achievement of the same in students. This proves the hypothesis of this study, namely that the teachers are not using appropriate methodologies and strategies. They have also failed to adapt these to the Chilean context. This study indicates that textbooks continue to dominate as the didactic resource most used by the high school teachers of English. In three of the five categories taken from the national curriculum, all of three highlighted the use of textbooks as the main source, whether for methodology, strategies, or evaluation. It is because this tool helps the teachers to maintain order in the classroom; on the

other hand, it is a resource to which all have access since it is facilitated to all students of municipal education by the Ministry of Education in Chile. Of all the strategies used by the teachers, one could derive that communicative competence is the least used, contrary to the literature, which states that it is one of the most effective strategies to learn a language such as English (Ramírez Ortiz & Artunduaga, 2018). This is because many of the teachers who teach in the classrooms of the municipal schools do not have advanced levels of competence in the language they teach (Mineduc, 2019). This is an impediment in terms of correction and oral stimulation. The data on the resources used by the teachers surveyed show the use of some technological tools such as the multimedia projector and laptop. However, there was a lack of language laboratories to consolidate students’ reading and listening skills. The secondary data, which consisted of the SIMCE results from 2010-2014 and the National Study results of the English language test of 2017, were compared and are presented in Figure 9 and Table 2:

Figure 9: Comparison of number of students evaluated, certified and uncertified Table 2: Percentage of certified and uncertified students Test* SIMCE

Yea r 2010

No. of students evaluated 208,038

% of certified students 11.00

% of uncertified students 89.00

SIMCE

2012

186,385

17.80

82.20

SIMCE

2014

154,097

24.50

75.50

National Test

2017

7,340

32.00

68.00

* The data in the above table have been compiled from the various reports from the Chilean Ministry of Education (Mineduc, 2010; Agencia de Calidad de la Educación, 2012, 2014, 2017).

The results of the English test carried out by the Agency for Quality of the School Education (2017) revealed that 68% of the students evaluated were below level A2 as defined by the CEFR. On the one hand, data from 2010 to 2017 is

promising, showing an increase in terms of the percentage of students obtaining certification to prove their proficiency in the English language; on the other hand, the same data also indicates a decline in the number of students participating in the certification process, as highlighted in Table 2 and Figure 9 respectively. Based on the CEFR definitions of the level of proficiency, this data clearly indicates that students in Chile are not able to understand frequently used phrases and expressions related to areas of experience that are especially relevant to them. Students in level A2 should be able to communicate when carrying out simple daily tasks that require only simple and direct exchanges of information on issues that are common to them. In addition, they should be able to describe in simple terms aspects pertaining to their past experiences as well as issues related to their immediate needs. To sum up, the analysis of the above results shows that the teaching of English as a foreign language is regarded as a difficult task because the didactics and methodologies used by the teachers are not conducive to students’ reaching the level of proficiency established by the Chilean Ministry of Education.

6. Conclusion The data of this study revealed that the methodologies, which are student centred and provide meaningful learning, are correlated with language achievement (SIMCE results) ensuring greater success as shown in Figure 1. In terms of strategies, research and dissertations favoured students’ achievement of language as evident in Figure 2. Concerning evaluative tools, there is a need to include evaluation of listening and reading skills, which were lacking in the teachers’ responses. This may be because oral assessment is not included in the SIMCE test, which the present study aims to highlight. Referring to resources, the study found it was necessary to have language laboratories at schools to strengthen the reading and listening skills, as well as oral production in students. The data enable the conclusion that the teachers do not do specific planning for each class; they rather use the available resources to carry out their job as best as they can, even when this implies not having sufficient comprehension of the didactic concept and methodology for better teaching. The data analysis also indicates that there is a need to systematise mediation and design planning according to the pedagogical model or the time invested. It also highlights the necessity to create a synergy between teaching and learning strategies, balancing the most appropriate techniques and resources to develop activities for students that will stimulate their thinking and their conceptualisation of thought appropriate to the learning of English as a foreign language. Despite all the efforts made by the teachers, the research highlighted the challenges that Chile needs to tackle in the teaching of English as a foreign language.

7. Recommendations and limitations The present study was limited to municipal schools in the city of Talca, and the inclusion of private and subsidised schools for further study in other cities is proposed. Teachers of English were the only participants and perhaps the responses from students learning English as a foreign language could have

strengthened the findings of this study. The findings of the current study recommend a systematic teacher-training programme and continuous development in the teaching of the English language to enhance learners’ language proficiency.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 68-83, March 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.3.5

The Practicum in Times of Covid-19: Knowledge Developed by Future Physical Education Teachers in Virtual Modality Alejandro Almonacid-Fierro, Ricardo Souza de Carvalho and Franklin Castillo-Retamal Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca, Chile https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8328-017X https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1715-9213 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9118-4340 Manuel Almonacid Fierro Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Talca, Chile https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5186-4974

Abstract. The Covid-19 pandemic has put enormous pressure on the educational system in all its teaching and learning activities, and in the specific case of the practical training of teachers. This study seeks to investigate through qualitative research with a comprehensive interpretive approach, the training of the practicum of Physical Education teachers in Chile, considering the knowledge and experiences, in the context of virtual classrooms during the Covid-19 pandemic. Semistructured interviews and focus groups were used to collect the data; and were analyzed with the content analysis technique. As result, it can be observed that the students manifest diverse experiences in their practicum process, with difficulties inherent to the remote work condition, such as difficulty in communication with students and school teachers, problems in didactic and evaluation processes, and adaptation to context. It is necessary to discuss the access of students and teachers to technologies, as well as the training of physical education teachers in areas of didactic and assessment in contexts where face-to-face is difficult. Keywords: physical education; teacher training; Covid-19, practicum

1. Introduction On December 31, 2019, cases of pneumonia occurred in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, People's Republic of China. At that time, the World Health Organization (WHO) was notified to verify the recurrence of the cases. Then the transmitting agent was identified, which is a new corona virus: SARS-CoV-2, which can cause acute respiratory syndrome, hospitalization, and death. As of March 12, 2020, the ©Authors This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

global outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 was declared a pandemic (WHO, 2020). The WHO indicated that, to effectively combat Covid-19 and preserve lives, countries should isolate the population, avoid crowds, and intensify healthy hygiene habits, such as proper handwashing, social distancing, and then confinement (Cruz et al., 2020). Today's world is witnessing a new form of social behavior, a product of the pandemic, since the ways of relating, consuming, work strategies, and teaching tasks were impacted. The scenario of the pandemic has led people to make different reflections and review attitudes, ways of being and of relating socially, among others. One of these reflections refers to the comfort of the classrooms and the inseparable teacher-student relationship, since now the classes are remote or virtual (Daniel, 2020; Ferdig et al., 2020). The teaching and learning process needs, therefore, to adapt to the new reality, and, in this sense, the initial teacher training (ITT) is of vital importance, especially at the training instance called practicum, at which point future teachers are deeply inserted into the school system for a whole semester (Fazio et al., 2010). In this context, students have strong pedagogical, emotional, and social support from collaborating teachers, trainers, and peers, in order to achieve the implementation of new strategies in the classrooms (Hume & Berry, 2013; Chaliès et al., 2008; Medina & Bohórquez, 2020; Nash, 2010). Physical Education (PE) as a curricular component of education must assume the task of introducing and integrating the student into the movement culture; preparing the citizen to produce, reproduce and transform it. The PE teacher’s goal is that people enjoy the game, sport, rhythmic activities, and dance, gymnastics and physical activity, benefitting the quality of life (Bailey et al., 2009; Kim & Ko, 2016; Lander et al., 2017). On the other hand, if the student learns the technical and tactical fundamentals of a collective sport, he must also learn to organize himself socially to practice it, and must understand the rules as an element that makes the game possible. Physical Education should lead the student to discover the motives and meanings in bodily practices, encourage the development of positive attitudes toward them, leading to the learning of behaviors appropriate to their practice and to the knowledge, understanding and analysis of body culture of the movement phenomena (Benites et al., 2008). The practicum is considered one of the most critical components of Initial Teacher Training with a great impact on the quality of teachers (Zeichner, 2010). Despite the value of this instance, the practicum represents a complex experience for students, since it is experienced as an emotionally, physically, and interpersonally demanding process with significant consequences in the development of the teacher and in the permanence in the profession (Melville et al., 2014). Likewise, it is possible to understand the practicum as a point of disagreement between universities and schools, in a relationship that is often problematic and tense, that places students in a complex scenario in which they must perform (Starkie, 2007). During the practicum, the teacher in training is totally immersed in the reality of the school, doing a one-semester internship in primary or secondary school. It is the moment when the idea of the teacher as an observer, interpreter and decisionmaker, the reflective teacher, and critical reflection based on the identification of

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the theories or assumptions that underlie teaching practice is best worked on (Canning, 2011). The proposal is to work on the teaching projects in the school, according to the challenges that the class can offer; therefore, the work is carried out in agreement with the school teacher and, during the semester, the students are required to systematize the reflections made during the process (Fazio et al., 2010). The teachers in initial training who attend the practicum find in this period a meaning to the teaching profession, awakening in them a reflective and critical attitude about what they do and how they do it and, therefore, shaping their teaching identity, according to what was reported by Cohen et al. (2013) and White and Forgasz (2016). In this sense, initial physical education teacher training must be committed to the subjects that make up the school environment, since it is where the future teacher acquires the scientific, and pedagogical knowledge and skills necessary to face a teaching career (Castillo-Retamal et al., 2019; Rezer & Fensterseifer, 2008; Ward & Ayvazo, 2016). However, this training cannot be understood as offering finished products, but, on the contrary, it is an initial phase of professional development. Among all the components that are interconnected during the initial training of Physical Education teachers, the process of practicum stands out as one of the fundamental elements of this process. This curricular component is recognized as a determining factor in the process of identity construction as a future professional in the Physical Education area (Iaochite & Costa Filho, 2016; Zhu & liu, 2020). In Chile, the pedagogical practices at the ITT have been the focus of discussion in the universities, given that these training spaces have not managed to produce the necessary changes in the training of future teachers (Vanegas & Fuentealba, 2019). Practical training is perceived as any activity that puts the future teacher in contact with an educational center (Canning, 2011; Fazio et al., 2010). Several studies point out the relevance of considering that students are strongly influenced by their biographies and by their own education, which act as frames of reference that shape their disposition toward new teaching and learning paradigms. Teacher training programs need to actively take responsibility for the tension that is generated between the accumulated experience of students versus the current demands of teaching and learning, through reflection (Melville et al., 2014; Rees et al., 2012; Rezer & Fensterseifer, 2008; Zuljan, et al., 2011). According to the foregoing, investigating the strategies that students use in the formative instance of an online practicum, as a learning resource during a nonpresence situation, is extremely relevant, understanding that Physical Education is one of the most affected subjects, as it is preferably an experiential content (Lander et al., 2017). Physical Education in times of pandemic is a challenge, to which teachers and future teachers must adapt and generate strategies that allow students to learn and, consequently, remain physically active (Chen et al., 2020; Isidori, 2020). The main objective of this study is to analyze the learning experienced by Physical Education students in their practicum period, within the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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2. Methods This study is ascribed to the interpretive-comprehensive paradigm (Given, 2008), since its objective points to the construction of meanings through the interpretation and understanding of the subjectivities of the knowledge and experiences that Physical Education students reveal in the period of the practicum in times of Covid-19. In general terms, qualitative research follows an interpretative tradition because it starts from the assumption that people act in accordance with their beliefs, perceptions, feelings, and values (Flick, 2009; Moraes et al., 2019). The background collection techniques were the focus group and the semi-structured interview and were chosen for their characteristics which promote more participative, flexible and close dialogues with the participants. In this line, Bailey and Bailey (2017) and Miles et al. (2014), point out that these techniques favor oral expression and dialogue between collaborators and the researcher, and with the researched, since they give the possibility of reflecting and sharing their life experiences. The script used for the focus groups and the interviews was validated by five academic experts, who, through an exhaustive review, contributed to making the questions specific and focused on the objectives set. Three focus groups were held, consisting of a minimum of six and a maximum of ten participants. Subsequently, six interviews were conducted, for which key informants were called, who were selected from each of the focus groups (two per focus group), the selection criteria being participatory, disposition and richness of opinions. In total, 34 Physical Education students, in period of practicum, from two universities in the Maule-Chile region participated. The inclusion criteria were: final year Physical Education student, students who are in the period of professional practice (practicum) and who did the practicum during the first semester of 2020. As exclusion criterion, those students who did not finish the period of the practicum. To proceed with the analysis of the collected antecedents, the interviews were transcribed. For data treatment, NVivo 10 software was used, likewise, the content analysis method was used to extract codes and categories inductively. These were reduced through the constant comparison method, which is limited to grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). It should be noted that the dimensions were obtained from the review of the theoretical framework (Moreira & Costa, 2016). Consequently, these fragments were brought of the data and gathered to create categories that were defined based on some property. Later they were grouped together with the previous categories through open coding, an issue that allows the emergence of primary categories, giving way for a first moment descriptive interpretive instance (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). The data are grouped under these dimensions, categories, and codes obtained from the systematic and repeated reading of the participants' stories. In this way, it was possible to access the subjective experiences and the meanings attributed by Physical Education students to the academic period of the practicum in times of the Covid-19 pandemic. All the interviews were made in Spanish, and the stories contained in this study were translated to English.

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3. Results Next (Table 1) the dimensions, category, descriptions, and codes that emerged from the analysis and interpretation of the collected antecedents are presented, from the three focus groups and six interviews carried out with students of the Physical Education programs from two universities in the Maule region, Chile. Table 1. Data Systematization Matrix Mega Category

Previous Category Learning at Initial Teacher’s Training

Description

Primary Category

Category that refers to the Strategy implemented impact of the pandemic on Process perception Learning learning. Communication with teachers perception in times of Learning Implemented methodologies and Category addressing classroom Covid-19 Physical Confinement and obstacles learning in times of pandemic. Education Class Verification of learning Source: Own Elaboration.

The description and interpretation of the categories that were obtained from the analysis of the interviews are presented, as well as the units of analysis (which were extracted from the reports), to account for the category obtained. Each story presented has a code that expresses the following nomenclature: Interview, paragraph (para), and page (p. N). Then, to refer to them within the analysis and in relation to the stories, it will be as follows: "Textual account extracted from the interview". 3.1. Strategy implemented The Covid-19 pandemic has generated a profound change in education systems during 2020, impacting the teacher training processes in tertiary education. In the following reports, the Physical Education students give an account of their experiences during the practicum in terms of the strategy implemented by the university and the educational establishments where they were assigned: “During the Covid-19 pandemic, at the school where I did my internship they proposed a strategy, sending homework, then a month passed and they changed again, now sending videos, and last time, they tried to connect with the students by Zoom. So, in the end, stress is being generated both for the teachers and for us students in practice.” (Interview 1; para.1, p. 5). “Personally, I did not agree from the beginning with this practice, it seemed to me that the strategy was not adequate on the part of the university. I felt that it was deficient in terms of the support that the university gave us to be able to face something new, such as an online practice. Especially in our case that we have always been used to face-toface, interacting with students doing activities, so it didn't seem quite right to me. In the end I finished, but I didn't learn much.”(Interview 2; para. 2, p. 5). “As for the strategy that was addressed at the university, due to the fact that the schools were in confinement, they informed us that the practice

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would be virtual. At first, we were full of doubts and uncertainty because my practices were always face-to-face. Now in a few weeks everything changed and when we got to school it was the same. I never visited it. I did not meet my students, my contact was only with my guidance teacher, so on the one hand it was fine, we got out of the problem, but on the other there is a feeling of emptiness ”(Interview 4; para.63; p. 13). According to the report of the participating subjects in the focus groups and in the individual interviews, the strategy implemented by both the university and the educational establishment generated a good deal of uncertainty. The university decided that the practicum would be carried out virtually, an issue that radically changed the experiential model that was applied until 2019 in the Faculty of Education. For their part, the guiding teacher of the educational establishments chose to send paper homework and video capsules at the end of the semester. The option was the development of the classes via video conference platforms. Consequently, the strategy implemented had adverse effects on the learning of future teachers, since students conceive the discipline as an essentially practical area in which contact with students through bodily practices is essential. In this scenario, the pandemic forced them to assume a different task, without presence, without contact, without corporality, to which they had to adapt; however, they had some objections in terms of their learning. 3.2. Process Perception. The students of Physical Education describe their perception of the process experienced in the first semester with respect to their insertion into the school system through the practicum, a question that is reflected in the following stories: “I had to adapt to the online mode, so it was difficult for everyone, for some more than others, it was in all the college programs, not only Physical Education. I always tried to use the best tools and everything that the university had given me and, even so, there were many deficiencies in the school and in the teaching procedures; at the beginning, there was a lot of improvisation.”(Interview 14; para.13; p. 6). “I had a similar experience to that of my classmates, I had to request feedback and if I did not do so, they would not give it to me. I could not understand myself with the teacher of the establishment, there was little communication and I lacked feedback, in short, support. I'm still in the learning stage, so I don't have a good perception of the process.” (Interview 13; para.17; p. 7). “Virtual education in times of pandemic does not favor learning, focusing on the area of Physical Education. I feel that it impacts in many ways and it also impacted us by taking classes virtually, since it does not favor us so much, because our discipline is practical, we need to be on the patio or in the gym,” (Interview 10; para.14; p. 6). The interviewed students indicated that it was a difficult experience at the beginning, because the university and the school itself were just adapting to the virtual teaching modality; therefore, a time of improvisation was generated in the

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administrative-pedagogical aspects, the support and feedback from the guiding teacher was only tangential. On the other hand, and perhaps the most relevant, is that the students expected to meet with the children in the Physical Education classroom, on the playground and the gym, to develop the practical aspects of the discipline, an issue that they could never experience and, consequently, their perception of the process is not favorable. 3.3. Communication with Teachers. As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, a lockdown was decreed at the country level, in such a way that the state of alarm and lockdown measures in Chile began on March 18, 2020. On the other hand, at the beginning of April the students began to carry out the practicum in a virtual way, in which they had the support of the tutor (university professor) and the guiding teacher of the educational establishment, with whom they developed different communication instances: “My professor tutor at the university left a lot to be desired, that’s the truth, he had never worked with the professor. I feel that he was very absent during the process with us, the meetings we had that were counted, arose out of our need to clarify issues related to teaching in times of pandemic, which we did not know how to deal with” (Interview 14; para.8; p. 6). “From my point of view, as a result of this pandemic and remote teaching, the initiative is essential; many teachers were unable to support us correctly. I expected 100% of the school's guiding teacher and the truth is, I didn't have it, because perhaps he had other things to do, so at times I felt adrift, I did not communicate with my teacher guide and less with the students.” (Interview 14; para.12; p. 6). “With the guiding teacher of the establishment, it was clear with meetings, he would summon me every two or three weeks to a meeting, where we talked about the issues and the ways to address the content resulting from the pandemic. It was meetings through platforms and there he was informed about the process, the difficulties, positive aspects and suggestions; sometimes I felt that he had as many doubts as I did, because it was all new.” (GF 3; para. 18; p. 7). According to the report of the students who participated in the focus groups and in the individual interviews, communication with the tutor teacher and the guiding teacher was sporadic and unsystematic, since it was a product of the initial uncertainty, in terms of the duration of the period. From the state of alarm and confinement, the schools reacted belatedly with pedagogical proposals that incorporated all the students and, consequently, the teachers of the establishments that were in charge of students in training were somehow separated from their formative role. The same happened with the university tutors, who faced a new scenario and their reaction did not measure up to the circumstances, in such a way that the students felt themselves without pedagogical support at a fundamental moment of their learning to become teachers.

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3.4. Implemented Methodologies. One of the characteristics of the educational process developed in a pandemic is that it reconfigured the traditional way of teaching, that is, teachers had to implement new strategies to address the contents of the national curriculum, which were later prioritized and limited by the Ministry of Education. In this scenario, the investigated subjects report the different methodologies that they implemented in the Physical Education discipline: “In my case, the school used two methodologies; a monthly guide was left that the parents had to collect from the school all the subjects. Physical Education had a minimum of four pages and a daily video was added to that; the video was delivered via WhatsApp, which is more accessible, the majority had free social networks.” (Interview 1; para.41; p. 10). “The school acquired a platform that is a virtual classroom in the background, and what the child does is enter this virtual classroom, and the teacher gives him a 45-minute class on the subject. My job in terms of the methodological in Physical Education was to deliver a guide and a feedback video of the content we were addressing, later we would send a video of some exercises. ”(Interview 3; para.43; p. 10). “In my case, the school where I did my internship is quite poor, they have internet connection problems; it is not rural but it has very limited resources. From the outset, when we arrived, they were giving homework guides to the parents, who were going to look for guides to school. At the end, that was not giving results, so there we spoke with the principal, who is a Physical Education teacher, and we looked for a way to attract more attention from the boys, which is when we started using social networks.“(Interview 5; para.44; p. 10). According to the testimonies previously described, the methodology that was used at the beginning in the preferably public and low-income schools consisted of sending work guides, which were normally collected from the establishments themselves and sometimes, the teachers would drop off at the children's houses. This modality did not have the expected effect; therefore, the schools opted for teaching through platforms such as Zoom or Google Meet, which additionally entailed the technological problems of not having a PC or the problems of internet connection, which were the most frequent. The students in training reported that, during the practicum, they used social networks to address the content through video capsules, which were sent to students by this means. 3.5. Confinement and Obstacles. The Covid-19 pandemic revealed different obstacles; issues that normally go unnoticed when society works with its usual way and study rhythms. In the case of students, the school occupies a relevant space-time in the lives of families, In general, children spend around eight hours in their schools and suddenly, the confinement product of the need for social isolation changed this whole routine, as shown in the following testimonies: “The biggest obstacle that I had is that many of those who study at the school where I did my internship are from rural areas. They travel to

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connect with classes, and, in this case, that is why they did not attend class sessions. Many said that they did not have the internet or a computer where they could see their classes and do the tasks that the school asked them to do.” (GF 2; para.82; p. 15). “As an obstacle I mention connectivity, because the establishment required that there be a formative evaluation. The student was required to send the material and when we had the answers there was very low participation, so I consider that, in the family, there is no support for students. Because parents work or simply do not want to take care of their children and in the absence of face-to-face school, the children are harmed.” (Interview 19; para.87; p. 15). “It was really difficult, quite difficult, the issue of Covid-19, and how it affected our subject. It is something more physical, more interaction, and with confinement everything was virtual, nothing experiential, the truth is that I could not know if my school students did the proposed exercises, and in what physical condition they were.”(Interview 8; para.90; p. 15). “The confinement evidenced the enormous economic gaps in our country. Those with greater resources can access all the facilities for a good education from home and those who do not have to search for them to be able to access it. Without internet at home, without personal computers, without family support, in short, too many social differences, which makes the social gap bigger.” (Interview 19; para.92; p. 21). According to the report of the investigated subjects, the confinement makes visible the great social gap that exists in Chilean society. According to the standards of the OECD countries, Chile is one of the most unequal countries in the world, where the difference between the poorest 10% and the richest 10% of the population is greater than 30 times. Consequently, confinement has an impact on the quality of education that children receive, due to the different economic and social conditions of families, which has prevented a significant percentage of school children in Chile from accessing virtual education and teaching, monitoring and feedback processes, as expressed by teachers in training. 3.6. Verification of Learning. In the framework of the previous category, Learning and Physical Education Classroom, students in the process of professional practice reported that one of the greatest difficulties during the pandemic was the possibility of verifying the learning of their students, since they encountered situations such as that exposed next: “The teacher told us that the videos were very useful and that he gave them to the students. However, you do not know how it came to them, or how it worked for them, what you did was always upload. In my case, I think that the method of planning the class through the video seemed unnecessary since one had to pay attention to what the teacher asked only and according to the guidance he gave us.”(Interview 11; para.15; p. 7).

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“It was difficult to know if they were learning. I could not answer the students' doubts, how they were receiving what I sent them and they are things that one thinks, like the work that is being done is questioned. At the end of this semester, I did not know how they were learning or if they had any doubts. Those who had the possibility of uploading the video to a platform would upload it. At the school, they had a possibility every 15 days to go to look for the material. It generates sadness because with the material you make, you want the children to learn and clarify their doubts, but in a pandemic, not knowing what was happening with them creates a problem.” (GF 2; para.100; p. 17). “No verification of learning, it was only as a mere delivery of information, despite the fact that, in each document, in each activity, one put their email to resolve doubts or be able to establish a closeness. The truth is I could not verify if they learned or not and it is conditioned by the context; if the student, for example, does not have a camera and I want to do an exercise and for him to see it and then demonstrate it to me, it depends on whether or not he has a telephone or a computer or internet So, from my perspective, I think that not all learning is carried out.” (Interview 12; para.106; p. 17). The virtual teaching modality became widespread in the world, and in Chile as of March, as a result of the expansion of the pandemic and the alarming numbers of infected and deceased people. However, the educational systems were not prepared for a task of such scale. In developing countries like Chile, which has deficits in terms of infrastructure, equipment, teaching staff, and students who preferably receive public education, which represents about 80% of enrollment. Along these lines, the interviewees reported that they did not have the possibility of contact with their students, that the response was scarce and late, that they did not receive feedback regarding the material they prepared, an issue that generated a feeling of disenchantment with the process.

4. Discussion During the confinement period, the implementation of government policies asking for the adoption of teaching strategies meant for face-to-face classes to online and distance learning is not a guarantee that the teaching and learning process is developed effectively. It was presented by the subjects investigated in the previous category, "Learning at the ITT", in which they addressed the deficiencies of the process experienced during the first semester of 2020, since the Physical Education discipline has a strong procedural and practical exercise connotation, as reported in the literature (Bailey et al., 2009; Fávaro et al., 2006; Lander et al., 2017; Rezer & Fensterseifer, 2008; Voitovska & Tolochko, 2018; Ward et al., 2015). In this line, virtual teaching for future Physical Education teachers generated some frustration and uncertainty about the future. It was not possible to develop a space of presence and contact with their students, an important characteristic of the Physical Education subject. That question correlates with the research findings of Varea & González-Calvo (2020), who determined in their study that Physical Education teachers during the Covid-19 pandemic question

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the purpose and identity of the discipline, and, consequently, their professional subjectivities as Physical Education teachers. They also expressed how much they miss the physical and direct contact with the students and their concerns regarding the teaching of a practical subject such as Physical Education through virtual teaching. This question generates certain doubts and uncertainty, since, as university students, they have had to adapt to education and learning processes with technological support (Tugun et al., 2020). On the other hand, the contact and relationship with the university tutors and with the guiding teachers of the respective schools was not what was required in the circumstances of the pandemic, since when the teachers in training needed support, guidance or even just being listened to and given feedback, the conditions were not in place for that. The foregoing is contradictory to Chaliès et al. (2008) Nash, (2010), Remy (2015), Medina and Bohórquez (2020) and Qadhi et al. (2020), by highlighting the relevance of the task of the tutors and guides of educational establishments when developing the mentoring work, in the understanding that students in practicum, and new teachers especially, require systematic support during their insertion in the school system. On the other hand, and by virtue of the previous category, Learning and Physical Education Classroom, it can be pointed out that, in recent months, the educational situation of future educators has taken a turn due to the health crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. By losing the presence in the classrooms and with it the essence of the practices, the formative potential of the practicum and the professional identity of the future teachers have been altered during these months, generating consequences that could affect their future professional practice (González-Calvo et al., 2020; Maffei, 2014). Education on the planet was affected as a result of Covid-19, so much so that worldwide education was interrupted to avoid large-scale infections. In this scenario, many teachers have had to continue with the teaching process while this was happening, creating different ways of doing it throughout these months (Allen et al., 2020; Fernandes et al., 2020; Kanbul et al., 2020; Mukuna & Aloka, 2020). Therefore, we find ourselves in a context in which future teachers have to learn to navigate in times of uncertainty and in which their teaching identity is stressed by this condition that the pandemic has generated in the educational-training field, as presented by the stories of the students who participated in the investigation. In this scenario, the methodologies used by the future teachers were based on the elaboration of guides, the creation of videos, the use of social networks and sometimes the use of virtual platforms, due to the socioeconomic conditions of the establishments. It is a question that is reported in the literature, by the COLEF studies research (Basilaia & Kvavadze, 2020; Crawford et al., 2020; Ferdig et al., 2020; Langford & Damsa, 2020; Moorhouse, 2020) the findings of which account for the complexity of the teaching profession in times of the Covid-19 pandemic and the various strategies implemented by countries in order to address learning in the classroom, mainly using media teaching. Clearly, in the Physical Education discipline, there are few possibilities to verify the learning and progress of the students. On the other hand, the confinement consequently meant that not all

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schoolchildren in Chile had access to the same educational conditions, evidencing the social and economic gap in the country, harming the most vulnerable groups in society in most cases. In this line, the works of Drane et al. (2020) and Martin & Sorensen, (2020) point out that the current situation is exceptional; therefore, some students will be deprived of the right to a quality education. Beyond the seriousness of this fact, it is necessary to take the debate beyond the question of access to resources, since, as has been pointed out, distance education (even with all the technological, environmental and emotional resources) cannot replace faceto-face education in the school setting by teachers. In this sense, it is worth highlighting how the measures adopted to continue school activities at a distance may be contributing to deprive a part of the students of the right to education, since not all students have effective conditions to carry out school activities in a non-face-to-face way.

5. Conclusions As a way of maintaining the continuity of education in the most regular way possible, distance or online education has become one of the strategies most adopted by education systems globally. In response to the pandemic, many schools are now contemplating a technology-based distance learning mode that allows teachers and students to continue their classes using tools such as videoconferencing meeting applications. UNESCO itself (2020) recommended the use of open educational programs, platforms and applications for schools and teachers to use to reach students remotely, while the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) created a framework to guide an educational response to the pandemic through distance learning (OECD, 2020). The Covid-19 pandemic has brought humanity new learning: the urgency for everyone to adapt to information and communication technologies (ICT). The unexpected situation caused the abrupt interruption of classes, demanding quick decisions and establishing options that are still in doubt of success. Given the new reality imposed by Covid-19, it is necessary to question not only access to technologies, but also the possibility of offering teachers and students conditions to promote student learning, particularly in a discipline such as Physical Education. In this scenario, the students who attended the practicum during the first semester of 2020 will have to reconfigure their experience, to build learning that allows them to face the challenge of the profession once the Covid-19 pandemic is just a bad memory.

6. Study limitations Among the limitations presented in the study is the need to increase the sample size, since the participants belonged to two regional universities, and it is necessary to include students from other regions of the country. Another important limitation is the impossibility of accompanying the subjects in the moments of training of the practicum, synchronous classes, meetings with teachers and supervisors among other situations

7. References Allen, J., Rowan, L., & Singh, P. (2020). Teaching and teacher education in the time of COVID-19. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 48(3), 233-236. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359866X.2020.1752051

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 84-96, March 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.3.6

Challenges to Online Engineering Education during the Covid-19 Pandemic in Eastern Visayas, Philippines Perante Wenceslao Eastern Visayas State University, Philippines https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1511-2430 Gomba Felisa Samar State University, Philippines https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8744-148X

Abstract. The Covid-19 pandemic halted the normal operations of schools and universities around the world. Various educational institutions, including the Philippines Commission on Higher Education (CHED), adapted to the limitations caused by the pandemic and recommended online education to reach students and learners remotely. This research investigated the challenges to online engineering education in higher educational institutions (HEIs) (n=4) in Eastern Visayas, Philippines. Challenges and problems experienced by faculty (n=25) and students (n=421) were gathered through an online survey on December 2020 using Google Forms. Findings indicate that 98% of the respondents were gadget ready for online education for the first semester of SY 2020-2021, and the primary type implemented is Online Education Only (OEO) (n=369). The majority of the respondents (94%) believed that the quality of education suffered from the sudden shift to online education and 64% believed it is not as effective as the traditional face-to-face classroom interaction. Post Covid-19, 60% of the faculty prefers Blended Education (BE); while the students (65%) prefer the traditional classroom face-toface interaction. The challenges faced by the respondents during the Covid-19 analysed through qualitative content analysis can be categorised into Personal Challenges, Limited Social Interaction, Technology Difficulties, Assessment Issues, and Concerns on Learning Materials and Methods. Keywords: coronavirus pandemic; education challenges; Philippines

Covid-19;

online

engineering

1. Introduction Covid-19 was first reported in Wuhan, China in late 2019 (Huang et al., 2020; Mackenzie & Smith, 2020; Wu, Yi et al., 2020) and since then it has spread all over ©Authors This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

the world. On December 1, 2020 cases of Covid-19 had cumulative numbers of over 61.8 million reported cases and 1.4 million deaths globally. In the Philippines, as of December 7, 2020, there have been 439,834 confirmed cases with 8,554 deaths (WHO, 2020). The pandemic disrupted the way of life all over the world. To contain the spread of the virus, policies such as sheltering, social distancing, washing of hands, wearing a face mask and quarantine procedures were recommended as a standard practice (Adedoyin & Soykan, 2020; Radha et al., 2020; Rajab et al., 2020; Suryaman et al., 2020); further, limited allowable groupings made traditional faceto-face education not feasible. This resulted in the transformation of the way education was delivered, from the classroom in-person interaction to online education through the internet (Machado et al, 2020; Radha et al., 2020; Suryaman et al., 2020). Educational institutions all over the world, including the Philippines Commission on Higher Education (CHED, 2020), adapted to the limitations prompted by the pandemic and recommended online learning education to reach students and learners safely and remotely. Online learning during the pandemic had been supported and implemented in many countries around the world (Goldschmidt, 2020). Online learning is the use of the internet and related technologies and devices to develop, deliver and manage education programmes (Fry, 2001; Means et al., 2009). The advances in technological innovation and the improvement in internet speed and accessibility have increased the initiatives and programs for online learning in the past couple of decades (Tallent-Runnels et al., 2006). The use of hardware like desktops, laptops, smartphones and various software applications such as online videos, email, video conferencing, chatrooms and learning management systems are some of the primary tools used in online education. Online education is not new, it has been a part of educational tools in many educational institutions in many countries (Allen & Seaman, 2008; LarreamendyJoerns & Leinhardt, 2006), but the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated its widespread, if not obligatory use for lack of other options. Many colleges and universities had been implementing a transition from traditional face-to-face teaching to online learning, and to a combination of online and traditional education called blended learning before Covid-19 (Bonk & Graham, 2012). Online learning has its advantages, such as flexibility in study time and location (O'Donoghue et al., 2004; Smedley, 2010), interactivity (Leszczyński et al., 2018; Wagner et al., 2008), self-pacing (Palaigeorgiou & Papadopoulou, 2018), accessibility and cost savings ((O'Donoghue et al., 2004). It also has many issues, concerns, and challenges (Dumford & Miller, 2018) that have been made apparent during the Covid-19 pandemic, for example, there are concerns about the quality of education resulting from the sudden shift to online education (Hodges et al., 2020). The adequately planned online education and learning that is characterised with quality could be different from the courses presented online as a response to a crisis, i.e., Covid-19 “emergency remote teaching” (Hodges et al., 2020).

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Another concern is the unsuitability of certain courses for online education (Machado et al., 2020). The compatibility of online learning with social science and humanities has been proved effective (Leszczyński et al., 2018); however, other researchers have disputed its compatibility with sports sciences, engineering and medical sciences; this is because in-person practical experiences and hands-on instructional activities are a required and essential part for these courses (Leszczyński et al., 2018; Machado et al., 2020). This study was undertaken to investigate the concerns and challenges faced by students and faculty in online engineering education in Eastern Visayas, Philippines.

2. Methodology This study was conducted in Eastern Visayas Philippines (Figure 1). Eastern Visayas consists of three main islands: Samar, Leyte and Biliran, and has a population of 4,440,150 inhabitants as of 2015 (PSA, 2015). Eastern Visayas is home to several state universities: University of Eastern Philippines (UEP), Visayas State University (VSU), Eastern Visayas State University (EVSU), Southern Leyte State University (SLSU), Naval State University (NSU), Eastern Samar State University (ESSU), and Samar State University (SSU).

Figure 1. Location of the HEIs in Eastern Visayas, Philippines that participated in the survey: EVSU (n=308), ESSU (n=80), SSU (n=40), and NSU (n=18).

The researchers developed an online survey questionnaire using Google Forms® (Google LLC, Mountain View, CA). The questions were composed of three parts: (1) general information of the respondents, (2) pre-Covid-19 readiness for online education, and (3) experiences and challenges during the online education

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programme implemented during the first semester (September to December 2020) of the school year 2020-2021. The questions were a combination of closed and open-ended queries to provide flexibility and to generate descriptive answers from respondents. The questionnaire was validated by inviting three faculty and three students to provide feedback and comments on the survey questions. After the comments were incorporated into the questionnaire; it was pilot tested to prospective respondents (students, n=21; faculty, n=10) to determine the questionnaire’s internal consistency and the calculated Cronbach’s alpha value was 0.776. The questionnaire administration to respondents was conducted online and to obtain a large number of responses, an email introducing the research and the web address of the Google Forms survey was sent to HEIs with engineering courses in Eastern Visayas inviting them to participate in the survey. Before the respondents filled the survey properly, they were first informed of its purpose and how their responses will be treated with confidentiality. The survey questionnaire can be accessed through this link: https://forms.gle/X6L1yahVhksBru419 Data generated from the survey were processed into categories based on profession: student or faculty; and according to time frame: pre and during Covid19. The results of the open-ended questions were processed and analysed by coding using quantitative content analysis (Züll, 2016). Data analysis employed descriptive statistics using the software SPSS Version 21.0; while the map was created using QGIS Desktop 3.16.5.

3. Results 3.1 Respondents Profile The survey generated 446 responses from December 1 to 20, 2020. The faculty respondents were composed of females (n=9) and males (n=16); having a mean age of 35.88 years old, with the oldest at 59 and the youngest at 24 years old; the mean teaching experience was 8.12 years, with the highest at 32 years and lowest at one year. Conversely, the students’ respondents were composed of females (n=187) and males (n=234), with a mean age of 20.3 years old (Table 1). Further, most of the student respondents were Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering (BSCE) students (n=379), Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (n=21), and other Engineering Courses (n=21). The respondents’ distribution in terms of HEIs were EVSU (n=308), ESSU (n=80), SSU (n=40, and NSU (n=18); while the year level is fairly distributed as follows: 1st year (n=119), 2nd year (n=123), 3rd year (n=105), and 4th year (n=74). 3.2 Gadget and Internet Connection The majority (98%) of the respondents owned a smartphone, and 32.3 % have a laptop computer, 2.9% owned a Tablet, while the others have a desktop (n=7). Before Covid-19, 35.3% had a home internet connection, while 61.4% had no home internet connection. However, this changed during the pandemic, home internet connection increased to 70.1%, while 29.9% use mobile data to connect to the internet.

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Table 1: The respondents’ demographic profile Demographic Characteristic Male Female Profession Faculty PhD. Masters MS Student Student BSCE BSEE Others HEI EVSU ESSU SSU NSU Age Mean: 21.2 years old < 19 years old 20 to 21 years old 22 to 30 years old > 31 years old Student Year Level 1st Year 2nd Year 3rd Year 4th Year

Frequency (n=446) 250 196 25 3 15 7 421 379 21 21 308 80 40 18 446 166 180 82 18 119 123 105 74

Gender

Percent 56.2% 43.8% 5.6% 1% 4% 2% 94.4% 85% 5% 5% 69% 18% 9% 4% 100% 37% 40% 18% 4% 27% 28% 24% 17%

3.3 Respondents’ Perceptions on Online Education The majority of the respondents (99%) reported that their HEI is implementing online education for the first semester of the school year 2020-2021. Most of the respondents (82.6%) were taking Online Education Only (OEO) (no personal faceto-face interaction); while 8.7% of the respondents reported Blended Education (BE) (a combination of online and personal face-to face-interaction); and the rest (n=35) reported Modular Online Education (MOE) (a combination of printed modules and online). Table 2: The respondents’ perceptions of online education (OE) and preference of education delivery post Covid-19. Preference of OE Delivery Post Covid-19

Online only

Blended

Face-to-Face only

8% 3%

60% 32%

32% 65%

Yes

Somewhat

Education Quality Declined?

25 421 n 444

94%

Is Online Education Effective?

441

13%

64%

22%

OE Effect on

Poor

Fair

Good

Very Good

Quality of Teaching (n=25) Quality of Learning (n=421)

4% 12%

12% 39%

72% 42%

12% 6%

Faculty Students Consequence of OE

Most of the respondents (94%) believed that the quality of education declined due to the sudden shift to online education and 64% believed it is not as effective as the traditional face-to-face interaction (Table 2).

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Table 3: The challenges, problems, and difficulties faced by the respondents in online education during the Covid-19 Pandemic in Eastern Visayas, Philippines. Category

Personal Challenges

Limited Social Interaction

Technology Difficulties

Assessment Issues

Concerns on Learning Materials and Methods

Sub-Category

Responses (n=446) 338 300

Percent Response 76% 67%

165

37%

Home Environment & Distractions

140

31%

Lack of Motivation

119

26%

Financial Limitations (Money for Internet Connection) Lack of Face-to-Face Interaction Lack of Student Community or Campus Environment Lack of Student Group Activity & Sharing

231 67

52% 15%

11%

Limited or Lack of Instant Feedback from Teachers

Slow Internet Speed Communication Problems (Audio & Video)

411 271

92% 60%

Unfamiliarity with New Technology or New Software Applications Learning Curve Too High

238

53%

147

33%

Lagging Connection or Lack of Signal Coverage Power Outage

141

32%

HEIs Poor Technology Infrastructure

Student Assessment Limited to Multiple Choice and Essay Easy to Cheat on Online Exam

200

45%

17%

Poor Quality of Student Assessment

Higher than Normal Assignments, Tasks, and Quizzes No Actual Laboratory Activities and Experiments; More on Theory

188

42%

152

34%

Lack of Hands-on, Real Life Exposure, Field Experience and Trips

148

33%

Some Lessons are Difficult to Understand Without In-person Lecture

15%

Limited Online Meetings; Low to No Guidance from the Teachers

Time-Management Pandemic Related Health Issues: Anxiety, Stress, Backpain Lack of Self-Discipline

3.4 Challenges to Online Engineering Education The respondents were asked open-ended questions about the challenges, problems, limitations and difficulties with online education. The responses were analysed qualitatively by coding the frequencies into categories and subcategories. The top challenges identified in each category were as follows: Time-

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Management (n=338) had the most responses in the category of personal challenges; Lack of Face-to-Face Interaction (n=231) for the category of Limited Social Interaction; Slow Internet Speed (n=411), for Technology Difficulties; Student Assessment-Limited to Multiple Choice and Essay (n=200) for Assessment Issues; and Higher than Normal Assignments, Tasks, and Quizzes(n=188) for Concerns on Learning Materials and Methods (Table 3).

4. Discussion The majority (99%) of respondents were involved in online education for the first semester of SY 2020-2021 and most (82.6%) are into Online Education Only (OEO), which is understandable because of the fear of being infected with Covid-19. An OEO approach may not be the most appropriate given that most of the respondents (50%) had no online education experience, but, for lack of other options, perhaps, this is reasonable. Even so, there are concerns about the quality of education ensuing from this hasty shift to online learning (Hodges et al., 2020). The sudden shift to online education at a large scale on short notice would certainly face difficulties and problems. A particular concern in developing countries like the Philippines is the poor internet infrastructure and the frequency of power interruption. Likewise, HEIs have many concerns including: the need to adjust or revise the curriculum to suit to online teaching environment; the need for appropriate logistics (software, hardware, learning management systems and others); the need for training of faculty and staff (skills on online teaching including creation and development of online teaching materials); the need to revise student assessments, tasks and approaches; and the need to adjust the length of the school semester to give ample time for preparations for all stakeholders, to name but a few. These concerns cannot be suddenly addressed given the limited time and resources of most of the HEIs; nevertheless, the Philippines started the first semester on August 17, 2020. Faculty respondents perceived the impact of online education to quality of teaching as Good (72%). While the students believe the impact of online education to quality of learning is Fair (39%) and Good (42%). Additionally, the education delivery preference post Covid-19 for faculty respondents (60%) is Blended Education (BE); while 65% of the students prefer the traditional classroom faceto-face interaction (FTFI). Furthermore, the challenges faced by the respondents during the pandemic (Table 3) can be grouped into five categories: Personal Challenges, Limited Social Interaction, Technology Difficulties, Assessment Issues, and Concerns on Learning Materials and Methods. These concerns, issues, and challenges are discussed below; possible methods on how to address these challenges and how to improve the current online education are presented. (1) Personal challenges identified by the respondents are poor time-management, increased stress, lack of self-discipline, lack of motivation and lack of financial resources for internet connection. These challenges are also common in traditional classroom education, but probably a bigger concern in an online education setting. The OEO provides a higher level of flexibility and autonomy

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to students and can be characterised as an online self-directed learning approach where students take responsibility for their time, their learning needs, their learning goals, their learning strategies, the sequence, pace, and the amount of content to be learned (Kebritchi et al., 2017) making motivation and self-discipline vital in the students’ learning process as motivation for learning in an online setting is critical in the success of learners and in increasing learners’ retention (Kebritchi et al., 2017; Saade et al, 2017). The HEIs maybe can address these concerns by offering a programme to help students in developing strong attitudes and dispositions towards online learning, i.e., improving self-discipline, cultivating motivation, and learning time-management skills. Also, various forms of support from families, teachers and schoolmates can be explored to help maximise the students’ ability to learn through online education (OECD, 2020). Further, to address the students’ financial concerns, the HEIs and the government should provide financial aid to students. particularly for internet connection fees because, if this is not addressed, this could lead to some students being left behind. (2) Limited social interaction such as lack of face-to-face meetings, lack of campus atmosphere and group activities, limited or lack of instant feedback from teachers are the challenges in this category. If the OEO approach is continued for some time, then maybe HEIs should develop methods and approaches to increase online interaction through online engagement activities such as the use of interactive and dynamic multimedia content and games. HEIs should also conduct training for teachers to effectively use online tools to improve student engagement and participation, including adopting pedagogical teaching practices suited to online context; or the use of innovative teaching methods to engage students and to stimulate their proactive behaviour (Ferri et al., 2020) and help improve online social interaction between and among teachers and students. Otherwise, this concern can easily be mitigated by shifting to a BE approach, which provides a limited face-to face-interaction. This study recognises that there is no substitute for teacher-student interaction, which is vital in the learning process of students particularly in the primary and secondary levels; however, to mitigate problems of inclusion, other studies suggested using a BE approach (Ferri et al., 2020), whenever possible, particularly at the tertiary level. (3) Technology difficulties like unfamiliarity with new software applications, slow internet speed, poor signal coverage, audio and video communication problems, and HEIs’ poor technology infrastructure are the challenges in this category. The sudden shift to OEO was a new experience for most teachers and students; and this caught teachers unprepared and struggling with unfamiliar teaching methods and software applications, forcing them to employ trial-and-error approaches resulting in a minimalist usage of what software and online tools are capable of providing (Do, 2020). However, these challenges can be addressed by HEIs through online training on new software applications (particularly its various functionalities and its full potential for use in OE) for faculty and students as it is important that both have knowledge about using communication technology platforms, not only for face-to-face teaching, but, importantly, for BE and OEO (Ogbonnaya et al., 2020). Further, HEIs should allocate a budget for technology hardware and software to improve its poor technology infrastructure (i.e., limited

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server capacity, limited upload memory, and Learning Management System failure to handle heavy traffic during peak hours). HEIs should recognise that, now, and in the future, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure, as well as its software support system, is going to be an integral part of teacher-student interaction and thus should be included in its budget allocations. On the concern of slow internet speed and poor signal coverage, this is a technological issue and challenges challenge connected with governance and policies related to economic development and technology adoption, not only in the Philippines but also in many other countries as well. Thus, governments together with development agencies and internet service providers should address the slow internet speed and poor signal coverage to minimise the existing digital divide. (4) Assessment challenges such as limited methods of student assessment, easy to cheat on online exams, and poor quality of assessment are some of the challenges identified by the respondents. These problems are not surprising since most HEIs have no clear policy and guidelines on online teaching and more so on online assessment (Guangul et al., 2020). In HEIs, assessments are used to (1) support learning, (2) to execute accountability, and (3) to provide certification, progress and transfer (Capsim, 2020). It is also aimed to determine competence, gaps and progress so learners can adapt their learning strategies and teachers their teaching strategies (Guangul et al., 2020). These assessment concerns can be attributed to the lack of preparation and inexperience in online education by most HEIs, teachers and students in Eastern Visayas. However, now that both students and faculty have knowledge and experience on online education, these issues can easily be addressed through various creative ways, for example, on the issue that it is easy to cheat on online exams, certain software can be used for remote assessment that uses webcams to track student activity during an exam and can warn or assist the teacher whenever suspicious actions are taken by the students (Rutgers, 2020). If Google Forms are used as an assessment tool, it could be partnered with a “timer and proctor” add-on that time limits the exam, and provides proctoring through a camera that records the student's actions while taking the exam. (5) Concerns on learning materials and methods included higher than normal assignments, tasks and quizzes; no actual laboratory activities and experiments; teaching approach is more on theory and lacks hands-on real-life exposure and field experience; and minimal to no guidance from the teachers. In another study (Armstrong-Mensah et al., 2020), students reported that the transition to online classes increased their academic workload in the form of written reports and assignments, reflection papers, quizzes and discussion posts. This increase in student workload could be the teacher’s way to compensate for the lack of faceto-face interaction and to ensure that the students are learning the subject. To address the lack of laboratory and hands-on experience, perhaps HEIs should train teachers to use digital interactive multimedia content, including digital laboratories and other specific online skills to supplement the need for experiments and hands-on learning (Ferri et al., 2020). Also, OEO may not be suitable for courses like engineering where in-person experiences and hands-on

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instructional lessons are an essential part of learning; the HEIs should consider this nature of the course. Further, this study opines that, given the challenges, concerns and issues discussed above, the best approach to education delivery post Covid-19 is, perhaps, BE for two main reasons: Firstly, most of the challenges identified above can be fully, if not, partially addressed through a BE approach. These issues were all the components of (2) limited social interaction, (4) assessment challenges, and (5) concerns on learning materials and methods; furthermore, while faculty and students are transitioning and learning, new software applications and online tools as identified in (3) as technology difficulties; and while the students are in the process of learning, motivation development and self-discipline skills, as identified in (1) are personal challenges; a BE approach can, possibly, supplement and hasten the learning process of both faculty and students. Secondly, a BE approach is more efficient, which helps in saving time, money and resources for all stakeholders compared to an FTFI mode of education delivery. To cite an example, with reduced FTFI, both faculty and students have more time for other tasks, possibly resulting in reduced travel (and related expenses) due to a reduced frequency of travel to and from the campus, not to mention the reduced carbon footprint related to less frequent FTFI activities. In summary, this study believes that online education could become a permanent part of HEIs mode of education delivery in Eastern Visayas. The reasons are: HEIs have invested in Learning Management Systems; modules and online education materials have been developed; the respondents have acquired experience, new skills and knowledge on online education; and the faculty believes that online education had a good impact on their quality of teaching, thus most faculty respondents prefer a BE education delivery post Covid-19.

5. Conclusion and Recommendations The Covid-19 pandemic has frozen the normal operations of schools and universities in the Philippines. The Commission on Higher Education adapted to the limitations caused by the pandemic and endorsed online education for the SY 2020-2021; as a result, students and faculty faced various challenges and issues related to online education (Table 3). This study, thus, recommends the following to address these issues and challenges: (1) HEIs should offer a programme to help students develop strong attitudes towards online learning particularly focused on improving self-discipline, cultivating motivation and developing timemanagement skills; (2) HEIs and the government should provide financial aid to students to cover internet connection fees so as to avoid some students being left behind; (3) HEIs should develop methods and approaches to increase online interaction, including the use of interactive and dynamic multimedia content and games, among other methods; (4) HEIs should conduct trainings for teachers to effectively use online tools to improve student engagement and participation, including adopting pedagogical teaching practices suited to online context; (5) HEIs should provide online training on new software applications used in online education to faculty and students as it is important that they have knowledge about using communication technology platforms; (6) HEIs should allocate a

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budget for technology hardware and software to improve its internet-related communications infrastructure; (7) The government should encourage the internet service providers to improve the slow internet speed and poor signal coverage in many regions of the country; (8) CHED and the HEIs should adjust or maybe modify the curriculum to suit to the online teaching environment, including revising student assessment approaches and methodologies. This research can serve as reference to future studies related to Covid-19 and its effects on online education. This can also provide policy makers, education administrators and related agencies and stakeholders guidance on how to address the common challenges faced by students and faculty with regard to online education.

6. Limitations This study was constrained in terms of the number of respondents (4 out of 7 HEIs in Eastern Visayas had respondents), and the non-random selection of participants as the study relied on an online survey due to the Covid-19 pandemic-imposed limitations. This study suggests that future researches should endeavour to cover all the HEIs in Eastern Visayas and should employ a random selection of survey participants. Additionally, a separate future study may be needed to validate the perceptions of the respondents on the effectiveness of online education. Funding: This research was funded by the Samar State University (SSU-Extension Program) and Eastern Visayas State University (Research and Development Extension Programme). Informed Consent Statement: Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. Data Availability Statement: Data are not publicly available, though may be made available on request from the author. Conflicts of Interest: The author declares no conflict of interest.

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Dumford, A. D., & Miller, A. L. (2018). Online learning in higher education: exploring advantages and disadvantages for engagement. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 30(3), 452-465. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12528-018-9179-z Ferri, F., Grifoni, P., & Guzzo, T. (2020). Online learning and emergency remote teaching: Opportunities and challenges in emergency situations. Societies, 10(4), 86. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc10040086 Fry, K. (2001). E‐learning markets and providers: some issues and prospects. Education+ Training, (4/5), 233-239. https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000005484 Goldschmidt, K. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic: Technology use to support the wellbeing of children. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 53, 88-90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2020.04.013 Guangul, F. M., Suhail, A. H., Khalit, M. I., & Khidhir, B. A. (2020). Challenges of remote assessment in higher education in the context of COVID-19: a case study of Middle East College. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 32, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-020-09340-w Hodges, C., Moore, S., Lockee, B., Trust, T., & Bond, A. (2020). The difference between emergency remote teaching and online learning. Educause Review, 27, 1-12. Huang, C., Wang, Y., Li, X., Ren, L., Zhao, J., Hu, Y., ... & Cao, B. (2020). Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China. The Lancet, 395(10223), 497-506. https://doi.org/10. 1016/S0140-6736(20)30183-5 Kebritchi, M., Lipschuetz, A., & Santiague, L. (2017). Issues and challenges for teaching successful online courses in higher education: A literature review. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 46(1), 4-29. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047239516661713 Larreamendy-Joerns, J., & Leinhardt, G. (2006). Going the distance with online education. Review of Educational Research, 76(4), 567-605. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543076004567 Leszczyński, P., Charuta, A., Łaziuk, B., Gałązkowski, R., Wejnarski, A., Roszak, M., & Kołodziejczak, B. (2018). Multimedia and interactivity in distance learning of resuscitation guidelines: a randomised controlled trial. Interactive Learning Environments, 26(2), 151-162. https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2017.1337035 Machado, R. A., Bonan, P. R. F., Perez, D. E. D. C., & Martelli Junior, H. (2020). COVID19 pandemic and the impact on dental education: discussing current and future perspectives. Brazilian Oral Research, 34. https://doi.org/10.1590/1807-3107bor2020.vol34.0083 Mackenzie, J. S., & Smith, D. W. (2020). COVID-19: a novel zoonotic disease caused by a coronavirus from China: what we know and what we don’t. Microbiology Australia, 41(1), 45-50. https://doi.org/10.1071/MA20013 Means, B., Toyama, Y., Murphy, R., Bakia, M., & Jones, K. (2009). Evaluation of evidencebased practices in online learning: A meta-analysis and review of online learning studies. https://repository.alt.ac.uk/629/ O'Donoghue, J., Singh, G., & Green, C. (2004). A comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of IT based education and the implication upon students. Digital Education Review, (9), 63-76. dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/4544753.pdf OECD Policy Responses to Coronavirus (COVID-19). (2020). Strengthening online learning when schools are closed: The role of families and teachers in supporting students during the COVID-19 crisis. https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/view/?ref=136_136615o13x4bkowa&title=Strengthening-online-learning-when-schools-are-closed Ogbonnaya, U. I., Awoniyi, F. C., & Matabane, M. E. (2020). Move to Online Learning during COVID-19 Lockdown: Pre-Service Teachers’ Experiences in

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Ghana. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 19(10), 286-303. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.10.16 Palaigeorgiou, G., & Papadopoulou, A. (2019). Promoting self-paced learning in the elementary classroom with interactive video, an online course platform and tablets. Education and Information Technologies, 24(1), 805-823. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-018-9804-5 PSA Census of Population. (2015). Region VIII (Eastern Visayas). Retrieved from https://www.psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/attachments/hsd/pressrelease/R 08.xlsx Radha, R., Mahalakshmi, K., Kumar, V. S., & Saravanakumar, A. R. (2020). E-Learning during lockdown of Covid-19 pandemic: A global perspective. International Journal of Control and Automation, 13(4), 1088-1099. Rajab, M. H., Gazal, A. M., & Alkattan, K. (2020). Challenges to online medical education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cureus, 12(7). https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.8966 Rutgers. (2020). Remote exams and assessments. Retrieved from https://sasoue.rutgers.edu/teaching-learning/remote-examsassessment#special-advice-for-open-book-assessment-in-quantitative-courses. Saadé, R. G., He, X., & Kira, D. (2007). Exploring dimensions to online learning. Computers in Human Behavior, 23(4), 1721-1739. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2005.10.002 Smedley, J. (2010). Modelling the impact of knowledge management using technology. OR insight, 23(4), 233-250. https://doi.org/10.1057/ori.2010.11 Suryaman, M., Cahyono, Y., Muliansyah, D., Bustani, O., Suryani, P., Fahlevi, M., ... & Munthe, A. P. (2020). COVID-19 pandemic and home online learning system: Does it affect the quality of pharmacy school learning? Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy, 11(8), 524-530. https://doi.org/10.31838/srp.2020.8.74 Tallent-Runnels, M. K., Thomas, J. A., Lan, W. Y., Cooper, S., Ahern, T. C., Shaw, S. M., & Liu, X. (2006). Teaching courses online: A review of the research. Review of Educational Research, 76(1), 93-135. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543076001093 Wagner, N., Hassanein, K., & Head, M. (2008). Who is responsible for e-learning success in higher education? A stakeholders' analysis. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 11(3), 26-36. https://doi.org/10.2307/jeductechsoci.11.3.26 WHO. (2020). Weekly epidemiological update - 1 December 2020. Retrieved from www.who.int/publications/m/item/weekly-epidemiological-update---1december-2020 Wu, Y. C., Chen, C. S., & Chan, Y. J. (2020). The outbreak of COVID-19: an overview. Journal of the Chinese Medical Association, 83(3), 217. https://doi.org/10.1097/JCMA.0000000000000270 Züll, C. (2016). Open-ended questions. GESIS Survey Guidelines, 3. https://doi.org/10.15465/gesis-sg_en_002

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 97-116, March 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.3.7

Success Indicators of Mathematical ProblemSolving Performance Among Malaysian Matriculation Students Suriati Abu Bakar, Nur Raidah Salim, Ahmad Fauzi Mohd Ayub and Kathiresan Gopal Institute for Mathematical Research, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5572-9611 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7941-1878 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4313-2922 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5302-8179

Abstract. This study identifies the success indicators of mathematical problem-solving performances among Malaysian matriculation students divided into four indicators: mathematical beliefs, mathematics attitudes, mathematics self-efficacy and metacognitive skills. For this purpose, 368 matriculation students from three matriculation colleges were selected as respondents using proportioned stratified sampling. This study utilized a descriptive correlational design approach. A set of questionnaires and a mathematics test were used as the instruments. Independent variables were measured using a questionnaire, while mathematical problemsolving performance was measured using a mathematics test. The findings show students had a high level in mathematics beliefs, attitude towards mathematics, mathematics self-efficacy and metacognitive skills. Statistical tests to determine success indicators predicting mathematical problem-solving performance revealed that mathematics self-efficacy does not contribute significantly to these variables and that metacognitive skills make the most decisive contribution, followed by mathematics attitude and mathematics beliefs. Hence, this study suggests that problem-solving should be included as an essential part of the mathematics matriculation syllabus to enable students to improve their problem-solving abilities. Keywords: mathematics beliefs; mathematics attitude; mathematics selfefficacy and metacognitive skills; problem-solving performance

1. Introduction The Malaysian Ministry of Education implemented steps for the transformation of education through the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013_2025 to empower the nation’s human capital with the expertise and skills of the 21st century and be among the top global players (Ministry of Education Malaysia, 2016). The ©Authors This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

government aims to develop the intelligence, critical thinking skills, leadership skills, language proficiency, ethics and spirituality and national identity of Malaysian children to enable them to thrive in the 21st century. In the 21st century, students will need to equip themselves with good communication, teamwork, imagination and innovation, critical thinking and problem-solving skills to achieve success (Warner & Kaur, 2017). The Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013–2025 (Shift 1) focuses on providing equal access to the Malaysian education standard to be at par with international standard. The ministry hopes that Malaysia will produce globally competitive students by benchmarking and setting the standard criteria for education systems by focusing on the students’ learning practices and performances. In 2017, the blueprint was redrafted to introduce the revised Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Menengah (KSSM) and the revised Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah (KSSR), which focus on advocating the knowledge and specific skills, such as, creative and innovative thinking, problem-solving and leadership. The new curriculum is designed based on international benchmarks to ensure that children born into the country’s school system have the necessary skills to compete globally (Ministry of Education Malaysia, 2013). The enforcement will ensure that students will be capable of portraying the subject content while extrapolating the information and creatively connecting them to unfamiliar settings. The ministry will reasonably escalate the percentage of higher-order thinking questions with a minimum of 40% questions in Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) and 50% in Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) to validate the effectiveness of the enforcement. The changes will hone the students to foster their creativity in handling the typical routines using different settings. As problem-solving focuses on the teaching and learning of mathematics, the emphasis must not be at the secondary level only but also at the post-secondary level. The Ministry of Education provides a wide range of post-secondary education, including Matriculation, which is recognized as a credible foundation program for undergraduate programs in higher learning institutions in Malaysia and several overseas universities (Ministry of Education Malaysia, 2016). Hence, the matriculation mathematics syllabus was designed by considering the topics covered in secondary schools to strengthen and broaden their knowledge and skills in Mathematics and enable students to have complete and robust foundation to pursue programs in science, technology, social science and management (Matriculation Division, 2006). Most studies among matriculation students have been conducted by other scholars (Buzzai et al. l, 2020; Boğar, 2018). For example, Ong and Lim (2014) identify the factors that influence the matriculation students in mathematical problem solving, but they used Bayesian Network to analyse the causal relationships. This study will utilise an inferential research approach to explain and predict interrelationships between influential domain variables to fill this gap.

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The factors underlying this phenomenon, specifically among matriculation students need to be determined. Convincing the students to solve mathematical problems cannot be easily accomplished unless we know the critical aspect that could affect students’ mathematics performance, such as mathematics beliefs, mathematics attitudes, metacognitive skills and mathematics self-efficacy. This study will utilize an inferential research approach to explain and predict interrelationships between influential domain variables to fill these gaps. The government’s vision is that children will never stop learning throughout their lives and eventually connect the dots and develop new knowledge (Ministry of Education Malaysia, 2013). Changing the education system and enhancing the teaching and learning environment will ideally create students who can master various essential cognitive abilities, including logical thinking, brainstorming, creative thinking and innovation. It is believed that the prominent students with the ability to solve problems will have a better future in their careers and lifetimes (Khalid, 2017). Thus, this study examined four success indicators that affect students’ results in mathematical problem-solving significantly. 1.1. Problem-Solving in Mathematics Problem-solving involves extensive skills in parallel to the curriculum, particularly in teaching and learning mathematics. Teaching mathematics topics through problem-solving focuses on problem-solving contexts and inquiryoriented environments (Khalid, 2017). Students who participate in problemsolving activities will experience mathematics’ power by understanding and applying their knowledge to real-life problems (Tarmizi et al., 2015). The aspects of human psychology, such as cognitive, affective, metacognitive and behaviour need to be emphasized from primary to tertiary levels to help students develop their mathematical problem solving skills (Mason, 2016). Additionally, the problem-solving process involves steps, such as determining how an issue can be addressed, strategizing the approach used and how much effort and timeframe set to obtain a solution (Tambunan, 2019). Students must also apply their knowledge in solving a problem, a process that would affect the deep understanding of mathematics and the choice of strategies (Liljedahl et al., 2016; Khalid, 2017). Numerous studies have focused on students' characteristics towards their mathematical performance. These studies include exploring the difficulties that students faced in mathematics problem solving (Ayop & Tarmizi, 2015). Several studies have also revealed that success indicators, such as mathematics beliefs (Rincon et al., 2020; Kamalimoghaddam et al., 2016), mathematics attitude, metacognitive and mathematics self-efficacy affect problem-solving (Özcan & Gümüş, 2019; Kahramanoglu & Deniz, 2017). 1.1.1. Mathematics Belief Mathematics beliefs are defined as an individual’s beliefs on mathematics that encourage his/her to make decisions regarding actions he/she will pursuit (Kloosterman et al., 1996). Mathematics beliefs have also been defined as students’ conceptions of mathematics that they hold to be true either implicitly or explicitly

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and can influence them in their mathematics learning and mathematical problem solving (Wang et al., 2019). In this study, mathematics beliefs are defined as students’ assumptions about mathematical problem solving and their mathematics learning approaches, which consist of five components. Kloosterman and Stage (1992) suggested these five components as listed in Table 1. Table 1: Components of Mathematics Belief Difficult Problems Steps Understanding Word Problems Effort

Perceived ability in solving time-consuming mathematics problems (Abedalaziz and Akmar, 2012). Students assume that mathematical word problems cannot be resolved using the procedural method (Barrett, 2016). The necessity for students to understand how to obtain solutions (Prendergast et al., 2018). An essential element of mathematics and deals with mathematics discipline (Abedalaziz and Akmar, 2012). Students believe that attempts to study can motivate them to successfully solve mathematics problems (Prendergast et al., 2018).

1.1.2. Mathematics Attitude Mathematics attitude is defined as a positive attitude or personal temperament towards mathematics (Peteros et al., 2019). Mathematics attitude is also defined as an individual’s emotional response towards mathematics, mathematics beliefs and behaviour towards mathematics (Öztürk et al., 2020). In this study, mathematics attitudes are defined as students’ attitudes towards mathematics during the classroom learning process, which consist of four dimensions. Tapia and Marsh (2004) suggested the four components listed in Table 2. Table 2: Components of Mathematics Attitude Self-confidence Value Enjoyment

Motivation

Students’ sense of dread, anxiety and hate in hearing the word mathematics (Simegn et al., 2018). The usefulness and relatedness of learning mathematics to student’s life situations (Kasimu & Imoro, 2017). Students’ feeling of pleasure in solving challenging mathematics problems, willingness to participate in mathematics discussion and excitement in the mathematics classroom (Simegn et al., 2018). Students’ interest in learning mathematics and willingness to further their knowledge in mathematics (Ajisuksmo & Saputri, 2017)

1.1.3. Mathematics Self-Efficacy Mathematics self-efficacy can be defined as the assumptions or expectations of individuals that he/she can perform a particular task or overcome mathematical problems (Bandura, 1997). Mathematics self-efficacy is defined by students’ beliefs on their potential to carry out any assignment or tasks needed for learning (Salim et al., 2018). This study defined mathematics self-efficacy as students’ confidence in their abilities to accomplish various tasks, from understanding mathematical concepts to solving mathematical problems correctly. Mathematics self-efficacy was measured with four components as listed in Table 3.

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Table 3: Components of Mathematics Self-efficacy Mastery experience Vicarious experience Social persuasions Physiological states

How students view and assess the previous achievement and their judgments are amended according to these views (DoménechBetoret et al., 2017). How students feel and observe peer or adult models’ academic skills helps them manipulate their experience (Gopal et al., 2018). Encouraging messages that students get from teachers, parents and close friends can empower their confidence in academic capabilities (Kandemir & Akbaş-Perkmen, 2017). Students’ emotional condition (Kandemir & Akbaş-Perkmen, 2017).

1.1.4. Metacognitive Skills Metacognitive skill was defined as an individual’s power to deliberate and this skill is used to understand, plan, monitor, evaluate learning activities, summarise and reflect (Veenman & van Cleef, 2019). Metacognitive skills can also be expressed as an individual’s awareness to periodically monitoring whether he/she has attained the goal and carrying out different strategies after selecting them if necessary (O’Neil & Abedi, 1996). In this study, metacognitive skills are defined as students’ awareness of the mathematical problem-solving process. As suggested by O’Neil & Abedi, 1996, metacognitive skills consist of four components: planning, self-checking, cognitive strategy and awareness. Table 4: Components of Metacognitive Skills Planning Self-checking Cognitive strategy Awareness

Learning options, target setting, inquisitiveness and way of doing things (Loh & Lee, 2019). Students monitor their learning process to determine problems and change strategies to achieve the goal (Hinojosa et al., 2020). Individual cognitive or affective strategies which needed during the learning process (Hinojosa et al., 2020). A process which is someone fully aware of (Loh & Lee, 2019).

1.2. Mathematical Problem-Solving Performance Mathematical problem solving is presumed to challenge and strengthen student’s intellectual understanding and encourage the development of mathematics concepts (NCTM, 2010). Polya (1957) defined mathematical problem solving as finding a strategy around a hardship and identifying a solution to an unfamiliar problem. Accordingly, Amalia et al. (2017) discussed in detail the basic procedure in problem-solving, which include the following: 1. Describe the problem/problem statement 2. Strategize and develop the plan 3. Assess and decide the alternatives 4. Implement and seek for solution Stylianides and Stylianides (2014) agree that mathematical problem solving provides an activity for students to think out of the box by relating the actual situation or actual data with the unknown. Therefore, this study’s mathematical problem-solving performance is defined as the students’ achievement in finding

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the best solution to a set of mathematical problem-solving tests. To evaluate this performance, the Mathematical Problem-Solving Test (MPST) has been adopted. Five mathematics problems based on the matriculation mathematics curriculum were filtered to ensure that only cover the Integration topic. This study's mathematics problems were the types of problems that had a clear structure. The problems also had a set of possible solutions and can be solved in writing. The problems selected are also challenging, but the context is still within what students have learned in their classrooms. Identifying the success indicators that could predict their performance in mathematical problem-solving is necessary. Hence, a conceptual framework shown in Figure 1 was constructed involving four variables to measure the mathematical problem-solving performance. The conceptual framework was developed based on a combination of social cognitive theory (SCT), theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and model of mathematical problem solving, which had been drawn from the literature review. These variables were combined with modelling the relationship of students’ affective indicators, metacognitive and mathematical problem-solving performance.

Figure 1: Conceptual Framework

1.2.1. Success Indicators of Mathematical Problem-solving Performance Previous studies have validated that mathematics beliefs have a constructive influence on mathematics performance. A study on factors influencing mathematical problem-solving performance revealed a significant relationship between students’ mathematics beliefs and their mathematical problem-solving performance (Deng et al., 2015). The second indicator, mathematics attitude, has also shown a significant effect on mathematics performance. In Wolkite Town, 240 students were surveyed using Attitude Towards Mathematics Scales (ATMS),

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which consists of five components, namely, Value, Male Domain, Enjoyment, Motivation and Confidence. The study found that mathematics attitude had the strongest positive significant correlation on mathematics achievement (Simegn & Asfaw, 2018). Kandemir and Akbaş-Perkmen (2017) found that mastery experience, a source in mathematics self-efficacy, has a significant and positive influence on mathematics achievements. Consistent with another previous studies on mathematics self-efficacy, a study in Iran also showed that the third indicator has a strong effect on mathematics achievement (Kamalimoghaddam et al., 2016). Abdullah et al. (2017) focused on the role and effects of metacognitive skills strategy in mathematical activity found a positive and moderate significant correlation between metacognitive skills and mathematical problem-solving performance. The remaining sections are structured as follows. In section 2, the objective and significance of this study are described. In Section 3, the details of the methodology are expounded. The survey results are presented in Section 4 and discussions are elaborated on in Section 5. Lastly, the concluding remarks are given in Section 6.

2. Objectives In general, this study’s motivation and rationale would add to the growing body of knowledge on mathematics problem-solving. It proposed to investigate the success indicators predicting mathematical problem-solving performance among Malaysian matriculation students. This paper provides a survey on the relationship between all indicators with their pros and cons. The objectives of this paper are as follows: (i) To determine the relationship of mathematics beliefs, mathematics attitudes, mathematics self-efficacy and metacognitive skills on mathematical problem-solving performance among Malaysian matriculation students. (ii) To identify success indicators that predicting mathematical problemsolving performance among Malaysian matriculation students. The significance of this study are as follows: (i) Post-secondary level education in Malaysia, especially the Matriculation Program, has been less explored than primary, secondary and tertiary education levels. (ii) This study’s findings can provide researchers and lecturers with insights into how beliefs, attitudes, metacognitive skills and selfefficacy affect how students transfer knowledge. (iii) Analysing the success indicators that may influence the mathematical problem-solving performance will enrich information that can be used in improving mathematics education to researchers, lecturers, or policymakers.

3. Methodology This study utilized a descriptive correlational design approach by collecting data obtained from a questionnaire. The design involved data collection and statistical

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analysis of numerical data (Ary et al., 2014) to characterise, clarify, anticipate or control the phenomena of interest (Mills & Gay, 2016). This study also referred to Kamalimoghad who utilized the correlational design as a research methodology to determine the factors predicting mathematical problem-solving performance using various variables, including mathematics beliefs, mathematics attitude and metacognitive skills. Correlational design is a statistical procedure of correlational analysis in which researchers measure the degree of association or relationship among variables in a single group of subjects (Ary et al., 2014). A set of questionnaires and a mathematics test were used as instruments in this study. Denscombe (2010) pointed out that questionnaire is suitable for any research with a large sample size from different locations. Therefore, standardized similar questions are required from the respondents. Data on mathematics beliefs, mathematics attitude, mathematics self-efficacy and metacognitive skills were obtained from students’ ratings on the questionnaire items. Simultaneously, based on the total marks of a mathematics test, we measured the mathematical problem-solving performance. The results that adequately indicate significant relationships among the five variables would serve as strong evidence to carry out the next objective, i.e., prediction, using correlational analysis. 3.1. Populations This quantitative correlational study employed a cluster sampling procedure. The sample for this study comprised of matriculation students under the Ministry of Education in three zones (North, Central and South). The North zone consists of four matriculation colleges namely, Kolej Matrikulasi Perlis, Kolej Matrikulasi Kedah, Kolej Matrikulasi Pulau Pinang and Kolej Matrikulasi Perak. The Central zone consists of five matriculation colleges namely, Kolej Matrikulasi Selangor, Kolej Matrikulasi Negeri Sembilan, Kolej Matrikulasi Kelantan, Kolej Matrikulasi Sarawak and Kolej Matrikulasi Labuan while the South zone has three matriculation colleges namely, Kolej Matrikulasi Melaka, Kolej Matrikulasi Johor and Kolej Matrikulasi Pahang. Based on the total population identified as 18 717 students from the matriculation program across Malaysia, the sample size calculation was obtained using Cochran’s (1977) formula as 263. Therefore, the minimum sample size required, according to Cochran (1977,) is 263. Fraenkel et al. (2016) mentioned that a minimum sample of 30 should be generally acceptable to establish the existence of a relationship for a correlational study. However, for educational and social research studies, the response rate using surveys as the data collection method is usually below 100% (Barlett et al., 2001). Hence, Salkind (2012) recommended oversampling by 40% to 50% to account for lost respondents and uncooperative respondents. Hence, in this study, the sample size was increased by 40% of the original number of the sample size calculated above. The addition to the sample was 105 students (40% x 263). Therefore, this study's total sample size was 368 to ensure that an adequate sample was used in this study. A total of 368 students from the matriculation program under the Ministry of Education Malaysia were selected randomly. A list of colleges in the North,

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Central and South zones was acquired and based on random sampling, three colleges were chosen for the actual data collection process. The selected colleges were Kolej Matrikulasi Perak (North zone), Kolej Matrikulasi Negeri Sembilan (Central zone) and Kolej Matrikulasi Melaka (South zone). The sampling strategy process is shown in Table 5. Table 5: Matriculation Colleges in Malaysia Colleges North Kolej Matrikulasi Perlis Kolej Matrikulasi Kedah Kolej Matrikulasi Pulau Pinang Kolej Matrikulasi Perak Total Central Kolej Matrikulasi Selangor Kolej Matrikulasi Negeri Sembilan Kolej Matrikulasi Kelantan Kolej Matrikulasi Sarawak Kolej Matrikulasi Labuan Total South Kolej Matrikulasi Melaka Kolej Matrikulasi Johor Kolej Matrikulasi Pahang

Total Overall Total

Percentage (%)

Number of samples required

Additional 40%

129

132

2,058

107

1,765 5,439 18,717

100

263

368

No. of Students 1,007 1,708 1,943 1,817 6,475 1,718 1,645 1,403 119 1,918 6,803 1,616

3.2. Instrumentation Instrumentation involves designing the instruments and procedures of data collection (Fraenkel et al., 2016). This research instrument was a structured questionnaire composed of three parts, namely, Parts A, B and C. The number of items and sources for each construct in the questionnaire is listed in Table 6. In Part B, respondents were given options by using a five-point Likert scale ranging from Strongly Disagree (1), Disagree (2), Moderately Agree (3), Agree (4) and Strongly Agree (5) to measure their agreement on the questionnaire statements. All five items in Part C in section 1 were scored in three categories: understanding, planning a solution and getting answers. Each item was given six points with a total score of 30.

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Table 7 shows the problem-solving marking scheme details to assess mathematical problem-solving questions in this study. The percentages of total scores from each step of the marking scheme were used to determine students’ mathematical problem-solving performance. Table 6: Distribution of Items in Each Section and the Sources Part/ Section

Components

Part A Section 1 Part B Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

PART C Section 1

Section 2

No. of Item

Source

Demographic Information

Selfdeveloped

Mathematics Beliefs • Difficult Problems • Steps • Understanding • Word Problems • Effort Mathematics Attitudes • Self-confidence • Value • Enjoyment • Motivation Mathematics Self-efficacy • Mastery Experience • Vicarious Experience • Social Persuasions • Physiological States

28 6 4 6 6 6

Kloosterman & Stage (1992)

Mathematical Problem Solving Performance

Metacognitive Skills • Awareness • Cognitive Strategy • Planning • Self-checking

20 5 5 5 5 118

40 15 10 10 5 24 6 6 6 6

Tapia & Marsh (2004)

Usher & Pajares (2009)

Selfdeveloped O’Neil & Abedi (1996)

Table 7: Marking Scheme Details

Understanding

Stages

Scores 0

Characteristics Complete misunderstanding

Partial understanding

Complete understanding

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Description Lack of comprehension problem Not able to identify important given data. Misunderstood/ misinterpreted part of the data, partially understand goals and hidden data. Ability to take information and translate it in the mathematical model, fully retrieve given and hidden data.

107

Getting answers

Planning a solution

No attempt/inappropriate plan Partially correct plan

Plan led to a correct solution

No answer/ wrong answer

Wrong integration procedure, not able to put constant of integration. Accurate interpretation up to a certain point but fail to strategize appropriately. Execute the plan, translate the plan into series of appropriate mathematical actions, successful findings. Cannot execute integration steps.

Copying error; Mathematical/ computational error. computational error 2 The correct answer, Solution complete, no error in response. the correct label Adapted rubric scores for mathematical problem solving based on Analytic Scoring Scale (Charles et al., 1987)

Table 8 shows the distribution of the students’ scores and their test performance level. In Section 2, 25 items were measured on a five-point Likert scale. The scales for items in this section were Never (1), Rarely (2), Sometimes (3), Often (4) and Always (5). Table 8: Distribution of Students Score and Performance Level Scores Level 0.00 to 36.72 Very Low 36.73 to 46.68 Low 46.69 to 56.75 Medium 56.76 to 66.86 High 66.87 to 100.00 Very High Adapted from: (Lee et al., 2013)

3.3. Reliability An instrument’s reliability is the degree of coherence or consistency, which can measure the same variables even if used in different samples, times and places (Ary et al., 2014). In this pilot study, the reliability measurement was used to assess the internal coherence. Internal coherence refers to the items that comprise the scale by measuring the same bottom-line attributes (Pallant, 2020). The reliability analysis was performed on an instrument using Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient in the IBM SPSS Statistics software. All constructs tested were considered reliable because the Cronbach’s Alpha value was more significant than 0.50, which is congruent with the acceptable value for reliability as indicated by Hinton et al. (2014). The Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficients for the pilot and actual studies are summarized as in Table 9.

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Table 9: Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient Part

No. of Items before Pilot Study

No. of Items after Pilot Study

Pilot Study (n=99)

Actual Study (n=312)

Demographic Information

Mathematics Beliefs

.615

.652

Section 2

Mathematics Attitudes

.952

.959

Section 3

Mathematics Selfefficacy

.827

.928

Mathematical ProblemSolving Performance

.839

.772

20 124

20 122

.898 .826

.922 .965

Part A Section 1 Part B Section 1

PART C Section 1 Section 2

Variable

Metacognitive Skills

4. Analysis and Results The relationship between the four success indicators for mathematical problem solving and mathematics achievement was calculated utilising the Pearson product-moment correlation technique. Then, multiple regression analysis was performed to identify the best predictors of the four indicators on the mathematical problem-solving in mathematics achievements. Based on Hair et al. (2010), the normality, linearity, homoscedasticity assumptions had been met. 4.1. Demographic Information The respondents’ general demographic information is given in Table 10. A total of 368 matriculation students participated in this study, composed of 125 (34.0%) male students and 243 (66.0%) female students. Therefore, a significant majority of the respondents were females. Ethnic groups were categorized into four subcategories including Malay respondents (322 respondents, 87.5%), 30 Indian respondents (8.1%), 15 Chinese respondents (4.2%) and only one respondent from others. The majority were Malay respondents because the Ministry of Education’s Matriculation Programme is a preparatory program for Bumiputera students with only 10% non-Bumiputera students. In terms of mathematics grades in PSPM1, 120 respondents (32.7%) earned an A and 15.7% (58 respondents) earned A- , about 3.5% (13 respondents) and 0.6% (two respondents) earned C and C- for mathematics, respectively. As for the number of revision hours for the mathematics subject, most of the respondents (178 respondents, 48.4%) had less than an hour of mathematics revision per day. Moreover, only 18 respondents (4.8%) had four to five hours of mathematics revision per day.

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Table 10: Demographic Information Demography

Category

Gender Race

Mathematics Grade

Hours of Revision

Male Female Malay Chinese Indian Others A AB+ B BC+ C C0–1 hour/day

Number of Respondents 125 243 322 15 30 1 120 58 65 60 26 24 13 2 178

Percentage (%) 34.0 66.0 87.5 4.2 8.1 0.2 32.7 15.7 17.6 16.3 7.1 6.4 3.5 0.6 48.4

2–3 hours/day 4–5 hours/day

172 18

46.8 4.8

4.2. Statistical Analysis The means of all variable items were summed up and averaged to obtain the overall mean for each variable. The mean value of less than 3.00 was categorized as low and the value that fell between 3.01 to 5.00 was classified as high. Table 11 shows the means (M) and standard deviations (SD) of the respondents’ responses on the variables investigated in this study. The average mean for the responses on all variables was 3.83 (SD=0.49). The highest mean rating was attained on mathematics attitude (M=3.91, SD=0.57), followed by metacognitive skills (M=3.84, SD=0.52), then by mathematics beliefs (M=3.80, SD=0.28) and lastly, mathematics self-efficacy (M=3.75, SD=0.59). The results implied that matriculation students perceived themselves as demonstrating high mathematics attitude, metacognitive skills, mathematics beliefs and mathematics self-efficacy towards mathematical problem-solving performance. Table 11: Mean and Standard Deviation Variable Mathematics Beliefs Mathematics Attitude Mathematics Self-efficacy Metacognitive Skills Overall Mean and Standard Deviation

Mean 3.80 3.91 3.75 3.84

SD 0.28 0.57 0.59 0.52

3.83

0.49

Category High High High High High

The Pearson correlation analysis was performed to determine any significant relationships among mathematics beliefs, mathematics attitude, metacognitive skills, mathematics self-efficacy and mathematical problem-solving performance. The results of Pearson’s correlation analysis are presented in Table 12.

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The results showed significant relationships at the 0.01 level of significance between the independent and dependent variables. Significant relationships were observed between mathematics beliefs (r=0.448**, p=0.000), mathematics attitude (r=0.489**, p=0.000), metacognitive skills (r=0.455**, p=0.000), mathematics selfefficacy (r=0.484**, p=0.000) and mathematical problem solving performance. All the relationships were of moderate strengths (Lodico et al., 2010). Table 12: Results of Pearson Correlation Coefficients Mathematics Mathematics Metacognitive Beliefs Attitude Skills 0.448** 0.489** 0.455** 0.000 0.000 0.000

r Mathematics Sig. Problem Solving (2Performance tailed) **Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level

Mathematics Self-efficacy 0.484** 0.000

The following model summary table (Table 13) shows Malaysia’s multiple correlation coefficient was 0.558 and the R2 value was 0.311. The R2 value indicated how much the model disclosed the variance in the dependent variable. The R2 value obtained was 0.311, indicating that 31.1% of the mathematical problemsolving performance variance could be explained by the model containing the combination of the independent variables. Table 13: Model Summary R

R Square

Adjusted R Square

Std. Error of the Estimate

0.558

0.311

0.305

1.45160

Table 14 presents the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) for the multiple regression model. The F-test in the ANOVA table test identified whether the regression model fits the data. The F-test results showed that the independent variables significantly predicted the dependent variable [F (3, 311) = 46.402, p =0.000] at a significance level of 0.05. Table 14: ANOVA Model Regression Residual Total

Sum of Squares 293.325 648.995 942.320

df 3 308 311

Mean Square 97.775 2.107

F 46.402

Sig. 0.000

The result of the multiple linear regression shown in Table 15 revealed that mathematics beliefs (t=2.304, p<0.05), mathematics attitude (t=3.916, p<0.05) and metacognitive skills (t=4.849, p<0.05) had unique and statistically significant contribution to the mathematical problem-solving performance. However, mathematics self-efficacy did not contribute significantly and was excluded from the regression, which might be because mathematics self-efficacy overlapped with other independent variables in the model (Pallant, 2020). The data in Table 15 show that the beta (β) value for metacognitive skills (β=0.284)

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was the most significant coefficient followed by mathematics attitude (β=0.251) and mathematics beliefs (β=0.132). These implied metacognitive skills were the most vital unique contributors in explaining mathematical problem-solving performance. The model indicated with each increase of one standard deviation in metacognitive skills and mathematical problem-solving performance would lead to an increment by 0.284 standard deviation units. With an increase of one standard deviation in mathematics attitude, mathematical problem-solving understanding would increase by 0.251 standard deviation units. Likewise, with every increase of one standard deviation in mathematics beliefs, mathematical problem-solving performance would lead to an increment of 0.132 standard deviation units. Table 15: Results of Regression Analysis

Independent Variable

Unstandardized Standardized Coefficients Coefficients B Std. Error Beta

Sig.

-5.886

0.000

(Constant)

-7.282

1.237

Mathematics Beliefs

0.906

0.393

0.132

2.304

0.022

Mathematics Attitude

0.763

0.195

0.251

3.916

0.000

Metacognitive Skills Mathematics Selfefficacy

0.946

0.195

0.284 0.088

4.849 0.897

0.000 0.370

5. Discussion This study aimed to identify the relationship between students’ mathematics beliefs, mathematics attitudes, mathematics self-efficacy and metacognitive skills towards mathematical problem-solving performance among Malaysian matriculation students. Mathematics beliefs referred to students’ thoughts about mathematics that encourage them to make decisions regarding their actions. It is an essential component of students’ participation in mathematics learning activities and mathematics performance. The findings of this study indicated that the respondents had a high level of mathematics beliefs. However, among the five components, respondents believe that efforts can enhance their mathematics ability and succeed in mathematics subjects. They agreed that studying hard could improve their mathematics ability and enable them to become more competent in solving mathematics problems. Respondents perceived that understanding why a particular procedure was correct is essential rather than getting the right answer. Conjointly, the respondents also believed they would not surrender easily while solving the time-consuming mathematics problem. In this study, mathematics attitude refers to students’ attitude towards mathematics during the learning process in the classroom. The four components used to evaluate mathematics attitude were self-confidence, value, enjoyment and motivation. The finding of this study revealed that the respondents concurred that mathematics was one of the remarkably crucial subjects to learn and that studying

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mathematics at an advanced level was appealing because of the challenge of solving mathematics questions. They also view mathematics as an exciting subject and they usually enjoyed learning mathematics in college because they gained a sense of satisfaction after solving mathematics problems. The students tended to believe they had self-confidence and a positive self-concept on their mathematics performance. Mathematics self-efficacy is outlined as personal persuasions or impressions that an individual has the power to perform a specific task or solving mathematics problems. The four components used to evaluate mathematics self-efficacy were mastery experience, vicarious experience, social persuasions and physiological states. A high level of mathematics self-efficacy was identified in this study because respondents perceived that seeing friends do better than them when solving mathematics problems could motivate them to do better. Moreover, seeing adults perform well in mathematics could also encourage them to do better. Metacognitive skills refers to students’ ability to plan, monitor, evaluate and control their cognitive strategies during mathematical problem-solving activity. Various components are used to assess students’ metacognitive skills in mathematical problem solving, including planning, self-checking, mental approach and awareness. The results showed that students’ planning skills were at its highest level compared to the self-checking, awareness and cognitive strategy. The highest mean in planning skills suggested that respondents preferred to use planning skills compared to other metacognitive skills and indicated that would try to comprehend the mathematics problems before attempting to solve them fully. They also checked their working solutions, which caused them to correct the mistakes they made. This study has several limitations. The study was limited and focused on students of the Matriculation Division, Ministry of Education Malaysia. Students' mathematical problem-solving in matriculation colleges may not relate to other subjects and another level as primary and tertiary education. Hence, the generalization of the results obtained may not be appropriate. because it involves a survey, the data are self-reported and gathered using questionnaires and tests set. The findings are based on respondents’ self-reports, which is an obvious limitation to the study. Moreover, the present study determined students' mathematics beliefs, mathematics attitudes, metacognitive skills and mathematics self-efficacy on students' mathematical problem-solving performance. Other factors that may affect students’ mathematical problemsolving performances such as gender, parents’ education and socioeconomic context, were not explored. Hence, only certain parts of topics for post-secondary education level, especially from the matriculation syllabus of mathematics, were studied. Mathematical problem-solving refers to students’ activity in finding a mathematics problem and their ability to relate the unknown with the actual

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situation or data. In this study, mathematical problem-solving performance referred to students’ performance in solving mathematics problems. Based on the students’ performance level analysis, most students’ performance level in mathematical problem solving are very low. The inadequate level in mathematical problem-solving performance suggested that the students are very poor in solving the mathematics problems, which might be due to a lack of problem-solving practice for the students in the classroom. Therefore, this study suggested that problem-solving should be included as an essential part of the mathematics matriculation syllabus to provide students with the space to upgrade their problem-solving abilities. By teaching through a problem-solving learning environment, students are expected to have greater mathematics conceptual understanding that can help them become good problem solvers.

6. Conclusion Students’ mathematics beliefs, attitude towards mathematics, mathematics selfefficacy and metacognitive skills in mathematical problem solving were categorized as high. However, mathematical problem-solving performance was classified as low. Correlation analysis was used to identify the relationship between mathematics beliefs, attitude towards mathematics, mathematics selfefficacy and metacognitive skills towards mathematical problem-solving performance. The findings indicated a significant positive correlation between mathematics beliefs, attitude towards mathematics, mathematics self-efficacy and metacognitive skills towards mathematical problem-solving performance. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify the best predictor of mathematical problem-solving performance. The findings revealed that the metacognitive abilities had the most substantial contribution, followed by mathematics attitude and mathematics beliefs. However, among these variables, mathematics self-efficacy did not contribute significantly. These results identified that the final model with three predictor variables explained 31.1% of the mathematical problem-solving performance variation.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 117-131, March 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.3.8

What do Malaysian ESL Teachers Think About Flipped Classroom? Ngo Hui Kiang and Melor Md Yunus Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8398-0731 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7504-7143

Abstract. Student-centred teaching and learning methods are favoured for promoting active and collaborative learning. In the flipped classroom approach, student-centred teaching and learning are the focus in the learning process. The approach has been gaining attention from educators at all levels worldwide. The present study was aimed at exploring Malaysian primary ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers’ perceptions of the implementation of flipped classroom. The study used the mixed method design, a Likert-scale questionnaire and an openended question. This research employed a whole population sample, which consisted of primary ESL teachers in a rural area in Malaysia. The findings showed that the teachers have positive perceptions of the flipped classroom approach as well as some concerns regarding its implementation, such as the availability of ICT (information and communications technology) gadgets and Internet connection in rural areas. Teachers’ perceptions of flipped classrooms can be used to make suggestions or give ideas to the authorities for improving the infrastructure in rural areas to help teachers and students. It is recommended that future studies be carried out with a larger and more diverse population to gather a more detailed picture of Malaysian teachers’ perceptions of the flipped classroom approach. Keywords: flipped classroom; primary perceptions; challenges; education

ESL

teachers;

teachers’

1. Introduction In this era, the teaching and learning of the English language require the integration of technology. Students find traditional teaching methods less interesting; they prefer modern styles of teaching. Hence, teachers need to be innovative and creative by integrating modern teaching approaches to attract students and ensure better learning outcomes. Student-centred teaching and learning methods are preferred for promoting collaborative learning among students. Flipped classroom is a teaching approach that emphasises studentcentred learning in the classroom, and it is gaining popularity globally. In 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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flipped classroom, students are given the chance to grow as independent learners (Fauzan & Ngabut, 2018; Sharma, 2018; Yang & Chen, 2020; Zainuddin & Halili, 2016). In this new class setting, the content is delivered outside the classroom, and the in-class time is employed for more student-centred activities (Jeong et al., 2018). The students are required to study the materials before coming to the class for the lesson. Hence, the classroom time is dedicated to more meaningful learning such as discussions regarding the topic given to the students. The rapid development of multimedia technology has contributed to the rising trend of using the digital environment in learning, thereby promoting new learning models (Wang, 2020). Flipped classroom’s popularity has been growing in many countries, and therefore, many researchers have explored teachers’ and students’ perceptions of and attitudes towards this model (Khaled, 2019). Several studies have been conducted on teachers’ perceptions of the implementation of flipped classroom (Ansori & Nafi’, 2019; Gough et al., 2017; Khaled, 2019; Yang, 2017; Yang & Chen, 2020). However, according to Rahman et al. (2020), the studies conducted on flipped learning in Malaysia are fewer in number compared to the studies conducted around the globe. Most of the past studies focused on students or teachers from high schools, universities, colleges or other higher education institutions rather than rural primary schools, especially in the Malaysian context. The students and teachers of rural schools are often left out due to their lack of technologies and facilities. Hence, this study was aimed at exploring Malaysian ESL teachers’ general perceptions of the implementation of the flipped classroom approach in their daily teaching processes; this was accomplished through a survey and an openended question, and teachers from rural areas were particularly focused on as the studies conducted involving them are still few (Rahman et al., 2020). As the focus was on schools in rural areas, problems such as lack of ICT and infrastructure were expected to be the challenges. It is hoped that through the results of this study, the authorities are able to have a clearer picture of the real conditions in rural areas and, hence, provide better opportunities to the students. So, the research question of this study is as follows: What are the Malaysian primary ESL teachers’ general perceptions of the implementation of the flipped classroom approach?

2. Literature Review 2.1 The Theory of the Flipped Classroom Approach According to Eppard and Rochdi (2017), the revised version of Bloom’s taxonomy is relevant to the concept of flipped learning, which involves independent learning and assimilation of learning. The independent learning occurs outside of the classroom, while the assimilation of information, which needs greater critical thinking and reasoning, occurs in the classroom, under the guidance of teachers. Regarding the implementation of the flipped classroom approach, Zainuddin and Halili (2016) claimed that the lower levels of the cognitive domain are normally

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engaged outside the classroom, where students study the materials prepared by the teachers, and the reading is completed independently by the students; the higher cognitive levels are engaged inside the classroom, during collaborative discussions with teachers and peers. A flipped classroom allows the students to have more time and opportunities to enhance their performance in higher-level cognitive activities. Zainuddin and Halili (2016) also compared conventional and flipped classrooms in terms of students’ achievement of the higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) mentioned in Bloom’s revised taxonomy. This comparison is shown in Table 1. Table 1: A comparison between traditional classroom approach and flipped classroom approach by Zainuddin and Halili (2016) Levels of Learning Remembering

Traditional Classroom Tools Face-to-face lecture

Flipped Classroom Tools Watching recorded lecture, reading materials and online materials independently

Understanding

Question and answer (Q&A) Homework

Reflection, peer discussion and collaboration Classroom activities such as collaborative discussion Projects, presentations, peer evaluation and instructor evaluation

Analysing Applying Evaluating Creating

Homework or not applicable

It is noticeable that the flipped classroom approach is able to help students use HOTS in the classroom through peer discussion and collaboration. Furthermore, Sharma (2018) stated that the traditional method of teaching always focuses on the lower level of Bloom’s taxonomy in the classroom, and the students are left to work independently on the higher levels’ skills with homework or additional exercises. 2.2 Concepts of the Flipped Classroom Approach Flipped classroom is a type of blended learning in which the teachers choose and prepare pre-class work, such as online materials, and the in-class time is devoted to collaborative tasks among students (Ho, 2020; Unal & Unal, 2017). It is well documented in the literature that interaction among learners helps learning take place (McCallum et al., 2015; Murray et al., 2015; Nguyen, B., et al., 2016). Moreover, Chun and Sathappan (2020) defined flipped classroom in terms of the shifted roles of learners and teachers: the learners are responsible for their own learning, and the teachers provide guidance and assistance to the learners. In a flipped classroom, different learning activities and platforms are used to teach the lessons (Yousufi, 2020). Discussion and collaboration among learners are the focus throughout the lessons. In a flipped classroom setting, the teaching content and activities are provided online to students in advance so that they may read the materials before the next lesson (Jones, 2016; Yousufi, 2020). Hence, the students are familiar with the

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content of the lesson and the activities planned. Fauzan and Ngabut (2018) stated that a flipped classroom helps avoid teacher-centred lessons as teachers have the chance to use the classroom time for countless student-centred activities. AlIbrahim (2019) asserted that the flipped classroom approach has positive effects on students’ learning as it increases their motivation to learn and keeps them engaged in student-centred activities, which help in developing collaborative, research and inquiry skills. To implement flipped learning effectively, technical infrastructure, particularly high-speed Internet, should be reinforced, and students should be encouraged and motivated to study using various sources and course contents offered online (Say & Yildirim, 2020). 2.3 Past Studies on Flipped Learning Su Ping et al. (2020) conducted a study on low-proficiency students’ experience of and reflections on a flipped writing programme. The students believed that by viewing lecture videos and reflecting upon their content before the lessons, they could be better prepared, which contributed to better engagement and participation in classroom activities in the flipped classroom compared to a conventional classroom. Immediate feedback from their teachers and peers also helped the low-proficiency students engage in discussions. A study analysing the implementation of blended learning was conducted by Mahalli et al. (2019). The advantages of adopting blended learning models are that they can make it easier for students to learn anytime and anywhere and enable them to learn independently, at their own pace. In addition, they will prepare students for what will be learnt in class and stimulate their curiosity and interest regarding their classroom experiences. Nguyen, H. A. V., et al. (2019) conducted a study investigating the advantages of flipped classroom in the teaching of grammar. The results of the study showed that the approach enables students to be self-paced in learning, creates opportunities for them to express their opinions, saves time for in-class communicative activities and facilitates the learning of English grammar in a communicative manner. Abdelrahman et al. (2017) conducted a study involving Sudanese students and focused on the effects of the flipped classroom approach on students’ writing proficiency and their satisfaction with the use of the approach. The students agreed that the approach helped them improve their writing. The online video lessons prepared by the teacher could be watched anytime and anywhere, and they enabled students to have a better understanding. The students also stated that their teacher was more attentive towards them. Discussions and more interactive group work replaced the traditional process of the teacher delivering lessons. The researchers proclaimed that thanks to the flipped classroom approach, even shy students responded to the questions in the online form. Hence, this approach may help in encouraging collaborative work among students. Goedhart et al. (2019) studied the outcomes of a flipped classroom experiment performed during a master's course at the Netherlands’ Vrije Universiteit

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Amsterdam. The positive reviews from both the teacher and the students indicated that the experiment was a success. Deeper learning was enabled through a mixture of personalised pre-class learning and peer-learning classroom activities. Fathi and Rahimi (2020) conducted a study in an Iranian university. They found that the EFL students in the flipped classroom greatly outperformed those in the non-flipped classroom in terms of global writing performance and writing fluency. Ali et al. (2021) explored the use of flipped classroom in teaching English as a second language to 5th-grade learners in a Pakistani school. The students who were taught using the flipped classroom approach as a teaching method scored higher in a test compared to those who were taught using the traditional method. The authors also stated that flipped classroom is able to upgrade basic reasoning and encourage communication among and participation of learners (Ali et al., 2021). Kurt (2017) conducted a study at a higher education institution in Turkey. It was found that pre-service teachers perceived themselves to be more motivated in a flipped classroom as they were allowed to participate actively in the classroom and because they could watch the videos as many times as they needed before the lesson, at their own pace. 2.4 Past Studies on Teachers’ Perceptions of the Flipped Classroom Approach A flipped classroom allows students to be more active in their learning and provides them with more opportunities to collaborate with their friends in the classroom, thereby building their confidence in using the language. Gough et al. (2017) found that for teachers, the greatest advantages of the flipped classroom approach are the benefits it provides to absent students and struggling students, as they can re-watch the recorded lessons, the increased interaction it enables between students and teachers and the increased time it allows for various learning activities. In addition, Gough et al. (2017) discussed the challenges faced by the teachers. The teachers who participated in the study agreed that accessing technology outside of school could be an issue for some learners. In a study, some teachers considered flipped classroom creative and felt that it may be useful in teaching English grammar (Yang, 2017); however, they also believed that it may only be practical for more ambitious learners, and the extra job of making pre-lesson videos was their main concern. Based on their study, Ansori and Nafi’ (2019) claimed that this approach facilitates active learning, enhances teamwork among learners and encourages autonomous learning. The participants in their study mentioned that the challenges in the implementation of this approach include lack of supporting facilities, technical and technological problems, and the difficulty of producing flipped learning materials. As for the advantages, in-class activities involving discussion and presentation can increase classroom communication (Ansori & Nafi’, 2019; Jaramillo, 2019). Khaled (2019) conducted a study to investigate EFL teachers’ perceptions of the flipped classroom model in the Palestinian context. The data collected showed the positive impacts of the model. In interviews, the teachers stated that it made the students more responsible for their learning outside the classroom. Furthermore, this model gave the students more freedom to search for new information related

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to the lesson before coming to the classroom. Some teachers felt that the model would help them in planning, teaching and communicating effectively with students using technology. Flipped classroom is a model that enables students to focus and interact during their learning process. It facilitates flexible and independent learning as students can learn anytime and anywhere and individually, at their own pace (Gilboy et al., 2015; Kurt, 2017; Mahalli et al., 2019; McCallum et al., 2015). In addition, this approach can save a lot of the time that is spent on teaching and ensure that more class time is used for student practice; it makes the learners more responsible for their learning and further enhances their independent learning skills (Yang & Chen, 2020). Hence, we can see that the past studies on teachers’ perceptions of the flipped classroom approach revealed positive responses and some concerns and challenges related to the implementation of the approach.

3. Methodology 3.1 Research Design This mixed method research data was collected via a 5-point Likert-scale questionnaire as a Google form and an open-ended question. The questionnaire consisted of 20 questions, with the answers ranging from “Strongly Agree” to “Strongly Disagree”. 3.2 Research Respondents For this study, the research participants were selected via the whole population sampling technique. The selected population consisted of English language teachers from the primary schools of a district in Malaysia; the total population was 114. Of them, only 78 responded to the online questionnaire; thus, the response rate was 68%, which is acceptable according to Creswell (2014), who stated that a response rate of 50% is acceptable in survey research. 3.3 Research Instrument Two research instruments were used in this research: a survey questionnaire and an open-ended question. The questionnaire used in the survey was based on previous studies by Khaled (2019) and Alsowat (2016). A total of 20 items, with a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), were formulated, and the questionnaire was distributed online. The questionnaire was piloted on 31 teachers with similar teaching backgrounds. The reliability of the questionnaire was verified using the software IBM SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) Version 25, and it obtained the Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient with the value of 0.95. Vaske et al. (2017) stated that a value more than or equal to 0.8 (≥ 0.8) is an excellent indication of good internal consistency. The open-ended question in the survey was created to explore the teachers’ perception of a flipped classroom in primary school settings, particularly involving primary school students and English language lessons. 3.4 Data Collection Procedure The survey was conducted by providing the participants with the Google form’s link. It was shared with all the English language teachers at the research site

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through the online social application WhatsApp. The data collected through the form was analysed descriptively and thematically. 3.5 Data Analysis Procedure The quantitative data collected through the questionnaire was analysed using the software IBM SPSS Version 25. The means, frequencies and percentages of the Likert-scale questionnaire data were used for the descriptive statistical analysis. To analyse the teachers’ perceptions of the flipped classroom approach and better understand their responses, the researchers used a scale developed by Ibrahim et al. (2015), which is shown in Table 2. The qualitative data was analysed thematically through its categorisation into themes and sub-themes. Table 2: Interpretation of the mean score, as proposed by Ibrahim et al. (2015) Mean Score (M) 1.00–2.00 2.01–3.00 3.01–4.00 4.01–5.00

Interpretation of Mean Score Low Moderately Low Moderately High High

4. Findings This study was aimed at identifying primary ESL teachers’ perceptions of the implementation of the flipped classroom approach. To achieve this aim, a mixed method research design was applied. The results of the quantitative data collected were related to the research question, “What are the Malaysian Primary ESL teachers’ general perceptions of the implementation of the flipped classroom approach?” A total of 78 teachers (68% of the total population) answered the Likert-scale questionnaire. The researchers tabulated the frequencies, percentages and means to better illustrate the data; this can be seen in Table 3 and Table 4. As for the qualitative data, the teachers’ responses were coded and analysed thematically, as shown in Table 5. Table 3. Frequencies, percentages and means of teachers’ perceptions of the advantages of flipped classroom approach with regard to the teacher’s role Mean (M)

3 3 20 41 (4%) (4%) (26%) (52%) 6 13 33 21 (8%) (17%) (42%) (27%) 0 0 15 42 (0%) (0%) (19%) (54%) 0 0 6 45 (0%) (0%) (8%) (58%)

Strongly Agree

Agree

Not sure

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Disagree

I have knowledge of the flipped classroom methodology. I practise the flipped classroom approach. I would love to practise flipped classroom approach. In flipped classroom approach, teachers become organizers, mentors, and facilitators. In flipped classroom approach, the teacher can communicate a lot with students. Flipped classroom approach allows teachers to broaden and deepen

Strongly Disagree

Item

11 (14%) 5 (6%) 21 (27%) 27 (34%)

3.69 Moderately High

Interpretation of Mean Score

3.08 Moderately High 4.08

High

4.27

High

0 (0%)

2 20 32 24 4.00 (2%) (26%) (41%) (31%)

High

0 (0%)

0 9 38 31 4.28 (0%) (11%) (49%) (40%)

High

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students’ learning within limited class hours. Flipped classroom approach involves less lecturing and more collaborative activity in the classroom. Flipped classroom approach helps teachers to maximise the lesson content. Flipped classroom approach allows class time to be more productive for in-depth discussion. Flipped classroom approach provides a solution to the problem of lack of time, which hinders teachers in the classroom.

1 (1%)

0 5 43 29 4.27 (0%) (7%) (55%) (37%)

High

0 (0%)

1 7 42 28 4.24 (1%) (9%) (54%) (36%)

High

0 (0%)

0 10 40 28 4.23 (0%) (13%) (51%) (36%)

High

0 (0%)

1 9 39 29 4.23 (1%) (12%) (50%) (37%)

High

Overall mean score 4.04

High

As seen in Table 3, the overall mean score of teachers’ perceptions of the advantages related to the teacher’s role was 4.04, which is considered as a high level of perception. The means of the items in the questionnaire ranged from 3.08 to 4.28, which is moderately high to high according to Ibrahim et al. (2015). Table 4. Frequencies, percentages and means of teachers’ perceptions of the advantages of flipped classroom approach with regard to students’ learning Strongly Agree

Mean (M)

High

0 0 6 42 30 (0%) (0%) (8%) (54%) (38%)

4.31

High

0 0 8 44 26 (0%) (0%) (10%) (57%) (33%)

4.23

High

0 0 9 40 29 (0%) (0%) (12%) (51%) (37%)

4.26

High

0 0 10 39 29 (0%) (0%) (13%) (50%) (37%)

4.24

High

0 0 6 43 29 (0%) (0%) (8%) (55%) (37%)

4.29

High

0 0 7 41 30 (0%) (0%) (9%) (53%) (38%)

4.29

High

Agree

4.33

Not sure

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0 0 6 40 32 (0%) (0%) (8%) (51%) (41%)

Disagree

In flipped classroom approach, recorded lessons in the form of videos help students because they can rewatch the part of lessons that they do not understand. In flipped classroom approach, the materials given before class help students practise knowledge with their friends. Flipped classroom approach makes each student responsible for coming to class with a basic understanding of the subject. Flipped classroom approach enables students to construct knowledge outside of class. Flipped classroom approach reverses the role of the students from passive observers to active participants. Flipped classroom approach strengthens students’ preparedness before the class. Flipped classroom approach has the potential to facilitate active learning during the lesson.

Interpretation of Mean Score

Strongly Disagree

Item

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In flipped classroom approach, more 0 0 8 44 26 learning can be done outside the (0%) (0%) (10%) (57%) (33%) classroom. In flipped classroom approach, 0 1 5 45 27 students have a sense of responsibility (0%) (1%) (6%) (58%) (35%) for their learning. In flipped classroom approach, 0 0 4 46 28 students have more flexible learning (0%) (0%) (5%) (59%) (36%) time. Overall mean score

4.23

High

4.26

High

4.31

High

4.28

High

As seen in Table 4, the overall mean score of teachers’ perceptions of the advantages related to students’ learning was 4.28, which is weighed as a high level of perception. All the items were measured as high, as they ranged from 4.23 to 4.33, as per the scale of Ibrahim et al. (2015). Table 5: Selected excerpts from the open-ended question Question: What do you think about flipped classroom approach? Themes Sub-themes Selected excerpts Perceived Prepare the students advantages for lesson (mentioned by 15 participants, 19.2%)

Promote active learning (mentioned by 10 participants, 12.8%)

(a) Learners could activate their schemata before the teachers convey the lesson. They will be more alert, and it would enhance learning readiness. [T41] (b) Flipped classroom approach serves as another alternative to preparing the pupils with prior knowledge on the subject matter that will be further discussed in their formal classroom-based lesson beforehand. [T47] (c) Flipped classroom approach is relevant in the 21stcentury learning era with pupils being the active participant during the learning process. [T46]

Promote independent (d) A good method to encourage the pupil to take on their learning learning while given a task by teachers. [T4] (mentioned by 8 (e) It’s an independent self-learning in which they are participants, 10.3%) responsible for their own learning. [T18] Maximise learning (mentioned by 8 participants, 10.3%)

Promote studentcentred learning (mentioned by 7 participants, 9.0%)

Perceived challenges

(f)

A lesson that allows learners to understand in depth without time constraints. [T27] (g) It helps teacher to maximise their teaching and learning contents outside of the classroom. [T29] (h) It’s a very good way to maximise learning in limits of the teaching periods especially in SJKC (Chinese medium national school) schools where English periods are lesser compared to SK (national school) schools. [T68] (i) It promotes student-centred learning. [T5] (j) It's good because it promotes student-centred learning. [T7]

Good and worth implementing (mentioned by 6 participants, 7.7%)

(k) Basically, I think that flipped classroom approach is one of the methods or techniques of teaching that should be implemented in this globalised era so as to compare to the traditional and dull teaching method. [T72]

Not applicable to rural area (mentioned by 7 participants, 9%)

(l)

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I think it’s suitable for some students in town areas/parts of suburban areas only. It’s because not all the students have the facilities at home. Especially in my area. [T15]

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Perceived challenges

Lack of ICT gadgets and facilities (mentioned by 6 participants, 7.7%)

(m) … not all the students have the facilities at home. Especially in my area. [T15] (n) Cannot be carried out if pupils didn’t have the required tools. [T32]

The participants who answered the questionnaire also responded to the openended question. The selected excerpts were coded and analysed thematically and then categorised into themes and sub-themes. The end of every excerpt is attached with a [Tn], where n indicates the participant. Thus, as seen in Table 5, through qualitative thematic analysis of the open-ended question, two major themes were identified in relation to the perceptions of the flipped classroom. The themes were perceived advantages and perceived challenges. ‘Perceived advantages’ is the most significant perception; the sub-theme ‘Prepare the students for lesson’ was mentioned most frequently by the participants. The theme ‘Perceived challenges’ had two sub-themes: ‘Not applicable to rural area’ and ‘Lack of ICT gadgets and facilities’.

5. Discussions As shown in Table 3, most teachers agreed with ‘Flipped classroom approach allows teachers to broaden and deepen students’ learning within limited class hours’ (M = 4.28), which is probably because they are aware that they can collaborate and discuss more with the students while implementing this approach. The data is supported by the participants’ responses to the open-ended question, under the sub-theme ‘Maximise learning’. T68 wrote, “It’s a very good way to maximise learning in limits of the teaching periods especially in SJKC (Chinese medium national school) schools where English periods are lesser compared to SK (national school) schools.” This is supported by the study by Yang and Chen (2020), which also showed that this approach helps increase the teaching and learning effectiveness within the restricted class hours. The students in a flipped classroom have the opportunity to adjust their study times outside the classroom (Fauzan & Ngabut, 2018). The item ‘I practice flipped classroom approach’ (Table 3) had the lowest mean score (M = 3.08); 67% teachers do not implement the method, and this is considered as a moderately high level of perception. This is probably due to Internet connection issues in the rural area and unavailability of gadgets at school or home. This is supported by the qualitative data from the open-ended question, under the subthemes ‘Not applicable to rural area’ and ‘Lack of ICT gadgets and facilities’. T15 stated, “… not all the students have the facilities at home. Especially in my area.” This is supported by past studies (Ansori & Nafi’, 2019; Gough et al., 2017; Say & Yildirim, 2020). This is one of the challenges perceived by the teachers in implementing the flipped classroom approach. Table 4 shows that most teachers agreed with the item ‘In flipped classroom approach, recorded lessons in the form of videos help students because they can re-watch the part of lessons that they do not understand’ (M = 4.33). Students may need to rewatch the entire videos or any parts of the lessons to develop a better understanding of the concepts taught. This data is supported by the responses to the open-ended question, under the sub-theme ‘Maximise learning’, which was mentioned by eight participants. T27 claimed, “A lesson that allows learners to learn

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in depth without time constraints”. The data is supported by past studies (Gough et al., 2017; Su Ping et al., 2020; Sharma, 2018), which stated that struggling learners are able to re-watch the recorded lessons prepared by the teachers. As shown in Table 4, ‘Flipped classroom approach makes each student responsible for coming to class with a basic understanding of the subject’ had the lowest mean score of all the items (M = 4.23). This is probably because some students have less awareness about their responsibilities with regard to learning. Although it is the lowest mean score, it is regarded as a high level of perception (of the flipped classroom approach). The data is further supported by the responses to the openended question, under the sub-theme ‘Prepare the students for lesson’; this theme was mentioned by 15 participants (19.2%), as seen in Table 5. One of the teachers, T47, stated, “Flipped classroom approach serves as another alternative of learning to preparing the pupils with prior knowledge on the subject matter that will be further discussed in their formal classroom-based lesson beforehand.” In addition, T41 (see Table 5) mentioned, “Learners could activate their schemata before the teachers convey the lesson. They will be more alerted and enhance learning readiness.” This data aligns with the findings of past studies (Jones, 2016; Khaled, 2019; Mahalli et al., 2019; B. Nguyen, B., et al., 2016; Nguyen, H. A. V., et al., 2019; Yang & Chen, 2020). The study by Khaled (2019) indicated that students feel more confident and responsible for their learning when they prepare their own learning material before coming for the lessons. As shown in Table 4, ‘In flipped classroom approach, more learning can be done outside the classroom’ also has the lowest mean score (M = 4.23), which is indicated as high perception. A study by Fauzan and Ngabut (2018) showed that students can explore the learning materials further as this model allows them to study the materials at home and continue their learning in the classroom. Students get trained to be independent learners when they are left to explore the learning by themselves; this is supported by past studies that saw students grow as independent learners (Fauzan & Ngabut, 2018; Nguyen, B., et al., 2016; Yang & Chen, 2020; Zainuddin & Halili, 2016). The findings of these past studies confirm the importance of shifting from the traditional teaching methods to more effective teaching practices such as the flipped classroom approach, which directly involves the students in the learning process. This is further supported by the subtheme ‘Maximise learning’ (see Table 5). T29 stated, “It helps teacher to maximise their teaching and learning contents outside of the classroom.” Generally, teachers are aware of the advantages related to students’ learning. The findings of previous researches revealed that teachers in general are satisfied and agree on the advantages of the flipped classroom approach (Fauzan & Ngabut, 2018; Gough et al., 2017; Jones, 2016; Khaled, 2019; Yang & Chen, 2020). Another sub-theme that often came up in the responses to the open-ended question was ‘Promote active learning’, mentioned by 10 participants (12.8%), as shown in Table 5. This was probably because after reviewing the materials online, students have a better understanding and are able to participate actively during class. T46 highlighted, “Flipped classroom approach is relevant in 21st century learning era with pupils being the active participant during the learning process.” Past studies

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(Abdelrahman et al., 2017; Ali et al., 2021; Kurt, 2017; Nguyen, B., et al., 2016; Sharma, 2018) have claimed that flipped classroom approach is able to promote active learning in the classroom. The other perceived advantages’ sub-themes are ‘Promote independent learning’, ‘Promote student-centred learning’ and ‘Good and worth implementing’. In general, the teachers had positive perceptions of the implementation of flipped classroom approach, but they also stated some concerns, as shown in Table 5.

6. Conclusion and Implications The present study was aimed at investigating Malaysian primary ESL teachers’ perceptions of the implementation of the flipped classroom approach. The quantitative results reported a high level of perception. The excerpts from the participants signified the benefits of the approach, such as preparation of students for the lessons, promotion of active learning, independent learning and studentcentred learning and maximisation of learning, as compared to the traditional methods of teaching. However, the teachers implementing the approach face some challenges: non-applicability to rural areas and lack of ICT gadgets and facilities. The flipped classroom approach is still worth implementing in the classroom as it has advantages for the students and teachers. The obstacles to its implementation should be overcome by the relevant parties. Teachers’ perceptions of flipped classrooms can be used as a basis for giving suggestions or ideas to the authorities for improving the infrastructure in rural areas to help teachers and students. With a more robust and modern infrastructure, the teachers and students in the rural areas will have the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of the schools in the urban areas. A limitation of this study is that it only focused on primary ESL teachers. It is suggested that future studies involve a larger and more diverse population of teachers in order to get a more detailed picture of Malaysian teachers’ perceptions of the flipped classroom approach. Students’ perceptions can also be taken into account to know and understand the advantages or challenges of this method.

7. References Abdelrahman, L. A. M., Dewitt, D., Alias, N., & Rahman, M. N. A. (2017). Flipped learning for ESL writing in a Sudanese school. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 16(3), 60–70. Ali, M. M., College, G., & Road, W. (2021). The application of flipped classroom approach on the academic performance of Pakistani ESL learners. Elementary Education Online, 20(5), 2552–2561. https://doi.org/10.17051/ilkonline.2021.05.276 Al-Ibrahim, A. (2019). Deaf and hard of hearing students’ perceptions of the flipped classroom strategy in an undergraduate education course. European Journal of Educational Research, 8(1), 325–336. https://doi.org/10.12973/eu-jer.8.1.325 Alsowat, H. (2016). An EFL flipped classroom teaching model: Effects on English language higher-order thinking skills, student engagement and satisfaction. Journal of Education and Practice, 7(9), 108–121. Ansori, M., & Nafi’, N. N. (2019). English teachers’ perceived benefits and challenges of flipped classroom implementation. Journal of English Education and Linguistics Studies, 5(2), 211–228. https://doi.org/10.30762/jeels.v5i2.820 Chun, T. W., & Sathappan, R. (2020). Using flipped classroom approach to teach adjectives for Malaysian year 4 Chinese ESL learners 41. The English Teacher, 49(1), 41–54.

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Creswell, J. W. (2014). Educational research: Planning, conducting and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (5th ed.). Lincoln, United States: Pearson. Eppard, J., & Rochdi, A. (2017). A framework for flipped learning. In Proceedings of the 13th international conference on mobile learning (pp. 33–40). Fathi, J., & Rahimi, M. (2020). Examining the impact of flipped classroom on writing complexity, accuracy, and fluency: A case of EFL students. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 1–39. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2020.1825097 Fauzan, A., & Ngabut, M. N. (2018). EFL students’ perception on flipped learning in writing class. Journal on English as a Foreign Language, 8(2), 115. https://doi.org/10.23971/jefl.v8i2.792 Gilboy, M. B., Heinerichs, S., & Pazzaglia, G. (2015). Enhancing student engagement using the flipped classroom. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 47(1), 109–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2014.08.008 Goedhart, N. S., Blignaut-van Westrhenen, N., Moser, C., & Zweekhorst, M. B. M. (2019). The flipped classroom: Supporting a diverse group of students in their learning. Learning Environments Research, 22(2), 297–310. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984019-09281-2 Gough, E., DeJong, D., Grundmeyer, T., & Baron, M. (2017). K-12 teacher perceptions regarding the flipped classroom model for teaching and learning. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 45(3), 390–423. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047239516658444 Ho, J. (2020). Gamifying the flipped classroom: How to motivate Chinese ESL learners? Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 14(5), 421–435. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2019.1614185 Ibrahim, W. N. A., Bakar, A. R., Asimiran, S., Mohamed, S., & Zakaria, N. S. (2015). Impact of entrepreneurship education on the entrepreneurial intentions of students in technical and vocational education and training institutions (TVET) in Malaysia. International Education Studies, 8(12), 141. https://doi.org/10.5539/ies.v8n12p141 Jaramillo, N. V. (2019). Evaluating a flipped intermediate Spanish course through students and instructor’s perceptions. JALT CALL Journal, 15(2), 41–62. https://doi.org/10.29140/jaltcall.v15n2.172 Jeong, J. S., Cañada-Cañada, F., & González-Gómez, D. (2018). The study of flippedclassroom for pre-service science teachers. Education Sciences, 8(4), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci8040163 Jones, M. (2016). A case study of blended learning in higher education in Malaysia: Flipped, flopped or forgotten? Teaching Education, (June), 132-137. https://doi.org/10.20472/tec.2016.003.012 Khaled, A. D. A. A. A. R. A.-N. (2019). English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ perceptions of flipped classroom model in Palestine. Journal of Educational and Psychological Sciences, 27(03), 29–47. Kurt, G. (2017). Implementing the flipped classroom in teacher education: Evidence from Turkey. Educational Technology and Society, 20(1), 211–221. Mahalli, Nurkamto, J., Mujiyanto, J., & Yuliasri, I. (2019). The implementation of station rotation and flipped classroom models of blended learning in EFL learning. English Language Teaching, 12(12), 23. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v12n12p23 McCallum, S., Schultz, J., Sellke, K., & Spartz, J. (2015). An examination of the flipped classroom approach on college student academic involvement. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 27(1), 42–55. http://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe/ Murray, D., Koziniec, T., & McGill, T. (2015). Student perceptions of flipped learning. Conferences in Research and Practice in Information Technology Series, 160(2013), 57–

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62. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Student-Perceptions-of-FlippedLearning-Murray-Koziniec/7c6f51595edb20ac396ce80b0309b86f3ab538c1 Nguyen, B., Yu, X., Japutra, A., & Chen, C. H. S. (2016). Reverse teaching: Exploring student perceptions of “flip teaching.” Active Learning in Higher Education, 17(1), 51–61. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787415616727 Nguyen, H. A. V., Tan, C. K., & Lee, K. W. (2019). The affordances of the flipped classroom approach in English grammar instruction. International Journal of Education, Psychology and Counseling, 4(33), 95–106. https://doi.org/10.35631/ijepc.433008 Rahman, S. F. A., Yunus, M. M., & Hashim, H. (2020). The uniqueness of flipped learning approach. International Journal of Education and Practice, 8(3), 394–404. https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.61.2020.83.394.404 Say, F. S., & Yildirim, F. S. (2020). Flipped classroom implementation in science teaching. International Online Journal of Education and Teaching, 7(2), 606–620. http://iojet.org/index.php/IOJET/article/view/759 Sharma, P. (2018). Flipped classroom: A constructivist approach. International Journal of Research in Engineering, IT and Social Sciences, 08(08), 164–169. http://indusedu.org/pdfs/IJREISS/IJREISS_2139_41011.pdf Su Ping, R. L., Verezub, E., Adi Badiozaman, I. F. bt, & Chen, W. S. (2020). Tracing EFL students’ flipped classroom journey in a writing class: Lessons from Malaysia. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 57(3), 305–316. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2019.1574597 Unal, Z., & Unal, A. (2017). Comparison of student performance, student perception, and teacher satisfaction with traditional versus flipped classroom models. International Journal of Instruction, 10(4), 145–164. https://doi.org/10.12973/iji.2017.1049a Vaske, J. J., Beaman, J., & Sponarski, C. C. (2017). Rethinking internal consistency in Cronbach’s alpha. Leisure Sciences, 39(2), 163–173. /doi.org/10.1080/01490400.2015.1127189 Wang, T. (2020). Technology-enhanced multimodality in encouraging student interaction: A paradigm of a flipped second language classroom. International Conference on Education Science and Economic Development (ICESED2019), Malaysia, 116, 293–298. https://doi.org/10.2991/icesed-19.2020.54 Yang, C. C. R. (2017). An investigation of the use of the “flipped classroom” pedagogy in secondary English language classrooms. Journal of Information Technology Education: Innovations in Practice, 16(1), 1–20. https://scholars.cityu.edu.hk/en/publications/publication(e7062db7-ca0d425f-a1ae-2be4522cde74).html Yang, C. C. R., & Chen, Y. (2020). Implementing the flipped classroom approach in primary English classrooms in China. Education and Information Technologies, 25(2), 1217–1235. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-019-10012-6 Yousufi, U. (2020). An integrative review of flipped classroom model. American Journal of Educational Research, 8(2), 90–97. https://doi.org/10.12691/education-8-2-4 Zainuddin, Z., & Halili, S. H. (2016). Flipped classroom research and trends from different fields of study. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 17(3), 313–340. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v17i3.2274

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Appendix A: (Questionnaire & Open-ended Questions) Title: The ESL Teachers’ Perceptions on Flipped Classroom This survey is divided into Part A and B. Part A: Teachers’ perceptions about the advantages of Flipped Classroom on teachers. Part B: Teachers’ perceptions about the advantages of Flipped Classroom on students. Please read the following statements and choose the most appropriate response for each item. = strongly disagree 2 = disagree 3 = not sure 4 = agree 5 = strongly agree

No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Part A: Teachers’ Perceived Advantages of Flipped Classroom on Teachers Statements Scale 1 2 3 4

I have knowledge of the Flipped Classroom methodology. I practice the Flipped Classroom. I would love to practice the Flipped Classroom. In Flipped Classroom, teachers become organizers, mentors, and facilitators. In Flipped Classroom, teachers can communicate a lot with students. Flipped Classroom allows teachers to broaden and deepen students' learning within limited class hours. Flipped Classroom involves less lecturing and more collaborative activity in the classroom. Flipped Classroom helps to maximise the lesson content by allowing students to prepare the lesson before the class. Flipped Classroom allows class time to be more productive for in-depth discussion. Flipped Classroom provides a solution to the lack of time that hinders teachers in the classroom.

Part B: Teachers’ Perceived Advantages of Flipped Classroom on Students Statements Scale 1 2 3 4 In Flipped Classroom, recorded lessons in the form of videos help students because they can re-watch the part of lessons that they do not understand. In Flipped Classroom, the materials given before class helps students practice knowledge with their friends. Flipped Classroom makes each student responsible for coming to class with a basic understanding of the subject. Flipped Classroom enables students to construct knowledge outside of class. Flipped Classroom reverses the role of the students from passive observers to active participants. Flipped Classroom strengthens students' preparedness before the class. Flipped Classroom has the potential to facilitate active learning during the lesson. In Flipped Classroom, more learning can be done outside the classroom. In Flipped Classroom, students have a sense of responsibility for their learning. In Flipped Classroom, students have more flexible learning time.

Open-ended Question 1. What do you think about Flipped Classroom?

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 132-150, March 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.3.9

Initial Teacher Education of Primary English and CLIL Teachers: An Analysis of the Training Curricula in the Universities of the Madrid Autonomous Community (Spain) Alfonso López-Hernández Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Madrid, Spain https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8174-595X

Abstract. The Madrid Autonomous Community (Spain) offers a significant case of extensive bilingual (English) education provision in primary and secondary school, with over 50% of students following a Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) programme. However, there are doubts about the ability of the current pre-service teacher education provision to meet the demands of the rapid growth of bilingual education in the region. This study analyses the initial teacher education (ITE) of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and CLIL teachers in the Madrid community, by providing a systematic comparison of the 14 Primary Education teacher training degrees offered and, specifically, their EFL specialist itineraries. In particular, it assesses the balance between the development of linguistic and pedagogical competences, the linguistic requirements to enter the EFL track, and the inclusion of dedicated CLIL modules as part of the training curriculum. Results show that there is a great heterogeneity in the design of such programmes, especially regarding the value given to a language improvement component. Furthermore, it was found that the training in CLIL is insufficient, both in the core programmes and in the EFL itinerary. Beyond the Spanish context, the questions raised in this study can offer insight into the effective design of initial teacher education programmes for educational systems that have committed to mainstream bilingual education as a tool for enhancing foreign language competence. Keywords: pre-service teacher education; initial teacher education, CLIL; EFL; higher education; bilingual education; Spain

1. Introduction The aim of this study is to provide a critical overview of the initial teacher education (ITE) of primary school English teachers in the Madrid Autonomous Community (Spain), by analysing the role of English in general, and the EFL formative itinerary in particular, in the teacher training programmes offered by ©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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the numerous public and private universities found in a region with over 6.5 million residents. The comparison is a timely one, as it comes ten years after the creation of the new teacher training degrees in Spain, following the national educational reform (Order 3857/2007, 27th of December) that aligned Spanish teacher training degrees with the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), in what became known as the Bologna Process. Amongst other targets, the reform aimed at offering teacher trainees a more generalist training in the subjects of primary education, somewhat neglecting the former specialist degrees (in TEFL, Physical Education., Speech and Language Therapy, Special Needs Education, etc.) of the year 2000 educational law. In the new EHEA degrees, trainees willing to specialise may choose from a number of formative itineraries or tracks, called menciones, which offer significantly fewer modules and credits than the former specialised degrees, and tend to concentrate them in the last two years of students’ training. Paradoxically, such a turn away from specialisation has coincided with a heightened social and professional awareness of the role of English as the world’s lingua franca, resulting in greater pressure on educational systems to provide more extensive and effective foreign language training (Eurydice, 2017), especially considering that the average competence in EFL among Spaniards is still poor compared to most other European countries (English First, 2020; European Commission, 2012a, 2012b). Interestingly, regional educational authorities have tried to meet this demand, not so much through an increase in hours of English taught in school, but by committing to offering Content and Language Integrated Learning programmes, in which English is also used as a vehicle of instruction. Indeed, most autonomous communities in Spain have developed some form of CLIL (Scott & Beadle, 2014), to the point that Spain can be considered to be the European spearhead of CLIL research and practice (PerezCañado, 2016). In sum, in a time when primary teachers are required to teach more English and other subjects in English, the number of credits devoted to foreign language teacher education in ITE is significantly lower than before the Bologna reform (Pérez Murillo & Steele, 2017). In this general context, the Madrid Autonomous Community stands out particularly as one of Europe’s most extensive and ambitious cases of CLIL provision in primary and secondary education. Indeed, about 50% of students of public and concertado (semi-private) schools follow a CLIL English programme (Comunidad de Madrid, 2019) and most other students of semi-private and private schools receive some form of EMI or English reinforcement component, in the framework of programmes such as BEDA or UCETAM.1 As a result, it is fair 1

The Bilingual English Development and Assessment (BEDA) programme (https://www.ecmadrid.org/en/programs/beda-program) is run by the association of Roman Catholic schools of Madrid in partnership with Cambridge English Language Assessment. In turn, UCETAM, an association of private and semi-private schools, awards the CBC (cooperative bilingual school certification) o some of its schools. (See https://colegiosbilinguescooperativos.com/cbc/) Both programmes are compatible with the regional authority’s extensive bilingual education programme for public and publicly funded schools.

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to say that many - if not most - teacher trainees in the Madrid region can expect to be in close contact with English as soon as they begin their teaching careers: whether as English specialist teachers, teachers of other subjects in English, or teachers of classes taught in Spanish who work in a CLIL school. There are a number of studies that discuss the training needs of pre-service English and CLIL teachers in the Spanish context (e.g., Cabezuelo & Fernández, 2014; Fernández-Viciana & Fernández-Costales, 2017; Gutiérrez Gamboa & Custodio Espinar, 2021; Pavón et al., 2020). As to the curricular design of ITE programmes, the main study is that of De la Maya Retamar and Luengo González (2015), in which 60 primary education teacher training programmes at the national level were surveyed. However, as suggested above, the special bilingual educational scenario found in the Madrid Autonomous Community suggests the need of a closer look at the regional ITE provision, as a case study that can help to shed light on the specific challenges of ITE curricular design in countries and regions that require to effectively train large numbers of non-native foreign language and CLIL practitioners.

2. Research questions This study analyses the responses provided by public and private higher education institutions to the increasing need for qualified EFL and CLIL primary teachers in the Madrid region. To do so, it addresses the following research questions: Research question 1: To what extent does the curricular design of the generalist EHEA ITE programmes in Madrid universities reflect the rise of English as a lingua franca, as well as the higher demand for qualified English and CLIL primary teachers in the region? Research question 2: What, if any, are the linguistic requirements for trainees who wish to enter the EFL formative itinerary at the universities? Research question 3: What is the balance between English language improvement, foreign language pedagogy and other areas in the different universities’ curricular design of the EFL formative itinerary? Research question 4: What is the role of training in CLIL in the different ITE programmes, both inside and outside the specialist EFL itinerary? Before analysing the university curricula, the first part of this paper discusses the training needs of primary EFL and CLIL teachers in the Madrid region, and provides an overview of the changes in the Spanish higher education framework that help to explain the nature and current role of the menciones [formative itineraries] in the teacher training degrees.

3. Training demands on pre-service teacher education The first question that needs to be addressed concerns the specific demands made by the educational system on ITE, especially in the area of EFL.

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3.1. The role of language improvement In line with the competency-based paradigm that guided the reform of the Spanish higher education degrees, the Spanish Agency for Quality in Education (ANECA, 2005, p. 113 ff.) provided a list of specific professional competencies that teacher trainees should develop in order to be able to teach the school curricula effectively. They were divided into three types: disciplinary knowledge (knowing), professional (knowing how to) and trans-national competencies (ANECA 2005; Madrid Fernández, 2014). In the case of foreign language teaching, it is interesting to note the emphasis given to “full communicative competence in the target language”, as the first disciplinary content. The inclusion of such linguistic competence reflects the predominance of the communicative language teaching (CLT) paradigm at the time, but also the important fact that, in the Spanish context, which is defined by a generally low mastery of English as a foreign language (English First, 2020; European Commission, 2012a, 2012b), linguistic competence in the target language should not be taken for granted, even among trainees who choose to specialise in the EFL subject. In fact, several studies conducted on Spanish teacher trainees studying the EFL specialist itinerary have shown that language improvement is perceived as a crucial component of their training. Amengual-Pizarro (2007) found that prospective language teachers in the Balearic Islands considered that there should be a balanced combination between language improvement and methodology in their pre-service training, considering that they will be expected to teach English to young learners following a communicative approach. In a more recent study with trainees following different formative itineraries (not just EFL), the same author found that students feel that the current primary education degree does not provide the necessary training for them to teach English effectively to children, and identified the lack of English language proficiency, especially oral, as their main shortcoming as future English teachers (Amengual-Pizarro, 2013). In line with Amengual-Pizarro’s findings, another study, conducted with prospective EFL teachers in a different university (Fernández-Viciana & Fernández-Costales, 2017), concluded that a perceived low competence in English is one of the factors that most negatively affects their self-efficacy as foreign language teachers. As a result, the participants demanded more language improvement, especially focused on language related to their profession (teaching). This latter request is consistent with voices such as Freeman (2016) and Richards (2017), who argue for a functional, “ESP” type approach in ITE programmes, especially in countries where average general proficiency in English is low. Overall, the voice of Spanish student teachers supports the view, shared by many other non-native English teachers across different continents (Richards, 2017), that a poor proficiency in English will negatively affect not only the teachers’ performance in class, but also their sense of self-efficacy and even their identification with the ELT community (Young et al., 2014). Hence, when looking

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at specific teacher training programmes in the Spanish context, it will be important to consider to what extent this need is addressed. 3.2. Training for CLIL As Flores (2011) claims, ‘understanding the nature and purpose of teacher education implies an analysis of the conceptual and epistemological assumptions underpinning its models and organisational systems, but it also entails the consideration of the social, political, cultural and economic context in which it is embedded.’; In the case of the Madrid Autonomous Community, the educational context of the last years has been crucially affected by the rapid growth of bilingual education programmes and, most notably, the community’s bilingual programme for public and semi-private schools. As of 2019, there were 399 bilingual public primary schools, 181 public secondary schools and 216 semiprivate schools offering the bilingual programme in primary or primary and secondary school. Furthermore, the programme was recently expanded to infant education (ages 3-6), both in public and semi-private schools. In total, close to 200,000 students participate in this government-funded programme, accounting for approximately 50% of the student population in compulsory stages of education in publicly funded schools (Comunidad de Madrid, 2019). Without discussing this programme in detail, it is worth noting that it claims to offer instruction of subjects in English following a CLIL approach. Content and Language Integrated Learning has been used as an umbrella term for the different context-bound varieties of bilingual education offered across Europe, that nevertheless share ‘a dual-focused educational approach in which an additional language is used for the learning and teaching of both content and language’ (Coyle et al., 2010, p.1). Moreover, there is a wide consensus among CLIL researchers and practitioners that CLIL is much more than translating instruction into an additional language; rather, it must seek to promote a strong cognitive element, as well as develop inter-cultural competence in students, to mention but two of CLIL’s central tenets. To put CLIL into practice effectively, there are a number of key competences that CLIL practitioners must possess, and which have been identified by recent research: linguistic and pedagogical, of course, but also scientific, organisational, interpersonal and collaborative, and reflective and developmental, to use Pérez-Cañado’s (2018) CLIL teacher profile. In what relates to the scope of this paper, there are serious doubts as to the ability of teacher education provision to adapt to the needs of CLIL. Pérez-Cañado (2018, p. 213) believes that ‘the demands placed by the implementation of this approach have been largely overlooked.’ Moreover, existing ITE programmes are criticised for not offering sufficient methodological training in CLIL (De la Maya Retamar & Luengo González, 2015), and generally not being in line with the new teacher demands (Cabezuelo Gutiérrez & Fernández Fernández, 2014). To meet them, recommendations include pre-service and in-service training modules (Madrid Manrique & Madrid Fernández, 2014; Pavón et al., 2020; Pérez-Cañado, 2018), as well as offering EMI (English as Medium of Instruction) teacher training programmes at both the bachelor and master’s levels (Pérez-Cañado, 2018).

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The need for an enhanced role of CLIL in ITE is even more urgent in the Madrid Autonomous Community, owing to changes in the requirements to obtain linguistic capability certification (habilitación lingüística, in Spanish), which qualifies teachers to teach subjects in English. Before 2010, there was an Initial Training Plan that combined language improvement and methodological training (in CLIL), but, since 2010-11, certification is granted following purely linguistic criteria, requiring a level of English of C1 (CEFR), which may be demonstrated by different means (Cabezuelo Gutiérrez & Fernández Fernández, 2014). On top of that, in-service training in CLIL, although offered, is voluntary and not tied to the aforementioned process of certification. The current scenario offers the interesting paradox, outlined by Custodio Espinar (2020), that, at a time when teachers are in dire need of methodological training in CLIL, there is no effective guarantee that they receive it either prior to, or during, their careers as CLIL practitioners. Therefore, an assessment of ITE in the Madrid region must also consider the role of CLIL in the different programmes: whether a specific CLIL module is taught inside or outside the EFL formative itinerary, and whether some form of EMI teacher education programme is offered.

4. The pre-service training of English and CLIL teachers in Spain: generalist degrees and formative itineraries We now turn to a brief discussion of the legal and academic framework in which universities and other tertiary level institutions plan their curricula in order to address the training demands outlined in the previous section. As was suggested in the introduction, the current menciones or formative itineraries in Spanish teacher training degrees have resulted from the tension created by two conflicting demands in ITE: providing a more generalist training in primary education, on the one hand, and the need to train specialist teachers in such subjects as Physical Education or EFL. It must be noted that, in the Spanish tradition, foreign languages in primary education have been taught by specialist, not generalist or class teachers (Eurydice, 2017) as is the case in some countries with a longer tradition in foreign language education, such as Scandinavian ones (Jover et al., 2016). Interestingly, the discussions leading to the EHEA educational reform did envisage the possibility of training all student teachers in FL education, but decided to postpone this scenario until a moment in time that was ‘difficult to predict’ (ANECA, 2005). In this generalist-oriented framework, universities were allowed to offer specialist formative itineraries, but these were not meant to replace the former specialist degrees. On the contrary, it was assumed that Education graduates would specialise through post-graduate studies (García Jiménez & Lorente García, 2014). This assumption was probably unrealistic given the resources involved especially in the context of economic downturn and budget cuts - and so the Ministry of Education eventually established that EFL specialist teachers with an EHEA bachelor’s degree would be required the EFL itinerary as well as a certified English language competence of B2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) (Royal Decree 1594/2011, November 4th).

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As a result, some itineraries, such as Physical Education or English, have, accidentally, come to replace the former specialist qualifications. Albeit, as recent studies point out (Amengual-Pizarro, 2013; De la Maya Retamar & Luengo González, 2015), the new formative itineraries have significantly reduced the number of credits allocated to training student teachers in the specialist subject. To cite but one example, the pre-EHEA EFL degree offered at Autonomous University, one of the largest public universities in the region, offered close to 60 credits in EFL-related contents, amounting to almost twice the number of similar credits taught today (Resolution, Autonomous University of Madrid, 26th June, 2000). An analysis of the universities’ respective programmes should, therefore, consider (a) whether they have attempted to compensate this lack of training in EFL outside of the specialist itinerary (i.e., in the core modules of the primary education degree) as well as (b) what choices have been made in order to make the best possible use of the reduced credit load devoted to foreign language teacher education.

5. Method This study focuses on the ITE of primary teachers who are likely to pursue teaching careers in the Madrid Autonomous Community. Hence, although based in Madrid, online universities such as UNIR or UNED have been disregarded, as their student intake comes from all over the country, as well as from abroad. As a result, a total of 14 training programmes taught at 14 universities in the academic year 2019-2020 have been surveyed. This research can be considered a case of comparative programme evaluation (Frey, 2018), and employs a qualitative methodology that blends document analysis and personal interviews (Owen, 2014). Data on the different programmes were obtained from their institutional websites, and then systematically classified and tabulated. Furthermore, department heads or programme coordinators were contacted in order to confirm or clarify some of the data, thus ensuring their credibility. In particular, they provided useful details that were not available in published documentation, including the required language level to enter the itinerary, the methodological training received by faculty teaching in EMI programmes, and the attention given to CLIL in those programmes that lack a dedicated bilingual education module. The data obtained were then analysed from both statistical and interpretive viewpoints (Nunan, 2013), resulting in the graphic representation and discussion presented below. Finally, when comparing the structure of the specialist itineraries, credits allotted to practicum and end-of-degree dissertations (TFG, in its Spanish acronym) have been disregarded. Although such credits can offer a significant contribution to students’ training, the great heterogeneity in their implementation makes them unsuitable for cross-programme comparison.

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6. Results and discussion 6.1. Overview of the ITE programmes in the Madrid Autonomous Community In all, there are 14 universities or colleges based in the Madrid Autonomous Community that offer the primary education teacher training bachelor’s degree. Of them, four are public universities, five are private, and the remaining five are private colleges affiliated with a public institution, called centros adscritos.2 Eight of these institutions offer traditional on-site tuition only, five provide both faceto-face and distance learning programmes, and only one university (UDIMA) teaches the degree exclusively online. Tables 1-3 provide an overview of the teacher training courses in the three kinds of institutions discussed. The tables also specify the type of learning offered, which formative itineraries can be studied, and whether there is an EMI stream that can be followed. Table 1: Overview of primary education ITE programmes in the Madrid Autonomous Community. Public universities. University

Type of learning

EMI programme (Yes/No)

Formative itineraries

Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM)

On-site

EFL, Speech and Language Therapy, Physical Education, Music EFL, Arts, ICT, Music, Therapeutic pedagogy, Speech and Language Therapy, Physical Education.

University of Alcalá (UAH)

On-site

EFL, Arts, Special Needs Education, Spanish Language and Literature, Physical Education, Natural Science.

Rey Juan Carlos University (URJC)

On-site, distance

EFL, Physical Education, Music.

These affiliated institutions are private; however, their degrees are awarded by the public institution they are affiliated with. Note that the curricula of their degrees they offer are identical or very similar to the ones of the equivalent degrees at the public university. 2

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Table 2: Overview of primary education ITE programmes in the Madrid Autonomous Community. Private colleges affiliated with public universities (in brackets). University

Type of learning

CES Don Bosco (UCM)

On-site

EMI programme (Yes/No) Y

Formative itineraries

ESCUNI (UCM)

On-site

EFL, Music, Physical Education, Therapeutic Pedagogy

CES Villanueva (UCM)

On-site

EFL, Physical Education, Therapeutic Pedagogy

CSEU Lasalle (UAM)

On-site, distance

EFL, Therapeutic Pedagogy, Speech and Language Therapy

Cardenal Cisneros (UAH)

On-site, distance

EFL, Physical Education, Special Needs Education

EFL, Speech and language therapy, Physical Education, Music, Therapeutic Pedagogy

Table 3: Overview of primary education ITE programmes in the Madrid Autonomous Community. Private universities. University

Type of learning

Comillas Pontifical University

On-site

EMI programme (Yes/No) N

Francisco de Vitoria University (UFV) Camilo José Cela University (UCJC)

On-site

EFL, Physical Education, Music, Therapeutic Pedagogy.

On-site, distance, blended

EFL, Physical Education, Therapeutic Pedagogy, Speech and Language Therapy, Music, ICT in Education.

Madrid Open University (UDIMA)

Distance

EFL, Therapeutic Pedagogy, Speech and Language Therapy, ICT in education

Antonio de Nebrija University

On-site, distance

EFL, Therapeutic Pedagogy, Physical Education, French, Speech and Language Therapy

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EFL, Therapeutic Pedagogy

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Considering the overall picture, the number of new programmes that have been created following the EHEA reform is striking. Indeed, out of the 14 institutions that currently offer the primary education teacher training degree, only 10 of them taught the former, pre-EHEA teacher training programmes, and one (Universidad Francisco de Vitoria) did not offer the EFL specialist degree (Comunidad de Madrid, 2006). It is also telling that four of these new programmes have been implemented by private universities, which seem to have found in teacher training a fruitful domain to increase their student intake. Private institutions also lead the way as regard online and blended learning, with only one public university (URJC) offering a primary education teacher training programme online – which does not include the EFL formative itinerary. This can be explained by two reasons. Firstly, the greater need of private institutions to attract students in order to become profitable or at least survive, given the fact that they receive little or no direct government funding. Second, the fact that, at least traditionally, the role of providing distance education has been assigned to UNED, the Spanish Open University, with other public institutions focusing on on-site training as well as research. 6.2. English in the core primary ITE curricula The fact that all of the teacher training faculties and departments offer the EFL formative itinerary attests to the high demand of qualified EFL and CLIL teachers in the region. The EFL one is among the most popular, which is consistent with research conducted in other regions (García Jiménez & Lorente García, 2014) which found that trainees tend to enrol in formative itineraries that lead to a professional qualification, such as Physical Education or EFL. The offer of EMI degrees or streams in as many as half of the universities also reflects the popularity of EMI programmes in the region (Jeffrey et al. 2019; Ramos García, 2015) as well the perceived suitability of EMI instruction to train future CLIL teachers (Madrid Manrique & Madrid Fernández, 2014; Pérez-Cañado, 2018). However, it is also worth looking at the number of English Language, Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) and CLIL credits that are offered outside of the formative itinerary. Given the overall increase in degree credit load, and the reduction of the relative weight of specialist training, it would be expected that EHEA degrees would include a greater component of EFL-related core credits than in the past. This is found to be the case, although again there are significant differences between programmes. If, in the pre-EHEA courses, non-specialist primary trainees would study only 4.5 credits (that is, 45 hours of class time) of a subject named “English and its didactics” (See, for example, Resolution, Autonomous University of Madrid, 26th June, 2000), in the current degree courses the minimum number of ECTS credits is 10 (UCM and affiliated colleges), and the most common number is 12, which amounts to two semester-long courses, approximately 100-120 hours of class time (See Figure 1). These results also compare favourably with numbers at the national level. In their 2015 study, De la Maya Retamar and Luengo González found that half of the primary degrees sampled included only six credits of foreign language study, and

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only 18.3% offered 12 or more ECTS which, as they see it, would be the minimum required for a trainee entering with a CEFR B1 level to move on to B2, the minimum level required to obtain English teacher qualified status (De la Maya Retamar & Luengo González, 2015). On the other hand, some private universities offer a significantly higher number of English credits to their non-EFL specialist trainees, as many as 24 (Nebrija, UFV) and 17 (UCJC). Again, it would seem that private institutions are more responsive to labour market demands than public ones.

Figure 1: University curricula: ECTS of EFL-related coursework outside the EFL formative itinerary

Despite this encouraging overall picture, there are two significant pitfalls which must be addressed. Firstly, in six of the courses, including two of the largest public universities (UAM and UAH) and their affiliated colleges, students receive no explicit training in foreign language teaching methodology, as the credits are devoted to language improvement only (See Figure 1). This is consistent with the picture across the country, where over a third of the programmes offer no EFL methodology credits in the trainee’s core training (De la Maya Retamar & Luengo González, 2015), and reveals the worrying fact that a significant number of teachers will have completed their ITE without even an elementary understanding of the basic principles of one of the compulsory areas of the primary education curriculum. Second, no less strikingly, none of the surveyed universities seems to train nonspecialist primary trainees in the principles, strategies and resources of Content and Language Integrated Learning, which, as we have seen, is one of the main thrusts of educational innovation in the region. Here, it could be argued that a number of universities are catering to this need by offering degrees that are partially taught in English, following strategies of EMI (Jover et al., 2016). Indeed,

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half of the analysed courses offer EMI streams that typically offer between 30% and 50% of the credit load in English. Yet, there is a significant caveat that must be considered. While EMI instruction may serve to complement language improvement in significant ways, such as developing the Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency required from CLIL practitioners (Pérez Cañado, 2018), there is no guarantee that exposure to EMI will translate into a training in CLIL. Indeed, for student teachers to learn through their EMI experience, their lecturers must also apply CLIL instructional principles and strategies, which, in most cases, they have not been trained for. In this respect, programmes that offer their EMI lecturers methodological training, such as UAH, UCM, CES Don Bosco (Sierra Macarrón & López Hernández, 2015) and, especially, Cisneros (Fernández & Johnson, 2016), seem to be pointing in the right direction. 6.3. The EFL formative itinerary: linguistic entry requirements The following sections compare the different EFL formative itineraries, by focusing on the minimum linguistic entry requirements, the balance of language improvement and TEFL in their curricular design and, finally, whether and how they provide training in CLIL. The required levels of English language competence to enter the EFL itinerary are surprisingly heterogeneous, ranging from A2 (Comillas) to B2 (UAH, UCM, UCM-Villanueva). Overall, as can be seen in Figure 2, most courses settle on either the B1 or the B2 level, according to the CEFR.

Figure 2: English language level, according to the CEFR, to enter the EFL itinerary

The high number of programmes (5) that require a B1 level appears to be surprising. This may be explained, of course, by non-pedagogical reasons, such as the desire to encourage a high enrolment in a formative itinerary that features among the most demanded by the labour market. In this respect, setting too high a level would probably deter many potential students from studying the EFL

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subject. However, it is worth noting that programmes that require an initial level of CEFR B1 or below also seem to provide the means for language improvement to take place. Indeed, they typically offer a relatively high number of credits devoted to mostly general English, taught normally through several years of the programme. This is the case, for instance, of Comillas, that, despite accepting trainees with an A2 level, offers 18 ECTS of language improvement in the first two years of the degree. 6.4. Curricular design of the EFL itinerary Turning to the structure of the formative itinerary in the different universities and colleges, the first feature that can be noticed is that, compared to the former preEHEA specialist courses, the current programmes have streamlined their contents and, overall, devote less weight, if at all, to more philological contents such as morphosyntaxis, grammar, phonetics, culture or literature, that appeared as module names in the former specialist EFL teacher training degrees (see, for instance, the one taught at UAM [Resolution, Autonomous University of Madrid, 26th June, 2000]). Indeed, as can be seen in Figure 3, most curricula prioritise a balance of language improvement and TEFL, with many of them offering a course on CLIL or bilingual education. In what concerns the offer of modules outside language or methodology, the most popular choices are children’s literature in English (taught in four programmes), culture and/or literature of English-speaking countries (3), and specific focus on teaching resources such as games (2), phonics or CALL. Phonetics and phonology, popular in the former specialist degrees, only appears in one of the surveyed formative itineraries. Lastly, there are no references to literacy, which has been hailed as the most effective approach for teaching English in CLIL contexts (Halbach, 2020).

Figure 3: University curricula: distribution of coursework ECTS inside the EFL formative itinerary (excluding practicum and end-of-degree dissertation)

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However, here again, a closer look at the distribution of credits reveals a high heterogeneity in the balance of language, methodology and other contents that are offered as part of the itinerary. In terms of the language improvement component, a clear distinction emerges between courses that rely heavily on it and those that do not. In the former group, we find the cases of Comillas, UAM, Lasalle, Alcalá, Rey Juan Carlos and UDIMA, which add more English credits to the ones already offered as a mandatory component of the primary education degree (See Figure 3). The other universities and colleges have left EFL coursework out of the itinerary and place the focus on methodological training in the form of modules devoted to TEFL, skills development, teaching resources, and so on. Considering the sum total of language improvement credits at a given university - the aggregate of core and specialist credits - the range is astonishing, from 24 ECTS at UDIMA and Alcalá, to only six ECTS at Complutense and its affiliated colleges (Villanueva, Don Bosco, ESCUNI). Conversely, courses such as Alcala’s and Lasalle’s (UAM) devote a scanty six ECTS to training in TEFL, in contrast to 22 at UCM and affiliated colleges or a very high 27 at Camilo José Cela. It is worth noting that, in this regard, there is no evident line that can be drawn between the choices made by private and public universities. Hence, not all the programmes are in line with the view that a language improvement component is crucial to enhance trainee’s self-efficacy to teach English following a communicative approach (Amengual-Pizarro, 2007; Fernández-Viciana & Fernández-Costales, 2017). In half of the programmes, language competence is either taken for granted, or its development left to EMI courses. 6.5. Training in CLIL The last key feature of the formative itineraries that must be discussed is the role of Content and Language Integrated Learning in the formative itineraries’ design. Whereas, as was seen before, CLIL plays no role in the core ITE syllabus of the different programmes, most formative itineraries - 9 out of 14 - offer some training in CLIL, normally as a dedicated module that is typically taught in the last year of the degree. In those cases where there is no explicit reference to CLIL, programme coordinators mentioned that CLIL is discussed in TEFL modules; or, in the case of Cardenal Cisneros, that training in CLIL is integrated into the EMI programme as a whole. Still, the role of CLIL in EFL formative itineraries may reveal a number of questionable assumptions about the relationship of EFL and CLIL teacher education. The first one is that many or most future CLIL teachers will choose the EFL itinerary as part of their ITE. This belief is probably founded on the idea that trainees who enter their initial training with a high level of English will be inclined to pursue a career in teaching EFL. However, this is not necessarily the case. Firstly, because future Physical Education specialists - one of the most popular

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CLIL profiles - will need the P.E., not EFL, formative itinerary in order to work as CLIL teachers. Secondly, because many trainees who start their degrees with a high level of English may wish to follow an EMI programme, while not necessarily choosing the EFL itinerary. According to programme coordinators at Nebrija, Cardenal Cisneros, UAH and UCM, all of which offer EMI programmes, this is indeed the case to a lesser or greater degree. The second assumption is that training in CLIL is, in many ways, an appendix of broader training in TEFL. This can be seen in the fact that CLIL modules are taught only as part of the EFL itinerary and, perhaps more tellingly, at the end of it. Such a belief could be warranted in cases of more language-driven CLIL programmes, the so-called ‘soft’ CLIL, in which CLIL is mainly taught as part of the FL curriculum, and by language teachers (Ball et al., 2016). However, this is clearly not the case in the Madrid region, where CLIL takes place mainly in the content subjects (Science, P.E., Arts and Crafts, Music), and is taught by subject, not foreign language, specialists. As has already been discussed, one of the practical implications of this assumption is that, in most cases, CLIL is not included in the core ITE curricula, thus failing to provide training to a significant number of future CLIL practitioners. An additional one is that, even in the context of the EFL itinerary, this training is offered too late in the degree for trainees to properly master CLIL pedagogy, methods and resources, and connect them both to the subject-specialist training they have received (Social Science, Arts & Crafts, etc.) and, perhaps more importantly, to their teaching internships. Such shortcomings in the treatment of CLIL in the training curricula may well help explain the finding that the new EHEA degrees are not properly training CLIL practitioners who work in the Madrid Autonomous Community (Custodio Espinar, 2020).

7. Conclusions This study set out to investigate the role of English language improvement, teaching methodology, and CLIL in the design of the current ITE programmes in the Madrid Autonomous Community. Answering research question 1, the respective designs of the 14 EHEA 4-year long ITE programmes in the Madrid universities do reflect the rise of English as Europe's unquestionable lingua franca, as well as the higher demand of qualified EFL and CLIL primary teachers in the region brought about by its large-scale bilingual education programmes. This is evident from the increase in credit load devoted to English and foreign language pedagogy, which is higher than the national average, and which was found to be particularly noticeable in private universities. Turning to the EFL formative itinerary, the first interesting finding of this study is that the minimum entry levels of English required by the different programmes tend to be low, with about two thirds of the programmes requiring CEFR levels B1, A2 or no requirement (research question 2). As to their curricular design (research question 3), the EFL itineraries have moved away from the theoretical, philological contents that used to be taught in the former specialist degrees, and now offer a heterogeneous combination of language improvement, language teaching methodology and, to a lesser extent, TEFL resources and CLIL.

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Finally, this analysis contributes to explaining, at least in part, the research findings that claim that, in general, student teachers in Madrid are not being properly trained in the principles and strategies of Content and Language Integrated Learning. Overall, the credit load devoted to CLIL appears to be insufficient and, when offered, inadequately placed at the end of the EFL itinerary and not as part of the core training of prospective teachers.

8. Recommendations From the findings presented in this study, it is recommended that primary ITE programmes offer coursework on both foreign language teaching methodology and CLIL as part of their core curriculum; that is, outside of the EFL specialist itinerary. In what concerns language pedagogy, all trainees should develop an elementary understanding of the teaching pedagogy of one of the most prominent subjects in the school timetable. Among other benefits, this would enable more effective cooperation with the English language teachers. Turning to CLIL, placing dedicated bilingual education modules in the core, nonspecialist training, would ensure that all future CLIL practitioners - who may or may not have followed the EFL formative itinerary - receive at least some training in the principles and strategies of the CLIL approach. Moreover, such training should be offered earlier on in the programme and, whenever possible, be integrated with other relevant modules (on Natural Science, Social Science, Arts & Crafts and P.E.), as well as with the different teaching internships, many of which will take place in schools offering bilingual education. Beyond the context of this study, these two recommendations may also be relevant in countries and regions that, like Spain, combine a low average level of English in teacher trainees with a commitment to a content-driven form of bilingual education that is largely taught by subject, not EFL specialist, teachers.

9. Research limitations This study has several limitations that should be addressed by further research. Firstly, practicum and, to a lesser extent, the end of degree dissertation (TFG) should also be included in the analysis, in order to assess whether they are used by the different programmes to enhance their students’ training as future EFL specialists or CLIL teachers. Secondly, a closer look into the broad area of language improvement is necessary. Indeed, it would be helpful to identify what the balance is between general English, English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and English for Specific Purposes (ESP), and whether the latter effectively targets the needs of prospective foreign language and CLIL teachers. In addition, EMI programmes in ITE should be carefully assessed in order to determine to what extent their students learn CLIL through exposure and practice, as well as enhancing their subject-specific and academic language skills. Finally, in what regard to data collection, more details could have been obtained regarding the treatment of CLIL in programmes lacking dedicated CLIL modules: for instance, number of hours of instruction and competences developed.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 151-168, March 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.3.10

The Attitudes of Pupils towards using Flipgrid in Learning English Speaking Skills Joan Lim Ker Shin and Melor Md Yunus* Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0978-9904 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7504-7143

Abstract. The objective of this research is to conduct an investigation into the attitudes of primary pupils towards using Flipgrid in learning English speaking skills in a Year 4 Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) classroom. The research used a mixed-methods approach using an explanatory sequential design. Data collection was via a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews with 60 CEFR primary Year 4 pupils with low English-speaking proficiency. The results of the questionnaire were analysed descriptively, whereas the data from the semi-structured interviews was analysed using thematic analysis. The findings showed that primary pupils in a CEFR classroom had a high positive attitude towards using Flipgrid to learn English speaking skills. This research has highlighted the potential use of Flipgrid in both learning and teaching English speaking skills in a CEFR classroom. More extensive research into the use of Flipgrid by secondary pupils in a CEFR classroom would be of further interest. Future research on this topic may provide greater insight into the different ways in which English educators can teach English speaking skills to secondary pupils. Moreover, the results could provide useful information to the Ministry of Education on the use of the e-learning approach in the learning and teaching of English speaking skills in the Malaysian CEFR classroom. Keywords: Flipgrid; speaking; attitude; primary pupils; English language education

1. Introduction The industrial revolution has had a major impact on businesses and workplaces (Coldwell, 2019) and English has become the international lingua-franca of the business world irrespective of geographical, social, political or religious differences (Rao, 2019). In Malaysia, the use of the English language is further enhanced by the issue of the increasing rate of unemployed graduates. At the start of 2020, the mass media reported that half of young graduates were unemployed (Welsh & Chang, 2020). Bakar (2018) states that 59% of new graduates do not get hired because of their poor grasp of the English language. The chief economist at

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Malaysian Rating Corp Bhd, Zahidi Alias, supports this stating that the reason for their unemployment is because of their poor English-speaking ability (Free Malaysia Today, 2017). The importance of the English language and the increasing need to improve the mastery of spoken English in a globalised world has led to the introduction of the Common European Framework of References for languages (CEFR) in the revised Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah (KSSR) to act as an exemplar of international standards (Sidhu et al., 2018). Learners use a student-centred learning method where they are actively involved in the teaching and learning sessions, whilst teachers assist them (Sabudin, 2020). Reviewing the situation, Flipgrid has been introduced as one of the more popular and widely used ICT tools in schools in many countries (Nieves, 2020). Many researchers have shown great interest in exploring its effectiveness in teaching and learning practices (Hashim et al., 2018; Johnson & Skarphol, 2018; Stoszkowski, 2018). Although most researchers have focused on the efficacy of Flipgrid in learning and teaching speaking skills, little is known about the attitudes of primary pupils towards using Flipgrid to learn English speaking skills in a Malaysian CEFR primary classroom. Abdullah and Shah (2014) state that attitude is a key element in determining the participation of students in language learning. Nijat et al. (2019) concur with this finding. Their results showed that psychological factors of pupils, including fear of making mistakes, anxiety, and shyness could hinder them from practising their speaking skills in the English classroom. This finding concurs with that of Haidara (2016), whose results indicated that psychological factors could negatively affect the English-speaking performance of students; students who believe that they are proficient in English remain anxious when speaking English as they lack confidence and are fearful of making a mistake. It is also believed that these problems result from classroom learning and teaching practices. As the new CEFR aligned curriculum takes into consideration the use of contextual language, students have a negative attitude towards English speaking practices in the classroom as they are unprepared to engage in communicative activities (Azman, 2016). They claimed that they were not taught the fundamental skills of the language before the production of language was embarked upon (Azman, 2016). Thus, this study was conducted to investigate pupils’ attitude towards the use of Flipgrid in learning English-speaking skills. The research question is ‘What are the attitudes of primary pupils towards using Flipgrid to learn English speaking skills in a Year 4 CEFR classroom?’ The findings will make a great contribution to society, as being able to speak English plays a significant role in globalisation. Increased demand for graduates with high English-speaking competency is another justification for more effective teaching and learning approaches. This study can therefore shed light on the potential use of Flipgrid so that teachers can vary their teaching methodologies and utilise Flipgrid in their English-speaking lessons.

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2. Literature Review English as an international language in the age of globalisation has gained the attention of many researchers who have conducted research in relation to the English language in a variety of contexts. Give technology’s rapid advancement, many studies in the educational field have attempted to explain the integration of information and communication technology (ICT) in both the learning and teaching of ESL. Although the literature has covered many contexts, this review focuses on four major themes which have been found to frequently occur in the literature: benefits of ICT tools, Flipgrid, attitudes towards using ICT tools in learning English, and past studies. The theme on attitudes toward using ICT tools in learning English is reviewed in relation to the technology acceptance model (TAM). 2.1 Benefits of ICT Tools Adegbenro et al. (2019) stated that ICT tools include desktop and laptop computers, printers, scanners, software programs, data projectors, and interactive teaching boxes. Conversely, Fusic et al. (2020) defined ICT tools as the newest technologies or devices, and concepts such as the flipped classroom, mobile applications, and clickers devices are used by both students and teachers. These ICT tools have been increasingly used in the education system and have had a major impact on teaching and learning processes. Hashim et al. (2018) found that mobile learning applications (such as WhatsApp) can provide students with a way to practise their English in real situations. The results showed that students’ vocabulary noticeably improved and students who were afraid of making grammatical mistakes had greater confidence. Their interest in learning English was also increased by the integration of digital learning. This result is parallel to a study by Marisa and Zaiyana (2018) who found that using podcasts could improve confidence in using listening and speaking skills by students. Radzuwan et al. (2017) attempted to determine the usefulness of interactive audio-based applications in enhancing English language speaking skills amongst students with less proficiency in English, and found that every student increased their confidence levels after engaging with the interactive audio-based application. The students were actively engaged with the teacher in the feedback sessions, and the application’s interactive nature is believed to be effective in improving the speaking skills of students. Evidence also exists which indicates that ICT could facilitate various learning styles and abilities, therefore making learning more effective because it involves multiple senses within a multimedia context (Le, 2020). Semenov et al. (2005) also found that integrating ICT involves multiple senses which allows those with a social, mental, or physical disadvantage to have greater active involvement in the learning process. Brewster et al. (2003) further added that younger learners learn better when using all of their senses and that they tend to need more physical activities to help them with their learning. This suggests that using ICT makes learning more effective for younger learners, as ICT involves more senses in a multimedia context parallel to the younger learners’ learning styles and abilities.

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2.2 Flipgrid Today, ICT is very popular in schools, and Flipgrid has also become a popular classroom tool; researchers are expressing great interest in exploring its effectiveness in teaching and learning practices. One study into Flipgrid showed that it reduced anxiety and improved communication skills among 22 undergraduate students. Hashim et al. (2018) found that Flipgrid could help students improve their confidence level, as they were more comfortable using the language when they could practise it. Stoszkowski (2018) studied the use of Flipgrid to develop social learning among undergraduate students and found that Flipgrid could bring the back row to the front and that everyone became more participative in the teaching and learning process. Johnson and Skarphol (2018) studied the effects of Flipgrid and digital portfolios on student communication and engagement in a connected learning secondary visual art classroom. The results revealed that Flipgrid could motivate the introverted students to become more involved in discussions with their classmates. There was an overwhelming response from the students, showing the less threatening nature of Flipgrid. The students stated that Flipgrid is a good platform for practising English as they could receive feedback from the digital platform, which is less intimidating. Based on the aforementioned studies, it can be seen that many researchers have started to explore the effectiveness of Flipgrid in improving English-speaking skills in various educational institutions. However, little is known about the attitudes of pupils towards using Flipgrid in learning English-speaking skills in a Malaysian CEFR primary classroom, which is the reason why this study was conducted. 2.3 Attitude Towards Using ICT Tools in Learning the English Language

Abdullah and Shah (2014) state that an attitude is a set of beliefs which develops over time and which could determine a person’s behaviour. It is a key element in determining the participation of students in language learning (Abdullah & Shah, 2014). In a study which revealed students’ attitudes towards using blended learning, Ikhwan and Widodo (2019) discovered that students’ attitudes correlate with teachers’ designed model of teaching, implying that this teaching model could influence the attitudes of students towards using blended learning and therefore affect their results in English language learning. The study found that students who have positive attitudes are motivated to participate in blended learning and obtain better grades in English. This concurs with the work of Sudiran (2016) who explored students’ attitudes towards using ICT to learn in English universities. Sudiran (2016) found that students with positive attitudes towards using ICT as a medium to learn English at the higher education institutions led to them improving their English. 2.3.1 Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) It is believed that students’ attitudes towards using ICT in learning and teaching English could be affected by a few factors. Davis (1989), in the technology acceptance model (TAM), suggested that an individual’s intention towards using e-learning tools is the result of perceived ease of use of e-learning tools (PEU) and perceived usefulness (PU) (Davis et al., 1989). Davis (1989) states that PU is the extent to which users believe that the use of technology will improve their job

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performance whereas PEU is the extent to which users believe that using the system will be effortless. Hong et al. (2009) found that PEU positively affected users' attitudes and their PU. This is parallel to the research of Wu and Chen (2017), who investigated continual intentions to use MOOCs, revealing that PEU is a strong predictor of PU and that students are more likely to perceive MOOCs as useful if they perceive them as easy to use. As previously mentioned, many researchers have shown great interest in exploring the intentions of users to use various e-learning systems and technologies as there has been significant growth and adoption of technology in education (Al-Ammary et al., 2014; Hsu & Chang, 2013; Sanchez & Hueros, 2010; Wu et al., 2013). Yet, TAM has been insufficiently used in a Flipgrid context. In this study therefore, TAM is used to investigate the attitudes of primary pupils towards using Flipgrid to learn English-speaking skills in the Year 4 CEFR classroom. 2.4 Past Studies Given the fast pace of technological development and the increasing importance of speaking skills in today’s globalised world, several studies related to using ICT in learning and teaching speaking skills have been conducted. Iqbal (2017) examined mobile phone use and the perceptions of students towards m-learning and found positive attitudes towards m-learning were mainly influenced by integrative motivation, instrument motivation and attitudes towards the classroom and the teacher. Faramarzi et al. (2019) found the same, that learners also have positive attitudes and perceptions in an e-learning project towards ESL vodcasting tasks, they saw the experience as significantly positive and constructive and regarded it as enjoyable. Faramarzi et al. (2019) also determined that learners were satisfied with the application as it is user-friendly and suited to teaching speaking skills. It can therefore be concluded that the positive attitudes of learners towards using ICT tools in language learning can be influenced by the model of teaching quality, as well the e-learning experiences of learners. The aim of this literature review was to gain an understanding of the trends in teaching and learning of ESL and inform readers of the different research aspects conducted in the learning and teaching of English-speaking skills, in addition to the influences of attitudes on ESL learning. It can be seen from the reviewed research that ICT positively impacts on the teaching and learning process. This implies that more research is required to obtained an improved understanding of pupils’ attitudes towards ICT integrated English lessons. This field of inquiry is crucial as it directly impacts the learning of English-speaking skills.

3. Methods 3.1 Research Design This study used a mixed-methods approach with an explanatory sequential design. Creswell (2014) explains that this is a simple design which provides a thorough explanation to the quantitative results obtained using qualitative methods. Tashakkori and Teddlie (2009) state that this research design provides better inferences and a greater quantity of divergent views. Methodological bias can also be avoided by using both quantitative and qualitative approaches, which

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allows the researcher to obtain an improved understanding of the reality of the phenomenon being investigated (Subedi, 2016). In this study, the researcher gathered and interpreted both quantitative and qualitative data to explore the attitudes of primary pupils towards using Flipgrid to learn English-speaking skills in a Year 4 CEFR classroom. The aim of integrating the use of qualitative data into this study was to perform a deeper investigation of the attitudes of pupils towards using Flipgrid to provide the researcher with a more comprehensive view of the problem. However, using a quantitative approach alone is insufficient to properly understand the problem. Therefore, the research design chosen in this study is suitable for the study’s purpose. 3.2 Research Participants The participants were 60 CEFR primary Year 4 pupils selected from a population of 360, as the researcher aimed to only concentrate on CEFR primary Year 4 pupils with low English-speaking proficiency. Using purposive sampling would better assist the researcher as it is a non-random technique involving the identification and selection of individuals with particular characteristics which could help with providing information relevant to the area of interest (Etikan et al., 2016). All participants were chosen based on a School Based Oral Assessment (SBOA) in the first semester of 2020. They were ranked between band 2 and band 3, meaning that they could communicate basic information in regard to their opinions, everyday routines, directions and simple predictions with support from a teacher; some were able to display adequate ability to communicate simple information based on the criteria of assessment set by the Malaysian Education Ministry. All also had a minimum of three years of English language learning experience in schools. 3.3 Research Instruments The questionnaires used in the research were adapted from a TAM designed by Davis et al. (1989) to determine the attitudes of primary pupils towards using Flipgrid to learn English speaking skills in a Year 4 CEFR classroom (refer to Appendix 1). Pupils responded to four major constructs, which were perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, attitudes and behavioural intentions towards using Flipgrid in learning English-speaking skills in a primary CEFR classroom. A five-point Likert-scale was used to measure the responses, which ranged from 1- Strongly Disagree, 2- Disagree, 3- Neutral, 4- Agree to 5- Strongly Agree. The questionnaire’s reliability was measured using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for each construct, which revealed that questionnaires achieved acceptable reliability, α = 0.977 (refer to Appendix 2). The researcher also used semi-structured interviews to determine the attitudes of pupils towards using Flipgrid to learn English-speaking skills. Therefore, the interview protocol was developed which was adapted and adopted from Ihmeideh and Al-Maadadi (2018) (refer to Appendix 3). The interview protocol was comprised of six questions and conducted with the participants using the Google Meet platform. The interview sessions were recorded for data analysis purposes.

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3.4 Data Collection Procedure The study was carried out over the course of one month through four phases. The four phases were: (1) recruitment of participants, (2) training of the primary English teacher, (3) the implementation of Flipgrid and (4) post-evaluation. 3.4.1 Phase 1: Recruitment of participants The researcher requested permission from the selected school before conducting the study. 60 less proficient CEFR primary Year Four pupils were identified as participants. They were informed of the purpose of the study and promised that all information and responses from them would be confidential. 3.4.2 Phase 2: Training of the primary English teacher In the second phase, the researcher trained a primary English teacher on how to use Flipgrid to teach speaking skills using an online workshop conducted using the Google Meet platform. 3.4.3 Phase 3: The implementation of Flipgrid In the first online meeting with the pupils the primary English teacher introduced them to Flipgrid. They were taught how to view and complete their assignments using Flipgrid via online hands-on practice. During the second online meeting and thereafter, the selected teacher used Flipgrid to teach speaking skills during every speaking lesson for one month. 3.4.4 Phase 4: Post-evaluation Phase 4 was the post-evaluation phase where pupils answered questionnaires in Google Forms through a link attached in their Google Classroom. 20 participants were randomly chosen to take part in an interview session with the researcher using the Google Meet platform. The reason was to find out more about their attitudes towards using Flipgrid to learn English-speaking skills. 3.5 Data Analysis Procedure The means and standard deviations for all questionnaire items were analysed using descriptive analysis. To determine the attitudes of pupils towards using Flipgrid, the score obtained from the questionnaires was compared with the medium score as the cut-off point. The total score of the questionnaires ranged from 12 to 60 if no items were left blank, therefore 36 was the medium score used as the cut-off point. A score above 36 was deemed to indicate a positive attitude while a score below 36 was the opposite. Furthermore, all the items were also analysed in four components related to attitudes towards using Flipgrid, namely perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, attitudes and behavioural intentions, to determine which componential variable the participants were most concerned with. In each of the components, the mean score of each item indicated the factors influencing the attitudes of pupils towards using Flipgrid. The data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Scientist (SPSS) Version 23. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data obtained from the semi-structured interviews. The recordings of the semi-structured interview sessions were then transcribed and the researcher read the transcripts thoroughly to search for

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emerging data, generate initial codes in relation to the research questions, and search for emerging themes (Braun & Clarke, 2006; Denscombe, 2007). To maintain anonymity and confidentiality, the pupils were coded as P1, 2 and 3.

4. Findings and Discussion 4.1 Analysis of Questionnaire Data The mean and standard deviation of the overall attitudes of primary pupils towards using Flipgrid in learning English-speaking skills are shown in Table 1. Table 1: Mean and Standard Deviation of Primary Pupil’s Attitudes Towards Flipgrid Componential Variable Perceived Ease of Use Perceived Usefulness Attitude Towards Use Behavioural Intention Attitude Towards the Use of Flipgrid (Overall)

Mean 11.26 10.90 11.31 10.98 44.46

The results in Table 1 show that the mean score of attitudes of primary pupils towards using Flipgrid to learn English-speaking skills was 44.46. This score was above the medium score (36) which was used as the cut-off point. The findings reveal that primary pupils had positive attitudes towards using Flipgrid in learning English-speaking skills. The mean score for attitudes towards use was 11.31. This was the highest among all the other componential variables. This result therefore shows that primary pupils were optimistic about using Flipgrid in learning English-speaking skills. Some positive remarks from the pupils included: “I feel so happy using Flipgrid to learn English-speaking skill. I can record my own voice and watch it later on. It is very fun (Sic)” (Pupil 4) and “I like Flipgrid because it is fun and relaxing (Sic)” (Pupil 12). The second and third factors which contributed to the positive attitudes of primary pupils towards using Flipgrid were the pupils’ perceived ease of Flipgrid usage and their intentional behaviours to use Flipgrid, with a mean score of 11.26 and 10.98, respectively. The result explains that pupils were in favour of using Flipgrid to learn English-speaking skills, which is supported by a pupil who commented: “I want to use it again next time because it is very easy to use and it is very good also.” (Pupil 6). The mean score for perceived usefulness was 10.90. This was the lowest of the scores and indicates that pupils’ perceptions on the usefulness of Flipgrid had contributed the least to their positive attitudes towards using Flipgrid compared to all the other componential variables.

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4.2 Analysis of the Semi-structured Interviews Semi-structured interviews was also conducted during the research. The main findings of the interviews are presented based upon the following themes: 4.2.1 Perceived Ease of Use It was found that primary pupils positively perceived that using Flipgrid was easy. Most pupils (90%) displayed positive responses towards using Flipgrid. When requested to provide their responses on the ease of using Flipgrid, 18 pupils stated that Flipgrid was simple and convenient to use. However, 10% of pupils commented that they encountered technical issues when using Flipgrid. This may be because of an unstable internet connection, as mentioned by Pupil 3: “Sometimes, there is technical error when the Internet line is not good.” These findings suggest that, in general, pupils perceived the use of Flipgrid as easy. Some pupils reported a weak internet connection and technical issues as some of the challenges faced when using Flipgrid, although these problems could be overcome without many issues. Parents can also play a significant role in providing pupils with enough ICT facilities so that pupils can benefit from the learning process. 4.2.2 Perceived Usefulness In terms of perceived usefulness, the findings indicate that primary pupils highly perceived Flipgrid as a useful tool to learn English-speaking skills. Over half of pupils (75%) stated that using Flipgrid could help them to increase their confidence in speaking English and reduce their speaking anxiety. They stated that using Flipgrid was relaxing as they could practise speaking at their own pace without worrying about being judged by others. Over half of the pupils (55%) stated that using Flipgrid could help them to improve and develop their English language proficiency. It helped them to master the language better as they could repeatedly practise. This was demonstrated in the case of Pupil 15, who reacted very positively towards using Flipgrid to learn English-speaking skills. She stressed that Flipgrid was a useful tool to learn and improve her English language as it is about more than simply memorising. It requires continuous practice to excel in the language. Seven pupils (35%) also stated that using Flipgrid helped them with speaking better English as they felt less stressed having practised it many times, indicating that using Flipgrid allowed them to foster the development of their Englishspeaking skills effectively. Three pupils (15%) stated that Flipgrid was a useful tool as it allowed them to discover more English words as they were given time to complete the task using Flipgrid at home and could therefore look up new words to express their thoughts and ideas more effectively. When their vocabulary increases by using Flipgrid, their English-speaking skills could also improve. When asked about the benefits of learning English-speaking skills using Flipgrid, four pupils (20%) stated that Flipgrid could facilitate peer learning during English-speaking activities. Meanwhile, two pupils (10%) remarked that Flipgrid

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is a good platform for pupils to practise their English language skills, claiming that it provided great opportunities for using the English language in their daily conversations. This suggests that Flipgrid is a powerful tool for everyone to practise their English language skills. 4.2.3 Attitude Towards Use In terms of attitude towards using Flipgrid, all pupils showed very positive responses. They were pleased that Flipgrid had improved their English-speaking skills and claimed that Flipgrid had been of great benefit to them. They highly perceived Flipgrid as a fun learning tool that could help them to develop their English language, suggesting that primary pupils had a positive attitude towards using Flipgrid to learn English-speaking skills. They also commented that using Flipgrid had provided them with a positive student-centred learning environment which made learning fun. Pupil 15 stated that it was fun to be able to edit his own video after recording himself using Flipgrid, while Pupil 5 also added that it was fun to take a photo of herself after the recording. Iqbal (2017) mentioned that the positive attitudes of pupils is mainly influenced by integrative motivation, instrument motivation and attitudes towards the classroom and teacher. The findings reveal similar results to this study, which aims to investigate the attitude of primary pupils towards using Flipgrid. It can therefore be concluded that primary pupils are positive towards using Flipgrid to learn English-speaking skills. 4.2.4 Behavioural Intention The findings indicate that all pupils (100%) exhibited a high positive intention to learn English-speaking skills using Flipgrid, stating that it was fun to use and helped to develop their English language skills. They saw it as an enjoyable and practical learning tool, suggesting that pupils were positive towards the experience of using Flipgrid. Based on these findings, the benefits of using Flipgrid can be seen when learning English-speaking skills, and it had convinced the pupils to continue using it in the future. 4.3 Discussion on Primary Pupils’ Attitude Towards Using Flipgrid to Learn English Speaking Skills From the research findings it is concluded that primary pupils have a positive attitude towards using Flipgrid. In the study, pupils attributed their positive attitudes to the fun elements of Flipgrid. Hence, it can be inferred that, because Flipgrid is innovative, it has aroused the interest of pupils to learn Englishspeaking skills as they can experience a new kind of learning in a fun environment. It also encourages student-centred learning which is parallel to the younger learners’ learning styles and abilities. This concurs with Brewster et al. (2003) who stated that younger learners learn best when they use their senses and perform more physical activities to help them in their learning. Moreover, primary pupils’ perceived ease of Flipgrid usage and their behavioural intentions towards using it has added to their positive attitude towards using Flipgrid. This study has found that Flipgrid was simple and convenient to use, which was also found by Faramarzi et al. (2019), who stated that learners were satisfied with the vodcasting application as it is user-friendly and suitable to be

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used to teach speaking skills. The findings reveal similar results to this study, which aims to identify the attitudes of primary pupils towards using Flipgrid to learn English-speaking skills. The result also indicate that the behavioural intention of pupils to use Flipgrid is mainly influenced by their positive e-learning experiences. This agrees with the research of Faramarzi et al. (2019) which concluded that learners had positive attitudes and perceptions towards ESL vodcasting tasks in an e-learning project. They saw the experience as significantly positive and constructive and regarded it as enjoyable. This therefore implies that primary pupils’ e-learning experiences impact upon their attitudes towards using ICT tools to learn English-speaking skills. The findings also reveal that pupils’ perceived usefulness also contributed to their positive attitude towards using Flipgrid, with pupils being optimistic towards using Flipgrid as it could help to improve their English-speaking confidence and reduce their speaking anxiety. Furthermore, pupils stated that Flipgrid was a useful tool to develop their English-speaking skills, a result which is supported by Hashim et al. (2018) which revealed that using mobile learning (WhatsApp) can help to provide students with a platform on which to practise their English communication skills in real situations. The results revealed that students’ vocabulary had noticably improved and those who were fearful of making grammatical errors had greater confidence to communicate in English. They also gained great interest in learning English with the integration of digital learning. The conclusion is therefore that primary pupils have high positive attitudes towards using Flipgrid to learn English-speaking skills. This is significant because Abdullah and Shah (2014) stated that attitude is a set of beliefs developed over a period of time which determines a person’s behaviour and is a main element in determining their participation in language learning (Abdullah & Shah, 2014). Sudiran (2016) noted that students have a positive attitude towards using ICT as a medium in learning English in higher education institutions and this results in them advancing their English in their educational field of study. Ikhwan and Widodo (2019) concluded that students who have positive attitudes are motivated to participate in blended learning and obtain good scores in English. These studies reveal that attitudes have a significant role in the learning processes of pupils. As speaking skill is a required skill to communicate, pupils should search for alternatives to better engage with the lesson. In this instance, Flipgrid can function in assisting pupils to learn English-speaking skills.

5. Conclusion and Implications In conclusion, analysis of the findings reveals that primary pupils have a high positive attitude towards using Flipgrid to learn English-speaking skills. They claim that Flipgrid has facilitated an opportunity to experience a new kind of learning in a fun environment which encourages student-centred learning and which is parallel to the younger learners’ learning styles and abilities. Flipgrid can help to improve the pupils’ English-speaking confidence and reduce their speaking anxiety. Despite all the positive responses, some pupils stated that a

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weak internet connection and technical issues hindered their use of Flipgrid. These findings can of benefit to the Minister of Education and headmaster as they could be made aware of the problems faced by primary pupils in using Flipgrid for the learning of English-speaking skills. Actions could be taken to help primary pupils to overcome their problems so as to encourage wider usage of Flipgrid in ESL learning. One major limitation faced during the study was the time factor. Pupils who were not familiar with using Flipgrid took up extra time. It is recommended that more time should be spent on the duration of the study and hopefully future research would yield a more significant result. In addition, deeper research into using Flipgrid among secondary pupils in a CEFR classroom would be beneficial. Future research could provide insight to English educators on the different alternatives to teaching English-speaking skills among secondary pupils. The results may be used to provide information to the Ministry of Education on the use of the e-learning approach in the teaching and learning of English-speaking skills in the Malaysian CEFR classroom. In general, the study’s findings have revealed promising evidence that using Flipgrid offers a worthwhile alternative teaching and learning approach of English-speaking skills. The suggestions for future research will hopefully yield a more significant result that could shed light on the role of Flipgrid in the teaching and learning of English-speaking skills.

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Radzuwan, A. R., Mohamed, S. B., Rahman, M. F. A., & Shamsuddin, S. N. W. (2017). Developing speaking skills using virtual speaking buddy. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning, 12(05), 195201. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v12i05.6955 Rao, P. S. (2019). The role of English as a global language. Research Journal of English, 4(1), 65-79. Sabudin, M. S. F. (2020). CEFR: A new initiative to empower English. https://www.pendidik.com.my/2019/06/11/cefr-a-new-initiative-toempower-english/ Sánchez, R. A., & Hueros, A. D. (2010). Motivational factors that influence the acceptance of Moodle using TAM. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(6), 1632-1640. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2010.06.011 Semenov, A., Pereverzev, L., Bulin-Sokolova, E., Anderson, J., Khvilon, E., & Berenfeld, B. (2005). Information and Communication Technologies in Schools: A Handbook for Teachers. France: UNESCO. Sidhu, G. K., Kaur, S., & Chi, L. J. (2018). CEFR-aligned school-based assessment in the Malaysian primary ESL classroom. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 8(2), 452-463. https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v8i2.13311 Stoszkowski, J. R. (2018). Using Flipgrid to develop social learning. Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.21100/compass.v11i2.786 Subedi, D. (2016). Explanatory sequential mixed method design as the third research community of knowledge claim. American Journal of Educational Research, 4(7), 570577. Sudiran, S. (2016). Students' attitude and their level of the ICT use as learning English media. Sino-US English Teaching, 13(5), 315-323. https://doi.org/10.17265/15398072/2016.05.001 Tashakkori, A., & Teddlie, C. (2009). Integrating qualitative and quantitative approaches to research. The SAGE Handbook of Applied Social Research Methods 2, 283-317. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483348858.n9 Welsh, B., & Chang, C. (2020). Malaysia’s youth on the unemployed frontline. https://www.malaysiakini.com/columns/521283 Wu, B., & Chen, X. (2017). Continuance intention to use MOOCs: Integrating the technology acceptance model (TAM) and task technology fit (TTF) model. Computers in Human Behavior, 67, 221-232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.10.028 Wu, C., Kuo, Y., & Wu, S. (2013). Investigating the antecedents of university students’ behavioral intention to use iPad for learning. International Journal Of E-Education, E-Business, E-Management And E-Learning, 3(6), 468-471. https://doi.org/10.7763/ijeeee.2013.v3.280

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Appendix 1 Attitudes of Primary Pupils Towards using Flipgrid – Questionnaire (adapted from the Technology Acceptance Model) This survey is being conducted to understand the attitudes of pupils towards using Flipgrid. Please read the following statements carefully and choose from 1 to 5 on the scale below as to how accurately they describe you. Please answer as sincerely as possible. 1. Gender: Male 2. Race: Chinese

Female Malay

Indian

3. First Language Spoken: Chinese

Others

Malay

4. Number of years spent studying English: <3 5. Age when you first began to study English: 0-2 A 1

B 1

Perceived Ease of Use

English

Others

>3 3-6

Strongly Disagree Neutral Disagree 1 2 3

I think using Flipgrid does not take too much time. Learning to use Flipgrid for my class activities was easy. Interacting with my teacher and other members through Flipgrid was easy and not stressful. Perceived Usefulness Learning using Flipgrid helped me to speak English. I think that using Flipgrid can help me to improve my English-speaking skill. The comments and feedback given by my teacher and classmates in Flipgrid were really useful.

Tamil

7-10 Agree 4

Strongly Agree 5

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C 1

D 1

Attitude Towards Use I like using Flipgrid to learn how to speak English. I have a positive attitude towards using Flipgrid in learning how to speak English. I feel that using Flipgrid is a good way to learn how to speak English. Behavioural Intention I will continue to use Flipgrid to learn how to speak English. Using Flipgrid helped me to become more willing to speak English. When I use Flipgrid, I have more selfconfidence to speak English.

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Appendix 2 Cronbach’s alpha for primary pupils’ attitudes towards the use of Flipgrid Questionnaire adapted from the TAM Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha Based on Cronbach's Standardized N of Alpha Items Items .977 .982 12

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Appendix 3 SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEW PROTOCOL (Adapted from Ihmeideh & Al-Maadadi 2018) This semi-structured interview is used to determine the attitudes of pupils towards using Flipgrid in the learning of English-speaking skills in the Year 4 CEFR classroom. 1. Do you think Flipgrid is a useful tool for you to learn English-speaking skills? 2. How do you feel when using Flipgrid to learn English-speaking skills? 3. What are the benefits of learning English-speaking skills using Flipgrid? 4. Do you like to use Flipgrid to learn English-speaking skills? 5. Do you find it challenging to use Flipgrid in the process of learning Englishspeaking skills? 6. Would you like to use Flipgrid again in the future to learn English-speaking skills?

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 169-187, March 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.3.11

Effect of Accounting Lecturer Behavior on the Level of Online Learning Outcomes Achievement Alwan Sri Kustono Accounting Department, University of Jember, Indonesia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3180-0735 Wahyu Agus Winarno Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Jember, Indonesia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3124-3278 Ardhya Yudistira Adi Nanggala Faculty of Economics, Abdurachman Saleh University, Situbondo, Indonesia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5133-6266 Abstract. Changes in learning models in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic have a significant impact on how accounting is taught. The objective of this study was to compare the differences in learning outcomes before and during the pandemic. A total of 367 research participants were collecting and the data were analyzed using the Partial Least Square – Structural Equation Modelling approach. Additional testing to control the demographic variable shows that the demographic variable is not a determinant of learning outcome achievement. The results showed that anxiety reduces the ease of use, and external control perception positively affects it. The theoretical implication is that the online learning outcome increases depending on user behavior variables. Technology acceptance variables are a mediation between personality variables and online learning. Other constructions of the TAM model have been empirically proven. The level of achievement before the pandemic is higher than during the pandemic. These results indicate that the implementation of online learning is more effective if it has been prepared from the beginning. The practical implication is to achieve a good outcome. A university must reduce anxiety and increase the positive control of the external perception of each lecturer. Keywords: online learning playfulness; ease of use; self-efficacy; usefulness; behavioral intention to use; achievement of learning outcome

1. Introduction The spread of COVID-19 at the end of 2019 has led to changes in all areas. Some countries have implemented lockdowns, migration restrictions, and physical distance policies. The pandemic is also impacting educational institutions. The ©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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teaching and learning process in Indonesia must change the techniques, methods, and related learning tools. The teaching and learning process is done from and at home—the learning method goes from face-to-face in the classroom to distance learning. The learning model that was once a complementary method before the pandemic is now the core mode of instruction. Almost all universities in Indonesia are applying this method. Changing the learning model from the classroom to online was an emergency learning strategy. The learning design was modified, but the same learning outcomes are expected from the online model. Online learning uses online technology to convey material and knowledge (Nortvig et al., 2018). This method minimizes face-to-face interaction and relies on technology to form virtual classrooms. Lecturers must operate advanced technology to ensure that the learning process is running well. The preferences and skills required differ from classroom learning. Lecturers are required to handle devices that support online learning, both technology and learning design. There are two beliefs for determining the behavior of information technology acceptance. The first belief is ease of use and usefulness drive successful implementation. A framework based on reasoned action theory is built on understanding the factors that cause a new technology to be accepted and applied (Davis et al., 1989). This acceptance model is known as the technology acceptance model (TAM). This model explains that its actual use and success are influenced by the ease of use and mediated by usefulness. The second model adds adjustment and anchors as additional variables. Acceptance of online learning uses antecedent variables: self-efficacy, perception of external control, online learning, playfulness, and anxiety (Al Kurdi et al., 2020; Clair, 2015; Igbaria & Iivari, 1995). This model is expected to make the best contribution in predicting and explaining the success of online learning. This framework is known as the computer usage model (CUM). Learning outcomes have not been achieved optimally due to the emergency learning model, minimal preparation, and initial learning design due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation. TAM provides direction on how an information system can be received and delivers optimal results. CUM provides advice regarding variables that are predictors of ease of use and usefulness variables. In the context of online learning, CUM predict that online learning anxiety (anxiety), self-efficacy (SE), perception of external control (PEC), and system playfulness (PF) are variable which determines the perceived ease of use (EU) and usefulness (PUS). University management should reduce anxiety to increasing acceptance. Improving self-efficacy, external control perception, and online learning playfulness will also encourage success (Achim & Kassim, 2015; Adetimirin, 2015; Kustono, 2020). Self-efficacy is a belief in organizing and carrying out a series of activities necessary to obtain planned performance. The contributions of this research in the field of accounting education are as follows: (1) it examines the antecedents of online learning acceptance during the Covid-19 pandemic, (2) provides evidence of learning achievements before and during the pandemic, and (3) offers accounting lecturers insights into the importance of learning design. This article is organized as follows. We first review

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the literature and develop the hypotheses. Section 3 describes the design of the research. The results were then discussed, and finally, the conclusions and suggestions are presented.

2. Literature review 2.1 Achievement of learning outcomes In colleges, learning needs to be formulated through learning outcomes (Chahine & Khan, 2015). Learning outcomes (LO) are goals that are to be achieved in the learning process. One form is a change in knowledge expected to occur in students after going through a series of learning processes. The LO should show the characteristics of the disciplines studied. The achievement of learning outcomes (ALO) is designed using the curriculum (Nambi, 2019). The curriculum is a map of how students can achieve specific competencies. The learning model is an integral part of learning design. Performance competencies are designed to be accommodated gradually in the lecture process. Assignments, evaluations, discussion processes, and other student portfolios improve their competence (Ayeni & Akinfolarin, 2014; Chahine & Khan, 2015). The level achieved is then evaluated on the level of competence that each student has in a particular subject. Each subject has a suitable learning strategy. The selection of methods takes into account the material that students must master (Nambi, 2019). If it refers to Bloom's taxonomy, the LO level also consists of several levels (Hanum, 2013). The lowest level is low-level thinking skills, and the highest level is high-level thinking skills. 2.2 Computer self-efficacy Computer self-efficacy (SE) is an individual’s evaluation of the ability to use computers. A person's self-efficacy plays an essential role in influencing motivation and behavior. Some people believe that their ability to use computers is not related to their experience in carrying out specific tasks (Chahine & Khan, 2015). It shows that belief is an essential factor for completing a task. A person who has self-efficacy sees complex tasks requiring computer programs as an opportunity to master various programs. SE is defined as considering any appropriate person who can take the necessary action in such circumstances. SE construction refers to beliefs about a person's ability to perform a behavior. SE has a positive direct effect on ease of use. SE is a concept that can be used to measure the knowledge of each individual, especially in terms of using accounting information systems. Students with high SE have an advantage in digital processing information (Abdullah & Ward, 2016). The research showed that there are SE factors that determine the success of online learning. SE is a variable that affects academic performance (Al Kurdi et al., 2020). Their research found that students with high SE had better academic achievements. They tested SE on the ease of use and usefulness of online learning systems and their influence on behavioral intentions on online learning acceptance. Thus, the result showed that self-efficacy serves as an antecedent to receiving online learning. Similar results were also delivered by previous research in online learning and technology acceptance (Achim & Kassim, 2015; Al-Azawei & Lundqvist, 2015; Chahine & Khan, 2015). Our first hypothesis there is: H1: Self-efficacy will have a positive effect on perceived ease of use.

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2.3 Perception of external control Perception of external control (PEC) is defined as the extent to which one believes that organizational resources and technical experts support the system's use. A person feels safe using particular applications if they think infrastructure support is guaranteed (Pham et al., 2020). During the pandemic, lecturers were not allowed to teach in the classroom. The online learning method is one of the instruments that can be used to ensure the continuation of learning. Lecturers use a wide variety of software to facilitate this learning model. Often new lecturers use it for the first time. In situations where there are irregularities, such as during the pandemic, the perception of external support becomes essential. The choice of using a specific application is also based on the university's readiness to assist student's needs. PEC refers to an individual's perception of the extent to which an organization contributes to the application used. If the lecturer assesses positive support, the lecturer develops a more positive perception of the application. External control factors include time, opportunity, and cooperation with others. Support from the organization is important when assistance is needed to ensure employees' tasks run efficiently and when they face stressful situations (Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002). Previous research discovered the influence between PEC and ease of use (Adetimirin, 2015; Oturakci & Oturakci, 2018). System users feel that the system is easy to use to make adjustments according to their needs. The user of the system wants to have control over the applications used. The system platform provides users with the opportunity to make adjustments to achieve usage goals. We hypothesize that: H2: Perception of external control will have a positive effect on perceived ease of use. 2.4 Online learning anxiety Another internal factor thought to affect the use of online learning is online learning anxiety (anxiety). Anxiety is a predictor of usefulness and indicates an intervening variable between anxiety and reception (Gbongli et al., 2019). Individuals prefer technology that can produce the expected results. Anxiety negatively impacts user confidence and performance. Higher anxiety drives lower performance. Several studies have shown the influence of computer analysis variables on usefulness perception (PUS) and acceptance (Igbaria & Livari, 1995; Yuwana & Kustono, 2017). Researchers concluded that the higher the anxiety, the lower the ease of use (EU). If a person feels anxious and feels unsuccessful in using the system, it will fail in implementing the information system. Computer knowledge and skills have a significant negative relationship with computer anxiety. Anxiety also negatively impacts the acceptance of the technology (Abdullah & Ward, 2016; Ajmal & Ahmad, 2019; Clair, 2015). Here we hypothesize that: H3: Online learning anxiety will have a negative effect on perceived ease of use. 2.5 Online Learning Playfulness (PF) Online learning Playfulness (PF) is defined as how much one believes that using an online learning system gives them comfort and satisfaction. PF is the level of

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satisfaction that the user feels. The more users enjoy the website's online processes, the higher the chance of re-using it (Chen, 2018). PF explains that the extent to which activities using a particular system are considered enjoyable, regardless of the performance consequences resulting from using the system. TAM discusses the perception of convenience, that one's attitude in using a technology depends on the individual's playfulness in using the technology. The more user-friendly the system is, the higher the level of playfulness (Adetimirin, 2015; Chen, 2018; Dumpit & Fernandez, 2017; Mohammadi & Isanejad, 2018). Our hypothesis is: H4: Online learning playfulness will have a positive effect on perceived ease of use. 2.6 Ease of use Ease of use (EU) is the belief that an application is easy to learn, understand, and operate (Yuwana & Kustono, 2017). If the person has a perception of ease of use, he will accept it when using a particular application. Individuals do not reject but rather react positively to the application. Conversely, if an individual believes that an information system is challenging to understand and operate, he responds negatively by rejecting the application. Individuals feel the ease of use when meeting the indicators of easy operation; (1) the application is understandable, (2) its use is uncomplicated, (3) it can be operated as the user wishes, and (4) it is flexible. The application means it does not cause problems when implemented. The context of online learning leads to the use of online learning applications. Lecturers choose applications that are easy to use and learn. Previous research has shown that the EU drives perceived usefulness (Abdullah & Ward, 2016; Ho et al., 2019; Nagy, 2018). We, therefore, hypothesize that: H5: Perceived ease of use will have a positive effect on perceived usefulness. H6: Perceived ease of use will have a positive effect on behavioral intention. 2.7 Perceived usefulness Perceived usefulness (PUS) is the user's belief that the system can get their work done. The use of the applications helps improve their performance (Kustono & Nanggala, 2020). The results of using these applications are more satisfying than not using them. In terms of time, the work is done faster. PUS is related to decision-making choices. Under normal conditions, if an application has benefits, then individuals use it. Conversely, if the user finds it less valuable, they don't use it. PUS construction is related to productivity, work performance, effectiveness, and task completion (Lai, 2017). Usefulness is an essential control for behavioral intention and actual usage. In the context of online learning, lecturers choose to use applications that can help the teaching and learning process (Al Kurdi et al., 2020). PUS increases an individual's behavioral intention to use technology (Nanggala, 2020). Other studies have also found supportive results (Amer et al., 2013; Feriady et al., 2020; Siegel et al., 2017). They found a positive connection between PUS and behavioral intention. The usefulness of the information systems is the benefit obtained or expected by the user in carrying out their duties and work. The level of use affects the user's system's intent. The proposed hypotheses are as follows: H7: Perceived usefulness will have a positive effect on behavioral intention.

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2.8 Behavioral intention to use Behavioral intention (intention) is an antecedent of individual behavior. Intention directs a person to behave (Nanggala, 2020). It indicates acceptance or rejection of someone using a particular application. Intention affects how often individuals use it. Acceptance means the use of an application to complete work more frequently than others. More often, this indicates that the individual accepts the new system and it reveals a high intention. Intention means the individual's probability of doing or not doing. Action is a consequence of intention. In the theory of planned behavior, the construct is the prediction of activity. A person engages in conduct if they have the desire or interest to do so. Behavioral intentions predict participation in online learning initiatives (Hanif et al., 2018). Previous research has shown that intention positively affects technology (Al Kurdi et al., 2020; Amer et al., 2013; Hanif et al., 2018; Nanggala, 2020). They found a positive relationship between individual interests and the online learning application. Lecturers’ intention strive to maximize the facilities provided in online learning software. We therefore hypothesize that: H8: Behavioral intention will have a positive effect on the degrees of online learning usage. 2.9 Degrees of online learning usage Learning is focused on achieving the outcome. Learning outcome (LO) can be fulfilled from knowledge, skills, and attitudes by social, economic, and academic cultural conditions. Students' abilities and LO are accommodated through several strategic steps and academic completeness, including courses, final assignments, presentations, tests, and student portfolios. The achievement of output becomes the focus of the learning process and improves learning quality (Chahine & Khan, 2015). In ideal conditions with adequate infrastructure preparation, the online learning system improves students' academic performance (Muchlas, 2013). The learning model is one of the factors that influence the success of learning activities. Online learning improves the interaction that occurs between lecturers and students. According to the previous findings that different methods will produce different outcomes (Pablico, 2017). These differences can be in the form of differences in technique or differences in degrees of use. Effective learning is learning that utilizes information and communication technology optimally. The online technology application can improve the achievement of learning outcomes (ALO). Digital learning has better positive effects on learning motivation than traditional teaching, and digital learning shows better positive results on learning outcomes than conventional education (Lin et al., 2017; Nortvig et al., 2018). Our last hypothesis is: H9: Degrees of use of online learning will have a positive direct effect on the achievement of learning outcomes.

3. Methodology 3.1 Sample and data collection The target population in this study is accounting lecturers in Indonesia. An online questionnaire was used to measure nine constructs: PEC, SE, anxiety, PF, EU, PUS, intention, OLU, and ALO. Online questionnaires were shared using Google

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Forms. All items are measured on a five-point Likert scale, with endpoints 1 (totally disagree) and 5 (totally agree). The SmartPLS path analysis was used to test the research hypotheses. Partial Least Square (PLS) is chosen over the covariance-based structural equation modeling approach (CB-SEM) because PLS is prediction-oriented (Chin, 1998) and, as such, can fulfill our goals well.

Based on these empirical theories and findings, the conceptual framework of this study is shown in figure 1.

Figure 1. Conceptual framework

Figure 1 illustrates the relationship between endogenous variables (achievement of learning outcomes) and antecedent variables. Nine hypotheses were tested. The research framework develops on the alleged influence of playfulness on ease of use, self-efficacy, ease of use on usefulness, ease of use and usefulness on behavioral intention, the level of e-learning intentions used, and the level used achievement. 3.2 Measurements The instrument used in this study was an online questionnaire containing a closing statement (see Appendix 1). To measure TAM variables, it using Venkatesh and Bala's (2008) instruments with certain modifications (Kustono et al., 2020). Questionnaire to measure ALO with the self-reported percentage of achievement. The questionnaire for OLU uses seven indicators (Hanum, 2013). Degrees of use of online learning (OLU) in this study are not proxied by the frequency of use but the quality of online learning. The quality of online learning follows. Other comments are statements related to the quality of online learning being carried out. The higher the value, the more optimal the online learning will be.

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4. Results and discussion Questionnaires were distributed using Google form using channels of professional organizations and a network of colleagues for dissemination. The total number of questionnaires returned was 373. Six questionnaires were incomplete and were therefore ignored. Sampling using stratified method with geographical considerations in order to obtain a sufficient and representative composition. Lecturers who are in one area are considered to be homogeneous characteristics following the research objectives. According to geography, data of Indonesian accounting lecturers have not been found. The representation of the population is adjusted to the number of Indonesians. It means that the composition of the population in Indonesia becomes a reference for the geographical composition of the lecturers' origin. Indonesia's territories are grouped into six area, namely (1) Sumatra, (2) Java, (3) Kalimantan, (4) Bali and Nusa Tenggara, (5) Sulawesi and Maluku, and (6) Papua. Table 1. Sampling procedures Area 1 2 3 4 5 6 Indonesia

Total Populations (1000) 59,196 .8 151,650 .2 15,153 .7 16,432 .9 22,790 .7 43,79 .1 269,603 .4

% Population 22% 56% 6% 6% 8% 2% 100%

Samples Obtained 73 226 16 20 28 4 367

% Sample 20% 62% 4% 5% 8% 1% 100%

% Pop - % Sample 2% (5%) 1% 1% 1% 1%

As a whole, the participants met geographic characteristics. Table 1 indicates the number is over the target (Java), and some others are less than the target, reflecting the number of colleges with accounting lecturers. The amount of difference from the target sample is not too large, so it is considered that the sample is reasonably representative of the population. Table 2. Validity testing- outer loadings

Item 1 Item 2 Item 3 Item 4 Item 5

Item 1 Item 2 Item 3 Item 4 Item 5 Item 6 Item 7

PUS Org. Tsample statistic 0.56 3.35 0.79 7.28 0.64 5.40 0.82 15.9

ANXIETY 0.93 45.19 0.95 73.84 0.87 22.58 0.63 5.14

EU Org. Tsample statistic 0.87 27.63 0.91 40.41 0.92 35.60 0.80 35.67

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0.54 0.78 0.79 0.84

4.81 3.37 15.97 20.88

SE Org. sample 0.56 0.49 0.79 0.79 0.81

Tstatistic 18.21 5.40 4.55 13.06 18.55

INTENTION 0.79 21.40 0.84 24.78 0.80 22.69

PEC Org Tsample statistic 0.59 6.23 0.80 15.19 0.77 12.09 0.85 18.74 0.81 17.01 OLU 0.82 0.71 0.92 0.79 0.56 0.50 0.44

28.92 17.36 35.02 18.73 5.51 4.60 4.35

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Overall the questionnaire items have an outer loading with a t-statistic of more than 1.96. Each item meets the validity requirements. This study used Cronbach's alpha technique to ensure the reliability of the questionnaire. The reliability of the instrument is fulfilled if it shows a score of 0.70. Table 3. Reliability testing – Cronbach Alpha Construct Anxiety Self-efficacy Playfulness Perception of external control Ease of use Usefulness Behavioral intention to use Online learning usage

Cronbach Alpha 0.82 0.82 0.71 0.72 0.77 0.78 0.71 0.85

All measurement variables meet the requirements of reliability. Each score is above 0.70 so that they can be used in the analysis. 4.1 Research participant description Table 4 presents descriptive statistics for each variable used in this study and data on the characteristics of the research participants. The data used in this study include the following data: age, gender, education, and teaching experience. Table 4. Descriptive statistics Variables Perception of external control Self-efficacy Anxiety Ease of use Usefulness Playfulness Behavioral intention to use Online learning usage Achievement of LO - During Achievement of LO - Before

Minimum 16.00 16.00 5.00 11.00 8.00 7.00 3.00 19.00 0.65 0.85

Maximum 25.00 20.00 13.00 20.00 20.00 15.00 13.00 35.00 0.75 0.95

Mean 20.77 17.28 7.88 15.59 15.60 11.55 6.26 28.44 0.70 0.89

Std. Dev. 1.76 1.64 1.96 2.03 2.42 1.97 3.06 2.93 0.02 0.03

Skewness 0.84 0.67 0.58 -0.03 -0.22 -0.44 -0.14 -0.10 0.38 0.76

Based on the analysis results in Table 4, there are no variables that indicate extreme distribution. It suggests that the distribution blend with the mean value of the variable scale range for each variable. Skewness indicates good numbers as well, except for perception of external control (PEC). The skewness for this variable is 0.84, close to 1 but not yet. The best data distribution is on the EU variable; that is, the median mean coincides at 15.59 and 16.00, the skewness value is at a score of -0.03.

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4.2 Demographics additional test Additional testing was conducted to find indications that caused ALO differences based on the research participants' demographics. The test was conducted to increase the research model's credibility in detecting the antecedent variables for achieving LO. Research participant demographics include gender, college status, education level, age, and teaching experience. The demographic data of research participants shows the following information. The mean of male LO achievement participants (70.20) is lower than that of female participants (70.35). Privat universities have better achievement than private universities. The participants' attainment of the target LO from state universities was (70.50) higher than participants from private universities (70.02). Participants with a doctoral degree have a higher ALO (70.36) than LO achievement participants with a master's degree (70.20). Lecturers who have doctor degrees have better achievement than master's degrees. These differences need to be tested statistically to ensure that the differences are significant. Testing was through Levene's test for variables categorized as a dummy (0, 1) and one-way ANOVA test with a scale of more than two (0, 1, 2). Table 5. Levene's test for equality of variances - during a pandemic Item Gender College Status Level of Education

Item

Mean

Male Female State Privat Doctor Master

70.35 70.20 70.50 70.02 70.36 70.20

Sig.

0.31

0.58

20.15

0.00

0.21

0.65

0.49 0.54 1.77 1.69 0.52 0.57

Sig. (2tailed) 0.62 0.59 0.08 0.10 0.60 0.57

The test results in Table 5 show that ALO of male participants was higher. This difference is not significant because the p-value is 0.62. In other words, gender differences were not related to ALO. Male and female accounting lecturers did not have differences in the achievement of the learning outcome. The test results show that the level of participants' education is different in ALO. This difference is not significant (p-value is 0.60). There are no different learning outcomes between accounting lecturers with a doctoral degree and master degree lecturers. Table 5 shows that the participant college group mean does not show any difference (0.08). This situation may be due to online learning, both private and public, facing relatively the same infrastructure readiness problems. Indonesian accounting lecturers who come from state universities have additional resource support compared to private universities. In pandemic and emergency conditions, it is not enough to provide significance for achieving LO. The situation is an unpredictable force majeure. The best strategy that must be taken is to prepare the competence of lecturers to use online learning media as soon as possible. College groups are not a determinant of online learning outcomes in a pandemic situation. Hypotheses test does not need to consider college status as a confounding factor. Further testing was conducted using age and experience demographics with the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to find the influence. The test results are shown in Table 6.

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Table 6. Anova- during a pandemic Item Between Groups Age Within Groups Total Between Groups Experience Within Groups Total

Sum of Mean Squares Square 7.54 3.77 500.88 3.05 508.42 4.72 2.36 503.70 3.07 508.42

F 1.23

Sig. .29

.77

.47

Table 6 demonstrates participants grouped into 3 (three), namely, age up to 30 years, 31- 45 years, and 45-70 years. The ANOVA test results showed that the differences between groups had an F-value of 1.23 with p=0.29. The age did not show any difference in ALO. Different ages of accounting lecturers in Indonesia are not related to the level of achievement. Participants with long experience demographic data are grouped into three categories: age up to 10 years, 10 - 25 years, and more than 25 years. The ANOVA test results showed that the differences between groups had an F-value of 0.77 with p = 0.47. The length of experience as lecturers did not show any difference in ALO. Accounting lecturer experience in teaching is not related to the achievement of learning outcomes.

5. Result and discussion Additional testing to control for the demographic variable shows that the demographic variable is not a determinant of LO achievement. The model can work regardless of participant demographic factors. Hypothesis testing was conducted by observing the calculation t-value using smartPLS application version 3.2.2 with 500 subsamples and 300 iterations. The results are shown in Table 7. Table 7. Path coefficients Relationship Between Variables ANXIETY → EU PEC→ EU PF → EU SE → EU EU → PUS EU → INTENTION PUS → INTENTION INTENTION → OLU OLU → ALO

Entire Sample Estimate -0.931 0.256 -0.050 -0.136 0.415 0.348 0.537 0.657 0.870

Mean of Subsamples -0.928 0.286 -0.069 -0.128 0.420 0.347 0.538 0.060 0.869

Standard Error 0.042 0.065 0.133 0.097 0.140 0.077 0.061 0.088 0.051

Tstatistic

PValues

22.393 -3.911 0.443 1.401 2.967 4.530 8.733 7.423 17.086

0.000 0.000 0.658 0.162 0.003 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

The test results in Table 7 show that hypotheses 3 and 4 were rejected. The test results of PF effect on the EU have a negative path coefficient of -0.050 and a pvalue of 0.658. PF does not affect the EU. Hypothesis 3, which states that variable playfulness positively affects the ease of use, is rejected. The test results of SE's effect on the EU have a negative path coefficient of -0.136 and a p-value of 0.162.

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SE does not affect the EU. Hypothesis 4, which states that the self-efficacy variable positively affects the ease of use, is rejected. Table 7 shows that except for the third and fourth hypotheses, other hypotheses failed to be rejected. Hypothesis 1 states that anxiety negatively affects the ease of use. Anxiety is proven to reduce the EU. The test result shows that anxiety negatively affects the EU with a coefficient value of -0.931 and a p-value is less than 0.001. Perceived anxiety reduces the confidence of lecturers in using the online learning system. Lecturers avoid using applications that feel complicated and unusable—the desire to use the application decreases with rising anxiety levels. These results confirm the findings of Majid (2012). Lecturers who are restless in using online learning find it difficult and feel compelled to use it to not optimal their performance. Hypothesis 2 states that the perception of external control positively affects the ease of use. PCE increases the EU. The test result showed that PCE had a statistically significant positive effect on the EU with a coefficient of 0.256 and a p-value is less than 0.001. Thus it fails to reject the second hypothesis. Lecturers who believe that an institution or environment provides the infrastructure that supports online learning systems find it easy to use online learning. If there is a problem with online learning, the lecturer has the confidence that the institution will help solve it. Lecturers expect to have adequate control over the e-learning application used. Application customization can be adjusted according to their needs. That is consistent with Oturakci & Oturakci (2018), who found a significant influence between PEC and the EU. If lecturers have access to adequate technology and usage skills, external control will also increase. The test results of hypothesis 5 testing show that the EU has a statistically significant positive effect on PUS with a coefficient value of 0.415 and a p-value of 0.003. It fails to reject the fifth hypothesis. The impact shown by the regression coefficient is positive, meaning that the higher the EU, the higher the PUS. The EU explains the extent to which one trusts an information technology system that is free from physical and mental efforts. An easy-to-operate system will provide convenience and provide benefits to the users. If the lecturer feels that the EU is high, then the PUS is also high. Lecturers who believe that online learning is easy to understand and use will react positively to this learning model. Online learning is useful if there is an ease of use factor. If the individual feels that the technology is easy to use and learn, it will encourage them to use the new technology. Lecturers who find it easy to use can take advantage of online learning. This result is in line with research conducted by research that proves EU influence on PUS (Abdullah & Ward, 2016; Ho et al., 2019; Lin et al., 2017). The test results demonstrate a direct positive relationship between EU and intention to use online learning. The test result showed that statistically, the EU had a positive effect on the intention with a coefficient value of 0.348 with a p-value is less than 0.001. Hypothesis 6 (six) fails to be rejected. Lecturers are interested in using online learning technology if the technology is easy to do. If the

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individual thinks the technology has sound capabilities, the user will be interested in using it. A person's intention to adopt a particular part of a technology is determined by one's attitude towards using such technology. EU has been shown to impact intention. If the online learning system is easy for users to use, it will affect users' interest in using online learning to carry out their activities. Individuals commit particular actions because that they have the interest or desire to do so. These results follow previous studies (Cigdem & Ozturk, 2016; Hanum, 2013). The lecturer intends to use the e-learning methods to facilitate the teaching and learning process and achieve the learning objectives. With the e-learning applications, lecturers’ interest will increase if they find it easy to use. Therefore, it can be concluded that the EU affects the intention in the online learning system. The result showed that usefulness has a positive effect on behavioral intention. PUS has an impact with a coefficient value of 0.537 and a p-value is less than 0.001. Hypothesis 7 (seven) fails to be rejected. Usefulness is considered a measure of the user's belief that using information technology can improve work performance. Instead of using information technology, the work will be more efficient and effective using information technology. The results of the work will also be better. The lecturers' attitude in online learning is driven by how much confidence that online learning can improve their performance. According to the lecturers, using online learning is easy and does not require much effort. Lecturers will take full advantage of online learning. Lecturers accept the use of the online system to complete teaching if the system is easy to use and completes learning tasks better and effectively. These results are in line with previous research. Lecturers choose to use online learning applications to help the teaching and learning process (Al Kurdi et al., 2020). Usefulness increases individual behavioral intention to use technology (Nanggala, 2020). Other studies have also found similar results (Amer et al., 2013; Yuwana & Kustono, 2017). The results showed that intention had a positive effect on the OLU. The test result indicates that intention has a significant positive impact on OLU, with a coefficient value of 0.657 and a p-value is less than 0.001. Hypothesis 8 (eight) fails to be rejected. Their behavioral intentions influence the behavior of lecturers in teaching. The level of use is affected by level of interest. Expertise in operating online learning programs includes the ability to implement learning, complete tasks, and the competencies for using online learning software packages to influence the degree of interaction between lecturers and students. This study's results align with previous studies (Cigdem & Ozturk, 2016; Kustono et al., 2020). They found a positive relationship between an individual's behavioral intention to use technology. It shows that lecturers who use the online learning system tend to use online learning software optimally. The learning model will be interactive by involving students and lecturers in a discussion. This hypothesis test results are similar to previous research conducted, which found a positive relationship between intention and OLU variables (Al Kurdi et al., 2020).

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Hypothesis 9 states that the degrees of use of online learning affect the achievement of learning outcomes. The test results showed that OLU positively influences ALO with a coefficient value and a p-value is less than 0.001. Hypothesis 9 (nine) fails to be rejected. OLU is an actual level of action of lecturers who use online learning technology. Its quality is showed an interactive level between students and lecturers. The more interactive the learning pattern is, it is assumed that the online learning system that is applied is more optimal. From the results, it can be concluded that OLU affects ALO. It is related to the fact that the model used was only an online learning model, which influenced the results. However, lecturers who have transitioned to a fully online model can improve the quality of learning. On the other hand, online learning is no longer voluntary but has become mandatory. The use of online learning systems at various levels determines its effectiveness. Lecturers should use the learning model at the highest level of online learning for optimal results. These results align with previous research (Al Kurdi et al., 2020; Hanum, 2013; Lin et al., 2017). We use a one-sample t-test for Hypothesis 10. Table 8 shows the average learning designed from the beginning. It shows an LOA rate of 85.77%, but it dropped to 69.76% during the pandemic. Table 8. One-sample test Time Dimension During pandemic Before pandemic

Mean T Statistic Sig. (2-tailed) Difference 69.76 645.05 .00 85.77 287.57 .00

The design from the beginning has taken into account all aspects that can support the maximum achievement of LO. The methods implemented during pandemics were intended as a substitute. Thus, the teaching and learning process was achieved, even though it is not optimal in its implementation. Before the pandemic (85.77%), the level of achievement is higher than during the pandemic (69.76%). These results indicate that online learning is more effective when the learning design has been prepared from the beginning. The low level of achievement during pandemic suggests that online learning at the beginning of the pandemic is an emergency measure. Lecturers and students were not prepared for the learning model that was applied. Learning outcomes that were initially designed for face-to-face should be transformed into a complete online learning system. The university is expected to prepare an adequate online learning infrastructure. The use of information technology for online learning continues to evolve as technology advances. The maximum online application provides better student LO. Online learning can make it easier for students to improve their knowledge and skills, and even attitudes towards the learning environment. Students can learn both individually and collaboratively in a group to complete their learning tasks.

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The online learning system's planned use has a positive impact; that is, it can increase the ALO. Online learning methods developed can affect improving student's academic achievement. Similar results were found by (Lin et al., 2017; Nortvig et al., 2018). They concluded that digital learning presents better positive effects on learning outcomes than traditional teaching does. Computer-based learning showed promising results (Cigdem & Ozturk, 2016). If planned, online learning becomes a constructive tool, and it takes facilities the development of critical thinking. The practical implication of the results is that the variables that affect online learning are anxiety and external perceptions. Universities can take corrective action based on these two variables. University administrators can reduce anxiety by increasing skills as well as adequate preparation. Increasing external perceptions can be done through discussion groups, outreach and ad-hoc teams to support lecturers using online technology.

6. Conclusions This research aims to identify the determinants of accounting lecturers' online learning achievements in Indonesia during the COVID-19 pandemic. There are several antecedent constructions for online learning acceptance that have been identified. The results showed that, first, the perception of anxiety reduces the confidence of lecturers in using the online learning system, and the perception of external control positively affects the ease of use. Second, online learning playfulness and computer self-efficacy do not affect the ease of use. Lastly, the degrees of use of online learning affect the achievement of targeted learning outcomes. These results indicate that online learning is more effective if the learning design has been prepared from the beginning. Lecturers should use online learning models to their maximum to ensure optimal results. The results of the study provide clues to how online learning can be optimized. University administrators can use two variables: anxiety and perception of external control by modifying the two antecedent variables' level. The results showed that more careful preparation from the start resulted in achieving the learning outcome target. From a theoretical perspective, the results explain that user behavior influences online learning outcomes. The variables built from the reasoned action view become a mediation between the lecturer’s behavior and the online learning outcomes.

Declaration of conflicting interests The authors declare no potential conflict of interest in this research, authorship, or publication of this article.

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Appendix 1

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 188-204 March 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.3.12

Challenges of Virtual Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Experiences of Mexican University Professors and Students Claudia Patricia Contreras, David Picazo, Aixchel Cordero-Hidalgo and Paola Margarita Chaparro-Medina Autonomous University of Chihuahua, Chihuahua, México https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4162-3055 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0521-6954 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9927-0972 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7270-9903

Abstract. Students’ and university professors’ challenges due to the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic have been enormous. Without prior notice, they had to switch from traditional education to virtual teaching. This study’s objective was to identify the perception of students and professors of the Bachelor in the English Language from the University of Chihuahua, Mexico, during the transition to virtual classes due to the pandemic. Researchers applied a survey of 28 items with a Likert scale to 152 students during the spring semester 2020 and the second instrument of 51 items to 26 professors. The students reported having complications in connectivity (21%) and difficulties interacting with professors and classmates (34%). Many students reported experiencing anxiety (69.1%) and feeling isolated (62.5%). Most agree that they learn better in face-toface classes (85%). In turn, the professors agree that the students had a lower performance than in a face-to-face semester (69.3%). Despite this, the professors affirm that they followed the program to the letter (92.3%) and completed the programmed contents (84.6%). Besides, 92.3% of the academics are confident to face a new semester in virtual modality, if necessary. Although we can say that the transition from face-to-face to virtual classes in the institution was successful, students and professors encountered difficulties and disadvantages in the use of platforms for online classes. The benefit of this research´s findings is understanding the University must have all the necessary elements in place for online teaching. It must establish a formal regulation of virtual programs that includes professor´s and student´s profile, as well as the strategies to be followed. The students’ and professors’ perceptions highlight the crucial elements that professors need to consider to teach virtual classes and take advantage of these lessons to face the future better. Keywords: COVID-19; Virtual Learning Environment; university; education

©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 In 2008 the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), decided to implement the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Competency Framework for Teachers having three versions: 2008, 2011, and 2018. It anticipates the predominating approach to the relationship between technology and education and includes recommendations for developing skills using current technologies. The UNESCO, since the Qingdao Declaration (2015) affirmed it is crucial to include the ICT in educational policies and strategies to transform the learning process. It is necessary to rethink the professor's role and reform how the educational systems prepare, considering the opportunities that present online learning as a new pathway toward lifelong learning (UNESCO, 2015).Traditionally there was a list of functions and perceptions of the professor that has been historically and socially constructed, as shown in Figure 1. Experts should review this role, leading to a new pedagogical relationship because students demand professors to participate more and more in teaching with technologies. That is to say, to consider the technological dimension in the teaching profession. Technologies have emerged as a challenge for the link between professors and students, which causes a significant opportunity to review roles, functions, and holistically understand formal education and their professional performance (Casablancas, 2017).

Figure 1. The conception of the professor´s role (García Contador & Gutiérrez Esteban, 2020)

Professors must adapt and train themselves to face the current times and contexts. This adaptation involves being flexible, dynamic, moving away from the traditional and tortuous for students, raising new forms of interaction and scenarios that include technologies for educational purposes (Cabrero & Barroso, 2015). In recent months, the Coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19) caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus rocked the entire world. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 as a pandemic; by April 20, the same organism reports that many countries had reacted by asking their inhabitants to stay at home and restrict the movement of the population to reduce the virus transmission (WHO, 2020). WHO reported the first two cases in Mexico on February 29.

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According to UNESCO, by April 1 of year 2020, 185 countries had to close higher education institutions (HEI) activities, affecting 1,542,412,000 students, representing 89.4% of the total (UNESCO, 2020b). According to the University of Oxford, 70% of these countries finished the school semester with schools closed, severely impacting education in general (Blavatnik, 2020). In Latin America and the Caribbean, the temporary interruption of academic activities due to COVID19 affected 23.4 million university students and 1.4 million professors, more than 98% of students and teachers from the region (UNESCO, 2020b). Countries, organizations, and educational institutions had to double their efforts to continue distance education and reduce the impact of this school closure, particularly among vulnerable and disadvantaged communities (UNESCO, 2020a). By resuming activities with virtual classes, and the challenges faced by HEIs in pedagogical aspects and technical infrastructure to implement the new way of teaching, universities worldwide have reported negative impacts on research issues and students’ mobility (Marinoni et al., 2020). Due to the pandemic, higher education institutions have moved into an emerging situation of distance education, which will have many impacts, some have not yet been documented or have not been perceived. There are three main reasons why this effort of pedagogical continuity may not go well: the first is the technological aspect since according to data from the International Telecommunications Union in Latin America, only 52% of households have technological equipment and broadband connectivity, the second is the distance education coverage of higher education in 2017 only represented 15.3% of the total and covered 4.3 million students, in the absence of planning has led students to think that education is poor, and the third and last is related to teaching skills in distance education by using scarce technological resources for teaching as if they were still in the classroom (Pedró, 2020). In 2017 the Ibero-American Observatory of Science, Technology, and Society (OCTS) reported that university students studying the distance education modality represented 15.3% of the total enrollment, that is, 4.3 million students (OCTS, 2019). However, the modality was still incipient in Latin America and was contrasting among the countries due to economic and social inequalities and the existing digital divide in the region (UNESCO, 2020b). Ibero-American counties show an upward trend as the enrollment of distance students pursuing a first degree in higher education increased by 72.9% from 2010 to 2017 and only 27.3% in face-to-face education (OCTS, 2019). Even though a large majority of the population in Mexico has access to the Internet and a mobile device; there are considerable challenges in distance education without considering that this modality represents a valuable tool to increase education coverage in its population. In research that used the UNESCO ICT Competency Framework for Teachers 2008 intending to evaluate the management of the ICTS for the application of the class plan, a population of 922 professors of Mexican public universities whose employed sample was 432 volunteers, gave the following results: most professors use email and the Internet in an average of four times a week. The didactic use of technologies is related to the different scientific universes (hard and soft sciences).

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Professors who have ICT training possess a greater mastery of developing teaching support materials. The more proficient they are in ICT, the higher their score in an educational application, and the younger they are, the more proficient they are in ICT (Vera Noriega et al., 2014). For this reason, the abrupt change of modality did not have the best reception by students and professors. The institutions did not design the contents as distance courses before, which requires a more significant commitment and discipline from the student. Something crucial was the disadvantages of some students due to the lack of adequate technological resources to continue with their studies successfully. In this sense, the context of our country is not very favorable. According to the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL), in 2018, the population living in poverty in Mexico was 41.9%, and 7.4% in extreme poverty; 29.3% were in conditions of vulnerability due to social deprivation, and only 21.9% of the population was not in conditions of poverty or vulnerability (CONEVAL, 2019). According to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), in Mexico, there are 80.6 million Internet users aged six years or more (70.1%), 44.4% have a computer, 56.4% of households have Internet access, whether by fixed or mobile connection, 95.3% connect to a smartphone, 33.2% to a laptop and 28.9% to a desktop. However, 91.5% use the Internet for entertainment, 90.7% for information, 90.6% for communication, 83.8% for education/training 83.8%. The three most important groups of Internet users are 18 to 24 years old (91.2%), the second group is 12 to 17 years old (87.8%), and the third group is 25 to 34 years old (86.9%) (INEGI, 2019). In the rank called “Measuring the Information Society Report 2017” made by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Mexico was in 87th place of the world (ITU, 2017). In this scenario, the considerable consequences of education in general and university have been evident. Students’ and professors’ challenges worldwide have been enormous (Almarzooq et al., 2020). Starting with the authorities’ declared health emergency on March 21, 2020, Mexican universities experienced an unprecedented situation, a massive change from traditional "face-to-face" teaching to an online education model. The health emergency caused by COVID19 pandemic revealed the deficiencies that many of Mexico’s universities had concerning virtual modalities. Virtual education requires specific skills in both students and professors; it is essential to plan contents, activities, and the effective and efficient use of technological tools in the virtual environment in which the teaching-learning process will take place. As an immediate response to the situation, the institutions had to decide which virtual learning environment (VLE) to use, while professors have had to rethink and innovate their traditional teaching practice to adapt it to

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new circumstances in virtual mode. Some had training and experience before the pandemic, while others improvised to get ahead with the course contents. It was imperative to anticipate integrating the ICTs into the curriculum as part of educational change and innovation. It was also important to consider that teacher's constant training is a variable that influences the incorporation of ICTs into the teaching and learning process (Rangel Baca & Peñalosa Castro, 2013). Given the need to continue with the January-June 2020 semester, the university authorities of the Autonomous University of Chihuahua (UACH) gave the instructions to continue with the development of the course content through the use of educational platforms and the tools to establish contact with students. Although the UACH already had extensive experience in virtual education, there is no doubt that the challenge was enormous, given the need for 100 percent of the professors to have the appropriate training to continue with their classes. As in the whole country, in this university, within a short period, more than 29,000 students and 2,935 professors (UACH, 2019) found it necessary to continue their courses at a distance, connected through the Internet, using available educational platforms and other communication resources. In the case of the University of Chihuahua, we chose Moodle because this platform is a learned-oriented (AlAjlan & Zedan, 2008) resource. It allows the teacher to post new items such as assignments, books, files, web pages, and YouTube videos, parallel to using WebEx, Zoom, Google Classroom, Skype, or Facebook to hold video conferences with the students. It is evident that the institution, like all universities in Mexico and the world, needed to find practical and immediate technological solutions to optimize the distance learning education process at an accelerated pace. Therefore, it is unknown whether the abrupt change of modality has had a significant adverse effect on the teaching-learning process. It is also essential to asses professors and students as well as institutional response capacity to know these actors´ experiences about their performance, preferences, and difficulties they had to face during the semester. In the same way, it is interesting to evaluate the emotional effects that arose as a consequence of the days of uncertainty while all the university students were adapting to the new situation, carrying out, unexpectedly, unplanned activities. The practical implications of the knowledge that we can obtain from this study are related to the administration and professors' strategies, especially considering the students' feelings, the limited access to technological resources and connectivity problems. The objective of this work is to understand the transition process from classroom to online classes. It is evident everyone is trying their best to cope with the challenges they faced in that context. However, a central question arises: What are the perceptions of the transition to virtual classes among the University of Chihuahua professors and students given the confinement during the pandemic caused by COVID-19? To meet the objective of this research, an inductive theoretical model is necessary, where the information from a sample of individuals allows us to explain a phenomenon and infer the behavior of the

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selected population. The survey, Likert scale, statistical analysis, and quantitative measurements are the basis to obtain answers from the selected population.

2. Materials and methods Researchers conducted this cross-sectional study during the three-month timeline of April and June 2020. It is a cross-sectional design since its objective is to identify the frequency of conditions in students and professors. The researchers did not perform any intervention (interference), and the variables had only one measurement in each participating individual (Rodríguez & Mendivelso, 2018). This work follows a quantitative method research paradigm, with an exploratory, projective and descriptive character, to understand the phenomena under study, where human beings and diversity are involved (Pereira Pérez, 2011). The authors also chose exploratory research because it approaches a little-studied topic such as virtually in times of COVID-19 and the results may generate data and elements to identify the context and subsequently conduct descriptive research that is a new topic of study (Arias, 2012). One public university was the study population: University of Chihuahua (UACH), located in Chihuahua, Mexico. This higher education institution selected the B.A. in English Language students and professors because of the accessibility of the institutional information necessary to carry out this study. Our institution does not have an ethics committee but privacy principles; we observed the subjects' confidentiality, anonymity, and protection. Drawing from data available through the Strategic System of Academic Management (SEGA), we identified 230 students of the Bachelor in English Language Program (undergraduate students) as the institution's population of interest. The researchers used Cochran’s formula (see details below) to determine the sample size (145 students), with a confidence interval of 95% and a 5% margin error; even that 152 had participated, it was a non-probability, for convenience sampling since the participation was voluntary (Mcmillan & Schumacher, 2005). 𝑛=

𝑁 ∗ 𝑍2 ∗ 𝑝 ∗ 𝑞 (𝑁 − 1) ∗ 𝑒 2 + 𝑍 2 ∗ 𝑝 ∗ 𝑞

Where: n = sample size. N = total number of elements that make up the population. Z = reliability coefficient score. e = margin of error. p = proportion of elements exhibiting a certain characteristic. q = proportion of elements that do not present the characteristic under research. A total of 152 students answered an instrument (Appendix 1). It contained 28 statements they valued through a five-point Likert Scale that allowed students to express how much they agreed or disagreed with the statements divided into

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three categories: advantages, disadvantages, and modality preference of virtual vs classroom classes, plus four variables to stratify the results. After selecting the sample of students, we conducted a semi-structured survey with them, and we used another instrument for the professors and grouped the questions in six sections (training, teaching-learning process, institutional aspects, infrastructure, limitations, virtual modality) in a 51-item mixed survey questionnaire made up of Likert scale questions, yes-no questions, and a multiplechoice question (Appendix 2). These instruments enabled the collection of quantitative data that emerged from participants’ practices and experiences with the issues related to COVID-19. The data were collected using a Google Forms survey sent to the participants via email and WhatsApp and analyzed with the statistical software IBM® SPSS version 20 through descriptive statistical techniques such as frequency distributions, central tendency measures and dispersion measures.

3. Results and Discussion a) Students’ survey. Out of the 152 Bachelor in the English Language students who participated in the survey, 120 (79%) were women, and 32 (21%) were men; 86% (131) of the students who answered the survey were in the city of Chihuahua, Mexico, 19 (13%) were in other towns within the State of Chihuahua, while two (1.3%) were in the State of Sonora, México. According to the data shown in Table 1, we may think that students could maintain good communication with their professors and classmates during the semester in confinement since a large proportion answered to agree with this statement (66.4 and 65.1%, respectively). However, the remaining 34% who could not affirm the same draw attention, especially in a modality where constant communication is essential to carry out the contents successfully (Table 1). Table 1. Student’s perceptions of the advantages of taking virtual classes. Question

Strongly agree

Somewhat agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Somewhat disagree

Strongly disagree

My level of self-confidence has increased from virtual classes

3.9

17.8

38.2

23.7

16.4

18.9

I maintain good communication with my teachers in the virtual modality

25.0

41.4

15.1

11.2

7.2

20.8

I maintain good communication with my classmates in the virtual modality

27.0

38.2

15.8

11.8

7.2

19.0

My ability to analyze information has improved from virtual classes

6.6

23.0

34.9

21.7

13.8

16.1

I manage my time efficiently in the virtual modality

14.5

18.4

25.7

19.1

22.4

6.4

Online exams offer me more advantages than the exams I take in the classroom

17.1

28.3

24.3

12.5

17.8

9.5

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The virtual learning process at UACH is supported by state-ofthe-art platforms

7.2

23.0

41.4

12.5

15.8

20.2

Online classes allow me to relate theory and practice

5.3

22.4

29.6

25.0

17.8

14.1

I have had access to the Internet since classes started in the virtual modality

62.5

17.1

8.6

5.9

36.8

I have had access to a computer since classes started in the virtual modality

101 66.4

18.4

5.9

4.6

40.4

I have more free time for nonschool related activities since I began taking virtual classes

25.7

17.1

23.0

13.2

21.1

7.5

My expenses were reduced when I started taking virtual classes

40.1

32.2

18.4

3.9

5.3

24.4

My teachers are using better teaching strategies in virtual education compared to the strategies they use during face-to-face classes

7.2

13.8

29.6

28.9

20.4

14.7

Total/Mean

469 23.7

473

23.9

472

23.8

295

14.9

267

13.5

19.2

About the students’ perception of the disadvantages of this modality (Table 2), some of the relevant responses of the students relate to experiencing anxiety with virtual classes (69.1%) and feeling isolated (62.5%) during the contingency. Universities should pay attention to this situation since it could affect university students’ emotional state (Dill et al., 2020), translating into low achievement and dropout. These results are far above the study of González-Jaimes et al. (2020), where 32% of 644 university students surveyed from seven states of the Mexican Republic expressed the presence of symptoms of stress, and 40% anxiety. This stress is explainable because of the difficulties they experienced through interactions with professors (86.1%) and classmates (67.1%), as well as the difficulty in organizing their online activities (62.5%) (Table 2). Table 2. Student’s perceptions of the disadvantages of taking virtual classes. Question

Strongly agree

Somewhat agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Somewhat disagree

Strongly disagree

I don’t understand the instructions in my virtual classes

13.8

39.5

23.0

14.5

9.2

18.2

I experience anxiety taking virtual classes

35.5

33.6

9.9

8.6

12.5

20.3

I feel isolated

34.9

27.6

15.1

6.6

15.8

17.0

The interaction with the teacher is affected during the class due to technical problems

49.3

36.8

7.9

5.3

0.7

33.0

The interaction with my classmates 63 is complicated since it does not happen spontaneously due to turntaking on the microphone

41.4

25.7

17.8

8.6

6.6

21.6

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I have difficulty organizing online homework

36.2

26.3

14.5

7.9

15.1

17.0

I don’t know how many hours I should dedicate to the virtual program

36.2

24.3

23.7

5.9

9.9

18.5

It is difficult for me to access the Internet

7.2

14.5

19.7

16.4

42.1

20.0

I have had difficulties accessing the contents of the UACH platform

13.2

23.7

20.4

24.3

18.4

6.9

Total/Mean

407

383

231

149

198

19.2

We consulted the students on what modality they prefer. Students prefer face-toface classes over virtual classes. The vast majority (93%) considered that interaction with the teacher is better face-to-face than virtually, 85% think that they learn better in classroom classes, and 78% disagree with the statement that they would like all their classes to be virtual (Figure 2). Undoubtedly, these results reflect what Pedró (2020) reports on students' attitudes towards distance programs, who seek to receive online classes as if they were face-to-face, only adding the technological aspect. Students' preferences: classroom vs. virtual classes Strongly agree 90.0% 80.0% 70.0% 60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0%

Somewhat agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Somewhat disagree

Strongly disagree

80.3% 68.4% 60.5% 37.5% 28.3% 20.4% 7.2% 6.6% I dislike taking virtual classes

16.4% 9.2%

2.0% 3.9%

I learn better in classroom classes

12.5% 5.3%

0.7% 1.3%

17.8% 12.5% 5.3% 3.9%

Interactions with teachers are I would like all my classes to better face-to-face than in a be virtual virtual way

Figure 2. Students’ preferences: classroom vs virtual classes.

Students living in different locations in the State capital had much more trouble accessing the Internet for their classes. This result may also be a reflection of the vulnerable situation in which many Mexicans live (CONEVAL, 2019), the lack of connectivity and limited technological resources (INEGI, 2019), and information literacy still deficient in a significant proportion of the population in Mexico (ITU, 2017). Translating the Likert scale to numerical rating, where 1 means Strongly disagree, 2 Somewhat disagree, 3 Neither agree nor disagree, 4 Somewhat agree and, 5 Strongly agree, the mean to the question "I have had access to the Internet since classes started in the virtual modality" results with an 𝑥̅ = 4.35 for the students living in the city of Chihuahua and 𝑥̅ = 3.57 for the students of other locations. The difference in means was significant with the t-test for independent samples (p < 0.05). Other questions that showed statistically significant differences (p <

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0.05) for these two groups of students mentioned were: "Online classes offer more advantages compared to classroom learning". Students from other locations (usually rural) feel that they have more advantages with this type of online class modality; however, these same students reported having more difficulty accessing the Internet (𝑥̅ = 3.05) vs. the students of the state capital (𝑥̅ = 2.16) (See Table 3). Table 3. Comparison of significant differences in means of student location. Chihuahua Question

Other locations of the State

Mean

Standard deviation

Mean

Standard deviation

The interaction with my classmates is complicated since it does not happen spontaneously due to turntaking on the microphone

3.75

131

1.26

4.62

0.67

Online classes offer more advantages compared to classroom learning

2.29

131

1.21

3.10

1.04

I have difficulty organizing online homework

3.51

131

1.48

4.19

0.93

It is difficult for me to access the Internet

2.16

131

1.27

3.05

1.50

By grouping the variables that corresponded to the Advantages and Disadvantages of virtual education, there is a significant moderate positive correlation (p < 0.05) between the students who said they prefer face-to-face classes and the Disadvantages category, with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.366. b) Professors’ survey. One hundred percent of the professors of the Bachelor of English Language program answered the survey. Of the 26 professors, 19 (73%) are women, with an average age of 48.3 years, and 7 (17%) are men, with an average of 43.9 years. Of the 26 professors surveyed, 16 (62%) are full-tenured, and 10 (38%) are nontenured professors; two (7.7%) have a bachelor’s degree, 13 (50%) have a master’s degree, and 11 (42.3%) have a doctorate. The majority of professors (73%) teach only in undergraduate programs, while 27%, in addition to undergraduate programs, attend masters and doctorate courses. Regarding seniority in general, the professors have 15.1 years of teaching experience, the average seniority of female professors is 14.8 years, and 16.0 years of the male professors. Due to the pandemic, the contingency has been an unexpected situation in all areas of our lives. In the academic aspect, in higher education, professors suddenly went from classrooms to remote sessions supported by technology and computer tools to teach classes. Suddenly, we faced a complicated situation that required professors to have training in digital and communication tools. For example, many in this group of professors trained previously, but some did not prepare. This lack of training can be understood because, before this situation, virtual education in this institution was only an alternative; now, it has become an obligation. Regarding the experience using virtual learning platforms, 19 (73%)

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of the professors indicated that they had previously used these tools, while 7 (27%) stated that they had no previous experience. Fourteen of them (53.8%) took training previously, 9 (34.6%) got training courses during the contingency, and 3 (11.5%) of them mentioned that they had not received any training yet. Three professors (11.5%) considered that they had a low level of training to teach in virtual environments; 17 (65.4%) answered that they had an intermediate level, and 6 (23.1%) stated that they had a high level of training in these tools. Regarding the institutional support received, this study coincides with that of Sánchez et al. (2020), who surveyed 788 professors from UNAM, where 60.5% acknowledged having had institutional support to face the challenges of the pandemic. In the present study, regarding the university’s training, 50% affirmed that this training gave them sufficient elements to teach in virtual environments, 19.2% considered it did not give them sufficient elements to teach, and 30.8% answered that it partially did. As mentioned before, we agree with other researchers that, during the contingency, university-level professors’ proficiency of digital skills takes particular relevance to move forward with the course content (MartínezGarcés & Garcés-Fuenmayor, 2020). About the tools that the professors used to teach during the semester, 17 (65.4%) used Virtual Classrooms, 21 (80.8%) used social networks, 25 (96.2%) also supported themselves with video conferences, and 17 (65.4%) used email additionally. Most of the professors (81.8%) used the Moodle platform for their courses, while 18.2% preferred Google Classroom, and only one of the professors used Schoology during this contingency. Although the university was flexible regarding the professors’ tools, Moodle is the platform that the institution used for the courses this semester. These results are consistent with those of Sánchez et al. (2020), where most professors trusted the institutional platform to carry out their courses. Regarding the tools for video conferences, the professors combined the virtual platforms; most of the professors (96.2%) used Zoom to teach their classes, 57.7% used WebEx, which is the tool that the institution provides to professors, 53.8% connected via Google Meet, while 23% used other tools, like Skype, WhatsApp, and Facebook to establish communication with the students. Although the UNAM professors used almost the same resources as those of our institution, at the UACH, Zoom’s use was preferred for distance sessions, while people at the UNAM preferred Google Hangouts (Sánchez et al., 2020). It should be noted that the UACH reported frequent failures when using the WebEx tool, which was the recommended platform by the institution to carry out the sessions. Table 4. Students’ overall performance during the contingency. Question

Excellent

Good

Regular

Poor

Seriously deficient

Motivation during class activities

11.5

46.2

38.5

3.8

0.0

5.4

Class attendance

19.2

50.0

23.1

7.7

0.0

5.0

Task and work fulfillment

30.8

53.8

15.4

0.0

5.9

Extra time and attention for reviews and study

23.1

50.0

19.2

7.7

0.0

5.0

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Browsing of materials and bibliography

11.5

53.8

26.9

3.8

5.5

Use of information technologies

26.9

57.7

11.5

3.8

0.0

6.1

Optimal use of class time

11.5

69.2

15.4

3.8

0.0

7.3

Total/Mean

4.4

0.5

5.7

In general, the professors stated that the performance of the students during the contingency was good. It stands out that 84.6% think that students have an excellent or a good level using information technologies. The same percentage of professors consider performance in terms of fulfilling tasks and works between good and excellent. The results are consistent with an experimental study carried out with 458 university students in Spain, where they found that the students improved their performance and ability to develop tasks during confinement (Gonzalez et al., 2020). In that study, the best performance related to the assessment processes and the new learning methodology; in the present study, the professors rated the students’ good level when using information technologies (Table 4). The aspect with the highest negative evaluation turned out to be that of motivation during class activities; here, 42.3% considered the performance of the students to be between fair and poor (Table 4), which is understandable, and it coincides with the argument of Dill et al. (2020) since the same students reported having experienced negative emotions such as feeling isolated and experiencing anxiety during the confinement (Table 2). Table 5. Teaching-Learning Process. Question

Strongly agree

Somewhat Neither agree Somewhat agree nor disagree disagree

Strongly disagree

The interaction with students during the semester as appropriate

30.8

61.5

3.8

0.0

6.8

I had to develop new teaching materials for my class

53.8

38.5

3.8

0.0

6.4

I had to locate and adapt teaching materials from other authors

34.6

19.2

3.8

7.7

3.8

I followed to the letter the program of the subjects taught

34.6

57.7

0.0

7.7

0.0

6.6

I was able to cover the contents of the subjects taught entirely

34.6

50.0

0.0

15.4

0.0

5.7

The students’ academic performance during this semester was lower in comparison to last semester

23.1

46.2

15.4

3.8

11.5

4.2

Total/Mean

35.3

48.1

7.03

6.38

3.2

5.6

Regarding the teaching-learning process, 92.3% of the professors had to develop new materials for their classes, and 69.2% said they needed to adapt teaching materials from other authors. Even though the situation changed in the middle of the semester, 92.3% of the professors affirmed that they followed the program to the letter, while 84.6% said they had completely covered the subjects’ contents. Even though these results were encouraging for the teaching-learning process, it is striking that a large proportion of professors (69.3%) think that the students’ performance was lower compared to the last semester, where students only had a

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face-to-face modality. We may think that it is a contradictory finding, but it is not, since there was a previous discussion about the perception of the student’s performance, which professors rated as good, but we understand that professors thought at the same time that it was not as good as in former periods, where they only had face-to-face classes. An objective way to measure performance would be comparing grades between semesters, as Gonzalez et al. (2020) did. However, this objective was outside the scope of this research. Regarding the experience in virtual mode, the professors are positive, since a large proportion of them (76.9%) consider that the virtual classes have helped them to improve their teaching practice; 92.3% stated that the communication with the students was easy and the same proportion (92.3%), said they feel prepared to carry out another semester virtually if necessary (Figure 3). In general, professors are optimistic about taking on the challenge of virtual classes, as Prokopenko & Berezhna (2020) reported, whose professors agreed that this situation also motivated them to improve their creativity and skills for a distance teachinglearning process. Despite this, only 15.4% prefer virtual classes over classroom classes, and half of them do not agree that students learn better in the virtual model, which is consistent with the vision of students who do not like virtual classes because they consider that learning and interaction are better in face-toface courses (Figures 2 and 3). Teachers’ survey regarding the virtual modality 90.0% 80.0%

76.9%

70.0% 53.8%

60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0%

50.0% 42.3%

38.5%

15.4% 7.7% 0.0% 0.0%

30.8% 30.8% 23.1% 23.1% 15.4% 11.5% 7.7% 7.7%7.7% 0.0% 0.0%

30.8% 19.2% 3.8% 3.8% 0.0%

0.0% Communication with students was easy Strongly agree

Virtual lessons have I prefer to teach virtually I consider that students I am prepared to carry helped me improve my more than on-site learn better virtually out another virtual teaching semester if necessary

Somewhat agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Somewhat disagree

Strongly disagree

Figure 3. Professors’ survey regarding the virtual modality.

When analyzing the institutional aspects, 80.8% of the professors answered that they received support from the institution to communicate with their students; 92.3% received timely communication from the academic area, and 84.6% answered that the administrative area’s communication was equally timely. While 84.6% considered that the institution’s contingency face strategies were appropriate, only 38.5% think that the university had a contingency plan previously. At a global level, although the COVID-19 pandemic had an immediate impact on the academic activities of universities, a study with 406 universities from 109 countries reveals that 91% considered that they were prepared with the

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necessary infrastructure to maintain good communication with their students and professors (Marinoni et al., 2020). Although the challenge of achieving effective communication with students was great initially, this variable did not represent a significant problem for this university community since the UACH has come a long way in virtual teaching and experiences with blended learning schemes. Finally, in this university, 80.8% of the professors think that the institution is prepared to take another virtual semester if necessary. Table 6. Institutional aspects. Question

Strongly agree

Somewhat agree

Neither agree Somewhat nor disagree disagree

Strongly disagree

I received the institution’s support to communicate with my students

46.2

34.6

11.5

3.8

5.0

I received timely communication from the institution’s academic area

53.8

38.5

3.8

0.0

3.8

6.4

I received timely communication from the institution’s administrative area

42.3

3.8

7.7

3.8

5.3

I think next semester’s enrollment will be lower due to the circumstances

26.9

42.3

23.1

7.7

0.0

4.3

The institution’s strategies implemented in response to the contingency were appropriate

34.6

7.7

3.8

5.5

I believe the institution already had a formal contingency plan

15.4

23.1

7.7

30.8

2.3

The institution is prepared to carry out another virtual semester if necessary

42.3

38.5

15.4

0.0

3.8

5.1

Total/Mean

37.4

38.5

12.6

4.39

7.11

4.8

4. Conclusions We can conclude that most of B.A. in the English Language students’ perceptions are related to the disadvantages in virtual classes, especially on the problems of accessing the Internet, difficulties interacting with professors and classmates, and not understanding clearly all the assignment instructions. During this experience, the professors used Moodle as an institutional platform. Regarding communication tools, the vast majority of professors relied on Zoom to conduct conferences with their students, and many of them combined social media to maintain contact. Despite the suddenness of the situation, we can affirm that the transition from face-to-face teaching to the virtual modality was successful, professors had the institutional support in technological resources, training, and communication to conduct the courses, and they had the opportunity to conclude the topics of their programs. However, a large proportion thinks that the performance of the students was lower than in face-to-face modality. Professors base this idea on students not using class time optimally, less participation took

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place, and they were not achieving excellent task and work fulfillment. The professors feel confident to face a new semester in virtual modality if necessary. In general, professors agreed that this situation also motivated them to improve their creativity and skills for a distance teaching-learning process. Even so, the perception of the students concerning this modality is noteworthy, since the majority affirmed that they prefer face-to-face classes to the virtual modality; this is possibly a reflection of the difficulties that students experienced when interacting with professors and classmates, as well as the difficulty in organizing their online activities and connectivity problems. The recommendations derived from this research are in three levels: professors, the education system, and the government. Professors should consider their students' context and limitations to make adjustments to their programs to successfully orient education towards critical thinking. The education system must constantly train professors by offering free online courses and lectures from experts in educational platforms and technological tools to enhance their skills. The government must support the education system by issuing laws to formalize virtual education, giving schools the necessary tools and resources to meet their needs. This research reflects upon experiences of professors and students during the pandemic and the perception of its advantages and disadvantages; however, the limit is the resistance to migrate to online modality, coupled with the fact that sometimes there is a disconnection between the teacher and the educational authorities who often belong to the administrative area and face this challenge from another angle. The experiences from the pandemic of 2020 will lead to the development of new platforms and regulations that will allow the education system to be ready for the challenges to come.

5. References Al-Ajlan, A., & Zedan, H. (2008). Why Moodle. Proceedings of the 2008 12th IEEE International Workshop on Future Trends of Distributed Computing Systems, 58–64. https://doi.org/10.1109/FTDCS.2008.22 Almarzooq, Z., Lopes, M., & Kochar, A. (2020). Virtual Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 75(20), 2635–2638. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2020.04.015 Arias, F. G. (2012). El proyecto de Investigación [The research project] (6 Ed.). Editorial Episteme. Blavatnik. (2020). OXFORD COVID-19 Government Response Tracker(OxCGRT). https://data.humdata.org/dataset/oxford-covid-19-government-responsetracker Cabrero, J., & Barroso, J. (2015). Nuevos retos en tecnología educativa [New challenges in educational technology] (1st ed.). Editorial Síntesis. Casablancas, S. (2017). No es malo perder el rumbo: reconfiguraciones del rol docente en el contexto digital [It is not bad to lose the way: recofigurations of the teaching role in the digital context ]. En Educar en la era digital (pp. 17–33). Editorial Pandora, S.A. de C.V. http://www.pent.org.ar/extras/micrositios/libroeducar/educar_en_la_era_digital.pdf CONEVAL. (2019). Medición de pobreza 2008-2018, Estados Unidos Mexicanos[Poverty Measurement 2008-2018, United Mexican States]. https://www.coneval.org.mx/Medicion/PublishingImages/Pobreza_2018/Seri

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e_2008-2018.jpg Dill, E., Fischer, K., McMurtrie, B., & Beckie, S. (2020). As Coronavirus Spreads, Is the First Step. What’s Next? The Chronicle of Higher Education, 1, 5–7. García Contador, Y., & Gutiérrez Esteban, P. (2020). El rol docente en la sociedad digital. [The teacher´s role in the digital era]. Digital Education, 38, 1–22. https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/274/27447325008.pdf González-Jaimes, N. L., Tejeda-Alcántara, A. A., Espinosa-Méndez, C. M., & OntiverosHernández, Z. O. (2020). Impacto psicológico en estudiantes universitarios mexicanos por confinamiento durante la pandemia por Covid-19. [Psychological impact on Mexican university students due to confinement during the Covid-19 pandemic]. Preprint, 644(1), 17. https://doi.org/10.1590/SCIELOPREPRINTS.756 Gonzalez, T., de la Rubia, M. A., Hincz, K. P., Comas-Lopez, M., Subirats, L., Fort, S., & Sacha, G. M. (2020). Influence of COVID-19 confinement in students performance in higher education. 1–25. https://doi.org/10.35542/osf.io/9zuac INEGI. (2019). Medición de pobreza 2008-2018, Estados Unidos Mexicanos. [Poverty Measurement 2008-2018, United Mexican States]. https://www.coneval.org.mx/Medicion/PublishingImages/Pobreza_2018/Seri e_2008-2018.jpg ITU. (2017). ICT Develepment Index 2017. Measuring the Information Society Report 2017. https://www.itu.int/net4/ITU-D/idi/2017/index.html#idi2017economycardtab&MEX Marinoni, G., Land, H. Van, & Jensen, T. (2020). The impact of Covid-19 on higher education around the world. IAU Global Survey Report (International Association of Universities (Ed.)). https://www.iauaiu.net/IMG/pdf/iau_covid19_and_he_survey_report_final_may_2020.pdf Martínez-Garcés, J., & Garcés-Fuenmayor, J. (2020). Competencias digitales docentes y el reto de la educación virtual derivado de la covid-19. [Digital teaching competencies and the challenge of virtual education derived from covid-191]. Educación y Humanismo, 22(39), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.17081/eduhum.22.39.4114 Mcmillan, J., & Schumacher, S. (2005). Investigación Educativa. [Educational Research]. At Investigación educativa. Pearson Addison Wesley. https://desfor.infd.edu.ar/sitio/upload/McMillan_J._H.__Schumacher_S._2005._Investigac ion_educativa_5_ed..pdf OCTS. (2019). Informe de coyuntura No 06: Se expande la educación superior a distancia en Iberoamérica, aunque es todavía incipiente. [Conjuncture Report No 06: Distance higher education is expanding in Ibero-America, although it is still incipient]. http://octs-oei.org/coyuntura/coyuntura06.pdf Pedró, F. (2020). Covid-19 y educación superior en América Latina y El Caribe: Efectos, impactos y recomendaciones políticas. [Covid-19 and higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean: Effects, impacts and policy recommendations]. Análisis Carolina, 36, 1–15. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.33960/AC_36.2020 La Pereira Pérez, Z. (2011). Los diseños de método mixto en la investigación en educación: Una experiencia concreta. [Mixed method designs in educational research: A concrete experience]. Revista Electrónica Educare, 15(1), 15–29. http://www.revistas.una.ac.cr/index.php/EDUCARE/article/view/867 Prokopenko, I., & Berezhna, S. (2020). Higher Education Institutions in Ukraine during the Coronavirus, or COVID-19, Outbreak: New Challenges vs New Opportunities. Revista Romaneasca pentru Educatie Multidimensionala, 12(1Sup2), 130–135. https://doi.org/10.18662/rrem/12.1sup2/256

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Rangel Baca, A., & Peñalosa Castro, E. A. (2013). Alfabetización digital en docentes de Educación Superior: construcción y prueba empírica de un instrumento de evaluación. [Digital literacy in Higher Education professors: construction and empirical testing of an assessment instrument]. Pixel-Bit Revista de Medios y Educación, 43, 9–23. https://doi.org/10.12795/pixelbit.2013.i43.01 Rodríguez, M., & Mendivelso, F. (2018). Diseño de investigación de Corte Transversal. [Cross-sectional research design]. Revista Médica Sanitas, 21(3), 141–146. https://doi.org/10.26852/01234250.20 Sánchez, M., Martínez, A., Torres, R., de Agüero, M., Hernández, A., Benavides, M., Rendón, V., & Jaimes, C. (2020). Educational challenges during the covid-19 pandemic: a teachers’ survey at UNAM. Revista Digital Universitaria, 21(3), 1–24. https://www.revista.unam.mx/wp-content/uploads/a12.pdf UACH. (2019). Estadística Básica 2019. [Basic Statistics 2019]. https://uach.mx/assets/media/publications/2017/10/143_agendaestadistica/Estadistica-2019-2020.pdf UNESCO. (2015). Quindgao Declaration. (2015). Seize digital opportunities, lead education transformation. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000233352 UNESCO. (2020a). COVID-19 Impact on Education. Education: From disruption to recovery. https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse UNESCO. (2020b). COVID-19 y educación superior: De los efectos inmediatos al día después. [COVID-19 and higher education: From immediate effects to the day after]. At Unesco. http://www.iesalc.unesco.org/wpcontent/uploads/2020/04/COVID-19-060420-ES-2.pdf Vera Noriega, J. A., Torres Moran, L. E., & Martínez García, E. E. (2014). Evaluación de competencias básicas en TIC en docentes de educación superior en México. [Evaluation of basic ICT competencies in higher education teachers in Mexico.]Pixel-Bit. Revista de Medios y Educación, 44, 143–155. http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=36829340010 WHO. (2020). WHO Director-General’s opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 1 April 2020 (p. 1). https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-directorgeneral-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---1-april-2020

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 205-228, March 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.3.13

Advancing Preservice Physics Teachers’ Critical Thinking through Active and Passive Microteaching Lesson Study Billy A. Danday Leyte Normal University, Tacloban City, Philippines https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9771-5912 Abstract. A pretest-posttest comparison-group quasi-experimental study was endeavoured to unravel the effects of the two forms of Microteaching Lesson Study (MLS), the Active MLS and the Passive MLS, on the critical thinking of aspiring physics teachers. Eighteen Bachelor of Secondary Education specializing in Physical Science students participated in the six-week study. Data were gathered using the Critical Thinking Inventory in Physics and were analysed utilizing the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test, Mann-Whitney U Test, and descriptive statistics. Results revealed that both the Active and Passive MLS have positive effects on the overall critical thinking and on all of the critical thinking sub-skills of the preservice teachers. Results further showed that the Active MLS is significantly more effective than the Passive MLS in developing overall critical thinking and its sub-skills, specifically, inference and interpretation. The implementation of lessons by the Active MLS group in microteaching sessions indicated positive affordances on the development of critical thinking. Further studies involving a greater number of preservice teachers specializing in different fields of science are recommended. The integration of the MLS, especially the Active MLS, in the preservice teaching curricula is deemed a worthwhile engagement. Keywords: critical thinking; lesson study (LS); microteaching; physics teaching; preservice teachers

1. Introduction The world is currently facing insurmountable challenges – climate change, environmental degradation, political conflicts, depletion of resources, and pandemics, among others. Humans around the globe are constantly challenged to act efficiently and effectively for sustainable existence. These, apparently, require critical thinking considering that effective actions demand critical scrutiny of problems at hand (Buckley, 2012; Sensibaugh, 2015; Tseng, 2008; Williams, 2005). Educational institutions are commissioned to proliferate learning; hence, curricular programmes need to inculcate critical thinking among learners, be it in the sciences or the arts, if sustainable existence is aspired (Nilson et al., 2013). ©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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Teaching critical thinking is supposed to emanate from teacher education institutions. Preservice teachers’ primary interest should be to possess good critical thinking dispositions and to acquire critical thinking skills for continued proliferation of analytical and systematic reasoning and problem-solving (Arsal, 2015). Studies, nevertheless, disclose a dismal level of critical thinking among preservice teachers (Akdere, 2012; Grosser & Nel, 2013; Qing et al., 2010). Aspiring teachers often hold an inadequate perception of critical thinking and its fundamental skills, particularly regarding its application in classroom activities (Gashan, 2015; Meister, 2011). They even were unclear about the associations between learning objectives and assessment of teaching outcomes (Cavanagh et al., 2019). This alarming deficiency requires immediate and profound interventions; hence, scholars launched various initiatives to address this deficit. However, varied strategies did not generate consistent positive outcomes (Akyuz & Samsa, 2009; Behar-Horenstein & Niu, 2011; Goyak, 2009; Qing et al., 2010; Sulaiman, 2013). Therefore, further exploration of didactic approaches that support the development of critical thinking in future teachers is urgently required. The conventional, individualistic instructional approach, which is extensively employed in preservice teacher education curricula, particularly in the practicum stage, seems to lack opportunities to scaffold critical thinking skills. Perspectives from collaborative instructional approaches, like the Lesson Study, are worth pursuing, due to the various interactions that the instructional approach demands from participants (Chen & Zhang, 2019; Chew & Lim, 2013; Elipane, 2012). A microteaching-based Lesson Study framework can be especially engaging, because microteaching does not only bring the prospective teachers to an actual classroom setting but it also strengthens their professional competence (Akkus & Uner, 2017; Remesh, 2013; Sentumbwe, 2018, Zhou & Xu, 2017). While a few studies have accounted for the effects of Microteaching Lesson Study on some aspects of student learning, little or nothing is known about the effects of the active and passive versions of Microteaching Lesson Study on preservice teachers’ critical thinking. This study has been designed to explore salient influences of two forms of this instructional approach on overall critical thinking and its specific components in the domain of physics instruction. Specifically, the study was aimed at answering the following questions: (1) Do the active MLS and passive MLS approaches render significantly higher critical thinking scores in the post-test than in the pre-test? (2) Is there a significant difference between the critical thinking scores of the active MLS group and passive MLS group after the intervention? (3) What are the benefits of active and passive MLS in the development of critical thinking?

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2. Related Literature 2.1. Lesson Study Japan has long been on the upper stratum and continues to be one of the leading countries in terms of performance in the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), alongside with Singapore and other Asian countries. The Japanese educational system is undeniably one of the better systems in the world that is worthy of emulation. It is not surprising that one of their most effective professional development programmes, the jugyokenkyu or the lesson study (Figure 1), is extensively adopted by educational institutions around the world (Buchard & Martin, 2017; Cerbin & Kopp, 2006; Chen & Zhang, 2019; Fernandez, 2002; Lewis et al., 2009; Zhou & Xu, 2017).

setting lesson goals

planning the lesson

designing the study

implementing the lesson plan

discussing the implementation

revising the lesson plan

implementing the revised lesson plan discussing the final implementation documenting and sharing results Figure 1: The Lesson Study Process

“Jugyo” is the Japanese term for lesson while “kenkyu” refers to study, hence, Lesson Study is the literal English translation of the two Japanese words

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(Fernandez, 2002). Lesson Study is an in-service professional development approach for teachers that is distinguished due to its collaborative nature. It has fascinated countless educators of various disciplines, particularly those who have been oriented according to the individualistic instructional approach. The Lesson Study (LS) process possesses the following features: investigation, planning, research lesson, and reflection (Lewis et al., 2009). An extensive examination of the various adaptations of the Lesson Study shows the following procedure: (1) setting lesson goals, (2) planning the lesson, (3) devising the study, (4) executing the lesson plan, (5) deliberating on the implementation, (6) modifying the lesson plan, (7) executing the revised lesson plan, (8) deliberating on the implementation of the new version of the lesson plan, and (9) documenting and sharing results (Cavin, 2007; Cerbin & Kopp, 2006; Chew & Lim, 2013; Fernandez, 2002). Figure 1 illustrates the complete procedure of the Lesson Study model as implemented by diverse scholars. It must be noted that the Lesson Study members are three or more teachers working together throughout the whole process. External experts are often invited to observe the lesson implementations and take part in the analyses of the data gathered (Lewis et al., 2006). Meanwhile, Cerbin and Kopp (2006) point out that lesson studies are intended to examine how students learn the lessons, not to assess what students have learned. The analysis of the interactions among students, teachers, and instructional aids is the heart of the Lesson Study framework. Research has revealed various benefits of the Lesson Study to in-service teachers, preservice teachers, and students. This professional development approach can enhance teachers’ content knowledge, pedagogical skills, and didactic beliefs (Danday, 2019; Lewis et al., 2009). Moreover, LS fosters group ownership, collegial support, instructional expertise, teaching confidence, and a better understanding of students’ thinking (Barrett et al., 2013; Fernandez, 2002; Kolenda, 2007; Lewis, 2002). Similar findings have been reported on the integration of Lesson Study into preservice teacher education. Elipane (2012) and Gurl (2009) reported that LS has the potential of improving teaching skills, habits, and competencies. Furthermore, engaging in the Lesson Study can broaden the Nature of Science (NOS) pedagogical content knowledge of preservice teachers and can successfully transform it into classroom praxis (McDowell, 2010). Lesson Study also has shown positive influences on the learners. Barrett et al. (2013) reported that the students whose teachers had been in the Lesson Study groups performed significantly better in geometry than the students whose teachers had been in the traditional setting. Similarly, Lucenario et al. (2016) reported that a Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Study (PCKLS) for chemistry teachers improved students’ problem-solving skills. Teele et al. (2015) also noted that exposure to Lesson Study-based instruction had a positive impact on students’ achievement in mathematics.

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Integrating technology in the Lesson Study framework has offered more interesting outcomes. Chew and Lim (2013) found that employing Lesson Study (LS) with the use of Geometer’s Sketchpad (GSP) in teaching mathematics could enhance the technological pedagogical content knowledge of preservice teachers. According to Cavin (2007) a Microteaching Lesson Study (MLS) can generate a positive learning atmosphere, ensuing in the appreciation of technology integration into learner-centred instruction. Apart from classroom instruction, lesson study also may serve as an effective vehicle for curriculum design, implementation, and assessment. For instance, Gutierez (2015) utilized the Lesson Study model to identify the issues associated with the implementation of inquiry-based instruction in elementary science in the Philippines. She emphasised three key issues: (1) scarcity of inquiry-based resources and lack of professional support; (2) emphasis on content learning, rather than inquiry-learning; and (3) the time-consuming and laborious nature of inquiry-based pedagogies. From the above discussion it is clear that literature provides a satisfactory elucidation of the Lesson Study framework. However, a gap still exists in knowledge about characterizing active and passive forms of microteaching lesson study, and the corresponding effects on preservice teachers’ critical thinking skills and sub-skills. The author, hence, deemed it imperative to investigate these domains to cast broader light on this instructional approach in the field of physics education. 2.2. Critical Thinking One of the primary goals of global education is for learners to attain critical thinking skills. The 21st century learning framework establishes the skills that modern-day learners should possess. Education experts agree that learners should acquire life and career skills, learning and innovation skills, and information, media, and technology skills from all corners of educational institutions. In the learning and innovation skills domain, critical thinking is a priority goal, along with communication, collaboration, and creativity (Battelle for Kids, 2019). The curricula for science and all other subject areas, therefore, are aimed towards the attainment of these goals. Edward Glaser (1941) identified three facets of critical thinking - the attitude of insightful thinking, the knowledge of systematic reasoning and analytical methods, and the skill to employ such methods. The American Philosophical Association (APA) Delphi Consensus expresses the contention of the critical thinking experts on the definition of the term. They assert that critical thinking is “the purposeful, self-regulatory judgment which results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference, as well as explanation of the evidential, conceptual, methodological, criteriological, or contextual considerations upon which that judgment is based” (Facione, 1998).

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Figure 2: The Core Critical Thinking Skills and Sub-skills

To place critical thinking in a well-defined context, scholars have posited interpretation, analysis, inference, evaluation, explanation, and self-regulation as the core critical thinking skills, with specific competencies indicating each skill. This opens the construct for observation, measurement, and validation. Figure 2 captures the critical thinking construct at one glance. The acquisition of satisfactory levels of all the critical thinking skills is the embodiment of an ideal critical thinker. Experts, however, concur that a critical thinker may not necessarily possess a high level of all the aforementioned skills. One may be proficient at some skills but may not be at other skills (Facione, 2020). Measuring critical thinking has been a crucial step in expanding this body of knowledge. Experts have developed well-crafted and standardized instruments to quantify critical thinking in formal/non-formal education and career assessments. Based on content and features, these instruments have been categorized into (1) general-content, multi-aspect; (2) general-content, aspectspecific; and (3) subject-specific, multi-aspect critical thinking tests (Ennis, 2009). The investigations of critical thinking in higher education have shown a dominant utilization of the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA), California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST), and Cornell Critical Thinking Tests (CCTT), all of which are classified under general-content, multi-aspect instruments (BeharHorenstein & Niu, 2011). Meanwhile, research has shown that the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA) is aptly applicable in measuring the critical thinking of

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preservice teachers. Gadzella et al. (2005) used the Short Form (Form-S) of this measurement instrument in their investigation and confirmed its suitability for teacher education. The instrument measures five critical-thinking skills, namely inference, recognition of assumptions, deduction, interpretation, and evaluation of arguments (Behar-Horenstein & Niu, 2011). With reference to the APA Delphi Consensus, the WGCTA does not contain explanation, analysis, and selfregulation as principal critical-thinking skills; however, it includes recognition of assumptions and deduction. Scholars in various fields, though, recognize its applicability and effectiveness in assessing the critical thinking of students, employees, and other adult participants (Behar-Horenstein & Niu, 2011; Ennis, 2009; Grosser & Nel, 2013). Some scholars argue that the assessment of critical thinking can be done not only quantitatively, but qualitatively as well; they posit that certain aspects of the quality of thinking need not be captured by quantitative methods. Facione and Facione (2011), for example, developed the Holistic Critical Thinking Scoring Rubric (HCTSR) to evaluate thinking expressed as verbal and written accounts. . This scoring rubric consists of explicit qualitative descriptions with an associated numerical value which may be used in various assessments such as in training programmes and other educational engagements. This contention motivated the author to utilize both quantitative and qualitative measurement of critical thinking of the preservice teachers who participated in the study, employing a physics-oriented critical thinking instrument and a modified HCTSR. Behar-Horenstein and Niu (2011) established the dominance of quasiexperimental pretest-posttest design studies on critical thinking in higher education. They also found that the majority of the studies conducted had been executed in the field of medical education. Among the instructional strategies that had been investigated were concept mapping, scenario-based course exercises, active learning techniques, online instruction, inquiry-based learning, guided practice, computer-assisted instruction, structured web-based bulletin boards, and problem-based learning. The results of these studies generated mixed impressions; no single instructional method was shown to either be always effective or ineffective. Few studies have been undertaken investigating critical thinking levels and pedagogical methods with the potential of effecting the critical thinking of preservice teachers. One such study (Akdere, 2012) found a ’below average’ level of critical thinking among Turkish preservice teachers. Such a finding was unexpected, considering that the same participants had a moderately positive attitude towards critical thinking (Akdere, 2012). A similar observation was claimed by Qing et al. (2010). The Chinese preservice teachers who participated in their study showed a low level of critical thinking prior to their engagement in the inquiry-based chemical experiment. The same level of performance was observed even after their exposure to the pedagogical approach. Tican and Taspinar (2015), likewise, reported that preservice teachers who had been exposed to reflective thinking-oriented didactic activities had critical

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thinking skills comparable to those who were exposed to traditional teaching methods. No significant statistical difference was found between the two groups. On the other hand, Jatmiko et al. (2018) and Sulaiman (2013) probed the effects of the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) model on the critical thinking of preservice physics and preservice science teachers, respectively. Jatmiko et al. employed the conventional PBL model with 94 participants, while Sulaiman employed the PBL Online with 41 participants. Jatmiko et al. reported positive effects of the PBL on the critical thinking of the preservice physics teachers using the Student Critical Thinking Skills Test. Meanwhile, employing the WGCTA Forms A and B, Sulaiman found a non-significant difference in the critical thinking of the PBL group and the traditional group after the intervention, notwithstanding the significantly better performance of the PBL group than the traditional group in creativity. In an attempt to assess the efforts to enhance critical thinking of undergraduate college students, a recent study has been conducted by investigating 4,000 participants. It was found that the 2,000 randomly selected undergraduate college students in 2019 scored significantly higher in the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) than the 2,000 randomly selected students at the same level who took the same test in 2012 (Facione et al., 2020). The result implies that educational efforts strived for the development of critical thinking among learners in higher education have paid off. This implies that a sustained fortitude may eventually build communities of critical thinkers. It can be assumed that the critical thinking construct in the preservice teacher education domain remains to be cultivated. A plethora of didactic innovations yet have to be forged, particularly collaborative and learner-centred pedagogical approaches. One such approach is the Microteaching Lesson Study that offers potential advances in various facets of learning. Its effects on preservice teachers’ critical thinking, using both quantitative and qualitative methods, still are unexplored, especially during active and passive forms of microteaching. Moreover, little is known about research on critical thinking utilizing contentbased assessment tools, especially in physics education. These motivations propelled the researcher to undertake the present study.

3. Methodology 3.1. Research Design A pretest-posttest comparison-group quasi-experimental design was employed in this study. Two groups were formed from a class of fourth-year level college students in the Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSED) programme specializing in Physical Science. Nine participants were randomly chosen for each group - the Active MLS Group and the Passive MLS Group - through a simple fishbowl technique. Each of these groups was divided further into three sub-groups with three members each. Figure 3 exemplifies the formation of the Active MLS and Passive MLS sub-groups.

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Microteaching Lesson Study Groups (MLS) (N=18)

Active MLS Group (n=9)

Active MLS Group 1 (n=3)

Active MLS Group 2 (n=3)

Passive MLS Group (n=9)

Active MLS Group 3 (n=3)

Passive MLS Group 1 (n=3)

Passive MLS Group 2 (n=3)

Passive MLS Group 3 (n=3)

Figure 3: The formation of the Active MLS and the Passive MLS sub-groups

In adherence to ethical standards set by the university for social science research, an informed consent form was required to be completed by the research participants to declare their voluntary participation in the study and free will to withdraw anytime during the course of the study. Based on Philippine law, none of the participants were under age since all of them were 18 years old and above. Moreover, none of them withdrew from participating in the study. The data collection procedure for this study phase lasted for six weeks, and it was conducted at a state university during the summer term of the school year 20162017. It commenced with orientating the subject teacher and research participants to the research procedure. The pre-test for critical thinking was administered a day before the intervention was conducted. During the succeeding weeks the nine preservice teachers were exposed to the Active MLS and the other nine to the Passive MLS. The post-test was administered on the last day of the six-week intervention. The researcher guided the subject teacher throughout the data-collection process. He assisted the teacher in assessing the participants’ instructional plans and materials. He also took part in the microteaching sessions and post-lesson discussions. The researcher acted the role of an external expert and facilitator in the Lesson Study model. The Active and Passive Microteaching Lesson Study The research intervention utilized the lesson study (LS) framework through microteaching sessions. In-service lesson study engagements involve actual lesson implementations in classes handled by the teachers in the LS group. It must be noted that in this study the research participants implemented their lesson plans with their classmates serving as “students”. It must also be clear that only the active MLS group members implemented their lesson plans. One group was assigned to teach per microteaching session. The passive MLS group participated in the microteaching sessions by acting as “students” together with the non-teaching active MLS group for the session.

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Nine grade 8 science lessons in physics were covered for the study. The areas included were dynamics, heat and thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism, waves, and optics. Three instructional plans and teaching materials had been prepared by each sub-group, and they shared these with other sub-groups within their respective group at the end of the research intervention. For instance, the outputs of Group 1 were shared with the other two sub-groups in the active MLS group only. The same process was followed by the passive MLS sub-groups. Table 1: The Active MLS and Passive MLS procedures 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Active MLS Identifying learning areas Designing the research lesson Investigating the learning process Implementing the lesson plan (microteaching) Discussing the results of the implementation Revising the lesson plan Implementing the revised lesson plan (microteaching) Discussing the results of the second implementation Documenting and sharing results

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Passive MLS Identifying learning areas Designing the research lesson Investigating the learning process Acting as “students” in the microteaching Revisiting the lesson plan Revising the lesson plan (optional) Acting as “students” in the microteaching Reassessing the lesson plan (optional) Documenting and sharing results

Table 1 differentiates the MLS processes that were undertaken by the active MLS group and passive MLS group. It can be assumed that all the steps of the Lesson Study Model described in Figure 1 were carried out by all the sub-groups, except that the passive MLS group did not implement its lesson plans. They rather took part in the lesson implementations of the active MLS members by acting as “students” until all the nine lessons had been implemented (Steps 4 and 7). Post-lesson discussions among the teaching sub-group members of the active MLS group, subject teacher, and researcher were conducted after lesson implementations (Steps 5 and 8). During this stage, the passive MLS sub-groups reviewed their lesson plan to incorporate possible changes based on their observations in the microteaching. Revision of the instructional plan by the teaching active MLS sub-group followed the post-lesson discussions (Steps 6 and 9). At this time, the passive MLS subgroups had the option of revising their lesson plan (Steps 6 and 8). The final step involved sharing the finalized lesson plan, improved instructional materials, and detailed observations. 3.2. The Sample The research participants were 18 students, specializing in physical science in the Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSED) programme at a state university in Tacloban City, Philippines, with ages ranging from 18 to 22 years. The mean age of the active MLS group was 19.00 years, and 19.72 years for the passive MLS group.

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A total of nine (50%) male and nine (50%) female preservice teachers participated in the study. The active MLS group comprised three males, that is, 33.3% of the group sample and six female (66.7%) participants. Meanwhile, six male or 66.7% of the group sample and three female (33.3%) participants formed the passive MLS group. Initial Comparability in Academic Performance The comparability of the academic performance of the two groups of research participants was established by analysing their respective ratings in the two mathematics and 13 science courses that they had successfully completed prior to their involvement in the study. The mean and median ratings per group were determined and were further analysed using the Mann-Whitney U test through the SPSS Version 23. Results are summarized in Table 2. Table 2: Data and analysis for the ratings in Science and Mathematics Subject/Group Science Active MLS Passive MLS Mathematics Active MLS Passive MLS

Mean Rating

Median

9 9

1.89 1.89

1.94 1.87

.863

9 9

1.77 1.68

1.80 1.75

.489

Note: The highest passing mark is 1.00, while the lowest is 3.00 in the university where the study was conducted. It means that the higher the numerical value, the lower is the rating .

Results show that the mean ratings for science were equal between the active MLS and passive MLS group (1.89), although a slightly higher median rating was observed in the passive MLS group (1.87) than in the active MLS group (1.94). A p-value of p=.863 denotes that the academic performance of the two groups in science is not significantly different. Results further show that the active MLS group had lower mean and median ratings (1.77 and 1.80, respectively) than the passive MLS group (1.68 and 1.75, respectively). However, the statistical analysis reveals that the difference in group ratings was not significant. Hence, it can be affirmed that the active MLS and passive MLS groups are comparable with respect to scholastic performance in the two major academic fields, the sciences and mathematics. 3.3. The Instruments The researcher gathered the data using three instruments as described in the succeeding texts. A. Preservice Teacher Critical Thinking Inventory in Physics (PTCTI) The critical thinking of the research participants was measured through the PTCTI, a physics content-based researcher-made instrument, composed of 60 objective-type and open-ended items. The instrument was modelled on the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA), where 12 items in the

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physics context were crafted for each component - Inference, Recognition of Assumptions, Deduction, Interpretation, and Evaluation of Arguments. An explanation of the choice of option was required for each objective-type item . While one point was allotted for each correct response to the objective-type items, the explanation was scored based on the descriptions provided in The Holistic Critical Thinking Scoring Rubric by Facione and Facione (2011), which ranged from zero to three. Few modifications were made to the assessment tool to suit the research objectives and context. The instructions, items, and content of the PTCTI were validated by experts in science and mathematics education whose academic works entail studies into critical thinking development, as well as the production of research instruments and instructional materials that promote critical thinking skills. Meanwhile, the BSED-Physical Science specialists from two state universities were invited to the pilot-testing of the PTCTI. The overall reliability test of the instrument revealed a Cronbach’s alpha of .923, as shown in Table 3, signifying its high reliability in critical thinking assessment. Its sub-tests also recorded acceptable reliability levels for social science research, which ranged from .701 to .807. Table 3: The SPSS computation of Cronbach’s alpha of the PTCTI

Cronbach's Alpha .923

Cronbach's Alpha Based on Standardized Items .926

N of Items 60

B. Interview Protocol An interview was conducted on the last day of the intervention. A researchercompiled interview protocol was utilized to substantiate observation notes, postlesson discussions, and quantitative data. The pre-constructed questions revolved around the participants’ reflections on the instructional approach to which they were exposed. Follow-up questions were added to illuminate vague ideas or statements as necessary. C. Journal The participants recorded their observations, learning experiences, and insights in a journal for the entire MLS engagement. The content of the entries was analysed to deduce themes concerning critical thinking development to support the quantitative analyses. 3.4. Data Analysis Procedure The research objectives necessitated the collection of quantitative data that could be illuminated by qualitative data. Descriptive statistics like mean and median were used to depict scores of the research participants in the Preservice Teacher Critical Thinking Inventory in physics (PTCTI). Significant differences between groups were identified by employing the Mann-Whitney U Test, whereas the

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Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test was utilized to analyse within-group differences. These inferential statistical tests were set at α=.05 level of significance. The researcher employed the conceptual content analysis technique to analyse the qualitative data derived from interview responses, journal entries, and observation notes. Results of the analysis were used to substantiate both quantitative and qualitative findings.

4. Results 4.1. Critical Thinking Prior to the Study. A pre-test on the critical thinking of the research participants was administered a day before conducting the intervention. It must be noted that the highest possible score for the Critical Thinking test is 300 points and the lowest is zero. Table 4 indicates that the active MLS group (Mn=124.00, 41.3%) scored lower than the passive MLS group (Mn=131.44, 43.8%). The same trend was observed when the median scores were examined. Table 4: Pre-test results for the critical thinking inventory Test/Group

Md (Max.=300)

Mn (Max.=300)

Pre-test Active MLS Passive MLS Total

9 9 18

118 (39.3%) 130 (43.3%) 127 (42.3%)

124.00 (41.3%) 131.44 (43.8%) 127.72 (42.6%)

31.2 26.2 28.2

Despite the passive MRLS group scoring higher than the active MRLS group, it can be gleaned from Table 5 that the difference in the pre-test group scores is not significant (p=.627), with a low effect size (r=.11). This suggests that the active MLS group and the passive MLS group were comparable before they participated in the study. Table 5: Mann-Whitney U test of the critical thinking inventory pre-test Test/Group

Mean Rank

MannWhitney U

r (ES)

Pre-test Active MLS Passive MLS

9 9

8.89 10.11

35.0

-.486

.627

.11

Table 6 exhibits the analysis of the pre-test results of the five components of critical thinking. The passive MLS group scored slightly higher in the Inference, Deduction, Interpretation, and Evaluation of Arguments components than the active MLS group. Conversely, the active MLS group scored slightly higher than the passive MLS group in the Recognition of Assumptions. It can be observed, further, that there is no significant difference between the group scores across the five components, considering that the p-values range from p=.309 to p=.929, all of which are greater than p=.05. These show that the active MLS group and the

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passive MLS group were comparable in critical thinking sub-skills prior to their participation in the study. Table 6: Mann-Whitney U test per component of the critical thinking inventory pre-test CT Component Inference Recognition of Assumptions Deduction Interpretation Evaluation of Arguments

Active MLS Mn Mean (Max.=60) Rank 31.3 (52.2%) 9.22 22.9 (38.2%) 9.61

Passive MLS Mn Mean (Max.=60) Rank 32.1 (53.5%) 9.78 20.8 (34.7%) 9.39

24.3 (40.5%) 27.7 (46.2%) 17.8 (29.7%)

27.2 (45.3%) 28.7 (47.8%) 22.7 (37.8%)

8.67 9.17 8.22

10.33 9.83 10.78

M-W U

38.0 39.5

-.222 -.089

.825 .929

33.0 37.5 29.0

-.665 -.266 -1.02

.506 .790 .309

4.2. Results of the Critical Thinking Inventory Post-test. The Preservice Teacher Critical Thinking Inventory in physics was administered again a day after the intervention as a post-test. Table 7 presents the mean and median group scores and standard deviations. Interestingly, the active MLS group incurred a higher overall mean score (Mn=241.8, 80.6%) than the passive MLS group (Mn=214.1, 71.4%). A lower standard deviation was also incurred by the active MLS group (SD=12.7) than by the passive MLS group (SD=23.4). This signifies that the scores of the participants exposed to the active MLS were closer than the scores of those exposed to the passive MLS. Table 7: Post-test results for the overall critical thinking inventory Test/Group

Md (Max.=300)

Mn (Max.=300)

Post-test Active MLS Passive MLS Total

9 9 18

246 (82.0%) 217 (72.3%) 239 (79.7%)

241.8 (80.6%) 214.1 (71.4%) 227.9 (76.0%)

SD 12.7 23.4

To determine the effect of the intervention on the group’s overall critical thinking, the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test was utilized. The test compares the pre-test and post-test scores of both groups. It is shown in Table 8 that both the active MLS and passive MLS groups obtained significantly higher post-test scores (p=.008) than their pre-test scores. This suggests that both the active MLS and the passive MLS can significantly improve the critical thinking of the preservice physics teachers. Table 8: Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test for the two groups in the overall critical thinking inventory Group Active MLS Passive MLS Note: *p<.05; **p<.01

N 9 9

Z -2.67 -2.67

p .008** .008**

Further examination was done to probe significant differences in the effects of the two interventions on participants’ critical thinking. The Mann-Whitney U test, as shown in Table 9, revealed that the participants who were exposed to the active

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MLS obtained a significantly higher mean score than those who were exposed to the passive MLS, as indicated by a p-value of p=.007. Moreover, a relatively high effect size of r=.636 had been established by the intervention between the two groups of participants. These connote that the active MLS is significantly better at developing the overall critical thinking of the preservice physics teachers than the passive MLS. Table 9: Mann-Whitney U test of the critical thinking inventory post-test Test/Group

Post-test Active MLS 9 Passive MLS 9 Note: *p<.05; **p<.01

Mean Rank

MannWhitney U

r (ES)

12.9 6.11

10.00

-2.70

.007**

.636

The post-test mean scores of the participants per component of the Critical Thinking Inventory are presented in Table 10. It must be noted that the active MLS group scored higher than the passive MLS group across all components, the score of which ranged from 75.55% up to 86.85%, as opposed to 68% up to 76.30%. This points out that the active MLS group performed better than the passive MLS group in all the sub-tests after the intervention. Table 10: Post-test mean scores per critical thinking component Critical Thinking Component Inference Recognition of Assumptions Deduction Interpretation Evaluation of Arguments

Active MLS Mn (Max.=60) 52.11 (86.85%) 45.33 (75.55%)

Passive MLS Mn (Max.=60) 45.78 (76.30%) 41.00 (68.33%)

47.44 (79.07%) 49.44 (82.40%) 47.44 (79.07%)

42.11 (70.18%) 41.56 (69.27%) 43.67 (72.78%)

A comparison between the pre-test and post-test scores of each group per component was established through the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test. It can be seen in Table 11 that the p-values across all components are less than the .05 (i.e. p=.008) for both groups, implying that both groups obtained significantly higher scores in the post-test than in the pre-test of the critical thinking sub-tests. Further, it can be deduced that both the active MLS and the passive MLS are effective interventions in enhancing the critical thinking sub-skills of the preservice teachers. Table 11: Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test per component of the critical thinking inventory Critical Thinking Component Inference Recognition of Assumptions

Group

Active MLS Passive MLS Active MLS

9 9 9

-2.67 -2.67

.008** .008**

-2.67

.008**

Passive MLS

-2.67

.008**

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Deduction Interpretation Evaluation of Arguments

Active MLS Passive MLS Active MLS Passive MLS Active MLS

9 9 9 9 9

-2.67 -2.67 -2.67 -2.67

.008** .008** .008** .008**

-2.67

.008**

Passive MLS

-2.67

.008**

Note: *p<.05; **p<.01

Table 12 exhibits the Mann-Whitney U test analysis between the two groups of participants per component of the Preservice Teacher Critical Thinking Inventory. It can be reckoned that the Active MLS group obtained a significantly higher mean score than the passive MLS group in the Inference (p=.024) and Interpretation components (p=.003). No significant difference in the group scores was perceived in the Recognition of Assumptions, Deduction, and Evaluation of Arguments, since the p-values fall beyond the p=.05 level. These results imply that engaging in the active MLS can significantly improve the critical thinking skills of the preservice physics teachers, rather than the passive MLS, specifically on inferencemaking and interpreting information. Table 12: Mann-Whitney U test per critical thinking component for the post-test Critical Thinking Component Inference Recognition of Assumptions Deduction Interpretation Evaluation of Arguments Note: *p<.05; **p<.01

Group Active MLS Passive MLS Active MLS Passive MLS Active MLS Passive MLS Active MLS Passive MLS Active MLS Passive MLS

Mean Rank 12.33 6.67 7.28 11.72 11.61 7.39 13.17 5.83 11.89 7.11

Post-test M-W U

15.00

.024*

20.50

.076

21.50

.093

7.50

.003**

19.00

.056

5. Discussion Findings of the study indicated the positive effects of both the active and passive MLS in enhancing overall critical thinking and its sub-skills in preservice physics teachers. These findings concur with the results of the study of Burroughs and Luebeck (2010), who proclaimed that Lesson Study allows the preservice teachers to act as critical thinkers and think like real teachers. It must be noted that the research participants worked collaboratively in preparing the instructional plans and materials; the exchange of thoughts and viewpoints is inevitable. Accordingly, the theory of adult learning asserts that establishing a cooperative milieu augments learning through varied networks (Knowles, 1973; 1984). In essence, the active and passive MLS are collaborative learning engagements that develop social skills (Mewald & Mürwald‐Scheifinger, 2019), and promote a collective sense of responsibility, powerful social interactions, and academic discourses (Cajkler et al., 2015; Cerbin & Kopp, 2006; Hixon, 2009; Kolenda, 2007; Laal & Laal, 2012).

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To explicate the assertion above, Dianne stated in an interview that working with her groupmates had helped to improve her instructional skills. She stated: “…it’s very helpful that I have partners [groupmates] who help me, to give additional advices [pieces of advice], additional ideas for [my] lesson and [on] how to deliver the lesson.” (Dianne) In view of the aforementioned desired results, engaging in the active and passive MLS might serve as an excellent training ground for accelerating teaching performance considering that these forms of instructional approach demand insightful reflections and critical analysis of their thinking and teaching (Arsal, 2015, 2017; Hamzah et al., 2008). Likewise, the assessment of critical thinking through a content-based instrument such as the Preservice Teacher Critical Thinking Inventory in Physics permits a close examination of both critical thinking skills and content knowledge of the participants. Exposure of the preservice teachers to such an assessment tool brings Physics ideas in a different perspective, opening for more learning opportunities geared towards conceptual understanding in Physics (Buabeng et al., 2016). Results further suggest that the Active MLS is more effective at enhancing overall critical thinking and its sub-skills, namely, inference and interpretation, than the Passive MLS. Cerbin and Kopp (2006) and Zhou and Xu (2017) have proclaimed that the collaborative preparation of instructional plans and materials, lesson implementations, and post-lesson discussions prompt the Lesson Study members to clarify inquiries and reservations, explore techniques and procedures, and reflect on all aspects of instruction. This alludes to the contention that one essential feature of collaborative learning is a receptive discourse that promotes articulation, scrutiny, and justification of viewpoints leading the learners to generate tailored conceptual frameworks (Laal & Laal, 2012). The higher level of critical thinking of the Active MLS group than the Passive MLS group may also be attributed to the “internal pressure” incited by the lesson implementations with their contemporaries serving as “students” and with the presence of the subject teacher and researcher (Cavin, 2007; Cerbin & Kopp, 2006). The active MLS members were compelled to keenly examine lesson implementation procedures, bearing in mind that their audience had comparable or even greater knowledge, skills, and faculties than they themselves. In an interview, Robert divulged his anxiety when he implemented his first lesson: Robert: Yes, Sir. Based on what we experienced as a teacher, we felt conscious of the presence of our classmates. They already know the concepts, so we tend to be affected in our demo, Sir. We also tend to be conscious of what we say. We are intimidated by our classmates … and by your presence as well, Sir. Researcher: Okay. So, you get intimidated? Robert: Yes, Sir. That is why we try our best in our teaching. Alexa expressed a similar impression in one of her journal entries. ….Two days from now, our group will teach the next topic. We are nervous because Rina’s group has done great [in their demonstration

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teaching]. We plan to use computerized [digital] representations because they [classmates] enjoy the discussion and activities… (Alexa) The lesson implementations prompted the active MLS group to embark on technology-based pedagogies such as the incorporation of digital representations. They utilized diagrams, animations, video clips, and simulations of scientific concepts, principles, and processes. The interaction with media-aided representations fosters critical analysis competencies and engagements with critical thinking (Barlow et al., 2013; Quinnell et al., 2020). The preparation, implementation, and reflection phases of the active MLS allowed the group members to scrutinize, assess, and revise the instructional aids that complement teaching methodologies.

6. Conclusion and Recommendation The findings of this study suggest that both the active and passive MLS are effective in developing the critical thinking of the preservice physics teachers. It further has been confirmed that active MLS is more effective at developing overall critical thinking and sub-skills inference and interpretation than passive MLS. The findings of this study suggest that preservice teacher education may be enriched by integrating active and passive MLS in the teacher education curriculum. The affordances of these two forms of microteaching lesson study (MLS) can address the need to scaffold preservice teachers’ instructional competencies (Cavanagh et al., 2019) which the conventional individualistic instructional approach does not warrant, particularly the development of critical thinking. It is, hence, recommended that preservice teachers be exposed to these two instructional approaches, especially to the active MLS. Conducting similar studies involving more participants may be endeavoured to reinforce positive influences of the intervention. Digital instructional aids and tools also may be provided to these future participants to maximize learning engagements. Likewise, contentoriented critical thinking assessment tools like the PTCTI may be developed, evaluated, and utilized in research to supplement existing knowledge on the critical thinking construct. Finally, the integration of computer-generated representations in collaborative instructional designs is encouraged not only to capture interest but also to stimulate critical analysis and higher-order thinking (Ozmantar et al., 2010).

7. Acknowledgments The author acknowledges the professional and financial support of the Leyte Normal University (LNU) through the LNU Faculty and Staff Development Program (FSDP) and the Dissertation Grant of the Commission on Higher Education in the completion of this academic endeavour. Profound gratitude is hereby conveyed. Likewise, the author expresses earnest appreciation to the academic pillars of the UP College of Education, UP NISMED, UP Open University, and the National Institute of Physics for the insightful assistance in scaffolding the integrity of this paper.

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Appendix 1: Sample Items of the Research Instrument

Preservice Teacher Critical Thinking Inventory in Physics Name: ____________________________________

Date: ______________________

Course/Year/Section: _________________________ Specialization: _______________

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS: There are five components of this test – Inference, Recognition of Assumptions, Deduction, Interpretation, and Evaluation of Arguments. Each subtest or component consists of statements with proposed inferences, assumptions, conclusions or arguments. Specific instructions are provided in each subtest. Read carefully and follow instructions correctly. You are REQUIRED to explain or state your reasons for your choice of answer for each item. Limit your explanation to 1 - 3 sentences only. You have a maximum of one (1) hour and thirty (30) minutes to finish this test.

STOP! DO NOT TURN TO THE NEXT PAGE UNLESS YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO.

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TEST II: RECOGNITION OF ASSUMPTIONS Directions: There are five statements or scenarios in this test. Each statement is followed by suggested assumptions. Encircle ‘YES’ in the corresponding item number on your answer sheet if you believe that the given assumption is correct. If you think the assumption is not necessarily correct, encircle ‘NO’. Give a concise explanation of your answer on the space provided.

Statement II-2: Two charges at rest, q1 and q2, lie behind a rectangular cardboard. An electric field pattern is observed as shown in the figure below.

Proposed Assumptions: 16. The charges are the same and are equal in magnitude. YES NO Explain your answer: ________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ 17. Charge q1 is positive while charge q2 is negative. YES NO Explain yourcount answer: Word 8657________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 229-249, March 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.3.14

Ecuadorian Teachers’ Perceptions of Teaching English: Challenges in the Public Education Sector Agnes Orosz, Mirdelio Monzón and Paola Velasco Universidad Nacional de Educación (UNAE), Azogues, Ecuador https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1841-8320 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7831-0963 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6587-5260 Abstract. The current English curriculum in Ecuador requires that highschool students graduate with an intermediate (B1) level. Attaining this target depends on several factors, such as teaching strategies employed in class and teacher training opportunities offered. Ecuador is ranked low for English language proficiency and, therefore, an exploratory approach has been used as the main data collection method to investigate the possible reasons for poor performance. In the previous phase of an overarching research project, round table discussions were held to explore themes related to English teachers’ pedagogical practices. The data gathering process in the phase described in the present study involved conducting in-depth interviews with 10 primary and secondary school English language teachers. The transcribed interviews were analyzed by putting the material through the MAXqda qualitative analysis software. The resulting coded categories allowed the authors to investigate three specific issues dealt with in the present research study, namely: teachers’ perceptions of the importance of learning English, actual classroom teaching practices, and the teachers’ observations on inservice training options. The findings of the study demonstrate that English teachers in Ecuadorian public schools recognize the importance of English and are making a substantial effort to keep up with the professional demands related to teaching English as a Foreign Language, but they lack the required knowledge to develop skills, such as critical thinking and creativity. They are also facing several challenges, such as a demanding new curriculum and students’ lack of motivation at a time of apparently dwindling teacher training opportunities. Keywords: English language teaching; perceptions on English; English teaching curriculum; classroom teaching strategies; English teacher training

©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 In Ecuador, the importance of learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) has been acknowledged in several education policy documents, such as the National Curriculum Guidelines (Ministerio de Educación, 2013) and English as a Foreign Language (Ministerio de Educación, 2016a). The recognition of the need for learning English as a global language has resulted in curricular changes, whose aim is to build a solid foundation for authentic and culturally relevant language production as set out in the document titled Currículo de los niveles de Educación Obligatoria [Curriculum for the Compulsory Levels of Education] (Ministerio de Educación, 2016b). Nevertheless, a recent survey carried out by Education First (2020a) shows that Ecuador ranks the last of the 19 surveyed Latin American countries in English language proficiency. In fact, in the annual ranking of 100 countries and regions, Ecuador slid from No. 81 in 2019 to No. 93 in 2020 (Education First, 2019; Education First, 2020b). Despite the requirements laid down in the curriculum, most students leave high school without reaching the required B1 level, meanwhile English teachers appear to be struggling with the application of upto-date methodology and language teaching strategies (Halim, 2017). An important question for inquiry could then be raised in this respect: what might be the reasons for the low results and the overall ineffectiveness of English teaching in this Latin American country? Acosta and Cajas (2018) describe the attempts that Ecuador has been making to prioritize EFL in the education system, especially as education policy experts perceive English as an important communication tool for the country to succeed in a globalized world (British Council, 2015). However, there is growing realization that successful language policy changes require that policymakers are aware of the challenges English teachers are facing in their classrooms (Soto et al., 2020). In Ecuador, the new English teaching curriculum was launched in 2016 with the aim of introducing up-to-date methodology via promoting the use of technology and effective teaching-learning strategies throughout the country. The main tenets of the new curriculum are the inclusion of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), the application of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), and the use of technology (ICT) for educational purposes (Ministerio de Educación, 2016a). The curriculum was last updated in 2018. The most important addition is that high school students now need to graduate with an intermediate level of English, which corresponds to B1 on the six-point scale used by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). However, since English is not among the subjects of the national secondary school leaving exam, only few students reach this level, which has a knock-on effect on those who then pursue tertiary education (Calle et al., 2012; Halim, 2017). The flagship state university of UNAE (Universidad Nacional de Educación [National University of Education]), whose researchers carried out the present research study, is committed to training a new generation of English teachers and is looking to establish best practices in teacher education. Therefore, it was deemed important to carry out an initial exploration of how English is being

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taught in public sector schools and how teaching and learning issues are perceived in primary and secondary schools by one of the main protagonists, namely, the teachers themselves. To explore the strengths and weaknesses of English Language Teaching (ELT) in the public sector, a two-year research program was carried out from September 2018 to August 2020 at the university mentioned above. The overarching research project aimed at investigating the factors that foster or hinder the teachinglearning process of English as a Foreign Language in “Zone 6”, which is comprised of three of Ecuador’s provinces, namely: Azuay, Morona Santiago, and Cañar, representing about 10% of the country’s population. As part of this wider research program, the authors of the present article are focusing on how English teachers perceive the importance of learning English, what teaching strategies they employ in their classrooms, and how far they feel they are supported in their work by in-service teacher training opportunities provided by the state. Overall, the research study offers further evidence that an exploratory and bottom-up approach provides rich data from the field which might help policymakers design interventions that can, in the long run, improve the quality of English language teaching in Ecuador.

2. Literature Review 2.1. The Importance of Learning English English has undeniably emerged as the global language by the beginning of the 21st century. Although it is difficult to establish how many people are fluent or competent speakers of the world’s first truly global lingua franca, it is assumed that there are between 1.5 and 2 billion people (roughly one in four of the world’s population) that speak English as a first, second or foreign language (Crystal, 2003; British Council, 2013; Cronquist & Fiszbein, 2017). English is now incorporated into the curriculum of almost 140 countries including those of Latin America (Rojas & Hernández-Fernández, 2018). Policymakers recognize the power of English (Chan, 2016) and the prospects it provides “ranging from ease of travelling abroad and participating in the global economy to opportunities to consume knowledge and media in other languages and to engage in diplomatic affairs” (Rojas & Hernández-Fernández, 2018, p. 12). Research has shown that there is a correlation between the economic performance of a country and the English language proficiency of its population (McCormick, 2013). In addition, English language skills also provide opportunities at an individual level, and this is true for people who live in emerging economies such as Brazil and Mexico (Rojas & Hernández-Fernández, 2018). Even though the relevance of learning English is widely recognized on the whole of the South American continent, researchers remind us that there are two specific challenges in Latin America. One is that besides Spanish and Portuguese a number of indigenous languages are spoken in these countries. Second, owing to their colonial history, there might be sensitivity against a language that could be perceived as a threat to sovereignty (Rojas & Hernández-Fernández, 2018). However, there is an acknowledgment that public policies should support societies that are both multilingual and intercultural (Starkey, 2010).

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2.2. Teaching Strategies English Language Teaching (ELT) has changed profoundly in the past decades thanks to the work of applied linguists, the developments in teacher training methodology, and the creative approaches of classroom practitioners (Richards, 2015; Herrell & Jordan, 2020). Hinkel (2006) described four themes that have changed policy makers’ and teachers’ perspectives on how English as a Second Language (ESL) or English as a Foreign Language (EFL) can be taught more effectively. These themes are listed as the decline of methods, the need to use bottom-up and top-down skills, the incorporation of new knowledge on the English language itself, and an acknowledgment that language skills need to be taught in context and in an integrated manner. Hinkel (2006) emphasized that “these factors have had a profound influence on classroom instruction and curriculum development in practically all L2 skills and across learner proficiency levels” (p. 110). Another trend that has evolved is the result of the realization that 21st-century language teaching has to prioritize elements that predispose learners to lifelong learning and engagement. This implies the integration of the so-called 4Cs (communication, critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration) into the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing (Erdoğan, 2019; Chiruguru, 2020). The list can be extended by adding digital literacy (Dudeney, 2015), citizenship and student leadership, and personal development (Norris, 2019). 2.3. English Language Teaching Strategies in Ecuador The 57-page in-depth report prepared by the British Council (2015) examined the policies, perceptions, and factors that influenced the teaching of English in Ecuador since the early 1990s. The Ministry of Education and Culture and the British Council launched the so-called CRADLE project in 1992 to reform the English curriculum in public and semi-public schools (the latter run by the central government and religious orders). The report emphasized that CRADLE aimed at focusing on the four language skills (rather than using the grammar-translation method exclusively), included the designing of a series of textbooks that were appropriate in the Ecuadorian context, and provided technical assistance to the English teachers employed in the public education sector. English language policy in Ecuador was reformed in 2012 (Macías Mosquera & Villafuerte Holguin, 2020; Ministerio de Educación, 2013) and then again in 2016 (Ministerio de Educación, 2016a). In their study on English language teaching in an urban setting, Burgin and Daniel (2017) focused on the language teaching pedagogy of nine English teachers working at a public secondary school. The observations identified many positives about the teachers’ instructional practices, which the authors attributed to “the impact of systemic governmental movements and expenditures” in the preceding years (Burgin & Daniel, 2017, p. 114). However, they also pointed out that the instruction at the school was still mainly teacher-led, and critical thinking paradigms and learner empowerment were not in evidence.

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2.4. Recent Relevant Literature There have been several recent studies conducted in teaching English in the public sector in Ecuador. In this respect, Calle et al. (2012) and Halim (2017) concluded that English proficiency levels were low due to English teachers’ traditional classroom methodology (e.g., grammar-translation). Ortega and Minchala (2019) also drew attention to the low levels of English performance at secondary level, both in urban and rural areas. Suasnavas (2018) recommended that the teaching practices in public schools need to be examined in order to determine the specific weaknesses of the teaching/learning process, as well as to promote the implementation of new teaching strategies. The above-mentioned studies also refer to the challenges that teachers face since they find the implementation of the latest curriculum very demanding, mainly because the material contained in the course books cannot be covered owing to the insufficient number of English classes in primary and secondary schools. 2.5. Teacher Training In-service teacher training has always been considered an essential element in the professional development of ELT teachers (Dikilitaş & Erten, 2017; Richards & Farrell, 2005). From Estonia (Raud & Orehhova, 2017) through to Turkey (Koç, 2016) and Colombia (Buendía & Macías, 2019), there is widespread agreement that there are common elements that need to be included in the training of teachers, and some of these are specific to teachers in an EFL setting, such as the improvement of language proficiency. Based on 25 empirical studies conducted in Colombia, Buendía and Macías (2019) included a comprehensive list of aspects to be considered (beyond language proficiency): “research skills and reflective practice, teachers’ beliefs and identities, an integrated approach to teacher professional development, pedagogical skills and teaching approaches, and emerging technologies”(p. 98). In the Ecuadorian context, relevant literature also points to the need for continuing professional development (Burgin & Daniel, 2017) leading to new instructional approaches, such as problem-solving pedagogy and co-designing “new ways of interacting” (p. 121), especially in multilingual and multicultural settings – the reality of Ecuador today. Suasnavas (2018) likewise drew attention to the need for sustained teacher training programs. Having found low levels of English performance at secondary levels both in urban and rural areas, Ortega and Minchala (2019) also recommended that regular in-service training programs should be set up. Meanwhile, Soto et al. (2020) emphasized the need for the enhancement of student-centered approaches, adding that transformation will only start in class when teachers have the skills and pedagogical knowledge to apply language teaching strategies and techniques correctly. Finally, Halim (2017) stressed the need for improved training courses for pre-service teachers, the designing of which would require the re-thinking of the language teaching methodology component of teacher education.

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3. Methodology 3.1. Research Design The present exploratory study was carried out in the second phase of a large-scale research project, which ran from September 2018 to August 2020 with funding secured through the National University of Education, Ecuador (known as UNAE by its Spanish acronym). The researchers aimed to carry out “a broad-ranging, purposive, systematic and prearranged undertaking designed to maximize the discovery of generalizations leading to description and understanding of social… life” (Vogt, 1999. p. 105). Translated into the present research project, the intention was to obtain exploratory qualitative data through in-depth interviews with teachers from three provinces of Ecuador, namely: Azuay, Cañar, and Morona Santiago. These three provinces were selected because they belong to the same administrative region (Zone 6) and the university (UNAE) is situated within this political and geographical area. The three neighbouring provinces cover a substantial area of the country, and have a large number of teachers working in public education institutions. The issues explored in the interviews and contained in the interview guide were based on the themes that had been identified in several round-table discussions held with a group of 40 teachers preceding the recording of the interviews (see Appendix 1). 3.2. Participants To gain deeper insights, the researchers conducted in-depth interviews with 10 teachers out of the full cohort of 40 that participated in the round-table discussions. All teachers had a B2 (CEFR) level of English and were teaching in public schools at the time when the research was carried out. Four of them worked in primary schools, two of them were employed in secondary schools and four of them were ‘hybrid’ teachers, who worked at both primary and secondary levels at the time the interviews were conducted. The teachers participated voluntarily and were informed that they could withdraw from the project at any point in time. They each signed a consent form stating that they were participating voluntarily. Furthermore, the names of the participants and their educational institutions were kept anonymous (referring to them as T1, T2 … T10). The two pre-conditions that the researchers had set were that the teachers needed to have a minimum of two years of teaching experience and they needed to have participated in the first phase of the study, which meant that they had already taken part in the round-table discussions. The reason for this requirement was that the teachers were expected to be familiar with the initial themes arising from the round-table discussions, following which the researchers aimed to learn more about the teachers’ feelings, perceptions and beliefs via the in-depth interviews. The 10 interviewees, who were selected from the 40 participants, exhibited the defining characteristics that were deemed important for the exploratory part of the present research. Furthermore, the 10 selected teachers were cooperating teachers in different programs, such as UNAE’s Practicum and Community Outreach Programs. The interviews were conducted in Spanish because this allowed the participants to discuss complex issues in the mother tongue without the pressure of having to

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use L2 for the exploration of their ideas. Their contributions were translated from Spanish into English by the investigators of the present research study. The translations were prepared independently by two of the three authors and then compared and matched for accuracy. 3.3. Data Analysis The in-depth interviews were transcribed and then analyzed by putting the material through the MAXqda qualitative analysis software. MAXqda is considered to be a useful tool, suitable both for data processing and the coding of qualitative data (Godau, 2003). The process resulted in a list of categorized topics, which allowed the grouping of related ideas together. For the purposes of the present study, the researchers focused on three main topics: • • •

The importance of English as perceived by teachers working in primary and secondary public schools; Teaching strategies applied by teachers in order to achieve the goals set out by the curriculum; and The degree to which in-service teacher training is seen as helping teachers to achieve their goals.

4. Findings This section discusses the findings related to the above-mentioned three issues: the importance of learning English, teaching strategies, and in-service teacher training. These three topics are intertwined and their relationship is further examined in the discussion section. All quotes below were taken from the categorized topic grid that was created as the result of the qualitative analysis accomplished by the MAXqda software. 4.1. Perceived Importance of English in Basic and Secondary Education Ecuadorian English teachers appear to be acutely aware of the importance of learning English as a global language. One of the reasons mentioned is its significance for the tourist sector and foreign trade relations. Another reason is related to the fact that students need English for their further studies, including MA and Ph.D. programs, often combined with opportunities to win scholarships. The potential of higher earnings by professionals who speak English is also acknowledged. Teachers stressed that English is an international language, which is also used most extensively on the Internet and social media. Altogether, eight teachers gave specific reasons why they thought that English is important for their students. In the interviews with T8 and T10, there was no mention of this aspect, while the rest of the teachers cited several arguments in favor.

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Table 1. Why is English Important? Arguments: Mentioned by: Economic reasons: • Tourism T1, T7, T9 • Foreign trade relations • Transmission of business ideas Academic reasons: • Essential for further studies • Useful when doing MAs or T1, T2, T5, T6 PhDs abroad • Valuable when applying for scholarships in-country or abroad Global communication reasons: • Access to the Internet and social media T3, T4 • Enables user to communicate internationally Other reasons: • Better professional jobs T2, T5 • Higher earnings

4.1.1. Teachers’ Voices While teachers appeared to be adamant that learning English is paramount for their students, some interviewees believe that their students do not treat English as a priority and neither does Ecuadorian society at large: I think we live in a society that does not attach too much importance to English and, as a result, our students don’t think it is important, either. They don’t do their homework, but this is true for other subjects, too. (T2) Another teacher highlighted the socio-economic circumstances that seem to lie behind the lack of motivation: The students in our high school come from dysfunctional families, in most cases, the parents live in the United States, so these kids are kind of orphans who live with their grandparents and all they want is to get their school-leaving exam certificate. (T5) Overall, teachers do recognize the importance of learning English, but this does not seem to be reflected in their students’ level of proficiency. To discover the possible reasons for the apparent mismatch between teacher perceptions and learning outcomes, it is crucial to take stock of the teaching strategies that teachers claim they employ in their classrooms. 4.2. Teaching Strategies The primary and secondary teachers who were interviewed gave an account of an array of teaching strategies that they use. Table 2 summarizes the approaches and tools that have been mentioned in the course of the interviews.

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Table 2. Teaching Strategies Employed in the English Classroom Strategies

Teachers’ remarks

Tools

Mentioned by

Teaching the 4 skills CDs Listening

Using own mobile and minispeakers

T5 No Internet, daily use of CDs

Language lab to watch movies and songs Speaking

Reading

Writing

Introducing new material

Presentation of new material

Presentations

Students don’t always understand the text or find it useful

Dictation in group work, active practice Methodology Relying on previous knowledge

E.g., Discussing Ecuadorian traditions

T6 T3

Interactive whiteboard Using visual materials, images, photos Videos

Systematic revision Personalized attention Practice and assessment Vocabulary expansion Appealing to cooperative and competitive skills

Active use of language (greetings, classroom instructions)

Using the textbook and provide extra information

T1 Last lesson of the week

T3 T2

Worksheets

Flashcards

Games Bingo

T2 T2

Extracurricular activities Singing songs on Open Days

Using English in the school playground Theatrical performance and singing on the patio

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Alongside the teaching strategies involving methodological approaches and specific tools or activities, the teachers also described the challenges that they face in their daily work: • Class size: 35-40 students in a group • Crowded classrooms (often too hot or too cold) • Class hours: 3-5 hours per week (40-minute classes) - not enough time to practice and internalize the material • Lack of exposure to English outside school • Unrealistic and unachievable curriculum • Assessment: English is not among the subjects of the national schoolleaving exam • Overworked and underpaid teachers (low social status) • Lack of support from parents • Low levels of knowledge in Spanish (especially in the case of indigenous students, for whom Spanish is a second language) • Students’ lack of motivation to learn English (or other subjects) • Regulations favoring students (leniency) • General issues with discipline (students playing and fighting with each other rather than paying attention) 4.2.1. Teachers’ Voices As has been stated before, one of the main tenets of the 2016 curriculum is the application of what is widely termed as Communicative Language Teaching or CLT (Ministerio de Educación, 2016a), an approach that also encourages group work and the use of cooperative learning. Some of the teachers interviewed were in favour of using the activities arising from the principles of CLT: I like to use the communicative method, especially role plays, where they can apply straight away what they have learned… And what I like best is cooperative learning where the students can help each other… This is because we have a great disadvantage in public schools: we may have 35 and even 40 students in the classroom and it is impossible to deal with everyone individually. But when we use cooperative learning, the students work together. (T4) The teachers used group work or pair work as well, whereby they utilized the multi-level groups to their students’ advantage: When they are using worksheets, the older ones work in pairs or groups, especially, when we have a double class. But it is the same with the younger ones, because they can help each other in case one of them did not understand what I said and the other understood it first time round. (T1) Many teachers believe that the amount of English input is insufficient to gain an acceptable level of proficiency because English is a foreign and not a second language in Ecuador, which means that there are only few opportunities to practice the language outside class. On average, primary school students have three English classes of 40 minutes, this increases to five classes of 40 minutes in Year 8 and 9, but is decreased again to three hours per week in Year 10 when students are preparing for their final school-leaving exam. A further challenge

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might be that it is difficult to cater for students who are more advanced than the majority of the students in a given class: In my opinion, we should have more English classes … perhaps we could take away a couple of hours from other subjects. Also, we would need to do some streaming as it is done in other institutions because at times you can have an advanced student and a beginner in the same class. (T3) Apart from not having enough classes, teachers often feel that the material that they need to cover is far too much: We are told we have six weeks to finish one unit in the book, but each unit has six topics and six sets of tasks, so it is practically impossible to finish one topic in one week. In Ecuador we often do not have six weeks of teaching without a break, so we do not have enough time for practice… We then straight away have to start a new unit, which is often not connected at all to the previous one. (T4) The following aspect to be looked at is the issue of the set course book and how far teachers feel they can identify with it. Some of the respondents of the research study were not thoroughly pleased with the course book. Teachers’ dislike for the textbook they are required to use may be rooted in the fact that they feel the topics dealt with are far removed from the local context, as was stated by this secondary school teacher: Sometimes the topics are a little complicated and they sound a bit strange, too, and in actual fact, I don’t like them much at all… (T1) On the whole, it appears that primary and secondary school English teachers use a variety of teaching strategies (which are mostly in line with the CLT approach) as well as a range of activities and tools, while they are facing a number of challenges that characterize not only Ecuador, but also other countries in Latin America (Rojas & Hernández-Fernández, 2018). 4.3. In-service Teacher Training Meaningful and appropriate teacher training is one of the most important elements that can improve the quality of the teaching-learning process. In-service training has the advantage of providing support to teachers who already have class experience and can transfer knowledge into their classrooms without any delay. While there have been serious efforts to reform how English is being taught in Ecuador, it seems that teacher training, and especially in-service teacher training, has been lagging behind. Table 3 demonstrates the various types of training that the interviewees had access to over the period when the research study was conducted.

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Table 3. Types of In-service Training for English Teachers in Public Schools Providers of teacher Availability in 2018training 2019 in 2016-2017 Provincial English Language Coordinators No Training sessions at the school Publishers (Cambridge University Press, Oxford Yes University Press) Training courses at state universities

University of Cuenca UNAE

No Yes

Scholarships External sources

Go Teacher Peace Corps volunteers

No Yes

Self-initiated professional development

Online courses

Yes

4.3.1. Teachers’ Voices Over the past years, Ecuadorian teachers could see how English as a Foreign Language (EFL) has gained increasing importance in this Latin American country (British Council, 2015), and how the official acknowledgment of those changes has led to a new set of requirements. English is perceived as an important school subject for the country’s social and economic development and the expectation is that language teachers should have the right qualifications: Some time ago anybody could teach English, even if they did not speak the language well, because nobody took much interest in it as a subject. But now we are being evaluated all the time and training sessions are also being set up. (T5) However, some teachers mentioned that there were no systematic teacher training sessions in their schools; one of them added that this might have been due to the fact that s/he was a new teacher at the school. It is worth mentioning that up until 2016, there was another course book series in circulation titled Our World through English (Rosero et al., 2004), and it appears that at that time teacher training sessions were organized in a more systematic fashion at provincial level: We had regular training sessions because there were coordinators in each province. Ours was very active, he called us every month for a training session and we got to know all the other English teachers as well. He chose some topics from the book, but he also added others and taught us grammar, too. (T5) Besides the frequent sessions provided by the provincial English Language Coordinators, the state university of the regional capital, Cuenca, also played an important role in supplying in-service training. Owing to recent government policies (leading to budget cuts in education), teacher training programs tapered off at a time when paid-for courses for professional development are often beyond

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teachers’ means, especially after the salary cuts introduced in the wake of the COVID-19 epidemic: Four-five years ago we had training sessions at the State University of Cuenca and I always went to the workshops there. With this new government so much has been lost: now there is no state institution that carries out this task, and private courses are not available to teachers because of the high cost. (T9) Teachers also said that even when there are training sessions, they are often unable to attend because of the high number of contact hours and the clashes in their timetables (T10). One of the ten teachers mentioned that s/he benefited a lot from the so-called Go Teacher program, which began in 2012 as a partnership between Kansas State University and Ecuador’s governing body of higher education, the National Secretary of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (SENESCYT). The program provided an opportunity for approximately 1000 Ecuadorian English teachers to improve their language and teaching skills for seven months at Kansas State University and other partner institutions in the US: I was one of the teachers who won a scholarship of the Go Teacher program, it went well for me, I was able to finish my studies and do all the tasks and participate in all the projects that were set for us. (T9) In sum, the respondents’ perception is that while there is a requirement to employ properly trained English teachers, whose performance is scrutinized more closely than before, the range and quality of the training sessions may vary. Furthermore, multiple respondents highlighted the fact that training sessions had been better organized and more frequent before the severe budget cuts in the education sector were implemented in recent years.

5. Discussion English language teaching education has been a central issue for educational policy in Ecuador for almost a decade (Ministerio de Educación, 2013; 2016a; 2016b). However, recent results suggest that for language policy changes to succeed, policymakers should take into account the challenges encountered by English teachers in their daily practice (Acosta & Cajas, 2018). The present exploratory research study found that many of the challenges that were identified by recent studies have been confirmed by the participating 10 English teachers. Low proficiency levels were mentioned by several teachers, corroborating the findings of Calle et al. (2012) and Halim (2017). These authors concluded that one of the reasons for poor performance is the fact that teachers use traditional classroom methodology. As opposed to this, the teachers in the present survey were able to refer to an array of classroom tools and pedagogies that they were applying in order to make learning more effective. However, the teaching strategies applied are often limited by a number of challenges in the classroom, such as lack of motivation, insufficient number of English classes, and the fact that for indigenous students English is not the first, but the second additional language.

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The primary and secondary school teachers interviewed for the present exploratory study are fully aware of the importance of learning English as a Foreign Language. They recognize that Ecuadorian students need to be able to use English proficiently for trade and tourism, further studies abroad, and better-paid jobs and professional advancement. This, to some extent, is in line with the British Council report (2015), which surveyed the reasons given by learners as to why they studied English. While a high percentage of students mentioned that they studied English because it was compulsory in primary and secondary school (34% and 52%, respectively), they also mentioned that they needed English for their university studies or in order to improve their employment prospects, and have access to information in English. One can argue that the low levels of language proficiency in the public education sector in Ecuador are not so much the result of ill feelings about the language itself (Rojas & Hernández-Fernández, 2018), but can, to some extent, be explained by the challenges that indigenous students face when studying not a second but a third language. Rojas and Hernández-Fernández (2018) are clear about the tasks that Latin American governments need to set themselves so that they can ”... provide indigenous communities education services that integrate them into society (by teaching in the official language); and ... respect and preserve their identity by providing a curriculum adapted to their mother tongue and ethnic customs” (p. 19). In fact, the British Council report (2015) makes a mention of how diversity affects English learning in Ecuador when it says that being educated in the mother tongue is enshrined in the Ecuadorian Constitution, however, this means that education systems can differ from region to region, which “presents a challenge for the implementation of national education reforms and English language learning initiatives” (p. 53). Some of the interviewees have indeed mentioned how these challenges manifested themselves in their classrooms. The teaching strategies applied by the 10 teachers appear to be varied and in line with the basic tenets of Communicative Language Teaching, although Cajas and Acosta (2018) emphasized that in Ecuador, ”the nature, purpose and use of the CLT as the pedagogical approach of the CEFR is apparently not well understood and interpreted” (p. 102). This is not a unique phenomenon. For example, Mai (2007) stresses that even though teachers in Vietnam recognize the importance of communication skills, they still feel the need to accommodate the local context, in which more traditional approaches are deemed either useful or are probably expected. Similar issues, such as the employment of teacher-fronted noncommunicative activities, have been raised in Japan (Sakui, 2004), South Korea (Beaumont & Chang, 2011), Iran (Sarab et al., 2016), and Thailand (Promtara & Suwannarak, 2018). The teachers who were interviewed usually give due emphasis to the four basic skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing and use the tools that are at their disposal (CDs, mobiles, language labs), and furthermore, they utilize the opportunities that extracurricular activities can offer, such as using English in the school playground or setting up theatrical performances and karaoke singing contests. However, it seems that they are only incorporating two of the so-called

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4Cs (communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking), namely, communication and collaboration, while critical thinking and creativity do not appear to be integrated into the teaching-learning process. The development of these two skills might be perceived as a need for improvement, since the 4Cs are considered to be essential skills (Chiruguru, 2020; Erdoğan, 2019) because the knowledge of the four basic language skills, namely listening, speaking, reading and writing is not considered sufficient any longer. As Chiruguru (2020) put it succinctly when he said “if today’s students want to compete in this global society, … they must also be proficient communicators, creators, critical thinkers and collaborators” (p. 2). The challenges that the teachers face are typically shared in the whole Latin American region (Carrier, 2018) including: large classes, too few class hours, lack of exposure to English outside school, limited resources, overworked and underpaid teachers with low social status. Ecuadorian teachers are aware that many of their students are socio-economically disadvantaged, but they also mention a general lack of motivation as well as some discipline issues. Furthermore, the interviewees often seem to struggle owing to the demands of the curriculum and the difficulty level of the course books. These challenges are acknowledged in the British Council report (2015), which additionally highlights the shortage of properly-trained and experienced English language teachers. Recent studies (Suasnavas, 2018; Ortega & Minchala, 2019; Soto at al., 2020) have recurrently pointed out that in order to achieve better learning results, sustained teacher training programs are required and these should involve training courses both for pre- and in-service teachers. Based on the teachers’ account, it seems that in-service training opportunities for teachers have dwindled in the past couple of years because of a series of austerity measures that have been introduced in Ecuador since 2018. In 2020, the country’s public debt reached almost 70% of its GDP, and the government cut public spending for education steeply (USD 142m in 2019 and 578m in 2020). Teachers’ salaries were reduced by 20% on average (Gómez Ponce, 2020; Iturralde, 2020). The severe cuts have probably affected the quantity and quality of opportunities for teachers’ continuing professional development. Teachers used to participate in training sessions provided by provincial English Language Coordinators, and Cuenca State University also offered a range of teacher training courses but these have ceased to exist. These tasks, to some extent, have been taken over by UNAE (the other state university of education in Azuay province), however, teachers are not always able to participate owing to the high number of contact hours and clashes with their timetables. Altogether, in-service teacher training is sporadic and less effective than before 2017. The Go Teacher program, which allowed approximately 1000 English teachers to spend about 7 months in the US studying at several universities between 2012 and 2016, may have had a beneficial effect on teachers’ effectiveness, but to the best of the researchers’ knowledge, so far there has been no research conducted on its success. The British Council report (2015) cites anecdotal evidence which suggests that “the exposure to native English teachers and culture

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gained through the programme is invaluable and that teachers have returned with improved English language and pedagogical skills” (p. 54). However, it is unclear how these positive outcomes may have been translated into more effective English teaching, first and foremost, in rural areas. Many of the teachers that took part in the Go Teacher program, especially those who were selected to study for MA degrees, have by now moved to tertiary education, and even though this might have a ripple effect on English teaching in the future, most of these teachers do not presently operate in low-resource primary and secondary classrooms.

6. Conclusion The perceived importance of English, classroom strategies, and in-service teacher training are interrelated issues. The changes introduced in the 2016 English language curriculum have brought about mixed results so far since Ecuador still ranks the last out of 19 Latin American countries when it comes to English language proficiency. The 2016 curriculum may have been well-prepared, but its implementation has not been an unequivocal success from the point of the EFL teachers involved in our study. This is because they find that many of the objectives of the curriculum are unrealistic and unachievable. The participating primary and secondary school English teachers in the public education sector are conscious about the importance of English for the advancement of their students. They are prepared to apply the approaches and tools that they are familiar with, but they lack the skills and knowledge to apply new instructional approaches regularly. This implies that some of the 21st-century language skills, such as creativity and critical thinking, do not have much room in the English classes of the teachers interviewed. At the same time, teachers are mindful of the need to improve their skills, which would require effective in-service teacher training programs. The English teachers of the current study believe that training opportunities have dwindled in recent years. They would like to see educational policymakers provide regular and expanding opportunities for their continuing professional development. The findings of this exploratory study are, therefore, in line with those of the recent studies discussed above and draw attention to how exploratory research projects can identify and reiterate systemic issues to be resolved in order to achieve better performance levels in the Ecuadorian public education sector.

7. Limitations This qualitative research study was conducted as a segment of a comprehensive, two-year project (between September 2018 and August 2020 – now extended), characterizing the different factors that facilitate or impede English learning in Ecuadorian public schools and, as such, can throw light only on a limited number of issues that surfaced in the exploratory phase. Furthermore, the 10 teachers whose responses were explored above, came from only three neighboring provinces of Ecuador representing approximately 10% of the country’s population (Azuay, Morona Santiago, and Cañar). Owing to this, the opinions expressed by these primary and secondary school educators cannot be taken to represent the views of all English teachers in the country.

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A ‘sister study’ examined several other issues, such as the use of L1 in the classroom, the inclusion of special needs students in the teaching-learning process, and education policies (Sevy-Biloon et al., 2020). Therefore, the present study explored three other interrelated issues: the perceived importance of English, teaching strategies, and teacher training. As a result, the findings of the present research study cannot be generalized beyond the tentative conclusions that could be drawn from the interviews with 10 English teachers working in the public education sector (both in primary and secondary schools).

8. Recommendations and Further Research The teachers’ candid comments made in the interviews cannot be expected to provide an all-round picture, but can probably serve as a good starting point for further research that may aim to identify suggestions and recommendations as remedies to some of the problems that have been revealed. Regular and improved in-service teacher training schemes, with special regard to the fact that instruction has largely switched to emergency remote teaching since March 2020, could enhance the teaching-learning process of English. Setting up national and regional teacher associations could promote camaraderie, and professional development while classroom research, which is considered an accessible research approach for teacher-practitioners (Smith & Rebolledo, 2018), could enhance teachers’ engagement. A further area of study might be investigating the effectiveness of the state scholarship system, especially that of the Go Teacher scheme. Such an inquiry could establish how far (if at all) it has contributed to improved classroom practices which, to date, do not appear to have been translated into higher levels of proficiency among learners of English in Ecuador. Hence, it is hoped that the findings of the present research study will be perceived as a meaningful contribution when future policies for EFL instruction in Ecuador are designed and implemented, and the resulting process will lead to more effective and efficient ways of teaching and learning English as an international language for the 21st century.

Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank all the participants of this research study for having supplied a wealth of data including their considered opinions on the topics discussed herewith. They are also grateful for the research and logistical support provided by the National University of Education, Ecuador (UNAE). The valuable comments and insights of the editors and reviewers, which significantly improved the manuscript, are also gratefully acknowledged. Notes 1- The project, which ran from September 1, 2018 to August 31, 2020 (its extension beyond two years approved by the university) was entitled Caracterización de los factores que impiden o facilitan la enseñanza y aprendizaje de inglés como lengua extranjera en las escuelas de educación básica y bachillerato de la zona 6: Un estudio exploratorio [A characterization of the factors that impede or facilitate the teaching and learning of English as

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a Foreign Language in public schools in Zone 6 of Ecuador: An exploratory study]. Project code: VIP-UNAE-2017-55. 2- This is a role that has, to some extent, been taken over by the university whose researchers conducted the present research project. 3- On average, teachers’ salaries were cut by 20%. 4- The Go Teacher program involved about 14% of the 7000 English teachers working in the public education sector. See at https://global.k-state.edu/dayofecuador/docs/go-teacher-fact-sheet.pdf https://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/noticias/sociedad/1/ecuador-ocupa-elpuesto-55-en-el-dominio-del-ingles

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Ministerio de Educación del Ecuador [Ministry of Education, Ecuador]. (2016b). Currículo de los niveles de Educación Obligatoria [Curriculum for the Compulsory Levels of Education]. https://educacion.gob.ec/wpcontent/uploads/downloads/2016/03/Curriculo1.pdf Norris, L. (2019). Promoting 21st century skills. https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/J105_12_Promoting _21_Skills_web.pdf Ortega, D. P., & Minchala, B. E. (2019). Explorando las Aulas de Clase de Inglés en Cañar: Currículo, instrucción y aprendizaje. [Exploring English language classrooms in Cañar: Curriculum, instruction and learning. CIENCIA UNEMI, 12(30), 57-73. http://ojs.unemi.edu.ec/index.php/cienciaunemi/article/view/772 Promtara, N., & Suwannarak, K. (2018). Thai students and teachers’ perceptions of learning and teaching English through the communicative language teaching approach. NIDA Journal of Language and Communication, 23(33), 23-42. https://so04.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/NJLC/article/view/135387/101154 Raud, N., & Orehhova, O. (2017). In-service training of teachers of English as a foreign language in Estonia: Mapping of trends and opportunities. Problems of Education in the 21st century, 75(2), 194-203. Richards, J. C. (2015). Key issues in language teaching. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Richards, J. C., & Farrell, T. S. C. (2005). Professional development for language teachers: Strategies for teacher learning. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Rojas, J., & Hernández-Fernández, J. (2018). The importance of English as a second language in Latin America. In H. Rojas & J. Hernández-Fernández (Eds.), English public policies in Latin America: Looking for innovation and systemic improvement in quality English language teaching (pp. 10-29). British Council Mexico. https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/RPD_Publication.pd f Rosero, S. I., Embleton, L., Rivera, I. M., & Ponce, R. R. (2004). Our world through English. Quito, Ecuador: Edimpres. Sakui, K. (2004). Wearing two pairs of shoes: Language teaching in Japan. ELT Journal, 58(2), 155-163. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/58.2.155 Sarab, M. R. A., Monfared, A., & Safarzadeh, M. M. (2016). Secondary EFL school teachers’ perceptions of CLT principles and practices: An exploratory survey. Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research, 4(3), 109-130. Sevy-Biloon, J., Recino, U., & Muñoz, C. (2020). Factors affecting English language teaching in public schools in Ecuador. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 19(3), 276-294. doi:10.26803/ijlter.19.3.15 Smith, R., & Rebolledo, P. (2018). A handbook for exploratory action research. London, UK: British Council. https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/pub_30510_BC %20Explore%20Actions%20Handbook%20ONLINE%20AW.pdf Soto, S. T., Encalada, M. A. R., Sarmiento, M. A., Galimberti, J. V., & Cárdenas, S. S. E. (2020). Understanding EFL students’ learning through classroom research: Experiences of teacher-researchers. http://repositorio.utmachala.edu.ec/handle/48000/15504 Starkey, H. (2010). Language learning for human rights and democratic citizenship. In C. Rosi Solé & J. Fenoulhet (Eds.), Mobility and localisation in language learning (pp. 79-106). Oxford, UK: Peter Lang.

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Suasnavas, K. (2018). The use of technological tools: Movie Maker and weblogs to foster social interaction in the classroom. Kronos – The Language Teaching Journal, 1(01), 45-52. Vogt, W. P. (1999). Dictionary of statistics and methodology: A non-technical guide for the social sciences (2nd ed.). London, UK: Sage Publications.

Appendix 1 Interview questions 1. What level or levels do you teach? 2. What is your most common way to teach an English lesson? Please, describe and give examples. 3. During your English lessons, what is the time percentage you use to explain, and what is the time percentage you let your students work independently? 4. Do you have your students practice in pair and group work? Explain. 5. What are the factors that help or impede the student learning in the classroom? 6. Do you use Spanish during your lessons? In one teaching hour, how much Spanish do you use? 7. What advantages and disadvantages have you experienced with the use of Spanish in the English lessons? 8. To what extent do you think your teaching practice facilitate or impede the English language learning? Please, describe and give examples. 9. Do you use a textbook? Explain why. 10. To what extent do you think that the current educational policies encourage or inhibit the English language learning? 11. How much importance is given to English learning at the institution where you work? Do the students´ parents and the school academic authorities give importance to the English learning? 12. Have you received any formal training by the Ministry of Education? 13. After the curriculum implementation in 2016, have you received any training? Have you personally found any extra training for your performance? 14. Is it important that Elementary and High School level students learn English? What is the existing perception about this topic in the country? Support your answer, please. 15. How do you use the existing infrastructure in the institution to teach English? 16. What is the role of the infrastructure for learning English? Support your answer and give examples, please.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 250-264, March 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.3.15

Constructivist Learning Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: Investigating Students’ Perceptions of Biology Self-Learning Modules Aaron A. Funa and Frederick T. Talaue De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6648-8825 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6452-0641 Abstract. Modes of teaching and learning have had to rapidly shift amid the COVID-19 pandemic. As an emergency response, students from Philippine public schools were provided learning modules based on a minimized list of essential learning competencies in Biology. Using a cross-sectional survey method, we investigated students’ perceptions of the Biology self-learning modules (BSLM) that were designed in print and digitized formats according to a constructivist learning approach. Senior high school STEM students from grades 11 (n = 117) and 12 (n = 104) participated in a survey using a 3-point Likert-scale questionnaire uploaded online through Google Forms. The survey results indicate that majority of the students perceived the modules positively, suggesting that aspects of the modules that were salient to students corresponded to essential elements of constructivist pedagogies. However, during interviews, students reported several difficulties in learning with BSLM as it was constrained by, to name a few, the use of unfamiliar words, lack of access to supporting resources, slow internet connection, and time constraints. To address these problems, teachers reported that they gave deadline extensions, complemented modules with other channels of support, and used online and offline platforms for reaching out to students to answer their queries and plan out their schedule for the week. The findings across the data sources point to the complex demands of emergency distance education that teachers, as curriculum designers and enactors, need to bear in mind in order to craft productive pedagogies, constructivist or otherwise, during this unprecedented time. Keywords: constructivist learning; COVID-19 pandemic; curriculum materials; scaffolding; student perception; pandemic pedagogy

1. Introduction Our lives during this COVID-19 pandemic have become marked by a persistent sense of uncertainty because of forced lockdowns and necessary quarantines (Caggiano et al., 2020). The education sector has had to make numerous ©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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emergency adjustments to existing practices (Talidong & Toquero, 2020; Williamson et al., 2020) in order to continue the provision of educational services. The Department of Education (DepEd) in the Philippines offered two alternative distance learning modalities, namely, pure online and hybrid (online and offline), which were supplemented with contextualized and standardized self-learning modules (SLM) crafted by teachers for each region of the country. In addition, the DepEd generated the Most Essential Learning Competencies (MELC) as a way of decongesting the curriculum and making schooling during the pandemic less stressful (DepEd, 2020a). The MELC-aligned SLM is the backbone of distance learning aimed at making education accessible to students, both online and offline, most especially to those who live in far-flung rural areas without internet access (DepEd, 2020b). The distribution of print and digitized SLM would facilitate distance learning with minimized risks of COVID-19 infection among students and school personnel. However, despite the trainings given to teachers and the quality assurance provided for instructional material and module development, the SLM received negative informal feedback. For example, it was said that the modules required performance of complicated activities, included complex vocabularies that needed to be memorized, and resembled passive lecture formats. With such criticisms, it is easy to imagine the challenges students experienced in understanding target concepts (Çimer, 2012; Gutierrez, 2014; Sañosa, 2013). It now becomes imperative to investigate students’ experiences in using the SLM in order to understand their interactions with new curriculum materials and inform similar future curriculum development efforts. In carrying out the K-12 Basic Education Program, the DepEd is mandated to adhere to sound educational principles including, but not limited to, the utilization of constructivist pedagogical approaches (DepEd, 2019a). Policy standards that were set for new modes of learning delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic stipulated that the content of the SLM use constructivist, inquiry-based, reflective, collaborative, and integrative pedagogical approaches (DepEd, 2019b). In designing the modules, teachers utilized corresponding policy guidelines that defined constructivism as a pedagogical approach that aims to develop learners as active constructors of meaningful knowledge. Such an outcome could be achieved by designing lessons that engage students in internalization, selfreflection, and real-life problem solving (Bada & Olusegun, 2015). An appreciation of students’ knowledge frameworks is integral to designing and developing constructivism-oriented instructional materials that engender productive learning (Çimer & Coşkun, 2018). Constructivist learning theory positions students as active agents in the construction of knowledge from meaningful interpretations of real-life experiences (Bada & Olusegun, 2015; Doolittle, 1999; Gross & Gross, 2016). The consequent constructivist pedagogies have been influenced by three strands of constructivism—cognitive, radical, and social. While constructivist pedagogies share core principles with the three strands, their peripheral principles may vary. What makes a pedagogy constructivist is the assembly and rationale for the inclusion of particular principles that have been proposed by theorists over time (Doolittle, 1999; Van Bergen & Parsell, 2019). A consensus based on the general constructivist theories and practices has resulted to the formulation of principles

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that are essential to constructivist pedagogy (Bada & Olusegun, 2015; Doolittle, 1999), namely, (1) learning transpires in authentic and real-life settings; (2) learning involves social negotiation and mediation; (3) content and skills are made suitable to the learner; (4) content and skills are understood within the framework of the learner’s prior knowledge; (5) students are assessed formatively, informing future learning experiences; (6) students are encouraged to become self-regulated, self-mediated, and self-aware; (7) teachers act as a guide and facilitator of learning; and (8) teachers provide for and encourage multiple perspectives and representations of content. Principles of constructivist pedagogy have been adopted in numerous educational innovations, including problem-based learning, project-based learning, inquiry-based approach, and design thinking. Problem-based learning has a significant and positive effect on students’ academic performance, achieving higher marks on all assessments than the control group who experienced traditional approach, according to a meta-analysis of studies, mostly from Asia, conducted from 2016 to 2020 (Funa & Prudente, in press). Cakir (2017) examined 38 studies from 2006 to 2016 that utilized the 5E inquiry learning model and showed a positive effect on student achievement. Furthermore, Ayaz and Sekerci’s (2015) analysis of studies from 2003 to 2014 suggest the effectivenes of constructivist learning approaches. These results are congruent to other metaanalyses of constructivist approaches in science education that showed increases in student academic achievement (Dochy et al., 2003; Toraman & Demir, 2016). The adoption of constructivist principles in the design of curriculum materials for use in emergency distance learning is an opportunity offered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of the present study is to investigate secondary students’ experiences with the Biology Self-Learning Modules (referred to as BSLM hereafter), whose development was informed by constructivist learning theory. Specifically, we analyzed student’ perceptions of BSLM with respect to its: (1) content, which pertains to the sufficiency and accuracy of conceptual information; (2) learning-teaching activities, which refers to the various tasks and exercises such as problem solving and knowledge application; (3) assessment and evaluation, which pertains to encouraging and stimulating questions; and (4) structure, which refers to the systematic and visual representation of the modules which may be in digital or printed form. We also aimed to understand the context of students’ and teachers’ use of BSLM in order to draw a more holistic picture of the enactment of a pandemic pedagogy.

2. Methodology 2.1 Research Design This study followed a survey descriptive research design (Creswell & Creswell, 2018) to investigate using a constructivist learning framework students’ perspectives on BSLM employed as an instructional material for emergency distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic. The cross-sectional survey method was implemented using Google Forms that were made accessible for two weeks in order to give participants enough time to answer. The choice to use an online data-gathering platform ensured the respondents’ health safety as they can complete the survey questionnaire from home. The results from the survey were

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triangulated with online interview data from students and teachers in order to enhance credibility. 2.2 Participants This study focused on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) students in grades 11 and 12 who were taking General Biology, which is a 40-hour specialized subject in the K-12 curriculum offered to Senior High School (SHS) students. It consists of sequential courses: General Biology 1, which focuses on life processes at the cellular and molecular levels including energy transformations, and General Biology 2, which deals with the topics of heredity, variation, diversity, structure, function, and evolution of organisms. A total of 221 SHS STEM students consented to participate in the study, with 53% coming from grade 11, 85% from General Biology 1, and 77% using digitized modules. We used intensity sampling for online personal semi-structured interviews of students (n = 10) and their teachers (n = 11), both of whom used the BSLM during the conduct of the study. This sampling method allows researchers to choose participants that represent rich cases, manifesting the phenomenon of interest for in-depth analysis (Patton, 1990). The interviews sought clarifications and elaborations from students on their responses to the survey. Teachers were interviewed about the BSLM design and their interactions with students as they used BLSM, including any interventions provided. 2.3 Instrument We adapted the 3-point Likert scale questionnaire developed by Çimer and Coşkun (2018), which has a Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient of .94. This instrument was designed following a constructivist learning framework and was utilized to evaluate printed Biology textbooks. In this study, we modified the original questionnaire to evaluate a similar curriculum resource, the BSLM, both in printed and digitized forms. The modified instrument consists of four parts: (1) content, 26 items; (2) learning-teaching activities, 30 items; (3) assessment and evaluation activities, 15 items; and (4) structure (originally “physical design”), 14 items. The items in the first three parts of the instrument were retained with minor changes in terminology; “textbook” was changed to “modules”. The items in the last part were rephrased to appropriately refer to the two available BSLM formats. For instance, we replaced the word “letterpress” with “text” since the former is applicable only to the printed version. Similarly, references to size, weight, durability, and paper quality were altered to refer to visual features instead. The adapted questionnaire retained the 3-point scale for the same reason stated by Çimer and Coşkun (2018); it offers a clearer interpretation of the findings. According to Lehmann and Hulbert (1972), a 3-point Likert scale is good enough for a study whose main interest is to obtain averages across a group of people and not generate a behavior profile of individual persons. The adapted questionnaire was evaluated and approved by eleven education experts composed of master teachers and experienced Biology teachers. 2.4 Data Collection We sought permission from various DepEd division offices across the country. Only four division offices officially endorsed and disseminated the link to the

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online survey through their respective science education program supervisors. Observing ethical conduct of research, only students whose parent or guardian signed the printed consent forms coursed through their teachers were included in the study. The link to the online survey in Google Forms was sent to studentrespondents. Only students who have used either General Biology 1 or General Biology 2 module for at least two months were included in the data gathering and analysis. Interview data were collected after the preliminary analysis of survey data. This allowed the crafting of specific and targeted questions to be used in the online interview sessions. 2.5 Data Analysis We used a 3-point Likert scale questionnaire (1-Disagree, 2-Undecided, and 3Agree) to obtain students’ evaluation of the modules according to a constructivist learning theory. The ordinal data obtained from the questionnaire were subjected to descriptive statistical analysis and presented accordingly: students’ views on the content (A1-A26), learning-teaching activities (B1-B30), assessment and evaluation activities (C1-C15), and structure (D1-D14).

3. Findings In this section, we present the findings of the survey with respect to the four aspects of the BLSM evaluated by students. We highlight the items with the high and low percentage agreement in order to identify features of the curriculum that could be retained and improved upon, respectively, in future iterations. Also, we provide complementary interview data in order to clarify particular results and provide a fuller understanding of contextual influences on students’ interaction with BSLM. 3.1 Students’ Views on the Content of Biology Modules The majority of the students perceived the content of the modules used during the COVID-19 pandemic as fostering understanding of biology concepts, as shown in Table 1. Many agreed that the visuals used (e.g., diagrams, pictures, tables, graphs, figures, etc.) coordinated well with the topics and helped them interpret information (A24, A2, A19). They also found the topic presentation to be welldesigned—being grade-appropriate and logically arranged (A22). The links between topics (A4) were also noted by many, with almost two-thirds of students agreeing that the module content exhibits interdisciplinarity (Jacobs, 1989) in its appreciable association with other subjects like Physics and Chemistry (A1). In addition, almost half of them agreed with the real-world applicability of the module content (A6, A26, A12). Timeliness, suitability, and integrability of discipline-based knowledge are given importance in constructivist approaches. These features allow learners to cross boundaries between disciplines and effectively apply their learning to solve authentic and real-life problems (Bada & Olusegun, 2015; Doolittle, 1999; Gross & Gross, 2016).

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Table 1: Students’ views on the content of Biology modules Items* A24 A2 A22 A4 A19 A25 A21 A1 A5 A6 A10 A18 A3 A8 A26 A15 A11 A16 A23 A12 A9 A14 A17 A20 A7 A13

Pictures, graphs, figures, and tables in the module are appropriate to the topics. Tables, graphs, or figures provided in the module help us acquire and interpret information. The topics in the module are appropriate to our learning level. The topics are connected to each other. Descriptions are provided under pictures, graphics, figures, and tables. Topics are arranged in a logical sequence. At the end of a topic, there are additional resources that allow us to obtain more detailed information. When necessary, the topics relate to those in other subjects (Physics, Chemistry, etc.). The topics in the module are taught using brief and concise information. When presenting the topics, current events are used as examples. Essential knowledge related to the topics in the module is distinctly emphasized. Summaries are provided at the end of sections. Topics are discussed in a detailed manner. The module is sufficient for us to learn basic biological concepts. At the end of each topic, reading texts are provided in the module that make it easy to establish a connection with current events. The historical development of biology is also discussed in the module. I must use other resources because the topics in the module are superficially presented. The module includes numerous definitions. The information provided in the module is up to date. I can use the knowledge I have acquired from the module to solve biology-related problems that I encounter in my daily life. Detailed definitions of biological concepts or terms are provided in the module. The topics are enriched with examples from daily life. The number of examples for each topic is adequate. The module includes excessive and unnecessary knowledge that I will not use in my daily life. The topics in the module are not presented according to the class level. I often encounter inaccurate information in the module.

Note: *Adapted from Çimer and Coşkun (2018).

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Disagree (%) 1

Undecided (%) 12

Agree (%) 87

3 5

15 18

82 77

4 7

26 24

71 69

11 10 11

24 27 26

65 63 63

15 5

24 36

61 60

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In addition, a large percentage of students agreed that the module content is brief, concise (A5), adequate (A21, A8), and presented in a detailed (A3) and logically arranged manner (A25). Section summaries and links to additional resources helped students deepen their understanding of topics. However, most students were undecided about information accuracy (A13 = 47%), even as some assessed the content to contain no misinformation at all (37%). Perhaps the former felt they could not possibly make a competent judgment on this aspect. Although most students found the content sufficient, still others viewed its presentation as superficially because they would still need to use supplemental resources. Based on interviews with teacher, the information could appear superficial because they only included the MELCs. As the name suggests, MELCs are trimmed down content representing the most basic topics that the DepEd determined students needed to know during this time of pandemic learning. Constructivist approaches do not require outrightly providing detailed expositions of concepts to be learned. Instead, they guide students to integrate prior and newly presented knowledge to construct meanings through searching, analyzing, and interpreting (Çimer & Coskun, 2018). Thus, students are expected to use various resources while teachers guide them in the discovery, construction, and application of knowledge. This was done in BSLM through scaffolded lessons with links to other resources provided to supplement learning. Specifically, BSLM developers, as explained by one teacher interviewee, followed the 5E inquiry teaching model (Bybee et al., 2006). It features an instructional sequence (Engage, Explore, Explain, Evaluate, and Elaborate) that is used to practically implement an implicit constructivist teaching and learning approach (Boddy et al, 2003; Bybee, 1997; Bybee & Powell, 1993). Scaffolding features employed in BSLM align with a constructivist approach and guide the development of students’ conceptual understanding. 3.2 Students’ Views on the Learning-Teaching Activities of Biology Modules A majority of the students viewed the BSLM as helping to stimulate their thinking (B2, B21), enable self-expression (B18), encourage the use of other resources (B25), and construct their own understanding (B5), as shown in Table 2. These results correspond to what emerged in the survey as the most salient learning activity features for students. Constructivism enjoins teachers: to encourage students to be independent and accountable for their own learning; provide them multiple perspectives and representations; and allow them to express learning in various forms (Bada & Olusegun, 2015; Doolittle, 1999). Table 2: Students’ views on the learning-teaching activities of Biology modules Items* B2 B18 B21

Activities and questions in the module stimulate us to think. The activities in the module enable us to express our ideas and opinions related to the lesson. Questions and activities in the module encourage us to think about the topics and interpret them.

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Disagree (%) 1

Undecided (%) 10

Agree (%) 88

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B25 B5 B20

B30 B11

B16 B19 B26 B4 B15 B6 B8 B1 B24 B13 B22 B29 B14 B27 B28 B12 B17 B23 B3 B10

The activities in the module encourage us to learn the subjects by researching other sources. Activities in the module encourage us to take responsibility for our learning. The module serves as a guide that shows us how to use the knowledge, skills, and experiences that we have acquired from the lessons. Application instructions for the activities are provided. The module includes preparatory questions and activities that attempt to gauge our existing knowledge before the beginning of each unit or topic. The activities in the module reinforce our understanding and learning of the topics. The module includes activities that allow us to look at daily life problems from different perspectives while trying to solve them. The module contains various activities that enable us to present our knowledge and skills in different ways. The module includes activities that allow us to participate in the lesson actively. The activities in the module allow us to learn other students’ opinions and ideas on the topics. Activities in the module offer us different learning environments. Activities in the module are suitable for our ability level. The module offers problems to solve that are related to daily life. The teacher must describe the activities in the module. The provided experiments facilitate our understanding of the topics. The activities in the module allow us to discuss the subjects in class. The topics in the module are arranged in an increasing order of difficulty. The module contains activities or questions requiring us to design our own experiments. The methods to conduct experiments are described in detail in the module. The module includes such activities as structured grids or componential analysis tables. The activities in the module enable us to acquire knowledge without the teacher’s help. The module includes such activities as field visits, observation, and investigations. The activities in the module are focused on solving daily life problems or situations. Teachers’ role in the activities is minimal. Activities in the module require us to work in groups.

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19 26

49 45

33 29

258

B9 B7

The time allocated for conducting activities is not enough. We can easily carry out the laboratory activities given in the module.

Note: *Adapted from Çimer and Coşkun (2018).

Based on the interviews, the teachers, using the 5E model, presented stimulating problems at the beginning of each module to encourage students to recall past lessons in order to activate prior knowledge. For example, some of the recall questions in the Engage phase for the lesson Prokaryotic vs Eukaryotic Cells include: “Have you experienced having an infected wound? How about a ringworm? What do you think causes these infections/skin diseases? What is usually prescribed when you have an infected wound? A ringworm? Are these two caused by the same organism?” To enable expression of learning, teachers provided activities in the Extend phase that solicited students’ insights by completing prompts such as “I have learned that…” and “I wish to ask my teacher about…” Furthermore, to enrich learning through varied representations, students were engaged in different performance activities, such as singing a rap song related to the cell theory, making a 3-D cell model, investigating enzyme activities using chicken liver, and watching videos through weblinks provided in the modules. Remarkably, a little more than one-third of students unequivocally disagreed that they can easily carry out laboratory activities (B7) whereas almost half of them were ambivalent about this statement. In addition, half of the students agreed that the time allocated for conducting activities is not enough (B9). These results point to the changes in mode of learning due to the pandemic. The difficulty felt by students in performing activities may be attributed to the unavailability of the needed materials and equipment at home (Tria, 2020; Williamson et al., 2020). A challenge to module designers is to create activities that use materials that are easily sourced. However, according to teachers interviewed, they in fact designed laboratory activities that could be performed using materials found at home (Tria, 2020; Williamson et al., 2020). They instructed students to ask their parents’ assistance to ensure safety when performing the experiments. Anticipating that students would have questions and experience difficulties, teachers opened communication channels through online group chats, text messaging, or phone calls. They even gave deadline extensions and provided work plans with agreed timelines to relieve some pressure due to time constraints. Students were divided on the question of module activities requiring collaboration with others (B10). According to constructivist approaches, learning involves social negotiation and mediation (Bada & Olusegun, 2015; Doolittle, 1999). The social interaction is strongly related to students’ learning enjoyment and may affect their attitude towards education (Marcial et al., 2015). During the interviews, teachers said that they avoided group activities as much as possible during the pandemic to prevent students from COVID-19 exposure and infection. They only allowed group tasks for students who can perform online group activities. However, in order for online group learning to be successful, there is a need to minimize the cost of, and improve the quality of access to, the Internet (Marcial et al., 2015; Tria, 2020; Williamson et al., 2020). This technological

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infrastructure challenge is a systemic problem in a third world country like the Philippines (Albert et al., 2016; Akamai, 2017) and is more acute in rural areas than in urban ones. Given this situation, it seems that group work would have to be paused until the pandemic ends. The problems students encountered in performing tasks online, such as the unavailability of materials and constraints on time and conducting group work, to some extent parallel the challenges experienced by Pakistani students (Adnan & Anwar, 2020). The difficulties perceived by students suggest the need to aim for a socially just digital inclusiveness in designing modules (Williamson et al., 2020). 3.3 Students’ Views on the Assessment and Evaluation of Biology Modules Most of the students had a positive appraisal of the assessment and evaluation activities of BSLM, as shown in Table 3. They regarded the module questions as letting them identify the level of their current knowledge (C2), prompting thinking (C4, C1), and evaluating their own learning (C10, C11). These results reveal that the most noticeable constructivist features for students are eliciting prior knowledge, inducing thinking, and evaluating one’s own learning. Each module was designed with pre- and post-tests, with an answer key provided at the end of the module to allow students to evaluate their own learning. In addition, students were also provided reflection questions—what they have learned and what they still wanted to learn—to assess their current understanding of the lesson. Table 3: Students’ views on the assessment and evaluation of Biology modules Items* C4

C10 C2

C11

C1 C5 C7 C14

C12 C13

The module contains questions that prompt us to rethink and interpret the relevant information. The module contains activities enabling us to assess our own learning. The module contains questions or activities that aim to clarify the level of our existing knowledge at the beginning of a new topic. The module contains different types of questions seeking to evaluate if we have understood the subjects. Preparatory activities related to the topics stimulate us to think and make inquiries. The module contains evaluative questions at the end of each topic or section. The module contains questions that encourage us to express our own ideas and experiences. The module contains questions requiring us to interpret the tables, graph, or pictures included within a topic. The module contains performance tasks that we can mentioned in our portfolios. The module contains various questions, tasks, or assignments that encourage us to conduct research and investigation.

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Disagree (%) 2

Undecided (%) 14

Agree (%) 84

260

C15

We generally face difficulties in answering the questions in the module. C9 Preparatory questions or activities at the beginning of the topics attract our attention. C8 Performance tasks and assignments attract our attention. C6 The questions provided at the end of each topic or section are not adequate to evaluate if we have understood the topic. C3 Questions in the module are not sufficient to reinforce our learning and understanding of the topics. Note: *Adapted from Çimer and Coşkun (2018).

More than half of the students reported that they faced difficulties in answering modules questions (C15). In an interview, a student who used the digitized version of BSLM shared that the slow internet connection, limited mobility due to community restrictions during the pandemic, and lack of tools, such as mobile phones, computers, and laboratory instruments, led to his difficulties in completing learning tasks, including accessing weblinks to supplemental materials. These impediments to accessing knowledge resources in the community and the Internet constrained students’ engagement with the learning materials (Pear & Crone-Todd, 2002; Tria, 2020; Williamson et al., 2020). In response, teachers sought ways to support and provide assistance to students experiencing difficulties. For instance, they enlisted the help of persons (e.g., a student’s classmates or an official in the community) to relay necessary information. In some cases, teachers visited students to personally attend to their educational needs following COVID-19 protocols. 3.4 Students’ Views on the Structure (Printed and Digitized) of Biology Modules Students’ positive appraisal of the structure of BSLM in both printed and digitized format (Table 4) referred to its clear, intelligible, and comprehensible use of language (D8, D5), use of visuals that appropriately facilitate better understanding (D13, D3, D7), and proper technical aspects of writing (D9). Table 4: Students’ views on the structure of Biology modules Items

D8 D5 D13

The module uses clear and intelligible language The module uses language that has a natural flow and is comprehensible. Pictures, graphs, figures, and tables in the module are appropriate to our learning level. Visuals and graphic organizers are available to facilitate better understanding of the lesson.

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Printed (n = 67) 1 2 3 (%) (%) (%) 6 19 75

Digitized (n = 154) 1 2 3 (%) (%) (%) 3 20 77

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Visual materials such as pictures, graphs, 6 22 72 5 22 73 figures, and tables are placed appropriately in the module. D9 Punctuation and spelling rules are strictly 2 21 78 5 26 70 followed in the text. D2 The lessons are arranged from simple to 8 28 64 8 29 62 complex. D6 The module is visually engaging and 6 27 67 8 35 57 interesting. D11 The colors used of visual materials such as 9 33 58 8 36 57 photos, pictures, and tables in the module are attractive and interesting. D10 There are too many typographical errors in 46 43 10 54 32 14 the module. D4 Remarkable, motivating, and vibrant colors 19 31 49 9 42 49 are used sufficiently in the module. D1 The texts in the module are clear and easy 19 36 45 12 40 49 to understand. D14 Long sentences are used for presenting 9 31 60 13 42 44 information in the module. D12 There are too many unfamiliar words in the 24 37 39 35 43 21 module that we cannot understand. Notes: 1 = Disagree, 2 = Undecided, and 3 = Agree. *Adapted from Çimer and Coşkun (2018).

Many of the students reported that there are too many unfamiliar words (D12), more from students who used printed modules (39%) compared to those who used digitized modules (21%). Students who opted for print modules generally belong to the low socio-economic group who have problems in internet connectivity and/or lack electronic gadgets (Tria, 2020). As such, they have no access to supporting online resources when faced with learning difficulties, such as when confronted with unfamiliar words. In designing BSLM, teachers provisioned a glossary section that students could refer to. Some of them also offered helplines through various communication channels. Teachers recognized that it is important that the BSLM are complemented by external modes of support.

4. Conclusion This study set out to understand students’ experiences with the Biology selflearning modules, which was rapidly developed and deployed as part of emergency distance education. We investigated students’ interactions with the new curriculum material using an online survey questionnaire informed by constructivist learning theory and conducted online interviews with students and teachers to better understand the contextual influences on their participation in science learning and teaching. Students' evaluation of the BSLM is largely positive. In general, they considered the content and activities as timely, suitable, sufficient, applicable to real-life situations, and relatable to other disciplines. The activities, assessment, and evaluation in the modules encourage independence and responsibility towards one own learning, provide various opportunities to express learning, and guide to develop new understandings. The use of scaffolding and visual elements, like

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diagrams and pictures, helped them to better understand concepts. Students viewed the structure of the module positively, noticing its clarity, comprehensibility, and correctness of language, grammar, and spelling. These BSLM design features that were salient to a majority of the students suggest that constructivist learning could somehow be achieved even in an emergency distance education context. However, students’ engagement with the BSLM was not without any challenges. There were students who perceived the presentation of content as superficial and some activities unimplementable (e.g., laboratory activities) at home because of the unavailability of necessary materials. Some recognized that group tasks may be difficult to accomplish when they are homebound and lack access to technologies for remote collaboration. Still others found some module questions difficult to answer because of, again, impediments in accessing knowledge resources in the community and the Internet. Digital inequalities remained acute and contributed to students’ differential participation in learning activities. Teachers found ways to try to mitigate the consequences of digital inequalities. They offered alternative activities, requested parents’ assistance, adjusted deadlines, suggested doable workplans, and opened various channels of communication and support. Teachers’ accommodations and extensions of help became necessary elements of a pandemic pedagogy. Learning about the students’ experiences with new curriculum materials is productive in informing future design efforts. The results of this study may be used by teachers and other instructional designers to improve materials for emergency distance learning. It does not only provide insight into design features that could support constructivist learning but also suggest complementary support structures needed to address digital inequalities. With the COVID-19 pandemic suspending conventional education, putting at greater risk the intellectual and social development of children and adolescents, it is important to appraise proposed remedies in order to fine tune our emergency response.

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Bybee, R. W. (1997). Achieving scientific literacy: From purposes to practices. Portsmouth, UK: Heinemann. Bybee, R. W., & Powell, J. C. (1993). Investigating diversity and limits, middle school science and technology. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Publishing. Bybee, R. W., Taylor, J. A., Gardner, A., Van Scotter, P., Powell, J. C., Westbrook, A., & Landes, N. (2006). The BSCS 5E instructional model: Origins and effectiveness. Biological Sciences Curriculum Study. Caggiano, G., Castelnuovo, E., & Kima, R. (2020). The global effects of COVID-19-induced uncertainty. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3598710 Cakir, N. K. (2017). Effect of 5E learning model on academic achievement, attitude and science process skills: Meta-analysis study. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 5(11), 157-170. https://doi.org/10.11114/jets.v5i11.2649 Çimer, A. (2012). What makes biology learning difficult and effective: Students’ views. Educational Research and Reviews, 7(3), 61-71. https://doi.org/10.5897/ERR11.205 Çimer, A., & Coskun, S. (2018). Students' opinions about their ninth grade biology textbook: From the perspective of constructivist learning approach. Journal of Education and Learning, 7(4), 201-214. https://doi.org/10.5539/jel.v7n4p201 Creswell, J. W. & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). Los Angeles: SAGE publications. https://doi.org/10.1002/nha3.20258 Department of Education. (2020a). The basic education learning continuity plan. (DepEd Order No. 12, s. 2020). Department of Education. (2020b). Policy guidelines for the provision of learning resources in the implementation of the basic education learning continuity plan (DepEd Order No. 018, s. 2020). Department of Education. Department of Education. (2019a). Policy guidelines on the k to 12 basic education program (DepEd Order No. 021, s. 2019). Department of Education. Department of Education. (2019b). Alternative delivery mode learning resource standards (ADMLR STANDARDS) [version 12]. Department of Education. Dochy, F., Segers, M., Van den Bossche, P., & Gijbels, D. (2003). Effects of problem-based learning: A meta-analysis. Learning and Instruction, 13(5), 533-568. https://doi.org/10.3102%2F00346543075001027 Doolittle, P. E. (1999). Constructivism and online education. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Funa, A. & Prudente, M. (in press). Effectiveness of problem-based learning on secondary students’ achievement in science: A meta-analysis. International Journal of Instruction. Gross, K., & Gross, S. (2016). Transformation: Constructivism, design thinking, and elementary STEAM. Art Education, 69(6), 36-34. https://doi.org/10.1080/00043125.2016.1224869 Gutierrez, A. F. (2014). Development and effectiveness of an educational card game as supplementary material in understanding selected topics in biology. CBE life sciences education, 13(1), 76–82. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.13-05-0093 Jacobs, H. H. (1989). Interdisciplinary curriculum: Design and implementation. Association for Supervision, and Curriculum Development, 1250 N. Pitt Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. Lehmann, D., & Hulbert, J. (1972). Are three-point scales always good enough? Journal of Marketing Research, 9(4), 444-446. https://doi.org/10.2307/3149313 Marcial, D. E., Caballero, R. D. B., Rendal, J. B., & Patrimonio, G. A. (2015). “I am offline”: Measuring barriers to open online learning in the Philippines. Information

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Technologies and Learning Tools, 45(1), 28-41. https://doi.org/10.33407/itlt.v45i1.1170 Patton, M. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (pp.169-186). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. https://doi.org/10.1002/nur.4770140111 Pear, J. J., & Crone-Todd, D. E. (2002). A social constructivist approach to computermediated instruction. Computers & Education. 38(1-3), 221-231. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024558414766 Sañosa, M. (2013). Implementation of K to 12 curriculum program among grade 7 science teachers in Eastern Visayas. Journal of Society and Technology, 3, 37-44 Talidong, K. J. B., & Toquero, C. M. D. (2020). Philippine teachers’ practices to deal with anxiety amid COVID-19. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 25(6-7), 573-579. https://doi.org/10.1080/15325024.2020.1759225 Toraman, C., & Demir, E. (2016). The effect of constructivism on attitudes towards lessons: A meta-analysis study. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 62, 115-142. https://doi.org/10.14689/ejer.2016.62.8 Tria, J. Z. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of education in the Philippines: The new normal. International Journal of Pedagogical Development and Lifelong Learning, 1(1), 2-4. Van Bergen, P., & Parsell, M. (2019). Comparing radical, social and psychological constructivism in Australian higher education: A psycho-philosophical perspective. The Australian Educational Researcher, 46(1), 41-58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-018-0285-8 Williamson, B., Eynon, R., & Potter, J. (2020). Pandemic politics, pedagogies and practices: Digital technologies and distance education during the coronavirus emergency. Learning, Media and Technology, 45(2), 107-114. https://10.10bslm80/17439884.2020.1761641

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 265-281, March 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.3.16

The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Challenges of E-Assessment of Calculus Courses in Higher Education: A Case Study in Saudi Arabia Fatima M. Azmi* and Heba Bakr Khoshaim Department of General Sciences, Deanship of Educational Services, Prince Sultan University, Saudi Arabia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9275-0965 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5898-0991

Abstract. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many aspects of our lives, including education. Due to this unexpected catastrophe, education has shifted to virtual-learning and auto-grading models in most parts of the world. This study explores the validity and appropriateness of auto-grading-assessment for online exams by comparing students’ online exam scores where they are first autograded and then manually graded. Furthermore, it investigates whether the mean differences in their scores are statistically significant. The study included two calculus courses taught by the authors, during the spring semester 2019-2020 at a private university in Saudi Arabia. The online exam was performed on the WebAssign platform, which has built-in calculus questions. The sample consisted of fifty-five students who were registered on those calculus courses. The quantitative data was analysed using the SPSS statistical tool. A paired t-test at an alpha level of 0.05 was performed on differences in mean exam scores between auto-graded and manually-graded scores. The statistical analysis results revealed a statistically significant difference in students' mean scores. Our findings illustrate the importance of human intelligence, its role in assessing students' achievements and understanding of mathematical concepts, and the extent to which instructors can currently rely on autograding. A careful manual investigation of auto-graded exams revealed different types of mistakes committed by students. Those mistakes were characterized into two categories: non-mathematical mistakes (related to Platform Design) and minor mathematical mistakes, which might deserve partial credit. The study indicated a need to reform the autograding system and provided some suggestions to overcome its setbacks. Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; E-assessment; validity of autograding; higher education; mathematics

*Corresponding

author: Fatima M. Azmi; Email: fazmi@psu.edu.sa

©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 Pandemics threaten people's existence and health status. The associated damage also affects our economic, social, and educational systems. The most recent pandemic is coronavirus—known as COVID-19. An estimated 300 million students are at home from school due to this unforeseen pandemic (McCarthy, 2020). Despite conflicting arguments about the effectiveness of keeping children at home (Viner et al., 2020), decisions to keep all schools closed were consistent worldwide. Both primary/secondary and university students' educational journey has been unexpectedly and severely disturbed in order to contain the virus. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), to keep students on track, several electronic platforms have been adopted to switch classes to virtual teaching. Online education has traditionally been regarded as an alternative system of teaching, but due to the COVID19 pandemic, educators and students of all levels primary/secondary and university quickly adopted virtual teaching and learning (Hodges, 2020). Thus, the year 2020 has seen increased adoption of electronic resources which can be integrated into virtual learning, for example Zoom and Google Meet (Fulton, 2020). Technology undoubtedly brings innovative tools and opportunities to the education field (Broughton et al., 2013; Parshall & Guille, 2015). It can support educators to teach and help students to learn (Raja & Nagasubramani, 2018). Particularly in the situation of COVID-19, experiential learning has led to innovations such as virtual labs and field trips (Pennisi, 2020). However, any opportunity is expected to present some challenges (Azevedo, 2015), especially when assessing mathematical knowledge. For example, students must possess other knowledge and master new skills (when using a computer to submit answers) and a lack thereof will affect their success (Alqahtani & Rajkhan, 2020; Parshall & Guille, 2015). Complexity ensues in terms of additional requirements that will add an extra load onto students: familiarity with the online assessment platform, how to write the mathematical formulae, and how to enter the answers in a proper format. E-assessment or online assessment (auto-grading) refers to the use of information technology to assess students’ performance in online exams or homework. One of the challenges of using E-assessment is the restriction in the format of the items: MCQs (multiple choice questions), true/false, matching, or short answer submission type items. Although such a format is convenient for large-stake exams as it provides easy and consistent grading (Stankous, 2018), it might indicate that only the final answer is what matters. In mathematics education, we do not only consider the final answer; we evaluate the logical thinking and decisions made by the student at each step. Thus, the final answer carries little weight when it comes to mathematical problem assessments. In that, partial scoring is important. Moreover, MCQ or true/false formats might not be appropriate to assess students' analysis and process skills, which are crucial for mathematical competencies. However, there is an ongoing debate concerning the best itemformat that can be used for mathematical assessment (Stankous, 2018). Hence,

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there is a need to explore the validity of online auto-grading compared to manual-grading. Previous research has shown inconsistencies between manualgrading and auto-grading (Bejar et al., 2017; Stankous, 2018). Stankous argued that true assessment of mathematical knowledge can only be examined through constructive response items. 1.1 Significance of the Study The use of E-assessment is inevitably growing every day. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, education shifted to E-learning and E-assessment modes overnight for all schools and universities in Saudi Arabia. Educators did not get a chance to think, evaluate, or even design their E-assessment approaches. Instead, they were limited to choosing from several available platforms, adapt to online teaching, and immediately apply E-assessment procedures. It is now essential to address this approach, evaluate it, and suggest solutions for its limitations. Especially as the COVID-19 pandemic cases began to rise again worldwide, indicating more reliance on virtual teaching and online exams in the future. This study involves two calculus courses (Calculus I and Business Calculus), which are taught at a private university in Riyadh, KSA. The instructors of the courses (who are the authors of this paper) utilized the WebAssign platform by Cengage for the E-assessment processes for both courses during the spring semester of the academic year 2019-2020. The sample consisted of a total of fiftyfive students who were registered on those two courses. This study addresses the following three questions: Q1: Was there a significant difference in students’ online midterm and final exam scores between auto-graded and then manually graded scores for the Calculus 1 course? Q2: Was there a significant difference in students’ online midterm and final exam scores between auto-graded and then manually graded scores for the Business Calculus (B.C.) course? Q3: Were there some common mistakes committed by students during the online exams due to their unfamiliarity with the WebAssign platform, and did this result in zero credit when auto-graded? The article findings illustrate the importance of human intelligence, its role in assessing students' achievements and understanding of mathematical concepts. The results provide some suggestions and guidelines for E-assessment methods to assess undergraduate mathematical skills and the need to make auto-grading more intelligent.

2. Literature Review 2.1. E-Learning & E-Assessment in Mathematics The use of technology is increasingly common in our lives, and the education system is no exception. E-learning in mathematics classrooms refers to the use of technology in the learning process, which can be through multimedia (e.g., videos) to present and articulate a task, software applications to facilitate understanding of mathematical concepts, or online platforms to practice and visualize the problems. Such software has been shown to support students'

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conceptual understanding and the depth of their investigation (Heid, 1988), shift their attention from computation and memorizing formulas to help them focus instead on the mathematics itself (Camacho Machín et al., 2010), and improve their visualization skills (Baki et al., 2011). Therefore, E-learning has become a prevalent method of effective learning (Kerzic et al., 2018). In fact, E-learning has shifted from being luxurious to being essential during the COVID-19 pandemic (Alqahtani & Rajkhan, 2020). Most educational institutions transformed to elearning mode to control the spread of the virus. However, although educators see it as a promising future for teaching and learning (Alanazi & Alshaalan, 2020) and students consider it a time saving method (Khalil et al., 2020), Elearning is not always the preferred approach by students, especially in applied sciences (Abbasi et al., 2020). Assessment is defined as "the process of collecting evidence regarding students' learning, interpreting the evidence and defining an action" (Shahbari & AbuAlhija, 2018. p. 1316). The process itself is valuable and has critical consequences for students' futures. Its validity and appropriateness have been investigated in the literature. Until now, assigning numerical or alphabetical grades has been the most common approach in education to represent students' achievements or knowledge and is the ultimate goal of most educational systems (Rešić et al., 2017). However, the assigned grades are not always satisfiable or agreed upon by students or their families (Rešić & Halilčević, 2014). E-assessment, on the other hand, refers to any assessment done electronically, in fact it is any type of computer-based assessment using a given platform. In recent years, the approach has grown in popularity and is expected to be adopted by higher education institutions in the future. 2.2. Benefits of E-assessment E-assessment is a crucial aspect of online education. Some of its benefits include its fast scoring and cheap administration (Broughton et al., 2013; Rupp & Leighton, 2016; Smith, 2019). There is a bank of questions that instructors can utilize to compile their assessment, therefore saving them time. Moreover, items designed to be auto-graded usually do not require a high level of reading comprehension (Kan et al., 2019). High-stakes assessments, such as SATs or GCSEs, use E-assessments exclusively. In many cases, students can get immediate feedback. Several features make E-assessment of exams even more pleasing; for example, each student will receive a unique set of numerical values, the order of items will be shifted among students, time limits will be applied per exam or item, submissions can be restricted, and items are displayed one at a time. 2.3. Challenges of E-assessments Regardless of the benefits of E-assessments, there are some limitations. First, the lack of technical skills, limitations of access, and poor infrastructure might affect the assessment process (Alruwais et al., 2018). In addition, the items' format has a substantial influence (Kan et al., 2019). The use of MCQ is widespread in the E-assessment process in mathematics. Recent research claimed MCQ assessment had been proven effective (Azevedo, 2015) and that students' performance does not differ between an MCQ or long-response format

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(Lawrence & Singhania, 2004). However, as Kan et al. (2019) suggested, different item formats require distinct cognitive demands and skills to solve the mathematical problem. It is thus essential to match the item's format to the assessment goal. However, the format of the items in E-assessment is restricted to MCQ, true/false, matching, or short answer submission, so some aspects of students' mathematical understanding—such as their logical and analytical skills—might not be addressed (Wang, 2011). Moreover, such formats might not reflect an accurate evaluation of students' understanding, as some students might simply guess the correct answer. In fact, Stankous (2018) argued that only constructive response items are effective in assessing mathematical competencies. Mathematics is a subject that requires the knowledge and skills to analyse a problem accurately before solving it. The process (i.e., the sequential steps necessary to solve the mathematical problem) plays a significant role in assessing whether students have achieved the aim of the subject (Rešić & Halilčević, 2014). Evaluating problem-solving problems is thus essential but cannot be accomplished with MCQ or short answer responses (Wang, 2011).

3. Research Methodology 3.1. The WebAssign Platform WebAssign is an online education platform designed by educators to enrich the teaching and learning experience (https://webassign.com/). The students of the Calculus 1 and Business Calculus courses were using the WebAssign platform for all their homework for many years. The platform provides valuable electronic recourses that foster the learning process. For the purpose of assessments, the platform was used only for online homework assignments. However, due to COVID-19 and the lockdown order, the Saudi higher education system converted the educational process into a virtual one. Therefore, the instructors of the two courses chose to conduct each assessment (midterm and final exam) for these two courses on the WebAssign platform. We should mention that the settings for the homework assignments differs from the setting for the exam. For example, when students are doing homework, they are then given up to five attempts to submit answer, in case their previous attempts were wrong, they also have hints and solutions to similar type problem options, as the main purpose of the assignments is to help students learn and master mathematical problem-solving techniques. On the other hand, the setting for the exam was completely different, only one attempt per question was permitted and no help or hint was allowed. The duration of the exam was limited to 60 minutes for midterm and two hours for the final exam. 3.2. Design and Data Collection The total number of students who started the Calculus I and Business Calculus courses was 62, and the number of students who actually completed both courses was 55. Thus, our sample consisted of a total of 55 freshman and sophomore students registered on the Calculus I and Business Calculus courses (46 students in Calculus I, and 9 students in Business Calculus). Both courses were taught by the authors of this paper during spring 2019/2020. The study

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investigated midterm and final exam items and students' responses in these two courses. It is important to mention here that all assessment items were selected from the large questions bank provided by WebAssign. The teachers were not able to develop new items or modify the existing ones. All assessment items were either MCQs or short answer submissions. For the Calculus I course, the midterm had a total of 29 items, the final exam had a total of 36 items, while Business Calculus had a total of 18 items in the midterm exam, and the final exam had a total of 23 items. This study addressed the following three questions: Q1: Was there a significant difference in students’ online midterm and final exam scores between auto-graded and then manually graded scores for the Calculus 1 course? Q2: Was there a significant difference in students’ online midterm and final exam scores between auto-graded and then manually graded scores for the Business Calculus (B.C.) course? Q3: Were there some common mistakes committed by students during the online exams due to their unfamiliarity with the WebAssign platform, and did this result in zero credit when auto-graded? 3.3. Limitation of the Study This study considers only two courses, Calculus I and Business Calculus courses taught by both authors at a private university, with a sample size of 55 students. 3.4. Data Analysis After each online exam, either midterm or final, the exam was immediately autograded and scores were recorded, then, manual grading began. Thus, instructors reviewed each student's answers and their auto-grading score, then by using human intelligence it was manually-graded. Thus, depending on the student’s mistakes, either full, partial, or no credit was awarded. The manual grading scores were recorded separately for later analysis. The study addressed three questions, and the data analysis is as follows: (Q1) and (Q2), the quantitative data were analysed using SPSS statistical tools. Thus, using a paired t-test, we explore whether the differences in the autograded and manually graded mean scores is statistically significant or not at alpha = 0.05. The paired t-test is robust to non-normality (Schmider et al., 2010). Regarding the qualitative data in (Q3), while instructors were manually grading the exam they recorded the types of common mistakes committed by students. Those mistakes were characterized into two categories: non-mathematical mistakes (related to WebAssign Platform Design) and minor mathematical mistakes, which might deserve partial credit. All those common mistakes were recorded and samples were collected for the most common types of mistakes. One of the main reasons for this categorization of students’ common mistakes is that we can educate our students and try to familiarize them more about the WebAssign platform and the right method to submit their answers so that they take extra care when submitting answers in the future.

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4. Results 4.1. Answer to Q1 Q1: Was there a significant difference in students’ online midterm and final exam scores between auto-graded and then manually graded scores for the Calculus 1 course? Students of the Calculus I course were given midterm and final exams on the WebAssign website, using the platform’s questions bank. The midterm exam had 29 items (5 MCQs and 24 short answer submissions), while the final exam had a total of 36 items (9 MCQs and 27 short answer submissions). Each exam, whether a midterm or final was immediately auto-graded, then a manual-grading was carried out. Each item's answer was examined. In particular, when a student obtained zero credit, their answer was analysed. The grades were assigned according to the type of mistakes committed by the student (more detail is provided on this when answering Q3). The differences in the grades between auto-grading and manual-grading were recorded. The paired t-test revealed a statistically significant difference in students' midterm mean scores at p = 0.000 < 0.05. (Table 1). A similar investigation for final exam grades revealed a statistically significant difference in students' mean scores at p = 0.000 < 0.05. (Table 2). Table 1. Significant difference in auto and manual grading for midterm exam of Calculus I. Calculus 1 Midterm Exam Auto -Graded Manual-Graded

Mean -2.79948

Std. Deviation 2.08683

Std. Error Mean .30121

t -9.294

df 45

Sig. (2-tailed) .000

Table 2. Significant difference between auto and manual grading for final exam of Calculus I. Calculus 1 Final exam Auto - Graded Manual -Graded

Mean -1.649565

Std. Deviation 1.443055

Std. Error Mean .212767

t -7.753

df 45

Sig. (2-tailed) .000

The auto-graded midterm scores for Calculus I had a mean score of 38.04 with 7.351 standard deviation, when it was manually-graded the midterm scores had a mean of 40.84 with 6.45 standard deviation. As for the final exam, the autograded students had a mean score of 37.82 with 8.36 standard deviation, and when manually-graded, it had a mean score of 39.47 with 7.74 standard deviation. (Figure 1)

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Figure 1. The difference in the mean scores between auto-graded and manual-graded exams for the Calculus I course.

4.2. Answer to Q2 Q2: Was there a significant difference in students’ online midterm and final exam scores between auto-graded and then manually graded scores for the Business Calculus (B.C.) course? Students of the Business Calculus course were given midterm and final exams on the WebAssign website, using the platform’s questions bank. They had a total of 18 items in the midterm (3 MCQs and 15 short answer submissions) and the final exam had a total of 23 items (no MCQs, all short answer submission). Each exam was immediately auto-graded, then a manual-grading was carried out. Each item's answer was examined. In particular, when a student obtained zero credit, their answer was analysed. The grades were assigned according to the type of mistakes committed by the student (more detail is provided on this when answering Q3). The differences in the grades between auto-grading and manual-grading were recorded. The paired t-test revealed a statistically significant difference in students' midterm mean scores at p = 0.002 < 0.05. (Table 3). The final exam results were little different. Observation showed that students committed fewer mistakes on the online final exam than in the midterms. The paired t-test gave a p-value of p = 0.101 > 0.05, indicating that the mean differences were not statistically significant (Table 4). Table 3. Significant difference between auto and manual grading for midterm exam of B.C. BC Midterm Exam Auto Graded Manual Graded

Mean Std. Deviation -9.72222 6.66667

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Std. Error Mean 2.22222

t -4.375

df 8

Sig. (2-paired) .002

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Table 4. The difference between auto and manual grading for the final exam of B.C. BC Final Exam Auto -Graded Manual Graded

Mean -2.44667

Std. Deviation 3.95505

Std. Error Mean 1.31835

t -1.856

df 8

Sig. (2-paired) .101

The auto-graded midterm grades for the Business Calculus course had a mean score of 20.14 with 12.52 standard deviation, while the manual-graded had a mean score of 29.86 with 11.24 standard deviation. As for the final exam, the auto-graded students had a mean score of 37.302 with 12.4 standard deviation, while the manual-graded students had a mean score of 39.749 with 11.816 standard deviation (Figure 2).

Figure 2. The difference in the mean scores between auto-graded and manual-graded exams for the Business Calculus course.

4.3. Answer to Q3 Q3: Were there some common mistakes committed by students during the online exams due to their unfamiliarity with the WebAssign platform, and did this result in zero credit when auto-graded? To investigate whether students' unfamiliarity with the platform affected their overall assessment, the authors analysed each student's response to each item on the midterm and final exam. Common mistakes were characterized into two categories: 1- Platform Design: In some cases, students did not follow the appropriate website format and hence lost the credit for that item. These are not mathematical mistakes, nor do they represent a lack of comprehension – they only indicate students' unfamiliarity with the website requirements. 2- Partial Credits: In other cases, students committed minor mathematical mistakes; they deserved partial credit but received no credit.

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4.3.1. Platform Design Some students did not adhere to the typical writing design required by the software platform of the WebAssign. They used different symbols, capitalization, or representations. The following samples represent innocent "mistakes" committed by students while submitting their answer on the platform, it does not indicate a lack of students' mathematical skills or knowledge: 1- When solving an indefinite integral task, a student performed the integration accurately but wrote the integration constant as a small letter 'c' instead of a capital letter 'C', and the constant of integration is just a symbol, thus writing it as a small or large letter does not alter the answer, but this mistake resulted in zero credit (Figure 3). 2- Instead of writing the variable "x," some students used the Greek letter chi “ꭓ”, which looks similar to the "x," and all computations were correct. This is not a mathematical mistake, but it resulted in zero credit (Figure 4). 3- A student computed the derivative of the function correctly. However, when submitting the answer, the student wrote the symbol of the derivative and then the equals sign as usually one does when they write the answer on paper. But on the WebAssign platform, they are supposed to only enter the answer without . This made WebAssign not recognize the correct answer and resulted in zero credit (Figure 5). 4- After a long process of taking the derivative and finding the inflection point, the student submitted a correct answer as an ordered pair, and while submitting she inserted brackets as is usually done when we write on paper, she did not notice that the brackets were already included. This made WebAssign not recognize her correct answer due to extra brackets and she received zero credit. (Figure 6). 5- The definite integral computation was all correct. The students submitted the answer in a decimal format instead of a fraction. This resulted in zero credit (Figure 7). 6- This is a Business Calculus problem; it is a long problem related to finding the producer’s surplus. When submitting the final answer, the student rounded it to one decimal place instead of two decimal places (89.3 instead of 89.33). All computations were accurate, and this resulted in zero credit (Figure 8).

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Samples of students who submitted a correct answer and received zero credit when auto-graded.

Figure 3. Using the lowercase letter “c” as the integration constant

Figure 4. Using the Greek letter chi “ꭓ” instead of “x”

Figure 5. Repeated article

Figure 6. Extra brackets

Figure 7. Using decimal format

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Figure 8. Rounding to one decimal place instead of two decimal places

4.3.2. Partial Credits Sometimes students commit minor mathematical mistakes, which result in partial credit when the problem is manually graded. Unfortunately, the current auto-grading system does not offer partial credit. Here is a list of examples of minor mathematical mistakes which deserve partial credit. 1- The student computed the derivative but while entering the answer the student missed the negative (-) sign in one place. All other computations were accurate. When we manually grade such a problem the student deserves partial credit, but auto-grading resulted in zero credit. (Figure 9). 2- The student found the derivative correctly but when submitting her answer on the platform, in one place she missed a single variable ``x``, which she forgot to write. However, the WebAssign platform cannot distinguish this small error, so it resulted in zero credit, however when such a problem is graded manually then she absolutely deserves partial credit (Figure 10). 3- The student found the derivative correctly but when submitting her answer on the platform she misplaced one single bracket in a multi-bracket item, this resulted in zero credit when auto-graded (Figure 11). 4- The student found the derivative correctly but when submitting her answer on the platform, in one place instead of writing variable ``t”, by mistake she wrote variable "x". This is just an answer submission mistake, the autograding system does not distinguish this small mistake and results in zero credit (Figure 12).

Figure 9. Missing a negative sign (-)

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Figure 10. Missing a variable “x” in a single place

Figure 11. Misplacing a bracket

Figure 12. Using the variable “x” instead of “t” in single place by mistake

5. Discussion This study aimed to evaluate the E-assessment process used in two calculus courses at one higher education institution in the KSA. Students were used to submitting online homework on the WebAssign platform eight weeks before the lockdown. However, during exams, it is understandable that students might commit the aforementioned non-mathematical mistakes while submitting their answers due to exam pressure, the limited time duration, and the restriction of a single submission attempt. It must be noted that mistakes provoked by the platform’s design are only relevant during an E-assessment process. Unfortunately, WebAssign's auto-grading system will either assign a full credit (100%) or no credit (0%) to an item. No partial credit is considered. This issue is consistent with the limitations reported by Alruwais et al. (2018), Kan et al. (2019) and Smith (2019). The statistical analysis results demonstrated a significant difference between auto-graded and manual-graded exams scores for both midterm and final exams for the Calculus I course (Tables 1 and 2). Whereas the bar chart (Figure 1) displayed the differences in the mean scores between auto-graded and manual-

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graded midterm and final exams for the Calculus I course. The literature indicated a discrepancy between auto-grading and manual-grading (Bejar et al., 2017), which is consistent with our research results. As for Business Calculus, the result was a little different. Table 3 displayed statistically significant differences in the midterm mean scores between the autograded and manually-graded exams. However, for the final exam, the difference was not statistically significant (Table 4). One factor that must be considered is that the Business Calculus course is mandatory for the Finance programme only; hence it has a lower number of students than Calculus I (which is offered for Computer Information, Engineering, and Communication & Network programmes). In the online midterm exam of Business Calculus, most students' mistakes were related to platform design rather than mathematical mistakes. Thus, they became meticulous about submitting their answers on the WebAssign platform by growing their cognizance of the WebAssign platform's tools and continually asking the instructor for every detail to minimize their mistakes related to the platform design. The final exam result demonstrated fewer mistakes related to platform design. This revealed the importance of educating our students in detail about online platform design. The bar chart (Figure 2) displayed the differences in the mean scores between auto-graded and manual-graded midterm and final exams for the Business Calculus course. To investigate whether students' unfamiliarity with the platform affected their overall assessment, the authors analysed each student's response to each item on the midterm and final exam. The common mistakes were characterized into two categories: Platform Design and Partial Credits. By examining the samples of answers provided by students, it becomes clear that students deserved either partial or full credit when auto-graded awarded them zero credit. The assessment items' type influences the assessment's validity. The results reflected a surprising number of inconsistencies between the auto-grading and manual-grading. Figures 3-8 illustrated the most common mistakes committed by students that resulted in zero credit when auto-graded. In many cases, the mistake was only due to a lack of familiarity with the formatting, not a lack of mathematical understanding (Figures 3-8). For example, submitting answers with additional brackets (Figure 6) resulted in zero credit for the answer, this mistake was apparent when students wrote an ordered-pair number (an inflection point), intervals of an increasing and decreasing function, or a function's concavity status. This is consistent with what Smith (2019) stated – that formatting and technical issues could result in losing credits. In some other cases, if the student made a minor mathematical mistake, then she/he deserves a partial credit, which is a standard agreement in mathematics assessments. For example, after carrying out a complicated derivative task, a student incorrectly missed a "minus sign" (Figure 9). In the auto-grading process, the student received zero credit for the item, whereas if human intelligence were applied then partial credit would have been awarded.

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As our analysis demonstrated, E-assessment has some limitations. It has been argued that students might misinterpret an item or some minor terminology and hence fail to choose the correct answer (Wang, 1998). Moreover, sometimes students commit simple mistakes if they misread an item in E-assessment, which can otherwise be addressed with short feedback from the instructor. However, this is not possible with auto-grading (Smith, 2019), which is consistent with our research results. Moreover, considering partial grading is essential. Even if a student must only submit the final answer, this final answer can be evaluated from several angles. In some cases, students do not submit a 100% accurate answer, but a partially valid answer deserves partial credit. Unfortunately, this is not always possible with auto-grading (Smith, 2019), as our research indicated.

6. Conclusion The demand for E-learning and E-assessments are increasing, especially during the recent COVID-19 pandemic as traditional teaching and assessments methods are no longer favourable. In this study, we have investigated the validity and appropriateness of E-assessments in Calculus courses, by comparing the difference in the means scores of auto-graded and manually graded exam scores. The differences were statistically significant, thus illustrating the importance of manual grading and its role in assessing students' achievements and mathematics understanding. From the results, we can conclude that we cannot solely rely on auto-grading, as it will not be a valid indicator of a student's mathematical proficiency. Also, a partial score is essential; however, this aspect is not considered in auto-grading. Hence, auto-grading is a useful approach, but it has some limitations and needs to be more intelligent. E-learning and Eassessments put an extra non-Mathematical burden on the students—the need to learn about each online platform design, which they will use. Therefore, students need to master new skills (when using a computer to submit answers), and a lack thereof will affect their success (Parshall & Guille, 2015). Our study has characterized the most common type of mistakes committed by students during online exams. We hope our research will guide the software designer to target those common mistakes and upgrade their auto-grading software to account for partial credit and to correct platform design errors. Acknowledgment The authors would like to thank the Deanship of Educational Services at Prince Sultan University for their support. Also, the authors would like to thank the reviewers for their helpful comments, which helped the paper takes its current shape. Declaration The authors indicate no conflict of interest.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 282-303, March 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.3.17

The Effects of Physical, Emotional, and Cognitive Demands on Academic Leaders’ Performance in Malaysian Research Universities Mayadah Graizi University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8298-5637 Kenny S. L. Cheah University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9881-582X Kazi Enamul Hoque University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8152-9250

Abstract. This study attempted to investigate the possible impact of physical, emotional, and cognitive job demands on burnout among Malaysian academic leaders at Research Universities (RU). Another objective of the study was to study the direct and mediating role of burnout on the job performance of the target population. Through a quantitative study and by using a five-Likert point, 250 academic leaders in Malaysian Research Universities (MRUs) were surveyed. The obtained primary data were subject to quantitative analysis through outer loading of the items using Smart PLS software. The exploratory and confirmatory tests applied to the primary data earlier to the inferential tests started with testing the direct hypotheses structured followed by the indirect effect. Findings indicated that based on the model extracted and the loaded factors, it was found that cognitive, emotional, and physical demands have a significant impact on burnout. Burnout also showed a significant effect on in-role and extra-role performance of the academic leaders and an indirect effect of burnout between job demands and job performance was observed. As an implication, this study can have pedagogical implications for educational policymakers, education syllabus designers, and academic leaders. Assessing the interaction role of gender type suggests further research, which benefit the policymakers in diversifying the job demand for each type. Keywords: job demands; job leadership; research university

performance;

burnout;

academic

©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 An emerging concept among academicians is academic leadership (Lorello et al., 2020). Academic leadership is an interest among scholars at Research Universities (RU) who seek excellence in research and education (Burkinshaw & White, 2019). Rathmell et al. (2019) explain that academic leadership is the ability to use various skills to overcome the challenges encountered by academicians. They also state that academic leadership in one generation affects the leadership among the next generation of academicians. Burkinshaw and White (2019) take a gender-based view and explain that males and females have not been granted equal opportunities to take an academic lead. Qamar et al. (2019) believe that non-academic aspects of work affect academic leadership. They refer to these variables as external variables. However, the focus of most scholars has been on the effects of academic leadership on academic performance (e.g., Qamar et al., 2019; Sinniah et al., 2018; Sung et al., 2017). In line with many western societies, academic leadership has also been investigated in Malaysia (Arbae et al., 2019; Ismail & Noor, 2016; Omar, 2018; Rahman et al., 2019). Although these studies mostly look into the professional role of academic leaders, they mostly neglect the possible factors that can affect academic leadership (Zarb, 2016). The most common variables investigated in these studies are unproportioned job demands (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007), academic leaders' wellbeing (Bakker & Demerouti, 2014), and performance (Saleem et al., 2017). It seems that unproportioned job demand is one of the most common themes studied in Malaysia and in the global context. Bakker and Demerouti (2018) assert that every job demand has a cost for the employees. In case there is an imbalance between the cost and energy for the employees, they undergo job-related stress. Bakker and Demeroutil (2007) identify the main aspects of job demand as physical, emotional, and cognitive aspects. Also, and according to Ilies et al. (2015) and Nahrgang et al. (2011), while emotional and physical demands cause burnout, cognitive demands result in mental tiredness. Burnout (also known as strain) can eventually affect job efficacy among academic leaders (Friedman, 2000). This indicates that a serious look at the factors that result in burnout among academicians is required, as excessive physical and emotional demands decrease work efficacy among academicians (Bowen et al., 2016). However, research conducted in Malaysia has mostly focused on pedagogy, and less attention has been given to job demands (e.g., Rahman et al., 2019). In terms of academic leaders' performance, most research has accorded focus to professional role and relationships rather than job demands and burnout (Arbae et al., 2019; Omar, 2018; Ismail & Noor, 2016). The question left open is how burnout and job demands are associated among Malaysian academic leaders. While burnout can possibly affect performance (Al-Dubai et al., 2013), and decrease organizational commitment (Bte Marmaya et al., 2011), little attention has been given to it in the context of Malaysia. Needless to say that the job

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performance in educational contexts is as important as any other context. Williams and Anderson (1991), who provide a lateral taxonomy of job performance (in-role vs. extra-role), assert that in-role job performance (task performance) and extra-role performance (organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) or contextual performance) should be equally attended. The educational sector in Malaysia is experiencing very swift changes, as the number of universities is increasing and the need for qualified staff is obvious (Yousefi & Abdullah, 2019). Mustapha (2013) stated that little research has dealt with the academic leaders in RUs at the centre of such changes. In line with these swift changes, the knowledge-based economy within Malaysian higher education requires adroit academic leaders (Grapragasem et al., 2014). This indicates that maintaining an academic position is harder than before, and the educators are under stress to produce knowledge and show high levels of in-role and extra-role performance. Such difficulties are the result of unproportioned job demands which have not been solved yet. There are scholastic pieces of evidence that indicate academicians' burnout should be subject to more research in the context of Malaysia. Not only is burnout one of the main influential factors on work performance in the educational sector (Al-Dubai et al., 2013), but also it can decrease organizational support (Bte Marmaya et al., 2011). On the other hand, burnout is the result of the stressors the Malaysian academicians encounter in higher education (Fullan & Scott, 2009). Yet, whether these stressors are emotional, cognitive, or physical is not fully known. Khairuddin and Makhbul (2011) who point to the academic performance of the academic leaders assert that at Research Universities (RUs), academic performance is not studied satisfactorily. The consensus in the literature is that not only should the academic leadership problems in Malaysia be investigated, but also the factors affecting the academic leaders' performance should be investigated. These two main problems form the main intention to conduct this study. According to the problems stated above, this study has two main objectives, namely, 1) To find out how various forms of job demand affect burnout; 2) To determine how burnout affects job performance. To have an accurate look at this issue, both direct and indirect impacts of burnout on job demand are studied. Also, job performance is viewed as in-role and extra-role performance of Malaysian academicians.

2. Literature Review Various theories that discuss job demand consider three main aspects, i.e., physical, psychological, and social (organizational) for job demand (DeFrank & Ivancevich, 1998; Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004). Job demand, if assigned proportionately, can have positive effects; however, unproportionate job demands can have negative effects on the performance of the employees and the outcome of an organization. According to Bakker and Demerouti (2018), some

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variables also play a role in the relationship between job demand and job performance. Burnout and motivation are the most important variables. In simple terms, long working shifts and excessive work pressure can result in burnout or even depression and eventually affect the performance of the employees. These variables have been subject to scientific studies and a number of theoretical bases have emerged as a result of these studies.

3. Theoretical Framework The main theory used in this study is that of Job Demand-Resource (JDR) theory. However, to justify the use of JDR theory, some of the relevant previous theories should be explained. One of the most significant theories is the Path-Goal theory. Yukl and Lepsinger (2006) explain that the Path-Goal theory is a leadership theory that sees the leaders' behaviour as the result of their satisfaction, motivation, and eventually, their performance. This theory associates the leaders' behaviour to their subordinate's abilities that compensate for deficiencies (Bakker & Demerouti, 2014). Thus, the researchers should attempt to see how the contingency perspective to leadership is associated with conditions or situational variables that affect the relationship between leaders' behavior and effectiveness (Madonko & April, 2020). The types of leaders' behaviour in Path-Goal theory, as stated by Muchinsky (2006), are directive, supportive, participative, and achievement-oriented. While directive behaviors tend to remove obstacles that cause frustrations, supportive behaviors lead to understanding subordinates’ needs and increasing their wellbeing. Participative and achievement-oriented behaviors lead to investments in the ideas of subordinates, and encouraging a high performance, respectively (Muchinsky, 2006). Raziq et al. (2018) divide the behavior in Goal-Path theory into three main

categories. These categories centre on satisfaction and refer to immediate and future satisfaction, along with tools to satisfy subordinates' needs contingent with effective performance (House & Dessler, 1974). The main tools are support and guidance in the work environment. 3.1 Stress Theories The relationship between stress and job environment is a conditional-stimuli relationship (Jex et al., 1992). Jex et al. (1992) also assert that the stimulus for stress in the job environment can be any job-related demand that causes burnout. Thus, according to Kinman and Jones (2005), there should be a balance between job demands and personal abilities. This relationship is known as job-personal resources. Job-personal resources are the basis of many job stress theories, which have mature in different ways. One of the mostly used theories in this regard is that of the Job Demand-Resource model. 3.2 The Job Demand-Resource Model (JDR) The job demand-resource (JDR) model is the theoretical basis of this study. This theory does not only centre on specific types of job conditions. In this theory, the job characteristics are broad (Bakker & Demerouti, 2017). The theory is a globally-proven theory and has been used in many studies. According to Bakker

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and Demerouti (2014), it has been mainly used to describe employees' wellbeing (like burnout/strain, motivation, health, engagement, satisfaction, commitment) and performance (in-role and extra-role). Although the theoretical building block of JDR theory is based on certain assumptions, the theory asserts that the working conditions can introduce new variables in the analysis (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007). 3.3 Conceptual Framework The model below (Figure 1) shows the JDR theory based on the variables under investigation in the current study. As can be seen in the model, and based on the JDR model, three main categories of job demand, i.e., physical, emotional, and cognitive, are investigated as possible influencers of burnout. This possible impact may affect in-role and extra-role performance of the academic leaders which is also investigated based on this model. Finally, the mediating role of burnout is explored. Academic performance roles consist of:

Individual demands consist of:

Physical Demands

Emotional Demands

In-Role Performance

Burnout

Hypothesized Mediator

Extra-Role Performance

Cognitive Demands Figure 1: Academic leaders’ performance in Malaysia research universities

4. Previous Empirical Studies Some studies have been conducted on the relationship between job demands and job performance in Malaysia. Reviewing these studies brought the researchers to the conclusion that there is a certain need to study the impact of job demands on burnout and the direct and indirect impact of burnout on job performance, and these variables are not deeply investigated in the literature yet (Zysberg et al., 2017). The correlations between occupational stress and job performance with a focus on emotional intelligence were investigated by Ismail et al. (2009). They studied 104 academicians at private universities in Malaysia and realized that occupational stress and job performance correlate. They also found out that emotional intelligence is a significant role player and mediates the relationship between these two variables. Watts and Robertson (2011) also worked on burnout and stress. By reviewing previously published documents from 6 data resources, they could conclude that burnout and teachers' stress in higher

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education are associated. Their content analysis also showed that gender has a predictive role and female staff are more subject to burnout. Studies conducted in other parts of the world are mostly congruent with these results. For example, in the context of Austrialia, Winefield et al. (2003) saw a significant relationship between burnout and lack of job satisfaction. By surveying 9000 academicians in seventeen universities, they realized that the new generation of academicians is more subject to burnout compared to the older staff. They also found that self-report measures of psychological wellbeing were highly had associations with objective measures of university wellbeing. In another study in Spain, burnout was observed among school teachers in Spain. Prieto et al. (2008) realized that work overload could predict exhaustion and prediction. They found the results by studying 274 teachers at 23 different secondary schools. In Pakistan, Saleem et al. (2017) realized that the type of leadership affects burnout. They reported that the principals’ leadership styles and teachers’ organizational commitment are highly correlated. Through looking at the indirect impact of emotional intelligence (EI) and perceived organizational support (POS), they reported that the principals prefer a democratic leadership style (EI and POS). Another significant finding in their study was that the leadership styles and organizational commitment are highly correlated. The previous studies discussed within Table 1 lack the challenging cognitive demands at work (Meyer & Hünefeld, 2018). Hence, the need to highlight the

cognitive demand in academic work is rising. To fill this gap, this study identified cognitive demand as a latent factor as a determinant of burnout at academic work. The researcher reviewed more studies. The synopsis of these studies is presented in Table 1. Table 1: Summary of the previous studies N

Authors and Date Kasinathan, and Arokiasamy (2019)

Design

Zysberg et al. (2017)

Mérida-López, and Extremera (2017)

Instrument Type Survey Questionnaire

Participants and Context Malaysian Universities

Quantitative

Likert scale questionnaire

1230 daycare educators and 2209 school teachers

Review Study

Researcher (Content Analysis)

13 academic articles in 3 scientific databases

Quantitative

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Result There are interventions at organizational level to promote well-being of academicians. Burnout has associations with personality and emotional intelligence. In this way, stress affects burnout There is a negative association between emotional intelligence and burnout.

288

Saleem et al. (2017)

Quantitative

Survey Questionnaire

50 principals, 300 teachers-Pakistan

Democratic leadership style is preferred by the principals. They also observed a significant relationship between leadership styles (EI and POS) and organizational commitment.

Makhbul and Khairuddin (2013)

Review study

Content analysis

Malaysian academicians

Bakker et al. (2010)

Quantitative

Survey Questionnaire

3753 Australian Academicians

Watts and Robertson (2011)

Qualitative content analysis

Researcher

6 valid databases. No human participation-Glob al

Prieto et al. (2008)

Quantitative survey

Survey Questionnaire

274 teachers-Spain

Winefield et al. (2003)

Quantitative survey

Survey questionnaire

9000 academic staff -Australia

Both environmental factors and personal factors affect the academicians' wellbeing. Neuroticism correlates with the health impairment process, and that extroversion correlates with motivational process. Burnout is the result of having large classes with many students. Gender and age also played a predictive role as female staff and younger staff were more subject to burnout. They correlated this to emotional exhaustion of the female staff. Quantitative overload has a predictive impact on exhaustion and dedication. It was also realized that role conflict impacts cynicism and role ambiguity impacts dedication. The academic staff were worse off than general staff. The new staff were worse off than the

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Ismail et al. (2009)

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older staff in terms of strain and job satisfaction. Psychological wellbeing was highly correlated with objective measures of university wellbeing. Occupational stress and job performance correlate, and emotional intelligence play a significant role and mediates the relationship.

The review of previous studies also highlights that the quantitative design is the mostly used research design. The main form of instrument used in these studies is that of a Likert-scale questionnaire.

5. Methods This section clarifies the methodology progress adopted by this study, which explains the research design, population and sampling, and the instrumentation. 5.1 Research Design This quantitative study has a cross-sectional design, as data were collected through distributing Google forms. Spector (2019) argues that cross-sectional design provides much valuable information that explains the relationship among the model variables, specifically the lack of temporal components. As a quantitative study, the study has its roots in the positivist perspective that considers reality as observed rather than perceived (Crossan, 2003). 5.2 Population and Sampling To conduct the study, the researchers made use of five research universities in the context of Malaysia, i.e., University of Malaya (UM), University of Putra Malaysia (UPM), University of Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), University of Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), and University Sains Malaysia (USM). The total of academic staff determined at 2,000 as reported by the Malaysian Ministry of Education. These universities were entitled Malaysian Research Universities (MRUs) (MOHE, 2007). The researchers targeted the academic leaders at various positions and sent the questionnaire to about 2000 academic staff, which is processed via the human resource department of each university, the generated link from the Google survey platform posted to the academic leaders’ social network community of these universities. As a result, out of which, 250 respondents replied. The probability sampling technique was used to lower the sampling bias, and to ensure sampling diversification as suggested by Acharya et al. (2013), which provides better understanding of the population perspective.

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5.3 Instruments The Likert scale questionnaire was used in this study. The questionnaire had 81 items. It was a combination of 7 different Likert scale questionnaires. However, as this study is part of a larger study, only the questions relevant to this study are discussed. The items relevant to job demand were chosen from "Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire; COPSOQ II" (Pejtersen et al., 2010). The questionnaire entails questions relaxant to cognitive, physical, and emotional job demands. Items relevant to burnout were selected from "Copenhagen Burnout Inventory; CBI", to assess academics burnout (Kristensen et al., 2005). Finally, the items related to job performance (in-role and extra-role) were selected from Williams and Anderson (1991).

6. Results The objectives behind this study were threefold. First, it aimed at exploring the effects of physical, emotional, and cognitive demands on the burnout of academicians. Second, it investigated the effect of burnout on in-role and extra-role of academicians; and finally, it studied to what extent burnout mediated the effect of physical, emotional, and cognitive demands on in-role and extra-role. The data collected in this study were analyzed using SmartPLS V. 3.2.8. All results were bootstrapped 1,000 times to compute confidence intervals for the computed indices. The conceptual model being explored is displayed in Figure 4.1. As displayed in this model, the physical, cognitive, and emotional demands directly affect burnout. They also have indirect effects on in-role and extra-role through the mediation of burnout. Some of the indicators (items) related to latent variables were dropped out, which will be discussed below.

Figure 2: Conceptual PLS model

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6.1 Cronbach’s Alpha and Composite Reliability Indices Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability (CR) indices were computed for the components of the present model. Both Cronbach’s alpha and CR, which are complementary indices, were reported because, as noted by (Hair et al., 2017, p. 112), Cronbach’s alpha is a conservative measure of reliability (i.e., it results in relatively low-reliability values). In contrast, composite reliability tends to overestimate the internal consistency reliability, thereby resulting in comparatively higher reliability estimates. Therefore, it is reasonable to consider and report both criteria. When analyzing and assessing the measures’ internal consistency reliability, the true reliability usually lies between Cronbach’s alpha (representing the lower bound) and the composite reliability (representing the upper bound)”. Cronbach’s alpha reliability indices should be equal to or higher than .70, as suggested by Tseng et al. (2006) and Dörnyei and Taguchi (2009). Except for OCBO, all other constructs enjoyed Cronbach’s alpha indices higher than .70; moreover, all probabilities were lower than .05, and none of the confidence intervals were negative or zero. Although OCBO’s reliability index of .589 was lower than .70, it enjoyed a statistical significance (p = .000), and its confidence intervals of .412 and .694 were neither negative nor zero. Based on these results, it can be concluded that the present constructs enjoyed statistically significant Cronbach’s alpha reliability indices. Table 2: Cronbach’s Alpha reliability indices Alpha

Mean

t-value

p-value

Burnout

0.889

0.888

0.015

57.753

Cognitive

0.766

0.760

0.040

Emotional

0.812

0.811

In-Role

0.755

0.746

OCBI

0.844

OCBO Physical

Confidence Intervals 2.5 %

97.5 %

0.000

0.854

0.915

19.071

0.000

0.673

0.829

0.027

29.724

0.000

0.752

0.856

0.059

12.891

0.000

0.609

0.828

0.842

0.025

33.629

0.000

0.784

0.885

0.589

0.578

0.075

7.821

0.000

0.412

0.694

0.724

0.722

0.037

19.393

0.000

0.640

0.787

Table 3 displays the CR indices for the present data. Composite reliability indices should be equal to or higher than .60; however, they should not be higher than 0.95 (Hair et al. 2016, p. 112). As displayed in Table 3, all CR indices were within the ranges of .60 to .95, they all enjoyed statistical significance, and all confidence intervals were positive and non-zero. Thus, it can be concluded that the present constructs enjoyed significant CR indices. Table 3: Composite reliability indices Composite Reliability

Mean

t-value

p-value

Confidence Intervals 2.5 % 97.5 %

Burnout

0.916

0.915

0.011

84.694

0.000

0.891

0.933

Cognitive

0.851

0.848

0.022

38.997

0.000

0.802

0.887

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Emotional

0.877

0.015

56.857

0.000

0.844

0.903

In-Role

0.721

0.578

0.272

2.653

0.008

0.005

0.863

OCBI

0.885

0.884

0.016

54.970

0.000

0.848

0.913

OCBO

0.735

0.731

0.038

19.593

0.000

0.649

0.790

Physical

0.827

0.824

0.022

37.714

0.000

0.778

0.863

6.2 Average Variance Extracted The average variance extracted (AVE) for the components of the model were computed. As noted by Garson (2016), AVE indices should be at least equal to .50. The average variance extracted indicates the probability that the construct is measuring what it is supposed to measure. For example, the AVE for burnout was .644. That is to say, there was a 64.4 percent chance that burnout measured what it was supposed to measure. The results indicated that the AVE for all constructs was higher than .50, except for in-role and OCBO. Despite these low AVE indices, all results were statistically significant; i.e. p = .000, and none of the confidence intervals were negative or zero. Thus, it can be concluded that the constructs of this model enjoyed significant AVE indices. Table 4: Average variance extracted AVE

Mean

t-value

p-value

Burnout

0.644

0.643

0.031

20.522

Cognitive

0.588

0.585

0.040

Emotional

0.643

0.032

In-Role

0.332

0.355

OCBI

0.564

OCBO Physical

Confidence Intervals 2.5 %

97.5 %

0.000

0.577

0.701

14.522

0.000

0.507

0.662

19.971

0.000

0.578

0.701

0.074

4.475

0.000

0.261

0.515

0.563

0.038

14.851

0.000

0.485

0.636

0.322

0.037

8.637

0.000

0.247

0.391

0.565

0.566

0.029

19.287

0.000

0.503

0.623

6.3 Exploring Outer Loadings In a PLS model, outer loadings refer to the contribution of indicators (items) to the latent variables. Based on the results displayed in Table 6, it can be concluded that all indicators had significant (p < .05) contributions to their latent variables, except for the four of the items related to in-role, i.e., items 40 to 43. Table 5: Outer loadings

Q10 <- Burnout

Outer Loadings 0.816

Q11 <- Burnout

0.810

0.807

0.031

26.313

0.000

0.738

0.859

Q12 <- Burnout

0.831

0.830

0.024

34.833

0.000

0.781

0.868

Q13 <- Burnout

0.817

0.814

0.031

26.486

0.000

0.742

0.862

Q14 <- Burnout

0.766

0.767

0.030

25.150

0.000

0.701

0.821

Q15 <- Burnout

0.771

0.773

0.030

25.442

0.000

0.709

0.824

Q16 <- Physical

0.832

0.833

0.024

35.300

0.000

0.784

0.874

Q17 <- Physical

0.889

0.016

54.123

0.000

0.853

0.918

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t-valu e 27.111

p-val ue 0.000

2.50% 0.751

27.50 % 0.869

0.815

293

Q18 <- Physical

0.808

0.806

0.034

23.652

0.000

0.734

0.864

Q19 <- Physical

0.354

0.338

0.113

3.125

0.002

0.091

0.539

Q20 <- Cognitive

0.714

0.710

0.051

14.115

0.000

0.599

0.794

Q21 <- Cognitive

0.805

0.027

29.466

0.000

0.746

0.852

Q22 <- Cognitive

0.771

0.762

0.046

16.796

0.000

0.656

0.840

Q23 <- Cognitive

0.775

0.774

0.030

25.911

0.000

0.706

0.824

Q24 <- Emotional

0.761

0.760

0.036

21.323

0.000

0.682

0.822

Q25 <- Emotional

0.769

0.767

0.037

20.573

0.000

0.683

0.832

Q26 <- Emotional

0.899

0.900

0.013

70.789

0.000

0.873

0.922

Q27 <- Emotional

0.769

0.770

0.032

24.176

0.000

0.701

0.827

Q40 <- In-role

0.393

0.287

0.363

1.083

0.279

-0.482

0.759

Q41 <- In-role

0.361

0.246

0.397

0.909

0.364

-0.574

0.775

Q42 <- In-role

0.374

0.259

0.388

0.962

0.336

-0.540

0.778

Q43 <- In-role

0.434

0.317

0.380

1.142

0.254

-0.490

0.814

Q44 <- In-role

0.830

0.756

0.233

3.563

0.000

0.418

0.937

Q45 <- In-role

0.830

0.750

0.216

3.848

0.000

0.454

0.920

Q46 <- OCBO

0.437

0.433

0.082

5.333

0.000

0.249

0.563

Q47 <- OCBO

0.624

0.622

0.052

11.975

0.000

0.507

0.706

Q48 <- OCBO

0.625

0.617

0.072

8.727

0.000

0.450

0.733

Q49 <- OCBO

0.473

0.472

0.069

6.823

0.000

0.319

0.586

Q50 <- OCBO

0.679

0.677

0.042

16.009

0.000

0.583

0.750

Q51 <- OCBO

0.524

0.522

0.060

8.739

0.000

0.397

0.625

Q52 <- OCBI

0.769

0.028

27.462

0.000

0.711

0.819

Q53 <- OCBI

0.711

0.041

17.392

0.000

0.628

0.782

Q54 <- OCBI

0.752

0.750

0.038

19.804

0.000

0.664

0.815

Q55 <- OCBI

0.743

0.741

0.036

20.795

0.000

0.664

0.808

Q56 <- OCBI

0.827

0.825

0.027

30.427

0.000

0.764

0.869

Q57 <- OCBI

0.695

0.692

0.049

14.277

0.000

0.588

0.777

6.4 Exploring Direct Effects (First Four Research Questions) The first four research questions explored the direct effects of physical, cognitive and emotional demands on burnout; and direct effects of burnout on in-role and extra-role. Table 6 and Figure 3 display the standardized path coefficients. Based on these results, it can be concluded that; A: Physical demand had a significant direct effect on burnout (b = .161, t = 8.75, p = .000, 97.5 % CI [.120, .194]). Thus, it can be concluded that the first null-hypothesis was rejected. B: Emotional demand had a significant direct effect on burnout (b = .258, t = 10.04, p = .000, 97.5 % CI [.194, .300]). Thus, it can be concluded that the second null-hypothesis was rejected. C: Cognitive demand had significant direct effect on burnout (b = .249, t = 7.91, p = .000, 97.5 % CI [.179, .303]). Thus, it can be concluded that the third null-hypothesis was rejected.

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Table 6: Direct effects (research questions one to four)

Burnout -> Extra-Role

Direct Effect 0.213

t-Value

0.209

0.085

2.491

P Values 0.013

Burnout -> In-Role

0.314

0.320

0.100

3.133

0.002

0.185

0.442

Cognitive -> Burnout

0.249

0.247

0.031

7.918

0.000

0.179

0.303

Emotional -> Burnout

0.258

0.255

0.026

10.046

0.000

0.194

0.300

Physical -> Burnout

0.161

0.018

8.750

0.000

0.120

0.194

2.5%

97.5%

0.040

0.385

D: Burnout had a significant direct effect on in-role (b = .314, t = 3.13, p = .002, 97.5 % CI [.185, .442]); and extra-role (b = .213, t = 2.49, p = .013, 97.5 % CI [.040, .385]). Based on these results, it can be concluded that the fourth null-hypothesis was rejected, although the results should be interpreted cautiously due to the near zero lower bound confidence interval of .040 for the direct effect of burnout on extra-role. Figure 3 displays the direct and indirect effects of the PLS model. The values on the arrows are standardized path coefficients.

Figure 3: Final PLS model (standardized path coefficients)

6.5 Exploring Indirect Effects (Fifth Research Question) The last research question explored the indirect effects of demands on in-role and extra-role through the mediation of burnout. Based on the results displayed in Table 8, it can be concluded that; Demands had significant indirect effect on in-role after being mediated with burnout (b = .169, t = 2.807, p = .005, 97.5 % CI [.086, .277]). It also had a significant indirect effect on extra-role after being mediated with burnout (b =

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.114, t = 2.05, p = .040, 97.5 % CI [.018, .242]). Thus, it can be concluded that the fifth null-hypothesis was rejected, although the results should be interpreted cautiously because the lower bound confidence intervals for these indirect effects were almost zero; i.e. .086 and .018. Table 7: Indirect effects (fifth research question)

Demands -> Burnout -> In-Role Demands -> Burnout -> Extra-Role

Indirect Effect

t-Valu e

P Values

0.169

0.173

0.060

2.807

0.005

0.114

0.115

0.056

2.056

0.040

2.5%

97.5%

.086

.277

.018

.242

Figure 4 displays the final model. The relationships between variables are displayed as t-values.

Figure 4: Final PLS model (t-values)

7. Discussions The findings of this study are generally in line with the previously published documents. Numerous resources have been reported on the effects of job demands (i.e., cognitive, emotional, and physical) on burnout. In most cases, these studies have observed significant positive effects (e.g., Bakker et al., 2010; Ismail et al., 2009; Kasinathan and Arokiasamy (2019); Makhbul & Khairuddin, 2013; Mérida-López & Extremera, 2017; Prieto et al., 2008; Saleem et al., 2017; Watts & Robertson, 2011; Winefield et al., 2003; Zysberg et al., 2017). For example, Kasinathan and Arokiasamy (2019), who studied Malaysian academicians' well-being, realized that emotional and psychological wellbeing affects the profitability of Malaysian Universities. Therefore, they suggested enough attention to the emotional and psychological aspects of the academicians' job demands. Elsewhere, Zysberg et al. (2017) associated burnout with emotions and personality. This study was also conducted among academic leaders at RUs. Congruent with these two studies, it was realized that the

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emotional aspect of academic staffs' job demand in research universities could affect their burnout at work. Various aspects of job demands at Malaysian universities were studied by Makhbul and Khairuddin (2013) who realized that excessive job demands (psychical, emotional, and psychological) are the main resources of job-related stress which eventually reduces job performance. They also mention that burnout is the result of stress. Similar results were found in the current study where emotional, physical, and cognitive demands showed significant effects on burnout among Malaysian academicians at research universities. Also, it was observed that burnout could affect the in-role and extra-role performance of the Malaysian academicians at RUs. The findings are in line with the majority of previous studies, as they have observed a direct effect of burnout on performance. For example, Brown and Roloff (2013); Petitta and Vecchione (2011) observed a direct effect of burnout on extra-role performance. These two studies were conducted in the educational and non-educational sectors respectively; however, they both showed a decrease in commitment due to burnout. Thus, the findings are in line with the current study. Watts and Robertson (2011) posit that burnout might be found in different occupations; however, only excessive burnout can affect performance, as it causes emotional stress. This indicates that the working situation in Malaysian research universities should be restudied to make sure it does not cause emotional stress. A direct impact on in-role performance was also observed as a result of burnout. In line with this finding, the impact of burnout on in-role performance was already observed among bank employees (Yavas et al., 2013), flight attendants (Chen & Kao, 2012), and teachers (Cohen & Abedallah, 2015). Therefore, it can be concluded that the findings of the current study are congruent with the main trends in the literature on burnout and performance. Burnout showed a mediating role between job demands and performance. The majority of previous studies see burnout as the main result of job-related stress (e.g., Cohen & Abedallah, 2015; Makhbul & Khairuddin, 2013; Watts & Robertson, 2011). For example, Watts and Robertson (2011) assert that burnout causes emotional stress and emotional stress affects performance. Cohen and Abedallah (2015) also mentioned that burnout mediates the relationship of between EI and self-efficacy among teachers. Congruent with such views concerning burnout, in this study, the researchers observed that burnout could mediate the impact of job demands on job performance, although this study was not an attempt to realize what causes such a mediation. Some scholars such as Celik (2013) believe that where job performance is negatively affected, there is a sign of burnout. He made this conclusion by looking into role ambiguity among teachers, which causes burnout and affects performance. In his study, burnout was observed as a mediating role. The findings of this study are also in line with the results gained in some other fields. The mediating role of burnout on job performance has also been observed in other work environments. For example, Leiter and Maslach (2009)

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supported the mediation model of burnout, in which areas of work-life predicted burnout.

8. Conclusion In this study, the effects of various job demands on burnout among Malaysian academic leaders at RUs were observed. The job demand included emotional, cognitive, and physical demands which prove to have significant impacts on burnout among the target population. These demands were dealt with at individual level. In addition, the impact of burnout on in-role and extra-role performance of Malaysian academicians was observed. This impact was significant for both in-role and extra-role performance. In addition, the mediating (indirect) effect of burnout between job demands and performance was significant. This indicates that the effect of burnout on performance has a direct and an indirect effect. This study was a response to a need for a research on Malaysian RUs in line with the high demands on the academicians in these institutes of higher education. The findings can be practical for policymakers who are held accountable for making leadership decisions in these universities. In addition, the educational syllabus designers who set the educational syllabus for each educational year should bear in mind that high physical, emotional, and even cognitive demand posed through long working hours can result in burnout among the academicians. This study is limited to the MRUs. This is due to the high concerns of Malaysian higher education about this category of universities, besides the high need for cognitive demand to be tested in the context of research universities category. It is highly recommended that the Malaysian higher education pays much attention to boosting the emotional demand within the academicians, as it has the highest reduction impact on burnout. It is highly suggested that the prospective researchers should focus on strategies to reduce burnout among academic leaders. These strategies should be well studied so that they can be used in educational contexts.

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Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2014). Job demands–resources theory. Wellbeing: A complete reference guide, 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118539415.wbwell019 Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2017). Job demands–resources theory: taking stock and looking forward. Journal of occupational health psychology, 22(3), 273. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000056 Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2018). Multiple levels in job demands-resources theory: Implications for employee well-being and performance. In Handbook of well-being. DEF Publishers. https://doi.org.nobascholar.com Brown, L. A., & Roloff, M. E. (2015). Organizational citizenship behavior, organizational communication, and burnout: The buffering role of perceived organizational support and psychological contracts. Communication Quarterly, 63(4), 384-404. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463373.2015.1058287 Bowen, P., Rose, R., & Pilkington, A. (2016). Perceived stress amongst university academics. American International Journal of Contemporary Research, 6(1), 22–28. http://www.aijcrnet.com/journals/Vol_6_No_1_February_2016/3.pdf Bte Marmaya, N. H., Hitam, M., Zawawi, N., & Jody, J. M. (2011). Organizational commitment and job burnout among employees in Malaysia. Proc Intl Conf on Bus and Econs Res, 185-187. http://www.ipedr.com/vol1/40-B10039.pdf Burkinshaw, P., & White, K. (2019). Networking and gender equality in academic leadership. In Women, Business and Leadership. Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781786432711.00017 Celik, K. (2013). The effect of role ambiguity and role conflict on performance of vice principals: The mediating role of burnout. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 51, 195–213. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1059818.pdf Chen, C. F., & Kao, Y. L. (2012). Moderating effects of work engagement and job tenure on burnout–performance among flight attendants. Journal of Air Transport Management, 25, 61–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jairtraman.2012.08.009 Cohen, A., & Abedallah, M. (2015). The mediating role of burnout on the relationship of emotional intelligence and self-efficacy with OCB and performance. Management Research Review. https://doi.org/10.1108/MRR-10-2013-0238 Crossan, F. (2003). Research philosophy: Towards an understanding. Nurse Researcher, 11(1), 46. DeFrank, R. S., & Ivancevich, J. M. (1998). Stress on the job: An executive update. Academy of Management Executives, 12, 55–66. https://doi.org/10.5465/ame.1998.1109050 Dörnyei, Z., & Taguchi, T. (2009). Questionnaires in second language research: Construction, administration, and processing. Routledge. http://golshanlc.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Questionnaires_in_Secon d_Language_Research__Construction__Administration__and_Processing__Seco nd_Language_Acquisition_Research_Series_.pdf Friedman, I. A. (2000). Burnout in teachers: Shattered dreams of impeccable professional performance. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 56(5), 595–606. Fullan, M., & Scott, G. (2009). Turnaround leadership for higher education. John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.2202/1940-1639.1687 Garson, G. D. (2016). Partial least squares: Regression and structural equation models. Statistical Associates Publishers. http://www.statisticalassociates.com/pls-sem.htm Grapragasem, S., Krishnan, A., & Mansor, A. N. (2014). Current trends in Malaysian higher education and the effect on education policy and practice: An overview. International Journal of Higher Education, 3(1), 85–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v3n1p85

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Appendix Variables Measurements Keywords: BO = Burnout IDW= Physical demands IDC= Cognitive demands IDE= Emotional demands IN-P= In-role performance OCB-O= Extra-role performance (organizational citizenship behavior toward organization) OCB-I= Extra-role performance (organizational citizenship behavior toward individual)

Code BO1

NO 10

BO2

BO3

BO4

BO5

BO6

IDW1

IDW2

IDW3

IDW4

IDC1

IDC2

IDC3

IDC4

IDE1

IDE2

IDE3

IDE4

Items How often have you felt worn out? How often have you been physically exhausted? How often have you been emotionally exhausted? How often have you felt tired? How often do you think: ’’I can’t take it anymore’’? How often do you susceptible to illness? My workload is unevenly distributed so it piles up. I don’t have time to complete all my work tasks. I do get behind with my work schedule. I have enough time for my work tasks (rs). I have to keep my eyes on lots of things during my work. My tasks need to remember a lot of things. My work demands that I am improving at coming up with new ideas. My work requires me to make difficult decisions. My work puts me in emotionally disturbing situations. I have to relate to other people’s problems as part of my work. My task is emotionally demanding. I get emotionally involved in my work.

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Never

Seldom

Sometimes

Often

Always

303

Code

Items

IN-P1

I fulfill all the responsibilities specified in my job description. I meet the formal performance requirements of my job. I conscientiously perform tasks that are expected of me. I adequately complete all of my assigned duties. I sometimes fail to perform essential duties of my job (rs). I sometimes neglect aspects of the job that I am obligated to perform (rs). I sometimes take undeserved work breaks (rs). I adhere to informal organizational rules devised to maintain order. I always give advance notice when I am unable to come to work.

IN-P2

IN-P3

IN-P4

IN-P5

IN-P6

OCB-O1

OCB-O2

OCB-O3

OCB-O4

I sometimes spend a lot of time on personal phone conversations (rs). My attendance at work is above the norm. I sometimes complain about minor things at work (rs).

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly agree

OCB-O5

OCB-O6

OCB-I1

I generally help others who have been absent.

OCB-I2

I take a personal interest in the well-being of other employees.

OCB-I3

OCB-I4

OCB-I5

OCB-I6

I generally help others who have heavy workloads. I go out of the way to help new employees. I generally take time to listen to co-workers’ problems. I pass along work-related information to co-workers.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research

The International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research is an open-access journal which has been established for the disChief Editor Dr. Antonio Silva Sprock, Universidad Central de semination of state-of-the-art knowledge in the Venezuela, Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of field of education, learning and teaching. IJLTER welcomes research articles from academics, edEditorial Board ucators, teachers, trainers and other practitionDr. Fatima Zohra Belkhir-Benmostefa ers on all aspects of education to publish high Dr. Giorgio Poletti quality peer-reviewed papers. Papers for publiDr. Chi Man Tsui cation in the International Journal of Learning, Dr. Fitri Suraya Mohamad Teaching and Educational Research are selected Dr. Hernando Lintag Berna through precise peer-review to ensure quality, Dr. Charanjit Kaur Swaran Singh originality, appropriateness, significance and Dr. Abu Bakar readability. Authors are solicited to contribute Dr. Eglantina Hysa to this journal by submitting articles that illusDr. Mo'en Salman Alnasraween trate research results, projects, original surveys Dr. Hermayawati Hermayawati and case studies that describe significant adDr. Selma Kara vances in the fields of education, training, eDr. Michael B. Cahapay learning, etc. Authors are invited to submit paDr. Bunmi Isaiah Omodan pers to this journal through the ONLINE submisDr. Vassiliki Pliogou sion system. Submissions must be original and Dr. Meera Subramanian should not have been published previously or Dr. Muhammad Kristiawan be under consideration for publication while Dr. Wahyu Widada being evaluated by IJLTER. Dr. Som Pal Baliyan Dr. Reem Khalid Abu-Shawish Dr. Froilan Delute Mobo Dr. Mohamed Ali Elkot Dr. Anabelie Villa Valdez Mr. Teody Lester Verdeflor Panela

IJLTER.ORG Vol 20 No 3 March 2021

Articles inside

Effect of Accounting Lecturer Behavior on the Level of Online Learning Outcomes Achievement

Success Indicators of Mathematical Problem-Solving Performance Among Malaysian Matriculation Students

Initial Teacher Education of Primary English and CLIL Teachers: An Analysis of the Training Curricula in the Universities of the Madrid Autonomous Community (Spain

Effective Social Studies Pedagogy: Effect of Simulation Games and Brainstorming Strategies on Students Learning Outcome

Challenges to Online Engineering Education during the Covid-19 Pandemic in Eastern Visayas, Philippines

The Attitudes of Pupils towards using Flipgrid in Learning English Speaking Skills

The Practicum in Times of Covid-19: Knowledge Developed by Future Physical Education Teachers in Virtual Modality

English as Foreign Language Teaching in High Schools: A Chilean Case Study