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

International Journal of Learning, Teaching And Educational Research

Vol.20 No.7

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research (IJLTER) Vol. 20, No. 7 (July 2021) Print version: 1694-2493 Online version: 1694-2116

IJLTER International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research (IJLTER) Vol. 20, No. 7

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Society for Research and Knowledge Management

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.

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

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 July 2021 Issue

VOLUME 20

NUMBER 7

July 2021

Table of Contents Optimizing Online Learning Experiences and Outcomes for Hearing-Impaired Art and Design Students .............. 1 Sama'a Al Hashimi, Dalal Alsindi Science Graduate Employability and English Language Proficiency: Findings from a Malaysian Public University ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 23 Wendy Hiew, Rose Patsy Tibok, Wirawati Ngui, Darmesah Gabda, Qhatrunnada Suyansah Transformation of Assessment of the Pre-Service Life Sciences Teachers: Issues of Curriculum Development in Education and Training in South Africa ............................................................................................................................ 44 Mamsi Ethel Khuzwayo, Kwanele Booi Factors Affecting the Achievement of Twelve-Year Basic Students in Mathematics and Science in Rwanda ......... 61 Aimable Sibomana, Christian Bob Nicol, Wenceslas Nzabalirwa, Florien Nsanganwimana, Claude Karegeya, John Sentongo The RoboSTE[M] Project: Using Robotics Learning in a STEM Education Model to Help Prospective Mathematics Teachers Promote Students’ 21st-CenturySkills ............................................................................................................... 85 Adi Nur Cahyono, Mohammad Asikin, Muhammad Zuhair Zahid, Pasttita Ayu Laksmiwati, Miftahudin Investigating Cascade Training of CEFR-Aligned Standards-Based English Language Curriculum (SBELC) in Rural Malaysia .................................................................................................................................................................... 100 J. W. Ong, A. J. Ahmad Tajuddin Untrained Foreign English Educators in Japan: A Discourse on Government Education Initiative and Perceptions from Japanese Teacher's on Efficacy in the Classroom .................................................................................................. 118 Gregory Paul Chindemi Instructors’ Readiness to Teach Online: A Review of TPACK Standards in Online Professional Development Programmes in Higher Education .................................................................................................................................... 135 Amjaad Mujallid The Application of the Jigsaw Cooperative Learning Technique in Mapping Concepts of Nuclear Radiation in Diagnosis and Therapy ...................................................................................................................................................... 151 Abdallah Ahmad Atallah, Mohamed Fahmi Ben Hassen, Abdallah Bashir Musa, Mohamed Redha Bougherira, Najla Frih Application of the Case Study Method in Medical Education ...................................................................................... 175 Oleksandr Y. Korniichuk, Leonid M. Bambyzov, Valentyna M. Kosenko, Anastasiya M. Spaska, Yaroslav V. Tsekhmister Utilizing the Expectancy Value Theory to Predict Lecturer Motivation to Apply Culturally Responsive Pedagogies in Universities in Botswana .......................................................................................................................... 192 Norman Rudhumbu, Elize du Plessis The Brighter Side of Home Schooling for Children with Special Needs: Learning from COVID-19 Lockdown... 210 Rosna Vincent, R. Nalini, K. Krishnakumar

Examining Mathematical Problem-Solving Beliefs among Rwandan Secondary School Teachers ......................... 227 Aline Dorimana, Alphonse Uworwabayeho, Gabriel Nizeyimana Investigation of Most Commonly Used Instructional Methods in Teaching Chemistry: Rwandan Lower Secondary Schools .............................................................................................................................................................. 241 Jeannette Musengimana, Edwige Kampire, Philothere Ntawiha Higher Education Students’ Challenges on Flexible Online Learning Implementation in the Rural Areas: A Philippine Case ................................................................................................................................................................... 262 Thessalou E. Gocotano, Mae Anthoneth L. Jerodiaz, Jenny Claire P. Banggay, Harold B. Rey Nasibog, Marivel B. Go Differences in Factors Responsible for Lateness at School by Male and Female Learners in Selected Schools in Soshanguve Township, South Africa ............................................................................................................................... 291 Mary Motolani Olowoyo, Sam Ramaila, Lydia Mavuru The Use of a Synthesis Approach to Develop a Model for Training Teachers’ Competencies in Distance Teaching ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 308 Oleksiy Samoуlenko, Olha Snitovska, Olha Fedchyshyn, Oksana Romanyshyna, Olena Kravchenko How Pre-service Teachers Learn Microbiology using Lecture, Animations, and Laboratory Activities at one Private University in Rwanda ........................................................................................................................................... 328 Josiane Mukagihana, Florien Nsanganwimana, Catherin M. Aurah Primary School Science Teachers’ Creativity and Practice in Malaysia....................................................................... 346 Norazilawati Abdullah, Zainun Mustafa, Mahizer Hamzah, Amir Hasan Dawi, Mazlina Che Mustafa, Lilia Halim, Salmiza Saleh, Che Siti Hajar Aisyah Che Abdul Khalil

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 1-22, July 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.7.1 Received Apr 29, 2021; Revised Jul 22, 2021; Accepted Jul 31, 2021

Optimizing Online Learning Experiences and Outcomes for Hearing-Impaired Art and Design Students Sama’a Al Hashimi University of Bahrain, Sakheer – Kingdom of Bahrain http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4355-8699 Dalal Alsindi University of Bahrain, Sakheer – Kingdom of Bahrain http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9404-0123 Abstract. As many universities transitioned to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, the distance learning environment presented various accessibility challenges for deaf and hard-of-hearing students (DHH). In art and design higher education programs, the transition from face-to-face learning to virtual learning is difficult for students in general, and even more difficult for students with hearing loss. Art and design educators have explored approaches to effectively compensate for these challenges and optimize the distance learning experiences for DHH students. This paper aims to investigate these challenges and attempts to explore the international best practices in distance education for deaf learners. Action research is used as a methodology to guide the professional development of art and design educators on ways to refine and hone their online teaching approaches. Ten DHH students (5 Males and 5 females) participated in the action research for the needs of this study. Their challenges, experiences, preferences, needs and artworks were analysed in an attempt to optimize their online learning outcomes and provide recommendations that will lead to the implementation of effective teaching strategies and the design of appropriate e-learning environments for hearing-impaired art and design students. The preliminary findings of the study revealed that the main challenges DHH students and their instructors faced were communication barriers and misinterpretation of tasks, which led to difficulties in fulfilling the course intended outcomes. The recommendations formulated on the basis of the findings are to adapt the intended learning outcomes and teaching approaches to optimize the learning experiences of the DHH students. Keywords: hearing-impaired; education; art; design; distance education

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

1. Introduction When the COVID-19 pandemic started, many industries and fields simply stopped functioning, while other fields flourished. Different sectors were forced to find solutions to the problems encountered caused by the pandemic. The effect of virtual education on students of all ages and abilities initiated challenges and difficulties that had to be addressed then and there. Thereby, teachers and instructors are encouraged to think creatively and find effective ways to deliver information. These challenges also opened doors to new methods that had to be adopted and tested to optimize education. Online learning support, accessibility, efficiency, evaluation, practical and theoretical approaches have taken part in the everyday life of instructors and teachers around the world. The pandemic can now be seen in a different light; a light of problem solving, where individuals are forced to find ways to deliver their work efficiently through the virtual world of possibility. The challenges that art and design instructors at the University of Bahrain faced and the problem-solving techniques they attempted to employ were vital and came into play strongly and specifically with teaching the hearing-impaired students virtually. The first section in this study contains the introduction. The second section explores the most effective international distance education practices and teaching strategies used to provide online art and design education for the deaf and hard of hearing (DHH). The third section evaluates and analyses hearingimpaired students’ and their teachers’ challenges and experiences of distance education in art and design. It concentrates on identifying the academic challenges of ten deaf and hard-of-hearing students who are enrolled in the BA Art and Design program at The University of Bahrain. It involves analysis of indepth interviews and action research conducted with two professors who have taught DHH students within the arts and design specialization at the University of Bahrain. It also analyses focus groups conducted by the researchers with the hearing-impaired students in order to investigate the challenges they encountered while teaching art and design content and skills remotely to these students, and to allow educators to benefit from their experiences and recommended approaches to overcome these challenges. 1.1 Research Problem & Significance

There is a range of research papers that explored and recommended teaching strategies and alternative forms of assessment that can assist hearing-impaired students to learn through online learning platforms (Alsadoon & Turkestani, 2020; Farhan & Razmak, 2020; Krishnan et al., 2020; Mantzikos & Lapp, 2020; Mingsiritham & Chanyawudhiwam, 2020). These papers acknowledged that hearing impairment hinders students’ ability to perceive information in the learning management systems and “requires the commitment of all stakeholders including researchers, designers, developers and academic decision makers to address these abilities.” (Farhan & Razmak, 2020, p.2). However, there are some specific strategies that are useful in teaching students with hearing impairments who are enrolled in art and design programs in higher education institutions, and which are yet to be explored and identified in literature. These art and design

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students and their educators may face additional challenges related to their discipline, which requires dealing with more advanced technical requirements, design considerations, and artistic needs. Therefore, there is a persistent need to understand these hearing-impaired students’ and their educators’ challenges, requirements, and preferences in order to improve their learning experiences through incorporating their needs within learning management systems. Understanding these needs, preferences and challenges will allow the designers and developers of learning management systems and e-learning platforms to embed features that will facilitate the online learning experience for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. According to Farhan & Razmak (2020), designers and developers of e-learning systems must make it a priority to address the needs of hearing-impaired students in their interface and human computer interaction (HCI) designs. In this research paper, which is based on a qualitative methodological approach, we aim to study the difficulties, challenges, and new techniques that facilitate effective methods for teaching the hearing-impaired virtually. The hypothesis raised in this study focuses on investigating the challenges of virtual learning faced by art and design DHH students and their instructors, and the effectiveness of the implemented approaches by instructors to optimise the students’ learning experience. The objective is to better understand the difficulties and challenges of learning art and design through online tools used during the pandemic. The following research questions and objectives were used to guide the study in order to achieve its aim. 1.2 Research Questions 1. What are the distance-learning-related challenges faced by deaf and hard of hearing art and design students, and by their educators? 2. What are the most effective practices and strategies that art and design educators can employ to teach art and design hearing-impaired students remotely? 1.3 Research Objectives 1. To investigate the challenges faced by hearing-impaired art and design students while learning art and design online 2. To investigate the challenges faced by art and design educators while attempting to enhance and facilitate their hearing-impaired students’ online learning experiences 3. To identify and recommend the most effective practices and strategies to enhance the virtual learning experience among hearing-impaired students in art and design distance education contexts 4. To understand hearing-impaired art and design students’ needs and preferences in order to provide information that will help HCI designers design and develop an e-learning platform that is adapted to their preferences and needs.

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2. Theoretical Overview Recently, the need for effective strategies to present educational content virtually through learning management systems (LMS) emerged unexpectedly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The need to explore, learn, and apply alternative teaching and learning approaches has created further challenges for hearingimpaired students and for their instructors. The common challenges that educators generally face during online education include anxiety due to technical problems, the lack of enough time for professional development, the time required to design and manage online courses and to upload their content, and the difficulty in adapting to students’ varying levels in using technology (Bower, Dalgarno, Kennedy, Lee, & Kenney, 2015; Rasheed, Kamsin, & Abdullah, 2020 as cited in Alsadoon & Turkestani, 2020). These challenges are exacerbated when teaching art and design remotely to hearing-impaired students, who already may have experienced challenges even with face-to-face education. Ibrahim et al. (2016) stated that although hearing-impaired students have a high tendency to study graphic design, they usually face the following challenges; “Among them are the inefficient technology used for learning, negligence of deaf students’ learning styles, and the sign language interpreters were not experts in graphic design field. Furthermore, a number of terms cannot be translated and thus led to misunderstanding. In addition, the available learning modules used were not tailored to the needs of deaf students” (Ibrahim et al., 2016, p.3) The study conducted by Ibrahim et al. (2016) also revealed that the majority of deaf students who were studying graphic design in Malaysia reported that the most challenging courses are animation, illustration and web design, respectively. McKeown & McKeown (2019) identified three main challenges that DHH students face with online learning. These includes barriers related to accessing the learning management system, course materials, and communication. A study by Alsadoon and Turkestani (2020) identified several challenges which might limit the use of a virtual classroom for hearing-impaired students. The study also identified some obstacles that educators faced while teaching these students remotely, during the Covid-19 pandemic. These obstacles included technical issues, difficulty in time-management, long translation time, “lack of simultaneous translation”, and students’ poor writing skills, which hindered their ability to clearly communicate in writing through the chat function in the LMS. In order to overcome some of these challenges, the 11 educators who participated in the study applied a number of approaches. One of the approaches involved sending the learning materials to the students as well as to the translators in advance before the virtual lecture. Another approach was to ensure that educators and students undergo training in using e-leaning platforms and LMS. The researchers also suggested that visual clues, such as looking confused or uncertain, help educators improve their teaching approaches. Another suggestion was to record the session for the translator, who can accurately and unhurriedly translate it for viewing at a time that was convenient for the students. It is also useful to show the students “content and information using images and videos with subtitles paired with sign language than word-based information”

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(Pappas et al., 2018; Alsadoon & Turkestani, 2020, p.4). The researchers also recommended sending both students and translators the learning materials before the virtual lecture in order to allow them to familiarize themselves with the content and understand it easily. The existing learning management systems in higher educational institutions require the integration of more visual and hearing assistive technology (AT) features that would allow students to study according to their unique abilities, needs, and preferences (Ibrahim et al., 2020). These systems should also easily allow users to customize the language of the interface because studies revealed that “DHH students have weaker English language skills than their hearing peers” (McClive et al., 2020, p.2). Unfortunately, many software HCI developers and designers are not aware of these needs and preferences (Farhan & Razmak, 2020). Additionally, these developers and designers must also consider the perspective of educators, not merely for their hearing-impaired students (Farhan & Razmak, 2020). Such special considerations are necessary and will help these students conduct tasks through interfaces that support their requirements. Therefore, Krishnan et al. (2020) think that it is important to modify and customise teaching practices and approaches to cater to them. They also believe that “these students may require educational programs customised to their unique needs during the pandemic” (Krishnan et al., 2020, p.109). Educators also need “to produce multimedia with greater content customization” (Baroni & Lazzari, 2020, p.175). In an attempt to apply some of these customised considerations, Farhan & Razmak (2020) developed a new e-learning interface with interactional features for use by students with hearing and visual impairments. The interface allows students to “place the cursor over content for it to be read aloud and/or to provide sign language.” (Farhan & Razmak, 2020, p.3). In Egypt, a gamified based elearning system was proposed by Shohieb (2019) for teaching DHH students. The system contains an avatar that interacts with students in Arabic Sign Language (ArSL). Shohieb (2019) believes that game-based learning may facilitate learning and communication for DHH students. On the other hand, Bianchini et al. (2019) developed SWift (SignWriting improved fast transcriber), which is a web-based tool and transcriber that provides documents in a written form of any SignLanguage(SLs) transcription.In Bahrain, Fatima Al-Dhaen developed a program that converts scripts from SMS, E-mail or voice messages to sign language codes (Salman, 2017). Pappas et al. (2018) recommended that when designing e-learning systems for hearing-impaired people, it is important to consider the following recommendations and guidelines; replace the audio with visual tools like text, subtitles, pictures, and sign language; develop for hearing-impaired students an effective and comprehensible graphical interface that includes educational activities in a sequential manner; minimize the use of text as individuals who have a speech and hearing impairment exhibit clear limitations in reading comprehension. Many studies demonstrate that deaf individuals who communicate using sign language find it much easier to understand the meaning of a picture as opposed to written word (Pappas et al., 2018). Designers and developers of digital learning systems that cater to deaf and hearing impaired students must take into consideration these stated facts in

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addition to the directives of the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium in order for the final product to be of optimal utility to the target audience (Pappas et al., 2018). They also recommended the use of examples, practice queries and feedback as well as short and wide-ranging micro-modules to convey educational content to hearing-impaired students. According to them, one of the key takeaways when developing educational content for this unique target audience is to minimize the use of text and rely on the key word strategy to attract their attention. Additional aspects to consider include hearing-impaired e-learning preferences. Pappas et al. (2018) suggested that hearing-impaired users prefer to use smartphones in comparison to computers or tablets. The study also indicated that they mostly prefer to engage on social media when they are online. They also prefer to use “e-mail and read news and blogs, whereas more rarely they spend time on e-learning activities, e-banking, entertainment and e-government services” (Pappas et al., 2018, p. 10). Additional challenges and barriers that hearing-impaired students and their instructors face during e-learning were identified by Farhan & Razmak (2020). These include limited access to high speed internet, the time and financial and technical support needed to develop e-learning systems and content, educators’ lack of technological skills and their resistance to the use of technology. To overcome these challenges, Farhan & Razmak (2020) recommended that universities provide the IT infrastructure (Internet speed, hardware and software) required by educators and students to facilitate their use of e-learning platforms. They also recommended that universities offer faculty members financial incentives and psychological motivation. One of the challenges identified by Krishnan et al. (2020) is that hearing devices do not accurately detect sounds during online lessons. They also found that lip reading through the screen requires more focus and effort. Adding captions, sign language overlays, and subtitles to videos can help minimize some of the challenges. There are online tools and platforms that allow educators to add subtitles to videos such as Kapwing, YouTube, and Veed. Additional useful resources and applications that can support distance learning for students with hearing impairments are listed and described in Table 1. Table 1: Examples of useful resources and applications that can support distance learning for students with hearing impairments Tools/Applications/ Resources

Description

Link

Kapwing

Kapwing is a content creation tool that allows instructors to create https://www.kapwing.com/ and edit videos. It is also a digital storytelling online platform.

Veed

Veed allows users to autogenerate subtitles or add subtitles to their https://www.veed.io/auto-subtitle video tutorials.

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Tools/Applications/ Resources

Description

Link https://support.google.com/meet/a nswer/9300310

Google Meet

Google Meet allows instructors to enable captioning while teaching

Google Slides

https://support.google.com/docs/a Google Slides allows instructors to nswer/9109474?hl=en enable captioning while teaching

Screencast-O-Matic allows instructors to record their presentations for students to watch on their own. This helps https://screencast-o-matic.com/ Screencast-O-Matic instructors allocate more time for interaction during the online lecture.

Screencastify

Screencastify is a screen recorder. It is an extension of Google Chrome that allows instructors to record video of their screens or with their webcams. This is a guide to Google’s built-

G-Suite in accessibility settings and Accessibility Guide features

This is a guide to Chrome’s built-

Chromebook in accessibility settings and Accessibility Guide features

Teach from Anywhere

This is a “Google-led initiative” that gives educators tips on elearning, and allows them to Join Educator Groups to share their experiences with others.

https://www.screencastify.com/

https://support.google.com/a/answ er/1631886?hl=en

https://edu.google.com/whygoogle/accessibility/chromebooksaccessibility/?modal_active=none

https://teachfromanywhere.google/i ntl/en/#for-teachers

Baroni and Lazzari (2020) noted that in one of Italy's educational establishments, instructors were given tutorials, guides and training and were then asked to create interactive multimedia content while adhering to the following standards and considerations: • Using all available messaging methods, as per the standards of multimedia learning; • Including short exercises based on sound and video (no more than 8 minutes), which are clear, comprehensive, and with sufficient emphasis on messaging, as per current suggestions on the design of distance learning by UNESCO (2020); • Educators have to be observed on video to clarify the nature of the assignment and breakdown complex ideas, in order to escape the need for physical interactions with students;

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•

Using captions and sign language to ensure comprehensive reach allows for the avoidance of independent solutions for deaf students as indicated by the Universal Design for Learning(UDL) approach, which requires: numerous methods for portraying the educational content by instructors, numerous methods of articulation by students, and numerous methods to capture the attention of students; Ensuring comprehensive reach depends on having digital content (either proprietary of from other online sources) that has sufficiently coherent verbal content without background music, and with captions; Having the proper focus on the face (especially the eyes and mouth to ease lip reading and detection of expressions) or the rest of the body (from the head to abdomen) where signs are explained;

Osman (2020) indicated that special needs students benefited from an integration program covering several specializations in Sultan Qaboos University. The university was very focused on the needs of this challenged group of students. These students could utilize the services of the Department of Students with Disabilities which offers numerous assistive technologies such as Nvda screen reader, Index Everest v5, Natiq Reader, Braille display, OCR software for PDF reading, Text to speech software, etc (Osman, 2020). Furthermore, the university requested all instructors of online courses which are available to students with special needs to modify the educational material. According to Osman (2020), some of the course design guidelines that were communicated to the instructors were as follows: • Use PDF files which were converted from word documents, and refrain from using PDF files which are scans of a printed document. • Offer a text-based explanation for any images of graphical elements. • Include sub-titles and captions if the course material includes videos. Despite all the above-discussed literature review, there is still lack of research conducted on the challenges faced by hearing impaired students who study art and design in higher education institutions through distance learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. The next section explores these challenges, and discusses possible approaches to overcome them.

3. Research Methodology In order to achieve the objectives of this study, observation, in-depth interviews with academics and focus group discussions with hearing-impaired students at The University of Bahrain were used to collect data for this study. This investigation attempts to explore and recommend effective and innovative approaches to teach art and design hearing-impaired students remotely. The methodological basis of our research is qualitative action research as it is considered an inquiry approach appropriate for describing, analysing, and observing social behaviors (Caupayan & Pogoy, 2021).

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Sample Size and Participants A total of ten students (five males and five females) participated in this qualitative study. The students were enrolled in the BA Art and Design Program at The University of Bahrain. This sample was purposively selected because they were the first batch of DHH students in the Art and Design program. The students have completed two years of orientation and were in their first year of the bachelor program when they participated in this study. Their ages ranged between 24-26 years. All the participants were completely deaf and mute and their primary mode of communication was the Arabic Sign Language (ASL). The data used in this study was collected through interviewing, observing, and receiving weekly progress reports from two art and design lecturers who taught deaf and heard-of-hearing students remotely. In addition, ten hearing-impaired students (five females and five males) and a translator were also interviewed. Thus, data triangulation was applied through the employment of different data collection instruments in order to validate the qualitative analysis. Prior to joining the University of Bahrain (UOB), the students were integrated into public schools by the Ministry of Education. They completed their secondary studies at the end of the 2017-2018 academic year and started their university studies at the University of Bahrain at the Ministry's expense. Data Collection Instruments This action research was conducted at the University of Bahrain throughout the second academic semester of 2019–2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data was mainly collected through an action research-based study and observation of the academic performance and experiences of ten art and design hearingimpaired students (five females and five males) and their instructors, and an analysis of the challenges that the students and their instructors faced. Data was also collected through interviewing two instructors who teach hearing-impaired students who are enrolled in the BA Art and Design program, in addition to an interview with the interpreter. As part of the action research, both educators provided weekly input through writing a short report about the progress of students after each lecture. The first instructor is specialized in Ceramics and Fine Arts, and she taught them a course titled “Fundamentals of Design”. The second instructor is specialized in Fine Arts and Art Psychotherapy, and she taught them a course titled “Drawing Techniques”. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the ten hearing-impaired students. The interviews were virtually conducted through Microsoft Teams and WhatsApp by a senior hearingimpaired Art and Design student, who is in her last year in the program. They were then transcribed by her and other students enrolled in the program. Thus, the study is mainly a reflective practice, which involved conducting systematic enquiries in order to help the researchers and their colleagues in addition to art and design instructors in general improve their own academic practices. The interviews with the instructors revolved around three main themes including their experiences in teaching the hearing-impaired students virtually, the obstacles they faced, and their insights on approaches that could be applied to improve the e-learning environment and online teaching strategies for art and design hearing-impaired students. On the other hand, the interviews with the students entailed 12 questions revolving around the following topics:

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• • • • • • • • •

The experience of learning art and design from a distance The main challenges and difficulties faced during distance learning The pros and cons of learning art and design remote remotely The teaching strategies and assessment methods that the educators employed and that students considered effective in teaching art and design remotely The difficulties in communicating with the instructors remotely Their views on the translator's performance in the online learning environment Their perceptions and preferences in relation to the experience of traditional learning versus distance learning The digital tools and applications that students considered most effective in helping them learn art and design remotely Their insights and suggestions in terms of what the university should provide in order to facilitate and improve their distance learning experience

4. Data Analysis and Discussion The two instructors who participated in this research were asked about the main challenges they faced during distance learning with deaf and hard-of-hearing students. In addition to the challenges, the interview questions focused on the efficacy of virtual/remote learning, their concerns in relation to the delivery of the theoretical and practical content of their courses, the pedagogical strategies they employed, and their proposed modifications and recommendations to make the learning experience more effective and successful. The ten hearing-impaired students’ experiences, challenges and needs were also addressed through the interviews conducted by the senior students and through an analysis of the two instructors’ weekly reports. The main challenges that both parties faced included communication barriers, misinterpretation of tasks, and difficulty in fulfilling the course intended outcomes. The DHH students in both courses highlighted the following important challenges: • Difficulty in understanding the instructors’ written feedback regarding assessments • Difficulty in understanding projects that rely on creative thinking in terms of instructions and requirements • Difficulty in fulfilling and understanding theoretical concepts and how to apply them practically in a project or an assignment • Difficulty in written communication and projects that require research • Difficulty in fulfilling tasks that require persuasion and communication skills Thus, the main challenges faced by the DHH students mainly revolved around theoretical and practical information that relied heavily on artistic terminology and research which affected their performance. The above-mentioned challenges became clear when looking at the average results of grades which were assessed against the course intended learning outcomes (CILOs) in Tables 1 and 2, and mapped to the following intended learning outcomes (PILOs) of the BA Art and Design program:

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a. Produce creative and innovative artworks that reflect influential social issues and combine technical and artistic skills considering the principles and elements of design, color theory, and aesthetic values as applicable b. Create effective and influential artworks that employ the contemporary technology needed in the labour market c. Gain adequate knowledge of artistic research methods in the field of arts and design through conducting research and studies that reflect students’ understanding of the economic, historical, political, artistic, and philosophical concepts and other aspects of humanity d. Gain professional and functional expertise that qualifies students to work and pursue postgraduate studies in the fields of art and design and related topics e. Acquire communication and persuasion skills for presenting artistic ideas and achievements in contexts of collective criticism and commenting on artistic projects both in theory and in practice f. Acquire the skills of self-development and independent learning in the fields of art and design to achieve awareness of the importance of lifelong learning g. Demonstrate adequate awareness of the ethics of artistic work and a full understanding of the cultural, social, legal, and psychological values that characterize society Table 1: The percentage of fulfillment of Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs) of Drawing Techniques 1 mapped with the Program Intended Outcomes (PILOs) CILOs CILO 1

CILO 2

CILO 3

CILO 4

CILO 5

CILO 6

To acknowledge the various media of drawing and their practical use To understand the theoretical and practical principles of drawing through the media and themes included in the course To apply the fundamentals of shadow and light in artworks by using pencils, charcoal, and ink To create drawings that are based on the accuracy of details To know the basics of human anatomy proportions in traditional art by using a variety of pencils To analyze artworks verbally in an efficient and constructive manner

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PILOs A

79%

69%

Table 1 shows the percentages of fulfilment of CILOs of the Drawing Techniques 1 course taught by Instructor A. The results reveal that the intended learning outcomes which focus on theoretical approaches in columns B and E are the most challenging to DHH students. The PILO in column B relies on creating influential artworks which entail research and presentations, and the PILO in column E also relies on presentations but mostly on communication and persuasion skills. The nonapplicable (NA) cells shown in the table indicate that the students were not assessed on certain learning outcomes because of their inability to communicate verbally and present coherently written research and critiques due to their hearing-impairment. The table clearly shows the challenges faced by DHH students and thereby communicates their needs, which could be met by modifying the course intended learning outcomes to suit their needs, and possibly by creating a modified version of the program intended learning outcomes and project specifications for DHH students. Table 2: The percentage of fulfillment of Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs) of Fundamentals of Design mapped with the Program Intended Outcomes (PILOs) CILOs

CILO 1

CILO 2

CILO 3

CILO 4

CILO 5

To create designs that incorporate and apply principles and elements of design To understand important design terminology and principles, and concepts of painting and visual communication To contribute in solving societal issues by employing the elements and principles of composing artistic works To understand, analyze and critique artistic works To distinguish between the various materials and techniques that are used in design

PILOs A

60%

54%

36%

45%

60%

Table 2 shows the results of the theoretical course that was taught by Instructor B. The results clearly express the difficulty in fulfilling most of the course intended learning outcomes. The DHH students’ comprehension, response, and interaction were hindered as a result of the difficulties and complications that they faced in achieving tasks that required writing and reading skills. This is especially exacerbated when the subject taught is a theoretical one. The CILOs and PILOs that are not applicable (NA) highlight the written communication challenges faced by DHH students, therefore requiring the instructor to omit certain

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assessments to better suit their needs and capabilities. The cells that indicate low percentages show that the instructor did assign tasks that match the learning intended outcomes, but the results show that the average grades received by the students were low and therefore those specific intended learning outcomes of the course and program were not met. Accordingly, in trying to optimize the learning experiences of DHH students, educators must focus on finding ways to resolve the theoretical and communication challenges faced by the students. According to Instructors A & B it is important to emphasize that miscommunication is the foundation of most of the challenges they both faced. The challenges discussed will be followed by recommendations focusing on optimizing distance learning for DHH students, especially in art and design learning contexts. These challenges pertain to the following: • The instructor’s possible lack of understanding of the nature of sign language to deliver the needed in terms of project requirements through the interpreter; • The instructors’ difficulty in understanding the questions asked by the students through the interpreters’ explanation regarding their assessments; • The communication barrier and inability to understand the scope of an art project, which affects the student’s motivation and concentration; • The interpreter’s possible lack of understanding of the terminology and concepts in art and design content; The delivery of information related to courses, assignments and projects was a major obstacle faced by Instructors A & B. It was noticeable that the DHH students did not fully comprehend the information and project specifications explained during lectures, which was caused by misinterpretation between the instructors and the interpreter through virtual learning. Having an interpreter who is aware of artistic and graphic terminology and applications is a necessary component to delivering the right information to an art and design DHH student. It is vital because the student’s understanding and interaction with the subject is interconnected with the information given by the interpreter. Therefore, the process of e-learning to these students is dependent on the clarity and connection of a three-way communication cycle between the interpreter, the instructor and the student. The first challenge revolves around the importance of understanding the major components in sign language by the instructor. The initial step to this understanding would be to acknowledge the full definition of the language. Sign language is defined as: “any various formal languages employing a system of hand gestures and their placement relative to the upper body, facial expressions, body postures, and finger spelling especially for communication by and with deaf people.” (Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, 2021) The definition highlights an important aspect especially with virtual learning. The visibility of the interpreter’s upper body, the clarity of the webcam, and the pace of the interpreter’s gestures are all components that strongly affect the student’s understanding. Likewise, if the instructor is talking rapidly while the internet connection is bad, this would complicate the interpreter’s understanding, which

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in turn complicates the students’ learning. This is an important point as stated by Instructors A’s experience, where she had to remind the interpreter to fix the camera angle for upper body visibility to ensure the delivery and clarity of information to the students. It would be important for the instructor to slow down his/her language, and also modify instructions to be more descriptive, rather than concise. It is also important to note that there are several systems of deaf sign-languages that are employed in different parts of the world, such as the American Sign Language (ASL), the British sign language (BSL), and the Arabic Sign Language (ArSL). In this paper, the sign language involved is the Arabic Sign Language (ArSL). The ArSL was developed in 2004 by the Arab Ministers Social Affairs (CAMSA) to unify the MENA region with one distinctive sign-language to be understood in the region (Samir & Tolba, 2015). Another important aspect regarding the dynamics of deaf sign languages in general is to understand that it is a descriptive language. For example, instead of saying “create a drawing of the sunset with two warm colors”, it would be clearer to say, “with a pencil that is red, a pencil that is orange, draw the sun on a white paper”. This would also ease the interpreter’s explanation to the students. The second challenge is the difficulty faced by students in understanding the instructor’s written feedback regarding their artwork in general. In order to comprehend and analyse the dimensions of this challenge, it is important to understand that writing is considered as a second language to the deaf student, perhaps even a foreign one. It is also vital to understand that the student’s ability to read and write varies considerably from one student to another. One student may have better skills in writing and reading, while the other does not. These aspects are crucial for the instructor to be aware of as they would be able to feed into the effectiveness of delivering information whether by writing or via the interpreter. To explain this challenge in a clear manner, one might need to focus on the student’s style of communicating via typed words/text. This would indicate their comprehension level in reading and writing. This is a crucial matter not only to the visual arts but to education in general in terms of inclusion and clarity of communication. Instructor B stated that it is important to prolong the explanation in lectures, especially when the student has difficulty in following or understanding the interpreter. Additionally, Instructor B, who taught a theoretical course, expressed the noticeable lack of response and interaction caused by the language barrier, which consequently hindered the dynamics of teaching. The instructor noticed that the students were not able to understand the material that was interpreted by the translator. In such cases, it would be beneficial for the instructor to simplify the information of the lecture and give present it to the interpreter. Since sign language is a descriptive language, as mentioned earlier, the interpreter would need to understand the information before trying to translate it to students. This also connects with the importance of changing the written language from “normal” to descriptive to ensure that the students understand it. Writing in a descriptive manner also proved to be

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beneficial when it was paired with breaking down sentences to a basic level without using pronoun or terms that might need translation. This would also help the instructor to deliver information that would instigate and motivate the students via ease of communication to perhaps satisfy the requirements of various art and design projects or assignments. Furthermore, Instructor A suggested the need for instructors who teach deaf and hard-of-hearing students to be familiar with sign language. This suggestion, she claims, would minimize the miscommunication and the challenges mentioned. Instructor B agrees with this suggestion but emphasizes the necessity for students to have reading and writing skills to fully comprehend and be integrated into every aspect of the course in general. She also highlights the necessity of the interpreter’s understanding of the contents of the lecture beforehand to minimize miscommunication. These suggestions are important to ensure the students’ full grasp of the course, and to minimize their frustration. Both instructors also stressed the importance of patience when communicating to the students in terms of messages on platforms like Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, and Blackboard. This recommendation was based on the instructors’ experience as they both noticed that students continuously need to ask questions. According to the instructors, this is a factor that is important to focus on, as it will eliminate frustration and give the students a sense of safety in being understood by the instructor. Furthermore, Instructor B highlighted the importance of avoiding long lectures, and replacing the extensive detail in verbal communication with clear, basic, and descriptive communication. It is useful to note that the art and design studio courses usually involve long lecture hours due to their practice-based nature. This was an aspect that was raised by Instructor B who suggested dividing the one lecture per week into two shorter lectures, which would benefit the students in comprehension, motivation, and productivity. Considering the aforementioned challenges, it is important to understand that the main difficulty is the language or communication barrier. These challenges were discussed in meetings and reports between the instructors teaching hearingimpaired students in the art and design course. Instructors agreed that the motivation of the students exists, however the hinderance is caused by the interpreter’s lack of understanding art and design terminology and the detailed practical instructions and artistic as well as technical specifications of projects/assignments. This has been noticed by the students’ submissions of certain projects. Instructor B also noted that it would be of considerable benefit to the student, if the instructor would provide the information to be given to the student a day or two before. This will give the interpreter time to understand and inquire about aspects that require clarification. It is worthy to note that the students express a desire to further their development, both theoretically and practically, in the field of art and design. This was supported in the reports of both Instructor A & B, who noted that many of the students were highly motivated, while others needed encouragement and support in terms of understanding their strengths, weaknesses, and guidance for improvement. This again highlights the importance of creating a modified

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learning approach to the deaf and hard-of-hearing students which will enable them to successfully progress in the field of art and design. One of the crucial aspects mentioned by Instructor A, was the need for one-on-one meetings with the students to be able to measure the extent of the student’s understanding and level of motivation. This would require the instructor to give individual feedback to each student in an attempt to minimize frustration and de-motivation caused by the language or communication barrier. This proves to be beneficial only when the feedback consists of basic vocabulary that the student may understand. Giving feedback to art and design students remotely is generally not easy as it requires pointing at the design or artistic elements that require further improvement. This difficulty is augmented when the students are deaf and hard-of-hearing and when the instructors do not have a background in sign-language. That in itself further impedes the understanding of feedback given and received from both parties. Although there are tools that may be helpful such as the pointer and pen drawing feature in Blackboard for pointing at specific elements that the instructor displays on the screen, these tools usually disappear from the instructor’s interface when a student shares the screen. On the other hand, Instructor B noted the effect of the student’s interest in art and design as an important aspect that contributes to stimulating the potential creative capabilities of the student. This, in turn, sheds light on the enthusiasm and openness that students have toward the theoretical and practical aspects of the art and design course in the University of Bahrain. This also highlights the importance of creating a modified learning approach to deaf art and design students, where information would be correctly delivered to them by both the interpreter and the instructor. In light of this, it might be necessary for the instructor to have a background in sign language or pursue a sign language course. This would mainly be beneficial for the deaf students who would have the chance to be directly understood by the instructor and vice versa. Similarly, it is important for the interpreter to also have an art and design understanding in terminology, applications, theories, etc. In addition, regular meetings between art and design interpreters and instructors may yield new approaches through discussing experiences, challenges, learning strategies which could benefit the deaf students and optimize their learning. Instructors A & B were also asked to provide their input regarding their experience with the interpreter’s performance. They both highlighted the important active role of the interpreter in the teaching process. However, they recommended that the interpreter would add more value to the teaching process if he was knowledgeable about the field of art and design and its components and terminology to ensure the accurate delivery of information. Instructors mentioned that the communication between them and the interpreter mostly revolved around explaining certain terms or techniques, to ensure that the students understand the content. Yet, this did not seem to yield significant results with the students. Perhaps a more effective way to approach this challenge would be to set a compulsory workshop for the interpreters to be able to understand important terms and applications in the art and design field.

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An interview was conducted with the interpreter who highlighted the challenges that he faced regarding the accurate delivery of information and interpretation of the information that was at hand. This reverts to the importance of hiring an interpreter in the art and design field to be knowledgeable about the content and terminology of the designated course/module. The interpreter worked diligently in using descriptive interpretation from the instructor to ensure the accuracy and clear delivery to the students. More so, the interpreter stated the importance of preparing the artistic terminology and outlines by the instructor to be reviewed by him before the lecture in order to ensure accuracy in his interpretation. Furthermore, both instructors expressed their views about the effectiveness of distance learning platforms with deaf and hard-of-hearing students in the art and design field. Instructor A stated that the used platforms, which were mainly Microsoft Teams and WhatsApp, were effective in facilitating the communication between the instructor and the deaf students. Students were able to reach out to the instructors when certain matters regarding assignments, projects, and feedback arise. The students could easily submit their work through the mentioned platforms, and the instructor would respond via comments sent to the interpreter, who will in turn deliver the comments to the student. Nevertheless, both Instructors A and B noted that the primary challenge faced regarding the elearning platforms or learning management systems (LMS) was the students’ difficulty in submitting assignments. This may be considered a technical obstacle that could be solved by giving the students workshops prior to the commencement of the semester in order to clarify how to use these platforms and any other effective applications and resources especially for learning art and design content, and for sharing digital and graphic materials. In an attempt to overcome some of the above-mentioned challenges, the instructors explored some approaches. Instructor A & B were able to target the difficulties that students faced and have accordingly applied modifications to the assignments and projects. These modifications, both theoretical and practical, included simplifying the projects’ instructions and requirements, with supporting media (images, videos) that would be understood by the students via the interpreter (Figure 1). Instructor A was responsible for teaching a practice-based course titled “Drawing Techniques” to hearing-impaired students. The module aims to develop the students’ drawing skills and techniques through different themes. When the instructor assigns a project or an assignment, she would describe the theme, the art materials that needed to be used and the required size of the paper. Then she would usually give examples of the expected level. It was repeatedly noticed that the students copied or drew the examples given rather than creating their own composition in an art project. This reflects a severe gap in miscommunication between the instructor, the interpreter, and the student. This awareness clarifies the low creative performance that was depicted in the students’ work

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Figure 1: Instructions with images as an approach to clarify the assignment and the needed mediums

In an attempt to overcome the challenges related to students’ misunderstanding of the written instructions and guidelines for an assignment, Instructor A replaced the written instructions with images, and presented a video to show the process, step by step. The assignment was to crumble a piece of white paper and place it in front of them. This observational task also had limitations as to what kind of pencil to use, refraining from any blending tools, and focusing on drawing what is seen as observed. Figure 1 shows the visual instructions and materials to be used. The instructor also recorded a video that started with showing all the materials needed and the process. In addition, an example was provided by the instructor. The submission of most students was a copy of one of the two examples given as shown in Figure 2 (Drawing A); the instructions were not understood but the skill expresses motivation and focus. However, a few other students fulfilled the requirements of drawing from observation as shown in Figure 2 (Drawing B).

Figure 2: DrawingA represents incorrect crumpled paper assignment; The student copied the example.DrawingB represents correct crumpled paper assignment; The student did not copy the example

As mentioned by Instructor A, the assignments and projects were modified based on what she believed was the best approach to develop the students’ drawing

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technique. This approach involved asking them to draw from the references that were provided with each assignment. However, Instructor A noted that one assignment fulfilled the independent creative level, which was drawing a selfportrait by taking a “selfie” and drawing it. The project consisted of two parts; the first was for the student to take 4 different expressions of his/her eyes; the second a selfie with an unusual expression. These were to be drawing with pencil. The results were pleasing to the students as it was one of the projects that required skills beyond “copying”. The instructions for this project, were acted by Instructor A on camera, step by step. Two of the examples of the students’ results are shown in Figure 4 (Selfie) and Figure 5 (Eye Expression Studies).

Figure 1: Selfie of student (independent creative approach)

Figure 2: Eye expression drawings by one of the students (independent creative approach)

The instructors indicated that creative thinking, confidence in their work, and being able to challenge themselves are vital factors that can facilitate the students’

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learning experience. Both instructors stated that when they noticed the strength and motivation of the students in their ability to produce a drawing from a study of another image, or begin to think creatively, it affected and drove their own motivation and allowed students to challenge themselves in wanting to exert more effort in order to develop their skills. Most of the students perhaps did not get the right care or attention in terms of art and design education. So, it is the duty of their instructors and of any a nurturing educational organization to provide them with ways to reach their full potential.

6. Conclusion and Recommendations This paper reported on an investigation of the challenges educators who teach art and design deaf students at The University of Bahrain (UOB) faced while trying to teach them remotely. The findings of this study revealed that the main challenges revolved around miscommunication between the instructor and the interpreter, which affects the delivery of information to the student. Another main challenge was the interpreter’s lack of knowledge in the field of art and design, resulting in misinterpretation of the assignments that would hinder the student’s comprehension. The educators’ insights from the interviews, action research, and literature review have allowed for a more robust depiction of the most effective approaches and recommendations to teaching hearing-impaired students in a virtual art and design classroom. These recommendations include directing the students and their instructors to the concept of learning management and to the preparation in advance of the learning materials, sharing captioned materials before each lecture, encouraging self-learning among the students, and encouraging them to communicate and inquire about information. Additionally, instructors need to understand that sign language is descriptive, hence the need to modify the instructions given to the student in a basic manner that would be understood by the interpreter and the student. Furthermore, it is essential to brief the interpreter with art and design terminology to ensure the accuracy of interpretation. It is also important to continuously evaluate and improve educators’ approaches for implementing distance learning through obtaining the necessary feedback from students and their family members in order to overcome any challenges. In addition, existing learning management systems need to be upgraded to support the needs and preferences of deaf and hard-of-hearing students who in a virtual art and design classroom. It is important to add features on the existing LMS’ interfaces that are not available in traditional e-learning systems. All the aforementioned recommendations may enhance the educational outcomes for hearing impaired students and minimize the challenges faced by them and their instructors.

7. References Alsadoon, E., & Turkestani, M. (2020). Virtual classrooms for hearing-impaired students during the coronavirus covid-19 pandemic. Revista Romaneasca Pentru Educatie Multidimensionala, 12(1Sup2), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.18662/rrem/12.1sup2/240 Baroni, F., & Lazzari, M. (2020). Remote teaching for deaf pupils during the covid-19 emergency. In M. B. Nunes & P. Isaias (Eds.), Proceedings of the IADIS Conference on e-Learning 2020 (pp. 170-174). IADIS Press. http://www.iadisportal.org/digital-library/remote-teaching-for-deaf-pupilsduring-the-covid-19-emergency

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Bianchini, C. S., Borgia, F., & De Marsico, M. (2019) SWift-A SignWriting editor to bridge between deaf world and e-learning. IEEE 12th International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies 2012. (pp. 526-530). IEEE Press. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICALT.2012.235 Caupayan, J., & Pogoy, A. (2021). Unheard stories of deaf students in online learning: A phenomenological study. SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3856136 Farhan, W., & Razmak, J. (2020). A comparative study of an assistive e-learning interface among students with and without visual and hearing impairments. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/17483107.2020.1786733 Ibrahim, Z., Alias, N., & Nordin, A. B. (2016). Needs analysis for graphic design learning module based on technology & learning styles of deaf students. Cogent Education, 3(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2016.1178364 Krishnan, I. A, Mello, G., Kok, S. A, Sabapathy, S., Munian, S., Ching, H. S, Kandasamy, P., Ramalingam, S., Baskaran, S., & Kanan, V. (2020). Challenges faced by hearing impairment students during covid-19. Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 5(8), 106-116. https://doi.org/10.47405/mjssh.v5i8.472 Mantzikos, C., & Lappa, Ch. (2020). Difficulties and barriers in the education of deaf and hard of hearing individuals in the era of covid-19: The case of Greece-A viewpoint article. European Journal of Special Education Research, 6(3), 75-95. http://doi.org/10.46827/ejse.v6i3.3357 McClive, J., Mousley, K., Marchetti, C. E., Simkins, D., Blatto-Vallee, G., Jackson, J., & Foster, S. (2020). supplemental online learning tools (SOLTs) to support deaf and hard of hearing students in introductory statistics courses. Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities, 23(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.14448/jsesd.12.0009 McKeown, C., & McKeown J. (2019). Accessibility in online courses: Understanding the deaf learner. Association for Educational Communications & Technology, 63(5), 506513. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-019-00385-3 Merriam-Webster. (n.d.) Sign-language. In Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, Inc. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sign%20language Mingsiritham, K., & Chanyawudhiwam, G. (2020). Experiment of the prototype of online learning resources on massive open online course (mooc) to develop life skills in using technology media for hearing impaired students. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning. 15(3), 242–249. https://onlinejournals.org/index.php/i-jet/article/view/12059 Osman, M. E. (2020). Global impact of covid-19 on educationsystems: The emergency remote teaching at Sultan Qaboos University. Journal of Education for Teaching. 46(4), 463-471. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2020.1802583 Pappas, M., Demertzi, E., Papagerasimou, Y., Koukianakis, L., Kouremenos, D., Loukidis, L., & Athanasios, D. (2018). E-learning for deaf adults from a user-centered perspective. Education Sciences, 8(4), 1-15. http://doi.org/10.3390/educsci8040206 Rasheed, R. A., Kamsin, A., & Abdullah, N. A. (2020). Challenges in the online component of blended learning: A systematic review. Computers & Education, 144(2), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2019.103701 Salman, F. (2017, February 7). Fatima Al-Dhaen creates the message program (ASL PROMO) for the deaf and mute. Al Ayam Newpaper. https://www.alayam.com/ Samir, A., & Tolba, M. (2015). A proposed standardization for arabic sign language benchmark database. The Egyptian Journal of Language Engineering, 2(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.21608/ejle.2015.60253

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Shohieb, S. (2019). A proposed gamified e-learning framework for teaching mathematics to arab deaf students. Ubiquitous Learning: An International Journal, 12(1), 55-70. https://doi.org/10.18848/1835-9795/CGP/v12i01/55-70 UNESCO (2020, March 6). Covid-19: 10 recommendations to plan distance learning solutions. https://en.unesco.org/news/covid-19-10-recommendations-plan-distancelearning-solutions Weeden, E. M. (2018). Using web conferencing technology to foster inclusive course experiences for deaf and hard-of-hearing students [Doctoral dissertation, NSUWorks, College of Engineering and Computing]. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/gscis_etd/1032

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 23-43, July 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.7.2 Received May 23, 2021; Revised Jul 04, 2021; Accepted Jul 31, 2021

Science Graduate Employability and English Language Proficiency: Findings from a Malaysian Public University Wendy Hiew, Rose Patsy Tibok, Wirawati Ngui, Darmesah Gabda and Qhatrunnada Suyansah Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5245-4942 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5173-1629 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0204-6523 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1703-1626 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4579-3206 Abstract. This study investigated the relationship between the employability of science graduates of a public university in Malaysia and their English language proficiency. Utilising a quantitative research design, the study involved 3,918 graduates from the 2015, 2016 and 2017 graduating years. Using available secondary data, three variables were examined: the graduates’ employment status, their English Language course results, and their Malaysian University Entrance Test (MUET) results. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics, KolmogorovSmirnov test and Chi-square test. Findings showed the number of unemployed graduates was consistently greater than employed graduates although the unemployment percentage decreased progressively each year. No conclusive evidence however could be ascertained to suggest English Language proficiency as the main determinant affecting employability since the highest number of employed and unemployed graduates were from the Intermediate and Upper Intermediate language proficiency range. This points to other factors impacting employability which higher learning institutions may need to address in order to add value to their graduates’ future work credentials. Keywords: employment; English language proficiency; employability; science graduates; transversal skills

graduate

1. Introduction Every year, universities worldwide produce graduates from various disciplines of study focused on the common aim of securing jobs in their fields of specialisation. The requirements for employment have however expanded from being solely expertise dependent; while subject-specific knowledge and skills are ©Authors This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

still pertinent, current era employers now seek well-rounded candidates with additional attributes that would benefit the workplace. These attributes typically include positive work ethics and abilities that help graduates thrive in their work environment for the benefit of the organisation and the labour force. In addition, employers require graduates who are adaptable and capable of meeting the changing demands of the industry. Since graduates enter the labour force supposedly ready and well-equipped to respond to the demands of the economy, the responsibility for ensuring that these individuals are holistic and with marketdriven attributes is placed on higher learning institutions as the training ground for knowledge, skills and competency. Graduate employability is likewise a concern in Malaysia. In 2019, close to 60% of fresh graduates (first degree and above) failed to gain employment within a year of graduation (D’Silva, 2020). An annual report published by Bank Negara Malaysia revealed a considerable mismatch between supply and demand as the number of diploma and degree holders had increased annually from 2010 to 2017 with the figure surpassing the number of high-skilled workers that were being employed (Murugasu, Hakim & Yau, 2019). The report highlighted the need to create more high-skilled work positions as a means of addressing or mitigating this imbalance between supply and demand. The report also reiterated the need for universities to produce graduates who were well-trained in their specific disciplines and possessed supplementary attributes that would drive their career performance. In the attempt to determine the drivers for graduate employability in Malaysia, researchers have suggested various angles of investigation including applying a graduate employability model for assessing graduates’ readiness based on their generic skills (Singh, Thambusamy & Ramly, 2014), comparing the perception of employers and employees (Alias, Hamzah & Yahya, 2013), and determining graduates’ level of employability (Ahmad, Kenayathulla & Idris, 2017). Yet the actual factors that impact graduate employability have remained unanswered. 1.1 Research Rationale and Questions The responsibility placed on higher education systems in relation to the employability of graduates is a global phenomenon (Yorke, 2006). In Malaysia, higher education institutions (HEIs) are tasked with a similar obligation to “improve employability aspects among our graduates” (Ministry of Higher Education, 2007, p.11). In the National Higher Education Action Plan (2007-2010), graduate unemployment was partly attributed to “the lack of appreciation of the different roles that education and training play in employment” (Ministry of Higher Education, 2007, p.42). Renewed measures referred to as shifts were introduced in the Malaysia Education Blueprint (MBE) with the development of quality graduates placed as the first shift (Ministry of Education, 2015). In accordance to this, HEIs were expected to improve their existing curriculums and systems by collaborating with industry, promoting entrepreneurial opportunities for students and staff, and producing graduates who embody the desired attributes. These attributes, as specified in the MBE, were categorised as knowledge and skills (knowledge, thinking skills, and language proficiency) as

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well as ethics and morality (patriotism, leadership skills, ethics and spirituality). Among the myriad of factors, English language proficiency was suggested as a major contributing aspect to graduate employability in Malaysia. Malaysian researchers sought the viewpoints of employers and concluded that the ability to converse in English and to use the language in written form were perceived as the two most important graduate skills (Hamid, Islam, & Abd Manaf, 2014) with employers preferring candidates who demonstrated better language accuracy (Zainuddin, Pillai, Dumanig & Phillip, 2019). Based on this, this study therefore sought to ascertain whether there was indeed any significant relationship between the employability of science graduates and their English language proficiency within the context of a public university in Sabah, Malaysia. The research questions were: (i) Is there a significant relationship between the employability of the university’s science graduates and their Malaysian University English Test (MUET) results? (ii) Is there a significant relationship between the employability of the university’s science graduates and their university English Language course results?

2. Literature Review Employability is defined as “a set of achievements – skills, understandings and personal attributes - that makes graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations, which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy” (Yorke, 2006, p.8). This definition implies that employability consists a complex set of attributes rather than any singular reason. Various research examining employability factors have further categorised these into hard and soft skills. Hard skills, also known as technical skills, refer to specialised information and abilities that are discipline-related (Turner, 2004). Soft skills or generic skills on the other hand are those required to perform optimally in professional and social contexts. These skills may include language proficiency, communicative ability, personal qualities, critical literacy and critical thinking skills (Koo, 2007). In discussing the contribution of higher education to the labour market, Yorke (2006) noted that the development of generic skills such as communicating, collaborating and the managing of time were perceived as below par. A research by Ilhaamie, Rosmawani and Yusmini (2018) explored graduate employability through students’ ranking of the skills that contributed to employability. The study involved 300 respondents from three private and three public universities. The respondents indicated that being disciplined was the most important employability skill, followed by being responsible, and demonstrating positivity. A comparison between the private and public universities also revealed different perceptions of skills that contributed to employability. For example, more respondents from public universities considered the skills of communication, organisation, problem solving, decision making, creative and innovative thinking, and leadership as important. On the other hand, students from private universities were more prone to regard fluency in the English language, fluency in a third language, and analytical skills as important. As such, it could be inferred that public and private universities differ in their curriculum

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content emphasis. Another comparative study which attempted to ascertain the level of generic skills practised by economic students in a Malaysian university and an Indonesian university (Hadiyanto & Ibrahim, 2013) revealed that the Indonesian students rated their generic skills higher than their Malaysian counterparts. Researchers have also identified the attributes that employers generally seek in graduates. In terms of employability attributes, emphasis is placed on the ability to communicate (Hanapi & Nordin, 2014; Omar et al., 2012; Rasul et al., 2013). This implies that candidates are expected to be able to interact well within the organisation and when dealing with clients (Omar et al., 2012). Apart from verbal communication, employers also seek graduates with the ability to listen and interpret information as well as convey written information effectively (Rasul et al., 2013). In Hanapi and Nordin’s study (2014), communication was associated with fluency in the English language. English language proficiency was also highlighted as a primary employability factor with employers preferring candidates who demonstrated better language accuracy (Zainuddin, Pillai, Dumanig & Phillip, 2019). The importance of the English language for employability was further revealed in a study whereby employers ranked the ability to converse in English and the ability to use English in written form as the two most desired skills (Hamid, Islam & Abd Manaf, 2014). Other than the Malay language, fluency in English and Chinese provided an advantage to job candidates as it was a common requirement in electronic advertisements (Omar et al., 2012). Another significant employability attribute was teamwork as employers valued candidates who could collaborate with colleagues (Omar et al., 2012). This also meant being able to share information and resources with team members and getting along with others despite cultural and background differences (Rasul et al., 2013). In addition, problem solving was noted as an important skill which required employees to be creative (Hanapi & Nordin, 2014) and contribute ideas and solutions (Rasul et al., 2013). Employers also wanted employees with positive personal qualities with many of these related to work ethics such as honesty, responsibility, discipline and commitment (Omar et al., 2012; Rasul et al., 2013). Apart from employability attributes, technology literacy and technical skills were viewed as added values. Technology skills include the ability to use computer programmes as well as operate tools and machines (Rasul et al., 2013). Basic computer knowledge typically includes the use of Microsoft applications although certain positions such as engineers and programme analysts require candidates to demonstrate technical skills in more advanced software and systems (Omar et al., 2012). However, despite the importance of technical skills, a study involving lecturers and employers revealed that graduates lacked these (Hanapi & Nordin, 2014). In a study conducted by Lee, Ling, Lim and Cham (2019), fresh graduates similarly affirmed that they were ill-equipped with technology and technical skills upon working. The study explored the challenges of 18 accounting graduates who had graduated and secured employment in accounting-related departments within three years of graduation. The respondents expressed a lack of accounting knowledge and skills more

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specifically in matters related to audit, taxation and analysis of financial data. The respondents subsequently indicated that their education had not fully prepared them with the essential knowledge and skills to perform optimally at work. The revelation that fresh graduates felt ill-equipped at work is a significant indication of a gap between higher education and industry. Studies involving undergraduate students have also highlighted a lack of confidence among respondents in relation to hard skills. A study that investigated 425 final year undergraduate students’ self-perceived employability level revealed that the respondents ranked their academic attributes at fourth place behind teamwork, work and career resilience, and conscientiousness (Wong, Samsilah, Siaw, Tajularipin & Habibah, 2018). The findings indicated that although the students perceived themselves as possessing certain soft skills that were essential for employability, they appeared to be less confident about hard skills related to academic performance. A similar predicament was observed in a study of 171 final year engineering students at Universiti Malaysia Perlis (Yusof & Jamaluddin, 2015) whereby it was found that although a majority of the students (90.6%) identified enhancing employability skills as one of the proactive measures they had taken to secure employment, more than half (57.9%) indicated that they were insecure about their academic performance while almost half (49.1%) expressed a perceived personal lack of technical skills.

3. Methodology 3.1 Research Design This study employed a quantitative research design employing analysis of available secondary data. The samples consisted of 3,918 science graduates from the graduating years 2015, 2016 and 2017 of five science-based faculties of a public university in Sabah namely the Faculty of Science and Natural Resources, Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition, Faculty of Sustainable Agriculture, Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Computing and Informatics. Three variables were examined: the graduates’ employment status in relation to their parent faculties, their English language proficiency course results or English language advanced course results undertaken at the university, and their Malaysian University Entrance Test (MUET) results. 3.2 Data Source and Collection The data used for the analytical purpose in this study was secondary data extracted from the graduates’ university English Language course results, their MUET results, and the Graduate Tracer Study sourced from the university’s Career & Alumni Centre. Started in 2002, the Ministry of Higher Education conducts annual collection of graduate data by means of this Graduate Tracer Study. For this study, we included all the respondents from the 2015, 2016, and 2017 graduating years who had submitted their Graduate Tracer Study forms. The variables for this study were the graduates’ employability status, English results, and soft skills. However, the amount of information that this study had access to in the Graduate Tracer Study was limited since most of the data fell under the purview of Act 709 of the Malaysian Personal Data Protection Act 2010. Information access was limited to numbers and percentages related to graduate employability according to faculty and programme of study. More specific

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information such as employment by gender, job type, work location and salary were not made available. 3.3 Data Analysis The data that could be obtained was tabulated and descriptive analysis utilised to analyse the total number of employed and unemployed graduates. The normal distribution for the graduates’ university English Language course results and the MUET results was determined using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov normality test; this allowed for the comparison of the sample scores to a normally distributed set of scores with the same mean and standard deviation with the null hypothesis being that the said sample distribution is normal (Ghasemi & Zahediasl, 2012). When the test outcomes indicated the data was not normally distributed, the independent Chi-square test (a non-parametric test) was adopted to determine the relationship between the employability of the university’s science graduates and their undergraduate English Language course results and MUET results, respectively. This usage of the Chi Square test for the purpose of ascertaining whether two categorical variables have a relationship (Field, 2009). The Chi Square test for independence of two variables, a cross classification table-based test, evaluates the nature of the relationship between these variables. The alternative hypothesis is that there is a relationship between the variables. (Wuensch, 2011). The test statistics of Chi Square of independence is as follows (Yahya et. al, 2008):

𝜒2 =

(𝜊𝑖𝑗 −𝜖𝑖𝑗 )2

(1)

𝜖𝑖𝑗

where 𝜊𝑖𝑗 is the observed count and 𝜖𝑖𝑗 is the expected count for contingency table with ith row, i=1, 2, .., r and jth column, j=1, 2, .., c.

4. Findings 4.1 Number of graduates based on faculties for the period 2015-2017 The number of students who graduated from the various science-based faculties in the university from 2015, 2016 and 2017 was as follows (Table 1): Table 1: Number of science-based graduates in 2015, 2016 & 2017 Faculty

2015 (%) 52.5 16.2 5.5 18.5 7.3

2016 (%) 53.2 12.0 6.1 15.0 13.7

2017 (%) 47.2 12.7 7.7 16.0 16.4

FSSA FSMP FPL FKJ FKI *FSSA: Faculty of Science and Natural Resources FSMP: Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition FPL: Faculty of Sustainable Agriculture FKJ: Faculty of Engineering FKI: Faculty of Computing & Informatics

The majority of graduates according to faculty were from the Faculty of Science and Natural Resources (FSSA) with 52.5% of the overall total in 2015, 53.2% in 2016, and 47.2% in 2017. A gradual increase of graduates over the three-year period was also observed in the Faculty of Sustainable Agriculture (FPL) with

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5.5% graduates in the overall total in 2015, 6.1% in 2016 and 7.7% in 2017. A similar increase was also posted in the Faculty of Computing and Informatics (FKI) with 7.3% in 2015, 13.7% in 2016 and 16.4% in 2017. The Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition (FSMP) posted a decrease in graduates in 2016 with 12% compared to 16.2% in 2015 and 12.7% in 2017. The Faculty of Engineering (FKJ) showed a slight drop in graduates completing their programme in 2016 with 15% against 18.5% in 2015 and 16% in 2017. Although the number of students graduating from the Faculty of Sustainable Agriculture (FPL) remained consistently the lowest among the five science-based faculties with 5.5% graduates in 2015, 6.1% in 2016 and 7.7% in 2017, these figures were actually a consistent increase in terms of the number of students successfully completing their studies from the faculty. 4.2 Graduate Employment Status In terms of employment, data was classified under four broad categories by the university’s Alumni Centre: Employed, Unemployed, Others and No Information. However, unlike the 2015 and 2016 data for the “Others” category, the 2017 data was further segregated into three streams: those who were (i) pursuing further studies or qualifications, (ii) improving skills, and (iii) in job transition or waiting for work placements. Employment status for 2015 The 2015 graduate count according to faculty was, in descending order, FSSA with 569, FKJ 201, FSMP 176, FKI 78 and FPL 60. From this overall graduate total of 1,084, 38.2% had secured employment while 53% remained unemployed, 7.7% classified in “Others”, and the status of 1.1% could not be determined (Table 2). Table 2: Employment status of science-based graduates in 2015 Employed Unemployed Others No Information

FKI 47.4% 48.7% 3.9% 0%

FKJ 42.8% 46.7% 8.9% 1.5%

FPL 25.0% 65.0% 8.3% 1.7%

FSMP 56.3% 36.9% 5.7% 1.1%

FSSA 31.1% 59.6% 8.2% 1.1%

Overall Total 38.2% 53.0% 7.7% 1.1%

Among the five faculties, graduates from FSMP had the highest percentage of graduates being employed with 56.3% in job placements. This was followed by FKI with 47.4%, FKJ with 42.8%, FSSA with 31.1% and FPL with 25%. From Table 2, it is evident that the number of unemployed science-based graduates produced by the university at 53% was greater than the three other classifications (“Employed”, “Others” and “No Information”) with a combined total of 47%. Unemployment was highest among graduates from FPL with 65% not working. This was then followed at 59.6% by FSSA, 48.7% by FKI, 46.7% by FKJ, and 36.9% by FSMP. Employment status for 2016 From the overall number of 1,305 students graduating from the university in 2016, 44% found employment while 47.9% were still unemployed (Table 3).

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Table 3: Employment status of science-based graduates in 2016 Employed Unemployed Others No Information

FKI 49.7% 40.2% 10.1% 0%

FKJ 55.6% 39.3% 5.1% 0%

FPL 42.5% 53.8% 3.7% 0%

FSMP 61.8% 28.7% 8.9% 0.6%

FSSA 35.4% 56.0% 8.2% 0.4%

Overall Total 44.0% 47.9% 7.8% 0.3%

A total of 7.8% were categorised under “Others” while 0.3% did not provide any information. As in 2015, graduates from FSMP were found to be the most employable among the five science-based faculties in 2016 with 61.8% holding jobs. This was followed by FKJ with 55.6% of their graduates in employment, FKI with 49.7% and FPL with 42.5%. FSSA posted the lowest active employment rate with only 35.4% of its graduates able to secure job placements. Employment status for 2017 In 2017, the total number of students who graduated from the five science-based faculties in the university was 1,538. From this figure, 37.2% managed to secure employment (Table 4). Table 4: Employment status of science-based graduates in 2017 Employed Unemployed Further Study Improving Skills Waiting for job placements No Information

FKI 50.8% 28.1% 3.2% 3.6% 4.4%

FKJ 43.1% 46.3% 1.6% 3.7% 2.0%

FPL 27.1% 50.8% 10.2% 0% 5.1%

FSMP 59.2% 30.6%% 1.0% 2.0% 4.6%

FSSA 26.2% 57.2% 7.7% 1.2% 5.6%

Overall Total 37.2% 46.8% 5.3% 2.0% 4.7%

9.9%

3.3%

6.8%

2.6%

2.1%

4.0%

The remaining 62.8% were divided into the following classifications: 46.8% without employment, 5.3% pursuing further studies or qualifications, 2% engaged in skills improvement initiatives, and 4.7% waiting for job placements. No information could be obtained or was provided by the final 4%) graduates of the class of 2016. Although the graduates classified under “Further Study”, “Improving Skills” and “Waiting for Job Placement” were technically not working, they were excluded from the “Unemployed” classification since their situations were deemed as temporary with them expected to secure jobs once their studies, training or ‘transit’ work period was completed. Overall Employment Overview The number of unemployed graduates was in overall greater than employed graduates in 2015, 2016 and 2017 (Table 5).

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Table 5: Summary of employment status for 2015, 2016 and 2017 Category/ Year

2015 (%)

2016 (%)

2017 (%)

Employed

38.2

44.0

37.2

Unemployed Others Further study Improving skills Waiting for job placement No information

53.0 7.7

47.9 7.8

46.8

1.1

0.3

5.3 2.0 4.7 4.0

It is notable that the unemployment percentage decreased progressively during the 2015-2017 period with 53% in 2015, 47.9% in 2016 (a reduction of 5.1% from the previous year), and 46.8% in 2017 (1.1% reduction from 2016). The rate of employment however was not as consistent in this three-year period: although 2016 posted an increase of 5.8% in the number of graduates in employment compared to 2015, this figure was reversed in 2017 when the percentage of employed graduates dropped to 37.2% from the previous year’s total of 44%, a decrease of 6.8%. 4.3 Employment Status and English Language Course Results Undertaken at University Students from the various faculties in the university are required to enrol in English Language learning courses in their first and second year of study. These courses, staggered over four semesters, are aimed at (1) improving English Language skills among low proficiency learners, and (2) enhancing usage and fluency in more advanced level students. The MUET results of learners upon registration in their respective university programmes determine whether they are enrolled into proficiency level classes or advanced level sessions. As of 2020, students with MUET results of Band 3 and below would be required to join the proficiency level whereas those with Band 4 and above are registered into advanced level classes. In this study, it was notable that the highest percentage of employed graduates in 2015, 2016 and 2017 were those who had obtained the B+ grade in their university English Language course results (Table 6). This grade is awarded for marks obtained between the 70-74 range out of a possible 100. However, the highest percentage of unemployed graduates in 2015 and 2017 also scored B+. For 2016, the highest percentage of unemployed graduates had obtained B grade in their university English Language courses. Table 6: University English Language course results of 2015, 2016 and 2017 graduates of science-based faculties University Grade A AB+ B

2015 (%) Employ. UnEmploy. 7.1 5.4 8.9 8.0 13.9 15.1 9.4 15.6

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2016 (%) Employ. UnEmploy. 3.0 2.5 7.8 7.4 16.2 13.0 14.1 13.7

2017 (%) Employ. UnEmploy. 3.3 2.4 7.2 6.6 15.7 15.7 14.1 15.7

BC+ C CD

5.3 0.9 0.4 0.0 0.1

7.2 2.3 0.5 0.1 0.0

7.4 2.5 0.7 0.2 0.0

7.7 3.0 0.8 0.2 0.0

6.4 1.6 0.4 0.1 0.0

7.9 2.1 0.6 0.1 0.0

Employability and University English Language results in 2015 In 2015, graduates with B+ grade results accounted for 13.9% of the overall total of those with job placements (Table 6). For summation purposes, graduates with A range grades (A and A-) posted a combined 16% employment rate while those in the B range (B+, B and B-) reported a 28.6% employed percentage. 1.3% of graduates with low results in the C range (C+, C and C-) had secured jobs. Graduates who had failed their university English Language course had a 0.1% employment rate. As reflected in Table 6, the majority of employed graduates in 2015 were those with B+ English Language attainment. However, the highest percentage of unemployment among science-based faculties in the university in 2015 were also from the B grade range with 15.6% with B and 15.1% with B+ achievements. Low range English Language results (C+, C, C and D) contributed a combined 2.9% towards the unemployability results of 2015 graduates. Graduates with A grade (5.4%) and A- grade (8%) were among those without jobs. Employability and University English Language results in 2016 For 2016, 16.2%, 14.1% and 7.4% of the employed graduates had obtained B+, B and B- grades respectively in their English Language courses in the university. The combined total of this grade range, 37.7%, reflected the highest number of employed graduates for 2016. Low proficiency graduates (C+, C, and C-) made up the rest of the employed graduate count with 3.4% (Table 6). This pattern was repeated for the “Unemployed” category whereby the bulk of graduates without job placements had obtained English Language course marks in the B+ and B range with 13% having B+ results and 13.7% with B grade. 7.7% of the overall total of unemployed 2016 graduates had B- results. 4% of the jobless graduate total had low proficiency English Language grades (C+, C and C-). 9.9% of the jobless graduate figure were those who had obtained A and A- in their English Language courses. Employability and University English Language results in 2017 Employability in 2017 was highest among graduates with English Language results of B+ (15.7%), B (14.1%) and B- (6.4%) while 10.5% of those working had obtained A (3.3%) and A- (7.2%). 2.1% of the employed total had grades in the low proficiency range (C+, C and C-) (Table 6). Again, as in 2015 and 2016, the highest unemployed percentage at a combined 31.4% were among graduates with B+ (15.7%) and B (15.7%) English Language achievements. 9% of the unemployed graduate total were from the proficient English Language user range with 2.4% A grades and 6.6% with A-. Only 2.8% of the unemployed were low proficiency English Language users.

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Statistical Tests for Association between University English Language Results and Graduate Employability in 2015-2017 Two statistical tests were conducted to determine any relationship between the English Language results of the 2015-2017 batch of these science-based graduates and their overall employability in the job market. Normality test for University English Language course results The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was applied to test for normality since it was decided that this would be more precise based on the available employability data for the 2015-2017 graduate batch. Normality tests yielding probabilities of > 0.05 would be indicative that the data was normal whereas probabilities of < 0.05 would point to the data being not normal. The tests were based on the following hypotheses: H0: The population is normally distributed. H1: The population is not normally distributed. If p-value < significance level (α = 0.05), the null hypotheses is rejected. The normality test results were as follows: Table 7: Normality test results for 2015 graduate batch 2015

Graduate Employability

University English Language Grade A AB BB+ C C+

Kolmogorov-Smirnova Statistic .346 .370 .442 .411 .396 .356 .462

df 135 183 271 135 315 9 35

Sig. .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .002 .000

df 72 198 363 196 382 19 4 71

Sig. .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 . .000

Table 8: Normality test results for 2016 graduate batch 2016

Graduate Employability

University English Language Grade A AB BB+ C CC+

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Kolmogorov-Smirnova Statistic .376 .367 .379 .391 .352 .403 .307 .394

Table 9: Normality test results for 2017 graduate batch 2017

Graduate Employability

University English Language Grade A AB BB+ C CC+

Kolmogorov-Smirnova Statistic .373 .393 .404 .428 .408 .419 .385 .434

df 87 213 458 221 484 15 3 57

Sig. .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 . .000

Since the p-value < significance level (α = 0.05), the null hypothesis was thus rejected. Due to the normality tests indicating that the population was not normally distributed in 2015, 2016 and 2017, it was decided to proceed with the non-parametric Chi-square test. Chi-square test for the university English Language course results The Chi-square test was applied based on the following hypotheses: H0: There is no relationship between the university English Language course results and graduate employability. H1: There is a relationship between the university English Language course results and graduate employability. The outcomes of the tests were as follows: Table 10: Chi-square test results for 2015 graduate batch Chi-Square Test (2015) Asymptotic Significance Value df (2-sided) Pearson Chi-Square 55.680a 32 .006 Likelihood Ratio 50.033 32 .022 N of Valid Cases 1085 a. 23 cells (51.1%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .01.

Table 11: Chi-square test results for 2016 graduate batch Chi-Square Test (2016) Asymptotic Significance Value df (2-sided) a Pearson Chi-Square 27.783 28 .476 Likelihood Ratio 27.545 28 .489 N of Valid Cases 1305 a. 14 cells (35.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .01.

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Table 12: Chi-square test results for 2017 graduate batch Chi-Square Test (2017) Asymptotic Significance (2sided) .484 .422

Value df Pearson Chi-Square 34.677a 35 Likelihood Ratio 35.986 35 N of Valid Cases 1538 a. 20 cells (41.7%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .06.

Since the p-values for 2015 were smaller than the stated significance level (α = 0.05), the null hypotheses were therefore rejected. On this basis, there was then sufficient evidence to suggest an association between the university English results and graduate employability. However, although it could be surmised that there was an association between the university English Language results and graduate employability in 2015, this could not be conclusively proven for the graduate batch of 2016 and 2017 since there were not enough evidence to indicate this association between the variables. 4.4 Employment Status and Malaysian University Entrance Test (MUET) Results The Malaysian University Entrance Test (MUET) is a pre-requisite entry requirement for any student aiming to enrol in first degree programmes in local Malaysian public or private universities. The test is usually made available to students who are in their final year of secondary school, matriculation programme, diploma-level study or pre-university courses. Results are classified into six bands with Band 1 being the lowest and Band 6 the highest achievement. In the context of the university’s first year undergraduates, a student’s MUET band classification would determine whether he or she is enrolled into proficiency level English Language classes or into advanced level types. Under the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) proficiency band, MUET Bands 1 and 2 are equivalent to A1 and A2, MUET Bands 3 and 4 to B1 and B2, and MUET Bands 5 and 6 to C1 and C2 respectively. For the period between 2015-2017, students graduating from the five sciencebased faculties in the university had MUET achievement results across all bands except Band 6 where zero percentage (0%) of achievers was recorded. The highest number of graduates who eventually went on to secure job placements were those with MUET Band 3 results (25.5% in 2015, 26.2% in 2016, and 22.7% in 2017). This is followed by Band 4 achievers with 14.4% in 2015 and 14.1% in 2016. In 2017, Band 2 achievers recorded the second highest number of employed graduates with 13.5% (Table 13).

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Table 13: Employability and MUET grades of science-based graduates in 2015, 2016 & 2017 Graduate Employability MUET Band 1 Band 2 Band 3 Band 4 Band 5 Band 6

2015 (%) Employ. 0.1 5.1 25.5 14.4 0.8 0.0

UnEmploy. 0.2 9.1 28.4 15.5 0.9 0.0

2016 (%) Employ. 0.8 9.8 26.2 14.1 0.9 0.0

UnEmploy. 0.7 10.9 24.2 11.6 0.8 0.0

2017 (%) Employ. 1.4 13.5 22.7 11.0 0.7 0.0

UnEmploy. 1.2 16.8 25.4 7.1 0.3 0.0

However, this Band 3 scenario of graduates in gainful employment is replicated in terms of graduates without jobs in 2015, 2016 and 2017. All three years recorded Band 3 achievers as the highest group which was unemployed with 28.4% in 2015, 24.2% in 2016 and 25.4% in 2017. In 2015, the second highest percentage of unemployed graduates were Band 4 achievers at 15.5%. In 2016, Band 4 again was the second highest with 11.6% unemployed. In 2017 however, Band 2 came second place in the highest number of unemployed graduates with 16.8% without any job placements. A very small percentage of graduates in Band 1 were either employed or remained unemployed in 2015 (0.1% and 0.2% respectively), 2016 (0.8% and 0.7% respectively) and 2017 (1.4% and 1.2% respectively). In fact, the lowest incidence of both employed and unemployed percentage for 2015 and 2016 were among MUET Band 1 graduates. In 2017, the lowest employed-unemployed rate occurred in the Band 5 category with 0.7% and 0.3% respectively. In 2017, the category “Others” was re-defined to include those who were pursuing further qualifications, engaged in further training or acquisition of skills, or waiting for job placements. As such, these groups were deemed as not being technically unemployed in the sense that they were otherwise focusing on other ventures as opposed to being out of work altogether. This inclusion or reclassification could have had influenced the overall employed-unemployed statistics for 2017. Normality test of graduates’ MUET results Normality test for the 2015-2017 graduates’ MUET results were conducted using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistical tests. The hypotheses testing was based on the assumption that: H0: The population is normally distributed. H1: The population is not normally distributed. Tests for normality which yield the p-value < significance level (α = 0.05) would render the hypotheses as null. The normality tests results were as follows:

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Table 14: Normality test results of graduates’ MUET results in 2015 Kolmogorov-Smirnovb 2015 MUET Statistic df Sig. Graduate Band 1 .385 3 . Employability Band 2 .434 154 .000 Band 3 .401 584 .000 Band 4 .386 324 .000 Band 5 .430 19 .000

Table 15: Normality test results of graduates’ MUET results in 2016 2016 Graduate Employability

MUET Band 1 Band 2 Band 3 Band 4 Band 5

Kolmogorov-Smirnova Statistic df Sig. .403 19 .000 .398 270 .000 .373 658 .000 .348 335 .000 .370 23 .000

Table 16: Normality test results of graduates’ MUET results in 2017 2017 Graduate Employability

MUET Band 1 Band 2 Band 3 Band 4 Band 5

Kolmogorov-Smirnova Statistic df Sig. .403 40 .000 .426 466 .000 .414 739 .000 .359 278 .000 .350 15 .000

The p-value was indicated as < significance level (α = 0.05) hence the null hypothesis was rejected. Since the normality test results indicated that the population was all not normally distributed in 2015, 2016 and 2017, the nonparametric Chi-square test was thus conducted. Chi-square test for MUET test results The Chi-square test was conducted based on the following hypotheses: H0: There is no relationship between MUET test results and graduate employability. H1: There is a relationship between MUET test results and graduate employability. The outcomes of the Chi-square tests were as follows:

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Table 17: Chi-square test results for 2015 graduate batch Chi-Square Test (2015) Value df Asymptotic Significance (2-sided) Pearson Chi-Square 35.913a 20 .016 Likelihood Ratio 30.713 20 .059 N of Valid Cases 1085 a. 15 cells (50.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .01.

Table 18: Chi-square test results for 2016 graduate batch Chi-Square Test (2016) Value df Asymptotic Significance (2-sided) Pearson Chi-Square 22.370a 16 .132 Likelihood Ratio 24.870 16 .072 N of Valid Cases 1305 a. 9 cells (36.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .06.

Table 19: Chi-square test results for 2017 graduate batch Chi-Square Test (2017) Value df Asymptotic Significance (2-sided) a Pearson Chi-Square 45.422 20 .001 Likelihood Ratio 43.099 20 .002 N of Valid Cases 1538 a. 8 cells (26.7%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .29.

Since the p-values in 2015 and 2017 (Table 17 & Table 19) were smaller than the chosen significance level (α = 0.05), the null hypotheses were thus rejected. Although there is evidence to suggest a link between MUET test results and graduate employability, this assumption is limited to 2015 and 2017 since no association between the variables could be conclusively proven for 2016 (Table 18).

5. Discussion Although the numerical figure of unemployed graduates seemed to be on the increase every year compared to those with job placements, in actuality there was a gradual decrease in terms of percentage in 2015, 2016 and 2017. When the normality tests performed found the population as not normally distributed, nonparametric Chi-square tests were conducted to test for association between the variables. While the Chi-square test results highlighted sufficient evidence to suggest an association between graduate employability and the university English Language course results in 2015, this assumption however could not be applied for the 2016 and 2017 batches since the results were inconclusive, that is, not enough evidence was presented to support such an association. The Chisquare tests conducted to ascertain links between MUET test results and graduate employability similarly showed sufficient evidence to suggest an association for

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the 2015 and 2017 graduates but this too could only be applied with caution since for 2016 no such association was highlighted. Based on these, an assumption that might be drawn is that for the university’s science-based graduates of 2015, 2016 and 2017, their English Language proficiency was not a major denominator in their level of employability. This likelihood is evidenced by the findings where an almost equal number of employed and unemployed graduates were found to be mostly from the B+ and B achievement range in their English Language courses in the university. In terms of MUET results, the highest number of unemployed graduates were from Band 3 followed close behind by Band 4 achievers. While Band 3 achievers could be viewed as relatively able users of the English language, attainment of Band 4 denotes the user as sufficiently proficient in the language. A summary of the employment status of these proficient users of English is presented in Table 20. Table 20: Percentage of proficient users of English for the graduating class of 2015, 2016 and 2017

MUET Bands 4&5 University results A & A-

2015 Empl UnEmpl

2016 Empl UnEmpl

2017 Empl UnEmpl

15.2%

16.4%

15.0%

12.4%

16.7%

7.4%

16.0%

13.4%

10.8%

9.9%

10.5%

9.0%

From Table 20, it could be surmised that the level of English language competence, although providing an advantage for graduates, was not the main criteria for securing jobs since an almost similar percentage of these MUET band achievers and university English Language top graders were without employment. 5.1 Employability Value The findings of this study point to several pertinent highlights on the issue of employability value of university graduates as a whole. Among these is the factor of area of specialisation or field of study undertaken at university as a primary indicator of future job prospects. Graduates from the Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition programmes were found to be the most employable among all the five university’s science-based faculties with 56.3% (2015), 61.8% (2016) and 59.2% (2017) in full-time jobs in various sectors. Data on their job locations and area of workplace responsibilities however could not be obtained since these were considered confidential although it could be deduced that Malaysia’s status as an emerging hub for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) could be a contributing factor to the availability of jobs in this particular sector. There is also a possibility that for industry-based jobs, absolute language accuracy may not be an absolute pre-requisite; fluency and the ability to convey information and be understood might be more sufficient. This is in comparison to jobs that require day-to-day interaction with clients and the public (such as in the

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service industry) where understanding, business success and clientele goodwill are tied to accurate exchange and conveying of message and intent. This scenario could explain the preponderance of employed graduates being MUET Band 3 users and university B+ and B scorers from these five science-based faculties. 5.2 Graduate Mobility Again, absence of concrete data on the job placement locations of the university’s graduates for 2015, 2016 and 2016 limits the presentation of a more accurate description of the employability factors at play. An assumption that could be made related to the employability of young graduates is the notion of mobility or willingness to relocate to wherever jobs might be available. Sabah is located in the Malaysian area of Borneo Island, sharing the territory together with Malaysian state of Sarawak, Brunei Darussalam, and the Indonesian region of Kalimantan. Sabah is accessible by land or air with flights from Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Manila approximately 2.5 hours in duration. Although jobs in this region may be available, the range and scope of specific occupations or roles is limited due in part to different (or lack of) stages of development compared to other locations in Malaysia, distance from the national capital, level of investment or funding to drive industry and technical development, availability and access of infrastructure and facilities, and scarcity of support and expertise, and air and sea transportation costs, among other things. These, combined together, create a less than vigorous condition for jobs to be created or sustained, especially work that is expertise-specific or expertise-oriented. Many of this type of work environment would be available in localities elsewhere where the infrastructure and human expertise or capital is already established and the eco-system supportive, for example, in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor or Singapore. Lack of relevant job opportunities creates a scenario whereby for young graduates, securing a job directly related to their field of study or specialisation might in most instances require them to relocate or uproot to these cities or industrial enclaves. The majority of the students in this university are local Sabahans, and the need for mobility would inadvertently impact their decision to whether to get a job but move out of the state, or stay home in Sabah and remain jobless (or stay and work in an area not related to one’s degree or training). This mobility aspect is perhaps a critical variable that could be investigated in future graduate employability studies. 5.3 Attitude and Transversal Skills Transversal or soft skills is another employability attribute that provides graduates with strong added value when seeking employment. Transversal knowledge, skills and competencies form the ‘building blocks’ for the development of hard skills and competencies required to succeed in the labour market. Comparable to 21st century skills, transversal skills could be learnt attributes: an ideal university study curriculum would be one that focuses and hones on these aspects of an individual’s personality. In the case of the employed science-based graduates who had obtained mid-range results in their MUET and university English Language courses, perhaps their ability to engage or demonstrate their thinking or hands-on skills during their job interviews provided them with an edge over their more English language conversant competitors. Therefore, in as much as an individual’s English language

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proficiency could put him at an advantage during job interviews, the job in all probability would be for those who are able to respond critically, creatively and rapidly to solution-based workplace issues or scenarios put forward by prospective employers to test the thinking and reasoning skills of their potential workers. A critical implication here therefore is this: universities would do well to integrate transversal skills learning or acquisition in their curriculum, and in so doing equip their graduates when they enter the labour market with the on-the-job ability to problem-solve or address work issues accordingly. Although a study by Nazron, Lim and Nga (2017) suggested a tenuous relationship at best between the employment status of graduates and their soft skills, current rapid advancement in technology and the shift to more online-based interaction between client and provider in the post COVID-19 era where business decisions would likely be based equally on what is known and what is assumed require workers who are knowledgeable, skilful and able to think on their feet and out-of-the-box. 5.4 Workplace Environment Readiness and Resilience If transversal skills could be viewed as a platform from which new graduates could attune to required job conditions, workplace readiness would be the state of preparedness or adaptability of the workers as they enter into any organisation. Workplace entities are structured along very defined frameworks of organisational culture, values and expectations (Hardin-Ramanan, Gopee, Rowtho, & Charoux, 2020) and prospective employers would be searching for potential employers who exhibit attributes that complement their established work culture. Graduates are viewed as “complete” products in terms of their qualifications, but this theory-based knowledge has to be supported by the employee’s willingness to learn on-the-job and respond to the demands and challenges of the organisation pertaining to aspects such as to working hours, salary, and benefits. As reiterated by Zakaria, Yusoff, Ibrahim and Tibok (2020), there is a real need to establish cohesive cooperation and collaboration frameworks between industry and institutions of higher learning as such networks would certainly help provide job exposure and working life insights while at the same time build their work-related social network (Yong, 2017), promote employment opportunities and improve undergraduates’ opportunities of joining these organisations at a later stage. In this respect, universities have a critical role in ensuring that these elements of graduate capital-building are integrated within their curriculum and what is taught in the lecture halls fit into the needs and expectations of industry as the end-receiver of the human capital products.

6. Conclusion In the context of graduate employability in Malaysia, proficiency in the English language is often highlighted as a main determinant in how employable the graduate is. This study however has not ascertained any concrete relationship between science graduates’ employability and their level of English language proficiency with the link, at the most, tenuous. The evidence instead suggests the interplay of other factors such as geographical location, economic rigour of the

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region, matching of university study programmes to local job markets, individual resilience, and graduate mobility (willingness to go where work is available) as critical attributes in the discourse on graduate employability. It is therefore imperative that any future curriculum review or new programme initiative take into consideration these factors to ensure that a more appropriate or responsive learning ecosystem could be conceptualised.

Acknowledgement This research was supported by Universiti Malaysia Sabah under Grant Award No. SDK0060-2018.

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Ministry of Education. (2015). Malaysia Education Blueprint 2015–2025 (Higher Education). Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia. Ministry of Higher Education. (2007) The National Higher Education Action Plan (20072010). Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi Malaysia. Murugasu, A., Hakim, M. I., & Yau, Y. S. (2019). Are Malaysian workers paid fairly? An assessment of productivity and equity. BNM Annual Report 2018, 35-47. Nazron, M. A., Lim, B., & Nga, J. L. (2017). Soft skills attributes and graduate employability: A case in Universiti Malaysia Sabah. Malaysian Journal of Business and Economics, 4(2), 65-76. https://jurcon.ums.edu.my/ojums/index.php/mjbe/article/view/1080/709 Omar, N. H., Manaf, A. A., Mohd, R. H., Kassim, A. C., & Abd Aziz, K. (2012). Graduates' employability skills based on current job demand through electronic advertisement. Asian Social Science, 8(9), 103-110. Rasul, M. S., Rauf, R. A. A., Mansor, A. N., Yasin, R. M., & Mahamod, Z. (2013). Graduate employability for manufacturing industry. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 102, 242-250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.10.739 Singh, P., Thambusamy, R. X., & Ramly, A. (2016). Assessing graduates’ generic skills: An indicator of employability. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 22(3), 845-860. Turner, R. (2004). Towards a structural model connecting hard skills, soft skills and job conditions and the IS professional: The student perspective. Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology, 4, 977-991. https://doi.org/10.28945/2782 Wong, S. P., Samsilah, R., Siaw, Y. L, Tajularipin, S., & Habibah, A. B. (2018). The employability of undergraduate students in a Malaysian higher educational institution. Educational Leader, 6, 165-182. Wuensch, K. L. (2011). Chi-Square Tests. International Encyclopedia of Statistical Science, 252–253. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04898-2_173 Yahaya, A. S., Ahmed, A., Gabda, D., & Na, C. S. (2008). Problem and solution in statistics for engineers and scientists. Prentice Hall. Yong, C. (2017). Graduate employability: The perspective of social network learning. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 13(6), 2567-2580. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2017.01241a Yorke, M. (2006). Employability in higher education: What it is—What it is not. The Higher Education Academy. Yusof, N., & Jamaluddin, Z. (2015). Graduate employability and preparedness: A case study of University of Malaysia Perlis (UNIMAP), Malaysia. Geografia Malaysian Journal of Society and Space, 11(11), 129-143. Zainuddin, S. Z., Pillai, S., Dumanig, F. P., & Phillip, A. (2019). English language and graduate employability. Education + Training, 61(1), 79-93. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-06-2017-0089 Zakaria, N. S., Yusoff, K. Y. S. K. M., Ibrahim, D., & Tibok, R. P. (2020). Career after graduation: Future graduates’ perceptions of job attributes in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and multi-national corporations (MNCs). e-Bangi, 17(6), 252-264.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 44-60, July 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.7.3 Received Mar 19, 2021; Revised Jun 03, 2021; Accepted Jul 31, 2021

Transformation of Assessment of the Pre-Service Life Sciences Teachers: Issues of Curriculum Development in Education and Training in South Africa Mamsi Ethel Khuzwayo Cape Peninsula University of Technology Cape Town, in Mowbray South Africa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4084-8773 Kwanele Booi Cape Peninsula University of Technology Cape Town, in Mowbray South Africa https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0611-2305 Abstract. The Department of Higher Education intends to transform the traditional education theories and practices in the education and training of teachers for the twenty-first century. The attributes of a competent and qualified teacher underpin the envisaged changes in the curriculum to aptly prepare teachers. However, the realizations of the intentions of the department appear to be in vain. Accordingly, the current case studies conducted through qualitative procedures aimed to investigate how teacher educators adhere to the proposals of the Minimum Requirement of Teacher Education Qualifications (MRTEQ). The data gathered through the analysis, of course, guides intended to search for the link between the Life Science curriculum content knowledge and the plan to assess the competences promulgated by the South African Qualification Authority (SAQA). The findings pointed out that the course guide indicated learning outcomes, critical outcomes, and course and module outcomes; however, the assessment criteria were not aligned to the learning outcomes, module outcomes, and assessment techniques or tools. Therefore, the study recommends that academics in teacher education should explore and reflect on the models that could explicitly measure the performance of competencies (foundational, practical, and reflexive) authentically and reliably. Keywords: assessment; models; teacher education; curriculum; teacher educators

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

1. Introduction Literature developed after the ushering of the democratic government presents various experiences of the demands resulting from the educational policies on higher education, which introduced radical changes to transform the curriculum for teacher education and training. The academic policies expected teacher educators to understand and master the paradigm of Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) and Outcomes-Based and Competency-Based Assessment approaches that underpinned the Norm and Standard for Educators (NSE) gazetted by the Department of Basic Education in 1998. Reactions and reflections in researchers’ work such as Jansen (1998); Chisholm (2005); Higgs (2007); Christie (2006); Gravett and Geyser (2004); Sayed and Kanjee (2013) pointed to the repercussions of the radical shift from the apartheid educational paradigm, highlighting the plight of teacher educators in terms of readiness for the radical change and limited timeframe. All this concerned with engaging and debating on the proposed educational needs by reviewing the apartheid curriculum, and thereby completing the curriculum policy guidelines for articulating the envisaged curriculum for teacher qualification. The issue of resistance to change, which was highlighted by the pro-change educationists, Chisholm (2005) and advocates of the South Africa National Qualification framework and South African Qualification Authority (Department of Basic Education, 1998), became a matter of general concern when academics voiced their concerns, namely because not all academics had the expertise in curriculum design and development. The rejection of curriculum structures designed under the auspices of the introduced policy guidelines which universities submitted to the Higher Education Qualification Council was a frustration to historically Black and disadvantaged institutions because the rejection of the curriculum meant that teaching qualifications offered did not receive accreditation. Among other challenges emanating from the transformation was the amalgamation of the previous teacher education and training colleges and technical colleges with universities, which complicated the entire atmosphere under which the change of teacher education and training was undertaken in universities. The historical background of racial, cultural, and language-divided institutions entrenched by the policies of the apartheid educational dispensation could not be ignored in this study which intended to understand the transformation of the curriculum because the curriculum design and development imply philosophical, psychological, sociological, and historical foundations. The diverse and contesting opinions and beliefs about the philosophical and psychological principles underpinning the curriculum are likely to be thrashed out quickly and easily. The work undertaken by this study identified universities that were amalgamated and the so-called traditional universities to explore the incorporation of policy proposals in the developed curriculum documents for Minimum Requirements for Teacher Education Qualifications (MRTEQ).

2. Background The Minister of National Education, Kadar Asmal, emphasized the importance of outcomes-based education and competence-based assessment in teacher education and training. The new paradigm was to replace what the minister referred to as the old grammar school approach, which in his view, was simply

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not appropriate for the demands of the 21st century. The minister condemned the grammar school approach for emphasizing the form rather than knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes (Department of Education, 2002:1-2). As a result, the Department of Higher Education and the South African Qualification Authority gazetted competence and an outcomes-based approach to assessment in the Higher Education Qualification Framework, which regulated the transformation of traditional content-driven assessment to competency focused assessment. However, research has revealed in previous findings that the transformed curriculum for teacher education has failed to produce quality and competent teachers in twenty years, particularly in Sciences and Mathematics education. The findings highlighted in the works of Booi and Khuzwayo (2018) revealed that even though the Higher Education Qualification Council (HEQC) accredited a Bachelor of Education qualification based on the curriculum structures, there were however challenges and difficulties encountered by teacher educators to reach consensus on selected content and approaches to teaching and learning. The aspects such as the sequencing of content knowledge, selection of content, and agreeing on the pedagogy to integrate knowledge for Life Science teachers were contested, and subsequently, the whole process was manipulated by those in authority to ensure that the status was maintained. The findings highlighted in Booi (2019), as well as the recommendations in Murdoch and Grobbelaar (2004) and Beets (2009), raised questions about the incorporation of applied competences, integration, and quality assurance assessment in the revised Life Science curriculum. The problem statement from which the questions were derived incorporated the applied competencies in teaching, learning, and assessment in the revised Life Science course guide for teacher education and training. Beets (2009) pointed out that the Department of Higher Education and Training considered competence-driven assessment to address the inadequacies in the evidence of proficiency of knowledge, skills, and abilities that attribute a teaching qualification to a particular level of competency. The Department of Higher Education and Training (2019), in the same rhetoric of under-performance of teachers, contended that the type of teachers that were produced during the apartheid era's education dispensation and by the Norms and Standards curriculum were equipped with technical skills, hence they were unable to integrate theoretical knowledge and practical knowledge. The shift in the focus in teaching, learning, and assessment in the Minimum Requirement for Teacher Qualification introduced the integration of knowledge in terms of epistemologies, theoretical and philosophical, in the field of science, and integration of learning, with an emphasis on theoretical knowledge and practical knowledge, situational and work-related knowledge. According to Beets (2009), formative and summative assessment catalyzes both teaching and learning guides and supports the processes aimed at attaining the applied competence. This work considered the issue of curriculum development to run in parallel with the planning of assessment. The problem statement in this work was the evidence of the acknowledgment or heed given by the curriculum developers to

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incorporate the SAQA assessment guidelines for higher education and training in the course guide for Natural Sciences.

3. Literature Review This section discusses the conceptual understanding of competences and assessment in the context of curriculum change in teacher education and training. The ideas, opinions, and interpretations of the concepts of competence and integrated assessment in Killen (2015), the Department of Higher Education and Training (2019), the South African Qualification Authority (2001, 2019); Gravett and Geyser (2004); Biggs (2016) informed the operational meaning of quality assurance and competences as conceptualized in this paper. Killen (2015) argued that the concept of 'competence' in the South African educational context is conceptualized in terms of the integrated performance of abilities, skills, and knowledge demonstrated in learning. The Department of Higher Education and Training (2019) and the South African Qualification Authority (2001, 2019) further describe ' assessment of applied competences' as specified evidence of the level of proficiency. According to the Minimum Requirement of Teacher Qualification, the assessment of integrated teaching and learning in teacher education should focus on the demonstrable performance of foundational, practical, and reflexive competences. The three competences target different but coherent understanding of academic and professional skills and abilities, the foundational competence is about the performance or demonstration of knowledge and thinking that underpin educational practice, while the practical competence, which is the ability to apply theoretical skills and abilities, in an authentic context such as; decisions and actions to implement knowledge. The reflexive competence is evident when students integrate or give accounts for actions considered to implement theoretical knowledge in the foreseen and unforeseen conditions in authentic contexts or situations. The detailed descriptions and the emphasis on the competences and integrated assessment in the Department of Higher Education's Minimum Requirement for Teacher Qualification policy guidelines, and assessment regulations and guidelines, are interpreted in this work to imply that the selected instructions for teaching and learning and assessment are aligned with the three competences. Besides, the choices of techniques for gathering evidence of students’ performance are relevant to the exit level outcomes and attributes of a competent teacher as proposed in the policy documents of the Department of Higher Education and South African Qualification Authority. According to Gammie and Joyce (2009); Lassnigg (2018); Whalley (2004), an assessment plan is an integral part of selecting, sequencing, and organization of the instructions or curriculum. In the same vein, Biggs (2016); Burner (2018) spoke about the assessment plan as the alignment of outcomes and criteria, assessment tasks, and assessment techniques. The ideas and opinions of Biggs on assessment inform his work in terms of the fundamental issues that developers of the curriculum for teacher educators should have considered in the assessment plan for the course guide. The assessment guidelines and regulations of the South African Qualification Authority (2019) also provided descriptions of the competences and exit levels

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that were to be considered in the assessment plans. For example, the foundational competences, practical competences, and reflexive competences are referred to as applied competences in teacher education and training. An assessment of foundational competence focuses on the evidence of academic and professional abilities and skills performed by students in the following components: specialized knowledge of the subject, which entails the in-depth understanding of the philosophical foundations or epistemological theories involved in the knowledge production in the field and other related areas. The criterion for assessing foundational competence has to be articulated on the premise that the envisaged competent teachers, in terms of SAQA, should be researchers and lifelong learners, interpreters of curriculum documents, designers of learning material, and mediators of learning. Assessment should also prove that students in the teaching profession demonstrate competent communication skills, interpret statistical knowledge, read academic and professional texts. In addition, qualified, experienced teachers should demonstrate understanding of integrating philosophical and theoretical knowledge in their own studies, selected from a wider field of expertise that frames the content of teaching and learning in the subject area, illustrating a sound understanding of pedagogical strategies for effective learning (South African Qualification Authority, 2019; Department of Higher Education and Training, 2015, 2019). SAQA (2001, 2019) and the DHET (2019) vividly stated that the fundamental principles that should underpin planning and the process of competence-based assessment to be integrated assessment and continuous assessment. Integrated assessment implies clustering learning outcomes and assessment criteria into assessment tasks (SAQA, 2019). Assessment should be focused on candidates' ability to comprehend and master the theoretical or factual content knowledge, apply their theoretical knowledge to solve work-related problems and give an account of the efficacy of strategies and methods in educational practice (Barnett, 2018). Assessors should use a range of techniques that will allow candidates to demonstrate the applied competence without being required to teach in authentic contexts. Strategies and procedures for competence assessment should align with the purpose and exit level outcomes of the qualification (Department of Higher Education and Training, 2015). Proponents of competence-based assessment also commend the utilization of various options, such as case studies, problem-solving tasks, a portfolio of learning, material, and projects, instead of written assignments, tests, and examinations (Van der Vleuten, Sluijsmans & Brinke, 2017; Gessler & Peters, 2020; Boyer & Bucklew, 2019; Black & McCormick, 2010). The moderation process of competence assessment tools entails reporting on results and achievements in students’ performance. In this context, moderation involves internal and more external moderators focusing on; the standard of achievement of competence, the validity and reliability of the assessment strategies, and design and criteria concerning the purpose and exit level outcomes of the qualification (Liviu, 2020; Engleberg et al., 2017). Moderators of competence assessment could be from higher education institutions that are deemed qualified as moderator assessors, services tutors, and outside assessment agencies (Ramesh, Raju, Reddy, Krishnan, Biswas & Umamaheshwari, 2019). According to Navio et al. (2019);

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Cebrián et al. (2020); Mulder (2019); Lassnigg (2018); Crisp (2012) competencebased teaching, learning, and assessment allow not only the clustering of abilities, skills, and attitudes but also the motivation that is developed gradually throughout the education and training process.

4. Methodology and Data Collection The primary source of data in this study was the course guides obtained from the higher education institution accredited by the HEQC from 2015 to 2017. The assessment plans are conceptualized in this work as guidelines for gathering evidence of proficiency in the performance of competences (foundation, practical and reflexive) by students, which are fundamental aspects of curriculum design and development. The Minimum Requirement for Teacher Qualification (2015, 2019) and the Norm and Standards (1998) assert that learning outcomes, credits, and exit level outcomes must adhere to the South African Qualification Authority's Higher Education Qualification framework levels. This adherence implies the alignment of articulated learning outcomes and assessment criteria in the course with the number of credits, exit level, and the three competences. According to SAQA guidelines, qualification exit level outcomes should be an overall judgment or summative assessment to profile the student's achievements according to the qualification attributes. These outcomes enshrine the seven roles and competences stipulated in the Department of Higher Education Training (2019), which are: interpreter and designer of learning programs and material, assessor, leader, administrator and manager, community, citizenship, and pastoral role, learning mediator, scholar, researcher, and lifelong learner and learning area/subject/discipline and phase specialist.

5. Data Analysis The findings presented in this work resulted from the data analyzed qualitatively from documents voluntarily supplied by Life Science teacher educators in the Science Education Departments of six faculties of education in South Africa. Six course guides were used to gather information concerning the assessments of the competences and exit level outcomes, tools, and alignment of these aspects in the course guides. The Biggs Critical Alignment theory was used to analyze data. The Critical Alignment theory is implicated in the South African Qualification Authority policies on quality assurance assessment. According to Biggs (2016), outcomes-based assessment of applied competences should align with the course learning outcomes and criteria, tasks, and assessment tools, and these are to be reflected in the course guides. Gravett and Geyser (2004) and Killen (2015) refer to course guide learning outcomes as the statement defining the expected knowledge, abilities, and skills to be demonstrated by students by the end of the module or course. In contrast, criteria indicate the performance that will be the evidence of the competence displayed by students. Finally, the tools or techniques refer to the instruments and strategies utilized to gather valid and reliable evidence of the performance of abilities, skills, and knowledge. The process of data analysis started by identifying categories of data before classifying the items specified. The types were learning outcomes, assessment

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criteria, assessment tools and techniques. Then, results were tabulated under three categories. Table 1: Data showing the assessment planning from the course guide coded as learning outcomes and assessment criteria. Learning Outcome/Year Level 4/NQF Level 7 o

o o

o o o o

Development of scientific knowledge and understanding in general in the South African context. Development of science process skills. Critical engagement with and reflections on Life Sciences as a subject of historical, political, economic, and sociological perspectives to review current practices in LS education in a more socially responsible, responsive, and humanizing manner. Describe and explain the nature of science and critical characteristics of Indigenous Knowledge (IK) Discuss and reflect on the nature of Life Science and its importance as a school subject. Describe and explain the scientific methods and limitations. Identify opportunities and strategies for the effective integration of IK into LS lessons. Critically comment on the C2005 and NCS for LS. Develop an in-depth understanding of selected themes/topics of CAPS Grade 1012 Life Sciences content. In-depth understanding of LS content and knowledge in both pedagogy and pedagogical content knowledge of the subject.

Assessment Criteria ▪

Activities

▪

Projects/assignments/Tests: Unit and Activities

▪

Ability to critically engage with and reflect on Life Sciences as a subject of historical, political, economic, and sociological perspectives to review current practices in LS education in a more socially responsible, responsive, and humanizing manner.

- No assessment criteria

- No assessment criteria - No assessment criteria

- No assessment criteria

Table2: Data showing the alignment of learning outcomes, criteria, tools, and techniques. •

Formative assessment and learning will be assessed continuously, both informally and formally.

Summative Assessment

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•

Assessment activities: observations, oral questions, class activities, assignments, tests, and final examination

▪

Activities Projects/ assignments/ tests

Tests, examinations

Table 3: Weighting of assessment in terms of continuous and summative evaluation. Term 1 Test 75% March

Term 2 Test 75% June

Term 3 Test 75% September

Term 4 Test 75% November

Cass 25%

6. Findings The data presented in Tables 1, 2 and 3 reflect the items considered essential for inclusion into the assessment of Life Science course guides for teacher education, which are: Issue1: Selection of learning outcomes and assessment criteria According to the South African Qualification Authority, course exit outcomes are broad statements that describe the competencies to be accomplished by students by the end of the course. Data in Table 1 provides the evidence of learning outcomes, which point to the abilities and skills to be demonstrated by students, for example, 'describe and explain the nature of science and key characteristics of indigenous knowledge,' 'describe and explain the scientific methods and limitations,' and 'identify opportunities and strategies for the effective integration of indigenous knowledge into LS lessons. However, the omission of the statement describing proficiency levels in the course guides was in contrast with the Minimum Requirement for Teacher Qualification. According to the South African Qualification Authority's Higher Education Qualification Framework (2019) and Biggs (2016) learning outcomes should focus on three applied competences, namely: fundamental competences, practical competences, and reflexive competences. The learning outcomes on the course guides for Life Sciences analyzed for this work did not reflect the link between the learning outcomes and the three competences stated in the South African Qualification Authority guidelines. In addition, the data presented in Table 1 shows that the assessment criteria for other learning outcomes were missing. Issue2: Alignment of learning outcomes, assessment criteria, assessment tasks and assessment techniques and tools. The data in Table 2 reflect the information provided in the course guide on how the assessment of the instructions selected in the Life Sciences course was organized and planned. The data shows that learning outcomes and assessment criteria were presented as separate and unrelated items. Similarly, assessment activities and techniques or instruments did not reflect any link. According to Biggs Constructive Alignment theory, for the practical assessment of competences and criteria in the outcomes-based assessment, the learning outcomes, assessment criteria, the assessment tasks and the instruments and techniques should be aligned. The alignment of these items in an assessment focuses on the applied competences being assessed and the evidence of the level

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of proficiency demonstrated by the student in performing knowledge, skills and abilities targeted as competences. According to Martinez and Hurtado (2018), techniques in the assessment such as group assessment, individual assessment or self-assessment, and peer assessment are crucial in the assessment of competences, and assessment tasks designed for these assessment techniques should be linked to competences and tools to gather authentic, reliable, and valid evidence of the performance of the proficiency standards or level of knowledge, skills, and abilities. Issue3: Weighting of summative and continuous assessment Data presented in Table 3 reflects the distribution of the weightings that portray the reliance on tests for gathering evidence about students' performance at the end of each of the four terms. The allocation of 75 percent weighting to summative assessment and twenty-five percent to continuous assessment proves that Life Sciences teacher educators did not consider aligning teaching, learning, and assessment to applied competences. According to Barnett (2018) and Killen (2015), the South African Qualification Authority (SAQA) (2019) assessment should be an integral part of teaching and learning, and that the focus should be on the three applied competences in higher education: foundational, practical, and reflexive. Similarly, Cebrián et al. (2020), and Beets (2009) proposed the application of a portfolio to gather evidence of competent performance, to provide students the opportunities to demonstrate competency of mastery of content knowledge, the ability to apply their conceptual understanding in various contexts of teaching and learning in the workplace, and to reflect on their professional practice to implement curriculum changes in work-related contexts (Barnett, 2018; South African Qualification Authority, 2019). Beets (2009) argued that formative assessment catalyzes the process of teaching, learning and assessment; therefore, the uncertainties concerning alignment of learning outcomes and assessment criteria hinder the role of the formative assessment to provide students with the constructive feedback that is necessary for development and improvement in their teaching and learning. Barnett (2018) is clear about the benefits of formative assessment in providing students with the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and to put in additional effort to improve those mistakes. In the same view, Cebrián et al. (2020) argued that the demonstration of proficiency in competences is a process, not an event. Issue 4:The mixture of content-based and outcomes-based principles in the planning of teaching, learning and assessment. Data in Tables 1 and 2 highlighted the omission of terminology such as foundational, practical, and reflexive competences in the Life Science course guide. According to the Department of Higher Education and Training (2019); SAQA (2019), the minimum requirement for a teacher qualification should integrate outcomes-based and competence-based assessment when gathering evidence about foundational, practical, and reflexive performance competences in teacher education and training. Data in Table 1 highlights uncertainty in the statements describing the learning outcomes and assessment criteria. According to Killen (2015), the South African Qualification Authority’s (2019) learning

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outcomes in teacher training should describe the expected competences to be developed in each unit of the course, and attached to the learning outcomes should be the criteria that indicate the expected performance which determines the accomplishment of the proficiency levels. The figures showing the weightings allocated to formative and summative assessment and the assessment techniques presented in Table 2 were not aligned to any of the competences stated in the curriculum policy for teacher education and training in DHET (2019). Data in Table 1 and Table 2 reveal the bias of the developers to content-based assessment in the designs of assessment activities, the omission of the applied competences, and the inadequate description of learning outcomes and assessment criteria which are evidence of the compromise of competencebased assessment. The learning outcomes and assessment criteria were haphazardly articulated without careful consideration being given to an adequate alignment with the relevant applied competences; foundational, practical, and reflexive competences. The repeat of the statement, for example, “in-depth understanding of NS content and knowledge in both pedagogy and pedagogical content knowledge of the subject," as both a learning outcome and an assessment criterion is evidence of the uncertainty that is reflected in the revised Natural Sciences study guides as highlighted in Table 1. The same statement in Table 1 fell under the views categorized as assessment criteria for example: “An ability to critically engage with and reflect on Natural Science as a subject of historical, political, economic, and sociological perspectives to review current practices in NS education in a more socially responsible, responsive and humanizing manner.”

7. Discussion and Interpretation of Findings The interpretation of the findings in this section reflects the ideas and opinions discussed under the literature review and those of Biggs’ Constructive Alignment theory. The findings based on the data in Table 1 regarding the learning outcomes and assessment criteria highlight an inadequate conceptualization of terminologies defined in the South African Qualification Authority’s guidelines on assessment in higher education and training. According to the proponents of competence-based assessment in professional education and training, learning outcomes should be a broad statement describing intellectual and practical abilities attached to the knowledge and skills which the course will have equipped students with by the end of the units or themes (Betts et al., 2019). The unclear descriptions of learning outcomes in terms of competences revealed by the data in Table 1 and 2, which is interpreted in this work to be a threat in the transformation of teaching, learning and assessment of pre-service Natural Sciences teachers. Barnett (2018) argued that competence-based teacher education and training emphasizes the integration of teaching, learning and assessment, and this integration ensures the implementation of continuous assessment. Continuous assessment entails applying different techniques to assist students in developing proficiency in mastering various abilities or competences articulated in the assessment criteria. In the context of continuous assessment, formative assessment aims to enrich and enhance the acquisition of skills and knowledge by examining learning,

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while summative assessment focuses on gathering evidence upon which a judgment can be made about learning progression. The weightings allocated for formative and summative assessments are viewed in this research as evidence of adherence to the Life Sciences course guides to the traditional summative assessment. According to Gulikers et al. (2018), a process of curriculum change introduces practitioners to new approaches, theories, and practices which at times require a total shift from traditional techniques; therefore, some misconceptions of new terminologies are inevitable during the process of curriculum change, most notably at the level of adaptation.

8. Conclusion The study's findings highlight the issues of uncertainty in the articulation of the course's learning outcomes, assessment criteria and the planning of continuous assessment. The conclusions of this study confirm matters that had already been pointed out by previous researchers, Barnett (2018); Carl (2010); Beets 2009; Betts et al. (2019), namely adherence to the traditional practices, resistance to change, the incapacity of adequate support and supervision. The study also concluded that competences and criterion-referenced principles are not considered part of transforming teaching, learning, and assessing Life Sciences teachers’ curriculum knowledge and qualifications. The proponents of quality assurance of assessment recommend that competence in the outcomes-based assessment requires an alternative approach to the moderation of assessment techniques and instruments for gathering evidence on their performance (Murdoch and Grobbelaar, 2004; Bergsmann et al., 2018). Further, the researchers recommend a shift from the practices of internal and external moderation practices that focus on the examination system in higher education to ascertain whether the questions contained in the summative assessment tools adhere to the Blooms Taxonomy and the principles of fairness, and consistency and that the postassessment moderation aims to verify that the marking of answer sheets is fair and consistent. The argument pursued in this paper entrenches the opinions and views of van Rensburg (2015)by adding that the demonstration of competences is not a single event; instead, it is a process. Moderation should therefore ensure the quality of the instruction, pedagogical approaches, learning outcomes, and the assessment tools or techniques in terms of validity and reliability to provide the evidence of the proficient performance of competences stated in the learning outcomes criteria. According to Murdoch and Grobbelaar (2004) the role of the moderator is broadened to include overseeing and verifying the teaching, learning and assessment. Hence approach implies that the moderator and the examiner should discuss the course guide and the assessment developed by the instructors and the examiners. Therefore, the report or the moderator's feedback should encompass comments and reflections on the curriculum, exit level outcomes, and achievement of the outcomes and competencies targeted in the criteria. Comments should reflect on the quality and relevance of the form content and methods and the number of assessment opportunities required, and general comments could be another way of evaluating the course (South African Qualification Authority, 2011; 2019). The non-alignment of learning outcomes, assessment criteria, assessment techniques, and assessment instruments in the Life Sciences course contrasts with Biggs’ Constructive Alignment theory, which

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promotes integrating teaching, learning, and assessing competences in higher education and training. This study concludes that the implications of uncertainties concerning the assessment of applied competences are firstly inadequately evidenced to prove the proficiency of Life Sciences teachers’ performance of foundational, practical, and reflexive competences required in teaching, learning and assessment in Life Sciences classrooms. Secondly, the perpetuation of content-driven assessment focuses on scores obtained from tests as a norm to determine proficiency, with data showing the allocation of higher percentage weightings to tests in Table 2 confirming the emphasis on summative assessment techniques in the Natural Science course guides. Thirdly, this work concludes that the Natural Sciences teachers being prepared based on the course guides analyzed in this study are likely to experience difficulties implementing principles underpinning the Life Sciences curriculum innovations in the classroom. Similarly, the omission of learning outcomes and assessment criteria for practical competence in the Life Sciences course guide is interpreted as a contrast to the South African Qualification Authority (2011) assessment policy. Since this policy emphasizes the assessment of professional practice in an authentic workplace and the application of teaching and learning strategies, therefore the disregard of practical and reflexive competences in the course guides means that supervision, mentoring and support which students require to accomplish performance of a higher level of competency in professional practice is compromised. In the same vein, MRTEQ (2019) stipulates that the assessment of practical competence and reflexive competence must focus on students’ ability to reflect on their own practices and lifelong learning in the workplace, and these were found to be compromised in the education and training of Life Sciences teachers. The findings also extend the concerns expressed by the Minister of Education, Asmal, regarding the grammar school trend of thought, which traditionally influenced teaching, learning, and assessment in the teacher education and training curriculum and the school curriculum. Fourthly, evidence exists to prove that Life Sciences teachers have met the requirements and the attributes of the academic and professional teacher outlined in the minimum standards for teacher qualification policy in South Africa, and finally, the lack of adequate integration of applied competences to the teaching, learning and assessment of future Life Sciences teachers. This work has identified the contradiction in the accreditation of the curriculum, whereby the Council of Higher Education's committee accredited the curricular despite the discrepancies identified by this study. Barnett (2018) and Murdoch and Grobbelaar (2004) recommend SAQA assessment policies for quality assurance assessment to monitor the focus of assessment practices in teacher education and training on the performance of the applied competences that are identified to be the attributes of competent and qualified teachers. Transformation of teacher education and training, in Minister of Education Asmal’s view, entails integrating teaching, learning and assessment, and focusing on assessing proficiency in the performance of skills, knowledge, and abilities. However, the findings of this study point out that applied competences

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are not used to frame assessment procedures and processes, as highlighted in Table 1.

9. Recommendations The findings of this study revealed the contrast in the outline of assessment activities, tools, and approaches to assessment. While the proposed assessment guidelines in MRTEQ (2019) and SAQA (2011) indicate a shift from contentbased to competence-based, the course guides highlighted the adherence to the traditional approach, which focuses on content-driven and norm-referenced assessment. The alignment of assessment tasks and tools to assessment criteria of learning outcomes, which is emphasized in the SAQA assessment guidelines, was disregarded in the Life Sciences course guides. The contradictions between the proposed national curriculum change and the institution’s course guides highlighted in the findings indicate a need to review course guides. The opinions and views in the works of the advocates of competence-based assessment in higher education and training, Barnett (2018) and Wesselink et al. (2017) pointed out that assessment of competences is not an event but a process. The assessment of competences as a process is conceptualized in this paper to propose the upward development and professional growth that is monitored through continuous assessment, starting with the gathering of evidence of the proficient performance of competences from a basic level of complexity, then a higher level of complexity to the highest level. The formative assessment is a perceived procedure for supporting and monitoring development in the learning and teaching of knowledge, which focuses on the mastery of levels of complexity. The vertical articulation of learning outcomes and assessment criteria should be explicit in the course guide and reflect the three applied competences. It is recommended that future research could extend these findings by evaluating curriculum course guides in other fields. The study's findings for this work can be used as a springboard for further analysis of course guides and for further inquiry into the transformation of assessment in teacher education. The figure presented below manifests the conceptual image of the vertical articulation of assessment criteria from fundamental to complex competences which should be reflected in the planning of the units.

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high level of complexity

highest level of compexity

basic level of complexity Figure 1 presents the conceptual route for the vertical articulation of learning outcomes, the three applied competences, and the assessment criteria. The diagram could guide teacher educators and researchers to explore ways and means of designing tasks to assess the three applied competences and integrate teaching, learning, and assessment in the Life Sciences course guides. Previous research has highlighted that previous curricula for teacher education have produced teachers who have failed to adjust to the curriculum changes due to their incapacity and incompetence to demonstrate skills and ability required to manipulate the contexts in the school environment (Department of Higher Education, 2019). This study recommends applying competencies in the teaching, learning and assessment phase and the moderation of course guides to address gaps and omissions revealed in the analysis of data. Research in teacher education and training can pursue studies related to the practice of assessment in the context of quality assurance to meet the criteria – referenced by the performance of the applied competences in teacher education and training.

10. Limitations The findings of this study intended to discover items, ideas and principles that inform the conceptualizing and planning of the assessment of competences in the Life Sciences course guides. However, the findings presented in this paper are subject to some limitations because the current research is qualitative in nature along with other parameters: document analysis, size of the sample and sampling strategies. In addition, it did not call for Life Sciences teacher educators’ interviews, students’ perspectives, and observations.

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11. References Barnett, R. E. (2018). Assessment in higher education: An impossible mission? In D. Boud & N. Falchikov (Eds.), Rethinking assessment in higher education learning for the long term 39-50. London: Routledge Falmer. https://doi.org/10.4324/978020396430910 Beets, P. (2009). Towards integrated assessment in South African higher education. InE. Blitzer (Ed.), Higher education in South Africa: A scholarly look behind the scenes (Chapter 9, 183-202. Stellenbosch: Sun Media. https://doi.org/10.18820/978192033183/09 Bergsmann, E., Klug, J. Burger, C. Först, N.,& Spiel, C. (2018). The Competence Screening Questionnaire for Higher Education: Adaptable to the needs of a study programme. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 43(4), 537554.https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2017.1378617 Betts, L. R., Huntington, B., Lao L., Dillon, G. V., &Baayard, P. (2019). Developing a competency-based education and training program for university tutors. The Journal of Competency-based Education, 4(4),1-6. https://doi.org/10.1002/cbe2.1200 Biggs, J., & Tang, C. (2020) Constructive Alignment: An Outcomes-Based Approach to Teaching Anatomy. In L.K Chan & W. Pawlina (Eds.) Teaching Anatomy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43283-6_3 Biggs, J. (2016) Teaching for quality learning at university. Buckingham, England. Open University Press. Black, P., & McCormick, R. (2010). Reflections and new directions. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 35(5), 493499.https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2010.493696 Booi, K., & Kuzwayo, M.E (2019). Difficulties in developing a curriculum for pre-service Science Teachers South African Journal of Education, 39(3), 1-13. https://doi.org/ 10.15700/ saje. v39n3a1517 Boyer, N., & Bucklew, K. (2019). Competency-based education and higher education enterprise system. The Journal of Competency-Based Education, 4(1), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1002/cbe2.1180 Burner, T. (2018). Why is Educational Change so Difficult and How Can we Make it more Effective, Research and Change, 1(1), 122-134. https://doi.org/10.23865/fof.v1.1081 Cebrián, G., Junyent, M., &Mulà, I. (2020). Competencies in education for sustainable development: Emerging teaching and research developments. Sustainability, 12(2), 579. http://doi.org/10.3390/su12020597 Crisp, G. (2012). Integrative assessment: Reframing assessment practice for current and future learning. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, (37) 33-44. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2010.494234 Chisholm, L. (2005). The politics of curriculum review and revision in South Africa in regional context, Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 35 (1), 79-100. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057920500033563 Christie, P. (2006). Changing regimes: Governmentality and education policy in the post –apartheid South Africa. International Journal of Educational Development, 26 (4) 373-381.https://doi.org/10. 1016/j.ijedudev.2005.09.006 Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). (2019). Minimum requirements for teacher qualification. Pretoria: Government Printers. Engleberg, I. N., Ward, S. M., Disbrow, L. M., Katt, J. A., Myers, S. A., & O'Keefe, P. (2017). The development of a set of core communication competencies for

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introductory communication courses. Communication Education, 66(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2016.1159316 Gammie, E., & Joyce, Y. (2009). Competence-based Approaches to the Assessment of Professional Accountancy Training Work Experience Requirements: The ICAS Experience. Accounting Education, 18 (5) 443-466. https://doi.org/10.1080/09639280902719465 Gessler, M., &Peters, S. (2020). Competency-based education and training in Namibia: Educational transfer as an imitation. In M. Pilz and J. Li (Eds.), Comparative Vocational Education Research 113-130. Wiesbaden: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-29924-8_7 Gulikers, J. T. M., Runhaar, P., &Mulder, M. (2018). An assessment innovation as a flywheel for changing teaching and learning. Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 70(2), 212-231.https://doi.org/10.1080/13636820.2017.1394353 Gravett, S. & Geyser, H. (2004) Teaching and Learning in higher education. Pretoria: Van Schaik Higgs, P, (2007). The African renaissance and the transformation of higher education curriculum in South Africa. African Education Review, 13 (1) 87101.https://doi.org/10.1080/18146627.2016.1186370 Jansen, J.D. (1998). Curriculum Reforms in South Africa: a critical analysis of OutcomesBased education. Cambridge Journal of Education, 28 (3), 321`-331 https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764980280305 Killen, R. (2015). Teaching strategies for quality teaching and learning. Cape Town: Juta Publishers. Lassnigg, L. (2018). Competence-based education and educational effectiveness. In M. Mulder (Ed.), Competence-based vocational and professional education: Bridging the worlds of work and education 667-693. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41713-4_31 Martinez, L. V., & Hurtado, J. T. (2018). Competency-based evaluation in higher education: Design and use of competence rubrics by university educators. International Education Studies, 11(2), 118-131. https://doi.org/10.5539/ies.v11n2p118 Navio, E. P., Dominguez, M. M., & Zagalaz, J. C. (2019). Perception of the professional competence of last year’s students of pre-primary education and primary education degrees and students of training teachers’ master. Journal of New Approaches in Education Research, 18(1), 58-65. https://doi.org/10.7821/naer.2019.1.344 Sayed, Y., & Kanjee, A. (2013). Assessment policy in post-apartheid South Africa: Challenges for improving education quality and learning. Principles, Policy and Practice, 20(4),444-469. https://doi.org/10.1080/0969594x.2013.838541 South African Qualification Authority (SAQA). (2019). Guidelines for integrated assessment. Pretoria: Government Printers. Van der Vleuten, C., Sluijsmans, D., & Brinke B. D. (2017). Competence assessment as learner support in education. In M. Mulder (Ed.), Competence-based vocational and professional education 607-635. Switzerland: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-4_28 Wesselink, R., Biemans,H., Gulikers, J., & Mulder, M. (2017). Models and principles for designing competence-based curricula, teaching, learning, and assessment. InM. Mulder (Ed.), Competence-based vocational and professional education: Bridging the worlds of work and education. 533-553. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/1007/978-3-319-417-4_25

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Whalley, B. (2014). Teaching with assessment, feedback, and feed forward: Using 'preflight' to assist student achievement. InT. Bilham (Ed.), For the love of learning 114. Palgrave: MacMillan. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-33430-5_14

Appendix A A Schedule for document analysis Course Guide Aim of the Course Purpose of the Course Articulated Course Applied competences

Learning

Outcomes/

Articulated Assessment Criteria Applied competence/ assessment procedure/ assessment criteria/ assessment techniques Formative assessment/ tasks/techniques/ applied competences/ assessment criteria Summative assessment/ tasks/ techniques/ applied competences Weightings

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Summative formative

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 61-84, July 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.7.4 Received May 14, 2021; Revised Jul 04, 2021; Accepted Jul 31, 2021

Factors Affecting the Achievement of TwelveYear Basic Students in Mathematics and Science in Rwanda Aimable Sibomana African Center of Excellence for Innovative Teaching and Learning Mathematics and Science (ACEITLMS), University of Rwanda - College of Education (UR-CE), Republic of Rwanda https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9452-9145 Christian Bob Nicol African Center of Excellence for Innovative Teaching and Learning Mathematics and Science (ACEITLMS), University of Rwanda - College of Education (UR-CE), Republic of Rwanda https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5838-0558 Wenceslas Nzabalirwa, Florien Nsanganwimana and Claude Karegeya University of Rwanda - College of Education (UR-CE), Republic of Rwanda https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8299-2001 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3152-9893 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5855-7122 John Sentongo Department of Science, Technical and Vocational Education (DSTVE), Makerere University, College of Education and External Studies, Kampala, Republic of Uganda https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8693-2639

Abstract. Although there is an invaluable growth of science and technology across the world, many young people appear to lose interest in Mathematics and science-related subjects due to poor academic achievement caused by different factors. The factors affecting students' achievement in science subjects among sub-Saharan Africa countries,including Rwanda, have been an issue for stakeholders on investigating how to improve the teaching and learning of science in basic education. In this study, a purposive cluster sampling of 261 participants, including 210 students, 23 teachers, seven head teachers, seven Sector Education Inspectors (SEIs), and 14 parents were used. Data were collected through a questionnaire addressed to learners; analyzed using SPSS via descriptive statistics. An interview was ©Authors This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

conducted with students' representatives, teachers, head teachers,Sector Education Inspectors, and focus group discussion with 14 parents which was analyzed using content analysis. The analysis indicated that key factors of low performance in science subjects include the level of teachers' education; family's economic background; availability of teaching and learning materials; distance covered by learners from home to school; learner's prior knowledge; and level of parents'education and absenteeism of learners. Thus, the above seem to affect the academic achievement of students in the advanced level of Twelve-Year Basic Education in Rwanda. Views about how to improve learning achievements in science such as equipping the laboratories, constructing more 12YBE schools in various areas to curb the problem of long distances covered by learners to and from school, training teachers on innovative teaching methods were suggested. The results informed that in-service teachers' training and parental involvement should be encouraged to track and sustain learners’ learning. Keywords: basic education; mathematics/science education; academic achievement; innovative teaching methods; Rwandan schools

1. Introduction Science education is a dynamic and relatively broad area. It is seen as the foundation of schooling in many countries, and mathematics and science subjects in higher education are taken as key components for achieving societal needs for ensuring sustainable economic development. In all realms of societal life, young people should be interested to learn mathematics, science,and technology in schools by exploring the world and discover new things (Brock, 2020). The 2030 global agenda for sustainable development aims to have a world with equitable and universal access to quality education at all levels, especially by strengthening science education for the socio-development of some countries, equipping younger generations to develop the capacity-building in all science subjects and the Rwandan national vision. Nonetheless, vision 2020 is now extended to 2050, aims to transform the lives of Rwandans, especially the young citizens into a more economically vibrant and productive population by promoting mathematics and science education. To achieve this goal, all children must get free education as a universal human right according to the 1948 United Nations declaration of human rights. Equally important are the provisions of the convention on the rights of children (Rose & Alcott, 2015). As a result, the Rwandan government has implemented policies to promote literacy through education for all by instituting basic education systems (among those is TwelveYear Basic Education -12YBE) with more emphasis on science subjects. However, some challenges have been associated with the unsatisfactory level of students' scholastic successes in science subjects (Rwanda Basic Education Board [REB], 2017). According to Hackling et al. (2001), the attainment of quality science education for the human professional development needs in the sciences is a global concern. For instance, science education researchers in recent years across the nations have revealed unsatisfactory levels of achievement in science disciplines

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(Lerman, 2014). Likewise, a study of the challenges associated with science education in Nigerian secondary schools concluded students' demonstration of fear for science; negative attitudes, and unsatisfactory academic performance (Abulude & Olawale, 2016). A study conducted in Ghana stated that all facilities could be put in place so that students from the poorest households attend them easily,a contribution to the inclusion and equitable quality education and promotion of lifelong learning opportunities for all (Akyeampong, 2009). Regarding basic education, the experience of Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya show that the increased enrolment of students atthe primary level increases demands for secondary education that needs the involvement of parents (Oketch & Rolleston, 2007). In Kenya, an intervention to basic education has been improved by expanding access in general, and students perform better and gain chances to continue to higher levels, but the learning outcomes remain low in public schools, which reduces the benefits of universal education,whereas, in Tanzania, Kalolo (2015) revealed that science teachers should emphasize on what is essential for learners to improve their achievement. In the Rwandan education system, the Twelve-Year Basic Education (12YBE) comprises of six years of primary school, three years of lower secondary school(ordinary level), and three years of upper secondary (advanced) level. This policy grants every Rwandan child the opportunity and access to education that is free of cost in public day schools (Nizeyimana et al., 2020). The policy of education for all in Rwanda has been put in place to increase the number of students who complete secondary school level and get senior six certificates, but till now, there has been an out cry of the quality of the achievers. World Bank (2016) also stated the low achievement of students in science-related subjects among Sub-Saharan Africa countries, including Rwanda. The process of teaching and learning mathematics and science should be geared towards learners' scholastic achievement and, when done successfully, leads to the socio-economic development of countries since quality education is an essential requirement for sustainable development of a country. While this brings immeasurable benefits to citizens in the society by adequately preparing the next generation of scientists,stakeholders in education need to provide the very basic needs to alleviate the challenges that these young learners face (Mahdi, 2014). For instance, students need to be educated on the advantages of learning science-related subjects, carry out practical work to gain meaningful learning, acquire appropriate skills and attitudes that will enable them to live and contribute to the development of society (Bugaje, 2013). In Rwanda, the teaching of mathematics and science still face many challenges, including, for instance, students' misconceptions and negative attitudes towards these subjects. The teaching of science is still dominated by teacher-centered methods as the system still has many unqualified teachers, most of whom are reluctant to embrace the good practices enshrined in the Competence-Based Curriculum (Byusa et al., 2020). With the several efforts such as education for all made by the government to provide the much-needed science education in the country, success will be far-fetched if the learners and teachers alike continue to

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endure the challenges such as school drop out and enrollment retention that have the propensity to degrade the morale and quality of educational gains which can be made in science education among the Twelve-Year Basic Education schools. These concerns are the motivation behind the investigation into the factors that affect the advanced level Twelve-Year Basic Education students. Based on the realization that the development and general welfare needs of the citizens in Rwanda, the government of Rwanda developed a long term national document plan called Vision 2020,which has been extended to 2050, essentially sought to put Rwanda in a trajectory for economic empowerment and make the country a middle-income country by 2035 and high-income country by 2050. One of the pillars of this ambitious vision is the provision of affordable basic education and a buoyant economy through strengthening science education. This is to be achieved through a skilled and empowered workforce where education is considered a key factor for success. The quality of the process of teaching and learning science determines the level of social and transformation in the life of a student and is therefore regarded as an important instrument. In the classroom, the teacher, student, and the curriculum are three keys to the success of the knowledge construction process. In an ideal science classroom, the students are motivated by the self-directed activities in which the teacher is both supportive to learners and knowledgeable about the processes of constructivist learning approaches and the subject matter content (Lerman, 2014). In addition, mathematics and science subjects require a conducive environment with willing students and favorably disposed teachers to achieve learning achievements (Fatokun et al., 2016). Students need hands-on experiences to actively construct knowledge and increase their awareness of the world around them. Practical work and experiments help learners develop the requisite and relevant skills and knowledge needed to make them into useful nation-builders in society (Ebiere Dorgu, 2015). A good foundation of education for all starts with actively involving younger learners in science education. Science -related subjects became a tool for the achievement of their specific targets and channels to find solutions to different issues in their daily lives. Thus, science development is vital for any nation's economic development if science educators create interests and maintain the curiosity of students, which result in the enhancement of productivity and meeting social needs as has been the case in developed and industrializing countries (Lewin, 1992). Thus, a learning institution with equipped, adequate, and relevant instructional resources improves students' academic performance (Likoko et al., 2018). Students' academic achievement in science refers to students' academic or educational accomplishment (performance outcome) in intellectual domains taught at school, college, and university, and it is represented by scores in an educational system (Bora & Ahmed, 2018). Academic achievement stimulates the education one gets, which affects their daily life, and is a scheme of learning that produces well-educated persons who can handle matters of concern within their area of study competently. It is to be of quality to catch up students' perspectives and improve their higher academic achievements by strengthening

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science education to increase literacy and capacity-building in science at all levels where students construct their awareness and meaning (Koppenhaver & Shrader, 2003). Students need to be allowed to engage in practical work since hands-on science in schools provides students opportunities to improve learning and acquire skills and attitudes that qualify them to live and contribute to the development of society (Subedi, 2016). Moreover, students' academic achievement in science is enhanced by effective teaching and scholarship process as the core of education. It depends on fulfilling the goals and objectives of education. It is the powerful instrument of instruction to bring about preferred changes in the students (Ogunkola & Archer-Bradshaw, 2013). As an indicator, educational achievement is the requirement for individual and societal success; it has long been acknowledged as one of the significant goals of teaching and learning science-related subjects. However, it has been observed that learners who positioned in an equal set of academic circumstances vary in achievement (Areepattamannil et al., 2011). In developing countries, quality science instruction includes students who are healthy, well-nourished, and are prepared to learn actively with the involvement of their families and communities. That is to say, learning in conducive environments which is safe, protective, and gender-sensitive withadequate resources and facilities , in this situation, generate relevant programs and resources for the achievement of basic skills, particularly in the areas of numeracy and skills for life, health, and nutrition (Cho & Baek, 2019).These are enhanced in the procedures through which trained teachers apply learnercentered teaching methods in the well-managed classrooms and schools, equipped with competent assessment tools to facilitate learning. Meanwhile, they reduce misconceptions and attain the targeted outcomes that include knowledge, skills, and attitudes, and which are linked to national educational goals for future social-economic development (Lewin, 1992; Sibomana et al., 2020 ). Constructivism changes today's classrooms into a knowledge-construction place where information is shared and knowledge is constructed by the learner. In science constructivist classrooms, learners are accountable for their learning. At the same time, the teacher plans and organizes different tasks for them (students) and facilites, in case needed, a learning situation that contrasts the conventional lecture. Groups of learning that are formed heterogeneously stimulate students to solve difficulties and challenges in practical situations, whichin turn, leads to the creation of practical solutions by different categories of students (Yassin et al., 2018). The use of internet sources contributes more to constructivist theories in classrooms and homes, since the internet helps in providing tools to experiment to an individual student who can now do different research using the internet and build his/her learning at own pace, interact with diverse materials or an instructor, work on group assignments and share ideas with classmates. Learners can share ideas in a given group of learning, then every learner goes home with tasks to accomplish, then once meet again at school, everyone brings what he/she did and discuss it before recording it as part of the group task (Chaudhary, 2018).

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The learning environment in constructivism encourages the learner to analyze and reflect on the provided information and experiences to result in individualized understanding and isolated learning (Vygotsky, 1980). According to Chaudhary (2018) and Ramsook (2018), educators who apply the constructivism learning theory in their classroom should plan to increase the critical thinking of their learners by allowing them to express their points of view and interact both with their teachers and amongst themselves. Teachers should create classroom situations where hands-on activities are exposed to all learners may also increase social interactions. Therefore, students' role in the constructivism science classroom is about contributing to the activities and the process of learning, discussing new content in group work, hence developing students' critical thinking, problem-solving, and learning on their own rather than listening passively to their educators and following teaching and learning structure.In this regard, the present study aims at investigating factors affecting the learning of students in 12-years basic education schools in Rwanda. The study is built on constructivist theory and the important aspect to document the perceptions among educational stakeholders about their specific views in educational settings. The study informed educational planners and teachers to focus more on learners who mix both school and home activities. Specifically, the study surveyed learners, teachers, educational officials, and parents to learn aboutthe factors affecting learners' learning of mathematics and science in Rwanda.

2. Methodology 2.1 Research Design The research was carried out in Nyamasheke District, in the Western province of Rwanda. It focused on eight twelve-years basic education (12YBE) schools with mathematics and science combinations in seven administrative sectors. The sample constituted 261 participants, comprising of 210 students in senior five (S5), 23 mathematics and science teachers,seven head teachers, seven Sector Education Inspectors (SEIs), and 14 parents (from Parent-Teacher Associations, PTA). This study employed a survey designand data were collected using three research instruments; (a) a questionnaire addressed to learners, (b) an interview with students'representatives, teachers, Headteachers,and SEIs, and (c) a focus group discussion with parents. While a cluster random sampling method was used to constitute the sample from eight clusters (eight science combinations among 12YBE schools in the District), interview participants were selected purposively. 2.2 Research Instruments and Validation The questionnaire comprised of seven main sections: personal information, teaching and learning materials within the school, families socio-economic status, teachers' level of education, distance traveled by learners from home to school, rate of students'absenteeism, performance in related science subject (during ordinary level competition while in senior three), and guardians/parents' educational level. The section about teaching and learning materials included seven questions, but in theother sections each had four questions where the participants were requested to tick their responses to the

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questions. Some sections included open-ended questions wherein participants described their opinions about the previous questions. Interview questions were related to learning from key informants about their views on factors that may affect learners' learning and performance in Rwandan schools (see Appendices for different research tools used in this study). The questionnaire and interview questions were given to experts who helped to check the face validity to critically examine its language clarity, readability, suitability, and lack of ambiguity. They also checked the appropriateness of the statements and the clarity of them to the respondents.To ensure the reliability of the survey questionnaire items, the Cronbach's alpha coefficient was computed in SPSS v.16 (0.80), which according to Fraenkel et al. (2012), indicates an acceptable internal consistency among items. 2.3 Data Collection and Analysis The first round of data was collected in 2015, where students of senior-4 were surveyed, and their Senior-3 national examination (NE) scores were collected from their respective school administrators. At the beginning of 2021, we collected a second round of data where we gathered the Senior-6 NE scores (performed in 2018) of the same students. Thus, we compared the views of various respondents with students' performance over three years. Prior to conducting this study, ethical approval was confirmed since this research involved human beings. Accordingly, all procedures performed in this study were by the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee in Rwanda. Before administering research instruments, each participant was made to sign a consent form for voluntary participation after thorough information was provided on the aim and content of the study, and interviewees were accorded maximum confidentiality by ensuring that handling of said records was restricted only to the researcher. Also, at the end of each conversation, the participants were made to listen to the interview that they gave. Data from the questionnaire were analyzed using SPSS version 16 and Orgin 8 software, where descriptive statistics were presented in tables and figures.The qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. We first analyzed data descriptively and then analyzed inferential statistics to reveal the statistical significance of factors affecting the performance of students in the Rwandan context. We triangulated all the information from respondents to present data in a common way, and factors were formulated based on the obtained data.

3. Data Presentation and Results 3.1. Teachers’ Qualification Level After analyzing the responses given by the teachers as shown by figure 1, the number of unqualified teachers (do not have Bachelor'sdegree or diploma – bachelor/diploma (A0/A1) in science with education) out numbered qualified ones (those who have A0 or A1 in science with education). However, many of the unqualified teachers were enrolled in an in-service diploma in the education

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program at data collection. About 25% of teachers had bachelor's degrees or diplomas in chemistry with education (CE), where 75% had bachelor's degrees or diplomas in chemistry without education (C). Mathematics teachers were 50% for each category (mathematics with education and mathematics without education (ME and M), while in biology, 57% had bachelor's degree or diploma of biology with education (BE) and 43% of biology without education (B). 7

No of Teachers

6 5 4 3 2 1 0 A0/A1 C- A0/A1 C A0/A1 A0/A1 M A0/A1 B- A0/A1 B A0/A1 P- A0/A1 P E M-E E E

Qualification Figure 1: The Level of Teachers' Qualifications. Note: A1 is a diploma, A0 is a bachelor degree

25% of physics teachers had bachelor's degree or diploma in physics with education (PE), and 75% had bachelor's degree or diploma in physics without an education degree or diploma (P). These findings point to the under-qualification of science teachers, which could hamper the quality of teaching due to unsatisfactory classroom management practices in these schools because they have a major influence on the outcomes of the process of teaching and learning, being in charge of the delivery of type and amount of information that learners can acquire in the classroom. Teacher qualification indicators usually include self-efficacy, knowledge of the content, methodologies of teaching and classroom management, and communication skills.These findings concord with those of Ige and Ogunleye (2016) and Owolabi and Adedayo (2012),who found that teachers' professional qualifications have an effect on academic performance since students are taught by teachers with lower qualifications perform poorly. 3.2. Families'Economic Background It was found that most of the parents' earnings are not sufficient to afford the provision of electricity at home for studies at night,in which 40 (19.04%) had electricity; 38 (18.09%) used solar energy; none used biogas; 66 (31%) used kerosene, and 66 (31%) used other sources that were not specified. Learners who come from these homes proceed to the 12YBE schools as their parents cannot afford to support them through boarding schools known to charge higher tuition and other fees. Invariably, the Twelve-Year Basic Education quality standards

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are deemed to be lower and thus affect learners' academic achievement in mathematics and science subjects. Parents or guardians of about 91(43.3%) were found to be predominantly farmers (many of them were laborers); 39 (18.6%) do business; 13 (6.2%) are teachers; 27 (12.8%) do fishing, and 40 (19%) do not have specified occupations. According to Bora and Ahmed (2018), the levels of the parents socio-economic standing dictates to a large extent the type of school children attend, even those who are in rural areas where teaching and learning facilities are not adequately provided; the parents’ status can change the trend that a child can cope with the academic challenges. For talented students who do not need their parents to be literate to influence or change their academic abilities, parents' educational background does not have any relationship with their academic achievement, but the school location can be a predictor of their academic achievement in basic science while in secondary schools. 3.3. Teaching and Learning Materials The sector education inspectors, head teachers, and the teachers themselves indicated difficulties encountered in teaching, among which we mention predominantly lecture, a method that did not address prior knowledge of learners who are, in this case, passive audience. Also, the inadequate facilities like libraries, laboratories, and teaching/learning materials that affected the academic achievement of the 12YBE learners,as instructional materials such as textbooks and science equipment for both teachers and students are key variables at all levels for students' learning and performance which in turn affect learners' motivation and the effectiveness of their lessons as well. The findings are in the same agreement as that of Mupa and Isaac (2015), who discovered that when teachers' instructional materials are limited, learners perform poorly. Similar studies were done in 2014 in Rwanda also outlined this traditional way of teaching and authoritative role of the teacher and following role of learners (Nzeyimana & Ndihokubwayo, 2019). However, they saw the progress towards reformed teaching of physics (Ndihokubwayo, Uwamahoro, et al., 2020) and effective lesson preparation(Ndihokubwayo, Ndayambaje, et al., 2020) in Rwandan schools. Busingye and Najjuma (2015) described the relationship between the availability of resources for teaching and learning and the learning gains to be a direct one. Acknowledging this fact, Ndihokubwayo et al. (2019) emphasized the need to enhance the quality of science education by making available adequate supplies of teaching and learning materials because of its immeasurable benefits on secondary and higher-level education.Teaching and learning science by innovative methods direct learners on how to apply a science idea to a variety of phenomena, and students' academic achievement in science related subjects is more enhanced with flexible teachers who are able to adapt the content to learners with different background and abilities in a conducive classroom environment (Gomendio & OECD Staff, 2017). 3.4. Distance from Learners' Homes to School and their Absenteeism From the findings as detailed in Table 1, the 12YBE schools are few and far; many students walk long distances to and from school.

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Table 1: Distance from Learner's Home to School and their Absenteeism Distance from learner's home to school

Students' absenteeism

1-2 km

3-4 km

5-6 km

7 km and above

Once a weak

Twice a weak

Twice month

Thrice month 27

They always attend 38

This effect directly renders students’ exhaussion for any follow–up reading at home,a factor that could affect their academic achievement. Lower scholastic achievement can be attributed to distances covered by students to and from school. 25.23% of students travel 1 to 2km from home to school; 18.09% travel 3 to 4 km; 31.4 % travel 5 to 6 km, and 25.23% travel 7 km and above. In addition, students who find themselves in these situations tend to do homework assignments alone rather than in the companionship of their classmates. Baliyan and Khama (2020), in their research, also confirmed that the distance traveled by learners to school and back home affects their academic achievement. Table 1 also showed the absenteeism of students from school and was also found to greatly deter learners' progress and performance in school as 24.7% of students admitted to being absent from school at least once a week; 12.8% twice a week; 31.4% twice a month; and 12.8% thrice a month. These findings represent an alarming rate of absenteeism, which has the propensity to affect academic performance negatively. 3.5. Learners' Prior Knowledge and Achievement In analyzing students' scores at the ordinary level examination during the academic year 2015 and their achievement at the completion of senior six in 2018 (seeTable 2) among seven schools that have science and mathematics combinations, we found that 6.19% of student had passed in division I (aggregates that are between eight and 32); 6.19% students in division II (33-45 aggregates); 31.4% students in division III (46-52 aggregates); and 56.19% students had passed in division IV (53-69 aggregates). However, none could pass in division V which indicates the failure (70 and above) in the ordinary level examination in which the lower the aggregate, the greater the achievement. This is unlike the senior six examinations where aggregates range from nine to 73 (which is the contrary at the completion of senior six where aggregates started from nine to 73). Table 2: Learners' Prior Knowledge (their performance in senior three/the academic year 2015) versus Learners' Achievement at the Completion of Senior Six/the Academic Year 2018 (in aggregates) Prior knowledge

Achievement

Division I (8-32) 13 Division I (57-73) 3

Division II (33-45) 13 Division II (41-56) 4

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Division III (46-52) 66 Division III (25- 40) 46

Division IV (53-69) 118 Division IV (9-24) 143

Div V (70 and above) 0 Div V (Unclassified) 6

Dropped out 8

At the completion of senior six, three students (1.43%) passed in the first division (57-73 aggregates); four (1.90%) in the second division; 46 (21.90%) in third division; 143 (68.09%) in the fourth division; six (2.86%) in the firth division (failed). The achievement of students after secondary school showed that more than 70.96% of students succeeded with low marks, and only a reduced number of students experience the necessary success (25.23%) that could allow them to continue in higher learning institutions, while 3.81% dropped out within the journey.This implies that there is either a low predictive validity of the tests, or the students' academic achievement had dropped. Whichever is true, it negatively affects learners' academic achievement. This finding is not different from that of Won (2010) in which if students' prior knowledge has gaps and insufficiencies, it may not adequately support new knowledge. A constructivist science classroom may offer a diversity of activities to challenge students to accept individual differences, use concrete learning experiences (Ramsook, 2018). In a constructivist science classroom, teachers/ facilitators motivate students to discover and think positively about the content progressively from simple to complex topics, and assist students' work to reflect on what they have been doing and provide constructive feedback (Shute, 2008). 3.6. Parents’ Educational Level This study found that parents acknowledge their responsibility to guide and assist their children with their school work. However, the problem remains that they are not literate enough to offer meaningful academic assistance to their children. Consequently,this affects learners' academic achievement because there is no positive academic influence of their parents on the children.Figure 2 shows parents' educational qualifications.

Figure 2: Family Educational Background

Similarly, parents and relatives were revealed as key guides to assist learners in their achievement in Rwanda(Ukobizaba et al., 2019). Also, uneducated parents

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and/or guardians are observed to be isolated from school decision-making processes with irregular follow-up of their education progress, which impacts their achievement (Brown et al., 2020).

4. Findings and Discussion 4.1. Relationship between Independent and Dependent Variables As shown in Table 3, a positive significant relationship existed between teachers' qualification (r=.168, p<.05), distance traveled from learners' home to school (r=.735, p<.000), students' family economic background (r=.568, p<.000), type of energy used (r=.709, p<.000), learner's prior knowledge (performance in S3NE (r=.714, p<.000), absenteeism of students (r=.742, p<.000), education level of the father (r=.685, p<.000) and education level of the mother (r=.735, p<.000). Table 3: Relationship between Independent and Dependent Variables Independent Variables R p-value Teacher qualification .168 .015* Distance home-school .735 .000* Family's economic background .568 .000* Type of energy used .709 .000* Learner's prior knowledge .714 .000* Absenteeism of students .742 .000* Education Level of Father .685 .000* Education Level of Mother .735 .000* Dependent variable: Students'Performance in SSciencein S6NE *p<.05

Table 4 showed that a linear positive and significant relationship existed between the predictor variables (teacher qualification, distance home-school, family's economic background, type of energy used, learner's prior knowledge, absenteeism of students, education level of father and education level of mother) and performance among the senior six secondary school students. The table indicated that the multiple R was 0.857, which implies a high positive relationship among the predictor variables and the criterion variable (students' performance in science in S6NE). As such, 73.5% (as indicated by R square of 0.735) of the variation observed in the performance in science among senior six secondary school students was explained by the combination of the predictor variables. Table 4: Summary of Regression Analysis of the Predictor Variables on the Students Achievement (Criterion Variable) Multiple R

.857

R2 Adjusted R2 Standard Error

.735 .724 .396

Source of variance Regression Residual Total

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87.43 31.57 118.99

8 201 209

Mean Square 10.928 .157

Fc 69.58

Pvalue 0.000

Moreover, the analysis of variance for the multiple regression data yielded an Fratio of 69.583, which was significant at p < 0.05. This implies that the combination of the eight predictor variables (qualification, distance traveled from learners' home to school, students' family economic background, type of energy used, learner's prior knowledge (performance in S3NE), absenteeism of students, education level of father and education level of mother) have a significant influence on performance in science among senior six secondary school students in Nyamasheke district. 4.2. Key Determinants of Students' Performance in S6NE This study also established the key determinants of students' performance in science in S6NE in the Nyamasheke district. To this end, the regression analysis was computed. Table 5 summarises the findings. Table 5: Determinants of Students' Performance in S6NE Independent Variables

Standardized Beta (β) weight

Teacher qualification .111 Distance traveled from learners' home to .251 school Family's economic background .655 Type of energy used .104 Learner's prior knowledge (Performance in .456 S3NE) Absenteeism of students .106 Education Level of Father .116 Education Level of Mother .885 Dependent variable: Students'Performance in S6NE, *p<.05

P-value .003* .096 .000* .473 .000* .668 .224 .000*

As it can be seen in table 5, teacher qualification is a statistically significant predictor of students' performance in science in S6NE. It indicates that there is a significant difference between the performance of students who were taught by qualified teachers and that of students who were taught by less qualified teachers, as shown by the standardized beta coefficient of the students' teachers qualification status, which is statistically significant (β=.111, p<0.05). The β value indicates that students who are taught by qualified teachers perform better than students taught science by unqualified teachers, as shown by the positive coefficient of .111. Moreover, table 5 revealed that family background status is another key predictor of students' performance. The table clearly showed that a statistically significant difference exists between the performance of students from high economic families and the performance of students from low economic families, as shown by the standardized β coefficient of the parental employment status (β=.655, p<0.05). The latter indicates that for every one unit of increase in the family economy, student's performance decreases by 0.655.Furthermore, another key predictor of students' performance in S6NE is the student's prior performance in ordinary level examinations (S3NE). The value of the

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standardized β (β=.456, p<0.05) tells that one unit increases student's prior performance in S3NE and improves his/her performance in S6NE by .456. Finally, there is a statistically significant difference between the performance of students whose mothers are educated and the performance of students whose mothers are not educated, as shown by the standardized beta coefficient of the students'mother’s education level, which was statistically significant (β=.885, p<0.05). Students whose mothers are educated were seen to perform better than their counterparts whose mothers are not educated. Therefore, an increase in the level of education of the students’ mothers is expected to increase the student’s performance by .885.

5. Conclusion From the findings of this research, we observed that factors which affect the Twelve -Year Basic Education advanced level students' achievement in science are: the level of teachers' qualification, family economic backgrounds, teaching and learning materials, distance from learners' homes to schools, learners' prior knowledge, levels of parents' education and students' absenteeism. Over 60% of all science teachers of 12YBE schools in Nyamasheke District, Rwanda, have no teaching credentials. A big number of unqualified teachers is in chemistry and physics subjects with more than 70%.As a result of fewer schools, many students cover long distances to schools, which is the reason for most of the absenteeism with only 18.9% of students were present throughout the term. The pattern of students' scores in the ordinary level exams, which was at a low level, could not be improved at the completion of senior six-level three years afterward, which could have been partially due to a decline in the quality of teaching services or factors that affect it. These factors which affect the students’ academic achievement in mathematics and science may be the same in developing countries where a small number of schools, learners attend school irregularly due to some works they are engaged in to support their families and with parents who cannot support their learners’ learning effectively are among the constains that render learners’ practices. This study adds value to the existing knowledge since it highlights major factors that hinder the achievement of students in mathematics and science subjects among Twelve-Year Basic Education (12YBE) students in Rwanda; it also gives insight intoschools' administration; Parent-Teacher Associations (PTA),and to educate stakeholders to play a community role for the improvement of students’ achievement in science subjects.

6. Recommendation In-service teachers who are untrained and unqualified should be encouraged to undertake an in-service teacher training through a soft loan scheme. Teachers should also use the appropriate methods such as cooperative learning and peer teaching, peer instruction when teaching by putting more emphasis on practical works in science to lead the students to make more discoveries on their own. School administrations should also facilitate regular refresher workshops to let teachers help each other in different domains to improve the teaching and learning of mathematics and science.In addition, the parent-teacher associations

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need to collaborate with the school's disciplinary committee to make sure that lateness and students missing out on lessons are minimized. The findings from the present study should be interpreted with caution due to a limitation in the research design used. The respondents explain their own experience and opinion subjectively according to their understandings. Their status as day school students might have influenced them to perform poorly for a while and loose motivation to learn science-related subjects. This is why it is highly recommended that further studies may be conducted on the same sample applying an innovative teaching method by catering/ addressing some of the listed factors to improve learners’ academic achievement.

7. Acknowledgements The authors appreciate the financial support from the African Center of Excellence for Innovative Teaching and Learning Mathematics and Science (ACEITLMS) of the University of Rwanda - College of education (UR-CE).

8. References Abulude, & Olawale, F. (2016). Teacher and students’ attitude towards chemistry in selected secondary schools in Akure Nigeria. In Advancing Education In The Caribbean And Africa, (pp. 93–105). Science and education development institute. Akyeampong, K. (2009). Revisiting free compulsory universal basic education (FCUBE) in Ghana. Comparative Education, 45(2), 175–195. https://doi.org/10.1080/03050060902920534 Areepattamannil, S., Freeman, J. G., & Klinger, D. A. (2011). Intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and academic achievement among Indian adolescents in Canada and India. Social Psychology of Education, 14(3), 427–439. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-011-9155-1 Baliyan, S. P., & Khama, D. (2020). How distance to school and study hours after school influence students’ performance in mathematics and English: A comparative analysis. Journal of Education and E-Learning Research, 7(2), 209–217. https://doi.org/10.20448/JOURNAL.509.2020.72.209.217 Bora, A., & Ahmed, S. (2018). Parents’ socio-economic status and pupils’ mathematics achievement: Stepwise multiple regression analysis approach. Online Submission, 4(11), 316–322. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.28384.53760/1 Brock, W. H. (2020). Science education. In Companion to the history of modern cience, 49(0), 946–959. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003070818-70 Brown, M., McNamara, G., Cinkir, S., Fadar, J., Figueiredo, M., Vanhoof, J., O’Hara, J., Skerritt, C., O’Brien, S., Kurum, G., Ramalho, H., & Rocha, J. (2020). Exploring parent and student engagement in school self-evaluation in four European countries. European Educational Research Journal, 20(2), 159–175. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474904120961203 Bugaje, B. M. (2013). Qualitative chemistry education: The role of the teacher. IOSR Journal of Applied Chemistry, 4 (5), 10-14.https://doi.org/10.9790/5736-0451014 Busingye, J. D., & Najjuma, R. (2015). Do learning and teaching materials influence learning outcomes amidst high enrolments? Lessons from Uganda’s Universal primary education. Africa Education Review, 12(1), 109–126. https://doi.org/10.1080/18146627.2015.1036572 Byusa, E., Kampire, E., & Mwesigye, A. R. (2020). Analysis of teaching techniques and scheme of work in teaching chemistry in Rwandan secondary schools. EURASIA Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 16(6), 1–9.

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https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/7833 Chaudhary, B. (2018). The role of ICT in promoting constructivism. International Journal of Technical Research & Science, 3(1). 1-4. https://doi.org/10.30780/ijtrs.v3.i1.2018.001 Cho, J., & Baek, W. (2019). Identifying factors affecting the quality of teaching in basic science education: Physics, biological sciences, mathematics, and chemistry. Sustainability (Switzerland), 11(14).39-58. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11143958 Ebiere Dorgu, T. (2015). Different teaching methods: A panacea for effective curriculum implementation in the classroom. International Journal of Secondary Education, 3(6), 77-87. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsedu.s.2015030601.13 Fatokun, K. V. F., Egya, S. O., & Uzoechi, B. C. (2016). Effect of game instructional approach on chemistry students’ achievement and retention in periodicity. European Journal of Research and Reflection in Educational Sciences, 4(7), 29–40. Fraenkel, J. R., Wallen, N. E., & Hyun, H. H. (2012). How to design and evaluate research in education (8th ed.). San Francisco State University: Mc Graw Hill. Mahdi, G. J. (2014). Student attitudes towards chemistry: An examination of choices and preferences. American Journal of Educational Research, 2(6), 351–356. https://doi.org/10.12691/education-2-6-3 Gomendio, M., & OECD Staff. (2017). Empowering and enabling teachers to improve equity and outcomes for all. International Summit on the Teaching Profession. Paris: OECD Publishing.https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264273238-en Hackling, M. W., Goodrum, D., & Rennie, L. (2001). The state of science in Australian secondary schools. Australian Science Teachers Journal, 47(4), 6– 17.https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworks/4682/ Ige, O. M., & Ogunleye, A. W. (2016). Causes and remedies to low academic performance of students in public secondary schools : A study of Ijero local government area of Ekiti state. Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 6(15), 66–71. Kalolo, J. F. (2015). The quest for quality science education experiences in Tanzanian secondary schools. Journal of Studies in Education, 5(2), 22-39. https://doi.org/10.5296/jse.v5i2.7146 Koppenhaver, G. D., & Shrader, C. B. (2003). Structuring the classroom for performance: Cooperative learning with instructor-assigned teams. Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, 1(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-5915.00002 Lerman, Z. M. (2014). The challenges for chemistry education in Africa.African Journal of Chemical Education,4(2), 80–90. Lewin, K. M. (1992). Science education in developing countries: Issues and perspectives for planners.International Institute for Educational Planning. UNESCO Likoko, S., Mutsotso, S., & Nasongo, J. (2018). Adequacy of instructional materials and physical facilities and their effect on the quality of teacher preparation in colleges in Bungoma county. International Journal of Science and Research,2(1),403-408. http://erepository.kibu.ac.ke/handle/123456789/1039 Mupa, P., & Isaac., T. C. (2015). Factors contributing to ineffective teaching and learning in primary schools: Why are schools in decadence? Journal of Education and Practice, 6(19), 125–132. Ndihokubwayo, K., Uwamahoro, J., & Ndayambaje, I. (2019). An assessment of the impact of improvised versus conventional laboratory equipment on students’ performance in thermal expansion. African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences, 15(1), 135–140. https://doi.org/10.4314/ajesms.v15i1.11 Ndihokubwayo,K., Ndayambaje, I., & Uwamahoro, J. (2020). Analysis of lesson plans from Rwandan physics teachers. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and

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Educational Research, 19(12), 1–29. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.12.1 Ndihokubwayo, K., Uwamahoro, J., & Ndayambaje, I. (2020). Implementation of the competence-based learning in Rwandan physics classrooms: First assessment based on the reformed teaching observation protocol. EURASIA Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 16(9), 1–8. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/8395 Nizeyimana, G., Nzabalirwa, W., Mukingambeho, D., & Nkiliye, I. (2020). Hindrances to Quality of Basic Education in Rwanda. Rwandan Journal of Education, 5(1), 1–14. Nzeyimana, J. C., & Ndihokubwayo, K. (2019). Teachers’ role and learners’ responsibility in teaching and learning science and elementary technology in Rwanda. African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences, 15(2), 1–16. Ogunkola, B. J., & Archer-Bradshaw, R. E. (2013). Teacher Qqality indicators as predictors of instructional assessment practices in science classrooms in secondary schools in Barbados. Research in Science Education, 43(1), 3–31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-011-9242-5 Oketch, M., & Rolleston, C. (2007). Chapter 5 policies on free primary and secondary education in east Africa: Retrospect and prospect.Review of Research in Education,31 (1). https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X07300046131 Owolabi, O. T., & Adedayo, J. O. (2012). Effect of teacher’s qualification on the performance of senior secondary school physics students: Implication on technology in Nigeria. English Language Teaching, 5(6), 72–76. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v5n6p72 Ramsook, L. (2018). Cooperative learning as a constructivist strategy in tertiary education. International Journal of Education and Research, 6(1).,149-160. Rose, P., & Alcott, B. (2015). How can education systems become equitable by 2030?. DFID think pieces–Learning and equity. http://heart-resources. org. REB. (2017). Teacher training manual - Reflections on teaching practice and focus on assessment (3rd Phase). Rwanda Ministry of Education. Shute, V. J. (2008). Focus on formative feedback. Review of Educational Research, 78(1), 153–189. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654307313795 Sibomana, A., Karegeya, C., & Sentongo, J. (2020). Students’ conceptual understanding of organic chemistry and classroom implications in the Rwandan perspectives: A literature review. African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences, 16(2), 13-32.https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajesms/article/view/204184 Subedi, D. (2016). Explanatory sequential mixed method design as the third research community of knowledge claim. American Journal of Educational Research, 4(7), 570577. https://doi.org/10.12691/education-4-7-10 Vygotsky, L. S. (1980). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard university press. Ukobizaba, F., Ndihokubwayo, K., Mukuka, A., & Uwamahoro, J. (2019). Insights of teachers and students on mathematics teaching and learning in selected Rwandan secondary schools. African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences, 15(2), 93–107. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajesms/article/view/192088 World bank. (2016). An overview of the progressive science initiative and progressive mathematics initiative (PSI-PMI) and its implementation in the Gambia. World Bank. Won, S. Y. (2010). How does students’ prior knowledge affect their learning?In How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching (pp. 10–39). Yassin, A. A., Razak, N. A., & Maasum, N. R. M. (2018). Cooperative learning: General and theoretical background. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 5(8), 642– 654. https://doi.org/10.14738/assrj.58.5116

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Appendices Appendix A: Questionnaire for senior five students in mathematics and science combinations Instructions You have been selected to participate in this research, which focuses on factors affecting the advanced level of Twelve-Year Basic Education (12YBE) students’ achievements in mathematics and Science in Rwanda. Your inputs are very important for meeting the objectives of this research. Please, write the letter of your preferable answer in the curled brackets [ ] located in each question. Furthermore, you are kindly requested to give some short explanation where allocated. A . Identification 1. Name of the School: ................................................................................................. 2. Date of interview (Date/Month/Year): ................................................................ B. Personal information 1. What is your age in complete years? ………………………………………….. 2. What is your sex? a) Male [ ] b) Female [ ] 3. Combination a) MCB b) PCM c) PCB d) BCG C. Science related subject preference and facilities 1. Do you like mathematics and science subjects? a) Very much? [ ] b) Not much? [ ] c) I don’t like any mathematics and Science related subject [ ] 2. What are the reasons for your answer in (1)? a) I love mathematics and science teachers c) Mathematics and science-related subjects are important in my future carrier d) I hate mathematics and science teachers e) Mathematics and science subjects are difficult f) I don’t know the importance of mathematics and science subjects in my future life More reasons if any.............................................................................. 3. Does the school have a science laboratory? a) Yes [ ] b) No [ ] c) I don’t know [ ]

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4. A. If yes, how many times have you entered the laboratory as a class to do some experiments or to observe a demonstration? a) Less than five times [ ] b) Five or more than five times [ ] c) More than ten times [ ] d) I have never entered the school laboratory for studies? [ ] 4. B. Science laboratories have the following facilities a) All necessary chemicals (acids, bases, litmus paper, test tube and beaker) [ ] b) Only a few chemicals and not enough beakers [ ] c) Laboratory has no facilities [ ] 5. Does the school has laboratories for other subjects? a) Yes [ ] b) No [ ] c) I don’t know [ ] If Yes, tick [ √ ] all the laboratories which the school has a) Mathematics laboratory [ ] b) Physics laboratory [ ] c) Biology laboratory [ ] d) Computer laboratory [ ] Others please mention: .................................... 5. Do you have your own science books? a) Yes [ ] b) No [ ] 6. If yes, How many/per subject? a) One [ ] b) Less than five [ ] c) More than five [ ] d) More than ten [ ] e) Not applicable [ ] 7. From where did you get those books? a) Received from my guardians/parents, friends or relatives [ ] b) I bought with my own money [ ] c) Not applicable [ ] Other sources, please explain. ......................................... 8. Does the school provide science books to students? a) Yes [ ] b) No [ ] D. Distance traveled by learners 1. What distance do you walk from your home to school? a) 1-2 km (1-24 minutes) [ ] b) 3-4 km (25- 48 minutes) [ ] c) 5-6 km (49- 1h10 minutes) [ ]

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d) 7- above (more than 1hour and 10 minutes) [ ] E. Absenteeism 1. How often do you miss attending class for different reasons? a) Once a week [ ] b) Twice a weak [ ] c) Twice a month [ ] d) Thrice a month [ ] e) Other information: ………………………………………… F. Performances in mathematics and science-related subjects 1. What are the performances in the following science subjects at your school/ refer to divisions you got in National examinations (S3NE- the academic year 2015) and in senior six (S6NE-academic year 2018) i. Chemistry ii. Biology iii. Physics iv. Mathematics S3NE a) Worse (division V) b) Bad (division IV) c) Good (division III) d) Better (division II) e) Best (division I) (f) I don’t know

[ [ [ [ [ [

] ] ] ] ] ]

S6NE Worse (division V) [ ] Bad (division IV) [ ] Good (division III) [ ] Better (division II) [ ] Best (division I) [ ] I don’t know [ ]

G. Reason behind 1. What are the reasons for your answer in C (1)? ............................................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................................................... 2. What do you think are the reasons that cause such kind of performance? Tick [ √ ] all the reasons you agree with a) There is no enough and qualified mathematics and science teachers in our schools [ ] b) There are few science facilities such as textbooks, chemicals, and other science materials in our schools [ ] c) Poor awareness on the importance of science subjects in students future life or careers [ ] d) Science subjects are difficult [ ] Other please explain, ............................................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................................................... 3. What do you suggest should be done to improve performance in science subjects? ............................................................................................................................................... ...............................................................................................................................................

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H. Motivations 1. Are there any gifts given to the best students in mathematics and science subjects at your school? a) Yes [ ] b) No [ ] If yes, please mention them ............................................................................................................................................... I. Guardians’/Parent’s information; support/encouragement 1. What is the education level of your parents/ guardians? a) Never went to school : Mother [ b) Went to primary school but never completed: Mother [ c) Completed primary school: Mother [ d) Went to secondary school but never completed: Mother [ e) Has a S6 certificate: Mother [ f) Has a Diploma: Mother [ g) Has a Bachelor’s Degree: Mother [ h) Did a postgraduate course (Master/DEA, PhD): Mother [ i) Others: …………………………………………. Mother [

]; Father [ ]; Father [ ]; Father [ ]; Father [ ]; Father [ ]; Father [ ]; Father [ ]; Father [ ]; Father [

] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ]

2. What is the occupation of your parents/ guardians? a) Farming [ ] b) Business [ ] c) Teaching [ ] d) Fishing [ ] e) Public/Private service [ ] f) Others: ……………… 3. What type of energy used in your parents/guardians ‘house for lighting? a) Electricity [ ] b) Solar panel [ ] c) Biogas [ ] d) Kerosene [ ] e) Any other source of energy, please indicate: ……………………………. 4. Do your parents/care givers encourage you to perform well in science subjects? a) Yes [ ] b) No [ ] If yes, please mention them ............................................................................................................................................... J. Constraints 1. Please mention any constraints which are facing the learning of science subjects ............................................................................................................................................... Thank you very much !!

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Appendix B: Interview for students 1. What are factors/problems do you think to affect 12YBE students’ achievement in science subjects? 2. What are the effects of these factors on the process of teaching and learning science subjects among 12YBE schools? 3. During which period and for what reasons do you not attend class regularly? Appendix C: Interview for teachers 0)School name:………………… 1) Indicate the level of your qualification: a) A2 teaching [ ] e) A2 non-teaching [ ] b) A1 teaching [ ] f) A1non teaching [ ] c) A0 teaching [ ] g) A0non teaching [ ] d)) Masters [ ] h) Other: ……………. 2) According to you, what are factors that affect 12YBE students’ achievement in science subjects? 3) What are the effects of these factors on the process of teaching and learning science subjects among 12YBE schools? 4) As a teacher, what strategies do you propose to enhance students’ achievement in science subjects among 12YBE schools? 5) As a teacher, what do you think could be the role of parents in improving students’ achievement in science subjects among 12YBE schools? 6) How can the lack of a science laboratory slow down the achievement of students in science subjects among 12YBE schools? 7) How can absenteeism of learners affect 12YBE students’ achievement in science subjects? Appendix D: Information to be given by the school secretary or Director of Studies (DOS) Section A: General information on the school 1) Type of the school: a) 12YBE b) Boarding school 2)

Location of your school: Rural Urban

Section B: Information on staff and students 3) What is the number of your staff by gender? a) Teaching staff: Male:……………. Female:…………… Sub-total: ………. b) Administrative staff: Male:……………. Female:…………... Sub-total: ………. c) Support staff: Male:…………… Female:………… Sub-total: ……….

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4) What is the number of teaching staff with the following qualifications in the advanced level of your school? a) S6 certificate------------b) Diploma------------c) Bachelor’s Degree-----------------d) Master’s Degree--------------e) Any other, please mention-------------5) What is the number of teachers with the following types of degrees? a) Bed--------------b) BA with Education-------------c) BSc with Education------------d) B.A-------------e) BSc-------------f) Med-------------g) M.A, MSc,MBA, and others-------------6) What is the number of your student population according to their combinations and gender? a) BCG: Male:….. b) MCB: Male:…. c) PCB: Male:…. d) PCM: Male:…. Female:…… Female:….. Female:…… Female:…….. Sub-total :……. Sub-total :….… Sub-total : …..… Sub-total:…… Appendix E: Interview guide for Headteachers 1) According to you what are factors that affect 12YBE students’ achievement in Science? 2) What are the effects of these factors on the process of teaching and learning science subjects among 12YBE schools? 3) As a Headteacher, what are strategies do you propose to enhance 12YBE students’ achievement in Science? 4) How can absenteeism of students affect students’ achievement in science subjects among 12YBE? 5) What could be the contribution of parents to enhance 12YBE students’ achievement in science subjects? 6) How can the distance traveled by students from their home to school affect 12YBE students’ achievement in science subjects? Appendix F: Interview guide for SEIs 1) According to you, what are factors affect 12YBE students’ achievement in science subjects? 2) What are the effects of these factors on the process of teaching and learning science among 12YBE schools? 3) What strategies do you propose to enhance 12YBE students’ achievement in science subjects? 4) How can absenteeism of students influence 12YBE students’ achievement in science subjects? 5) What could be the contribution of parents to enhance 12YBE students’ achievement in science subjects?

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6) How can the distance traveled by students from their home to school affect 12YBE students’ achievement in science subjects? Appendix G: Interview guide for parents 1) What problems do your children in the advanced level of 12YBE face while learning science subjects? [Ni ibihebibazoabanabanyu biga mu cyicirocyakabiricy’amashuriyisumbuyeya 12YBE bahuranabyo mu masomoyasiyansi?] 2) What are the effects of these factors/ problems on the process of teaching and learning science subjects in the Advanced level of 12YBE? [Ibyobibazobifiteizihengaruka mu masomoyabo?] 3) What could be your contribution to resolve those problems? [Uruharerwanyurwagombyekubauruhe mu gukemuraibyobibazo?] 4) Do you assist your children while doing their science homework? [Mujyamukurikirana/mufashaabanabanyu mu gihebarigukoraimikoroy’amasomoyasiyansiigihebari mu rugo?] 5) What strategies do you propose to enhance 12YBE students’ achievement in science subjects? [Ni izihenamamwatangakugirangohazamurweiremery’imyigishirizen’imyigir ey’amasomoyasiyansi muri gahunday’uburezibw’ibanzebw’imyakacumin’ibiri?] 6) How can the distance traveled by students from their home to school affect 12YBE students’ achievement in science subjects? [Ni guteurugendoumunyeshuriakora ava mu rugoiwaboajyakuishuri, rushoborakugiraingarukakumyigire ye n’imitsindire mu masomoyasiyansi?]

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 85-99, July 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.7.5 Received May 19, 2021; Revised Jul 04, 2021; Accepted Jul 31, 2021

The RoboSTE[M] Project: Using Robotics Learning in a STEM Education Model to Help Prospective Mathematics Teachers Promote Students’ 21st-CenturySkills Adi Nur Cahyono, Mohammad Asikin and Muhammad Zuhair Zahid Universitas Negeri Semarang, Indonesia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9469-524X https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1121-3629 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5830-7599 Pasttita Ayu Laksmiwati SEAMEO Regional Centre for QITEP in Math, Indonesia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8162-0206 Miftahudin SMPN 28 Semarang, Indonesia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8793-0547

Abstract. Teacher education institutions play a strategic role in preparing prospective mathematics teachers with 21st-century skills to teach mathematics in schools. This study aimed to explore how mathematics lectures employing robotics in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education approach can contribute to the preparation of prospective mathematics teachers with 21st-century skills to teach mathematics in schools. The research was conducted through a project called the RoboSTE[M] Project, in three stages: pre-development, development, and field experiment. The project was run to encourage prospective mathematics teachers to arrange mathematical activities for mathematics learning with a STEM education approach using robotics. The findings indicated that the model, lab and online modules developed and implemented in this project succeeded in supporting the ability of prospective mathematics teachers to design a mathematics learning environment with a STEM-influenced robotics approach that has the potential to support students’ 21st-century skills. This study has contributed to answer the problem regarding how to provide crosscurricular activities for STEM education by implementing STEM in an integrated manner in schools, including lack of training for teachers, which will translate STEM in the lesson plans. This research shows that teacher education programmes can provide adequate training for pre©Authors This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

service teachers in practising STEM education in mathematics classroom. This study fills in the gaps by focusing on designing a lecture model with a “STEM Robotics” approach for prospective mathematics teachers and their students and to explore its potential to promote prospective mathematics teachers’ 21st-century skills. Keywords: mathematics learning; STEM; robotics; 21st-century skills

1. Introduction Technological developments in the Industrial Revolution Era 4.0 have changed the way of life, study and work (Christensen & Eyring, 2011) which has an impact on the changing needs of skills in the 21st century. This revolution has encouraged the birth of network-based education. Seeing the characteristics of students today as a post-millennial generation who are very familiar with technology is a potential that needs to be managed to improve the academic quality of learning in schools. Therefore, innovations are needed to utilise the potential and existing systems to encourage students to have 21st century competencies and to become lifelong learners by utilising technology in their academic activities. The PISA 2018 results showed that only 1% of students in Indonesia who were subjected to international assessment had reached Level 5 (out of 6; OECD average at Level 5: 11%) (OECD, 2019). This result shows that very few Indonesian students are able to solve the problems with modelling the situations and use appropriate strategy in solving problems. These PISA results are undoubtedly worrying since the abilities PISA assesses are essential for students to face life in the 21st century. Education plays an essential role in preparing students to adapt to the work environment and employment requirements of the 21st century (Ananiadou & Claro, 2009; Gravemeijer et al., 2017). Soland et al. (2013) mention three categories of 21st-century competencies: cognitive competencies, interpersonal competencies and intrapersonal competencies. Cognitive competencies consist of cognitive things that must be mastered (including mathematics, language, art), academic abilities, as well as skills for thinking critically and creatively. Interpersonal competencies include communicating and building collaboration with others, leadership abilities, and awareness of the global situation. Intrapersonal competencies consist of a growth mindset, the ability to learn how to learn, intrinsic motivation, and determination and grit (Soland et al., 2013). Twenty-first-century skills can be broken down into three groups: skills for learning and encourage innovation, skills for being a digital-literate person, and skills to deal with career and everyday life problems. These skills must be acquired by Indonesian citizens to help them compete in the global world. Several studies found that 21st-century skills can be supported by integrating science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in comprehensive learning activities (Bergsten & Frejd, 2019; Frejd, 2017; Kertil & Gurel, 2016). In the same vein, Beatty (2011) and Stohlmann et al. (2014) together stated that STEM provides many benefits for education. STEM education has been accepted by several countries and it became popular as a beneficial learning approach (al Murshidi, 2019; Groen et al., 2015; Razali et al.,

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2020). STEM education is an interdisciplinary approach to learning in which rigorous academic principles are mixed with real-life lessons in a way that connects the classroom, the environment, the job and the global sector, providing a modern economic literacy that helps learners grow and succeed (Holmlund et al., 2018). Furthermore, teaching STEM purposes to help students working with real-world activities and increases students’ performance in learning (Bicer et al., 2017; Jolly, 2016; Li et al., 2019). The STEM curriculum is defined by teaching strategies that inspire students to study science and mathematics, student learning through interdisciplinary experiences relevant to real-world scenarios, problemand project-based learning, advancement of expertise in the 21st century, cooperation with STEM experts, and the use of emerging technology in classroom activities (Bergsten & Frejd, 2019). There are two approaches that can be used to develop STEM education: designing fresh curriculum and incorporating STEM practices into the current curriculum. The latter method has multiple integration stages: disciplinary, multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary integration (Bergsten & Frejd, 2019; English, 2016; English & King, 2019; Vasquez et al., 2013). Tool-based pedagogy connects classroom activities across STEM disciplines, all four of which will use resources to mould material ideas and principles. Aspects of mathematical modelling in mathematics and inquiry-based learning in science becomes essential starting points for developing STEM pedagogy (Leung, 2019). Several studies discussed that there is another approach called engineering design process (EDP) which is identified as a significant approach in the implementation of STEM (English & King, 2015; Hafiz & Ayop, 2019; Li et al., 2019). EDP exaggerates a systematic way in solving open-ended problems in STEM activities by designing solutions (Jolly, 2016; Lockledge & Salustri, 1999), and the process consists of defining and delimiting problems, designing solutions, optimising the solutions by refining solutions and improving the final design (English & King, 2015; Jolly, 2016; Siew, 2017; Yata et al., 2020. By implementing EDP, students are facilitated to develop the 21st century skills, such as problem solving, critical thinking, communication, and self-confidence (Rackov & Knežević, 2017; Stohlmann et al., 2014; Syukri et al., 2018). Robotics is an outstanding platform for science and engineering and a persuasive subject for all ages (Mataric, 2004). The use of robotics facilitates the integration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Altin & Pedaste, 2013; Barker et al., 2008; Mataric et al., 2007). Robotics can facilitate both the application of engineering and technological concepts in the real world and minimisation of the abstracts of science and mathematics (Nugent et al., 2010). Forsström and Kauffman (2018) found that 40% of the articles which discussed the potency of programming in mathematics education for students in the age 6-16 employed robotic and its variance (e.g., Lego Mindstorm) to promote programming activities in mathematics learning. It is necessary to develop a new didactic approach to improve STEM skills among young people by optimising the use of robots in learning. Furthermore, exploring the potential of robotics in multidisciplinary learning can be effective to encourage students and student

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creativity, leading to more entrepreneurial, industrial and collaborative research in the STEM field. The problem faced is how to provide cross-curricular activities for STEM education by implementing STEM in an integrated manner in schools (Corlu et al., 2014; Honey et al., 2014), including lack of training for teachers, which will translate STEM in the lesson plans (Al Murshidi, 2019). In curricular activities, prospective mathematics teachers need to be taught and trained to have the ability and skills to design mathematics learning activity plans by implementing the STEM robotics approach. An activity plan is important to design because it contributes to identifying critical elements in teaching and learning based on theory and provides a description of the effectiveness of learning to be carried out. Through the RoboSTE[M] Project, activity plans are designed by students, then evaluated, refined, re-designed and developed into student worksheets. A bottom-up empirical process was carried out to identify a good activity plan that fits the criteria. Yiannoutsou et al. (2017) developed criteria to identify good activity plans for educational robotics. This consists of two categories, namely prerequisites and main criteria. Prerequisites consist of the topic and include concepts related to STEM or another discipline related to robotics. Other requirements in the prerequisite criteria are the element of constructionist, innovation, the interests of citizens, and the involvement of educational robotic. The main criteria consist of several parameters, namely: context, educational activity, tools, evaluation, sustainability and accessibility. Teacher education programmes are responsible for providing adequate training for pre-service teachers in practising STEM education in the mathematics classroom. Present pre-service teachers have more capital in using technology for educational purposes since they grew up in the digital age. Although pre-service teachers are more familiar with technology and robotics in classroom, their readiness in implementing STEM robotic education remains unclear. The present study tried to fill in the gaps by focusing on designing a lecture model with a “STEM robotics” approach for prospective mathematics teachers and their students and to explore its potential to promote prospective mathematics teachers’ 21st-century skills. Therefore, the research question in this study is how can mathematics lectures with the STEM robotics approach help prepare prospective mathematics teachers with 21st-century skills to teach mathematics in schools?

2. Method To address the research question, research with an exploratory design was conducted through a project called the RoboSTE[M] Project. The exploratory research was utilised to give a good start in finding the grounded theory, because the data collected were emerged in detail, breadth and validity (Stebbins, 2001). As an exploratory, the study involved researchers, prospective teachers, and practitioners (teachers) in all stages. The research was conducted in three stages: pre-development, development, and field experiment. The project was run to encourage prospective mathematics teachers to arrange activities for mathematics learning through a STEM education approach using robotics and to evaluate the results. The project was conducted in the mathematics department of a teacher

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education institution in Indonesia; project participants were 20 prospective mathematics teachers. The study was conducted with activities implemented in a one-semester course. First, students learn the basic concepts of developing mathematics education media and visual programming. Then, the class discusses STEM and its implementation in mathematics education using robotics. Based on this discussion, students come up with ideas and make activity plans. From the plans, they then, in groups, choose a plan that is realised in the form of student worksheets for learning mathematics with STEM using robotics, through mathematics activities and with mathematical competencies as the main learning outcomes. Researchers observed the students’ activities (both classical and teamwork activities) from the first to the sixteenth course sessions and debriefed the students after the course. Notes were made, discussions were recorded, portfolios were stored in an online classroom, and questionnaire responses were collected, and all these data were analysed.

3. Results In the pre-development stage, the activities carried out were preliminary analysis and seminars on STEM and robotics. At this stage, analysis of the Mathematics Education Study Program Curriculum, analysis of instructional media, and achievement of school mathematics learning was also carried out. The analysis was carried out through literature reviews, document analysis and focus group discussions involving researchers, practitioners and related partners. The activity at the pre-development stage produced a specification of the procedures used for prototype development at the development stage. The prototypes included: a lecture design that employs STEM education using robotics to promote 21st-century skills (called RoboSTE[M] Lecture), the design of a STEM Robotics Laboratory for the development of mathematics education media and mathematics learning practices (called RoboSTE[M] Lab), and a Robotics STEM Education Online Module for mathematics learning (the RoboSTE[M] Online Module). The design also reflects the concept of partnerships with industry, institutions, schools and society. A series of learning activities using a team-based project method was implemented with the lecture, lab and online modules referred to. A mathematical learning model with a syntax that is integrated with STEM was carried out in several stages in accordance with the result of preliminary analysis and literature study. Students learn concepts related to mathematics education media, the STEM approach, and robotics education for mathematics learning, as well as simple programming using a visual language. There are two main projects undertaken by students in this lecture, in groups: 1) designing STEM mathematics education media by utilising a visual programming language and 2) designing a student worksheet for mathematics learning using the STEM robotics approach. The laboratory and learning activities are shown in Figure 1.

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Figure 1: RoboSTE[M] Lab. (Robot: LEGO® & Software: Virtual Robotics Toolkit)

After coming to understand the concepts of STEM and robotics and their implementation in mathematics learning in the development stage, in the next stage students learn simple programming as a basis for carrying out robotics activities in mathematics learning using the STEM approach. Then, all students carried out a practicum, in which they produced mathematics education media. There were 20 visual media for learning mathematics using the STEM approach developed in this lecture by students, in the form of educational games, interactive media, material exposure, storytelling and the like. One example of such a product produced by students is InteGame; its production process and a sample of the interface are shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: InteGame: Game for integers created by student. (https://scratch.mit.edu)

InteGame is a game for learning positive and negative integers. This game begins with a real situation related to science, namely a problem related to temperature; indicating that the game provides opportunity for learning mathematics and science. The game also allows users to learn technology and engineering through learning mathematics, as they perform simple programming and practise several activities mechanically before reporting the results virtually. The next project completed by students was designing an activity plan and an accompanying student worksheet. An activity plan is important to learning design because it helps identify important elements in the teaching and learning process based on theory and provides an overview of the expected effectiveness of activities. Through the RoboSTE[M] Project, students learn to design activity plans, which are then evaluated, refined, redesigned and developed into student worksheets. A bottom-up empirical process is carried out to identify a good plan of action that fits the criteria.

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This project resulted in 20 activity plans designed by students. These products reflect that mathematics learning with the STEM approach using robotics varies with topic, target, type of activity and tools used. In general, activities designed with mathematics are more dominant for materials such as geometry, algebra, calculus, statistics and probability, sets, social arithmetic, and others. The targets were junior and senior high school students at various levels. Activities were designed starting by analysing problems, then constructing robots or objects, performing simple programming, and evaluating. The tools used varied; most of them involved Lego Mindstorms EV3. The 20 activity plans designed by students were widely different in learning models, activities, topics, and tools used. We analysed the data from the student work portfolio by identifying and coding the components of the activity plans that the students had designed. The results are presented in Table 1. The learning model applied in the learning activities designed in the activity plan is identified based on the syntactic characteristics of certain learning models that appear in the designed activities. These phases may appear as a whole, but may also appear in only a few parts, but the characteristics of the learning model dominate the activities designed. The results show that activities in most (8) of the activity plans have a character similar to that of the project-based learning model, starting with an essential question and then designing a project that must be done by students. Then, a schedule is made, student activities and project progress are monitored, and the results are assessed, followed by evaluation of the learning experience. Table 1: Identification of models, activities, topics and tools. Criterion Learning Model Discovery Learning Project-Based Learning Problem-Based Learning

Number of Activity Plans Including It 5 8 7

Activity Modelling Designing Coding Strategy Prediction Exploration Observation Counting Trial and error Manipulation

8 3 4 1 2 2 2 1 1 3

Geometry Sets Statistics and Probability

9 1 2

Topic

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Numbers Algebra Trigonometry

2 5 1

Simple Machine Lego Mindstorms EV3 mBot WeDo 2.0 RoboSim Arduino UNO Virtual Robotic Toolkit

1 11 2 2 1 1 1

Tool

In addition to project-based learning, there are seven activity plans whose activities feature a problem-based learning model. The phases that appear include problem orientation, students’ organisation, individual and group guided investigations, development and presentation, analysis and evaluation. The third learning model found is discovery learning, in five activity plans. Activity plans in this category contain activities such as stimulation, problem statement, data collection, data processing, verification, and generalisation. The learning activities designed indicate that modelling activities, encouraging application of mathematical concepts, are dominant over other activities in mathematics learning. Some activity plans also design lessons that facilitate simple programming by students as part of doing projects, solving problems, or performing exploration. Most of the activity plans are used for learning geometry, followed by algebra; however, most or all topics in mathematics can be tackled through learning activities using STEM robotics. Most of the activity plans are designed to be implemented using the Lego Mindstorms EV3. This tool is suitable for use at the junior and senior high school levels or equivalent, with a target age range of 14–18 years. The use of Lego Mindstorms EV3 makes it easier for students to focus on their mathematical modelling activities, due to less complicated programming requirements. Two criteria for identifying a good plan of action for robotics learning are provided as developed by Yiannoutsou et al. (2017): prerequisite and main criteria. The results of the activity plan evaluation in terms of the prerequisite criteria are presented in Table 2. Table 2. Results of activity plan evaluation for prerequisite category Tool

Activity

Assessment

Construction

Innovation

4.50

4.56

4.22

4.50

4.11

Real Impact 4.39

Education 4.44

Table 2 shows that the activity plan developed has a constructionist element, is innovative and related to the real interests of society and involve the use of robotic for educational purpose. All the STEM subjects are included in the designed activity plan together with robotic topics. Findings indicate that the activity plan

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is not only become predefined guidelines and, therefore, it is also innovative. Results of activity plan evaluation for the prerequisite category showed very high scores for all aspects. The results of the activity plan evaluation based on these criteria in the main categories are presented in Table 3. Table 3. Results of activity plan evaluation for main category

Context Educational Activities 4.50 4.50

Tool

Evaluation Continuity

Accessibility

4.56

4.39

4.28

4.11

Table 3 shows that the activity plans designed have strengths in context, educational activities, tools, evaluation, sustainability and accessibility. Overall, the results of the evaluation show that the activity plans capture important elements of the teaching and learning process based on theory and indicate their potential effectiveness as learning tools. The activity plan is then used as the basis for group development of student worksheets for mathematics learning through a STEM approach using robotics. Worksheets first collect/provide information on student names, topics, goals, and learning instructions, as exemplified in Figure 3. The initial section also presents an introductory story containing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics content. This section provides information about student learning objectives, introduction and motivation.

. Figure 3: Introduction part of a student worksheet created by students.

Next, students are directed to start their activities. In this section, the problems are presented in the form of interesting contextual cases that challenge students to analyse and prepare strategies. An example is presented in Figure 4.

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Figure 4: (a) Problem to be solved. (b) Introduction and checking of learning tools and environments. (Robot: LEGO®)

The initial activity here involves understanding and checking of the necessary tools and the learning environment; then, students construct objects and an environment for them (both a physical environment and a digital environment, through programming, as shown in Figure 5). While carrying out physical activities and programming, students also collaboratively conducted the analysis. Finally, students drew conclusions from the concepts being studied.

Figure 5: (a) Programming with LEGO® Programmer (Program: LEGO®)

The researchers conducted an analysis of the mathematical content and robotics activities in the activity plans that could support learning using a STEM approach; this was done by identifying the presence of different STEM areas in the activity plan. The results indicate that mathematics is dominant in the learning activities, but other domains also emerge, indicating that the mathematical content and robotic activities support general STEM learning. The potential of an activity plan designed to support students’ 21st-century skills was analysed according to the ISTE Standards for Students. The mean scores of the potential activity plan for potential to support students’ 21st-century skills are presented in Table 4. Table 4: Mean scores of activity plan (Scale 1–5) Empowered Learner 4.30

Digital Citizen 4.35

Knowledge Constructor 4.2

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Innovative Designer 4.45

Computational Thinker 4.15

Creative Communicator 4.3

Global Collaborator 4.1

Table 4 shows that, in general, this activity plan supported students to take advantage of technology to help them take an active role in selecting, achieving and demonstrating competence in terms of their learning objectives, informed by learning science. This is indicated by the Empowered Learner score of 4.30. The Digital Citizen score of 4.32 shows that activity plans have the potential to support students to recognise their rights, responsibilities and opportunities to live, learn and work in an interconnected digital world, in safe, legal and ethical ways. The Knowledge Constructor score of 4.2 means the activity plan supports students to critically curate various resources using digital tools to build knowledge. The Innovative Designer score of 4.45 means that the activity plan supports students to use various technologies in the design process. The Computational Thinker score of 4.15 means that the activity plan supports students to use the power of technology to comprehend problems, propose solutions, as well as evaluate strategies used to solve the problems. The Creative Communicator score of 4.3 means that the activity plan supports students to communicate clearly and express themselves creatively, and the Global Collaborator score of 4.1 means that the activity plan sufficiently supports students to use digital tools to broaden their perspectives. Based on the results of these studies, it can be shown that 21st-century skills can be enhanced by STEM learning, which provides many benefits for education. These results reinforce the statements and results of previous studies (Bergsten & Frejd, 2019; Frejd, 2017; Kertil & Gurel, 2016; National Research Council, 2011; Stohlmann et al., 2014). This approach successfully mixes difficult academic principles and real-life educations as mentioned by Holmlund et al. (2018). This research also shows that STEM helps students working with real-world activities and increases students’ performance in learning and inspires students to study science and mathematics, student learning through interdisciplinary experiences relevant to real-world scenarios, problem- and project-based learning, advancement of expertise in the 21st century, cooperation with STEM experts, and the use of emerging technology in classroom activities. This result is in line with previous studies (Bergsten & Frejd, 2019; Bicer et al., 2017; Jolly, 2016; Li et al., 2019). In this study, STEM has been implemented with an engineering design process (EDP) approach that consists of defining and delimiting problems, designing solutions, optimising the solutions by refining solutions and improving the final design. The findings indicate that students were encouraged to improve their ability to solve problems, thinking critically, and communicate with peers. This is in line with some of the results of previous studies, such as Stohlmann et al. (2014), Rackov and Knežević (2017) and Syukri et al. (2018). In this research, robotics has been applied to support the integration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. This integration is based on references from Mataric et al. (2007), Barker et al. (2008), and Altin and Pedaste (2013). This study has contributed to answer the problem regarding how to provide crosscurricular activities for STEM education by implementing STEM in an integrated manner in schools, including lack of training for teachers, which will translate

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STEM in the lesson plans. This research shows that teacher education programmes can provide adequate training for pre-service teachers in practising STEM education in mathematics classroom. This study fills the gaps by focusing on designing a lecture model with a “STEM robotics” approach for prospective mathematics teachers and their students and to explore its potential to promote prospective mathematics teachers’ 21st-century skills. Thus, mathematics lectures with the STEM robotics approach can help prepare prospective mathematics teachers with 21st-century skills to teach mathematics in schools.

4. Conclusion Through the RoboSTE[M] Project in this study, a lecture model, an online module and a laboratory design delivered within the Mathematics Education Study Programme have been developed to prepare prospective mathematics teachers to be ready to teach mathematics using the STEM robotics approach and to be oriented towards 21st-century skills. They were shown to be valid and suitable for application in lectures based on implementation in class, and their potential to promote prospective mathematics teachers’ 21st-century skills was explored. The results of implementation show that this lecture activity can support prospective mathematics teachers to plan learning activities and develop student worksheets with the recommended models, for project-based learning, problem-based learning, and discovery learning. Mathematics lessons planned by prospective mathematics teachers with a STEM robotics approach can be designed for a variety of topics, including geometry, sets, statistics and probability, number, algebra, and trigonometry. The activities designed were also varied, and included modelling, designing, coding, strategy, prediction, exploration, observation, counting, trial and error, and manipulation. Further, students can design activities using a variety of tools. Even with the STEM approach, mathematics remains more dominant than other disciplines; nevertheless, the activity plans developed here for learning mathematics with STEM robotics have the potential to support students’ 21st-century skills. The study reveals alternative strategies that can be used for preparing pre-service STEM teachers that oriented towards 21st-century skills as well as developing professional development for in-service teachers. STEM and robotics education is important to be part of the pre-service teacher’s education curriculum, both standalone and integrated in the courses studied. They are also important to offer in the programme of in-service teachers’ professional development. This fits with the era of the 4th industrial revolution that we are currently facing and accelerated with the pandemic era. The lecture model, laboratory design, and online module are recommended for application and use in programmes to prepare future mathematics teachers. Next, implementing an activity plan and student worksheet in schools is needed to explore the impact of implementation on students’ 21st-century skills. This will be done in the next step of this project.

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5. Acknowledgements We would like to express gratitude to the LP2M UNNES for providing a DIPA research grant (Number: 158.23.4/UN37/PPK.3.1/2020. We would also like to thank teachers and prospective teachers who participated as research partners in our study.

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Stohlmann, M. S., Roehrig, G. H., Moore, T. J., & Green, S. L. (2014). The Need for STEM Teacher Education Development. In Green, S.L. (Eds.), STEM Education: How to Train 21st Century Teachers (pp. 17–32). Nova Science. Syukri, M., Soewarno, S., Halim, L., & Mohtar, L. E. (2018). The impact of engineering design process in teaching and learning to enhance students’ science problemsolving skills. Jurnal Pendidikan IPA Indonesia, 7(1), 66–75. https://doi.org/10.15294/jpii.v7i1.12297 Vasquez, J. A., Sneider, C., & Comer, M. (2013). STEM Lesson Essentials: Integrating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Heinemann. Yata, C., Ohtani, T., & Isobe, M. (2020). Conceptual framework of STEM based on Japanese subject principles. International Journal of STEM Education, 7(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-020-00205-8 Yiannoutsou, N., Nikitopoulou, S., Kynigos, C., Gueorguiev, I., & Fernandez, J. A. (2017). Activity Plan Template: A Mediating Tool for Supporting Learning Design with Robotics. In M. Merdan, W. Lepuschitz, G. Koppensteiner & R. Balogh (Eds.), Robotics in Education (pp. 3–13). Springer International Publishing.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 100-117, July 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.7.6 Received May 26, 2021; Revised Jul 04, 2021; Accepted Jul 31, 2021

Investigating Cascade Training of CEFR-Aligned Standards-Based English Language Curriculum (SBELC) in Rural Malaysia J. W. Ong University of Malaysia, Terengganu, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6107-6354

A. J. Ahmad Tajuddin University of Malaysia, Terengganu, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3261-0877

Abstract. This article describes a study to understand teachers’ experience in implementing the CEFR-Aligned Standards-Based English Language Curriculum (SBELC) in rural Sabah, Malaysia. The literature review revealed many cases where curriculum reform was not implemented as intended due to factors such as inappropriate training structures and inadequate training, understanding, and resources. Compared to other regions in Malaysia, rural Sabah schools may face a more acute situation due to teachers’ lack of experience and resource shortages for the implementation of training and teaching. In this study, the researchers interviewed six teachers, with two of them also serving as trainers of the new curriculum. Transcripts were analysed using deductive thematic analysis. The codes revealed that teachers in general had a positive training experience that was reflective, open to reinterpretation, and with a degree of decentralisation of expertise. There were also issues where quality of training deteriorated as the levels progressed, due to lack of resources allocated. This article offers some suggestions to enhance rural Sabah teachers’ training experience. A quantitative study of a larger scale should be done to further confirm the findings of this study. Keywords: curriculum reform; English language teaching; Malaysia; rural education; teacher training

1. Introduction Curriculum reforms have been a staple in education policies in many countries as a way to keep their education system up to date and to reflect the changing demands of society and the economy (Gouedard et al., 2020). Field studies of curriculum reform experience have been performed by many (e.g., Abdul Rahman, 2014; De Segovia & Hardison, 2009; Wang, 2008), with results mostly ©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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pointing towards the curriculum not implemented in the intended manner. Many reasons have been discovered, such as teachers’ lack of training and understanding of the curriculum, failure of the training structure to function fully, and a lack of resources to ensure a smooth implementation. Rural schools especially were found to be susceptible to the latter (Aziz et al., 2019). Malaysia has implemented a new English Language curriculum by aligning its previous curriculum with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). This CEFR-Aligned Standards-Based English Language Curriculum (SBELC) commenced in 2016 with a dissemination process to teachers. The curriculum has officially been implemented in classrooms since 2018. To date, research on the SBELC implementation has been limited, with studies either describing the dissemination process in general (Abdul Hafiz et al., 2018) or focusing on teachers’ perception of the SBELC itself (Mohd Yusof et al.; Mohd Uri & Abdul Aziz, 2020) or the textbooks used (Johar & Abdul Aziz, 2019). Moreover, there is a dearth of studies regarding the experience of Malaysian rural teachers in undergoing cascade training to prepare for the implementation of the new English Language curriculum. Therefore, there is a need to explore the dissemination and training experience of teachers, with a focus on rural schools, in order to compare the findings against the recommendations by Hayes (2000) so that improvements can be made to increase dissemination and training effectiveness. This study aims to discover the training and dissemination experience of English teachers in rural areas in Sabah, East Malaysia. The findings are compared against the recommendations by Hayes (2000) on effective cascade training. Discrepancies are reviewed, and recommendations are made to close the gap. The questions guiding the study are as follows: 1) How do rural teachers perceive their training process regarding the SBELC dissemination? 2) Are there opportunities to improve the SBELC training process?

2. Literature Review

SBELC Dissemination Process The Ministry of Education Malaysia (MOE) has developed a multi-level cascade training model to disseminate the SBELC curriculum content and train teachers for its implementation (Abdul Hafiz et al., 2018). The MOE has also decided to break down the content of the training into several modules. About 5–7 first-level trainers from Cambridge English were recruited to train up to 200 second-tier trainers, known as National Master Trainers. These National Master Trainers were then assigned to train about 30 Malaysian English Language teachers each, producing up to 6000 third-tier trainers, designated as District Trainers. These third-tier trainers are the ones who train the final recipients in school. The SBELC curriculum content is broken down into four modules: Familiarisation; Learning Material Evaluation, Adaptation, and Design; Curriculum Induction; and Item Writing and Formative Assessment. Figure 1 illustrates the tiers in the cascade training system.

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5–7 Experts from

Cambridge English Up to 200 National Master Trainers Up to 6000 District Trainers School Teachers

Figure 1: Tiers in SBELC Cascade Dissemination Process

These four major modules were disseminated in three years, each with its own unique cascading environment. Different Cambridge English Experts, National Master Trainers, and District Trainers were employed for each module. Training was conducted from October to November 2016 for the Familiarisation course, in the third quarter of 2017 for Learning Material Adaptation and Design and Curriculum Induction, and in the first quarter of 2018 for Item Writing and Formative Assessment modules. There is still ongoing training as new syllabuses are being introduced (Mohd Uri & Abdul Aziz, 2020). The study noted several strengths of the cascade training model, notably the effort of breaking the content into several modules for delivery in its own cascading environment and attempts to provide opportunities for contextualised, hands on training for teachers. However, there were also issues, such as inadequate time for lower level cascade training and inadequate materials and equipment to support training (Abdul Hafiz et al., 2018). SBELC Dissemination in Malaysian Rural Schools All national schools were involved, irrespective of localities, in the country-wide dissemination process. Rural schools were also included in this process. Although there are exceptions, Malaysian rural schools in general tend to suffer from a lack of facilities, resources, and experienced teachers (Marwan et al., 2012; Mohd Zeki et al., 2020). These rural schools tend to rely heavily on young, inexperienced, and often overworked teachers, which affects the teaching quality (Nur, 2015). These schools also suffer from low accessibility, resulting in a less

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ideal working environment for teachers and administrators and lower educational achievements among students (Aziz et al., 2019). To date, no research has been done on the cascade training of any English Language curriculum in rural Malaysian schools. Therefore, it remains unclear whether rural school teachers would stand to benefit from this training or face significant issues that will eventually derail the training and implementation of the SBELC. Cascade Model The MOE’s decision to adopt the cascade model could be due to its costeffectiveness; a high number of teachers could be trained with a low level of resources (Abeysena et al., 2016; Karalis, 2016). The cascade model is appropriate for situations where a large numbers of teachers need to be re-trained or the training content needs to be tailored to teachers’ local needs (Lange, 2013), as lower-level training sessions tend to include teachers from similar locations and contexts. Many studies regarding the curricular reform dissemination process in Malaysia have shown that the Malaysian education system uses the cascade model to train teachers on curriculum reforms (e.g., Abdul Aziz et al., 2018; Mohamad, et al., 2019; Abdul Rahman, 2014). Bett (2016) and Turner et al. (2016) provided a good description of the cascade model. This model employs a system of ‘levels’, where training is conducted and provided in a pyramid or top-down system. At the top level, a selected group of trainers will receive training directly from the curriculum planners from whom they learn the new curriculum’s objectives, approach, strategies, and method of execution. These trainers will then be assigned a group or a team of teachers to train, usually at a lower level, and these teachers will then pass on what was learned from the trainers to their colleagues at an even lower level. A perfect description of a cascade training model is that eventually knowledge is transferred to every targeted recipient using the least amount of resources. However, the cascade model has some shortcomings. Its system of training often makes it susceptible to dilution, where the amount of information and knowledge transferred reduces with every step down the training levels. This phenomenon is common in many cascade training processes (Suzuki, 2001; Bett, 2016; Dichaba & Mokhele, 2012) and is also encountered in the Malaysian context (Abdul Hafiz et al., 2018; Abdul Rahman, 2014). However, Hayes (2000) considers the dilution problem in cascade training as an implementation problem rather than a structural issue that cannot be remedied. He proposed a list of five criteria for ensuring the success of any cascade training, namely: • The method of conducting the training must be experiential and reflective rather than transmissive; • The training must be open to reinterpretation and rigid adherence to prescribed ways of working should not be expected;

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• • •

Expertise must be diffused through the system as widely as possible rather than concentrated at the top; A cross-section of stakeholders must be involved in the preparation of training materials; Decentralisation of responsibilities within the cascade structure is desirable.

A well-structured reflection session during training allows teachers to monitor their own progress, identify areas where they need more input, and seek more support to further refine and complete their understanding (Dichaba & Mokhele, 2012). Teachers also need space to reinterpret the new input from training and decide the best way to teach and implement the reforms in their own classrooms (Hayes, 2000). A highly inflexible and rigid training structure with no opportunities for reinterpretation will severely limit teachers’ creativity and ability to teach a new curriculum properly, resulting in failure of the curriculum reform. Hayes (2000) also opines that expertise needs to be spread out and made widely available throughout the cascade system in ensuring the success of cascade model training. A wide availability of experts (trainers, teachers trained at higher levels, early practitioners of the new ideas) will provide members within the cascade system with easy access for counsel, advice, and support. This arrangement will help everyone to develop a better understanding of the curriculum change. Hayes (2000) also emphasises the preparation of training materials, stressing the importance of involving all stakeholders in this process. The involvement of as many stakeholders as possible across training levels will ensure that the training materials created will be as relevant as possible to teachers’ situation and avoid issues such as the materials created do not reflect the true situation in the classroom. Successful cascade training should practise a degree of decentralisation of the responsibilities within the cascade environment. The power and authority to conduct cascade training needs to be shared by all instead of concentrated only among the planners. Such move will result in the involvement of more stakeholders in the curriculum dissemination process which will encourage them to develop a sense of ownership that is crucial to the success of any cascade model training and curriculum reform as a whole. Cascade Training – How Did It Go? A wide array of field studies that documented the results and observations of cascade training have been published. Bett (2016) and Abdul Hafiz et al. (2018) discovered that a lack of materials and equipment hampered training effectiveness. Hayes (2010) and Dichaba and Mokhele (2012) observed a general deterioration in the information transferred as the training progressed down the levels. Abdul Rahman (2014) discovered that cascade training was not even conducted at the lowest level at some of the schools she observed.

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Teachers found it difficult to access support and help from trainers or experts after their training (Altinyelken, 2010; Madondo, 2020). Some faced issues to access training due to their school’s geographical isolation and a lack of facilities (Du Plessis & Mestry, 2019; Hamzah & Paramasivan, 2017). Nonetheless, almost all the studies agreed that cascade training can be improved by ensuring better training experience and information transfer, resulting in better-prepared teachers.

3. Methodology

Participants The main participants of this study are English Language teachers who taught English in rural Sabah national secondary schools as listed in Universiti Malaysia Sabah’s (2018) list of rural schools. These teachers had been teaching SBELC for at least six months at the time of data collection and had undergone training in teaching the new curriculum. The study was conducted in the rural regions of Sabah, East Malaysia. The location was selected as the researcher was a teacher in the said region, and studies about English Language Teaching (ELT) was found to be lacking. Hence, the focus on this region may reveal new insights and understanding about rural education in Malaysia. Of the six teachers selected for the study, three served as trainers during the SBELC dissemination process. Two teachers were National Master Trainers, and one was a District Trainer. Participants were sourced based on snowball sampling with the aim of including all the five subdivisions in Sabah. Procedures The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with the participants. This study adapted the interview protocols developed by Wang (2008), who had investigated the curriculum change experience in China. All participants were first briefed on the nature of the study and how their responses would be used, and they were informed that their identity will be protected. Participants also signed the consent form before the actual interviews started. A pilot test was done on another teacher and amendments were made before the actual interview was conducted. One major issue identified during the pilot test was that the questions did not seem open enough, which would limit the participants from voicing their views. Thus, the researcher amended the questions before proceeding with the actual interviews. During the interviews, the researcher asked further questions that were not included in the interview protocol whenever there were responses that could provide deeper insight into the study. The duration of each interview was around 40 minutes to one hour to avoid causing fatigue to the participants. The interviews were scheduled at one-week intervals to prevent bias and impressions from the previous interview from influencing the subsequent ones. Interviews were

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recorded in the audio format and deleted once transcribed. Participants’ identities were protected by assigning them with pseudonyms: Nancy, Joanne, Marcus, Jason, Zack, and Queenie. Data Analysis Audio recording was transcribed verbatim et literatim into text and then analysed via a deductive thematic analysis using Atlas.ti 9.0. The following a priori themes followed Hayes’ (2010) suggestions for a dissemination process using the cascade model: • Reflective vs. transmissive • Reinterpretation vs. rigid adherence • Diffusion and decentralisation • Resources and materials Any utterances that could inform the study were first collected into their a priori themes and then scrutinised deeper and regrouped into the respective sub-themes. Sub-themes were created inductively, depending on the responses collected. During the analysis of the sixth interview responses, it was discovered that the responses had close similarities to the opinions expressed by the previous respondents, suggesting a certain level of saturation had been reached (Saunders et al., 2017). Considering Harding’s (2013) advice that the decision to stop collecting data should also include operational practicalities such as the subjects had covered the required areas adequately as well as budgetary and resource concerns, the researcher decided to stop collecting interview data after interviewing six participants.

4. Results & Discussion Presentation of Quantitative Data A total of 141 quotes that were extracted from the interview transcripts provide potential answers to the research question. The study recorded a total of 64 positive quotes and 48 negative quotes. Quotes that described the participants’ training experience as pleasant, supportive, and beneficial were classified as positive, and vice versa. The total number of quotes does not tally with the total numbers of positive and negative quotes, as some of the statements that could contribute to the research question are neutral, being neither positive nor negative.

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Figure 2: Distribution of teachers’ perceptions of their SBELC training experience

As Figure 2 shows, the participants had a positive experience in training. In general, they displayed satisfaction and agreement that the training they received was helpful. This finding is consistent with Suzuki (2001) and Cheung and Wong (2012), which stated that professional development training helps improve teachers’ implementation of a curriculum change. Regarding teachers’ satisfaction with training, the finding of this study contradicts Mwangi and Mugambi (2013), which discovered that teachers were unhappy to attend training. The next section of this paper will discuss the findings based on the a priori themes adopted from Hayes (2000). Reflective vs. Transmissive Most of the time, the teachers had training experience that was reflective in nature, although occasionally, a transmissive training style emerged: Table 1: Teachers’ sharing their reflective training experience Participant

Joanne

Nancy

Quotes “I like how the CE, Cambridge English gives us hands-on training on the spot. They don’t leave it in the next subsequent course. ‘Okay, here is the curriculum induction and there are some of the activities that we would like you to try out in your group’. It is not just chalk-and-talk but you get to try it out as well.” “I enjoyed the most when we had this gathering at the training, this problem sharing session about students, regarding this CEFR.”

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The responses in Table 1 show that teachers engaged in interactive activities and that there were interactions with their trainers and among the trainees themselves. These findings are consistent with the descriptions in Abdul Hafiz et al. (2018). The teachers also described having the opportunity to discuss, reflect, and improve their practice by sharing problems and the possible solutions. These findings are in line with the recommendations of Hayes (2000) and Nagappan (2001). Such process would allow them to monitor their own progress, identify areas where they needed more input, and seek more support to further refine and complete their understanding (Dichaba & Mokhele, 2012). However, there were also instances of transmissive training: “Most of the trainings are wasting time in the sense that we are attending the training, and the trainers speak and dragging time.” Nancy Nancy reported a training experience that was transmissive in nature. She described that as a result, trainees showed a lack of participation, low commitment, low morale, and a lack of ownership of the curriculum reform, consistent with the findings of Nagappan (2001). This is a point of concern, as such a situation is highly likely to result in training failure. Table 2 presents one of the participants’ responses regarding the outcomes of such transmissive training experience: Table 2: Outcomes of transmissive training experience Participant

Quotes

Nancy

“Most of the time, everyone literally plays their smart phone.”

Nancy

“Yes, and then they came late.”

Open for Reinterpretation vs. Rigid Adherence In general, the teachers reported that they were given the space to reinterpret what they learnt and apply it in their teaching instead of being told to adhere strictly to the instructions provided in the new curriculum (as shown in Table 3). Table 3: Teachers’ reinterpretation of training input Participant

Quotes

Joanne

“During the micro-teaching session, when we plan our lesson, we would include all the bits that they taught in the activities.”

Queenie

“Firstly, we need to do it. We need to do hands-on activities before we can give it in our class. It was more doing and less talking.”

Teachers reported of engaging in interactive training, where beyond the opportunity to receive input, they were also given the chance to apply the input to suit their teaching contexts in forms such as micro-teaching sessions and hands-

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on activities. The findings are consistent with the suggestion by Hayes (2000) to allow teachers a little individual space to integrate new curriculum into their daily teaching context. Despite the overall training experience being open to reinterpretation, there were also situations of rigid adherence, as shown in Table 4: Table 4: Examples of rigid adherence demanded from teachers Participant

Quotes

Joanne

“They say you are required to finish (the scheme of work).”

Joanne

“They really highlighted the fact that we should follow the cycles, we should not disrupt it by rearranging it ourselves.”

Rigid demands on teachers to follow the curriculum requirements with little freedom are consistent with the findings of Bauml (2015) and Certo (2006). The authors discovered that teachers were required to follow their curriculum guides, where they had to teach certain content within a certain timeframe, which is very similar to how the SBELC scheme of work is designed. The findings show that overall, teachers went a training experience that allowed reinterpretation, where they were given the space to adapt and adjust the SBELC to fit their teaching context. This was achieved though discussions, reflections, and hands on training that allowed them to apply the input into their daily practice such as creating lesson plans and conducting microteaching. Diffusion and decentralisation of expertise The overall impression is the teachers agreed that they did not face problems in gaining access and reaching the experts that could help them with the SBELC implementation, as shown in Table 5: Table 5: Decentralisation of expertise Participant

Quotes

Marcus

“I particularly enjoy being in the telegram group where my trainers are in, super helpful.”

Jason

“I was also privileged enough to say when I contacted to these people (master trainers) for clarification of certain things, they were expectable prepared), they were reachable, and they are very proactive.”

Zack

“We discuss about teaching ideas and tips in meetings, in our PLC group.”

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The teachers also had access to non-official channels of expertise to obtain information and support on the SBELC, as shown in Table 6: Table 6: Non-official channels to access expertise Participant

Quotes

Marcus

“I also go online and look at websites of other English teachers and get tips and also exchange messages with them.

Joanne

“We share materials and teaching resources within our WhatsApp group. Morning coffee conversations are also a good chance to find out what are the teachers doing and if I can ‘steal’ some of their ideas too.”

Based on the participants’ responses, it can be said that they had many avenues to reach out to experts for assistance with the curriculum implementation from master trainers to their colleagues, as well as other teachers who had established online presence for expertise sharing. These findings contradict Altinyelken (2010) and Madondo (2020), which reported that teachers lacked access to expertise when they were implementing a new curriculum. The accessibility was also facilitated by the attitudes of the master trainers themselves, who made themselves available to support the teachers to whom they cascaded the training, as shown in Table 7: Table 7: Proactive and Collaborative Trainers Participant

Quotes

Zack

“Very collaborative. We have a WhatsApp and Telegram group where teachers I’ve trained can ask question straight to me.”

Joanne

“For my teachers (that she trained), they came to me and me ‘is it okay if I do this and that?’”

Zack is a national master trainer who conducted cascade training at the state level, and Joanne is a district trainer who conducted cascade training at the district level. These positive findings are consistent with the recommendation by Hayes (2000) and Gask et al. (2019) to have expertise spread out and widely available throughout the cascade system in ensuring the success of cascade model training. Regarding diffusion, the training was diffused at the lowest level, where teachers received training at their respective schools. This finding contradicts the result of Abdul Rahman (2014) that some schools did not conduct cascade training for teachers, suggesting that the diffusion of expertise did not reach the lowest level of the cascade environment.

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However, the level of training at the lower level of the cascade showed some inconsistencies in that the quality of the training deteriorated. Table 8 describes the findings: Table 8: Training issues at the lower cascade level Participant

Quotes

Marcus

“It’s just a short session, English teachers come in after school, I showed them the slides and that’s all it is.”

Jason

Zack

“In national level is that you get all kind of support… State level, similar but lesser when it comes to material support. But when it comes to district level and the school level, that is when a lot of problems come in because there are a lot of interference. … ‘I need this (to) end right now’ (instructed by school admins) even if it is in the middle of training. School level, same thing.” “But when it came to school cascading, that’s where I think half of the content of the courses was not able to be delivered successfully to the teachers.”

The teachers reported gradual deterioration in the training quality as the cascade level progressed downwards in aspects such as the allocated time and materials, interference from school administration, and dilution of information. The findings are consistent with Abdul Rahman (2014), which also detected issues of training quality deterioration lower down the cascade environment. Madondo (2020) also reported issues with materials and facilities for teachers’ training. In this study, Jason’s description is almost a perfect depiction of the situation described by Abdul Hafiz et al. (2018). They reported that training at the lower levels of the cascade suffered from issues such as insufficient time, a lack of materials, and inadequate equipment. Overall, it seems that the distribution of expertise was decentralised enough for teachers to gain access to some expertise support across many official and unofficial channels to assist them in the SBELC implementation and on the diffusion front, training was able to reach the teachers at the lowest level (school level). However, a notable drop in training quality at that level relative to higher levels of the cascade training was detected. Resources & Materials In general, teachers recorded dissatisfaction regarding the allocation of resources and materials for their training. Most described issues related to materials such as training manual and information and communication technologies (ICT) equipment as well as resource-based issues such as transportation and time. A general trend detected from the teachers’ comments is that the lower the cascade level, the fewer materials and resources were allocated for training. They reported that there were few materials prepared, teachers were not released to

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attend training, and training at lower levels tended to be shortened and was subject to interference from the school administration. Table 9 and Figure 3 present the teachers’ responses on these issues: Table 9. Fewer resources and materials allocated at lower cascade training levels Person

Quotes

Marcus

“I was told by my master trainer that national and state level trainings are 5 days, but district level is only 3.”

Jason

Joanne

“In national level is that you get all kinds of support… State level, similar but lesser when it comes to material support. But when it comes to district level and the school level, that is when a lot of problems come in because there are a lot of interference. … ‘I need this (to) end right now’ [instructed by school admins] even if it is in the middle of training. School level, same thing.” “Feel like this is such a silly thing. How could you not have the scheme of work, the framework and all that ready during the cascading?”

Figure 3: Allocation of resources in the cascade model of the SBELC training.

This finding is consistent with the results of Abdul Rahman (2014), Madondo (2020), and Abdul Hafiz, et al. (2018). They reported issues of training quality deterioration lower down the cascade environment. These issues include lesser time and a lack of materials such as physical copies of documents and equipment. These issues could be due to these lower level training sessions were held in rural areas, where shortages of materials and resources are well documented (Aziz, et al., 2019; Marwan et al., 2012; Mohd Zeki et al., 2020).

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The teachers also reported issues of access. They had problems to attend training due to issues such as transport and their school administration’s refusal to release them during school hours, as described in Table 10: Table 10: Issues faced by teachers to attend training Participant

Marcus

Quotes “Some also have issues getting the transport out. I drive a pickup truck so I can negotiate rough roads to come to town, but some teachers don’t have the luxury. They have to end up depending on other transports, and when that doesn’t come through for them, they either have to fork out their own funds, or give up on the training.”

Zack

“It’s very difficult to call all the teachers from each district to go to a big training centre of each state, particularly in rural Sabah. Another logistics problem.”

Joanne

“I understand that the school cannot send all the English teachers to come. Some schools didn’t let all their teachers to go for the training.

These findings are consistent with Du Plessis and Mestry (2019), Hamzah and Paramasivan (2017), and Handal et al. (2013), which described rural teachers as facing difficulties to access training due to funding issues, geographical distance, and transportation. The finding of school administration keeping teachers in school is also consistent with the results of Altinyelken (2010) and Aziz et al. (2019). Overall, it is discovered that although teachers received excellent training at the upper level, the lower level of the cascade environment faced issues such as a lack of resources and materials that are necessary for maximum outcomes from training. These are serious issues as without proper training, teachers will have to implement the SBELC without adequate knowledge and understanding of the curriculum. The implementation of curriculum reform with little understanding of it is highly likely to be flawed (De Segovia & Hardison, 2008; Wang, 2008), derailing the success of the curriculum reform.

5. Discussion Improving cascade training experience for rural teachers The findings revealed that the teachers in general underwent positive training experience, even though there were issues related to resources and access. Several steps may be taken to address these issues. First, one level of the cascade training may be removed by appointing National Master Trainers as trainers at the district level instead of at the state level. The number of levels is usually correlated with dilution, and hence, removing one level is likely to reduce the dilution, resulting in the dissemination of more

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information to teachers at the lowest level. This recommendation was also made by the study of Mohamad et al. (2019). The National Master Trainers can go on ‘tours’ across the states they are assigned to, covering all the districts in the state. Appointing several National Master Trainers to train at the district level will ensure that information is cascaded down uniformly. In addition, these trainers’ training abilities are expected to improve after conducting many training sessions. Skipping a level will also allow the resources that are currently allocated for state level training to be reallocated for school and district level training, which will address the current issue of limited resources. However, the disadvantage of this approach is that the master trainers will not be in their respective schools for an extended time period. Therefore, arrangements need to be made for other teachers to take over the trainers’ role at their respective schools. One of the suggestions made by Hayes (2000) to improve cascade training is to provide access to expertise, especially to trainees at the lower level. This suggestion may be implemented by engaging master trainers and excellent adopters of the curriculum (such as high-performing teachers) to organise virtual training for teachers. Rural school teachers with internet connectivity can attend the online training from their locations. Training videos can be provided to teachers with weak connectivity or facility issues via download links or in physical formats such as a USB drive or a DVD. Such arrangements will allow teachers to access the expertise of not just their immediate trainer but also the master trainers at higher levels. Excellent adopters of the curriculum will have the platform to provide more practical on the ground tips for curriculum implementation that might not be covered by the master trainers. These arrangements will also enable teachers to attend dissemination training without incurring high travelling expenses. Another way to offer more training opportunities for teachers is by developing self-study materials. These materials may be used to complement training and may serve as reference notes to teachers when they have returned to their rural school surroundings. Self-study materials will also allow teachers to self-study and learn about a new curriculum, especially when school level training is ineffective. Teachers in this study expressed that joining online communities for teachers is useful as they can access expertise and obtain ideas for lesson preparation. However, since these groups are unofficial, irrelevant information may also be shared and some groups eventually degenerated into gossip channels: ”Some are very useful as it helps me to prepare non-textbook lessons, some degenerated into gossip and business promotions, so I left those.” Marcus One way to address the issue is by creating an official online community for teachers nationwide. An official community offers several benefits. The content may be controlled, and irrelevant information such as gossips or advertisements

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may be removed. Any information related to the SBELC implementation may be monitored by experts to ensure maximum accuracy. The official community will also allow maximum exchanges between experts at all levels of the cascade environment. For example, National Master Trainers can answer the questions asked by teachers and organise webinars for all teachers and trainers. This openness will ensure maximum training opportunities for all teachers regardless of their physical location.

6. Implications This study has attempted to describe and analyse the living experience of teachers in rural Sabah who attended dissemination training for the SBELC. The analysis revealed that teachers generally had a positive impression of their training and that their training was reflective, open to reinterpretation, diffused, and decentralized in terms of expertise. The issues discovered were on inadequate resources that led to a deterioration in training quality lower down the cascade levels. The researchers have compared this study’s findings with many previous studies including Hayes (2000), which recommended ways to improve the cascade training. This study has also proposed several measures to improve the training experience of rural Sabah teachers. This study offers several directions for future research. Since only six teachers and two National Master Trainers were interviewed in the current study, the generalizability of this study’s findings are limited. Future researchers may focus on the same issue but employ a quantitative study method with survey questionnaires as the instrument. Finally, this study discovered that rural Sabah schools face additional challenges in implementing cascade training due to their isolated locations and insufficient resources that are necessary for high-quality training at the lower levels. More research should be done to find ways to further improve the effectiveness of cascade training in ensuring the smooth and successful implementation of the SBELC.

7. References Abeysena, H., Philips, R., & Poppit, G. 2016. The Cascade Model in Action. English Language Teacher Research Partnerships. A collection of research papers from the Sri Lankan context, 79. Abdul Hafiz, A. A. H., Abdul Rashid, R., & Wan Zainuddin, W. Z. (2018). The enactment of the Malaysian common European framework of reference (CEFR): National master trainer’s reflection. Indonesian Journal Of Applied Linguistics, 8(2), 409 – 417. https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v8i2.13307 Abdul Rahman, N. (2014). From curriculum reform to classroom practice: An evaluation of the English primary curriculum in Malaysia [Doctoral Thesis, University of York]. Altinyelken, H. K. (2010). Curriculum change in Uganda: Teacher perspectives on the new thematic curriculum. International Journal of Educational Development, 30(2), 151– 161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2009.03.004 Aziz, A. A. A., Swanto, S., & Azhar, S. B. H. J. (2019). Coping with stress: Exploring the lived experiences of English teachers who persist in Malaysian rural schools.

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Madondo, F. (2020): Perceptions on Curriculum Implementation: A Case for Rural Zimbabwean Early Childhood Development Teachers as Agents of Change, Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 35(3), 399-416. https://doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2020.1731024 Marwan, A., Sumintono, B., & Mislan, N. (2012). Revitalizing Rural Schools: A Challenge for Malaysia. Educational Issues, Research and Policies (pp 172-188), Skudai: Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Mohamad, N., Ahmad, J., & Osman, K. (2019). Latihan dalam Perkhidmatan sebagai Medium untuk Meningkatkan Tahap Tingkah Laku Kemahiran Berfikir Aras Tinggi dalam Kalangan Guru Sains [In-House Training as a Medium to Enhance Science Teachers’ Behaviour of the Higher Order Thinking Skills]. Jurnal Pendidikan Malaysia 44(1), 31-42. https://doi.org/10.17576/jpen-2019-44.01si-03 Mohd Uri, N. F., & Abdul Aziz, S. (2018). Implementation of CEFR in Malaysia: Teachers’ awareness and the challenges. 3L: The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 24(3), 168-183. https://doi.org/10.17576/3l-2018-2403-13 Mohd Yusof, S., Zainuddin, D. S., & Hamdan, A. R. (2017). Teachers’ Experience in Curriculum Implementation: An Investigation on English Language Teaching in Vocational Colleges in Malaysia. Sains Humanika 9: 4(2), 49– 58. https://doi.org/10.11113/sh.v9n4-2.1359 Mohd Zeki, M. Z., Abdul Razak, A. Z., & Abdul Razak, R. (2020). Cabaran Pengajaran Guru Pendidikan Islam Di Sekolah Pedalaman: Bersediakan Dalam Melaksanakan KBAT? [Islamic Education Teachers’ Challenges In Rural Schools: Ready To Implement Higher Order Thinking Skills?]. Jurnal Kurikulum & Pengajaran Asia Pasifik, 8(1), 11-24. Mwangi, N. I., & Mugambi, M. (2013). Evaluation Of Strengthening Of Mathematics And Science In Secondary Education (SMASSE) Program: A Case Study Of Murang’a South District, Kenya. International Journal of Education Learning and Development, 1(1), 46–60. Nagappan, R. (2001). The teaching of higher-order thinking skills in Malaysia. Journal of Southeast Asian Education, 2(1), 1–21. Nur, A. (2015). Retaining high-quality teachers in rural primary schools in Malaysia. 4th Annual Southeast Asian Studies Symposium, 46. Saunders, B., Sim, J., Kingstone, T., Baker, S., Waterfield, J., Bartlam, B., Burroughs, H., & Jinks, C. (2017). Saturation in qualitative research: exploring its conceptualisation and operationalisation. Qual Quant, 52(4), 1893-1907. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-017-0574-8 Suzuki, T. (2001). Cascade model for teacher training in Nepal. Studies in languages and cultures, 27, 31–42. Turner, F., Wilson, E., & Brownhill, S. (2016). The transfer of content knowledge in a cascade model of professional development. Teacher Development, 2, 175 – 191. https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2016.1205508 Universiti Malaysia Sabah. (2018). List Of Rural Secondary Public Schools In Sabah. Retrieved From http://www.ums.edu.my/upplbv2/files/SENARAISEKOLAH-MENENGAH-KATEGORI-LUAR-BANDAR-DAN-PEDALAMANDI-NEGERI-SABAH.pdf Wang, H. (2008). Language policy implementation: A look at teachers’ perceptions. Asian EFL Journal, 30(1), 1–25.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 118-134, July 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.7.7 Received May 18, 2021; Revised Jul 04, 2021; Accepted Jul 31, 2021

Untrained Foreign English Educators in Japan: A Discourse on Government Education Initiative and Perceptions from Japanese Teacher's on Efficacy in the Classroom Gregory Paul Chindemi Chugoku Gakuen University, Okayama, Japan https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0585-5465 Abstract. Social scientists, teacher leaders, and academics, both Japanese and non-Japanese, have attempted to examine the phenomenon of unlicensed foreigners in the Japanese classroom environment. In an attempt to open a discourse on the intentions and subsequent failures of the JET programme, and to identify specific perceptions of Japanese teachers in relation to JET, a historical analysis of the JET programme coupled with a Likert Scale survey was utilized. In this ordinal scale survey, the opinions of both experienced Japanese teachers and inexperienced Japanese teachers on the challenges of working in conjunction with untrained foreign instructors during their career, were used to gauge teacher's attitudes and opinions. Results would suggest that teacher's with longer time in the field of education have stronger opinions towards untrained foreign educators in the classroom, while less experienced teachers are more apt to working with untrained foreign educators without expressing dissatisfaction. Keywords: government education initiative; English education in Japan; ALT; education training; teacher experience

1. Introduction When considering the scope and degree of difficulty in implementing nationwide education initiatives, few have been as grandiose as what the country of Japan proposed in the fall of 1987. While some researchers (Maeda, 2013; Ishi, 2009; Brown, 2008; Borg,2018) seem to trace a path of origin to two prominent English language programs, most notably, the 1977 Monbusho English Fellow Project (Abb. MEF), and the 1978 British English Teachers Scheme (Abb. BETS), a delve into the tense political climate of the world in the mid-late 1980's reveals a more complex narrative.

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

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The longest running language teaching exchange program in the world known as the JET Programme (Japanese Exchange Teaching Programme), at its inception in 1987, included 848 participants from 4 participating countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand) (JET programme participant information, 2019). Bilked as a Japanese tax funded language and cultural exchange program, Ohtani (2010) explained that the poor eligibility criteria for entry into the programme was intentional. Applicants to the program required no background in education or teaching, alternatively applicants only needed to possess a four-year college degree in any field, a native skill in the English language, and an eagerness to live in Japan. The title Assistant language teacher (ALT) was adopted in 1988, shortly after the program began instead of teacher in order to create a "non-threatening hierarchy" in the Japanese workplace (p.44). While overwhelmingly comprised of untrained, newly college graduated native English speakers, who were often unfamiliar with the essential skill set to effectively navigate a classroom, the JET Programme has flourished for nearly 33 years. According to the 2020 public information release from the Japanese Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication (Abb. MIC) over 5,761 foreigners currently are employed through JET by the Japanese government and currently living in Japan (MIC, 2020). Researchers on government policy and cultural relations, Metzger (2012) and McConnell (2000) present convincing cases, suggesting that this program, originally created as a form public diplomacy once held substantial merit. However, Metzger (2012) also points out that, "the evolution of the program's mission over time is responsible for the dearth of studies examining components other than educational value"(p.11). While she acknowledges that the core goals of programme were originally rooted in cultural exchange, Ohtani (2010) suggests the quality of the program in terms of an educational initiative must be assessed by qualitative means, and result driven data, in order to attempt to form an opinion on whether or not the JET Programme can be thought of as beneficial to Japanese communities or schools. The intentions in this research are manifold: to address the historical and circumstantial political implications for the JET Programme, to highlight what can be construed as apparent failures to the inferred educational aims of the program, to evaluate strong criticisms of the program from Japanese journalists and researchers, to unpack the viewpoints of prominent teacher leaders on what constitutes a "quality teacher", and to present qualitative data from Japanese teachers concerning the challenges that encompass working in conjunction with an untrained foreign teacher. 1.1 The "Ron-Yasu Relationship" (1982-1987) While the period from 1945-1952-a regime of the indirect American military rule in Japan-was considered by historians to be an occupation that was more "reformist than revolutionary", aspects of it is played vital role in the groundwork for future educational initiatives (Mason & Caiger, 2001, p.355). The architecture of Japanese society including: police forces, education, labor

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relations, large scale business, and both urban and rural landholdings, were fundamentally altered to resemble the democratic standards reminiscent in the United States. However, more pertinent in terms of educational reform, American derived syllabi for core subjects being taught at all levels of education, were inserted into the Japanese classroom. Starting in 1947, and for the first time in the history of Japanese education, social studies courses, primarily comprised of American, and more specifically, democratic perspectives in relation to the world, became compulsory for all Japanese junior high and high schools. As the 1980's approached, America was in deep in the throes of a recession caused by disinflationary monetary policies and oil price increase from the Iranian revolution of 1979. Simultaneously, Japan was leading the world in six major industries; textiles, iron & steel, home appliances, automobiles, telecommunications, and semi-conductor technology (Shapiro, 1983, pp.33-36). American bases remained stations for logistic operations through the 1960's and during the Vietnam War in 1970. America, and countries in Europe remained entangled in world conflict, while Japan was able to focus solely on its own economic markets, under the backdrop of the impending cold war with the Soviet Union. Under Prime minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, Japan as an economic leader, had come to hold prestige amongst the United Nations, the World Bank, and the exclusive organization for cooperation and development. Yet, it wouldn't achieve this until, through coercion and persistence, the Japanese government yielded to the United States and opened their markets to American goods. President Reagan, in an effort to thwart the protectionist economic policies of the 1970`s, sought to change the dynamic between both Japan and the United States. Japan had previously restricting imports, while incentivizing their own exports, and Reagan applied constant pressure to Japan to open trade (Shapiro, 1983, pp.33-36). Remarking on Japanese Prime minster Nakasone, Mason & Caiger (2001) assert: "Nakasone presided with distinction, and in a general atmosphere of calm and self-confidence, over a party and nation traversing what may come to be seen as the peaks of a particular and important stage of their development"(p.366). Two years prior to the creation of the JET Programme, the United States had imposed an unreasonable 100% import tax on all Japanese computers, TV and technology, in an aggressive strategy to force Japan into signing agreements to share semiconductor technology and open the border to American imports. The Ron-Yasu relationship was a benchmark for Japan in that it significantly improved Japan's relationship with all western powers-and in consideration of the modern western world's adoption of Japanese cars, goods, and technology- it has been economically speaking-mutually beneficial. Nonetheless, the imposed trade agreement, signed in 1986, would come to include an unexpected omiyage (Japanese gift) from the Japanese government offered at the Nakasone-Reagan trade agreement summit in 1986.

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As noted by McConnel (1996), it was the head of the ministry of foreign affairs, Ikuyo Sato, who presented the idea at the Nakasone-Reagan trade agreement summit as one alternative method to use surplus yen from Japan's overflowing annual trade surplus. Despite unanimous opposition from the members of the Ministry of Education, the 300-million-dollar JET Programme was emphatically pushed through by the divisions of government that would come to oversee the programme to this day- Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The programme was promoted on two premises; that 90% of the money spent on funding the JET Programme would 'stay in Japan', assuming that foreigners would spend the lucrative salaries that they earned within Japan, and that the programme would act as a 'grassroots cultural exchange', putting local Japanese communities in direct contact with foreigners living amongst them (McConnel, 1996, pp.440-448). Past researchers on the JET Programme have provided comprehensive material on the complex governance and the justifications of its present-day continuation (Brown, 2008; see also Borg, 2018; Ishi, 2009; Maeda, 2013; Metzger, 2012; McConnell, 1996; Reed, 2015). However, in terms of addressing the goals of the JET Programme and how those goals have been met over the years, Borg`s (2018) macro perspective seems to articulate most clearly: Suffice it to say, there are myriad vested interests across Japan that have benefited (and continue to benefit) from JET's existence. In other words, it is inevitable that different individuals and groups will perceive the goals of the programme according to their own interests (p. 199). In this vein, he emphasizes that the three ministries that currently oversee the JET Programme; the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs retain a fundamental and self-seeking 'cui bono' component ('who benefits') disposition in regard to the distribution of the financial resources involved with JET. Along with these financial interests, each department has differing ambitions for the program; to allow an influx of foreigners into Japan from year to year, to promote an mutual understanding of culture and society amongst the youth, and the goal that I would like to most emphasize in this research, "a representative of the third agency, the Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture, improving Japanese students' and teachers' "communicative competence in English" (McConnel,1996, as cited in Metzger, 2012, p.448). Reed (2015) in a comparison of an interview with a Jet participant from 1988, and a respondent from 25 years later, draws attention to the unchanging ambiguity that some foreigners possess in relation to their responsibility in the classroom. The 1988 participant was quoted saying, "I do not know what we are here for", while a respondent who was interviewed 25 years later, in 2014 replied, "I feel like my job is akin to an English mascot, and there is little value in what I do"(p.1). In trying to understand the lack of clarity some foreign assistant instructors might have towards the education system, one must understand the low standards of eligibility for the program, and the lack of systematic training to prepare each instructor for their role in the classroom environment. To put complete blame on the JET participant for the lack of efficacy in the classroom, is

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to ignore the inconsistencies within the organizations that facilitate their employment. According to an AJET (a volunteer JET council comprised of JETs) study conducted among 450 participants, 88.9% of them felt unqualified or unprepared to work towards the goals that were created by the Ministry of Education (Abb. MEXT) (Ohtani, 2010). In her commentary, Ohtani (2010) articulates, "ALTs have insufficient education & pedagogic background, and they are thrown into the Japanese education system without adequate training and preparation"(p.40). In the words of a former JET recruiter and consular official, "ALTs are not regarded as pedagogues, but as 'cheerleaders for the English language' "(Borg, 2018, p.260). The lack of credentials, and subsequently, background in education of JET participants, can be clearly exemplified in publicly available records obtained from the The Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (abb. CLAIR) website. In a representative sample of 392 JETs, only 5% of applicants had an education background, and a mere 1% of the applicants had an academic specialization in what is considered by countries as a pre-requisite qualification to teaching the English language effectively in a non-English speaking country TEFL or TESL training. In fact, TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) and TESL (teaching English as a second language) certifications are mandated requirements to teach English in Korea, China, Thailand, or Vietnam. A minimum 120-hour course in TEFL/TESOL is required to obtain a work visa, and to legally teach in a classroom as an ALT (Debella, 2018; Kenszei, 2018; Liang, 2019; Teachers Council of Thailand, 2019). Moreover, the representative sample reveals that 42% of the applicants have no work experience prior to be given the responsibility of assistant language teacher in the Japanese classroom. Education researcher Maeda (2013) expresses her discontent with the contradictions she finds between the Ministry of Education's goals for the classroom, and the presumption that an untrained educator would be of benefit to Japanese students. She expresses that: "The people who benefit most from the JET Programme is neither Japanese students, Japanese English teachers, nor Japanese communities; rather the JET teachers who receive a high salary in spite of their amateur status benefit the most, and enjoy their stay in Japan with full financial support"(p.227). The tone of this criticism, and similar dissatisfaction are echoed repeatedly throughout Japanese academic publications. If the elephant in the room is can be represented by the untrained educator, it would seem that each year the JET program continues, Japanese classrooms are bombarded by a stampede. To what level of detriment, or benefit, this program has had for Japan in the last 30 years? In the next section, I will explore criticism of the program from articles written by Japanese critics, and address the concept of nativism in the English industry of Japan.

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1.2 Criticism from the Past In an unprecedented Japanese election for Prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama and the Democratic Party of Japan, ousted the 5-decade long rule of the Liberal Democratic Party. Mr. Hatoyama, while only in power from 2009-2010, sought to re-examine the relationship that Japan had previously held with the United States since the 1960's. He favored removing American bases from Okinawa, and rejected the LDP's long standing exclusivity and reliance on the United States (Hatoyama, 2009). His reformative policy planning, and heavy hand in the reorganization of the ministry lead government, seemed to simultaneously couple with fervent objections towards the state of the JET program and ALT participants in Japan. As rumors that the program was being cancelled due to financial budget cuts began to appear on job classified websites aimed at foreigners, academics and figures in the government began to lobby aggressively for its immediate disbandment (The End of the JET Program, 2010). In a written account taken from a local government research conference titled "JET Program wa Haishi Subeki" [The Jet program should be abolished] Ishi (2009) expresses his thoughts on the budget of the "English Note" program being cut at public elementary schools in Japan. He debated that if English programs that originated in Japan, such as the "English Note" textbook series and curriculum, should be cut from local governments budgets, why should the JET program be allowed to remain a financial burden on the taxpayers of each prefecture when it provides no evidence of having a significant impact on student learning (pp. 2-9). He points out to the government research committee that hiring one unqualified teacher from overseas costs Japanese taxpayers the equivalent of 600-900 man (60,000-90,000 US dollars) for their entire 2-3-year tenure stay in Japan. This includes a free round-trip plane ticket, apartment rental assistance, minimal training, and resources from the prefectural board of education to facilitate the needs of each participant. In 2009, 4,436 participants from JET were invited to Japan, and the average cost was 26,616 million yen (266 million 160,000 thousand US dollars). This enormous fee was primarily paid by tax revenue from Japanese citizens, who were under the false impression that the JET program is a useful education initiative with noteworthy benefits for their children. In comparison, the average salary of a trained and licensed 1st year Japanese public servant averaged between 250-300 man per year (25 to 30 thousand USD) depending upon prior experience. Ishi (2009) poses the question, "how did a volunteerbased program that was originally designed for cross cultural understanding evolve into a lucrative job position?" (p. 7). In a recorded interview with a 32-year-old certified New Zealand teacher, who was currently working for the JET program, Ishi (2009) acquired an insider’s point of view as to how some foreigners may view the MEXT education initiative. "From the opinion of the JET, the job is fun, the pay is high, so many foreigners are not thinking of teaching, the impact on students, or cross-cultural communication, but simple the money" (Ishi, 2009, p.8).

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While this does not represent the opinion of all JET participants, recent YouTube videos uploaded by JET participants seem to support this narrative. Out of a series of videos using the search tag, the JET Program in the YouTube search bar, a common theme was prominent. In each video the high salary was highlighted, and the fun factor of living in Japan was the main focus. Little was mentioned about the implications of teaching, and only one video creator stated the benefit of having a qualification, which was quickly retracted in the confirmation, that the JET Program does not require actually qualification to be employed (Allison in Tokyo, 2020, Cara adventures, 2017, Sarah loves Japan, 2019). In addition to Ishi (2009), other researchers during this period of time also expressed discontent at the continuation of the program (Tenma, 2008; Maeda, 2013; Ohtani, 2010; Canales, 2015). Mariko (2008) in an article titled Dare mo shiranai ALT [The ALT that nobody knows] lists her first-hand observation of the program's participants, and the results from an online survey she had conducted in Osaka about the usefulness of the JET Program. She claimed that although many Japanese English teachers (Abb. JTE) see major issues with the JET participants, they ignore the problems or deny that they exist as to not cause trouble in their workplace. She angrily states that even though Osaka government officials and the Tokyo administration under Shintaro Ishihara have called the JET Program an "Amakudari scheme" [a system where high-ranking government officials take a lucrative paying job in the private sector before retirement]. It is worth noting that her online survey concerning the JET Program, which expressed the opinions of 1,000s of Japanese citizens, was erased by the JET council and the ministries which govern the JET program almost immediately after being made public on her website (Tenma, 2008, pp.12). The readers of her article are left with a resonating question that she revisits on several occasions: just because someone speaks the English language at a native level, does that mean they are also able to effectively teach the English language? I would like to briefly consider this question in relation to the concept of nativism, and contemporary statistics connected to English education in Japan. 1.3 Japan's Proclivity for Native Speakers A Native speaker is defined as someone who speaks English as their first language, and is also a citizen of one of these seven countries: Australia, the UK, USA, Ireland, Canada, South Africa, and New Zealand. Although Singaporeans, Filipinos, Indians, Malaysians, and citizens of Caribbean Islands may be extremely proficient in the English language. In fact, the English Proficiency Index, that rates the English of 88 countries and regions, has reported that Malaysians and Singaporeans are the best English speakers in Asia (Ang, 2021). Native speakerism is explained as "prejudice, stereotyping, and or discrimination typically by or against foreign language teachers, on the basis of either being or not being perceived and categorized as a native speaker of a particular language"(Rivers & Ross, 2013, p. 62). Countries that fall under the label of non-native English speaker can often find it incredibly difficult to find an English teaching position in Japan, and are often rejected during the interview process in favor of those who fit certain "idealized attributes" created

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by “socio-historical constructs of racial difference and hierarchy” (Rivers & Ross, 2013, p. 326). While JET participants are overwhelmingly American, as exemplified in sample graph above, in a positive display of inclusion, JET seems to provide a fair opportunity for participants from over 57 countries to become an ALT and work in Japan (CLAIR, 2015). However, this is contrary to other sectors of Japanese education, particularly in tertiary career tracks, which tend to give preference to non-Japanese candidates "native-ness as the qualification to teach the English language"(Morikawa, 2019, p.27). Retired professor, Dr. Luiz Canales, who is a 39 year university level teaching veteran in the Japanese education system, explains that "most of the foreign professors invited to teach in foreign language universities, aren't language/literature professors, but native speakers with a university degree in some other field, who were lucky enough to get a teaching job in Japan"(Canales, 2015, p. 347). He recalled a "strong argument" he had with a colleague concerning un-qualified teachers and native-speakerism: "Almost any foreigner can easily teach college in Japan. Peter, an unemployed New York lawyer (a fictitious example, but reality in Japan) come to this country. He is a certified lawyer but has no credentials to be an English professor. Now, because he is an English native speaker, he finds his way to the classroom of a Japanese university............there are probably hundreds and hundreds of similar examples......I've had colleagues teaching in Japanese universities, who, back home worked in fields that had nothing to do with teaching....it fools the students who believe they are being taught by professionals" (p. 305). In a study conducted on English program reform in Japanese universities, Morikawa (2019) compares two types of contrasting global studies programs; One is the “English as a Lingua Franca” (ELF) program at Tamagawa University, and the other is what he claims is a “recurrent pattern” at the universities he has selected to research in Japan. For the demonstration of this pattern he uses visual and textual elements from 7 varied universities in different prefectures of Japan, in addition to his main focus, the Tokyo International University-Global Teaching Institute (GTI) (p.27). Morikawa (2019) finds that at Tamagawa University (ELF) the concept of learning English is viewed as “a variety of Englishes that are used for communication purposes by people whose first language is not English” (p.31). The staff is represented by people from all over the world: the U.S., the UK, Australia, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Bulgaria, Brazil, Canada, China, Thailand, the Philippines, and Singapore. Additionally, each teacher has received adequate TESOL training, and are experienced educators. As 80% of the world’s English speakers are, in fact, non-native English speakers, he states that this particular university takes a realistic approach towards “true globalization”, and claims that it is “inefficient to aim to master the English that is only spoken by 20% of the entire English speaking population within a certain period of time” (p. 31). Similarly, Norimitsu (1997) adds that native speakers of English seem to have

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"little benefit in the classroom", claiming that Japanese students are forced to pay attention to native speaker's English, and are not given the opportunity to hear non-native's speaking English from other countries (p. 512). He concludes that Japanese students only learning pitch perfect native English can almost be a detriment to their image, and in effect, their expectations of the English language when they visit other countries. Yazawa (2017) reinforces this by stating “while the rest of the world, has long discovered that British or North American pronunciation as a gold standard is a myth, Japanese employers still value it” (p.67). It is evident that each researcher referenced above, including Dr. Canales, present both strong opinions and in some instances, convincing evidence for native-speakerism in Japan. This being said, it would be remiss to assume that a valid contrary point of view cannot be made in light of the obvious quantitative research limitations. According to Statista (2021) Japan has 4,874 high schools, 10,142 lower secondary schools, 95 public universities, 597 private universities, 86 national universities, and 3,115 specialized colleges. This burden, makes effective data collection difficult, and finding current data on the certifications and nationalities of all non-Japanese educators in Japan a nearly impossible task. 1.4 Current Statistical Data Verses the Intended Outcomes of the JET Programme As Metraux (2001) stated almost 20 years ago, "while JET has brought meaningful contact between thousands of foreigners & millions of Japanese people, who might not have ever spoken to a foreigner -- the governments hope that JET would improve English in Japan has not been realized"(p. 96). This researcher’s assessment, although made two decades ago, is worth revisiting in the present day. Has JET accomplished its goals of grassroots global exchange at the local level, and has this increased the Japanese willingness to engage with foreign people or consider travelling abroad? Has the level of English increased in Japan since the JET Programme began in 1987, slowly growing to employ more than 5,000 foreigners as instructors in Japanese school systems? According to a few recent analytics in relation to the state of English and interest in cultural exchange, the definitive answer would appear to be no. Fujiwara (2018) in an editorial for the Asahi Shimbun, critiqued the rapid downward trend of English proficiency in Japan. She noted that Japan now ranked 49th amongst the 88 non-speaking countries and regions in the world. A closer look at the English Proficiency Index (Abb. EPI), which categorizes English ability based on the test results from 2.2 million people spread across 100 non-native English-speaking countries, places Japan in the lowest proficiency category. What is most striking is that the proficiency from 2011, where Japan ranked 14th out of 100 countries, and was considered 'moderate' in its proficiency, has declined substantially over 10 years, causing Japan to be ranked 55th out of 100 countries (Fujiwara, 2018). The Jet Programme, whose participants are spread across 45 prefectures, have increased their presence in the classroom exponentially since 2011, with a current participant total of more than 5,761 instructors in Japan (Jet Programme history, 2019). Japan's Ministry of Affairs and Internal Communications, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the

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Ministry of Education came to a consensus in terms main goals for the JET program; "to help improve foreign language education"(MIC, 2020). However, the proof of Japan's declining English proficiency, as provided by the EPI, is a direct contradiction to the government's ambitions for JET. In fact, according to the Education Ministry National Institute for Educational Research, 2019 nationwide test results also highlighted Japanese students' poor English-speaking ability. The rankings were taken across 29,518 schools, and ranked students’ English ability on a yearly aptitude test. Out of a score of 100%, students received an average of 68.3% for listening, 56.2% for speaking, 46.4% for writing, and 30.8% for speaking (Osumi, 2019, p.1). While the anticipated outcome of having native speakers in the classroom, often used as justification for the continuation of the JET Programme, would be an improvement in the communication ability of students, the statistical data confirmed by national test results do not support this narrative. These figures provided are based on all national and municipal schools across Japan, and half of the country’s private schools. In terms of cultural exchange, the JET Programme has provided opportunities for Japanese citizens to interact with foreigners in person, that potentially they may not have had. While the programme has grown in numbers, foreign residents have also grown to an all-time high in Japan. Up from 1.8 million in 2014, to almost 2.49 million in 2019, the number of foreigners living in Japan has been exponential. However, despite this change in the population dynamic, researcher Maiko Eiraku (2019) reports that interest in interacting with foreigners is down almost an average total of 75% across the survey questions. Two polls were conducted by the NHK broadcasting culture research institute; one in 1993 and one in 2018. The participants included roughly 3,000 Japanese people above the age of 16. The data shows a drastic drop in interest towards foreign countries, the ratio of foreign friends, the interest in going abroad, and the amount of contact that they have with foreign people in their daily lives. Eiraku (2019) concludes that Japan may be experiencing a changing view of foreigners in Japan. While we have a looked at a variety of perspectives, surveys, and previously conducted studies regarding the JET Programme, one crucial voice has perhaps been overlooked; the voice of the Japanese teacher. In a comparative study conducted amongst teacher preparation and qualifications amongst six nations, it was found that Japan had one of the most competitive teaching industries. In fact, only 30% of graduates from teacher training colleges are able to secure employment in public schools after graduation. Japanese teachers are subjected to a battery of tests decided by the prefectural board of education. These tests can range from written tests, proficiency tests, pedagogical theory and methods, educational psychology tests, student guidance, education laws and regulation review, school culture, and school management exams (Fujita, 2007, as cited in Ingersoll, 2007, pp. 41-43). Fujita (2007) explains that the training process for Japanese teachers is "multidimensional, continuous, and systematic"(as cited in Ingersoll, 2007, p. 43).

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2. Quantitative Research from the trained Japanese Teacher's Perspective Participants The participants for this concentrated study were chosen as a result of their direct proximity to assistant foreign language instructors in their daily lives. The participants consist of 65 trained, licensed, and experienced full-time Japanese English teachers. The teachers were selected from Junior high schools and high schools from two regions in Japan; Shikoku in southwest of Japan’s main island Honshu, and the Chugoku region of Japan, containing Hiroshima, Okayama, Shimane, Tottori, and Yamaguchi prefectures. The participating teachers from different schools from all regions were comprised of teachers with a wide range of teaching experience. On the questionnaire I asked all participants to list their years of teaching experience. With this information, I grouped fall of the combined English departments into four categories of teaching experience; 0-3 years’ experience, 4-7 years’ experience, 8-14 years’ experience, and more than 15 years teaching experience. Two independent variables; group 1 defined as inexperienced teachers, and group 2 defined as experienced teachers, will comprised by combining 0-3 years’ experience and 4-7 years’ experience teachers, and 8-14 years’ experience and more than 15 years’ experience into comparable groups. The 65 teachers were presented with a 10-question ordinal scaled Likert survey. The range was determined by taking the lowest number of the scale, subtracting that from the highest number, and dividing it by the highest number again (5-1= 4, 4/5 = 0.8). The least value in the scale was then added to identify the maximum range. The range of the scale are as such: 1.00-1.80 will represent “strongly agree”, 1.81-2.60 will represent “agree”, 2.61-3.40 will represent “undecided”, 3.41-4.20 “disagree”, and will represent and 4.21-5.00 will represent “strongly disagree”. Q1-Q10 were selected for cross-analysis. I used this range system to classify the results with more accuracy using the SPSS statistics software as a calculation instrument. Table 1: 10 Question Likert Scale Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10

Do you think that foreign instructors in Japan should have a background in education? I think teaching is as important as other vocations in society such as; lawyers, doctors, police officers, dentist, accountants, etc. ALTs from other countries teach high quality English classes to Japanese students. Do you think that only licensed teachers should be allowed to teach at schools? Do you think that ALTs or JETs should receive proper training? If you had a class taught by an untrained teacher, would it make you feel uncomfortable? Do you feel stress when you are working with an untrained teacher in the same classroom? Do you think that native speaker teachers must be licensed English teachers? Do you think that ALTs should have a license or certificate for English teaching such as TESOL and CELTA? Do you think that the board of education should provide appropriate teachers' training for ALTs?

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Internal Consistency of Likert Scale Initially, before analyzing the results of the ordinal Likert scale, the internal consistency of the presented questionnaire was checked for reliability. Using Cronbach’s Alpha, assuming measurement for consistency from .00, representing no consistency in measurement, to 1.0, representing perfect consistency, the alpha coefficient of the 10 scales was found to be  = .89. According to Cronbach’s Alpha, this variance result was 0.9    0.8, indicating satisfactory evidence of reliability within the 10 items collectively in assessing the opinions of each participant. Null and Alternative Hypothesis Null hypothesis (H0) and the alternative hypothesis (H1) are as follows: The null hypothesis, represented by H0 :  = (2.61-3.40) states that there is no significant difference in the opinions regarding the importance of teacher training in foreign instructors with respect to a Japanese teacher’s experience in the teaching field. In other words, regardless of years of experience, a Japanese teacher would be ambivalent to whether or not a foreign instructor in the Japanese classroom had sufficient training or a background in education. The alternative hypothesis, represented by H1:   2.60 μ  (2.61-3.40), proposes the younger, or less experienced Japanese teachers are more tolerant and less inclined to believe that foreign instructors need formal training or an education background. Conversely, more experienced Japanese teachers believe that training should be a requirement. There is a definitive difference in opinion towards foreign instructors based on years of experience.

3. Result Mean Comparison between Inexperienced and Experienced Japanese teachers

Inexperienced Japanese teacher

Table 2：Group 1 mean data Sample Mean Std. Deviation N

Q1 4.2 .62

Q2 1.9 .62

Q3 3.00 .00

Q4 2.94 .44

Q5 3.19 .66

Q6 4.10 .70

Q7 3.56 .73

Q8 3.44 .51

Q9 3.20 .52

Q10 2.50 .73

2.9 .65

1.8 .42

3.21 .42

2.74 .56

2.05 .40

2.78 .61

3.68 .87

3.68 .67

3.67 .61

3.05 .40

3.55

1.85

3.10

2.84

2.62

3.44

3.62

3.56

3.43

2.77

0-3 years’ experience

4-8 years’ experience Average mean*

Note: N = number of participant *The total average of means between teachers with 0-3 years’ experience and teachers with 4-8 years’ experience will be defined as group 1, inexperienced Japanese teachers.

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Table 3: Group 2 mean data Experienced Japanese teacher

Sample Mean Std. Deviation N

Q1 1.9 .50

Q2 1.9 .50

Q3 3.44 .51

Q4 2.15 .72

Q5 2.00 .00

Q6 2.13 .62

Q7 3.31 .60

Q8 3.48 .62

Q9 1.64 .57

Q10 1.69 .79

9-14 years’ experience

15+ years’ experience

1.4 .51

1.8 .43

3.29 .61

2.50 1.02

1.15 .47

2.14 .53

3.50 .76

3.57 .65

1.43 .27

1.36 .50

Average mean*

1.65

1.85

3.36

2.32

1.57

2.13

3.40

3.25

1.53

1.52

Note: N = number of participants *The total average of means between teachers with 9-14 years’ experience and teachers with 15+ years’ experience will be defined as group 2, experienced Japanese teachers.

4. Mean Comparisons between Questions *Question 1, concerning education background, data shows that Group 1 remained “disagree” on the topic within the Likert scale range of 3.41-4.20, while Group 2 fell within the Likert scale range of 1.00-1.80, asserting that they “strongly agree” with this question. Questions 2 and 3 both resulted in similar opinions. Both inexperienced and experienced Japanese teachers “agree”(range 1.81-2.60) that teaching is as important as other vocations in society, and remained “undecided” if ALTs from other countries teach high quality English classes to Japanese students. *Question 4 resulted in inexperienced Japanese teachers being “undecided”(range 2.61-3.40) if only licensed teachers should be allowed to teach at schools, while experienced Japanese “agree”(range 1.81-2.60) that only licensed teachers should be allowed to teach at schools. *Question 5 resulted in inexperienced Japanese teachers being “undecided” about foreign ALTs or JETs receiving proper training, while experienced Japanese teachers “strongly agree” that foreign ALTs and JETs should receive proper training. *Question 6 resulted in inexperienced Japanese teachers choosing that they “disagree”(range 3.41-4.20) about feeling uncomfortable being taught by an untrained teacher, and experienced Japanese teachers stating that they “agree”(range 1.81-260) that they would feel uncomfortable being taught by an untrained teacher. Question 7 resulted in experienced Japanese teachers stating that they “disagree”(range 3.41-4.20) with feeling a level of stress when they taught with an untrained teacher. On the other hand, experienced Japanese teachers reported that they were “undecided”(range 2.61-3.40) on this topic. Interestingly, when you look at the standard deviation from the teacher’s with 14+ years’ experience -while still below the 1 threshold that indicates a low variance, it was .76, suggesting that the data was widely spread. Some of these experienced teachers felt a level of stress, and some felt no stress.

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*Both Questions 8 and 9 yielded substantial differences in opinion. Inexperienced Japanese teachers “disagreed”(range 3.41-4.20) that foreign teachers should have an official English teaching license, and that they “disagree”(3.41-4.20) that ALTs should be required to possess a certification such as TESOL or CELTA. Experienced Japanese teachers were “undecided”(range 2.61-3.40) whether teacher foreign teachers should possess an official English teaching license, and stated that they “strongly agree”(range 1.00-1.80) ALTs should hold a certification in either TESOL or CELTA. The standard deviation in group 2 were .57 and .27 in this particular question, suggesting a degree of reliability in that the data was clustered closely to the mean average. *Question number 10, which related to whether or not the local boards of education should offer appropriate training for ALTs also differed greatly. Inexperienced Japanese teachers were “undecided” (2.61-3.40) about this training. Experienced Japanese teachers chose that they “strongly agree”(1.001.80) that this training should be provided.

5. Data Analysis Results There were substantial differences between Group 1 and Group 2 in terms of the Likert Scale results. The differences in the questions regarding to necessity for an education background for foreign instructors (Q1), and the need for training and certification for foreign instructors (Q4, Q5, Q6, Q8, Q10) were significantly different between group 1 and group 2. The results derived from experienced Japanese teachers (Group 2) would suggest that they either “agree” or “strongly agree” that foreign instructors should receive appropriate training and have a background in education before attempting to teach in a Japanese classroom. The cumulative average of Group 2’s means for their answers to the questions (Q1, Q4, Q5, Q6, Q9, Q10) was 1.53. Therefore, I can reject the null hypothesis H0 :  = (2.61-3.40) stating that there is no difference in opinion between inexperienced and experienced Japanese teachers regarding foreign instructors in Japan, and I can accept the alternative hypothesis of H1 :   2.60 μ  (2.613.40). The cumulative average of Group 1’s means for the answers to the questions (Q1, Q4, Q5, Q6, Q9, Q10) was 2.66. These results showed that the less experienced Japanese teachers were less concerned with untrained foreign teachers, and less concerned about their credentials or qualifications.

6. Conclusion Recent research suggests that the relationship between experience and teacher competency is a "multidimensional construct, that finds little evidence in beginner teachers being any less competent that veteran experienced teachers (Graham et al., 2020. p.6). However, in the case of Japan, as Kiernen (2020) points out, being a trainer is built into many roles within the Japanese workplace. The

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responsibility on Japanese teachers, both inexperienced and experienced, of training foreign teachers with little to no background in education, may feel like a burden. With years of experience, this burden could be compounded, causing a change in attitude towards working with untrained foreign instructors. Teacher's play a vital role in our society, and from the strict adherence to training standards for Japanese teachers, it would appear that this sentiment is shared by the Japanese. If this stands to be the case, then there is clear doublestandard for foreign English ALT instructors who are allowed to teach in classrooms throughout Japan without training.

7. References 2019 JET Programme Participant Information. (2020). Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). Tokyo. Ang, J. (2021). Asian countries with the highest and lowest English proficiency. Human Resources Online.net. https://www.humanresourcesonline.net/asian-countrieswith-the-highest-and-lowest-english-proficiency Allison in Tokyo. (2020, November, 11). How much do you make on the JET Program? my income, bills taxes, and budget. [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAjFFNyrMEk Brown, C. (2008). The JET program's mission accomplished? The English Teacher's Magazine, 57(2), 21–24. https://ndlonline.ndl.go.jp/#!/detail/R300000002I9464437-00 Borg, P. (2018). What is the JET programme really good for? A discussion of the official discourse and policy. Gifu Kyoritsu University Journal, 52(2). http://gkurepository.gku.ac.jp/bitstream/11207/274/1/ronshu_52%282%29_089_borg.pdf Canales, L. (2015). Whip, Love, and Videotapes-The Myth of Japanese Education. Boston, Mass: Branden Books. Car adventures. (2017, May, 31). How much do Alts really make? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zu5Nr8tCd0 Cambridge English Dictionary (n.d.). Certified. In Cambridge English.com dictionary. https://dictionary.cambridge.org Cambridge English Dictionary (n.d.). Licensed. In Cambridge English.com dictionary. https://dictionary.cambridge.org Debella, M. (2018). How to get a teaching job in Vietnam. Teach Abroad. Retrieved from https://www.gooverseas.com/blog/get-job-teaching-abroad-Vietnam Eiraku, M. (2019, January 10). The changing view of foreigners in Japan. NHK Worl Japan News. https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/backstories/336/ EPI English Proficiency Index Japan (2020). EF Index. https://www.ef.com/wwen/epi/regions/asia/japan/ Fujita, H. (2007). The qualifications of the teaching force in Japan. In A comparative study of teacher preparation and qualifications in six nations. Philadelphia, PA: Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, pp. 41-54. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED498318 Fujiwara, G. (2018). Japan ranked 49 th in English proficiency, rated low again. The Asahi Shimbun. http://asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201811120058.html Graham, L., White, L. J., Cologon, K., & Pianta, R. (2020). Do teachers' years of experience make a difference in the quality of teaching? Teaching and Teacher Education, 96, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2020.103190

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Hatoyama, Y. (2009, September, 16). Basic Policies of the Hatoyama Government [translated speech]. Prime minister of Japan and his cabinet. https://japan.kantei.go.jp/hatoyama/statement/200909/16policies_e.html Ingersoll, R. M. (2007). A comparative study of teacher preparation and qualifications in six nations. Philadelphia, PA: Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania. Ishi, S. (2009). JET Program wa haishi subeki. Seisaku Kenkyu Report: Jichitai Sougou Seisaku Kenkyujou [The Jet Program should be abolished. Policy Research Report: Comprehensive Local Municipality Policy] 32, 1–43. http://www.dp17299250.lolipop.jp/userdata/jichi_200912hp.pdf Jet Programme History (2019). Official Jet Programme Website. http://jetprogramme.org/en/history/ Keirnen, S. M. (2020). The unskilled, semi-skilled, firms & organizations of training-a few points of view. Fundación Marcelino Munoz. https://fundacionmarcelinomunoz.org/wpcontent/uploads/2021/03/Articulo-6-Unskilled-Semi-skilled-FirmOrganisation-of-Training.pdf Kenszei, P. (2018). What are the qualifications to teach abroad in South Korea. Teach Abroad. https://www.gooverseas.com/blog/qualifications-teach-abroad-SouthKorea Liang, Z. (2019). Teaching English in China requirements. Teach Abroad. https://pandabuddy.net/teach-in-china-requirements Maeda. H. (2010). A contextual analysis of the Japan exchange and teaching program (JET). Mejiro University: Humanities Research Journal, 9, 221-228. https://mejiro.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=1067&nc_session =d686ttsf5pe1lgddr7q8tfl4k5 Mason, R. H., & Caiger, J. G. (2001). A History of Japan. Rutland, VT: C.E. Tuttle Co. McConnell, D. (1996). Education for global integration in Japan: a case study of the JET Programme. Human Organization, 55(4), 446-457. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44127862 McConnel, D. (2000). Importing Diversity: Inside Japan’s JET Programme. University of California Press, London, England. Metraux, D. A. (2001). Under the Gaijin gaze: essays on the education & attitudes of Japanese college women. San Jose, CA: Writers Club Press. Metzger, E. (2012). Promoting Japan: One Jet at a time. CPD Perspectives on Public Diplomacy, 2012. http://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/sites/uscpublicdiplomacy.org/files/useruploa ds/u35361/2012%20Paper%203.pdf Ministry of Internal Affairs & Communication Autonomous Finance Bureau (2005). Kokusaika Suisen Taisaku [International promotion measures] [kokusaika suisen taisaku]. http://www.soumu.go.jp/iken/pdf/c-keikaku-17-5.pdf Ministry of Internal Affairs & Communication-MIC (2020). Cross cultural exchange: JET Program explanation. http://www.soumu.go.jp/kokusai/kouryu.html#a Morikawa, T. (2019). Native-speakerism or English as a lingua franca?: on the future direction of English as a foreign language education in Japan. Komaba Journal of English Education, 25-25. http://park.itc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/eigo/KJEE/010/025046.pdf Norimitsu, T. (1997). Linguistic imperialism and teaching English in Japan. The GeibunKenkyu: Journal of Arts and Letters, 73(12), 508-517. https://koara.lib.keio.ac.jp/xoonips/modules/xoonips/detail.php?koara_id=A N00072643-00730001-0508

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Ohtani, C. (2010). Problems in the assistant language teacher system & English activity in Japanese public. Educational Perspectives, 43(2), 38–45. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ912113 Osumi, M. (2019). Nationwide test results highlight Japanese students' poor English speaking. The Japan Times. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/08/01/national/nationwide-testresults-highlight-japanese-students-poor-english-speaking-writing-skills/ Reed, D. R. (2015). Contemporary roles of foreign English teachers in Japanese public secondary schools: an exploratory study. Asian EFL Journal, May 2015. https://asian-efl-journal.com/wp-content/uploads/Nathaniel-David-Reed.pdf Rivers, D. J. & Ross, A. S. (2013). Idealized English teachers: the implicit influence of race in Japan. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 12, 321-339. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262872100_Idealized_English_Teac hers_The_Implicit_Influence_of_Race_in_Japan Sarah loves Japan. (2019, October, 10). What is the JET Program? Is it worth it?. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtNRx7qumWM Shapiro, N. (1983). Japan: hopes and fears for Nakasone. Harvard International Review, 5(6), 33-36. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42759618 Solmon, L. C. & Schiff, T. W. (Eds). (2004). Talented teachers: the essential force for improving student achievement. Greenwich, Conn: Information Age Publishing. Statista. (2021). Number of education institutions in Japan in 2020, by type. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/647533/japan-educational- establishmentnumber-by-type/ Teachers Council of Thailand. (2019). The TCT teaching license/Khurusapha requirements in 2019. http://seetefl.com/tct-teaching-license Tenma, M. (2008). Dare mo shiranai ALT [What people don’t know about ALTs]. http://www.ryugaku-higai.com/alt.html The Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR) (2015). The history of the JET Programme. http://www.jetprogramme.org/en/history/ The end of the JET Program?. (2010, August 23). Gaijinpot. https://injapan.gaijinpot.com/work/teaching-in-japan/2010/08/23/the-endof-the-jet-program/ Yazawa, O. (2017). Students’ Perception of Native English-Speaking Teachers and Japanese Teachers English: The Effect on Students’ Self-Efficacy and Emotional State. Eruditi, 1, 61-72. http://www.cgcs.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp/eru/vol1/YazawaStudents-Perception_of_Native_EnglishSpeaking_Teachers_and_Japanese_Teachers_of_English-201706CCL.pdf

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 135-150, July 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.7.8 Received May 03, 2021; Revised Jul 02, 2021; Accepted Jul 31, 2021

Instructors’ Readiness to Teach Online: A Review of TPACK Standards in Online Professional Development Programmes in Higher Education Amjaad Mujallid King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3844-2141 Abstract. Online learning has been developed in higher education offering a flexible environment for learners. Faculty knowledge is among the most important domains required to be updated in order to ensure a successful integration of instructional technology and online learning in higher education. This update can be performed by providing faculty training on how to use technology. However, this should be integrated with pedagogical knowledge, which is represented in the Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge framework (TPACK). This paper reviewed the literature to find how higher education institutions support online instructors with professional development programmes and, moreover, to discover how these programmes are shaped by the TPACK framework. The paper also summarises the effective online teaching practices based on the TPACK framework presented in the literature. Teaching online is a challenge and does not mean having to move traditional instructions and activities into the online platform, but this does mean a shift might require building a whole new material to ensure the quality of online teaching and learning. Reviewing the previous literature regarding the available professional development programmes increases the need to integrate online teaching competence as a main objective into teacher education and professional development programmes to follow up with the skills of the 21st century students. The framework includes three main domains of teachers’ knowledge: Content (CK), which is related to the subject matter and answers the question “what will be taught?” such as concepts, theories and terms; Pedagogy (PK), which refers to teaching strategies required for addressing the students’ learning needs; and Technology (TK), which refers to the variety of technologies and instructional materials used, such as learning management systems. Keywords: TPACK; online instructors; online learning; higher education; professional development

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

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1. Introduction With the rapid growth of technology integration into higher education and the widespread of online learning, teaching expertise now includes new effective strategies and competencies for online instructors (Benson & Ward, 2013). Higher education institutions aim to enhance digital skills and technology integration into learning environments (Ashe & Bibi, 2011). However, some studies (Agustini et al., 2019; Cheng, 2017; Jaipal-Jamani et al., 2018) have shown that there is still some faculty resistance in higher education, even with the vast integration of technology. Many instructors usually avoid participation in online activities due to their preference for staying in their comfort zone of traditional teaching. Other barriers include time spent to learn and use the technology, digital competence and digital self-efficacy (Ertmer & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, 2010; Jaipal-Jamani et al., 2018). Some recommendations have been suggested by Lye (2013) and Wang et al. (2019) to solve this issue by providing professional development programmes for tutors and online instructors with a focus on pedagogical training to enhance their ability to develop their teaching practice, and designing online courses. Professional development programmes for tutors and instructors are most effective when using Information Communication Technology (ICT) (Qasem & Viswanathappa, 2016). Online and distance learning have been started in higher education, yet, many of the instructors are not trained on effective online teaching practice. Although faculties in higher education have started teaching online courses for a while, some studies noticed that the online courses in different disciplines were more generic and less focused on the subject matter content (Anderson et al., 2013). The instructors’ knowledge of how to teach an online course is informed by their content knowledge and pedagogical approaches. Furthermore, it is influenced by how to balance technology with both content and pedagogy which is known as The Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework (Anderson et al., 2013; Soomro et al., 2018). Jang and Chang (2016) stated that, although many studies have investigated the in-service and pre-service TPACK level, few studies have discussed this topic for university instructors. Online teachers and instructors need to have an awareness of the content, and also are required to gain the knowledge of how technology and online environments affect the pedagogy and the content of what they are teaching (Archambault & Crippen, 2009). Therefore, it was important to explore how the TPACK model is integrated into professional development programmes for online instructors to be prepared for the rapid growth of online and distance learning in higher education.

2. Purpose This paper aims to review the literature to find how higher education institutions support online instructors with professional development programmes, and how these programmes are shaped by the TPACK framework. Since the TPACK framework is mostly used in tutors’ education programs, this paper explored the use of TPACK for online teaching provided in teacher education programmes as

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part of professional development delivered in higher education settings to develop online teaching and learning. Furthermore, the paper aims to summarise effective online teaching practices based on the TPACK framework presented in the literature.

3. Rationale The need for online education is in demand nowadays. Thus, the development of an outstanding educational platform is essential. The importance of this step is to overcome the obstacles that might hamper the education continuity, like these days of COVID-19 crisis. Furthermore, this could be an opportunity to establish a well-designed online source for education, train educators to use this platform and allow students to undertake distance learning. The significance of this study is demonstrated by summarising literature focusing on TPACK framework for online teaching. Moreover, this review study provides a fundamental source to breakthrough in the field of online teaching in higher education. On the other hand, the literature review provided here benefits also decision-makers at institutions to make good use of previous experiences.

4. Method The search was conducted in four scientific databases (i.e. Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), The learning and Technology Library (Learn Tech Lib), ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar) based on terms and titles such as: “TPACK”, “TPACK in higher education”, “TPACK for K-12 teachers”, “TPACK for professional Development”, “TPACK for pre-service teachers” “TPACK and online learning”, and “TPACK for online instructors”. The search was limited to peer-reviewed articles published in the 21st century during 2000-2020 related to the topic of the paper. The inclusion and exclusion criteria were defined as follows in Table 1: Table 1: Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria Criterion Time period Language Type of article

Study focus

Population and sample

Inclusion 2000-2020 English Articles published in peer reviewed journals TPACK in either K-12 or higher education online learning, and TPACK in professional development for online learning. Higher education instructors, K-12 teachers, pre-service teachers.

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Exclusion Studies outside the range of these dates Non –English Articles that were not peer reviewed or other types of publications All other subjects

All other population

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The search included around 65 Articles, but only 52 were related to the purpose of this review. Keywords and the number of articles searched for each one were as follows in Table 2: Table 2: Keywords and Number of Articles

Keyword TPACK in K-12 TPACK in higher education (including pre-service programmes) TPACK for online teachers and instructors TPACK in professional development (Online and in-campus)

Number of Articles 12 9 13 22

5. Literature Review The Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) Framework Teaching is a complicated process especially with technology due to the challenges that such technology presents to tutors (Koehler & Mishra, 2009). In order to comprehend the TPACK framework, it is vital to know its root. Shulman (1986) first introduced the concept of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) to help teachers improve their teaching practices, and what they should learn and do (Archambault & Crippen, 2009). He described the relationship between a particular subject matter and the pedagogical practice to teach this subject to the students (Archambault & Barnett, 2010). Mishra and Koehler (2006) developed this framework by adding technology as a new component due to technology integration in education. They presented TPACK, the acronym for Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge, which is a framework to help teachers in exploring effective teaching practices in a digital context (Kivunja, 2013). TPACK can be defined as the “knowledge that helps teachers to understand how to teach a particular topic using a particular type of technology” (Bibi & Khan, 2017, 71).

Figure 1: The relationships among the TPACK model

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The framework includes three main domains of teachers’ knowledge. The first domain is Content (CK), which is related to the subject matter and answers the question “what will be taught?” such as concepts, theories and terms. The second domain is Pedagogy (PK), which refers to teaching strategies required for addressing the students’ learning needs. Lastly, the third domain IS Technology (TK), which refers to the variety of technologies and instructional materials used, such as learning management systems (Koehler & Mishra, 2009). The interactions among these domains result in three sub-entities which are (Archambault & Crippen, 2009; Bibi & Khan,2017; Rosenberg & Koehler, 2015; Sahin, 2011): • Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), which is the relationship between content knowledge (What should be taught), and pedagogical knowledge (strategies of teaching). • Technological Content Knowledge (TCK) is about understating the impact of technology on content knowledge of a specific discipline where teachers can envision how to integrate technology into their teaching. • Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK) is about the methods and strategies of teaching and learning using technology. It requires an understanding of how using an appropriate instructional design of technology can change teaching and learning. Some studies found that these domains are significantly related to each other. Other studies also showed a positive relationship between TCK, TPK, and TPACK while others found strong connections between TCK, TPK, TK, and TPACK (Alzahrani & Cheon, 2015). This emphasised the importance of developing the teachers’ TPACK knowledge because of this impact on improving students’ learning. Online Teaching Practice Online learning has been developed in higher education, which provides a flexible environment for learners. Online learning expanded in higher education because of its flexibility and ability to distribute information everywhere and also to expand teaching and learning resources (Kuo, 2015). One of the major factors to successfully integrate online learning in higher education is related to the availability of technology and support where the technological part consists of hardware, software and infrastructure. On the other hand, the support resources include online faculty support, for instance (Alsofyani et al., 2013). Many universities offer online professional development workshops for instructors, but being able to attend an online course does not ensure the attendees’ ability to incorporate technology in their teaching (Tømte et al., 2015). However, online courses and workshops can serve as venues for developing digital competencies. Previous studies have explored the impact of several factors, such as teaching experience and age, on the instructors’ TPACK level. They found that age does not affect the TPACK significantly; age may play a role in instructors’ technology adaptation though because older instructors would not prefer to go out of their teaching comfort zone, especially with the rapid digital transformation (Cheng, 2018). On the other hand, the teaching experience might help the online instructors to gain TPACK skills, but also does not ensure the instructors’ abilities to integrate technology in teaching and learning (Jang & Tsai, 2013).

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Wang et al. (2019) addressed the importance of online teaching competencies, which refer to “knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes required to implement online teaching effectively” (p.4). They also addressed the “Competencies for Online Teaching Success (COTS)”, which includes six aspects: “attitude/ philosophy, building a learning community, class administration, faculty workload management, teaching and learning, and technology used abilities” (Wang et al., 2019, p.4). Tondeur et al. (2020) found that TPACK is correlated with six strategies for effective teaching (p.1): (1) Teacher educators as a role model by using technology in their teaching. (2) Discussing the role of technology in teaching and learning. (3) The role of designing in learning how to use technology in education. (4) Collaboration. (5) Scaffolding. (6) Providing continuous feedback. Effective online teaching improves by effective course design principals, structures and practice (Barham & Northcote, 2013). De Gagne and Walters (2009) summarised the best practice of online teaching in providing a solid learnercentred environment and visibility. They state that these two factors will increase both teachers’ and students’ interaction and commitment to the online course. Planning and instructional design Liu (2013) addressed that online teaching has some challenges, such as designing and presenting the course materials to ensure students’ learning and communication. Preparing and designing an online course is time-consuming and involves more work than the traditional one (Valtonen et al., 2017). Thus, for an effective integration of technology in education, teachers’ planning must embrace curriculum objectives and materials, students’ needs to learn, available technologies, and the classroom context (Harris & Hofer, 2011). Most of the technology professional development is ‘technocentric’ focusing on the technology features rather than how it can be used to support students’ learning (Harris & Hofer, 2011). To achieve the goal of using technology in education, teachers need to play the role of instructional designers, and the school environment should support that role with appropriate technologies (Şimşek & Sarsar, 2019). Many teacher education programmes have refocused their educational technology towards learning by design where pre-service teachers can generate the TPACK for determining subject content by synthesising the six domains of the framework: Pedagogy (PK), Technology (TK), Content (CK), Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), Technological Content Knowledge (TCK), and Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK) (Chai & Koh, 2017). The instructional design can be defined as “the study of designing, developing, and assessing learning and teaching environments” (Czerkawski & Schmidt, 2018, p.1) and it is an important factor to produce a well-designed and good quality course. Hellström et al. (2018) collected data from teacher educators in two higher

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education institutions in Sweden using a survey to observe their perspectives of their digital competence to support students’ online learning. They found that all of the teacher educators use digital tools in teaching, but they still rate their ICT competence as low and expressed their need for more training in integrating technology into teaching practice considering the instructional design aspects. Tømte et al. (2015) used a mixed-method study on two online teacher education programmes in two universities in Sweden and Norway. Through several tools, they collected data for the study to link online teacher practice with students’ teachers’ practice. The study revealed that most online teachers were more tooloriented and teacher-centred when designing online courses while few of them integrated technology into class in a learner-centred approach. Both online teachers and teacher students appreciate the value that technology brings to pedagogy when they start using TPACK. Some studies (Voogt et al., 2016) demonstrated that modelling and designing support students' teachers in their TPACK development. The integration of technology in education needs careful planning; hence, teacher education programmes play an important role in preparing future teachers to deliver the content of various subjects using technology (Zainal, 2016). They need to recognise what type of technology to use and when to use it, especially given that not all technology tools are applicable in teaching and learning settings (Koehler et al., 2011). This skill can be acquired by understanding TPACK, which might assist instructors to shift to an online learning context (Ward & Benson, 2010). TPACK in Online Teacher Education Programs Teacher training is essential to develop their teaching practice (Zhang & Cai, 2019). TPACK was covered in pre-service teachers’ literature because adding technology into the educational environment does not guarantee effective learning unless it is combined with the pedagogical component of how to use this technology with a particular subject matter (Baturay et al., 2017). A study (Jang & Chen, 2010) showed that pre-service teachers who had good digital skills with training on how to use those skills in their teaching designed better technologybased lessons than those who had good digital skills without training on its use in education. Mouza et al. (2017) emphasised the 21st century students’ skills needed in the digital era, such as learning computational thinking skills. Such a development in many K-12 curriculum across the world highlights the need to offer professional training for pre- and in-service teachers to teach the ‘digital natives’ (Prenskey, 2001). Using a survey and analysing course materials of a course based on the TPACK framework for a teacher education programme, Mouza et al. (2017) found that this framework had a positive influence on understanding pre-service teachers of computational thinking. Yet, results indicate that pre-service teachers still have some challenges in their comfort level to integrate such a concept in their teaching and discipline content. Learning how to apply technology is not enough to know how to integrate it into

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teaching and learning. Teacher education programmes usually provide a special technology course for teachers that increases their ICT skills but not how to integrate technology tools in education and combined it with the subject matter (Zainal, 2016). TPACK is a flexible framework that can be compatible with various subjects (Alzahrani & Cheon, 2015). Two of the main challenging subjects in schools are science and mathematics. Preservice science teachers should be prepared to integrate and design the curriculum with technology (Jang & Chen, 2010). Jang and Chen (2010) did a study on science pre-service teachers in which they designed a course consisted of four stages based on TPACK. The first stage was the comprehension of TPACK, the second one was the students observing two experienced science teachers who showed their technology integration with science content as a model for the preservice teachers. The third stage was the students’ turn to practice by making plans for innovative use of technology in teaching where they teach individually for 30 minutes. The students’ teaching was video recorded to reflect on their performance at the final stage. The results showed that pre-service teachers were able to connect the science knowledge with technology because TPACK helped to combine the three main bodies of technology, pedagogy and content. There have been some inquiries in the K-12 teacher education literature on the impact of TPACK on the learning process in online environments (Ward & Benson, 2010). Although preparing pre-service teachers to use technology in teaching is important, in-service teachers are also required to adapt to using technology in teaching in the 21st century. But in-service teachers’ professional development opportunities are limited, so online education provides a chance for them to learn and develop their TPACK knowledge while they are still actively teaching (Niess et al., 2010). Niess et al. (2010) explored an online course for inservice teachers on how to use spreadsheets for teaching mathematics and science in K-8 settings. This course was a part of an online master’s degree programme focused on using technology with science and mathematics. The researchers followed a case study method in which they analysed the e-portfolios of 12 teachers who participated in the course, interviews’ answers, and self-efficacy survey results. They divided the teachers’ TPACK into three levels: 1) accepting, teachers are more concerned about the access of technology in their teaching; 2) adapting, teachers use technology in a teacher-directed activity; and 3) exploring, teachers are using technology in student-directed activities. The results found that all 12 teachers appreciated using spreadsheets in their math and science classrooms, but only four of them showed a higher TPACK level and those are the ones who used instructional design to prepare for their teaching; such results emphasise the importance of planning and designing. The researchers suggest that, as teachers continue to explore different technologies, different students, and different content, they need to continue their TPACK development. Papanikolaou et al. (2017) presented a framework used in a pre-service teacher training programme that adopts a view of teachers designing innovative content as well as interacting with instructors, peers and technology. They designed the course where the study was applied to be around asynchronous collaborative activities based on two educational approaches, TPACK and Community of

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Inquiry (COI). The findings showed strong correlations between TPACK and COI elements, especially regarding cognitive presence. Teacher educators in teacher education programmes play an important role in modelling technology incorporation by using technology in their teaching (Martin, 2015). Thus, the training provided for faculty in higher education is important to ensure that they represent the right modelling for their students to integrate technology into their teaching practice. TPACK in Higher Education Although the K-12 literature had investigated the TPACK implications on teaching and learning in online environments, the TPACK model was not considered widely in higher education (Ward & Benson, 2010). One of the domains required to be updated to ensure an effective integration of educational technology and online learning in higher education is faculty knowledge (Alsofyani et al., 2012). This update can be performed by providing faculty training on how to use technology, but with pedagogical knowledge. Jang and Chang (2016) investigated the instructors’ self-perceptions as well as the students’ perceptions of the instructors’ TPACK. They developed an instrument for assessing university physics instructors’ perceptions of their TPACK, and they also assess the differences of the instructors’ TPACK according to gender, academic degree and teaching experiences. The findings showed that there were significant results in TPACK related to teaching experience but no statistical significance related to either gender or academic degree. On the other hand, Reyes et al. (2017) used a TPACK-based survey to explore perceptions of pedagogical practices that incorporate ICT at one of the Australian universities. The results found that there is a misconception between how to use ICT and how to teach about ICT. Also, they reported that there are still some gaps between TPACK and ICT application in teaching and practice, so they recommend involving this part in teacher education and teacher educator’s professional development programmes. Soomro et al. (2018) also observed TPACK awareness and adaptation among faculty members of two departments (IT and Education) at one of the universities in Pakistan. The researchers embraced a mixed-methods approach using a survey and interviews. Results found that both faculties are taking steps into TPACK adaptation and integration of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) into their teaching through personal efforts as well as collaborative work with their peers. Special education is also covered in the literature. Kuo (2015) conducted an action research to investigate the impact of adding an Integration of Research for Inclusive Settings (IRIS) modules to an online course for a special education teachers’ programme. The results revealed that the TPACK framework enabled the instructors to reflect on their teaching to improve their practice. For example, when instructors notice that students do not adequately comprehend a concept or they have a low progress on a certain activity, the instructor can adjust that activity to assist the students in acquiring that knowledge. Also, students can

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revisit the online modules to review the content. Utami et al. (2019) developed an Android-based application to enhance teaching skills based on TPACK analysis. Their investigation aims to support a microteaching course for novel faculty in the college of engineering to enhance their teaching competence. They identified some teaching challenges for novel faculty such as classroom management, the lack of variety in students’ activities, the lack of feedback, and the skill of teaching small groups or individuals. The smartphone application is designed to be interactive and offers an opportunity for prospective teachers to learn and assess their performance. The application includes 1) learning multimedia (images, videos, audio, mind maps, and text) which represent the (TK) part; 2) tutorials and assessment for understanding concepts (PK); 3) concepts and examples of lesson plans (CK); 4) tutorials and assessments about teaching skills (PCK); 5) using the application with features materials and chatbot as well as notifications about teaching progress (TCK); and 6) multiple-choice tests that exercise and assesses teaching skills repeatedly (TPK). Using various media forms, such as videos that give the prospective teachers examples of teaching practice skills, and the mind maps that help them to develop the understanding of the concepts, supports the faculty to comprehend teaching skills. TPACK in Professional Development for Online Instructors Many higher education instructors who never taught an online course tend to have a negative opinion about online instruction because of the lack of professional development that supports online courses in their institutions (Herman, 2012). Some studies found that the teaching practice among disciplines was more generic than expected (Anderson & Barham, 2013). Professional development for instructors in higher education is usually led by an instructional technologist who has limited knowledge about the particular content or subject that the instructors are teaching (Dysart & Weckerle, 2015). Because of that, the (TCK) area is usually covered by the instructor, which may affect the technological pedagogical knowledge and may not be covered appropriately. The available professional development for online instructors differs in their types among higher education institutions. Herman (2012) identifies five main types of professional development provided for online instructors as follows: (1) Self-teaching: Faculty members who prefer self-teaching methods, either because of budget issues or because of their learning styles, can find self-taught online materials such as e-books, videos, recorded online seminars and journal articles. Online instructors can find some online self-assessment methods for their online courses as well. (2) Peer mentoring: Mentor-based faculty professional development is an approach provided in some institutions to support their online instructors. Mentoring can be in a formal programme or informal relationship where mentors are chosen for their experience in teaching online courses. Some professional development programmes use a team mentoring approach.

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(3) Collaborative course design: This type of professional development is a part of an ongoing mentoring. The mentor serves as a tutor to design an online course and as an evaluator of the online instructor’s work at the same time. (4) Workshops: There are two types of workshops, ‘one shot’ and long workshops. The ‘one shot’ takes place over a few hours or a full day but this type of professional development cannot assist the instructors to connect pedagogy and technology, so the TPACK framework cannot be covered in such workshops. On the other hand, there are longer time workshops that take place from two days to months. (5) Online training: Online training allows the online instructor to try online environments before teaching their online courses. It can be provided either synchronous (teacher and students need to be available online at the same time) or asynchronous (students can check the materials at their own pace). The impact of good professional development programmes for online instructors was examined by Storandt et al. (2012). The study continued for three terms where the online instructors also taught their courses and finished a background survey and interviews. The professional development programme followed four phases to ensure high quality training: modelling the skills required for online instructors, preparation by providing online training, providing ongoing support during the course, and feedback to ensure that the instructors attained the needed skills. The results found that the professional development guidelines provided in the training received positive feedback from the instructors. A TPACK-based technology workshop for online instructors was provided by Jaipal-Jamani et al. (2018). The online instructors took the role of leaders by presenting a workshop to colleagues. The workshop consisted of four phases: (1) Modelling a technology-enhanced learning activity. (2) Engaging in a dialogue about applying this planned activity in different subject matter contexts. (3) Learning technical skills required for applying the activity. (4) Applying the required technical skills. The results found that the instructors gained different skills and knowledge about TPACK and it is affected by their experience of teaching with technology in the workshop. Another professional experience was a course provided to the nurse educators to teach online. Kraglund-Gauthier and Moseley (2019) conducted a participatory action research on 15 nurse educators who teach online courses aiming to “build capacity in pedagogy and teaching- learning process in the online courses” (p.6). They provided a professional development TPACK-based course that took place in three phases: planning, action, and reflection. In the planning phase, the participants reviewed the literature and selected strategies and evaluation approaches that they might incorporate. Second, they used the strategies as well

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as having individual sessions with an instructional designer to assist them through the process of ‘action’. During the last phase, ‘reflection’, they revised outcomes of the strategies and make recommendations. The findings revealed five themes emerged to teach online with technology: community, instructors, classrooms, interpersonal relationships, and supports. Regarding the community theme, they summarised the importance of building a community of learners and practice while the instructors theme emphasised their needs and skills to teach online. In the classroom theme, they summarised the optimal size to be 20-30 students and that they need to be active and engaged as well as building their knowledge upon scaffolding activities through discussion, for instance. The interpersonal relationships included respect among learners and instructors in addition to the cooperation concept. The last theme, ‘supports’, stressed the importance of having a technology and pedagogy coach to ensure course and teaching quality. Wang et al. (2019) devolved an instrument based on the activity theory to study the Chinese beginning online instructors’ competencies to teach online. The results showed that age and gender do not have a significant influence on online teaching competencies; yet, the educational level and online teaching and learning experience do have a significant influence on online teaching competencies. On the other hand, designing and organising an online course and students’ evaluation were the main challenges for the online instructors. Wang et al. (2019) recommend to gather and analyse online instructors’ course data rather than the self-report survey to understand more online teaching competencies.

6. Conclusions TPACK can improve the creativity, collaboration and responsibility of learning. TPACK is a flexible framework, but it is context-based. Therefore, the TPACK framework cannot provide a clear explanation for the success of online teachers in online teaching. This ability includes learning the teaching design principles of online environments, and how to organise and promote student communication and interaction through these online environments. The survey results found that, although teacher educators have a new understanding of computational thinking and ICT skills, they still face some challenges in integrating concepts into the comfort zone of teaching and subjects. This can be solved by suggesting the addition of a technical leadership role to the TPACK professional development programme, with participants taking the lead in designing and presenting related seminars. Professional development plans that prepare online teachers to design, promote and evaluate their online courses are essential. Teacher educators also play an important role in these programmes, simulating the integration of technology in their teaching, and presenting more online teaching challenges when designing classroom activities. The results emphasise that the key to effective online teaching practice is to cultivate teachers' reflective ability to build on their existing knowledge and better understand their abilities and status in the profession. Online teaching is a challenge, and it does not mean that physical classroom teaching and activities will be transferred to online platforms, but this transformation may require the construction of entirely new materials to ensure the quality of online teaching and learning. A review of previous literature on available professional development programmes has increased the need to

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incorporate online teaching capabilities as the main goal into teacher education and professional development programmes to follow up on the skills of students in the 21st century.

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Sahin, I. (2011). Development of Survey of Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK). Turkish Online Journal of Educational TechnologyTOJET, 10(1), 97-105. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ926558 Simsek, Ö., & Sarsar, F. (2019). Investigation of the Self-Efficacy of the Teachers in Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Their Use of Information and Communication Technologies. World Journal of Education, 9(1), 196-208. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1208813 Soomro, S., Soomro, A. B., Ali, N. I., Bhatti, T., Basir, N., & Gill, N. P. (2018). TPACK Adaptation among Faculty Members of Education and ICT Departments in University of Sindh, Pakistan. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, 9(5). https://doi.org/10.5430/wje.v9n1p196 Storandt, B. C., Dossin, L. C., & Lacher, A. P. (2012). Toward an Understanding of What Works in Professional Development for Online Instructors: The Case of PBS Teacherline. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 16(2), 121-162. https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v16i2.216 Tømte, C., Enochsson, A. B., Buskqvist, U., & Kårstein, A. (2015). Educating Online Student Teachers to Master Professional Digital Competence: The TPACKframework Goes Online. Computers & Education, 84, 26-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2015.01.005 Tondeur, J., Scherer, R., Siddiq, F., & Baran, E. (2020). Enhancing Pre-service Teachers’ Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK): a Mixed-method Study. Educational Technology Research and Development, 68(1), 319-343. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-019-09692-1 Utami, P., Pahlevi, F. R., Santoso, D., Fajaryati, N., Destiana, B., & Ismail, M. E. (2019). Android-based Applications on Teaching Skills Based on TPACK Analysis. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 535(1). IOP Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899x/535/1/012009 Valtonen, T., Sointu, E., Kukkonen, J., Kontkanen, S., Lambert, M. C., & Mäkitalo-Siegl, K. (2017). TPACK Updated to Measure Pre-service Teachers’ Twenty-First Century Skills. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 33(3). https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.3518 Voogt, J., Fisser, P., Tondeur, J., & van Braak, J. (2016). Using Theoretical Perspectives in Developing an Understanding of TPACK. In Handbook of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) for educators (pp. 43-62). Routledge. Wang, Y., Wang, Y., Stein, D., Liu, Q., & Chen, W. (2019). Examining Chinese Beginning Online Instructors’ Competencies in Teaching Online Based on the Activity Theory. Journal of Computers in Education, 6(3), 363-384. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40692-019-00140-w Ward, C. L., & Benson, S. K. (2010). Developing New Schemas for Online Teaching and Learning: TPACK. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 6(2), 482-490. https://jolt.merlot.org/vol6no2/ward_0610.pdf Zainal, N. F. (2016). TPACK Development in Teacher Education Programs: Malaysian Context. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences 2016, 6(12), 237-244. https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v6-i12/2490 Zhang, S., Liu, Q., & Cai, Z. (2019). Exploring Primary School Teachers’ Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) in Online Collaborative Discourse: An Epistemic Network Analysis. British Journal of Educational Technology, 50(6), 34373455. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12751

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 151-174, July 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.7.9 Received June 16, 2021; Revised Jul 23, 2021; Accepted Jul 31, 2021

The Application of the Jigsaw Cooperative Learning Technique in Mapping Concepts of Nuclear Radiation in Diagnosis and Therapy Abdallah Ahmad Atallah, Mohamed Fahmi Ben Hassen and Abdallah Bashir Musa Department of Basic Sciences, Deanship of Preparatory Year and Supporting Studies, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0628-9074 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9713-3824 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1649-2391 Mohamed Redha Bougherira Department of Self-Development, Deanship of Preparatory Year and Supporting Studies, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1864-8134 Najla Frih Department of Basic Sciences, Deanship of Preparatory Year and Supporting Studies, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3125-9993

Abstract. Physics for medical students is perceived as a sophisticated subject. The sophistication, however, does not lie in the physics concepts themselves or students’ comprehension of the subject, but it is more often related to the ineffectiveness of techniques applied to teach the subject. This study investigates the effect of the Jigsaw technique, a highly structured form of cooperative learning, on the academic achievement of first-year medical students in learning physics. A quasi-experimental research approach with a pretest-posttest design was employed to conduct the study with a purposive randomly selected sample of fifty students made up of twenty-five students in the control group and twenty-five students in the experimental group. The control group was taught using traditional lectures, while the experimental group was taught using the Jigsaw technique which involved students working actively to map the concepts of nuclear radiation in diagnosis and therapy. A comprehensive statistical analysis, which included a Shapiro’s test, paired sample t-test, independent sample t-test, average gain factor, and size effect calculations, was used to test the research hypotheses. The findings of this study showed that there was a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05) between the post-test scores of students exposed to the Jigsaw cooperative learning technique and those who were not. In addition, it was deduced ©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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by the educator (first author) that the students were actively engaged with the topic material, took more responsibility for their performance in the activity, learned how to map the radiation physics concepts, and explored a new learning environment that enabled them to use their higher-order thinking skills to solve medical physics problems. Keywords: first-year; medical students, radiation; Jigsaw; cooperative learning; concept map

1. Introduction First-year students in medical colleges consider physics troublesome in comparison with other basic sciences such as biology, chemistry and even mathematics since they are required to process various forms of information, such as experimental results, equations, calculations, figures, and scientific interpretations, at the same time (Zafer & Mustafa, 2008; Gelu & Muza, 2011; Maija, 2012; Márquez et al., 2017). In the field of medicine, physics explains many principles that govern the functions of the human body. For example, it helps in understanding applications for ultrasound, blood pressure and viscosity (Knight et al., 2019), electrical activity of the brain, electrical and muscular functions of the heart, electrical signaling of nerves and their insulation (Lodish et al., 2000), X-ray imaging (Kemerink et al., 2012), as well as the use of radionuclides in diagnostic and therapeutic medicine (Yeong et al., 2014). However, several researchers agree that students commonly find physics challenging to learn (Angell et al., 2007). It has also been suggested that the challenge does not lie in the complexity of the physics concepts or the perception of the subject held by students, but, more often, in the ineffectiveness of techniques applied to teach the subject (Redish, 1994; Redish & Steinberg, 1999). Scientific societies around the world are racing to improve their educational systems through solid grounding in knowledge and learning. Superior educational systems have noted that active-learning is an advantageous teaching-learning technique for interdisciplinary topics, especially in physics (Alraddadi, 2010; Aydin & Biyikli, 2017; Márquez et al., 2017). Equally, educators have recognized cooperative learning as one of the most effective strategies for helping learners to overcome the learning challenges associated with complex subjects such as physics (Dong et al., 2019). The evolution of interest in cooperative learning techniques gained momentum in the 1990s due to the shift away from traditional teaching techniques to more active student-centered techniques (McCabe & O'Connor, 2013). This evolution has given rise to different cooperative teaching techniques which can be implemented by educators to transfer knowledge and develop learners’ skills. As opposed to traditional methods, learners are encouraged to use problemsolving and critical thinking skills, apply their learning, and share it with their peers independently. In this respect, learning activities such as presentations, debates, brainstorming, case-studies, Jigsaw, group discussions, hands-on activities, problem solving, experiential learning and simulations have the potential to provide learners with opportunities to develop more profound

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levels of understanding, which are required for cumbersome concepts (Asoodeh et al., 2012). Aronson et al. (1978) developed the Jigsaw technique in the early 1970s. It has been attracting the attention of educators and educational researchers for the last few decades (Walker et al., 2015). In essence, the technique seeks to promote collaboration between learners, to dispel the negative learning competition between them, to promote their higher order thinking skills, and to help them during their learning experience and future professional careers (Eachempati et al., 2017). Furthermore, it is a successful learning technique for small mixedabilities groups to improve their understanding of a specific scientific topic and requires learners to take responsibility for their own learning and the learning of their peers, which leads to the promotion of cooperation and a sense of shared achivement, interdependnce, individual accountability, and the development of interpersonal and team skills (Jones & Jones, 2008).

2. Literature Review Several studies have shown that active learners are better than their passive peers in recalling and assimilating concepts. Zafer and Mustafa (2008) analyzed improvements in academic performance and retention of knowledge among graduate students in magnetism by employing the Jigsaw technique with an experimental group and traditional teaching methods with a control group. The study revealed that a statistically significant difference was detected in favor of the experimental group showing the effectiveness of the highly structured cooperative learning-teaching sequence. Within the same circumstances, Gelu and Muza (2011) applied the Jigsaw technique to deliver the fundamental concepts of Bohr’s model of the hydrogen atom and its extrapolation to other atoms with more electrons; they concluded that cooperative learning strengthens the basic knowledge of students of atomic physics and enhances their communication skills. Pelobillo (2018) delineated the effectiveness of the Jigsaw technique in problem-solving and mastering the concepts of physics among high school students, concluding that students’ exposure to the Jigsaw technique improved physics learning. Gamit et al. (2017) also studied the effect of cooperative learning – through small group activities – in enhancing the performance level of mathematics students; they concluded that the abilities of the students and their learning habits were improved as a result of cooperative activities more than by traditional methods. Karacop and Doymus (2013) investigated the effect of the Jigsaw cooperative learning technique on the perception of first-year university students of chemical bonding and their conceptions of the particulate nature of matter. It concluded that students should take part in interactive group work rather than studying alone and at the same time, they should be assisted by animations. Within this framework, students can favorably digest chemistry modules at the macroscopic, microscopic, and symbolic levels. Kumar et al. (2017) assessed the improvement in medical students’ cognitive skills for microbiology by implementing the Jigsaw technique. The findings showed that the technique led to results which were substantially better than the results from traditional

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classroom teaching since peers shared their knowledge and understanding to construct the concepts of the specific topic, and then strengthened them with one another. Aliya et al. (2019) conducted a cross-sectional study to analyse the learning experience of biochemistry students using the Jigsaw cooperative learning technique and to explore students’ opinions of it. They revealed that the majority of students had a positive attitude towards Jigsaw and acknowledged the benefits of it, specifically in terms of the communication skills it involved. Given what has been said, meaningful, and well-organized content knowledge is required to formulate high standard learning and teaching techniques (Chiou, 2008). Within this context, portraying knowledge is based on concept maps where knowledge is organized and represented graphically as connected concepts, laws, or other forms of conceptual knowledge (Chiou, 2008; Collins & Nyenhius, 2020). The benefit of concept maps is that they provide a comprehensible visualization of how concepts are connected to each other by links and can therefore be used to picture the interconnectedness of knowledge structures (Martínez et al., 2012). Maija (2012) found that concept mapping consolidates the knowledge structure, which helps students to comprehend the procedural nature of the connections between physics concepts and helps to foster reflective thinking during the learning process. Mustafa and Talat (2013) studied the effectiveness of the concept mapping strategy as an instructional tool for teaching chemistry; they concluded that a concept map works better in the field of education, taking another step forward towards instructional techniques, and making learning easier for learners. Márquez et al. (2017) analyzed the effect of the Jigsaw technique on academic achievement in physics subjects. In their study, an experimental group worked on constructing concept maps using the Jigsaw technique, while a control group worked on the same subject using a lecture-based learning technique. The results showed that without achieving considerable statistical significance, the learning sequence of the experimental group was improved. The students were encouraged to work purposefully in the Jigsaw groups, despite the perception of a sense of insecurity due to a new activity that they had not been exposed to before. Recently, Baliga et al. (2021) stated that the use of concepts maps were effective teaching and learning tool for medical students and excellent way to assess their critical thinking skills. 3. Ready-to-Go Teaching Modules Cooperative learning techniques in teaching physics for the health track students in the Deanship of Preparatory year (DPY) at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) were introduced to teaching in 2013. To successfully integrate active learning techniques within the classroom, the department of basic sciences of the DPY, has been using Pearson’s Ready-to-Go Teaching Modules (R-to-GTMs) (Pearson, MyLab and Mastering, 2019) for the last few years. These modules support physics educators to transform the educational experience and present information in impactful ways, based on the most recent research, and find the best assets to use before, during, and after class (Ozdemir & Öner, 2015; Kim, 2017). The modules have been utilized in teaching fundamentals of physics for the health track students in

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medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, applied medical sciences, nursing, and public health. It is worth mentioning that these interactive modules assist students and educators to be organized and easily engage with scientific content and each other (Brady & O'Reilly, 2020). 4. Research Question and Hypotheses Because of their multiple pedagogical advantages, the Jigsaw cooperative learning and concept mapping techniques have been used extensively in teaching humanitarian and scientific courses to high school students and undergraduate students: first-years, juniors, and seniors (Connell et al., 2016; Karacop, 2017). The literature includes significantly fewer educational studies on the use of Jigsaw in teaching physics for medical students. Thus, this study was conducted to shed more light on the effect of implementing the Jigsaw cooperative learning technique on medical students’ achievement in physics at IAU, KSA through mapping the concepts of nuclear radiation in diagnostic and therapeutic medicine. Besides, it could serve as a pull trigger to motivate researchers to develop novel online models, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, to study the effect of using the Jigsaw technique on the students’ perception of multidisciplinary scientific topics. Built on the usefulness of using Jigsaw technique that was highlighted significantly in the literature review of this study, and the indispensable need for well-thought-out learning-teaching procedure, this study addresses the following research question: • Is the application of the Jigsaw cooperative learning technique effective in improving first-year medical students’ academic achievement in physics? Based on the above-mentioned question, the following four null hypotheses (NHs) are formulated: ▪ NH_1: There is no statistically significant difference between mean pre-test achievement scores of the students who were taught by the Jigsaw cooperative learning technique and those were taught by the traditional learning technique. ▪ NH_2: There is no statistically significant difference between mean achievement scores of the control group students from the pre-test to the post-test. ▪ NH_3: There is no statistically significant difference between the mean academic achievement scores of the experimental group students from the pre-test to the post-test. ▪ NH_4: There is no statistically significant difference between the mean posttest achievement scores of the students who were taught by the Jigsaw cooperative learning technique and those were taught by the traditional learning technique.

5. Methodology of the Research This section includes the research design, research subjects, research instruments, procedures, and statistical treatment. 5.1 Sample A quasi-experimental approach with a pretest-posttest design was employed to conduct the study. The sample of the study consisted of fifty health-track male students, who were randomly selected from the physics course population and

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taught by the researcher (ﬁrst author) in the DPY at IAU in the 2019–2020 academic year. The students were divided into two groups consisting of twentyfive students in the control group and twenty-five students in the experimental group. The control group was exposed to traditional lectures, in which the educator acts as a knowledge dispenser rather than a learning facilitator. In contrast, the experimental group was taught through the Jigsaw technique, in which the educator acts as a facilitator and organizer providing resources and support to the students, and the students must work actively in a purposeful way. 5.2 Pre-test and Post-test The present study was made up of three phases. Phase I (pre-testing) and Phase II (Jigsaw cooperative learning versus traditional lectures) are explained in Table 1. Phase III (post-testing) is explained in Table 2. Table 1: Schematic view of pre-testing phase and Traditional lectures versus Jigsaw cooperative learning phase Phase

Phase I (Pre-Testing)

Groups Number of Time Sessions (in hr) Control Group X Experimental Group Y Academic achievement Academic achievement in physics in physics In-class Test 1 Both groups took a pertest to ensure they were matched (Pre-test) in their literacy Educator-centered technique Student-centered technique The students made use of The students made use of the pre-class contents to the pre-class contents to prepare for the physics prepare for the physics Preparation at classes. The contents were activity. The contents were home posted on the blackboard posted on the blackboard system of IAU. system of IAU.

Phase II (Traditional Lectures Versus Jigsaw Cooperative Learning)

The educator delivered a traditional session on the specified topic and the students exclusively listened. During activities, students worked alone, and collaboration was discouraged. The educator continued delivering the specified topic and responded to the students’ questions. The educator continued delivering the specified topic with some examples and the students took notes.

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The educator delivered an interactive session on the topic being studied via stimulating the student higher order thinking skills and preparing them for the upcoming cooperative sessions. Forming Jigsaw groups (each student in the Jigsaw group was assigned to lean one section of the topic) Forming expert groups (each expert group was assigned to construct the concept map of one section).

One classroom session

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The educator displayed some videos and animation and solved some real-world problems in nuclear radiation. The educator continued delivering the specified topic and clarified students’ misconceptions.

Students returned to their Jigsaw groups and each group was assigned to construct the whole concept map of the topic. The full concept-map was constructed (Educator-learner interactive session)

One classroom session

Table 2: Schematic view of the post-testing phase Phase

Phase III (Post-testing)

Groups Control Group X Experimental Group Y The students were assigned The students solved the to solve some selected end of adaptive follow-up chapter questions and assignment items on problems from the Pearson’s MyLab and the recommended textbook. Mastering platform. Measurement of academic Measurement of academic achievement in physics achievement in physics • Both groups took a post-test to measure their achievement in the physics course. • At the end of the test, each student in the two groups wrote his reflection on the conducted learning technique.

Number of Sessions

Homework

In-class test (post-test)

Time (in hr)

The control and experimental groups were given a pre-test at the beginning and a post-test at the end of the study. Each test was composed of twenty multiplechoice questions in which each correct answer received 0.5 points. A pre-test was administrated to both groups to find the level of academic performance of each student in physics. The result for this served as the independent variable for comparing the results of the assessment after the intervention had been conducted (Aydin & Biyikli, 2017). It served as the baseline to indicate how the students improved after applying the cooperative Jigsaw technique. In Phase II, the activity was performed by the students in the experimental group and the educator acted only as a learning facilitator. In contrast, the control group was exposed to a sequence of traditional lectures. The post-testing phase was undertaken to assess the progress of the students’ learning in physics. 5.4 Procedure The present study demonstrates the considerable significance of using the Jigsaw cooperative learning and concept map for students’ academic achievement. A concept map is a type of graphic organizer used to help students organize and represent knowledge on a subject. A concept map begins with a main idea and then forks to showcase how that main idea can be divided into specific topics (Yatimah et al., 2020). Likewise, Jigsaw is a well-structured cooperative learning technique, which has been successfully used by numerous educational systems to improve academic achievement among students (Karacop & Doymus, 2013). This technique assigns students to groups that are

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composed of individuals with varying skill levels. Each group member is responsible for becoming an expert on one section of the topic being studied and then teaching it to the other members of the group. The Jigsaw technique was implemented in the present study as follows: 1. The experimental group Y (NY = 25) was divided into five “Jigsaw groups”, which were labeled JG 1, JG 2, JG 3, JG 4 and JG 5, respectively. Each Jigsaw group was composed of five students and was diverse in terms of ethnicity, race, and ability. The students in the five Jigsaw groups were labeled respectively as: JG 1: A1, A2, A3, A4, and A5, JG 2: B1, B2, AB, B4, and B5, JG 3: C1, C2, C3, C4, and C5, JG 4: D1, D2, D3, D4, and D5, and JG 5: E1, E2, E3, E4, and E5. 2. The “nuclear radiation” topic was divided into five sections: radioactivity, biological effects of radiation, diagnostic radiation, therapeutic radiation, and radiation dose, which were labeled S1, S2, S3, S4 and S5, respectively. It was ensured that the content of one section was not a prerequisite for any of the other sections. 3. Each student in a Jigsaw group was assigned to learn one of the five sections: S1, S2, S3, S4 and S5. The students were given enough time to read over their assigned sections and each student had direct access only to his own section. Each student was encouraged to start constructing the corresponding concept map of his assigned section. 4. Five "expert groups" were then formed. One student from each Jigsaw group joined other students assigned to the same section. The expert groups were labeled EG 1, EG 2, EG 3, EG 4, and EG 5, respectively. Enough time was given to the students in each expert groups to discuss the main points of their section and to construct the corresponding visual concept map, which was to be presented to their Jigsaw group. The students in the five expert groups were labeled respectively as: EG 1: A1, B1, C1, D1, and E1, EG 2: A2, B2, C2, D2, and E2, EG3: A3, B3, C3, D3, and E3, EG 4: A4, B4, C4, D4, and E4, and EG 5: A5, B5, C5, D5, and E5. 5. The students were then asked to return to their Jigsaw groups where each of them explained and presented the structure of the concept map of his assigned section, which was already prepared in his respective expert group. The Jigsaw technique is visually organized and depicted in the map in Figure 1. Figure 2 illustrates the organization of the Jigsaw and expert groups in the present study.

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Figure 1: Concept map for the cooperative learning Jigsaw technique, which was constructed by the authors of this study.

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Figure 2: Organization of the Jigsaw and expert groups to map the concepts of nuclear radiation in diagnosis and therapy. It was constructed by the authors of this study

To ensure that the experimental group was well-prepared before conducting the Jigsaw activity, the arrangement of the R-to-GTMs were implemented. A preclass content was uploaded to the e-learning system of IAU. The content consisted of the used textbook (Knight et al., 2019), summarized concepts on nuclear radiation in medicine, selected videos and PhET animations, concept map software (Cmap Tools: version 6.01.01) and the concept map for the Jigsaw cooperative learning technique shown in Figure 1. In the first session, the educator introduced the whole topic interactively and prepared students for the forthcoming activity. It helped the assigned students to be actively engaged with the topic material, purposefully participate in the learning environment, take more responsibility for their performance in the activity, learn how to map the concepts, and apply the physics laws to a real-world problem. In the three active sessions following, the Jigsaw activity was conducted. Two examples on the concept maps, which were constructed and presented by the assigned students in this study, are shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4, respectively.

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Figure 3: Concept map for the biological effect of radiation. It was constructed by EG2

It is worthwhile to mention that concept map is mainly constructed to answer a particular question. Before constructing the concept map of the biological effect of radiation, which is shown in Figure 3, the students of EG 2 came up with the question “How do tissues react with different forms of nuclear radiation?”. They answered the question in five steps. Firstly, selecting the key concepts (e.g., biological factor, physical factor, radioisotopes, radiation dose, and dose equivalent) without linking them. Secondly, choosing the necessary subconcepts (e.g., kinetic energy, relative biological effectiveness, alpha particle-beta particle-gamma ray, mass of body tissues, amount of damage) to be linked with the key concepts. Thirdly, rearranging and interlinking the key concepts and sub-concepts using appropriate words (e.g., absorb, which decays, is a good measure of, can be summarized in, which is absorbed by, etc). For example, “the tissues in the body absorb radioisotopes”, “the absorbed kinetic energy is a good measure of the amount of tissue damage”, “physical factor can be summarized in how much energy is absorbed by the body?”. Fourthly, Using appropriate words to crosslink concepts from the hierarchy that begins with the “physical factor” concept to the one that begins with the “biological factor” concept. For example, “radioisotopes decay alpha particles, beta particles or gamma rays”. Finally, Checking the content of the concept map and remove any redundant concept, since the goal of the concept mapping is the process itself rather than the resulting concept map. Following the same procedure, the EG 3 constructed the concept map of the diagnostic radiation (Nuclear imaging), which is shown in Figure 4.

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Figure 4: Concept map for diagnostic radiation. It was constructed by EG 3

It was concluded that the well-thought-out topic of the jigsaw activity, nuclear radiation in diagnosis and therapy, motivated the students to brainstorm and generate new ideas, to discover new concepts and the propositions that connect them, to manifestly communicate ideas and information, to integrate new concepts with older concepts, and to gain in-depth comprehension of the topic (José & Helen, 2013). Additionally, the students took the opportunity to actively assist each other, attain high levels of cognitive performance, and recapitulate concepts using their own words. During the activity, the educator (first author) carefully guided the students, responded to their inquiries, and clarified some concepts when needed. Notably, the constructed concept maps served as a quintessential appraisal tool for the educator to spot students’ misconceptions and to evaluate areas in which students had not yet understood concepts extensively (Mustafa & Talat, 2013). Subsequently, the full concept map for nuclear radiation was constructed in the last interactive session by the students and the educator (first author) as shown in Figure 5. The students were encouraged to consolidate what they had learnt in the Jigsaw groups and expert groups, to discover the relationship between their ideas, to compare viewpoints, find similarities and gauge differences (Maija, 2012). An online Pearson’s adaptive follow-up assignment (Pearson, MyLab and Mastering, 2019) was targeted at the students’ areas of weakness. It consisted of questions that addressed gaps in understanding based on the students’ performance in the concept mapping. After conducting the activity, the experimental and control groups underwent the same post-test.

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Figure 5: The full concept map for nuclear radiation in diagnosis and therapy. It was constructed by the educator (first author) and the experimental group

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5.4 Statistical Treatment The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences SPSS.20.0 (SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL, USA) was used to analyses the data for the pre-test and post-test for the control and experimental group students; an independent sample t-test and paired sample t-test were used to test the hypotheses of this study (Ju, 2015). The t-tests assume that the data follow a normal distribution or a Gaussian distribution. It is assumed that the population from which the samples are taken is normally distributed. Therefore, in order to check the normality assumption, Shapiro’s test was used (𝛼 = 0.05) (Ghasemi & Zahedias, 2012). Levene's test (Gastwirth et al., 2009) for equality of variances was also used to determine if the control and experimental groups have about the same or different amounts of variability between scores in the pre-test as well as in the post-test. The independent sample t-test was applied to compare the pre-test scores of the control and experimental groups; the NH_1 was tested. The paired sample t-test was then applied to compare the pre-test and the post-test experimental group scores as well as for the control group scores; NH_2 and NH_3 were tested. Average normalized gains were also calculated for both groups to compare the effectiveness of each teaching method in promoting conceptual understanding and improving the academic achievement level of students in physics (Bao, 2006). To determine the impact of Jigsaw cooperative learning on students’ performance in physics, the independent sample t-test was applied once more to compare the post-test scores of the students who were taught using the Jigsaw technique and those who taught through traditional lectures; NH_4 was tested. Cohen’s d effect size (Sawilowsky, 2009; Lakens, 2013) was calculated for independent and paired samples. Moreover, the average normalized gain was calculated (Hake, 1998), which measures the effectiveness of a course in promoting conceptual understanding.

6. Results and Analysis In this section, the results of the study are presented and discussed with reference to the aim of the study. The formulated hypotheses are tested using statistical methods to answer the research question. 6.1 Normality test and the Research Paradigm The Shapiro’s test calculates a W-statistic that tests if a random sample comes from a normal distribution. 𝛼 = 0.05 is the level of significance used in this study. The test rejects the hypothesis of normality when the P-value is less than or equal to 0.05. Table 3 shows the results of the Shapiro’s test, which revealed that the pre-test and the post-test scores of the control and experimental groups follow the normal distribution as the P-value of each is greater than 0.05. The control and experimental groups for this study were randomly selected from the physics students of the DPY at IAU; consequently, the assumptions of normality and randomization were satisfied. Table 3: Shapiro’s test of normality Students’ scores Pre-test_Experimental Pre-test_Control

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P-value

0.926 0.943

25 25

0.072 0.173

165

Post-test_Experimental Post-test_Control

0.920 0.948

25 25

0.052 0.226

The paradigm for this study is shown in Figure 6: t-tests and tested hypotheses.

Figure 6: Paradigm for this study: t-tests and tested hypotheses. It was designed by the authors of this study

6.2 Testing NH_1 An independent sample test was used to analyze the data for both the experimental and control groups in the pre-test at a level of significance 𝛼 = 0.05. The fifty students in the experimental and control groups participated in the pre-test. From Table 4, it is revealed that the experimental group of twentyfive students had a mean score of 6.96 with a standard deviation of 2.12093. The control group of twenty-five students had a mean score of 6.74 with a standard deviation of 1.8491. Table 4: Pre-test analysis of the differences in the physics scores between the experimental group and control group using the t-test for independent samples Group

Mean

Std. Dev.

Experimental Pre-test 25 Control Pre-test 25 Levene's test for equality of variances

6.960 6.740

2.12093 1.84910

Variance Equal variance assumed Equal variances not assumed

Test

0.37

Sig.

Std. Error Mean 0.42419 0.36982

t-test for equality of means

Std. Error Difference

tstatistic

Pvalue

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Lower Upper

0.56276

0.391

0.698

-0.09115

1.3515

47.1

0.56276

0.391

0.698

-0.09120

1.3520

0.54

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It is known that Levene's test for equality of variances determines if the two groups have about the same or different amounts of variability between scores in the pre-test. As shown in Table 4, Sig. > 0.05 (= 0.54). This value, greater than 0.05, means that the experimental and control groups had the same amount of variability between scores in the pre-test and the resulted calculation used pooled variances. Hence, the t-statistic is 0.391 with 48 degrees of freedom. The P-value is 0.698, which is greater than 0.05. Accordingly, the NH_1 cannot be rejected; thus, it is inferred that there is no statistically significant difference between the mean pre-test scores achievement in physics for the experimental and control groups. These results indicate that the two groups were similar in level with regard to their learning competency before conducting the study. A quasi-experimental method was applied by the educator (first author). The experimental group was exposed to the Jigsaw cooperative technique. In contrast, the control group was exposed to a welldesigned sequence of traditional lectures and was not engaged in the cooperative learning activity. The sequences of the Jigsaw activity and the traditional lectures were developed over the course of five classroom sessions as illustrated in Tables 1 and 2. 6.4 Testing NH_2 and NH_3 A paired sample t-test was used to compare the mean scores of the control group students in the pre-test and post-test. From Table 5, the value of the t-statistic is 6.726 with 24 degrees of freedom, and the P-value is 0.000, which is much smaller than 0.05. Consequently, NH_2 is rejected; thus, it is inferred that there is a significant improvement in the performance of students who were taught through the well-structured traditional teaching technique. Similar analysis was done to compare the mean scores of the experimental group students in the pretest and post-test; it was found that the t-statistic is 5.081 with 24 degrees of freedom, and the P-value is 0.000 as indicated in Table 6. NH_3 is rejected; thus, it can be concluded that there was a significant improvement of the performance of students who were taught with the Jigsaw cooperative learning technique. Table 5: Comparison of the mean scores of the control group students using a paired samples t-test Paired Sample Statistics / Control Group Group

Test

Mean

Std. Dev.

Control Control

Post-test Pre-test

25 25

8.0440 6.7400

1.29037 1.84910

Std. Error Mean 0.25807 0.36982

Paired Sample t-test Results / Control Group Test

Mean

Std. Dev.

tstatistic

Post-test_Control Pre-test_Control

1.3040

0.9693

6.726

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Pvalue

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference

0.000

Upper 0.90389

Lower 1.7041

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Table 6: Comparison of the mean scores of the experimental group students using a paired samples t-test Paired Sample Statistics / Control Group Group

Test

Mean

Std. Dev.

Experimental Experimental

Post-test Pre-test

25 25

9.060 6.960

0.60069 2.12093

Std. Error Mean 0.12014 0.42419

Paired Sample t-test Results / Control Group Test Post-test_Exp. Pre-test_Exp.

Mean

Std. Dev.

tstatistic

2.1000

2.066

5.081

Pvalue

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference

0.000

Lower 1.24695

Upper 2.95305

The results of the paired sample t-tests were used to determine the effect size by calculating Cohen’s d (Sawilowsky, 2009). It is based on the following interpretation for Cohen’s d: 0.2 (small effect size), 0.5 (medium effect size) and 0.8 (large effect size). Since we are dealing with small sample sizes in this study, we applied the corrected Cohen’s d formula (Lakens, 2013):

ME −MC 2

√(SD1 +SD2

N−3

2⁄

N−2

(N−2.25) √

(1)

where ME , MC , SD1, and SD2 are the mean of the experimental group, the mean of the control group, the standard deviation of the experimental group and the standard deviation of the control group, respectively. The average normalized gain was introduced by Hake (1998) as a measure of the effectiveness of a course in promoting conceptual understanding. He defined the average normalized gain as:

< g >=

<Post−Test>−<Pre−Test>

(2)

10−<Pre−Test>

where brackets indicate class average scores out of 10. This measure is generally described as the amount students learned divided by the amount they could have learned. The average normalized gain was used to determine the assessment of the students in terms of their scores using the following interpretation: 0-30 % (Low Gain), 31% -70% (Medium Gain) and 71% -100% (High Gain). Table 7: Effect size calculation from the paired sample t-test output, and the average normalized gain Students’ scores Post-test_Exp. Pre-test_Exp. Post-test_Control Pre-test_Control

N 25 25

Mean 9.0600 6.9600 8.0440 6.7400

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Std. Dev.

t-statistic

Cohen’s d

Normalized Gain < g >

2.06660

5.081

1.016

0.69

0.96931

6.726

1.345

0.40

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As shown in Table 7, the effect size was large (Cohen’s d > 0.8) for both groups indicating an improvement in the students’ achievement for both the experimental and control groups, namely 1.016 for the experimental group and 1.345 for the control group. The interpretation of these results is in the line with the study of Abdul Hadi (2014) who concluded that learning physics requires following the textbook and the information delivered by the educator in the class to gain conceptual knowledge, which enables them to assess and analyze real-world physics problems that promote their thinking to higher levels. Thus, the control group students still need to learn through the traditional lectures that are structured using the arrangement of the R-to-GTMs. It is worth mentioning that the difference in the normalized gain between the experimental and the control group strongly differentiates between the learning techniques, allowing the educator (first author) to compare his students' learning to those of other students (Hake, 1998). However, the normalized gain was significantly higher for the experimental group which gained 0.69 (69%), than for the control group, which gained 0.40 (40%). Based on this finding, it can be concluded that effective group work, such as that enabled by the Jigsaw technique, can enhance the positive attitude and performance of students in learning medical physics concepts. This conclusion is supported by the study of Gamabri and Yusuf (2014) who reported that students demonstrated better performance when taught through cooperative learning than the traditional method of teaching. Furthermore, the study of Yemi and Azid (2018) revealed that the Jigsaw technique contributed effectively to improving students’ achievement, fostering their interest in learning, and enhancing their communication skills. 6.5 Testing the NH_4 The independent sample t-test was applied one more time to analyze the data for both the experimental and control groups in the post-test at a level of significance 𝛼 = 0.05. From Table 8, it can be concluded that the experimental group had a mean score of 9.060 with a standard deviation of 0.60069, and the control group had a mean score of 8.044 with a standard deviation of 1.29037. Table 8: Post-test analysis of differences in the physics scores between the experimental group and control group using t-test for independent samples Group

Mean

Std. Dev.

Experimental Post-test 25 Control Post-test 25 Levene's test for equality of variances

9.060 8.044

0.60069 1.29037

Variance Equal variance assumed Equal variances not assumed

Test

9.34

Sig.

Std. Error Mean 0.12014 0.25807

t-test for equality of means

Std. Error Difference

tstatistic

Pvalue

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Lower Upper

0.28467

3.569

0.001

0.4436

1.5883

33.9

0.28467

3.569

0.001

0.4374

1.5945

0.004

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As shown in Table 8, Levene's test gives Sig. < 0.05 (= 0.004), revealing that the experimental and control groups do not have the same amount of variability between scores in the post-test, and the calculation utilizes un-pooled variances and a correction to the degrees of freedom. Hence, the t-statistic is 3.569 with 33.9 degrees of freedom. The P-value is 0.001, which is smaller than 0.05. Consequently, NH_4 is rejected, leading us to conclude that there is a statistically significant difference between the mean post-test scores in physics for the experimental and control groups. The output of the independent sample t-test was used to calculate the effect size. The calculations are given in Table 9. The results demonstrate a small effect size for the pre-test scores (Cohen’s d = 0.1108) and a large effect size for the post-test scores (Cohen’s d = 0.9931) for the experimental and control groups. Thus, we can conclude that the students were performing equally in the pre-test while students in the experimental group performed better than those in the control group in the post-test. On that account, the experimental group performed significantly better than the control group on the post-test. Consequently, the answer to research question is ‘Yes. The application of the Jigsaw cooperative learning technique is effective in improving first-year medical students’ academic achievement in physics.’ Table 9: Calculating effect size (Cohen’s d) from independent sample t-test output Students’ scores Pre-test_Experimental Pre-test_Control Post-test_Experimental Post-test_Control

N 25 25 25 25

Mean 6.960 6.740 9.060 8.044

Std. Deviation 2.12093 1.84910 0.60069 1.29037

Cohen’s d 0.1108 0.9931

Our findings are in the line with previous studies. Aydin & Biyikli (2017) highlighted that the superiority of the Jigsaw technique lies in enhancing the students’ learning experience, provoking their interest in studying physics, and producing a healthy atmosphere of collaboration between the students and the educator. Shahri et al. (2017) stated that time constraints represent one of the challenges of using the Jigsaw technique. Since implementing Jigsaw activities in a class can be time-consuming, proper time management by the educator is essential. Rahul and Abdul Sattar (2016) recommended that a didactic lecturebased learning technique ought to be replaced by a cooperative learning technique such as Jigsaw to encourage learning among medical students. Abd El Aliem et al. (2019) concluded that Jigsaw is an unconventional technique that enhanced the achivenment of nursing students, and it can be widely implmented in nursing education to promote the nursing students’ skills. Furthermore, the findings of numerous educational studies support the present study in concluding that Jigsaw cooperative learning has a significant positive effect on students’ academic achievement (Maija, 2012; Martínez et al., 2012; Mustafa & Talat, 2013; Isiaka & Mudasiru, 2016; Bharti et al., 2017; Kumar et al., 2017; Pelobillo, 2018; Amiruddin et al., 2019; Ephraim et al., 2019).

7. Conclusion The pedagogical studies have fundamentally proven that cooperative learning activities promote the students’ thinking skills to higher levels and encourage them to put the facts together in novel ways. The result of this study supports

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the findings of the previous studies and emphasizes the effectiveness of using the Jigsaw cooperative learning technique in promoting first-year medical students’ academic achievement in physics. A quasi-experimental approach with a pretest-posttest design was employed to conduct the study. The experimental group was exposed to the Jigsaw cooperative technique. In contrast, the control group was exposed to a well-designed sequence of traditional lectures and was not engaged in the cooperative learning activity. The effect size was large for experimental and control groups indicating an improvement in the students’ achievement for both the experimental and control groups. However, the normalized gain was significantly higher for experimental group than that for control group. The experimental group students had the opportunity to organize their thoughts and debate their opinions, by working in small groups towards the common goal: Mapping the concept of nuclear radiation in diagnosis and therapy. In conclusion, the Jigsaw activity increased the students’ engagement level and allowed them to analyze and assess the validity of facts, generate ideas in terms of how the concepts for the studied topic can be mapped and applied to biomedical cases. Furthermore, it motivated the first-year medical students to make progress in terms of organizing and understanding new information in physics and enabled them to keep up with their cognitive development. The jigsaw activity required sufficient time to be prepared and implemented; nonetheless, it strengthened the social relationships among the students in both the Jigsaw groups and the expert groups.

8. Limitations Since Jigsaw is a time-consuming cooperative learning technique, two expert groups in this study couldn’t complete their assigned concept maps within the assigned time. It is highly recommended that thoughtful educators in medical physics pay extra attention to the time needed to implement Jigsaw activities successfully and appropriately. Sufficient time enables the educator to significantly guide all Jigsaw group dynamics and support the tasks, which are the responsibility of each individual group member.

9. Recommendations for Future Research Future studies have been proposed by the authors of this study. • A follow-up study could be conducted to take the feedback of the students, the experimental group of the present study, about the use of concept mapping tool in learning advanced medical topics in their study fields. The study could answer the following question: “Is the application of concept mapping functional in analyzing advanced medical cases?” • A well-structured online model could be developed, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, to study the effect of using the Jigsaw technique on students’ perception of a multidisciplinary topic: the action-potential of a nerve cell. Particularly, seeking for an answer to the question: “does teaching a multidisciplinary topic require using innovative active learning method?”. • Attempts to shed light on the effectiveness of the Jigsaw II technique on students’ achievement in medical physics could be crystalized into assessing and analyzing biomedical cases on the viscosity of blood. Specifically, going

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for an answer to the question: “does well-organized classroom activity make students depend on each other to comprehend an advanced medical physics topic?”. Acknowledgement The authors would like to thank the DPY at IAU for continuous support and the students for their effective participation during the course of this study.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 175-191, July 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.7.10 Received May 27, 2021; Revised Jul 04, 2021; Accepted Jul 31, 2021

Application of the Case Study Method in Medical Education Oleksandr Y. Korniichuk State Institution “Dnipropetrovsk Medical Academy of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine”, Dnipro, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9020-8109 Leonid M. Bambyzov Zaporizhia State Medical University, Zaporizhia, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0501-0852 Valentyna M. Kosenko Zhytomyr Medical Institute of Zhytomyr Regional Council, Zhytomyr, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4486-8317 Anastasiya M. Spaska Ajman University, Ajman, UAE https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3505-3407 Yaroslav V. Tsekhmister Ukrainian Medical Lyceum of Bogomolets National Medical University, Kyiv, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7959-3691

Abstract. Reducing the gap between professional opportunities of graduates of medical education institutions and needs of patients is the priority of medical education. The introduction of interactive methods, in particular the case study method, can help solve this problem. The aim of this study was to investigate how the application of the case method in medical education affects the learning outcomes of students and acquisition of practical experience. Case method was used to identify its impact on the acquisition of practical skills, abilities and clinical experience by future physicians. Students’ opinions on the effectiveness of the case method in gaining practical experience were surveyed. The study showed that the case method helped students find solutions required by clinical situations, as they used not only theoretical knowledge, but also acquired practical skills and clinical experience. The case method also increases students’ confidence in their professional abilities. This experimental study proved the high efficiency of using the case method in medical education to gain practical experience by students in the education institution. It can be useful for scholars and educators ©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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who are looking for, developing and implementing effective teaching methods that allow students to acquire the necessary competencies. Keywords: teaching methods; clinical case; clinical situation; medical experience; interactive method

1. Introduction An important objective of higher medical education is the development of students’ skills necessary for successful future clinical practice (Skrypnyk et al., 2012). Students must be able to process information obtained from the examination of the patient, identify the main points, systematize, summarize, assess the need for additional examinations, and build a plan according to which these should be carried out. It is also necessary to teach students to analyse the obtained results of examinations and to make a diagnosis, and to prescribe an appropriate and effective treatment according to the current protocols of treatment, the diagnosis and features of a particular clinical case. Future physicians gain experience in clinical practice while studying at a medical education institution through the use of case methods in their teaching and learning. The mistakes they may make at this stage do not entail life-threatening implications (Skrypnyk et al., 2012). These case methods can be used not only in in-class learning, but also in e-learning or distance learning (Ali et al., 2018; Turk et al., 2019). The main purpose of the case method is to conduct a comprehensive, integrated in-depth study of a complex issue, phenomenon, event, situation, case, programme, person or group of people. This study must be conducted in a specific context (real life, authentic conditions), where the boundary between context and problem is not obvious. The situation may have many variables, because many phenomena and processes intersect in one situation or case. One of the objectives of using the case method is to increase motivation and thus achieve a deep understanding of complex processes and phenomena (Harrison et al., 2017). The case study method is considered to be the link between theory and practice in medical education (Turk et al., 2019). The case study dates back to Harvard Law School in the 1870s (Servant-Miklos, 2019). In 1900, case methods were used in medical school, and from 1908 in business school, although, according to other scientists (Litvinova et al., 2017), the method came into use in medicine in the 1920s. The case method quickly spread beyond Harvard (Servant-Miklos, 2019). It is currently used in the education and training of not only physicians (Chamala et al., 2021; Wei et al., 2021), but also of specialists in other professions in education institutions worldwide (Zakaliuzhnyi, 2019). The case study method currently is most commonly used in North America - 54.93% of all research papers dealt with this method. It is less popular in Europe (25.35%), in Asia (15.49%), in South America (2.82%), and in Africa (less than 2%) (McLean, 2016).

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Case studies appeared in medical schools as an alternative to lectures that were considered ineffective for practical medicine (McLean, 2016). However, the contrary opinion is that lectures are a very powerful and useful tool in teaching medical students to master the fundamental knowledge needed to solve specific problems (Tsekhmister et al., 2019; Vasylieva, 2020). The process of formulating a case situation, that is, the path of a clinical case from a patient to medical institutions is quite complex (Sayre et al., 2017). Despite this, a great variety of cases have been classified, for example, by type and direction, structure, way of presentation, content, complexity, volume, the plot, goals and objectives of the educational process, the subject of the case, and the purposes of using the case method (Likhachov et al., 2019) . In the largest database of case studies of the European Case Clearing House (ECCH), cases are classified as follows: case studies, auxiliary cases, exercise cases, complex cases, solutions cases. Different scholars identify different stages of working on cases in medical education, such as: development of a clinical case, search of literature to address a clinical issue, critical evaluation, and application of the results of the study to the patient’s treatment (Napryeyenko et al., 2019; Zarnadze et al., 2018). The teaching plan for using the case method is as follows: Students are given data on the actual case. The data should be analysed independently by students (diagnosis, prognosis, treatment). This is followed by a discussion of all aspects of the problem by students who should respond like professionals in the presence of a teacher. The teacher should not impose his/her opinion, but rather pose questions that may guide students’ answers to their theoretical knowledge that may prompt them to find the correct solution to the problem (Servant-Miklos, 2019). Students’ work on cases improves their skills and provides knowledge and the ability to apply critical and analytical thinking, and use theoretical and relevant knowledge (Edenhammar, 2017). Often the cases considered in case studies do not have a single solution, that is, they are ambiguous; therefore, it is important that teachers’ questions to students during case study discussions must be enabling (Gartmeier et al., 2019). In the learning process, cases can be used as illustrative material, to substantiate diagnostic methods (Pavlyshyn et al., 2015), as the premise for discussions, for specific questions and answers, and for a detailed cross-examination, and also in assessing student competence (Orban et al., 2017). Cases all must have a specific goal, purpose, educational procedure, and must be linked to knowledge and application (Servant-Miklos, 2019). Scientists often compare the case method and problem-based learning (ServantMiklos, 2019). What these methods have in common is that the learning process takes place through solving life situations in a small group of students under the guidance of a teacher. Edenhammar (2017) and Eid and Quinn (2017) also compare the case method with traditional teaching methods. Combining innovative lectures with reviewing practical situations not only enhances learning outcomes (Sandelowsky et al., 2018), but also provides knowledge necessary for independent work of physicians, to understand the causes of specific situations,

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and make appropriate and effective decisions (Edenhammar, 2017). In addition, the use of the case method in teaching can reduce the likelihood of errors in practice to a minimum, as the main objective of medical education institutions is to help students gain knowledge at a level that will allow them to practise independently without making mistakes. The analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of the case method compared to other modern methods that are introduced in learning, identified the following advantages: improved long-term memory, and increased quality of decisionmaking. The disadvantages include the difficulties related to implementing the method (Afsouran et al., 2018). In addition, the effectiveness of teaching using the case method can be influenced by the individual characteristics of students and teachers (Bayona & Castañeda, 2017). The aim of this study was to experimentally determine how case studies affect the mastering of practical skills and clinical experience in medical students. To achieve this aim, the following objectives had to be achieved: 1) To establish the impact of the case method on the development of practical skills and abilities of students of medical education institutions, and draw a conclusion about its effectiveness; 2) to determine the impact of the case method on the learning outcomes of students, comparing the final grades in the majors of the groups where the case method was used with those where it was not introduced; 3) to identify through a survey among students how, in their opinion, the case method affects their practical skills and clinical experience.

2. Methods The study involved eleven teachers of five medical higher education institutions (HEIs) of Ukraine. The sample included two teachers from the Department of Dentistry of the Faculty of Postgraduate Education, Dnipropetrovsk Medical Academy of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine; two teachers from the Department of General Surgery and Postgraduate Surgical Education of Zaporizhzhia State Medical University and three teachers from Zhytomyr Medical Institute of the Zhytomyr Regional Council participated, as well as two teachers from Ajman University, College of Medicine, and two from the Ukrainian Medical Lyceum of Bogomolets National Medical University. The sample also included 117 students in their second to fourth years of study from the mentioned education institutions. A data triangulation procedure was used in the study. Data collection was carried out through different methods, namely qualitative (observation, survey) and quantitative (comparison of the results of the final assessment of knowledge of students of the experimental and control groups) in order to increase the reliability of the obtained results. The study was conducted in three phases. The first phase was a qualitative study, entailing the observation of students discussing clinical cases at the initial stage of introduction of the case method in teaching and throughout the period of the involvement with this method, as well as at the final stage of training. For the discussions, students used one of the largest case databases in the world, created

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by the European Case Clearing House (https://www.thecasecentre.org/educators/casemethod/resources/freecasesov erview), as well as videos of real clinical situations. The case method was introduced in the above-mentioned HEIs, adhering to the content and didactic goals of the subjects concerned, as well as the principles of the relevance of specific cases, and sufficient knowledge of students to complete the assignments. The cases contained: 1) a set of videos of real (authentic) practical medical situations/cases; 2) instructions for students, and the study material required to be considered in a particular case; 3) schemas that allow tracking the relationship between the elements of the topics studied and the competencies that students should obtain when considering a particular case; 4) necessary reference tables and maps, diagrams; 5) educational literature; 6) collections of creative assignments and problems, as well as logical tasks; 7) multimedia video courses; 8) tests for self-assessment. At the same time, the teacher guiding the students to a correct solution of the medical problem situation by asking simple questions in the course of the collective discussion of each practical case, used a pre-written scenario of student academic activities. According to the scenario, students had to solve a practical case independently during group discussions, as well as indicate all possible ways to solve it, with minimal teacher intervention. The students’ work on the cases was carried out in the following sequence: 1. Outlining the clinical case. 2. Self-preparation to accumulate the necessary theoretical material to solve the case situation. 3. Conducting a group discussion under the teacher’s guidance. 4. Identifying options for solving a clinical case. 5. Analysis of potential results that may lead to the proposed actions. 6. Evaluation of actions. In the study, observers evaluated: 1. The process of resolving a clinical situation (how the problem is identified, which of the case data are used, how the data are analysed, how the decision is made, whether it is unambiguous, whether the case may have several correct solutions). 2. Do students use previously acquired knowledge, professional language, terminology, analytical and decision-making skills, etc. during the discussion? 3. The nature of the discussion — the justification of solutions is based solely on theoretical knowledge, whether practical experience is used when a controversy occurs, whether the opinion of colleagues is supported, or questioned, and so forth. 4. How the communication takes place in the group during the discussion — do students look for solutions independently, trust the opinion of classmates, or wait for the teacher’s tips?

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The second phase of the study entailed the comparison of learning outcomes by comparing the final scores obtained by students during their final assessment in the same subjects in the same study year of two groups of students, one of which had used the case method, while the other group had not. The third phase of the study consisted of an anonymous survey of students by means of the Waliany’s technique (Waliany et al., 2019). Students who had not yet been taught by means of the case study method were asked to answer 14 questions that helped students assess the level of practical skills they had acquired while studying at an education institution. The students had to fill in the same questionnaire after the case study method had been introduced in their studies. The obtained statistical data were processed using the Statistica software package.

3. Results During the first phase of the study, when the case method was used as a tool to assess the availability of practical skills and abilities of students, it was found that in all five medical education institutions involved in this study, the professionalism of the clinical case discussions differed, depending on the study year of students and their experience in using case studies. For example, secondyear students had not yet developed the ability to use medical terminology; their justifications were based on their theoretical knowledge in the relevant subjects available at the time of the study. In the second year, students spent a significant amount of time trying to understand the problem before starting to look for solutions. Sometimes the problem was misidentified, or they identified several problems in one situation. Conversely, students did not always indicate all possible solutions to the clinical situation. Future physicians often expected questions from the teacher who led the discussion in order to get clues to identify the appropriate solutions. Third-year students showed more skilful use of professional terminology during the discussion. They quickly identified the problem. The clinical case was carefully evaluated and analysed. Sometimes the teacher’s intervention was necessary to find the right options for solving the clinical situation. There was some interaction between students in the group during the discussion. The fourth-year students had a proper level of professional language, and they correctly used medical terminology during the discussions. Coordinated teamwork was observed, and colleagues listened to each other’s opinions. During the search for solutions, fourth-year students used both theoretical knowledge of relevant subjects and practical medical experience gained in-class in solving previous clinical situations. All possible clinical case solutions were developed and their consequences were assessed. The course of the discussion did not actually depend on the teacher. Thus, senior students showed greater confidence in their knowledge and skills to apply them in solving specific medical cases during the discussion, which was based on a greater theoretical knowledge and more extended practical experience. The generalized results of observations are given in Figure 1.

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Percentage of cases

120

2nd year

3rd year

4th year

100 80

60 40 20 0

Figure 1: The results of using the case study method and gaining practical experience in solving clinical situations

Figures 2-4 demonstrate the dynamics of the acquisition of practical skills and abilities by medical students when using the methods of particular clinical cases in teaching. 120 96

100 80

60 40

33 13

Figure 2: The results of using the case study method in the second year of study

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3rd year Percentage of cases

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

61 40

Figure 3: The results of using the case study method in the third year of study

4th year Percentage of cases

120 100 80

60 40 20

Figure 4:

The results of using the case study method in the fourth year of study

As Figures 2-4 show, the distribution of criteria for assessing the practical skills and abilities required by future physicians, according to the percentage of

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observed cases, varied depending on the year of study. Thus, the observation revealed that the application of the method in particular situations in the training of future physicians improves the professional language of students, thereby increasing the speed and accuracy of problem identification, improves independence from the teacher in decision-making, coherence of teamwork, and the predominant use of clinical considerations in combination with theoretical knowledge. In addition, a similar study was conducted during the first three years of the introduction of the case study method in teaching in the said medical HEIs among three groups of 4th-year students, where the case method had been used during the first year, and years two and three. There was a direct correlation between the term of application of the case-study and the degree of practical clinical experience of students obtained in-class. The influence of the case method on student success was also investigated. Thus, comparing the average scores obtained by students during the final assessment of their knowledge in the subjects: Surgery and Prevention of Dental Diseases in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th years of study in the said medical education institutions in groups where the case study method was introduced, and in groups in which other teaching methods were used. The scores obtained are shown in Figure 5. 120 100 80 Case method is used 60 Other methods are used

40 20 0 2nd year

3rd year

4th year

Figure 5: Average scores of students obtained during the final assessment of knowledge As shown in Figure 5, student performance increased with the transition from one year of study to the next. For example, in the second year it was 68.8, which is 22% less than in the fourth year of students in the groups where traditional methods were used in education. But performance is influenced more significantly by the teaching methods used. This study, based on the example of an interactive case study, showed that success can be increased by more than ten percent (about 29%) when students actively interact with each other, looking for solutions to practical problems similar to those they will face in the future in the performance of their professional duties.

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It was found that the standard deviation from the mean score of the final assessment in different years of study was different. For example, in the second year, where teaching methods other than the case method were used, the standard deviation from the mean value of students’ scores obtained during the final knowledge test was 305. Analysis of variance showed that variations in students’ final grades are smaller when using the case study method. However, in the second year, where case study methods were used, the standard deviation from the mean value of students’ scores obtained during the final knowledge test is still quite high and has a value of 162. As for fourth-year students, this figure is as follows: 161 in groups where other teaching methods were used, and 18 when the case method was used. In this case, the intergroup variance, which describes the fluctuations of these groups, and the intragroup variance, which describes the fluctuations of the data due to random factors not taken into account, are not equal, which indicates the invalidity of the null hypothesis. In the studies conducted in the second year in groups where the case study method was not used and where it was used, Cohen’s d was 1.0, indicating a high effect size. In the third year, d=0.8, which indicates a great effect. In the fourth year, d=0.5, which corresponds with the average effect. That is, the effectiveness of the use of the case study method is a value that depends on the year of study and the experience of its application. One of the components of the study was to examine the point of view of the students themselves on how the use of case study methods in the learning process affects their acquisition of professional skills and clinical experience in-class. For this purpose, an anonymous survey of students was conducted before the introduction of the case study method and after its use in the educational process. The revised and adapted Waliany’s questionnaire (Waliany et al., 2019) was used for data collection. Table 1 shows the results of questionnaires of second- and fourth-year students before and during the application of case study methods in teaching (the figures given in Table 1 are the percentage of positive answers to the questions), as well as the calculated values of Cohen’s d. Table 1: The results of student surveys on the impact of case study methods on the acquisition of practical clinical skills

Understanding of the case

Reporter

Skills

Questions of the questionnaire I understand how to collect information from patients I understand how to apply physical examination techniques, which aim to help diagnose patients’ problems I understand how doctors create a list of problems that correspond with a particular clinical case I understand how doctors make a differential diagnosis I understand how clinicians interpret the results of diagnostic tests

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2nd year before after

4th year before after

1.17

0.92

1.37

0.98

1.5

0.33

1.3

1.05

1.7

1.57

Manager

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Particular skills of the course

Teacher

I understand how to apply clinical information obtained before diagnosing patients

1.77

1.05

I understand how doctors determine the necessary diagnostic tests

1.76

1.89

1.57

1.24

1.17

0.78

1.17

0.98

1.37

0.98

1.76

1.5

1.17

0.85

0.98

I understand how clinicians choose treatment options for their patients I know how doctors manage patient care I understand how to share information with my patients I know how physicians work step by step on a clinical case in establishing primary patient care I understand every step that doctors take in resolving a specific clinical situation and making a diagnosis. I understand the step-by-step clinical process of doctors’ work I follow the current problems faced by medicine, and study the proposed ways to overcome them

As Table 1 shows, according to students, after applying the case study method, they became more confident in their practical capabilities, namely they gained experience in collecting information from the patient needed to plan an examination and treatment, learned to organize and manage patient care, learned to share information with a patient, reached an understanding of the details of the initial treatment and diagnosis. The greatest effect of the use of the case study was observed in the assessment of the impact of the case study method on the development of skills in second-year students to determine the necessary tests for diagnosis and interpret their results. The impact of this method also is clearly observable in fourth-year students’ development of step-by-step algorithms for clinical cases when establishing primary care needs of the patient and making a diagnosis. The study showed that the case study method helped to increase students’ interest in the new challenges facing medicine and ways to overcome difficulties in the global medical community. Comparing Cohen’s d for different years of study, we can conclude that the use of the case-study method in the second year is more effective than in the fourth year. For example, the answers to the question “I understand how to apply the methods of physical examination, which aim to help diagnose the problems of patients” received d=1.37 in the second year, and d = 0.98 in the fourth year. The degree of the effect also differs among the students, according to the questionnaire responses. It was found that for twelve of the

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fourteen cases, the effect of the case-study method was higher in the second year than in the fourth. Compared to the results obtained from studies on the impact of case study methods on the final grades obtained by students in subjects that were taught by means of other teaching methods and the case study method, we found the same trend in method effectiveness: higher efficiency of the method in the second year, slightly lower in the third year, and the fourth year was shown to render the lowest method effectiveness. This suggests that it is necessary to apply case study methods starting from the first year of study, which will give the maximum possible positive effect in the acquisition of practical clinical skills and abilities of students.

4. Discussion According to the classification of learning models by Joyce and Weil (1972), the case method performs functions similar to several learning models simultaneously. In particular, the Inductive Model (Hilda Taba) and the Concept Attainment (Jerome Bruner) promote the development of inductive academic reasoning and the construction of theories based on specific examples. The Advance Organisers’ Model (David Ausubel) helps to increase the efficiency of information processing, and the application of acquired knowledge in solving practical problems. Group Investigation (Herbert Thelon, John Dewey) and Social Inquiry (Byron Massialas, Benjamin Cox) develop the skills of democratic interaction between an individual and a group of individuals during academic research. Non-Directive Teaching (Carl Rogers) promotes the development of learning independence and, as a consequence, the development of selfunderstanding, self-discovery and self-recognition. The Classroom Meeting Model (William Glasser), in addition to self-understanding, stimulates the development of self-responsibility (Joyce & Weil, 1972). However, there is a discrepancy between the case method and similar but significantly different methods, such as problem-based and team-based learning (Donkin et al., 2021). The use of the case method has become even more appropriate and even an undeniable necessity during the 2020 pandemic. The forced transition to distance learning has become a challenge for medical institutions, which have to provide not only theoretical knowledge to future physicians, but also the practical skills needed for clinical practice (Wong, 2020). Very soon the case method was transformed into the online case method (Donkin et al., 2021). During the pandemic, for example, in Canada, all classes (lectures, discussions, case studies) in medical education institutions were replaced by distance learning classes using Internet platforms. Under such conditions, classes using case methods were converted into video conferences (Wong, 2020). Medical schools in Pakistan also used cases in remote training (Mukhtar et al., 2020). According to the research, in cases of distance learning the average score for subjects in which the case method was used increased by 48% compared to the scores of students who studied using other methods (Manalo et al., 2021). Research reports also confirm the positive impact of the use of case studies, coordinated remotely by clinicians, on the training of medical students and their learning outcomes (Suneja et al., 2020), and on the teaching of nursing students

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(Liang et al., 2020). According to Atwa et al. (2019), it was found in a study they conducted that 44% of students demonstrated improved performance through the use of a hybrid learning model that combined team learning and the use of case studies. The research reported here was the first comprehensive experimental study in the Ukraine aimed at establishing the impact of the case study method on the effectiveness of medical students’ practical skills. The study covered five medical HEIs. It was based on observation, and a comparison of the results of the final assessment of knowledge and skills. The study involved a survey of 117 students in three different years of study, who had considered more than 80 different clinical situations over three years. The study results showed a high level of effectiveness of the case method in the acquisition of practical skills and abilities of students (d>1 in the vast majority of cases). Using the case method as a research tool in this study, we confirmed the following: The application of the case method leads to the transition of students from reasoning that operates only on theoretical knowledge, to clinical reasoning based on their own experience (also see Orban et al., 2017). The results also showed that the use of the case method has the highest effect when it is introduced in the second year of medical education, in contrast to the introduction in the fourth year. This is evidenced by the obtained Cohen coefficients: d=1.0 in the second year and d=0.5 in the fourth year. This finding confirms that a good incentive for students of medical schools to acquire professional skills is the use of cases from the first days of study (Servant-Miklos, 2019). Acquainting students with the problems of patients from their first year of study allows them to understand the difference between their capabilities and the needs of patients. It also demonstrates the relevance of educational material and knowledge required in future to perform professional duties, and encourages the acquisition of the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities. The survey conducted among medical students in this study confirmed that the best results of the use of the case method are achieved in the second study year. However, fourth-year students also reported that case studies had a positive effect on students’ clinical experience during their studies. Other surveys in HEIs in the Ukraine, included surveys among medical students. In particular, an anonymous survey was conducted with 41 students majoring in Paediatrics and Children’s Infectious Diseases at the Higher State Education Institution, the Bukovynian State Medical University. This survey showed that the use of case-based teaching methods in medical HEIs can reduce the number of medical errors that may lead to death. The Department of Pedagogy and Psychology, Postgraduate Education of the Bogomolets National Medical University also uses the case study method. They consider it a synthesis of three methods, namely role play, discussion, and specific situations, and it is widely used to shape students’ clinical thinking (Kyrychok, 2016). Teachers of the Ukrainian Medical Dental Academy also regard it as a positive experience to use case study teaching methods along with other innovative technologies. In particular, it is effectively used at the Department of Internal Medicine during

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practical classes in the 4th and 6th years, at clinical and pathoanatomical conferences, and during internships (Skrypnyk et al., 2012). The case study method can be used in the development of professional and business communication, as shown by the example of the Medical College of Ukrainian Medical Dental Academy, Poltava (Bondar, 2018). It can also be used in teaching specialized subjects, as shown by teachers of the Department of Hospital Paediatrics of Zaporizhzhia State Medical University (Lezhenko et al., 2016). Kharkiv National Medical University is working at creating a general university database of clinical cases (Lopina & Zhuravlyova, 2018). Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University conducted studies in 2012-2013 at the Faculty of Pharmacy. These studies showed an increased rate of assimilation of educational material by students using case study methods, reduced number of errors in solving professional practical problems, and increased motivation to learn (Litvinova et al., 2017). In a study involving 170 students from Stanford School (Waliany et al., 2019), the experimental group was trained according to a specially designed programme with case studies. Results showed that the experimental group was more effective in diagnosing patients than control groups that followed the usual programmes. These examples are evidence of case studies having become a prerequisite for the education of competitive physicians. The features of the use of the case study method in medical education have been studied, and the advantages and disadvantages of its use have been analysed (Kyrychok, 2016). It was established that when considering specific cases, it is important to take into account the effect of the way in which information about the case is conveyed to or collected by the students, as this may influence the results of its application. It was found that the students who received information about a clinical case from live communication with the patient had the best learning outcomes. Students who received information from a video fared less well, while the least effective method of information transfer is through paper documents (Weidenbusch et al., 2019). At the same time, a good incentive for acquiring professional skills for students of medical education institutions is the use of cases from the first days of study in medical school (Servant-Miklos, 2019). Familiarization of students with the problems of patients from their first year of study allows them to understand the difference between their capabilities and the needs of patients, demonstrates the relevance of educational material and knowledge needed in the future to perform professional duties, and encourages the acquisition of the required knowledge, skills and abilities.

5. Conclusion The issue of finding and introducing methods that will provide medical students with not only a theoretical background but also practical clinical experience over the years of study is topical because of the need of the world’s population for qualified physicians. One way to achieve this is through case studies. This study proved the usefulness of using case studies to improve students’ practical skills, and, in particular, to identify clinical cases, plan examinations, examine patients, interact with patients and colleagues, diagnose, plan treatment and make

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predictions. The case study method promotes the acquisition of theoretical knowledge, as was revealed in the final assessment. The positive impact of using clinical cases on attaining learning outcomes was proven, and a survey of medical students showed that the case method helped students master the practical skills they need to perform their professional duties. The results of this study will be useful for educators who are looking for effective teaching methods aimed at supporting students to gain practical experience during their study years, as well as for scholars who study the impact of interactive teaching methods on the acquisition of competencies by medical students. A need exists to create a national database of case studies that contains a sufficient number of clinical situations and covers the maximum topics and subjects in order to ensure that teachers do no compose case studies by themselves, because this difficult process may ensue in them choosing other, less effective, teaching methods.

6. References Afsouran, N. R., Charkhabi, M., Siadat, S. A., Hoveida, R., Oreyzi, H. R., & Thornton III, G. C. (2018). Case-method teaching: Advantages and disadvantages in organizational training. Journal of Management Development, 37, 711-720. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMD-10-2017-0324 Ali, M., Han, S. C., Bilal, H. S. M., Lee, S., Kang, M. J. Y., Kang, B. H., Razzaq, M. A., & Amin, M. B. (2018). iCBLS: An interactive case-based learning system for medical education. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 109, 55-69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2017.11.004 Atwa, S., Gauci-Mansour, V. J., Thomson, R., & Hegazi, I. (2019). Team-based and casebased learning: A hybrid pedagogy model enhancing students’ academic performance and experiences at first-year tertiary level. The Australian Educational Researcher, 46(1), 93-112. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-018-0282-y Bayona, J. A., & Castañeda, D. I. (2017). Influence of personality and motivation on case method teaching. The International Journal of Management Education, 15(3), 409-428. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2017.07.002 Bondar, N. V. (2018). Application of case-study in language classes in medical schools. In I. Y. Hubenko, O. T. Shevchenko, P. O. Hayday & V. D. Konoba (Eds), AllUkrainian scientific and methodical Internet conference dedicated to the founding day of the educational institution "Cherkasy Medical Academy" (pp. 28-31). Cherkasy Medical Academy. Chamala, S., Maness, H. T., Brown, L., Adams, C. B., Lamba, J. K., & Cogle, C. R. (2021). Building a precision oncology workforce by multidisciplinary and case-based learning. BMC Medical Education, 21, Art. 75. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909021-02500-6 Donkin, R., Yule, H., & Fyfe, T. (2021). Application of online case-based learning in pre-clinical medical education: A scoping review protocol. Australia: University of the Sunshine Coast. Edenhammar, C. (2017). The dynamics of the case method: A comparative study. Diva Portal. https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1064011/FULLTEXT01.pdf Eid, A., & Quinn, D. (2017). Factors predicting training transfer in health professionals participating in quality improvement educational interventions. BMC Medical Education, 17, Art. 26. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-017-0866-7 Gartmeier, M., Pfurtscheller, T., Hapfelmeier, A., Grünewald, M., Häusler, J., Seidel, T., & Berberat, P. O. (2019). Teacher questions and student responses in case-based

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education using the case method: A qualitative observational study. BMC Medical Education, 17, Art. 158. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-017-1002-4 Pavlyshyn, H. A, Bihuniak, T. V., & Savaryn, T. V. (2015). Case method of teaching in medical education. Medical Education, 3, 67-69. Sandelowsky, H., Krakau, I., Modin, S., Ställberg, B., Johansson, S. E. & Nager, A. (2018). Effectiveness of traditional lectures and case methods in Swedish general practitioners’ continuing medical education about COPD: A cluster randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open, 8(8), e021982. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018021982 Sayre, J. W., Toklu, H. Z., Ye, F., Mazza, J., & Yale, S. (2017). Case reports, case series: From clinical practice to evidence-based medicine in graduate medical education. Cureus, 9(8), e1546. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.1546 Servant-Miklos, V. F. (2019). The Harvard connection: How the case method spawned problem-based learning at McMaster University. Health Professions Education, 5(3), 163-171.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hpe.2018.07.004 Skrypnyk, I. M., Sorokina, S. I., Shevchenko, T. I., Kudrya, I. P., & Shaposhnyk, O. A. (2012). Case method as an example of interactive teaching of medical students to clinical disciplines. Chelpanov’ Psychological and Pedagogical Reading, 1(2012), 372377. Suneja, S., Gangopadhyay, S., & Kaur, C. (2020). Efforts to cope with CBME in COVID‐19 era to teach biochemistry in medical college. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 48(6), 670-674. http://doi.org/10.1002/bmb.21469 Tsekhmister, I. V., Daniliuk, I. V., Rodina, N. V., Biron, B. V., & Semeniuk, N. S. (2019). Developing a stress reaction inventory for eye care workers. Oftalmologicheskii Zhurnal, 1, 39-45. http://doi.org/10.31288/oftalmolzh201913945 Turk, B., Ertl, S., Wong, G., Wadowski, P. P., & Löffler-Stastka, H. (2019). Does case-based blended-learning expedite the transfer of declarative knowledge to procedural knowledge in practice? BMC Medical Education, 19, Art 447. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-019-1884-4 Vasylieva, N. (2020). Lecturing in clinical medical education. Sciences of Europe, 52(4), 52. Waliany, S., Caceres, W., Merrell, S. B., Thadaney, S., Johnstone, N., & Osterberg, L. (2019). Preclinical curriculum of prospective case-based teaching with faculty-and student-blinded approach. BMC Medical Education, 19, Art. 31. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-019-1453-x Wei, F., Sun, Q., Qin, Z., Zhuang, H., Jiang, G., & Wu, X. (2021). Application and practice of a step-by-step method combined with case-based learning in Chinese otoendoscopy education. BMC Medical Education, 21, Art. 89. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-021-02513-1 Weidenbusch, M., Lenzer, B., Sailer, M., Strobel, C., Kunisch, R., Kiesewetter, J., Fischer, M. R., & Zottmann, J. M. (2019). Can clinical case discussions foster clinical reasoning skills in undergraduate medical education? A randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open, 9(9), e025973. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-025973 Wong, R. Y. (2020). Medical education during COVID-19: Lessons from a pandemic. British Columbia Medical Journal, 62(5), 170-171. Zakaliuzhnyi, V. M. (2019). Case method and its application in the process of teaching physics. Scientific Bulletin of the Kyiv Pedagogical Drahomanov University, Series 5, 77, 65-80. Zarnadze, S., Zarnadze, I., Baramidze, L., Sikharulidze, Z., Tabidze, D., & Bakradze, T. (2018). Problem-based and case-study methodology in medical education. European Scientific Journal, 14(August Special), 120-128. https://doi.org/10.19044/esj.2018.c5p9

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 192-209, July 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.7.11 Received Apr 17, 2021; Revised Jul 04, 2021; Accepted Jul 31, 2021

Utilizing the Expectancy Value Theory to Predict Lecturer Motivation to Apply Culturally Responsive Pedagogies in Universities in Botswana Norman Rudhumbu and Elize du Plessis University of South Africa, College of Education, Pretoria, South Africa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2536-5511 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4299-4632 Abstract. The expectancy value theory (EVT) has been used in many studies to predict the motivation processes of individuals with regard to how they think and act in particular ways. Critical to how individuals think and act are the three elements of the EVT, namely the expectancy cognition (expectancy), instrumentality cognition (instrumentality) and valence. This study therefore seeks to establish whether the EVT could be used to predict and explain the motivation of lecturers to apply culturally responsive pedagogies (CRPs) in the teaching of culturally heterogeneous classes in universities in Botswana. Using a sample of 291 lecturers from three selected universities, the study employed a structured questionnaire for data collection. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used for data purification. Structural equation modelling (SEM) using AMOS version 22 was used for data analysis. The study established that the expectancy (β = .419; p < .001) and instrumentality (β = .315; p < .001) cognitions of lecturers as well as the valence (β = .268; p < .001) had a significant influence on the motivation of lecturers to apply CRPs in the teaching of culturally heterogeneous classes in universities. These results also showed significant relationships between expectancy cognition and valence (β = .316; p < .001) and also between instrumentality cognition and valence (β = .301; p < .001). These results therefore demonstrate that the EVT could be used to predict the motivation of lecturers in universities to apply CRPs in their teaching of culturally diverse university students. Keywords: cultural diversity; culturally responsive pedagogies; expectancy cognition; expectancy value theory; instrumentality cognition

1. Introduction Various studies have alluded to the critical role of culturally responsive pedagogies and multicultural competences in today’s culturally heterogeneous university students (Maasum et al., 2014; Brown et al., 2018; Dorrington & Guy,

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2018). The concept of culture in particular has been a subject of contestation in terms of how it influences the behaviour of individuals regarding how they think and act (Brown & Crippen, 2017; Brown, 2014). As a “dynamic system of social values, cognitive codes, behavioural standards, worldviews, and beliefs used to give order and meaning to our ways of life as well as that of others” (Gay, 2018, p.8), culture is viewed as critical for the effective teaching of culturally diverse students in universities (Nagasawa, 2020). A study by Diller and Mouler (2005) found that for lecturers to teach multicultural groups of students effectively, they need to have multicultural competences; that is, an awareness of the knowledge, skills and personal attributes needed to teach in a culturally diverse classroom environment. This is in line with results of separate studies by Howe et al. (2021) and Wrench and Garrett (2020) which found that curricula and teaching strategies that fail to utilize the cultural resources of students fail to provide critical experiences for students to benefit from teaching and learning processes. This also means that lecturers need to have a clear understanding of the different cultures in their classrooms other than their own cultures so that they are able to use teaching approaches that acknowledge and respond to these cultural differences. The teaching strategies that are employed to teach culturally heterogeneous students are referred to as culturally responsive pedagogies (Brown et al., 2018). Various studies and the extant literature allude to the fact that the use of CRPs in the teaching of university students who are culturally diverse is still a new phenomenon within the collection of pedagogical strategies used in universities (Brown et al., 2018; Dorrington & Guy, 2018). Therefore research to establish whether lecturers in universities apply such a pedagogical approach is critical, especially considering how diverse the university student body has become globally. This study therefore wishes to establish whether the EVT could be used to predict and explain lecturer motivation to apply CRPs in the teaching of culturally heterogeneous university students in Botswana. To achieve this aim, the study was guided by the following research questions: • What are the dimensions of the EVT that can be used to predict and explain lecturer motivation to apply CRPs in universities? • To what extent does the expectancy cognition of lecturers influence their motivation to apply CRPs in the teaching of students of diverse cultural backgrounds in universities? • How significantly does valence influence lecturer motivation to apply CRPs in the teaching of students of diverse cultural backgrounds in universities? • To what extent does the instrumentality cognition of lecturers influence their motivation to apply CRPs in the teaching of students of diverse cultural backgrounds in universities?

2. Literature review 2.1. Understanding culture Various studies allude to the important role of culture in student learning and social adjustment in universities, hence the need for lecturers in universities to

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use CRPs to teach culturally diverse students. Hitchcock (2009, p.2) defines culture as “the shared learned meanings and behaviours derived from living within a particular life activity”. Culture therefore “encompasses various aspects that include customs and values, traditions, communication, attitudes, beliefs, learning styles, rituals, behaviours and language that different cultural groups give priority to and that have a direct impact on teaching and learning” (Maasum et al., 2014, p.19). Adding to the above definitions, Dorrington and Guy (2018, p.9) define culture as “a combination of thoughts, feelings, attitudes, behaviour patterns and practices that are shared by social groupings”. In the context of lecturers in universities therefore it is necessary for them to have adequate knowledge of the different cultures in the classrooms in order to be able to provide learning experiences that are both meaningful and engaging to students. Maasum et al. (2014) argue therefore that culture affects students’ learning motivation, gender socialization, aspiration, task performance, as well as ways of interaction in the classroom. In the context of schools therefore culture encompasses broad notions, similarities and differences in the learning needs of students that are reflected in the students’ multiple social identities and ways of knowing and viewing the world (Howe et al., 2021). 2.2 The history and concept of culturally responsive pedagogies The history of CRPs can be traced back to the 1970s when a need arose for the development of an instructional strategy that caters for the multicultural educational needs of students (Forbes, 1973; Lardson-Billing, 1995). The need for multicultural education was meant to stimulate educators to come up with teaching strategies that accepted and affirmed the pluralism that students, their communities and teachers reflect (Dorrington & Guy, 2018; Hutchison & McAlister-Shields, 2020; Richardson, 2018). CRPs thus emerged as important teaching approaches that ensure inclusivity using culture as a cognitive scaffold (Norman, 2020; Cho, 2017; Kahu & Nelson, 2018; Acquah & Sezlei, 2020). A number of definitions have been used to enhance our understanding of CRPs. Gay (2018) defined CRPs as teaching approaches that draw on the cultural backgrounds and knowledge of students as assets in the classrooms. These cultural resources are used during the application of CRPs to “construct curriculum and pedagogic practices that promote learning within the context of and mediated by culture” (Wrench & Garrett, 2020, p.7). According to studies by Morrison et al. (2019) and Warren (2018), this means that CRPs signpost approaches to teaching and learning that draw on the cultural resources of students to enhance learning as well as reducing learning gaps among students from diverse cultures. In their study, Howe et al. (2021) also found that the application of CRPs in universities addresses issues of student achievement and cultural identity while at the same time providing the means to deal with inequality in schooling. The use of CRPs has long been associated with several positive academic outcomes for students that include improved academic performance, attitudes towards schooling and sense of self-awareness (Brown et al., 2018; Dreyfus, 2019; Gay, 2018). Effective implementation of CRPs therefore requires lecturers in universities who demonstrate multicultural competence (Norman, 2020; Lawrence, 2020). Lecturers who are multiculturally aware have (i) a full and

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clear understanding of their students’ diverse cultures, (ii) knowledge of what each of the cultures considers learning, knowledge and how to learn, and (iii) the ability to design and implement teaching strategies that ensure learning experiences are not only relevant but also effective for each of the students (Brown et al., 2018; Richardson, 2018; Paris, 2012). Separate studies by Dorrington and Guy (2018) and Tarasawa (2018) found that lecturer responsiveness during the use of CRPs when teaching culturally diverse students is evidenced through the lecturers’ willingness to listen to and learn from all culturally diverse students. Such learning could be from what students talk about, bring to the classroom, and demonstrate in the classroom. Another study by Dreyfus (2019) found that CRPs engage students in culturally mediated learning and meaning making. Other studies by Hsiao (2015), Weaven and Clifford (2015) and Brockenbrough (2016) found that CRPs make learning contribute positively to meaning construction during the learning process because students mine their learning experiences from within their cultural backgrounds. A study by Cavendish et al. (2017) also found that lecturers who engage their students through the use of CRPs contribute to improved student attendance and completion rates, students’ feelings of belonging and responsibility, as well as improved student disciplinary records.

3. Theoretical and conceptual framework informing hypotheses formulation This study was informed by the EVT which is a theoretical framework developed by Victor Vroom (1964) and based on cognition and thought processes that deal with how individuals engage in conscious decision making to explain the motivation to behave in certain ways (Gemeda & Tynjala, 2015; Bond & Bedenlier, 2019; Gopalan et al., 2020). This theory helps us to understand how and why individuals continuously make evaluations of the outcomes of their actions or behaviours and subjectively assess the likelihood that each of their possible actions can lead to a multiplicity of outcomes (Chen et al., 2012; De Simone, 2015; Bond & Bedenlier, 2019). In other words, the EVT argues that people will be motivated to behave in a certain way or perform at a certain level if they believe that a substantial effort effort will result in good performance and good performance will lead to desired rewards. In the context of the current study, the model shows that lecturers in universities should be motivated to apply CRPs when teaching culturally diverse students in universities if “they believe that use of CRPs will lead to effective teaching that will eventually result in improved performance by their students” (De Simone, 2015, p3). In a nutshell, the EVT helps us to understand why people select certain behaviours over the others based on an expectation of achieving the desired results. Studies by Gopalan et al. (2020) and Redmond (2015) found that the degree of motivation and effort that individuals put into their behaviour depends on three perceptual relationships or dimensions, namely expectancy (E), instrumentality (I) and valence (V). The interaction among these three key elements of the EVT is summarised in the algebraic equation: Motivation = E x I x V. The above relationship therefore shows that all the three dimensions of the EVT need to be present for lecturers in universities to be motivated to apply CRPs

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when teaching. This relationship implies that lecturers in universities can be motivated to use CRPs in their teaching of culturally heterogeneous students if they believe that they have the resources and the perceived control to be able to use CRPs. After the initial assessment, the lecturers will then assess whether their teaching performance using CRPs will lead to their obtaining positive outcomes, eventually to being rewarded and whether those rewards will meet their expectations. Based on the theoretical framework and literature review, a research model (Figure 1) was developed for the current study. Expectancy cognition (EC) H1 H2

Valence (VA)

CRP application (CA)

Instrumentality cognition (IC)

Figure 1: Research model for the application of CRPs 3.1. Expectancy cognition Expectancy cognition is defined as “an individual’s estimate of the probability that job-related effort will result in a given level of performance” (Gopalan et al., 2020, p.1). If a person estimates that there will not be any chance that his or her effort will result in a certain or expected level of performance, then the motivation to perform the task will be zero and vice versa (Redmond, 2015; De Simone, 2015; Penk & Schipolowski, 2015). Expectancy cognition therefore is a subjective evaluation of the degree of effort actually related to the expected performance (Bond & Bedenlier, 2019; Gemeda & Tynjala, 2015). Studies by Thompson (2020) and De Simone (2015) found that the expectancy cognition of a person is influenced by factors that include confidence, self-efficacy, support from colleagues, the availability of information about the activities to be done, and the availability of resources. In the context of the current study, lecturers’ estimation of the probability of successfully teaching culturally diverse students using CRPs will either motivate them to apply CRPs for teaching or not. If lecturers believe that the effort they put into applying CRPs for teaching culturally diverse students will lead to the lecturers’ improved performance levels (expectancy cognition) when teaching culturally diverse students, the lecturers will be motivated to apply CRPs in their teaching (Redmond, 2015). A study by Chen et al. (2012) also found a significant relationship between the amount of effort an individual is willing to expend and the level of performance

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that they expect to result from the effort. With reference to the current study, lecturers in universities can therefore be motivated to expend more effort in applying CRPs to teach culturally diverse students if they believe the necessary personal and external conditions allow them to perform their work to expected levels of performance. Also, a study by Fagbohungbe (2012) found that there was a significant relationship between valence and expectancy cognition. The above therefore means that once lecturers in universities feel that the effort they put in the application of CRPs in the teaching of culturally heterogeneous students can lead to their teaching better and being well rewarded, they will be motivated to teach using CRPs. H1: The expectancy cognition of lecturers significantly influences their motivation to apply CRPs in the teaching of students of diverse cultural backgrounds in universities. H2: The expectancy cognition of lecturers significantly influences valence in the teaching of students of diverse cultural backgrounds in universities. 3.2. Instrumentality cognition The instrumentality cognition is defined as “an individual’s estimate of the probability that a certain level of performance will result in a certain quality of outcome” (De Simone, 2015, p.5). It is also defined as “an individual’s judgement of the probability that a given level of achieved task performance will lead to various work outcomes” (Penk & Schipolowski, 2015, p.1). In summary, the instrumentality cognition of an individual therefore is the belief that if he or she meets certain performance expectations, then valuable rewards will follow (Gemeda & Tynjala, 2015). In light of the above definitions of instrumentality cognition, it can be inferred that if lecturers in universities realise that the use of CRPs to teach culturally diverse students will produce positive outcomes, the lecturers will almost always be motivated to apply the CRPs. A study by Lawler et al. (2009) found significant relationships between performance and outcomes and also between outcomes and valence. Their study (Lawler et al., 2009) further found that the reward of a positive outcome is only significant if individuals view the rewarding process as being transparent, have trust in the reward givers, and have an understanding of the rewarding system (criteria for rewarding). A study by Gemeda and Tynjala (2015) also found that the quality of a performance (instrumentality) has a significant influence on the quality of a reward (valence). H3: The instrumentality cognition of lecturers significantly influences valence in the application of CRPs to teach students of diverse cultural backgrounds in universities. H4: The instrumentality cognition of lecturers significantly influences their motivation to apply CRPs to teach students of diverse cultural backgrounds in universities. 3.3. Valence Valence relates to the value an individual attaches to a reward of an outcome based on needs, goals, values, and sources of motivation (Redmond, 2010). This suggests that valence is the perceived value lecturers assign to the outcomes of their effort after applying CRPs to teach culturally diverse university students. Tinsley (2016) defines valence as the value or desirability of the expected outcome of an effort while Ernst (2014) defines it as the degree of strength of a person’s attraction to an outcome. This also suggests that for valence to be

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viewed as positive or valuable, the lecturer would have attained, for example, improved academic performance of students as an outcome of using CRPs. Lecturers who therefore believe that teaching students using CRPs will result in effective teaching which will lead to their being recognized or promoted will be motivated to apply CRPs every time when teaching culturally diverse students. A study by Tinsley (2016) found that there is a significant relationship between the value individuals assign to the reward of what is achieved and the quality of the outcome. This means that if lecturers believe that the reward given matches the outcome achieved as a result of the use of CRPs to teach students, the lecturers will value the reward more as they will feel that they have earned it and will be motivated to always use CRPs when teaching culturally diverse students. H3: Valence significantly influences the motivation of lecturers in universities to apply CRPs in the teaching of students of diverse cultural backgrounds in universities.

4. Materials and methods 4.1. Research design and sampling A descriptive research design that employed a structured questionnaire to collect data on the use of CRPs by university lecturers was employed in the study. In addition, a stratified random sampling approach was used to select a sample of 291 lecturers from a lecturer population of 1209 from three universities. The study used the sample size table developed by the Research Advisors (2006) at a 95% confidence level and a 5% margin of error to determine the sample size for this study. The individual sample sizes for each of the three universities were as follows: U1 = 90, U2 = 107 and U3 = 94 lecturers. For data collection procedures, 291 questionnaires were administered through handdelivery to the lecturers (since this was during the pre-COVID-19 lockdown period). Offices of Deans of Faculties were used to facilitate the administration of the questionnaires to the selected lecturers in each of the universities. A total 169 completed questionnaires were returned, giving a rate of return of 58.1% which was considered adequate enough to produce reliable results. Demographic profiles of respondents are shown in Table 1. Table 1: Analysis of lecturer demographic factors Factors Age

Gender Educational level

Teaching experience

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% 15 47 38 61 39 53 41 6 21 43 36

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The results in Table 1 show that most of the lecturers (62%) were 40 years old and younger, indicating that universities in Botswana are now populated by a relatively young group of lecturers. There are still gender imbalances in the Botswanan university teaching staff as most of the lecturers (61%) are male. The majority of the lecturers (53%) have a master’s degree. Furthermore, most of the lecturers (64%) have 20 years or less of teaching experience which resonates with the fact that most of the lecturers are 40 years old or younger. 4.2. Instrument development A self-constructed structured questionnaire with four sections was used for data collection in the study. This questionnaire was developed by the researchers based on the reviewed literature and the theoretical framework. The 30-item questionnaire comprised the following four sections and items: Expectancy cognition (EC) – 11 items, instrumentality cognition (IC) – 8 items, valence (VA) – 6 items, and lecturer motivation to apply CRPs (CA) – 5 items. The questionnaire used a five-point Likert scale ranging from Strongly agree (SA-5), Agree (A-4) and Neutral (N-3) to Disagree (DA-2) and Strongly disagree (SDA1).

5. Results The Software Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24 was used for data analysis. For data cleansing confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used. Structural equation modelling (SEM) that uses AMOS version 22 was used to test the relationship among the three predictor variables, namely EC, IC and VA and the criterion variable CA. In the second test, the SEM was used to establish the relationship between the two predictor variables, namely EC and IC and the criterion variable VA. 5.1. Measurement model assessment The researchers validated the data using multiple tools that included a measurement of internal consistency reliability, content validity, construct validity, convergent validity, discriminant validity and a structural model. For the measurement of internal consistency reliability, the researchers used the Cronbach’s alpha of each construct. The results in Table 2 show that for each construct, the α values ranged between .729 and .835 while the CR values ranged between .833 and .915, thereby satisfying the minimum requirement of CR > .06 for internal consistency reliability (Kawakami et al., 2020; Gravesande et al., 2019), hence demonstrating the presence of adequate internal consistency reliability in the data. Content validity in the study was assured through a rigorous literature review relating to all three constructs (Pallant, 2016). The construct validity and discriminant validity were assessed using CFA (Table 2). All λ values range between .704 and .869 (Table 2), thereby satisfying the minimum requirement for construct validity of λ > .06 (Bagozzi & Yi, 1988), hence confirming the presence of adequate construct validity. Also, to measure convergent validity, values of λ, CR and AVE were used. The results in Table 2 also show that all the values of λ > .6, all the values of CR > .6 and the values of AVE > .6 satisfy the minimum requirements for convergent validity, hence demonstrating the presence of adequate convergent validity.

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Average Variance Extracted (AVE)

.731

Composite Reliability (CR)

EC2: I find the performance of my students improves when teaching them using CRPs. EC3: I am always provided with adequate and appropriate teaching resources to apply CRPs. EC5: My level of motivation is always high when applying CRPs. EC6: The support I get from my peers always helps me to improve my application of CRPs. EC7: My knowledge of the different cultures in my class helps me to improve how I apply CRPs effectively when teaching culturally diverse students. EC8: I always demonstrate a high sense of self-efficacy when applying CRPs to teach culturally diverse students. EC10: I am always eager to apply CRPs to improve the performance of my culturally diverse students. IC1: My performance in the application of CRPs always helps me to achieve better results when teaching culturally diverse students. IC3: Achieving positive outcomes when applying CRPs means a lot to me. IC4: I am always able to make a good judgement of whether my application of CRPs will lead to positive student outcomes. IC5: I would rather not use CRPs to teach culturally diverse students because the outcomes I obtain in terms of student performance do not always match the quality of my teaching performance. IC6: Teaching culturally diverse students using CRPs is very personally satisfying with regard to the quality of outcomes I always achieve. VA1: The rewards I obtain after successfully applying CRPs to teach culturally diverse students mean a lot to me. VA3: I feel adequately rewarded when I successfully use CRP

Cronbach’ s alpha α

Standardized loadings (λ)

Model Constructs

Table 2: Confirmatory factor analysis results (λ, CR and AVE) Construct Items

.781

.860

.611

.729

.833

.647

.835

.915

.602

.805

.812 .744

.783

.719

.854 .747

.704 .761

.762

.741

.869

.815

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VA4: I always want to see that the outcomes of my teaching performance using CRPs lead to a satisfying reward VA6: I find rewards I obtain after successfully using CRPs to teach culturally diverse students to be important in motivating me to always apply CRPs in my teaching. CA1: Using CRPs to teach students of different cultural backgrounds is the right thing to do. CA3: Using CRPs to teach students of different cultural backgrounds is a very tiring process. CA4: Using CRPs to teach students of different cultural backgrounds requires a great deal of preparation. CA6: I received training on the use of CRPs to teach students of different cultural backgrounds.

.763

.791

.805

.744

.859

.614

.817

.744

.851

A test of discriminant validity of scale items is shown in Table 3. AVE values (bold diagonal values) and inter-construct correlations were compared to demonstrate the discriminant validity of scale items. The results of the study show that the AVE values for each of the constructs were higher than the vertical correlations of the variables (inter-construct correlations), thereby confirming the presence of discriminant validity (Hair et al., 2017). Table 3: Measurement of discriminant validity Constructs CA .681 Motivation to apply CRPs (CA) Expectancy cognition (EC) .433** Instrumentality cognition (IC) .391** Valence (VA) .304** *Sig. p < .05 (two-tailed), **Sig. p < .01(two-tailed)

.647 .213** .248**

.602 .382*

.614

Bold diagonal values represent values of AVE for each construct

5.2. Structural model assessment Researchers employed a SEM approach using AMOS version 22 to evaluate the structural properties of the model. The goodness-of-fit metrics that were used for the evaluation were the following: CMIN/degrees of freedom (χ2/df), goodness of fit index (GFI), adjusted goodness-of-fit index (AGFI), normed fit index (NFI), Tucker-Lewis index (TLI), comparative fit index (CFI), and the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) (Kline, 2005; Hooper et al., 2008; Hu & Bentler, 1999; Byrne, 1998) (Table 4). The results in Table 4 show that the modified measurement assessment indices satisfied the minimum requirements for model fit, thereby demonstrating overall model fit (Hu & Bentler, 1999; Kline, 2005; Reisinger & Mavondo, 2007).

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Table 4: Measurement model assessment using model fit indices; Model fit measures Absolute fit measures

Incremental fit measures

Parsimonious fit measures

Model fit indices χ2/df

Initial measurement model 1.725

Modified measurement model 1.933

Recommended values

GFI

.865

.971

≥.950

AGFI

.850

.943

≥.900

NFI

.961

.979

≥.950

TLI

.958

.980

≥.950

CFI

.916

.930

≥.900

RMSEA

.0425

.0472

<.080

≤3.000

Sources

Hu and Bentler (1999); Reisinger and Mavondo (2007) Hu and Bentler (1999); Reisinger and Mavondo (2007) Hu and Bentler (1999); Reisinger and Mavondo (2007) Hu and Bentler (1999); Reisinger and Mavondo (2007) Reisinger and Mavondo (2007); Hu and Bentler (1999); Kline (2005) Reisinger and Mavondo (2007); Hu and Bentler (1999); Kline (2005) Hu and Bentler (1999); Reisinger and Mavondo (2007)

5.3. Hypotheses testing The relationships between predictor variables, namely expectancy cognition (EC), instrumentality cognition (IC) and valence (VA) and the dependent variable, namely lecturer motivation to apply CRPs (CA) was assessed. The relationship between expectancy cognition and valence as well as between instrumentality cognition and valence was also tested. The results in Table 5 and in the path coefficient diagram (Figure 2) show that the hypothesised relationships between expectancy cognition and lecturer motivation to apply CRPs (H1), expectancy cognition and valence (H2), instrumentality cognition and valence (H3) were all supported. The results further show that the hypothesized relationship between the instrumentality cognition and lecturer motivation to application of CRPs (H4) as well as the relationship between valence of rewards associated with the application of CRPs and lecturer motivation to apply CRPs (H5) were also supported.

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The results in Table 5 show the explanatory power of the latent variables as follows: EC(51%), IC(44%), VA(37%), and CA (69%), with EC explaining the highest variance and VA the lowest variance on the CA of lecturers to apply CRPs. The model as a whole explains 69 % of the variance in application of CRPs in universities. Table 5: Test of hypotheses (H1-H5) Hypotheses

SR Wa .316

CRb

Decision

Hypothesized relationships CA EC

3.714

***

Supported

.419

4.025

***

Supported

.301

3.725

*** Supported

.268

3.277

***

Supported

H5 CA VA .315 2.661 *** Significant at ***p < .001; EC(R2=.51); IC(R2=.44); VA(R2=.37); CA(R2=.69). a. SRW – standardized regression weight b. CR – critical ratio

Supported

Figure 2: Path coefficient of the research

6. Discussion The main goal of the study was to determine whether the expectancy value theory (EVT) could be used to predict and explain the motivation by lecturers in universities to apply CRPs. The theory argues that the motivation of individuals to think and behave in a certain way is motivated and mediated by three key dimensions of the EVT, namely expectancy cognition, instrumentality cognition, and valence. These were used to demonstrate the efficacy of the EVT to predict and explain the lecturers in universities’ motivation to apply CRPs.

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It was shown in the study that the expectancy cognition of lecturers significantly influenced the motivation of lecturers in universities to use CRPs to teach students of diverse cultural backgrounds. These results suggest that if lecturers believe that if they put more effort in the application of CRPs in the teaching of students of diverse cultural backgrounds, they will achieve positive outcomes (expectancy cognition), then such lecturers will apply CRPs every time they teach students of diverse cultural backgrounds in universities. Lecturers in universities therefore need to feel that effective teaching on their part will lead to higher levels of performance on the part of students from their efforts in applying CRPs for them to be motivated to do so. This confirms the findings of previous studies by Chen et al. (2012) and Redmond (2015) which found that there is a significant relationship between the amount of effort an individual is willing to expend and the level of performance expected to result from the effort. It further emerged from the study that valence significantly influences the motivation of lecturers to apply CRPs during the teaching of culturally diverse university students. These results suggest that the quality of rewards that lecturers expect to achieve after successfully applying CRPs is a critical predictor of their level of motivation to apply CRPs when teaching culturally diverse students in universities. These results confirm the findings of earlier studies that found that there was a significant relationship between valence and performance of a task. A study by Chang (2005) found that if a reward meets the needs of the individual, that is, if it is of significant value to an individual, based on the outcome achieved, that reward will lead to motivation to either continue with the good performance or to perform better in future. In the context of the current study, if a lecturer is promoted, for example, after successfully using CRPs to improve the academic performance of culturally diverse students, such a lecturer would be motivated to continue using the CRPs when teaching such students. The study also found that the instrumentality cognition of lecturers significantly influenced their motivation to apply CRPs in teaching students of diverse cultural backgrounds in universities. These results suggest that lecturers who believe that if they use CRPs they will achieve an outcome which will result in a reward, will be motivated to apply CRPs every time in their teaching of students of diverse cultural backgrounds. In the context of the current study, if lecturers feel that the application of CRPs will enable them to effectively teach their students which in turn will lead to positive outcomes and eventually to getting rewards such as promotion or other forms of recognition that meet their expectations, those lecturers will be motivated to use CRPs to teach their students. These results confirm findings of earlier studies. A study by De Simone (2015) found that an individual who believes that a good performance will lead to positive outcomes, resulting in being rewarded, is always motivated to demonstrate that level of performance. In the context of this study, lecturers will always demonstrate motivation to apply CRPs in their teaching if they believe that the successful application of CRPs will lead to positive outcomes such as high academic performance by students.

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Finally, it also emerged from this study that the both expectancy and instrumentality cognitions of lecturers have a significant influence on how lecturers assign value (valence) to the rewards they achieve after successfully applying CRPs in their teaching. This suggests that expectations of positive performance levels (expectancy cognition) by both lecturers and students as well as expectations of positive outcomes (instrumentality cognition) such as rewards by lecturers after using CRPs to teach students of diverse cultural backgrounds determine how much value the lecturers assign to the rewards they receive after successfully applying CRPs. This further suggests that when lecturers put a great deal of effort into applying CRPs, they expect to achieve high levels of performance and also receive meaningful rewards that match the performance otherwise they will not be motivated to apply CRPs in future These results confirm the findings of past studies. A study by Fagbohungbe (2012) found that there is a significant relationship between valence and both expectancy and instrumentality cognitions of lecturers. Another study by Madaus and Russell (2010) found that once individuals feel that they are likely to perform at higher levels and also expect to get rewards of value (valence) for their efforts, they are likely to engage in that behaviour. A study by De Simone (2015) also found that if individuals believe that a good performance will result in positive rewards, they will always be motivated to demonstrate that level of performance.

7. Conclusions The study was meant to determine whether the EVT could be used to predict and explain the motivation of lecturers in universities to apply CRPs when teaching students of diverse cultural backgrounds. Based on the results of the study, it was observed that expectancy cognition, instrumentality cognition and valence significantly influenced the motivation of lecturers in universities to apply CRPs when teaching students of diverse cultural backgrounds. It was also observed that expectancy cognition as well as the instrumentality cognition of lecturers influenced the valence. Based on these observations, it was therefore concluded that that the EVT could be used to predict and explain the motivation of lecturers in universities to apply CRPs when teaching students of diverse cultural backgrounds. It was also concluded that the quality of rewards which lecturers receive after successfully using CRPs to teach culturally diverse students was important as a motivational factor in their application of CRPs by lecturers in universities.

8. Recommendations Based on the above conclusions, a number of recommendations were suggested to motivate lecturers in universities to apply CRPs when teaching students of diverse cultural backgrounds. First, universities need to ensure that adequate and appropriate resources are available for the lecturers to feel that they can achieve positive results when teaching using CRPs. Such resources could include the availability of relevant textbooks, technology and support. Second, periodic training of lecturers to re-skill or upskill them with modern CRP strategies is also important for lecturers to continue having high levels of motivation to apply CRPs when teaching culturally diverse students. Third, rewards that lecturers receive after successfully implementing CRPs when teaching culturally diverse students should always meet the expectations of the lecturers if they are

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to remain motivated to apply CRPs when teaching students of diverse cultural backgrounds. Finally, universities need to come up with policy guidelines on the use of CRPs in teaching university students whose populations have become highly heterogeneous in terms of cultural backgrounds.

9. Practical implications of the study Results of this study underwrite the critical importance of motivating lecturers in universities to always apply CRPs when teaching students of diverse cultural backgrounds. Motivated lecturers will go a long way in ensuring that the learning needs of students from diverse cultures are catered for, hence ensuring that students perform better academically. These results also have implications for theory with regard to the contribution of the study to the body of knowledge on CRPs as well as for policy in terms of advocating for policy guidelines in universities on the teaching of students of diverse cultural backgrounds.

10. Limitations of the study The study only used public universities in Botswana. Since there are currently around 10 universities in Botswana (public and private), the study may have perhaps mined more data if all these universities were used in the study. Future studies therefore could also seek to hear the voice of private universities with regard to the motivation of their lecturers to apply CRPs when teaching students of diverse cultural backgrounds.

11. Declarations Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all participants before the start of the study. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The researchers were given permission by their respective university research ethics boards to conduct the study. Availability of data and materials: There are no data issues to declare in this study. Conflicting interests: The authors declare no conflicting issues or interests in this study. Funding: The study has no funding issues or interests to declare. Methods: All research methods used in this study were in accordance with relevant research guidelines and regulations for conducting ethical research. Acknowledgement: The researchers wish to thank all lecturers who participated in this study.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 210-226, July 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.7.12 Received May 18, 2021; Revised Jul 04, 2021; Accepted Jul 31, 2021

The Brighter Side of Home Schooling for Children with Special Needs: Learning from COVID-19 Lockdown Rosna Vincent, R. Nalini and K. Krishnakumar Department of Social Work, Pondicherry University, Puducherry, India https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8509-8814 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2788-0672 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5254-9340

Abstract. COVID-19 has resulted in widespread social isolation, quarantines, and suspended academic activity. Children with special needs are socially, financially, and educationally impacted by dramatic changes to laws and restrictions put in place to curtail this devastating global pandemic. This study addresses the beneficial improvements that occurred in the lives of children with special needs during the quarantine period. It led to improved skills, better family dynamics, and an enhancement in technological expertise. Here, we use the case study approach. Twelve parents of children with special needs were selected from the Kozhikode district of Kerala, India. Convenient sampling methods were used for the selection of respondents. The data obtained from the twelve participants were scrutinized. The verbatims were coded with the QDA-Miner Software. Our findings indicate that the lockdown has reinforced family bonds; opened up spaces for homeschooling and digital learning; strengthened relationships with parents, communities, and teachers; and paved the way for technological adaptation. During lockdown, children with special needs continued to learn and build skills in a nurturing familial environment. Keywords: children with special needs; home-schooling; digital learning; COVID-19 lockdown

1. Introduction The infectious nature of COVID-19 has profoundly impacted daily life by imposing social distancing, quarantine, academic shutdown, and other precautions to prevent the spread of the pandemic (Viner et al., 2020). It instituted dramatic changes in everyday life that culminated in distinct realms, such as family, education, and work-life. Prior studies have shown that lockdowns harm the lives of students (Asbury et al., 2020; Bonal & González, 2020; Rajmil et al., 2021; Thakur, 2020). Access to programmes for people with ©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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disabilities has been seriously disrupted by COVID-19 restrictions (Jeste et al., 2020; Shetty et al., 2020). Sudden adoption of precautionary measures and other environmental constraints and pandemic-related contextual variables have a disproportionate effect on the lives of children with special needs. They have been socially, financially and educationally disadvantaged (Alexander et al., 2020; Narvekar Hemangi Narayan, 2020; WHO, 2020). As per the 2011 Census of India, about 26.8 million individuals are 'disabled' out of the 1.21 billion population in India, which is 2.21% of the total population of the country and the prevalence rate of children suffering from acute disability is 1.24% (Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 2016). COVID-19 instituted a new schedule for kids with special needs. They no longer have access to places they enjoyed, friends, playtime or the ability to participate in activities they aspired for. In children with special needs, these have led a sense of desperation (Provenzi et al., 2020; Unni, 2020). Further, because of their health-related limitations and failure to understand and obey prescribed infection control steps, children with special needs are at greater risk of exposure to COVID-19 (Cuypers et al., 2020; Juneja & Gupta, 2020). COVID-19 has also created a traumatic experience for parents of children with special needs, including physical and economic security; anxiety about the social isolation of children from peers and teachers. This left them anxious about the management, extent, and effectiveness of residential care (Aishworiya & Kang, 2020; Fontanesi et al., 2020). Sudden lockdown forced parents to play several roles at home (Rose et al., 2020); it urged them to synchronously be a coach, therapist, and caregiver. Many caretakers are in a dilemma because they are not aware of the methods and the application to produce the desired results (Dhiman et al., 2020). Nonetheless, the lockdown also had some positive outcomes in the lives of these children (Cahapay, 2020; Majoko & Dudu, 2020). For many, staying at home provided a sense of protection, allowed them to spend time in a relaxed manner, and was a necessity for maintaining a level of safety in the community (Bozdağ, 2020). It allowed families to bond together over more family time (Toquero, 2021). Our research assessed the beneficial changes that happened in the lives of these children, including improvements in skills, family relationships, and improved technical knowledge.

2. Literature Review Special education research has made a substantial contribution to knowledge and practice for all learners, not just to those with challenges (Vaughn & Swanson, 2015). Children with specific needs require more assistance, a personalized approach, and adapted lessons to continue learning at home throughout the COVID-19 phase (Narvekar, 2020). According to a study conducted among mothers of children with intellectual disabilities, some have spoken about the positive influence of the lockdown situations on their well-being and that of their child. However, most of the mothers have stated the opposite, suggesting that the impact of the lockdown was actually detrimental to their child's well-being and behaviour. The study

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further states that recent COVID-19 lockdown restrictions have resulted in children with intellectual disabilities and their caregivers having less access to educational, professional, and social support systems (Rogers et al., 2021). A study conducted in seven European countries found that many parents experienced a range of negative outcomes for themselves and their kids due to homeschooling, and a substantial number felt that homeschooling was lacking in quality, with schools providing insufficient support. In almost every country, contact with teachers was limited, leaving parents solely responsible for supervising the homeschooling of their children (Thorell et al., 2021). A study among Norwegian students reported that teachers offered less verbal input to pupils during homeschooling and offered a higher volume of written feedback compared to when they were in the classroom in the conventional school setting. In addition, low-achieving children exhibited lowered selfefficacy and a decreased willingness to make an effort, which will make it harder to change when schools reopen (Mælan et al., 2021). Cahapay (2020) offers a detailed look at how parents of autistic children homeeducate their offsprings in the COVID-19 period. The interviews of five parents were carried out using a mostly qualitative research approach. The findings of this study underscore the importance of different kinds of home-schooling. and sheds light on strategies to educate children with autism (Cahapay, 2020) A research study from Zimbabwe examined the techniques adopted by parents to educate their children with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during the COVID-19 period. The balancing and additional roles of parents and family members in children's home education helped to ease the changeover of children with ASD from school to habitual activities at home. An understanding of the new social dynamics of the COVID-19 era, as well as security precautions, were instilled in the children (Majoko & Dudu, 2020). Daulay (2021) calls for appropriate coping methods to assist mothers in easing the difficulties associated with adopting home education and the stress associated with parenting. The study found that the adoption of home schooling during the pandemic was less than ideal due to an increase in autistic children's maladaptive behaviours, low adaptability, the difficulty of caregiving, and rising negative emotions (Daulay, 2021).

3. Methodology 3.1. Research type The qualitative research approach and case study method were employed in this study. In-depth multi-faceted investigations of complicated issues in real-life settings are enabled by the case study approach , which was found to be ideal for this study as its objective was to explain the brighter side of home-based education due to lockdown for children with special needs. 3.2. Research participants A sample of twelve parents (eleven mothers and one father) of children with special needs was recruited from a special school in Kozhikode district, Kerala.

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Kerala State in southern India boasts the highest life expectancy, literacy, and low infant mortality rates in the third world while being one of the lowest per capita incomes. The convenient sampling technique was adopted for respondent selection. The procedure of case selection involved the selection of ‘Typical cases’, as identified by the researchers. The inclusion criteria of the participants were: having a child with special needs who was attending special school minimum four days in a week before the lockdown; internet and cell phone access; and staying with own child during the COVID-19 lockdown 3.3. Data gathering tools An open-ended semi-structured interview guide was used in this study. We developed the interview guide following on extensive review of the literature and from our field work experience. The interview guide was vetted by an expert in special education for scrutiny, and then the reframed questions were trial-tested on three parents. The trial interview allowed us to identify any gaps. The interview guide was further revised and was given to an expert in social work for further scrutiny. After incorporating final suggestions, the interview guide was employed for data collection. Data were collected from January to February 2021, when the number of active cases of COVID-19 declined in India and people were beginning to start a new normal life. This timeframe allowed the respondents to recollect the experiences of lockdown at home and enabled them to recognize the changes that have arisen in children with intellectual disabilities in the home setting. Due to COVID-19 limitations, individual interviews were performed by telephone. Telephonic interviews provide participants with the opportunity to communicate their feelings or thoughts about a phenomenon being investigated (Seidman, 2006). At least two telephone calls were made by the researcher, first to convey the intent of the present study and schedule a comfortable time for the interview. The second call was made to collect the required data for the study. Informed consent was obtained from all the subjects. Informed consent, anonymity, confidentiality, and the freedom of participants to withdraw from the study at any time were guaranteed to all the participants. Each interview, on average, lasted slightly more than an hour. The respondents were interviewed until data saturation was observed. By the twelfth interview, data saturation was reached and therefore data collection stopped. The information derived from the twelve participants was analyzed. The verbatims were coded with the QDA Miner Software, a computer application for mixed methods and qualitative data analysis developed by Provalis Research (LaPan, 2013). The main themes were familial bonding, home-based learning, parent to tutor and parent to parent relationships and technological adaptation. The verbatim excerpts which are best exemplars from the interviews are presented at times.

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4. Results Table 1: Demographic features of families having children with special needs Parents code

Age

1. 2. 3.

39 40 41

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

36 42 48 43 44 42 45 44 45

Occupation Self-employed Teacher Government Employee Private employee Engineer Business Homemaker Homemaker Private employee Designer Homemaker Teacher

Age of the child

Gender of the child

11 13 12

Female Female Male

8 14 16 13 13 13 12 15 16

Male Male Male Male Female Male Female Female Male

Through the data analysis, several themes about the positive developments that happened among children with special needs during COVID-19 lockdown were identified and are described and discussed below (Table 2). Table 2: Themes and Participants’ statement Themes Familial Bonding

Subthemes Stay Together Shared Responsibilities

Supporting statements Only due to which we had a lot of moments together during the lockdown. My husband was available at home he started assisting me in household chores like cooking food for the family, washing clothes

Intergenerational Relation Sibling bondage

Most of the time, my child spent time talking to ammumma [Grandma]. She learnt a lot of new things from …both my child and ammumma [Grandma] became very happy due to lockdown. Now he spent all his time with H. They became more friends than ever before. Z is now doing all the things for his brother

Home-Based Learning

Learning through Games Home-Based Routine

Skills Acquisition

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She learnt to play the game after few days… She is also recognizing colors now.

Before lockdown, my child had a very disturbed routine…But lockdown made her more adjusted with the life at home… She started adapting to the home environment... Now she is having a better routine than before.

215

He started painting the bottles with his brother. The beautification of this house with crafts was completed by the efforts of J, and his brother.

Parent to tutor and parent to parent relationship

Parent to Teacher Relationship

Parent to Parent Relationship

Technological Adaptation

Online class

I use to complain always that the teaching is not adequate…but now I understand the real value of a special educator and the efforts she takes when I became a part of the classes.

Another child’s mother actually helped me in learning mobile for online class…she is my greatest support. She loves my child as her child

I use to call the special educator frequently, but now I learnt how to effectively involve in an online class with my child.

Typing skill Video calling

My child is able to identify alphabets on the keyboard… He knows how to open video calling, different modes in it... I am just learning only

4.1. Theme 1: Familial Bonding The most significant theme in this study was familial bonding. This was an opportunity for the families to stay together and enforce unity which in turn, intensified bonds between family members. Increased parental care led to happier children and better developmental performance in children with special needs. Parents, who normally worked long hours and saw little of their kids, welcomed the opportunity provided by the lockdown to work from home and establish deeper ties with their children. Time with family seems to build a positive state of mind in children with special needs as it can raise their level of happiness while being in the presence of individuals who offer unconditional love. Moreover, spending precious time with loved ones will create memories that everyone will cherish for a lifetime. “I was scared about the school closure due to Corona but I was happy to know that my office was also closed…Only due to which we had a lot of moments together during the lockdown.” (Parent 3, Govt. Employee) “I was having a very busy life, the pandemic made me sit at home... Loving my child all the time, it never happened till date, it was actually a blessing for us.” (Parent 6, Business) “I am happy that I was able to dine with her all four times for many months…” (Parent 10, Designer) For parents, lockdown is an opportunity to spend more time at home with their children. The freedom to work from home have contributed to a reassessment of work and job goals. Parents are actively seeking stronger family and personal

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ties, as well as a better work-life balance. They are searching for more flexible working schedules in the future so that they can spend longer with their children with special needs and rely less on institutionalized childcare. “During lockdown……I noticed that, child became more happy due our companionship all the time.. Overall there was a great change in his behaviour…..actually now we are realizing... We must allocate more time for our child…we are planning to make our working hours more flexible after lockdown” (Parent 1, Self-employed) “I feel guilty that I used to spend very little time with my child… lockdown made me rethink about my working hours….I will certainly spend more time with my child…” (Parent 2, Teacher) The outcomes of this study also suggest that the number of hours fathers spent with their children has increased significantly. Re-evaluation of fatherhood can have a major effect in the changes of children with special needs. The gender care gap appears to be decreasing, though mothers still have more parenting roles. As men stayed at home for the whole day, the idea women are solely responsible for child care and the housework seems to be fading away. This change would not only make parenting more manageable during the lockdown but also enhance familial relationships. “Earlier my husband had very little time to care for the needs of the child…. …Lockdown was a time when I witnessed how deep is fatherly love….He spent all the time with the child and cared for him round the clock….now X needs father all the time, more than me” (Parent 4, Pvt. Employee) “I was engaged with activities like online learning, it takes lots of time….as my husband was available at home he started assisting me in household chores like cooking food for the family, washing clothes etc” (Parent 3, Govt. Employee) It has also been noted that intergenerational contact in recent months has increased. COVID-19 Pandemic has made grandparents more likely to spend much more time with their grandchildren. It helped grandchildren to be more emotionally committed to their grandparents. This would raise levels of communication and increased comprehension of the needs of children with special needs among their grandparents. “After all of us goes for work and Y goes to school, Ammumma (Grandmother) is alone at home. Now she became very happy that all members of the family are at home…most of the time, my child spent time talking to ammumma. She learnt a lot of new things from …both my child and ammumma became very happy due to lockdown…” (Parent 5, Engineer) The lockdown isolated children with special needs from their peers, teachers, and from the school environment in which they have been socializing since they were young. Many children with special needs’ siblings spent more time with friends and colleagues than their family. Now, everyone is at home. The siblings are also relieved of duties of work or school. It was noted that in this phase of

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lockdown siblings invested greater affection and more time for care and support of their brother or sister with special needs. “Z never spent time with X before lockdown….he never sits at home, is busy always…. roaming with his friends here and there…but now he spent all his time with H. They became more friends than ever before. Z is now doing all the things for his brother…….he is the only person whom I can rely upon…own blood... I feel very happy that my child will be cared by his brother, even after god calls me…” (Parent 7, Homemaker) COVID lockdown has created close sibling bonds with noticeable positive emotional impacts on both siblings. 4.2. Theme 2: Home-based learning Home is a safe and welcoming setting where one can be free of the doubt and assumptions of others. The research demonstrated that for many children with special needs, spending more time with their families had advantageous impacts. Parents believed that their children benefited from one-on-one instruction at home, contributing to progression in their abilities, contrary to some of the negative accounts of homeschooling. When children were not able to attend special schools, many parents invented new ways to spend play time at home. We noticed that children with special needs were more interested in playing games with family members. “We started playing some card games during corona….she learnt to play the game after few days…. She is also recognizing colours now…” (Parent 8, Homemaker) “He learned to flip a stone in the river…his elder brother use to do that frequently and he learnt from him” (Parent 9, Private Employee) Most notably, children were able to build a daytime home-based routine that never existed when they were sent to special schools. The children also began to help their parents do simple house chores collectively. The development of a home-based routine is rated as one of the best achievements of lockdown life by many parents. “Earlier, my child was not able to maintain the table manners… But, now all we were having food together. He has improved a lot in table manners...” (Parent 3, Government Employee) “Before lockdown, my child had a very disturbed routine…But lockdown made her more adjusted with the life at home…She started adapting to the home environment... Now she is having a better routine than before.” (Parent 11, Homemaker) The home environment and the presence of family members help the children with special needs to acquire new skills. These skills exposed many inborn talents of children with special needs. Children were reported to have engaged in activities such as bed making, watering plants, washing vegetables etc. Children also started doing some gardening activities along with their parents during the lockdown period.

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“He started painting the bottles with his brother… The beatification of this house with crafts was completed by the efforts of J, and his brother...” (Parent 12, Teacher) “K started assisting me in washing clothes” (Parent 9, Private Employee) Overall, these progress were a result of one-to-one learning in at-home environment. This skill-building seems to be very important effect of lockdown. 4.3 Theme 3: Parent to tutor and parent to parent relationship The pandemic really helped in strengthening the ties between parents and teachers. Till date, there was limited parental involvement in educating special children. However, this pandemic brought the teaching community more closely to the parents. The new normal prompted both parents and teachers to work for shared goals. Some parents responded that from the culture of individuals who complain about each other, the parents and teachers have now come to a mutual understanding to work towards a common objective. “I use to complain always that the teaching is not adequate…but now I understand the real value of a special educator and the efforts she takes when I became a part of the classes” (Parent 6, Business) “Teachers told that we are partners in the teaching of our children…without our cooperation, teaching is not possible during this corona time” (Parent 9, Private Employee) The parents were able to succeed in making specific goals and plans with the help of teachers in the education of the children with special needs. Both planning and execution of ideas happened with a thorough discussion with the educators and the parents. “We along with the teachers of the school make a plan of action every week, so we know, on which day what are the activities to be done, at what time we will meet online…”(Parent 4, Pvt. Employee) “Teachers ask us at least a day before giving any activity to children next day...” (Parent 11, Homemaker) Parents also reported that the teachers started allocating a particular time to meet with them regularly online to assess the children’s progress. Thus, the teachers were able to keep track of their students by collaborating with the parents in the process of educating the children away from the special school. These online meetings served as a platform to discuss the special needs of the children in detail. Thus, through online meetings, WhatsApp chats, small text messages, parents were made partners in special education. All these are shared as a positive experience by almost all the respondents in this study. “The teachers ask for feedback about the programmes done, is there any improvement, what all changes need to make…” (Parent 1, Selfemployed) “The teacher always put messages in WhatsApp group …. All the parents including me also put their comments in the group” (Parent 7, Homemaker)

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The pandemic also improved the relationships with the parent community. The parents started working along with the teachers in the special education process. The parents of children with special needs who were not connected till date were united by the pandemic. “Another child’s mother actually helped me in learning mobile for online class…she is my greatest support... She loves my child as her child” (Parent 5, Engineer) “Parents of other children became more familiar as we are all meeting daily online” (Parent 12, Teacher) The parents supported each other by adjusting work schedules and other life engagements during the pandemic period which were facilitated by the community of special educators. Many parents hope that this connection would continue even after the pandemic. 4.4 Theme 4: Technological adaptation The education system has undergone a significant digital transformation to address the needs of children with special needs. One of the positive advances during the lockdown was technological adaptation. The parents as well as their children became more familiar with various e-learning resources. The online instruction prompted many parents to adopt new technologies and features to help their children in learning. “I thought that classes will soon be opened... But then I understood that it will not in the near future, my problem was….the mobile phone was old. So for the online class, I bought a new tab with more features……” (Parent 1, Self-employed) In many schools, initial orientation programmes were conducted for the parents in making them acquainted with the online learning process. The parents of children with special needs also mutually supported each other during the initial skill acquirement process. In certain cases, special educators and technical experts assigned by the special schools made home visits to familiarize parents with the technology. “School organized a class for us regarding the effective participation in online classes… During the beginning of online classes, I had lots of doubts….I use to call the special educator frequently... But now I learnt how to effectively involve in an online class with my child…” (Parent 3, Govt. Employee) The children too have acquired new skills. For many children, it was a happy experience to meet their teachers and friends online. When days went on, the children became more familiar with the use of technology. Many children learnt how to operate programmes in mobile phones and open video calls. The children were also able to understand the operating procedures of devices such as camera, headphones, and keyboard. “My child is able to identify alphabets on keyboard…” (Parent 4, Private Employee) “He knows how to open video calling, different modes in it. I am just learning only” (Parent 6, Business)

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Technology has paved the way for one-to-one learning which seems to be of very positive effect for children with special needs.

5. Discussion In this study, we discussed the brighter side of the COVID-19 lockdown among families with children with special needs. Contrary to the findings of studies conducted among parents outside India, which emphasized that COVID-19 contributes to parenting stress and adversely affected parenting outcomes (Chung et al., 2020), we found that parental care increased for children with special needs during the lockdown and made children happier which led to better development. Findings from this study have shown that the lockdown was an incentive for many parents to spend more time with their children; the ability to work from home contributed to a re-evaluation of career and career ambitions. A study conducted among parents documented a similar outcome, which showed that lockdown allows families to build togetherness among family members, children continued to make developmental progress, and adapted to being at home (Neece et al., 2020). We also show that there has been a substantial increase in the number of hours fathers spend with their children. In the care of children with special needs, reevaluation of fatherhood may have a significant impact. It appears that the gender care gap is diminishing. Studies conducted among parents have stressed on the fact that positive interactions in relationships between parents were positively correlated with empathic concern and outlook in both parents and children (Gambin et al., 2020). It has also been noted that intergenerational interaction has risen significantly. We found positive intergenerational contacts and a positive correlation for arrangements for the care of grandchildren by grandparents (Arpino et al., 2020). Although previous studies have portrayed that the pandemic of COVID-19 harms the sibling subsystem due to pandemicrelated stress factors (Prime et al., 2020), we documented a positive relationship between siblings and children with special needs during the lockdown. A significant number of parents thought that one-to-one training at home was good for their children. Research conducted by parents of children with special needs has shown that one-to-one home environment training is beneficial and enhances aspects of adaptive behaviour (Shin et al., 2009). We showed that children with special needs were more excited to play board games and video games with family members. After the pandemic, families tend to spend more time together, walk, play and finish tasks. When time is available, caregivers need to socialize with children through plays, handicrafts and music. Sharing time with children can be achieved by watching TV shows or using educational software with a caregiver's assistance (Goldschmidt, 2020). More notably, there is a rising willingness from children's part to develop a personal routine, which they have never done before in environments where they were sent for special education. Kids have developed a standard home routine by being at home for an extended period (Neece et al., 2020).

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According to some studies, the pandemic crisis made children with special needs lose the opportunity to learn new skills because of a pause in therapy sessions, school closures etc. (Lee, 2020). However, the parents interviewed in this study ascertain that their children had an unusual growth in their abilities while they were at home. Other studies also shed light on the fact that during the pandemic, parents saw it as an opportune time to teach their children basic skills (Cahapay, 2020). We found that the teaching community came closer to parents after the pandemic. Close parent-teacher-student relationships are important for better learning outcomes (Segal, 2010). The parents and teachers did an outstanding job in setting and implementing realistic goals and objectives with relation to the children's education. We found that when parents indicated that their children didn't receive adequate teacher contact, the online learning process suffered (Garbe et al., 2020). Not only did the pandemic strengthen the ties with the parent group, but it also helped with relationships with the children in the community. An investigation among parents in Zimbabwe during COVID-19 found that parent-to-peer parent relationships strengthened, creating an opportunity to form home-grown methods for successful behaviour management and to acculturate children with special needs (Majoko & Dudu, 2020). It is important to maintain online contact with other stakeholders, including other parents, educators, caregivers and therapists, to communicate and gain different forms of support needed to continuing home-schooling young people with special educational needs (Narzisi, 2020). The technical adaptation was one of the positive developments during the lockdown. An in-depth review of current studies was undertaken to determine the efficacy of different technologies for children with Autism Spectrum disorder. The review discovered that both children and caregivers enjoyed using technologies like online schooling, tele-health, screening, and evaluation (Dahiya et al., 2021). During the pandemic era, children became more familiar with diverse e-learning resources. Due to the transition from face-to-face to virtual learning, the comparable result was shared by a study that the pandemic prompted children to recognise and familiarize themselves with different elearning opportunities and made education based on learners more flexible (Dhawan, 2020). Initial orientation sessions for parents and teachers have been held in many schools to familiarize them with the online learning process. Studies have suggested that teachers must be prepared before beginning online education because of the suspension of face-to-face classes (Moorhouse, 2020). The children learnt new skills, too. The study conducted among children with Autism found that new skills were built from the struggles during the pandemic (Cahapay, 2020). For many children, meeting new friends and teachers online was a wonderful experience. Online learning is cost-effective, because it eliminates travel and other expenses needed for in-person courses. It is a convenient way for participants to interact with each other and with teachers because learners do not have to meet face-to-face (Kim, 2020). E-resources were made available by the educators. Online learning in India shed light on online learning

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opportunities and techniques that are designed to allow learners to continue their education (Jena, 2020). It is reported that only 6% of teachers considered streaming YouTube and Facebook as a means of digital classrooms however, a significant percentage of students have depended upon YouTube and Facebook for video lectures (Mishra et al., 2020).

6. Conclusion The contagious state of COVID-19 has drastically altered daily life across the globe, with a whole array of disruptive implications, including quarantines, closures, mandatory rest, and other measures to contain the epidemic. Numerous research studies have shown that lockdown disrupts the pupils' quality of life and academic environment. However, this paper focused on the brighter side of the lockdown among the families of children with special needs. The results underscore the following themes: (1) familial bonding; (2) homebased learning; (3) parent to tutor and parent to parent relationship; and (4) technological adaptation. Though restricted within a certain context and a small sample, this work presents a glimpse into the home education of children with special needs amid the impacts of the current global crisis. These types of interventions have the potential to significantly improve the efficacy of online learning. Recognizing the crucial role that parents, students, and teachers play in the aftermath of school closures, governments should use administrative measures to facilitate their effective involvement. Both parents and instructors can help their children to effectively limit the obstacles of ‘at home learning’: parents can give emotional and educational support, while teachers may act as mentors, promoting active learning and motivation while ensuring that no child is left behind (OECD, 2020). Only the positive aspects of home schooling were investigated in this study. Additionally, doing research during the pandemic time posed a larger difficulty. This study consisted of a small number of participants and relied primarily on a qualitative assessment. Involving more number of respondents and using the mixed method strategy may bring up all the good and bad impacts of home-schooling for children with special needs.

Acknowledgement The authors specially thank all the participants of the study. The authors are grateful to the services of Special school teachers who helped in the successful conduct of this study. Although no funds were allocated specifically for this research study, the first author and third author thank University Grants Commission, New Delhi for providing Junior/Senior Fellowships for their doctoral researches.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 227-240, July 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.7.13 Received Apr 17, 2021; Revised Jul 02, 2021; Accepted Jul 31, 2021

Examining Mathematical Problem-Solving Beliefs among Rwandan Secondary School Teachers Aline Dorimana African Centre of Excellence for Innovative Teaching and Learning Mathematics and Science (ACEITLMS), University of Rwanda College of Education (URCE), Rwanda https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7060-207X Alphonse Uworwabayeho School of Education, University of Rwanda College of Education (URCE), Rwanda https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2651-1848 Gabriel Nizeyimana School of Education, University of Rwanda College of Education (URCE), Rwanda https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6559-1249 Abstract. This study explored teachers' beliefs about mathematical problem-solving. It involved 36 identified teachers of Kayonza District in Rwanda via an explanatory mixed-method approach. The findings indicate that most teachers show a positive attitude towards advancing problem-solving in the mathematics classroom. However, they expose different views on its implementation. Role of problem-solving, Mathematical problems, and Problem-solving in Mathematics were identified as main themes. Problem-solving was highlighted as an approach that helps teachers use time adequately and helps students develop critical thinking and reasoning that enable them to face challenges in real life. The study recommends teacher professional development initiatives with their capacity to bring problem-solving to standard. Keywords: competence-based curriculum; mathematical problemsolving; teachers' beliefs; secondary school; Rwanda

1. Introduction Developing countries, including Rwanda, have been extremely devoted to achieving the international commitments to Education for All (EFA) and the 2030 Millennium Developments Goals (MDGs). In this context, the education sector was commissioned to ensure quality education in all subjects. As stipulated in the competence-based curriculum (CBC), the purpose of education is to develop the most critical skills of learners not only to meet the employment demands but to

©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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succeed in the 21st century. Problem-solving is one of them (Rwanda Basic Education Board [REB], 2015). Within problem-solving, students are supported to explore tasks in multiple justifiable and innovative ways and to construct logical reasoning in finding solutions (Barak, 2013). Yet, the realization of this outcome will depend on teachers' abilities to provide appropriate opportunities for students to grow such skills (Xenofontos & Andrews, 2012). Traditional teacher practices were reported to be the most limiting factor for students to apply mathematics knowledge (Nsengimana et al., 2020; Ukobizaba et al., 2019). These practices are strongly related to the beliefs teachers hold on a particular subject (Arikan, 2016; Beswick, 2012; Marshman & Goos, 2018; Polly et al., 2013; Siswono et al., 2019). Teachers' beliefs influence their pedagogical decision-making and the patterns of interaction in mathematics classrooms(Beswick, 2019; Bobis et al., 2015; Zakaria & Maat, 2012). Thus, it is vitally important to develop a good understanding of teachers' beliefs about mathematical problem-solving to improve their professional development, teacher training programs, and the successful implementation of the CBC. According to Hwang and Riccomini (2016), problem solving refers to the no immediate activities that students do while modelling situations using mathematics, making reasoned assumptions, and interpreting solutions in a context. Teachers should engage students in meaningful activities that require them to think, reason, create, critique, and innovate (Barak, 2013). These skills definitely improve school performance (Cheng et al., 2018). Palraj, Dewitt and Alias (2017) added that problem-solving skills are what employers look for in their employees. Several studies were conducted on teachers' beliefs about mathematical problemsolving. These studies share a common view of improving academic performance and the classroom instruction. However, studies that seek to understand teachers' beliefs about problem-solving for successful integration of such skills while teaching remain sparse. In addition, how teachers view problem-solving in mathematics teaching is unknown in Rwanda. To add knowledge to the existing and close the gap in the context of Rwanda, the study sought to explore what inservice mathematics teachers believe about mathematical problem-solving while implementing CBC. The outcome of the study would inform the teacher training programs. The teacher training programs would develop knowledge toward influencing more positive beliefs held by teachers, which will result in changing their practices. It is also hoped that identifying these beliefs would be useful to mathematics teacher educators and school leaders whose ultimate mission is effective curriculum implementation.

2. Literature review Research toward beliefs in mathematics education is vast, and researchers have articulated a myriad of conceptualizations to explain this term. However, investigations of this are beyond this study's scope, but interested readers may look into Pajares (1992) and Roesken, Pepin & Toerner (2011). In this study, we focus on the literature that covers mathematics teachers' beliefs about mathematical problem-solving.

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The mathematical beliefs, handled in this study as a collection of values judgments of an individual developed or formulated from experiences and gives meaning to an action, have gained an important place in the learning process (Nizeyimana & Ruksana, 2013; Raymond, 1997). Research reports that teachers' practice is often affected by what they think and know about mathematics' pedagogy (Moh'd et al., 2021; Siswono et al., 2019). The most important thing, such as prior knowledge, past school experience, qualification level, teaching experiences, and classroom situation, strongly influences mathematical teachers' beliefs and teaching practices (Ren & Smith, 2017; Siswono et al., 2017). These beliefs and practices can then limit what students get from learning. Siswono et al. (2019) highlighted that those teachers who believe mathematics as a collection of rules and formulas are likely to teach procedural knowledge alone than those who believe otherwise. Thus, beliefs should be understood to achieve the learning provisions. 2.1 Theoretical framework The mathematical beliefs that teachers hold are based on how they conceptualize the nature of mathematics, mathematics teaching, and learning (Ernest, 1989). Thus, the way they bring and or develop problem-solving in the classroom is primarily based on these beliefs (Siswono et al., 2017). Ernest (1989) described the mathematical beliefs as the instrumentalist, the Platonist, and the problem-solving views. The instrumentalist believes mathematics is a useful subject that collects unchangeable rules and unrelated facts to solve problems. The Platonist views mathematics as an integrated science where structures and truths are connected through logic and reasoning for individuals. The problem-solving view of mathematics is a powerful subject that opens the space for making continuous discoveries that are transformed into knowledge. The interconnection of these views with the nature of mathematics, teaching, and learning can be seen from the work of Beswick (2012). The Rwandan CBC is structured in a way that encourages students to take an active role in their learning process with the help of teachers and peers. The learning process mainly requires prior knowledge and guidance from teachers. Thus, the particular study follows the cognitive learning theory (Fox, 1997; Nabavi, 2012). This study will also examine the relationship between teacher beliefs and how they structure the problem-solving model to help learners interact with the problem. A large number of scholars (Arikan, 2016; Beswick, 2012; Memnun et al., 2012; Marshman & Goos, 2018; Niyukuri et al., 2020; Polly et al., 2013; Siswono et al., 2019) investigated beliefs of teachers and teaching practices regarding the nature of mathematics, teaching, and learning. To our knowledge, little attention was given to in-service secondary mathematics teachers' beliefs dealing with problem-solving. In this spirit, the present article adds knowledge to the existing by reporting the study results that investigated the beliefs of inservice secondary mathematics teachers about mathematical problem-solving. 2.2 The context of the study The current study was part of a large project investigating how grade 11 students (age between 16 and 19) can enhance their ability to solve mathematics problems using a problem-based learning model. The main idea in the project's initial phase

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was to have general baseline information of the teachers' knowledge on the advancement of problem-solving emphasized in the CBC. Thus, we decided to explore teachers' beliefs about mathematical problem solving and the teaching practices they associate to these beliefs within CBC. These teachers' beliefs could promote or hinder students' mathematical problem-solving abilities. The project aimed to design an intervention model based on these findings. The goal was to explore whether teachers' beliefs about mathematical problem solving and teaching practices could be shaped as a result of participating in the intervention focusing on promoting students' abilities in solving mathematical problems.

3. Methodology Since the purpose of the study was to explore teachers' beliefs about mathematical problem-solving while implementing CBC in Rwanda, the explanatory-mixed methods research design was considered appropriate (Cresswell, 2014). In this design, quantitative data were collected and analyzed in the first phase of data collection. Then based on the results of quantitative data, a tool was designed to collect qualitative data in the second phase of data collection. This approach is suited to research exploring and qualitatively understanding how individuals' actions are developed and or shaped by their experience. Quantitative data were obtained through questionnaires, while qualitative data were gathered from interviews. 3.1 Research participants The participants of the study were 36 identified mathematics teachers (7 females and 29 males). They come from 15 secondary schools of Kayonza District in Rwanda. The predominant age range of the participants was 30-39 years (24 teachers). The predominant teaching experience of the participants was 6-10 years (19). The median experience in years for the respondents was six years in teaching. Table 1. Teacher's characteristics. Note: the number in parenthesis is the sample teachers (n), Each column should be read independently, N/A is missing data Gender Male (29) Female (7)

Age range Under 25 (1) 25-29 (7) 30-39 (24) 40-49 (1) 50-59 (1) Above 60 (1) N/A (1)

Experience

Qualification

Below 2 years (2) 2 to 5 years (10) 6 to 10 years (19) 11 to 15 years (1) Above 15 years (3) N/A (1)

A2 (1) A1 (9) A0 (24) N/A (2)

Teaching grade Ordinary level (12) Advanced level (7) Both O and A level (16) N/A (1)

Teaching combination General mathematics (10) Subsidiary mathematics (3) Core mathematics (15) Both core and subsidiary (5) N/A (3)

Three teachers were in their first year of teaching mathematics, while the longestserving teacher was in his 33rd year. Most teachers (24) have bachelor's degrees

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(A0), with a few teachers (9) have a university diploma (A1), and only one teacher has advanced level certificates (A2). Out of 36 teachers, 27 were qualified to teach mathematics at secondary levels, from which 17 indicated that they had attended some professional training on the reformed curriculum in Rwanda, the CBC. 3.2 Data collection tools, procedures, and analyses The study used the mathematical problem-solving beliefs scale to obtain quantitative data and a semi-structured interview for qualitative data. 3.2.1 Phase 1: Mathematical problem-solving beliefs scale (MPSBS) A questionnaire was used as a research instrument to collect quantitative data in this study. This questionnaire was adapted from four previously developed instruments by Emenaker (1996), Hart (2002), Kloosterman and Stage (1992), Zollman and Mason (1992) to collect data after some modifications and additions. The questionnaire had 23 items and was completed on a five-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). Before using the instrument in the actual data collection, items in the questionnaires were modified to fit the context as evidence of the validity after conducting a pilot study. The internal consistency was also checked to a group of mathematics teachers (n=33) with a reliability coefficient (Cronbach Alpha= 0.659) which was considered acceptable. Upon completion, the instrument required participants to complete a demographic/ prior knowledge information including type and name of the school, gender, age, teaching experience, highest qualification, classes and combinations that the teacher teaches, and if s/he has attended professional development programs aiming at promoting problemsolving in the mathematics teaching process and one question regarding knowledge about problem-solving. The questionnaires were distributed paper/ pencil by researchers to teachers in their respective schools. The questionnaire took approximately 20 minutes to be completed. MS Excel 2016 was used to calculate means and standard deviations. The Mean was computed by averaging the chosen category along with all 36 teachers on every MPSBA item. Each category was assigned a specific score (4: strongly agree, 3: agree, 2: disagree, and 1: strongly disagree). Frequency tables and percentages were used to analyze data collected for the first stage. Scales 1 and 2 were gathered to the disagreement stream to analyze the data, while scales 4 and 5 were gathered to the agreement stream. The neutral scale was omitted and put aside as not applicable (NA). All the questionnaire items in Table 2 were intended to gain insights from teachers about the itemized beliefs. A description to get respondents' overall view concerning each statement to see on response to questions were included in the analysis. 3.2.2. Phase 2: A semi-structured interview (SSI) A series of in-depth interview questions were developed with the aim to explore the problem-solving beliefs of teachers. Interview questions were structured based on the results of the questionnaire of the mathematical problem-solving beliefs used in the first stage of data collection. The most merging themes revolved around the meaning of problem-solving in mathematics. The interview guide consisted of six questions: two questions regarding the understanding of

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problem-solving in mathematics, three questions regarding understanding mathematical problems, and one question regarding teaching practices employed to bring problem-solving in teaching. The interview questions were as follows: What is your opinion on problem-solving? Is problem-solving more important; why? What do you think about understanding the mathematical problem? Is it necessary to take a long time to solve the mathematical problems; Why? Is the result for the solution to a problem more important than how it is solved? In what way do you think or do you bring problem-solving in actual mathematics? Based on the questionnaire results, the beliefs of teachers were classified into instrumentalist, Platonist, and problem-solving views. In each class, one teacher was selected purposively to participate in the interview. The reason for this selection was to include teachers of grade 11 students that the large project focuses on. These interviews were planned to provide an in-depth description of teacher's beliefs about mathematical problem-solving. Interviews were performed and recorded on tape and lasted approximately seven to ten minutes. The data from interviews were analyzed using a thematic approach (Orodho et al., 2016). Data are reduced and displayed in this analysis, and then conclusions and verifications are drawn (Miles & Huberman 1994). Finally, in this analysis, conclusions were sought to determine the beliefs of teachers and their knowledge regarding problem-solving in mathematics. 3.3 Ethical consideration prior to data collection The study followed ethical approval from the research and innovation unit at the University of Rwanda College of Education (URCE). This ensured that the researcher has all the documents that the school administration may ask for and teachers' cooperation in conducting the current research. All participants provided consent forms to ensure voluntary participation and were communicated that they were allowed to withdraw from the study at any stage. The researcher collected data from mid-January to mid-February of the academic year 2019.

4. Findings In terms of what secondary mathematics teachers understand about problemsolving, participants were probed to affirm their understanding of problemsolving as applied in mathematics (see Table 2 and Figure 1). Most items were scored above the average (mean scores of 2.5), except item 14 [It does not matter whether students cannot get the right…] that had 2.448 out of 4 scores (See Table 2).

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Table 2. Mean scores and standard deviation (SD) of Teachers' beliefs about problemsolving N o 1

Problem-Solving Statements

Mean

Problem-solving should be part of the mathematics curriculum

2.516

1.092

The understanding of a given problem is essential to solve it

3.788

0.415

Dealing with problems provides new ways to find solutions

3.625

0.492

3.722

0.454

Examples given in-class activities should develop problemsolving skill Skill in computation should precede word problems

3.323

0.871

Knowledge constructed during solving problems is deeper

3.552

0.506

A good explanation of reasoning is regarded more than correct answers Problem-based learning results in higher levels of understanding than traditional teacher-centered instruction Children enter nursery school with considerable mathematical experience, a partial understanding of many mathematical concepts, and some important mathematical skills Students are able to construct their own mathematics problems

3.100

1.062

3.444

0.577

2.938

0.982

2.786

0.995

It is often easy to interpret students' wrong answer when I am teaching mathematics All of my students would be good in mathematics if they work hard at it Students strive for getting correct answers rather than understanding mathematical concepts It does not matter whether students cannot get the right answer as long as they understand the mathematical concepts inherent to the problem When students are familiar with problem-solving, they are no longer afraid of questions about word problems Mathematics is very important in daily life

3.034

0.944

3.548

0.624

2.967

0.850

2.448

0.985

3.679

0.548

3.743

0.611

In daily life, mathematics matters not only for making calculations A major goal of mathematics instruction is to help children develop the belief that they have the power to control their own success in mathematics Knowledge of mathematics concepts is important in the development of problem-solving skill Mathematical problem-solving skill is gained through practicing I would provide routine problems before introducing new concepts in mathematics A successful problem solver is one who is able to solve situations that call for mathematical concepts Repeated practices and reinforcement of the mathematical content is an appropriate process for learning Overall

3.161

0.969

3.441

0.786

3.806

0.401

3.657

0.539

3.233

0.971

3.300

0.750

3.429

0.790

3.315

0.748

8 9

10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23

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The item-14 shows that many teachers rated it in the disagreement direction. Thus, few teachers agreed on it. The item that got the highest scores is 19 [Knowledge of mathematics concepts is important …]. It got 3.806 mean scores. It shows that many teachers rated it in the agreement direction. There was a controversy in rating items-1 and -7 as they display a large standard deviation (SD of 1.092 and SD of 1.062, respectively). Thus, some teachers agreed while others disagreed with them (see Table 2). While Table 2 displays scores on each item, the stacked column Figure 1 displays the frequency of teachers that agreed or disagreed on each item. Most of the teachers tend to have a positive attitude towards statements advancing problemsolving in the mathematics classroom. For instance, they all (100%) confirmed that examples given in-class activities should develop problem-solving skills [item-4], and knowledge of mathematics concepts is essential in the development of problem-solving skills [item-19] (see Figure 1). Agreement

Disagreement

N/A

100% 90% 80% 70% 60%

50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 1

Curriculum Problem-solving

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Students

Mathematics

Figure 1: Mathematics Problem-Solving Beliefs Scale items. Note: the percentage on the vertical axis is the number of teachers, while the numbers on the horizontal axis are the MPSBS items.

However, few teachers agreed (44%) that problem solving should be part of the mathematics curriculum [item-1], believe (47%) that students can construct their mathematics problems [item-10], and trust (36%) that it does not matter whether students cannot get the right answer as long as they understand the mathematical concepts inherent to the problem [item-14]. Most teachers believe that (94%) mathematics is vital in everyday life [item-16], that (94%) Mathematical problemsolving skill is gained through practicing [item-20], that (92%) one needs to understand a problem in order to solve it [item-2], and that (89%) dealing with problems provides new ways to find solutions [item-3].

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The findings indicate that although many participants show consistent beliefs with the current teaching and learning of mathematics, a deep analysis of some teachers' detailed views was needed to triangulate the data. Three teachers at one school were focused on the deep interview to supplement quantitative data in the questionnaire. In analyzing their views, we found that information raised in the questionnaire matches their views during the interview; however, this made us well capture their beliefs and understand their stands. We made three themes; Role of problem-solving, Mathematical problem, and Problem-solving in Mathematics (see Figure 2).

Figure 2: Thematic analysis of problem-solving outputs and their stages

4.1 Role of problem-solving All three teachers are aware of problem-solving, its usability in Mathematics, and its role in daily life. Teachers believe that problem solving is characterized by the "challenge." Teacher-1 said, "Problem-solving is about finding solutions to the problems, and that problem should be challenging with no immediate solution." Similarly, Teacher-2 supplemented that; "When there is a set of problems that one is trying to solve, then he/she is applying mathematical problem solving, and this problem is tricky and challenging." Teachers associate problem solving with developing critical thinking and reasoning that help learners face problems in the real world. Teacher-2 ascertained, "When students ask the benefits in real life of studying certain topics, I tell them that problem solving opens their mind in any situation they meet in real life. It opens the minds of students it trains them to think more critically. Also, it helps learners to reason than they do when you give them exercises (repeating

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the learned concepts)." Teacher-3 said, "problem-solving is important because when students are familiar with it, then they are not afraid to face a difficult problem in their lives." Teachers also believe that problem solving may help them to complete the program on time. Teacher-2 said, "Sometimes when you give a challenging question to students, you may cover a wide content that you cannot cover when you did not provide students with that problem-solving investigation." 4.2 Mathematical problem When asked teachers the importance of understanding the problem, all of them value it. Teacher-1 said, "It is very important to understand a problem because one needs to identify what is given, what is asked, and find ways or strategy to solve the problem." Teacher-2 said, "Understanding the problem is very important because you need to identify the known and unknown in order to solve the problems." Teacher-3 said, "To understand the mathematical problem is to know the formula you should apply to solve a given problem in mathematics." There was no indication that solving problems also needs a process of looking back, as suggested by scholars. Checking the solution was not mentioned. Teacher-3 focuses only on the calculation-based world problem. Such a teacher needs to understand it in a broader sense to develop students who can use their critical thinking and reasoning to solve the real problems encountered in daily life different from what they solve in Mathematics. About the needed time to solve a mathematical problem, teachers' views vary. Teacher-1 suggests that problem-solving needs more time because the more you spend time trying to solve the problem, the more you become very successful in finding the solution with accuracy. Teacher-2 ascertains that it always depends on the level of difficulty of the problem. "A problem to you might not be a problem to me. So, if it is easy for me, then I solve it in a short time," said Teacher-2. "Not necessary when you understand the problem. You use a long time to solve the problem when you are motivated to do so. When there is no motivation to solve problems that require a long time, you give up," said Teacher-3. Whether the solution to a problem is more important than how it is solved, both teachers believe that the problem is unnecessary when solving the problem is false or if the strategy does not make sense. They said that one needs to check the strategy; when the strategy is good, then the solution should be correct. They emphasized that the way the problem is solved is very important than the answer. 4.3 Problem-solving in Mathematics When asked teachers how they implement problem-solving in the actual mathematics lesson, they have various considerations. In the case of Teacher-1, he first gives a problem to the students; he asks them what is given and any relevant or irrelevant information (generally, students make a list of what is given and what is missing). Then he asks them to think about how they should find the answer to the problem, and finally, he asks them to check if the answer they get really makes sense (to check back if the solution makes sense). For the case of Teacher-2, he poses a question, gives time to students to think about the question, and allows them to solve the problem in various ways. In the case of Teacher-3,

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he poses a similar question to what students are familiar with (procedures) with some tricks; he lets students solve the problem independently with no assistance from his side.

5. Discussion Teachers demonstrate an understanding of the meaning of problem-solving and how they should bring it into their actual teaching of mathematics. It was shown that factors including but not limited to time used to prepare problems, the pressure of finishing the program, the colossal content to cover, and their use of problem-solving approaches influences teacher preparation at the university. About teachers' acceptance of problem-solving, teachers agree with CBC's intentions. They present a good understanding of the meaning of problem-solving and its implementation in the actual teaching practice. The teaching style preferred is different from traditional, were trying to find an appropriate task for problem-solving is encouraged. Since mathematics is not an abstract concept disconnected from daily life, it should include its applications in other areas. Teachers support learnercenteredness in a way that they believe problem-based learning results in higher levels of understanding than traditional teacher-centered instruction [item-8]; that is why a competence-based curriculum should imbed the problem-solving approaches. Likewise, other studies in Rwanda demonstrated that mathematics teachers need to encourage students to like mathematics by providing interesting teaching methods and real-life examples (Ukobizaba et al., 2019, 2020). Our findings showed that problem-solving is important in such a way that it accelerates critical thinking and reasoning in learners. Mukuka et al. (2020) prevailed on the role of reasoning in mathematics. Reasoning helps one to face challenges encounter in any life situation. Thus, problem-solving does not stop in the classroom; rather, its final stage and role lie in real life after school. This role should inform teachers how they should care about this approach during their planning (Ndihokubwayo et al., 2020) and teaching interaction. Although most items in a questionnaire displayed a common understanding of the need for problem-solving in mathematics, teachers demonstrated various ways of implementing it during a deep interview with some of them. These ways of implementing problem solving correspond to their beliefs category, i.e instrumental, platonist and problem solving as described by Ernest (1989). This finding is inline with the study of Siswono et al. (2017) who found consistency in teachers related mathematics beliefs and knowledge and pedagogy of problem solving. For instance, Teacher-3, instrumentalists, displayed quite different procedures from his counterparts on implementing problem-solving in mathematics. It is fine to challenge students, but giving similar questions may also limit students develop higher-order thinking skills as it only promotes recalling (Bloom, 1972). Also let students struggle themselves may encourage them to develop problem-solving skills, but if the teacher does not assist, the intention of Rwandan CBC (REB, 2019; Rwanda Basic Education Board, 2015) is lost as it requires guidance from the teacher. In this study, teachers were not sure of the problem-solving processes that they should emphasize in the classroom. Problem-solving is a mathematical process of

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finding a solution to a problem that requires reasoning and critical thinking skills. It enables individuals to use skills to handle a variety of new situations. To do problem-solving, one needs to (1) Understand the problem (ability to rewrite the problem in another way but still the problem remain the same, to identify what is given, what is asked, what is missing, and or any relevant or irrelevant information), (2) Planning ways to solve the problem (thinking about methodologies to use), (3) Implementing the best strategy (among the strategies that one identified, implement appropriate one), (4) Looking back (checking is the solution is appropriate, make sense to the given problem).

6. Conclusion and further study orientation We have found three key representations of problem-solving in this study. (a) Role of problem-solving. This is characterized by a challenging problem that develops critical thinking and reasoning in students. It then allows them to solve any problem they may face in life out of school. Students being knowledgeable in systematic problem solving may solve time limitations that teachers claim. (b) Mathematical problem. There is a need to understanding the problem; time to solve a problem depends on its nature and level of difficulty, and the utmost importance of process over a final solution. (c) Problem-solving in Mathematics. We have found that problem-solving in mathematics is not systematic across all three teachers due to their belief category, though it has a role in managing teaching time. We intensively assessed teachers' beliefs of mathematics problemsolving in Rwanda. However, there is a need to examine teachers' lesson planning and classroom practices and compare their beliefs displayed in this study. The current article recommends setting up sustainable long-term programs that support in-service teachers to understand the meaning and implementation of problem-solving in mathematics teaching as required in the competence-based curriculum. Also, to realize the effective teaching modifications oriented more to problem-solving, teachers' background, including beliefs about teaching and learning mathematics and teacher preparation program and past school experience, should be taken into account. Besides, teaching mathematics while teachers are being prepared would be the subject for further studies. We believe that equipping pre-service teachers with positive beliefs about mathematical problem solving would enable them to comply with the CBC requirements in their careers. It will help improve the quality of mathematics teaching, especially in implementing and developing problem-solving skills for both students and teachers.

Acknowledgments We thank the African Centre of Excellence for Innovative Teaching and Learning Mathematics and Science (ACEITLMS) for funding this research. We also acknowledge participants teachers from Kayonza District, cited studies, and studies we picked to obtain the mathematical problem-solving beliefs scale.

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Nsengimana, T., Mugabo, L. R., & Hiroaki, O. (2020). Reflection on science competencebased curriculum implementation in Sub-Saharan African countries. International Journal of Science Education, Part B, 0(0), 1–14. Orodho, A., Nzabarirwa, W., Odundo, P., Waweru, P. N., & Ndayambaje, I. (2016). Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods. A Step by Step Guide to Scholarly Excellence. Kanezja Publishers & Entreprises. Pajares, M. F. (1992). Teachers’ Beliefs and Educational Research: Cleaning Up a Messy Construct. Review of Educational Research, 62(3), 307–332. Palraj, S., Dewitt, D., & Alias, N. (2017). Teachers Beliefs in Problem Solving in Rural Malaysian Secondary Schools. Malaysian Online Journal of Educational Technology, 5(4), 45–57. Polly, D., Mcgee, J. R., Wang, C., Lambert, G., Pugalee, D. K., & Johnson, S. (2013). The Association between Teachers ’ Beliefs , Enacted Practices , and Student Learning in Mathematics. 22(2), 11–30. Raymond, A. M. (1997). Inconsistency between a beginning elementary school teacher’s mathematics beliefs and teaching practice. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 28(5), 550–576. REB. (2019). Subsidiary Mathematics Senior 6 Teacher’s Guide. Rwanda Education Board. Ren, L., & Smith, W. M. (2017). Teacher characteristics and contextual factors : links to early primary teachers ’ mathematical beliefs and attitudes. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 21(4), 321–350. Roesken, B., Pepin, B., & Toerner, G. (2011). Beliefs and beyond: Affect and the teaching and learning of mathematics. ZDM - International Journal on Mathematics Education, 43(4), 451–455. Rwanda Basic Education Board [REB]. (2015). Competency-based curriculum-summary of curriculum framework pre-primary to upper secondary. Siswono, Kohar, & Hartono. (2017). Secondary Teachers ’ Mathematics-related Beliefs and Knowledge about Mathematical Problem-solving. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1–7. Siswono, Tatag Y.E., Kohar, A. W., Rosyidi, A. H., & Hartono, S. (2017). Primary school teachers’ beliefs and knowledge about mathematical problem-solving and their performance in a problem-solving task. World Transactions on Engineering and Technology Education, 15(2), 126–131. Siswono, Tatag Yuli Eko, Hartono, S., Kohar, A. W., Karim, & Kurniawan. (2019). Instrumentalist Teachers ’ Beliefs in Practicing Mathematical Problem Solving. Universal Journal of Educational Research 7(12):, 7(12), 2851–2856. Ukobizaba, F., Ndihokubwayo, K., Mukuka, A., & Uwamahoro, J. (2019). Insights of teachers and students on mathematics teaching and learning in selected Rwandan secondary schools. African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences, 15(2), 93–107. Ukobizaba, F., Ndihokubwayo, K., & Uworwabayeho, A. (2020). Teachers ’ Behaviours Towards Vital Interactions that Attract Students ’ Interest to Learn Mathematics and Career Development. African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences, 16(1), 85–94. Xenofontos, C., & Andrews, P. (2012). Prospective teachers’ beliefs about problem-solving: Cypriot and English cultural constructions. Research in Mathematics Education, 14(1), 69–85. https://doi.org/10.1080/14794802.2012.657439 Zakaria, E., & Maat, siti M. (2012). Mathematics Teachers ’ Beliefs and Teaching Practices. Journal of Mathematics and Statistics, 8(2), 187–190. Zollman, A., & Mason, E. (1992). The Standards’ Beliefs Instrument (SBI): Teachers’ Beliefs About the NCTM Standards. School Science and Mathematics, 92(7), 359–364.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 241-261, July 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.7.14 Received May 29, 2021; Revised Jul 04, 2021; Accepted Jul 31, 2021

Investigation of Most Commonly Used Instructional Methods in Teaching Chemistry: Rwandan Lower Secondary Schools Jeannette Musengimana African Center of Excellence for Innovative Teaching and Learning of Mathematics and Science (ACEITLMS), University of Rwanda College of Education (URCE), Rwanda https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3553-0592 Edwige Kampire University of Rwanda College of Education (URCE), Rwanda https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7410-6508 Philothère Ntawiha University of Rwanda College of Education (URCE), Rwanda https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5817-229X

Abstract. Improved teaching methods facilitate the ease of acquisition of knowledge and lead to better achievement. The present study investigates the instructional methods most commonly used in teaching chemistry in lower secondary schools in Rwanda. SPSS 23.0 was used to analyze data from a survey conducted on 51 lower secondary chemistry teachers. The survey has satisfactory and acceptable reliability (Cronbach alpha=0.913 for 57 items on average). The results revealed that teachers prefer active learning methods though they still use traditional teaching methods. Comparison of teachers’ responses in terms of experience showed no statistically significant difference with p= 0.064. The study also found that some teachers have misconceptions in differentiating instructional approaches, methods, and techniques or strategies. Therefore, it is recommended that educational stakeholders should plan pieces of training to teachers about different instructional methods and techniques to use in chemistry teaching for effective learning outcomes. Keywords: chemistry lesson; Instructional methods; Rwandan schools; survey questionnaire

©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 Chemistry knowledge is used as a pre-requisite to study any science-related field or other technology-related disciplines such as medicine, pharmacy, engineering, agriculture, veterinary, to mention a few. Therefore, it is introduced in secondary schools’ curriculum due to its relevance to society and educational value among individuals. To this end, the improvement in the teaching strategy used in chemistry teaching that facilitates the easy acquisition of knowledge which leads to a better achievement is recognized (Alabi, 2014). Teaching is effective when the instructional approach used in the teaching and learning process induces a desirable change in the learner’s behavior. Hence, if improvement in the students’ achievement is needed, there is a necessityto introduce effective, efficient, and appropriate teaching approaches (Jack, 2013). This is related to the fact that the teaching methods are worldwide recognized to occupy a top position as factors affecting students’ achievement in secondary school subjects, chemistry included.

2. Research Problem The main goal of chemistry education is to develop active students in the learning process through the appropriate instructional approaches. In line with this, Rwanda’s educational system moved from a Knowledge-Based Curriculum (KBC) to a Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) since 2016, which involves the active participation of learners in the learning process. Recent studies have been carried out to investigate the implementation of this new curriculum. It has been confirmed that even though the Rwandan government has put more effort so far to train teachers on active learner-centered methods, traditional approaches centered on teachers and directed by teachers are still used by most science teachers (Ndihokubwayo et al., 2020). In addition, many teachers use group work activities to practice CBC, which centered on learners, bearing in mind that grouping students favor active participation. However, this was not the case as they only engage students in small group work activities, sometimes limited to a question and answer session. This provides no knowledge construction among students as they remain passive in the learning process (Byusa et al., 2020a; Nsengimana et al., 2017). The inability of teachers to use appropriate methods of instruction to teach chemistry that invariably translate to inadequate knowledge and skills to put in practice the learned material is becoming a challenge to the Rwandan educational system. Moreover, the presence of mixed ability among students, makes hard for teachers to take into consideration the need of every student. However, they are supposed to adapt and develop teaching methods based on their needs (Kousa et al., 2018). Also, the shortage of suitable teaching materials, especially in day schools, particularly nine years of basic education schools, constitutes the biggest challenge (Nsengimana et al., 2021; Nsengimana, 2021). It is worth noting that several instructional methods that promote active learning are put in place to favor the implementation of CBC. These include inquiry-based learning, co-operative learning, problem-based learning, activitybased learning, and instructional-based learning, among others. However, there is a deficiency of substantial studies carried out to investigate whether chemistry

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teachers prefer to use the active methods mentioned above .Therefore, there is a need to investigate whether these methods are being employed by teachers and find out the level at which they improve students’ competent areas like conceptual understanding, achievement on tests and exams, attitudes toward chemistry, critical thinking skills, problem-solving skills, creativity and innovation, collaboration skills, participation, lifelong learning skills, ability to conduct research, among others. This study is designed to fill in the gap about the most used methods preferred by teachers, and it provides insights into how students gain competent skills. Educational stakeholders may use the findings of this paper to address the needs of teachers and hence build the quality of chemistry education. Specifically, it seeks to answer the following research questions: 1. What are the most instructional methods preferred by chemistry teachers in teaching chemistry in lower secondary schoolsin Rwanda? 2. Which areas (conceptual understanding, achievement on tests and exams, attitudes toward chemistry, critical thinking skills, problemsolving skills, creativity, and innovation, collaboration, participation, research skills, and classroom management) do teachers perceive can be improved by these methods? 3. To what extent does the utilization of the instructional methods differ across teachers’ experiences?

3. Literature Review Several studies have acknowledged the benefits of instructional methods on students’ achievement (Aidoo et al., 2016; Gabel, 1999; Khan et al., 2011; Kousa et al., 2018; Yunus & Ali, 2018; Yusuf, 2004). For example, the effect of cooperative learning instruction on students’ academic achievement has been found to increase the achievement level of students (Olatoye et al., 2011; Yusuf, 2004). In a study conducted on 11th-grade students to investigate the effect of cooperative learning instruction, it was found that students who were taught using co-operative learning instruction had a significantly higher score in the achievement test carried on electrochemistry topic than those who were trained using a traditional approach (Acar & Tarhan, 2007). A further study which was carried out among senior secondary school students to examine the influence of co-operative learning teaching strategy indicated that this method of instruction reduced the level of anxiety in learning chemistry drastically, while those treated with conventional-lecture (chalk and talk method) their level of anxiety was increased (Oludipe & Awokoy, 2010). Due to the effectiveness of cooperative learning methods in reducing students’ anxiety in chemistrylearning, teachers are encouraged to incorporate co-operative learning instructional into their teaching methods. The virtual laboratory was found to effectively affect students’ achievement in the same way as the real chemistry laboratory (Gabel, 1999). Tatli and Ayas (2013), in their study that examined the effect of virtual chemistry laboratory on students’ achievement in the chemical changes unit, argued that this method is found to be as effective as the real chemistry lab. Tuysuz (2010) found a similar

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finding, in which the result showed a positive effect of the virtual laboratory on 9th-grade students’ achievements who were taught separation of matter. Students who received treatment through the virtual laboratory were successful over the ones treated with the traditional chalk and talk method. In a study conducted in Malaysia, descriptive research was employed on students aged 1516 years old to investigate the factors affecting students’ attitudes towards chemistry. It was found that the majority of the students (85%) developed a positive attitude when they conduct chemistry experiments in the laboratory (Yunus & Ali, 2018). In the same line of thought, Akani(2015) investigated the relationship between laboratory instruction, attitude toward chemistry, and achievement. The study revealed that regular laboratory instruction directly influences academic achievement. Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is another instructional method commonly used in learning chemistry. Its effect on students’ achievement has been extensively studied by different researchers. For instance, Aidoo et al. (2016) found a significant difference in students’ achievement using PBL instruction and those taught using a traditional instructional approach. In line with this, Abanikannda (2016) indicated that students’ academic achievement exposed to PBL has improved as well as their perception of chemistry has changed. Furthermore, the analysis of covariance of students’ mean achievement scores was conducted to investigate the effect of problem-based and discovery-based instructional strategies on students’ academic achievement in chemistry. The result showed that problem-based strategies significantly increased the achievement level of students more than the discovery-based and expository strategies (Anyafulude, 2013). Inquiry-based teaching strategy has also been discussed as the learner-centered method, which facilitates the active participation of students (Khan et al., 2011). The method provides a higher degree of thinking, a deeper understanding of the concept, and practical skills. Also, the effect of inquiry-based approaches to teaching students’ academic achievement has been studied. It was found that students taught using inquiry-based instruction achieved higher than those taught using traditional instruction ( Abdi, 2014; Khan et al., 2011). Besides, students can learn more effectively when they are taught using an instructional design that matches their learning styles (Kanadli, 2016). Therefore, teachers need to choose the instructional methods suited to their students to improve their academic achievement, attitude, and retention towards the subject being taught. Concept mapping also has been proved to be an effective teaching strategy that improves students’ achievement and retention time (Chawla & Gurmit, 2015; Jack, 2013; Olarewaju & Awofala, 2011; Sing & Moono, 2015). A concept map is regarded as a diagram that shows relationships among concepts. While using a concept map, knowledge is organized and represented in a two-dimensional, visually based representation through which concepts are being represented graphically. It is, therefore, the instrument that helps in organizing and structuring knowledge.Furthermore, concept mapping is an effective teaching

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strategy due to its significant advantage of consolidating and precise understanding of science concepts and making inter-relations between two or more concepts (Jack, 2013). It also helps students develop abilities to solve problems and find solutions to questions requiring application and synthesis of concepts (Olarewaju & Awofala, 2011). This teaching method helps students actively construct an understanding of concepts, thereby making connections between variables of interest in a given subject. It supports learners’ effort to conceptualize their knowledge into visually apparent graphical tools that connect the existing concepts with the newly acquired concepts (Sing & Moono, 2015). Thus, it makes the learning process more active rather than being passive. Therefore, the concept maps are beneficial in the teaching and learning process as the use of maps helps develop a long-lasting impression among students’ memory and retention time, hence improving their learning outcomes (Chawla & Gurmit, 2015).In addition, concept maps have been used to observe changes in students’ understanding of concepts over time. The observer has to elaborate on the conceptual understanding that students possess and then build on them to recognize and modify those containing alternative conceptions or misconceptions (Olarewaju & Awofala, 2011). In this respect, it is considered a key to organizing an excellent and effective knowledge base as it leads to greater achievement when used in the learning process. However, the method is recommended as an effective teaching instruction in science education. The effect of web-based computer simulation has been investigated. Besides increasing students’ attitudes towards chemistry and academic achievement (Olakanmi, 2008), web-based instruction also helps develop generic competency skills. These include critical thinking and problem-solving skills, creativity and innovation, and research skills among higher secondary students (Frailich et al., 2007; Sudha & Amutha, 2015). In education, WBI is becoming more important. In other words, it renders the learning environment more interesting, meaningful, and very effective since it provides an opportunity for students to be exposed to multisensory experiences (Sudha & Amutha, 2015). The most current information in the form of modeling, simulations, and visualization, tools are made available to students to facilitate them analyzing and examining the online materials and increasing the conceptual understanding of science (Frailich et al., 2007). Its effect on students’ achievement has also been studied. It has been indicated that the use of WBI helps higher secondary schools’ students improve their learning capacity in chemistry and hence their achievement (Sudha & Amutha, 2015). It was also found that WBI plays a crucial role in enhancing the comprehension of chemistry concepts, the attitudes and interests of students, and students’ awareness, emphasizing the relevance of chemistry to daily life (Frailich et al., 2007).

4. Methodology 4.1. Research Design A survey research design guided the present study. The survey study is conducted to obtain data from a given population or a sample to determine the attitudes, opinions, beliefs, characteristics of members of that population (Fraenkel et al., 2012). In this research, quantitative data were collected using a

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questionnaire to identity the instructional methods used by teachers while teaching chemistry. 4.2. Sampling Technique A snowball technique, a non-probability sampling technique, was used as a sampling procedure (Ndayambaje, 2018). This is because the participants were not reachable due to the COVID-19 pandemic as traveling and meeting people were restricted by the government to avoid the spread of the pandemic. The study dealt with 51 chemistry teachers located in different districts. The participants were accessed by sharing a link of the survey questionnaire to one teacher in the Gasabo district and another from the Rwamagana district. The target area of this study included the two districts. The two teachers were asked to complete the survey and share the same link with their respective groups through WhatsApp. Therefore, teachers from different districts apart from Gasabo and Rwamagana districts participated in the survey as the link was shared online. Hence, their responses were also considered. Table 1 summarizes the characteristics of the sample used in this study. Table 1: Sample Characteristics Gender

Age range

Type of School

Year of experience

District

Male

76%

1970-1979

Public

90%

0-1

18%

Kayonza

18%

Female

24%

1980-1989

59%

Private

10%

2-3

20%

Rwamagana

35%

1990-1999

37%

4-5

Gasabo

20%

6-9

37%

Nyarugenge

10-19

18%

Nyamasheke

14%

over 20

Ruhango

Nyaruguru

Gisagara

Burera

Gicumbi

Karongi

Total

100%

4.3. Instrument Preparation, Validity, and Reliability The teachers’ survey questionnaire was used to investigate the instructional methods commonly applied in the teaching and learning of chemistry in lower secondary schools. From the consulted literature and daily experience, a survey of two parts, one with 56 statements and six questions, was prepared. This was shared with 4 Ph.D. students for face validity. They were asked to examine each question in the survey to see whether the question intends to measure what is supposed to be measured, whether it is clear, coherent, relevant, and to confirm whether the whole questionnaire is sufficient and check its objectivity. Based on the comments provided by the Ph.D. students, ten non-clear statements were removed in part one and two questions in part two, while others were reformulated. The remaining 46 statements in part one and three questions in part two represent the final survey. The statements were classified into five concepts (planning, instructional methods, classroom environment, assessment,

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and encouragement). The planning process, lesson delivery through which you implement your instructional methods, classroom environment, the way you assess students, and the kind of motivation provided to students contribute more to the choice of instructional method. For this questionnaire, the above five concepts were chosen to explore the most preferred instructional methods. The questionnaire was content validated by two expert university lecturers and one Ph.D. student. Therefore, it was converted to an online form using Microsoft form, a link of it was created and shared through WhatsApp. A pilot study was conducted to check if the designed questionnaire is reliable. The questionnaire was administered to 22 teachers of lower secondary schools. The link was given to some chemistry teachers and asked them to complete the survey. Furthermore, they were also asked to share the same link with their respective fellows. Hence, 22 teachers located in different districts participated in the pilot study. Computing Cronbach alpha was found to be 0.364, 0.779, 0.653, 0.514, 0.06, and 0.935 for planning, instructional methods, classroom environment, assessment, encouragement, and area of improvement, respectively. The overage was 0.913 for 57 items. This showed that the survey has satisfactory and acceptable reliability. The final survey questionnaire consisted of 46 items located in part one in which teachers were asked to rate the extent to which they strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree, and strongly disagree on each of the proposed statements related to the most common instructional methods used in the teaching and learning of chemistry. The items located in part two intended to ask the teachers to state the most preferred teaching method when teaching chemistry and to give a reason that justifies their preferred method of teaching; they were requested to rate the areas of improvement provided by giving a rough estimate from 1 to 5 where five = much improved and one = least improved. In addition, teachers were asked if they have ever been trained on different teaching methods, if yes, what were these methods, and if no, they were asked to suggest different methods that they would like to be trained on to improve their chemistry teaching. 4.4. Data Analysis Data from the pilot study was compiled and analyzed using a computerized data analysis package known as Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS 23) to determine the reliability. Descriptive statistics such as “countif” and percentages calculated using Excel 2016 were also used to analyze raw data from chemistry teachers. Inferential statistics (Chi-square test) calculated using SPSS was used to determine to what extent does the utilization of the instructional methods differs across teachers’ experiences. As the survey was online, the teachers’ responses were opened in excel format, and they were assigned numbers to strongly agree (5), agree (4), undecided (3), disagree (2), and strongly disagree (1) for ease of analysis. To determine the numbers of teachers who agreed, were undecided, or disagree with the proposed statements, three analysis scales were formed instead of five by combining 1 and 2 for disagreed options, 4 and 5 for agreeing options, and three remained for undecided. The COUNTIF formula was applied to determine how many teachers agreed, disagreed, or were undecided for a given statement and, then their percentage

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was determined. Similarly, numbers 1 and 2 were combined to mean the least improved areas and numbers 4 and 5 to mean the much-improved areas while determining the areas of improvement that justify teachers’ preferred methods. For the items where teachers had to give answers, their responses were counted manually.

5. Results and Discussion Statements to investigate the most commonly used instructional methods were classified into four concepts. This is because the instructional methods cannot bring the desired outcomes among students. Therefore, teachers are involved in the way they plan their lessons before their delivery, how they organize their classroom environment, how they assess as well as the way they encourage or motivate students in the learning process (Nsengimana et al., 2020). Hence, a statement in each concept helped to distinguish the type of instructional methods being used by the teacher. 5.1. Planning Statements 1, 4, 5, 6, and 7 indicated that teachers used the active learning methods while implementing CBC as above 90% of them agree to the statements. Statements 2 and 3 indicated passive learning methods, and 82% and 79% of teachers respectively disagreed to the statements (see Table 2).

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Table 2. Teachers’ Perception on Planning Statements Agr ee (4) I plan activities to prove that particular competency 98% has been mastered by the learner I only use notes found in the book without making my 14% summary as it requires much time I use old notes that were used previously in the 16% teaching of chemistry I plan my lesson prior to its delivery 96% While planning, I set clear instructional objectives and integrate cross-cutting issues into my lesson plan I plan activities that help to evaluate students’ acquired competences I use cognitive terminology such as classify, analyze, predict, and create while framing tasks

Undeci ded (3)

Disagr ee (2)

82%

79%

98%

90%

The results from Table 2 showed that there are teachers who still implement the use of passive methods of teaching. They do not plan their lessons rather, they rely on the old notes used in the previous years, or they copy them directly from a textbook without summarizing them. Teachers argued that it takes more time to plan while they have a heavy workload. Ndihokubwayo et al. (2020) found similar results in their study where physics teachers are found to use the effective active learning methods unwillingly, and their lesson plans do not well reflect on the competence-based curriculum. 5.2. Instructional Methods

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Statements 1, 2, 3, 10, and 17 reflect the passive teaching methods in which teachers use lecturing, authoritative, knowledge-based, and teacher-led demonstrations. For instance, 71% of teachers agreed to explain the concepts verbally and provide notes later, 59% agreed that they are the ones to decide on the topic to be covered, 63% agreed to transfer knowledge to students and expect them to recall everything. In comparison, 39% also agreed that they mostly use the chalk and talk method as it helps them cover many topics in a limited amount of time (Table 3a).

Disagree (2)

71%

10%

20%

39%

53%

In my class, I give explanations of the concepts verbally and provide notes later In my teaching practice, I mostly use the chalk and talk method as it helps me to cover many topics in a limited amount of time I decide on the topic to be covered in my class

59%

14%

27%

I let students decide on the topic to be covered in my class

36%

20%

45%

I involve my students in a group discussion in my class

100%

92%

78%

14%

92%

63%

31%

90%

I engage my students to participate in activities that bring about efficient learning experiences rigorously. I let my students learn in a small group with the help of each other I apply learner-centered methods as they help me to complete the scheme of work I let my students learn through the completion of meaningful tasks. I transfer knowledge to students and expect them to recall everything I prefer to use the inquiry method to make learners discover the new knowledge I use demonstrations to make the lesson more understandable I give each student a task to accomplish during the lesson

81%

10%

I prefer computer simulation to clarify the abstract concept

78%

14%

In lab, I allow students to carry hands-on activities (experiments) I use simulated experiments than conducting practical works in the laboratory When I carry out the experiment, I only ask students to observe but not allowing them to practice their own experiments In my class, I use hands-on activities

72%

14%

55%

20%

26%

16%

78%

79%

10%

12%

I use web-based instruction to promote coherent conceptual understanding I take my students outside the classroom for field trips

69%

18%

14%

69%

10%

22%

Agree (4)

Undecided (3)

Table 3a: Teachers’ Perception on Instructional Methods Statements

1 2

7 8 9 10 11 12

16 17

18 19 20

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These findings implied that the practice of the teacher-centered method is still dominating in some schools. The results are supported by Uwizeyimana et al. (2018), who similarly argued that traditional teacher-centered methods are still observed in the teaching of physics. From other studies conducted by Makunja (2016); Nsengimana (2021) revealed that most of the teachers reported the challenges they face while implementing the CBC. These include the unavailability of adequate and effective teaching and learning materials, students’ readiness to practice learner-centred methods, and low ability of students joining secondary classes. These hinder the effective teaching and learning of science in general and that of chemistry. In addition, some content of the CBC requires materials that cannot be improvised, and hence, they are taught theoretically. Furthermore, teachers argued that the overloaded timetable of 35 to 40 hours per week and the increased number of students (60 students and above per class), especially at the ordinary level, do not allow them to put into practice all the methodology suggested by CBC, the reason why traditional means of teaching are still used. The other statements revealed active instructional methods, which involve techniques like group discussion, activity-based, peer learning, hands-on activity, web-based, field trip, virtual experiment. Group discussion was rated more (100%) by all teachers (see Table 3a). The findings are incongruent with that of Byusa et al. (2020b). This is because all these techniques are involved in the implementation of CBC to emphasize the learner-centered method. As most of the teachers have been trained on the implementation of CBC, they pretend to use the active teaching methods as a requirement of CBC when they are asked anything to do with the teaching practice. The statements from the instructional methods were classified into two themes: Passive and active teaching methods; then they were further classified into different teaching techniques (Table 3b). It was found that the most preferred methods are active methods involving teaching techniques such as: group discussion, activity-based, peer learning-based, hands-on activity, virtual experiment, etc.). Table 3b: Most Preferred Instructional Methods Main teaching philosophy

Main teaching methods/approaches

Teaching techniques

Learners centeredness

Active learning

Participative Group discussion Peer learning Activity-based learning Task-based learning inquiry-based learner demonstration Virtual experiment Hands-on activity web-based Field-trip

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Teacher centeredness

Passive learning

Lecturing Authoritative knowledge-based teacher demonstration

1, 2 3 10 17

The results of this study showed that lower secondary school teachers are aware of the active instructional methods. This is attributed to the shift from Knowledge-Based Curriculum (KBC) to Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC). Most of the teachers have been trained on the methods of instruction required to implement CBC.The findings are in line with those of Byusa et al. (2020) through the survey, self-reported questionnaire, and interview for teachers. They indicated that S2 chemistry teachers claimed to use active learning daily as a requirement in the implementation of CBC. However, it is not the case by using the COPUS tool for classroom observation. The observed teachers were found to use lecturing methods, write notes on the board, and put students into a small group to discuss a small activity that does not engage learners in knowledge construction. Thus, the real classroom practice did not reflect the actual active teaching approaches, which was also different from what teachers respond to through interviews and surveys. 5.3. Classroom Environment The classroom environment is another concept that was tackled in this study. Teachers’ perceptions on how they manage their students were all agreed over 80%. For instance, they agreed 100% to the statement like I guide and facilitate my students in the learning process (statement 2). When I introduce a new topic, I consider students’ prior knowledge (statement 3) (Table 4). All these reflect the practice of the learner-centered method.

Disagree (2)

Undecided (3)

Statements

Agree (4)

Table 4: Teachers’ Perception on Classroom Environment

I make correction of exercises on the board

94%

I guide and facilitate my students in the learning process I like working with my students in all activities

100%

84%

12%

When I introduce a new topic, I consider students’ prior knowledge I help my students to reach me whenever they want.

100%

82%

10%

I ask many questions to students to develop their critical thinking skills I openly share with my students if there is something I do not know I share with my students the objectives of the lesson

98%

80%

14%

90%

I allow students to use a variety of means such as diagrams, models, graphs, drawings, or any manipulative material to represent the phenomena I allow my students to organize a debate on a particular topic

92%

84%

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

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The findings were not far from the ideas of Hailikari et al. (2008), who acknowledged the benefits of considering the prior knowledge of the students. Their findings showed that students’ prior knowledge should be considered while designing instruction methods and curriculum planning. This is because prior-knowledge assessment might be used to identify students who are struggling with some concepts. It helps the teacher to recognize the appropriate level at which s/he can start the lesson, which method could be used to address the different levels of difficulties, and identify how to group students according to their ability. Statement one (I make correction of exercises on the board) revealed the passive learning methods which is centered on the teacher. It showed that teachers are the ones to correct exercises instead of giving time to students to correct them and facilitate them. However, many teachers agreed on the statement (above 90%). This clearly showed that, even though teachers claim to use active learning methods, they still apply some passive teaching methods (Byusa et al., 2020a; Suhag et al., 2018) 5.4. Assessment The results summarized in Table 5 indicated that teachers engage students in the learning process by assigning them many works. For illustration, 98% of teachers assign students researches and homework while 96% probe many examples from students to prove their understanding of the concept taught. Table 5: Teachers’ Perception on Assessment

2 3 4

I expect my students to do exercises on their own I assign students researches as homework

88%

98%

I expect my students firstly solve the problem on their own I ask many examples from my students

90%

96%

Agree (4)

Disagree (2)

Undecided (3)

Statements

Proper and effective assessment for the learning process promote the active engagement of learners (Rawlusyk, 2018). Also, students’ ability to learn and the quality of learning are influenced by how the learning process is assessed (Stiggins, 2002). In this study, it was found that teachers were agreed to all statements that help to recognize how they assess their students. Teachers ask questions that allow students to actively participate in the assessment and hence facilitate and strengthen their learning process. They try to ask questions which develop the spirit of research among their students, critical thinking skills, and problem-solving skills. Therefore, students keep learning as well as assessment is continuous, and they continue to learn progressively at productive levels if they do not give up in frustration or hopelessness, as supported by Stiggins (2002).

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5.5. Encouragement According to the results from Table 6, it is also observed that many teachers encourage their students to be involved in the learning process. For instance, 100% of the teachers encourage students to conduct research on a given problem, and 100% of teachers encourage students to be involved in each activity taking place in chemistry lessons.

1 2 3 4 5

I encourage my students to make a research on a given problem I motivate them to produce new projects by applying the knowledge gained I encourage students to be involved in each activity taking place in the chemistry lesson I encourage students to copy notes from the blackboard I motivate my students by providing incentives to the best performer in class

Disagree (2)

Undecided (3)

Agree (4)

Table 6: Teachers’ Perception on Encouragement

100%

96%

100%

74%

14%

12%

79%

18%

The encouragement and kind of motivations teachers provide to their students play a crucial role in their willingness to study (Alcott, 2017). This is felt in statement 1(I encourage my students to do research on a given problem) and 3(I encourage students to be involved in every activity taking place in the chemistry lesson) in which teachers rated them up to 100%. This means that they encourage their students to be involved in their learning process by finding a solution to the given problem and being engaged in every activity in the classroom, and redirecting the active learning method. Statement 4 (I encourage students to copy notes from the blackboard) encourages students to copy notes from the blackboard, which is the passive teaching method. Only 12% of teachers disagreed with this statement; 74% agreed, and 14 % were undecided about this statement. This showed that many teachers still rely on the traditional teaching methods, allowing students to copy notes from the blackboard. This is a purely passive learning method in which teachers act as knowledge transfers and students act as knowledge receivers. When teachers were asked to state their most preferred chemistry teaching method, some of their responses are represented in Figure 1:

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Figure 1: Teachers’ Responses on the Most Preferred Chemistry Teaching Methods.

Most teachers (57%) indicated that they use the learner-centered method. 19% revealed that they use group discussion. In comparison, others use laboratory or carrying experiment in the laboratory (6%), Project-Based learning and the use of practices rated at 4% each, and problem-based learning and expeditionary learning was rated at 2% each. These findings implied that most teachers (57%) have a misconception in differentiating teaching approaches, methods, and teaching techniques. For instance, learners-centered methods constitute a teaching approach rather than a method. It involves different teaching methods like problem-based learning, inquiry-based learning, co-operative-based learning, concept-based learning, among others. The approach is regarded as the view of looking at things. It involves the procedure of teaching-learning or of the way we teach (Gill & Kusum, 2017). Examples of learning approaches include the teacher-centered approach and learner-centered approaches. A method is a pedagogical term used to describe the practical realization of an approach. It is concerned with effective presentation of the subject matter occurring step by step, thereby enhancing its mastery. The teaching method is the formal structure of presenting the content in the classroom known as teaching instructions (Gill & Kusum, 2017). Examples of teaching methods are lecture, demonstration, discussion, question-answer, project, and problem-solving methods, among others. The technique is simply the way of carrying out a particular task. It means how a teacher teaches, or how s/he teaches, is referred to as a teaching technique. It involves a series of steps teachers use to implement a method. Furthermore, when teachers were asked to rate the levels at which the proposed areas have been improved while using their preferred methods, they showed that classroom management (statement 11) rated at 78% was highly improved compared to other areas (Figure 2). Probably, this may be attributed to the fact that due large classroom size encountered in most schools, teachers struggle to manage those big classes by using teaching techniques that provide a holistic learning environment.

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Figure 2: Teachers’ Rating Areas of Improvement.

Statements 1, 2, 7, and 8 representing students’ conceptual understanding, students’ achievement on tests and exams, students’ collaboration skills, and students’ participation, respectively, were moderately improved. Teachers rated them at 69%, 67%, 67%, and 67% (Figure 2). The moderate improvement can be due to the limited time allocated to each period which is not enough for students to digest the materials taught in 40min. And then, it is hard for them to understand the concepts. It affects their collaboration, participation, and hence, their achievement on tests and exams. This might also be caused by the overloaded curriculum, through which teachers do not spend more time on a particular concept as they want to complete the scheme of work. Also, due to the overloaded timetable, they do not have sufficient time to prepare lessons. Students are therefore provided with insufficient knowledge, which does not facilitate skills construction. Statements 6 and 10 representing students’ creativity and innovation and students’ ability to conduct research were the least improved compared to others. They were both rated by 29% of teachers questioned. The minor improvement can be associated with the lack of adequate materials and teaching aids in some schools leading to low levels of concept clarification which affects students’ levels of critical thinking (Jane et al., 2020; Makunja, 2016). As a result, students fail to be innovative and creative due to inadequate knowledge and

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skills. In addition, many schools do not have sufficient computers for students; even those with smart rooms do not have access to the internet. These contribute more to the decrease in their ability to conduct research. Apart from the proposed areas of improvement, teachers suggested some other areas that have been improved while using their preferred methods in teaching chemistry. These include students’ curiosity and motivation, time management skills, working in the laboratory skills, and students’ discipline, among others. The improvement in curiosity and motivation is probably because in some schools, students are allowed to manipulate some materials in the learning process and are curious about the next step to follow, which also improves their motivation to achieve the goal of the lesson. Teachers were also asked if they have ever been trained on different methods of teaching chemistry; after joining the teaching profession, 73% have been trained on some teaching methods as they responded with yes, while 23% have not been trained as they responded wih no. Among the methods that they have been trained on including Learner-centered method, group discussion, inquiry-based method, ICT integration, Gender-sensitive, teaching mathematics and sciences methodologies, Mastery content, 5Es method, Project-based learning method, Pragmatic learning, Round corner method, CBC, CPD, think pair method, lesson preparation, and methods of conducting scientific research. Among the stated methods, some are not considered as teaching methods. For example, CBC, CPD, lesson preparation, and conducting scientific research are not teaching and learning methods. This might also be attributed to the lack of in-service training (Makunja, 2016). Therefore, more training are needed to provide clarification on teaching approaches, methods, and techniques. Teachers whose responses were no were asked to suggest different methods they would like to be trained on to improve their chemistry teaching. These include: coaching and mentoring, laboratory experiment, teaching by using discrepant events during the teaching and learning process, how to search real examples to relate the chemistry lesson with our everyday life activities, practical work, video assimilation method, teaching chemistry through play, integrate ICT in teaching chemistry, evaluation method, remedial and coaching, group work, scientific research, learnercentered method, promotion of language acquisition, and improvising learning materials. Similarly, most teachers have not suggested the teaching methods they want to be trained on; rather, they only gave different topics they would like to be trained on. Few methods like laboratory-based method, role-play method, webbased method, and group discussion method were listed. This is because they are mostly known as the requirement of CBC implementation, and teachers need to be trained on them for effective teaching of chemistry that follows CBC principles. The research intended to figure out the utilization of the instructional methods based on teachers’ experiences. To respond to the third research question , data on teachers having more than five years of experience and those with less than five years of experience were filtered. Indeed, more than five years of teaching experience was chosen because the teachers in this range were hired before the

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implementation of CBC. The perception of teachers with more and less than five years of experience on their preferred methods of teaching chemistry is summarized in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Teachers’ Responses on the Most Preferred Chemistry Teaching Methods.

While splitting them into more and less than five years of experience and comparing their results in terms of experience, the Pearson chi-square test showed that there is no statistically significant difference (value: 25.33, df: 16, and p: 0.064) between teachers with more than five years of experience and those with less than five years of experience. The results presented in Figure 3 showed that there are slight differences between teachers with less than five years of experience and those with more than five years of experience in their choice of the most preferred methods, though they are not statistically significant. For example, teachers with less than five years of experience rated the use of the learner-centered method at 61%, while those with more than five years of experience rated them at 55%. Also, teachers with less than five years of experience do not prefer methods like project-based learning, problem-based learning, and expeditionary learning method, while those with more than five years of experience do not choose the inquiry teaching method. This difference might be attributed to the resistance to change observed among experienced teachers (Ndihokubwayo et al., 2019). The results may also be biased to the small sample size used in this study. Therefore, further studies are recommended to consider a large sample size to supplement this study.

6. Conclusion This study concludes that teachers prefer active teaching methods like group discussion method, laboratory-based method, problem-based method, projectbased method, among others. However, some teachers still use some practices of

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passive teaching methods. The study indicated the areas of improvement when teachers use their preferred methods. Classroom management is found to be highly improved. Students’ conceptual understanding, students’ achievement on tests and exams, students’ collaboration skills, and students’ participation, respectively are moderately improved. Students’ creativity and innovation and students’ ability to conduct research are found to be the least improved areas. The results of teachers in terms of experience showed no statistically significant difference between more experienced teachers (> 5 years) and less experienced teachers (<5years). In addition, teachers’ misconception on teaching approaches, methods, and techniques is also found, and this is an alarming issue to consider as a priority. It is, therefore, recommended to the educational stakeholders to plan more pieces of training to address the problem. From the consulted literature, it was found that many teachers claim the use of active teaching methods thoughthey do not apply them in the teaching process (Byusa et al., 2020a; Nsengimana et al., 2021). The findings from this study are in agreement with what has been found in the literature. However, the study’s limitation lies on the fact that it was not possible to conduct observation in class to confirm whether the reported teachers preferred instructional methods aligned with what they do in the classroom. Therefore, future studies should conduct observation and interviews with teachers to obtain more data. Moreover, further studies should consider the secondary sources of data like lesson plans, schemes of work, and other pedagogical documents that could add more information. Similarly, students, schools’ principles, and other school workers in the study should be taken into consideration for future studies.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 262-290, July 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.7.15 Received May 19, 2021; Revised Jul 04, 2021; Accepted Jul 31, 2021

Higher Education Students’ Challenges on Flexible Online Learning Implementation in the Rural Areas: A Philippine Case Thessalou E. Gocotano, Mae Anthoneth L. Jerodiaz, Jenny Claire P. Banggay, Harold B. Rey Nasibog and Marivel B. Go College of Education, Cebu Technological University, Moalboal Campus Poblacion West, Moalboal, Cebu, Philippines https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7958-1041 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1889-1449 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7032-5052 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8307-0618 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9102-0805

Abstract. The COVID-19 Pandemic has led Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the Philippines to replace on-campus learning with flexible learning. This paper explores the students' challenges on flexible online learning implementation of the university in the rural area based on their background and experience. This employed quantitative and qualitative methods through a survey and an interview respectively sought to gather data from 639 university students. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and narrative analysis. Results revealed that most mothers are high school graduates, while fathers enjoy an elementary-level and belong to under low-income families. Most students possess just mobile phones and use mobile data as their primary internet access source, ranging from moderate to poor connection. Also, the majority are not fully equipped with enough skills in digital media. For challenges, students experienced the unavailability of a network, economic instability, digital divide, the shortage of digital devices, distractive learning environment, expensive internet data, health-related problems, lack of resources, lack of digital literacy skills, and loss of motivation .Hence, even if flexible online learning is the best solution for the university to replace face-to-face classes, it is not best applicable and suitable to all students living in rural areas or other places with an unstable network and students who belong to financially unstable families. Administrators and educators have to consider alternative learning modes that suit students' backgrounds during the pandemic, like using non-digital technologies. Keywords: flexible online learning; rural university students; COVID-19

©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 The outbreak of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic significantly impacts daily life and caused massive disruptions worldwide (Chakraborty & Maity, 2020). It emerged so suddenly that no one was prepared to accept its societal implications directly. The expenses associated with controlling and managing the pandemic are exorbitant, making even developing countries struggle to keep up (Haleem et al., 2020). The Philippines, in particular, was forced to adopt measures to counteract the spread of COVID-19, such as forbidding public gatherings and adopting social distancing. It also leads to closing schools, colleges, and universities resulting in nearly 28 million Filipino students in all academic levels remain at home and complying with the Philippine government's quarantine procedures (UNESCO, 2020). All of which compelled Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to switch to flexible teaching and learning. The Philippines' Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has issued recommendations for the adoption of flexible learning and teaching and provide definition anchored from Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) (2021) as a pedagogical approach that allows for time, location, and audience flexibility, including but not limited to, the use of technology. It also urged HEIs to deploy available versatile curriculum and other alternate forms of distribution in place of oncampus instruction (Commission on Higher Education [CHED], 2020). Such regulation also emphasized that HEIs and their instructors' exercise of discretion must be reasonable, transparent, and outcomes-based validated. Certain HEIs have established proactive strategies to continue the learners' education, particularly the 3.5 million tertiary-level students enrolled in about 2,400 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The university in the rural area implemented Flexible Online Learning (FOL) that incorporates both synchronous and asynchronous learning modes and a mixture of methods. According to Singh and Thurman (2019), synchronous online learning entails real-time on-screen discussions, whereas asynchronous online learning happens offline where students can manage their own time. Such sudden implementation of FOL raised some challenges to students, parents, and educators, especially when Toquero (2020) revealed that numerous HEIs in the Philippines, both private and public, are unprepared to implement an online system. They still need to consider several aspects, including financial stability, network accessibility, technical equipment, and digital knowledge. According to the literature, both students and teachers face several difficulties when engaged in online learning (Andersson & Gronlund, 2017; Arinto, 2016; Baticulon et al., 2021; Dubey & Piroska, 2019; Gilbert, 2015; Gillet-Swan, 2017; Islam et al., 2015). For instance, FOL removes the human connection, which reduces student participation, engagement, and the professors’ ability to adjust instructional content and lectures (Shore, 2020).In addition, Friedman (2020) enumerated a number of challenges as technological difficulties, interruption, organizational skills, lack of motivation, understanding learning objectives, lack of peer review and direct interaction, adjusting to different technological

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advancements, and fear of the future. Hence, various sectors criticized the HEI's proactive measures in Flexible online learning. The petitioners contended that "ability to the internet connection and learning equipment has remained a luxury to this day, putting those with limited internet access at a disadvantage when it comes to online classes" (Joaquin et al., 2020, p.2). The 2019 nationwide survey confirmed such limited internet connection, which produced national and regional estimates of ICT indicators involving 43,838 sample households. According to the findings, specifically, in Cebu Province, where the university is located and where the participants reside, only 28.99 percent of the entire household have internet connection (National Statistics Office [NSO], 2010). As such, along with implementing flexible learning, the university has provided free modems to teachers and students to ensure internet access. Though literature showed considerable research about flexible online learning even before the pandemic, it is not based on the Philippine context. Thus, this issue is yet to be studied more because of its relevance and minimal sources. Furthermore, there is a scarcity on the number of available literature on how COVID-19 influenced education (Bao, 2020; Sintema, 2020; Yan, 2020), particularly on the challenges faced by college learners in the rural areas of the Philippines. Hence, investigating this problem is worthwhile to consider. This study will provide the Commission on Higher Education, policymakers, other educational institutions, educators, and parents with such information and subsequently make the required modifications and steps to improve the implementation to create a more worthwhile teaching-learning experience.

2. Review of Related Literature 2.1. Flexible Online Learning Distance education is a learning environment in which professors and learners are physically separated during classes, and various approaches using technological devices are utilized to enable student-teacher and student-student communication (Simonson et al., 2020; Tuckman, 2007). Remote education, elearning, online learning, and flexible online learning are all terms used to describe distance learning. FOL is interchanged with phrases like "open learning," "distance learning," "work-based learning," and "e-learning," which enable students to select their own time/pace, place, access, subject, and delivery method (George & Luke, 1995). FOL has several descriptions, such as collecting concepts concerned with educational philosophies and structures, giving students more options, comfort, flexibility, and adaptation of the learner's needs (Shurville et al., 2008). It is learner-centered, promoting greater individuality and autonomy in students (Wanner & Palmer, 2015), giving students options for where, where, and how they learn (Casey & Wilson, 2005; Naidu et al., 2017). Llego (2020) described it as where the instructor serves as a facilitator, enlisting learners' active involvement via various technologies available over the internet when they are physically separated from one another during teaching. For Huang (2019) and Usher and Barak (2020), the internet and other technical equipment and tools and synchronous and asynchronous instructional delivery and academic materials are all used in a learning environment. Moreover, Markova et al. (2017), Muller et al. (2018), and Van

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Doorn and Van Doorn (2004) described it as a learning modality where students become more responsible for their learning since the learning mode requires them for greater participation and sometimes self-learning and discoveries. Similarly, in the Philippines, FOL involves synchronous and asynchronous learning (CHE, 2020), where synchronous learning is a real-time online or distance education that follows a set class schedule and login times (Bonk & Zhang, 2006; Means et al., 2010; Oztok et al., 2013). It ensures that at a specific moment, teachers and students communicate in a simulated virtual environment. Instructors also take attendance in these classes, much as they would in a lecture hall. Such synchronous mode includes video conference, teleconference, live chats, and live-streamed lectures that must be watched in real-time. Since it makes for a more interactive discussion of subjects, thoughts, and definitions, the synchronous online format is also an upgrade over classroom instruction. Furthermore, synchronous online learning provides a sense of pace and immediacy; videoconferencing allows students to ask classmates and teachers and get replies in the middle of a lecture (Means et al., 2010; Joan, 2013; Pappas, 2015). It also offers frequent opportunities for virtual conversation, individual support, and mentorship and requires a solid and steady internet connection (Llego, 2020).However, technical issues like slow internet, crashed hard drives, and dead batteries will turn into full-fledged GPAdraining disasters for synchronous learners (The Regents of the University of Colorado, 2017). Instead of signing in and taking the test, one can find himself cursing at the computer. On the other hand, asynchronous learning occurs at one's favourable time (Finol, 2020; Joan, 2013; Oztok et al., 2013; Pappas, 2015). Although a tutor, a program, or course of study can include reading materials, lessons to see, assignments to complete, and exams to take, a student can access and complete these learning materials on his own time as long as the student adheres to the deadlines. Asynchronous learning resources include self-paced classes, modules, recorded and downloadable video lessons, lecture notes, and online discussions or social network websites (Villarin, 2020). 2.2. Advantages and Disadvantages of Flexible Online Learning Such a new learning style entails some advantages and disadvantages. Its benefits include students working at their own pace, feeling more motivated and in control of their education (University of Perpetual Help [UPH], 2020), can participate in virtual classes, and access learning tools stored in the learning management system. Students are more responsible, attentive, and self-directed due to these online and offline learning interactions. Also, Joan (2013) pointed out that flexible learning aids in promoting quality education allow students to schedule their tasks around their passions and interests. It also holds their minds in an optimistic state and away from outside threats. Students should be aware of the importance of improving themselves through this learning to excel in their chosen field. They should arm themselves with a thorough understanding of technology to pique their interest and facilitate their learning efficiently and straightforwardly.

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Conversely, other studies noted disadvantages of flexible learning, such as concerns about social inclusion and peer culture, as well as the likelihood of values transmission in a "virtual" classroom (Edge & Loegering, 2000; Gamage et al., 2020). It has been explained that students might learn less in such a setting than in a typical classroom because there is less human involvement in the learning process. There is also worry about the unnaturalness and consequences of online learning, which is the contradiction on how natural teaching and learning should take place (Adnan & Anwar, 2020; Larreamendy-Joerns & Leinhardt, 2006). In addition, there are tough questions about socioeconomic for online schooling in an underdeveloped world like the Philippines. Students in remote areas of the country lack access to roads or electricity, let alone digital devices and connectivity kits. Furthermore, even students in urban regions may have limited online access due to the current internet infrastructure. Consequently, there is an "internet gap" between those who have access and those who do not. 2.3. Challenges Faced in Flexible Online Learning in the Rural Areas As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, distant learning has taken the role of temporary remote instruction. Flexible online learning gives students a lot more choice in terms of how and when they engage; nonetheless, students' capacity to manage their learning becomes crucial (Sun & Rueda, 2012). For other countries, the transition of the mode of learning was smooth, but for others, it was rough, those from underdeveloped nations with insufficient infrastructure, in particular (Pham & Nguyen, 2020; Simbulan, 2020). Several main problems have been arisen throughout the transition to a new learning environment, including policy, pedagogy, logistics, socioeconomic considerations, availability of technological devices, and psychosocial aspects (Donitsa-Schmidt & Ramot, 2020; Khalil et al., 2020; Gonzalez et al., 2020). Though flexible online learning is an excellent platform, some issues occur that affect both students and teachers. The pandemic harms students' behavioural and emotional functioning, notably focus and alleviating difficulties caused by seclusion, financial standing, health implications, and anxiety (Copeland et al., 2021). Also, concerns were expressed by students about learning and evaluation techniques and excessive task load, technical problems, and confinement (Fawaz et al., 2021). Moreover, the students noted specific difficulties they had when taking online programs. Anxiety, sadness, inadequate internet access, and an unpleasant home learning environment are all factors that are exacerbated when students are disadvantaged or from distant locations (Kapasia et al., 2020). Additionally, other reported challenges include a lack of adequate equipment, limited studying space at home, student stress, and a lack of fieldwork and access to laboratories (Day et al., 2021, Tientcheu, 2021).Academically, while students may learn anything online, learning may be subpar, particularly in classes that need face-to-face interactions (Franchi, 2020). Learners in rural locations have significant hurdles in adjusting to modern lifestyles and learning, as seen by the extensive use of online learning management systems and low-technological applications (Dube, 2020). Because of a lack of infrastructure to connect to the internet, the learning management system, and low-technological applications,

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many rural learners in South Africa are excluded from teaching and learning. They need extra training, such as digital remediation programs, to use online collaborative tools (Welser et al., 2019), and are revealed to have lower selfassessment in online participatory skills. A research discovered that students in flexible online learning might be lacking in opportunities to interact, receive feedback on their performance, and gain social support (Tuckman, 2007). In contrast, another study uncovered that internet-based settings could create a sense of isolation for students, making it more straightforward for them to attend or not to attend classes regularly (Cull, 2010; Rost, 2019). These ideas demonstrated that students in online learning have anxiety, which resulted in a lack of involvement. Due to the absence of interaction during online lessons, students are easily distracted by cell phones, dogs, deliveries, and other activities other than the ongoing online class (Amadora, 2020). She further stressed that in the absence of face-to-face interaction, it is assumed that pupils will be disinterested in the online course. Internet connection is a common concern among instructors and students in rural areas. Since the Philippines remains one of Asia's slowest internet countries, Wi-Fi access is another problem. The country reported multiple students and instructors who need to climb mountains and trees to access the internet (Averia, 2020). The Philippines' sluggish internet connection provided a significant barrier to students, particularly those from rural areas or remote places (Adonis, 2020). Instructors in the Philippines suspected that the number of school dropout cases during the academic year 2020-2021 is due to poor network connection. Millions of learners battled to become acquainted with the new learning platforms triggered by the pandemic (Adonis, 2020). There are areas unreachable of the internet, and cell coverage is spotty and inconsistent; hence for students, the school has always served as a social network. As such, the internet connection and their isolation have grown due to the lack of both. However, some students have adapted well, solved problems, searched for opportunities, and applied their newly acquired skills to meet their new needs. Regardless of the causes that have distanced them from traditional education— closure, technology advancements—they are most likely better prepared to deal with their new environment. Furthermore, doing an online class in a rural setting has its own set of obstacles, and many students without smartphones or internet connectivity are left out (Hossain, 2020). To fill this need, some students have formed home study groups in which they share computers. Furthermore, instructors in the same village share phone numbers with the learners, and students visit their houses to seek help from their teachers (Hossain, 2020). Additionally, students in rural areas find it hard to access different online educational platforms (Macintyre & Macdonald, 2011). However, the study noted that the focus on attainability and network does not dim the individual's willingness to learn in flexible learning. Students also experienced a geographical issue (Fleming et al., 2020). Suryaman et al. (2020) studied how individuals learn throughout the pandemic at home. Their findings revealed that students encountered several challenges in a home

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learning setting, including a lack of technological expertise, expensive Internet costs, and restricted interaction/socialization amongst and among students.

3. Objectives This paper aims to explore the students’ challenges on flexible online learning implementation of the university in the rural area based on their background in terms of their family income, parents' educational qualification, availability of technology, accessibility of internet connection, type of internet connection, and level of digital literacy and their experience.

4. Methodology 4.1. Research Design This study utilized descriptive quantitative and qualitative design. Survey and interview questionnaires were utilized to discuss the measured variables. The quantitative approach focuses on accumulating numerical data and generalizing it to describe a particular event (Babbie, 2010; Muijs, 2010). Whereas, qualitative research is a type of investigation that examines information provided via language and behaviour in real situations (Lincoln et al., 1985). It emphasizes the necessity of reviewing variables in their natural environment (Astalin, 2013; Richards, 2006). 4.2. Research Participants and Context The study was conducted in a university, a satellite campus situated in the Southwest of Cebu Province, Philippines, with program offerings accredited from the Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities in the Philippines, Inc. (AACUP). The environment was selected based on the ability of the university to provide the necessary information for the study. The participants in this study were the 639 (511 females and 128 males) first to third-year college students of the said university randomly selected in the first semester in the academic year 2020-2021, during the COVID-19 lockdown from the different programs: Education, Hospitality Management, Fisheries, and Industrial Technology. Further, the participants are residing in various towns of Southern Cebu Province. The population density in these areas is lower, and only a few structures have been constructed. Great distances separate the people who live in these areas, and their primary means of subsistence are farming, forestry, and fishing. Likewise, it should be emphasized that the complete sample does not reflect the entire population, but it is deemed adequate for demonstrating the objective of this study. 4.3. Methods of Data Collection and Instrument The quantitative data were collected using an electronic survey method through Google Form with respondents’ consent. The survey questionnaire is a researcher made containing the college students' background that focused on the personal profile of the respondents guided from the related literature that includes parents' educational background and socioeconomic status. It also includes learner's online learning profile anchored on CHED Memo No. 04 series of 2020, guidelines on the implementation of flexible learning 2020, as follows:

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availability of technology, level of digital literacy, type of internet connection, and accessibility of internet connection. The instrument was reviewed by two expert educators to ensure whether or not it measured the variable of interest. Qualitative data were gathered through in-depth virtual interviews via messenger chats and calls. The interview questionnaire contained an openended question intended to collect data on the experiences of students concerning their challenges encountered in the use of flexible online learning modality. The researchers did not set a time restriction for the interviews, simply relying on the students' availability. All interviews were conducted by combining formal and informal discussions. In line with the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (RA 10173), the researchers of this study were committed to protect and secure personal information obtained in the process of data gathering. The respondents' participation is voluntary both for survey and interview designs. If they feel uncomfortable, they are free to discontinue their involvement in the research at any stage. The data gathered were solely used to serve as a reference to measure the parameters of this research study and nothing more. Researchers stored the information for one semester, after which the physical records were disposed of or destroyed following the disposition process provided by the National Archives of the Philippines. An electronic invitation letter that contained the Google Form link and informed consent was sent to the respondents via e-mail and messenger chats. 4.4. Data Analysis The quantitative data from the survey questionnaire reflecting the respondents' background was investigated using descriptive statistics. Conversely, the indepth interviews were analyzed using narrative qualitative analysis. Narrative analysis, also known as narrative inquiry, is a qualitative research technique in which the researcher explores the narratives individuals tell by asking specific questions for a particular reason. According to Polkinghorne (1995), the report is the basic scheme for connecting individual human acts and events into interconnected elements of a comprehensible composite. According to a traditional narrative approach assumption, people share stories to help structure and make sense of their lives, and their stories accounts are realistic and purposeful. A narrative review allows the researcher to see how respondents impose their order on reality and the environment by drawing on their interactions between events and actions through stories. This study utilized narrative analysis because the researchers wanted to get a broad, holistic, and dynamic view of their topic. Also, the researchers clustered the responses into themes and verified them to ensure accurate interpretation.

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5. Results and Discussions Table 1: Respondents’ Background Mother’s Educational Background

Father’s Educational Background

Family Monthly Income

Availability of Technology

Type of Internet Connection

Accessibility of Internet Connection

Variable Elementary Level

Frequency 122

Percentage 19.09

Elementary Graduate Secondary Level High School Graduate College Level College Graduate Total Elementary Level

91 115 158 86 67 639 177

14.24 17.99 24.73 13.46 10.49 100% 27.70

Elementary Graduate Secondary Level High School Graduate College Level College Graduate Total Less than 11, 690.00

72 122 121 61 86 639 576

11.27 19.09 18.94 9.55 13.45 100% 90.14

Between 11,690.00 – 23, 381.00 Between 23, 381.00 – 46, 761.00 Between 46, 761.00 – 81,832.00 Between 81, 832.00 – 140,284.00 Between 140, 284.00 – 233, 806.00 At least 233, 807.00 Total Laptop

41 10 1 2 4 5 639 103

6.42 1.56 0.16 0.31 0.63 0.78 100% 13.00

iPad Android Phone Tablet Computer * Multiple Answers Mobile Data

7 619 27 36 792 564

0.88 78.16 3.41 4.55 100% 69.12

Wireless Fidelity Broadband Cable * Multiple Answers Strong

234 10 7 816 6

28.68 1.23 0.85 100% 0.94

351 282 639 206

54.93 44.13 100% 32.23

178 255 639

27.86 39.91 100%

Average Poor Total Level of Digital Literacy

Advanced Proficient Beginner Total

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5.1. Respondents' Backgrounds 5.1.1. Parents' Educational Background Data on parents’ educational background is presented in Table 1. The majority of the mothers (24.73%) are high school graduates, (19.09%) enjoy an elementary level, (17.99%) have secondary level, (14.24%) are elementary graduates, (13.46%) possess college level, and (10.49%) are college graduates. Regarding the fathers’ highest educational attainment, the majority of the fathers177(27.70%) have an elementary level, (19.0%) possess secondary level, and (18.94%), (13.45%), (11.27%),are high school graduates, college graduates, and elementary graduates respectively, while (9.55%) have college level. Such results reflect the parents' poor capability to satisfy the needs of their children and their ability to help and support them in their academic pursuits in flexible online learning. As established by several studies, parents' educational level has a positive influence on the students' academic achievement (Gooding, 2001; Idris et al., 2020; Khan et al., 2015; Schwanz et al., 2014). Hence, parents who are welleducated or went through it all from high school to college would know and understand their children's needs and necessities, primarily when classes are held online, and it needs some stack of money to keep up. Moreover, parents who receive a good education could help their children with their assignments, activities, and even projects because they have something to share and improve students' performance. It implies that most parents cannot fully assist their students' educational needs based on the present results, especially during this online learning delivery due to the low educational level, and subsequently may affect their students' achievement. Okafor et al. (2018) pointed out that such parents with low education levels would likely depend on the teachers and instructors to make their children smarter instantly. However, it is not possible at this time of the pandemic resulting in additional challenges to students learning online. 5.1.2. Family Income Family income may be an essential variable in the study since this parameter has been concluded to affect learners' ability to learn and access online classes (Lv, 2017). As displayed in table 1, most of the respondents (90.14%) belonged to a low-income family with a monthly income of less than 11,690.00, (6.42%) between 11,690.00 – 23, 381.00, (1.56%) between 23, 381.00 – 46, 761.00, (0.78%) at least 233, 807.00, (0.63%) between 140, 284.00 – 233, 806.00, (0.31%) between 81, 832.00 – 140,284.00, and (0.16%) between 46, 761.00 – 81,832.00. According to a Philippine Statistics Authority survey (PSA) (2020), Filipinos living and working in the countryside continue to be poorer than those in metropolitan areas. Preliminary estimates of poverty incidence, or the proportion of poor Filipinos whose incomes are insufficient to meet their basic needs, it has been revealed that farmers (31.6 percent in 2018, down from 40.8 percent in 2015), fisherfolk (26.2 percent, down from 36.9 percent), and people living in rural areas (24.5 percent, down from 34 percent) had the highest rates in 2018 (Philippine Statistics Authority [PSA], 2020).

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In addition, the Philippine Statistics Authority (2018) reported on a food threshold of PHP 7,337 as the primary wage required to satisfy basic food needs while meeting the dietary requirements established by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) to ensure economic and social productivity. In opposition, the poverty threshold (10,481) is the minimum income required to meet basic food and non-food needs such as clothing, fuel, and lighting. Such a report serves as a foundation for imagining the participants' economic situation. According to the present findings, most participants came from low-income families earning less than the poverty line. Their earnings are insufficient to cover their basic needs, and they occasionally struggle to pay their bills, even more, acquiring learning resources for online learning. Since family income influences college students' experiences and academic performance (Lin & Lv, 2017), it provides comfort, a positive attitude, and a healthy environment, which result in increasing their academic performance (Saifi & Mehmood, 2011). The respondents may encounter significant difficulties in their performance while learning through online classes. As emphasized by Morgan et al. (2009), low-income students develop academic skills slower than those students from higher-income groups. In addition, low-income students have a substantially lower success rate in science, technology, engineering, and mathematical fields than students who do not come from disadvantaged families (Doerschuk et al., 2016). Nevertheless, students from low-income families are also responsible enough to find a strategy to cope with their situation. For example, they force themselves to find their income to sustain their needs while learning online education, yet sometimes they would miss attending their online class. 5.1.3. Availability of Technology The availability of technology is an essential variable in the study, for it may affect learner's capacity to learn and complete academic tasks in online instruction. The study results showed that students' most available device is a mobile phone (78.18%) for attending online classes and completing academic activities (e.g., making word documents, video presentations, PowerPoint presentations, etc.). Further, the result reflected that only a few respondents, about (20%), own other gadgets, either laptop (13%), tablets (3.41%) , computers (4.55%) , and iPads (0.88%). Mobile phones are portable devices that offer technological tools. Most students own at least one device, and most of that is a cellular phone. In the Philippines, 79.05% of the population have mobile phones like android and smartphones to access the World Wide Web and do online activities (Sanchez, 2020). In addition, the majority (93%) owned a smartphone for the medical students, and many (83%) also had laptops or desktop computers. It can contain downloadable educational applications such as WPS, Google Classroom, Google Meet, Gmail, and Zoom. Utilizing mobile phones for class video conferences is less costly since it consumes lesser data than laptops and computers. However, mobile phones cannot install software such as SPSS. Thus, other devices (i.e., laptop, desktop, and others) are essential.

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Laptops, on the other hand, are also portable devices but less portable than mobile phones. In addition, it offers different advantages. Laptops are convenient for students because they enable them to have efficient note-taking and document-making. It also allows students to create reports, class presentations, and videos faster using different presentation platforms such as PowerPoint, Slide Share, Google Slides, and others. The present results are similar to the outcomes of Cheung (2012) that in distance learning, mobile devices are commonly used by students for education, and other gadgets, tablets, and computers are not yet widely used. He further enumerated their primary usage, such as doing the assignment, reading ebooks, browsing the internet, checking e-mails, chatting, and social networking. However, there is a limitation in mobile usage. Put differently, it is determined not only by the technological characteristics and limits of mobile devices, but also by the nature of the learning activities (Cheung, 2018). Further, a study that was conducted by Hampton et al. (2020) revealed that those students who rely only on a cell phone for Internet access have more significant performance gaps than those who do not have access to the internet at home. Because students are deficient with online learning devices, Chua et al. (2020) suggested that for the e-learning assessment in the Philippine setting, teachers should consider the device, among others. 5.1.4. Type of Internet Connection Among the internet sources used by the students in online classes, the majority 564 (69.12%) are mobile data, 234 (28.86%) followed by Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), 10 (1.23) are broadband, 7 or (0.85%) are cables, and only 1 (0.12%) is a hotspot. Nowadays, different types of internet connections had risen to cater to the needs of internet users, either for them to get a better connection or to choose which is more affordable. As a result, there are many internet connection types: wireless fidelity, broadband, cable, hotspot, etc. It was revealed above that most of the students use mobile as their online learning device because data was widely used as their source of the internet. The use of mobile data is not harmful at all, as it is known as a convenient type of internet connection. Moreover, it is no hassle because it does not need to be connected to an outlet other than wired internet sources such as modems and others. However, mobile data has its limitations; the internet connection in mobile data is not too fast. The obtained result is in contrast to the findings of Baticulon et al. (2021) in which the majority of the students in the Philippines (79%) used post-paid internet subscriptions, while only a few (19%) used prepaid mobile data to access online resources. 5.1.5. Accessibility of Internet Connection As displayed in Table1, most of the respondents (54.93%) have an average internet connection, while (44.23%) have a poor internet connection, and very few (0.94 %) experienced a strong internet connection. These findings imply that students are at a disadvantage zone in accessing different search engines to aid their learning in online instruction.

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The role of the internet connection is one of the significant parts of an online class. In the Philippines, people are dealing with poor internet connections. Some places in the country had no access to a strong network. Senthil (2018) pointed out that internet connection is a resource that helps students search and find relevant information that would help them complete their academic tasks and performances. However, such poor connection leads to misalignment of instruction from the instructors due to unclear voices and late joining the class. With this, students may not be motivated to learn instead to comply with the requirements. Despite the effort of the university to provide technological devices to all the students to ensure their access to online learning, many have not used them, as there is no signal in their areas. The struggle to access an internet connection can put a student in a disadvantageous situation. Dhawan (2020) specified that the lack of appropriate digital tools, no internet connections, or shaky Wi-Fi connections might pose a lot of problems, causing many students to miss out on learning possibilities. Rural regions in the Philippines are less likely to have the infrastructure to enable the broadband internet connection, and high-speed home internet access is less widespread (Hampton et al., 2020). Students with slower Internet connections struggle to engage in online activities that demand more bandwidth, such as video chatting with classmates, discussing academics, conducting research, and seeking course content (Hampton et al., 2020; Asio et al., 2021). The same findings from Wickramanayake and Muhammad Jika's (2018) study showed that inconsistent internet connections is one of the hurdles for students, suggesting that internet connectivity will be a major problem for students' online learning. 5.1.6. Level of Digital Literacy The level of digital literacy variable has been seen as an essential factor in students' academic performance online (Abbas et al., 2019). The result showed that the majority of the respondents are beginners (39.91 %), 206 or (32.23%) are digitally advanced, and 178 (27.86%) are digitally proficient. This suggests that most of the respondents are not fully equipped with enough skills in digital media. However, the result also revealed that some of the respondents are possessed with digital skills and are digitally literate. Digital skills include understanding hardware and software applications, managing privacy, basic online operations, and creating content. Digital literacy matters the most among learners, especially during a pandemic since classes are held online. The result noted that since most of the students are only beginners, this may affect their ability to comply with different academic tasks such as video and presentation making by using different platforms. On the other hand, students with advanced and proficient digital skills are at an advantage situation in learning online. Abbas et al. (2019) explained that basic digital literacy skills empower students to perform better in online classes. Students can achieve impressive and excellent outputs, such as integrating different effects and shots

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in their video presentation and utilizing other platforms during class reporting or discussions. Bergdahl et al. (2020) cited the work of Nouri (2018) that college students learn in a mobile, flexible, and multimodal manner by leveraging the capabilities of various technologies and utilizing digital skills about multimodal literacy. Hence, having specific digital skills creates favourable conditions for engaging in productive learning technologies. 5.2. Experiences by the Higher Education Students in Flexible Online Learning 5.2.1. Unavailability of Network The research found out that despite that the university has provided Wi-Fi modems to all the university students, the innovation of online classes is still hampered by the unavailability of the network, especially in the mountainous areas. In an interview, students said that they are not able to use the Wi-Fi modem because the location of their house does not have enough network signal. In the interview, a student claimed that she needs to go to other places to connect to the internet. On the one hand, another respondent said: “Access to the network is making studies harder, especially during quizzes and examinations. I go to areas near the national highway for me to attend virtual classes submit activities. Also, access to a network is becoming more difficult during the rainy season.” Another student highlighted that: “Some of the professors will mark us, the students absent whenever we are not able to attend an online discussion on time due to poor and unstable internet connection.” These claims supported the result above that only (0.94%) of the respondents experienced a strong internet connection while a considerable number (44.3%) of respondents revealed poor network access. According to survey data issued by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) (2021) (The Manila Times, 2021) only 39% of Filipino households with members enrolled in online distance learning have strong internet connection. The students' experiences on the unavailability of a network in their areas is an issue that the teachers and administration should consider. This result implied that even if online learning is the best solution to the loss of face-to-face classes, it is only applicable and suitable to students living in urban areas or other places with stable networks. To this end, students who can make the best use of online classes are already digitally literate and have sufficient access to a stable internet connection (World Bank, 2020). Marasigan (2020), the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), has identified what it deems "worrying gaps" in connectivity and Internet access among least developing countries. According to the ITU, roughly 17%of the rural population in the least developed nation's lives in areas with no mobile service, while a 2G network only covers 19% of the rural population. According

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to the Philippine Statistical Authority's National ICT Household Survey (2019), 17.7% of all households in the Philippines have access to the internet. In addition, seven out of ten barangays lack access to fiber-optic connections, and 64%lack a cellular tower. According to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC, 2015), the situation is significantly worse in some areas, which are all not served or underserved. According to the most recent International Telecommunications Union (ITU) data (Marasigan, 2020), the installation of mobile-broadband networks is expected to decelerate in 2020. According to Araneta et al. (2021), in the Philippines, urban areas have better connectivity, whereas rural areas have a less digital infrastructure. According to the data of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) (2017), urban families have a more effective internet connection rate than rural households. Metro Manila households have the highest rate of access at 32.3 %. The virtual world has made productivity a privilege. People without it are left behind, missing out on everything from necessities and outstanding education to good work and reskilling chances. The challenges facing the Philippines and other countries in offering consistent internet availability, accessibility, and affordability in a post-COVID world have never been higher. 5.2.2. Shortage of Devices for Online Learning Another challenge that the students experience in online learning is the lack of technological devices to be utilized. Learning through online classes requires a good gadget. It requires good quality smartphones, laptops, and computers that students can use to keep up with the activities. From the data gathered on the profile in online learning, the most available device is Android Phones which comprises (78.16%) of the total sample. In an interview, a respondent uttered that: “Mobile phone is only compatible with low-tech teaching applications such as Google Classroom, Google Meet, and Zoom. It cannot install math software. Also, creating documents, video, and report presentations are somehow difficult when using mobile phones.” Another participant testified that: “It is hard for me to cope with my study because I don’t own a good quality smartphone. Every time our teacher sends assignments or activities online, I cannot easily view it, and I still need to borrow a phone from my friends”. It has already been noted from the result of the survey that (78.18%) of the respondents have utilized mobile phones alone while attending classes in flexible learning. Hereof, the need for digital devices is necessary for students while learning online, and the lack of these devices can affect their performance and may hinder their chances of learning. Typically, this problem usually occurs to those students who belong to low-income families. Therefore, they will be left out in this remote learning (Salman, 2020). The National Council of Educational Research and Training [NCERT], 2020) noted that in conducting online classes,

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the school should address the following problems: unavailability of digital resources and inaccessibility to the network. 5.2.3. Distractive Learning Environment The data gathered from the interview revealed that the students find their home as a distractive learning environment. There are numerous interruptions such as noise from transportation machines, talkative neighbours, and noise from animals. One of the respondents asserted that: "During synchronous class, I cannot turn on my device's microphone all the time since there is background noise. If I have a report, I look for a quiet place, but still, there is noise coming from animals." Also, most of the students do not have their rooms, personal space, place, and own table for an online class. A respondent shared that: "Online learning is difficult for me. I don't have a room where I can attend classes comfortably and with less distraction. So I have to go outside to find a place that is at least quiet and with a good network." Some respondents said that other mobile applications such as Facebook and Instagram kept them from not doing academic tasks, for it became their stress reliever from the heavy workloads. These applications made them distracted big time from making their projects and worksheets because, as they have said, scrolling through their feeds is much easier and less stressful than doing their actual tasks. The reports implied that the student's learning environment is a factor that can affect their performance and behaviour in attending classes. Implementing flexible learning leaves no choice for the students to take their lessons in their respective homes. The research also revealed that only a few learners in rural areas in the Philippines have a convenient learning environment at home. According to research, students who take online courses are subject to more distractions than those who take face-to-face sessions, which impact their academic performance (Turner, 2020). The unexpected appearance or interruption of family members, friends, or pets during the online teaching and learning process may cause disruption or diversion of online learning participants' attention (Adedoyin & Soykan, 2020). Researchers also noted that students' homes are not always conducive for academic work and concentration; residences may be noisy and distracting environments (The Irish Times, 2020). As a result, academic performance suffers (Lepp, 2019). 5.2.4. Expensive Internet Data Students also reported that Cebu Technological University had provided them with free Wi-Fi modems with a special price for loads lower than the regular during the interview. Internet data is still expensive to have effective online learning. Moreover and as mentioned above, most of the students belong to a family with low incomes. This situation is worsened during the pandemic because most of their parents lose their jobs. In an interview, a student-leader said:

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"I don't have load allowance given that the price of basic needs increases. So I go to school every day to connect the university's free WiFi access and do my duty as a student leader and as a student as well.” In this regard, the study found that costly data stymies online learning, putting students and teachers at a disadvantage zone. The students find flexible online classes as an expensive learning modality, especially during this pandemic. Most of their parents lost their jobs or with just temporary employment. Adedoyin and Soykan (2020) described that students with a low socioeconomic status who cannot afford a broadband connection are the most likely to fall behind or face additional difficulties in interacting with others in online learning. In terms of cost, the Philippines is seen as one of the countries that has an expensive internet connection, in which Salac and Kim (2016) revealed that Philippine Internet users pay $20.35 per megabit per second, compared to the global average of $5.21 per megabit per second. In terms of the cost of Internet connection per Mbps, the Philippines ranked 161st out of 202 nations. The fact that there are only two major Internet service providers in the country, it is therefore one of the leading causes of the country's high internet costs. Prices have remained high due to a lack of competition in the market. Moreover, the fact that the internet connection in the Philippines is very pricey, the Philippines ranks 82nd on the Internet Affordability Index, which assesses how long it takes to get the cheapest mobile and broadband internet in the country. Only Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Albania rank higher. According to the data, it takes 1,994 seconds of effort to afford the cheapest mobile internet in the country and 75 minutes to afford the most affordable broadband Internet (Esquire Philippines, 2020). 5.2.5. Health-Related Problems The researchers also found out that students have experienced health-related problems while attending online classes. The participants said that they are given overloaded with academic activities. They are not able to manage their time anymore. Some of them got health problems such as headaches, eyestrain, and back pain due to a longer time spent on technology devices. In an interview, it has been reported that: "We are given many activities, reports, exams, modules, and video presentations to the point that I cannot balance my time anymore. Sometimes, I sacrificed my good sleep and mealtime to submit the activities on time.” Additionally, the respondents reported that they usually sit during their classes from early in the morning and sometimes until in the evening and that caused back pain. Also, they experienced having eyestrain since online courses require technological devices, and the respondents are always on their phones and laptops. In this regard, flexible online learning causes health problems, specifically when students are tasked to do many digital works and activities. This problem can affect learners' willingness to perform well in the class.

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One of the most significant implications of the shift to online learning is student health, particularly sleep patterns. Students are concerned about poor physical conditions. In other terms, they spend most of their time attending online classes and completing the activities, leaving them with little or no opportunities to engage in physical activity (Rotas & Cahapay, 2020). They get eyestrain and headache as a result of too much exposure to gadgets. Students also revealed the issue of mental health struggles. They feel sick whenever they had many activities to do, have slow internet, and are without someone to ask (Rotas & Cahapay, 2020). Cueto and Agaton (2021) noted that stress and anxiety are the expected health effects whenever students suffer difficulties. In addition to the adverse health effects of disrupted sleep cycles, increasing internet use can influence students' physical and mental health. Jennifer Katzenstein, head of psychology and neuropsychology at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, has seen the effects of distant learning on children of all ages. For college students, Katzenstein stated that they struggle to create a distraction-free atmosphere and develop the required organizational skills to remain on top of their tasks (Balram, 2020). These challenges might impact students' mental health; screen time consumption, particularly for non-academic pursuits, has increased sadness, anxiety, and reported concentration difficulties. 5.2.6. Lack of Resources During the interview, students also referred that they find online education hard. They have fewer chances to discuss hard lessons with their classmates, teachers, and even parents. A respondent said that: "Regarding the course subjects that I find difficult to understand, I cannot ask help from my parents. Both of my parents are only elementary graduates, and they cannot relate to the lessons I have during college.” This scenario portrayed that flexible learning puts students with parents who have low educational attainment at a critical situation. In some cases wherein the parents are not well-educated and lack knowledge and understanding in the education field, they would most likely depend on the teachers and instructors to make their children smarter instantly (Okafor, Owede, Uyanne, & Chibundum, 2018). Furthermore, educated parents will most likely have a better job and provide the necessary devices for their children to attend online classes comfortably. 5.2.7. Lack of Digital Literacy Skills The world has become digital; however, during the interview, many respondents uncovered that they are only equipped with the basic skills in utilizing their mobile phones and laptops. In attending classes online, students revealed that they find it challenging to manoeuvre their digital tools, such as editing videos and making report presentations. A respondent highlighted that: "Editing videos and report presentation is time-consuming in my case since I have first to explore how to do such. My lack of digital skills is dragging me down in this online mode of learning."

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Adedoyin and Soykan (2020) further explained that as educational activities in this pandemic are transformed digitally, libraries must pursue this trend to supply adequate service to faculty, students, and other stakeholders through digital libraries. As such, students and teaching staff with low digital skills will experience difficulty in utilizing the digital libraries since Omotayo and Haliru (2020) identified digital competence as a variable with a positive correlation and significant effects on the use of digital libraries by higher education students. 5.2.8. Losing Motivation The challenges mentioned above lead students to slowly lose motivation to continue the formal study in the university amidst the COVID 19 pandemic. During the interview, a student said that: “I feel exhausted in this online learning. I don't have gadgets and other devices to be utilized. Also, the network in our place is unstable. I am almost always absent or late during synchronous class.” From the discussion above, it is clear that students find an online class a big challenge in pursuing their dreams. Students lack motivation due to constraints in learning online. Not all students are lucky enough to have good resources and belong to a well-off family. It also showed that students' profile in an online class is a factor that can affect their behaviour and performance in the class. Although motivation is a multifaceted construct that is regularly linked to academic accomplishment, few theories consider students' lack of motivation as an explicit motivation factor. In the Philippines, various groups encourage the government to begin working on the safe and progressive implementation of face-to-face sessions in schools, claiming that distant learning is causing students to lose interest in their studies. Franz Beltran, president of the De La Salle University Senior High School Student Council, said that after discovering that their "learning environment" was "not conducive," several students have dropped out of online classes (Perez, 2021). Because of some reasons, many students continue to lose their motivation and morale every day while studying through this online mode (Perez, 2021). On the other hand, from the study of Avila et al. (2020), their research findings imply that through sufficient support, help, and encouragement, students can be motivated to learn online despite the obstacles. The unpredictability of timetables from instructor to teacher and the various techniques that each teacher takes with his/her online classroom can keep track of what is assigned challenging (Turner, 2020). While a lack of desire has previously made keeping up with academic work more challenging, students have frequently reported that their workload has increased after switching to online study. The need for all teachers to provide enough activities to their pupils to comprehend a topic has resulted in a barrage of time-consuming chores that some have deemed superfluous busy work (Turner, 2020). Research conducted from 405 high school students and 305 college/university students in the Philippines revealed the following core themes of reasons for low motivation: beliefs and attitudes about the self and the subject, perceptions of

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the teacher's competencies, and distractions provided by social support systems (Salanga & Bernardo, 2016).

6. Conclusion It was concluded that implementing flexible online learning of the university as a replacement to on-campus learning created some challenges for students in rural areas, as revealed by their background and experiences. Although it was thought such implementation is the best solution to replace face-to-face classes during this pandemic by the university, it is not best applicable and suitable to all students living in rural areas. The difficulty in internet access, which is the root cause of the struggles experienced by said students during the implementation of flexible learning, and other factors such as lack of gadgets, load, etc., may also significantly affect their learning experiences. With the lack of proper monetary allocation for the students' online classes, they could only rely on their mobile data connection to access the internet. Indeed, this can't guarantee a good learning impact and outcome, since mobile data is slower than other internet connection types like Wi-Fi. With the lack of proper technological devices, students cannot be very familiar with how these educational applications work. The presence of health problems experienced by the students during the online classes was another negative consequence of implementing flexible online learning. Therefore, the HEI's administrators and educators must consider such information in deciding implementation of alternative mode of learning. This paper highlighted the need to consider students’ backgrounds and experiences in implementing online learning-related modalities. Such information is essential, as it would guide educators and policymakers to come up with best academic plans suitable to students’ status, particularly on the provision of educational support to address the students’ needs in flexible online learning.

7. Recommendations Concerning the context of this research, we have these recommendations for good practice in supporting online classes of students living in rural areas. First, the school should provide training on technological proficiency and expertise for both teachers and students. Second, the school administrations must have adequate infrastructure and primarily internet facilities to establish flexible learning. Third, besides conducting classes online, the students should also be given study materials and class activities that they can freely do at home to address the gap of internet connection for students living in rural areas. Fourth, the school administration should consider those students who belong to lowincome families in affording them free online tools that they can use to attend online classes. Lastly, HEI's administrators should also recognize non-digital learning modes or other appropriate alternatives convenient to students to ensure productive learning.

8. Limitations Since this study involves one public university and province only, thus the results may not reflect students' fundamental and complete challenges on flexible online learning in the rural areas. Hence, future research has to consider

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other rural areas and private institutions to have comprehensive data. Also, the scope of challenges tackled in this study may be minimal as it only focuses on the aspect of students. Future studies may consider other areas to have a holistic view of the challenges brought by the pandemic on the sudden implementation of online learning.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 291-307, July 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.7.16 Received May 24, 2021; Revised Jul 04, 2021; Accepted Jul 31, 2021

Differences in Factors Responsible for Lateness at School by Male and Female Learners in Selected Schools in Soshanguve Township, South Africa Mary Motolani Olowoyo, Sam Ramaila and Lydia Mavuru Department of Science and Technology Education, Faculty of Education, University of Johannesburg, South Africa https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0332-8979 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7351-477X https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9099-0746 Abstract. Late coming is an endemic problem in South African schools and has become increasingly difficult to eradicate. It has been identified as a major factor affecting learner academic performance and pass rate within the broader South African school context. This study examined factors that influence the late coming of both male and female learners in selected schools in the Soshanguve Township with a view to assessing their impact on learner academic performance and emotional stability within the school environment. The study adopted an exploratory descriptive survey design, involving eighty purposively selected learners as participants. Quantitative data was collected through the administration of a survey questionnaire and result analysed using ANOVA and the paired sample t-test. The findings showed that factors such as mode of transportation to school, geographical location of school/homes, learner involvement in household chores, watching television at night, sleeping late and child care responsibilities are predominantly responsible for the late coming. The study further revealed that male learners were more often late for school as compared to female learners. Late coming of female learners hinged to a large degree on domestic factors while the late coming of male learners depended on attitude and peer pressure. The male learners were reluctant to change the habit as it was not perceived to be an emotional disturbance while female learners were amenable to habit change. Keywords: academic performance; attitudes; late coming; peer pressure; township

©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 Late coming has become a major problem globally and from a study conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2013) which interviewed students from many countries, it was found that most students arrived at school after lessons had already started (OECD, 2013; Nonkonana & Kwenda, 2019). Lateness generally refers to a situation in which an individual reports at a place later than the scheduled, appropriate or agreed time (Onoyase, 2017; Adegunju et al., 2019). Within the school context, lateness may be defined as arrival at school by learners after the official opening hours and may be further be extended to arriving late at scheduled normal timetable for lectures or classes to begin (Maile & Olowoyo, 2017). Owing to the rate of late coming in high schools, lateness is perceived to stifle development and may negatively affect student academic performance (Maile & Olowoyo, 2017; McKeever & Clark, 2017; Warne et al., 2020). It can lead to serious consequences such as missing out on lessons, failing, disrupting the class, school dropout, time wasting and extension of the period spent by learners in schools (Onoyase, 2017). The regular attendance of school by students is necessary in preparing the students towards reaching their full potential (Agboblie & Mensah, 2016). However, lateness to school has defeated the purpose of the school establishment which, inter alia, includes educating and training students within a scheduled and pre-arranged programme with a view to preparing students’ entrance into a successful life through punctuality (Agboblie & Mensah, 2016). The policy on child education in most countries dwells on ‘accessibility’ to good education and theoretically, access could encompass educational quality, process, outcomes as well as inclusivity, equity and sustainability (Consortium for Research into Educational Access, Transitions and Equity [CREATE], 2012). A learner who is often late to school would not fulfil roles such as engagement with peers, engagement with good quality teaching and learning in the classroom (Humphrey et al., 2015). Various countries have put different measures in place to curb lateness in high schools. For instance, Jumare et al. (2015) in a study conducted in Nigeria reported that the principal and parents are responsible for administering punishments to late comers but also for working together as a team to curb lateness to schools. Similarly in South Africa, there is a circular on how to manage late coming from the Department of Basic Education and the management of late coming in schools rests on the School Management Team and the parents (DBE, 2009). In these policies schools should have systems and procedures for ensuring regular school attendance, punctuality and monitoring lateness and poor school attendance (Department of Education, 2018). Before the dawn of democracy in South Africa, the school attendance policy was implemented by teachers under the guidance of principals. Learners who arrived at school late were usually locked outside the gate (Ngubane & Mkhize, 2018). However, the current school policy in South Africa does not make provision for such practices anymore (Whole School Evaluation Policy, 2002). Some teachers who thought teaching could not be possible without corporal punishment met stiff oppositions from students who challenge the classroom

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authority (Ngubane & Mkhize, 2018). The new law introduced school level codes of conduct and gave parents an unprecedented involvement in school affairs. When learners contravene the rules, parents are engaged to provide guidance and support to inculcate appropriate behaviour. Thus teachers in South Africa find it extremely difficult to administer punishment to learners and feel helpless (Ngubane & Mkhize, 2018). In Nigeria, the use of corporal punishment is often treated as an integral part of education, occupying a place in schools’ teaching. However, bullying in any form is not allowed (Jonathan et al., 2017). Teachers often used corporal punishment to make learners conform to the norms of the school and this may at times have involved gentle striking either across the buttocks or on the hand (Jonathan et al., 2017). In the current study, Shoshanguve is a township in the northern part of Pretoria with several reports on the news media of students coming to school late and roaming about on the streets (SABC 2 News, 2016).

2. Literature Review Several studies have reported on the factors responsible for causing late coming among high school learners (Jumare et al., 2015; Onoyase, 2017: Maile & Olowoyo, 2017). A report compiled by Adegunju et al. (2019) revealed that Nigerian teachers ascribed late coming to poor preparation for school, going to bed late, travelling distance between school and home, level of poverty, peer pressure, and single parenthood. Other studies identified household chores especially for girls from poorer, more rural households, who also often have to look after younger siblings or sick relatives as a major factor (Nonkonana & Kwenda, 2020; Adegunju, 2019). Maile and Olowoyo (2017) highlighted the lack of teaching materials, mode of delivery, first lesson of the day, and structure of the schools as reasons for late coming and absenteeism. The factors highlighted by Maile and Olowoyo (2017) are largely perceived as a source of demotivation for young people. At an initial pragmatic level, bullying and teasing have also been observed to affect both boys and girls (UNICEF, 2012). As noted by Jumare (2015), mode of transport is one of the factors contributing to late coming at schools. Developing and preparing learners for the future requires regular school attendance by both teachers and learners to ensure that optimal training takes place. However, developing and preparing learners for the future may be hampered by late coming, truancy, inability to read and lack of consultation opportunities with teachers (Oghuvbu, 2012). Regular school attendance provides opportunities to learners to realize their full potential through skills development. Sultana and Rashid (2013) posit that punctuality and time management problems among learners in schools are related to late coming. Agboblie and Mensah (2016) and Maile and Olowyo (2017) postulate that recurrent lateness at schools may not only affect the academic performance of learners, but could also create serious problems for individuals in later life if not checked. Persistent late coming by learners at schools has been linked to the falling standards of education globally (Chujor, 2014). In fact, scholars have suggested that for any school to succeed in discharging its basic duty of training learners

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there should be some form of discipline and management. For instance, Jonathan et al. (2017) assert that discipline is necessary because it sets a congenial atmosphere needed for teaching and learning. The impact of late coming is also felt in society because education is seen as a vital tool that serves as a major driving factor for social and economic transformation of a nation and this may later result into progress and development of the society. Late coming has increasingly become a perennial problem in many South African schools (Nonkonana & Kwendu, 2020). In South Africa, as reported by Nonkonana and Kwendu (2020), 20% of the South African learners report to school when the school has already started. Recently, the South African government lamented the adverse impact of perpetual late coming and learner absenteeism on schooling (DBE, 2009). Equal Education, which is a voluntary organization, also staged a rally to sensitize learners about the detrimental impact of late coming on teaching and learning (Equal Education, 2018). The rally was led by learners with the aim of assisting schools to instil a sense of punctuality among learners. According to the National Staff Reporter (2016), the late coming of learners in South Africa could also be attributed to the teachers’ absenteeism and coming to work late. A previous study by Maile and Olowoyo (2017) showed that coming to school late has been a norm in the area and also this is observed in both males and females. However, there are factors that are responsible for this phenomenon. As late coming remains a pervasive problem at South African schools, there is a critical need to examine the factors influencing the late coming of male and female learners in diverse school contexts. The empirical investigation is accordingly guided by the following main research question: What are the differences in factors that influence the late coming of male and female learners in Shoshanguve Township schools in South Africa? To answer the main research question, the following sub-questions were formulated: • What are the differences in factors that influence the late coming of male and female learners at the selected schools in Soshanguve Township? • To what extent do household chores, school governance, scholar transport and distance, and peer pressure influence late coming? • What is the role of gender in the manifestation of late coming at selected schools in Soshanguve Township?

3. Theoretical framework The study framework was built around the social efficiency theoretical framework and learner-centred ideology. The social efficiency ideology places more emphasis on the capability of the child to fill social needs of society while the learner-centred ideology looks at the needs and interests of the learner. This becomes important in understanding learners’ background which is central to the learning and needs of the students and can be incorporated in the learning experience (Armend, 2017). As mentioned earlier, if students perpetually come to school late, it may translate to later years, where their sense of responsibility

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in the society will be reduced. However, there is a need to understand the reasons for lateness with a view to assisting the students which is in agreement with leaner-centred ideology. In the current study the individual refers to the male or female learners from the township schools in Soshanguve while their desired goals refer to their aspirations of passing high school examinations, probably continuing with tertiary studies and then being employed. The aim of social efficiency theory is to design a curriculum that would optimize the social utility of each individual in a society with the aim of turning schools into “factories” where raw materials “students” are shaped and fashioned into products to meet the various demands of life (Bailey, 2015). The theory emphasizes that education should be used as an efficient tool to assist in shaping society. In addition, learners would be scientifically evaluated and educated towards their pre-determined role in society. The learner-centred ideology will provide consultations to the child and understanding their role in society will also speak to their attitude towards punctuality (Moate & Cox, 2015). In essence, particular attention should be focused on the development of learners’ emotional and behavioural qualities. Drawing on the social efficiency theory, a determination of the variation in the factors that influence the late coming of male and female learners and in particular an analysis of how the same factors can impact on learners’ behaviour (late coming) in different ways were undertaken in this study with the hope of finding solutions to the problem. Such solutions need to consider that the male and female learners live in a society where there are gender-ascribed roles and behaviours which are deeply entrenched. In this current study the knowledge about the factors that influence learners’ late coming cannot be separated from the context (Rowe et al., 2013) in which the male and female learners are living. The aim of social efficiency theory is to design a curriculum that would optimize the social utility of each individual in a society (De Lissovoy et al., 2014). Also with a learner-centred approach, the idea is to shift from a paradigm in which time is held constant, thereby forcing achievement to vary. It could also be designed specifically to meet the needs of the students and their communities by allowing students the time that each needs to reach proficiency (Moate & Cox, 2015). These two theories emphasize that education should be used as an efficient tool to assist in shaping the students which in turn affects society. In addition, learners would be scientifically evaluated, prepared and educated towards their pre-determined role in society. Understanding their role in society would also speak to their attitude towards punctuality. In essence, particular attention should be focused on the development of learners’ emotional and behavioural qualities. Therefore, the study seeks to understand their attitudes towards lateness and concomitant factors.

4. Research design and methodology The study adopted a mixed-method approach as part of an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design. A mixed-method research has the potential to advance theory and enhance the usefulness of research findings (McCrudden et al., 2019). An exploratory descriptive survey design makes provision for the

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determination and description of the situation and compares how sub-groups view a certain issue (Gay et al., 2011). An exploratory research design also provides opportunities for gathering information in an informal and unstructured manner. It further helps a researcher to build understanding about the problem of the research and to generate new ideas from the research (Swedberg, 2018). In this study, the researchers seek to understand the differences in factors that are responsible for late coming between males and females as previously alluded to in previous studies (Maile & Olowoyo, 2017). In addition, an exploratory research design is not limited to one specific paradigm as it may use either qualitative or quantitative approaches (Swedberg, 2018). This was adopted in order to provide a full understanding of the problem, the relationships and to what extent these factors responsible for late coming among the students interviewed could be relevant among the respondents, thereby leading to data triangulation. 4.1 Sampling The study involved eighty purposively selected learners from six selected schools in Soshanguve Township. Learners who participated in the study were selected based on the school attendance record as provided to the researchers by the school and these students were the perpetual late comers. Only learners who were reported to be perpetual late comers and who were willing to participate in the study were selected for the study. Soshanguve Township is geographically located in Pretoria in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. The participants were between the ages of 17 and 21 years old. Questionnaires were designed and distributed; all the learners answered both the qualitative and the quantitative aspects of the questions. 4.2 Data collection Quantitative data was collected through the administration of a structured questionnaire distributed to the participants. In designing the questionnaire, factors raised in the previous study by Maile and Olowoyo (2017) which alluded to causes of late coming were used. The current study is based on the premise that the initial answers in the previous study were in a generalised format; however, the current study specifies and categorises which group (male or female) is mostly affected by each factor raised in the previous study. The participants were grouped according to their classes and also based on gender. In addition, each was provided with a questionnaire after a thorough explanation on the purpose of the research. 4.3 Instrumentation The questionnaire consisted of twenty-two items to which participants responded using the Likert-scale. The responses were classified as follows: Strongly agree (SA), Agree (A), Neutral (N), Disagree (DA) and Not relevant (NR). The questionnaire was piloted with 10 respondents) before allowing others to participate to achieve its validation and the results were used to rephrase some of the items. Qualitative data was collected through semistructured interviews.

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4.4 Data analysis Data was analysed using SPSS Version 25 on the basis of the key constructs investigated. Quantitative data was specifically analysed by using descriptive statistics while Atlas was used to analyse qualitative data. Differences in the reasons for lateness based on gender were analysed using the student t-test. Factors such as house chores, watching television, influence of peer pressures and the school management systems were considered. Qualitative data was arranged using axial coding and thematic themes which involve main ideas were grouped together to form themes (Cohen et al., 2007). 4.5 Validity and reliability Validity refers to the integrity and application of the methods undertaken and the precision with which the findings accurately reflect the data, while reliability describes consistency within the employed analytical procedures (Noble & Smith, 2015). The internal reliability of the instrument was evaluated by calculating Cronbach’s alpha for each item. The average Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.85 was obtained which signified an acceptable internal consistency of the instrument. The Cronbach’s alpha is used as scale reliability or internal consistency indicator (Taber, 2017). This is the degree to which the items that make up the scale all measure the same underlying attribute. The trustworthiness of the study was ensured by allowing all the participants to express themselves freely without any potential bias or personal motivation from the researcher. Participants were allowed to freely relate how each of the factors mentioned under the quantitative aspect affected their decisions or actions regarding arriving at school late. Peer review There was an ongoing dialogue and critical reflection with other researchers on the research process and tentative interpretations. Reflexivity The researchers engaged in critical self-reflection regarding anything that may bias the interpretation of data, e.g. hidden assumptions, own worldview, theoretical orientation and interrelationships. Biases and assumptions were made explicit. Audit trails A detailed account of methods, procedures and reasons for decisions taken were provided. Rich description A detailed description of events was provided to enable readers to contextualize the study and judge the extent to which the findings could apply to their situations. Ethical considerations Approval to carry out the study was obtained from the District and Head Office of the Gauteng Department of Education and this was subsequently taken to the school principals before the commencement of the study. Before the interview

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consent was also sought from all the participants to use a recorder and their right to withdraw from the study at any stage was respected.

5. Results The study examined factors influencing late coming of male and female learners at selected schools in Soshanguve Township. Related findings emanating from both quantitative and qualitative data are presented together. Quantitative data was collected through the administration of a survey questionnaire. The findings are categorised according to the key constructs investigated, namely household chores, school governance, scholar transport and distance, and peer pressure. Table 1 below provides the number of participants per grade at selected schools. The sample comprised more male learners (65%) than female learners (35%). Table 1: Number of participants per grade at selected schools Grade

Males

Percentage

Females

Percentage

7.5

Total

Factors contributing to late coming in males and females (a) Household chores and their impact on late coming Table 2 provides a distribution of responses in relation to the performance of household chores as one of the factors influencing late coming. Table 2: Late comers as a result of household chores from selected perpetual late comers Factors Washing of dishes Cooking at home Taking care of young siblings Cleaning of the home Watching television Going to sleep late at night Morning duties

Grade 10 Boys Girls 8 6 2 6 7 4 9 6 10 2 11 6 11 5

Grade 11 Boys Girls 15 16 4 16 8 12 7 14 25 13 28 6 7 16

Grade 12 Boys Girls 4 6 4 6 3 5 5 6 13 3 12 6 5 6

A considerable number of male learners in grade 10 indicated that their late coming is due to factors such as watching television (91 %), going to sleep late at night (100%) and performance of morning duties (100 %). Factors influencing late coming as indicated by the majority of female learners in grade 10 involved the performance of household chores such as washing dishes (100 %), cooking (100%) and house cleaning (100%). Predominant factors influencing late coming of the majority of male learners in grade 11 included washing of dishes (63%), watching television (89%) and going to sleep late at night (100%). Female learners in Grade 11 were overwhelmed by involvement in activities such as washing of dishes (100%), cooking (100%), taking care of young ones (75%),

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house cleaning (88%), watching television (81%) and morning duties (100%). Predominant factors influencing late coming of the majority of male learners in grade 12 were watching television (100%) and going to sleep late at night (92%). In similar vein, female learners in grade 12 were overwhelmed by the performance of household chores. Most male learners indicated that they went to bed late at night and this is positively correlated with watching television till late at night (0.99). One of the respondents said: “ sleep late at nights because there are some soapies that I need to watch and when I sleep late, I woke up very late and tired” From the findings, the boys that participated in this study were not much involved in all household chores; the responsibility rested mostly on the shoulders of female learners. For instance, all female learners in grades 10, 11 and 12 indicated that cooking and cleaning were the most time-consuming activities at home. The t–test result obtained was 0.035 which revealed a significant difference at p < 0.05 in terms of the effect of household chore activities between male and female learners (Table 3). A positive correlation (0.62) was also observed for watching television till late at night and going to sleep very late: this may be a key factor influencing the late coming of male learners. One of the boys interviewed mentioned the following: “I don’t do much of the jobs at home but usually busy on my phones or moving around with friends, I have sisters, they do it for me”. A female who responded says: “I sleep late at nights do to household chores and cooking, my mum is late and we are not staying with our father, so I need to help my granny”. It should be pointed out that the findings in Table 2 with regard to household chores and management are limited to weekdays only and this might have influenced the lower numbers of female learners who indicated that they watched television. Few female learners reported that they watch TV till late at night and this corresponds well with the activities that must have consumed their time and energy in the evening. Table 3: Comparing the effect of the household chores on late coming between the male and female learners Factors Frequency df T value P value Boys 52 78 1.897 0.0308 Girls 28

(b)

School governance, transportation and travelling distance as factors contributing to late coming Table 4 provides a distribution of responses in relation to school governance, transportation and travelling distance as factors contributing to late coming.

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Table 4: Late comers that indicated school governance, transport and travelling distance as factors responsible for their late coming Factors My house is far from school Waiting for transportation Trekking to school Discouraged by the first subject at school Discipline at school Teachers’ attitude Homework load Weather during winter Taking younger ones school

Grade 10 Boys Girls 6 4 4 1 9 5 7 5

11 10 11 9 3

6 2 6 6 2

Grade 11 Boys Girls 15 7 16 9 12 12 26 14

27 28 28 14 2

16 6 15 16 11

Grade 12 Boys Girls 5 4 7 2 6 5 10 6

11 11 13 11 4

6 2 6 6 5

A considerable number of male learners in grade 10 highlighted discipline at school (100%), teachers’ attitude (91%) and homework load (100%) as factors influencing their late coming. Female learners in grade were largely affected by travelling to school (67%), discipline at school (100%) and being discouraged by the first subject featured on the time table at school (83%). Late coming by male learners in grade 11 was affected by a variety of factors. These factors included travelling distance (53%), mode of transport (57%), discouragement by the first subject featured on the time table at school (93%), discipline at school (96%), teachers’ attitudes (100%), homework load (100%), and weather conditions, particularly during the winter (50%) season. The distribution of responses reflected a similar trend for female learners in grade 11. Predominant factors influencing late coming by male learners in grade 12 included discouragement by the first subject featured on the time table at school (77%), discipline at school (85%), teachers’ attitude (85%), homework load (100%), and weather conditions, particularly during winter season (85%). The distribution of responses reflected a similar trend for female learners in grade 12. It must be pointed out that taking care of younger siblings in the family appeared to be a key factor influencing the late coming of female learners in both grades 11 (75%) and grade 12 (83%). This practical scenario can be attributed to the prevalence of child-headed households in the township. A respondent stated the following: “The first subject of the day which is Mathematics is boring and I don’t even like the teacher, so if am late I don’t care” Another respondent mentioned the following: “Even when you are late, you will just stay outside for few minutes and so no reason to rush”. Another indicated the following: “I am a senior student now, no one can force me anymore” Teachers’ attitudes were more frequently reported by male learners than female learners. All the male learners in grades 10 and 11 reported that teachers’

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attitude is a major factor which causes late coming. Amongst the grade 12 learners, 85% of the male learners agreed that teachers’ attitudes were a factor. Although 98% of the respondents agreed that this is a factor that led to late coming in high school, there was no significant difference in the responses received from boys and girls in this regard (p > 0.05). Table 5: Comparing the effect of teachers’ attitude to late coming between male and female learners Factors Boys Girls

Frequency 52 28

df 78

T value 0.247

P value 0.4028

A female learner said: “You will have to cook and assist at home and yet you still have lots and lots of homework, there is no way you won’t sleep late and wake up very late. At times I do my homework in the morning and at times I just check and copy what others have done by the gate of the school.” The winter season is also viewed as a major problem because of the cold conditions when learners have to wake up very early and then wait for buses at bus stops. A total of 78% of the respondents agreed to this as a factor. However, there was no significant difference in the submissions received from boys and girls although the percentage of boys that agreed to winter as a factor were more than that of female learners (see Table 2). The highlighted factors influencing late coming by learners in selected township schools underscore the need to put systems in place to alleviate concomitant structural problems impacting on the provision of quality education. The participants bemoaned the lack of discipline at school as it has an adverse impact on their studies, resulting in late coming becoming a pervasive problem as well. Maintenance of discipline appears to be a chronic governance challenge at township schools. It is incumbent on the school management teams to provide innovative leadership to create stimulating and dynamic learning environments, particularly at township schools. The realisation of this key strategic imperative broadly hinges to a large degree on a fundamental rethink of school governance policies with a view to bring about transformative change to school management practices. (c) Peer pressure as a factor responsible for late coming Table 6 below provides the distribution of responses on peer pressure as a factor responsible for late coming. Table 6: Peer pressure Factors Waiting for friends Smoking Gambling Working in groups Chatting with friends

Grade 10 Boys Girls 10 5 9 2 5 1 3 5 7 6

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Grade 11 Boys Girls 26 12 27 9 11 5 6 4 15 13

Grade 12 Boys Girls 11 6 11 3 5 1 4 5 8 6

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As depicted in Table 6, peer pressure-related factors influencing the late coming of male and female learners in grades 10 to 12 included waiting for friends (88%), smoking (76%), gambling (35%) and chatting with friends (69%). Very few learners (both males and females) indicated working in groups as a factor that causes them to be late for school. It is interesting to note that late coming of female learners in grades 10 to 12 was not largely influenced by factors such as smoking and gambling. Smoking and gambling appeared to be a socio-cultural practice affecting learning activities of male learners at the selected township schools. The provision of appropriate psycho-social support by the Department of Basic Education is crucially important to foster conducive teaching and learning environments at such schools. It was also observed that male learners were the group most affected. An important point to note is that there are usually cigarette sellers not far from the school gates and in some instances male learners would be observed loitering around the areas where they can buy cigarettes. Some of the learners indicated that there are also substances that learners smoke other than ordinary tobacco and cigarettes. These substances were mostly smoked after school in order to avoid the smell being detected by the teachers. Some of the learners reported that some of their fellow learners, especially male learners, engaged in gambling activities outside the school gate early in the morning. This accounted for small groups of late comers. Female learners indicated that chatting with friends does not necessarily occur in the morning but mostly at homes and at night. As such, 89% of the female learners who participated in the study indicated that they chatted on their mobile phones until late after doing household chores and hence they went to bed late in most cases. However, only 58% of the boys indicated that they engaged in this same activity.

6. Discussion Late coming of male and female learners at selected township schools was influenced by a myriad of contextual factors. These factors related to performance of household chores, school governance, mode of transport, travelling distance, and peer pressure. Predominant factors related to the late coming of male learners across the grades included watching television, hence going to sleep late at night and the performance of morning duties. Late coming of female learners across the grades was largely influenced by the performance of household chores such as washing dishes, cooking and house cleaning. The differences in the factors influencing the late coming of male and female learners across the grades appeared to be gender based. Adequate sleep in teens has been linked to overall academic success and improvements in memory, learning, and attention (Nahmod et al., 2017). Sufficient sleep in teens has also been linked to improved mood and health and decreased sports-tardiness and school dropouts. Teens that do not obtain an adequate amount of sleep are also more likely to smoke cigarettes, engage in sexual activity, and use marijuana (Hoedlmoser, 2020). Maile and Olowoyo (201) argued that learners who are overwhelmed by school work often go to sleep late at night. A study conducted by Jumare et al. (2015) highlighted a higher prevalence of late coming of female learners as compared to male learners. According to Parajuli and Thapa (2017),

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male learners tend to display higher levels of externalizing behaviours than girls. The nature of factors influencing late coming of female learners across the grades is consistent with the factors identified by a study conducted by Jumare et al. (2015). Predominant factors related to school governance, transport and travelling distance influencing the late coming of learners across the grades included travelling distance, mode of transport, discouragement by the first subject featured on the time table at school, discipline at school, and teachers’ attitude. Onoyase (2017) mentioned that location and distance proved to be key factors influencing the late coming of female learners. Anti-social behaviour is often related to the social complications associated with adolescent stage. Learners in the adolescent stage feel they have control over themselves and are clever enough to manufacture lies and decide on what their future should be with the aid of peer groups (Jumare et al., 2015). In addition, this stage is also associated with volatile emotions and boundary-testing behaviour as individuals explore and assert personal identity, learn to navigate peer relationships, and transition to independence (Moadab et al., 2017). Peer pressure-related factors influencing the late coming of male and female learners in grades 10 to 12 included waiting for friends, smoking, gambling and chatting with friends. It is interesting to note that the late coming of female learners in grades 10 to 12 was not largely influenced by factors such as smoking and gambling. Smoking and gambling appeared to be socio-cultural practices affecting the learning activities of male learners at selected township schools. Jonathan et al. (2017) highlighted a negative attitude towards schooling, lack of strict discipline in school, and lack of parental monitoring as factors influencing the late coming of learners at schools. Parental involvement in their children’s development has consistently been recognized as a key element that can promote the effectiveness of early childhood responsibility (Varshney et al., 2020). The nature of factors influencing late coming can be attributed to the exclusive complexity of social challenges facing male and female learners in society. The differences in the factors influencing the late coming of male and female learners within the context of this study may be attributed to cultural and ethnic considerations. Interpretation of key findings in terms of the adopted theoretical framework A critical analysis of key findings emanating from the study shows that there is lack of concerted efforts by parents, school management teams, the broader community and the Department of Basic Education to turn the tide against endemic late coming of learners at township schools. The leaner-centred ideology which puts the leaners at the centre showed that efforts should be geared towards understanding the cause of the lateness on the part of the leaners. The management, in this case the school and parents, should seek a way of assisting the learners. For instance, the classes could be made more interesting or accommodating so that the students would be willing to attend school and be on time. Drawing on the social efficiency theory, it shows that the learners do not have the requisite agency to acquire knowledge and skills to

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realise their full potential and key aspirations. Therefore, it is necessary for individuals to be knowledgeable about how they can attain their desired goals. While learners made every effort to attend school against all odds, they lacked guidance, support, monitoring, and a conducive environment in the form of a home, society and the school for them to remain focused. An example is the issue of child-headed households, and problems with regard to travelling long distances to and from school, which expose these youngsters to a myriad of negative influences such as smoking and gambling. The adults tend to abdicate their responsibilities, thereby exposing the youngsters to negative social tendencies associated with peer pressure. School management teams find it extremely difficult to clamp down on the selling of cigarettes, narcotics and other harmful substances in the vicinity of the school environment. Proximity and access to narcotic substances have a detrimental impact on teaching and learning at township schools. No particular individual, civil group or government entity takes the responsibility to monitor or control the situation despite the teenage stage being a volatile phase in the life of youngsters (Moadab et al., 2017). This paper argues that endemic late coming of learners at township schools can be alleviated through fundamental restructuring of policies governing the functioning of public schools. Endemic late coming of learners at township schools in particular has to be eradicated if meaningful human capital development is to become a reality for the fulfilment of societal and economic goals. Substantial progress made in the realisation of this key strategic imperative would pave the way for the provision of quality education within the broader South African context.

7. Conclusion Late coming of male and female learners at township schools is influenced by a myriad of contextual factors. Major concerns in this study were the responses that workload (homework) for both males and female and household chores for females were major factors directly or indirectly causing late coming. The learners agreed that it is a direct factor because of the enormous amount of time they spent when completing their homework while the female learners agreed that the tasks at home were just too demanding. These and other factors appeared to be socio-cultural in nature. This key observation underscores the need for a comprehensive reconfiguration of the school governance policies to ensure that schools are not bedevilled by structural problems impinging on teaching and learning. In the final analysis, late coming remains a pervasive problem stifling the provision of quality education at township schools. Generally from this study, major issues confronting the students are multifaceted and include the management of household chores and the school management system. The social efficiency theory discussed in this work and student-centred learning, if adequately practised or implemented, will assist in reshaping or re-evaluating the traditional ways of doing things in the past, thereby allowing for restructuring which will ultimately mitigate the habit of coming late among some learners, if not all.

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Recommendations arising from the study There is a critical need to put systems in place to alleviate concomitant structural problems impacting on the provision of quality education at township schools. Restoration and sustainable maintenance of discipline at township schools are crucial for coherent realisation of effective teaching and learning. There is a need to rethink school governance policies fundamentally in order to strengthen administrative management capacity at township schools. The Department of Basic Education faces the key imperative to provide the appropriate psychosocial support required for the effective functioning of schools.

8. References Agboblie, D. K., & Mensah, F. O. (2016). The perceived impact of lateness and absenteeism on students’ performance. The cause of Huni Valley Senior High School. [Master’s thesis University of Education, Winneba, Ghana]. http://ir.uew.edu.gh Adegunju, K. A., Ola-Alani, E. K., & Agubossi, L. A. (2019). Factors responsible for students’ lateness to school as expressed by Nigerian teachers in elementary schools. Mimbar Sekolah Dasar, 6(2), 185-197. Armend, T. (2017). Curriculum field in the making: Influences that led to social efficiency as dominant curriculum ideology in progressive era in the U.S. European Journal of Curriculum Studies, 4(1), 618-628. Bailey, C. T. (2015). The production of schools: A critical investigation of capitalist and democractic struggles for social efficiency [Master’s thesis, University of Texas, Austin, USA]. British Council. (2012). Gender in Nigeria Report 2012: Improving the lives of women and girls in Nigeria (2nd ed.). British Council. Chujor, J. C. (2014). Effects of counselling in curbing persistent lateness to school among university secondary students in River State, Nigeria. http://www.ijird.com. Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2007). Research methods in education (6th ed.). Routledge. Consortium for Research into Educational Access, Transitions and Equity (CREATE). (2012). Reconceptualising access to education. Policy Brief Number 1, March 2008. Department of Basic Education (DEB) (2009). Call for comment on the Learner Attendance Policy and Procedures, 2009. https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/32414982.pdf De Lissovoy, N., Means, A., & Saltman, K. (2014). Toward a new common school movement. Paradigm Publishers. Equal Education. (2018). Late coming. https://equaleducation.org.za/campaigns/latecoming Gay, L. R., Mills, G. E., & Airasian. P. (2011). Educational research: Competencies for analysis and applications (10th ed.). https://yulielearning.com/pluginfile.php/4831/mod_resource/content/1/Gay -E%20Book%20Educational%20Research-2012.pdf Hoedlmoser, K. (2020). Co-evolution of sleep spindles, learning and memory in children. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 33, 138–143. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2020.03.005 Humphreys, S., Moses, D., Kaibo, J., & Dunne, M. (2015). Counted in and being out: Fluctuations in primary school and classroom attendance in Northern Nigeria. International Journal of Educational Development 44, 134–143. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2015.08.004

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Jonathan, N. C., Amanze, S. U., Oladosu, O.T., & Adewumi, T. (2017). Corporal punishment: Perceptions and adoption in Nigerian secondary schools. Education Research Journal, 7(8), 200–204. http://resjournals.com/journals/educationalresearch-journal.html Jumare, A. M., Maina, B. A., & Ankoma–Sey, V. R. (2015). Analysis on students’ latecoming factors in selected secondary schools in Zaria: Implications for educational managers. Journal of Education and Practice, 6(32). https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/234638136.pdf Maile, S., & Olowoyo, M. M. (2017). The causes of late coming among high school students in Soshanguve, Pretoria, South Africa. Pedagogical Research, 2(2), 4. https://doi.org/10.20897/pr/80951 McCrudden, M. T., Marchand, G., & Schutz, P. (2019). Mixed methods in educational psychology. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 57, 1-8. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2019.01.008 McKeever, P. M., & Clark, L. (2017). Delayed high school start times later than 8:30am and impact on graduation rates and attendance rates. Sleep Health, 3(2), 119-125. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2017.01.002 Moadab, G., Bliss-Moreau, E., Bauman, M. D., & Amaral, D. G. (2017). Early amygdala or hippocampus damage influences adolescent female social behaviour during group formation. Behavioural Neuroscience, 131, 68–82. http://doi.org/10.1037/bne0000181 National Staff Reporter. (2016). It’s not kids bunking – it’s teachers. Mail & Guardian (2 June). https://mg.co.za/article/2016-06-02-its-not-kids-bunking-its-teachers Nahmod, N., Lee, S., Buxton, O., Chang, A., & Hale, L. (2017). High school start times after 8:30 am are associated with later wake times and longer time in bed among teens in a national urban cohort study. Sleep Health, 3(6), 444–450. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2017.09.004 Ngubane, L. P., & Mkhize S. M. (2018). Perception and experiences of learners on the banning of corporal punishment in South African Schools: A case study of four township schools in the Pinetown District of District of KwaZulu-Natal. (Doctoral dissertation, University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa). http://www.ukzn.edu Noble, H., & Smith, J (2015). Issues of validity and reliability in qualitative research. Evidence Based Nursing 18, 2–4. http://doi.org/10.1136/eb-2015-102054 Nonkonana, T. G., & Kwenda, D. C. (2020). Strategies used by the School Management Team in managing learners’ late coming in a Cape Town high school [Master’s dissertation, Cape Peninsula University, Cape Town, South Africa]. http://etd.cput.ac.za/handle/20.500.11838/3039 OECD (2013), PISA 2012 Results: What Makes Schools Successful (Volume IV): Resources, Policies and Practices, PISA, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264201156-en. Oghuvbu, E. P. (2012). Attendance and academic performance of students in secondary schools: A correlational approach. Study at Home Communication Science, 4, 21-25. http://doi.org/10.1080/09737189.2010.11885294. Onoyase, A. 2016. Lateness: A recurrent problem among secondary school students in Akoko South East Local Government Area of Ondo, State Nigeria. Implications for counselling. Higher Education Studies, 7(1), 107–113. http://doi.org/10.5539/hes.v7n1p107 South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) (2016). Morning live news on the 14/07 2016.

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Sultana, A. M., & Rashid, S. N. B. (2013). A study on time management and punctuality issues among students at secondary school, Kedah. American Journal of Economics, 3(5), 52-56. http://doi.org/10.5923/c.economics.201301.10 Swedberg, R. (2018). On the uses of exploratory research and exploratory studies in Social Sciences. In J. Gerring, C. Elman & J. Mahoney (Eds.), Producing knowledge. Cambridge University Press. Taber, K. (2017). The use of Cronbach’s alpha when developing and reporting research in instruments in science education. Research in Science Education. UNICEF. (2012). Girls Education Project (GEPII). Northern Nigerian end of project assessment. UNICEF. Varshney, N., Lee, S., Temple, J.A., & Reynolds A.J. (2020). Does early childhood education enhance parental school involvement in second grade? Evidence from Midwest Child-Parent Center Program. Children and Youth Services Review, 117, 105317. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105317 Warne, M., Svensson, Å., Tirén, L., & Wall, E. (2020). On time: A qualitative study of Swedish students', parents' and teachers' views on school attendance, with a focus on tardiness. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(4), 1430. http://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17041430 Whole School Evaluation Policy. (2002). The National Policy on Whole-School Evaluation. Government Gazette, 433(22512) of July 2001. https://www.education.gov.za/Portals/0/Documents/Publications

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 308-327, July 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.7.17 Received Apr 20, 2021; Revised Jul 02, 2021; Accepted Jul 31, 2021

The Use of a Synthesis Approach to Develop a Model for Training Teachers’ Competencies in Distance Teaching Oleksiy Samoуlenko The Scientific and Educational Institute of Information Security of the National, Academy of Security Service of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6374-4168 Olha Snitovska Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University, Lviv, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3086-9503 Olha Fedchyshyn Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatiuk National Pedagogical University, Ternopil, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3050-3584 Oksana Romanyshyna Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatiuk National Pedagogical University, Ternopil, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2887-5023 Olena Kravchenko Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University, Educational and Research Institute of Public Management, Administration and Postgraduate Education, Luhansk, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7955-3542

Abstract. The purpose of the study was to design and test a comprehensive model that synthesizes and converges the strong points of the examined models of competence development. This is for use in the competency-based training of teachers, including distance instruction. The study used descriptive research methods, such as a self-assessment survey for teachers, observation checklist for video recorded live online sessions, a self-observation questionnaire, and a course satisfaction questionnaire, to investigate how the designed model influences the teachers’ competencies in distance teaching. The variables were the levels of competence of teachers in distance teaching and the levels of sampled teachers’ satisfaction with a professional refresher course. A comprehensive model of teacher competence development, used to deliver the reshaped refresher course, positively influenced the teachers’ ©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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competencies in distance teaching. The course participants provided complimentary feedback to evaluate the course using a convergent instructional model. The teacher trainees improved their skills in the adaptation of the lesson materials, for use in a live virtual environment, engaging students in learning through an e-learning platform, conferencing software and messengers (Zoom, Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook), creating a forum for both teacher-student and student-student interactions. The sampled teachers seemed to enhance their skills in accommodating students’ learning needs, abilities (or disabilities), and learning styles. They appeared to update their skills, using the approaches to create rapport, motivate and inspire students, and involving students in shaping the lesson plan. Keywords: convergent model; distance teaching; synthesis approach; teacher training

1. Introduction The development of the online teaching competencies has been the scope for research over the recent decades (Burns, 2011; Kalelioglu & Gulbahar, 2015). Training teachers to be competent in distance teaching/learning has become a top priority due to the worldwide shift to online or blended instruction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic (Barron et al., 2021; König et al., 2020; Reimers et al., 2020). Teachers are expected to deal with the inherent challenges of online learning, such as adjusting the curriculum design to accommodate technology, providing students with a positive and motivating learning experience, involving students in acquiring skills, and the use of scaffolding strategies to design the lessons to be both challenging and achievable, through inquiry-driven problem-solving strategies (Rodriguez-Segura et al., 2020; Shakya et al., 2020). Thus, technological and instructional issues have raised the need for different competency development models to train teachers to be competent in distance teaching. The most recent development models are the integration model of professional expertise (Yielder, 2004); the alternative model of professional development (Dall’Alba & Sandberge, 2006); the periodic table of expertise by Collins and Evans (Lamont, 2009); the model of expertise redevelopment (Grenier & Kehrhahn, 2008), and the six-dimension framework of expertise (Garrett et al., 2009). The review of the outlined models of competency development found that they were limited in addressing the current issues of technology-driven instruction. Furthermore, teacher development programs are often costly because they are usually workshops delivered by expensive experts. The activities are often limited in teacher collaboration and time for sharing of ideas and experience, reflection, and analysis (Campbell, 2014). The gap in teachers’ low efficiency in technology-driven instruction created a need to design a comprehensive model that combines teacher training in the adaptation of lesson materials to use in a live virtual environment, engaging students in learning through e-learning platforms, using conferencing software and messengers. The model synthesizes the strong points of the stated models for the competency-based training of teachers in distance teaching.

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1.1. Literature Review The constructivist learning theory created the framework for the model for training teachers’ competencies in distance teaching. The theory was judged to be appropriate because it stipulates that teachers should be involved in the training process, based on on-job teaching. The training process is efficient because the teachers are assisted in learning, sharing their experiences and empowered with authority in the training session (Bautista & Oretga-Ruiz, 2017; Stoll et al., 2021). The principles of the constructivist learning theory are evident in the integration model of professional expertise (Yielder, 2004); the alternative model of professional development (Dall’Alba & Sandberge, 2006); the periodic table of expertise (Lamont, 2009); the model of expertise redevelopment (Grenier & Kehrhahn, 2008); and the six-dimension framework of expertise (Garrett et al., 2009). The integration model of professional expertise is supposed to develop competency through the integrated enhancing of teachers’ professional performance. It involves a knowledge base boosted by cognitive activities and professional practice, along with professional social behavior, which relies on building interpersonal relationships (Kuijpers et al., 2010; Yielder, 2004). The alternative model of professional development focuses on the enhancement of the pre-service or in-service employees’ experiences, through a range of developmental routes, which are based on levels, such as apprentice, experienced employee, and expert (Dall’Alba & Sandberg, 2010; Kinchin & Cabot, 2010). The periodic table of expertise model by Collins and Evans (Lamont, 2009) relies on tacit knowledge, which is categorized as ubiquitous and specialist. The model also suggests that ubiquitous tacit knowledge can be gained through taking part in the social life of a community, while specialist tacit knowledge can be acquired through the exchange among subject matter experts, experts in programs and courses, and the contributors to the field of study. The first category of knowledge is gained while using interactive abilities. The second category of knowledge is built up using reflective abilities. According to the model, achieving a high level of expertise leads to and is manifested in a certain social position in the professional field and social status in the community (Collins, 2018). The model of expertise redevelopment, in terms of the development of competencies, gives priority to the contextual factors of acquiring skills that are trained within the constituency and peer supportive environment (Frie et al., 2018; Grenier & Kehrhahn, 2008). The six-dimension framework of competence development implies that professional expertise should be gained through the integration of an individual’s cognition and task performance. It suggests that training can be effective if it involves domain knowledge applied in context, technological and communication skills, peer recognition in interaction, and an awareness of recent trends in a professional field (Garrett et al., 2009).

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The purpose of this study was to design and test a comprehensive model that synthesizes and converges the strong points of the examined models of competence development, to be used for the competency-based training of teachers in distance instruction. The research questions were as follows: 1) How has the reshaped refresher course influenced the teachers’ competencies in distance teaching? 2) How do the course participants perceive the training course, which aimed to update the teachers’ competencies in distance teaching?

2. Methods The study used descriptive research methods, such as a self-assessment survey for teachers (adopted from Dascalu, 2005), a video-recorded, live online session observation checklist, a self-observation questionnaire, and a course satisfaction questionnaire to investigate how the designed model influences teachers’ competencies in distance teaching (McCombes, 2020). 2.1. Research Design The study was designed as a quasi-experiment of the one-group, pre-test, posttest type (Price et al., 2015). It lasted from March 2020 till the end of December 2020. The study was organized and conducted in four basic phases: the conceptual phase, the pre-experimental phase, the experimental phase, and the data processing phase. The first phase identified the scope and feasibility of the study. In the second phase, a refresher course for teachers was shaped, the research and sampling plan was developed, the instruments to collect data were specified and validated, and approval was obtained from the administration and management of Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University and Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University. During the third phase, the experimental group (EG) teachers received training in the adaptation of lesson materials for use in a live virtual environment, engaging students in learning on an e-learning platform, conferencing software and messengers (Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook), and creating a forum for the interactions of a teacher-student and student-student kind, i.e. through breakout rooms in Zoom. Teachers also learnt to accommodate students’ abilities (or disabilities) and learning styles, the use of chatbots to deliver materials, implement gamified elements, manage the students and assess them. Teachers engaged in approaches to create rapport, motivate and inspire students, and involve students in shaping lesson plans through polls and votes. In this phase, data were obtained from the pre-test and post-test measurements. In the fourth phase, the data were consolidated and analyzed using Jamovi computer software (Version 1.6) (Jamovi, 2021).

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Following that, the data were interpreted for reporting the results. Figure 1 portrays the research design used. Concept development Identification of the research scope. Identification of the feasibility of the study.

Research design Reshaping the refresher course for teachers. Development of the research and sampling plan. Specification and validation of the data collection instruments. Obtaining the approval from the representatives of administration and management of Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University and Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University.

Experiment EG teachers training in: Adaptation of the lesson materials for use in a live virtual environment. Engage students in learning through e-learning platform, conferencing software and messengers (Telegram, Whatsapp, Facebook). Create a forum for the interactions of a teacher-student and student-student kind, i.e. through breakout rooms in Zoom. Accommodate students' needs, abilities (or disabilities) and learning styles. Use of chatbots to deliver materials, implement gamified elements, manage the students and assess them. Approaches to creating rapport, motivating and inspiring students, and involving students in shaping the lesson plan through polls and votes.

Data processing, interpretation and reporting Data consolidation and analysis using Jamovi computer software (Version 1.6). Data interpretation for reporting research results.

Figure 1: Research design

2.2. Conceptual Framework A synthesis approach was used to develop a comprehensive model to deliver the refresher course. This synthesized and converged aspects of the currently-used models of competence development. The model aimed to develop teachers’ performance, expertise and mastery, from the integration model of professional expertise. It is used as a stage-wise linear progression, which is from the alternative model of professional development, to achieve professional expertise. It involved knowledge and experience exchange between those with contributory expertise and those with ubiquitous expertise, which comes from the model of the periodic table of expertise by Collins and Evans (Lamont, 2009), with experts’ interactional expertise. It supposed to foster teachers’ readiness to be flexible and take up challenges, as outlined by the model of expertise redevelopment. Additionally, the model relied on the replacement of situational context with a situational judgment, which is the key point of sixdimension framework of expertise.

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2.3. Reshaped Refresher Course Description This was a three credit course (90 hours, ECTS) aimed at updating teachers’ competencies in distance teaching. The development of the teachers’ performance, expertise and mastery was drawn from the integration model of professional expertise. The idea of achieving professional expertise through a stage-wise linear progression was adopted from the alternative model of professional development. The concept of experts’ interactional expertise, that is achieved through knowledge and experience exchange between those with contributory expertise and those with ubiquitous expertise, was derived from the model of the periodic table of expertise by Collins and Evans (Lamont, 2009). Fostering a readiness to be flexible and to take up challenges was synthesized from the model of expertise redevelopment. The replacement of the situational context with a situational judgment, which is considered better for competence development, was obtained from the model of the six-dimension framework of expertise. The topics for the course are outlined in Table 1. Table 1: Outline of topics for the refresher course # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Topic Lesson plan adaptation for use in a live virtual environment. The use of devices with appropriate software and applications to learn virtually. The engagement of students in learning through e-learning platforms, conferencing software, and messengers (Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook). Creating a forum for student-students and teacher-students’ interactions. Accommodation of students’ learning needs, abilities (or disabilities), and learning styles. The use of chatbots to deliver materials, implement gamified elements, manage the students and assess them. Keeping a ratio of 20% teacher talking time and 80% student talking time. Formulation of class instructions. Creating rapport, motivating and inspiring students. Involving students in shaping the lesson plan through polls and votes.

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The convergent instruction model is visualized in Figure 2.

Social interaction

Behavioral

Instructional Strategies

Information processing Direct Selfreflection

Training Focus

Indirect

Interactive

Instructional Methods

Simulations

Competencies in Distance Teaching

Case-study

Cooperative learning

Self-study Knowledge and experience sharing

Virtual Lessons Planning and Delivery Evaluation and Assessment Use of IKT tools Presenting Demonstrating

Figure 2: The convergent instruction model 2.4. Sample In the conceptual phase, random sampling was used to select respondents to participate in self-assessment surveys. The participants for the experiment were sampled from a population of 2364 teachers and lecturers from two state-owned universities in Ukraine: Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University (DHLNMU) (1421 people), and Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University (BGKU) (943 people). Invitations were sent to 213 teachers and lecturers and 167 responses were returned. A total of 37 people (𝑛 = 37), whose mean values were higher than 4.00, and who attended the professional refresher course in the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in distance teaching, for teachers and lecturers, were selected for the experiment as the experimental group (EG). The challenges of the sample selection were related to that fact that EG teachers majored primarily in the humanities and they are known to be ICT ‘muggles’. The demographics of the EG are presented in Table 2.

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Table 2: Demographic data of the sampled professional refresher course attendees (𝒏 = 𝟑𝟕) Feature Gender

Males Females Males

Age Females

Experience

Subject taught

27-35 36-44 45-55 56-60 27-35 36-44 45-55 56-60

2-10 years 11-15 years 16-20 years > 21 years Chemistry and Biology Anatomy Maths and Physics Journalism Languages and Literature Law

University DHLNMU BGKU 11 (68.75%) 5 (31.25%) 7 (33.33%) 14 (66.67%) 1 (9.09%) 0 (0.00%) 3 (27.27%) 2 (40.00%) 5 (45.45%) 2 (40.00%) 1 (9.09%) 1 (20.00%) 1 (14.28%) 3 (21.42%) 2 (28.57%) 5 (35.71%) 3 (42.85%) 5 (35.71%) 1 (14.28%) 1 (7.14%) 1 (5.5%) 3 (15.78%) 6 (33.33%) 7 (36.84%) 9 (50.00%) 4 (21.05%) 2 (11.11%) 5 (26.31%) 9 (50.00%) 2 (10.52%) 5 (27.77%) 0 (0.00%) 4 (22.22%) 6 (31.57%) 0 (0.00%) 3 (15.78%)

Mean

8.0 10.5 1.0 2.5 3.5 1.0 2.0 3.5 4.0 1.0 2.0 6.5 6.5 3.5 5.5 2.5 5.0 1.5

4.24 4.94 0.70 0.70 2.12 0.00 1.41 2.12 1.41 0.00 1.41 0.70 3.53 2.12 4.94 3.53 1.41 2.12

0 (0.00%)

7 (36.84%)

3.5

4.94

1 (5.55%)

1 (5.26%)

1.0

0.00

In general, the EG individuals were considered homogeneous because they majored in teaching. 2.5. Instruments The study used four tools to yield data. These were 1) the teachers’ self-assessment survey (see Appendix A), 2) the observation checklist to assess the video recorded live online lessons (see Appendix B), 3) the self-observation questionnaire (see Appendix C), and 4) the course satisfaction questionnaire. Jamovi computer software (Version 1.6) was used to process the quantitative data (Jamovi, 2021). The first research question was addressed through the teachers’ self-assessment survey, the observation checklist to assess the video recorded live online lessons, and the self-observation questionnaire. The course satisfaction questionnaire was used to answer the second research question. The teachers’ self-assessment survey, which was adapted from Dascalu (2005) and adjusted for this study, was used to sample 37 teachers and lecturers to participate in the experiment. A video recorded lessons observation checklist was utilized to monitor how the reshaped refresher course influenced the teachers’ competencies in distance teaching. The self-observation questionnaire was employed to identify how the EG participants assessed their progress in developing their competencies in distance teaching. Complementary to this, the levels of competence of teachers in distance teaching were developed to let them self-assess their skills. The course satisfaction questionnaire was used to address the second research question.

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The levels of competence of teachers in distance teaching for self-assessment (based on Appendix A) The developed level scale relies on the conscious competence learning model by Broadwell (Nanz, 2017), who described the four psychological states that an employee goes through to become competent in a skill. It includes unconscious incompetence, conscious incompetence, conscious competence, and unconscious competence. The matrix of levels of the conscious competence learning model is presented in Table 3.

Unconscious

Conscious

Table 3: The matrix of levels of conscious competence learning model Competence 3. Conscious competence 53-78 points A teacher sometimes: • Uses coursebook just as a guidebook for students. They plan class sessions with a focus on possible changes to the lesson plan. • Draws the students’ focus to analyzing, evaluating, and making conclusions. • Talks in class 15-20% of lesson time and provides feedback to students’ work after they have finished the task. • Attempts to be informal in their class sessions. • Reward their students for their efforts verbally. • Determines the class agenda, and assign important team tasks as a home project. • Attempt to motivate their students not to procrastinate and not to drop out. • Sometimes assigns the students to assist and facilitate their online class sessions. • Sometimes involve an IT specialist in the design of their online courses. • Hardly feel their job exhausts them. Competence 4. Unconscious competence 79-91 points A teacher occasionally: • Uses the coursebook as a reference source. They plan class sessions and use them flexibly. • Draws the students’ focus to analyzing, evaluating, and making conclusions. • Let their students speak and express themselves in class sessions most of the time and provide their verbal and written feedback to the students’ work after they have finished the task. • Attempts to be informal in-class sessions. • Rewards their students for their efforts verbally. • Determine the class agenda, and they assign important team tasks as a home project. • Attempt to motivate their students not to procrastinate and not to drop out. • Competently utilizes technology. They design online courses for themselves and use a variety of technological tools. • Their job brings sense to their life.

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Incompetence 2. Conscious incompetence 27-52 points A teacher sometimes: • Uses the coursebook, plans every class session. • Draws the students’ focus to memorization minimally. • Talks in class 25-30% of lesson time and sometimes interrupts their students to correct or advise them. • Attempts to be informal in their class sessions. • Rewards their students for their efforts, determines the class agenda, and assigns important team tasks as a home project. • Attempts to encourage the students not to procrastinate and not to drop out. • Sometimes assigns the students to assist and facilitate their online class sessions. • Sometimes involve an IT specialist in the design of their online courses. • Sometimes feel their job exhausts them. Incompetence 1. Unconscious incompetence 13-26 points A teacher always: • Uses the coursebook, carefully plans every minute of every class session. • Draws the students’ focus to memorization. • Talks in the class and constantly interrupts their students to correct or advise them. • Serious and formal in their class sessions. • Never rewards students for their efforts. • Determines the class agenda, and they are sure that students’ learning should take place at home. • Punish students for procrastination and dropouts. • Assigns the students to assist and facilitate their online class sessions. They involve an IT specialist in the design of their online courses. • They feel their job exhausts them.

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The video recorded live online session observation checklist (see Appendix B) The instrument consisted of 10 questions. It used a 5-point Likert “quality scale”, with 1 for “Very poor”, up to 5 for “Excellent”. The item-level content validity index (IL-CVI) of the checklist varied from 0.83 to 0.88. The kappa coefficient was from 0.84 to 0.89. The self-observation questionnaire (Appendix C) The questionnaire comprised of 10 items. It relied on a 5-point Likert scale entitled “Amount of Use”, with 1 for “Never use”; 2 for “Almost never”; 3 for “Occasionally/Sometimes”; 4 for “Almost every time”; and 5 for “Frequently use”. The item-level content validity index (IL-CVI) of the questionnaire varied from 0.82 to 0.87. The kappa coefficient was from 0.86 to 0.88. The course satisfaction questionnaire The questionnaire consisted of six questions. It used the two scales of course usefulness and course satisfaction. Both scales used two 7-point Likert scales with 1 for “Absolutely Useless/Extremely dissatisfied” to 7 for “Absolutely useful/Extremely Satisfied”. The face validity, construct validity, and content validity of the questionnaire were assessed by five experts, who performed the assessment using the recommendation of Taherdoost (2016).

3. Results The results have been presented in two sections: the experiment-related data and sampled students’ perceptions of the course. This approach attempted to respond to the two research questions of how the reshaped refresher course influenced the teachers’ competencies in distance teaching, and how the course participants perceived the course, which aimed to update the teachers’ competencies in distance teaching. 3.1. The Experiment-Related Data The Teachers’ Self-Assessment Survey The mean difference between two sets of measurements drawn from the survey was identified using the paired sample t-test (see Table 4). Table 4: Paired sample t-test results based on teachers’ self-assessment survey 𝑴𝒆𝒂𝒏 Before After 3.27 5.86

𝑺𝑫 Before After 1.73 1.22

𝒕 -7.33

Mean difference -2.59

SE difference 0.231

𝒑

𝒅𝒇

𝒅

< .001

36.0

2.617

Table 4 shows that the comprehensive model that synthesizes and converges the strong points of the specified models of competence development brought positive change (𝑡(36.0) = −7.34, 𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑓. = −2.59, 𝑆𝐸 𝑑𝑖𝑓. = 0.231) in teachers’ distance teaching competencies, as reported by the sampled teachers. The effect size was also significant, 𝑑 = 2.617, and implies that the sampled teachers experienced a positive change in the competencies under study.

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% of Sampled teachres

Shifts in the Levels of Competence of Teachers in Distance Teaching as SelfAssessed by the Sampled Teachers The purpose of the measurement was to identify how sampled teachers selfassessed their distance teaching competencies before and after the treatment. Figure 3 presents the results of the self-assessments in distance teaching competencies by the sampled refresher course participants. 52 45.16

36.70 25.8 15.74

12.90

6.46

3.22 Before

After

Unconscious incompetence

36.70

25.8

Conscious incompetence

45.16

Conscious competence

12.90

15.74

Unconscious competence

3.22

6.46

Figure 3: Shifts in the levels of competence of teachers in distance teaching as selfassessed by the sampled teachers

Figure 3 shows that the data collected provided the basis for reporting that the majority of the sampled teachers were at a level of conscious incompetence in their distance teaching competencies (EG = 45.16%) before the experiment and the quantity of the participants moved to 52% after the treatment. Approximately a third of the refresher course participants were at a level of unconscious competence in distance teaching (EG =36.70%). This proportion shrunk by 10.9 (EG=28.8) after the treatment. The number of teachers who assessed their level of competence in distance teaching as a conscious competence increased by 2.84% after the experiment. The proportion of those who assessed their level as an unconscious competence in distance teaching approximately doubled and moved from 3.22% to 6.46%. The data imply that the teachers experienced improvements in lesson and materials design, technology, and how to involve students due to the refresher course. The Video Recorded Live Online Session Observation Checklist and SelfObservation Questionnaire by Course Topic The checklists were used by the sampled teachers for peer assessment of the recorded online sessions and self-reflection. Table 5 presents the descriptive statistics yielded from the video recorded live online session observation checklist, and the self-observation questionnaire. The data are distributed by the course topic.

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0.435 0.374

4.76 4.84

0.463 0.397

4.70 4.81

0.505

4.46 4.54

0.651

0.475

M 4.51 4.68

SD 0.676 0.507

M 4.35 4.49

SD 0.505

0.492

0.607 0.484

4.54

4.49 4.65

4.62

0.862 0.751

3.92 4.14

0.995 0.957

3.81 3.97

1.21

Course topic 5 6

1.11

M 3.32

VRLOSO s 3.43 SO Note:

Data collection tool

Table 5: Descriptive statistics yielded from video recorded live online session observation checklist and self-observation questionnaire, distributed by course topic

VRLOSOs - video recorded live online session observations SO - self-observation

Table 5 shows how the mean value for sampled teachers’ judgements about their peers’ and their own performance in delivering the classes online improved. This implies that the model gradually provided an effect on their distance teaching competencies. 3.2. Data drawn from Sampled Students’ Perceptions of the Course Descriptive Statistics Drawn from the Course Satisfaction Questionnaire Table 6 presents the descriptive statistics drawn from the course satisfaction questionnaire. Table 6: Descriptive statistics drawn from the course satisfaction questionnaire q1e

q2e

q3e

q4e

q5e

q1s

q2s

q3s

q4s

q5s

Mean SD

6.34 0.938

5.79 1.36

5.21 1.49

5.29 1.39

5.50 1.27

5.16 1.28

-1.17

-0.551

0.135

-0.298

-0.210

5.26 1.35 0.0915

5.39 1.44 0.177

5.29 1.16

Skewness

5.71 1.23 0.333

0.383

0.192

-1.37

-1.56

-0.632

-1.10

-1.17

-1.15

-1.17

-1.39

-1.30

0.750

Std. error skewness Kurtosis Std. error kurtosis

0.336

0.380

Table 6 shows the values for the mean (mean is between 5.16 and 6.34, SD is between 0.938 and 1.49) that cover the responses of “Absolutely Useful/Moderately Satisfied” and “Extremely Useful/ Extremely Satisfied”. The values for skewness show that the distribution of the variables (responses) was skewed. The values for kurtosis showed that the distribution for Q1e was quite peaked. The other values for kurtosis indicated that the distribution of the responses was flat. According to Hair et al. (2017), the distribution of the data for the responses could be considered normal.

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Overall, the sampled teachers found the course useful and perceived the course delivered, using the convergent instructional model, complimentary.

4. Discussion The study attempted to identify how the comprehensive model that synthesizes and converges the strong points of the integration model of professional expertise, the alternative model of professional development, periodic table of expertise by Collins and Evans (Lamont, 2009), the model of expertise redevelopment, and the six-dimension framework of expertise model of competence development could influence the distance teaching competencies of the teachers used, within the reshaped course for the teachers. Additionally, the study sought to examine how the course participants perceived the course, using the convergent instructional model. The novelty of the study lies in the development of a comprehensive model of teacher competence development that can be used to deliver an upgraded refresher course. The course synthesizes and converges some aspects of five models with the concept of experts’ interactional expertise. The expertise is supposed to be achieved through knowledge and experience exchange between those with contributory expertise and those with ubiquitous expertise. The model of expertise redevelopment is expected to foster teachers’ readiness to be flexible and take up challenges. It consists of the six-dimension framework of expertise, which is based on the replacement of the situational context, with a situational judgment, which is considered better for competence development. Paired sample t-test results, based on the teachers’ self-assessment survey, showed that the comprehensive model, that synthesizes and converges the strong points of the models of competence development, brought positive change (𝑡(36.0) = −7.34, 𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑓. = −2.59, 𝑆𝐸 𝑑𝑖𝑓. = 0.231) in teachers’ distance teaching competencies, as reported by the sampled teachers themselves. The effect size was also significant, 𝑑 = 2.617, which implies that the sampled teachers experienced a positive change in the competencies under study. The selfassessment of the levels of competence of teachers in distance teaching showed that the majority of the sampled teachers reported that they were at a level of conscious incompetence in their distance teaching competencies (EG = 45.16%) before the experiment and moved to the proportion of 52% after the treatment. Approximately a third of the refresher course participants were at a level of unconscious competence in distance teaching (EG =36.70%). This proportion shrunk by 10.9 (EG=28.8) after the treatment. The data obtained from the participants’ responses suggested that the quantity of teachers who assessed their level of competence in distance teaching as a conscious competence increased by 2.84% after the experiment. The proportion of those who assessed their level as an unconscious competence in distance teaching approximately doubled and moved from 3.22% to 6.46%. The data imply that teachers experience improvements in lesson and materials design, technology, and how to involve students due to the refresher course. The data were drawn from the checklist that was used by the sampled teachers for peer assessment of the recorded online sessions and a questionnaire for self-reflection illustrated that sampled teachers’ judgements

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about the peers’ and their own performance in the delivery of the classes online improved. This implied that the model gradually provided an effect on their distance teaching competencies. The descriptive statistics drawn from the course satisfaction questionnaire proved that the sampled teachers found the course useful and perceived the course delivered, using the convergent instructional model, complimentary. The values for mean (mean is between 5.16 and 6.34, SD is between 0.938 and 1.49) cover the responses of “Absolutely Useful/Moderately Satisfied” and “Extremely Useful/ Extremely Satisfied”. The values for skewness show that the distribution of the variables (responses) was skewed. The values for kurtosis showed that the distribution for Q1e was quite peaked. The other values for kurtosis indicated that the distribution (of the responses) was flat. According to Hair et al. (2017), the distribution of the data for the responses could be considered normal. The findings agree with Kunter et al. (2013), who found that the model of teacher professional competence development is more effective when it combines individual characteristics of the teacher trainees and challenging learning opportunities. The authors recommend converging professional-specific with cognitive, motivational, and self-regulatory practices. The study is in line with Lahmine et al. (2016), who advocated creating a techno-pedagogical environment based on the “learning by doing” approach for in-service teacher training to foster teachers’ distance teaching skills.

5. Conclusion A comprehensive model of teacher competence development, to deliver the reshaped refresher course, influenced the teachers’ competencies in distance teaching positively. The course participants evaluated the course delivered, using the convergent instructional model, to be complimentary. The teacher trainees improved their skills in the adaptation of the lesson materials for use in a live virtual environment, engaging students in learning through e-learning platforms, conferencing software and messengers (Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook), creating a forum for the interactions of a teacher-student and student-student kind, i.e. through breakout rooms in Zoom. They enhanced their skills in accommodating students’ learning needs, abilities (or disabilities), and learning styles, using chatbots to deliver materials, implement gamified elements, manage the students and assess them. They updated their skills in using approaches to create rapport, motivate and inspire students, and involve students in shaping the lesson plan through polls and votes. It is recommended that practitioners use the predesigned criteria for assessing trainees’ assignments and/or involve independent experts in the assessment and/or employ a blind-review principle in assessment, as teachers are often unable to take their colleagues feedback with tact and grace. Further research is needed in designing and testing the assessment system for the model that has been created.

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Acknowledgement We are grateful to the representatives of administration and management of Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University and Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University for hosting the research team. We are thankful to the sampled teachers for their patience and willingness to make the experiment a rewarding experience for them and the research team members.

Conflicts of Interest There are no conflicts of interest related to the authors' affiliations, or any legal, financial, or commercial disputes.

6. References Barron, M., Cobo, C., Munoz-Najar, A., & Sanchez Ciarrusta, I. (2021, February 18). The changing role of teachers and technologies amidst the COVID 19 pandemic: Key findings from a cross-country study. World Bank Blog. https://blogs.worldbank.org/education/changing-role-teachers-andtechnologies-amidst-covid-19-pandemic-key-findings-cross Bautista, A., & Oretga-Ruiz, R. (2017). Teacher professional development: International perspectives and approaches. Psychology, Society and Education, 7(3), 240–251. https://doi.org/10.25115/psye.v7i3.1020 Burns, M. (2011). Distance education for teacher training: Modes, models, and methods. Education Development Center. https://www.edc.org/sites/default/files/uploads/Distance-EducationTeacher-Training.pdf Campbell, C. L. (2014). Teachers teaching teachers: A sustainable and inexpensive professional development program to improve instruction: [Ph.D. dissertation, Portland State University]. PDXScholar. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.2071 Collins, H. (2018). Studies of expertise and experience. Topoi, 37, 67–77. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11245-016-9412-1 Dall’Alba, G., & Sandberg, J. (2006). Unveiling professional development: A critical review of stage models. Review of educational research, 76(3), 383–412. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543076003383 Dall’Alba, G., & Sandberg, J. (2010). Learning through and about practice: A lifeworld perspective. In S. Billett (Ed.), Learning through practice. Professional and practicebased learning. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3939-2_6 Dascalu, M.-S. (2005). Self-assessment in in-service distance teacher training [Master’s thesis, School for International Training]. Digital Collection for School for International Training. https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/ipp_collection/72 Frie, L. S., Potting, K. C., Sjoer, E., Van der Heijden, B. I., & Korzilius, H. P. (2018). How flexperts deal with changing expertise demands: A qualitative study into the processes of expertise renewal. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 30(1), 61– 79. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.21335 Garrett, S. K., Caldwell, B. S., Harris, E. C., & Gonzalez, M. C. (2009). Six dimensions of expertise: A more comprehensive definition of cognitive expertise for team coordination. Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, 10(2), 93–105. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534484308316653 Grenier, R. S., & Kehrhahn, M. (2008). Toward an integrated model of expertise redevelopment and its implications for HRD. Human Resource Development Review, 7(2), 198–217. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534484308316653

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https://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Leading-learning/Professionallearning/Teachers-as-learners Taherdoost, H. (2016). Validity and reliability of the research instrument: How to test the validation of a questionnaire/survey in research. International Journal of Academic Research in Management, 5(3), 28–36. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3205040 Yielder, J. (2004). An integrated model of professional expertise and its implications for higher education. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 23(1), 60–80. https://doi.org/10.1080/0260137032000172060

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Appendix A Teachers’ self-assessment survey (adapted from Dascalu (2005)) Where I am as an instructor in distance teaching 1 2

I always use the coursebook I mainly talk in the class I constantly interrupt my students to correct or advise them

I am serious and formal in my lessons

I never reward my students for their efforts

7-point “Reflect me” Likert scale 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

I carefully plan every minute of every lesson I draw the students’ focus to memorization My students’ learning takes place at home

Where I want to be as an instructor in distance teaching I occasionally use the coursebook as a reference source My students mainly talk in the class I correct or advise my students when the activity or discussion is finished I tell jokes and include some portion of enjoyment and fun in my classes I use some elements of gamification to reward my students for their efforts I plan my lessons just schematically and deliver them flexibly I draw the students’ focus to self-expression My students’ learning takes place in class

I always determine the class agenda

My students always determine the class agenda

I punish my students for procrastination and dropouts

My students are proactive learners

My job exhausts me

My job brings me a sense of life

Note: 1 – Very untrue of me; 2 – Untrue of me; 3 – Somewhat untrue of me; 4 – Neutral; 5 –Somewhat true of me; 6 – True of me; 7 – Very true of me

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Appendix B The video recorded live online session observation checklist #

Item

The lesson plan is adapted for use in a live virtual environment

The students use devices with the appropriate software and applications to learn virtually

5-point Likert “quality scale” 1 2 3 4 5

The students are engaged in the learning through the eLearning platform, conferencing software, and messengers (Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook) There is a forum for the interactions of a teacher-student and student-student kind, i.e. through breakout rooms in Zoom

The students are accommodated in learning by their needs, abilities (or disabilities), and learning styles

The Chatbot is used to deliver materials, implement gamified elements, manage the students and assess them

The ratio of 20% of TTT and 80% of STT is ensured

The instructions are formulated clearly, short and precise

The teacher attempts to create rapport, motivate and inspire students

Students are involved in shaping the lesson plan through polls and votes

Note: 1 – Very poor; 2 – Not good; 3 – All right; 4 – Good; 5 –Excellent

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Appendix C The self-observation questionnaire

Item

5-point Likert “Amount of Use” scale 1

My lesson plan is adapted for use in a live virtual environment

My students use devices with the appropriate software and applications to learn virtually

My students are engaged in learning through the eLearning platform, conferencing software, and messengers (Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook)

I create a forum for SSs and TSs interactions

My students are accommodated in learning by their needs, abilities (or disabilities), and learning styles

I use a Chatbot to deliver materials, implement gamified elements, manage the students and assess them

I attempt to keep the ratio of 20% of TTT and 80% of STT

I formulate my class instructions clearly, short and precise

I attempt to create rapport, motivate and inspire my students

I involve my students in shaping the lesson plan through polls and votes

Note: 1 – Never use; 2 – Almost never; 3 – Occasionally/Sometimes; 4 – Almost every time; 5 – Frequently use

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 328-345, July 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.7.18 Received Apr 20, 2021; Revised Jul 02, 2021; Accepted Jul 31, 2021

How Pre-service Teachers Learn Microbiology using Lecture, Animations, and Laboratory Activities at one Private University in Rwanda Josiane Mukagihana African Centre of Excellence for Innovative Teaching and Learning Mathematics and Science (ACEITLMS), University of Rwanda-College of Education (URCE), Rwanda https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7334-331X Florien Nsanganwimana African Centre of Excellence for Innovative Teaching and Learning Mathematics and Science (ACEITLMS), University of Rwanda-College of Education (URCE), Rwanda. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3152-9893 Catherine. M. Aurah Masinde Muliro University, of Science and Technology, Kenya. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0781-3202

Abstract. Observing classroom practices and checking the effect of instructional methods on academic achievement are crucial in the teaching and learning process. The present study was aimed at discovering the dominating pre-service biology teachers’ and instructors’ activities in microbiology classes and their respective effects when animations–based instructions and small-group laboratory activities are used. An equivalent time-series design was applied using a small group of participants in year two biology education (N=30, 16 female and 14 males), and a pre-test was used as a pre-intervention comparison test, while a post-test alternated with interventions. Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (COPUS) was used to record classroom activities. Before using its inter-rater agreement reached 80%. Pre-service Biology Teachers Achievement Test (PBTAT) with a Pearson’s r reliability of .51 served to measure instructional methods' effect on academic achievement. It was found that the main teaching methods were activities, lectures and animation classes, while group work and instructors moving among the students and guiding them characterized small-group laboratory activity classes. All interventions improved preservice biology teachers’ academic achievement; however, a statistically significant difference (df=28, p<.05) existed between interventions where small group laboratory activities proved a considerable effect size ©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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(d=3.86). No statistically significant difference (df=1, p>.05) was found regarding gender after interventions. However, females scored better than males after the lecture and laboratory methods, while the opposite happened after animation-based instruction. Therefore, we recommend using small-group laboratory activities that promote active learning through student small-group work to improve pre-service biology teachers’ academic achievement in biology. Keywords: pre-service teachers; microbiology; lecture; animations; laboratory activities; Rwanda

1. Introduction Biology is a course in life sciences found in all nations’ educational curricula and is taught to most students, including pre-service teachers, in preparation for becoming secondary school biology teachers (Wibowo & Sadikin, 2019). In developing countries, the teaching of biology has been dominated by conventional instructions and limited to concepts like a description of a structure or function of selected living organisms, presenting others with similar features (Younès & Vohra, 2000). Microbiology is one of the introductory biology courses that informs about common infectious diseases, their prevention, and treatment measures (Au et al., 2008). In higher education, teaching microbiology is found most successful when motivating instructional methods are used, like those promoting critical thinking skills, and hands-on and mind-on methods, such as workshops, group work, and game-based methods (Efthimiou & Tucker, 2021). Microbiology, due to its structure, requires instructional methods that promote students’ active classroom practice rather than presented theory to enable concepts fixation and understanding. Classroom practices are described as teachers’ and students’ behaviours during the teaching and learning process. These behaviours occur one after another or in parallel, depending on the instructional strategies applied (Stains et al., 2018). Classroom practices are large in diversity, and investigating their educational context may inform instructional staff about factors contributing to students’ subject achievement and student learning engagements (Lan et al., 2009). Smith et al. (2013), with the intention to develop a Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) (COPUS), classified classroom practice into, “What students are doing” and “What instructor is doing” during the teaching and learning process. This classification permits one to check what is done in a two-minute time interval, and with this the variability of students’ engagement and its influencing practices may be recorded. Among the instructors’ and students’ classroom practices, studies report that lecturing and posing questions are dominant instructor practices, while listening and anwering instructors’ questions are most students’ common classroom practices (Stains et al., 2018; Byusa et al., 2020). Therefore, an imperative need exists for knowledge of students’ and teachers’ classroom practices at every level of education to inform teachers about how students learn when different instructional methods are implemented and about their contribution to students’ learning engagement and academic achievement.

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Instructional methods have different effects on students’ learning outcomes, especially their academic achievements. Studies proved that the contribution of traditional methods to pre-service science teachers’ academic achievement is much less than that of active instructional methods (Bektaşli, 2013; Dirlikli & Akgün, 2017; Selçuk, 2010; Agoro & Akinsola, 2013; Calik-Uzun, et al., 2019; Taşlidere, 2015). This is a call to pre-service science teachers, and, especially, preservice biology teachers’ trainers, to adopt active and innovative instructional methods like those incorporating instructional resources such as animations and laboratory resources to improve pre-service biology teachers’ academic achievements. Instructional resources create professional critical thinking skills, and hands-on and minds-on skills in pre-service biology teachers, which assist them to be competent future biology teachers (Mukagihana et al., 2020). Furthermore, instructional resources link instructional methods to the learning theories that emphasize students’ involvement in classroom activities and the construction of knowledge. Besides, instructional resources make instructions meaningful, especially when promoting students’ cognitive development through collaborative and practical learning (Hung, 2001). Laboratory activities, for example, have been proven to improve the learning of students in Rwandan schools (Uwamahoro et al., 2021). Similarly, multimedia such as you-tube videos, PhET simulations, and animations were found to positively affect students’ performance (Ndihokubwayo et al., 2020a). Therefore, the present study aimed to test how pre-service biology teachers learn when instructional resources such as animations and laboratory resources, support instructions that are guided by didactic transposition theory (Chevallard, 1989). Didactic transposition theory states that what can be observed in class is a teacherstudent relationship (Chevallard, 1989). In other words, the teacher-student relationship during the teaching and learning process is described by what the teacher and students do. In the lab and classroom environments one can easily detect the student-teacher relationship by recording in which activities students are involved, and what teachers are doing. Studies have been conducted on the effect of instructional resources on pre-service science teachers’ academic achievement. However, few studies highlighted the impact of animation-based instructions and small group laboratory activities on pre-service biology teachers’ academic achievement at private universities using a time series design. Also, few studies highlighted the link between classroom practices and the respective effects of instructional resources used. Researchers and universities were highly interested in detecting what was happening in STEM courses by measuring the students’ and teachers’ practices when an specific instructional method was applied (Lund et al., 2015), but few engaged in measuring instructional practices when training pre-service biology teachers with different instructional methods. Therefore, the present study aimed to throw light on how pre-service biology teachers learn when animations and small-group laboratory activities are used in class, specifically by establishing the effect of animations and small-group laboratory activities on pre-service biology teachers’ academic achievement.

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The study contributes to the literature. It provides valuable information on how pre-service biology teachers teach by illustrating the most relevant activities in microbiology classes in a series of lecturing methods, animation-based instructions, and laboratory methods using small-group laboratory activities. The study provides results regarding the effect of these instructional methods on preservice biology teachers’ academic achievements. This information may serve as a guide that shows teachers what their role in class should be; thus, pre-service biology teachers will gain pedagogical content knowledge that they can use as secondary school biology teachers to improve students’ academic achievement. Specifically, through the study we wanted to determine the effect of animations and small-group laboratory activities on pre-service biology teachers’ academic achievement. Therefore, this study aimed to answer the following research questions: 1) Which teaching and learning activities are dominating microbiology classes for pre-service biology teachers at private universities when resource-based instructions are used? 2) Is there any statistically significant difference between mean scores of preservice biology teachers when traditional and resource-based instructions are used on time series? 3) Is there any significant difference between academic achievement mean scores of males and females when resource-based instructions are used on time series? We then hypothesized that: H01: There is no statistically significant difference in pre-service biology teachers’ mean scores when traditional and resource-based instructions, such as animation-based instruction and small group laboratory activities are used on time series. H02: There is no statistically significant difference between male and female preservice biology teachers’ mean scores when traditional and resource-based instructions such as animation-based instruction and small-group laboratory activities are used.

2. Methodology 2.1 Research design In the study a time series design was used which is a modified form of a typical pre-test and post-test design. This design involves implementing a group of pretests and post-tests by repeated observational changes in dependent variables over time before and after a teaching intervention. The design permitted the authors to measure the effect of the instructional method as an independent variable at three levels, namely traditional methods of teaching (lecture), animation-based instruction, and laboratory-based instruction through smallgroup laboratory activities on pre-service biology teachers’ academic achievement dependent variables. A time-series design does not require the use of a large number of participants, and only one group can sufficiently serve a study (Creswell, 2012). This design was suitable for this study, in which a small number of participants were divided into control and experimental groups. During

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implementation the researchers used a time-series design in its variation as an equivalent time series that allowed the researchers to alternate an intervention or treatment with post-test observations. Table 1 presents the way the design was implemented in the study. Table 1: Equivalent time series design Time One group participants

Pretest

Traditional methods

Three weeks interval Interventions PostAnimation- Posttest based test instruction

Smallgroup lab activities

Post -test

2.2 Participants The study was carried out at the University of Technology and Arts of Byumba (UTAB), a private university that trains pre-service biology teachers. As Mukagihana et al. (2020) described, the university was one of three selected private universities to participate in this study. Unfortunately, due to Covid 19 issues, twouniversities closed before data collection was performed (February to April 2021). Therefore, it remained the only private university offering biology education programmes that could participate in the study. The participants consisted of a small population of 50 pre-service biology teachers enrolled in year two in the Faculty of Education, Department of Education in Sciences. Among them, only 37 were available on the first day of the intervention. They formed a single group that participated in a pre-test and alternating interventions, and posttest measures using lecturing as teaching method, animation-based instruction, and laboratory methods through small-group laboratory activities. One research assistant participated in the study by observing and recording the student and instructor activities during interventions. 2.3 Data collection instruments and their reliability Two instruments were used to collect the data. One was a Pre-service Biology Teachers’ Achievement Test (PBTAT) developed by the researchers. This achievement test comprised twenty items/questions related to the concepts of microbiology, taken from a biology module purposively selected for intervention (please see Appendix 1). The internal validity and reliability of the instrument were checked by subjecting the instrument to microbiology experts at the Public University of Rwanda College of Education. After the pilot study, Pearson’s r reliability test was calculated using SPSS 23, and the coefficient of .51 was found. Thus the instrument was found to be reliable and used. The Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (COPUS) was used to establish which teaching and learning activities dominated microbiology classes for pre-service biology teachers at private universities when resourcebased instructions were used. The protocol was designed to help faculty members who did not have a classroom observation protocol to record the activities of undergraduate students and lecturers at university level at two 2-minute time intervals during the teaching and learning process (Smith et al., 2013). Therefore, COPUS was suitable for this study to identify pre-service biology teachers’

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activities in the microbiology class when traditional methods of teaching, animations–based instruction, and small group laboratory activities were used. Before using the COPUS STEM, the first author and one research assistant were trained by Kizito Ndihokubwayo, one of the experts who documented and wrote on collecting and analysing data using COPUS (Ndihokubwayo et al., 2020b, 2021). During training, the trainer introduced COPUS by explaining its codes and when to code. After this session, the trainer played a video the researcher and assistant had to observe and they were asked to record the activities carried out by students and teachers in the video every two minutes. The training session lasted for two hours, and then agreement between the two raters reached 80%, indicating that the author and research assistant were ready to apply the protocol optimally. 2.3.1 Data collection procedures

The teaching intervention was carried out on a single group of pre-service biology teachers by implementing an equivalent time-series design described in Table 1. Before the intervention, the group of 37 pre-service biology teachers who were present received a pre-test of 40 minutes and after that they underwente three consecutive treatments, starting with the traditional method of teaching (lecture method), followed by animations-based instruction, and finally, the pre-service biology teachers learned in pairs by means of experimental activities in the laboratory. A post-test of 40 minutes alternated with treatments thus followed the implementation of each instructional method. During interventions, participants' attendance increased day by day, and after the lecture class, the post-test was taken by 42 pre-service biology teachers. In contrast, after animation and smallgroup laboratory activities, the class post-test was done respectively by 43 and 45 pre-service biology teachers. In the data filtering 30 pre-service biology teachers’ data were used for the analysis. These were those who completed both the preintervention test and all the post-tests. The post-test was similar to the pre-test and was not changed during the intervention. The time interval between treatments was three weeks, and the whole process of the time series lasted for nine weeks, starting in February and lasting till April 2021. The intervention focused on three concepts of microbiology (introduction to microbiology, gram stain by differentiating between gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, and methods of pure culture isolation). 2.3.2 Data collection using Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (COPUS) To record the activities done during each instructional method, a trained research assistant was present in the class with the first author, who acted as an instructor during the interventions and recorded each activity done every two minutes, using the blank sheet for COPUS practice observation. The observation was done on printed sheets, and scores were recorded in Excel sheets during the analysing phase.

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3. Data Analysis and Results To answer the research questions, we analysd the classroom observation data by relative abundance (percentage of activities), as in Ndihokubwayo et al. (2021). Our implemented intervention was done thrice on a series basis; we presented the results for each intervention separately (see Table 2). Three lessons—one lasting 50 minutes and two of 80minutes—were observed in the lecture class. The total two-minute intervals of students’ activities were 129, and the activities of the lecturer counted 185. In the animation class, five lessons—one of 50 minutes, one of 60 minutes, two of 80 minutes, and one of 90 minutes—were observed. Of these, about 201 were activities from the side of students, while 206 were activities from the lecturer’s side. Four lessons of 80 minutes each were observed during laboratory classes, where 206 activities of students appeared, and 170 activities of the lecturer were found. The sum of activities was calculated using an MS Excel visualization sheet (see Ndihokubwayo et al., 2021). All scores for each code were counted and summed up to generate totals of all the times that each code was observed. For instance, 103 listening scores appeared out of 129 during the 13 activities from the side of students during a lecture class. The relative percentage was calculated and was found to be 80% (Table 2). Classroom practices were found to vary depending on the intervention given. For instance, for listening (L), the activity appeared 80% in the lecture class, 77% appeared in the animation class, while only 20% appeared in the laboratory class. Lecturing (Lec) occurred 52% in the lecturing class, 2% lecturing occurred in the animation class, while only 3% happened in the lab class (Table 1). A passive attitude characterized the lecturing class as shown by the amount of listening (80%) and lecturing (52%); a teacher-centred attitude characterized the animation class as students listening to the instructor took 77% of the time, and activities and demonstration by the instructor took 69%; however, only the lab class showed a learner centredness and an active learning attitude, as the promoting agent was group work, which gained 57% (52% for working group [WG] and 5% for ‘other group’ [OG]) of other student activities, while posing question (PQ) and follow-up (Fup) gained 10% and 6% respectively, of the instructor activities (see Table 2). Table 2: Classroom practices in lecture, animation, and lab classes Classroom practices Students

Listening (L)

80%

Animation class 77%

Answering (AnQ)

Asking (SQ)

11%

Whole Class (WC)

Presentation (SP)

Thinking (Ind)

Clicker Discussion (CG)

Working Group (WG)

52%

Other Group (OG)

Prediction (Prd)

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Lab class 20%

335

Instructor

Test/Quiz (T/Q)

Waiting (W)

Other (O)

Lecturing (Lec)

52%

Writing (RtW)

34%

Demo/Video (D/V)

69%

Follow-up (Fup)

Posing Questions (PQ)

12%

10%

Clicker Questions (CQ)

Answering Question (AnQ) Moving (MG)

14%

10%

55%

One-on-One (1o1)

Administration (Adm)

Waiting (W)

Other (O)

Collapsed Codes (Students)

Collapsed Codes (Lecturer)

Specifically, after collapsing codes, as Smith et al. (2013) suggested, 88% of lecturer presenting and 80% of students receiving were found in a lecture class, 71% of presenting and 77% of receiving were found in the animation class, while these practices did not occur to the same extent in the lab class. About 61% of students were working, and 85% of the lecturer’s time was spent on guiding in the lab class. This shows that lab activities encourage student engagement, among other interventions (Figure 1). Other (Inst) Admin Guiding Presenting Other (Student) Working Talking to Class Receiving 0% Lab class

20%

40%

Animation class

60%

80%

100%

Lecture class

Figure 1: Activity as Percentage of all Codes (Note: Each colour adds to 100%, within rounding error)

The Pearson r coefficient between these intervention classroom practices was found positive. For instance, the medium correlation was found to be 0.54 between lecture and animation methods; the low correlation was found to be 0.05

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between lecture and lab methods, while the low correlation was found to be 0.11 between animation and lab methods. After having analysed the teaching and learning practices, we measured the impact of each intervention given, such as lecture, animation, and lab activities, in the respective series of interventions using SPSS 23. Table 2 displays descriptive statistics from students’ scores. Before the intervention, the mean score was 6.70 out of 20 (one score for each of 20 items) (see Table 3). Note that the same students were exposed to all these interventions in equivalent time-series sequences. The potential of such a design is shown in the way the mean scores have upgraded. Table 3: Descriptive statistics of the test scores among male and female pre-service biology teachers

Pre-assessment

Lecture Serie

Animation Serie

Lab Serie

Students gender Male

Mean

Std. Deviation

6.64

3.10

Female

6.75

2.08

Total

6.70

2.56

Male

7.21

3.76

Female

8.18

2.07

Total

7.73

2.97

Male

10.92

3.02

Female

10.62

2.47

Total

10.76

2.69

Male

14.42

1.98

Female

14.93

1.12

Total

14.70

1.57

A statistically significant difference occurred among the interventions (df=28, p<.05), however, gender did not show this difference (df=1, p>.05). The Cohen effect size (d) after using the lecture method was 0.37, after using the animation method, it increased to 1.54, while after using the lab method, it increased to 3.86. Using multivariate analysis of variances (MANOVA), male and female students were at the same level at pre-assessment (see Figure 2). Female students showed a better performance than their male counterparts after having been taught with the lecture and lab methods; however, this was the opposite after having been taught by means of the animation method (Figure 2).

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Figure 2: Multivariate analysis of variances between male and female pre-service teachers across three series of teaching interventions

4. Results discussion The present study identified how pre-service biology teachers learn microbiology at one private university in Rwanda when three different instructional methods were applied in equivalent time series. The results revealed that lecture classes and animation classes were dominated by students listening and instructor lecturing activities, while in the laboratory class, group work, instructor moving and guiding outweighed. Based on those differences, the laboratory method with small-group laboratory activities promoted the active learning environment. At the same time, lectures and animation-based instruction encouraged passivity, though animations were used as an active instructional resource. The dominance of instructor activities and students’ passivity, as shown by their role in the lecture method class, results from the characteristics of traditional methods that rely on teacher-centred teaching methods. The method does not motivate and promote students’ active participation in class. These observations prove that, at the undergraduate level too, by using the lecture method, students learn in a passive environment, where their role is merely listening, taking notes, and answering instructors’ questions. The findings concur with research findings of Byusa et al. (2020b), Ndihokubwayo et al. (2020a & b), and Stains et al. (2018), who confirmed that instructors presenting and students receiving activities like listening to the teacher, taking notes and answering teachers’ questions dominate a traditional classroom environment. In contrast, the findings do not corroborate

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with other studies that regard facilitating and guiding as part of the instructors' role in computer-assisted instruction (Aiyedun, 2020; Gilakjani & Rahimy, 2019). Lectures and animation-based instructions promoted pre-service biology teachers’ passive learning, as their listening level, 80%, and 77%, respectively proved. The pre-service biology teachers’ behaviour in the animation class indicates that teaching and learning by animations require more intervention of both a real instructor and a graphically presented instructor. This happens because of different factors: first, the English language level used in animations may be a barrier to pre-service biology teachers’ understanding of concepts. This requires of the instructor to intervene by repeating what was said using ‘soft’, that is, to the students more understandable, English grammar; thus, a lecturing activity is recoded during observations. This results in animation classes becoming similar to lecture classes in terms of students and teacher activities, even though their motivating and engaging levels differ. The implication is that both lectures and animation classes may look similar based on instructors' and students’ roles. The findings are not in consonance with the findings of Ma et al. (2010), who attested that students exposed to animations benefited from it and achieved better than those merely exposed to traditional instructions. The findings regarding the instructor-guided pre-service biology teachers being instructed in laboratory classes using small-group laboratory activities proved to be contrary to the above-mentioned results. Pre-service biology teachers in the lab class actively participated by working in groups, where small groups of two were formed. Pre-service biology teachers receiving instruction through activities that characterized other types of instruction were reduced in the lab class. All those practices proved that the pre-service biology teachers learned through learnercentred practices in the small-group lab activities in the laboratory. Therefore, the laboratory method using small-group laboratory activities is an instructional method to improve pre-service biology teachers’ active learning and learning engagement. These behaviours promote profound subject achievement, resulting in them becoming competent professional biology teachers in future. The findings concur with the findings of Lombard et al. (2021), who asserted that students guided in using instructional resources when learning performed better than their colleagues who learned in the traditional environment. The findings revealed that lecture methods, animation-based instruction, and small-group lab activities improved the pre-service biology teacher’s academic achievement. However, there was a statistically significant difference between the interventions (df=28, p<.05). Besides, based on the mean scores, the lecture method improved the academic achievement slightly, compared to the mean scores obtained before the intervention. In contrast, animation improved achievement more than lectures, and using small-group lab activities improved pre-service biology teachers’ academic achievement more than lectures and animation. The difference is also justified by the difference in Cohen’s d effect size, where lectures showed d=0.37, animation-based instruction d=1.54, and smallgroup lab activities d=3.86. Therefore, we rejected the first null hypothesis that there would not be such a statistical difference. These findings disagree with those of Aiyedun (2020) and Aremu and Sangodoyin (2010) who proved that animations improved students’ achievement in biology more than traditional

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methods. Besides, the findings deviate from what Arıcı & Yılmaz (2020) attested, namely that computer instructions improved students’ academic achievement more than laboratory instructions. This difference in the effect of those instructional methods on pre-service biology teachers’ academic achievement justifies the significance of treating students in a series of interventions where students' outcome regarding performance after an intervention may be boosted by what was gained from the previous one. Thus, in this study the significant contribution of animation-based instructions was boosted by the lecture intervention before its application. The high contribution of laboratory instruction using small-group laboratory activities resulted from the combination of pre-service biology teachers’ gain from a lecture class, animation class, and small-group lab activities. Besides, these differences in pre-service biology teachers’ scores are explained by the difference in students’ and instructors’ activities that characterized series of interventions in which laboratory classes with small-group activities encouraged the pre-service biology teachers’ involvement in the activities – involvement was proven very high when working in small groups of two (pairs). These findings concur with the findings of Högström et al. (2010), who attested that students gained more when they were allowed to plan for experiments, manipulate outcomes, pose questions, discuss results, and draw conclusions. Therefore, based on the findings, animation-based instruction may improve student academic achievement when applied after traditional methods. Laboratory methods may significantly contribute after teaching the concept by lecture method of instruction or by implementing animation-based instruction or a combination of these instructional methods in a time series. Therefore, we recommend using those instructional methods in a time series to improve pre-service biology teachers’ academic achievement. The findings revealed no statistically significant difference between males and females after the three interventions had been used; therefore, we rejected the first null hypothesis. However, with each intervention, males and females scored differently, as the lectures and lab methods improved female pre-service biology teachers' academic achievement more than that of males. On the other side, however, this was not the case with animation–based instruction, where males achieved better than females. This finding indicates that males and females do not enjoy or prefer the same instructional methods. The lower performance of females in animation classes may be because, according to their nature, females were found to respond slower to technological instructional tools than males (McLachlan et al., 2010; Tezci, 2011). More recently, a significant gender difference in the use of digital tools was established by Pal et al. (2020) who found that males' engagement in the use of technological tools for learning was higher than that of females. Therefore, we recommend that in class instructors must be aware of such differences and encourage students of either gender to participate equally in teaching and learning activities when different instructional methods are applied. This will contribute positively to the performance of students in the identical range of scores.

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5. Conclusion and recommendations This study wished to determine how pre-service biology teachers learn microbiology at one of the private universities that train pre-service biology teachers when animations and small-group laboratory activities are applied as resource-based instruction. We used the Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (COPUS) during an equivalent time series of interventions using the lecturing method, animation-based instruction, and small-group laboratory activities to track the pre-service biology teachers and instructor activities during interventional classes. We observed that the instructor dominated the classes by lecturing in lecture and animation-based classes. Laboratory methods, using small-group laboratory activities promoted learnercentredness and active learning, thus increasing their academic achievement. Therefore, we recommend that animation should be used strategically to improve learning outcomes. It should be oriented to promote more students working actively and being engaged in the teaching-learning process, rather than merely listening, and the process should be based on teachers posing questions and answering questions. We also confirmed the effectiveness of time-series design, the use of which ensued in lectures, animation-based instruction, and small-group laboratory activities significantly improving pre-service biology teachers’ academic achievement. However, a statistically significant difference was found between interventions. This difference was found to be rooted in the implementation of time series where the achievement in animation classes was based on the knowledge gained from a lecture class and high performance in a small-group lab class resulted from the boosted knowledge constructed from both the lecture method, animation-based instruction, and application of small-group laboratory activities. Therefore, to build pre-service biology teachers’ concept understanding in a microbiology class and other related biology modules, using the lecture method before animationbased instruction, and small-group laboratory activities is recommended. There was no observed gender difference after equivalent time series of these instructional methods; however, a difference was observed within interventions. In the lecture and lab, female pre-service biology teachers scored better than males, but, on the contrary, males performed better in animation than females. The difference in performance was caused by the differences in the acceptability of the instructional methods for females and males. Therefore, we recommend that instructors engage females and males equally when an instructional method is applied to help them have the same conceptual understanding and preferences. Further research is recommended to measure pre-service biology teachers’ and trainers’ activities in other modules of biology. Researchers are also advised to check the effect of the instructional methods used when applied in equivalent time series. Acknowledgment We would like to thank the University of Technology and Arts of Byumba for acknowledging the request for data collection permission. We also thank preservice biology teachers for their willingness to participate in this study. Finally, we thank the African Centre of Excellence for Innovative Teaching and Learning

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Mathematics and Science (ACEITLMS) to financially support the conduct of this study.

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Appendix 1: Pre-service Biology Teachers’ Achievement Test [Module of microbiology]. Description: Dear pre-service biology teachers, The questions below were prepared for measuring your academic achievements generally in biology considering your performance in the module of microbiology. The types of questions in the test are objective questions (multiple and true or false) and short answer questions. Identification: University name: Reg number: Gender: Instructions: Answer all questions. Read each question carefully and provide the correct answer. Date: …………………….

Duration: 40min

Multiple choice questions: 1. Which of the following is a reason for micro-organisms to be useful in many different research laboratories? A. They are easy to see and count B. They have fairly complex structures and are expensive C. They reproduce quickly and grow in large numbers D. They live everywhere, so contaminants from the environment are not a problem 2. Prokaryotes do not have which of the following? A. Cell membrane B. Nucleus’ membrane C. Cytoplasm D. Ribosomes

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3. The Common basic stains are A .methylene blue B. crystal violet C. safranin D. malachite green E. all of the above. 4. Which of the following correlates with the exponential phase? A. Log phase B. Rate of growth is constant and also called balanced growth C. Population is most uniform in terms of chemical and physical properties during this phase. D. Exponential growth - all cellular components are synthesized at a constant rate. E. All of the above. 5. Gram-negative bacteria have much of ………….., and that is found on their outer membrane A. Lipopolysaccharides B. Peptidoglycan C. Teichoic acid D. All the above 6. Among the following methods of microbial culture, what is the most common and suitable for isolation of pure culture? A. Pour plate method B. Streak Plate method C. Dilution method D. None of the above 7. Among the following types of stains, what is used to identify bacteria, and was developed by a Danish physician Hans Christian Gram. A. Simple staining B. Differential staining C. Gram stain D. All the above True or False questions: 8. A stain is a chemical that adheres to structures of the micro-organism as dyes so that micro-organisms can be easily seen under a microscope. True or False? 9. Staphylococcus and Streptococcus are examples of Gram-positive bacteria. True or False? 10. Agar is a complex polysaccharide used as a solidifying agent for culture media preparation. True or False? 11. A. Bacteria generation time is simply the time it takes for one cell to divide into two True or False? Short answer questions: 12. The concept that human and animal diseases are caused by microorganisms is called ………….

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13. Gram-positive bacteria stain in ……………. Colour 14. A peptidoglycan layer that is very thick is commonly seen in .............................. Bacteria. 15. Lawn culture is used for different purposes including bacteria antibiotic sensitivity testing? Yes or No 16. Who discovered the fungus Penicillium that produced an antibiotic called penicillin in 1929? 17. Who laid the foundation of aseptic techniques that prevent contamination by unwanted microbes? 18. Who was the first person to use a microscope to observe living cells? 19. Microbial cultures are used to determine the type of organism, its abundance in the sample being tested? Yes or No 20. Aside from peptidoglycan, what other component makes up a large percentage of the gram-positive cell wall?

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 346-364, July 2021 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.7.19 Received May 24, 2021; Revised Jul 02, 2021; Accepted Jul 31, 2021

Primary School Science Teachers’ Creativity and Practice in Malaysia Norazilawati Abdullah and Zainun Mustafa National Child Development Research Centre Faculty of Human Development, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9755-4629 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0797-724X Mahizer Hamzah and Amir Hasan Dawi Faculty of Human Development, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3108-3913 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0825-4307 Mazlina Che Mustafa National Child Development Research Centre Faculty of Human Development, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2746-2021 Lilia Halim Universiti Kebangsaan, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0562-1696 Salmiza Saleh Universiti Sains, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4854-2859 Che Siti Hajar Aisyah Che Abdul Khalil Faculty of Human Development, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9173-6659

Abstract. Creative pedagogy has been explored extensively, and previous research suggests that there is a gap between the level and practice of creativity of science teachers, and that it varies by school location. The aim of this study was to determine the levels of creativity, and creativity practice of primary school science teachers, and differences in the levels of creativity and creativity practice of primary school science teachers based on school location. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) were used to acquire qualitative data from 20 participants, and a questionnaire of creativity practice in science teaching was used to collect

©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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quantitative data from 409 participants. The qualitative data were analyzed according to the TTCT scoring technique and the quantitative data were analyzed descriptively using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 26. This study found that, that while overall teacher creativity was low, the teachers perceived that they employed highly creative practices. No difference was found in relation to environment, teaching aids, skills and science process skills of teachers in urban and rural areas. However, teachers in rural areas were more knowledgeable about creativity, while teachers in urban areas were better at practising it. This research provides baseline evidence on current practices in creative pedagogy of science teachers nationwide. Keywords: creative pedagogy; creativity; Malaysia; primary school; science education; Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT)

1. Introduction Studies indicate that science subjects are deemed dull by students, which contributes to the low student involvement in science streams in Malaysia (Nachiappan et al., 2017). This phenomenon is more prevalent among rural students, and it creates a gap in achievement between students on the basis of school demographics (Fatin Aliah et al., 2014). Fatin Aliah et al. (2014) also discovered that, in addition to school location, teachers' comprehension of science content, and their pedagogical approach, contributed to students' interest in science. The Malaysian government has implemented a number of strategic advances, such as the National Education Policy, Malaysia Education Blueprint, and 3rd core of Eleventh Malaysia Plan, at the national level to encourage students to pursue science subjects. The intention is to make science education more vibrant and engaging for students, which supports the government's aspiration to make Malaysia a developed country that is advanced in science and technology – as outlined in the policy and clarified further in the 21st Century Learning agenda. It is insufficient to emphasize creativity in the curriculum by concentrating exclusively on students. Teachers, as the key drivers of the quality of education, should value creativity and have the skills to create a learning atmosphere that encourages students to be creative in the classroom (Kandemir et al., 2019). Therefore, to boost student creativity, it would be beneficial to focus on improving teachers’ skills. In science subjects, specifically, creative pedagogy is necessary to inspire students to experience and explore science beyond merely providing answers or writing notes, and to stimulate their motivation to participate actively in learning. Despite creative pedagogy being widely recognized as being effective in fostering interest in science subjects – and this is explicitly stated in the national policy – the levels of creativity and practice of Malaysian teachers is still inconclusive (Chua et al., 2003; Hamsiah, 2004; Horng et al., 2005; Nachiappan et al., 2017; Said & Alias, 2013). The researchers suggest that further research should be conducted to verify the creative pedagogy of science teachers in Malaysia. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to determine, 1) The level of creativity of primary

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school science teachers; 2) The level of creativity practices of primary school science teachers; and 3) The differences between the levels of creativity and creativity practices of primary school science teachers, based on school location. This research will contribute to the shift in the 10th aspiration of the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025, which is to optimize students’ potential by producing creative and innovative students, and to provide relevant information to succeed in the 3rd core of Eleventh Malaysia Plan, which relates to human capital development through championing development in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields.

2. Literature Review 2.1 Creative Pedagogy Science is the systematic study of natural phenomena, which encourages students to participate in inquiry and critical and logical thinking, and to demonstrate scientific process skills when learning about the rich and fascinating natural world. With science being a subject that is taught formally through systematic education, the scientific enterprise is both exciting and challenging, therefore, it requires a creative approach. While creativity is mostly associated with literary streams, research on creative science teaching and learning is gaining attention in science education too (Craft et al., 2016). In the Encyclopedia of Creativity, Invention, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Aleinikov (2013) defines pedagogy in general as the “study of the process of teaching”, and refers to creative pedagogy, specifically, as the “science and art of creative teaching”. Aleinikov (2013) states, furthermore, that creative pedagogy is a branch of pedagogy that emphasizes the creation of new teaching strategies, or refashioning existing teaching strategies to ensure successful learning. Creative pedagogy, however, is interrelated with other terms used in literature, such as “teaching for creativity”, “creative practice”, “creativity in the classroom”, “creative teaching”, and “teaching creatively” (Cremin & Chappell, 2019). From these terms, we can ascertain that creative pedagogy is not only a teaching strategy for imparting content knowledge to students; it also enables students to hold a positive attitude about the subject. The concept of creative science teaching or creative pedagogy is embedded in several instances of unconventional teaching strategies, among which meaningful discovery (Khabibah et al., 2017; Wartono et al., 2017), student-based investigations (Allchin et al., 2014), inquiry in historical experiment exploration (Schvartzer et al., 2021), engagement in scientifically oriented inquiry (Cairns & Areepattamannil, 2019; Wagh et al., 2017), prioritizing direct experience and personal reflection (Djonko-Moore et al., 2018; Horng et al., 2005), evidence-based explanations by a field expert (Castagneyrol et al., 2020; Kelemen-Finan et al., 2018), interdisciplinary STEM (Abdullah et al., 2018; Karampelas, 2019) and connecting explanations to scientific knowledge (Henriksen & Mishra, 2015; Miller & Krajcik, 2019). In addition to the listed strategies for teaching science content, skills and values, creative science learning is also infused in the way knowledge is transferred or communicated (Conradty et al., 2020). For instance, students use creative methods to present learning outcomes through creative

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movement (Kerby et al., 2010; Sagmeister et al., 2021), visual art (Liao, 2016), verbal literature (Januchowski-Hartley et al., 2018), and aesthetics (Maulidah et al., 2021). Another study, by Kant et al. (2017), reports that students exhibited learned science content creatively through cooking and quilt-making. The repertoire of content delivery and outcome formats in creative pedagogy can, furthermore, be enriched by using digital technology, including geographic information systems (GIS) and geovisualization tools (Delparte et al., 2016), augmented reality (Reeves et al., 2021), interactive software (Abdullah, 2017), gamification (Toth & Kayler, 2015), animation and interactive environments (Johansson, 2001), mobile learning (Cotič et al., 2020), 3-D printing (Saorín et al., 2017), composing and remixing digital music (Engelman et al., 2017), to name a few. In all these strategies for science learning, creativity is the inclusive element, in both the knowledge-acquiring process and the knowledgedelivering/expressing process. In other words, creative pedagogy in science education encompasses the teaching of specific creative skills (teaching of creativity), the teaching of how scientists use creativity to develop scientific innovation (teaching about creativity), and the teaching of scientific concepts creatively (teaching through creativity). Considering the importance of creativity in teaching, we must acknowledge that creative pedagogy itself is not developed in a vacuum. Studies suggest five important aspects related to understanding teacher creativity in teaching and learning in science classrooms, that is, teacher knowledge, the workplace environment, multifaceted use of teaching aids, teaching skills, and a focus on science process skills (i.e, Hamdallah et al., 2014; Henriksen & Mishra, 2015; Horng et al., 2005; Maulidah et al., 2021). Cremin and Chappell (2019) suggest the that teachers have to understand and broaden their pool of pedagogical strategies in order to foster learners’ creativity . 2.2 Torrance’s Creativity Theory The Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) was introduced in the 1960s (Kim, 2006). The task-based test, which is still being used today, has been amended several times, translated into several languages, and adapted to various situations, and possesses good reliability and good predictive reliability. Initially, the test was scored on four scales or criterion-referenced scores: fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration. The scales were later updated with the addition of “resistance to premature closure’ and ”abstractness of titles’, and the omission of “flexibility”. The test has been revised from time to time, and varied from the basic five scales to 13 scales, depending on the context of a study. The tasks can be divided into three types: verbal tasks using verbal stimuli, verbal tasks using non-verbal stimuli, and non-verbal tasks. In this study, only nonverbal tasks or figural tasks were employed. This test was first used by researchers to measure the creativity of Malaysian students. Some local studies that utilized TTCT as the instrument were that of Chua et al. (2003), Hamsiah (2004) and Rafedah (2009). While the TTCT has been tested in various contexts in Malaysia for nearly 30 years, there is a need for new research on new population groups, as demographics are changing and earlier results do not represent the current samples (Bart et al., 2017). For this reason, and because of its

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high reliability value, widespread use, and good predictive reliability, the researchers decided to use TTCT in this study (Kim, 2006). The current study sought to answer the following questions: 1. What are the levels of creativity and creativity practice of primary school science teachers? 2. What are the differences in the levels of creativity practice of primary school science teachers at different school locations?

3. Methodology Teacher creativity was gauged using a mixed-method approach. Task-based TTCT was employed to acquire the qualitative data, while a questionnaire to measure creativity practice in science teaching was administered to gather quantitative data. 3.1 Questionnaire The language of the questionnaire was Bahasa Melayu (Shazana, 2016) and consisted of 18 items representing six constructs (see Appendix A). The questionnaire was piloted and the reliability of the questionnaire was found to be 0.95. Normality of the data was assessed, and it was found that data were normally distributed, as skewness (0.388) and kurtosis (−0.820) individually were within ±1. Critical ratio (Z value) of the skewness (0.688) and kurtosis (−0.730) were within ±1.95. The self-administered questionnaire consists of six constructs, namely knowledge, environment, teaching aids, skills, science process skills and attitudes. The sampling size was 409 primary school science teachers throughout the country, who were selected by purposive sampling. 3.2 Torrance Creative Thinking Test While the questionnaire had to be completed by the respondents, the TTCT involved an interview session. Two types of tasks were chosen for this study – three drawing tasks and three completing-picture tasks. Each task had to be completed in 10 minutes. Twenty teachers were chosen at random from the same sampling pool to participate in the TTCT. The requirements for each task were as follows: 1) The picture construction task required the participant to propose something from an indefinite purpose and to elaborate on it, so that a clear purpose emerged; 2) The picture-completion task required the participant to structure, integrate, and present an object, scene or situation; and 3) The repeated lines task required the participant to return to the same stimulus continuously and perceive it differently each time, by disrupting the structure to create something new. The tasks are summarized in Table 1.

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Table 1. The details of tasks, activities and criteria Task Picture construction

Picture completion

Repeated lines

Activity Participants were asked to draw a figure using a given curved shape as the integral part of the figures. Participants were asked to tell an interesting and exciting story by adding new ideas to the first thought. Participants were asked to give a creative and unusual title to the figures. Participants were asked to complete 10 incomplete figures by adding lines to the original picture to produce some interesting figures and objects. Participants were asked to give a creative and unusual title to the figures. The number of completed figures were examined. Participants are given 30 pairs of straight lines and they are asked to draw a picture with pairs of straight lines The number of completed figures and presence of unusual figures were identified. The participants were invited to express their ideas to fully explain an interesting story

Criteria Originality Elaboration Abstractness of title

Originality Fluency Elaboration Resistance to premature closure Abstractness of titles Originality Fluency Elaboration

4. Findings The 409 responses given on the questionnaire were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 26. In turn, the information gathered from the 20 participants on the task-based test was analyzed according with the TTCT scoring technique. 4.1. The creativity level of primary school science teachers Table 2: The teachers’ creativity level Level of creativity Low Moderate High

Number of teachers 13 5 2

Percentage 65% 25% 10%

According to Table 2, most of the participants showed a low level of creativity. Most participants (13 participants, or 65%) had a low level of creativity. Participants with a moderate creativity level accounted for 25% of the total. Only 10% of the participants showed a high level of creativity.

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Fluency 1000

800 600 Elaboration

400

Originality

200 0

Resistance to Premature Closure

Abstractness of Titles

Figure 1: The spider plot of criteria of creativity

As evidenced by the spider plot in Figure 1, the teachers’ creativity diverged towards fluency and originality. The higher levels of fluency and originality, over other criteria, reveal that the teachers had a higher likelihood of generating a great quantity and high quality of interpretable, meaningful, and relevant ideas in response to the stimulus. In contrast, reponses on the criteria of elaboration, resistance to premature closure and abstractness of titles converged towards the plot axis. The patterns in the plot indicate that the participants' ability to provide detail in their feedback, and to view the depth and richness of the figure, was somewhat restricted. The participants also appeared to be rushing to complete the task, which might hinder them from generating more ideas from the given stimulus. The overall pattern of the plot reveals that there are no outliers in any measured criteria, thereby indicating that all the teachers who participated in this study had a uniform level and type of creativity throughout all measured criteria. Since the participants were pooled from national school teachers who worked in the national education system and who had been trained in local teaching institutions, it is not surprising that they represented a fairly homogeneous sociocultural context and had undergone similar professional training. 4.2 Level of creativity practice of primary school science teachers Table 3 shows that the primary school science teachers reported that they possessed high knowledge, environment, teaching aids, skills, science process skills and attitudes of all elements of creative practice. The mean scores for the teachers’ knowledge, environment, teaching aids, skills, science process skills and attitudes components were 4.39, 4.46, 4.60, 4.33, 4.30 and 4.37 respectively. The lowest mean was for science process skills of creative practice, namely 4.3, while the highest score was for teaching aids, at 4.60.

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Table 3: The mean of overall level of creativity practice of teachers Elements of creative practice Knowledge Environment Teaching aids Skills Science process skills Attitudes

Mean

Standard deviation

4.39 4.46 4.60 4.33 4.30 4.37

0.504 0.514 0.492 0.532 0.526 0.473

Level of creativity practice High High High High High High

4.3 Comparing the elements of creativity practice of primary school science teachers according to school location Even though the overall level of creativity practice was high (Table 3), the elements of creative practice differed for different teaching locations. In other words, teachers who were located at schools in urban areas had a slightly different perception of creative teaching practices than those who worked at schools in rural areas. Table 4: Knowledge of creative practice of teachers in urban and rural areas Creative practice elements

School location

Mean

Urban 251 4.35 0.508 -2.277 407 Rural 158 4.46 0.491 Note: sd: standard deviation, df: degree of freedom, confidence level, p=0.05 Knowledge

p 0.023

Table 4 shows the means for knowledge of creative practice of primary school science teachers located in urban areas (M=4.35, SP=0.508) and rural areas (M=4.46, SP=0.491). The t-test analysis shows that there was a significant difference, with p=0.023, which is p<0.05 with a value of t (407)=-2.277. Therefore, there is a significant mean difference in relation to knowledge of creative practice of primary school science teachers according to location of school – either in urban or rural areas. Table 5: The environment of creative practice of teachers in urban and rural areas Creative practice elements

School N Min sd t df location Urban 251 4.47 0.515 0.855 407 Environment Rural 158 4.43 0.514 Note: sd: standard deviation, df: degree of freedom, confidence level, p=0.05

p 0.393

Table 5 shows the mean environment of creative practice for primary school teachers in urban areas (M=4.47, SP=0.515) and rural areas (M=4.43, SP=0.514). The t-test analysis shows that there was no significant difference, with p=0.393 (p> 0.05), and a value of t (407)=0.855. Therefore, there is no significant mean difference for the environment of creative practice according to the location of schools – whether in urban or rural areas.

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Table 6: Teaching aids supporting creative practice of the teachers in urban and rural areas Creative practice elements

School location

Min

Urban 251 4.61 0.477 0.400 407 Rural 158 4.59 0.517 Note: sd: standard deviation, df: degree of freedom, confidence level, p=0.05 Teaching Aids

p 0.689

Table 6 shows the mean for the element of teaching aids in urban areas (M=4.61, SP=0.477) and rural areas (M=4.59, SP=0.517). The t-test analysis shows that there is no significant difference, where p=0.689 (p> 0.05) with a value of t (407)=0.400. Therefore, there is no significant mean difference for teaching aids, which supports creative practice according to whether the school was located in an urban or rural area. Table 7: Teachers’ skill in employing creative practice in urban and rural areas Creative practice elements

School location

Min

Urban 251 4.34 0.546 0.756 407 Rural 158 4.30 0.510 Note: sd: standard deviation, df: degree of freedom, confidence level, p=0.05 Skills

p 0.443

Table 7 shows the mean for the teachers’ skill in employing creative practice in urban areas (M=4.34, SP=0.546) and rural areas (M=4.30, SP=0.510). The t-test analysis shows that there is no significant difference: p=0.443(p> 0.05) with a value of t (407)=0.756 Therefore, there is no significant mean difference for the teachers’ skill in employing creative practice according to school location, that is, whether they were teaching in urban or rural areas. Table 8: Science process skills for employing creative practice in urban and rural areas Creative practice elements

School N min sd t df location Urban 251 4.30 0.545 0.400 407 Science Process Skills Rural 158 4.30 0.497 Note: sd: standard deviation, df: degree of freedom, confidence level, p=0.05

p 0.968

Table 8 shows the mean for science process skills for employing creative practice by teachers in urban areas (M=4.30, SP=0.545) and rural areas (M=4.30, SP=0.497). The t-test analysis shows that there is no significant difference, with p=0.968 (p> 0.05), with a value of t (407)=0.400. Therefore, there is no significant mean difference for the science process skills element according to the location of the school. Table 9: Teachers’ attitudes towards creative practice in urban and rural areas Creative practice elements

School N Min sd t df location Urban 251 4.40 0.462 1.873 407 Attitudes Rural 158 4.32 0.485 Note: sd: standard deviation, df: degree of freedom, confidence level, p=0.05

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Table 9 shows the mean of attitudes of the primary school science teachers towards creative practice according to school location in urban areas (M=4.40, SP=0.462) and rural area (M=4.32, SP=0.485). The t-test analysis shows that there is a significant mean difference, that is, p=0.062, which is p<0.05 with a value of t (407)=1.873. Therefore, there is a significant mean difference for the attitudes of primary school science teachers according to the location of their schools, namely, whether in urban or rural areas.

5. Discussion The pattern of the findings could be explained by the design of the TTCT and the operational definition of “fluency’ and “originality”. Both criteria are tested in similar fashion to school-type tasks, e.g., a pen-and-pencil activity, which demands expressive writing (Humble et al., 2018) and which potentially requires the teacher to have this skill. The findings of this study confirmed previous research, which found that fluency and originality are interconnected (Kim, 2006), and sometimes referred to as one attribute (see Lillo & Úbeda, 2017). Meanwhile, the lower scores on abstractness of titles indicate that teachers had much more concrete and objective ideas about demonstrating their thoughts during task completion. This finding could reflect the strategy of teaching pedagogy taking place in the classroom. The science learning curriculum in Malaysia, which is domain-specific and goal-centric in approach, is geared to measuring the extent to which students master the content and concepts of lessons. Therefore, science education is meant to achieve the pre-planned learning objectives by using the exact terms, the right concept, and procedural lab practices. In other words, the teaching and learning of science are meant to be focused on facts, and should be free of bias or personal views. Even though Lam et al. (2010) found that achievement in science subjects was mildly associated with creativity, Chan (2011) claims that mathematics and natural sciences could promote creativity in children. Therefore, we emphasize that science teachers’ lower scores in elaboration criteria are unlikely to be due to the nature of the subject, though it could signify the need for a creative pedagogical approach, in accordance with the nature of the science lesson itself. The teachers sampled in this study taught primary school children at Piaget’s concrete operational stage. We suggest that teaching children in the primary school stage (7–12 years) requires a more concrete learning strategy for addressing the development of cognitive ability. As the Malaysian curriculum is based on scaffolded learning, the teaching and learning in the primary school years are at basic and introductory levels, and the same lesson will be revisited in years ahead with much more abstractness and detail, as the children develop cognitive maturity. We propose that “concrete” should be an ally to creativity, at least in terms of science education in the primary school years. Several studies suggest that “concrete” creative pedagogy could promote interest in and understanding of primary school children in science subjects. Transforming abstract concepts into concrete representation (Lin & Liu, 2016), such as building a model of a microorganism (Hedegaard, 2020), using physical props and images (Astrachan, 1998), analogical reasoning with visual clues (Cubukcu & Cetintahra, 2010), or exploring a wide range of students’ answers (Purba, 2017), have been proven to

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support children at the level of cognitive development in science lessons. Therefore, the Torrance perception of abstractness should consider children’s cognition as well. The low scores in resistance to premature closure indicate that the teachers seemed to complete the given task using the quickest route. As professional adults who are required to handle a relatively large number of students at one time, teachers have probably developed the skills required to be adept at completing a planned lesson in the designated teaching period. In turn, the structure of examinations, which requires questions to be answered within an allocated period, might also influence teachers who have trained students to do this. Even though the low score on premature closure is associated with negative attributes in the creativity perspective, these same criteria could be valued as efficient time management features of the Malaysian teacher. The role of the teacher, as the professional adult, that is related to maintaining an orderly or structured learning environment, could contribute to low creativity. To achieve a degree of subjectivity and intangible structure in science lessons, teachers should open their minds to trial-and-error situations, provide ample time to complete lessons, lower the teacher-student ratio, exercise flexibility in the curriculum, and be free of objective testing. Professional development programs should train teachers in creative pedagogy (Hosseini & Watt, 2010), and teachers should spend more time writing teaching plans, even though they have been certified as primary school teachers.

6. Conclusion The results show that, while the teachers reported that their practices were highly creative, they actually demonstrated low creativity. In terms of creative practice, there was no difference between the teachers in urban and rural areas, except in relation to knowledge and attitudes. Teachers in rural areas had more knowledge of creativity, while teachers in urban areas were better at practicing creativity. The main concern arising from the finding relates to the discrepancy between what the teachers perceived to be taking place during their lessons, and what really takes place during lessons. Teachers believed that they employed highly creative practices that inculcated scientific creativity in students during lessons. However, teachers’ levels of creativity were lower than what they believed it to be. In other words, the teachers believed that they knew about creativity, had the required skills and science process skills to instill creative thinking in students, and that the professional environment and teaching aids were sufficient for conducting creative pedagogy. In reality, the level of teachers’ creativity, as measured in this study, did not correspond with this perception. Teachers seemed to have limited creativity, and it was skewed to originality and fluency. In this study, we also found that creative pedagogy in primary school science education should consider the cognitive ability of students and the nature of science subjects. As science subjects focus on objectivity, uniform patterns and true scientific phenomena, creative pedagogy should focus on challenging students to be creative scientists, by applying various teaching and learning strategies. Therefore, the general idea of what is meant by creativity in science education needs to be refined further. To conclude, we

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acknowledge that creativity is an essential, innate aspect of teaching and learning, which contributes to human progress and scientific endeavors; however, we must consider how creativity is regulated – in this case, creative pedagogy in science education. Limitations and recommendations The gap that remains to be investigated after this study relates to understanding the curriculum content, which could benefit from much creative pedagogy through curriculum mapping and professional development feedback. Another important aspect that could be looked into is the need to balance out the concept of creative pedagogy in the schooling ecosystem in role players other than teachers, such as laboratory assistants, administrators, students and parents.

Acknowledgements The authors extend their gratitude to the Ministry of Higher Education and the Research Management and Innovation Centre (RMIC), Sultan Idris Education University (UPSI) for the Fundamental Research Grants (code: 2019-0032-107-02 (FRGS/1/2018/SS109/UPSI/02/28)), which helped to fund the research.

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375038-9.00082-0 Chua, Y. P., Sharifah. M. N., Naim. M., & Wan Zah, W. A. (2003). Kreativiti guru pendidikan seni [Creativity of art education teachers]. Ertanika Journal Social & Humanistic, 11(1), 11–17. Conradty, C., Lazoudis, A., & Sotiriou, S. (2020). Stories of tomorrow. Students’ visions on the future of space exploration. STORIES Deliverable D7.9: Digital Library. Final Conferences Proceedings. STORIES Consortium. https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/documents/downloadPublic?docu mentIds=080166e5c5594643&appId=PPGMS on 17 th August 2021 Cotič, N., Plazar, J., Starčič, A. I., & Zuljan, D. (2020). The effect of outdoor lessons in natural sciences on students’ knowledge, through tablets and experiential learning. Journal of Baltic Science Education, 19(5), 747–763. https://doi.org/10.33225/jbse/20.19.747 Craft, A., Ben Horin, O., Sotiriou, M., Stergiopoulos, P., Sotiriou, S., Hennessy, S., Chappell, K., Slade, C., Greenwood, M., Black, A., Dobrivoje, E. L., Timotijević, Đ., Drecun, A., Brajović, A., Belmontecinzia, C., & Conforto, G. (2016). CREAT-IT: Implementing creative strategies into science teaching. In M. Riopel, Z. Smyrnaiou (Eds.), New developments in science and technology education. Innovations in Science Education and Technology, Vol 23. (pp. 163–179). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22933-1_15 Cremin, T., & Chappell, K. (2019). Creative pedagogies: a systematic review. Research Papers in Education, 36(3), 1–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2019.1677757 Cubukcu, E., & Cetintahra, G. E. (2010). Does analogical reasoning with visual clues affect novice and experienced design students’ creativity? Creativity Research Journal, 22(3), 337–344. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2010.504656 Delparte, D. M., Richardson, R. T., Eitel, K. B., Jr., S. M., & Cohn, T. (2016). Promoting geoscience STEM interest in Native American students: GIS, geovisualization, and reconceptualizing spatial thinking skills. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 15(5), 1–15. Djonko-Moore, C. M., Leonard, J., Holifield, Q., Bailey, E. B., & Almughyirah, S. M. (2018). Using culturally relevant experiential education to enhance urban children’s knowledge and engagement in science. Journal of Experiential Education, 41(2), 137– 153. https://doi.org/10.1177/1053825917742164 Engelman, S., Magerko, B., McKlin, T., Miller, M., Edwards, D., & Freeman, J. (2017). Creativity in authentic STEAM education with EarSketch. Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, 183–188. https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017763 Fatin Aliah, P., Mohd Salleh, A., Mohammad Bilal, A., & Salmiza, S. (2014). Faktor penyumbang kepada kemerosotan penyertaan pelajar dalam aliran [Contributing factors to the decline in student participation in the stream]. Sains Humanika, 2(4), 63–71. Hamdallah, A., Ozovehe, A., & Dyaji, L. (2014). Impact of creative teaching on science pupils’ academic perfomance. IOSR Journal of Research & Method in Education (IOSRJRME), 4(6), 40–44. https://doi.org/10.9790/7388-04614044 Hamsiah Saee. (2004). Tahap Kreativiti Guru Sains Dan Amalannya Dalam Pengajaran [The level of creativity of science teachers and their practice in teaching]. Jurnal Penyelidikan MPBL, 5, 14–23. Hedegaard, M. (2020). Ascending from the abstract to the concrete in school teaching — the double move between theoretical concepts and children’s concepts. Psychological Science and Education. 25(5), 44–57. https://doi.org/10.17759/pse.2020250504

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Henriksen, D., & Mishra, P. (2015). We teach who we are: Creativity in the lives and practices of accomplished teachers. Teachers College Record, 117(7), 1–46. Horng, J.-S., Hong, J.-C., ChanLin, L.-J., Chang, S.-H., & Chu, H.-C. (2005). Creative teachers and creative teaching strategies. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 29(4), 352–358. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1470-6431.2005.00445.x Hosseini, A. S., & Watt, A. P. (2010). The effect of a teacher professional development in facilitating students' creativity. Educational Research and Reviews, 5(8), 432-438. Humble, S., Dixon, P., & Mpofu, E. (2018). Factor structure of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking Figural Form A in Kiswahili speaking children: Multidimensionality and influences on creative behavior. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 27, 33–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2017.11.005 Januchowski-Hartley, S. R., Sopinka, N., Merkle, B. G., Lux, C., Zivian, A., Goff, P., & Oester, S. (2018). Poetry as a creative practice to enhance engagement and learning in conservation science. BioScience, 68(11), 905–911. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biy105 Johansson, E. (2001). The Nobel E-Museum – A Modern science education project on internet. International Journal of Modern Physics C, 12(4), 527–532. https://doi.org/10.1142/S0129183101002188 Kandemir, M. A., Tezci, E., Shelley, M., & Demirli, C. (2019). Measurement of creative teaching in mathematics class. Creativity Research Journal, 31(3), 272–283. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2019.1641677 Kant, J., Burckhard, S., & Meyers, R. (2017). Engaging high school girls in Native American culturally responsive STEAM activities. Journal of STEM Education: Innovations and Research, 18(5), 15–25. Karampelas, K. (2019). Cross curricular science in elementary schools in Greece - The curriculum factor. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 18(7), 16–32. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.18.7.2 Kelemen-Finan, J., Scheuch, M., & Winter, S. (2018). Contributions from citizen science to science education: an examination of a biodiversity citizen science project with schools in central Europe. International Journal of Science Education, 40(17), 2078– 2098. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2018.1520405 Kerby, H. W., Cantor, J., Weiland, M., Babiarz, C., & Kerby, A. W. (2010). Fusion Science Theater presents The Amazing Chemical Circus: A new model of outreach that uses theater to engage children in learning. Journal of Chemical Education, 87(10), 1024–1030. https://doi.org/10.1021/ed100143j Khabibah, E. N., Masykuri, M., & Maridi, M. (2017). The effectiveness of module based on discovery learning to increase generic science skills. Journal of Education and Learning (EduLearn), 11(2), 146–153. https://doi.org/10.11591/edulearn.v11i2.6076 Kim, K. H. (2006). Can we trust creativity tests? A review of the Torrance Tests of creative thinking (TTCT). Creativity Research Journal, 18(1), 3–14. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326934crj1801 Lam, S. L., Yeung, A., Lam, P., & McNaught, C. (2010). Creativity and science learning in a science enrichment programme in Hong Kong. International Journal of Learning, 17(2), 429–437. https://doi.org/10.18848/1447-9494/cgp/v17i02/46887 Liao, C. (2016). From interdisciplinary to transdisciplinary: An arts-integrated approach to STEAM education. Art Education, 69(6), 44–49. https://doi.org/10.1080/00043125.2016.1224873 Lillo, V. M. B., & Úbeda, A. I. P. (2017). Creativity and adolescence. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 7(3), 177–188. Lin, W-W., & Liu, C-Y. (2016). On exploring factors for creative science teaching . Bulletin

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constructionism: Exploring the alignment between students tinkering with code of computational models and goals of inquiry. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 54(5), 615–641. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21379 Wartono, W., Hudha, M. N., & Batlolona, J. R. (2017). How are the physics critical thinking skills of the students taught by using inquiry-discovery through empirical and theorethical overview? EURASIA Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 14(2). https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/80632

Appendix 1 PART B: CREATIVE TEACHING PRACTICES OF SCIENCE TEACHERS Instructions: Please tick (/) the appropriate box to represent your level of agreement for each item based on the scale below: 1: (STS) Strongly disagree 2: (TS) Disagree 3: (N) Neutral 4: (S) Agree 5: (SS) Strongly agree No Statement 1 2 3 4 5 STS TS N S SS Teacher Knowledge 1. I know the content of the science subjects taught. 2. I know the science teaching method for science subjects. 3. I know the content of the Science subjects taught the level of students' ability. 4. I know about the choosing teaching resources. 5. I know to prescribe the in determining teaching objectives. Environment 6. I use real actual materials from the environment for teaching (Examples: leaves, stones, fruits, insects, recycled materials, etc.) 7. I conduct teaching activities outside of the classroom to attract student's attention to the science subjects. 8. Appropriate outdoor activities further facilitate my students to relate science lessons to daily life. 9. I encourage the appropriate use of the senses, and this helps students in learning which helps students learn Science better (smell, touch, hear, see, or taste). 10. I modified the actual material as teaching aids for the teaching of Science.

11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

Teaching aids (TA) The use of TA in teaching can diversify my teaching strategies. The use of TA assists the progress of my helped my Science teaching to become more interesting. The use of TA has made my students aware of the of the use application of science Science in daily life. The use of TA stimulates the thinking of my students. The use of TA helps in achieving the objectives of teaching Science. Teacher Skill I have the skills to prepare the lesson plan lesson preparation. I have the classroom management skills to in encouraging student engagement. I have the skills to diversify teaching strategies I have communication skills with students. I can evaluate the quality of student work.

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Statement

1 STS

2 TS

3 N

4 S

5 SS

Science Process Skills I know every element in Science process skills I diversify teaching methods to achieve students science process skills. I conduct practical activities to achieve students science process skills. I use additional tools to achieve students science process skills. I conduct active teaching in Science classes Teacher Attitude I allow students to ask questions and come up with their ideas I encourage group learning for the brainstorming of ideas. I apply elements of high-level thinking skills in the teaching of Science I apply elements of high-level thinking skills in the teaching of Science. I always encourage students to learn and enjoy Science

21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30.

Appendix 2 ACTIVITY 1: PICTURE CONSTRUCTION (10 MINUTES) On this page, there is a curved shape. Think of a picture or an object that you can draw using this curved shape as part of the picture or object. Try to think of a picture image that no one else has ever thought. of. Add new thoughts to the first thought so that a picture can be produced that can tell an interesting and exciting story. Once the picture image is ready, think of a name or title for it. Write the title in the space provided at the bottom of the page. Make the title as unusual as possible so that it can explain your story.

TITLE:_____________________________________ ACTIVITY 2: PICTURE COMPLETION (10 Minutes) By adding lines to the diagrams on this page as well and the following pages, you will be able to draw some interesting exciting objects or pictures. Again, try to think of pictures images of things that no one else has ever thought of. Now, try to think again and give additional ideas to the first thought so that it canto establish an interesting exciting story as complete as possible. Think of an interesting title as well for each painting you have drawn. Write the title in the space provided at the bottom of each drawing.

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4.___________________________

5.____________________________

6.___________________________

7.______________________________

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ACTIVITY 3: LINES (10 minutes) Based on the pair of straight lines on this page and also on the next page, how many objects or pictures can you draw in ten minutes? The pair of straight lines should be an integral part of whatever object or picture you draw. Prepare the drawing with a pencil or color. You can draw anywhere - anywhere you like. For example, you can draw between that pair of straight lines, inside that pair of straight lines, and even outside that pair of straight consecutive lines. Try to think of things or pictures that no one else has ever thought of. Make as many different types of objects or pictures images as possible. Add new thoughts if you can. The drawing should be drawn in such a way to that it can explain as fully as possible the reason for the interesting exciting story. Write the name or title of each drawing in the space provided.

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PUBLISHER Society for Research and Knowledge Management Port Louis Republic of Mauritius www.ijlter.org

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