International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research (IJLTER)
Vol. 21, No. 5 (May 2022)
Print version: 1694 2493
Online version: 1694-2116
International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research (IJLTER)
Vol. 21, No. 5
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Society for Research and Knowledge ManagementThe 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.
The main objective of this journal is to provide a platform for educators, teachers, trainers, academicians, scientists and researchers from over the world to present the results of their research activities in the following fields: innovative methodologies in learning, teaching and assessment; multimedia in digital learning; e learning; m learning; e education; knowledge management; infrastructure support for online learning; virtual learning environments; open education; ICT and education; digital classrooms; blended learning; social networks and education; etutoring: learning management systems; educational portals, classroom management issues, educational case studies, etc.
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Editors of the May 2022 Issue
Exploring the Need for Using Digital Repositories to Enhance Teaching and Learning in Omani Schools: Teachers’ Perceptions 1 Walid Aboraya
A Gender Based Analysis of Classroom Interaction Practices: The Effect Thereof on University Students’ Academic Performance 22 Norman Rudhumbu
Exploring Preclinical Medical Students’ Reflections on their Learning Experience during the COVID 19 Pandemic 46 Siti Yusrina Nadihah Jamaludin, Mohd Salami Ibrahim
Promoting Self Regulated Learning among First Year Accounting Student Teachers: A Student Empowerment Pedagogical Framework ...................................................................................................................................................... 64 Mapuya Medson
The Potentiality of MOOCs as a Tool for Widening Access to Higher Education in the African Context: A Systematic Review 84 Mpho Entle Puleng Modise
Digital Infographics Design (Static vs Dynamic): Its Effects on Developing Thinking and Cognitive Load Reduction 104 Nader Said Shemy
Exploration of Malay Language Acquisition and Learning Experience among Orang Asli Students 126 Nor Azwahanum Nor Shaid, Shahidi A. Hamid, Marlyna Maros
The Development of Albanian School Principals: A Challenge to Avoid Old Concepts and Value the Importance of Development 143 Magdalini Vampa
Applying Peer Review Checklist to Improve Vietnamese EFL University Students’ Writing Skills 166 Le Thi Tuyet Hanh, Bui Thanh Tinh
Social Media for Teaching and Learning: A Technology Acceptance Model Analysis of Preservice Teachers’ Perceptions During the COVID 19 Pandemic 182 John Mangundu
Development of CDIO Based Programs from the Teacher Training Perspective
...................................................... 204 Tien Ba Tran, Thu Hung Phan
21st Century Teaching Skills and Teaching Standards Competence Level of Teacher 220 Jesse T. Zamora, Jerome Jef M. Zamora
Learning Sciences with Technology: The Use of Padlet Pedagogical Tool to Improve High School Learners’ Attainment in Integrated Sciences.................................................................................................................................... 239
Sakyiwaa Boateng, Mercy Nyamekye
Measurement of Non academic Attributes in the Situational Judgment Test as Part of School Teacher Selection: Systematic Literature Review 263 Azad Iqram Nadmilail, Mohd Effendi @ Ewan Mohd Matore, Siti Mistima Maat
Teachers’ Perceptions and Challenges to the Use of Technology in Teaching and Learning during Covid 19 in Malaysia 281 Nurshuzishafiqah Ishak, Rosseni Din, Nabilah Othman
Gamification in the University Context: Bibliometric Review in Scopus (2012 2022) 309 Jesús Manuel Guerrero Alcedo, Lorena C. Espina Romero, Ángel Alberto Nava Chirinos
Augmented Reality: The Effect in Students’ Achievement, Satisfaction and Interest in Science Education 326 Norazilawati Abdullah, Vijaya Letchumy Baskaran, Zainun Mustafa, Siti Rahaimah Ali, Syaza Hazwani Zaini
Revitalizing the Oddi Continuing Learning Inventory 351 Nicolaj Riise Clausen, Claus D. Hansen
Application of Gamification Tools for Identification of Neurocognitive and Social Function in Distance Learning Education 367 Hera Antonopoulou, Constantinos Halkiopoulos, Evgenia Gkintoni, Athanasios Katsibelis
University Academic Dishonesty and Graduate Quality for National Development and Global Competitiveness: Nigerian Universities in Perspective 401 Chris Valentine Ogar Eneji, Janet Sunday Petters, Stella Bassey Esuabana, Nkanu Usang Onnoghen, Bassey Obeten Udumo, Benjamin Ayua Ambe, Ekpenyong Essien Essien, Fidelis Abunimye Unimna, David Adie Alawa, Ajigo Ikutal
Life Satisfaction among Adolescents: Comparison of Adolescents Attending Music and Sports Programs and Those Who Do Not 428 Zrinka Šimunovic, Diana Olcar
Physical Science Teachers’ Understanding of Strategies for Teaching Critical Thinking in Mpumalanga Province 446
Poncian Obert Tagutanazvo, Ritu Bhagwandeen
Teacher Pedagogical Beliefs and Resistance to the Effective Implementation of Video Based Multimedia in the Physics Classroom .............................................................................................................................................................. 463 Gabriel Janvier Tugirinshuti, Leon Rugema Mugabo, Alexis Banuza
Using Digital Comics for Enhancing EFL Vocabulary Learning during the COVID 19 Pandemic......................... 478 Luz Castillo Cuesta, Ana Quinonez Beltran
International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research
Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 1 21, May 2022
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.5.1
Received Feb 10, 2022; Revised May 4, 2022; Accepted May 8, 2022
Faculty of Graduate Studies of Education, Cairo University (Egypt) Faculty of Education, Arab Open University (Sultanate of Oman)
Abstract The current study aims to investigate teachers’ perceptions regarding the need to employ digital repositories (DRs) in Omani schools toenhanceteachingandlearningusinginteractivee learningcontent.The study employed a mixed method approach and was carried out in two phases. Firstly, a survey was adopted to 120 teachers from 15 different schools in Muscat to explore the extent of the need for DRs. Secondly, semi structured interviews were conducted with 9 teachers to validate the results and develop a deeper understanding. The research methods addressed three aspects: (1) the need for using DRs to support teachers, (2) to support students’ learning, and (3) to enhance curriculum. The results of both methods were consistent and revealed that most teachers expressed the need for employing DRs in the educational process. Teachers believe that DRs are needed to support themselves and students’ learning and to enhance the curriculum. Moreover, the interview analysis yielded an emergent theme related to some conditions raised by teachers toeffectivelyusedigitalrepositories.Theseconditionsinclude(1)training, (2) educational content, (3) ease of use, (4) and developing a community for teachers and students. Based on the findings, the study introduced a framework for a dynamic DR to be used in Omani schools then proposed a plan to ensure the quality, effectiveness of usability, sustainability, and systematic implementation of DRs in Omani schools. Future studies are recommended to evaluate the use of systematically implemented DRs from the perspectives of all stakeholders, including students.
Keywords: digital repositories; learning objects; teachers’ perceptions
Online learning has grown in popularity because of its capacity to enable more flexible access to e content and instruction at any time, from any location (Istambul, 2021; Castro & Tumibay, 2021). Many teachers and mentors become interested in online learning and use e content to increase and improve students’ learning despite a lack of resources, facilities, and equipment in their institutions.
©Author
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY NC ND 4.0).
Within the Mishra and Koehler (2006) TPACK framework, the problem with the current e learning model in educational institutions can be identified in the lack of technological knowledge (TK) in general, technological content knowledge (TCK), and technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK) in particular. This relates to the ability to design learning situations depending on the use of technology (Heitink et al., 2017). This involves the creation of appropriate educational materials and learning objects (LOs), as well as the challenge of making them available to the intended students in the absence of a defined method for accessibility and utilization (Luís & Marcelino, 2022). There is also a gap in institutional and leadership conviction with attempts and efforts to introduce a clear cut strategy to capitalize on this new situation, such as designing and producing LOs and learning materials under the supervision of government institutions, and then making them available in digital repositories (DRs) under a system of availability and support.
Digital repositories (DRs) are data storage systems designed to preserve and secure data for future use. When used in educational institutions, they are extremely useful. Teachers and students can use them to save and retrieve educational resources, whether face to face or online, to improve teaching and learning processes and make it simpler to attain desired learning results (Maldonado et al., 2016). Teachers may enhance their teaching techniques by depending on a variety of learning resources kept in repositories, and students can rely on them to suit their various learning needs.
The Omani experience in the field of DRs can be described as novel. By tracing the DRs in Oman, one can find that the most recent project launched is the Omani research repository “Shuaa” which was adopted by the Scientific Research Council in cooperation with Sultan Qaboos University (Main Library) to serve higher education level and above (Shuaa, 2022) Another project was done based on cooperation between the public and private sectors called “Masader”. It aims to connect Oman's academic community to some of the world's best digital resources and support critical research activities across the country This repository includes the latest books and research materials, with a number of links established with publishers, and the repository seeks to expand those links with other repositories as well (Masader, 2022).
In the field of pre university education, the “Wathiq” portal is a private repository that support self learning. It includes learning resources such as video lessons, summaries of lessons, and self assessment tools. Students can access this portal using any device (Wathiq portal, 2022). However, this portal is limited to the eleventh and twelfth grades and requires an annual subscription. There is also the “Zawiti” portal which is affiliated to the Ministry of Education in Oman. It serves school education at all levels and includes a question bank in which all inquiries about the courses are collected and sorted according to each subject. Students use this platform to practice exams and to ascertain the nature of questions (Ministry of Education, 2022) However, this portal lakes different types of e content and activities that can facilitate learning different school subjects.
Despite the efforts carried out in the field, learning objects repositories are still not a vital part of the educational system. Teachers do not often use these repositories and students do not rely on them much to enhance their learning
Given the benefits of DRs, as well as the global consensus on their benefits for educational institutions and the growing demand for educational e content in Omani schools, it is necessary to investigate the feasibility of designing and developing DRs to store LOs serving Omani curricula.
However, the decision to deploy technology in the classroom is frequently influenced by the views of each teacher (Boonmoh et al., 2021). Teachers’ perceptions about the usefulness of DRs for them or their students can be key to better implementation (Yalcinalp & Emiroglu, 2012; Tang, 2020). Teachers tend to develop low perceptions surrounding the value of using technological tools in teaching if they feel that their needs are not met throughout the implementation process (Harrell & Bynum, 2018). As a result, the tools will not be used to their maximum potential, creating an internal barrier (Francom, 2020).
Although the Ministry of Education in the Sultanate of Oman is doing its best to develop teaching and learning, teachers’ voices seem absent in regard to their perception of DRs and the benefit of using them in enhancing teaching and learning. The researcher could not find any study addressing this issue in the Omani context. That is why this study came to cover this gab in approaching teachers and understanding their perceptions of utilizing DRs.
Thus, the current study investigates teachers’ perceptions about the need for DRs for use in teaching and learning in Omani schools.
To achieve this aim, the study tried to investigate teachers’ perceptions from three aspects constituting the need for DRs. These aspects are as follows: supporting teachers, supporting students’ learning, and enhancing the curriculum. Accordingly, three research questions were formulated, as follows:
1. What are teachers’ perceptions about the need for using DRs to support teachers?
2. What are teachers’ perceptions about the need for using DRs to support students’ learning?
3. What are teachers’ perceptions about the need for using DRs to enhance curriculum?
DRs are greatly beneficial when they are used in educational institutions. They can enhance teaching and learning processes and facilitate achievement of the intended learning outcomes. Teachers can depend on different LOs stored in the repositories to improve their teaching methods and students can change their learning styles to achieve their objectives. This part introduces DRs and general learning objects and addresses teachers’ perceptions of DRs.
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In recent years, digital content has developed significantly. The availability of information and the exchange of ideas via the internet has become one of the most important issues that professionals are concerned with. As a result, several recommendations emerged regarding the necessity for constructing DRs that ease the process of searching, retrieving, and managing e content.
In the context of education, a DR is defined as a database that collects and stores LOs with specified descriptions and metadata to make them available to beneficiaries (Bogucki, 2021). It can also be defined as a database that retains research work done by researchers in all scientific fields and can be accessed and searched using the web (Nayana & Pai, 2018). In the context of this study, DRs can be viewed as a large scale database available on the internet that can be accessed and searched through an easy mechanism to enable both teachers and learners to reach and utilize the needed LOs in an easy and accurate way.
Nowadays DRs play an important role in providing users with easy and unconditional access to knowledge through the internet free of charge (Kati, 2021). They use indexing systems based on international coding standards which allow users to easily browse and find required content with the possibility of integration through content management and learning systems (Kati & Stukes, 2021).
One of the advantages of DRs is the possibility of providing access to all scientific output stored in it with the ability of preserving this scientific output for a long time. Also, they encourage communication between researchers from different specializations by providing access to the latest scientific output (Knight, 2018). In addition to this, they contain multiple patterns of knowledge and data that can be displayed in different ways. This knowledge is cumulative and is preserved and controlled through the policy of retention and accessibility set by the institution that owns the DR (Esquivel et al., 2021). DRs address the challenge of limited storage capacity in libraries, as they are distinguished by accommodating large data in a small storage space. The diversity of this data ranges from articles, conference works, reports, educational materials, multimedia and much more (Kati et al., 2019).
In general, researchers deal with DRs as a central archive for their intellectual production, increasing the chances of publication and accessibility. In turn, this increases the impact factor for this production, as well as informal arbitration through the possibility of publishing that which is difficult to publish through traditional means, such as videos, podcasts, or e content (Esquivel et al., 2021).
There are numerous advantages to using DRs in the educational field. They help to enrich and enhance the exchange of knowledge across curricula, ease access to courses, facilitate the development process, and contribute to the possibilities of using inquiries and critical thinking based learning strategies (Bakker & Rowan, 2018). Kovyazina (2019) added that repositories are of great importance to the educational field, as they contribute to saving time, cost and effort in the development and production of e courses. They encourage teachers to employ guided discovery and different e learning patterns, participate in creating content,
and reuse LOs in educational situations.
Several studies have focused on building DRs so that they simulate the capabilities of the semantic web (Arabshian et al. 2009; Drozdowicz et al., 2012). Among the recent studies in this area is the study of Poulakakis et al. (2016) who established a system to enhance digital learning resources with metadata and semantic data to facilitate the semantic search for the required resources in line with the education system in primary and secondary schools. Also, Zervas et al. (2016) developed a model for a metadata schema that reflected the learning resources present within the digital repositories. This model was built to support science, technology, engineering, and mathematics teachers in (STEM) schools so that they can share their lesson plans. The model was used to easily and effectively reach the resources that the teacher requires.
LOs are considered the main component of educational digital repositories. They aim to formulate the educational content into miniature elements that can be used individually to simulate an educational goal or be combined with other objects to simulate other goals. They work to meet learners' needs for knowledge and skills in a more effective and less costly manner. (Sek et al., 2012; Zimudzi, 2012; Turel & Gürol, 2011). They are also used to support exploration and problem solving ability according to the educational goals the teacher wishes to achieve (Çakiroglu et al., 2012). Therefore, digital LOs are considered an effective and economical tool in supporting learners in various educational situations.
Such LOs need to be stored in DRs so that they can be organized, accessible, and retrieved, otherwise they might be lost (Boté & Minguillón, 2012). There are many DRs that contain LOs, as reported by Vrana (2021), such as the Merlot repository in the United States, which includes links to metadata repositories and is considered an interface to other repositories; the Edna repository in Australia, which stores various forms of LOs such as images, text, presentations, and videos, and also contains links to other repositories; the Jorum repository in Britain and the CAREO repository in Canada, which contain a wealth of educational, training, and research resources, as well as LOs. Further, Mering (2019) mentioned other repositories such as the Encore repository, which encompasses a large number of educational materials provided with free access for teachers and learners, and the Maricopa repository that can be browsed by topic, author, publication date, or title and contains articles, periodicals, university theses, various presentations, images, and videos. Guan et. al. (2019) also referred to the LOs in the Wisconsin repository of educational materials, which includes hundreds of thousandsof LOs such as presentations, images, and texts.
Although much progress has been made in the design and implementation of DRs, the effectiveness of these repositories remains debatable. Many researchers argued that DRs and included learning objects would most likely become outdated if the functional use of such systems was not realized, or if the engagement of their dynamic users was not considered (Granić & Marangunić, 2019; Tang et al., 2020; Tang, 2020).
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Teachers' perceptions can be defined as their ideas or mental images regarding their professional activities and students, which are influenced by their previous knowledge and life experiences and determine their professional behavior (Papadakis & Kalogiannakis, 2022). When teachers have limited knowledge about using a new technology in teaching and learning, they automatically generate opinions about it, some of which may be based on stereotypes. This inclination might lead to misunderstandings or misperceptions surrounding that technology.
The knowledge of teachers' views on the important aspects in repositories are supposed to aid designers, developers, and users of DRs in focusing on the primary concerns linked to improving the usefulness and efficiency of these repositories (Yalcinalp & Emiroglu, 2012). In order to successfully implement DRs in the educational system, Yalcinalp and Emiroglu (2012) surveyed 75 teachers to investigate their views about DRs after using learning objects repositories. Results yielded that DRs will only be used efficiently if some structural and usability factors are considered in designing DRs so that they reflect teachers’ requirements, such as the usage of ontologies and the Semantic Web.
Further, Tang et al., (2020) attempted to gain a thorough knowledge of teachers’ intentions for using OER in K 12 classrooms. Based on the teachers’ view they recommended the following: to reinforce instructors' perceived ease of utilizing OER, repository designers must improve the design and function of the repository. Also, educators must help teachers engage in the production of openlicensed resources for K 12 students to ensure sustainability.
The above exhibits why the knowledge of teachers’ perceptions about using DRs in education is an important factor that will help to implement DRs in the educational system in an effective way.
The current study employed a mixed method approach to explore the need for using DRs to enhance teaching and learning in Omani schools. This was achieved by mixing quantitative and qualitative data collection and triangulating the data to go beyond the limitation of a single method study by raising the level of credibility.
To achieve the study objects, data was collected about teachers’ perceptions regarding the need to use DRs from the following three aspects: to support teachers, to support students’ learning, and to enhance the curriculum. The study was conducted in two stages, the first of which involved delivering the questionnaire to a group of 120 teachers. The second part involved the conduction of semi structured interviews with a group of nine teachers selected from the questionnaire sample. The nine teachers were interviewed about the same constructs to gain a deeper understanding to the research constituents measured by the questionnaire.
First: the questionnaire sample consists of teachers from different disciplines distributed between 15 schools in Muscat. The questionnaire was available online and thus easily accessible for any teacher to fill it out. 120 teachers who returned the questionnaire in a complete form were considered the sample of the study. The research sample is characterized by certain features, including the following: all are teachers with various teaching experiences; mixed genders; teaching different subjects; and working in different districts in Muscat.
Second: the criterion for selecting the interview sample was derived through an evaluation of the questionnaire replies and a selection of the diverse rich responses to aid in the comprehension of the anomalies revealed by the questionnaire analysis. To begin the sample selection process, a postscript was added to the questionnaire asking participants to provide their contact information if they agreed to be interviewed. Nearly one quarter of the questionnaire sample (n=29) distributed over five schools expressed interest in conducting an interview and provided their contact details. Following this, a purposive “information rich” sample was chosen from the available participants who varied according to their responses and characteristics. The final sample came to nine participants.
Using mixed methods to answer the research questions aids in triangulating the data, adding rigor, validating and reinforcing the findings, adding an additional dimension, and assisting with approaching the research questions from different angles and in greater depth. That is why the current study employed two methods: a questionnaire and semi structured interviews.
Based on the literature review and the researcher’s experience, a questionnaire was constructed to elicit information regarding the three research questions. The questionnaire was designed based on a five point Likert scale and was divided into three sections. Each section constitutes six items, as follows: section one relates to “Supporting teachers” in items 1 to 6; section two is about “Supporting students’ learning” through items 7 to 12; and section three relates to “Enhancing curriculum” over items 13 to 18.
Based on the argument that using qualitative methods can help with the analysis of quantitative findings (Taguchi, 2018), so that the statistical analysis can examine different effects on a certain phenomenon and then explore the grounds and the reasons behind these effects by using other qualitative methods (Dixon Woods et al., 2021), interviews were used as a second method of data collection.
The interview guide began with more generic questions regarding the three research questions, after which the rest of the questions were developed during the interview sessions, based on several issues raised throughout the discussion and connected to the key topics. The interview questions were piloted with two teachers before administering the main study.
Before administering the survey to the targeted sample, the validity and reliability of the questionnaire were measured. The validity was checked by asking the opinion of experts in the field, who recommended to provide teachers with the definitions of the terms “Digital repositories” and “Learning Objects” before asking them to fill in the questionnaire. Thus, the meaning of both constructs was clearly written for participants to read in the introduction section of the survey.
To check for reliability, the questionnaire was piloted on 20 teachers from different subject areas with different years of experience. Cronbach alpha coefficient was found to be (0.85), which means that the scale is reliable. Finally, the questionnaire was administered to 120 randomly selected teachers from 15 different schools in Muscat.
The purpose of the results section is to present the research key findings from both quantitative and qualitative research methods. This presentation will assist in determining whether the quantitative and qualitative findings are consistent or inconsistent.
The survey sample consisted of 120 teachers from different schools in Muscat. They represented all subjects taught in schools as well as gender (54% female and 46% male). Also, years of experience range was almost equally distributed among the sample as follows: 25.1% have work experience from 1 to 5 years, 23.6% have work experience from 6 to 10 years, 22.5% have work experience from 11 to 15 years, 28.8% have work experience more than 11 years. Finally, (79.4%) of them have not received any training on employing DRs in teaching.
Participants were asked to respond to 18 statements represented in a 5 point Likert type scale, where ‘5’ represents the maximum score of the scale, ‘Strongly Agree’ and ‘1’ represents the minimum score, ‘Strongly Disagree’ To produce a meaning from the percentages in the following tables, thetotal percentage of “SA” and “A” were added together and considered to represent agreement; further, the total percentage of “SD” and “D” were added and considered to represent disagreement
The first section of the questionnaire aims to answer the first research question: “What are teachers’ perceptions about the need for using DRs to support teachers?”. Table (1) illustrates the frequencies and percentages of participants’ responses to each statement.
SD=StronglyDisagree. D=Disagree. N=neutral A=Agree SA=StronglyAgree
(percentages) Statement SA A N D SD
1 DRs will help teachers to change their teaching approaches and styles to be more technologically based.
2
Do you think that a repository is needed for promoting technological development and actively contributing to the spread of digital culture among teachers?
3 Do you think that a repository will open the opportunity to share experiences and good practice among teachers?
38, (31.7%) 59, (49.2%) 10, (8.3%) 7, (5.8%) 6, (5%)
48, (40%) 62, (51.7%) 4, (3.3%) 4, (3.3%) 2, (1.7%)
47, (39.2%) 64, (53.3%) 6, (5%) 3, (2.5%)
4 DRs will encourage teachers to employ atypical teaching strategies. 24, (20%) 72, (60%) 18, (15%) 3, (2.5%) 3, (2.5%)
5 DRs can save teachers’ time and efforts in preparing digital LOs to be used in various educational situations.
18, (15%) 64, (53.3%) 23, (19.2%) 13, (10.8%) 2, (1.7%)
6 DRs will enhance lesson planning to meet students’ different characteristics. 24, (20%) 69, (57.5%) 20, (16.7%) 4, (3.3%) 3, (2.5%)
It is clear from Table (1) that most of the participants agreed or strongly agreed in the first rank about the ability of DRs to open the opportunity for teachers to share experiences and good practice among each other (92.5%; n=111). This indicates that teachers perceive DR to be a collaborative tool that can help them share their best practices together. This can happen by sharing opinions and discussions about LOs found in the repository for use in teaching to enhance students’ learning.
Also, most participants agreed or strongly agreed to view the need for DR to promote teachers’ technological development (91.7%; n=110), improve their teaching approaches and strategies (80.9%; n=97), and encourage teachers to employ atypical teaching strategies in the second, third, and fourth ranks respectively. This implies that teachers are aware of the importance of DRs to promote more technologically oriented teaching styles and practices.
The lowest ranked items were two that were related to enhancing lesson planning to meet students’ different characteristics (77.5%; n=93) and saving teachers’ time and efforts in preparing digital LOs to be used in various educational situations (68.3%; n=82). This indicates how teachers value the benefit of using DRs in improving their own work with less time and effort.
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In general, it is obvious from table (2) that the total opinion of the teachers for the whole section tends to agree about the need for using a repository to support teachers in different aspects with (81.81%), total mean score (4), and standard deviation of (0.66).
Table 2. Total perceptions about using DRs to support teachers
Theme Percentage Mean St.D Strongly Agree Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly Disagree Total Teachers’ support 27.64% 54.17% 11.25% 4.72% 2.22% 4.00 0.66
4.1.2 Perceptions about using DRs to support students’ learning The second section of the questionnaire aims to answer the second research question “What are teachers’ perceptions about the need for using DRs to support students’ learning?”. Table (3) illustrates the frequencies and percentages of participants’ responses to each statement.
Table 3 Perceptions about using DRs to support students’ learning
SD=StronglyDisagree D=Disagree. N=neutral. A=Agree SA=StronglyAgree
Frequencies, (percentages)
Statement SA A N D SD
1 DRs help students to be active learners. 42, (35%) 70, (58.3%) 6, (5%) 2, (1.7%)
2 Using DRs will increase the opportunity for students’ collaboration. 23, (19.2%) 59, (49.2%) 24, (20%) 9, (7.5%) 5, (4.2%)
3 Using DRs can help students to be engaged to learning 26, (21.7%) 64, (53.3%) 18, (15%) 10, (8.3%) 2, (1.7%)
4 DRs will help students to achieve higher order thinking skills. 19, (15.8%) 55, (45.8%) 28, (23.3%) 12, (10%) 6, (5%)
5 Using DRs will increase students’ motivation to learn. 53, (44.2%) 65, (54.2%) 2, (1.7%)
6 DRs will enhance students’ learning. 27, (22.5%) 67, (55.8%) 15, (12.5%) 9, (7.5%) 2, (1.7%)
It is evident from table 3 that the most agreed statement among the participants is item number 5 which came in the first rank. Almost all teachers agreed and strongly agreed that using DRs will increase students’ motivation to learn (98.4%; n=118). They believe that such repositories will transform students into active learners (93.3%; n=112) and enhance their learning experience (78.3%; n=94). Also, most teachers reported that there is a need for the use of DRs to assist student engagement with learning (75%; n=90).
Although most teachers perceive the need for using DRs in students’ learning, they were less confident about the need to use DRs in increasing students’ collaboration (68.4%; n=82) and achieving higher order thinking skills (61.6%;
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n=74). These two items were ranked the least among the six items in the whole section.
In general, this section indicates the importance of having DRs in Omani schools, as reported by teachers; it encourages the constructivism approach in teaching students. It is obvious from table (4) that the collective teacher opinion for the whole section tends to agree about the need for the use of a repository to support students in learning (79.17%), total mean score (3.96), and standard deviation of (0.64).
Table 4. Total perceptions about using DRs to support students’ learning
Theme Percentage Mean St.D Strongly Agree Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly Disagree Total Students’ support 26.39% 52.78% 12.92% 5.83% 2.08% 3.96 0.64
4.1.3
The third section of the questionnaire aims to answer the third research question “What are teachers’ perceptions about the need for using DRs to enhance curriculum?”. Table (5) illustrates the frequencies and percentages of participants’ responses to each statement.
Table 5. Perceptions about using DRs to enhance curriculum
SD=StronglyDisagree D=Disagree N=neutral. A=Agree. SA=StronglyAgree
Frequencies, (percentages) Statement SA A N D SD
1 DRs will enhance the educational content. 43, (35.8%) 74, (61.7%) 2, (1.7%) 1, (0.8%)
2 DRs will enable active learning environments by providing various ideas for activities. 30, (25.4%) 50, (42.4%) 25, (21.2%) 11, (9.5%) 4, (3.4%)
3 Do you think that repository is needed for enhancing teaching and learning processes? 40, (33.3%) 65, (54.2%) 11, (9.2%) 3, (2.5%) 1, (0.8%)
4
DRs will encourage the generation of ideas about improving formative assessment and evaluation in the educational situations
5 Do you think that a repository is needed for achieving educational objectives in your subject?
23, (19.2%) 48, (40%) 27, (22.5%) 12, (10%) 10, (8.3%)
32, (26.7%) 54, (45%) 18, (15%) 11, (9.2%) 5, (4.2%)
6 DRs can be used to simplify complex and abstract concepts. 43, (35.8%) 66, (55%) 6, (5%) 4, (3.3%) 1, (0.8%)
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As shown in table 5, most teachers agreed and strongly agreed about two items which reflect the need for DRs to enhance the educational content (97.5%; n=117) and simplify complex and abstract concepts (90.8%; n=109). They were ranked as the first two items, respectively. This indicates that teachers need digital content to support students’ learning which will positively reflect on the whole teaching and learning processes. The second two ranked items reflected the need to use repositories to enhance teaching and learning processes (87.5%; n=105) and achieve educational objectives (71.7%; n=86). The two lowest ranked items related to enabling active learning environments by providing various ideas for activities (70.8%; n=85) and encouraging the generation of ideas about improving formative assessments and evaluation in educational situations (59.2%; n=71). This indicates how teachers value the benefit of using DRs in supporting the curriculum in terms of providing innovative ideas for activities and better assessment.
In general, this section indicates the importance of having DRs in Omani schools to enhance curriculum as reported by the teacher. It is obvious from table (6) that the total opinion of the teachers for the whole section tends to agree regarding the need for use of a repository to support and enrich the curriculum (78.89%), total mean score (3.97), and standard deviation of (0.65).
Table 6. Total perceptions about using DRs to enhance curriculum
Theme Percentage Mean St.D Strongly Agree Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly Disagree Total Curriculum enhancement 29.31% 49.58% 12.36% 5.83% 2.92% 3.97 0.65
4.1.4 Total teachers’ perceptions about the need to have DRs in Omani schools
Overall, the total percentage of teachers who agreed and strongly agreed about the need to have DRs in Omani schools from the three aspects (teachers’ support, students’ support, and curriculum enhancement) is (79.96%), with a total mean score of (3.98) and standard deviation of (0.65). The high total mean scores in the three sections, as well as the overall total, reflects the extent to which teachers believe that there is a real need to use DRs in their schools.
Table 7. Total teachers’ perceptions about the need to have DRs in Omani schools
Theme Percentage Mean St.D Strongly Agree Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly Disagree
Total Support Teachers 27.64% 54.17% 11.25% 4.72% 2.22% 4.00 0.66
Total support students’ learning 26.39% 52.78% 12.92% 5.83% 2.08% 3.96 0.64
Total enhance Curriculum 29.31% 49.58% 12.36% 5.83% 2.92% 3.97 0.65 Total Perceptions 27.78% 52.18% 12.18% 5.46% 2.41% 3.98 0.65
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Interviews with nine teachers were conducted, recorded, and transcribed. Following full transcription, data was reviewed word by word and line by line, keywords were assigned as first level codes beside each paragraph, and labels were assigned to each group of words. Labels were grouped to form categories in the second level of coding. With my research questions in mind, I was able to sort these categories into two themes: those that are directly related to the research questions (main themes) and those that are emergent and can be linked in some way (indirectly) to the research questions (emergent themes)
Results showed three main themes (teacher’s support, students’ support, and enhancement of curriculum) and one emergent theme (conditions for use), as shown in figure 1.
Main Theme Enhance curriculum
Main Theme Students’ learning Support
Emergent Themes related to conditions for use
The interview analysis yielded three main themes reflecting the research questions: (1) teachers’ support, (2) students’ learning support, and (3) enhancement of curriculum. Teachers seem to be aware about the importance and benefits of using DRs in general. They believe that using LOs and digital repositories as technological tools will help them overcome many challenges they face with the sudden shift that occurred from face to face to online teaching due to the Covid 19 pandemic. They view such kind of practices as an opportunity for them to promote their own technological competencies.
“I am sure that if that repository was there, I would have taught online in a better way. I heavily depended solely on YouTube videos, and it was not directly related every time ” Interviewee H
Teachers agreed that using DRs and LOs will engage students to learning, increase their motivation, and help them achieve learning outcomes.
“I am sure that Learning objects designed specially to address the schoolbook will highly engage students in the lessons and facilitate understanding many ideas ” Interviewee H
They also believe that using LOs will simplify the complex and abstract concepts in the curriculum and facilitate self learning for them as they are dependent on multimedia and include many activities.
“I think such repository was needed to support us in the period of online teaching during the pandemic. We suffered a lot to find e content matching the schoolbook.” Interviewee H
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“…if there were specially designed learning objects addressing our curriculum, I think teachers will compete to use them.” Interviewee H
4.2.2 Emergent themes
“Conditions for use” is one emergent theme that came out of the interview analysis. This theme was coded and analyzed in the following categories: (1) training, (2) educational content, (3) ease of use, (4) and developing a community. See figure 2.
Ease of use
Educational Content Developing a community
In general, teachers confirmed the need for employing DRs and LOs in teaching and learning. However, they raised many conditions for that use to be successful. Five teachers (55.6%) emphasized the importance of changing their teaching styles and approaches in such new educational settings, which is why they assured that they must be trained on appropriately utilizing LOs and DRs to enhance the teaching and learning process.
“We have to be trained first how to utilize DRs while teaching.” Interviewee H
Most of them (7 teachers, 77.8%) believe that the content of LOs should directly reflect the taught lessons, be presented in the taught language, and always be up to date.
“We need local content in our language and reflecting the taught topics in the book.” Interviewee B
“We suffer of the lake of Arabic e content addressing the schoolbook” Interviewee D
They assured the importance of providing a user friendly interface and accessible platforms. Four teachers (44.4%) confirmed the need of having small size LOs that can be viewed and downloaded easily because of the poor internet connection they have.
“Learning objects should be small in size or even used offline as the network here is not fast ” Interviewee A
Also, three teachers (33.3%) highlighted the need for the LOs to be editable and for there to be an option to upload their own objects.
“I think it will be great If I can edit the learning objects to match my objectives in the lesson and focus on a certain part only.” Interviewee C
Finally, most of the teachers (8 teachers, 88.9%) raised the issue of developing a community within the DR so that teachers as well as students can communicate their experiences with the use of LOs in teaching and learning, and to also share good practices.
“Allowing teachers from the same discipline to share best practices will be a great addition, I need to see some examples from my colleagues to build on.” Interviewee A
“We have some experienced teachers here in using technology, they can help us to make model lessons.” Interviewee H
“Allowing students to communicate with each other, rate the learning objects, comment, and reflect on their experience, will engage them in learning without they even realize that.” Interviewee E
The findings of the questionnaire and the interviews were both compatible. They have shown a clear need to use DRs to enhance teaching and learning in Omani schools. Needs were reported on three levels; needs to support teachers, needs to support students’ learning, and needs to enhance curriculum. Teachers believe that such a repository will raise both their technological and pedagogical skills. The response of the teachers in general implies that if we put a DR in use, including LOs related to the curriculum taught in Omani schools, it will be accepted from the teachers’ side. Further, it can promote teaching and learning if conditions raised in interviews related to training, educational content, ease of use, and development of a community are implemented
The responses on both research methods shed the light on the design and implementation of digital repositories. In the questionnaire, the highest ranked statement in the teachers’ needs was that the repository will open the opportunity to share experiences and good practice among teachers. Also, in the interviews, most teachers asked for the need for teachers and students to communicate their experiences and share best practices together. This possibility needs to be considered while developing a DR, where such a repository should have the ability to make teachers communicate and collaborate to share their experiences of using specific LOs in different learning situations. Also, the possibility for them to modify or add their own LOs to the database will be an advantage for them to peer review each other and develop their pedagogical skills in using technology based education. This is consistent with Arcos et al (2017) who argue that repositories are designed not only to store and disseminate objects, but also to allow users to collaborate by reviewing, commenting on, and rating the content they access.
Apparently, this can assist teachers to change their teaching approaches and styles to be more technologically based and will encourage teachers to employ atypical teaching strategies. This idea is supported by Wenger (1998), by the Community of Practice where teachers from different schools in Oman will be allowed through the DR to form a group which shares the same concerns, interacts regularly, and learns from each other how to overcome their problems effectively.
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The same argument can be extended to students themselves, where creating a community for them in the DR will increase the opportunity for students’ collaboration. This is confirmed by Atenas and Havemann (2013) who assured that quality repositories serve as a place for users to interact and form communities of practice. Such practice will help them become active learners, allow them to be engaged more to learning, and raise their motivation to learn as reported by teachers.
As for the third type of needs related to the curriculum, the highest mean scores were given to enhancing the educational content and simplifying complex and abstract concepts. This is also consistent with the interview findings. Similarly, when dealing with the curriculum within this collaborative environment, teachers can improve the way a curriculum is introduced to students through sharing experiences, modifying LOs and updating the way they are used in teaching. Such results might shed light on the need to create a dynamic warehouse model to contain local LOs that emulate the taught subjects in Omani schools and allow teachers and students to communicate and interact for better utilization. (See figure 3).
Omani Educational Context (School subjects)
Teachers’ Community Students’ Community Download Upload
Friendly User Interface
Download View Online DR
Interaction Interaction
Based on the research methods findings, figure 3 shows how the DR can benefit Omani schools if it is designed according to their perceptions of DRs and how they can use it in teaching and learning. This is consistent with Yalcinalp and Emiroglu (2012) and Tang et al., (2020). The figure addresses how DRs can support teacher and student learning within the context of the local curriculum. Also, it shows DRs can allow teachers and students to interact and share best practices while using the DR in relation to school subjects in the Omani context. This is anticipated to aid in the promotion of teaching and learning experiences.
The DRs should be under the control of the Ministry of Education in order to ensure the sustainability and quality of the LOs, as well as their ability to achieve the required goals for educational institutions in light of modern technology. Based on the questionnaire results and interview analysis, the study proposes a comprehensive plan for implementing DRs in school education in Oman as follows:
The proposed plan consists of six stages as follows (see figure 4):
Needs analysis Design & Development Awareness Dissemination EvaluationThe first stage (needs analysis): seeks to identify the actual needs of schools in developing the DRs. This will primarily be determined by stakeholder needs Information about the project must be gathered in terms of design, production, and implementation at this stage in line with teachers’ needs. This also includes information about curriculum and learning materials. Analyzing human resources in schools and identifying needs and levels of expertise for both teachers and students are also required at this stage Furthermore, it is critical to determine the availability of technical support as well as the quality of the internet connection. Finally, the financial aspect will be examined in terms of the cost of materials and software, with the goal of obtaining financial assistance from the local community.
Stage two (design & development): Based on the analysis of the interview results, the design stage reflects emergent themes related to “educational content”, “developing a community” and “ease of use”. The latter can be addressed by following the Human Computer Interaction (HCI) Principles in the design (Al Mahdi et al., 2019). Also, this phase can be addressed by applying the Dynamic DR (see figure 3).
Accordingly, the repository can be designed and developed with the following features:
Unrestricted access to digital content for all teachers and students. The digital content in Omani schools should be localized and cover all school subjects and scientific disciplines at all grade levels.
DR should allow and encourage teachers to upload their own lesson plans for use by other teachers and students.
DR should encourage interaction between teachers and students so that they can share best practices and ideas for reusing digital learning objects in a variety of educational settings. This will assist teachers in improving their pedagogical skills and developing novel teaching methods and strategies for use in teaching and learning.
DR should protect the intellectual property of knowledge resource owners and encourage them to participate more.
Refreshing digital content on a regular basis.
A user friendly interface, as well as adhering to the appropriate technical and educational standards when developing the repository
Stage three (raising awareness): Based on the analysis of the interview results, the awareness stage reflects the emergent theme related to “training”. This stage aims to establish mechanisms for increasing beneficiary awareness of the importance of incorporating the DR into the educational process and improving teaching and learning. Also, this is to provide appropriate pedagogical training for teachers and students in order for them to efficiently utilize the repository.
Stage four (evaluation): aims to pilot the repository and assess its usability from the perspective of the beneficiaries, where we can gather feedback and users' opinions about the content, ease of use of the repository, and the extent to which it is beneficial in the teaching and learning process.
Stage five (dissemination): This is the final stage, in which the repository is made available on the internet so that it can be used in more than one school and is easily accessible to both teachers and students.
DRs are one of many advanced systems for e learning and distance learning that can hold a wealth of information and useful elements for achieving educational objectives. They may contain many digital LOs, which can provide an enhanced educational environment in which these elements can be easily reused in various educational situations based on the needs of each educational situation. The power of this study is that it reflects teachers’ perceptions about using such technology in teaching and learning. Suggestions of the study are based on their teachers’ perceptions as they can be a key to better implementation According to the findings, DRs are required in Omani schools on three levels of needs: teachers’ support, students' learning support, and curriculum enhancement. The suggested Dynamic DR model assimilates all these needs to ensure better operation. Also, based on the findings and the suggested Dynamic DR model, a proposed plan for developing and employing digital repositories in Omani schools is introduced. This will ensure the systematic implementation of DRs in Omani schools under the control of the Ministry of Education to ensure quality, effectiveness of usability, and sustainability. Additionally, the current study will help to establish the concepts of "free and open access" to educational content within the context of Omani schools, where teachers and students will be able to browse, download, edit, and upload content at any time using a dynamic DR that provides open interactive e learning content to improve teaching and learning processes in Omani schools. Future studies are to work on the evaluation of the feasibility of using DRs after implementing them in a systematic way. The evaluation should go beyond knowing teachers’ perceptions to trying to understand how this practice was beneficial to students themselves and their views about improvement
The research leading to these results has received funding from the Research Council (TRC) of the Sultanate of Oman under the Block Funding Program. TRC Block Funding Agreement No [BFP/RGP/EHR/18/156].
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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research
Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 22 45, May 2022
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.5.2
Received Feb 22, 2022; Revised Apr 29, 2022; Accepted May 2, 2022
Abstract. The need to optimize student interactions in universities for enhanced academic performance has been a subject of debate and discussion in different academic fora. A number of studies have shown that students, both male and female, can assert themselves academically if they are provided with opportunities for active participation and interaction with their lecturers and peers for both the horizontal and the vertical sharing of knowledge. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to investigate the gender based interaction practices of science, mathematics and technology university students, and how these interactive patterns influence their academic performance. Using a quantitative approach located in the post positivist paradigm, the study employed a structured questionnaire to collect the data from a sample of 1285 students from three universities. The results of the study showed that institutional practices, lecturers, parents, peers, learning content and artifacts, as well as the classroom environment, have a significant influence on the gender based interaction practices of university students. Furthermore,, the results showed that the levels of interaction have a significant influence on the academic performance of university students, according to gender. As a main recommendation, it was proposed that universities should come up with gender equity policies that would guide how the universities and their stakeholders could cater for the issues of gender equity.
Keywords: classroom environment; gender; gender equity; higher education; institutional practices; STEM
The issues of gender and gender equity in all the facets of life including education, have become a topical issue the world over. Governments worldwide have come up with policies that promote the equal and equitable participation of men and women, girls and boys, in the economic spheres that include education. In the context of Zimbabwe, “Since 1980, a number of policies and strategies have been put in place, in order to promote gender equity in education; and these have included the introduction of education for all, free primary education, and the attraction of international agencies that support education in the country”
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY NC ND 4.0).
(Chabaya & Gudhlanga, 2013, p.1). While these and other policies have contributed to a significant increase in the education of girls, thereby achieving gender equity in the participation of girls in education, there is still work in progress, particularly in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), subjects in which only 19% of female students are enrolled, compared to 39% of male students (World Economic Forum, 2018).
Gender based interactions in the science, mathematics and technology classrooms have been the subject of extensive research and debate over a number of decades, owing to their importance in the teaching and learning processes (Howe & Abedin, 2013). These interactions, as social skills, have also been viewed in a number of studies, as being critical for enhancing the academic performance of university students (Consuegra, 2015). Among the reasons for gender based differences in the levels and patterns of interactions between male and female students in universities, there are certain practices in the educational institutions themselves. Hurtado (2021), in his study, found that educational institutions continue to develop and reinforce, through their practices, gender segregation, stereotypes and discrimination via the teaching methods they use and the content developed in science, mathematics and technology textbooks.
This was also confirmed by Elliot (2010), whose findings showed that educational institutions have become active agents in the perpetuation of the gender based behavioural differences between male and female students, as a result of the nature of the task assignments they give to students and the methodologies they use during instruction. In the context of Zimbabwe, the issue of gender disparity in the 22 universities is not a new phenomenon; yet the problem still continues unabated (Guzura & Chigora, 2021). Despite the existence of gender inequity in universities in Zimbabwe (Guzura & Chigora, 2021), there is no study known to the researchers that has been conducted to establish how gender inequity in higher education affects gender based interaction levels and the academic performance of students. This study, therefore, is an attempt to bridge the research gap; and it is guided by the following research questions: (i) What factors promote the gender based interactive practices of students in universities in Zimbabwe? (ii) How significantly do these factors influence the gender based interaction levels of students in the local universities? (iii) Is there any significant relationship between the gender based interactive levels of university students and their academic performance?
The concept of gender can be understood in two ways, either as a biological composition of the body, or as a socialisation-related attribute (Elliot, 2010). As a biological attribute, Consuegra et al. (2016) found that gender plays a very minimal role in the behavioural differences between men and women, and, in the context of the current study, between male and female students. In the same study, Consuegra et al. (2016) found that rather, it is gender as a socialisation attribute that inflates the minor biological differences out of proportion, by causing serious gender based differences in the behaviour of men and women. Elliot (2010) also found that the socialisation related gender based view is the
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reason why women are regarded as homemakers, who are mostly responsible for parenting, while men are regarded as wage earners.
Socialisation in this case is defined as the unconscious and sometimes conscious process by which people learn to behave in a certain way, as a result of their interactions with other actors (parents, peers, lecturers and others) and via socialisation agents, such as the media, textbooks and others (Halimi et al , 2016). Gee (2000) defined gender as the kind of person one is recognised as being, at a given time and place. The issues of time and place are the descriptors of gender, which imply that each person has multiple identities connected not to their biological attributes, but rather, to their socially assigned roles and positions (Consuegra et al., 2016). A person’s gender, therefore, from a sociological perspective, relates to interactions and symbolic behaviours in the social sphere; while from a physiological point of view, it relates to the issues of masculinity and femininity (Vantieghem et al., 2014). Bigler et al (2013) are of the view that while nature (biology that determines the sex of the student) and nurture (environmental factors, such as socialisation, that define the gender of a person through role assignment) act together in reciprocal causal, and interactive ways, to produce gender based differences in the behaviour of male and female students, it is nurture that contributes more significantly to gender based differences. This, therefore, means that it is how boys and girls are socialised at home, and how female and male students are socialised at school, that pose the greatest challenge to dealing with the problem of educational inequity in universities.
This study used the socio cultural theory developed by Vygotsky (1978), as a theoretical lens. The theory deals with the social construction of knowledge; and it is premised on the belief that social experience plays a dominant role in human development in general, and in knowledge acquisition in particular (Kurt, 2020). Based on the fact that interaction is a social skill (Voyer & Voyer, 2014), this theory has been found to be particularly relevant to this study. According to Vygotsky (1978), true human development is not from the individual to the social, but rather it is from the social to the individual. As a result, the theory maintains that social settings and learning are interrelated (Kurt, 2020).
Institutional practices (IP)
Lecturer factors (LF)
Parental factors (PF)
Peer factors (PF)
Learning content and artifacts (LCA)
Classroom climate (CC)
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H1 H2 H3 H4 H7 H6
Interaction levels (IL) Academic performance (AP)
H5
Figure 1: The research model
The theory demonstrates that for effective teaching and learning, lecturers must act as facilitators, who engage students in guided interactions, comprehensive thoughtful discussions and the creation of collaborative communities of learners (Polly et al., 2020; Kurt, 2020; Ibañez & Pentang, 2021). Polly et al. (2020, p 2) found that learning “awakens a variety of internal development processes that are only able to operate when a student interacts with others.” This is perhaps the reason why Matusov (2015) argued that we cannot understand cognitive development without first understanding the social and historical context within which it is situated. Based on the theoretical and conceptual frameworks, a research model (Figure 1), was developed. Figure 1 demonstrates that the factors that include institutional practices, lecturer factors, parental factors, peer factors, learning content and artifacts, as well as the classroom climate, may have a significant effect on the interaction levels of boys and girls in the classroom; while furthermore, the interaction levels may have a significant effect on the academic performance of the students.
Educational institutions, such as universities, are expected to provide all students, male and female alike, with equal opportunities to interact with their lecturers, peers and content, for enhanced academic performance. Institutional practices are defined as opportunities that institutions create and provide for all students to be able to effectively learn (Ziskin et al., 2010), Such opportunities include teaching and learning practices, recruitment practices, promotion practices, support and development practices, orientation and residential life practices, among others (Ziskin et al., 2010). Interaction, being a social skill, is critical for the academic performance of students (Voyer & Voyer, 2014); and it needs to be nurtured by educational institutions.
Without a clearly articulated institutional vision and policy that guides institutional practices on gender equity issues in university classrooms, charting the right direction, in order to facilitate equity in the participation of both male and female students in the learning process in universities, this becomes a challenge (OECD, 2015) Chapman (2015) established that gender based socialisation practices in higher educational institutions continue to ensure that female students are made aware that they are unequal to male students. This has serious ramifications on their self esteem, confidence, motivation and ultimately on their academic performance (Hurtado, 2021).
As a result of these institutional practices that continue to promote inequity, classroom practices also by extension, continue to ensure, through the teaching methodologies used, examples selected to clarify concepts, and the technology artifacts used, whereby female students understand their lower academic rank, when compared to male students.
Bigler et al. (2013, p.1) in their study found that the institutional “experiences afforded to both male and female students affect gender differentiation, both directly by providing differential skills practice and reinforcement, and indirectly
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by providing inputs that lead to students being socialised and behaving in gender differentiated ways ” H1: Institutional practices have a significant influence on the gender interaction levels of university students during lessons.
3.2. Lecturers as determinants of gender-based interaction differences Consuegra et al (2016) also established that, just like parents’ expectations of their children, the expectations of lecturers of students have a significant influence on their interaction levels and on their academic performance. Lecturers relate to the academics tasked with the teaching of students in colleges and universities. Howe and Abedin (2013) found that the gender based character of the expectations of lecturers of students has a very high influence on how male and female students participate in learning, as well as on the students’ future behaviour after school. In their separate studies, Consuegra et al. (2016), Hurtado (2021) and Gustavsen (2019) found that lecturers tend to have differential expectations of male and female students’ academic performance, as well as to behave and communicate differentially towards male and female students. All these expectations have significant effects on the self esteem, achievement motivation, level of aspiration, classroom conduct and levels of interaction of both male and female students during lessons (Consuegra et al., 2016).
Howe and Abedin (2013) also found that lecturers tend to give more opportunities to male students for participating in learning activities; and they would more likely select a male student instead of a female student, when both raise their hands at the same time to answer a question. This behaviour by lecturers has a significant effect on the self esteem, confidence and motivation of female students to participate in classroom activities (Mullen et al , 2015). Hassaskah and Zamir (2013), in their published work on gender based interactive differences between male and female students in universities, also found that lecturers’ attitudes and expectations of the genders have a significant influence on their behaviour towards the levels to which female students can, or should, participate in class, when compared to the levels at which male students participate.
These atypical assumptions about the levels of interaction between male and female students are, therefore, the reason why many of the research findings have demonstrated that female students’ participation levels in class are generally and deliberately made lower than those for male students by their lecturers.
In another study, Sadker et al. (2009) found that instead of interacting with all the students, lecturers tend to spend two thirds of their teaching time interacting with male students, and also that lecturers are more likely to interrupt a female student and allow male students to take over a discussion, or an explanation of a concept Such a behaviour demeans female students; and it significantly affects their self esteem and interaction levels in class. Weiler (2009) also established that in science and mathematics courses, lecturers tend to mostly direct their gaze towards male students, and to call male students to go to the front to perform demonstrations, when compared to female students, thereby indicating that the sciences and mathematics courses are not for female students, but for male students.
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Carlana (2019), in her study, further found that lecturers grade male students better than female students, especially in these science, mathematics and technology courses, with male students consequently getting higher grades than female students on answers similar to the ones that female students would have provided. These practices have serious negative implications for the confidence, self esteem and participation levels of female students in such courses. Nevertheless, Pentang et al. (2021) have shown that male and female university students are given equal opportunities to select any field of specialization.
H2: Lecturers have a significant influence on gender interaction levels of university students during lessons.
3.3.
Parents represent the primary socialising agents from the birth of a child to adulthood (Hurtado, 2021; Consuegra et al., 2016;Gustavsen, 2019). In their study, Halimi et al. (2016) found that because parents are responsible for transmitting sex roles to their children from early years on, they influence both the general, as well as the educational expectations of their children in terms of how actively the child would participate in life in general and in school, and in how much of academic performance, they set the bar for themselves to achieve.
Mullen et al. (2015) found that parents who socialise their daughters to become timid, and to look inferior to their brothers, contribute to the development of timid and inferior tendencies, and hence to low levels of participation and interaction in class from girls. In a similar study, Consuegra et al (2016) found that parents tend to transmit feelings and behaviours of subservience to their daughters that have negative future implications on how the girls will interact with others in life in general, and also in school classrooms in particular.
H3: Parents have a significant influence on gender based interaction levels of university students during lessons.
3.4. Peers as determinants of gender-based interaction differences
Peers represent a referent group, that is, a group with which a student interacts for most of the time during and after school hours (Gustavsen, 2019). Consuegra et al. (2016) argue that peers represent a critical social group in the gender socialisation process, which exerts a big influence on a student’s attitudes, general behaviour and interaction levels in classrooms. Separate studies by Consuegra et al (2016) and Gustavsen (2019) found that if a student’s peer group represents a vibrant and active group that would always actively participate in school and class activities, the student would be socialised to be active and to participate actively in school and class activities, and vice versa. In a similar study, Nusche (2015) found that the levels of interaction of students in the classroom also depend on their perceptions of how they are perceived by their peers.
In the same study, it was found that male students are easily influenced by their peers to either participate or not to participate, when compared to female students, whose participation is because of their love of learning.
H4: Peers have a significant influence on gender based interaction levels of university students during lessons.
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Learning content and artifacts as determinants of gender-based interaction differences
Content represents the information that students learn; while artifacts relate to the objects made by human beings, typically one of cultural, technological or historical interest (Förtsch et al., 2020). Content in textbooks and artifacts in science and technology that are used for learning in universities has been found to have a significant effect on the gender interaction levels of male and female students in universities (Witt & Hofmeister, 2015). Goode et al (2020) aver that content that stereotypes men and boys as technically oriented, and women and girls as not, has for a long time been one of the reasons for the perpetuation of gender differences in the levels of interaction of students in university classrooms. Fortsch and Gartig (2020) also found that gender stereotypes, stereotype threats and gender roles, as shown in textbooks, technology artifacts and other learning materials contribute significantly to the differences in the levels of participation in class by male and female students.
In their study also, Witt and Hofmeister (2015) found that gender differences in the use of technology by male and students during lessons, are as a result of technology designers, who play a key role in gendering technology artifacts, when they integrate designs into technology products with assumptions about skills, motives and traits of potential users, who in most cases are expected to be males These content and artefact based stereotypes have deep social and cultural roots; and they have a significant impact on how male and female students rate their skills and knowledge, and consequently on how much they are comfortable, when participating actively during lessons (Fortsch et al., 2020). H5: Learning content and artifacts have a significant influence on gender based interaction levels of university students during lessons.
The classroom environment is one of the influential factors in the development of gender differences in the interaction levels between male and female university students (Gustavsen, 2019). Classrooms are defined as “dynamic, complex social systems with unique processes (reciprocal interactions), persons (unique attributes and skills), and contexts (environmental influences) that affect the development of students and their participation in learning’ (Gustavsen, 2019, p 2). As a result of the complex nature of classrooms and their environments, different students behave differently; and it is these differences that need to be effectively managed by the lecturers, in order to ensure adequate and equal interaction during the learning process by both male and female students.
Caribay (2015) argued that the classroom climate can potentially affect students’ engagement (interaction) and their academic performance, particularly if students feel segregated, discriminated against and disrespected. In his study, Caribay (2015) further established two types of classroom climates that influence student interaction, namely, the explicitly marginalising climate and the implicitly marginalising climate. The explicitly marginalising climate is hostile, unwelcoming and discriminating, in which the lecturers and/or other students, are clearly discriminatory and disdainful of female students. On the other hand, the implicitly marginalising climate is characterised by subtle and indirect
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postures and remarks of a demeaning and discriminatory nature against female students in the classroom.
Hurtado (2021) found that classroom climates that are negative or discriminatory against female students affect their self esteem and preparation for class, self confidence, and their motivation to participate, regardless of their ability. Pervin et al. (2021) also opine that, on the other hand, a warm and welcoming learning environment that provides students with a feeling of control and security, helps students to be more engaged, active and satisfied, thereby leading to better academic performance. These findings show that both male and female students, who have feelings of control and security, do better in school.
H6: Classroom climate has a significant influence on gender based interaction levels of university students during lessons.
3.6.
Interaction relates to opportunities for students, and/or students and lecturers, to ask each other questions, discuss, or reflect on topics in the classroom (Wei, 2021). On the other hand, academic performance is the outcome of the knowledge gained, which is assessed by the marks allocated by a teacher, and/or the educational goals set by students and teachers to be achieved over a specific period of time (Narad & Abdullah, 2016). Student interaction levels have been linked in a number of studies for academic success (Aguillon et al., 2020; Casper et al., 2019; Ballen et al., 2019). Academic performance, as it relates to the achievement of learning goals by students (Hurtado, 2021; Carlana, 2019; Harbin et al , 2020). Dana (2020) established that gender classroom interaction can either obstruct or promote the academic performance of students.
In their studies on gender differences in academic performances between male and female university students, Pervin et al. (2021) and Aristovinik et al (2020) found that students with higher levels of interaction, whether male or female, demonstrated higher levels of academic achievement in their areas of study than those with lower levels of interaction Gopal and Singh (2021), Martin (2021), Mensink and King (2020) and Almaiah and Alyoussef (2019) found that lecturers who actively interact more with either male or female students by providing them with timely responses to questions, timely feedback, and also by ensuring that the students get more access to participation opportunities than other students, contribute significantly to gender academic performance by their students. Other studies by Hashemi (2021), Terblanche et al. (2021), Oviawe (2020) and Ansari and Khan (2020) also found that high levels of interaction between lecturers and students, and between students themselves, contribute to the development of positive self esteem, motivation and satisfaction among students, which in turn lead to enhanced academic performance.
Studies by Ndirika and Ubani (2017) and Oludipe (2012) however, found no significant relationship between the levels of student interaction and academic performance, according to gender This was also confirmed in separate studies by Knight et al. (2016) and Cooper et al. (2018), who also found that the levels of interaction in class did not have any significant influence on the academic performance of students in universities.
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H7: Gender based interaction levels have a significant influence on the academic performance of university students.
4.1.
A cross sectional survey design that employed a quantitative approach located in the post positivist paradigm was used in the study. The study was guided by the deductive theory. The study was conducted in 2021 at three selected universities in Bindura, a town that is about 100 kilometres from Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe.
The study was conducted at three universities located in the town of Bindura as research sites. A sample for the study was drawn from students in academic faculties training students in sciences, mathematics and technology at each of the three universities. The total number of students in these academic faculties was 11000 from first year to final year students. Using the Research Advisors’ (2006) sample size table at a 99% level of confidence and a 3.5% margin of error, the sample size for the study was determined as 1285 students. Using proportional representation, each of the three universities had institutional samples distributed, as follows: X1=217; X2=739 and X3=329. Stratified random sampling strategy was used to select the students for each institutional sample from the academic faculties
The researcher first requested permission from the offices of the Deputy Registrars Academy, to carry out the study at the three universities; and permission was granted. Thereafter, the Deputy Registrars Academy then liaised with the Deans of the academic faculties at their universities, in order to facilitate the selection of the institutional samples to participate in the study, according to the guidelines of the researcher, and in line with COVID 19 protocols. After institutional samples were established and the emails of the participants were given to the researcher, a total of 1285 questionnaires were distributed online through the emails of the selected students. Being an online survey, two weeks were allowed for the completion and return of the completed questionnaires, in line with the minimum recommended time for the administration of online surveys of 12.21 days (Ilieva et al., 2002).
A further one week was allowed as the follow up period. After three weeks, a total of 460 completed questionnaires were returned, giving a return rate of 35 8%, which was considered acceptable, as it met the minimum recommended return rate of 33% for online surveys. Based on the returned completed online questionnaires, the demographic profiles of the respondents were analysed, as shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Demographic profiles of participants
Demographic factor Items %
Gender Female Male 56 44
Age ≤20 years 21 30years > 30years
Educational level 1st year 2nd year 3rd year Final year
9 61 30
32 31 20 17
The results in Table 1 show that most of the students (56%) enrolled at the three universities were females, which shows that the three universities have turned a leaf with regard to the issues of gender equity. 70% of the students at the universities were 30 years and below in age, which is consistent with the fact that most of the students (63%) at the universities are either in their first year or in their second year of studies.
4.2.
The study used the Student Interaction and Academic Performance Questionnaire (SIAPQ) developed by the researcher and adopted from the Lecturer Student Relationship Questionnaire (TSRQ) Rating Scale and the literature review. The questionnaire has 8 sections with 68 items, as follows: Institutional practices (IP) 7 items; Lecturer factors (LF) 34 items; Parent factors (PF) 6 items; Peer factors (PE) 4 items; Learning content and artifacts (LCA) 4 items; Classroom climate (CC) 6 items; Interaction levels (IL) 4 items; and Academic performance (AP) 3 items. A 5 point Likert scale with scales from Almostnever (AN 1), Seldom (SE 2), Sometimes(SO 3), Often (OF 4), andAlways (AL 5) was used in the design of the questionnaire. The proof of the instrument used in the study is shown in Appendix A, which shows the constructs, their items, the item codes and the item sources; while Appendix B shows a structured questionnaire. It is also shown in the sections of the questionnaire that most of the questions are under the lecturer factors; since most of the learning occurs in the classroom under the lecturer.
4.3.
The researchers used the following data validation tools for the measurement assessment model: the normality test, the non response bias test, the common method bias test, the convergent validity and the discriminant validity assessment.
4.3.1.
SPSS version 24 was used for normality testing. Based on the results, the observations of the Q Q plots, the box plots and the histograms demonstrated that the data were normally distributed. This was further confirmed by using the Z scores, calculated by using the SPSS version 24. The results showed that all the Z
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scores (n = 460), ranged between 2.58 and +2.58 at a 1% level of significance, thus confirming the data normality (Pallant, 2016; Hair et al , 2017).
4.3.2. The common method bias
The common method bias (CMB), also called the common method variance (CMV) was used to assess the potential threat to the validity of the data. This is done to assess whether variations in responses are caused by the design of the instrument, or by the actual predispositions of the respondents that the instrument attempts to expose (Jordan & Troth, 2020; Jakobsen & Jensen, 2015; Podsakoff et al., 2012). Using Herman’s single factor test, also called the Herman’s one factor test, to assess any CMB in the data, the principal component analysis in SPSS version 24 was conducted to examine the unrotated factor solution, in order to obtain the number of items with eigenvalues of less than 1 that explain the aggregate variance (Fuller et al., 2016; Jordan & Troth, 2020; Williams & McGonagle, 2016).
The results showed that there was no threat of CMB in the data; as the total variance extracted by one factor was 33.7%, which was below the recommended threshold of 50%; and none of the factors explained a variance of more than this threshold (Ankitha & Basri, 2019; Jordan & Troth, 2020; Podsakoff et al., 2012).
4.3.3. The non response bias
The non response bias test (NBT), also called the participation bias test (PBT), was used to assess whether there was any threat of the results being nonrepresentative; because a significant number of people in the survey sample had failed to respond and disproportionately possessed some traits that affected the results (Cheung et al., 2017). The researcher used the method recommended by Whitehead, Groothuis and Blomquist (1993) and Armstrong and Overton (1977) to assess the NBT. Using this method, the researcher compared the means of each of the first 100 entries of responses against those of the last 100 entries; and the results were not significantly different, confirming that the data were free of the threat of non response bias.
4.3.4. The convergent validity
To measure convergent validity for the data, the researcher used model fit indices, the standardised factor loadings (λ), and the individual item reliability (squared multiple correlations) (Iα), Cronbach’s alpha (α), composite reliability (CRα), critical rations (CR), and the average variance extracted (AVE).
Table 2: Convergent validity assessment using model fit indices
Construct
Institutional practices (IP) 2.044 0.964 0.941 0.975 0.969 0.931 0.043
Lecturer factors (LF) 1.961 0.985 0.933 0.981 0.971 0.927 0.044
Parents factors (PF
1.992 0.974 0.936 0.979 0.982 0.944 0.041
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2.055 0.986 0.951 0.983 0.969 0.933 0.043
Peer factors (PE) 2.331 0.984 0.941 0.975 0.980 0.947 0.046 Learning content and artifacts (LCA)
Classroom climate (CC) 2.319 0.979 0.946 0.974 0.982 0.937 0.045
Interaction levels (IL) 1.993 0.981 0.936 0.985 0.981 0.943 0.042
Academic performance(AP) 2.351 0.985 0.921 0.974 0.979 0.935 0.044
Recommended values ≤3.000 >0.950 >0.900 >0.950 >0.950 >0.900 <0.080
Sources Bagozzi and Yi (1988)
Hooper et al. (2008)
Chau and Hu (2001)
Chin and Todd (1995)
Kline (2005) Bagozzi and Yi (1988)
Browne and Cudeck (1993)
Notes: χ2/df Chi square divided by degrees of freedom; GFI Goodness of fit index; AGFI Adjustedgoodnessoffitindex;NFI Normedfitindex;TLI TuckerLewis’s index;CFI Comparative fitindex;RMSEA Rootmeansquareerrorofapproximation
The results in Table 2 show that, after removing outlier items, which had a standardised loading of less than 0.6, all the indices satisfied the minimum recommended requirements. The outlier items that had factor loadings that were less than 0.6, and were removed from the data were IP3, IP5, LF5, LF6, LF12, LF13, LF14, LF26, LF32, PF1, PF5, and LCA1. The final results on the assessment of the model fit indices, therefore, confirmed the presence of convergent validity.
Table 3: λ, Iα, CR, α, CRα, AVE, TL, VIF
Construct Items λ Iα CR α CRα AVE TL VIF Institutional practices IP1 IP2 IP4 IP6 IP7
Lecturer factors LF1 LF2 LF3 LF4 LF7 LF8 LF9 LF10 LF11 LF15 LF16 LF17 LF18 LF19 LF20 LF21 LF22
0.815 0.741 0.753 0.819 0.844
0.910 0.929 0.833 0.821 0.837 0.762 0.808 0.813 0.752 0.755 0.733 0.769 7651 0.825 0.716 0.826 0.735
0.631 0.703 0.822 0.659 0.733
0.855 0.641 0.663 0.644 0.758 0.705 0.810 0.728 0.803 0.655 0.772 0.812 0.671 0.663 0.701 0.825 0.726
21.338*** 19.085*** 18.277*** 15.119***
27.447*** 26.148*** 24.307*** 23.088*** 22.316*** 21.113*** 20.433*** 20.128*** 20.016*** 19.449*** 19.217*** 19.022*** 17.649*** 17.341*** 17.220*** 17.019***
0.819 0.833 0.621 0.347 4.113
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0.855 0.920 0.633 0.391 2.059
LF23 LF24 LF25 LF27 LF28 LF29 LF30 LF31 LF33 LF34
Parent factors PF2 PF3 PF4 PF6
Peer factors PE1 PE2 PE3 PE4
Learning content and artifacts
0.811 0.736 0.746 0.802 0.734 0.728 0.818 0.726 0.772 0.810
0.781 0.858 0.803 0.851
0.775 0.824 0.819 0.827
0.669 0.817 0.801 0.714 0.654 0.647 0.704 0.811 0.651 0.763
0.706 0.735 0.771 0.649
0.715 0.723 0.802 0.648
16.920*** 15.227*** 15.104*** 14.287*** 12.992*** 12.317*** 11.427*** 9.285*** 8.662*** 8.115***
18.503*** 16.219*** 15.288***
20.316*** 19.709*** 17.335***
0.759 0.815 0.701 0.417 5.044
0.913 0.920 0.647 0.425 4.958
LCA2 LCA3 LCA4
Classroom climate CC1 CC2 CC3 CC4 CC5 CC6
Interaction levels IL1 IL2 IL3 IL4
Academic performance AA1 AA2 AA3
0.771 0.722 0.709
0.755 0.705 0.833 0.729 0.815 0.747
0.805 0.910 0.739 0.802
0.772 0.779 0.805
0.784 0.722 0.639 15.729*** 14.228***
0.664 0.718 0.703 0.665 0.741 0.641
0.829 0.733 0.727 0.641
12.881*** 9.283*** 8.517*** 6.551*** 5.910***
19.427*** 17.319*** 16.662***
0.746 0.808 0.713 28.336*** 25.137***
0.817 0.823 0.625 0.452 3.620
0.791 0.803 0.644 0.401 1.429
0.927 0.931 0.609 0.319 3.337
0.844 0.857 0.640 0.328 4.272
Notes: TL Tolerancelevel,VIF Varianceinflationfactor,CRisfixed,significantat***p<.001
The results in Table 3 were used to evaluate whether the assumptions of multicollinearity were not violated, as well as to assess convergent validity. Tolerance levels (TL) and the variance inflation factor (VIF) were used to assess whether the assumptions of multicollinearity were not violated in the study. For all the constructs, the results in Table 3 show that TL < 1 and VIF < 10, confirming that the assumptions of multicollinearity were not violated in the study (Chatterjee & Hadi 2013; Saunders et al., 2012).
When testing for convergent validity, λ, Iα, CR, α, CRα and AVE were used. The data were first cleaned of outliers, as indicated above. The internal consistency reliability of the data was confirmed by the fact that for all the constructs, the coefficients for Iα > 0.06 (Nunnally, 1978; Segars, 1997) and the coefficients of α and CRα were also all greater than 0.7 (Nunnally, 1978; Segars, 1997) thus satisfying the minimum recommended values for internal consistency reliability. For factor loadings, all loadings satisfied the minimum recommended value of λ
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> 0.6 (Bagozzi & Yi, 1988). The results also show that all the critical ratio values satisfied the recommended values of CR > 2; and they were significant at p < 0.001 (Segars, 1997). Also, all AVE values satisfied the minimum recommended value of AVE > 0.5 (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). Based on the fact that all the metrics λ, Iα, CR, α, CRα and AVE satisfied the recommended values, as demonstrated above, convergent validity was confirmed in the data.
CR AVE MSV Max R (H)
IP LF PF PE LCA CC IL AP
IP 0.833 0.621 0.357 0.841 0.788
LF 0.920 0.633 0.235 0.925 0.241 0.796
PF 0.815 0.701 0.208 0.822 0.109 0.227 0.837
PE 0.920 0.647 0.318 0.936 0.096 0.135 0.217 0.804
LCA 0.823 0.625 0.261 0.830 0.117 0.220 0.335 0.228 0.791
CC 0.803 0.644 0.317 0.915 0.105 0.169 0.212 0.155 0.485 0.802 IL 0.931 0.609 0.304 0.939 0.119 0.091 0.173 0.207 0.144 0.144 0.780
AP 0.857 0.640 0.295 0.861 0.217 0.115 0.215 0.193 0.316 0.205 0.614 0.800
Notes: CRComposite reliability, AVE Average variance extracted, MSV Maximum shared variance,MaxR(H) Maximumreliability,BolddiagonalvaluesrepresentthesquarerootsofAVE
Two methods were used in Table 4 to assess the discriminant validity of the data. The comparison between MSV and AVE shows that the AVE values are greater than the MSV values, demonstrating the presence of discriminant validity in the data (Wheaton et al., 1977). Also, a comparison between square roots of AVE (bold diagonal values) and corresponding inter construct correlations shows that the square roots of AVE values are greater than the corresponding inter construct correlations, thereby again confirming the presence of discriminant validity in the data (Segars, 1997).
Descriptive statistics were used for summarizing the data. The data were validated by using the normality test, the non response bias test, the common method bias test, convergent validity and discriminant validity assessment. Inferential statistics (AMOS Version 24) were used to test the relationships between the dependent variable and the independent variables.
The researchers first evaluated whether the model fit indices were acceptable before testing the hypotheses by using the AMOS version 24. The results showed that the model fit indices were acceptable, as they were within the recommended values: χ2/df = 1.972, GFI= 0.973, AGFI= 0.933, NFI = 0.966,TLI = 0.941, CFI = 983, and MSEA = 0.0478 (Hair et al., 2017; Hooper et al., 2008). The path coefficients were thereafter assessed.
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Table 5: The path coefficients
Hypotheses IV DV Unstandardised estimates SE CR Standardised estimates R2
HI PP IL 0.338 0.071 6.119 0.309*** 0.52
H2 LF IL 0.445 0.082 7.045 0.374*** 0.48
H3 PF IL 0.191 0.065 2.331 0.073* 0.55
H4 PE IL 0.245 0.221 3.713 0.118** 0.57
H5 LCA IL 0.319 0.093 4.338 0.237*** 0.39
H6 CC IL 0.331 0.075 9.149 0.527** 0.51
H7 IL AP 0.291 0.084 6.914 0.371*** 0.62
Notes: significant: *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p < 0.001, DV dependent variable, IV Independent variable, CR Critical ratio, R2 Coefficient of determination
The results in Table 5 show that all the latent variables have a significant influence on the gender interaction levels of university students IP (β = 0.309; p < 0.001), LF(β = 0.374; p <0.001), PF(β = 0.073; p < 0.05), PE(β = 0.118; p < 0.01), LCA(β = 0.237; p < 0.001), and CC(β = 0.527; p <0 .01). As a result, H1, H2, H3, H4, H5 and H6 were therefore supported. These results also show that CC has the highest influence on the interaction levels of students, followed by LF, IP and LCA, respectively. PF has the lowest influence on the interaction levels of university students during learning. The results further show that IL has a significant influence on AP (β = 0.371; p < 0.001), hence H7 was supported.
Table 5 further shows the explanatory power of the latent variables with regard to the interaction levels by university students, as shown. The results show that IP explains 52% of variation in the interaction levels of university students during lessons. Other factors that include LF contribute 48%, PF contributes 55%, PE contributes 57%, LCA contributes 39% and CC contributes 51% of the variation to the interaction levels of university students. Also, interaction levels contribute 52% to the variation in the academic performance of university students. The model as a whole contributes 67% of the variation in the academic performance of university students due to the interaction levels.
The institutional practices in universities have a significant influence on gender based interaction differences among university students. This suggests that where universities have gender equity policies and guidelines, all students, whether male or female, would actively and equally participate in their lessons. With clear policies and guidelines, the levels of interactions in universities would therefore not favour one specific gender group of students over another. However, where a university does not have policies and guidelines on gender equity, it has been shown in a number of studies (Hurtado, 2021) that male students are mostly favoured, with more opportunities to participate and interact with the teachers or among themselves during lessons, especially in STEM subjects. OECD (2015) established that many universities do not have gender equity policies to guide both lecturers and students on the correct conduct in classes
Another study by Chapman (2015) also found that gender socialisation practices in higher educational institutions continue to ensure that female students are
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made aware that they are unequal to male students. This was confirmed by Bigler et al (2013), who in his study found that higher institutions continue to socialise students in gender differentiated ways, which according to Hurtado (2021) leads to the segregated and stereotyped students developing low self esteem, low levels of confidence and motivation, and little desire to interact during the lessons.
Lecturers have a significant influence on the interaction levels of university students. Teaching practices by lecturers that include the nature of the feedback they give to both male and female students, the teaching methods they use, and the nature of content they use when teaching, all play a significant role in the gender interaction patterns of university students. If lecturers use teaching methods with examples that demean female students, these methods always give more opportunities for male students to participate in class, and to use content that stereotypes female students. The end result is that female students would not have the confidence and motivation to actively participate and interact with both the lecturers and other students in the class.
This is in line with the findings in earlier studies. In their separate studies, Consuegra et al. (2016), Hurtado (2021) and Gustavsen (2019) found that lecturers who have differential expectations of male and female students’ academic performance tend to behave and communicate differently towards male and female students, thereby leading to differences in student interaction levels. Consuegra et al. (2016) also are of the view that a differential approach to communication with male and female students by lecturers has significant effects on the self esteem, achievement, motivation, level of aspiration, classroom conduct and the levels of interaction of both male and female students. In the context of the current study, the results showed that female students are mostly affected by the differential communication of the lecturers during lessons.
Parents have a significant influence on the gender interaction levels of university students. Parents are referred to as the primary socialising agents (Hurtado, 2021; Gustavsen, 2019); and what they do and say to their children carries a lot of weight with regard to the children’s present and future behaviours. If parents raise their children to be subservient, they will grow up to be subservient and rank themselves lower every time. The consequences of this will be that the children will, in future, lack confidence and develop a belief that certain behaviours are beyond them, and are for other people
In the context of the current study, if girls are socialised by their parents to believe that boys are superior to them, they will grow to feel inferior to boys, then their participation levels in mixed-gender classes would also be affected. Mullen et al. (2015) found that parents who socialise their daughters to be timid and to look inferior to boys, contribute to the development of timid and inferior tendencies, and hence future low levels of participation and interaction in class by the child. Peers have a significant influence on the gender-interaction levels of university students. These results suggest that the referent groups or friends that students associate with have a significant influence on how the students behave in general and participate during lessons in particular. If a student associates himself or
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herself with peers that show little concern to active participation in class, the end result is that the student would also not actively participate; and his or her interaction levels would consequently be lower. The reverse is also true.
This is consistent with the findings of previous studies. Separate studies by Consuegra et al. (2016), Gustavsen (2019) and Ibañez and Pentang (2021) found that if a student’s peer group represents a vibrant and active group that always actively participates in school and class activities, the student would be socialised to be active and to participate actively in school and class activities, and vice versa. In his study, Nusche (2015) also found that the levels of interaction of students in the classroom depend on their perceptions of how they are perceived by their peers.
Learning content and artifacts have a significant influence on the gender interaction levels of university students. This suggests that if students develop perceptions from the learning materials that their lecturers use to teach them that they are either capable or incapable of performing well in their lessons, then their feelings would accordingly develop into attitudes that suggest they would participate more in class or not, respectively. If, for example, the content and artifacts that lecturers use when teaching present male students are superior to female students, as has been shown in a number of studies, female students would begin to accept it as true; and they would lose confidence, leading to their low levels of interaction during lessons.
Goode et al. (2020) established that content that stereotypes men and boys as technically oriented, and women and girls as not, is one of the reasons for the perpetuation of gender differences in levels of participation and interaction in university classrooms. According to Fortsch et al. (2020), content and artifact based stereotypes in university learning materials have deep social and cultural roots that have a significant influence on how male and female students rate their skills and knowledge, and thus on the extent to which they would be comfortable when participating actively during lessons.
The classroom climate has a significant influence on the gender interaction levels of university students. This suggests that if the classroom climate is conducive to learning, that is, if it makes students feel safe and appreciated, they feel that they get equal opportunities to contribute to class discussion just like all other students, and they are valued by not only other students, but by the teacher as well, gender interaction levels would be lower. However, if on the other hand, students feel segregated, their interaction levels would also be lower, since such students would feel demotivated. This is consistent with Caribay (2015), who found that the classroom climate can potentially affect student engagement (interaction) and academic performance, particularly if students feel segregated, discriminated against and disrespected.
This is also confirmed in a study by Hurtado (2021) who found that classroom climates that are negative or discriminatory against female students affect their preparation for class, self confidence and interaction levels, regardless of their ability. On the other hand, Pervin et al. (2021) argue that a warm and welcoming
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classroom climate provides students with a feeling of control; and security helps students to be more engaged, active and satisfied, thereby leading to better academic performance.
Interaction levels have a significant influence on the academic performance of students. This suggests that when students get opportunities to interact between and among themselves, as well as with the teacher, they share knowledge, support each other and hence understand concepts better, leading to enhanced academic performance. During interactions, concepts are clarified and made simple to understand; and this improves the academic performance of the students. This is consistent with the findings of past studies. Separate studies by Peervin et al. (2021), Witt and Hofmeister (2015), Carlana (2019), Gopal and Singh (2021), Goodle et al. (2020) and Forsch and Gartig Daugs (2020) found that male students tend to perform better than female students in sciences, mathematics and technology; because the lecturers favour the male students with regard to opportunities to participate actively in class
Female students were also found to have higher levels of interaction in arts subjects; and they tended to perform better than male students academically in those subjects (Oviawe, 2020; Asaf & Zahoo, 2017). Studies by Knight et al. (2016), Ndirika and Ubani (2017), Cooper et al. (2018) and Pentang et al. (2021) however, found no significant relationship between academic performance and the levels of interaction in universities, according to gender. Studies by Ansari and Khan (2020), as well as those by Al-Rahmi et al. (2018) found that students with high levels of interaction had a greater likelihood of performing better academically.
The study sought to establish gender interaction practices of university science, mathematics and technology students, as well as the influence of interaction levels on academic performance; and a number of conclusions were reached. Firstly, institutional practices are among the major factors in the perpetuation of gender differences in the interaction levels of students, due to the lack of gender equity policies. Secondly, lecturer behaviours in the classroom affect the gender interaction levels of students. A lecturer who gives equal opportunities for all students to participate during class raises the interaction levels of all students; while those lecturers who favour one gender group above another demoralise the shunned group, leading to low levels of interaction of the group discriminated during learning. Thirdly, the way parents raise and socialise their children has an effect on their future learning behaviour at school; as parents who raise their children to compete and stand tall all the time will develop their children into future students, who actively participate in school activities, such as active participation in class.
Fourthly, referent groups, such as peers, significantly influence how students participate in class. Highly active and motivated peers would motivate a student to also be highly active and motivated in class. Fifthly, some learning materials and artifacts in textbooks and other learning materials have a stereotyping effect and tend to affect the confidence and motivation of female students to actively
participate in learning. Sixthly, warm and welcoming classroom environments provide students with a sense of security and control that positively influences their levels of interaction during learning. Finally, interaction levels have a significant influence on the academic performance of all university students.
Universities need to develop gender equity policies that act as guides to ensure equal opportunities by students in all institutional activities. It was also recommended that curriculum designers in universities need to develop learning materials that are gender neutral, in order to promote gender equity in the universities in general, and in classrooms in particular. Thirdly, parents, as the primary sources of socialisation, should use home practices that encourage their girl children not to look down upon themselves, but to believe that they can perform any activities as well as boy children.
The study has implications for both policy and practice. With regard to policy, without clearly articulated policies on gender equity, universities will continue to face challenges in ensuring equity in education. With regard to practice, university lecturers need to ensure that they give both male and female students equal opportunities to participate in class. Such opportunities would ensure that all students can benefit from their learning and improve their academic performance.
The study established the gender interaction practices of university science, mathematics and technology students at three universities. It did not, however, go further to determine whether there are gender differences in the interaction levels and academic performance of students, according to each of the three areas of specialisation. Future studies could investigate this matter further.
Acknowledgements: The researcher wishes to thank all the participants and their institutions whose involvement contributed to the success of this study.
Funding: There is no funding to declare in this study.
Conflict of interest: There is no conflict of interest to declare in this study.
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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research
Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 46 63, May 2022
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.5.3
Received Feb 19, 2022; Revised Apr 29, 2022; Accepted May 10, 2022
Abstract. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19) pandemic has posed considerable challenges to higher education. To understand how the new landscape of curriculum delivery affects learning experience, a qualitative descriptive study was conducted among preclinical medical students in Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Malaysia between March 2021 and April 2021. Data were collected using an online Padlet platform which included an open ended question with additional guided questions whereby students wrote their reflective writings, describing their perceptions on how online learning due to the COVID 19 pandemic affected their education. All reflective writings were transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed based on an established framework of systematic, robust, and credible thematic synthesis. A total of six students provided their reflective writings. The analyses revealed four themes. ‘Adaptability and flexibility’ appeared as the prominent theme, followed by ‘reduced learning acuity’, ‘compromised tacit learning’, and ‘supports from policy and practice’. Students’ adaptability to the new educational practices is indispensable to harvest the advantage of being flexible with online based learning. It was concluded that key strategies for quality online basedlearningduringtheCOVID 19pandemicinclude educators’ training on engaging techniques, planning that avoids excessive and successive online classes, support for dedicated learning space at home, family engagement to reduce distractions, and students’ access to quality technological hardware and software. Engineering solutions for affordable and reliable Internet connectivity are the main policy issues. Finally,thestudyrecommendslong termeducationalgoalswhichshould address the irreplaceable aspects of tacit learning that are lost when transitioning to online based learning.
Keywords: coronavirus disease 2019; medical education; reflections; undergraduate
* Corresponding author: Mohd Salami Ibrahim; salamiibrahim@gmail.com
©Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY NC ND 4.0).
More than five million deaths have been attributed to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19)(WHO, 2020). In addition to incurring a significant burden to the healthcare systems worldwide, the pandemic has caused tremendous changes in virtually every aspect of human life, including higher education (Nicola et al., 2020; Pauzi & Juhari, 2020). The varying degrees of restriction and the closure of higher educational institutions (HEIs) have presented an unprecedented challenge to curriculum delivery. The lockdown of educational institutions is prudent to effect social and physical distancing in order to curb the spread of the COVID 19 (Chu et al., 2020) by minimising the risk of the emergence of education sector clusters. Unfortunately, such restrictions hamper and disrupt conventional educational practices, leaving online learning as the main medium of instruction. As a consequence, universities globally have to shift rapidly from traditional face to face interactions to online platforms to avoid significant interruptions in the students’ learning process (Burgess & Sievertsen, 2020; Pauzi & Juhari, 2020)
Although online learning has been suggested as a panacea for dealing with potential future global pandemics (Dhawan, 2020; Mukhtar et al., 2020), it is questionable whether the online platform is equivalent to the traditional face to face delivery in terms of effectiveness, engagement, and acceptability among both students and lecturers (Ismail et al., 2020). Before the COVID 19 crisis, Pei and Wu (2019) conducted meta analyses of 16 studies with objective assessments of learning outcomes to compare the traditional face to face learning and online based learning for undergraduate medical education. The random effects statistical model established no significant difference between the two mediums of teaching delivery in pre and post test scores (Pei & Wu, 2019). Nonetheless, the pooled effect statistics produced by the systematic review of the literature need to be interpreted with caution since the fidelity of implementation of online based learning in real practice may vary considerably during the COVID 19 pandemic with critical repercussions for the actual outcomes of learning. Therefore, the rapid transition of curriculum delivery towards a virtual based platform due to the COVID 19 pandemic may have created distinct circumstances that challenge our initial understanding of ubiquitous online based curriculum delivery.
The concern is evident in the increasing reports on challenges associated with online learning during the pandemic. In Saudi Arabia, Rajab et al. (2020) conducted a quantitative survey among students and staff of the College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, on educational challenges during the COVID 19 restrictions. The survey revealed almost half of the respondents reported no prior experience with online based learning with a wide range of limitations including poor quality of communication, anxiety, and technophobia (Rajab et al., 2020). Furthermore, the implementation of student assessments via online platform was crucially limited by reduced assessment fidelity and unestablished application of technology to command wide acceptability on data integrity, security, and ethical issue on confidentiality and privacy (Rajab et al., 2020). Meanwhile, change of routines gave rise to time management challenges due to the competing priorities to address new learning materials, adaptations of curriculum delivery and innovative teaching approaches (Rajab et al., 2020) On the other hand, Gong
(2020) and Rahman (2020) insightfully described the challenges faced by two HEIs to embrace technology enhanced education fully due to the lack of experience and steep learning curve caused by sudden changes of culture and routines of practice. Likewise, quantitative studies to determine how the pandemic has affected medical education have also been conducted in the United Kingdom (UK)(Dost et al., 2020), Jordan (Muflih et al., 2021), Poland (Baczek et al., 2021), Sudan (Gismalla et al., 2021), and Malaysia (Roslan & Halim, 2021) These studies reported multiple new types of challenges as well as known challenges with new magnitude. Thus, these original studies established a degree of evidence on changes due to the COVID 19 pandemic that mandate a new consideration of educational practices.
Further supporting the empirical evidence are findings from review studies on the educational impact of the COVID 19 on higher education. A meta synthesis of seven studies by Camargo et al. (2020) concluded varying challenges and gaps of evidence that warrant the need for future educational studies to focus on the analyses of the curriculum structure during the pandemic. Echoing a similar concern, the narrative review by Iwanaga et al. (2021) highlighted the deficiencies of online based learning in compensating for the immersive experience of face to face dissection of cadavers which is one of the core competencies of anatomy education. Consequently, they recommended anatomy educators to be familiar with all existing teaching methods to innovate a new approach that can maximise compensation owing to the lack of real experiential learning (Iwanaga et al., 2021) On the other hand, a critical review of dental education during the COVID 19 era by Machado et al. (2020) urged educators to exercise caution when relying on Internet based teaching owing to the non uniform learning experience as a result of unequal Internet access. Their concern was underpinned by the reports of all dental schools around Europe to embrace Internet based as the main mode of teaching owing to access restrictions to academic buildings (Machado et al., 2020). Taken together, uncertainties remain due to gaps of evidence from both empirical and review studies which signify the urgent need to explore the role of online learning to meet the new challenges of educational needs.
As a result, a qualitative study was conducted via reflective writings among the second year medical students at the Faculty of Medicine of the Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA). The undergraduate medical programme (MBBS) consists of two learning phases; Phase 1 (preclinical) for years 1 and 2, and Phase 2 (clinical) for years 3, 4, and 5 (Rahman et al., 2015). The MBBS programme in UniSZA was started almost ten years ago; previous research has indicated a favourable learning environment and positive learning experience among medical students (Rahman et al., 2015). However, there are some concerns about the quality of medical education received by the current undergraduate medical students as a result of the sudden change in curriculum delivery due to the COVID 19 pandemic. Questions remain as to whether the current strategies adopted by the faculty members are effective enough to help the preclinical medical students continue their education without major interruptions and delays. Even though the undergraduate medical students in UniSZA have experienced online learning during pandemic era for more than a year now, appropriate strategies on how to make online teaching and learning effective to cater for the specific needs of the medical education process still need to be
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established. A comprehensive review of students’ experience would be useful to illuminate gaps in the current educational practices during the COVID 19 pandemic as well as providing further insights into more targeted and effective educational interventions for future pandemics’ preparedness. Therefore, qualitative research was adopted that seeks to explore and generate a deeper understanding of this important issue.
Consequently, students’ reflections may serve as a significant source of information to gain an in depth understanding of the challenges regardingquality of education via the online platform during the COVID 19 pandemic. As a central element for experiential learning, reflection is a metacognitive process whereby one rethinks their thought process and tries to immerse, sometimes with deep emotion, in order to achieve a new height of abstract conceptualisation (Kaufman & Mann, 2013). Reflection therefore explains why two people who have had the same experience may reach different conclusions despite being exposed to the same event. Similarly, reflection may enlighten a deeper, richer learning experience which brings in depth insights into the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOTs) of current educational practices. Hence, students’ reflection is one of the richest sources of information to meet the objective of this study.
The main objective of this study was to explore the perceptions of the preclinical medical students on their learning concerning the impact of online learning due to the COVID 19 pandemic. In this study, the following research question was addressed: How does online learning due to the COVID 19 pandemic affect the learning experience of preclinical medical students?
This is a qualitative descriptive (QD) study (Kim et al., 2017) with thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) conducted from March 2021 to April 2021 in the Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA), Medical Campus, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia (Figure 1). QD design is a particularly common qualitative research design in fields related to healthcare (Polit & Beck, 2009). This is partly because the QD design confers a flexibility on data interpretation to explore new understanding that is supported by but not bound to, existing theories (Kim et al., 2017).
The study participants were recruited from Year 2 of undergraduate preclinical medical students from the Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA), Medical Campus, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia. The class representative of the second year preclinical medical students was contacted as he had direct contact with both the principal investigator and his classmates. The class representative acted as a mediator to disseminate the information regarding this study and to invite potentially interested participants. The recruitment of the study participants was carried out via purposive sampling (Palinkas et al., 2015)
The inclusion criteria for participation in this study were 1) second year medical students at the time of recruitment; and 2) being able to communicate and write in English or Malay. Upon contact and fulfilment of the inclusion criteria, each
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study participant was introduced to the background of the study and invited to participate.
Ethical approval for conducting the study was obtained from the UniSZA Human Research Ethics Committee (UHREC) (Study Protocol Code: UniSZA/UHREC/2021/229). All participants for this study were informed about the details of the study. Participation in this study was entirely voluntary and the study participants could withdraw from the study without any consequences. All participants provided signed informed consent (i.e. using digital signatures since data collection was performed using an online platform) before participating in the study. The anonymity and confidentiality of study participants were guaranteed. Only research team members had access to the data.
To comply with social distancing protocols and other restrictions imposed during the COVID 19 pandemic, data were collected using an online Padlet web platform (Padlet, 2021) (similar to a virtual bulletin board) which included an open ended question that was specifically designed for this study: tell us about how the COVID 19 pandemic has affected your learning experience. The following guided questions were also used to further encourage the participants to express their thoughts:
• What do you find useful and/or interesting from this experience?
• What do you think is/are particularly discouraging?
• How do you think this experience can be improved?
• In what ways do facilities such as devices and Internet connections influence this experience?
• In what ways does the teacher's conduct (e.g. teaching style, his/her expertise, etc.) affect your experience?
The students who opted to participate in our study were given a unique Padlet link to share their reflections voluntarily on how the COVID 19 pandemic affected their learning experience. They were given freedom to write their reflections at their own convenient time but within the period of data collection. To preserve the naturalistic perspective of the QD design, researchers refrained from giving comments or making suggestions about the study participants’ reflections throughout the conduct of this study.
The reflective scripts collected from the Padlet were transcribed verbatim by the researchers. The reflective scripts were analysed using thematic analysis The open coding procedures were carried out by the researchers; prominent patterns were identified independently and then corroborated to ensure analytical triangulation. Subsequently, all reflective scripts were analysed manually, and case by case analysis was done by all researchers, followed by cross case analysis to identify themes. The process of analysis followed the six step framework as designed by Braun and Clarke (2006), including familiarisation with data, generating initial codes, searching for themes, reviewing themes, defining and naming themes, and producing the scholarly report of the analysis.
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Figure 1: Study flowchart
Credibility refers to the confidence of data interpretation (Polit & Beck, 2013). The six step framework of data analysis by Braun and Clarke (2006) provides a systematic and methodologically robust approach to support the transparency of data analysis. Additionally, to generate the initial codes, name themes, and review themes, the two stage data interpretation as proposed by McNiff was adopted (2017, p. 183). The first stage was the surface level factual perspective which departs from searching the context driven by immediate answering the questions on what, why, when, where, and how (McNiff, 2017). At this stage, researchers avoid investing deep interpretation of the original text. This method was critical to ensure researchers ‘listened’ to what the respondents were expressing, rather than falling into the common trap of select interpretation by focusing only on certain text of interest. Thus, this step guided the exploratory oriented goal of this qualitative study.
Furthermore, the second stage involves deep interpretation which was underpinned by educational perspectives as value as criteria that transformed the data from information to evidence (McNiff, 2017). Educational perspectives were adopted as the value as criteria because of the educational oriented goal of this study. This process was supported by professional expertise from a qualified
medical educationist (MSI), established educational philosophies (learning theories), and empirical evidence from educational studies. Therefore, the two stage thematic synthesis of surface level factual perspective and deep level interpretation provides an audit trail to support the transparency and credibility of data analyses.
Triangulation is a distinct methodological approach to authenticate data sources and data interpretation of a qualitative study (McNiff, 2017). The authentication is achieved by the incorporation of multiple perspectives, thus enriching the scope of analyses from being narrowly defined and understood in a simplistic or self serving way (Herr & Anderson, 2014). Consequently, triangulation supports the democratic validity of a qualitative analysis because of multiple points of departure that produce robust and wide perspectives that are relatively resistant against fake or deceptive information (Herr & Anderson, 2014)
There were three aspects of triangulation employed in this study, namely data source, evaluators, and theories (Patton, 2014). A minimum of three participants who provided similar information provided the triangulation of data source. In this study, deep level interpretations were only conducted when three or more participants were describing similar phenomena. This was achieved by identifying three or more similar subthemes from the surface level factual perspectives.
Additionally, three researchers who arrived at the similar interpretations of the same data provided triangulation of evaluators. To achieve the triangulation of evaluators, a qualitative methodological expert (YMY) was invited to participate during the data collection and data analysis of this study.
Initially, evaluators conducted independent interpretations then compared each other’s findings. Any discrepancies were discussed, and final evaluations were reached via discussion and consensus. Finally, three distinct educational theories were used to describe the same theme to achieve the triangulation of perspectives (McNiff, 2017; Patton, 2014; Yin, 2009).
The triangulation of these three aspects served as additional measures with a robust audit trail to support the credibility, transferability, conformability, and dependability for the overall trustworthiness of discussion and conclusion of this study (Elo et al., 2014). Figure 2 illustrates the flow of analysis which is based on interconnected methods of triangulation to support this goal.
Six participants for this study produced reflective writing from a total of 60 second-year medical students who were invited to participate. This resulted in a 10% response rate Two were males and four were females. All of the study participants were 21 years old and all were used to English as their second language.
The thematic analysis yielded four main themes, namely ‘adaptability and flexibility’, ‘reduced learning acuity’, ‘compromised tacit learning’, and ‘supports from policy and practice’.
With online based learning, participants appreciated that they could save time, make greater financial savings and have easier access to family support. Collectively, these advantages signified a new gain of flexibility compared with the traditional conventional face to face time. These flexibilities confer wider autonomy to plan and commit to issues that relate to transport, food, professional appearance, and emotional support. To the question of encouraging experience from online based learning, Participant 4 insightfully responded as follows: “The most interesting thing is that no need to be dressed up and rushed to go to the online classes every morning. Also, when I got too stress out about studying and examination, I have my family in front of me to get some support.”
The benefits of flexibility, on the other hand, were not completely understood until students were able to adapt to their new learning habits. Participant 1 wrote the following:
“At first it was a very awkward moment and we found it quite tough because we never experienced such an experience like this. But after being at home and having online classes, I slowly adapt how to be a flexible student at home.”
Adapting to the new habit and being flexible have also aided in the development of innovative learning abilities. Participant 5 shared the experience of adopting a new learning style: “…the most interesting part that I experience is I became more creative (a little bit). If before, I just read the lecture notes and do some revision but during online class, I know that I need to survive in this Med school. I do a lot of simplified notes, diagram, and mind map that helps me on revising.”
Unfortunately, the transition to a virtual platform had also been associated with reduced learning acuity which denoted compromised aspects of the environment that were crucial for effective learning. This theme encapsulated issues such as unreliable and expensive Internet connection, poor audio visual clarity, lack of opportunity for private face to face access to lecturers, eye strain due to prolonged screen exposure, and distractions posed by the Internet content. Participant 2 shared the following: “Besides, the biggest challenge of online learning was the struggle with focusing on the computer screen for a long period. I was distracted easily by social media and other sites… Network coverage was bad and affected my study in such that the audio and video breaks, became an inconvenience and distraction to me. I often lost focus and interest when this happened.”
Additionally, the blurring of demarcation between home and dedicated educational environment was also associated with reduced learning acuity Participant 3 expressed the following:
“I do not own a room so it is an inconvenience for me to attend an online class at family room even though I own a study desk….Sometimes when relatives came, I also need to stop attending for a while to greet them and this somehow makes me lose focus.”
Unlike reduced learning acuity which could be remediated with comprehensive planning and resource investment, this theme emphasised irreplaceable components of learning that were undermined by transitioning to a virtual platform. Tacit learning could be understood as gaining knowledge that is not readily expressed but resides within the mind, behaviour, and perceptions of individuals (Dampney et al., 2002). Consequently, participants articulated loss of tacit learning via various statements that contrast the quality of learning between the traditional face to face and online based learning.
For example, in response to the question on the most discouraging experience of online based learning, Participant 6 reflected as follows:
“Probably the ability to have the face to face lecture. Human expresses emotions through their face and it affects others’ psychology. By having the face to face lecture, students can see the honesty in teaching that is expressed by their lecturers so it can affect the students’ psychology to feel more encouraged and interested in their study. In online learning, you don’t get the same effects as face to face learning.”
Furthermore, participants implied loss of tacit motivational drive via statements such as the absence of teaching gestures, inability to invest similar focus and being sleepy during online classes. Participant 2 wrote the following: “Being physically present in class put a pressure on me to focus more, which online learning did not have. I tend to take studying lightly when I was at home compared to in college.”
Participant 1 meanwhile summarised the loss of the tacit motivational aspect of learning by contrasting the home environment against the prior dedicated learning atmosphere: “… for me as a student who used to stay at the hostel, home is for rest and enjoy my holiday not for focusing on study too much.”
All participants shared one universal message forpolicy making, namely the need for reliable and affordable Internet connection. Participant 5 reflected as follows: “About the Internet, I need to change my place always. Sometimes in the bedroom, living room, or the kitchen. Tiring but what can I do?”
Consequently, participants appreciated several initiatives by the teachers to deliver quality education. These initiatives include recording the online classes for offline use by students with poor connectivity, the use of mobile applications such as WhatsApp as alternative access to teacher and peer support, and adopting engaging teaching techniques. Among the favourable techniques that were reported to help with engagement were the use of diagrams and video based lectures, personal video calls for certain students, and positive emotional appeals such as occasional jokes, a short break between topics, quick game sessions, and commitment to more teacher student interactions and interactions among peers.
Participant 2 recalled the effect of teaching techniques on the learning experience: “Most of my lecturers know how to make their students gain interest in every topic. They used a lot of diagrams and real life examples that we can relate and this gives a positive impact on my online learning experience. But there were also times that the class was dull.”
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first qualitative study to use students’ reflective writings to explore preclinical medical students’ perceptions of the influence of online-based learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic at a public university in Malaysia. The derived themes of flexibility and adaptability, reduced learning acuity, compromised tacit learning and support from policy and practice encapsulate students’ reflection on the impact of COVID 19 on their learning experience. The new understanding may prove useful because decision
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making for policy and practice is a complex process that requires multifaceted perspectives, evidence, and a deeper understanding of the issue to bring relevant and meaningful changes to the actual educational practices (Petticrew, 2015)
Moreover, each institution is unique in its experience, expertise, and resources to adopt technology enhanced educational practices. Therefore, unlike quantitative studies that seek the generalisation of statistical conclusions to the wider population, this qualitative study illuminates evidence of the roles of policy makers, teachers, students, and elements of learning environments that are critical for the learning process specific to our context. Institutions that share similar challenges to our context may benefit from the experience of this study. Consequently, the narrative approach has been adopted in the discussion on the findings below to bridge the synthesised themes towards insights, perspectives, and relevance to educational policies and practices.
4.2
In this qualitative study, adaptability and flexibility appeared as the prominent theme. This finding was also reflected in reports on quantitative studies on education during the pandemic. For example, to determine the impact of online learning owing to the COVID 19, the 2020 nationwide survey by Dost et al. (2020) among 2721 medical students across 39 medical schools in the United Kingdom (UK) revealed flexibility as the highest rated perceived benefit of online learning. Consistent findings have also been reported from surveys among 1210 medical students in Jordan (Muflih et al., 2021), 814 medical students in Poland (Baczek et al., 2021), 358 medical students in Sudan (Gismalla et al., 2021), and 178 medical students in Malaysia (Roslan & Halim, 2021). Participants of this qualitative study extend the understanding further by attributing flexibility to the convenience of not having to dress professionally, alleviating the commitment to routine travelling, a repeat of access to recorded materials, and the proximity of family support, food, and drink. More importantly, students only appreciated being flexible after they had adapted to new routines, indicating that the advantage of flexible learning time is not immediate and the attention to students’ adaptation is crucial.
Adaptation is a manifestation to achieve security. Maslow (1943) described safety as denoting humans’ physiological needs such as clothing, nutrition, and shelter, whereas security, which resides in the ability to know what to expect from a certain set of events or circumstances, is a higher need of human motivation. With time, students gain more understanding of various factors such as schedules, teaching styles, events, and outcomes. This understanding leads to the ability to know what to expect and how to respond, thus facilitating the motivation to commit to new learning behaviours. Departing from a different angle of perspective, Knowles (1978) described the security from being able to expect a safe environment as essential for learning because adults can better operate to reflect, interrogate, and appraise new knowledge without being undermined by psychological handicaps due to mistakes. Acquiring new learning strategies over time, as exemplified above by one of the participants of this study, was a manifestation of these frameworks of learning. Therefore, harvesting the advantage of flexibility should be understood together with learning adaptation
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because attaining security following new norms of educational practices needs to be accompanied by investment in time and resources for consistent strategies. Consistent strategies on remediable factors and challenges are particularly important for continuous quality improvement to address reduced learning acuity. Under this theme, the participating students reported issues related to the lack of conducive learning space at home; dual roles of being a student and being a member of a family when at home; distractions from the Internet contents; unsatisfactory quality of displays, audios, and microphones; and unreliable Internet connection.
Some of the aforementioned challenges had also been reported before the COVID 19. For example, for the period of 10 years from 2006 till 2016, a comprehensive review by O’Doherty et al. (2018) identified seven high quality studies and three low quality studies on barriers and solutions to the implementation of online based learning for undergraduate and postgraduate medical education. The review identified challenges that include technicalities of technology use, skills of technology users, lack of supportive attitudes, and incentives to drive motivations for online content creations (O'Doherty et al., 2018). However, the findings of this study suggest that the COVID 19 may have crucially magnified these challenges because students must endure a much higher volume of learning through avirtual platform (Dost et al., 2020)
Thus, as reported above, Participant 2 of this study insightfully assigned prolonged screen based learning as the biggest challenge of online based learning during the COVID 19. The new perspectives on the magnitude of challenges may consequently serve to better inform policy and practice. For example, resources allocation may need to include support for students to gain access to a dedicated learning space at home. Likewise, a schedule of learning delivery may have to be planned in liaison with other educators to avoid successive and excessive online delivery of education. Planning which incorporates engagement with families may also prove to be helpful. Therefore, consistent strategies for online based learning should depart from the new understanding of challenges on learning, rather than teaching, that arise owing to the pandemic.
More importantly, understanding learning challenges from students’ reflections illuminate the fundamental compromise of tacit knowledge when transitioning towards virtual platforms. Participants of this study had described elements of learning from face to face teaching that go beyond syllabus delivery. These include complex values such as teachers’ role modelling, peer influence, professionalism, ethics, cultures, social skills, team working, responsibility, accountability, volunteerism, and risk taking. Most of the prominent educational theories such as the seminal works of Vygotsky on a zone of proximal development (Vygotsky & Cole, 1978), constructivism by Piaget (Wadsworth, 1996), action research by Lewin (Adelman, 1993), self actualisation by Rogers (Rogers, 2008), and learning by dialogue by Freire (Shor & Freire, 1987) articulated complicated processes of experiential learning that were all underpinned by interactions between learners and their environment. The more contemporary theory of situated learning encapsulated these behaviourism philosophies from the perspective of professional identity development for
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medical students when the real contextual learning inherently promotes peripheral participation of a community of practice (O'Brien & Battista, 2020) When students of this study were comparing face to face and online learning in response to the question on challenges as demonstrated above, their articulations indicated the loss of the tacit process of learning that was not readily expressible but understood and appreciated. Therefore, compromised tacit learning signifies a major limitation of online based learning to serve as an overarching educational platform for personal and professional development.
As a result, understanding the impact of the COVID 19 on education also signals heightened roles for both policymakers. All participants of this study consistently emphasised the need for affordable and reliable Internet connection. They described the loss of focus, reduced motivation, interrupted knowledge acquisition, and excessively reliance on peers and recorded materials to compensate for poor Internet connectivity. Within the Malaysian context, the policy for higher education has advocated synchronous teaching which is characterised by real time interactions as a distinct category of online learning (MQA, 2018). This is in contrast with asynchronous online learning which is characterised by the convenience of access towards repetitive exposure to educational resources (MQA, 2018). Findings of this study indicate that many students, and on many occasions, must resort to the latter owing to connectivity issues that are beyond their control. These issues create gaps between policy on education and policy on investment that supports its implementations. As a result, although students have been describing affordable and reliable Internet connection as a problem they need to endure, this theme should be viewed as a key message for policymakers to engineer solutions for this challenge.
Additionally, lecturers also share bigger roles for effective online based learning during the COVID 19 pandemic. Medical students appreciate better learning by teaching which embraces a real problems oriented instead of topic oriented focus, diverse teaching styles, and innovative engagement techniques as reported in the above findings. The process of how these strategies deliver superior learning compared with the traditional didactic lectures has been well articulated by several learning theories. For example, self directed learning theory emphasises that the real problem oriented focus stimulates an internally motivated process of emancipatory endeavour that is facilitated by tasks and materials that are within the learners’ reach and control (Kaufman, 2003). Social constructivism, meanwhile, theorising engagement with external facilitation is a sine qua non to attain higher levels of achievements (Vygotsky & Cole, 1978) Moreover, diverse styles of teaching promote multifaceted perspectives on similar materials of learning, which may induce reflection on actions (Schon, 1983), conceptualisation of higher abstract knowledge (Kolb, 1984), and eventually reflection that manifests in actions (Schon, 1983). Therefore, the experience of students of this study on varying effective roles among teachers during the rapid and mass adoption of online based learning necessitated by the COVID 19 pandemic helps to navigate the focus of strategies on educators’ training.
In particular, the transition of adoption and adaptation of flexible online based learning from select practices towards mainstream policies may have fundamentally magnified the return of educational investment for technology enhanced formative assessment. This is the lesson learnt from digital health in the healthcare sector. Despite the smartphone having been available to a niche market of corporate customers in the early 1990s, it was the mass smartphone adoption by the general population in late 2000s which revolutionised its use as the main modality for technology enhanced quality patient care (Ibrahim et al., 2022) Similarly, formative assessment was first touted by Scriven (1966) and was traditionally understood and implemented in the context of education during the era after the World War II. Nevertheless, findings of this study and others on the adaptation among mass population of teachers and learners for online based education may signify the volume of potential by investing resources for strategies in technology enhanced formative assessment.
This notion is supported by the grand theory of constructivism which postulates teachers’ facilitation through formative assessment is crucial for learners to develop new knowledge, understanding, and skills (Kaufman & Mann, 2013) Formative assessments may deliver this outcome via two key advantages. Firstly, repeat access and attempts for online assessment modules is a screen based simulation training which promotes mastery of learning through deliberative practice. Secondly, the non credit bearing of formative assessment supports a safe academic environment for students to explore the extent of understanding and learn via constructive feedback on mistakes (Ibrahim et al., 2021). These mistakes subsequently illuminate learning gaps where teachers may formulate a personalised teaching plan to match the unique learning trajectories of each student (Ibrahim et al., 2021). Nonetheless, it is important to recognise that all these advantages are encapsulated in an effective execution of formative assessment modules with quality feedback. Therefore, training of educators on these aspects of technology enhanced formative assessment may prove fundamental to facilitate the acquisition of new knowledge, understanding, and skills among learners.
As with any qualitative study, the findings of this study are context specific and are not immediately generalisable to the population of medical students or students of higher education. The reflection and themes synthesised from Year 2 preclinical medical students should be understood and interpreted according to their setting of the study. For example, clinical students are more dependent on quality learning through direct patient contact. Likewise, workplace based learning for courses that depend on industrial training may also experience different kinds and magnitude of impacts from the COVID 19 restrictions. Such critical circumstances should be taken into consideration since the impacts may not be adequately represented in this study.
Furthermore, comparison between multiple contexts of higher education may require a larger sample of participants via quantitative study design with inferential statistical analysis to determine differences that can be generalised to a
larger population. Nonetheless, because the restrictions of the COVID 19 on teaching contacts and the rapid transition towards online based learning are universal, we believe the findings of our study may remain useful to derive insights and perspectives that bring relevance towards a wider context of educational practice.
Two years into the COVID 19 pandemic, the world continues to face unforeseen challenges posed by this newly emerging global pandemic. The COVID 19 has affected many aspects of human life, including higher education. The decision for the emergency closure of higher educational institutions in Malaysia as a public health measure to stem the transmission of COVID 19 has caused a rapid shift from traditional face to face learning to online platforms. By gleaning from the preclinical medical students’ reflections on their learning experience during the COVID 19 pandemic, our study concludes that online based learning necessitated by this global crisis offers a major advantage of the flexibility to our study participants. Such flexibility with online learning allows the students participating in this study to have more control of and accountability for their learning process. Despite being able to adapt gradually to the new learning habit, at the same time a large majority of our study participants reflect on some challenges to the acquisition of knowledge via online based learning which have resulted in a decline in their learning acuity and the missing elements of tacit learning. All participants reflectively conveyed an important message to inform policy and practice to provide the students with relevant support for improved learning experience and continuous quality medical education amid the COVID 19 pandemic and beyond.
In view of the qualitative nature of the present study that does not allow generalisability of the study findings, future research should consider a quantitative study approach using the findings from our study to determine the impact of COVID 19 on the preclinical medical students’ learning experience. Nevertheless, the findings from this qualitative study have important future implications by providing insights into formulating long term effective educational strategies for medical education to suit the new norm of higher education in the post COVID era.
The authors would like to thank Dr. Yuzana Binti Mohd Yusop (Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin) for her expertise and assistance in the initial part of data analysis. The authors also thank the students who participated in this study.
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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research
Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 64 83, May 2022
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.5.4
Received Feb 18, 2022; Revised Apr 12, 2022; Accepted Apr 23, 2022
School of Education, Department of Human Sciences, Sol Plaatje University, Kimberley, South Africa
Abstract. The advent of the Covid 19 pandemic significantly diminished opportunities for face to face learning. This came at the backdrop of the consistent failure of first year students to cope with the demands of learning in a complex higher educational system, which prioritises autonomous learning. Such a failure has been attributed to the structured andsupportivelearningenvironmentsinbasiceducation,which havenot only produced excessively dependent learners, but also a cohort of first year students with low levels of resilience, self efficacy, and motivation. Against this exposition, this quantitative study investigated those teaching approaches that lecturers can use to promote self regulated learning among first year accounting student teachers. Guided by the fundamental precepts of the social cognitive model of self regulated learningandinformed byinterpretivism,quantitativedata were collected using a Likert Scale questionnaire. The statistical analysis of the data revealed thatmeaningfulandsustainableself regulatedlearningcanonly bepromoted by a purelystudent centredapproach.Withanoverallmean above 4.0, problem based learning was found to frequently promote the self regulated learning of students. Conversely, given an overall mean of just above 2.0, scaffolding and guided instruction were found to rarely promote self regulated learning. A low standard deviation of below 1.0 on all three teaching approaches suggests a very small variance in the students’ scores. On the basis of these findings, the study calls for a pragmatic adoption of radical student centred constructivist teaching approaches. In line with this recommendation, institutions of higher learning need to capacitate lecturers to teach students problem solving and self regulated learning skills
Keywords: empowering; self regulated learning; Constructivist approaches
* Corresponding author: Medson Mapuya; medson.mapuya@spu.ac.za
©Author
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY NC ND 4.0).
The new global context and learning environments, in which students engage in teaching and learning, call for the development and adoption of a pedagogical framework within which students can successfully learn with minimal direct support, supervision and micromanagement. Most importantly, the excessive reliance of students on lecturer support and micro management to engage in learning activities makes it an even more cardinal and urgent pedagogical call to engender a sustainable culture of self directed and autonomous learning in and among students (Doulougeri, Vermunt, Bombaerts, Bots & De Lange, 2021; Gallagher & Savage, 2020; Lima, Lima & Bruni, 2020 and Robbins et al., 2020). These calls are also consistent with the provisions of the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET, 2015) and the educational imperatives of global educational systems which call for independent and autonomous students (Doulougeri, et al, 2021; Gallagher & Savage, 2020; Geduld, 2018; Jayawardena, Van Kraayenoord & Carroll, 2017; Lima et al , 2020; and Robbins, et al , 2020). Alluding to the above, Lima, et al (2020) argue that the purpose of education should not only be to impart knowledge to students, but also to create lifelong learners with independent thinking abilities. In the same vein, research evidence emerging from recent studies has reignited the need to have serious conversations about student empowerment and its significance on resilience and course completion rates (Aguiar & Da Silva, 2017; Thobideaux, Deutsch, Kitsantas & Winsler, 2016), especially when viewed from a pandemic learning perspective.
At the centre of this discourse on student empowerment is the unavoidable digital and online teaching and learning modalities in higher education whose prominence rose exponentially, as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic (Dube, 2020 and Mapuya & Rambuda, 2021). Adverse findings from studies on online and digitally mediated learning suggest that these teaching and learning modalities place much emphasis on students to engage in deep learning with little lecturer guidance and support (Mapuya & Rambuda, 2021 and Robbins, et al., 2020). Furthermore, empirical evidence points out that over and above the emotional and psychological burdens, online learning is cognitively demanding on its own, regardless of the subject content (Doulougeri et al, 2021; Lima et al , 2020 and Robbins, et al., 2020). Recent surveys conducted by Mitchley (2022) and Pijoos (2022), in which students reflected on their phenomenological learning experiences of having to adapt to the new way of learning amid the pandemic, reveal that this adjustment has not been an easy process. The respondents in these two separate surveys echoed similar sentiments that online learning exposed them in terms of how much they depended on face to face encouragement and the necessary motivation to successfully navigate through the academic year. Earlier studies by Basilaia & Kvavadze (2020), Coughlan (2021) and Krishnakumar & Rana (2020), provide a very devastating exposition on learning in the 21st century without the much needed face to face lecturer support, guidance and encouragement.
A recent survey by Pijoos (2022), in which the interviewees reflected on their phenomenological learning experiences in the 2021 academic year revealed that 2021 was one of the most challenging academic year for students as a result of the
increasingly diminished direct lecturer support and guidance. The interviewees bemoaned the substantially reduced motivating and encouraging face to face interactions with their lecturers. Given the above context, the need to empower these first year students with self regulated learning skills, becomes an urgent educational imperative. The idea of self regulated learning is also consistent with the ethos of student autonomy, self directed learning and citizenship that are collectively shared by most educational systems across the globe (Gallagher & Savage, 2020; Geduld, 2018; Doulougeri et al, 2021; Jayawardena et al, 2017 and Lima, et al, 2020). Premised on the identified research gap in the afore mentioned literature perspectives, this study sought to investigate the teaching approaches that lecturers can use to promote self regulated learning among first year accounting student teachers.
Notwithstanding the widely publicised and documented benefits of online learning (Coughlan, 2021; Mapuya & Rambuda, 2021; Prynne,2021 and Sintema; 2020), this modality of teaching and learning has nevertheless diminished the much needed face to face, personal and sometimes differentiated lecturer support, which students have always enjoyed in a traditional academic set up. Mitchley (2022) contends that the 2022 cohort of first year students will have to endure a very challenging academic year in an ever changing learning environment. This position is consistent with the earlier warnings of Coughlan (2021), Mapuya & Rambuda (2021), Prynne, (2021) and Wells (2020), who submitted that forced online learning had by nature significantly demotivated, discouraged and marginalised students in many different ways. As observed by Basilaia & Kvavadze (2020) and Cramp & Lamond (2016), there are cases where online learning has been found to amplify the learning deficiencies and challenges of students, especially those who predominantly rely on direct interactions with their lecturers to engage in successful learning. However, these findings do not provide a basis to criticise online learning, but rather they provide opportunities for pragmatic innovative solutions to complement online learning. To this effect, student empowerment becomes an appealing and promising strategy to compensate for the identified adverse findings on digital and online learning.
Accordingly, self regulated learning has emerged as an ideal student empowerment strategy which has been glorified and advocated for in various studies (Dinsmore, Alexander & Loughlin, 2008; Geduld, 2018; Klug et al., 2016; Moos & Ringdal, 2012; Zimmerman & Schunk, 2008 and Zimmerman, 2000). The idea of self regulated learning has undoubtedly emerged as a global educational goal as educational systems across the globe strive to empower and prepare students with the necessary skills to thrive in the 21st century learning environment. In support of this call, Gallagher & Savage, (2020), Geduld, (2018) and Robbins et al , (2020) argue that this empowers students to use autonomous learning skills, independent decision making, self management and problem solving in decidingwhat to learn and how to learn it. For Aguiar & Da Silva, (2017) and Thobideaux, et al , (2016), self regulated learning also helps the students to decide on their learning goals and the necessary time frame within which to pursue and achieve them. Most importantly, the theoretical assumptions of self
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regulated learning are rooted in social constructivist pedagogies, as well as in the underlying principles of multiple intelligences.
The pedagogical ideologies of these social learning theories resonate very well with the ultimate goals of most educational systems and professional bodies across the globe (Gallagher & Savage, 2020; HEQC, 2010; Lima et al, 2020 and Robbins, et al, 2020). Within the South African context, the call for self regulated learning among first year accounting student teachers finds expression in the provisions of the Minimum Requirements for Teacher Education Qualifications (MRTEQ) (DBE, 2011 & 2015) and in the Higher Education Qualifications Sub Framework (2015). This is also sustained by Dixon et al. (2014), who observed the particular type of educator envisaged by the Minimum Requirements for Teacher Education Qualifications. Self regulated learning conforms to the idea of lifelong learning, which is expected of an educator in South Africa (Dixon et al, 2014 and MRTEQ, 2015). In its pronouncement on the purpose of the Bachelor of Education Degree, the collective roles of teachers in a school and the expected basic competences of beginner teachers, the Minimum Requirements for Teacher Education Qualifications (MRTEQ) (DBE, 2011 &2015) emphasise self regulation and professional diligence as the basic attributes for a typical educator in South Africa. For Smith, (2001), one of the major recommendations for accounting students has been on the importance of lifelong learning. Subsequently, lifelong learning has been strongly associated with self regulated learning in an accounting learning environment (Aguiar & Da Silva, 2017; Lima et al, 2020). Beyond the teaching of accounting as a subject, various bodies and the accounting profession have advocated for the creation of sustainable lifelong learning across the curriculum (DHET, 2015; Lima et al., 2020).
In terms of the expected competencies and attributes (DHET, 2015), this envisaged kind of educator finds expression in the epistemological and ontological views advanced by social constructivists when they advocate for the use of student centred constructivist teaching approaches in the professional education and training of student teachers (Aguiar & Da Silva, 2017 and Lima, et al, 2010). The social constructivist school of thought does not therefore only subscribe to this envisaged new educator, but it also contributes significantly to the training and development of such educators (Geduld, 2018 and Lima et al, 2020). By placing the student teachers at the core of all teaching and learning initiatives in the professional training and development of educators, the social constructivist school of thought, therefore, seeks to produce self regulated educators, who among others, have been exposed to the various forms of learning. Subsequent to these envisaged kinds of educators, as key role players at the centre of the professional training and development of educators, lecturers therefore, have an obligation to contribute towards the realisation of these provisions. Similar to South Africa, many education systems across the globe have educational policies and pieces of legislation that advance the idea of producing self reliant graduates (Geduld, 2018 and Jayawardena, et al , 2017). Bearing some self-regulation sentiments in their educational policy documents, these educational systems uphold the role of education in preparing students for a successful career in which
they meet their professional duties, responsibilities and expectations, wherever they may find themselves in life.
However, Geduld (2018) and Jayawardena, et al (2017) share a similar concern that this call to empower students with self regulated learning skills is seriously compromised by professional teacher training and development programmes. These critics cite that teacher education programmes prioritise subject content knowledge and the comprehension of pedagogical knowledge at the expense of the fundamental principles underpinning learning, student motivation and development (Geduld, 2018; Jayawardena, et al. 2017 and Robbins et al. 2020). The above views endorse the sentiments of Zimmerman (2002), who warned that while many students come to the learning environment with various learning skills, they are rarely taught about self regulated learning. In the views of Zimmerman (2002), without proper instruction and guidance on self regulated learning, most of these students will never learn and acquire the skills necessary for self regulated learning. Consequently, these students will struggle to succeed in their studies, and they may never reach their highest potential academically.
Having located self regulated learning in the social constructivist pedagogical orientation, it is cardinal to indicate that there is overwhelming research evidence on the educational benefits of constructivist teaching approaches and their advancement of meaningful learning (Bosman & Schulze, 2018; Davids & Waghid, 2020; Maddock & Maroun, 2018; Mapuya, 2021 and Van Wyk, 2016). However, be that as it may, not much research attention had been given on how the social constructivist embedded notion of self regulation can be promoted. Yet, in advocating for constructivist teaching approaches, constructivists advance the notion of self regulation as one of the fundamental end results of these approaches (Davids & Waghid, 2020; Geduld, 2018; Mapuya, 2021 and Van Wyk, 2016). Thus, this school of thought has thus far, not provided any evidence based specific constructivist teaching approach that could be used to promote the envisaged self regulation among students. By and large, the findings from research conducted on self regulated learning in many countries across the globe, such as South Africa, the United States of America, Iran, Canada, Australia and Hong Kong, point to the need for lecturers to modify their traditional teaching approaches, in order to promote and develop the self regulated learning abilities of students (Aguiar & Da Silva, 2017; Doulougeri et al, 2021; Geduld, 2018; Klug et al, 2016 and Moos & Ringdal, 2012) It is against this background that this study was deemed necessary, in order to determine the teaching approaches lecturers can use to promote self regulated learning among first year accounting student teachers.
1.3
Informed by the foregoing exposition, the objective of this quantitative study was to determine the teaching approaches which lecturers can use to promote self regulated learning among first year accounting student teachers.
1.4
Consistent with the research objective above, the study investigated and answered the following question:
In this section of the study, the researcher draws from the literature perspectives to define self regulation and contextualize it in accounting education. Guided by the literature verdicts, the researcher further deliberates on the importance and implications of self regulation in education and the teaching profession The research findings in educational psychology and theory from many disciplines suggest that the learning environment has the potential to support and promote self regulated learning, as well as to encourage active participation in the students’ own learning. Against this assertion, this section looks at the major findings emerging from such research and goes on to provide some recommendations to accounting lecturers on how to promote self regulated learning among their students.
The concept of self regulated learning has not evolved drastically since its inception in educational psychology almost three decades ago. Omidire (2021) also refers to it as self directed learning, which is a situation in which students assume full responsibility and control over their process of learning. As an ardent advocate of self regulated learning, Zimmerman (2000) views it as a student’s self generated thoughts, ideas, sentiments and well planned actions that are periodically and regularly adapted to attain personal goals. Pintrich (2002) later expanded this view of self regulated learning to include the students’ purposeful control of their cognitive strategies, their motivation, metacognition and the learning environment. Looking at this definition, this study submits that self regulated learning is consistent with the assumptions of multiple intelligences, as advanced by Sternberg (2006) and that it also resembles some social constructivist learning ideologies. For instance, like the proponents of self regulated learning (Lima et al , 2020 and Zimmerman, 2000), social constructivists advance that learning is an active and participatory process, in which students are responsible agents in the process of creating and acquiring knowledge (Mapuya, 2021). The advocates of both social constructivist learning and self regulated learning argue with a united voice that those involved in curriculum implementation should model and teach students planning, goal setting, reflection and self evaluation (Davids & Waghid, 2020; Doulougeri et al, 2021; Maddock & Maroun, 2018; Van Wyk, 2016 and Zimmerman, 2000)
Self regulated learning, which is an indispensable prerequisite for life long learning, is further viewed by Smith (2001) and Zimmerman (1986), as a process whereby individual students assume control over their learning, thinking, learning efforts and behaviour as they acquire knowledge and skills. In the views of Schraw et al. (2006), self regulated learning refers to the students’ abilities to understand and control their learning environment. In their qualification of the above position, Doulougeri et al., (2021) and Geduld (2018) concur with Schraw et al (2006) that self regulation is characterised by goal setting, self understanding, self monitoring and self reinforcement. Informed by the above
• Which teaching approaches can accounting lecturers use to promote self regulated learning among first year accounting student teachers?
perspectives, this paper, therefore, submits that self regulation is all about self awareness, self directiveness, goal setting and the determination to achieve these goals strategically. In short, self regulated learning is purposeful and intentional learning.
While Zimmerman & Schunk (2008) caution that self regulated learning must not be mistaken for the mental ability or academic performance of students, this paper argues that self regulated learning is a major determinant of academic performance. In making this submission, this study supports the findings of Lima et al., (2020) and Thobideaux, et al., (2016), whose studies found a positive relationship between self regulated learning and academic performance in accounting. To this end, Schraw et al (2006) remark that self regulation is rather a self directive individual process and initiative which comprises of a set of behaviours, in which students metamorphose their mental abilities intohabits and skills, through a developmental process (Butler, 2002), which is rooted in the notion of feedback and guided practice (Geduld, 2018 and Paris & Paris, 2001). In the context of accounting education, self regulation is demonstrated when students take ownership of their studies, by taking the initiative to study accounting and practice systematically and purposefully, on their own, without any push from the lecturer. Most importantly, self regulation manifests itself in the students’ ability to set up academic targets for themselves and not only to develop the necessary study schedule to achieve these targets, but they also adhere to this schedule.
To provide an illuminating view of self regulated learning, Zimmerman (2000) developed a cyclical model of three phases. This model shows the main processes and subsequent processes demonstrated and modelled by self regulated students to achieve their academic goals. Coming first among these three phases is the foresight phase, which looks at the students’ motivational beliefs and processes (Geduld, 2018). For Doulougeri et al., (2021), these motivational beliefs and processes include thoughtful planning and goal setting that directs efforts and the commitment to learn towards the attainment of these goals. Consequently, the foresight phase basically sets the tone and lays the foundation for learning. In the analysis of Geduld (2018), as well as Zimmerman’s model (2000), it was suggested that task analysis and motivational beliefs about oneself are two inextricably intertwined forethought categories. In their study, Doulougeri et al, (2021) argue that the process of task analysis is shaped, informed and guided by the motivational beliefs of the students. For instance, how a student analyses an academic task, allocates time, engages in planning, selects the most appropriate learning strategy, sets goals and objectives to be attained is dependent on the student’s motivational beliefs. Geduld (2018) interprets these motivational beliefs to include perceptions of one’s self efficacy, intrinsic interest in the task, expected outcomes and goal orientation.
Zimmerman (2002) identifies performance as the second phase of the cyclical model of self regulated learning. In Zimmerman’s (2002) perspective, this phase covers primary and secondary processes that unfold when students engage in learning. As indicated by Doulougeri et al., (2021), these processes influence the
students’ focus, attentiveness and performance towards the attainment of the set learning goals. Thus, the phase of performance ideally looks at everything that happens as students are actually engaged in the learning process. To clarify this phase, Zimmerman (2002) identifies two distinctive classifications in performance processes, namely, self control and self observation. In Geduld’s (2018) analysis of this second phase of the self regulated learning model, students who are self regulated are thought to employ diverse task strategies, to make use of imagery, to concentrate on the learning task and to ask for help.
Doulougeri et al, (2021) agree with the earlier views of Zimmerman (2002) that most importantly, in this phase of the model, students make use of various self management strategies to accomplish the learning task and their academic goals. In the work of Geduld (2018), the third phase of the self regulated learning model is about self reflection and is concerned with processes that follow the students’ efforts to learn and influence how they react to their academic achievements. For Zimmerman (2002), it is in this phase of the model that students who are self regulated evaluate and review their achievements and carry out performance casual attributions. Geduld (2018) qualifies this claim by arguing that these attributes can either be negative or positive and from them, students can derive self satisfaction, or adopt behaviours that are defensive and adaptive to influence their approach to similar and different tasks in future.
The rationale and ultimate benefits of promoting and developing self regulated learning among students have been widely reported by various researchers across the globe (Doulougeri et al., 2021; Gallagher & Savage, 2020; Geduld, 2018; Klug et al., 2016 and Robbins et al., 2020). Undoubtedly, various research studies have confirmed that by empowering students to engage in self regulated learning, lecturers develop the abilities of these students to self monitor and control their behaviour, thoughts, motivation and cognitive processes. This enables students to engage in learning successfully in an ever changing learning environment and to respond to the complex challenges and demands of higher education and the global idea of citizenship and lifelong learning. Most importantly, it also prepares and empowers students to be able to face and deal with the challenges they will encounter in their daily lives, which is the one of the central ideas of multiple intelligences. Thus, self regulated learning prepares students for life beyond their academic studies. In addition, other empirical investigations have reported on how self regulated learning promotes and enhances the academic achievements of students (Aguiar & DaSilva, 2017; Doulougeri et al., 2021 and Lima, et al.,2020).
In highlighting the importance of self regulated learning, Zimmerman & Schunk (2008) refer to the metacognitive element. Aguiar & Da Silva (2017) concur with Zimmerman & Schunk (2008) that this metacognitive element of self regulated learning comprises of three types of knowledge, which are, declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge and conditional knowledge. Subjecting and submitting these three types on knowledge to a pedagogical lens, Geduld (2018) shares similar views with Aguiar & Da Silva (2017) that declarative knowledge
refers to a student’s knowledge about oneself. For Zimmerman & Schunk (2008), this includes the students’ awareness of those factors that influence their learning and academic performance. Guided by the above perspectives, this paper, therefore, argues that since declarative knowledge helps students to be aware of the factors that can potentially impact their performance in accounting, they are likely to develop and adopt strategies to either circumvent or mitigate these factors, thereby exemplifying the practical implications of self regulated learning in accounting education. The analogy presented above helps to illuminate the importance of self regulated learning from a student driven perspective.
Deliberating on procedural knowledge, Geduld (2018) supports the earlier sentiments of Zimmerman & Schunk (2008) that it looks at the students’ knowledge of the various strategies and necessary procedures to use and follow when engaging in a learning task. This is very cardinal in accounting education, especially in light of the fact that different accounting topics and content areas require students to use different learning strategies and to follow different procedures when dealing with the subsequent learning activities. For instance, strategies and procedures suitable for dealing with bank reconciliations, may not be necessarily effective for calculating depreciation. This type of knowledge is therefore important in ensuring that the students employ the most effective, relevant and meaningful learning strategies and procedures that are consistent with the topic, content and the task they are currently dealing with. This analysis of procedural knowledge, as a component of metacognition resonates with the idea of multiple intelligences as propounded by Sternberg (2006), who would have referred to it as practical intelligence. Drawing from the fundamental assumptions of the theory of multiple intelligences, as pioneered by Sternberg (2006), this paper argues that self regulated learning promotes and advances the analytical, practical and creative intelligences of students, thereby promoting their holistic development.
Like the idea of practical intelligence as sustained in the theory of multiple intelligences (Sternberg, 2008), conditional knowledge is perceived by Aguiar & Da Silva (2017) and Shuy et al , (2010) to be concerned with the students’ knowledge and understanding of the underlying reasons and time required to use a given strategy. In clarifying the above, this paper assumes that while students can use various learning strategies to engage in various learning activities, their ability to decide when and how to use a certain learning strategy is a function of conditional knowledge. This paper, therefore, postulates that since self regulated learning promotes the students’ ability to justify, select and decide when to use a specific strategy, they are empowered to be in control of their learning processes and the learning environment itself. This is because students can respond in ways that are consistent with the prevailing realities in the learning environment. In the South African context, declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge and conditional knowledge are loosely consistent with the provisions and qualities of the educator envisaged in the Minimum Requirements for Teacher-Education Qualifications (MRTEQ) (DBE, 2011 & 2015) and the Higher Education Qualifications Sub Framework (2015).
In advocating for self regulated learning, Zimmerman & Schunk (2008) cite motivation as one of the benefits to students. Accordingly, Zimmerman & Schunk (2008) argue that self regulated learning naturally evokes the motivation of students. Of central concern to the motivation component of self regulated learning are the ideologies and attitudes that influence how students use and develop their cognitive and metacognitive skills. Geduld (2018) subscribes to this view and adds that this aspect of motivation refers to both the self efficacy and epistemological beliefs of students. In the unanimous views of Aguiar & Da Silva (2017) and Moos & Ringdal (2012), self efficacy looks at the extent to which a student is confident that they can successfully perform an academic task and achieve a specific goal. Further to the above, the researcher proposes that dealing with and teaching students who at one point have experienced failure in their studies justifies the call for deliberate and thoughtful attempts to restore the self efficacy of these students.
Empowering such students with self regulated learning skills, therefore, becomes an appealing pedagogical approach. Aguiar & Da Silva (2017) support this idea by adding that self regulated learning can help students to overcome low self efficacy and negative self talk with positive goal setting, positive self instruction and a sense of belief in oneself, as an able student. Advocates of self regulated learning argue that this will not only increase the students’ levels of persistence and perseverance in their studies, but it should also challenge and inspire them to adapt their learning strategies (Lima et al, 2020). On the other hand, Geduld (2018) remarks that the epistemological beliefs of students are concerned with their ideologies regarding the nature and origin of knowledge. This paper, therefore, maintains that such ideologies are fundamental in shaping the students’ learning behaviour and efforts because they inform the students’ ultimate views on knowledge acquisition. Further to the above, to provide a more illuminating framework of self regulated learning, the study argues that these components should not be viewed in isolation, but rather as complementary forces working together to benefit the students.
To advocate for the importance of self regulated learning, the researcher presents a practical analogy and illustration in that empowering students to engage in self regulated learning is like teaching hungry students how to fish and giving them the necessary fishing tools, as opposed to giving them a fish. Giving the hungry students a fish amounts to feeding them for the day, but teaching them how to fish is feeding them for life because whenever they are hungry, they can always go to the river and fish on their own. Students who have mastered self regulated learning can always stand on their own in their studies and in life, finding solutions to their challenges both individually and creatively. It is therefore important to reiterate that the proper and successful implementation of self regulated learning is highly correlated with the academic performance of students and their ultimate success in their studies (Aguiar & Da Silva, 2017; Lima, et al., 2020; Thobideaux, et al , 2016).
While this study cannot quantify the reduced demand for support and supervision on the part of lecturers, the researcher can argue with confidence that
self regulated learning significantly reduces the time lecturers spend giving direct support and supervision to students in their learning endeavors. This frees time for other professional and academic demands that are always competing for the lecturers’ limited time. Students who have successfully internalized and mastered self regulated learning skills can confidently engage in creative thinking and problem solving, which is one of the essential requirements for a 21st century student to succeed in higher education and the teaching profession and in life as a whole (Jayawardena, et al, 2017). Considering the evidence based educational importance and implications of self regulated learning presented above, this paper advances the argument that if lecturers fully subscribe to the sustainable development and promotion of a culture of self regulated learning, students who are struggling academically should improve.
The research design, the study participants and the research instruments are discussed in this section of the study. The researcher also deliberates on the development of the research instrument and the actual data collection.
The study was guided by the epistemological abstractions of interpretivism and constructivism (Cohen et al., 2017 and Nieuwenhuis, 2016). In keeping with the views of Maree (2016) and Nieuwenhuis (2016), who concur that interpretivism accentuates the meanings that individuals ascribe to their daily experiences in real life, the students had to make some thoughtful, conscious reflections on their pedagogical experiences in the learning environment and to ascribe meaning to these experiences and express these meanings quantitatively on a numerical scale. Being typically interpretivist in nature, the study was concerned with how the first year accounting student teachers interpreted and rated the given pedagogical approaches, based on their experiences and the meanings which they ascribed to these experiences, in the light of the statements they were rating for each approach.
In direct alignment with the research aim and the questions, all the first year B.Ed. accounting student teachers participated in this study. It therefore follows that the population of this study was all the 121 first year accounting B.Ed. student teachers at a university of technology in South Africa. Thus, a purposely selected sample of 121 participants was considered adequate to provide valid, credible and reliable information on the teaching approaches which can be used to promote self regulated learning and improve the learning ability of the students.
The questionnaire was administered to a group of 121 first year accounting student teachers, 53 of whom were males while the female student teachers amounted to 68. Typical of a first year cohort in the South African higher education landscape, this group of participants was diverse in terms of the individual profiles of the individual students, all coming from different high schools, with different expectations about the learning environment. The researcher believes that these variations in the demographic details of the study
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participants undeniably informed their scores on the various teaching approaches and their perceptions on self regulated learning.
Table 1: Sample Profile of the Study Participants (N=121) Gender Number of Participants Percentage of the Total Population
Males (1) 53 43.80% Females (2) 68 56.20% Total Population size 121 100%
3.3 The Research Instruments and the Data Analysis Informed by the literature verdicts on problem based learning, scaffolding, guided instruction and learning ability, (Killen, 2016; Mapuya, 2021, Mapuya & Rambuda, 2021; Mokoena & Materechera, 2015; Van Wyk, 2016 and Vygotsky, 1978), the researcher developed a questionnaire with a Likert scale. Table 2 below shows how the students scored each one of the six statements under the three types of teaching approaches. Drawn from the relevant literature, these statements were meant to establish the students’ perceived ability of the three teaching approaches in promoting their self regulated learning and learning ability. This Likert scale is therefore cardinal in interpreting and understanding the quantitative data generated by the study in the form of measures of central tendency. The Likert scale was presented in the questionnaire as: Never=1 Seldom=2 Sometimes=3 Often=4 Always=5
The quantitative data generated were analyzed by using the measures of central tendency, which comprises of descriptive statistics (Leedy & Ormrod, 2015 and Maree, 2016) To this effect, the mean and standard deviation were used to quantify the students’ scores per individual statement and teaching approach. In the views of Leedy & Ormrod (2015), the purpose of descriptive statistics is to present an illuminating view of the data’s appearance, how broadly they are spread, and the correlation between the variables in the data. In line with the sentiments of Pietersen & Maree (2016), descriptive statistics were used to summarise the data through location or centrality, which covers the mean and the dispersion, which deal with the standard deviation. Cohen et al, (2017) concur with Leedy and Ormrod (2015) that dispersion looks at how the data are spread around the average. The SPSS Version 25 was used to validate and confirm whether the statements posed by the researcher presented a homogeneous picture of problem based learning, scaffolding and guided instruction. The questionnaire’s reliability was also assessed using SPSS.
The quantitative findings will be presented in terms of how the students rated each of the individual six statements under the three broad teaching approaches. This presentation of the quantitative data serves to quantify and express in numerical terms how the first year accounting student teachers perceive and rate their self regulated learning experiences and their abilities under the various
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teaching approaches. In so doing, this will help the researcher to determine the teaching approaches that accounting lecturers can use to promote self regulated learning among first year accounting student teachers. Accordingly, Table 3 below presents these quantitative findings.
Table 3: Presentation of the Participants’ scores on the 18 Statements Teaching Approaches and Learning Abilities Teaching Approach Statement Mean Standard Deviation
Problem based learning
PBL1 My self regulation in learning anything in accounting is promoted when I am able to produce and derive new concepts, principles and understanding through my first hand interactions and experiences with the learning environment.
PBL2 I feel confident to take the initiative to study and engage in learning activities when the lecturer teaches me in ways that allow me to discover new knowledge in accounting in my own way
4.95 1.03
4.89 0.75
PBL3 Problem based learning gives me courage and confidence in my studies 4.81 1.19
PBL4 Iammore resilientinmystudies,whenIam learning through problem solving. 4.77 0.83
PBL5 Problem solving helps me to endure difficult learning tasks. 4.68 0.74
PBL6 Problem solving improves my motivation to study. 4.51 0.68
Overall Mean 4.77 0.87 Scaffolding
S1 My self regulation in learning anything in accounting is promoted by adult guidance or collaboration with more capable peers
S2 I feel confident to take the initiative to study and engage in learning activities when the lecturer leads and supports my learning, in order to discover new knowledge in accounting and to draw my own conclusions
2.21 0.66
2.48 0.64
S3 Scaffolding gives me courage and confidence in my studies 2.67 0.84
S4 I am more resilient in my studies when learning in a scaffolded learning environment
2.36 0.61
S5 Scaffolding helps me to endure difficult learning tasks 2.28 0.77
S6 Scaffolding solving improves my motivation to study 2.51 0.58
Overall Mean 2.42 0.68
Guided instruction
GI1 My self regulation in learning anything in accounting is promoted when the lecturer helps me to learn and understand new subject content, without necessarily giving me the information directly.
GI2 I feel confident to take the initiative to study and engage in learning activities when the lecturer guides me to discover new knowledge in accounting and to draw my own conclusions.
2.89 0.36
2.01 0.42
GI3 Guided instruction gives me courage and confidence in my studies. 1.89 0.69
GI4 I am more resilient in my studies when learning through guided instruction. 1.77 0.98
GI5 Guided instruction helps me to endure difficult learning tasks 1.69 0.83
GI6 Guided instruction improves my motivation to study 2.13 0.71
Overall Mean 2.06 0.67
With an overall mean of 4.77, problem based learning has emerged as a teaching approach whose ability to promote self regulated learning among the first year accounting student teachers ranges from often to always. The reliability of this finding is corroborated by a standard deviation of 0.87 which indicates high levels of consistency and less variability in the students’ scores. In interpreting the quantitative findings regarding which this teaching approach can be used to promote the self regulated skills of students, reference can be made to the means on statements PBL1, PBL2 and PBL3, which are all above 4.80, which is very close to 5.0, a score which denotes always. The united voice emerging from the quantitative data confirms that students are unanimous that problem solving is a superior teaching approach in promoting their self regulated learning skills. This finding endorses the earlier verdicts of Jacobs, (2016), Killen, (2016) Lombard & Themane, (2015), Ormrod, (2014b), Sternberg (2007) and Vygotsky, (1976), whose work associates constructivist learning and self regulated learning skills with problem based learning. Earlier studies by Jensen & Frederick, (2016) and Yadav (2016) have also produced a similar verdict.
Contrary to the collective views of Daniel & Bimbola, (2010), Killen, (2016), Van Wyk, (2016) and Vygotsky, (1986), who all support guided instruction and scaffolding as empowering student centred teaching approaches, this study found these two approaches to diminish the self regulated learning ability of students. This finding finds expression in the overall means for both scaffolding and guided instruction, which are 2.42 and 2.06 respectively. Based on the Likert Scale used in this study, these scores suggest that scaffolding and guided instruction seldomly promote the self regulated learning skills of students. The very close respective standard deviations of 0.68 and 0.67 attest to the high levels of agreement and concurrence among the students’ scores, thereby vindicating the reliability of this finding.
In making this interpretation, the researcher acknowledges that these scores can also be a reflection of the lecturer’s use of scaffolding and guided instruction, rather than their ability to promote the self regulated learning skills of students.
Undoubtedly, this study corroborates the work of Lombard &Themane, (2015), Ormrod, (2014b) and Vygotsky, (1976) regarding constructivist teaching approaches of scaffolding and guided instruction in promoting student participation in the teaching and learning process. However, a new perspective that has emerged from this study is that these two approaches fall short of promoting sustainable self regulation of students beyond the classroom because they are predominantly lecturer centred. While both scaffolding and guided instruction can be creatively used to promote the enthusiasm and resilience of students in the short run,duringclass time, when the lecturer is in class presenting a lesson, this enthusiasm and resilience is not sustainable outside the immediate learning environment, in which the lecturer plays an active role in promoting them. Beyond the classroom, the enthusiasm and resilience generated by the lecturer through scaffolding and guided instruction is non existent, yet these are the central attributes of self regulated learning.
In support of the above findings, the researcher submits that self regulated learning is all about the students themselves while scaffolding and guided instruction are rather about the lecturer. The motivation to learn and the other complementary self regulated learning attributes ignited by the lecturer during the lesson presented should therefore be articulated in the context of problem based learning. This submission is made in view of the notion that self regulated learning goes beyond the classroom and it is not bound to any time frame or physical constraints.
Since the aim of this study was to determine the teaching approaches which lecturers can use to promote self regulated learning, the problem based learning approach was found to be the most effective and suitable one to this effect. Scaffolding and guided instruction were found to seldom promote self regulated learning because of their reliance on the lecturer. Given the possibility and practicability of teaching students how to engage in self regulated learning, this paper suggests that there is a need for distinctive policies on self regulated learning in education, the integration of self-regulated learning into the curriculum, as well as in the professional training and development of lecturers. The paper further recommends creating awareness among lecturers of their roles in promoting and developing self regulated learning among their students. With accounting being a predominantly practical discipline, which requires regular practice, the researcher submits that accounting students need to be empowered to engage in self regulated learning on a continuous basis. In this way, self regulated learning would not only compensate for the shortcomings of lecturer centred approaches towards the realisation of meaningful learning, but it would also give accounting students more exposure to the content and the various learning activities in accounting. This call resonates very well with the collective pronouncement of the Department of Basic Education and the Department of
Higher Education and Training in their respective aims to produce self directed learners and students.
Being a purely quantitative study in nature, the researcher acknowledges that this study lacks qualitative data to corroborate and triangulate the quantitative findings. To provide a more illuminating view of the students’ scores of the six statements under the three teaching approaches, the questionnaire could have included an open ended section, in which students qualified their scores with the relevant narrations (Pietersen & Maree, 2016). Undoubtedly, this would also have vindicated the reliability of the questionnaire and the credibility of the ultimate study findings (Leedy & Ormrod, 2015; Lewis et al., 2014 and Maree, 2016). However, in keeping with the research objective and the research question, it was found appealing to obtain numerical data on these teaching approaches and to express the findings quantitatively (Maxwell, 2017).
Despite the limitations mentioned above, the study has produced adequate statistical evidence to imply that on a comparative basis, purely student centred teaching approaches are more effective in promoting self regulated learning than lecturer centred pedagogies. The statistical data and the subsequent findings provide a sound basis to intensify calls for the radical and pragmatic adoption of the recent concepts of student empowerment. Policy makers and programme designers should be part of the conversations to include problem-based learning as a core element of training programmes for undergraduate teachers. In order to make the visions of most educational systems of lifelong learning citizens and the pedagogical assumptions of social constructivism a lived reality, there is a need to align the pedagogical practices of lecturers towards independent and autonomous learning.
Given the identified gap emanating from the absence of qualitative data in this study, a mixed methods study, with multiple data collection instruments is, therefore, highly recommended for further research to interrogate these quantitative verdicts. It is also suggested that future research should include the narrative and reflective phenomenological experiences of students with the different teaching approaches in the light of the phenomena investigated in this study
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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research
Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 84 103, May 2022
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.5.5
Received Feb 16, 2022; Revised Apr 20, 2022; Accepted May 2, 2022
Abstract. Emerging educational technologies and technological pedagogical innovations such as massive open online courses (MOOCs) have flooded Africa's higher education (HE) sector with many promises. This paper aims to investigate the perceptions among African HE institutions regarding the potentiality of MOOCs as a tool to increase access to quality HE. A systematic review of papers in peer reviewed journals published between 2013 and 2020 was conducted in academic databases and 15 papers were selected. Key findings reveal that MOOCs continue to make progress in the African HE sectors. Results also show thatMOOCsaremostlyusedasaself learningelement supportingformal qualifications within African universities’ frameworks. This practice allows only a limited number with resources to access higher education. Remarkably, most of the studies report a lack of awareness of MOOCs in African higher education institutions (HEIs). The results are contextual and the challenges and opportunities within the contexts of African and other developing countries' HE are varied; however, I would argue that MOOCs have gained global interest and thus sharing the perceptions and approaches that underpin MOOCs as a viable tool for increasing access to HE is an important part of moving this agenda forward in the sector.
Keywords: access to education; developing countries; massive open online courses (MOOCs); systematic review
African higher education institutions (HEIs) face many challenges, such as the radically changing policy landscapes and the mandates to democratise and increase access to higher education. These changes have put pressure on most HEIs in Africa to increase intake and access to quality higher education. Statistics show that every year millions of young people who pass mandatory school leaving examinations in African schools cannot be placed at universities. In Nigeria, for example, about 400 000 students out of 1.4 million who passed the mandatory Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination in 2016 could not be placed in any Nigerian universities (Agbu, 2016). According to the Southern African Association for Institutional Research (SAAIR) (2019), out of a
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total of 661 116 pupils who wrote matric examinations in 2017 in public schools in South Africa, only 314 943 matriculants qualified for tertiary education, with 273 313 qualifying students aged between 18 and 29 years not being placed in universities. The Organisation for Economic Co operation and Development (OECD) (2019) reported that in 2018, South Africa had the lowest ranking among all OECD and partner countries regarding tertiary education attainment for the 25 34 year old age group So what happens to the students who are not placed in post school education institutions, especially those who at least qualify? How many of these students eventually return to the education mainstream? What measures exist to ensure that these students are eventually absorbed into the formal education systems in their countries and become better prepared for economic inclusion?
One of the challenges faced by developing countries is the high unemployment rate, and research shows that the young population is the most affected (Sever & İğdeli, 2021). Unemployment badly affects economic growth in any country. Fapohunda (2013) states that the unemployment rate in countries like Nigeria is alarming and a national embarrassment that needs meaningful and tangible action. Sever and İğdeli (2021) further explain that “social and psychological aspects and the economic dimension of youth unemployment” need urgent attention According to Fapohunda (2013, p 230), when “young people are provided with employment opportunities, they can become productive assets and participate in mainstream society, offering the best of their skills and talents” . Mehry et al. (2021) highlight that economic policy making worldwide is largely focused on financial inclusion; however, financial inclusion will not happen without appropriate skills development interventions, some of which are best addressed through education. El Said (2017) points out some of the challenges that MOOCs can effectively alleviate, such as the “overcrowded classrooms, high costs of materials and books, commuting difficulty due to high traffic, and a need for continued education and specialised training for the workforce” (p. 7).
The emerging educational technologies and technological pedagogical innovations such as e learning approaches and MOOCs that flooded the HE sectors in Africa and other developing countries promised to offer opportunities for the massification of education (Yuan & Powel, 2013; Zhou, 2017). Although MOOCs are still new and emerging (Zawacki Richter et al., 2018), especially in Africa, they are responsible for a wide range of pedagogical discussions (Bozkurt, et al., 2017; Wang, Hall & Wang, 2019). African researchers acknowledge the disruptiveness of MOOCs in HE. This is evidenced by increasing debates and research on MOOCs. Historically, people enrol for MOOCs for various reasons, including curiosity, pleasure, personal and career development (Klobas, Mackintosh & Murphy, 2015). However, MOOCs have not yet been used as a tool to widen access to formal higher education for qualifying students MOOCs have also taken the lead in open educational practices and the subject of research worldwide (De Rosa, 2018). However, although MOOCs have made their way into discussions around opening access to higher education in Africa and other developing countries (Oyo & Kalema, 2014), not much research is available on the role of MOOCs to widen access to formal HE in the African HE context.
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Although MOOCs have received attention in higher education sectors, they have also received much pushback in the formal learning environment of HEIs (Czerniewicz, Deacon, Fife, Small & Walji, 2015), especially in Africa. This is due to the widespread outcry over issues with MOOCs accreditation (Kursun, 2016), lack of rigour in assessing learning (Hollands & Tirthali, 2014) and high drop out rates (Hew & Cheung, 2014), among others. Accreditation and positive completion rates are important factors in higher education, and without them, HEIs and their courses lose the trust of key stakeholders. However, some universities already acknowledge MOOCs, not merely as an auxiliary resource but for accreditation towards formal programmes (Harris & Wihak, 2018). For example, transnational higher education in the United Arab Emirates uses MOOCs for accreditation prior to learning and programme delivery (Annabi & Wilkins, 2016). China has also integrated ‘accredited MOOCs’ into the formal curriculum (Wang, Hall & Wang, 2019). Therefore, exploring African countries' current perceptions and uses of MOOCs may help us to gain a better understanding of how universities could use MOOCs to widen access to HE for deserving students. This paper aims to systematically analyse and document existing research on how MOOCs in African higher education sectors are used to widen access to higher education.
MOOCs are “free, easily accessible, completely online courses” with no entry requirements (FutureLearn, 2016, para 2). Usually, they are “university level or training courses” (El Khadiri, Labouidya, El Kamoun & Hilal, 2019, p. 1168) that offer “online learning services, including learning communities, automated self testing, peer reviews, and different certificates”, although the certificates are mostly not for credit (Agbu, Mulder, DeVries, Tenebe & Caine, 2016, p. 112). Zawacki Richter et al. (2018) point out that MOOCs are not independent and isolated from other open and distance learning (ODL) and educational technology developments but are “strongly tied to other developments in the field” (p. 243).
Open and distance education can contribute enormously to the massification of education and widening access to many deserving learners. There is a global movement towards open education’s being established to fulfil specific governmental purposes and to address educational needs not fulfilled by traditional universities (Tait, 2008; Brenner et al., 2021). The initial thoughts behind open education were to make HE accessible to everyone. MOOCs are founded on the open universities' educational philosophy and attract a significant number of HEIs and private enterprises (Bozkurt et al., 2016).
Although MOOCs are still emerging in Africa, Nyoni (2013) believes that they are recognised as a game changer for conventional and ODL universities. Most HE providers are expected to contribute to widening participation and promoting more learner empowering educational practices (Orr, Weller & Farrow, 2018). Many universities offer blended education to non traditional students (Tait, 2018; Weller, Jordan, DeVries and Rolfe, 2018). Schuetze and Slowey (2002, p. 312.) define ‘non traditional’ students as “new groups of students who, for a complex range of social, economic and cultural reasons, were traditionally excluded from, or under represented in, higher education”.
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While the expectation is that open universities will take the lead in widening access, campus based universities are pressured to participate in open learning approaches and open educational practices (Subotzky & Prinsloo, 2011). Research indicates that most open universities are based in Asia and Europe, with Africa ranking third (DeVries, 2019). African universities are gradually embracing MOOCs, following in the footsteps of their prominent Western and European peers. The first MOOC projects in Africa were products of collaboration between African countries/organisations and an international body, for example the World Bank’s SMART skills project in partnership with Coursera in Tanzania, which was launched in 2008 (Trucano, 2013). Other examples include edX and Coursera partnerships with Wits University (Bischof, 2017); Commonwealth of Learning with Nigeria (Marshall, 2016); and the Kepler project in Rwanda, launched in 2013 (Escher et al., 2014). However, Rambe and Moeti (2017) highlight “the academic elitism which manifests in the exclusive selection of top American universities to develop, host and deliver MOOCs” (p 631).
Research shows that the highest MOOC completion rates are in developing countries. Mourdoukoutas’s (n.d.) study revealed that low income and middle income populations make up 80% of MOOC users. Zhenghao, Alcorn, Christensen, Eriksson, Koller and Emanuel (2015) also reported that 40% of MOOC users are from developing countries, while Rambe and Moeti (2017) point to the scarcity of resources for many learners in African countries. Africa faces many highly researched challenges regarding technological advances within educational systems; however, many universities are finding ways to employ new technologies and continue to offer quality education. The reality is that growth in African countries’ ICT sectors does not align with the “primary policy objectives of affordable access for all” (Nyoni, 2013, p. 666). While we acknowledge the impact and implications of these challenges for successful and effective online education through vehicles such as MOOCs, we should be cognisant of the many benefits of MOOCs for those who aspire to widen open education in their countries. These challenges are a serious barrier to Africa’s fully reaping the benefits of MOOCs and other education technologies for their learners.
According to Materu (2007, as cited in Oyo & Kalema, 2014, p. 3), for various reasons, “the majority of students with minimum entry grades in Africa still cannot access higher education”. Although the African student population is rapidly growing (USAID, 2014), sub Saharan Africa is reported to have the lowest participation in higher education globally (Darvas, Gao, Shen & Bawany, 2017). African students need to be provided with quality and relevant education by African higher educational institutions (HEIs). However, “concerted effort at adopting MOOCs on the continent remain emergent and fragmentary" (Rambe & Moeti, 2017, p. 642). There is a need for African HEIs to experiment with different educational delivery models. Oyo and Kalema (2014) believe that MOOCs have been shown to be an effective innovation that can help unearth new best practices for online, face to face or blended pedagogies.
This study aimed to document the empirical research on the perception and use of MOOCs and their impact on access to higher education in African contexts with
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a view to understanding how MOOCs are currently being perceived and used by HEIs in Africa. A qualitative approach with a systematic literature review (Vaismoradi, Jones, Turunen & Snelgrove, 2016) was used for this study. Systematic reviews are founded on the principle of a comprehensive literature search to identify the available quality literature with a replicable search strategy as completely as possible (Hirt, Nordhausen, Appenzeller Herzog & Ewald, 2020). Systematic reviews are also purposive. They study various topics by focusing on specific features of targeted literature and involve a rigorous and systematic research process of information searching (Newman & Gough, 2020).
Systematic reviews were first formulated in the field of medicine in response to the exponential growth in medical research, where the findings proved impossible to synthesise on given topics (Ramey & Rao, 2011) Increasingly, however, systematic reviews are being used to synthesise research to inform practice (Tamim, Borokhovski, Bernard, Schmid, Abrami & Pickup, 2021) in other disciplines, such as educational technology. Davies (2000) argues that educational policy and practice have much to gain from systematic reviews. Systematic literature reviews follow more formalised and rigorous processes than do other types of literature reviews, such as systematised literature reviews (Peters, 2017). They also create an unbiased synthesis from a great body of literature (Sayers, 2007) and assist in drawing conclusions from existing evidence (Koufogiannakis, 2012). A systematic review was necessary to establish the extent to which African HEIs’ current research addresses the issue of widening access by using MOOCs.
For this study, the researcher conducted a systematic review of the empirical literature (peer reviewed journal articles). The researcher aimed to understand how MOOCs are currently being perceived and used by HEIs in Africa and how such approaches can enhance the use of MOOCs for entry into formal higher education. The study thus focused on the following two research questions:
1. What is the perception of MOOCs as a tool to widen access to higher education in African higher education institutions?
2. What is the status of MOOC usage in higher education institutions in Africa?
Although the first MOOC appeared in 2009, it was not until 2012 that the term became a buzzword and attracted significant policy attention in the international domain (Lane, 2013). Global MOOC research and trends only gathered momentum in 2013 (Bozkurt et al., 2016; Corbeil et al., 2018), after 2012 was declared “the year of the MOOC” by the New York Times (Shah, n.d.). Since it was around 2013 that MOOCs spread to some developing countries, only studies from 2013 to 2020 were included in this study, using the set inclusion/exclusion criteria presented in table 1.
There may be thousands of MOOC related research papers, but relatively few address African issues and are produced by African authors. This review was intentional in including only works by African scholars to understand how they
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perceive MOOCs and their viability in extending access to higher education to deserving learners.
Empirical studies published between 2013 and 2020
Empirical studies published only in the English language
Exclusion criteria
Empirical studies published before 2013 and after 2020
Empirical studies not published in the English language
Primary empirical research Reviews or theoretical articles
Empirical studies focusing on higher education
Empirical studies focusing on basic education (primary and secondary/middle school education)
Academic journal articles Non academic journal articles MOOCs research focusing specifically on the widening of access to HE MOOCs research that does not focus on widening access to HE
Articles authored by African scholars, including those collaborating with other scholars with a focus on African countries
African HE context
Articles authored purely by non African scholars
Non African HE context
Based on the research questions, background literature and with the help and support of a librarian from the University of South Africa’s library, the search strategy was developed to identify the relevant studies (Gough et al., 2012; Bond, 2020) by using Boolean operators (AND, OR), expressed as (A1 OR A2 OR… A11) AND (B1 OR B2) (Lee, Watson & Watson, 2019). The search terms that were used to search for literature are presented in table 2
A1. Access* to education
A2. Open access
A3. Higher education
A4. Postsecondary education
A5. Undergrad*
A6. Postgrad*
A7. E learning
A8. Online learning
A9. Blended learning
A10. Africa
A11. Sub Saharan countr*
B1. Massive open and online course*
B2. MOOC*
Sabinet, Scopus and Web of Sciences (WoS) databases were chosen for this research because of their credibility and breadth of coverage on topics in their collections. The search string and search terms are important in a systematic review to extract the relevant items for the research project and ensure the search's replicability (Polonioli, 2020).
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The PRISMA guidelines are authoritative in guiding systematic reviews and they consist of a four phase flow diagram and a checklist of 27 items developed to help improve the reporting of systematic literature reviews and meta analyses (Bond, 2020). The PRISMA flow diagram forms an integral part of the methodological description of a systematic review (Haddaway, 2020) and outlines the identification, screening, eligibility and inclusion processes of items and reasons for study exclusion/inclusion. A total of 99 MOOC related papers were retrieved, as illustrated through the PRISMA flowchart (figure 1), adapted from Moher, Liberati, Tetzlaff, Altman and the PRISMA Group (2009)
Articles on the topic of MOOCs with discussions around widening access to higher education were searched in databases through the University of South Africa’s library. After downloading the papers from the three databases, duplications were removed automatically using the EPPI Reviewer software. EPPI Reviewer software was developed in 1993 and is maintained by the EPPI Centre at the Social Science Research Unit in the Department of Social Science,
UCL Institute of Education, University College London. It is a “web based software program for managing and analysing data in literature reviews” (EPPI Centre, 2021, para 1), suitable for small or large scale reviews, including systematic reviews.
After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the next step was to screen the papers based on their titles and abstracts. This step resulted in 23 articles being excluded. Forty six (46) papers were then selected for full text screening, which yielded 19 studies after excluding 27 (see figure 1). This iterative process yielded 15 relevant data extraction and synthesis studies in this systematic review.
Information about the use of MOOCs in higher education and how the researchers within the African HEIs perceived MOOCs was coded. Data from the included articles were extracted using a coding system designed with guidance from the coding systems developed by Bond, Buntins, Bedenlier, Zawacki Richter and Kerres (2020). This coding system was chosen for its comprehensiveness and coverage of many important aspects of a study, including methodologies used, study design, samples, findings and study conclusions (Bond, 2020).
Guided by the research questions and aim of this review, a narrative synthesis of the quantitative and qualitative data was undertaken, which according to Petticrew and Roberts (2006, as cited in Bond, 2020, p. 6) is a valid method of analysing and assembling evidence in systematic reviews. The quantitative data are presented in tables and figures, while the qualitative data are described narratively. Qualitative content analysis was used consistently and extensively in systematic review studies (Bozkurt, Keskin & De Waard, 2016; Zawacki Richter et al., 2018) and was considered suitable for this study. Coding reports were generated and exported from EPPI Reviewer to the researcher’s personal computer for further synthesis. Findings and emerging themes are discussed in the discussion section of this paper
This section presents the findings of the systematic review and a discussion of the emerging themes, aligned with the research questions based on the included studies, namely a) the perception of the potentiality of MOOCs to widen access to higher education in Africa and b) teaching approaches applied using MOOCs in African higher education institutions. The first part of this section briefly discusses the study characteristics, including trends and a list of the included studies (table 3); the second part discusses the emerging themes.
The studies included in the systematic review were conducted in eight different developing countries, mostly African countries. Three of the fourteen studies were a collaboration between an African country and at least one developed country (table 3). The internationally collaborated and co authored articles were included in the study, based on the first author and his/her country of origin, the study setting and research focus. The collaboration trend of MOOC development projects and related research between developed and developing countries seems
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to be increasing (table 3). However, many universities in some developing countries have started developing their own MOOCs. Two of the articles produced in Egypt were a collaboration with London (2016) and Spain (2018), respectively, while Nigeria collaborated with the Netherlands and India (2016) on another MOOC project. Another trend is that undergraduate and postgraduate students seem to be the most researched groups, as illustrated in table 3. MOOCs are also being used in the corporate sector for skills development in South Africa.
Author(s)/Year Country Sample focus Study level Major themes
Nyoni, J (2013) South Africa Lecturers
Postgraduate Open access, ODL, SDL, skills development, MOOCs
Oyo, B & Kalema, BM (2014) South Africa N/A N/A Access to higher education, open education, African governments, MOOCs
Aboshady, OA, Radwan, AE, Eltaweel, AR, Azzam, A & Aboelnaga, AA, et al. (2015)
Nigeria, Netherlands, India
Lecturers Undergraduate Postgraduate Digital openness, OERs, MOOCs
Egypt Students Undergraduate Awareness and use of MOOCs Agbu, JFO, Mulder, F, DeVries, F, Tenebe, V & Caine, A (2016)
Hone, KS & El Said, GR (2016) Egypt, London, Students Undergraduate Postgraduate DE telelearning, MOOCs El Mhouti, A, Nasseh, A & Erradi, M (2016)
Czerniewicz, L, Deacon, A, Glover, M & Walji, S (2017)
Morocco N/A N/A Drop out rates, engagement, MOOCs
Open practices, OERs, MOOCs El Said (2017) Egypt Students Undergraduate Postgraduate MOOC retention and design
Liyanagunawardena, TR & Aboshady, OA (2018)
South Africa Lecturers Institutional skills development
Egypt Healthcare professionals N/A Training and professional development, MOOCs
Alonso, JLG & Samy, D (2018) Egypt, Spain Students Undergraduate Postgraduate International cooperation, capacity building, MOOCs
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Fianu, E, Blewett, C, Ampong, GOA & Ofori, KS (2018)
Deacon, A, Walji, S, Jawitz, J, Small, J & Jaffer, T (2019)
El Khadiri, K, Labouidya, O, El Kamoun, N & Hilal, R (2019)
Small, J, Deacon, A, Walji, S, Jaffer, T & Jawitz, J (2019)
Waghid, Y & Waghid, F. (2017
South Africa, Ghana Students Undergraduate Postgraduate Technology adoption, computer self efficacy
South Africa Established professionals Corporate/ Skills development
Flexibility, online learning, institutional capacity
Morocco N/A N/A Access to higher education, SDL, MOOCs
South Africa Corporate professionals Postgraduate Corporate/ Skills development
South Africa Students & university educators
Transitions in work, skills development, MOOCs
Undergraduate Postgraduate MOOCs, disrupting HE curriculum and pedagogy, rhizomatic thinking
The results from the reviewed literature reveal a general increase in MOOC related research between 2016 and 2019 in Africa (figure 2), five years after the hype of MOOCs emerged globally (Bozkurt, Keskin & De Waard, 2016).
The highest number of MOOC related research studies were produced in 2017 in an African HE context (figure 3), with the topics ranging from building capabilities through MOOCs, MOOC making and open educational practices, and perceptions and use of MOOCs in developing countries’ universities.
Number of published articles
5
4
3
2
1
0
6 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020
Year of publication
South Africa appears to be the top generator of MOOC related research, followed by Egypt, as depicted in figure 3. Although this study was of a small scale, it
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correlates with the study of Escher, Noukakis and Aebischer (2014), who also found that Egypt, South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia and Nigeria had the largest geographical distribution of MOOC participants from African countries.
Number of published articles Country
South Africa Egypt Nigeria Morocco Ghana
Based on the studies selected for this review, there seems to be very little research from African HEIs that focuses on how MOOCs can be used to help the masses of learners in Africa to access higher education. This finding is supported by the included study of El Said (2017), who reported that the population of Egypt appeared to be underrepresented and under researched with respect to MOOC participation. Most articles in the MOOC research, as indicated in table 3, reported on topics such as the flexibility of MOOCs, student engagement, self regulated learning and drop out rates, except for the study of Oyo and Kalema (2014) and Agbu, Mulder, DeVries, Tenebe and Caine (2016), who discussed the possibility of MOOCs as tools to increase access to higher education. The next section presents the emerging themes based on the research questions from the studies included in the systematic review.
4.2.1 The perception of the potentiality of MOOCs to widen access to higher education in Africa
This theme looks at how African HEIs view the value and role of MOOCs in increasing access to higher education for the masses that cannot access it, for whatever reasons, as reported in research. Of the 15 reviewed papers in this research study, only two studies by Agbu et al. (2016) and Oyo and Kalema (2014) reported on the potentiality of MOOCs’ being used for access to higher education Oyo and Kalema (2014, p. 2) firmly believe that “a good design of MOOCs could widen HE access to disadvantaged students in Africa, thereby promoting holistic economic emancipation”. Agbu et al. (2016, p. 117) also reported that MOOCs are seen as an alternative with “great potential benefits of widening access to quality
higher education in Nigeria”, with the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) driving OERs and OER based MOOCs.
El Said (2017) reported that MOOC participation in the Egyptian population was underrepresented and under researched; however, he points out that "MOOCs can provide innovative solutions to education problems in Egypt” (p. 7). Although Waghid and Waghid (2017) contend that MOOCs may “not strictly advance equal access and inclusion” , they also believe that MOOCs “have the potential to cultivate student capacities in a critically transformative way” (p. 1).
Research suggests that MOOCs are already being used as part of mainstream credit bearing courses in some institutions (Small et al., 2019) in other developing countries, such as the Philippines, Thailand and India which at national levels are already crediting MOOCs for entry into formal university education (Harris & Wihak, 2018). Transnational higher education in the United Arab Emirates reportedly uses MOOCs to credit students’ prior learning (Annabi & Wilkins, 2016).
One of the important key challenges that African HEIs face is the prevalent lack of awareness of MOOCs. Several studies in this review reported that many learners and teachers were not aware of the existence and provision of MOOCs. For example, the study by Aboshady et al. (2015) reported on the lack of awareness and use of these courses in Egypt Alonso and Samy (2018) found that most students are unfamiliar with MOOCs, and those who knew about MOOCs had heard about them from friends and social networks. Small et al. (2019, p. 429) also reported that MOOC takers “already possess some level of education”, meaning that access is available to a limited few, most of whom already have a post school qualification Oyo and Kalema (2014, p. 1) believe that African HEIs face a “new era of universal access to HE that is achievable through MOOCs only if the respective governments meet initial requirements”. This requires that awareness be instilled at the national level and cascaded down to all stakeholders, including the schools. El Khadiri et al. (2019) argue that MOOCs deserve the full attention of the higher education community, including decision makers, teachers, students and researchers, “given their importance in the democratisation of knowledge (free and open to all)" (p. 1167).
4.2.3 The status of MOOC usage in higher education institutions in Africa
This review found that MOOCs in African HEIs are mainly used as a supplementary resource to traditional education. The studies of Annabi and Wilkins (2016) and Reich and Ruipérez Valiente (2019) found that MOOC providers are partnering with the HEIs to use MOOCs to supplement university programmes. Escher et al. (2014) argue that MOOCS can be used by faculty in universities to ‘flip the classroom’ as an auxiliary resource. MOOCs in the African HE context are still seen as secondary resources. MOOCs seem to be used mainly to complement traditional education or as part of a university programme and as a self learning element (McAuley et al., 2010; Alonso, 2018; Czerniewicz, 2017)
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In some cases, MOOCs involve face to face tuition and support for university students For example, Fianu et al. (2018, p. 8) reported that in South Africa and Ghana, “university based students are given MOOCs as extra tuition support”. El Said (2017) believes that “using MOOCs as a learning opportunity within the context of a university accredited programme would increase the likelihood of completion” (p. 2). However, Zhenghao et al. (2015) report that completing a self learning MOOC remains optional for graduate and undergraduate students, effectively measuring completion and drop out rates in such learning contexts.
Based on this review, the idea already exists in countries such as Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa to use MOOCs to grant access to formal higher education. Although MOOCs lack formal credit value and do not always lead to formal qualifications, research suggests that they are already being used as part of mainstream credit bearing courses in some institutions (Small et al., 2019) in other developing countries However, there is little evidence in studies of African universities’ considering using MOOCs to open access to formal qualification programmes for students. MOOCs have thus far been used to complement traditional education (Yuan & Powell, 2013; Zawacki Richter et al., 2018) and are also offered to university based students as extra tuition support (Fianu et al., 2018) When MOOCs are used in face to face scenarios as part of tuition and student support, as reported in the findings, the ubiquity of MOOCs becomes questionable and further increases the education access divide. Access to the large numbers of MOOCs offered as supplements to university programmes is questionable, as these MOOCs are often offered only to the university’s cohort of registered students.
HEIs are seemingly the “main drivers of MOOCs, at least from the perspective of the developed countries where MOOCs are thriving” (Oyo & Kalema, 2014, p. 9). There is a need for HEIs to initiate dialogue with governments and accreditation bodies in African countries on how MOOCs can be utilised innovatively, perhaps as part of the recognition of prior learning (RPL), to help millions of learners gain access to further training in the form of university education. University leadership also needs to encourage staff to teach actively with open content (Agbu, 2016; Czerniewicz et al., 2017), including MOOCs. Active and constructive discussions around this topic and sharing relevant knowledge and innovations could help to widen access to higher education using MOOCs.
Although there is an increase in MOOC related research within the African context, the prevalent lack of awareness of MOOCs reported in six of the fifteen studies included in this review is of serious concern. More effort is needed to raise awareness among the relevant stakeholders, starting with those in the ministry of education at government level, HEIs, lecturers, students and other stakeholders. The increase of MOOC related research in African universities is inevitable, considering the publicised promises of MOOCs and their potential to make it possible for universities to reach students in the most inaccessible and deprived parts of their continents. However, this increase in MOOC research in Africa deals with issues previously dealt with in the Western and European studies on
MOOCs, except for challenges unique to African countries and other developing countries, such as basic digital infrastructure, electricity supply, internet connectivity (Rambe & Moeti, 2017) and, in some cases, a lack of digital skills on the part of both lecturers and students
Most of the MOOC research conducted in Africa between 2013 and 2020 mainly reported on the lessons learnt from the MOOCs designed and offered within a formal qualification programme at a university. Some MOOC related research is reported within the confines of government led training programmes and in private and corporate organisations. However, there is little reporting on how MOOCs can be used to expand access to formal education to millions of students in African countries. The production of MOOCs in Africa, although linked to a formal programme offered at a university, is a phenomenal achievement at this point. MOOC production and research collaborations with international organisations embody the much needed technical skills transfer, but there is also a need for African HEIs to start producing MOOCs that speak to the heart of Africa and that help to solve some of the longstanding issues relating to HE access in Africa.
The increasing research is evidence of interest in MOOCs among HEIs. This study aimed to investigate the perceptions among African and other developing countries’ higher education sectors regarding the potentiality of using MOOCs as a tool to increase access to quality higher education. The study undertook a systematic review, which revealed the conflicting views on MOOCs in existing research. Some institutions have already started using MOOCs as a pathway to formal education, whereas other institutions prefer to use MOOCs only as a supplementary element. The study also revealed the potentiality of MOOCs to expand access to higher education; what is needed now is increased awareness campaigns and dialogues between African governments and HEIs. The implications and recommendations in this study may further increase research and dialogues around the use of MOOCs as tools to introduce more learners to quality higher education.
While research produces volumes of data on MOOCs, there is comparatively little research on how MOOCs can be used to widen access to formal education in higher education for the masses, especially in the African HE context. The systematically reviewed literature in this paper highlighted the trends and issues that may directly influence African HEIs’ use of MOOCs to grant millions of learners access to higher education. The review revealed a lack of awareness of MOOCs among African HEIs. Thus, governments who aspire to widen access to higher education through MOOCs need to raise the awareness of every stakeholder, including high school communities, HEI educationists, policy makers and government.
The universities that offer MOOCs as part of a degree programme are commendable in realising the role and value of MOOCs in widening access to
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education for the masses. However, HEIs in collaboration with governments, authorities and regulators need to assess their preparedness to use MOOCs as a means to grant learners access to higher education, as well as the implications for degree programmes
Further research unpacking and sharing information and experiences of the potential positive effect of utilising MOOCs for accreditation purposes may help increase the value of MOOCs. This research may further make relevant authorities aware of MOOCs' significance leading to a massive utilization among African HEIs.
There is a suggestion that MOOCs can work better if packaged with recognition of prior learning (RPL) programmes (Oyo & Kalema, 2014; Annabi & Wilkins, 2016) to open access to higher education for individuals who would otherwise not have access to it. This is one possibility and further dialogue and research can unpack how this could be achieved. In addition, research on how MOOCs can be used in widening access to HE in the African higher education sector in the post COVID 19 pandemic era might be of interest and might produce useful insights for both practitioners and policy makers.
Shenton (2004) cautions that qualitative research results must be understood within the context of the characteristics of the case. The findings of systematic reviews are often limited to the research in the included papers, based on the study's inclusion and exclusion criteria. Nonetheless, the lessons learnt from this study are relevant to various stakeholders, including HEIs, education policy makers, local and international MOOC developers and anyone interested in MOOCs in African HEI contexts The study’s results should thus be understood within the context of African HEIs’ approaches to MOOCs and based on the papers included in this review
I wish to thank Dr Melissa Bond from the EPPI Centre, University College London, for her selfless help, patience, guidance and support in using the EPPI Reviewer software program during this systematic review research project.
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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research
Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 104 125, May 2022
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.5.6
Received Feb 25, 2022; Revised May 11, 2022; Accepted May 16, 2022
Abstract. The current study investigates the effect of the difference between two styles of infographics (static vs. dynamic) on developing visual thinking and reducing the cognitive load of grade six students in their science course. The researcher relied on the quasi experimental design. The random sample population included 40 students who were divided into two equal experimental groups: the first group of students was exposed to static infographics, while the second was exposed to dynamic infographics. The experimental treatment of independent variables was done by Wepik and Vyond web applications. Data were collected by two tools, a Visual Thinking Test (prepared by the researcher) and a Cognitive Load Scale (NASA TLX). The results indicated that there was a significant impact of dynamic infographics on developing students’ visual thinking and reducing their cognitive load compared with static infographics. This can be attributed to the diverse stimuli and multimedia elements that dynamic infographics provide, which are compatible with the students’ tendencies and abilities, as well as their learning, cognitive and perception styles. Furthermore, the presentation of concepts in a sequential and orderly manner can allow for in depth understanding and assimilation with a limited cognitive load.
Keywords: static infographics; dynamic infographics; visual thinking; cognitive load
Providing interactive e educational content is an issue that is constantly raised in education communities around the world. The repercussions of the COVID 19 pandemic on education have driven many researchers to find a different style to provide interactive e educational content through which students can form serious interaction towards benefiting from this content and also to developing many skills, the most important of which are thinking skills, and also benefiting from this content in reducing the cognitive load they face when learning from educational content that is traditionally presented. Several studies have suggested new patterns in providing interactive electronic educational content.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY NC ND 4.0).
It is important to remember students now belong to the digital generation that has different characteristics, requirements, and needs, the most important of which is the need to interact with and participate in educational content delivered in a manner that allows them to do so throughout their learning period.
Between 2010 and 2012, the use of Infographic Technology began to increase strongly From then until now, the massive Internet revolution has driven the increasing need for infographics The term infographics is a portmanteau of two words: information, which refers to data, and graphics, which refers to images and drawings. Converting information into images and graphics helps to simplify complex pieces of information and facilitate their learning (Ali, 2019). In the search for the best instructional methods and styles, the use of infographics offers various advantages and merits. It was a fertile soil for researchers to study its impact on learners for different instructional materials, educational stages, and study levels, starting from kindergarten. In this regard, Al Shuaibi (2018), for example, showed the effectiveness of infographics in developing visual memory for kindergarten children. As for other educational stages, Alzahrani (2020) demonstrated the importance of infographics in English vocabulary retention for grade eight students. Also, Shafi et al. (2018) showed the effectiveness of infographics at the preparatory stage. At the university level, Alsaadoun (2021) showed the efficiency of infographics in developing the concepts of instructional design for university students. Moreover, infographic technology has the advantage of being able to reach students of all groups, even the disabled, as discussed, for example, in Said (2019) which demonstrated the effectiveness of that technology in raising the achievement levels of students with hearing disabilities. Thus, infographics have taken a primary role through raising the achievement levels and increasing learning retention of students in different stages, in addition to developing various visual thinking aspects and skills, which depend on understanding displayed images and eliciting concepts and information from them; Habeeb (2020) and Mohamed’s (2021) showed positive results from theuse of infographics in the development of learners’ visual thinking. Both studies involved subjects relating to social sciences; whereas the current study seeks to employ infographics for applied science subjects. Thus, the infographics used will be different in their content and presentation style from those used in humanities and social science, therefore there is a need to indicate the extent to which infographics affect thinking and reduce the cognitive load of science students.
The strength and effectiveness of infographics vary according to the type and patterns used. For example, Mustafa (2021) showed that there are varying ratios and degrees between the two types (static vs. dynamic) of infographics, concluding that the effectiveness of static infographics for instantaneous comprehension came to 80%, while dynamic infographics were 55% more useful for retrieving information, which indicates the broad capabilities of infographics of reducing the cognitive load of learners.
Guzmán et al. (2021) pointed out that the acquisition of experimental equipment has become a problem due to its high costs. To partially solve this problem, the
scientific community has developed new low cost technologies that don’t require users to have extensive knowledge of electronics and programming.
In light of this, and based on the many studies that have indicated the importance of this technology in raising learners’ motivation and increasing their achievement and willingness to learn, the researcher proposed the use of infographics in presenting scientific concepts to sixth grade students, especially because it contributes to self learning Keeping in mind the existence of at least three types of infographics, the present study aims to discuss the differences between static and dynamic types, and, furthermore, to investigate the patterns that are the most appropriate for students' learning, and the most effective in their retention of scientific concepts. Through my work with supervising field training in schools, I noticed that providing educational content to students in the traditional way does not help students develop their critical thinking skills, despite the students’ motivation to share their ideas in the lessons. Additionally, teachers at these schools confirmed that the traditional presentation of learning materials bears a substantial cognitive load for many students. Thus, the main research question can be stated as follows: What is the effect of the difference in the two main types of infographics (static vs. dynamic) in the presentation of instructional content among grade six students in a science course? The main objective of the research is to measure the difference between the aforementioned styles (static vs. dynamic) when presenting instructional content and its effects on visual thinking and cognitive load among grade six students.
As one of the tools used in conveying messages to the target groups across many fields, infographics are highly efficient since they can give a comprehensive explanation of the concepts that range from the least to the most complex (Kelidou & Siountri, 2020). With the spread of infographics and the diverse methods and ways in which they are used, many definitions have been assigned to them; for example, Al Shaltoot (2016) defined infographics as “the art of transforming data, information and complex concepts into images and graphics that can be acquired, understood and assimilated clearly and interestingly. This technique is characterized by presenting complex and difficult information in a smooth, easy and clear way” (p. 111). Meanwhile, Mustafa (2021) defined infographics as a “visual and reduced narration of complex information and data through drawings, icons and illustrations with the aim of enhancing the understanding of the recipient and communicating the meaning in an interesting and attractive way.” Based on these, infographics can be defined as a creative, innovative instructional means through which both simple and complex scientific concepts can be conveyed in the form of drawings, images graphs, charts and attractive texts that enable students to easily understand these concepts, regardless of their educational levels. The types of infographics vary according to the method of classification, as many studies classify these according to the presentation type, use, method of presentation, and the quality of the information provided (e.g. Al Sadhan, 2020; Muhammad et al., 2019; Saeed, 2019). However, the main research interest here classifies infographics based on the method or style of presentation,
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which is divided into two types: static and dynamic infographics, allowing for the study of the impact of these two patterns on developing visual thinking skills and reducing the perceptive/cognitive load of learners.
Static infographics are considered one of the most used infographic patterns, due to the ease of creating them. Many websites provide ready made templates to help produce this pattern, such as Wepik, freepik, Piktochart and others, in addition to some computer programs, such as PowerPoint. Aldalalah (2021) defined this as “a static design and a diagram or chart in the form of pictures, images, drawings and graphics with information about a specific topic that continuously clarifies the idea and explains it”. In the same context, Abdel and Heba (2019) adds that this pattern or style displays the contents steadily, which makes it easy to display, publish and share feasibly. Consequently, for the purposes of this study, the static infographics are defined as a fixed design for a specific topic that contains graphical forms, drawings, pictures, charts, and information about that target topic, so as to display data in a simplified, clear, and easy way that is attractive to learners
As shown by Alsaadoun (2021), static infographics can be extremely effective for developing the concepts of information technology among university students. Similarly, AlRajhi (2020) confirmed the role of static infographics in enhancing students' learning and retention of different terms, and increasing their motivation to learn because of the factors and features provided that attract their attention. Also, Muhammad et al. (2019) showed the effectiveness of static infographics in developing visual thinking among preparatory school students.
With the current technological trends and developments, along with people's attraction to images and animation, animated/dynamic infographics have come to the fore and have become more popular. Thus, many programs and websites can facilitate the design and production of this pattern, including websites like as Vyond and Powtoon. Ali (2019) defined animated/dynamic infographics as “the animated or moving data/information design that includes the sound element, which take the form of music, sound deepening, or sound effects to attract the learner’s attention”. Wickens (2021) referred to one of the models of attention theory, which is supervisory control, indicates that, in many attention relevant environments, the human operator is confronted with a wide array of dynamic sources of information. These are referred to as Areas of Interest. These are the areas a human user is attracted towards and interacts with on purpose, which explains students’ interest in any source of information that is characterized by movement and interaction Furthermore, this explains the added value of the dynamic infographic for student learning. Thus, for the purposes of this study, dynamic infographics can be defined as an animated design that combines between concepts and knowledge represented by images, tables and graphics, and appropriate live sounds and movement that give life to the design. This allows for displaying a certain concept divided into purposeful, attractive visual forms.
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As with static infographics, dynamic infographics have been proven extremely effective in the educational process, and its ability to present information and communicate it to learners in an easy and smooth way. In this regard, Abdul Hamid et al. (2020) proved the effectiveness of dynamic infographics in developing chemical concepts among secondary school students and their acquisition of practical skills in that school subject. The researchers recommended the using dynamic infographics for presenting concepts that are difficult for students to comprehend. Also, Hamid et al. (2020) confirmed the effective role of this pattern in simplifying the Arabic grammar for university students, who urgently and greatly demanded the design of complex courses and syllabi through this style, because of its vital role in facilitating comprehension of the curriculum and increasing their focus. Finally, Lievemaa (2017) showed the positive impact of including and integrating this pattern in digital textbooks in Finland.
A simple comparison between the two styles of infographics is presented in the following table:
Table 1: comparison between the two styles of infographics
Can only carry small amount of information.
Can carry relatively large amount of information.
Suitable for simplified design and content. More complicated designs & organization are applicable.
Displayed as 2 dimensional data. Animated and interactive information.
Can be embedded in almost every website, blogs, or social media with ease.
Since the infographic is in form of an image, the link can be easily copy pasted.
Can be embedded in certain websites. Some infographics are embeddable but will be shown as a static image of its first frame.
The easiest way to spread interactive infographic is by copying and sharing direct link to the interactive infographic.
It is downloadable, printable and can be stored in other media. Is not downloadable. Its shareability is limited.
It is better off with simple data with small potential of it being extended.
It is very suitable for ever changing data, user driven data content and multi layered data.
You rarely find a teacher explaining an idea or anything who does not draw it on the board, putting signs and signals to communicate their idea to students. This way, they invite the students to visual thinking; that is, in a way that nourishes their thinking with the images seen by students. In this regard, literature and many research studies have suggested different definitions of visual thinking. For example, Reed (2013) posited that thinking visually documents the many ways pictures, and visual images influence our thinking. Much of comprehending language depends on visual simulations of words or on spatial metaphors that provide a foundation for conceptual understanding. Amer and Al Masry (2016) defined it as "an intuitive approach that facilitates learning, and the more complex the task or idea is, the more useful this approach becomes" The authors also
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pointed out that this way of thinking involves using the right hemisphere where creativity and emotion are dominant. The sequence of information received by the eyes is organized intuitively Thus, for the purposes of this study, visual thinking can be defined as a learner’s ability to extract different knowledge and concepts from images, drawings, and different visual forms and keep them in memory, with the possibility of retrieving them when needed. Visual thinking consists of several skills, which, according to Al Rashidi (2021) and Amer and Al Masry (2016), can be arranged into five basic skills:
• Visual reading: the ability to identify the displayed shape and its components;
• Shape analysis: the ability to see relationships in shape and links and identify these relationships;
• The skill of perceiving relationships: the ability to find relationships between the elements of a figure and linking them;
• The skill of interpreting information: the ability to interpret and clarify the relationships between the elements of a figure; and
• The skill of deriving or inferring meaning: the ability to access new concepts and knowledge through the image presented
These skills can be considered as steps that a learner goes through in their awareness of the visual forms displayed to them, since reaching the last skill is considered the primary goal that visual thinking aspires to. Many studies have shown the role of infographics in developing visual thinking, including Shafee et al. (2018), that confirmed the positive impact of infographics on visual thinking and raising achievement levels of preparatory stage students. Similarly, Al Rashidi (2021) found that infographics contributed to the development of visual thinking of Faculty of Education students. Furthermore, Muhammad et al. (2020) showed the impact of infographics on the development of visual culture and visual thinking among university students. Finally, Habeeb (2020) demonstrated the importance of infographics in developing visual thinking among female students in their acquisition of some social concepts.
Cognitive Load Theory is one of the most influential theories in the design and production of instructional technology materials, as it aims to develop a specific mechanism for instructional design based on the premise that working memory has a limited ability to deal with information (Alsherman, 2019). In this regard, Garnett (2020) argued that the Cognitive Load Theory can enable teachers to identify the ways in which their students learn, as well as the ways in which the brain processes different information. If a teacher can identify these ways or techniques, their instruction will be valid, and hence the instructor becomes able to provide information in the appropriate way. A review of the existing literature indicates that many definitions of cognitive load have been developed; for example, Posey (2019) defined it as “the amount of mental effort needed to do a task” (p. 115), while Hassan (2018) defined it as “a set of mental activities carried out by learners with the aim of storing information in memory, and hence recalling it” (p.6). Based on these, for the purposes of this study, cognitive load will be defined as the mental effort exerted by a learner to identify scientific concepts and their ability to recall them when needed. Some studies have devised
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a number of strategies to reduce the cognitive load for learners. Elsharman (2019) and Posey (2019) presented a number of these strategies: (1) content fragmentation: i.e. the target content to be presented is divided into small parts so that the learner can absorb and memorize them separately; and (2) use of sounds, images, and shapes: i.e. concepts and knowledge written in long texts can be replaced by graphics, images, and shapes. Several studies have shown the significant impact of infographics in reducing the cognitive load and increasing academic achievement, including Nazeer (2019) that showed the role of infographics in reducing the cognitive load of learners in e learning environments. Meanwhile, Aldalalah (2021) confirmed the effectiveness of infographics in reducing the cognitive load of university students and increasing their creative thinking, as well as design and achievement capacities Khalifa (2018) agreed that the use of infographics can reduce students’ cognitive load, H’mida (2020) pointed out the role that animated or dynamic shapes play in reducing the cognitive load of learners more than static pictures and shapes. This was confirmed by Wang, Fang and Gu (2020) that found images and animation represent the least cognitive burden for students, who had the ability to retain knowledge well.
Based on the literature reviewed, along with my personal experience with instructional technology and the design and production of interactive multimedia, the following hypotheses are proposed.
1. There will be a statistically significant difference at the significance level of 0.05 between the mean scores of the students of the first experimental group (static infographics pattern) and the second experimental (dynamic infographics pattern) in the post administration of the visual thinking test in favour of the students of the second experimental group (dynamic infographics pattern).
2. There will be a statistically significant difference at the significance level of 0.05 between the mean scores of the students of the first experimental group (static infographics pattern) and the second experimental (dynamic infographics pattern) in the post administration of the Cognitive Load Scale in favour of students of the first experimental group (static infographics pattern).
The quasi experimental approach was chosen for the purposes of this study. It was deemed appropriate for testing and measuring the effect of the difference of the two independent variables (static infographics and dynamic infographics) on the two dependent variables (visual thinking and cognitive load) regarding teaching science concepts to sixth graders. Furthermore, this approach provides higher external validity than most true experiments, and higher internal validity than other non experimental approaches because they allow better control for confounding variables than other types.
In the experimental design of the intervention, the post test equally matched groups design was used, excluding the pre testing of the sample in the experimental groups because the measurement process for the dependent
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variables (visual thinking and cognitive load) depends on the style of presentation of the instructional content delivered through the independent variables (static vs. dynamic infographics).
Table 2: Experimental design of the study
Group Pre testing Experimental Treatment Post testing
1st Experimental Group NONE Static Infographics Pattern o Visual Thinking Test o Cognitive Load Scale 2nd Experimental Group Dynamic Infographics Pattern
The target population included sixth grade students in the Sultanate of Oman, whose ages ranged from 11 to 12 years. Generally, the characteristics of this group include speedy mental development, and the growth of their imagination from illusion to realism, which tends towards innovation and creativity. In addition, at this age, students show early signs of critical thinking towards the end of that stage. The research sample consisted of 40 sixth grade students from a private school, who were divided into two experimental groups, each of which included 20 students. This number was suitable to be used as a sample for the currentstudy. In addition, the students’ records were reviewed in order to ascertain their similar or close ages and follow up on the students’ achievement records and discuss them with the relevant teachers. Then, the students who shared similar levels, and their names of the students were used to create a new list This was then used to select the research sample through regular randomized sampling.
For the specific purposes of the current study, two main research tools were used: a visual thinking test, and a cognitive load scale. These are explained further in the sections that follow.
4.3.1 Visual Thinking Test (prepared by the researcher):
After reviewing the relevant literature (e.g., Fernandez et al., 2020; Ware, 2021; Mollon, 2017; Mouhebati; 2019; Sabry, 2020; Bystryantseva et al., 2020), a visual thinking test was prepared, based on the objectives and instructional content already designed as follows:
Objectives and test design: The main objective of this test was to assess the effectiveness of infographics technology, with its static and dynamic patterns, in developing visual thinking in science for sixth grade students. The test included 10 questions, at a rate of two marks for each question. MCQ questions were chosen, since results of this type are objective (i.e., they do not depend on the student's written answers), with no interference from the researcher, as is the case in essay questions.
To determine the validity and reliability of the test, it was administered to a psychometric sample that consisted of 20 sixth grade students, who were not from the main research sample. The data obtained from the psychometric sample was
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uploaded to SPSS a statistical program, then the validity and reliability was assessed as follows:
Validity of the test: Structural validity was verified according to two methods: internal consistency and the two terminal groups.
A The internal consistency method:
The validity value for each item on the test was measured by calculating the correlation coefficients between the degree of each item and the total score. The results of the statistical analysis were as follows:
Table 3: Correlation coefficients between the degree of each item and the total score Correlati on Ite m Correlati on Ite m Correlati on Ite m Correlati on Ite m Correlati on Ite m
.535** 9 .510** 7 .560** 5 .640** 3 .486** 1 .477** 10 .563** 8 .634** 6 .399** 4 .667** 2 Significant at the 0.01 level **
It is clear from the above table that there is a correlation between each item and the total score of the test. These correlations range between 0.667 and 0.399, which are positive and statistically significant at the level of 0.01.
B Validity using the two terminal groups:
The scores of the psychometric sample were arranged on a scale in descending order, and the highest 25% (highest category of 5) and lowest 25% (lowest category of 5) were chosen. Given that the two categories were of small samples, the Mann Whitney test for independent samples was used to show the significance of the differences between the two categories on the total score of the scale/test. Table 4 below presents the findings:
Table 4: Average ranks, total ranks, and the value of Mann Whitney and its significance
Visual Thinking Test
Categories No Average ranks Total ranks U Z (sig) Significance level Highest category 5 8 40 0.000 2.66 0.000 Significant at the level of 030.0 Lowest category 5 3 15
It is evident that there are statistically significant differences between the highest category and the lowest category, and these differences favor of the highest category. That is, the test is valid, and its items possess a good discriminatory ability among students
Test reliability:
Reliability was calculated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient and the Spearman Brown coefficient on the validity and reliability sample. Table 5 below shows the two reliability coefficients for the scale.
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Total score of the test
Alpha Cronbach’s value Spearman Brown value 0.734 0.760
It is evident that the test has a high degree of reliability through the split half method.
4.3.2 Cognitive Load Scale (NASA TLX)
To ensure the scale of cognitive load was compatible with the characteristics of the target sample group, as well as the requirements of the research, the cognitive load scale (NASA TLX) developed by the Ames Research Center at NASA in the US, was selected (Hart, 2006). NASA TLX is considered a widely used six dimensional self assessment instrument that has been adopted in several research studies. After translation and adaptation, its validity was confirmed by using predictive validity through the internal consistency and discriminatory validity methods.
1 Predictive validity:
(1) Internal consistency method: The scale was administered to the psychometric research sample, consisting of 20 sixth grade students. The internal consistency was calculated using the Pearson correlation coefficient. The correlation of each item in the scale was compared with the total score of the scale to verify this method. Table 6 below shows the resulting correlation coefficients.
Table 6: The correlation of each item of the scale with the total score of the scale
Item Correlation Item Correlation Item Correlation
1 0.630** 3 0.424** 5 0.782** 2 0.826** 4 0.760** Significant at the 0.01 level **
It is evident that there is a correlation between each item and the total score of the scale, and that these correlations range between 0.826 and 0.424, which are positive and statistically significant at the 0.01 significance level
(2) Using two terminal groups: Again, the students’ scores on the cognitive load scale were arranged in a descending order, after which the highest category was determined as 25% and the lowest category was 25%. Then, the averages of these two groups and their standard deviation were calculated, and the Mann Whitney scale was used to show the significance of the differences between the two averages on the total score of the cognitive load scale. Table 7 below shows the difference between these two groups:
Table 7: Average ranks, total ranks and the Mann Whitney value and its significance
Categories No Average ranks Total ranks U Z (sig) Significance level
Cognitive load scale
Highest category 5 8 40 0.000 2.71 0.000 Significance level at 0.000 Lowest category 5 3 15
It is evident that there are statistically significant differences between the two groups, which favor the highest group. That is, the scale is valid, and its items have a good discriminatory ability among the examinees.
Scale reliability:
To ensure the reliability of the scale, reliability was calculated using Cronbach's alpha and Spearman Brown coefficients with the validity and reliability sample. Table 8 below shows the reliability coefficients of the scale.
Table 8: Reliability coefficients using Cronbach's alpha and Spearman-Brown
Total score of the scale Alpha Cronbach’s value Spearman Brown value 0.713 0 823
It is evident that the values reached by the researcher indicate that the scale has a high degree of reliability through the split half method.
The experimental treatment was done in the experimental groups A set of instructional design models for the design of technology for education was reviewed, including that by Al Shaltout (2016) and the ADDIE model, and great similarities were found between them. Therefore, the ADDIE model was chosen due to the clarity of its steps and its relevance to the nature of the current research. This model consists of five stages: analysis, design, development, application, and evaluation (Al Sherman, 2019). In the following, I provide an explanation of the steps followed in designing infographics of two patterns (static vs. dynamic):
1 Analysis: At this stage, the characteristics of learners, the learning environment, and the instructional content to be conveyed were analyzed. The analysis yielded the following:
• Characteristics of the learners: They were sixth grade (male and female) students in a private school in the state of Muscat, who received their education using the blended learning method, and whose ages ranged from 10 11 years. The developmental characteristics were common to most of the students at that age. More specifically, they loved movement and exploration, and their visual coordination appeared bigger and deeper. In addition, their ability to innovate, create and imagine was well developed, as was the ability to find and express relationships and solve problems. Of course, these attributes would contribute a lot to their receptiveness in relation to infographics technology. Prior to this study, the target group had not already received any instruction through infographics technology.
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• Learning environment: This refers to the classrooms in which the materials would be presented to students, and their physical components; thus, the availability of computers and data display devices connected to them was checked In addition, a safe atmosphere was provided while taking all precautionary measures, by ensuring the existence of appropriate lighting and ventilation. In addition, it was ensured that all students were able to access the school’s education platform in order to obtain infographics through it.
• Instructional content: Analyzing the content of Part one of the science curriculum for the sixth grade, one of the lessons about the living organism’s unit in the environment was chosen, which contained a group of similar, interrelated concepts that are often confused by students
2 Design: During this stage, the content and the method of presenting it to students were determined The outputs of this stage were as follows:
• Identification of instructional content:
o The general objective was to identify food chains.
o Instructional content: (1) the concept of food chains; (2) producing and consuming organisms in food chains; and (3) food chains in different habitats.
o Behavioral objectives: (1) to understand the concept of food chains; (2) to list the components of food chains; (3) to connect and link between organisms in food chains; (4) to identify the types of food chains in different habitats; and (5) to design food chains according to the living organisms discussed.
• Strategies used: While delivering the instructional content, the researcher relied on self learning through infographics technology, as well as on discussion strategy for presenting the basic content and achieving extensive comprehension.
• Materials and Tools: A classroom in the school selected was equipped with computers and a data display device, in addition to the possibility of accessing the school's learning platform in order to present infographics in two patterns to students.
3 Development: During this stage, the website Wepik was used to design the static infographics, while Vyond was used for the animated/dynamic infographics containing the aforementioned concepts. Both infographic designs aimed to convey the same concepts and content. The technical and educational standards of design that were presented in existing literature were taken into account
4 Application: At this stage, the school and the target learners were selected while the design was finalised, with all the relevant requirements for application and administration (e.g., activities and graphic cards). In addition, the researcher determined the appropriate timing, which was the period during which students attended school based on an alternate attendance procedure in light of the repercussions of COVID 19 i.e., a week of actual attendance followed by a week of distant learning, and so on. The suitability of the educational environment for application was ensured.
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5 Evaluation: After each stage, a formative evaluation was carried out in order to ensure the clarity of the outputs therein, and their appropriateness to be basic inputs for the next stage. The design was also submitted to some specialists in the Ministry of Education, including educators and designers, to ensure the integrity and clarity of the submitted content. In addition, the design of the two infographic patterns was tested in a pilot study by some students at the same level, who were not members of the selected research sample, in order to ensure their ability to understand the material through the chosen design and the clarity of its components from their perspective. After finalising the designs, the researcher was ready to administer and conduct the experiment to the target group.
After defining the research problem and objectives, the school where the research experiment would be conducted, was contacted. An appointment with the administration and the science teachers dealing with sixth grade students was set in order to clarify the purpose of the research and its premises in an accurate manner This meeting also served to discuss the teachers’ experiences with infographics, and whether it was applied with the students at this stage or previous ones. It was agreed with the administration and teachers to equip an appropriate classroom with the aforementioned specifications. Also, the conditions of selecting the sample were agreed upon. Students were then selected for the two experimental groups from the same school, as the numbers required for the sample were available. After identifying students and obtaining approvals, the students were divided into two groups, randomly and regularly, such that the first group would consist of students who attended in the same week, and the second consisted of those who attended the week after A date was set to conduct the experiment on the two groups, so that the first experimental group would learn via static infographics technology, which was presented to students in the assigned hall. Students were allowed to discover it, obtain data through it, listen to their interpretations, and discuss that. Then, the content was uploaded to the student platform to allow them to review it at any later time and date
The next day, the research tools were disseminated, then the experiment repeated with the second experimental group but using dynamic infographics technology Again, the lesson was also uploaded on the platform Through observation of the performance of students in both groups during and after presentation, students demonstrated clear motivation, attractiveness, and great interest. This was evident through the discussions conducted among students, and the rate and level of questions that students posed to teachers, especially after being presented with the infographics. Finally, the research tools were disseminated, the data gathered, and the test results and the scale for the two experimental groups were treated with statistical software
To test or verify the validity of this hypothesis, an independent sample T test was used. This revealed the significance of the differences between the students of the
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first experimental group and those of the second experimental group on the visual thinking post test, as shown in Table 9 below:
Table 9: T-test value of the significance of the differences between the mean scores of students’ achievement in both the 1st and 2nd experimental groups in the visual thinking post-test
Group No SMA STD Deviation Freedom T value Significance Level
Visual Thinking Test
1st Experimental 20 14.20 2.16 38 8.30 0.0001 2nd Experimental 20 18.55 0.88
It is clear that the value of T reached 8.30 at the probability value of 0.0001, which is smaller than the significance level adopted in this research study (0.05). Furthermore, there is a clear difference between the mean scores of the post test for both groups in favor of the second group, where the SMA of the post test for the first group was 14.20, while that of second was 18.55. This confirms the 1st hypothesis and indicates its validity. Therefore, the well designed visual elements and movement in the dynamic pattern had the greatest effect in stimulating and activating the visual thinking processes of the research sample in the second group more than the first. Also, the characteristics of the sample group members, including their age and academic level, evidently have an effect on the response of this group to the dynamic pattern, since students with these characteristics have a natural tendency towards the moving elements in receiving knowledge, whether in the form of videos or animated cartoons Liu and Elms (2019) emphasized that students increasingly demand engaging, customized multimedia content. Animation constitutes a powerful pedagogical tool by combining audio messages with tailored visual cues and graphics, to serve the dual functions of explaining complex concepts and engaging and maintaining student interest in the learning process. Additionally, it is possible that the nature of the target instructional content (i.e., the concept of food chains) and the relationship of this concept to living organisms contributed significantly to the success of the dynamic pattern in a greater development of the visual thinking skill. This result agrees with that of previous studies, such as Lievemaa (2017), Shafee et al. (2018), Muhammad et al. (2020), Barcelos & Azevedo (2020), Kaur (2020) and Song (2021), all of which indicated the effectiveness of dynamic elements in visual thinking skills development for learners
To test and verify the validity of this hypothesis, an independent sample T test was used. This revealed the significance of the differences between the students of the two experimental groups on the post administration cognitive load scale test, as shown in Table 10.
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Table 10: T test value of the significance of the differences between the mean scores of students’ achievement in both the 1st and 2nd experimental groups in the post administration of the cognitive load scale
Cognitive Load Scale
Group No SMA STD Deviation Freedom T value Significan ce Level 1st Experimental 20 29.70 4.26 38 10.78 0.0001 2nd Experimental 20 17.35 2.83
The value of T reached 10.78 at the probability value of 0.0001, which is smaller than the significance level adopted in the research (0.05), while there is a significant difference between the mean scores of the Cognitive load scale test for both groups in favor of the 1st group The mean score of the first group came to 29.70, while that of the second group was 17.35, which onfirms and indicates the validity of the second hypothesis. Thus, the students in the first group students who were taught using the static infographics had a high cognitive load in fact, up to double that of their peers in the second experimental group, who dealt with dynamic infographics. This confirms the ability of dynamic infographics in organizing the learners’ cognitive load more effectively in learning while also reducing the perceptive and cognitive burden by giving learners broader opportunities for a deeper and more detailed understanding of the targeted knowledge through the features and advantages provided by dynamic infographics. At the same time, dynamic infographics allow learners to retain that knowledge and retrieve it with a simple mental effort and in a relatively short and quick time. This was also confirmed by Dina and Ensaf (2021), that indicated that the interactive (dynamic) infographic employs tablets and mobile devices that have proven to attract students’ attention and motivate them to learn. These students learn patiently and pay careful and adequate attention to different components associated with interactive (dynamic) infographics and focus on the precise details. This will help them reduce their cognitive load and contribute to deeper and faster learning. This also agrees with the findings of many previous studies, the most important of which are Khalifa (2018) Aldalalah (2020), Hamid et al. (2020), Mustafa (2021), Chen (2020), and Gjoreski (2020). All of them indicated the effectiveness of moving or animated elements in reducing the cognitive load of learners.
6.1
The results of the study show a clear difference in the arithmetic means between static infographics and dynamic infographics, which indicates the superiority of the latter in developing students’ visual thinking. These findings are consistent with those of previous studies (e.g., Abdul Hamid et al., 2020; Muhammad et al., 2020), which showed the superiority of dynamic infographics in visual culture. This superiority can be attributed to the combination of sound, image and motion offered by dynamic infographics, which are compatible with different types of learners; students can follow this style in an integrated manner without isolating any of its properties (i.e. sound, image, and movement).
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In addition, the sequential presentation used by dynamic infographics provides students with the ability to analyze the components step by step, which contributes to their understanding of the content and thus allows them to decode all the information presented In this era of digital technology, this pattern represents a major factor in attracting learners’ attention, who prefer to link movement, image, and accompanying sound effects, as they are accustomed to these things through their personal electronic devices, such as videos, and games. Lievemaa’s study (2017) confirmed that dynamic infographics was a factor that attracts students’ attention, and considered them an invaluable tool in their learning, and therefore, inclusion of dynamic infographics in education has become inevitable
In general, the potential of dynamic infographics contributed to the development of students’ visual thinking and their ability to analyze the forms, images and relationships presented to them, providing them with the ability to interpret the information step by step and reach the meaning that the infographic seeks to convey. Thus, it enabled them to deal with infographics in their own way and according to their abilities and at their own convenience. For example, students can stop or mute the sounds and look at the presentation only or listen to a certain part again in order to focus on what they want. All this gives a visual value to the students’ concepts, which leads to their ability to retain information and concepts in a way that indicates understanding, as well as the student’s ability to retrieve it every time they needed to.
Infographics offer many possibilities to simplify information and display it in a way that students can extract concepts from it in a manner commensurate with their abilities, remember it or retrieve it when needed. Students can read static infographics in an appropriate visual way by maximizing or minimizing parts of the screen, and scrolling right and left, then analyzing it and understanding its components, followed by extracting the relationships and understanding the whole picture, and thus deducing the general meaning of the infographic. Several studies have indicated that infographics, especially dynamic infographics, can provide in developing visual thinking skills. In this regard, Smolkowski et al. (2020) confirmed that the use of shapes and animated images contributed to improving the knowledge of group members relating to critical thinking concepts, their ability to teach those concepts, their knowledge of concepts related to argumentative writing and justification, and finally developing the actual ability to perceive and analyze tasks and to understand the characteristics used to convey concepts and meanings.
Ocobock (2020) also found that animated multimedia, like dynamic infographics, develops many skills among learners, the most important of which are visual thinking skills, which help learners to move learning outcomes towards the creativity phase.
Similarly, Sato and Hayama (2020) emphasized that watching short video clips, such as animated/dynamic infographics, allows learners to deepen their understanding by creating a concept map while watching this clip; creating that
map allows learners to obtain the content interactively, helping them to learn through visual, reflexive, and active thinking methods.
Furthermore, Chen (2020) confirmed that videos and animations have significant and lasting effects on teachers' beliefs and self efficacy if professional development programs are offered. This effect goes further to modifying and developing actual teaching behavior within the instructional situation. Another study by Aguillon and Monterola (2020) indicated that videos that are limited in their content and display time, such as dynamic infographics, contribute significantly to the development of thinking skills, especially visual thinking, among learners of science courses, especially chemistry. Averin et al. (2021) also agreed that animation within the framework of infographics works to develop students' visual thinking skills, especially in the early stages of education, in a broad and effective manner considering the needs and requirements of the education community in light of the pandemic. Alherz et al. (2020) further confirmed that visual thinking skills contribute to improving the understanding of visual images and lead to a significant improvement in mathematics, reading, and socio emotional learning, and that infographic animated clips and cartoons can contribute to the development of these skills (i.e. visual thinking skills), provided that animation design and development are based on uncomplicated master frames and limited quantities of graphics, texts and effects.
6.2
Regarding reducing the cognitive load for learners, the results of the study indicated the superiority of dynamic infographics over static infographics, and subsequently, understanding concepts and the ability to retrieve them without effort. This can be attributed to the capabilities and features that characterize the dynamic pattern as discussed above. This is consistent with Aldalalah (2020) that emphasized the preference of dynamic infographics over static infographics in reducing cognitive load Similarly, Mustafa (2021) concluded that the role of dynamic infographics can facilitate and simplify information by 60% for students, which can be considered as a factor that enhances their cognitive load reduction.
Besides, the appearance of information in the form of sequential movements (slide after slide) so that each slide of the presentation carries part of the information or concept, accompanied by sound and commentary, prevents learners from being distracted and keeps their focus on the relevant segment. This reduces the amount of information that reaches the working memory so that it can be dealt with appropriately and transferred it to permanent memory Moreover, the diversity in the dynamic infographics pattern renders it appropriate for different types of learners, so that it does not constitute effort for them to receive information and process it.
The effective role of dynamic infographics in reducing students’ mental effort to learn gives them freedom and security while acquiring, memorizing, and understanding concepts. This is consistent with Hamid et al. (2020) that showed the role of this style in helping students assimilate Arabic grammar with freedom and enthusiasm consistently with their abilities.
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Geng and Yamada (2020) and Thees et al. (2020) pointed out the important role that animated or dynamic images and figures play, regardless of the environment in which they are presented, in reducing perceptual or cognitive load as learners extract the target knowledge. Petko et al. (2020) also agreed that the lowest levels of cognitive load correspond to viewing images, drawings, and shapes that are animated or displayed at medium speeds that are close to natural motion. Similarly, Chen and Kalyuga (2020) stated that images, cartoons, and animations allowed learners to manage the process of improving their cognitive load in order to improve their learning, and here the instructional design of these images and animations plays an important role in the success of this improvement process. Sweller (2020) agreed and pointed out that technological media, primarily images and animations, contribute significantly to reducing the cognitive load of target students, while Çınar et al. (2020) indicated that dynamic images and animations often represent the easiest learning tasks that require low effort and cognitive load on the part of learners. Furthermore, Caskurlu et al (2021) showed that instructional designers use animated and dynamic learning media, which focus primarily on reducing learners' cognitive load in Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) as much as possible. These types of courses (MOOCs) rely mainly on videos or animations in providing instructional content to the target group; more specifically, international platforms, such as edX, Coursera and Udemy, are entirely dependent on videos or small animations in the form of mini learning objects to provide instructional content in all courses. Finally, through communication and discussion with the teachers, it became clear that the use of infographics had a noticeable positive impact on the students’ performance, while everyone both teachers and students demonstrated enthusiasm and motivation to use infographics for these scientific concepts
Considering the above findings, expanding the reliance on infographics in general and dynamic infographics in particular can provide interactive e content that is highly compatible with the characteristics of the digital generation. It is expected presenting ideas in this manner will help not only with developing thinking and reducing cognitive load, but also increases academic achievement rates and develops many other skills they need.
A serious effort sthe dynamic infographic technology in education is highly recommended, because of its potential to attract students' attention and maximizes their desire to learn. Teachers should be trained to use the latest technologies available, especially relating to dynamic infographics. If possible, students also should be trained to design and produce infographics because this technology provides a link or connection between images, texts, sounds and movements. This supports their learning and enables them to find a way to learn that suits them. Furthermore, those responsible for planning and designing instructional curricula should be urged to introduce this technique in delivering knowledge to students in all academic courses.
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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research
Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 126 142, May 2022
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.5.7
Received Mar 31, 2022; Revised May 18, 2022; Accepted May 23, 2022
Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia
Shahidi A. Hamid and Marlyna Maros
Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia
Abstract. Orang Asli, the indigenous community in Malaysia, is among minority groups facing difficulties acquiring the Malay language as a second language. Poor achievement and lack of research on the secondary school level among indigenous students have motivated the inquisition for this study. Using an ethnographic case study research design, a qualitative research approach was used to explore indigenous students' Malay language acquisition and learning experience. A total of 13 participants were chosen by purposive sampling technique in this research, comprising eight Orang Asli students from the Temiar tribe, two teachers and three of the students' parents. To acquire an in depth picture of the phenomena, the data was collected using observation methods, interviews, and field notes at the only secondary boarding school of indigenous people on the Malay Peninsula's west coast. The studyfindings were analysed usingthecontinuouscomparison method to identify the themes and subthemes involved. The findings revealed that the learning and acquisition of the Malay language as a second language were among the skills learned in school, just like any other subjects This study shows that efforts to cultivate the use of the Malay language were found challenging due to the less conducive school and social environments for a second language acquisition process. Thus, this study contributes to a better understanding of indigenous students perceive their second language, which has implications for improving Malay language teaching and learning practices as a second language, particularly among the Orang Asli community in Malaysia.
Keywords: Malay language; second language acquisition; indigenous; experience; ethnographic case study
* Corresponding author: NorAzwahanumNorShaid,azwahanum@ukm.edu.my
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY NC ND 4.0).
Malaysia is a plural society, and the Malay language has been elevated as the official and national language It is the mother tongue for the Malays as native speakers and a second language for other ethnic groups, including Chinese, Indian andnot to mention is indigenous people (Orang Asli) (Jumiya, 2014).Every ethnic group has its native language and culture. However, the Malay language served as the sole language of instruction in schools and universities. For native Malay language speakers, mastering this language does not account for many difficulties as it is mastered naturally. However, this situation is different for minority communities, the non native speakers who consider it their second language. For these groups, the Malay language needs to be mastered through formal learning in schools, making some face trouble mastering it. The focus is often put on the Orang Asli community.
'Orang Asli' is an indigenous people of Peninsular Malaysia. The Malay language term translates to 'first people' or 'original people’ (Muhammad Nazif, 2017). There are eighteen tribes of Orang Asli, and Temiar is one of the largest tribes of Orang Asli. Most Orang Asli reside in rural or secluded areas, typically left out of mainstream development, especially in education (Nordin et al., 2012). Therefore, it can be seen that the achievement in education among the Orang Asli communities has not yielded desired outcomes. Compared to pupils from other backgrounds, it was discovered that Orang Asli children lag considerably behind, accompanied by high dropout rates (Farah, 2011; Abdul Razaq & Zalizan, 2009; SUHAKAM, 2010; JAKOA, 2016; Wan Afizi et al., 2014; Norwaliza et al., 2014).
In the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013 2025 by the Ministry of Education Malaysia (2012), the dropout rate among Orang Asli students remained high Only 30% of them completed secondary school, while the national average recorded 72%. According to the statistics for the passing rate of core subjects in the Primary School Achievement Test, also known as Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (commonly abbreviated as UPSR), the national average recorded was 81%. However, the passing rate among Orang Asli primary schools was lower, at 61%. From that number, 35% of Orang Asli primary schools are in the low performing school band (Bands 6 and 7). This record indicates that the high dropout rate among Orang Asli students causes low educational achievement. The achievement of Orang Asli students in Malaysia is underwhelming in almost all subjects. The lack of proficiency in the Malay language seems to be one of the main reasons contributing to the difficulty of understanding the language used by teachers (Wan Hafizi et al., 2014). This matter will escalate to the Malay language proficiency issues, a concern since this language is declared the national language of the country and the medium of instruction in public schools in Malaysia.
Based on the literature search, there is a lack of research on Malay as a second language related to how Orang Asli people perceive the language, especially in secondary schools. Previous studies are limited and focused more on Orang Asli students at the primary school level. However, there needs to be a continuum of research at the secondary school level to improve existing efforts. This study is
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important to ensure that students finish their studies and take the Sijil Peperiksaan Malaysia (SPM) examination. Some previous findings show that the Orang Asli at the secondary school faces problems adapting to the education context (Sharifah et al., 2011). The 2019 news report from the Perak website portal stated that the dropout rate of secondary school students among the Orang Asli has increased in recent years. In 2014, it only recorded 36.3%, which increased to 40.01% in 2015, 42.43% in 2016, 42.90% in 2017 and 51.06% in 2018. These numbers prove that the problem of Orang Asli dropout at the secondary level has become more alarming, and there should be efforts to find the cause of this problem. Not many studies have been done to deepen and understand the difficulties Orang Asli students face in secondary school to graduate secondary school.
Based on the literature reviews and research findings on the low and poor schooling status of the Orang Asli indigenous students, the researcher felt the need to explore this group's second language acquisition and learning experiences since they are non native speakers and not fluent in the Malay language. Moreover, exploring their acquisition of the Malay language and learning experiences will help improve their second language proficiency and learning abilities. Therefore, their experience acquiring and learning the Malay language is described through a qualitative lens.
This study is aimed to explore the experience of acquiring and learning the Malay language as a second language among Orang Asli Temiar students.
2.1.
Malay language proficiency is essential because it is the primary tool in the teaching and learning process and a communication tool in Malaysia (Mohd Sharifudin 2019). It is common knowledge that the mastery of the Malay language as a second language among non native speakers plays a critical role. The life of the plural society in Malaysia has demanded the Orang Asli community to master a language understood by every member of the society for communication (Abd & Karim, 2017). For communication, mastering the Malay language is essential to bridge the social gaps between the Orang Asli and outside communities (Mohd Sharifudin, 2019), allowing the community to trace the culture and civilisation of other ethnic groups and widening their view of the outside world. As such, the ability to master a second language by the Orang Asli community is a precious asset.
2.2.
Anthologists introduced the term Orang Asli, and eighteen sub tribes have been identified, comprising Negrito, Senoi and Proto Malay (Carey, 1976; Nicholas, 2000; Burenhult & Majid, 2011). However, this study focused Temiar tribe, which is the second largest tribe after the Senoi tribe. The village of the Temiar tribe is predominantly located on the hill slopes of the Titiwangsa Range in Perak, Pahang and Kelantan. When the Temiar tribal community opened settlement areas, they lived in longhouses for an extended period. After that, they lived
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separately and together with their respective families. Their settlement areas are usually areas with abundant hardwood trees, such as Merbau trees. However, they do not build houses using wood (Mazlan et al. 2009). The Orang Asli are not a homogeneous group since each sub group has its language and culture and considers itself distinct from others (Masron et al., 2013; JAKOA, 2011 2015; Musa, 2011). Linguistically, some northern Temiar Orang Asli communities (particularly the Senoi) speak Aslian languages, implying a historical connection between Orang Asli groups and the indigenous people of Burma, Thailand and Indo China (Masron et al., 2013).
In terms of belief, the Orang Asli of Temiar is inseparable from animism belief They believe that all entities are either visible or invisible by supernatural powers or spirits (Carey, 1976; Sharifah Zahhura et al., 2016). From the time of their ancestors, this community believes that the natural environment has numerous subtle beings and supernatural spirits. Based on the researcher's observation, it was found that the Temiar community in this study still adheres to their beliefs despite not living in their hometown. Obedience in maintaining these customs and beliefs, they try to follow what has been taught by their families. However, sometimes they have to adhere to the school rules
2.3.
Two main approaches founded this study, Stephen Krashen's (1985) five hypotheses of the Monitor Model and Vygotsky’s (1978) Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). Krashen's (1985) hypotheses include the Acquisition Learning Hypothesis, the Natural Order Hypothesis, the Monitor Hypothesis, the Input Hypothesis, and the Affective Hypothesis. The Learning Acquisition Hypothesis describes the acquisition as an unconscious process, while learning is a conscious process that takes place in the classroom. The Monitor Hypothesis states that the information produced by the acquisition centre will be monitored. Changes will be made if it does not match the correct information. The Natural Order Hypothesis states that grammatical components of learning a new language have a natural order. The Input Hypothesis posits that if students are given access to easily understandable inputs, their learning will improve. Finally, the Affective Hypothesis states that a mental screen can be erased to prevent information from reaching the acquisition centre, slowing language acquisition (Du, 2009).
Aside from that, the ZPD concept is being used in this study to seek how the students’ second language acquisition is perceived under the guidance of the adult. ZPD give perspective to the researcher to see where the students are at in terms of knowledge acquisition and learning. This theory informed the researcher to recognise the suitable teaching method/approach and establish the proper pedagogy for the students based on their distinctions, particularly their age levels if they are aware of these stages. In this matter, ZPD uses scaffolding to stimulate the students to perceive better the world around them (Sadia et al., 2021). Various perspectives can be linked to the way second language acquisition is developed. This is because theory and study in second languages began to evolve from a cognitively oriented perspective and expanded to a social orientation in essence.
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There is a cognitively flowing perspective that sees second language acquisition as an individualistic mental process, functioning independently of the context and use of language. Other perspectives view second language acquisition as a process by looking at how a second language is acquired through interaction and used rationally, contingently, and according to context (Hamidah, 2012). This gives a new perspective to the researcher to take the cognitive and socio cultural aspects of the Orang Asli in exploring their experience of mastering the Malay language as a second language.
According to the socio cognitive approach to second language acquisition, children acquire language by interacting with more capable social members such as teachers, peers, family members and mentors (Sadia et al., 2021). The socio cognitive approach also emphasises the fundamental interdependence and integration of cognitive and socio components of language acquisition Putting it in another way, second language acquisition is a process that involves a child's cognitive and social environment.
This study was designed to explore the experiences of the indigenous students using the qualitative ethnographic case study conducted for ten months. These months were school periods used to run a study throughout the year to explore their experiences in acquiring the Malay language as their second language. The chosen approaches are a combination of ethnographic and case studies, which mostly suit the objectives of this research. It provides a holistic and a stance in understanding the lived experience of the participants in a natural setting, as mentioned by Bogdan and Biklen (2007). In this study, patterns described through the rituals and social behaviours of a community were identified, such as their ideas and beliefs through their language and material activities (Fetterman, 2019).
The study was conducted at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Bawong, Sungai Siput, Perak. This school is the only secondary school in Malaysia that enrols students from the indigenous tribe of Temiar tribe. Usually, the Orang Asli community will assimilate with other majority races in school, especially in secondary school. However, the researcher chose this school to see precisely indigenous students perceive their second language in their comfortable community.
Eight participants were selected from Form 4 indigenous students from the Temiar tribe. Temiar tribe is one of the largest tribes of the indigenous communities in peninsular Malaysia. In this study, the researcher used pseudonyms to ensure the ethics of participants’ confidentiality was guaranteed. In addition, data triangulation was made by involving two teachers and three of the students’ parents as participants since they were also directly and indirectly contributors to the learning and acquisition of the Malay Language among
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participants. The teacher participants were a Malay language teacher and a school counsellor.
Purposive sampling was performed based on the inclusion criteria (Marshall & Rossman, 2014) to guarantee that those picked had a good understanding of the issues being investigated (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The criteria set by the researcher were: Orang Asli students from the Temiar tribe who learn the Malay language as a second language, specifically; i) the participants should be in the same class as the researcher wants to control the bias as they received and learned the language from the same teacher; ii) the students need to be in the school since Form 1, and iii) the students are ready to participate in this study. The sample size was determined through data saturation (Kyngӓs, 2020), which refers to a point where the responses become repetitious. Therefore, no further information can be collected by continuing the data collection.
This study collected data using semi structured interviews, classroom observations, and field notes. Using various data collection strategies allows researchers to triangulate data during the data analysis level while reinforcing the findings (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). As permitted by the participants via consent form, their interviews were recorded for transcription purposes For the duration of this study, the researcher acted as a ‘visitor observer’ as suggested by Miles et al. (2014). However, the role played by the researcher varies according to the situation. Sometimes, the researcher sat at a table with the participants, making indirect observations while assisting them in the ongoing teaching and learning. At other times, the researcher did not interfere with the teaching and learning process in the classroom for about 60 to 90 minutes. Both types of observations were either non participatory or participatory observations; the researcher briefly noted all the findings that attracted the researcher’s attention in the field notes. In addition, the researcher assumed the role as the main instrument by making observations during the researcher's involvement with study participants either in the classroom during teaching, outside the classroom during interview sessions or their involvement in activities outside the classroom. Most activities outside the classroom were when study participants were involved with school programs. Data collection was terminated after receiving repeated responses from the participants of the study, which imply that the data saturation point was achieved. The collected data were analysed qualitatively using Nvivo software. Themes and sub themes were determined using the six steps of thematic analysis as suggested by Braun and Clark (2006)
The data from observations and individual semi structured interviews were analysed thematically. The data were organised into two main themes, which are the (i) Language Development Activities, which can be seen in Table 1, and (ii) Self Adjustment Conflict in Table 2.
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The result showed that the indigenous students in this study experienced various ways of mastering the Malay language as a second language. Concerning second language proficiency, it refers to the way a speaker learns a second language and what they acquire naturally from the first language. To ensure that a speaker masters a second language, specific steps are followed to develop their language abilities. How they perceive the second language may differ from others. In this case, summary of the results of the eight participants who narrated their experiences in mastering the Malay language using different activities is seen in Table 1 below.
Theme1: Language Development Activities
4.1.1.
Dependence on teachers Peer guidance Memorisation and drills Unconscious Acquisition
Conscious Learning
Language development through co curricular activities Imitation and good association with teachers Social environment mixing
It was found that the participants perceived their language through conscious learning in a formal context in the classroom. The participants, the Orang Asli Temiar, are non native speakers who use Malay as their second language. language development activities for the Malay language only occurred during school hours, either in the classroom or outside the classroom. In the background study conducted during school hours, the participants have gone through various experiences to develop their second language potential.
The main finding was that the students were highly dependent on the teacher while teaching and learning took place in the classroom. Based on the researcher's observation of Malay language teaching and learning activities in the classroom, it was discovered that the participants learned the Malay language through the tasks given with a high attitude toward dependence on their teachers. The participants could not complete the assigned tasks independently and required direct guidance from the teachers.
Through the researcher's observation during the teaching of essay writing, where the teacher taught the technique to construct the introductory paragraph, the teacher showed a clear demonstration of the writing technique on the whiteboard and guided the students on how to construct the paragraph (observation_11/7/2019). However, when the teacher assigned another assignment and asked participants to perform a group discussion, they failed to construct a satisfactory paragraph even though the teacher had provided the phrases to begin the sentence. During the given discussion time, the students were seen calling the teacher to their tables to ask about the given assignment. The
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participants were found to be highly dependent on direct guidance from teachers for understanding and reviewing assigned assignments. It was found that the assignments could not be completed as they still needed ideas and sentences from the teacher (field note_11/7/2019). This observation was acknowledged by Teacher 1, stating that: “They still expect the help of teachers greater than their efforts. If other students in other schools, the probability of the teacher's role is around 30 40% as a facilitator. Guide only. But here's the reverse. 70% are still teachers playing a role. Without expecting teachers, it means that it is quite difficult for us to develop their ability to speak orally and in writing.”
The tendency of students to seek guidance from the teacher indicates the trust that they are trying to build not only to complete the assigned task but also to obtain information regarding the language learned. Teacher 1 said: "… I try to minimise my role as a teacher. To give them independence. That's where I found it was not achieved. We have given info; hence, existing knowledge should already be there. We have repeatedly made practices, but when we gave them an assignment, they were still disturbed, stunted, affected in terms of time and so on. That's why I say that they still can't be let go. For students here, guidance should continue with a higher rate of teacher involvement than usual. "
The participants required a high level of teacher guidance even in topics taught by the teacher repeatedly. The same problem occurred when participants appeared confused and needed guidance from the teacher. To some extent, it affected the school's time allocated for teaching the Malay language.
On the other hand, this study found that Malay language learning among participants took place in the classroom through the guidance of their peers who were next to or close to them. In contrast, the teaching and learning process took place in the classroom. The participants have given their effort to ask questions to the friends they trusted more with the assumption that a friend with good academic performance would be able to give good answers and understanding to the questions asked. This was explained by the researcher's observation of Jerry, who was observed to change seats every time the Malay language lesson took place. When asked, Jerry replied: What does Jerry do if he doesn't understand?
Ask a friend. Hilmi and Hairi always help.
I see Jerry sometimes sitting in the front and sometimes sitting in the back, why?
I like to sit in the front. Because it can be quick for me to get something. Get what?
Able to learn (easy to understand). Hairi sat in front. I want to understand, I asked him. Hairi … his brain is very genius. In all subjects. That's why I like sitting next to him. To ask, to get new knowledge. If it's wrong, it's hard, I asked. I don't understand, I asked him.
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Also, the researchers found that participants tended and preferred to memorise new vocabularies that are considered high language to them. High language in this context carries the meaning of vocabulary that they rarely hear and use mainly in everyday use. Kelly said: “Sometimes I don't know if the teacher uses high language. Like teacher Mat Nor, we don't understand how to use high language. I will memorise that word every night. But, the word he used, we don't understand what he means. It’s hard when we only can listen to how the teacher uses it in the class but do not know how and when to use it. We only use it in essays because it sounds nice.”
Based on the researcher's observation in the classroom, when the teacher delivers the teaching, the teacher ends the lesson with reinforcement exercises done in the classroom. Each student is provided with a worksheet in a file containing notes and Malay language exercises. Teachers use this file in teaching in the classroom by ensuring reinforcement exercises or drills are done together. This activity is done by reviewing the participants' work and ends with words of encouragement from the teacher. Through drills, teachers can reflect on teaching and provide direct guidance to students who face problems.
The mastery of the Malay language of the Orang Asli Temiar students is also unconsciously developed through natural acquisition Natural acquisition is the process of acquiring a language that takes place outside the classroom through the speaker's stimulation with the surrounding. Co curricular activities are activities held to provide opportunities for Orang Asli Temiar students to develop their language potential. However, it is insufficient to assist the participants in being on par with native speakers. Still, it helps develop the participants' confidence in using the language. It is as said by Teacher 1: “Kelly comes from an angle when she was involved as an MC. In terms of pronunciation, her intonation was getting more and more steady. In terms of the courage to face the audience as well, the feeling of nervousness, embarrassment is getting thinner. There is courage, there is seriousness, confidence, it seems that they have become more daring to use language in front of the audience.”
The participants also acquired the Malay language by imitating what was said by the teacher and practising the use of the Malay language daily. The participants used this method since primary school. In addition, imitation through association with teachers can make the acquisition of the Malay language as naturally as possible. Teacher 2 said if students can get along well with teachers, this can break the barrier that prevents Orang Asli Temiar from using the Malay language. If they associate closely with the teacher, this will give them an advantage. They usually imitate what they hear and see. As he said: “If they are friendly, they are close, they have a chat to joke, for all sorts of things. And that’s where I finally saw there was a contribution to their language abilities. Compared to the embarrassment that is still thickening, when asked one or two questions, answering using one or two words is quite difficult.”
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Temiar Orang Asli has an inherent shy nature, and teachers are hoped to erode their shyness. Therefore, the students would answer questions, carry on the discussion, and give their opinions. This situation seems normal if in a regular school. However, it is difficult in a situation with the full presence of Orang Asli. When communicating with Orang Asli students, it is difficult to get feedback to encourage communication. However, suppose students can communicate by giving their own opinions. In that case, this situation can yield a positive development as hoped by the teachers in the school.
Other than that, interacting with the social surrounding is an opportunity for students to acquire the Malay language indirectly or naturally without involving formal learning about the laws of grammar. This happens with the attitude of experimentation and the desire of the participants to use the language. Language without use will surely be buried. A language needs a form of reinforcement through its use in daily communication. One of the ways to use it is through communicating with other speakers in the social environment. In the context of this study, the environment means using the Malay Language in schools.
The participants tried to communicate using the Malay Language with friends at school or in the village. However, it was found that the communication took place was in the form of trial and not a serious form of training to learn better or master the Malay Language. Communication using Malay language for participants was intended to joke to liven up the atmosphere of conversation, as said by the following participants:
“I like to talk like that. With friends. That friend is the same, likes to gossip. It's just try try, sometimes I try to talk to my family and they will laugh. Do some pick up line and the love it. Something fun about it.”
[Shakila_SRI]
4.2. Theme 2: Self Adjustment Conflict
Based on the findings, when the participants narrated their experiences in mastering the Malay language as a second language, they revealed that they faced conflicts in adjusting to school. This conflict is a dilemma faced by the participants in their efforts to develop their Malay language proficiency. Through the narration given by the participants, the researcher made a category classification into four categories, as shown in Table 2 below:
Table 2. Abstraction Results for Theme 2 Self-Adjustment Conflict Theme Category
Theme 2: Self Adjustment Conflict
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Emotional disorders
Language barrier
The negative stigma of the community
Bound by exam oriented
4.2.1.
Based on data from interviews with participants, it was found that they faced emotional disturbances in adjusting to learning in school. Due to their instincts to love nature, the participants stated that they felt disrupted in learning due to longing for the atmosphere in their hometown. Usually, they are free to do activities close to nature, making the participants feel emotional when away from their hometown. This is as stated by Kelly: “… in each subject, I am less focused. Because of a lot of playing. I kept thinking about my hometown. The thought of going to friends’ houses, making me want to go back and get myself in the river. Want to jump into the river. I miss that so much.” [Kelly_SRI]
When their emotions are disturbed, they become less motivated to study in school, thus going through things that are against school rules. Based on an interview with Teacher 2, she said that the emotional disturbance due to longing for their hometown made them return to their hometown on their own despite the distance. He recounted that: have they ever run away from the school? They have. The very beginning. Students arrived safely. They will ride anyone. The natives said that it is unique, they become brave, they can follow anyone who wants to go up (the village is uphill). For them, the surrounding villagers are their people to be reckoned with. [Teacher 2_SRI]
Therefore, the school has implemented various initiatives to overcome this problem. Based on the researcher's observation, the school implies various initiatives by setting up a gazebo that influences Orang Asli culture, namely ‘Balai Sewang’, to make them feel they belong at school. The interesting part is the construction of the ‘Balai Sewang’, which has elements of Orang Asli culture, a collaboration by the Parents and Teachers Association (PIBG) of the school involving parents of Orang Asli students who attend the school. Without expecting a wage in the form of money, parents work hard to prepare the ‘Balai Sewang’ for the convenience of their children. All these initiatives were implemented to ensure that the emotions of Orang Asli students are in the best condition to receive an education in school. The school also built a fishpond as a place for them to protect fish and a foster garden for students to cultivate. For each of these activities, the Orang Asli Temiar students are guided by certain teachers to ensure that they understand the real purpose of the initiatives undertaken by the school.
The participants said they faced barriers due to their mother tongue, the Temiar language. Participants admitted that they had an idea to write but lacked in the selection of appropriate vocabulary to use, as stated by Daus: "In doing an essay for example. I want to make that sentence. There are many ideas, but I want to make that sentence… difficult. I’m stuck to find the words."
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According to the participants, the major problem in essay writing is finding a suitable vocabulary. This is because they often face problems constructing sentences due to the lack of Malay language vocabulary, making them want to use their mother tongue. The participants admitted that they like writing in the Malay language. However, they are plagued by their poor Malay language vocabulary knowledge, making sentence construction difficult. In sentence construction skills, participants narrated that they took more time due to disruption in finding suitable vocabulary. The ability to find a suitable Malay language vocabulary cannot happen individually. It has become common for teachers who teach the Malay language to participants to use group discussions in writing essays. This was confirmed by the following Teacher 1: “They are not impossible but rather slow. For whatever reason, because among other things, they are still bound by their mother tongue. This means that we see for ourselves in group activities, discussions, pairs and so on… they are still tied in terms of the use of their mother tongue more than the Malay language. Even though we have given a reminder, but they remain. It is difficult to free themselves to use the Malay language completely.”
The dilemma faced by Orang Asli students was due to their reluctance to cultivate the use of the Malay language in schools, even in the context of teaching and learning in the classroom. This presents a great challenge to teachers to ensure that each verse constructed is grammatically correct.
4.2.3. Negative stigma of the community
Based on the findings of this study, participants also experienced conflict in adjustment due to the negative stigma of society that has a profound effect on them. This was due to the prejudice of the outside community towards the Orang Asli community that is behind the currents of modernity. The participants described their experiences of being often ridiculed, humiliated, and marginalised due to different physical characteristics and lifestyles from other societies. This experience was narrated by the participants of the current study, respectively, in the old school, which is a mixed school with students of various races. The following participant acknowledged this by Kelly: Sometimes they say we're dirty, rotten. It's like we do not take a shower. If we passed in front of people's dorms, they would say ish… ..you guys so out people! (while thinly driven away).
Many people still do not open their eyes to these Orang Asli children. The scepticism of the outside community towards this community also occurs towards the school as the school is a school with a full population of Orang Asli. Therefore, it is possible that this conflict could disrupt their efforts to study in schools, the place for them to master the Malay language as a second language. This is likely due to the low self esteem of Orang Asli adolescents in the school associated with the negative stigma they received from the outside community. However, participants felt comfortable with their current school making them more comfortable not mixing with the outside community.
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In addition, based on interviews with participants, the researchers found that participants felt bound by the examination orientation that is often emphasised in students faced by other schools. For example, Temiar Orang Asli students face problems when their efforts to learn Malay language, which requires new learning, are a form of skill that needs to be mastered from time to time. Yet, at the same time, they have to follow a certain exam format. In this case, for the participants, mastering the Malay language as a language to communicate daily is not difficult. However, Malay language proficiency is often measured through students' achievement in examinations. Therefore, the stipulations that need to be complied with based on the examination format make them feel burdened to master the Malay language. This is as stated by the following participant Hilmi: “It's hard for us to make that cover. Want to draw a conclusion. Conclusion because I want to tell a story. Got to enter the proverb, the discourse marker. That's why it's hard to answer.”
In writing each paragraph of an essay, some elements are needed to ensure that students can get good marks. Unfortunately, this makes the participants burdened as each element is a new thing that needs to be learned and understood.
Suggestion
This study found that overall, the mastery of Malay language as a second language among Orang Asli students from the Temiar tribe did not depend on their cognitive ability alone, as the speakers' social interaction with the social environment also influences the increase in their language proficiency. As discussed earlier, participants have repeatedly said that they improve their linguistic ability by learning it 'in school', meaning through formal learning of the Malay language system and structure in the classroom. However, informal acquisition's importance also significantly influenced their Malay language mastery, in line with the Acquisition Learning Hypothesis by Krashen (1985).
Based on the data obtained, the language development activities described by the Orang Asli Temiar students in mastering the Malay language are through learning about the rules and structure of language in the classroom context, which is a conscious learning process. In this case, the learning process was focused on the formation of native speakers by training them to use the Malay language as native speakers. Based on the findings of this study, the study participants thought that to master Malay language, they needed to memorise and do a lot of drills so that the Malay language could be used in the right context. However, it was stated by Zulkifley (2011) that second language speakers, through enrichment learning, could develop language skills to form professionally styled language users.
In addition, the findings of this study demonstrated that almost all participants in this study narrated their experience of mastering the Malay language through participation in activities in the classroom. Their inclination was more towards the type of discussion type activity. They preferred peer discussion as classmates
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and with their teachers. In other words, activities such as conversation, problem solving in groups, problem discussion and working in pairs or small groups were the most preferred ways of learning a second language. This is because the common practices of Orang Asli life in groups in real life make them prefer the way of learning through group discussion.
These findings also coincide with Vygotsky’s view of Sociocultural Theory, asserting that active learning through discussion encourages collaborative interaction and creates a social space where adolescents help each other in resolving cultural situations and confusion as well as problems in language learning (Lantolf, 2000; Vygotsky, 1962; Lantolf & Thorne, 2007). This is termed ZPD, where learning takes place with the guidance of teachers and more skilled individuals. The emphasis given in this idea lies on the higher cognitive function where participants interact meaningfully with teachers as skilled individuals. At the same time, peers are more capable of developing their language skills and social skills appropriate to a particular culture. However, the researchers found that the level of dependence of the participants on the teacher was very high, making the participants on ZPD for a long time. This was acknowledged by the teachers involved with the study participants, who acknowledged that close guidance is needed in each time of learning despite repetitive learning that occurred. This will make it difficult for the participants to reach a proficient level in using the language learned.
In addition to the learning process, the study participants' language proficiency was also enhanced through informal acquisition through social interaction in communication and socialisation outside the classroom. The findings of this study showed that the ability of Orang Asli Temiar students to use the Malay language is evident because of their involvement in activities outside the classroom, especially active involvement in co curricular activities. Furthermore, through the social interaction of Orang Asli Temiar students in the form of informal and non learning that requires high focus, the language ability of the participants was found to improve from time to time. This was developed through the interaction between the participants with teachers, who are mostly Malay in the school.
This study has found that the role of the social environment impacted the increase in self confidence of Orang Asli Temiar students to use the Malay language. What makes the study school different from other mainstream schools is its social environment. SMK Bawong is a school with a social community built to provide a positive learning environment for the Orang Asli community when they no longer have to compete with other races to stand out. From one perspective, it seems to marginalise these minority communities due to differences in Orang Asli's sociocultural practices that are different from other communities; yet, it operates under the same applicable policies and curriculum as other mainstream schools. This was seen to remove various social constraints reported in previous studies, such as power, gender and race, from the learning environment by providing equal resources and opportunities for second language learning. This study found that the study school environment with the capacity of all Orang Asli students, especially from the same tribe, allowed them to be more confident when
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there was no competition between Orang Asli with the outside community from other mainstream schools. Here, they have the same opportunity to cultivate the use of the Malay language daily at school.
Based on the findings, the participants mastered the Malay language through conscious learning, which can be developed through teacher student learning in the classroom. Other than that, informants also absorb the Malay language unconsciously through acquisition within their surroundings developed outside the classroom. This research has provided insight into how these young indigenous secondary students perceive their second language. This research suggests that a second language is acquired naturally by the interactions with their surroundings. The language input would come from their teachers, friends, parents, siblings, other adults, and other sources in their environment, which would help develop the students’ understanding of the structure of the Malay language.
This study has significant implications, especially for teachers' teaching practices. Moreover, this study also expands our understanding of how Orang Asli students at the secondary level perceived their second language and how to encourage students to think about improving the pedagogical practice in second language teaching. This study also shows a need for more studies on the construction of modules that emphasise the implementation of second language acquisition. This output hopes to add more insights to the less explored area of indigenous children, specifically among secondary students, in teaching approaches employed by second language teachers. Malay language as a second language is supposedly not to be learned by tedious drills that necessitate cognitive ability. It can be simply learned if students use the language naturally with others, particularly their peers. This might be accomplished by giving the students as many opportunities to use the language as possible, such as group work and role playing, which will increase the children's confidence in using the language. As a result, and because this was a qualitative study with a few instances, a quantitative follow up study to examine if the findings can be applied to other groups is recommended.
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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research
Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 143 165, May 2022
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.5.8
Received Mar 21, 2022; Revised May 18, 2022; Accepted May 23, 2022
Abstract. The school principal is the driving force behind the culture and performance of a school and directly influences the teachers and students. However, the development of school leaders remains problematic even after 30 years of education system reforms in Albania. This paper primarily seeks to demonstrate the importance of forming a generation of effective school administrators and universities’ critical role in accomplishing this goal. Particular attention should be paid to overcoming the lingering mentalities of the communist system, which are unresponsive to the demand for professionals who can lead in challenging and uncertain times. Using deductive thematic analysis and the categories that resulted from the coding process, such as “leader characteristics” and “leader’s formation models,” to interpret Albanian official education documents from during and after its communist dictatorship, results were obtained that support the importance of universities in meeting school leaders’ training needs and providing them with professional qualifications. The results show that the cultural influences of communism affect the current leadership model in Albania and leadership training policies should utilize higher education, as the best and most efficient means to overcome the lingering influences of communism
Keywords: leadership; school leadership; school principal’s formation; university role; communist leadership philosophy
Modern schools face multifaceted challenges, and as institutions of paramount importance, they must respond to these challenges vigorously to fulfill their purpose Schools must change their pedagogical approaches, methods, and techniques as planned and regulated by legislation. School administrators must motivate their staff to find new and suitable ways to prepare students for an uncertain future, especially in light of the global pandemic and growing dependence on technology.
©Author
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY NC ND 4.0).
In this environment, the development of school leadership is undoubtedly of pressing importance, as principals play a critical role in their schools’ response to dynamic global pressures.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) report Education Policy Outlook 2019: Working Together to Help Students to Achieve their Potential provides an overview of education policy priorities in OECD countries from 2008 2019. It states: “
The majority of policies collected for this report for school leadership were first implemented in 2008 14. This suggests relative continuity and stability in this policy area. Nevertheless, the small number of recent policies, and the lower prominence of school leadership as a priority should be noted ” (OECD, 2019, p. 37)
The report also highlights that “The most frequently observed trends in policy developments related to school improvement from 2008 to 2019 were on: improving education systems’ learning environments (through general strategies for schools, policies aimed at improving learning conditions to support all students, and policies on digitalization of schools); developing high quality teachers (through measures such as professional frameworks and career pathways, recruitment and registration, incentives and stimuli, initial teacher education, induction processes and professional development); and supporting school leaders (mainly through professional frameworks and competence development).” (OECD, 2019, p. 56)
The document Strategy for the Development of Pre University Education 2014 2020 drafted by the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth (MASR) not only provides a framework for implementing the organizational requirements guiding Albania’s integration into Europe but also enumerates the requirements of a pre university education for the policymaking and implementing bodies in Albania in a section titled “Improving Governance, Leadership and Human Capacity Management ” It states, “Training mechanisms are established and programs are developed for the preparation of leaders and managers in education (school of leaders, etc.), to improve the performance of Educational Institutions” (MASR, 2014, p. 30).
Educational institutions are struggling in the environment created by the global pandemic. This suggests that schools should reframe their missions and pedagogical methods to focus on educating and equipping students with the necessary knowledge to become skilled citizens who are prepared to enter an unknown future landscape.
Albanian school leaders are approaching challenges and demands that are qualitatively different from those they faced in the past with an outdated mentality, style, and toolkit of authoritative methods (models that they have experienced and inherited), compounded by a lack of theoretical knowledge and necessary skills. Factors such as the frequent transfer of principals, politically motivated appointments, and the lack of qualification requirements (e.g., that
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candidates should have a degree in management and administration) affect the quality and effectiveness of school leadership in Albania
Meanwhile, Albanian school leadership, even after 30 years of a democratic governance structure, continues to be burdened by mentalities retained from the communist era, such as appointment methods and leadership development models. The appointment of leaders in the communist system was controlled and approved by the state party Today, school principals are still appointed and controlled by instructions provided by the MASR (AQSH F 511 1970 152 152.1; MASR, 2020; Instruction No. 2 PROT. 762).
A half century of communist influence is evident in the typical principal’s approach to duty, discipline, and the climate of the school environment. This, in addition to a lack of theoretical knowledge and practical skills, prevents the development of a leadership model that would foster a climate of motivation, achievement, and continuous learning among staff and the school community (Vampa, 2013, 2018).
The appointment of leaders by their superiors cultivates another significant cultural dimension in Eastern cultures called “proximity to power” (House et al., 2004, as cited in Northouse, 2010). Proximity to power reduces the leader’ s autonomy, as appointments by top executives (rather than elections) make school principals more vulnerable to executive control and impede their ability to make disinterested decisions
In addition to obligatory seminars and training sessions organized by the Ministry of Education, other leadership development methods should be considered. More specifically, higher education institutions should create courses on both formal and informal leadership models that meet the requirements laid out by MASR, cultivating leaders who can exercise autonomy, take global economic development trends into consideration, and motivate their staff and students to develop to their maximum potential (Vampa, 2018)
The principal’s leadership and management style directly affects their school’s performance and quality and indirectly affects the “hidden curricula” (Pai et al., 2006, p. 132) instilled in students, the future generation. Specifically, leadership style, achievement orientation, power dynamics, conflict resolution between administration and staff, the adoption of an education model that prioritizes critical thinking in future citizens, and independence from power, particularly regarding values, are elements of the whole panorama of school leadership, which I will present and analyze in this paper.
The Soviet communist regime was established in the Western Balkan countries after World War II, where the ideology found fertile ground due to the readiness of the newly formed communist governments of these countries and the demands of their educational systems. These countries emerged from World War II with high illiteracy rates compared to the countries of Central Europe.
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Yugoslavia had an illiteracy rate of over 40%; Romania had a rate of 25%; Bulgaria, 31%; and Albania, 80% (Grant, 1969). “They could have faced a clear and pressing need for reform of some kind” (Grant, 1969, p. 73). The need for infrastructure, study programs, curricula, textbooks, and, of course, teachers and school administrators, constituted a kind of vacuum that communist governments sought to fill according to the Soviet model. In the implementation of the “red” model, even the smallest “resistance” of tradition and culture, such as the influence exerted by the Catholic Church, was suppressed “The position of the (Catholic) Church has, in some areas, modified the regime.... Unlike Catholicism and similar to Orthodoxy, Islam gave few direct problems to communist governments in Eastern Europe” (Grant, 1969, p. 40).
“Totalitarian regimes understood that control of schools and the minds of young people is essential to controlling the population” (Meredith & Steele, 2000, p. 29). The communist control of schools for 45 years in Eastern European countries “reached into the heart of education, affecting daily practice and the relationship between teachers and students” (Meredith & Steele, 2000, p. 29).
The management of each educational institution in this period sought, first and foremost, party loyalty. That “was always more important than formal educational attainment, skills, knowledge or a successful track record” (Cakrt, 1993, p. 64). The responsible manager was an “ideological worker, even one of the most important” (Counts, 1961, p. 13). In attempting to describe the profile of a school principal in Balkan countries under communist regimes and the application of the Soviet model of education, it is important to note that “[t]he Communist regime hated and feared management. Even the word itself difficult to translate into Eastern European native languages was seen as having a negative connotation and its use was discouraged by the Party. Instead, native equivalents of words such as ‘control,’ ‘steering’ and others were part of the lexicon management.“ (Cakrt, 1993, p. 63)
The function and work of school principals were “to translate the policy of the central authority into practice, to administer rather than initiate” (Grant, 1996, p. 150) “Heads of schools often regarded, as one of their chief duties, acting as a link between the teachers and the education authorities” (Grant, 1996, p. 153).
Every school leader’s character under the communist regime, according to Nelson (1984), was to be built through charisma, control, and coercion. “A charismatic appeal, which links a ruler’s sanctity, personal morality, and heroism to his knowledge of ideology, makes for a great power orientation, control, and coercion, which may be the strategies of choice for some… which produce rewards and punishments, [with] the latter stressing the legitimacy of order and discipline... or ‘ideology of compulsion ’“ (Nelson, 1984, p. 5)
One a school principal’s duties, after their function of observing the party line, was “to visit teachers in their classes, discuss lessons with them, and give them advice although, since there are no prescribed methods, the teachers are
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under no compulsion to accept it” (Grant, 1969, p. 329). These visits were a means of exerting continuous control over the teachers. They also allowed the school principal to question the teachers’ professional pedagogical performance.
Revolutionary “iron discipline” and careful oversight of its implementation were also among principals’ main functions: “Though reliance on punishment is discouraged, therefore, teachers will have a battery of penalties at their command for dealing with the lazy or badly behaved child. These are carefully graded from mild reproofs by the teacher to severe reprimands by the principal of the school, which are reported to be highly effective ” (Grant, 1969, p. 100)
The school principal was primarily responsible for establishing a culture of school discipline among students and teachers: “Discipline, to be worth anything, must not only affect what a person does, but what he is” (Grant, 1969, p. 103). This was necessary to integrate children into the proletarian order that the communist leadership in Eastern European society during these years intended to create “In any case, it is expected that the whole curriculum, and the extra curricular activities, will be put to appropriate use in creating ‘a new type of person ‘(Grant, 1969, p. 104).
As for how school directors were appointed: “First, party loyalty was always more important than formal educational attainment, skills, knowledge or a successful track record” (Cakrt, 1993, p. 64). Second, it was sufficient for a school leader to successfully complete “short term courses or state run schools” with abridged programs “that awarded diplomas equal to a university degree to working class cadres; these schools, were also controlled, staffed, and financed by the Party”(Cakrt, 1993, p. 64).
2.2
In the early Albanian school tradition, several visionary figures of Albanian culture, science, and society made civic contributions during the upheaval of the nation’s formation at the end of the 19th century by building the model of Albanian education (Aliçkaj, 1995). The mid 19th century was characterized by “the lack of formal education which has always been the biggest obstacle to the progress of Albanian culture. Three different cultural levels in which the country was divided had brought different primary school systems. The [Muslim] majority… could only go to madrassas that spoke the Turkish language…. The Catholic minority in the mountainous north of the country was led mainly by Franciscans and Jesuits… while the Orthodox population in the south could attend Greek language schools ” (Elsie, 1997, p. 143)
Under these conditions, the ideologues of the national Renaissance movement at the end of the 19th century devoted their energies to the war and to establishing Albanian as the language used in schools (Elsie, 1997).
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Islami (2002) emphasizes that those who became school principals from 1912 1926 were also highly experienced teachers. Article 41 of the 1926 school legislation The Law of Education Staff states, “Directors… are appointed [from] those teachers who have graduated [from the] Teachers professional school or lyceum, have successfully passed the profession exam and who have worked for at least 5 years as teachers.”
Under the 45 year communist regime following World War II, however, the direction and management of schools were based on party ideology.
In his 1969 report, the Minister of Education and Culture, Thoma Deliana, appealed to the entire hierarchy of education directors, ministry staff, executive committees, and school leaders to strengthen the communist party’s political and ideological presence in education and culture (AQSH, 1969). “There is no doubt that the ideological content in school [assignments] and work is fundamental…. For the solution of every pedagogical task in the field of teaching and education, we should be guided by the political and ideological aspect; pedagogy should serve… politics and we must not rely on a narrow pedagogical and didactic professionalism.” (AQSH, 1969, p. 151)
In other words, “intellectualism had to be fought and every subject had to be treated under the ideological view” (AQSH, 1969, p. 155).
School administration and teachers received continuous training on how to apply Marxist Leninist ideology to the task of education (AQSH, 1969, p. 157). Specifically, leaders’ qualifications were developed through seminars organized by the Ministry of Education and Culture on such topics as the “education system, to destroy the old bourgeois school concepts, to elaborate new socialist concepts based on ideological axis, [and] student self action in school and outside it” (AQSH, 1969, F. 11, p. 21). Most of these training sessions had a poor scientific and theoretical basis, with leadership examples and models that oriented work and schooling toward government ideologies and policies. The training conclusions that the ministry forwarded to the Central Committee underlined the purpose of these seminars: “Our basic task is to analyze, understand and implement the Central Committee decisions of the 8th plenum” (p. 28) because the Minister of Education and the Prime Minister would communicate to the nation (through the party press) that “we consider the employees (i.e., our leaders) as political commissars fighting on the most delicate ideological front” (AQSH, 1967, F. 10, p. 8).
Schools in 1960 1970 were characterized by a tradition of order, discipline, student hygiene, and school facilities maintenance (AQSH, 1969, F. 11). In general, these were the responsibilities of school leaders, which meant that there was careful surveillance not only of the learning process, but also of more personal student issues and, above all, their political education: “First of all the school should prepare young people as revolutionaries, red commissars and then specialists in their profession…” (AQSH, 1967, F.10, p. 9). Such discipline was not intended to impart knowledge to students or facilitate their individual
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growth but to create model indoctrinated ideological citizens from both teachers and students. At this time, a tradition of control and planning in which the school leader played the main role was established, with party representatives required to be present at every reported problem. Additionally, the “art of leadership” was developed according to ideological and political perspectives, without regard for technocratic and bureaucratic aspects (AQSH, 1967, F.10).
As examined in previous empirical studies (see Aliçkaj, 1995 and Vampa, 2013; 2018), current Albanian and various international institutions have expressed the need to improve school leadership, allowing this study to evaluate institutional reports’ emphasis on the need for leadership development and to predict the future demand for it
Previous studies have also pointed out that the philosophy of the models being used for leaders’ development and selection today is similar to that of models used before 1990. Political influences in the appointment and “circulation” of leaders (Nathanaili, 2015, p. 206), as well as the organization of institutional training under the Education Ministry’s superintendence, without consulting the needs of actual leaders, testify to a lack of professionalism and orientation toward a new leadership philosophy (Vampa, 2018)
Consideration of these variables drives this study’s aim to identify the factors preserving this philosophy and argue that universities’ roles in establishing appropriate models for the development of school leaders cannot be underestimated.
This qualitative research was conducted in 2020 2021 using deductive thematic analysis, which was selected as the most appropriate approach to identify the factors that affect school operations and analyze the need for training school leaders. As Braun and Clarke (2012) state, “Thematic analysis is a method for systematically identifying, organizing, and offering insight into patterns of meaning (themes) across a dataset” (p. 2).
To draw a clear picture of the revolutionary communist philosophy of school management in Albania, the Central State Archive provides online archival documents to scholars and researchers.
Specifically, Group Fund I was studied: Central State Institutions, Fund 511 Ministry of Education and Culture, the files of which spanned 1967 1971. These years were selected because, according to previous scholars who have surveyed the history of education and school management in Albania, such as Islami (2000; 2002), Aliçkaj (1995), and Kraja (1993), they are when the revolution’s mandates regarding the army, economy, and schools were issued, and when every school was required to teach and raise the “ new man, ” the party commissars. According to the orders, instructions, and written communications filed in the Central State Archive, institutional bureaucratic leaders were
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required to adopt the leadership models of countries where they had studied, such as the Soviet Union, Poland, France, Greece, etc. These adopted models were to be replicated rapidly through the process of school revolution, the ideological orientation of which would be ordered by the state party and its leader.
This study also referred to the January 2021 report of the Institute for Educational Development, On Identifying the Needs of Educational Staff for Professional Development, which identified and addressed the need for vocational training for leaders (ASCAP, 2021).
For the elaboration of this paper, educational staff training modules provided by the curriculum directorate of Professional Development Institutes during 2011 2021 were examined, as well as modules offered by Albanian universities, organizations, and agencies. These ASCAP certified training modules are offered throughout the academic year in the form of one or several day training sessions for on duty teachers at agencies or continuing education centers.
In recent years, the Regional Education Directorate of Korça provided the appointment modalities of school principals and some implementation practices. Those documents are unique to all Education Directorates issued by the MASR (2020).
This paper has taken Aliçkaj’s (1995), Elsie’s (1997), and Islami’s (2000; 2002) studies and Vampa’s (2013) doctoral thesis, which was conducted in Albania in the field of education management and administration after the collapse of the totalitarian system in the 1990s, into consideration. These international experts’ experiences and studies have provided a solid foundation for conducting this analysis and building arguments based on the hypothesis that Albanian school leaders need formal education.
This study featured a deductive thematic data analysis to fulfill its aim.
1. The original documents from the archive were studied for several months as the online and electronic versions offered by the General Directorate of Archives of the Republic of Albania. These documents were carefully examined to avoid any subjective interpretation during the analysis.
2. Vampa’s (2013) doctoral dissertation was used as quantitative research that “aimed to provide an overview of the Albanian school leadership profile” (Vampa, 2013). This empirical study served as a good basis for deepening both the knowledge of school leadership in Albania and the analysis of leadership development as essential elements of providing an effective education and overcoming unexpected crises.
3. The documents of the Ministry of Education and its subordinate institutions have served to support this paper’s argument supporting the need for
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leadership training and also provided information on some “old” practices in the appointment of leaders and professional education models.
According to Braun and Clarke (2012), the process of deductive coding and analysis “is a ‘top down’ approach in which the researcher brings to the data a set of concepts, ideas, or arguments that they use to code and interpret the data” (p. 3) The author drew on some concepts from Vampa’s (2013; 2018) and Aliçkaj's (1995) previous quantitative research. “Essential to doing good thematic analysis is a clear understanding of where the researcher is in relation to these possible options, a rationale for making the choices they make, and the consistent application of those choices throughout the analysis” (Braun & Clarke, 2012, p. 5)
This study aims to identify, analyze, and classify the factors involved in school management and ultimately suggest the most effective ways to prepare Albanian school leaders as professionals. In the archives research during the first 7 months of 2020, and then in some field studies and the documentation of the Ministry of Education, the codes that were used to guide the documentary research represented the following themes: the direction of education under communist ideology and the profile, appointment, training, and functions of the ideological leader. In the second stage of coding, the following categories were defined: the characteristics of Albanian school leadership under communism, the need for reform, manager training, and the crucial role of the university in redesigning the leadership model. The problems in the process of training school leaders in Albania, the need for effective training, and the tradition of “training principals” are components of the major theme that guided the collection and analysis of data in this study
Table 1: Coding framework of the thematic analysis References Documents Publication dates Codes Categories Theme
AQSH (Central State Archive), Fund 511, File 10
AQSH (Central State Archive), Fund 511, File 11 & 9
AQSH (Central State Archive), Fund 511, File 152
Archive documents, 514 pages (jpg)
Archive documents, 40 pages (jpg), 169 pages (jpg)
Archive documents, 222 pages (jpg)
1969
1970
1967 Communist ideology in leadership; School principals’ preparation; School principals’ training; Appointment of the school principals; Discipline of the director; Principal control; School Revolution
Characteris tics of the leader of the communist period
Kraja, M Book, 490 pages 1993 School Revolution
The need for a new philosophy Aliçkaj, J. Monograph, 1995 The school
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The need for leadership training
188 pages
Elsie, R. Book, literary criticism, 291 pages
Islami, V. Articles, pp. 10 32; pp. 7 25
principal as a political medium; Educational traditions under the pressure of communist ideology
1997 Tradition patriotism school principal
2000, 2002 School discipline; communist ideology does away with some traditions in school management
Vampa, M Doctoral dissertation; article
MASR (Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth)
Pre University Education Development Strategy 2014 2020; Instruction, NR. 2
2013; 2018 Principals need for education; Formal education priority
2014; 2020 Need for training of school principals; reform of school as new paradigm: Student centered curricular reform; Controlled school principal appointments
Albanian Government Amendment on Law No 69/2012
ASCAL Training module offering
2018 Mandatory School principal Certification Act (through training)
2021 School principals’ training
in leadership; Education reform requires a new direction Insufficient leadership training models; Mandatory training (by law) for school principals on duty Target coordinated training based on a national program; Universities should create a study program for preparing school leaders
The role of universi ties is central to this important develop ment.
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These datasets have helped to answer the following key research questions:
1. What are the main characteristics of school management resulting from 45 years under the communist leadership model of a political and ideological leader?
2. What are the needs and reforming factors that influence the development and improvement in understanding the new philosophy?
3. Are the current management training approaches sufficient?
4. What is the role of universities in the development of school principals?
Efforts to answer these questions raised the issue of school principals’ formal education and supported the argument that graduating from a higher education institution is a more successful and effective leadership model than that currently used in Albania
This section presents the factors influencing the preservation of the old philosophy in Albanian leadership in general and school leadership in particular, as well as the emphasis on the need for a new philosophy in leadership development and the role of universities in this regard, based on previous document studies.
4.1 Why the Impact of the 45 Year Period of the Communist Regime Was Considered Important for This Study
Smith et al. (1996) analyzed data on the personal values and behavioral intentions of 10,000 managers and employees from 43 nations. They concluded that there is a fundamental divide between Eastern and Western Europe and noted that the historical footprint that seems to have left the deepest imprint at the moment is not the legacy of the Roman Empire, but that of the Soviet Union (Smith et al., 1996, as cited in House et al., 2004). These “old” leadership patterns cannot be changed by the desire for societal progress alone. In the educational system, which has undergone continuous reform since the 1990s, studies have shown that approximately 70% of Albanian teachers were trained during the communist regime (Lama et al., 2011). School leaders are appointed by the governing bodies of the MASR after a minimum of 5 years of experience on the teaching staff, as the education document issued by MASR (2020) specifies
The 45 years of communist power have had such an enormous influence on the Albanian school model and school leadership because the education system in Albania was established after an educational vacuum, high illiteracy rates, and religious divisions. As noted, this system was based on the Soviet communist model, and the leader ideally bore the characteristics of an “ideological worker ”
4.2 The Communist Model of the School Leader
The influence of the communist leadership culture is still evident in school leadership.
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(1) The appointment of school principals still includes the “intervention of politics, steadily, in the appointment and dismissal of school leadership, [and] lack of transparency in the selection of candidates” (Nathanaili, 2015, p. 206; MASR, 2020)
(2) Training sessions are centralized and not related to leaders’ needs, as in the old philosophy that did not serve the leaders’ professional development but rather that of communist morals. School leadership was established based on On the Pre University Education System in the Republic of Albania Law of 2012, as amended [in] 2018, article 55, point 2 (2018), and is obligatory for school principals. The law only offers training sessions directed by the Ministry of Education.
(3) The leadership model is traditional, which, for the reasons enumerated above, entails an authoritative style and requires limited professional knowledge.
4.3
Albanian universities are the most capable institutions for preparing school leaders. Not only do these institutions have the necessary human capacity and will to offer proper study programs but they are more independent than other institutions in terms of politics and the international scope they can offer
“What is needed now in Central and Eastern Europe is to establish a public awareness of management as a profession... We need to introduce a management culture, a way of thinking and doing things” (Cakrt, 1993, p. 66). Based on this argument, school leaders should learn about leadership theories and develop various skills and competencies to establish an effective work culture while appreciating the complexity of the responsibilities of schooling, a crucial institution
Based on the above analysis, this section discusses the results achieved.
Based on the analysis of the results of predominantly archival documentation, several key characteristics of school leadership during the communist years were discovered
1. Indoctrination and party political theories formed the basis of school development, resulting in low performing schools and a distortion of the leadership figure. Even when school leaders were presented as scientific and professional personalities, they modified their opinions and activity according to political pressures, thereby self censoring original and innovative ideas.
After the 1960s, the leaders focused on political discussions and analysis, “which stood before the pedagogical and scientific issues, [as] the party leading role in school was absolute leadership” (Aliçkaj, 1995, p. 41), and
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even the most talented and skillful leaders could not contest the pressure of such expectations. The researcher notes that party organization in schools caused fear, insecurity, and stress, which contributed only regression to school life and activity.
2. The practice of appointing a school principal required detailed consideration of party criteria, which resulted in the appointment of many leaders who were loyal to the party rather than those who were most professionally qualified and knowledgeable of pedagogical practices (AQSH, 1970, F. 9, p. 152/1). As a result, school management could not significantly improve performance levels
3. Another factor that hampered school development and education leadership was the censorship of foreign literature and the lack of dialogue with foreign schools.
All this was justified by the slogan “with our forces,” and Albanian schools were oriented “toward the original ways,” in which empiricism, spontaneity, and indoctrination ruled. The imposition of communist ideology did not allow intellectuals to manifest their leadership skills or potential in the field of education, and instead emphasized the political commissar model as the preferred leadership of the time. The data obtained from the archive evinces that every decision a school leader made was controlled by and dependent on the party organization within the institution and at the district level.
The Albanian school leader during the communist era can be summarized as follows: They were individuals appointed by the party organizations, marked as ideological workers standing in the advanced line of fire, loyal to the party, and exercising their function through the control and coercion of their subordinates (Counts, 1961). “Control and administrative coercion may be the strategies chosen by some communist elites in their quest for the authority to lead ” (Nelson, 1994, p. 5)
The dynamic changes that Albanian society has undergone in the past century have demanded various kinds of education reform, which have affected school leaders’ ability to face the many daily challenges they encounter. From the creation of the Albanian state to the 1960s, several dynamic achievements were made in the field of education: the massive expansion of education in Albania, secularity in schools, and the establishment of almost every phase of education from preschool to university (Aliçkaj, 1995). An overview of leadership traditions in Albania also highlights the school reform period of the totalitarian regime, which was based on party schema and ideology. This period featured a rigid curriculum in which scientific literature and contemporary methodologies were censored (p. 41). Curricula focused on the mastery of formal terms and not creating disciplined minds engaged in the pursuit of knowledge. Schools aimed to develop political and ideological individuals rather than civic and educated
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ones (Islami, 2002). After the 1990s, these and other deviations in the organization and content of Albanian schools would ring alarm bells in society at large and initiate demands for contemporary reforms in response to the radical social changes that were occurring The need for comprehensive education reform engaged institutions in the project of making significant improvements and trying to achieve and surpass European standards.
Scholars in the education field agree on some conclusions about education reforms and their international orientation: “The reforms currently being undertaken in different countries share these orientations and commonalities. Almost all of them, whether in the process of being developed or already validated and implemented, are based on four different cornerstones: (1) logic of competencies, (2) socioconstructivist perspective, (3) focus on learner, (4) strong emphasis placed on learning situations ” (Jonnaert et al., 2006, p. 11)
These four principles can be found in almost all current educational system reforms the world over, often combined in different ways to elaborate the curriculum According to this document, they form the constitutional elements of the education system.
The most important orientation document for education development in Albania is the 2014 2020 Pre University Education Development Strategy, which clearly presents the current school vision and strives for continuous education reform in response to the demands and perspectives of Albanian society (MASR, 2014). Specifically, this document defines a new curricular perspective in pre college education that uses a competency based approach. This new educational paradigm requires teachers and school leaders to restructure their style and method, placing the student at the center of their instruction However, according to a study by Lama et al. (2011), “
As the Albanian educational system is implementing many reforms (curricula, baccalaureate exam, student evaluation, etc.), teachers’ professional development still remains a problem.... There are the cases where teachers cannot keep up with the changes in school curricula and cannot adopt the new things.” (p. 48)
Thus, this reform is not only a challenge for elementary and secondary teachers but also, and more importantly, for principals, who should have the conceptual and technical skills to understand and convey this new philosophy as well as evaluate its step by step implementation by faculty. The school leader should practice distributed leadership, network with other institutions, and, by transforming their leadership style, motivate and inspire their subordinates to create a culture of continuous growth.
According to Nathanaili’ s (2015) study, “In some cases, leadership is a product of political circumstances. The key skills missing in these cases are technical, resulting in an inability to
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adapt the teaching program to local needs and to engage in monitoring, evaluation, and professional development of teachers.” (p. 202)
The Institute of Education Development, under the purview of the Ministry of Education and Sports, has managed to assess teachers’ demand and need for training and continuous professional development by measuring their skills in relation to curricula implementation, competencies and methodological skills, ethics, communication, and understanding of inclusive education concepts (ASCAP, 2021).
A national analysis indicates that “school leaders need professional training through training agencies and organizations, especially the Education Leadership Centre” (ASCAP, 2021, p. 77), as well as higher education institutions that “prepare teachers in curricular improvements related to technology use, student assessment” (ASCAP, 2021, p. 78), and so on.
The comprehensive education leadership literature describes several different leadership models. Many of them have been built appropriately for the environment in which they were written, as well as the subsequent few years. As Stoll et al (2002) state, “It could be argued that different aspects of various models are relevant to the complex leadership challenge for… change at the start of the twenty first century” (p. 46).
Stoll et al. (2002) underline that “school leaders typically demonstrate six styles of leadership: coercive, authoritative, affiliative, democratic, pace setting, and coaching. Significantly, however, leaders do not operate in only one particular style. Instead, they combine styles, depending on the occasion and need” (p. 46). It is difficult to clearly classify leaders by style due to the complexity and variety of challenges that a school principal faces daily with colleagues, students, parents, instructors, etc. Ultimately, a leadership model that fully possesses the breadth and complexity of skills required in contemporary education management cannot be established
Albania inherited the “ideological leader,” not a professional or well qualified model in education, from the totalitarian system. Despite the efforts of the past 30 years, explicit orientation towards an effective leadership model in schools remains a challenge.
After the 1990s, the necessary reform of curricula and textbooks to break with the ignorance and ideological burdens of the previous curriculum, which “ was centrally controlled, mixing general content with Marxist ideology” (Meredith & Stele, 2000, p. 31), in addition to reform in teacher training, together affected the role of the leader. As Pont (2020) notes, “In many education systems, a shift is observed: from a more administrative and bureaucratic function to one that is more involved in working with teachers and staff to improve school outcomes” (Adams & Gaetane, 2011; Glatter, 2014; Roach et al., 2010; Spillane & Kenney, 2012, as cited in Pont, 2020, p. 156). In Albania, education leaders before World War II were “patriots and fighters of the Enlightenment” (Elsie, 1997, p. 143) and
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were driven by this motive to establish Albanian education. After 1945, the “ideological leader of the party” held sway, and since the 1990s, school directors have been influenced by politics and the tradition of the communist leadership model, while also being subject to the pressure of reforms that must be implemented through new philosophies. Reforms in curriculum, teaching methods, and student assessment are influencing the emergence of various new developments and helping to change the school principal’s role, but the performance of Albanian school principals still does not meet the expected standards.
The evaluation of the 2014 2020 Pre College Education Strategy (UNICEF, 2019) states: “School administrators are seen as imperfect links in the system. The need is to strengthen and improve the education management system with a focus on building systems that include building monitoring and professional support services” (p. 4)
Moreover, studies show that “legislation encourages the concept of distributed and collective leadership, as well as the cooperation of a large number of stakeholders to successfully implement this concept, but is limited to definitions only. The culture of individual leadership and the lack of conceptualization of distributed leadership practices are obstacles that need to be considered “ (Nathanaili, 2015, p. 202)
According to the GLOBE study (House et al , 2004), communist culture is present in the dimensions of Eastern European leadership Pont (2020) agrees, writing, “In traditional countries, administrators may have a more administrative and representative function of authority” (p. 157).
Leaders participated in professional teacher training sessions organized by MASR and other agencies, but “UNESCO’s education policy review summarizes findings from several studies that suggest that pre service training programs in Albania are not adequately supporting the country’s efforts at educational reform” (UNESCO, 2017, as cited in UNICEF 2019, p. 34)
5.2.3
Our society is comprehensively different from society 100 years ago and, due to the COVID 19 pandemic, society 1 year ago. Changes can take many forms. They can manifest as revolutions, like megatrends, or change forces entirely, but they have one thing in common their profound impact on education (Naisbitt, 1990; Fullan, 1993)
News spreads ceaselessly all around the world, immediately informing people of conflicts, natural disasters, and traumatic situations brought on by the pandemic. The World Bank 2020 Report presents new estimates of COVID-19’ s impacts on global poverty and inequality: “Harnessing fresh data from frontline surveys and economic simulations, it shows that pandemic related job losses and deprivation worldwide are affecting already poor and vulnerable
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people, by changing the global poverty profile and by creating millions of ‘ new poor ’” (p. 23).
Family structure is also changing; an increasing number of parents or grandparents are living apart from their children or grandchildren.
Technological development is making the world smaller and affecting employment by increasing opportunities for working from home in any country via online access.
The phenomenon of part time employment has implications on the long held belief that people will hold a job throughout their entire lives until retirement Many individuals entering the job market can and should be prepared to change their job multiple times. All of these tendencies have implications for adults and the education they should receive. Because of this, the education system faces immense pressure to change.
“The drivers of educational change are not always found in governmental policy. Rather, it is rapid and continual change in the wider society that makes an impact on education. Government can help by reconceptualizing the role and professional identity of teachers and by providing conditions under which they can adapt successfully to these changes” (Hargreaves, 1998, p. 10).
This paper has suggested how three particular forces for change influence education
“
First, the powerful industrial sector associated with new technologies views education as a market for its products…. Secondly, understanding about broader theories of intelligence… leads to an awareness of need for new approaches to learning… so school no longer controls an accepted canon of knowledge. Third, the child[‘s] power is identified as one of the most powerful … forces for all.” (Stoll et al , 2002, pp 42 43)
Similarly, David Hargreaves (1998) points out that “ young people learn most readily from those they want to be like…. The trouble with teachers is that their students do not want to be like them. So, teachers and schools must stop serving as role models of fading career structures and moribund communities and begin to model people who are team playing, networking and community supporting, with an ability to be continually creative in a world in which, by definition, fresh problems unfold but must be solved quickly and locally ” (p. 12)
All of these external forces pressure schools and their leaders to change.
5.3
School leader appointments fall under the authority of the Head of the Regional Education Directorate after the review of commission evaluations (MASR, 2020)
While the decision ultimately rests on their judgment, the Head of the Regional Education Directorate is appointed by the Ministry of Education after every regime change in Albania. School leader candidate criteria, compared with those
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of the years before 2020, have increased in one point following the amendment in the Law on Education for the Pre University Level System 60/2012, with mandatory attendance of leadership training organized by the Leadership Training Centre. School principal appointments also pass through a panel of district principals (i.e., interviews represent a significant percentage of acceptance points compared with postgraduate qualifications).
The Leadership School is not a new approach. It offers a 27 credit training program implemented by a training agency in cooperation with MASR after the legal changes in 2018 gave it exclusive rights to leadership training in Albania. Seminars and training programs remain passive and traditional efforts that do not always meet the principals’ needs.
In addition to this form of training, which is legally binding for incumbents and aspiring school leaders, other training sessions have also been conducted by training agencies and higher education institutions in Albania since 2011. These training sessions are accredited by the Ministry of Education and are organized in modules based on data collected by the Institute of Education Development in 2011. There are 465 accredited modules, 20 of which are directly related to educational leadership Nine modules of these 20 belong to the Leadership Training Centre mentioned above (MASR, ASCAP, 2021). The higher education institutions’ particular, long held intention has been to provide this service to school leaders, and this is evident from the 18 accredited modules that have been available since 2011.
Referring to a study conducted in the Korça Region in 2017, school principals “agree that their knowledge and professional skills have been developed during their university studies at the Faculties of Education in Albania” (Vampa, 2018, p. 17)
The University of Korça conducted market research in the region, which has a population of 217,422 people, fifth among the 17 regions of the country (INSTAT, 2021). Both young and experienced school leaders in 217 pre university education institutions in the region expressed their need for training, information, and assistance during the leadership training process (MASR, 2020) In 2018, the Department of Social Sciences at the University of Korça argued before the University Senate for the third cycle of a new study program, the “Executive Master in Education,” with 60 credits. The Ministry of Education refused this program with a request for deeper market research to be conducted when every aspirant or school leader is required to attend the Leadership Training Centre
On the job training should not be the only form of leadership development because the practices mentioned above are not leading to adequate results. According to Cakrt (1993), an educational system must be established in which professional development and further training are not merely obligations to fulfill the conditions necessary to be appointed director but a means of self realization for existing leaders and those who aspire to this position. This will
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build the concept of the school as a “learning organization” (Pont, 2020, p. 157) and promote a culture of continuous staff training.
Another obstacle that directly affects school functioning is “unstable school leadership; especially in large cities... school leaders are changed frequently” (Nathanaili, 2015, p. 206). This is a consequence of political intervention, as every political administration change is followed by changes in school leadership. These movements do not allow for continuity, development, or improvement in the leaders’ performances, nor do they motivate them to undergo training.
Researchers point out that “the United States provides us with the most extensive literature on the design and delivery of educational leadership preparation” (Grogan et al., 2009, p. 395), and “historically, the university has hosted school leadership preparation and has exerted important direct influence by defining the work of professors and the plan of study for professional degrees” (McCarthy, 2009, p. 106). Universities “organized around courses that prepare students for administrative licensure within a degree program… Commonly, programs are divided into two distinct components: instructional leadership coursework and internship” (Grogan et al., 2009, p. 396).
In a study conducted on the role of Albanian universities, “their willingness and needs in providing continuing education” (Vampa, 2014, p. 137) underline the role that these institutions can and should play in the study programs that society or other institutions require.
Universities are the most autonomous educational institutions in Albania, which is why they are uniquely positioned to develop contemporary curricula based on Western models to prepare effective future leaders. These institutions have expressed their willingness to assume responsibility for conducting continuing education training for current school leaders and teachers and have provided accredited training sessions from 2011 onwards. They also have a legal obligation to study the market professionally and create new study programs that meet market needs.
Offering degrees in management and administration in the field of education will promote the conception of school leadership as a profession and will encourage future leaders to become successful school leaders by providing them with theoretical knowledge and equipping them with practical competencies.
University graduates will also demonstrate effective leadership skills by establishing mechanisms to prevent the political instrumentalism of their responsibilities and the communities they lead. In addition to their specialization in education, graduates of management and administration will have greater opportunities for sustainable career development and will be more likely to avoid moves and reappointments after a change in government.
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The methods used in the development of school leaders during the past 30 years have not given satisfactory results. This is partly because the model of the communist political leader is still influential in Albanian school leadership culture.
In particular, the political nature of the appointment, dismissal, and movement of principals, their inefficient training, and the lack of job specifications requiring an appropriate degree demonstrate the influence of the old philosophy on school leadership culture.
In post communist countries, the autocratic use of power reduces efficiency and does not allow schools to function as institutions that uphold democratic and meritocratic values and shape citizens who actively participate in decision making Instead, schools are encouraged to train individuals who approve of every behavior and decision others take.
School leadership development is essential to meet the various challenges that society encounters nowadays, and new models of leadership are necessary to respond to these needs.
The universities’ role should be evaluated in terms of school leadership development and certifying the profession. Universities are the most autonomous educational institutions in Albania, and they have the ability and the willingness to provide leadership training sessions beyond the reach of political influences.
Few Albanological studies on education leadership exist The data provided by a greater number of studies would have been of significant help to deepen and verify the results of this study.
This study could pave the way for further qualitative research on culture and leadership Future studies could build on the results of this study by defining desirable school principal traits based on the opinions and expectations of teachers and students, who need security, motivation, and personal and professional career development opportunities
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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research
Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 166 181, May 2022
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.5.9
Received Mar 14, 2022; Revised May 26, 2022; Accepted May 26, 2022
Abstract. This study was an attempt to investigate the effect of peer review checklists on Vietnamese EFL students’ writing performance and students’ feedback on the application of the peer review checklist. The quasi experimental study was conducted with fifty eight non English major students at a universityinthe Mekong Delta. The participantswere divided into an experimental group and a control group. A mixed methods intervention design was applied, in which data were collected from a pre test, a post test and a focus group interview. The results of the triangulation analysis, which compared datasets from the instruments, revealed that EFL students utilizing a peer review checklist performed better than did their peers in the control group. More specifically, students in the experimental group had significant progress in terms of task fulfilment and utilizing vocabulary. The results also indicated that moststudents’feedbackon the useof the checklist waspositivelynoticed. Although the findings of the study are limited because of the small sample, use of peer review checklists in writing classes is recommended for EFL students in tertiary contexts with some suggested cautions.
Keywords: assessing writing; feedback; peer review writing checklist; writing skills; peer review
Learning English has been a compulsory requirement for almost all university students in Vietnam (Hung & Thuy, 2021). However, learning English with non English major groups has been challenging for a range of reasons (Phan, 2019). There is a marked discrepancy between what the students have learned in high school and what they have to achieve at the tertiary level. The issue seems more conspicuous in universities in the Mekong Delta region because most students are from rural areas where English is not an emphasized subject in learning and teaching, leading to the limitation of students’ English
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY NC ND 4.0).
proficiency. Furthermore, as Chokwe (2013) indicated, under resourced high schools and poor family backgrounds negatively affect EFL students’ English competency. Among four language skills, writing is considered the most difficult for English learners (Grami, 2012) because it requires them to have cognitive analysis and linguistic synthesis (Lamia, 2016). It takes time and effort to revise not only in terms of grammar and syntax but also in organization of ideas. Weigle (2011) claimed that writers have to spend a huge amount of cognitive energy managing different types of information such as writing about a specific topic and acceptable forms of texts. Therefore, several problems arise in the process of teaching and learning writing skills. For teachers, reading and giving feedback on all compositions every week seems to be a big challenge. From the perspective of students, it is greatly demotivating if teachers do not give any feedback on their written production because they might try their best to prepare for such compositions. In this regard, seeking out a measure to motivate and help non English major students to learn writing skills effectively is important. One method that has been proved to be effective is the use of peer review checklists (Azarnoosh, 2013; Reinholz, 2016; Topping, 2013). According to Harutyunyan and Poveda (2011), peer review (hereafter PR) activities are also useful for helping students to improve writing skills. These researchers also acknowledged that the ultimate results of writing are radically different compared with the first draft when PR was not employed. Students enjoy the process of applying PR because they feel a sense of respecting others and being respected. During the PR process, a checklist is one of the tools that can be used as guidelines for learners to stay focused on the target outcomes of every task. Checklists are helpful for reviewers in terms of organizing the assessment and identifying the most significant issues (Ferretti, 2013) As a result, it is suitable for students who often face difficulty in English writing to pinpoint requirements of writing skills. These positive outcomes potentially tackle the problems regarding students’ poor background knowledge and motivations in writing classes. In this study, applying peer review checklists is proposed to help non major students to improve their writing skills.
Review checklists were designed and have won common acceptance in English writing classes. Seow (2002) suggested using a checklist in the stage of responding to writing. A list of questions was presented to have students provide helpful suggestions and comments for writers, not just vague ideas. The author also emphasized that checklists can act as an aid for group or pair responding. In other words, students can respond to each other’s compositions in pairs or in groups using a checklist.
Demirel and Enghinarlar (2007) used a pair of checklists in their study to see the influence of guiding questions on the writing process by students. In their study, the checklists were given to pairs as Checklist A and Checklist B, which were designed differently. The two checklists contained space for editor students to provide comments and suggestions. Key items of a written
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production were also presented in the checklists. In checklist A, six groups of questions are presented in part 1 (Introduction) and part 5 (Supporting sentences). There are around 4 questions for each part in Checklist B. Therefore, these two checklists were quite messy with many details that may have confused the students.
Honsa (2013) adapted a checklist used for essays from the coursebook for English Course Level 5 by Oshima and Hogue (1997). Honsa divided the checklist into two columns: (1) Questions, and (2) Answer and comments. In the first column, parts of essays are presented in order of Introduction, Body, Conclusion, Grammar and Mechanics, and Sentence structure. This checklist is elaborate and informative because it goes through almost all of the important parts of an essay. More importantly, the checklist provides blank spaces in which reader students can place comments. It helps both writer and reader students to recognize the problems easily and develop critical thinking. Garofalo (2013) designed a very user friendly and effective checklist. The checklist was not separated into columns, but covered all the issues of writing and also allowed editors to provide comments. Regarding the appearance of the checklist, it was easier to leave spaces for each issue in comparison to those by Honsa (2013) and Demirel & Enghinarlar (2007). More importantly, teachers can add or remove items easily if there is a need for changing content issues. Furthermore, students follow the issues individually. This checklist was used in this study as a tool for processing the peer assessment of writing skills.
2.2. Peer review checklist-related studies
Demirel and Enginarlar (2007) emphasized the importance of peer feedback on writing. They stated that peer feedback formed a sense of audience for students, which encouraged them to write more authentically. The researchers also utilized checklists as tools for peer activities. In particular, checklist A and checklist B were assigned to two groups of students to compare the number of details provided through checklists. The results revealed that Checklist B revised by Figley and Witte (1981) made students generate more peer feedback than did the preliminary checklist. In a separate study, Al Hazmi and Scholfield (2007) aimed to improve the writing literary in English of Saudi university students as EFL students. The regime of the study was on the use of a checklist by a group of two to three students for peer review in different writing assignments in the class or homework. In the conclusion of the study, in the drafting stage, there was a clear improvement in quality, especially in mechanics, despite the number of changes or mistakes identified through the peer review. However, there was only little improvement from the drafting stage to the final stage.
Deni and Zainal (2011) implemented peer editing checklists on advanced level students in a university level writing program. The results from observation, a ranking survey, and a short answer questionnaire showed that peer editing checklists benefited students affectively, communicatively, and linguistically, but the method had more positive outcomes for editor students than for writer students. The researchers also stressed the importance of checklists in
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“maximizing the number of areas in which a student editor can be productive” and in “minimizing the confusion that can arise in the peer editing process” (p. 155).
Garofalo (2013) implemented peer checklists in EFL writing classes in a university. Fifty after hours university students took part in the study. They were all at an advanced level of English. The peer editing checklists were employed in the process of editing each other’s essays by circling the focus areas and providing suggestions and corrections. A short answer questionnaire and a raking survey were used to gauge the value of the method. The results revealed that peer editing checklists benefited students in three aspects: (1) affectivity, communicative purposes, and linguistics. Moreover, the researchers found that peer editing checklists benefited both writers and editors.
Tai et al. (2015) conducted a study on the impacts of peer review and corrective feedback of teachers on EFL students’ writing performance on an online platform. The study was designed to compare the impacts of teacher feedback and peer feedback on the English writing performance in an EFL class. The combination of both teacher feedback and peer feedback resulted in more improvement in the English writing class than only the implementation of teacher feedback.
Yosepha and Supardi (2015) investigated whether a peer checklist was effective in teaching letter writing. The researchers used a pre experimental research on 34 eleventh grade students. The results of the study indicated that the peer checklist helped students to improve application letters, particularly in terms of self awareness of writing criteria. Tian and Zhou (2020) conducted a study with five EFL students to examine their engagement with teacher feedback, peer feedback, and automated feedback in the online setting over 17 weeks. A naturalistic case study approach using textual and interview data was employed in the study. The findings showed that reciprocal and dynamic engagement with different feedback greatly affected the process of making decisions in feedback uptake by learners. However, their engagement with these sources of feedback in the cycles of essay tasks was widely varied.
In summary, a number of studies have employed checklists to support the peer review process in learning and teaching English writing. These studies proved the positive effects of peer review using checklists on students’ writing skills. However, the participants of these studies were English major university students or high school students There were no studies whose participants were non English major university students. Therefore, this study is the first attempt at conducting an experiment among non English major university students.
In Vietnam, a few studies have been conducted to investigate the impact of peer review on students’ writing performance. Ho and Usaha (2009), however, applied a blog platform in the world of Internet users (bloggers) in a real EFL
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context. The participants were second year English major students taking an academic writing course at a Vietnamese university. The students were asked to use blogs to post their compositions (essays) after having been trained in a procedure of peer response. They then provided and received comments twice from their peers on the first and the second drafts. The data collected were from drafts, students’ comments, learning journals, and semistructured interviews. The quantitative analysis indicated that the most common kinds of comments created via the blog based peer response were “clarification”, “suggestion/advice”, “explanation”, and “alteration”. Additionally, the comments influenced the quality of students’ writing based on the qualitative and quantitative analyses. Importantly, most students showed positive attitudes towards utilizing blog based peer responses in the classroom. The study emphasized a comparatively new form of technology that can be used to improve EFL students to become better writers.
Nguyen (2016) used peer feedback practice in EFL writing classrooms in Vietnam to stimulate EFL students’ metacognition, which included knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition. The researcher developed Yes/No checklists for students to use as both feedback givers and feedback receivers, and guidelines for jigsaw peer feedback. The findings indicated that peer feedback practice was informally conducted in this specific context and provides few opportunities for learners to improve their metacognition. Moreover, participants expected to innovate peer feedback practice in writing classes. Therefore, the jigsaw peer feedback approach was created to provide the learners with opportunities to boost their metacognition in learning a language and to engage in peer feedback practice.
More recently, Do (2020) measured the effect of scaffolded peer review training on texts produced by students of French as a foreign language at a Vietnamese university. An experiment was conducted during one semester with an experimental class consisting of 20 freshmen under a peer assisted condition in comparison with a control class (also 20 freshmen) who produced texts individually. A training programme using a systematic peer review approach was conducted in the peer assisted class with the modeling of teacher, customized checklists for peer reviewing, and sheets for giving and receiving feedback. Quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed that the peer assisted class made better progress than the producing texts individually class regarding the total gain scores, ideas development, task completion, coherence, and grammar.
The current body of literature review shows that previous research mainly focused on English major students in their English writing. There are few studies applying peer review checklists to non English major students who study in rural areas, particularly in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. This group of students should be involved in this method for more generalized findings. Moreover, most other studies used a qualitative approach (Ho & Usaha, 2009; Nguyen, 2016) or experimental evaluation of a training program. This study
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used a mixed method intervention design, which is believed to yield more reliable and comprehensive results (Creswell, 2018).
A mixed method approach was used in this study, which was believed to maximize the strength of both qualitative and quantitative research and minimize their limitation (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). More specifically, this research was closely to the mixed methods experimental design, in which qualitative data from students’ composition and interviews were collected and analysed after the experiment in order to “assess participants’ experiences with the intervention” (Creswell & Creswell, 2018, p. 271). In other words, a quasi experiment research which focused on the pre test and post test design was mainly employed to collect the data as the primary source for this study in order to see levels of changes in students’ written production after experimental manipulation, thereby examining the effectiveness of the method applied in the experimental group. According to Nunan (1992), although quasi experiments and true experiments both include a pre test and a post test, the assignment of participants is not random for the former. In contrast, the assignment of participants is random in true experiments. The participants in this study were chosen based on their levels. Therefore, the study was designed as quasi experiment. Following that, the compositions were analysed to deepen the findings from the pre and post test scores, and then the interviews were used to receive the participants’ feedback to understand the results more completely Figure 1 illustrates this research approach.
(Pre test and post test scores)
Qualitative and quantitative (Interviews)
Figure 1. The visual model of data collection procedure.
Fifty eight non English major students at a university in the Mekong Delta participated in this study. They were studying different majors, including information technology (IT), Vietnamese studies (VS), primary education (PrE), maths pedagogy (MP), and chemistry pedagogy (CP). All students came from rural areas.
At the time of conducting this study, the researchers were teaching four English classes that were administrated by the university All students were asked to a take pre test. The two classes who were chosen in this study had similar scores. Moreover, the number of students in each class was equal (29 students). Therefore, they were purposefully chosen as participants in this study. The participants were then labelled as control group, who did not
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Interpretation of the findings
engage in writing activities with peer review checklist, and experimental group, who applied peer reviewing in their writing class. The participants were from two classes where the researcher was the writing teacher. Therefore, the time progress and the syllabus used for two groups were similar so as to minimize the extrinsic factors influencing the results All 29 students in the experimental group were later invited to take part in the follow up interviews.
3.3.1.
The pre test of the study was about writing an email which was in accordance with writing task 1 according to The Vietnamese Standardized Test of English Proficiency (VSTEP). The aim of the test was to assess participants’ email writing skills, which is a part of the target writing that the participants were studying. This test was adapted from Preliminary English Test (PET) 3 book with answers (University of Cambridge, 2003). The topic of the test was “travelling”. The participants were required to write an email in about 100 words to answer an email from an Australian friend who would like to visit the writer’s country for a month.
In the post test, the participants were required to write an email related to the topic of health in about 120 words to give advice to a pen friend. Specifically, the participants were asked to provide advice about three aspects of being healthy, namely eating habits, exercising, and maintaining good daily activity. The test was adapted from the Preliminary English Test 2 book with answers (University of Cambridge, 2003).
3.3.3.
The focus group interview was considered useful for gathering feedback from participants in the experimental group. Each interview lasted around one hour for 2 groups of 10 people and one group of nine. The interview was semistructured so that it was possible to control the purpose of the interviews and add follow up questions to explore the problems. The interview protocol emphasized students’ reflections on the impact of peer review checklist on (1) their writing learning process and (2) their writing products. To ensure that all students had opportunities to contribute their opinions, each student were asked the same questions. For each question in the interview protocol, follow up questions were asked to gain in depth information and further reasons behind the responses of the students
The checklist was designed to feature two main aspects. First, the format was adapted from the checklist by Garofalo (2013). Second, the content of each item in the checklist was closely based on VSTEP rubrics for scoring the letter or email, in which each criterion (task fulfilment, organization, vocabulary, and grammar) was rated on 10 point scale. The process of validating the checklist used in this study followed these stages: (1) the checklist was designed based on relevant theories as presented above; (2) the checklist was sent to two experts in the field to be revised. At this stage, many fruitful comments were
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provided. For example, one lecturer suggested that the checklist should include all the criteria for scoring. Another lecturer helped to re word several phrases to assist students when using when using the checklist. Then, the checklist was piloted with eight students who were studying the same curriculum as the participants in this study.
The data of the study were collected in different stages through four instruments during the spring semester of the academic year 2020 2021. First, the participants in two classes were divided into a control group and an experimental group. All participants were trained to use the peer review checklist in week 2 in accordance with the following steps
Step 1: Students were paired and exchanged their compositions with each other.
Step 2: The teacher explained the purposes of using checklists before delivering checklists to students. At this stage, the teacher also explained each item on the checklist to ensure that students understood the nature of the checklist. Students’ questions were addressed at this stage.
Step 3: Students worked as editors. They had to go through each item on the checklist and comment if needed.
Step 4: Two students compared their checklists in each item. If there were disagreements, teacher decided on the correctness as a mediator.
Step 5: After checking through the checklist, students as writers set about revision.
Step 6: Writers submitted their revised draft to the teacher in the following step.
In the first step, students were not allowed to choose a partner because they tended to choose to work with their close friends. Yosepha and Supardi (2015) perceived that letting students freely choose partners made them more comfortable and work more effectively. However, the participants in this study were from different majors, so they joined the class with some of their friends. If they had been allowed to pair freely, they would have had no opportunity to learn from others in the class. The process of using peer review checklists in class also followed the steps above, but step 2 was omitted to avoid wasting time.
The pre test and post test were delivered to students directly in classes. They had 20 minutes to do the tests. The process of taking the tests was monitored strictly to ensure that the students did not use tools to support or copy from their peers. After taking the pre test and post test, the participants’ compositions were sent for evaluation to two lecturers who had more than 5 years teaching English, had accomplished their master’s degrees in Australia, and had participated in training courses of VSTEP assessment and test design. The lecturers were not informed of the identification of the control group and experimental group’s products when they received the compositions
Second, the focus group interviews were administered among the experimental group participants with a view to further understanding the comprehensive reflections of participants on using peer review checklists in
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their writing class. The participants were randomly divided into three groups. They were appointed to take the interview directly in the classroom The interviews were in Vietnamese to ensure a full collection of informative data. Regarding the intervention between pre test and post test, the two groups studied the same syllabus, which took them 10 weeks to complete. The process writing approach according to Kuyyosuy (2019) was adopted to teach both groups. The only difference was that the experimental group was involved with peer review checklists.
The data from the pre test and the post test were analysed in two ways. First, SPSS 20.0 was used to compare the pre test and the post test scores which had been evaluated by two experienced lecturers. Second, students’ compositions were qualitatively analysed to clarify the quantitative data in the first phrase. While quantitative data were analyzed by computing the mean scores (frequencies) and sig. value, qualitative data from the interviews were analyzed by categorizing the raw data, which were participants’ answers, in each question from the focus group interviews. Since participants’ answers varied, they were organized by grouping key items to identify the consistencies and differences.
4.1.
As can be seen in Table 1, in the post testing, the mean score for experimental group (6.36) was much higher than that for control group, with 7.034.
Table 1: Mean scores of the pre test and the post test.
Mean N Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean
Control group the pre test 4.9667 29 1.53 .28 the post test 6.3667 29 1.04 .19 Experimenta l group the pre test 5.1897 29 1.05 .19 the post test 7.0345 29 .66 .12
In order to determine whether these differences are significant, overall comparisons were computed using a paired samples t test. The results are presented in Table 2.
Table 2: A paired sample T test score.
Paired Differences Sig. (2 tailed)
Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Lower Upper
The pre tests Control experimental groups .24138 1.72 .320 .89867 .41591 .458
The post test Control experimental groups .77241 1.10 .20 1.09242 .25241 .003
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There was no significant difference between two pre test scores (p=.458), but a statistically significant difference between the scores of two post test scores (p=.003), indicating that the students who experienced learning writing with peer review checklists performed better than students in the control group.
To have more details from the pre test and post test comparison in both control and experimental groups, students’ writings were rated according to four different criteria: organization, task fulfillment, vocabulary and grammar. The scores were then analyzed by using a one way ANOVA. The results are shown in Table 3.
Table 3: The post test scores of four writing elements.
Criteria Group Mean N Std. Deviation Sig. (2 tailed)
Organization Control group 1.90 29 .36 .149 Experimental group 2.00 29 .23 Task Fulfillment Control group 1.85 29 .37 .036 Experimental group 2.03 29 .18 Vocabulary Control group 1.31 29 .30 .000 Experimental group 1.58 29 .26 Grammar Control group 1.28 29 .29 .070 Experimental group 1.41 29 .25
The quantitative results can be further clarified by analyzing details of the compositions and from the interviews. In pretest, the mean scores participants in both groups registered just around 1.5 (about 6 in 10 point scale), which can be attributed to their lack of supporting points. Particularly, Student 3 in control group only answered the first question as “you should go Vung tau” for the first question, and “you can eat seafood”. The answer was too short to satisfy the demands of the task. Similarly, SC 16 answered that “you should go to Dalat”, and “you can seeflowers beautiful” for the first and secondquestion, respectively. As opposed to the result from these students, 16 out of 59 participants (7 for control group and 9 for experimental group) achieved 1.75 (equivalent to 7 in VSTEP 10 point scale). Likewise, three and four participants in control group and experimental group attained 2 (8 in 10 point scale) in terms of responding to the request of the task.
In the posttest, the mean score of experimental group is higher than that of the control group. This can be construed by how students provided supporting points in their writing products. To be specific, 28 out of 29 participants in the experimental group answered the questions in the posttest with good supporting details. In comparison to students in the control group, students in the experimental group showed a better performance in terms of fulfilling the task. All the scores recorded were from 1.75 to 2.25 (from 7 to 8.5 out of 10). The participants gave answers for each question in the topic clearly with supporting details, although some supporting details were not very effective. Below is a part of the answer by SE7 in the posttest
…Firstly, I think you should eat a lot of fruits and vegetables such as tomato, water melon and orange because it contain a lot of vitamin. For example, vitamin A in carrot, it’s necessary for your health. Secondly,
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you should often do exercise, such as: play badminton, play volleyball… finally, I think you should read book or listen to music daily. You can go to the library in the school or go to the coffee shop, it helps you relax after studying hard at school and helps you to improve knowledge.
It can be seen that there is a number of mistakes in the answer. However, in terms of task fulfillment, the writer made considerable effort to explain the answer. Regarding the significant improvement of lexical resources, in pretest, the scores of control group and experimental group ranged from 0.25 to 1.75, and the mean scores were 0.98 and 1.1, respectively. The scores are equivalent to band 4 to 5 according to the scoring scale in VSTEP scale and using wrong words was only one of the problems leading to the low scores in the pretest. For example, SE6 wrote “it helps you strong as buffalo”. This problem is rooted from the participant’s mother tongue which usually compares a strong person to a buffalo. Another instance is from SC3, he used “country food” referring to perhaps “local food” or “typical food in the countryside”. The other factors contributed to poor results in terms of using vocabulary were that participants used a very limited range of vocabulary and made spelling mistakes. In the post test, the mean scores for two group increased by 0.4, which means that there was an improvement in both groups. It is worth pointing out that the score range of experimental group was relatively equal. 15 out of 29 participants attained 1.75 (score 7 equivalently) and one achieved 2 in terms of using vocabulary. Participant SE20 used simple but effective phrases which were specific about the topic in post test. Spelling mistakes were rarely detected in this group. The control group also performed better in the post test, but there was no one achieving band score 2.
The second purpose of the semistructured interviews was to gain participants’ feedback about the intervention. The data were analyzed and grouped into two categories: students’ perceptions of the impact of peer review checklist on their writing performance and students’ perceptions of the application of peer review checklist on writing class. The results are summarized in Figure 2 Figure 2. Feedback on the impact of peer review checklist on their writing performance.
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The majority of the participants expressed good perceptions of the effects of peer review checklist on writing performance. The frequency summarized in Figure 2 shows that all interviewees agreed that the peer–review checklist helped them to be aware of different criteria in assessing a writing product. In addition to these positive perceptions, ST3 and ST4 said that they liked the items presented in the checklist the most because it helped them grasp how the writing products were evaluated. ST4 emphasized that: By deeply understanding scoring criteria, we would surely perform better in writing. I felt much more confident in the classroom. It does mean that I am good, but I know what to write
Additionally, 79.3% (N=23) students reported that their critical thinking skills were developed from receiving other’s feedback. Identifying mistakes from peer feedback was reported as another advantage with 75.9% (N=22) of positive responses on the beneficial impacts of peer review checklist on helping students identify mistakes, much higher than 24.1% (N=7) of participants who disagreed or were undecided on this idea. Furthermore, 41.4% of respondents perceived that peer review checklists created opportunities to learn from other compositions, whereas 58.6% (N=17) disagreed with this statement. This finding was then clarified by the follow upquestion, those interviewees believed that not all of their classmates could evaluate their English compositions appropriately because their reviewers’ English proficiency was too limited. Considering the last question in the interview protocol, the interviewees were asked about their suggestions for better applying peer review checklists. There was a discrepancy between students’ perceptions of pairing students when peer reviewing. More specifically, one half suggested struggling and outstanding students should be matched with each other so that the former could be of assistance and learn from the latter, but the other half had the opposite opinion. More interestingly, some students preferred working with new friends to working with their close friends as the former could help to avoid lack of concentration and joking time during the peer reviewing process. Instead students reviewed each other’s writing more seriously with the checklist, which was also an essential factor influencing the effectiveness of peer reviewing.
This study aimed to investigate the impact of a peer review writing checklist on Vietnamese EFL university students’ writing skills and perceptions. Regarding the impacts, in comparison to the result of posttest, the mean scores for the experimental group were higher than for control group, indicating that the peer review checklist had a positive influence on students’ writing performance. The interviews confirmed this finding to the extent that this assessment tool helped (1) clarify the criteria that are needed in writing an email; (2) recognize mistakes from others’ products; (3) learn from others, and (4) develop critical thinking skills in writing. Several factors in this study were reported in previous studies (Babaii & Adeh, 2019; Do, 2020; Ganji, 2009; Joh, 2021; Nguyen (2016); Yosepha & Supardi, 2015). This results of this study partly confirm previous research by Al Hazmi and Scholfield (2007) and Deni and Zainal (2011) who showed the positive outcomes of peer review on authenticity as well as collaboration among students
for writing feedback which was embedded to improve students’ assignments. One pedagogical implication is that EFL teachers should take the application of peer review checklist into consideration when teaching English writing in EFL contexts to maximize its benefits.
This study went a step further in analyzing the four criteria commonly used to assess writing performance, namely organization, task fulfillment, vocabulary, and grammar in students’ compositions. The checklist was associated with significant improvement in task fulfillment and vocabulary. This can be explained through the analysis of the qualitative data, which showed that the checklist made students aware of the supporting details in their writing and that they can learn a number of new words from their classmates’ writing products. This finding is in line with Garofalo (2013) and Tai et al. (2015), and it challenges the findings from Joh (2021) that, as previously discussed, peer feedback often primarily focused on grammar and vocabulary, and the feedback on the discourse level was rarely incorporated into the revised drafts due to reportedly limited time, which was actually due to the limited attention paid by the participants. This study found a significant improvement on task fulfillment in the experimental group’s writing products. The checklist applied in this study focused on the ideas and supporting details of the writing, which led to the students’ development in this criterion after the treatment. One suggestion to the designers as well as teachers is that the checklist must be created according to the criteria students need to improve in their writing skills.
According to results from the interviews, the effectiveness might be confirmed if it is widely disseminated and students are carefully trained in use of the checklist. It will be of help to teachers' assessment and students in teaching English writing in schools. This finding is in line with that of Do (2020), Min (2006), and Soares (2007). Moreover, the majority of the participants expressed a strong agreement on reviewing each other’s English compositions, a process they felt could benefit them in many ways such as reducing grammatical mistakes, learning more about the use of words, and enriching their ideas. This finding is similar to Adeh (2019), Do (2020), Ganji (2009), Joh (2021), Nguyen (2016), and Yosepha and Supardi (2015).
The study also indicated that a number of students were not enthused by use of the peer review checklist as it did not improve their writing due to the lack of their classmates’ expertise. This is in line with Adachi et al. (2017), Chang et al. (2011), Rasha (2021), and Topping (2013). The finding is useful for the teachers themselves to modify the peer review process to ensure the equal effectiveness among all students in the classroom. In fact, this type of mixed-level class resulted in many difficulties for the teaching process. This indicates that students’ English levels and desires should be taken into account in the pairing process. In addition, for a more objective judgment, students’ relationships, as suggested in students’ interview responses, need to be taken into account. In particular, students with close relationship should not be put together to avoid the bias in the reviewing process.
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This study examined the effects of using peer review checklists in EFL writing classes over a course of 10 weeks. The findings revealed that students who used checklists throughout the course performed better than did those who studied English writing without using checklists. Among the criteria, task fulfilment and vocabulary were the two aspects in which students showed the most improvement. Both the quantitative and qualitative data revealed that students became more aware of adding supporting points whenever they wrote. Also, the process of using checklists for peer reviewing helped to reduce the number of spelling mistakes and created opportunities for students to receive feedback and suggestions about using words from others.
The analysis have several pedagogical implications. First, the target students in this study were non English majors in a small university. They were evaluated to be quite challenging in terms of learning English. However, they perceived that they were highly motivated if there were interactions in the writing classroom. Therefore, it is recommended, as well as once again confirming that, in English language teaching, the interaction is significant to motivate learners, even struggling students. Despite some limitations related to the small sample size, this research has contributed to the related literature and has some pedagogical implications for language teachers and learners, language syllabus designers and educators, and researchers who are interested in the field.
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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research
Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 182 203, May 2022
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.5.10
Received Mar 16, 2022; Revised May 15, 2022; Accepted May 26, 2022
Abstract. The Covid 19 pandemic has resulted in the adoption of lockdowns, social distancing, and quarantines as measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, forcing education spaces in both developed and developing economies to suddenly shift towards adoption of emergency online teaching and learning. However, developing economies were lagging in the migration to online teaching and learning strategies due to incapacity and lack of resources such as formal learning management systems (LMS) that support the migration. Social media use has been identified as an alternative given the sharp rise in social media (SM) presence and activities around the world by individuals of different age, regardless of economic status, during the lockdowns. A few studies have been conducted on the perceptions of SM use by preservice teachers in a developing country context. Through the technology acceptance model (TAM), this study applied a mixed methods approach to examine perceptions of preservice teachers on SM use in teaching during the practice periods. Results revealed that preservice teachers perceived SM platformsasmainlyforsocialpurposes rather thaneducationalpurposes, despite their high usage of WhatsApp and YouTube. The study recommends initiatives to change preservice teachers’ mindset as part of teachers’ professional development to get them to appreciate the usefulness of SM platforms in education contexts.
Keywords: preservice teachers’ perceptions; social media adoption; teaching and learning; secondary schools
Rapid increase in social media (SM) use has been noticed around the world amid the Covid 19 pandemic (Haman, 2020). SM has been useful in communicating rapid real time messages during natural disasters, riots, entertainment updates and any instances where information must reach a wider audience quickly and
* Corresponding author: John Mangundu,jmangundu2009@gmail.com
©Author
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY NC ND 4.0).
widely (Saroj & Pal, 2020). Accordingly, SM played an instrumental role in dissemination of information and general social interactions during Covid 19 pandemic lockdowns. Many to almost all secondary and high schools around the world were closed during the Covid 19 pandemics (Sangster et al., 2020; Laato et al., 2020) as part of measures to contain the spread of the virus (Zhang et al., 2020). According to UNESCO close to about 94% of the world’s students were left out of the learning environments. Schools in developed countries managed to respond timely to the crisis brought by on by Covid 19 by switching to online teaching and learning. As a result, learners were not inconvenienced from learning (UNESCO, 2020). In contrast, most schools in developing economies such as South Africa could not respond timely to the inconveniences brought by the Covid 19 pandemic and divert to online teaching and learning. The South African minister of basic education could not provide clear opening dates for schools after lockdowns. Teaching and learning planning and calendars were greatly affected, and in most instances learners and schools were unable to cover the curriculum content. The inability to switch to online teaching and learning was mainly driven by the lack of ICT infrastructure, internet connectivity, unaffordability of data costs, and ICT pedagogical integration skills among others (Ismail et al., 2020).
SM is mostly used for entertainment, social interactions, with some professional uses (Whiting & Williams, 2013). However, SM also affords active exchange of knowledge in many learning spaces (Voivonta & Avraamidou, 2018). SM enables preservice teachers and learners to communicate through various internet based applications while observing social distancing regulations (Vordos et al., 2020). The rapid growth of young people’s enthusiasm and presence on SM seems to provide a new dawn on teaching and learning processes. SM is regarded as an easy convenient communication media between facilitators and learners in the education sector. Despite the general challenges for online presence in the context of developing countries and that SM has not been officially formalised as a teaching and learning platform, most teachers and learners in developing economies like South Africa afford devices and connectivity data for SM presence. Literature supports that SM enables learning in the social interaction spaces, enabling teachers to design curricula that meet learners’ demands, presented on platforms that learners are already acquainted with. SM use for teaching and learning during lockdowns had great potential in advancing learning. Literature also supports that SM effectively supports learners’ engagement, continuous teacher professional development and development of life long learners (Beemt et al., 2019; Anasi, 2018). SM for teaching and learning stimulates learners to technologically advance their learning process while at the same time promoting preservice teachers’ ICT pedagogical integration skills. As such, SM teaching and learning should be a suitable instructional tool amid the Covid-19 pandemic as alluded to by Fedock et al. (2019).
Social media has been contended to be indefinable (Tess, 2013). However, Kaplan & Haenlein (2010) define SM as relating to internet applications that provide creation and exchange of user generated content that necessitate a certain extent of self disclosure that permits for a certain level of social presence. Literature on SM and education highlights pedagogical application of precise applications such
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as Facebook (Yang et al., 2011) or Twitter (Aydin, 2014) for teaching and learning and examination of learning outcomes. Despite some researchers pointing out that SM is never intended for pedagogical integration and use (Bruneel et al., 2013), other researchers view this as a good starting point to discuss the possibility of SM pedagogical integration (Taylor et al., 2012). The increasing popularity of SM in teaching and learning results in it being crucial for teachers and learners to comprehend and espouse SM sites to launch ways of positioning study materials on technology enhanced platforms (Bai et al., 2021).
While expectations remain high in some areas such as higher education, literature demonstrates that SM has little to no attention in the context of preservice teachers and secondary education teaching and learning processes. The unique educational potential of SM to increase participation and inclusion is yet to be discovered. Little is revealed about preservice teachers’ perceptions about SM use in the classroom. These perceptions are critical for understanding the use of SM, because behaviour arguably reflects underlying understandings of the media as platforms of communication (Orlikowski & Gash, 1994). Non realisation of the educational benefits of SM could be grounded in different perceptions by preservice teachers. If SM is to become an important platform for educational purposes from now going to the future, preservice teachers must recognise SM as such a platform. If ever SM is going to be an important educational tool between teachers and learners, both need to perceive media as a useful, educational communication tool.
Through empirical observation, it is apparent that there exists little to no use of SM for educational purposes by preservice teachers in South Africa. This has been evidenced by the request for preservice teachers to be present in schools during their teaching practicum periods, on a rotation basis. In difficult situations such as pandemics that require physical distancing, SM use could serve as the best educational platform for advancing teaching and learning. SM use could be argued to be most relevant in the context of South Africa, a developing country that is characterised by poor ICT infrastructure in schools, network connectivity problems, high data costs, and unaffordability of formal learning management systems by secondary schools. Observed little to no use of SM by preservice teachers could be better understood by understanding their perceptions and concerns. This is in line with propositions by Beemt et al. (2019), that it is the understandingof preservice teachers’ perceptions that could make SM integration in teaching and learning possible. Importantly, unpacking preservice teachers’ perceptions of SM for teaching and learning during the Covid 19 pandemic induced school closures becomes critical to potentially address the shortcomings. The study seeks to assess preservice teachers’ perceptions towards SM integration and use in teaching and learning amidst the Covid 19 pandemic and lockdowns.
Informed by the pragmatism research philosophy (Kaushik & Walsh, 2019), the study followed an exploratory mixed methods approach (Creswell, 2017), comprising of two data collection and analysis phases.
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Firstly, the qualitative phase mainly comprised of collecting data in the form of 30 minute interviews, conveniently sampling 20 preservice teachers interviewed during students’ work integrated learning assessment visits. Interviews were either conducted face to face and recorded or on the cell phone to maintain social distancing. However, most of the interviews were contacted by use of WhatsApp to comply with Covid 19 social distancing protocols. Interviews stopped when data saturation was reached, where preservice teachers would repeat previously raised SM perceptions and challenges, leading to a total of 20 recorded and analysed semi structured interviews.
Audio interview recordings were transcribed and analysed for emerging themes through classifications and patterns that related to the data (Cohen et al., 2017). The coding process was conducted in a reproductive manner, that is, there was constant forth and back undertaking between the research data and the research framework. The themes were inductively and deductively generated through categorisation of the data through codes, ensuring that themes are tied to the data. Themes were subsequently populated on the survey questionnaire for the quantitative phase. In addition, the qualitative phase enabled the researchers to gather potential survey questionnaire respondents’ WhatsApp numbers and email addresses. In addition, the snowball research technique was applied to gather more questionnaire respondents’ details for the second phase.
Subsequent quantitative data in the second phase was collected by use of an online survey questionnaire Taherdoost (2016), which was developed on SurveyMonkey, an online research data collection platform. The survey questionnaire comprised of section A with question items covering respondents’ demographics, and section B comprised of a five point Likert scale based on question items (Adelson et al., 2010) on the frequency of using SM, and agreements on respondents’ perceptions of SM in teaching and learning.
A database of 515 preservice teachers was populated with the assistance of work integrated learning (WIL) placement coordinators from teacher training institutions in Pietermaritzburg As such, the study was based on a population of 515 preservice teachers.
Through Krejcie & Morgan’s (1970) sample determination table, a sample of 300 preservice teachers (Confidence Level = 95%, Margin of Error = 3.5%) was drawn from the population and deemed statistically significant for the study. Resultantly, survey links targeting 300 randomly sampled preservice teachers were sent to the email addresses and WhatsApp numbers of preservice teachers in Pietermaritzburg urban and rural schools. Quantitative data was collected over a period of six months and 250 completed, valid responses were collected for analysis.
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Prior to data collection, research approval was granted by the research ethics committee of the institution. Participation in the study was voluntary and participants were free to withdraw from the study at any given time with no need to provide motivation. Furthermore, informed consent was granted by participants prior to the interview process and questionnaire completion.
Quantitative data was analysed by use of SPSS for different statistical operations. Descriptive statistics including frequencies and, where applicable, mean and standard deviations were represented in tables or graphs. A chi square test of independence was used on cross tabulations to see whether a significant relationship exists between the two variables represented in the cross tabulation. When conditions were not met Fisher’s exact test was used. In addition, one sample t test was included to test whether a mean score was significantly different from a scalar value. Lastly, independent samples t test to compare two independent groups of cases.
SM adoption for teaching and learning is related to technology adoption in this study. Several technology adoptions models have been proposed in literature, including the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) by Rogers (1989), which has been widely used in studies on users’ acceptance of new technological innovations. The TAM mainlyfocuses on perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of technological innovation, which in turn directly influence the users’ willingness to use such innovations. According to the TAM, external variables influence individual internal perceptions that in turn influence the behavioural intentions to use a given technological innovation. Aside from the TAM, Venkatesh et.al. (2003) proposed the UTAUT model that unpacks individuals’ acceptance of a technological innovation and their intention for its use. This study employs the original TAM model and borrows the constructs that mainly focus on perceptions and are fused with themes on perceptions that arose from the qualitative phase. As a result, the constructs for interrogation in the quantitative phase included perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived learner collaboration, perceived learner active engagement, and perceived enjoyment.
Perceived ease of use in the context of the current study pertains to the extent to which preservice teachers believe that the use of SM in teaching and learning would be effortless. As such, their perceived ease of use goes on to influence their perceived usefulness, which denotes the degree to which preservice teachers believe using SM for teaching and learning would enhance their teaching experience and performance (i.e., improved comprehension of concepts by learners, sustained pass rates). In addition, the current study focused on perceived enjoyment in the use of SM as an innovation. Perceived enjoyment relates to the degree to which using a technological innovation is viewed as fun (Venkatesh, 2000; Lee et al., 2019), and has an influence on the intention to use, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness (Park et al., 2014; El Shamy & Hassanein, 2017).
The constructs were supported by the qualitative results and are discussed below.
Preservice teachers expressed different perceptions regarding use of social media for teaching and learning. Some preservice teachers demonstrated some form of aversion towards utilisation of SM platforms for teaching and learning. On the other hand, some expressed usefulness of SM on their content delivery. The main reason that emerged is the absence of real social distancing in the use of social media. Below are some of the mixed perceptions regarding SM from the study interviewees. Identification of the interviewed preservice teachers is represented as PST 1, PST 2, PST etc. for anonymity purposes.
“Learners can be disrespectful on the SM platform and hence I would not venture into mixing myself with learners in their turf. I cannot share my cell phone number with learners, they can then communicate with you during unholy times, so I rather keep my distance”, (PST 1).
The main social media platform that preservice teachers suggested that has near universal access for the secondary school learners was WhatsApp. WhatsApp had more accessibility when compared with other learning platforms such as Apollo that were adopted post the Covid 19 pandemic due to data and connectivity needs. This platform has a near universal presence as illustrated by one of the respondents:
“WhatsApp can be useful in teaching and learning. In as much as we adopted Apollo as a learning platform (Learning management system), the upload of material had to be restricted to heads of departments or subject heads. A lot of training needed to be done by the schools to the school leadership as Apollo was new. However, everyone uses WhatsApp with a few extreme exceptions who cite religious reasons for not using WhatsApp”, (PST 2).
Another argued: “WhatsApp has the advantage of being able to share media including handouts in the form of documents which can be shared in portable document format, or in the Microsoft suite which include words and PowerPoint slides. In other words, during the pandemic initial period, I had to share with my students via WhatsApp all the learning material”, (PST 3).
The participant at an urban school suggested that WhatsApp was used as a platform to share further study material where the handouts would be shared After submissions by the learners the answers were again shared on the WhatsApp platform, so learners could then learn the skill of self assessment. In fact, answers were sent to individual learners who would have submitted the work. Here is their statement:
“I submit problems on the SM platform then only sent answers to the students who would have returned work showing that they were working”, (PST 4).
Another demonstrated the unhappiness with social media use due to the ways in which the learners wrote responses on the different platforms and the effects of this on social distance.
“On SM, learners tend to use unhelpful shorthand which they generally understand. I therefore avoid such a platform because the learners have become so used to their shorthand that they would not appreciate my presence. Such shorthand as [lol] or [kkkkk] and some emoticons that may not be in line with my expectation generally reduce that social distance I believe should be maintained between the learners and their educator”, (PST 5).
The other educator expressed the need for social distance: “To me it’s not professional to chat with students on social media, a learner can’t be my friend on Facebook if they need to communicate with me, they will rather do that via WhatsApp of make a regular call. But Facebook and Instagram for me I just don’t think its professional, learners might cross the line and think I am one of their friends besides I need to maintain my privacy especially from these young one”, (PST 6).
One preservice teacher had different opinions:
“I feel that SM would improve preservice teachers and learners’ relationship, personally I do not have a problem with communicating with learners using certain tools of social media, but Facebook imposes problems of privacy. It would be great and easier if as teachers we manage to interact with and teach learners on social media, besides most of these young ones are already present on most social media platforms. However, I am worried if we would be able to control learners on these platforms. Some learners are too forward and can send you private messages which have nothing to do with learning”, (PST 7).
“I don’t know if any of my students are on Facebook of any other social media platforms, it just feels weird to be friends with my students on such socializing platforms. I can only connect there with my family and friends not students, there must be that boundary”, (PST 8).
“With my students I have tried WhatsApp to communicate give them assignments and do group discussions. But it didn’t go well, so now when I think of Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms I feel it will be worse, it’s hard to monitor and control learners on these platforms. Some divert from learning and concentrate on disturbing things; I have received so many complains so far from other learners accusing other learners of sharing explicit and unwelcome content on WhatsApp. So, for me it’s a no no!!”, (PST 9).
One of the preservice teachers expressed that:
“I have been using WhatsApp to communicate with students and everything was going well. I involved parents so that they monitor the learners’ activities from home. You know learners can easily get distracted and focus on other useless things. So, parents made it easier for me, and
in most instances, I would prefer using parents WhatsApp details for monitoring and control”, (PST 10).
“Social media has enabled me to share my own recorded videos delivering content and share to learners during lockdowns. I would post the videos o]in the class WhatsApp groups and ask students to watch and summarise what’s standing out from the videos. It has been phenomenal, it worked well for me. Although had instances where some learners did not have data timeously, that became a challenge”, (PST 11).
“Social media teaching and learning cannot work for us. We had private companies that came in and donated tablets to our school for learners to use. All the devices were stolen, the communities around don’t value such initiatives. We have also numerous incidences where learners got mugged and their cell phones were stolen. In such instances how would someone expect us to use social media for teaching and learning? We just wait for directives from the department to go back to classrooms and do face to face lessons that’s the only way that can work. I strongly feel social media won’t work for us, maybe it works for privileged schools with high security”, (PST 12).
“Platforms such as YouTube really helped me to share practical content with my learners. For example, I teach biology, and those numerous videos on such platforms helped my students to visualise things they wouldn’t without it. remember our science labs have been vandalized and there is absolutely nothing to show learners as we try to engage in practicals”, (PST 13).
“Our learners travel long distances to come to and from school here in the rural areas. Obviously despite all these problems caused Covid 19, if we had gadgets simple as smart phone, network signals and the data, we would be happy to use social media for teaching our learners. We would easily give them assignments, supplement our content with media such as videos, audio, and even online PowerPoint slides”, (PST 14).
From analysed qualitative data, it is evident that preservice teachers have mixed perceptions of social media for teaching and learning. Some expressed perceived usefulness and importance whilst others perceived social media use for teaching and learning to be problematic. Interestingly, a trend emerged where urban based preservice teachers generally cited the negative side of SM platforms whilst rural based preservice teachers mostly cited challenges of SM use in teaching and learning rather than perceptions. Context related perceptions emerged, differing between rural and urban preservice teachers. Most rural based preservice teachers believed SM could be useful in overcoming Covid 19 teaching and learning challenges. However, they cited challenges associated with rural poverty and unavailability of gadgets, let alone the WhatsApp connectivity data. Preservice teachers in these contexts could not fathom the use of SM; they simply waited for the turns of the announcements by the minister of education regarding pupils’ return to school. They cited absence of devices and the availability of the data
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while they may have appreciated the affordances of technology. They further cited the challenge of digital literacy wherein Covid 19 meant everyone was supposed to shift their mindset as well as ability to use gadgets, namely laptops and cellular phones, for learning and teaching. This was almost an impossibility given a number of learners staying with grandparents, where the most computer literate household member would be the grade 11 learner or grade 8 learner who has not been afforded access to the cellular phone.
Despite a few preservice teachers having made initiatives to communicate with learners, these have been personal efforts, with no SM policies, procedures or guidelines from the education authorities. Interviewees alluded to the need to provide proper policies and guidelines in line with the ethos of netiquette which will guide interactions on social media. They found SM to have potential which can, and has been, leveraged by other learning platforms where they were able to learn and cover the Covid 19 curriculum as well as engage in revisions for the 2020 National Senior examinations. The inconclusive results from the qualitative phase were necessitated for the quantitative data collection and analysis phase. Themes arising from the qualitative phase were incorporated in the survey questionnaire. In addition, the quantitative phase was guided by Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The section below discusses the TAM and how it is applied in the study.
From a pilot study with 25 respondents who used SM for more than an hour per day, a Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.7 is revealed for each construct. As shown in Table 1, a value of 0.7 and higher provided a valid statistical basis for a wider survey in accordance with Fernandes (2012). In that regard, modifications informed by the feedback were implemented on the instrument for the formal wider survey.
Constructs Items Loadings MSV Cronbach’s Alpha
Perceived learners’ engaged learning
Perceived learners’ collaborative learning
Perceived usefulness
PLE1 .881 0.192 .834 PLE2 .812 PLE3 .846 PLE4 .824
PLC1 .785 .340 .782 PLC2 .706 PLC3 .810
PU1 .768 .280 .766 PU2 .796 PU3 .773
Perceived ease of use PEU1 .813 .345 .804 PEU2 .798 PEU3 .780
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PEU4 .809 Perceived enjoyment
PE1 .785 .230 .779 PE2 .774 PE3 .876
SM Adoption SMA1 .858 .218 .848 SMA2 .872 SMA3 .892
Model fit indices Χ2 / df = 2.221 (p<.001); IFI = .950; CFI = .940; TLI = .932; RMSEA = .066
The qualitative phase of the study provided different useful insights regarding how preservice teachers perceived the use of SM in teaching and learning. The quantitative phase of the study applied the findings to a wider context in the form of a closed online questionnaire to collect data from 250 preservice teachers around Pietermaritzburg urban and rural schools. The revised questionnaire was loaded on SurveyMonkey, an online research data collection tool. Survey links weresent topreservice teachers’ email addresses and WhatsApp numbers. Instant alerts would report all completed survey responses as data collection proceeded. A data file with all responses was exported from SurveyMonkey to Excel for data analysis and presentation. From the 250 completed and valid survey responses, 135 respondents were male while 115 respondents were female. In addition, of the total respondents, 155 are based in schools in the urban area while 95 respondents are preservice teachers from the rural areas. The sample representation of urban versus rural preservice teachers is different possibly due to network and data availability disparities as they participated in the survey. The demographic characteristics of the respondents to the study survey are presented in table 2 below.
Demographic data reveals that of all the questionnaire respondents, 40% had some form of SM media presence and that on average they spent more than an hour per day on SM. Demographic data demonstrates that 74% spend more than four hours on SM platforms per day, the highest percentage of the respondents, which could be attributed to more free time due to lockdowns. The results sustain research from Koeze and Popper (2020) and Limaye et al. (2020), who found
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increased SM use during the pandemic. It would be expected that preservice teachers take advantage of their SM knowledge to develop positive attitudes for instructional use in teaching (Beemt et al., 2020; Buus, 2012). Constructs from the data analysed in the qualitative phase were measured against the Likert scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The section below presents preservice teachers’ level of SM integration during Covid 19 lockdowns.
Table 3: Preservice teachers’ social media integration in teaching and learning. Level of Integration (n=250) �� S.D. Level
2.1 WhatsApp 3.96 2.10 High
2.2 Facebook 0.78 2.92 Lowest
2.3 Skype 1.01 1.56 Lowest
2.4 Blogs 0.20 1.12 Lowest
2.5 YouTube 3.95 2.07 High
2.6 Twitter 0.10 1.52 Lowest
2.7 Instagram 0.17 1.06 Lowest
2.8 Podcasts 0.14 1.08 Lowest
Table 3 above shows that the three social media platforms most frequently used for teaching and learning were WhatsApp (high level of agreement; (�� = 3.96, S.D. = 2.10), followed by YouTube (moderate level; (��= 3.95, S.D. = 2.07). Results reveal that other platforms had lowest levels of consideration by preservice teachers for integration into teaching and learning. The finding on high usage of YouTube is in line with Anna (2019), who reported that YouTube is one of the most installed and used platforms by preservice teachers, as they access tutorial videos of different concepts and can be adopted as an instructional channel (Krauskopf et al., 2012). In addition, the results are supported by findings from Moran et al. (2011), who revealed that education professionals mostly use YouTube, however Twitter and Facebook were mostly used by the young generation (i.e., learners).
Having presented on the use of various SM platforms, the section below presents on preservice teachers’ perceptions of SM integration into teaching and learning.
Table 4: Preservice teachers’ perceptions of social media integration in teaching and learning
Perceptions of social media in teaching and learning �� S.D Level of Perception
3.1 I perceive social media as a useful tool for teaching 2.97 2.05 moderate
3.2 I believe that social media can enhance the teaching process 2.90 1.99 moderate
3.3 Social media can facilitate engaged learning process 2.96 1.96 moderate
3.4 Learners can actively participate in the comfort of their zones 3.60 1.02 high
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3.5 Social media improves learners’ problem solving capabilities 3.20 1.20 high
3.6 Social media facilitates collaborative learning among learners 3.40 1.98 high
3.7 Social media can help develop independent learning 2.80 2.08 moderate
3.8 Social media makes it easy for learners to develop creating thinking skills 3.10 2.26 high
3.9 Social media will be easy to use for learners because they are already present on the platforms
2.96 1.06 moderate
3.10 SM use affords me opportunities that I wouldn’t get in the classroom 2.80 1.20 moderate
3.11 SM brings enjoyment to learning 2.90 1.16 moderate
3.12 Lack of social media pedagogical integration skills hinders integration 4.60 1.40 high
3.13 Social Media cannot be applied for formal teaching and learning 3.10 1.10 high
3.14 No one takes learning seriously when done via social media 3.98 2.10 high
3.15 Difficult to monitor and control learners’ activities on social media 1.20 1.01 low
3.16 Learners can easily become distracted on social media 2.30 2.16 low
3.17 SM promotes anxiety and dependence on learners 3.90 2.60 high
3.18 I intend to use social media in my teaching 1.60 1.04 low
Results in Table 4 reveal that preservice teachers perceived SM as a useful tool for teaching and learning ( �� = 2.97, S.D. = 2.05). They also perceive that SM can enhance teaching ( �� = 2.90, S.D. = 1.99), facilitate the learning process ( �� = 2.96, S.D. = 1.96), and improve learner problem solving capabilities (�� =3.20, S.D. = 1.20). In addition, preservice teachers perceive that SM as a tool can facilitate learners’ collaborative learning (�� =3.40, S.D. = 1.98), while at the same time promoting learner independent learning (�� =2.80, S.D. = 2.08) and leading to learners’ development of critical thinking skills (�� =3.10, S.D. = 2.26). This is in agreement with Carpenter (2014), who reported that preservice teachers appreciated the benefits brought by SM, such as Twitter. These findings resonate with Acarli and Sağlam (2015), who revealed that study participants were enthusiastic to integrate SM in their future professions. Preservice teachers perceive that it is easy to integrate SM in teaching and learning since learners are already available on various SM platforms (�� =2.96, S.D. = 1.06).
However, preservice teachers perceived a lack of SM pedagogical integration skills as a hindrance to integration (�� =4.60, S.D. = 1.40). This result agrees with Beemt et al. (2019), who reported that experience, lack of knowledge and skills influences teachers’ attitudes towards SM integration. The importance of teachers’ skills and knowledge for SM pedagogical integration has been noted by Buus (2012). With the rise in SM use during the COVID pandemic as observed by Limaye et al. (2020), the expectation would be that preservice teachers’ SM knowledge and skills improved. However, the limited SM knowledge and skills
previously reported by Moran et al. (2011) persist, resultantly demoralising teachers on use of SM for teaching Furthermore, preservice teachers perceived SM as inapplicable in formal teaching and learning (�� =3.10, S.D. = 1.10) as they believe that no one takes anything done via SM seriously (�� =3.98, S.D. = 2.10) This is in agreement with Deng and Tavares’ (2013), whose study revealed that preservice teachers viewed SM as informal, and teachers’ presence within the SM space would limit free interactions amongst learners. In addition, there would be a general reluctance to use SM (e.g., Hurt et al., 2012) until it is officially implemented as a part of course delivery. As such, learners need to receive developmental assistance that prepares them to learn with and through SM, as the current appreciation is that SM is for social interaction and entertainment purposes (Chen & Breyer, 2012) Furthermore, school level support (Ismail et al., 2020) is needed to assist preservice teachers to improve SM instructional integration and to align with learners’ developmental needs.
Preservice teachers perceived SM for teaching and learning rather as a source of anxiety and dependence, as promoted by learners (�� =3.90, S.D. = 2.60). Therefore, as suggested by (Beemt el al. 2019; Kormos & Nijakowsk 2017), there is a need for support to conquer digital fears and anxiety, especially for teachers in developing economies that are characterised by a lack of integration abilities (Ismail, 2020). In addition, preservice teachers felt that it was difficult to monitor and control learners’ activities on SM (�� =1.20, S.D. = 1.01), and the perception is that learners can easily become distracted (�� =2.30, S.D. = 2.16). The challenge of learners being distracted by SM during classes resonates with Cetinkaya (2017), whose study suggested that close monitoring is needed when engaging learners through SM as learners’ attention can easily be distracted. Results further show general disagreement that preservice teachers would use SM in their teaching and learning (�� =1.60, S.D. = 1.04). For the above beliefs, it is undeniable that preservice teachers do not have intentions to integrate SM in their teaching. However, preservice teachers need to understand how their roles have changed, as suggested by Hoyos (2014). Preservice teachers need to facilitate learning leveraging on SM, regardless of the challenges. Accordingly, there is need for encouragement and support from education authorities to shift preservice teachers’ perceptions regarding SM use in teaching. These arguments resonate with Ismail et al. (2020) who postulated that school level support from mentors and school principals would be valuable. In addition, support need to be characterised by access to digital technologies and related devices, teacher capacity development, redesign of the curriculum to include SM integration and pedagogical concepts by teacher training institutions (Jogezai et al., 2018; Mulenga & Marban, 2020).
Despite preservice teachers perceiving SM to be a useful teaching and learning tool that can facilitate the learning process and problem solving capabilities, they felt that the lack of formalisation, integration skills and knowledge led them to perceive SM as platforms that are irrelevant for teaching and learning. This agrees with researchers (e.g., Crook, 2012), who postulate that misalignment exists between SM use and support from schools’ administrators. In the absence of the support from school administrators, preservice teachers become uncertain
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(Mathieson & Leafman, 2014) and can hardly explore emerging pedagogical platforms such as SM. Despite findings revealing preservice teachers’ positive perceptions on SM, and recognition of SM importance in promoting learner independent learning, collaborative learning, and development of critical thinking skills, there are also general negative perceptions that SM promotes anxiety and dependence. Therefore, it would be difficult to monitor learners’ activities and learners would get easily distracted. As such, the results reveal mixed perceptions on SM use in teaching and learning by the study participants. However, overall, preservice teachers would not use SM for teaching and learning. The researchers went on to perform independent sample t tests to comparatively ascertain the representation of rural preservice teachers against urban preservice teachers in the mixed perceptions. Some unexpected results were deduced from the t tests as shown in Table 5 below.
Further analysis was done to ascertain whether SM perceptions were different for urban and rural preservice teachers through independent sample t tests as presented in Table 5 below.
Teacher’s Context N Mean S D
Perceive social media as a useful tool for teaching Urban 155 3.18 .625 Rural 95 4.19 .608
Believe that social media can enhance the teaching process Urban 155 2.94 .247 Rural 95 4.82 .390 Social media can facilitate learning process Urban 155 3.65 .479 Rural 95 4.55 .549
Social media improves learners’ problem solving capabilities Urban 155 3.49 .686 Rural 95 3.16 .668
Social media facilitates collaborative learning among learners Urban 155 3.15 .854 Rural 95 4.75 .488
Social media can help learners develop independent learning Urban 155 2.94 .589 Rural 95 3.91 .709
Social media makes it easy for learners to develop creative thinking skills Urban 155 3.66 .699 Rural 95 3.21 .787
SM use affords me opportunities that I wouldn’t get in the classroom Urban 155 2.14 .105 Rural 95 4.86 .608 Lack of social media pedagogical integration skills hinders integration Urban 155 3.78 .754 Rural 95 4.20 .682
Social media can’t be applied for formal teaching and learning Urban 155 3.86 .511 Rural 95 3.01 .802
No onetakeslearning seriously whendonepurely via social media Urban 155 3.86 .612 Rural 95 3.02 .563
Difficult to monitor and control learners’ activities on social media Urban 155 4.90 .305 Rural 95 3.73 .451
Learners can easily become distracted on social media Urban 155 4.33 .474 Rural 95 3.05 .429
SM promotes anxiety and dependence on learners Urban 155 4.64 .602 Rural 95 3.04 .613
I intend to use social media in my teaching
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Urban 155 3.87 .373
Rural 95 4.70 .462
Analysis to determine the existence of the difference in perceptions by rural and urban preservice teachers revealed significantly more agreement by rural preservice teachers (M = 4.19, SD = .625) than by urban preservice teachers (M = 3.84, SD = .609) that SM is a useful tool for teaching and learning. This is a positive response to a call by Aguliera and Nightengale Lee (2020), who argued that rural schools need to exploit effortlessly available resources such as SM. However, there is significantly more agreement by rural preservice teachers (M = 4.20, SD = .682) than by urban preservice teachers (M = 3.78, SD = .754) that a lack of social media pedagogical integration skills hinders integration This result can be attributed to a lack of exposure, resources and ICT support infrastructure that has always posed a challenge for rural education contexts. Similar resource challenges in rural contexts have been reported in the South African education context. For example, a study by Oyedemi & Mogano (2018) demonstrated that an excess of 82% of the students from rural schools had no access to ICT and internet connectivity resources. In addition, the findings on resource challenges in South African rural education contexts resonate with Omodan (2022), whose study suggests that a lack of resources impacted transformation in rural schools. It becomes evident that resource constraints negatively impact rural schools and learning contexts in their quest for advancing technologically supported innovation in teaching and learning.
Interestingly, the results bring in a new dimension that urban preservice teachers might have made towards efforts to integrate SM in teaching and learning, and the challenges associated. This is demonstrated by the differences in their perceptions. Urban preservice teachers’ perceptions seem to be guided from a reflective standpoint of having engaged in SM integration initiatives and possibly facing challenges first hand, due to their relative advantage with access to technical and social resources in comparison to rural preservice teachers. This is in accordance with findings by Mlitwa and Nonyane (2008). This is demonstrated as the results reveal that there is significantly more agreement from urban preservice teachers (M = 3.86, SD = .511) than rural preservice teachers (M = 3.01, SD = .802) that social media cannot be applied for formal teaching and learning. In addition, there is significantly more agreement by urban preservice teachers (M = 3.86, SD = .612) than by rural preservice teachers (M = 3.02, SD = .563) that no one takes learning seriously when done purely via social media. Furthermore, urban preservice teachers (M = 4.90, SD = .305) agree more than rural preservice teachers (M = 3.73, SD = .451) that it is difficult to monitor and control learners’ activities on social media, and that SM is a distraction to learning. Lastly, urban preservice teachers (M = 4.64, SD = .602) agreed more than rural preservice teachers (M = 3.04, SD = .613) that SM promotes anxiety and dependence on learners. These findings on preservice teachers’ negative perceptions are shaped by the existence of policies that ban learners from utilising their personal digital devices in South African schools as reported by Mwapwele (2019). Differences in perceptions suggested in the current study is consistent with Bautista et al. (2022), whose study on “Filipino teachers attitudes towards distance learning during Covid 19 pandemic” reported negative attitudes and perceptions emanating from
unavailability of infrastructure requirements and the difficulty in managing the pedagogical technologies. Therefore, preservice teachers demonstrate different perceptions, shaped by the contextual factors such as availability of required resources to support the advancement of the innovation concerned.
Surprisingly, there is significantly more agreement by rural preservice teachers (M = 4.70, SD = .462) than by urban preservice teachers (M = 3.87, SD = .373) that they intend to use social media in their teaching. The findings in this study are consistent with previous findings (Liu & McCombs, 2011) that teachers are keen to incorporate SM in their teaching. Interestingly, rural preservice teachers demonstrated positive perceptions about SM integration in teaching and learning in comparison to urban preservice teachers through a convergence of quantitative results with initial qualitative results that can be attributed to their appreciation that SM can indeed be regarded as an important pedagogical tool in the twenty first century, as noted by Alghamdi and Al Ghamdi (2021). The findings suggest that positive perceptions by rural preservice teachers on SM for teaching and learning as a potential alternative can be linked to the general lack of formal resources such as computers, devices, computer programs, internet connection, and computer labs in rural learning contexts which is consistent with findings (Chibisa & Mutambara, 2022; Mlitwa & Nonyane, 2008; Mutambara & Bayaga, 2021).
However, rural preservice teachers reported a lack of SM integration skills as a hindrance to the use of SM in teaching and learning. The current study finding resonates with Mwapwele (2019), whose survey reported that South African rural teachers were optimistic about ICT integration in teaching and learning, despite resource access challenges they experienced In a separate study, Mutambara and Chibisa (2022) observed that in rural areas, technology affordability was beyond the reach of many. Generally, negative perceptions of SM integration in teaching and learning are observed from urban preservice teachers. Urban preservice teachers argued that SM is difficult to apply in formal teaching and learning, that no one takes learning seriously on SM, and monitoring and controlling learners’ activities on SM was difficult. This finding resonates with Ndebele and Legg Jack (2022), whose study suggests that preservice teachers’ mentorship on skills and competencies are of vital importance for teacher professional development. This is applicable in successful SM integration The differences in the urban and rural preservice teachers’ perceptions could be attributed to the digital divide, as noted by Oyedemi and Mogano (2017), in that urban preservice teachers have indeed tried integrating SM in their teaching and learning processes and failed, while rural preservice teachers are still optimistic that given the necessary pedagogical integration support, conditions on data, and connectivity are met, SM could be useful in teaching and learning. We can, then, say that rural preservice teachers appreciate SM as an alternative pedagogical approach to teaching. This finding resonates with Nhongo and Siziba (2022), whose study postulates that rural education contexts are normally excluded from the transformative initiatives especially when generic strategies are applied across contexts.
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The study explored rural and urban preservice teachers’ perceptions on SM in teaching and learning in the context of the COVID 19 pandemic. The need for social distancing brought by the Covid 19 pandemic has necessitated preservice teachers’ increased presence on SM, knowledge of SM use, and consequently affected their perceptions of SM for general use. The study concludes that there exist differences in the perceptions of SM in teaching and learning by rural and urban preservice teachers Accordingly, customised and targeted intervention strategies need to be designed and implemented to improve preservice teachers’ perceptions. Most South African learners are already on various SM platforms. As such, the South African basic education department needs to formally recognise SM’s applicability as a supplementary teaching and learning tool that has the potential to afford flexibility in learning Resultantly, the integration of SM in teaching could be beneficial to developing counties like South Africa in which, according to Attwood et al. (2013), schools are characterised by ICT resource constraints and incapable teachers (Ismail et al., 2020). It is imperative to transform and reinforce preservice teachers’ perceptions into positive perceptions through policies that support preservice teachers’ SM pedagogical integration resources, knowledge and skills, as innovative platforms for learning inarguably need to be advanced. This agrees with propositions by Mutambara and Bayaga (2021), who advanced that for successful mobile learning in rural areas, resource availability becomes imperative.
The study has significant implications for secondary school learners, preservice teachers, school principals and basic education policy makers. The South African secondary school system is in a crisis caused by the Covid 19 pandemic, in addition to the alarming ever increasing number of secondary school learner dropouts. As a high number of secondary school learners are affected and deprived of learning due to school closures as part of Covid 19 responses, SM use in teaching and learning could be part of the solution. However, to achieve SM use in teaching and learning, there is need for a total shift of preservice teachers’ perceptions on the role of SM. SM’s significant effects on the preservice teachers’ perceptions call for the need for their support and encouragement on use in teaching and learning. Training and support in the form of continuous teacher professional development, mentoring, educator capacity building and resource support in form of data, digital platforms and devices could make preservice teachers’ perceptions of SM in teaching and learning shift.
The government, through the relevant department of basic education, needs to design and implement initiatives for improved teacher SM awareness and integration in the instructional design. These support initiatives need to be implemented from the national department of basic education, developing SM use policies in schools that permit controlled and guided use of personal digital devices in school premises The provincial department of basic education and district education administrators could break down those national policies and guidelines into manageable action plans. Schools could develop their own securely managed SM webpages, chat groups, and ask preservice teachers and
learners to join and engage in educational discussions and access to learning material. These platforms could be joined using official school learners’ numbers for security and accountability purposes in case learners post irrelevant content. Importantly, education stakeholders including the government, private sector and non governmental organisations need to participate in the capacitation of schools and teachers through provision of improved ICT infrastructure and internet connectivity as these are seen as lacking in a developing country context
Despite the study having presented interesting findings, there are a few limitations worth noting. The sample population was limited to preservice teachers in Pietermaritzburg urban and rural areas. Hence, the study results may not be generalisable to a wider South African context. In addition, the study mainly focused on preservice teachers. Maybe future research could also incorporate the learners to understand their perceptions of SM in teaching and learning, as they are important stakeholders in its implementation. In addition, future work could look at specific SM platforms for teaching and learning separately as they could present different results.
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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research
Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 204 219, May 2022
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.5.11
Received Mar 16, 2022; Revised May 15, 2022; Accepted May 26, 2022
Tien Ba Tran*
Vinh University, Vinh city, Vietnam Thu Hung Phan
Vinh University, Vinh city, Vietnam
Abstract. To meet the requirements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) Vietnam’s K 12 education has shifted from a content based to a competency based approach. Teacher education institutions are, therefore, required to make comprehensive curriculum reforms to align with the K 12 education innovation. This paper is concerned with the adoption of the CDIO (conceive design implement operate) initiative for teacher training programs at Vinh University in Central Vietnam It gives an account of the large scale changes that involve significant shifts in the culture of management, teaching, learning and assessment, the revamp of the structure and contents of the curricula, along with enhancement of faculty teaching competence, personal and interpersonal skills, product, process, and system building skills, as well as disciplinary fundamentals. It also describes how the university has adapted the 12 CDIO standards for teacher training programs, and how teacher training spaces, outcome based assessment and program evaluation have been adjusted in accordance with the CDIO principles. The qualitative research method was employed for an evaluation of the CDIO based program implementation The data were collected from interviews with faculty members and students, observations, documents related to the CDIO program implementation, reports of departments and AUN QA accreditation agency that assessed the programs. It was found that the CDIO approach is highly applicable for teacher training programs; it fits the outcome based teaching and assessment and the development of professional skills and competencies with which future teachers need to be equipped.
Keywords: CDIO standards; program learning outcomes; competency based; project based learning; outcome based assessment
* Corresponding author: TienBaTran,tientb@vinhuni.edu.vn
©Author
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY NC ND 4.0).
The CDIO initiative (conceive design implement operate) is an innovative educational framework originating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). This educational model came into being in response to several factors. First, the feedback from industries, graduates, and practicing engineers indicated that those certain important professional skills were not developed in the existing curricula Second, the model meets the standards and criteria set by accreditation bodies such as Accrediation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). Additionally, the engineering enrolment was dropping, as students found that engineering was too dull and theoretical in the first year of study (Crawley et al., 2014). To date, more than 190 major universities in developed countries, such as the United States, Great Britain, France, Sweden, Finland, Portugal, Japan, China, Singapore, and Thailand, have applied CDIO programs (CDIO, 2022).
The CDIO training model can respond to the new requirements of businesses and stakeholders in enhancing students' ability to acquire fundamental knowledge, while promoting the learning of soft skills, professional skills, and interpersonal communication, building processes and systems, and manufacturing products (Foley & Kyas, 2021). The CDIO training process starts from determining training goals, building learning outcomes and designing outcome based programs. This process is designed to ensure strict scientific requirements and feasibility with the participation of stakeholders, including employers, alumni, students, lecturers, and scientists.
CDIO based learning outcomes are based on stakeholders’ surveys and a careful analysis of labor market requirements, including four blocks of knowledge and skills: (1) disciplinary knowledge and reasoning; (2) personal and professional skills and attributes, (3) interpersonal skills including teamwork and communication; and (4) CDIO systems in the enterprise, societal and environmental context. These knowledge and skills are integrated in the training program and specifically assigned for each course based on the program matrix. Thus, each course contributes to the achievement of the program learning outcomes at different levels. Each instructor must adhere to the curriculum standards for content and the respective teaching level I T U (introduce, teach, utilize) to avoid duplication or omission of teaching identified piece of knowledge and skills (Nhut & Trinh, 2010).
CDIO comes from aeronautical engineering and the application of CDIO model has been still the most popular in the field of engineering to date (Kamp, 2021). Recent studies indicate that this training model has shown its relevance and superiority to the training of engineers in the 4IR (Malmqvist et al., 2016; Crawley et al., 2020). Futhermore, students trained in the CDIO model can work straight after graduation and there is almost no need of retraining them. They are quicker at understanding the market and grasping customer needs. In addition, students' interpersonal skills, such as communication, teamwork, and presentation skills, also show improvement.
Research shows that the CDIO initiative can be applied to many different areas of training, in addition to engineering, because it ensures a framework of knowledge
and skills (Crawley et al., 2020; Malmqvist et al., 2016; Martin et al., 2017; Tangkijviwat et al., 2018; Kuptasthien, 2020). Therefore, in recent years, the CDIO training model has also been applied in teaching humanities and social sciences by many universities around the world. Some specific cases of the CDIO program are at Instituto Politécnico do Porto in Portugal that developed the CDIO program for a Master's degree in Development Practice, which was based on 12 engineering CDIO standards (Martin et al., 2017) Singapore Polytechnic applied the CDIO training program for the fields of Food Science and Technology, Music Technology and Sound Engineering, and the University of Applied Sciences in Finland applied CDIO training for the discipline of Business Administration and Library Information. In Vietnam, the National University of Ho Chi Minh City applied CDIO for disciplines in humanities and social sciences, such as International Business, Journalism (Malmqvist et al., 2016), University of Economics. The Hanoi National University applied CDIO for International Economics major (Dung & Nha, 2012).
Crawley et al. (2014) also noted that CDIO could be applied to non technical disciplines based on the 12 CDIO standards, which can be summarized as follows:
• Developing a description of the profession’s context of practice as a starting point for educational design (corresponding to CDIO standard 1)
• Working with stakeholders to identify their requirements on the graduates (CDIO standard 2).
• Adapting the pedagogical and curricular elements of CDIO (CDIO standards 3 11 mainly) to the discipline’s needs.
• Applying the CDIO curriculum development and quality assurance processes (CDIO standard 12)
Even though the CDIO model has been applied to several disciplines, including humanities and social sciences, it has not been adopted for teacher training programs anywhere else in the world. This paper, therefore, presents an account of the first ever CDIO based framework for teacher education at Vinh University, Vietnam
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Vinh University is the first institution to adopt the CDIO initiative for teacher training programs. Located in Central Vietnam, the institution was initially established as a teacher training college in 1959, and then became a comprehensive university in 2001. It offers 55 undergraduate programs, 38 Master’s programs, and 17 doctoral programs, among which teacher education programs comprise of 14 undergraduate, 12 Master’s, and four doctoral. The university follows a concurrent model of teacher training (Dinçer & Bikmaz, 2020), which means that pedagogical courses are delivered during the four years of study at an education college.
It should be noted that Vietnam has undergone a comprehensive education reform which shifted from the traditional knowledge based to competency based education. While higher education institutions are relatively autonomous in deciding their model of training, K 12 schools adopted a unified system known as the National General Education Program 2018 (Ministry of Education and Training, 2018) Given the changing context, the university is undergoing a comprehensive educational reform with an ambition to utilize and implement innovation in higher education to produce graduates with international standards and to meet the pressing needs of the emerging market based economy in Vietnam.
The CDIO based approach, which was first introduced to Vietnam in 2008, has been adopted by the university since 2017. The CDIO framework for undergraduate teacher education programs has been adapted to align with the teaching profession and Vietnam’s national qualifications frameworks (Ministry of Education and Training, 2021; Vietnam’s government, 2016).
Table 1 features the adaptation of the CDIO initiative for the 14 teacher training programs of English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Literature, History, Geography, Civic Education, Primary Education, Nursery Education, Physical Education, Biology, Education Management, and Information Technology Education.
Standard The 12 CDIO standards for engineering (version 2.0) (CDIO, 2011)
1 Pedagogical context
2 Programlearning outcomes
3 Integrated curriculum
Adoption of the principle that product, process, and system lifecycle development and deployment conceiving, designing, implementingandoperating arethecontext forengineeringeducation
Specific, detailed learning outcomes for personalandinterpersonalskills,andproduct, process, and system building skills, and disciplinary knowledge, consistent with program goals and validated by program stakeholders.
A curriculum designed with mutually supporting disciplinary courses, with an explicit plan to integrate personal and interpersonalskills,andproduct,process,and systembuildingskills.
Adaptation of the 12 CDIO standards for teacher training at Vinh University
ThepedagogicalCDIOprogramisdesignedinaccordance with the national general education curricula in the context of Vietnam education in the period of internationalintegrationandthe4IR
The learning outcomes of teacher education include knowledge, skills, qualities, attitudes, which are consistent with the Vietnamese teacher competency framework for each specific subject and with the consultationofstakeholders.
Designed to integrate related and complementary courses to form knowledge, personal and interpersonal skills. Teachers need to know and be familiar with the NationalGeneral EducationCurriculum2018.
4 Introduction
5 Design implementation experiences
Introduction to engineering: An introductory course that provides the framework for engineering practice in product, process, and system building, and introduces essential personal and interpersonalskills.
A curriculum that includes two or more design implementexperiences,includingone atabasiclevelandoneatanadvancedlevel.
Introduction to teaching profession: An introductory course providing the framework for teaching practice at school,andintroducingessentialpersonalandinterpersonal skillsforteachers,aswellaspreliminaryschoolexperience.
The curriculum includes at least two design implement experiences, including one at a basic level and one at an advanced level, namely the Introduction to Pedagogy project and Graduation Project. Other projects may only include partial elements in CDIO but they are systematically designed to ensure full formation of competenciesandskillsuponcompletionoftheprogram.
6 Learning spaces
7 Integrated learning experiences
8 Activelearning
9
Enhancementof faculty competence
10
Enhancementof facultyteaching competence:
11 Learning assessment:
12 Programme evaluation
Engineering learning workspaces: Engineeringworkspacesandlaboratoriesthat support and encourage hands on learning of product, process, and system building, disciplinaryknowledge,andsociallearning.
Integrated learning experiences that lead to the acquisition of disciplinary knowledge, as well as personalandinterpersonalskills, and product,process,andsystembuildingskills.
Teaching and learning based on active experientiallearningmethods.
Actions that enhance faculty competence in personal and interpersonal skills, and product,process,andsystembuildingskills.
Actions that enhance faculty competence in providing integrated learning experiences, in using active experiential learning methods, andinassessingstudentlearning.
Assessment of student learning in personal andinterpersonalskills,andproduct, process, and system building skills, as well as in disciplinaryknowledge.
A system that evaluates programs against these 12 standards, and provides feedback to students, faculty, and other stakeholders for thepurposesofcontinuousimprovement.
Spacesforpedagogicaltrainingandpractice: Inaddition to the traditional classroom, the university builds learning spaces for students’ self study, teamwork, and designing educational activity. Furthermore, the university sets up a network of affiliated schools so that students can regularly observe classes and directly participateineducationalactivities.
Organizing teaching that combines specialized knowledge with the development of personal qualities andinterpersonalskills,asystematicvisionineducational practice; Increase the participation of teachers at high schoollevelandstakeholdersinthetrainingprocess.
Applying active experiential teaching methods that involve teamwork, project based learning, presentations, discussion, micro teaching, etc.
Actions that enhance faculty competence in personal and interpersonal skills, ICT skills, and understanding of the NationalGeneralEducationCurriculum2018.
Actions that enhance faculty competence in providing integrated learning experiences, in using active experiential learning methods, and in assessing student learning outcomes.
Outcome based assessment of student learning in personal and interpersonal skills, in disciplinary knowledge, as well as product, process, and system buildingskillsrequiredforteachers.
A system that evaluates programs against these 12 standards in line with the national education regulations, and provides feedback to students, faculty, and other stakeholdersforthepurposesofcontinuousimprovement
The CDIO based teacher training program consists of 126 credits and 36 courses, which are structured to integrate the knowledge and skills identified in the learning outcomes of each program with the following structure:
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General knowledge— 18 credits, including:
Political science and civic education modules (five courses with 11 credits): These courses are delivered in the first six semesters; and foreign language courses (English 1 and English 2 with 7 credits)
General pedagogical disciplines — 14 credits, including:
Introduction to Teaching Profession (3 credits); Psychology (3 credits); Educational studies (4 credits); and ICT in education (4 credits).
Group disciplines (natural sciences education, social sciences education, etc.) about 24 credits, including:
Depending on the structure and characteristics of each discipline group (natural pedagogy, social pedagogy), different number of credits for each discipline may be required.
Disciplinary foundation and pedagogy — 70 credits, including: There are some striking pedagogical differences between the traditional teacher training programs and the new CDIO based teacher education model. For CDIO programs, students actively participate in project-based learning that involves teamwork and interdisciplinary collaboration (Jaca et al., 2021; Chia, 2021). The integration of learning topics will help students gradually familiarize themselves with the new national general education curriculum.
Project based learning also requires students to be the ones who directly do the work, proactively in the process of discovering knowledge under the guidance of the lecturer. When doing projects, students have many opportunities to work at school. Right from the first year, they have their first school experience as partial requirement for the Introduction to Teaching Profession course In doing so, a passion for the teaching profession can be instilled in students and the career orientation can be initiated at an early stage.
Furthermore, assessment schemes have also been significantly improved. The CDIO programs focus on outcome based assessment (Gurukkal, 2020; Roslof, 2021), with various forms of evaluation including, but not limited to, portfolios, quizzes, presentations, micro teaching, field trips, teamwork, midterm tests, and a final exam. The shift to the CDIO based teacher training model is good preparation for graduates so that they are able to teach and work under the new National General Education Program 2018
The study employed the qualitative research method, which involves collecting, analyzing and interpreting non numerical data (Atkins & Wallace, 2012; Creswell & Creswell, 2017). It gives an account of how the CDIO initiative has been adapted for teacher education programs at Vinh University and presents an evaluation of the CDIO based program implementation after a cycle. The data were obtained from interviews with faculty members and students, observations, documents related to the CDIO program implementation, reports of departments and AUN QA accreditation agency that assessed the programs. These different sources
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provided varied perspectives on the evaluation of the CDIO based teacher education programs and, hence, ensuring the validity and reliability of the assessment.
In qualitative research, the data in statistics can be categorically arranged according to attributes and properties of the phenomena under investigation. Therefore, the study focused on the six major CDIO adapted standards (CDIO, 2011), namely, enhancing competence of faculty members, building CDIO based teacher training programs, teacher training spaces, active learning methods, assessment of learning, and program evaluation. These six standards reflect the fundamental changes for innovation of teacher training programs at Vinh University.
One of the CDIO principles is to continuously improve the program. After a four year cycle of implementing the program, the university conducted a comprehensive review of the CDIO program implementation. The teacher training departments conducted surveys of stakeholders and organized meetings to review the program implementation. Strengths and areas for improvement were pointed out for the next cycle of revision. Reflections of faculty and students, along with the AUN QA’s external assessment show that the implementation of the CDIO programs is a suitable choice for the university’s educational reform.
When theuniversity started to build and develop the CDIO based teacher training programs, only a few universities in the country applied this model. There was no model of CDIO teacher training to consult. Therefore, one of the priorities was to enhance the faculty’s competence in curriculum development, teaching and assessment. A 16 member CDIO expert committee was established with representatives from different departments.
The committee gives advice to the departments and guidance for implementing the programs. The university also receives regular consultancy and advice from an American professor who is an expert in CDIO programs. Based on expert consultation and research, the university has developed CDIO competency framework for teaching faculty, as shown in Table 2.
Table 2: CDIO competency framework for teaching faculty (Yen et al., 2021)
Domain of competency Components
Political stance
Workethics
Teacher conducts
Evidence
Annual staff evaluation sheet Feedback from managers and colleagues
Professional training certificate Feedback from managers, colleagues and students
Field Knowledge Master degree in the field Skills Relevant degrees or certificates of training
Field Planning the course Course plans
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Foreign languageand information technologies
Designing and development materials Coursebooks, lesson plans, books
Using teaching methods and techniques Diplomas in teaching methodology Certificates of participation in pedagogical training workshops
Assessing student learning
Certificates of participation in training workshops on assessment
Building the learning environment Feedback from learners Evaluation from administrators
Using a foreign language and information technologies in teaching, research and communication
Research
CDIO curriculum
Communication withthe industries
Certificates in information technology as required by the Ministry and the University Products showing competence in a foreign language and information technologies (e.g., articles written in English, e learning lesson plans, etc.)
Designing and carrying out research and technological transfer Research products
Instructing learners to carry out research Research products by the learners
Designing CDIO curricula
Implementing and developing CDIO curricula
Setting up the network of enterprises and/or associations Communicating with partners
CDIO based course syllabi that have been designed and implemented
Improved CDIO based course syllabi
An established network of enterprises and/ or associations Results from partnership with enterprises and/or associations
To enhance the competency of the faculty members to implement the CDIO program, the university regularly organized seminars and training workshops to share experiences. Experts from Vietnam and overseas were invited to train the faculty and staff for the construction and implementation of the CDIO program. The training workshops focused on the writing program and course learning outcomes, curriculum development, teaching methods, and especially on project based learning, CDIO based assessment, and program accreditation. In addition, faculty members and heads of departments were sent to other universities in Vietnam and in the United States to learn about the experiences and best practices of CDIO based program implementation.
After four years of regularly implementing training and sharing experiences, the capacity of lecturers has been significantly improved. However, many lecturers are still not proficient in active teaching methods, especially project based teaching. This is the point that the university needs to focus on improving their competency in time to come
The CDIO based teacher training programs at the university began with building learning outcomes. First, the program learning outcomes of the CDIO based teacher training programs were scientifically developed and highly practical because they were based on the survey results of stakeholders, including experts, teachers, alumni, administrators of high schools, departments and offices of education, pedagogical faculty and students. Based on the learning outcomes that have been consulted with stakeholders, the university built an integrated teacher training program including modules and knowledge blocks to ensure that students will achieve the learning outcomes after completing the program. Along with equipping specialized knowledge, students can form their personal qualities and interpersonal skills such as communication, teamwork, presentation, and critical thinking, which are critically important for teachers in the 4IR era. It can be said that the CDIO teacher training program has fully covered the "hard" skills as well as the "soft" skills that were insufficient in the previous programs.
The Introduction to Teaching Profession is a typical course of the CDIO program, which was absent in the traditional model. It outlines the framework of teachers' competencies and responsibilities, as well as familiarizing students with the school context from the perspective of teacher students. With project based learning, students often work in groups, present, debate and go on field trips to collect information to for projects on educational activities.
The feedback from students for the introductory course has been very positive. Students are more interested when they can directly "switch roles" from students to teachers when they interact with high school students, build their own educational plans and feel like they are "being a teacher". Students are more confident and self assured when presenting in front of many people. These are one of the many important skills a teacher needs and that are beneficial when formed early in the training process. The Introduction to Teaching Profession Course not only instills career passion for students from the first year, but also helps them define what knowledge and skills to be equipped with in the remaining years to become a teacher.
The instructor's feedback about Introduction to Teaching Profession has been “ very effective and highly practical. It is consistent with the philosophy of "Theory and Practice go hand in hand" (Report of Primary Education Department).
The mentoring role of the teacher is promoted and students are closer to the lecturers: “The bond between teachers and students is enhanced because teachers frequently contact with students during group work and project implementation" (Report of Mathematics Department).
In the first phase of CDIO program implementation, the remaining issue is that project based learning did not include interdisciplinary projects in the CDIO programs.
CDIO training programs require a learning space that supports and encourages the practice of building systems, processes and products, accumulation of disciplinary knowledge, and interactive learning. The CDIO learning space for engineering requires restructuring of the system for practice, experiments, self study and group work to support students in implementing the CDIO process. For pedagogical disciplines, in addition to traditional learning spaces, such as classrooms, lecture halls, libraries, and laboratories, the university has built an additional self study area that is open from 7 am to 10 pm, and assigns each faculty member to connect with school teachers to set up a network for students to practice, do internship and to exchange professional expertise. All these activities are designed to link the training process with practice via partnerships with 62 satellite schools. The collaboration between the university and the satellite schools is mutually beneficial. The cooperation agreement includes the following main details:
Arrange faculty members to support and advise satellite schools on the contents and methods of teaching, testing, assessment, practice and experiments in accordance with the National General Education Program 2018.
Support satellite schools in digitalization, including building an online learning management system (LMS); technical guidance on building e learning lessons; building a model of combined teaching and flipped learning classrooms; share digital learning materials in the teaching and learning process of teachers and students.
Transfer to the satellite school the model of active teaching, programs and necessary materials for teaching and learning English at the school, with the outlook to international standards.
Support and advise the satellite school on experiential activities, career guidance, life skills education, academic counseling and soft skills for students.
Support and advise teachers of satellite schools to implement initiatives in
Coordinate and support the university in teacher training such as internship, practice, implementation of educational research
Support the university in collecting opinions from stakeholders in order to implement the strategic plan for development of the university and curriculum development
Support the university in developing continuous professional development programs for school teachers
Support the university to develop faculty’s professional skills
teaching, and participate in contests for exemplary teachers
Support satellite schools to build English speaking community models.
Coordinate with the university to implement piloting teaching models in accordance with the National General Education Program 2018.
Thus, the CDIO based learning space for teacher training is not only confined to the main campus of the university but also expanded to a network of affiliated schools. Surveys on the use of study space show that students use the self study areas and library to their fullest capacity for group work, project implementation and self study. Before implementing the CDIO program, self study and group work were not as effective
Students only focused on studying in the last month before the end of each semester because their academic results depended largely on the final exams. The CDIO programs require ongoing learning and continuous assessment from the first week to the end of the course.
Findings from the interviews with students show that students were very satisfied with the new teaching method that focused on developing skills concurrently with equipping disciplinary knowledge. Students can enhance their skills of self study and teamwork. At the same time, they can have the opportunity to interact with school pupils regularly.
Previously, the training program offered only two weeks of observation in the fifth semester and eight weeks of practicum at school in the final semester. Now students are more independent in the process of exploring knowledge and they can have more opportunities to do internship and practice in real world situation. The fact that students are trained in an active learning environment will be a solid foundation for effective implementation of the National General Education Program 2018
The feedback from lecturers on the use of learning space is that "Students are excited to study and actively explore, create, practice teamwork and presentation skills" (Report of Chemistry Department). Changing the assessment methods which involves multiple components also has a positive impact on the use of the self study space: "Students are more active in self study, group work, searching for documents and learning content; …. Students' ability to present written reports is improved” (Report of Foreign Languages Department).
CDIO's integrated program and active teaching method proved to be critically effective in the training process and suitable for career orientation "The content of the course is designed in such a way that students can understand and remember what they learn deeply and it is in line with the overall general education program 2018” (Report of Physics Department).
To implement the CDIO training program, the university adopted a blended learning model (Graham, 2013; Dziuban et al., 2018), which combines virtual classes on the LMS (learning management system) with face to face meeting. The
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teaching methods used by the lecturers are diverse, in which group activities are prioritized for development of communication and cooperation capacity. Furthermore, ICT application is maximized for students’ independent learning.
Active teaching methods to form and develop disciplinary and professional competencies for learners are highly encouraged. Project based learning which involves teamwork and student centric activities is dominant during the training process. Through group activities, students develop skills for future careers (organization and teamwork, project development, micro teaching, and presentations). For lecturers, through the process of implementation teaching activities, as well as learning from experience, especially after revising curricula, the awareness and responsibility of faculty members has increased remarkably. They have invested more time into improving the quality of teaching to meet the requirements of CDIO based training.
Initially, some students could not follow the pace of learning as they had to work harder both in face to face classes and e classes Some instructors complained that "Although in general, the academic performance of students looks positive, some students find it difficult to respond to the CDIO based teaching because of their poor self study ability" (Report of Literature Department).
For large classes, the organization of group discussions and individualization of learning faced certain difficulties. The traditional arrangement of desks attached with benches is inconvenient for discussion and group work because it is difficult to move and rearrange them due to restricted spaces. At the early stages of CDIO implementation, some lecturers also faced certain pressures: “The faculty members have to invest a lot of time to carry out the stages of CDIO. Some lecturers are not very proficient in the application of information technology in CDIO based teaching. Some lecturers do not know much about CDIO training methods, so they are still confused in organizing teaching and managing students' self study and learning records This exerts a lot of pressure on teachers” (Report of Political Education Department).
These are the difficulties that need to be solved in the upcoming time to improve the effectiveness of the CDIO training program.
In accordance with the CDIO principles, the university’s learning assessment is based on learning outcomes, including both continuous and summative assessment. The former comprises, but it is not limited to portfolios, quizzes, presentations, teamwork, and a midterm test; the latter is a final exam or other alternative forms of assessment, depending on the course learning outcome requirements. This is a significant improvement as compared with previous assessment schemes, which mainly relied on midterm tests and a final exam. The outcome based assessment makes learning process becomes more productive and focused. The constructive alignment of learning strategies and evaluation to course learning outcomes help students to be informed of their progress at each stage of learning.
Moreover, the application of many forms of assessment based on learning outcomes creates a favorable condition for students to enjoy many opportunities to strive for high results for each subject and to meet the requirements of
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competence based examination, instead of knowledge based tests. Ongoing assessment eliminates the stress and pressure of the exam as it once existed, and requires students to work through the process.
However, the implementation of the CDIO programs reveal that some problems need to be improved. Some lecturers still resorted to tests, which could not meet the requirements of the outcome based assessment. They did not effectively use the rubrics for assessment of project based learning. The report of Mathematics Department indicated that “A number of lecturers were used to paper and pen tests. Therefore, the shift to alternative assessment was a challenge for them at the initial stage The rubrics did not adequately cover the academic content, skills and other competences as indicated in the learning outcomes”. There was little involvement of school teachers in the assessment of professional skills.
The reform of Vietnam's higher education in the past five years has involved many aspects, in which educational accreditation has been of increasing importance. The revised Higher Education Law and training regulations require higher education institutions and training programs to be accredited. The program has been highly appreciated by external assessors due to the implementation of the teacher training program that adheres to the 12 CDIO standards. This is a new model of teacher training in Vietnam whose implementation is consistent with national and international accreditation standards. Of the 14 teacher training programs, the Mathematics Teacher Education Program was the first to be internationally accredited by AUN QA (ASEAN University Network Quality Assurance) in April 2021. The international assessors gave a high opinion of the program regarding its strengths, as detailed as follows.
The information in the Bachelor Program in Mathematics Education (BPME) Programme Specification is comprehensive and up to date with structured and logically sequenced curriculum, allowing students to focus on graduation internship to demonstrate the application of all they have learned from their courses.
The constructive alignment of teaching and learning activities with the BPME ELOs is evident in course specifications. The AUN QA program assessment report of assessor’s interviews with school headmasters indicated that: EmployersidentifyteachingmethodologyasoneofthemainelementsforBPME becomesaqualityprogrammethatproducesgoodgraduates.Variousteaching and learning activities are employed to foster lifelong learning competencies. Studentsareinformedaboutdetailsoftheirassessmentswhichincludemethods, timelines,weightdistributionthroughtheprogrammeandcoursespecification documents (AUNQAprogramassessmentreport,2021,p.18)
In addition to the AUN QA assessment of the Mathematics Teacher Program, eight other teacher training programs have also been nationally accredited, including English, Literature, Geography, History, Primary Education, Nursery Education, Physical Education, and Chemistry. Thanks to CDIO based curriculum development, all these programs were highly appreciated by the external assessors.
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The assessed curricula are said to be structured and constructed in accordance with the program learning outcomes, integrating relevant knowledge, skills, attributes, and qualities that are required for future teachers. Methods of teaching and assessment are in line with competency based education. For instance, the English Teacher Education Program is integrated with skills, knowledge, competencies, and attributes that are highly relevant to the teaching profession. The CDIO approach to curriculum development and program implementation gives students many opportunities to intensive practical experience during the training process.
The external assessors have a consensus that the CDIO approach to curriculum development at Vinh University is a new model of teacher training program that is highly relevant for the 4IR and it is particularly effective during the Covid 19 pandemic thanks to the integrated and blended mode of teaching and learning.
The CDIO based teacher training programs at Vinh University grew out of the need for a fundamental education reform in the context of 4IR. It is shown that the CDIO based education innovation requires implementing large scale changes that involve significant shifts in the culture of teaching, learning and evaluation across the entire university. These changes involve revamping the structure and contents of its curricula, as well as changing the principles and practices of university management and governance.
Furthermore, a high priority and enabling factors for the curriculum reform process are enhancing faculty teaching competence, their personal and interpersonal skills, product, process, and system building skills, as well as disciplinary fundamentals. The study of the CDIO based teacher training program implementation at Vinh University has proved that the CDIO framework is highly applicable for pedagogical programs. It is not only suitable for the outcome based teaching and assessment, but also relevant for developing professional skills and competence with which future teachers need to be equipped.
It should be noted that the CDIO standards have been updated with version 3.0 (CDIO, 2022). In addition to a physical learning environment, a digital learning environment that includes on line tools and spaces that support and enhance the quality of teaching and student learning is required for teacher training programs. This study is hoped to make contributions to the innovation of teacher training programs based on the CDIO standards.
Funding: This study has not received any financial support from other individuals or organizations.
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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 220 238, May 2022 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.5.12
Received Mar 15, 2022; Revised May 19, 2022; Accepted May 26, 2022
Jesse T. Zamora and Jerome Jef M. Zamora Mindoro State College of Agriculture and Technology (now Mindoro State University) Alcate, Victoria, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines, 5205
Abstract. Teachers’ roles have changed dramatically over the last decades from traditional spoon feeders to facilitators of learning. Teacher education institutions play a huge role in getting them ready for the field. Thus, this study probed the 21st century teaching skills and teaching standards competence level of the CTE graduates of Mindoro State College of Agriculture and Technology (MinSCAT) who graduated in the years 2016, 2017 and 2018. Two hundred and fifteen (215) participating teachers (MinSCAT Graduates) and their immediate supervisors answered a two part questionnaire through Google Forms exploring the extent of the graduates’ skills and competence. The data collected were sorted and subjected to t Test, ANOVA and multiple linear regression. The results showed that the teachers’ skills and competence are of high to very high extent. Specifically, the graduates received high ratings on their effective communication skills, life and career skills, and personal growth and professional development. The teachers showed remarkable performances in the light of these indicators. One way ANOVA revealed that there are significant differences in the level of the graduates’ 21st century teaching skills and teaching standards competence level in terms of their indicators. The study recommends for the CTE faculty and students to hold frequent dialogues and consultations to ensure the development of potential and acquisition of 21st century teaching skills and teaching standard competence of the CTE students and to address students’ challenges. Consistent sensitivity to the needs of the faculty and the students should be given preferential attention to develop the culture of excellence in the department.
Keywords: 21st century skills; competence; teacher education
In the phase of an increasingly volatile, uncertain and complex world, changes are inevitably occurring. These dynamics confront and challenge individuals through the explosions of knowledge leading to a growing array of societal
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problems. Globalization and expansion of international relations shift the educational standard and measurement across countries. The pervasive outbreak of media technologies results in the bombardment of information that can be readily accessed by any age group and expands students’ awareness and knowledge. In the Philippines, in specific, the launch of K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum in 2012 pursued teacher quality reforms, which gave birth to the establishment of a framework of teacher quality assessment response to 21st century learning.
Such scenarios undeniably require teachers to play an imperative role in society. “To establish, maintain and support a complete, adequate, and integrated system of education relevant to the needs of the people and society” (1987 Philippine Constitution Article XIV Sec. 2 Paragraph 1) is one of the goals of the government. Having learners of varying and growing needs and interests in this changing world, teachers must keep up with what is both relevant to the time and to the need of the time. Specifically, learners in the 21st century are raised in an environment that encourages the prominence of fast paced digitals where all things are just a click away (Boholano, 2017). Educational reforms, likewise aim for students’ success and, thus, require teaching to focus on them and make the teachers’ performance vital toward students’ educational achievement (Roberto & Madrigal, 2018).
Teacher preparation programs provide future educators with the tools, mechanism and hands-on experiences necessary for the foundation of their beginning career and which stress the need to master content and necessitate the acquisition of pedagogy for an effective and efficient instruction delivery. Pre service teaching provides a training ground where basic skill requirements crucial in facilitating student learning are developed. Teaching as a multifaceted and demanding profession requires a high quality teacher development training program for a high quality teaching force, especially today when 21st century teaching emphasizes standards of teaching practice. As the teaching profession is put on a pedestal that merely examines the quality of products of Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs), pre service teachers must be totally prepared to respond to the standards set against the competence framework and face the challenge of 21st century learning. However, this can only be possible if young professional teachers have fully acquired the content, pedagogical and technological knowledge and completely attained the necessary skills for entry level during their pre service teaching. Hence, the attributes and skills of highly effective teachers must be the aim in order to produce a shared direction for effective practice of the profession (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD], 2013).
“Quality learning is contingent upon quality teaching” (Department of Education [DepEd] Order No. 42, 2017, p. 1). This is shown by teachers' functions such as curriculum and learning management as well as personal growth, which affects students' academic achievements. Students' academic achievement is significantly and positively affected by curriculum and learning management. Teachers with higher level of curriculum and knowledge
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management seem to be able to improve student academic achievement. On another note, student achievement is negatively but significantly affected by a teacher’s personal growth. Aside from the major roles and duties played by teachers, such as supplying instructional management, they also function to carry out other tasks, like attending training, seminars or workshops for personal and professional development. This, however, indirectly, affects the instructional duties in schools (Prasertcharoensuka et. al, 2015).
In this light, it is safe to mention that evaluating teacher quality is significant to withstand the transformations brought about by different national and global frameworks such as the K to 12 Reform and the ASEAN integration, globalization, and the evolving character of the 21st century learners. This also imposes assessment of teachers’ relevant skills and competency based on the current teacher standards (DO No. 42, 2017). Likewise, as education advances with the help of technology, paradigm shifts to educational trends occur. Teachers today have become facilitators of learning who focus on developing learners of higher order thinking skills, effective communication, collaboration, and relevant skills needed in the 21st century, and who also must exhibit these relevant skills themselves. Teachers also develop new teaching strategies that are radically different and which intensify students’ engagement to learning and provide instruction through varied technological methods and pedagogical approaches, proving the act as the most vital factor in learners’ development.
The concept of skill has merely focused on technical and professional dimensions such as manipulation skills and the knowledge associated with the techniques of the work process, enhanced via training and experience. For some, skills are a combination of the knowledge, abilities and experience they have obtained both before entering the profession and during their employment. Some tend to define skill as a simple view of the necessities of a job after due analysis and evaluation; and which are normally recognized and rewarded. Skills relate to the use of knowledge and engage in a feedback loop with knowledge (Bialik & Fadel, 2015). Twenty first century skills comprise a wide range of knowledge, abilities, work habits, and character traits that are believed by teachers, school reformers, college educators, employers, and others to be profoundly important to succeed in today's world, particularly in college programs and contemporary careers and workplaces. However, members of the workforce believe that a significant gap exists between what the organization can actually produce and the skills needed for its attainment. It is becoming increasingly clear that, to prepare students to flourish in the world, knowledge is not enough. Employers are speaking out about their newly hired graduates and their lack of skills in the workplace (Bialik & Fadel, 2015). A survey among members of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) reiterated that the workforce is lacking with leadership/executive level skills, managerial/supervisory skills and profession or industry specific skills. These three skills are what the society demands from every teacher, especially in carrying out the implemented curriculum (Souza & Fyfe Mills, 2018). Teachers must possess more than just content and pedagogical knowledge. Creativity, innovation, skills in technology and personal growth play a huge part in the
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success of the teaching learning process. Through these, teachers are able to create activities and learning and teaching materials, and devise new strategies which aids in the attainment of a successful teaching learning process.
Competency, on the other hand, is defined as “the set of knowledge, skills, and experience necessary for future, which manifests in activities;” it is the “knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, motivations and beliefs people need in order to be successful in a job” (Selvi, 2016). Different phenomena affect the competencies of teachers: other sciences and system of society affect educational systems and teachers’ competencies. Scientific results of educational sciences, psychology, economy, technology, sociology can serve as bases for the educational system. Developing teacher competencies is based on the changes in other systems and is not only associated with personal growth but also professional development. Also, internationalization of curriculum ideas requires teachers to ensure changes by embracing innovative ideas through acquiring more competencies, which are incredibly important in both curriculum implementation and training people. Hence, teachers who are responsible in training of individuals need to be well equipped to fulfill this responsibility (Bansal & Tanwar, 2021).
There exists a significant difference between the level of teaching standards competence and the actual performance of a teacher. Therefore, pre service and in service teacher education should put emphasis on understanding and application of teachers’ competencies. As the development of teachers’ competencies calls for sustainability, it should continuously be the subject of research and the changes and reforms through scientific studies must be reflected through analysis (Selvi, 2016).
With all the mentioned aspects, it cannot be denied that learners’ success greatly depends on the quality of teachers we have. Through the years, it is undeniable that one of the greatest problems in the Philippines is the dwindling quality of education in which one of the reasons is also the quality of teachers. Quality is assured through assessing the teachers’ competence in line with the national educational standards and the skills relevant to the needs and interests of the learners. Thus, this study is pursued to assess how proficient and adept MinSCAT Teacher Education graduates are in practicing the relevant competencies indicated in the Philippine Professional Standards for teachers and in exhibiting 21st century teaching skills to fulfill duties as Filipino Licensed Professional Teachers. Relationship and differences between and among the indicators of 21st century skills and teaching competence will be tested. The study also aims to create a basis for a College of Teacher Education improvement plan upon analyzing the results.
The study used descriptive correlational comparative methods of research. Descriptive method of research went beyond data gathering and tabulation and involved careful descriptions of educational phenomena. Correlational design
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determined mainly the relationship between the 21st century teaching skills and the teaching standard competence level of MinSCAT Teacher Education graduates. It identified the possible patterns of relations that exist among the variables and measured the strength of such association. Comparative design was done through analyzing the contribution of variances paired and differed.
This study considered 215 MinSCAT Teacher Education graduates of academic years 2016 to 2018 who are already in the field of teaching in K to 12 in public schools in Oriental Mindoro and are professionals, and the heads/ immediate supervisor/ rating officer of the identified graduate respondents of the respective public school in Oriental Mindoro. CTE graduate respondents came from the college’s three campuses: Bongabong Campus, Main Campus and Calapan City Campus.
To determine the respondents of the study, stratified random sampling was employed for the number of graduates from the three campuses. The list of CTE graduates (2016 2018) was requested from the campus’ respective registrar. Updated list of professional teachers who are practicing the profession in public schools was requested from the three campuses of MinSCAT. Survey was also conducted to determine the school of assignment of the graduates.
A set of procedures was used to guide in gathering pertinent data needed in this research. Mainly, the research sought approval from the Schools Division Superintendent and school administrators/ principals for the distribution of the questionnaire. The instrument was formally administered by using Google Forms with clear directions of answering the instrument. The instrument was retrieved for data sorting, tabulation, analysis, and interpretation. Applicable techniques and statistical tests in research were employed.
Two sets of the research survey questionnaire, composed of two major parts served as the vital instrument employed in data gathering of this study. The first part assessed the 21st century teaching skills (P21 Frameworks for 21st Century Learning) (Alberta Government, 2016; Lai & Viering, 2012; Purita et al., 2018; Ravitz, 2014) in terms of effective communication skills; learning and innovation skills; life and career skills; and information, media and technology skills. The second part determined the extent of Teaching Standard Competence Level (DO 42, 2017) based on the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers (PPST) in terms of: content knowledge and pedagogy; learning environment; diversity of learners; curriculum and planning; assessment and reporting; community linkages and professional engagement; and personal growth and professional development.
All the data gathered for the study were tabulated, analyzed, and interpreted using a scale that ranges from 1 to 5 with 5 designated as the highest of the numerical scales and1 as the lowest. To make sure that all the items presented in the questionnaire are reliable, a test and re test method was taken by the
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researcher in a government higher educational institution offering teacher education in Oriental Mindoro. Responses from the respondents from the test retest were tabulated, analyzed and interpreted. To compute for the reliability coefficients of each variable at 5% level of significance, Cronbach’s alpha was utilized.
Validity and feasibility of the instrument were assured through referring to previous studies related to areas of investigation so that all items can be better improved and presented. The questionnaires were also forwarded to five experts in the field for comments and suggestions. The study opted to revise and simplify terms, words and phrases used in the questionnaire to facilitate deep understanding of the respondents.
Two forms of statistical tools were used in the study to compute and treat all the gathered data. Descriptive statistics included the weighted mean and ranks. Inferential statistics were employed to analyze the degree of relationship between the variables paired and the degree of differences among the respondents’ assessment of the indicators and variables paired. This included multiple linear regression, t test, and One Way Analysis of Variance, respectively. Rejection and acceptance of null hypotheses was principally based from the computed results of the regression and variance analyses at 5% level of significance.
The results in Table 1 show that the graduates’ 21st century teaching skills are of high (HE) to very high extent (VHE). The graduates rated their 21st century teaching skills with high extent across all the indicators. On the other hand, their immediate supervisors (school principals/ heads) gave Main Campus graduates ratings of very high extent in terms of Life and Career Skills (LCS) and Effective Communication Skills (ECS) and high extent in Learning and Innovation Skills (LIS) and Information, Media and Technology Skills (IMTS). Bongabong and City Campus graduates received ratings of high extent across all indicators, the highest average ratings being in terms of LCS and ECS.
These results imply that the communication skills of the graduates are well developed and used excellently in their day to day activities as teachers. It is imperative to note that communication in the field of education is of utmost importance. Teachers need effective communication skills to efficiently facilitate students and achieve good professional goals (Khan et al., 2017).
Additionally, life and career skills are also important especially in the context of relationships and interactions as teachers deal with many different people colleagues, superiors, students, parents/ guardians and other stakeholders. Ajala (2012) found that employees or members of an organization who have better rapport consequently make them happier and more successful in their roles in their workplace. Furthermore, Moleenar et al. (2012) found that teachers’ social relationships affect their professional development, collective
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productiveness, collaborative decision making, schools’ adaptability, innovative climate, and student achievement.
It can be noted that the lowest means got the highest standard deviations, and vice versa. The standard deviation and mean are both easily affected by small and large values or values that veer away from most values in the data set. Thus, it can be said that the graduates’ responses regarding IMTS are mostly of high extent (4) with a few of very high extent (5) and other values lower than 4. This suggests that some of the respondents recognize that there is always room for improvement.
21st Century Teaching Skills Main Campus Bongabong Campus City Campus Mean Std.Dev. Mean Std.Dev. Mean Std. Dev.
Effective Communication Skills
Learning and Innovation Skills
Graduates’ ratings 4.37 (HE) 0.62 4.44 (HE) 0.59 4.38 (HE) 0.66 Supervisors’ ratings 4.51 (VHE) 0.53 4.40 (HE) 0.63 4.39 (HE) 0.65
Graduates’ ratings 4.14 (HE) 0.66 4.29 (HE) 0.63 4.18 (HE) 0.70 Supervisors’ ratings 4.37 (HE) 0.63 4.23 (HE) 0.70 4.22 (HE) 0.69
Life and Career Skills
Information, Media, and Technology Skills
Graduates’ ratings 4.25 (HE) 0.67 4.42 (HE) 0.49 4.28 (HE) 0.67 Supervisors’ ratings 4.56 (VHE) 0.57 4.49 (HE) 0.64 4.36 (HE) 0.67
Graduates’ ratings 4.01 (HE) 0.89 4.20 (HE) 0.69 4.08 (HE) 0.77 Supervisors’ ratings 4.35 (HE) 0.74 4.27 (HE) 0.78 4.23 (HE) 0.74
VHE VeryHighExtent
HE HighExtent
Regarding the graduates’ teaching standard competence level, it is shown in Table 2 that they gained ratings of high extent across all campuses the highest averages being in terms of Learning Environment and Personal Growth and Professional Development. These results indicate that the graduates do well in setting a cohesive learning environment to foster effective learning. According to Kember et al. (2010), enhancing the learning motivation of students will take a learning environment with eight supportive conditions which are: establishing relevance, establishing interest, allowing choice of courses, learning activities, teaching for understanding, assessment of learning activities, good teacher student relationships and a feeling of belonging between classmates.
Furthermore, the results suggest that the teachers are exerting efforts to continue learning for their own improvement and for the improvement in the teaching and learning process. Riveros et al (2012) stated that initiatives for school development focused on peer collaboration need to reflect deeper regarding the culture and practices in schools, especially those that focus on professional
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growth and learning. In order to work toward school improvement, they suggest for teachers to enact their understanding of professional knowledge in their practices.
Standard deviation is also presented in Table 2. In terms of Learning Environment (LE), the averages of the responses of MBC graduates and their immediate supervisors are equal but have different SDs. This suggests that the responses of the graduates are more closely distributed around the mean whereas their immediate supervisors’ responses are more scattered. On the other hand, in terms of Diversity of Learners (DoL), the responses of MMC graduates and their immediate supervisors have different averages but share the same SD. This means that the responses from both groups are equally distributed around the means. Notably, the averages and standard deviations of MCC graduates’ responses and their immediate supervisors’ responses are very close and actually equaled in terms of DoL.
Teaching Standard Competence
Content Knowledge and Pedagogy
Learning Environment
Diversity of Learners
Main Campus Bongabong Campus City Campus Mean Std. Dev. Mean Std. Dev. Mean Std. Dev.
Graduates’ ratings 4.28 (HE) 0.65 4.37 (HE) 0.57 4.27 (HE) 0.67 Supervisors’ ratings 4.46 (HE) 0.59 4.34 (HE) 0.71 4.34 (HE) 0.65
Graduates’ ratings 4.35 (HE) 0.56 4.41 (HE) 0.57 4.29 (HE) 0.66 Supervisors’ ratings 4.55 (VHE) 0.59 4.41 (HE) 0.73 4.35 (HE) 0.65
Graduates’ ratings 4.18 (HE) 0.67 4.31 (HE) 0.64 4.15 (HE) 0.74 Supervisors’ ratings 4.38 (HE) 0.67 4.23 (HE) 0.74 4.15 (HE) 0.74
Curriculum and Planning
Assessment and Reporting
Community Linkages and Professional Engagement
Personal Growth and Professional Development
Graduates’ ratings 4.31 (HE) 0.64 4.36 (HE) 0.58 4.29 (HE) 0.66 Supervisors’ ratings 4.46 (HE) 0.60 4.35 (HE) 0.70 4.36 (HE) 0.68
Graduates’ ratings 4.20 (HE) 0.65 4.29 (HE) 0.58 4.20 (HE) 0.67 Supervisors’ ratings 4.42 (HE) 0.61 4.28 (HE) 0.75 4.27 (HE) 0.73
Graduates’ ratings 4.28 (HE) 0.63 4.36 (HE) 0.58 4.28 (HE) 0.66 Supervisors’ ratings 4.49 (HE) 0.57 4.45 (HE) 0.65 4.33 (HE) 0.68
Graduates’ ratings 4.29 (HE) 0.59 4.41 (HE) 0.58 4.34 (HE) 0.62 Supervisors’ ratings 4.49 (HE) 0.58 4.59 (VHE) 0.60 4.42 (HE) 0.65
VHE VeryHighExtent
HE HighExtent
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One Way Analysis of Variance in Table 3 showed that a significant difference exists in the level of 21st Century Skills as assessed by both the graduates and their immediate supervisors. This showed that the graduates have varying 21st century skills by which variations may be attributed to the individual differences of the graduates and the level of their acquisition of knowledge and skills, exposure to different faculty, their specialization, learning environment, peers, and experiences. According to Baeten et al. (2010), students in different specializations differ in the learning approach that they adopt. Moreover, their teachers (faculty) play a role in changing the students’ conceptions, which results in an inclination to use deeper learning approaches.
Table 3: ANOVA of the 21st Century Teaching Skills Indicators Variables df Computed F value F critical 21st Century Skills Graduates 856 12.45* 2.62 Supervisors 852 5.86* 2.62
A significant difference also exists among the indicators of Teaching Competence as shown in Table 4, which implies that the level of the graduates’ teaching competence varies. Such variations may be attributed to the graduates’ unique personalities and experience and the fact that they graduated in different years (2016, 2017, and 2018). Vermunt and Endedijk (2011) stated that teachers differ in the learning patterns they adopt. These learning patterns are distinct depending upon the quality of professional learning and development in the sense of transformation to adapt to the changes and innovations in education.
Table 4: ANOVA of the Teaching Standards Competence Indicators Variables df Computed F-value F-critical Teaching Competence Level
Graduates 1498 2.30* 2.10 Supervisors 1491 4.11* 2.10
In Table 5, significant difference exists between the level of 21st Century Teaching Skills as assessed by the graduates and by their immediate supervisors. Their perceptions varied in terms of Life and Career Skills and Information, Media and Technology Skills. Though the graduates rated themselves a little lower, the supervisors observed that they are performing a little better in the field. This might be attributed to the longer teaching experience of the immediate supervisors (school principals/ heads/ TIC) and their experiences in supervising and rating teachers, which gave them an edge in evaluating them.
Table 5: t Test on the Difference of the Level of the 21st Century Teaching Skills of the Graduates as Assessed by the Graduates and by their Immediate Supervisors Indicato rs Graduates School Principals T P Mean SD Mean SD
ECS 4.40 0.48 4.43 0.51 0.43 0.67
LIS 4.20 0.56 4.27 0.59 1.09 0.27
LCS 4.32 0.51 4.47 0.53 2.42 *0.016
IMTS 4.10 0.64 4.28 0.65 2.75 *0.006
*Significantat5%levelofsignificance
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There is a significant difference in the Teaching Standard Competence Level of the graduates as assessed by the graduates and by their immediate supervisors. As shown in Table 6, the difference lies in the indicator Personal Growth and Professional Development. According to Bills et al. (2016), improving teachers’ learning is an ongoing embodied process. The graduates, who have been in the field for no longer than four years, still have more to learn whereas their immediate supervisors perceived their growth to be exceptional.
Table 6: t Test Results on the Difference of the Teaching Standards Competence Level of the Graduates as Assessed by the Graduates and by their Immediate Supervisors Indicators Graduates School Principals t P Mean SD Mean SD
CKP 4.31 0.50 4.38 0.53 1.33 0.18
LE 4.35 0.55 4.44 0.58 1.46 0.14
DoL 4.21 0.61 4.25 0.66 0.35 0.73
CaP 4.32 0.53 4.39 0.59 1.29 0.20
AaR 4.23 0.57 4.32 0.67 1.33 0.18 CLPE 4.31 0.55 4.42 0.58 1.57 0.12 PGPD 4.35 0.52 4.50 0.57 2.41 *0.02
*Significantat5%levelofsignificance
The results of the multiple linear regression in Table 7 on the responses of the graduates show 60.05% to 72.20% of the variance in the level of the graduates’ teaching standards competence, considering all of its indicators, and can be explained by the level of the graduates’ 21st century skills. The remaining 27.80% to 39.95% can be attributed to other factors which were not considered in the study.
Amongst the indicators of 21st century teaching skills, effective communication skills and life and career skills have the biggest effect on the graduates’ teaching standards competence. An increase of one unit in ECS and LCS, while holding other factors constant, will result to an increase of 19.26% to 47.85% and 29.61% to 55.70%, respectively, in the teaching standards competence of the graduates.
On the responses of the immediate supervisors, results revealed that 64.70% to 79.49% of the variation in the graduates’ teaching standards competence level can be associated to their level of 21st century teaching skills. The remaining 20.51% to 35.30% may be attributed to other factors which were not considered in this study. ECS and LCS also turned out to be the best predictor of the graduates’ teaching standard competence level as assessed by their immediate supervisors. An increase of one unit in ECS and LCS, while holding other factors constant, will result to an increase of 18.18% to 52.36% and 14.96% to 37.54%, respectively, in the graduates’ teaching standards competence.
Life and Career Skills are one’s ability to set learning, career, and wellness goals to strive for personal excellence. This includes taking continuous professional development courses. It ensures that teachers continually grow in the profession and helps update their knowledge and skills. This also guarantees that the content knowledge and teaching strategies of the teachers improve. In a study
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Independent Variable (Teaching Standard Competence)
conducted by Goldschmidt and Phelps (2010), they found that teachers attending Professional Development Institutes showed growth in their knowledge.
Khan et al. (2017) stated that effective teaching not only depends upon the content knowledge of a teacher but also the teacher’s communication styles, method and skills. Content knowledge must always come with pedagogical knowledge because only then will content be effectively relayed to students.
Constant Dependent Variable (21st Century Teaching Skills)
ECS LIS LCS IMTS
βi P>|t| βi P>|t| βi P>|t| βi P>|t| βi P>|t|
CKP Gr 0.4393 0.0125 0.3047 0.0000* 0.1459 0.0182* 0.2961 0.0000* 0.1543 0.0013* 0.7220
Su 0.5129 0.0006 0.2352 0.0004* 0.2874 0.0000* 0.1496 0.0288* 0.2173 0.0000* 0.7949
LE Gr 0.2692 0.1991 0.3053 0.0001* 0.1223 0.0975 0.4682 0.0000* 0.0451 0.4272 0.6586 Su 0.1248 0.4678 0.1818 0.0178* 0.2678 0.0001* 0.3754 0.0000* 0.1584 0.0053* 0.7731
DoL Gr 0.1506 0.5416 0.1926 0.0345* 0.1725 0.0478* 0.5570 0.0000* 0.0909 0.1751 0.6266
Su 0.4028 0.0541 0.1081 0.2427 0.3826 0.0000* 0.3539 0.0003* 0.2209 0.0014* 0.7402
CaP Gr 0.3580 0.0714 0.3170 0.0000* 0.0170 0.8074 0.4616 0.0000* 0.1217 0.0241* 0.6738
Su 0.0240 0.8945 0.4153 0.0000* 0.1991 0.0060* 0.2489 0.0031* 0.1452 0.0149* 0.7563
AaR Gr 0.0229 0.9129 0.2698 0.0005* 0.2285 0.0021* 0.3079 0.0001* 0.1779 0.0019* 0.6887 Su 0.5747 0.0060 0.5236 0.0000* 0.2174 0.0088* 0.1247 0.1918 0.2548 0.0002* 0.7493
CLPE Gr 0.3851 0.0936 0.3069 0.0003* 0.0977 0.2258 0.4325 0.0000* 0.0718 0.2486 0.6005 Su 0.1918 0.3283 0.3288 0.0002* 0.2062 0.0086* 0.3528 0.0001* 0.0711 0.2691 0.7027
PGPD Gr 0.5762 0.0056 0.2961 0.0001* 0.0699 0.3358 0.4355 0.0000* 0.0729 0.1931 0.6248 Su 0.4645 0.0270 0.4785 0.0000* 0.0608 0.4639 0.3022 0.0019* 0.0695 0.3103 0.6470
*Significantrelationship Gr Graduates’response Su Supervisors’ responses
This study explored how well the graduates of MinSCAT CTE are doing in the teaching field a few years after they graduated. It can be concluded that a few years into the profession, the graduates are thriving and fairing excellently. This is well observed by their immediate supervisors. Based on the results, the graduates are excellent in effective communication skills, life and career skills, and personal growth and professional development. All other skills and competencies were rated with high extent but they must strive to do better in terms of information, media and technology skills and diversity of learners. Based on the results of the multiple regression analysis, the graduate respondents must strive to become more adept in effective communication skills and life and career skills as these two positively affect all indicators of teaching standards competence.
It seems that the graduates of MMC often tend to underestimate their skills an opposite of the MBC graduates. On the other hand, the graduates of MCC seem to have a good judgment of their own skills. Also, as it is shown in the results,
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the immediate supervisors of MMC graduates appear to have a very good impression about their 21st century skills and teaching standards competence level. Their responses portray the idea that they have ultimate confidence in these teachers.
Teachers are an integral part of the society. Hence, it is important that teacher education is of high quality. Teacher education curriculum and teachers’ performance should be constantly evaluated to determine what to improve and to meet the current demands of the society. With the constant changes that the world is undergoing, teachers must also evolve to keep up with the pace.
In the light of the findings and the conclusions, the research forwards this recommendatory statement.
Dialogue and consultations among the CTE faculty and officials should be held more often to ensure the development of potential and acquisition of 21st century teaching skills and teaching standard competence of the CTE students. Consistent sensitivity to the needs of the faculty and the students should be given preferential attention to develop the culture of excellence in the department. Conduct/Adaption of the proposed basis for CTE improvement is also recommended.
Replication of this study to integrate other variables not included in the study and a follow up study necessitates the strengthening of the MinSCAT CTE Program.
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I. 21st Century Teaching Skills ((P21 skills Framework; Bilbao, et.al., 2018; Lai & Viering, 2012; Alberta Government, 2016; Ravitz, 2014). These are teaching practices exhibiting 21st century skills and supporting students’ learning of the 21st century skills.
5 Very High Extent (The teacher/respondent always observed the given statements. He/she observed it every day in class with no exception.)
4 High Extent (The teacher/respondent frequently observed the given statements. He/she observed it many times in class.)
3 Moderate Extent (The teacher/respondent sometimes observed the given statements. He/she observed occasionally rather than all of the time in class.)
2 Low Extent (The teacher/respondent rarely observed the given statements. He/she observed it not occurring very often in class.)
1 Very Low Extent (The teacher/respondent never observed the given statements. He/she never observed it in class.)
A. Effective Communication Skill. This refers to the ability to organize thoughts, data and findings and share these effectively through a variety of media.
1. Use Mother Tongue, Filipino and English to convey messages to students, parents, co teachers, and higher authorities.
2. Express messages or information through a variety of media i.e., verbal, written and/or emailed.
3. Give concise and clear feedback and suggestion after students’ assessment and evaluation.
4. Keep parents informed of the student’s
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achievements and learning challenges.
5. Collaborate with co teachers to assess teaching performance and seek advises from them.
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B. Learning and Innovation Skills. This refers to one’s ability to think beyond and develop new ideas.
1. Compare and evaluate information from different sources/references before asking students to complete a task.
2. Use idea creation techniques such as brainstorming or concept mapping and consider students’ different learning styles and multiple intelligences.
3. Create an original product or performance to engage students in expressing their ideas.
4. Encourages students to think out of the box and discover solutions to complex problems.
5. Provide activities that promotes critical thinking and creativity among students.
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C. Life and Career Skills. This refers to one’s ability to set learning, career and wellness goals which strive for personal excellence.
1. Identify interests, values or skills to set learning, life and career goals.
2. Explore, select and adapt strategies and resources that support personal growth in life school and career paths i.e., attending seminars and taking graduate studies.
3. Make choices or take action promoting safety and well being of others i.e., community extensions and services.
4. Build healthy relationship among students, parents, co teachers, higher authorities and the community.
5. Demonstrate optimism, flexibility and resilience in adapting to new situations and transitions.
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D. Information, Media and Technology Skills. This refers to one’s ability of effective utilization of technologies as a tool for teaching.
1. Introduce technologies and develop students’ skills in using them as a tool for learning.
2. Use technology to create instructional materials i.e., handouts & tests and to deliver the lesson i.e., Geogebra, LanguageLab, Encarta.
3. Evaluate the credibility and relevance of online resources and technologies before selecting technology tools or resources for completing a task.
4. Encourage students to share ideas and knowledge through multimedia presentations like sound or video, presentation software, blogs, podcasts.
5. Manage students’ learning and produce products using appropriate information and communication technologies.
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II. Teaching Standards Competence Level (DO 47 s. 2017; PPST). This refers to the practices exhibit by teachers as reflected in the Professional Standards for Teacher.
A. Content Knowledge and Pedagogy. This refers to the depth of one’s understanding of the subject matter and of the appropriate methods to use in the delivery of instruction.
1. Demonstrate content knowledge and its application within and/or across curriculum teaching areas.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of research based knowledge and principles of teaching and learning
3. Show skills in the positive use of ICT to facilitate the teaching and learning process.
4. Demonstrate knowledge of teaching strategies that promote literacy and numeracy skills
5. Apply teaching strategies that develop critical and creative thinking, and/or other higher order thinking skills.
6. Use Mother Tongue, Filipino and English to facilitate teaching and learning.
7. Demonstrate an understanding of the range of verbal and non verbal classroom
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communication strategies that support learner understanding, participation, engagement and achievement.
B. Learning Environment. This refers to the teacher’s ability to provide an environment that promotes safe, security, fairness and support.
1. Demonstrate knowledge of policies, guidelines and procedures that provide safe and secure learning environments.
2. Demonstrate understanding of learning environments that promote fairness, respect and care to encourage learning.
3. Demonstrate knowledge of managing classroom structure that engages learners, individually or in groups, in meaningful exploration, discovery and hands on activities within the available physical learning environments.
4. Demonstrate understanding of supportive learning environments that nurture and inspire learner participation.
5. Demonstrate knowledge of learning environments that motivate learners to work productively by assuming responsibility for their own learning.
6. Demonstrate knowledge of positive and non violent discipline in the management of learner behavior.
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C. Diversity of Learners. This refers to the ability to address student diversity and individual differences.
1. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of differentiated teaching to suit the learners’ gender, needs, strengths, interests and experiences.
2. Implement teaching strategies that are responsive to the learners’ linguistic, cultural, socio economic and religious backgrounds.
3. Use strategies responsive to learners with disabilities, giftedness and talents.
4. Demonstrate understanding of the special educational needs of learners in difficult circumstances, including: geographic isolation;
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chronic illness; displacement due to armed conflict, urban resettlement or disasters; child abuse and child labor practices.
5. Demonstrate knowledge of teaching strategies that are inclusive of learners from indigenous groups.
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D. Curriculum and Planning. This refers to one’s ability of interacting with national and local curriculum requirement and translating content to relevant learning experiences.
1. Prepare developmentally sequenced teaching and learning process to meet curriculum requirements.
2. Identify learning outcomes that are aligned with learning competencies.
3. Demonstrate knowledge in the implementation of relevant and responsive learning programs.
4. Seek advice concerning strategies that can enrich teaching practice.
5. Show skills in the selection, development and use of a variety of teaching and learning resources, including ICT, to address learning goals.
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E. Assessment and Reporting. This refers to one’s ability to use processes associated with a variety of assessment tools and strategies in monitoring, evaluating, documenting and reporting learners’ needs, progress and achievement.
1. Demonstrate knowledge of the design, selection, organization and use of diagnostic, formative and summative assessment strategies consistent with curriculum requirements.
2. Demonstrate knowledge of monitoring and evaluation of learner progress and achievement using learner attainment data.
3. Demonstrate knowledge of providing timely, accurate and constructive feedback to improve learner performance.
4. Demonstrate familiarity with a range of strategies for communicating learner needs, progress and achievement.
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5. Demonstrate an understanding of the role of assessment data as feedback in teaching and learning practices and programs.
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F. Community Linkages and Professional Engagement. This refers to one’ ability to establish school community partnerships aimed at enriching the learning environment, as well as the community’s engagement in the educative process.
1. Demonstrate an understanding of knowledge of learning environments that are responsive to community contexts.
2. Seek advice concerning strategies that build relationships with parents/guardians and the wider community.
3. Demonstrate awareness of existing laws and regulations that apply to the teaching profession, and become familiar with the responsibilities specified in the Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers.
4. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of school policies and procedures to foster harmonious relationship with the wider school community.
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G. Personal Growth and Professional Development. This refers to one’s ability of personal growth and professional development.
1. Articulate a personal philosophy of teaching that is learner centered.
2. Demonstrate behaviors that uphold the dignity of teaching as a profession by exhibiting qualities such as caring attitude, respect and integrity.
3. Seek opportunities to establish professional links with colleagues.
4. Demonstrate an understanding of how professional reflection and learning can be used to improve practice.
5. Demonstrate motivation to realize professional development goals based on the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers.
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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research
Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 239-262, May 2022
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.5.13
Received Mar 13, 2022; Revised May 19, 2022; Accepted May 26, 2022
Abstract. This study sought to examine the integration and application of an online collaborative instructional technological tool, known as Padlet, to reinforce and strengthen Ghanaian high school learners’ understanding of Integrated Sciences (IS) The study utilised a sequential mixed methods exploratory design to collect qualitative and quantitative data. The study used purposeful sampling to select four high schools to participate in the study. Twenty science teachers and 100 high school learners were sampled for the study The sampled teachers were trained ina professional learning community onthe utilisationand integrationof Padletinclassroominstructions andintegratedthetool intheirclassroom instructional practices for one month. Data collection was carried out through classroom observations, semi structured interviews, and learner task performance assessments Quantitative data were analysed descriptively to determine the relationships between the variables using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences’ (SPSS) mean, frequencies, t test, and ANOVA. The qualitative data were analysed using thematic content analysis. The findings show increased learner engagement and retention, which improved learner achievement in the subject. Therefore, it is recommended that effective pedagogical courses should be included in the training of science teachers on technology integration to facilitate learner understanding and retention in the subject.
Keywords: Integrated Sciences; online collaborative learning; Padlet tool; pedagogical tool; science learners; science teachers
Integrated Science (IS) is a compulsory subject in the Ghanaian Education system that is offered to all senior high school learners across all grade levels from Senior
* Corresponding author: Sakyiwaa Boateng, sboateng@wsu.ac.za
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY NC ND 4.0).
High School (SHS) 1 through to Senior High School (SHS) 3 (which is comparable to grades 10 to 12 in most global education systems). This subject combines Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Agricultural Sciences. However, it has been found that SHS learners have been achieving poor grades and have been struggling to understand basic concepts in Integrated Science, especially abstract concepts on energy and forces, interactions in nature, and basic chemistry concepts (Anamuah Mensah et al., 2017; Quansah et al , 2019) The situation became more disturbing in 2018 and 2019 when the West Africa Examinations Council (WAEC, 2020) recorded a high number of failures in Integrated Sciences and the other elective science subjects. As most Integrated Science teachers use the traditional approach of instruction, a significant number of these teachers do not integrate or use pedagogical technological tools for the teaching and learning of Integrated Science in Ghanaian classrooms. Similarly, high school learners in Ghana do not get the opportunity to use interactive technological tools when learning Integrated Science therefore they often find it difficult to understand basic scientific concepts and are reluctant to study the subject (Azure, 2015)
Evidence from research has shown that science learners who achieve high scores in science and pursue further studies in the science fields are more likely to complete their degrees and find good jobs on completion (Organisation for Economic Co operation and Development [OECD], 2016). Studies by the World Bank have also shown that countries that produce more science oriented individuals are more competitive which leads to more significant development and labour output (World Bank, 2016). Therefore, the Chief Examiner of the West African Secondary School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) (WAEC, 2019) recommends that teachers conduct practical and activity oriented lessons in sciences and improve their instructional practices using technological tools. This means that all stakeholders in education, including teachers, must ensure that learners understand scientific concepts by using effective instructional practices, incorporating simple digital web based technologies and frequent formative assessments that can engage learners with the learning process.
The use of effective instructional practices is one of the most substantial factors involved in the process oflearning (Han, 2021). In aschool where science is taught, alternative instructional delivery practices are required since the primary goal of science education is to assist learners to achieve a functional understanding of scientific concepts linked to real life situations, attitudes, and values necessary for their daily life encounters (Johnson et al., 2013) Bondie et al. (2019) mention that learners who experience effective instructional practices from their teachers are more likely to attain higher test scores and academic achievements.
Most learners who study science at the SHSs are not exposed to virtual platforms and creative and innovative pedagogies. This prevents learners from developing basic, integrated, and manipulative skills in the science process. In order for teachers to utilise effective instructions in their classrooms, they need to know their learners through assessments that inform them about their students’ progress (Gezer et al , 2021). This can be achieved through classroom assessment techniques, which embed assessment within the instructional process and inform teachers about students’ understanding and misconceptions (Veldhuis & Van den
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Heuvel Panhuizen, 2019). Lee et al. (2020) show that formative assessments provide teachers with evidence based proof that can support learners to reach their planned learning goals. Black and Wiliam (2018) present three procedures to reflect on formative assessments: where the learners currently are in their learning, where the learners should be in their learning, and what must be done to help them to get there. The teacher gathers data on learner understanding, analyses and interprets the data, and adjusts instruction accordingly. However, despite the body of research regarding the benefits of formative assessment on learning outcomes and achievement, information about the manner and efficacy of teacher use of the Padlet tool is very limited.
Integration of Web 2.0 tools, such asPadlet and other technological tools, and their impact on science education have been documented in many empirical studies (Firat & Köksal, 2019; Gursoy & Goksun, 2019; Onbasili, 2020). Many of these studies have integrated Web 2.0 pedagogical tools into their classroom instructions and have shown significant evidence of increased retention and academic achievement among learners (Udosen, 2020). Hence, the need for the government to support teachers to incorporate Web 2.0 into their classroom instructions by ensuring that science teachers’ instructions provide the basis for learner support and engagement (Baidoo et al., 2022) and utilise technological tools that are aligned with learners’ needs, their prior experiences and their technological competencies.
Although there have been numerous studies on Web 2.0 as a pedagogical tool in the classroom for science teaching, learning and assessment (Hursen, 2020; Nyawanza, 2017), there have been limited empirical studies on the types of classroom dynamics that drive pedagogy in Integrated Science teaching and assessment where science teachers incorporate the Padlet tool Also, little research (Baidoo et al., 2022) exists on how teachers, who use the Padlet tool, integrate it with varied pedagogies and assessments to promote effective Integrated Science learning and teaching. Furthermore, there are few studies about learners’ views and attitudes regarding the use of the Padlet tool in Integrated Science teaching and learning in high schools in Africa, particularly in Ghana. Against this background, this study investigated the implementation of the Padlet tool in Integrated Science classrooms to improve learner retention and achievement in Integrated Science in high schools in Ghana. The following questions were posed:
1. What creative pedagogies are adopted by the science teachers to enable learners to increase engagement and learner attainment when using the Padlet tool as a vehicle for teaching and learning Integrated Science?
2. What is the impact of the Padlet tool as a vehicle for teaching and learning of Integral Sciences on the learner’ s achievement?
3. What are the learners’ and teachers’ views when using the Padlet tool as a vehicle for teaching and learning Integrated Science?
The following hypotheses were tested:
1. Demographic variables, such as school, specialisation, and years of teaching by the teacher, would significantly affect the Creative Pedagogies (CP), Views of Teachers (VT) and the Formative Assessment (FA) strategies used by teachers during Padlet integration
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2. There is a significant positive correlation between instructional practices (IP), Thoughts and Opinions of Teachers (TAOT) and the Assessment for Learning (AFL)
3. Using Padlet tools to teach significantly improves learners’ performance in Integrated Science.
This study was anchored within the Online Collaborative Learning Theory (OCL) and the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Theory (TPACK). The OCL Theory was proposed by Harasim (2012, p.81) as a “ new theory of learning that focuses on collaborative learning, knowledge building, and internet use as a means to reshape formal, non formal, and informal education for the Knowledge Age“. OCL involves idea generation, organisation, and intellectual convergence that are essential to learning. On the other hand, the TPACK theory (Mishra & Koehler, 2008) focuses on teachers’ knowledge and proficiency in using technological tools in classroom instructions. Thus, the model directly applies to technology integration, as a teacher acquires technological skills, pedagogical skills, and content knowledge to strengthen self efficacy for integrating technological tools in the classroom context. This study used these skills as an evaluative framework for the teachers’ use of Padlet in their classrooms to teach integrated sciences.
3.1 Padlet as a 21st Century Pedagogical Tool
New technologies and innovations transform how we teach and learn in the twenty first century. Today, e learning is an emerging demand of the information age, as it serves as a substitute for traditional teaching methods for learners while also encouraging collaborative learning (Myers, 2018). Moreover, technologies create limitless chances for discoveries that will equip learners to confront current problems. Learners are expected to use technological tools to synthesise newly learned knowledge, collaborate with peers, solve issues, and make decisions to succeed in today’s complex, diverse, and global world (Collins & Halverson, 2018). The success of this type of learning requires learners to adapt to the information age and harness the power of technology to produce new knowledge (Ramachandiran & Mahmud, 2018). However, teachers are regularly confronted with new technology challenges of integrating technological tools into classroom instruction, as the demands of these learners continue to evolve (Johnson et al., 2016).
Padlet was introduced as a pedagogical tool to support both learners and teachers for collaboration and creativity in the classroom. Padlet, formerly Wall Wisher, is a free web based tool that enables teachers and learners to build an online bulletin board environment (Weller, 2013) similar to that of “sticky notes” as ideas and responses are shown on the application’s wall. Users can create walls to publish text, links, images, videos, and other related materials that are available to those who have access to the Padlet wall. Padlet has been demonstrated to be productive, enticing, and to have a positive effect on learners’ learning (Ali, 2021).
It also enhances learners’ skills in collaboration, creativity and writing by engaging them in their learning (Nadeem, 2021).
Although Padlet is a Web 2.0 tool for interaction on a virtual wall and has been used for simple instructional tasks and more complicated tasks among experts (Weller, 2013), it was not explicitly created for educational purposes. Thus, a presentation is required to demonstrate and explain the use of this tool and encourage active involvement and idea sharing among learners (Deni & Zainal, 2018).
Borich (2016) explains that adaptive teaching methodology is a pedagogical method of instruction where the teacher employs the topic’s content to suit the learners’ needs, skills, interests, and characteristics. This is done to engage the learners in their academic endeavours and to improve their conceptual understanding of science concepts using technology. Ikwumelu et al. (2015) believe that adaptive teaching involves the whole class but that instructions cater to individual learners since the teacher gives feedback to the learners. Learners revise their work after receiving feedback from their teacher. Researchers believe that there are several ways for teachers to adapt and implement adaptive pedagogy in their classrooms (Ikwumelu et al , 2015), for example, the teacher could alter the lesson so that the science concepts are meaningful to the learners’ level of understanding. Often, the teacher also alters the way the content is assessed to measure the learners’ mastery of science concepts by adapting games or audio visuals to engage the learners.
The study employed a mixed methods sequential exploratory research design, using a combined quantitative qualitative approach. This design was used to provide rich data by addressing different views from the participants allowing respondents more time to evaluate their responses, provide clarification, provide comprehensive examples when appropriate, and communicate their reasoning with precision (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2009).
Purposive selection was made to obtain the four SHSs from the Greater Accra Region as participants in the study. A simple random sampling method was used to select five science teachers and 25 Integrated Science learners from each participating school. The underlying principle was that the random sampling gave each participant an equal chance of being selected and omitted bias. Sharma (2017) suggests that simple random sampling minimises sampling errors. The choice of the second year Home Economics learners was made because we believed that these learners had the fundamentals of Integrated Sciences and had progressed to the second year with theoretical experiences that would enable us to get reliable data. The lottery method of simple random sampling was used to select the learners for this study.
Participation in the study was voluntary. Each participant was notified of the anonymization of the data and each step of the research procedure. The Research Committee of the University of Education of Winneba gave ethical permission.
For the quantitative part of the study, data were collected using structured questionnaires (see supplementary resources) We adopted five questionnaire items from the Dewitt et al. (2015) study on collaborative learning. There were two types of questionnaires, for learners and for teachers. The Creative Teaching/Pedagogies and Views Questionnaires (CTPVQ) for learners had three main sections: Section A was biographical data and Section B contained ten items which dealt with the teaching approaches used by the science teachers when Padlet was integrated in class. Section C had ten items which sought learners’ views on the use of the Padlet tool.
The CTPVQ for teachers had four main sections: Section A was for biographical data; Section B had items on creative pedagogies that teachers employed; Section C had items on formative assessment strategies; and Section D had items on the views of teachers on the integration of the Padlet tool. Participants were requested to fill out a five point Likert type scale ranging from 1 to 5 (5: Strongly Agree; 4: Agree; 3: Undecided; 2: Disagree; and 1: Strongly Disagree). The questionnaire items were validated by experts experienced in the field. The internal consistency reliability value for the instrument was measured using Cronbach’s alpha and achieved a reliability of 0.95. This value indicates good internal consistency for the scale
For the qualitative part of the study, data were collected using observation schedules, interviews, and task performance analyses (see supplementary resources). The interview questions were semi structured and allowed for probes. Interview questions were developed with the objective of the study in mind. Unstructured observation schedules were used. Detailed field notes were taken during the classroom observations. Standardised test questions were given to learners at the end of the intervention to determine the impact of the intervention on their performance.
The 20 science teachers selected for the study were engaged in a three day community of practice workshop after school hours to gain mastery and competency on using the Padlet as an instructional tool. The training focused on assessments for learning and creative pedagogies that Integrated Science teachers could use to improve learner retention and achievement in the subject. Immediately after the training sessions, four teachers were purposefully sampled from the 20 selected teachers to integrate the Padlet tool in their classroom instructions. Data were collected for four weeks in the second term of the 2019 academic year. Videos on various Integrated Science topics were put on pen drives for the teachers to upload onto the Padlet tool. This enabled learners to better observe and understand abstract scientific concepts. Teachers used the uploaded videos primarily as “starters” or “introductions” and in their main
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lessons. Learners watched the videos shown by the teachers and then responded to all questions or tasks, which were also typed on the Padlet wall
Quantitative data were analysed through SPSS (Version 21). Data were converted to frequencies, percentages, mean scores, and standard deviations summarised into tables. In addition, the data were subjected to statistical tests using MANOVA, Partial Correlation, and Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation to measure the relationships between independent and dependent variables (creative pedagogies, views, and formative assessments). Qualitative data were analysed using thematic content analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). This method identifies common or recurrent themes in the data and describes the essential elements. The authors then reviewed the data using a constant comparison coding process (Yin, 2015). Finally, to verify the interviews, the authors asked the participants to check their responses and confirm that they were correct reflections.
The activities described in the previous sections are presented in this section. In addition, the themes and associated categories emerging from the triangulation of analysed data from the field notes, interviews and the questionnaires are also presented.
Variables Statistics Frequency Percentage (%)
Gender: Male 7 35 Female 13 65 School: School A 5 25 School B 5 25 School C 5 25 School D 5 25
Qualifications: Bachelor of Education (BEd) 7 35 Master of Education (MEd) 9 45 Master of Philosophy (MPhil) 4 20
Specialisation: Biology 4 20 Chemistry 4 20 Physics 4 20 Integrated Sciences 4 20 Agricultural Sciences 4 20
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Age 26 30 5 25 31–35 9 45 36 40 6 30
Number of years teaching
1–5 years 7 35 6 10 years 8 40 11–15 years 2 10 16 20 years 3 15
Forms Taught
Forms 1 and 2 8 40 Forms 1 and 2 3 15 Forms 2 and 3 3 15 Forms 1, 2 and 3 6 30
5.2. Pedagogies adopted by the science teachers to increase learners’ engagement and attainment using the Padlet tool
The classroom observations were conducted to find out how teachers used the Padlet tool in teaching topics in Integrated Sciences, how teachers involved learners using creative pedagogies and how the teachers engaged and used assessments for learning strategies. Results were coded and analysed.
The teachers used interesting starters to introduce their lessons, alongside sharing the learning goal with their learners. These starters were always related to the topic to be learnt for the day and were mostly audio visuals (videos).
Teachers varied their instructions. The use of textual power point presentations was very low as videos were more often used. Teachers allowed learners to share their ideas in class through presentations. For all the schools, learners gave oral or written summaries of their learning in a 3 2 1 count down This strategy enabled the learners to do quick mental science.
The teachers also arranged for learners to work in small groups to submit tasks using the Padlet tool and to foster collaborative learning of both high and low achievers.
The teachers created an environment with multiple modes of communication and learning. Therefore, a creative ICT based learning environment permitted learners to express their knowledge through several forms which necessitated a strategy that enabled students to compare, integrate, and synthesise many channels of communication and learning.
The teachers encouraged student initiated activities which appeared to centre on engaging activities as a tool for encouraging learning. Student initiated activities necessitated the teachers’ support to foster an enabling environment and a sensitive, interactive discourse.
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The teachers made good use of the formative assessment for learning strategies. “Waiting time” was given to learners to think about possible responses to the teachers’ questions. Groups provided varied answers from the observations of the videos they watched. This made the learning and teaching of abstract science concepts simple. Project assignments were placed on the Padlet for the learners to do and submit in groups. The learners were very careful about the type of responses they provided since it was a learning platform. At times, learners provided answers to the teacher’s questions and then the teacher read and provided feedback on the learners’ responses and clarified key ideas for learners.
It was hypothesised that “variables such as school, area of speciality and years of teaching by the teacher would significantly affect the Instructional Practice (IP), the Thoughts and Opinions of Teachers (TAOT) and the Assessment for Learning (AFL) techniques”. This hypothesis was tested by exposing demographic variables and teacher IP, TAOT and AFL to multivariate analysis to determine if these variables had a significant impact or not. Results are shown in Table 2
Table 2: Multivariate Analysis of Variance for IP, TAOT and AFL among Teachers Categorised by School, Speciality, and Years of teaching
DV/Statistics Independent Variables School Specialisation Years of teaching Mean (Std. Dev) Mean (Std. Dev) Mean (Std. Dev)
CP A = 46.40(1.14) B = 45.80(1.09) C = 45.60(1.14) D = 46.60(2.51)
FA A = 46.60(1.67) B = 45.40(2.79) C = 46.20(1.92) D = 46.05(2.09)
Biology = 45.80(1.79) Physics = 45.20(1.30) Chemistry = 47.00(1.58) Integrated Sc. = 47.20(1.52)
Biology = 44.20(2.68) Physics = 45.80(2.28) Chemistry = 47.00(0.71) Integrated Sc. = 47.20(0.84)
1 5 yrs = 46.14(1.34)
6 10 yrs = 46.25(1.75) 11 15 yrs = 46.50(0.71) 16 20 yrs = 45.33(2.08)
1 5 yrs = 47.14(0.90) 6 10 yrs = 45.75(2.12) 11 15 yrs = 48.00(0.00) 16 20 yrs = 43.00(1.00)
VT A = 47.00(1.41) B = 47.40(0.55) C = 47.00(0.71) D = 47.80(0.84)
Biology = 47.00(1.22) Physics = 47.20(0.84) Chemistry = 47.40(0.55) Integrated Sc. = 47.60(1.14)
1 5 yrs = 47.43(1.13) 6 10 yrs = 47.50(0.76) 11 15 yrs = 47.50(0.71) 16 20 yrs = 46.33(0.58) Λ .168 .129 .529 Df 3,17 2,17 3,17 F .582ns 1.634ns .129ns Sig .682 .402 .935 η2 .023 .008 .044 ns =notsignificantat.05;A=SchoolA;B=SchoolB;C=SchoolC;D=SchoolD;CP=Creative Pedagogies;FA=FormativeAssessment;VT=ViewsofTeachers
The MANOVA results in Table 2 reveal a non significant multivariate main effect for area of specialty and number of years of teaching as independent variables, as
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related to teacher IP, AFL and TAOT (dependent variables) respectively. This implies that the above hypothesis is not supported.
When the Wilks Lambda is not significant, school, as a variable, does not affect the Instructional Practices (IP), Assessment for Learning (AFL) and Thoughts and Opinions of Teachers (TAOT). However, Wilks Lambda reveals that one independent school variable significantly affects multiple variables (IP, TAOT and AFL). Therefore, Eta (η2) also shows the size of the impact of the independent variable on the dependent variables (IP, TAOT and AFL).
Results for age, gender, teacher qualification and forms taught (as independent variables) also show an overall insignificant effect on both teacher IP, TAOT and AFL (as DVs). For gender, age, qualification area of specialisation and forms taught [Wilks Lambda λ = 1.00, F(1,17) = 0.001, p>.05, partial η2 = .002; Wilks Lambda λ = 1.00, F(2,17) = 0.002, p>.05, partial η2 = .003: Wilks Lambda λ = 1.00, F(2,17) = 0.000, p>.05, partial η2 = .000; Wilks Lambda λ = 1.00, F(6,17) = 0.003, p>.05, partial η2 = .001]. This indicates that demographic variables, such as gender, age, qualification, area of specialisation and forms taught, do not affect IP, TAOT and AFL of teachers.
5.3 Correlation between IP, TAOT and AFL
The second hypothesis stated, “There is a significant positive correlation between IP, TAOT and AFL” Results of this hypothesis are presented in Table 3.
Table 3: Partial Correlation between IP, TAOT and AFL
Predictor Variables Outcome Variables CP VT FA IP TAROT AFL .285ns .327ns .228ns ns =notsignificantat.05;IP=InstructionalPractices;AFL=AssessmentforLearning;TAOT= ThoughtsandOpinionsofTeachers
Results in Table 3 reveal a positive correlation between the three study variables (IP, TAOT and AFL). However, these correlations are insignificant. This implies that the second hypothesis is also not supported. TAOT is .285 and not significant because the sample size is minimal. In addition, the coefficients are all positive.
5.4 Impact of the Padlet tool, as a vehicle for teaching and learning of Integrated Sciences, on learner achievement
The third hypothesis states, “Using Padlet tools to teach significantly improves learners’ attainments on the Integrated Sciences”
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Table 4: Analysis of Difference between Task Performance of Learners before and after the Use of the Padlet Tool
DV/Statistics Groups of Schools A B C D
Mean (Std. Dev) Mean (Std. Dev) Mean (Std. Dev) Mean (Std. Dev)
Task Performance Before Use of Padlet Tools
23.00(3.06) 24.96(3.03) 25.88(3.22) 23.32(2.61)
Task Performance after Use of Padlet Tools 34.08(2.46) 35.56(1.87) 35.40(2.71) 36.08(1.85) Df 24 24 24 24 T 26.135** 22.599** 16.240** 24.048** Sig .000 .000 .000 .000
**s =significantat.01;A=SchoolA;B=SchoolB;C=SchoolC;D=SchoolD;CP=Creative Pedagogies;FA=FormativeAssessment;VT=ViewsofLearners
Table 4 shows the mean score for assessment attainments before using the Padlet tool and after using the tool A Matched Pairs t test analysis of mean difference shows that a significant difference existed between the assessment attainments mean scores before and after using Padlet. In each school, the mean score after the use of Padlet was better than the mean score before the use of the Padlet tool. This implies that the use of the Padlet significantly improved assessment attainment in each school. Thus, the third hypothesis is supported.
Table 5: Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation between Learners’ Views on Use of Padlet Tool and Teaching Approaches
r Sig
Views of Learners on the use of the Padlet Tool 98 .308** .002 ** = <.01
Results in Table 5 show that learners’ views on the use of the Padlet tool positively correlated with learners’ evaluation of teaching approaches adopted by teachers. Hence, the learners had a positive view of the teachers’ approaches. Pearson’ s R was used because there were no variables to control such as gender and form.
In learners’ views, two themes emerged, namely, creative and innovative pedagogies and getting engage oriented. Learners believed that their science teachers used innovative teaching approaches during the lesson. For example, they responded that their teachers gave them learning goals before the main lesson was taught in class. They also noticed that their science teachers put them in sizable learning groups to share learning ideas on different topics. According
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to the learners, they mostly watched exciting videos about science concepts related to different topics their teacher taught in class, which allowed them to better understand the topic for the day. Two learners narrated: “Yes, we watched science videos every time, especially at the beginning of the lesson. Then teacher put us into small groups and make us share our group ideas by typing it on the wall” (Rejoice).
“My teacher asks questions on the science videos we watch and mostly we respond to the questions on the wall. With that we are able to read our classmates’ responses ” (Serwa).
The second theme which is getting engage and oriented manifest that the teachers really orient the learners how to use Padlet before engaging them. The learners also indicated that their teachers gave them orientation notes before using the tool in their classrooms and gave them time to read the notes that prepared them to use the Padlet tool. The learners felt that the Padlet was an excellent tool for learning Integrated Sciences. One learner narrated: We received some form of orientation by our teacher. That was accompanied by orientation notes. The notes were made so easy to read. As a result, we never struggle with the Padlet tool, although it was new to us (Frank).
Other learners enjoyed using the Padlet tool Learners’ engagement was strong and learners were happy to see their own and their group ideas on the walls that showed that they were able to learn from their friends quickly. More collaborative learning was seen in the use of the Padlet tool. One learner mentioned: “Indeed, this is a great tool because it can be used even outside my classroom. I even like the fact that I can search the internet even when using the Padlet to get more information on other concepts” (Tony)
Learners happily used the Padlet tool since they could locate the delete, upload, and text features very quickly, which allowed them to type their work on the Padlet wall.
’
Two themes emerged from the teachers’ views, namely, the ability to use creative pedagogies, and formative assessment strategies. The first theme focused on the science teachers’ ability to use creative pedagogies/innovative teaching approaches while integrating the Padlet tool in the science classroom. The teachers used starters in introducing their lessons in class and showed more videos to the learners which were related to the science concepts learners were expected to learn. The creative pedagogies teachers used also included teachers’ sharing the learning goals with learners. The Problem Based Learning (PBL) approach was emphasised. Learners were given specific scenarios concerning the science topic, and theywere tasked to find solutions to the problems. Two teachers narrated: “I used interesting starters which were critical thinking questions based on the topic to be learnt for the day” (Ms Agyei).
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“I made the learners watch at least a video relating to every science topic and ensure that I ask them questions which they respond to by writing on the wall. I ensure that I give them enough time to respond to questions” (Mr Ntim).
The second theme was the formative assessment strategies teachers used with the Padlet tool. One hundred percent of the science teachers stated that they could provide learners with varied, creative, high order questions to encourage them to think critically on all the science concepts they were taught in class. These questions followed a video on a science concept. After watching videos, learners were tasked to talk about their observations in groups. One teacher mentioned: “Most of the questions I posed are higher order questions. I often used inquiry based strategies to get learners thinking out of the box for solutions. In addition, I also assess my learners through group presentations” (Mr Nyame).
Through these varied questioning techniques, learners could respond to the questions by typing their responses on the wall. Using the PBL strategies, teachers gave learners tasks in which the learners provided varied responses in group presentations in the classroom. The teachers enjoyed using the tool to provide basic classroom assessments for learning strategies by allowing all high achieving and low achieving learners to share their ideas on the wall and by engaging all learners One teacher narrated:
“I gave the learners problem questions to make them think more and learn science better” (Mrs Anderson).
A series of tasks were designed for the learners to carry out after classes related to activities done in class each week.
The results of the questionnaire, classroom observations, and the semi structured interviews indicated that the implementation of Padlet, as a pedagogical tool, was appreciated by the participants. With Padlet, as an instructional pedagogy, teachers implemented creative pedagogies in their classrooms to increase learners’ engagement, learning collaboration and the chance to master their learning Individual learners could learn at their own speed and participate anonymously in online conversations. The entire class was engaged. Students were observed reading information which the teacher had uploaded on Padlet, including videos and other materials for each concept in sciences This finding aligns with the study findings conducted by Baidoo et al. (2022) that the use of Padlet tool, as an instructional approach, allowed the teacher to engage learners in a virtual interactive session, making learning meaningful, significant, and relevant, while enhancing learners’ levels of attention and responsiveness. This finding also supports Nadeem (2021) who found that using Padlet in education enabled students to relate to the sub topics discussed in class as students interacted with classmates and the teacher. Thus, the creative pedagogies enabled teachers to use group tasks, which fostered collaborative learning and successfully eliminated the anxiety and disquiet of traditional teaching methods. This means that there was a significant positive correlation between the Creative
Pedagogies (CP), Formative Assessment (FA) and Views of Teachers (VT) however, these correlations are not significant.
The Matched Pairs t test analysis of mean difference shows that a significant difference exists between learners’ achievement mean scores before and after using Padlet. In each school, the mean score after the use of Padlet was better than the mean score before the use of the Padlet tool. This implies that the use of the Padlet significantly improves learner achievement and retention. This finding corroborates that of Udosen (2020) which described Padlet as an effective tool with a significant role in improving learner achievement and motivation.
The findings on learners’ views and their rating of teaching approaches adopted by their teachers revealed that the mean records on learners’ evaluation of teaching approaches were 41.00, 47.48, 40.84 and 42.12 for learners from schools A, B, C and D, respectively. In addition, these means were subjected to a One Way Analysis of Variance, and the results indicated that a significant difference existed between the learners’ evaluations of teaching approaches of their teachers. The learners expressed positive views towards the use of the Padlet tool, which confirms the results of a similar study conducted by Gursoy and Goksun (2019).
One hundred percent of the science teachers stated that they were able to creatively provide learners with varied high order questions for them to think critically on all science concepts they taught in class. This finding is in line with Firat and Köksal’ s (2019) study that reveals that Padlet is an effective tool in education. Furthermore, it was remarkable that all the teachers and learners who participated in this study said that this was their first encounter with an online application and that the researchers provided guidelines for them to successfully use the Padlet tool without any difficulties
The outcome of the study of the integration of Padlet tool in improving learning outcomes among high school Integrated Science learners in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana shows that the implementation of technological tools in education can be successful. Effective use and integration of web based tools will enable both teachers and learners to cope with the numerous challenges arising from conventional teaching and learning. It is evident from the results of the study that using and integrating the Padlet tool in science teaching allowed teachers to engage in interactive virtual sessions where learners instantly submitted and shared completed class tasks and group assignments. The Padlet tool allowed the learning process to extend remotely beyond the classroom while it enhanced learners’ levels of attention, responsiveness, interest, engagement, and participation. This, in turn, made learning more meaningful, significant, and relevant. Therefore, it is recommended that governments and policymakers embark on developing practical pedagogical courses geared towards the training of teachers in the use of technological tools in science classrooms. In addition, existing government policies on technology should be periodically reviewed to ensure the rapid integration of technology in the teaching and learning of Integrated Science in schools. The Ghana Government and the Ministry of Education should also consult internet providers to ensure that all senior high
schools have high level connectivity at subsidised rates to empower teachers and learners to access scienceinformation from the internet. Finally, more Professional Learning Community sessions should be established countrywide to tailor more learning and teaching activities to accommodate all learners.
Our appreciation goes to Walter Sisulu University Research Office for providing funding to present a part of this paper at 2022 AERA/WERA collaborative conference in San Diego, California, USA.
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Creative pedagogies and views questionnaire for teachers This short exercise is to investigate science teachers’ creative teaching approaches / pedagogies and views on the use and integration of the Padlet tool in the Integrated Sciences classroom, to enable learners increase in engagement and learning outcomes. Please kindly provide truthful responses to each item. You are to indicate the extent to which you agree with the items below. There is no right or wrong answer. Please in each case, tick (√) in the appropriate box. Your effort will be a useful contribution to knowledge. The information you provide will be treated with all confidentiality.
Name of School: Sex: Male: Female: Age: Qualification: Area of Specialization: Number of Years of Teaching: Classes/ Forms Taught:
1.I set goals at the beginning of Integrated Sciences instruction
2. In teaching Integrated Sciences concepts I show video simulations on the Padlet for learners to observe.
3. In teaching Sciences instruction concepts, I can also show power point presentations to engage learners.
4. I use group work to engage learners on the Padlet tool during Integrated Sciences instruction lessons to improve learning outcomes.
Fully Agree Agree Undecided Disagree Fully Disagree
5. I can use the Padlet to perform more scientific practical activities to improve learning outcomes.
6 I allow learners to discuss Integrated Sciences instruction concepts in pairs and then share their views on the Padlet tool.
7. In using the Padlet, the teacher is to occasionally give projects to learners in groups.
8 The teacher is to build an online Integrated Sciences portfolio with learners when using the Padlet.
9. I can also use the Padlet to find out what learners already know about an Integrated Sciences concept to be taught.
10. The teacher can use the Padlet to search for more information on the internet on Integrated Sciences topics
1.Before I teach Integrated Sciences, I share the learning goals with my learners
2.When using the Padlet tool, I ask learners divergent questions about scientific concepts in class.
3. When using the Padlet tool, I ask learners convergent questions about scientific concepts in class.
4. I give learners questions to check for their understanding of scientific concepts using the Padlet tool.
5. I give learners the task of drawing out a concept or idea that they learned in the Integrated Science lesson.
6 I give learners time to think before they respond to my questions on the Padlet tool.
7 The teacher is to provide prompt feedback on learners’ responses to Integrated Sciences questions on the Padlet tool.
8. The teacher is to provide prompt feedback to learners’ responses orally and written on the Padlet.
9. I ask learners to write down three things that they have learnt in Integrated Sciences on the Padlet tool.
10. I ask learners to write a summary of the scientific concepts they have learnt for the day to check their understanding.
1. I have no difficulty in using the Padlet in the Integrated Sciences classroom.
2. I like to see my learners/ comments on the Padlet
3 Padlet motivates me to interact with my learners inside and outside of the Integrated Sciences classroom.
4. Padlet encourages my learners to interact and complete tasks together or in groups.
5. I feel less stressed when I use the Padlet to teach Integrated Sciences in class.
6 I feel less stressed when I use the Padlet to give learners Integrated Sciences projects to work on.
7 Padlet encourages my class to interact in groups to complete an assigned task together.
8 Padlet allows me to read all the responses from learners in class by reading their posts and comments on the class wall to check for their understanding of Integrated Sciences cconcepts.
9 When I post on Padlet wall, I am careful to check my grammar and use the right Integrated Sciences terms.
10. It is a good idea to use Padlet to teach Integrated Sciences.
This short exercise is to investigate learners’ ideas on the use of the Padlet tool in learning Integrated Sciences concepts. Please kindly provide truthful responses to each item. You are to indicate the extent to which you agree with the items below. There is no right or wrong answer. Please in each case, tick (√) in the appropriate box. Your effort will be a useful contribution to knowledge. The information you provide will be treated with all confidentiality. SECTION A
2. The teacher showed video simulations on the Padlet for us to observe.
3. In teaching Integrated Sciences concepts, the teacher showed a power point presentation to engage the learners.
4. The teacher made us work in groups to engage learners on the Padlet tool during Integrated Sciences lessons to improve our learning.
5. I can use the Padlet to perform more scientific practical task and activities to improve learning.
6. The teacher allows us to discuss Integrated Sciences concepts in pairs and in groups and then we share our views on the Padlet tool.
7. In using the Padlet, the teacher occasionally gives projects to us in groups.
8.When we type our responses to our teacher’s questions, we build an online Integrated Sciences portfolio together with our teacher.
9. Our teacher makes us write about what we know already or what we will like to know about an Integrated Sciences concept on the Padlet wall.
10. The teacher can use the Padlet to search for more information on the internet on Integrated Sciences topics.
1. I have no difficulty in using the Padlet in the Integrated Sciences classroom.
2. I like to see my classmates share on the Padlet.
3. Padlet motivates me to interact with my classmates inside and outside of the Integrated Sciences classroom.
4. Padlet enables me to share ideas with my friends.
5. I feel less stressed when I use the Padlet to learn Integrated Sciences in class.
6. I learned new concepts from the other posts on Padlet
7. The materials posted on Padlet were clear
8. The materials posted on Padlet were useful
9. When I post on Padlet wall, I am careful to check my grammar and use the right scientific terms.
10. It is a good idea to use Padlet to learn Integrated Sciences
The purpose of this interview is to find out the teaching approaches, formative assessment strategies and views adopted by Integrated Sciences teachers to improve learning outcomes during the use of the Padlet tool. Your responses will be treated with all confidentiality. Thank you for your co operation.
1. Do you include knowledge and skills into your learning goals?
If ‘yes’, why do you say so? If no, give your reason.
2. How will you define learner engagement?
Do you believe your learners were more engaged, less engaged or about the same during the use of the Padlet in the Integrated Sciences classroom?
If yes, why do you say so? If no, give your reason. ………………………………………………………………………………………………..
3. What do you feel is one of the greatest benefits or positives that resulted from the use of the Padlet tool? ………………………………………………………………………………………............. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….
4. Did you notice any negatives or drawbacks because of using the Padlet with learners during the study?
If yes, why do you say so? If no, give your reason. ………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………
5. Tell me about the techniques or strategies you use to encourage learners to participate in class when you ask questions to check if learners understand Integrated Sciences concepts.
The purpose of this interview is to find out the views and teaching approaches adopted by your Integrated Sciences teacher/s to improve your learning outcomes during the use of the Padlet tool. Your responses will be treated with all confidentiality. Thank you for your co operation.
1. Do you find it easy to use the Padlet tool?
If yes, why do you say so? If no, give your reason. ………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………
Did your teacher take you through the orientation notes on the Padlet before you started using it?
If yes, why do you say so? If no, give your reason. ………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………
2. What Integrated Sciences topic/s did you use the Padlet to learn in class? …………………………………………………………………………………………………
3. What do you feel is one of the greatest benefits or positives that resulted from the use of the Padlet tool? …………………………………………………………………………………………………
International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research
Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 263 280, May 2022
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.5.14
Received Mar 6, 2022; Revised May 19, 2022; Accepted May 25, 2022
Abstract. The Situational Judgment Test (SJT) has become an increasingly well known measurement method that is frequently used in various fields, especially for personnel selection, promotion, and professional development. The SJT also has a greater potential in relation to the selection of teachers in the education sector. Teacher selection aspects such as non academic attributes, specifically the interpersonal and intrapersonal, are the focus of this study. This study uses a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) consisting of a review protocol to determine the topic that has been researched and the method used for making revisions. The SLR approach has four phases: searching, screening, analysing, and the results with numerous criteria established The review consists of seven studies on teacher selection using the SJT instrument over the past ten years during the period January 2012 to December 2021. Eight interpersonal attributes were obtained based on six previous studies, namely organisation, planning, empathy, communication, teaching, relationships with colleagues, counselling, and contingency. Meanwhile seven intrapersonal attributes were obtained, namely conscientiousness, mindset, emotion regulation, adaptability, enthusiasm and motivation, resilience, and professional ethics. The attributes found can be utilised as they are fundamental for teacher selection criteria. The previous studies employed the same attributes. However, the attributes should only be employed according to the suitability of the selection context being performed.
Keywords: interpersonal; intrapersonal; situational judgment test (SJT); systematic literature review (SLR); teacher selection
The Situational Judgment Test (SJT) is popular and is widely used in various fields such as education, medicine, nursing, and the military (Nadmilail & Mohd
* Corresponding author: MohdEffendi@EwanMohdMatore,effendi@ukm.edu.my
©Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY NC ND 4.0).
Matore, 2021). The SJT is also used in the selection of personnel and as part of promotions (Whetzel et al., 2020) The selection of personnel is a priority at the international level. In fact, the medical field in the United Kingdom has decreed that selection is among the first procedures to be carried out when engaging in medical education and training (Patterson et al., 2016). This clearly shows that admission to medical colleges at the international level is a priority in the selection of personnel. Likewise, in the United States for example, the military field also evidences a high level of competition among newly appointed officers for promotion (Lievens et al., 2008). Potential members seeking to assume the position of officer should choose the best response from among the response options given. In the promotion test, the SJT is used to measure select leadership considerations (Whetzel et al., 2020) This situation shows that the SJT is implemented not only in the selection of newly appointed personnel but also for the purpose of promotion. Overall, most Western countries have conducted SJT related studies such as the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Germany
As the SJT grows in popularity as a predictor of personnel performance, various organisations around the world have adopted the use of SJT as a psychological gauge and individual marketability tool (Weekley et al., 2013) The main challenge is accurately predicting a person’s future work performance based on the findings using the limited information available during the selection process. Moreover, this prediction is very useful, especially in the research of educational psychology, as well as when explaining the achievements of university students (Breen & Lindsay, 2020) This is because predictions, such as student success and hidden talent, are also useful to enable educational institutions to identify students who are having difficulty adapting to the college environment and who are at risk of failing academically (Matošková & Kovářík, 2017) In some cases, work situations in relation to achievements can contextually provide additional information on the appropriate criteria and personality measurements (Golubovich et al., 2020). Most of the studies using the SJT were done by measuring the psychology of the test candidates based on hypothetical situations to describe select interpersonal, intrapersonal, and intellectual constructs (National Research Council, 2015) As such, the SJT is increasingly being accepted worldwide in various professions and it is used for various purposes.
For a better understanding, it is important to further explore the issues using the SJT in relation to teacher selection. Therefore, this review will identify and analyse the attributes measured using the SJT related to prospective pre service teachers based on previous studies in terms of non academic attributes. The non academic attributes cannot be measured solely on the premise of the IQ Test achievement. Patterson et al. (2012) also stated that the SJT can accurately assess the non academic characteristics that are relevant in clinical practise, such as integrity, empathy, and resilience. Understanding human attitudes, particularly those including non academic characteristics, can assist both stakeholders and researchers in understanding a current phenomenon. In fact, future predictions can be made based on the data obtained. As a result, this review will provide insights into the human attitudes studied that include non academic attributes.
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Lievens and Coetsier (2002) said that the SJT is used as a method of measurement to evaluate the respondents’ views or interpretations of the work related environment that reflects the actual work scenario. The SJT also aims to measure competency and the interpersonal attributes related to work (Lievens et al., 2008), while the methodologies are designed to measure the non academic attributes of targeted characters (Patterson & Driver, 2018) Basically, the SJT is an instrument of psychological measurement that contributes ideas and knowledge to enable researchers to decide and evaluate any result based on the responses given by the test candidates (Nadmilail & Mohd Matore, 2021). In addition, the SJT is one of the best predictive measurement methods and strategies due to its varied possible test structures (Ployhart, 2013)
The SJT is also known as a simulation method (O’Connell et al., 2007) that requires the respondents to make judgments in situations that highlight problems in the assignment (Al Hashmi & Klassen, 2019). The simulation test contains a set of actual state tasks and asks the respondents to respond as if they are doing it. These reactions or responses are interpreted as an indication of the respondents’ future behaviour expectations. Generally, the fidelity of the test denotes a simulation test that varies according to the way that the test is performed (Nadmilail & Mohd Matore, 2021). The test, when it is used as an accurate expectation of genuine working conditions, denotes a high fidelity simulation test. Therefore, a high fidelity simulation test is important to reflect a real situation possible in a particular field of work. As such, the SJT is designed to create individual assessments in a contextual workplace environment (Ryan & Ployhart, 2014). To link it to work related situations, a collection of critical situations and responses are provided as a checklist. The collection will then target the attributes or competencies based on an analysis of the job description. The selected response will provide a prediction of the actions taken based on the description of the targeted task.
There are several theories underlying the SJT in the development of similar instruments. Past studies have shown that some researchers have approached the subject with a variety of views and opinions on SJT related theories such as Motowidlo et al. (2006) who targeted the Theory of Behavioural Consistency as a theory related to SJT, and Motowidlo et al. (2013) who explained the Implied Nature Policy. To date, there are considerably clear views related to the basis of the SJT theory.
There are two predominant theories proposed by past researchers The first theory is the Theory of Behavioural Consistency. This describes behaviour in the past as being the best predictor of future behaviour. The main principle of this theory highlights the current behavioural sample to enable the prediction of future behaviour (Motowidlo et al., 2006) SJT has proven to be a predictor of good work performance as it measures the understanding of procedures about effective behaviour in certain situations (Lievens & Patterson, 2011). Thus, the predictions shown by the test candidates provide a clearer picture to the panel of selectors as the key indicators in the decision making process related to the selection,
promotion, and professional development requirements, especially in the workplace
Second, Implicit Trait Policies (ITPs) is another theory that has created a consensus and attention among researchers regarding literature reviews. ITPs are implicit beliefs about the impact and cause of the consequences expressed by various actions related to the effectiveness of said actions (Motowidlo et al., 2013) These actions are measured as the main function along with the behavioural characteristics of the response options and the individuals’ consideration of the effectiveness of their behaviour. However, it depends also on specific areas such as employment level, job knowledge, and job description (Motowidlo & Beier, 2010; Patterson et al., 2016) In any given situation, measurements that express inner nature are referred to as behaviours (Golubovich et al., 2020). Furthermore, tendencies or traits that have been patterned will contribute some ideas about behaviours and characteristics that will be permanent. Human beings individually have different beliefs about the effectiveness of the behaviours that related to inherent tendencies or personality traits.
In the field of teacher education, a large number of studies have been carried out by many researchers using the SJT as a model for various purposes. This includes the selection of personnel, recruitment, and professional development. The main importance of an education policy, at the international level, is to produce quality teachers who can engage in quality teaching (Beauchamp et al., 2013). This means that the teacher selection policy becomes important as the main policy of concern. The focus on the teacher selection policy of relevance is always given special care and attention. This is aimed at attracting as many candidates as possible and producing quality teacher candidates (Feuer et al., 2013; Schleicher, 2014). Over the years, many studies involving personnel selection in relation to schoolteachers have been conducted and are increasingly active in various countries Klassen and Kim (2019) reviewed and found there to be a total of 32 studies that have been conducted on the subject from 2000 to 2017. The findings also involved studies that measured academic and non academic attributes as well as measuring the effectiveness of the teachers using an external measurement. However, the focus of this review is on measuring non academic attributes, specifically intrapersonal and interpersonal ones, using the SJT in a more current study time interval.
This study used the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) as the research method, specifically consisting of a review protocol that determines the topic to be investigated and a customised method when conducting the subsequent review. The SLR is a systematic and explicit method used for identifying, selecting, critically evaluating, collecting, and analysing data from related past research (Moher et al., 2009) This method was chosen on the basis that it helps to synthesise all relevant academic literature in depth. The SLR is also a fundamental procedure for recognising important literature studies and examining how the data was obtained from major studies. The SLR is based on the method proposed by Karabulut ilgu et al. (2018) as shown in Figure 1 The four phases involved in
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this review were the search phase, the screening phase, the analysis phase, and the results phase. In this review, all articles were identified using the keywords "Situational Judgment Tests" and "Teacher Selection." The SJT was used to obtain a comprehensive picture of the attributes used in teacher selection based on a systematic analysis of the relevant publications.
Search Scopus (n=19) Web of Science (n=29)
Level 1 did not meet the criteria (n=18)
Analysis
Level 2 did not meet the criteria (n=35)
Not relevant (n=88) Recurring articles (n=13)
Result Selected articles (n=7)
Google Scholar (n=106) n=154
After screening n=108
3.2.
3.2.1.
This phase consisted of the article search strategy using a search database focused on three major scientific databases, namely Scopus, the Web of Science (WoS), and Google Scholar. WoS was chosen because it has grown into one of the world’ s leading scientific citation, discovery, and analytical information search platforms. It is used as both an academic library research tool and a rich dataset for information of a large scope across a wide range of academic fields (Li et al., 2017) Meanwhile, Scopus was considered as well because it is progressively used in academic papers (only slightly less than WoS competitors) and it challenges the WoS division method externally (Zhu & Liu, 2020). In addition, Google Scholar can help to develop important resources for publicly accessible archives covering a wide range of disciplines and languages, It is unmatched by others in terms of the provision of efficient and effective online scientific documents (Gusenbauer, 2019).
The keywords "Situational Judgment Tests" and “Teacher Selection” were used in this phase. The appropriate keywords were selected based on the objective to be achieved following the search process. Researchers also used the phrase search function and the Boolean OR or/and operator to combine keywords in the initial search process. This review used three basic techniques in the manual search: handpicking, backward tracking, and forward tracking (Mohamed Shaffril et al., 2020). Subsequently, a search strategy was added to obtain the latest articles. Finally, the relevant articles were selected by limiting the publication year to between January 2012 and December 2021 which is within ten years. This is because SJT related studies on school teachers are still underway and therefore limited (Nadmilail & Mohd Matore, 2021).
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To obtain accurate and appropriate articles, several stages as part of the screening of the original articles were applied using the SLR. The main screening process was dependent on the designated inclusion and exclusion criteria shown in Table 1
Main Criterion Inclusion Criterion Exclusion Criterion
Year of Publication January 2012 December 2021 Other than January 2012 December 2021
Type of Publication Empirical Articles Other than Empirical Articles Language English Other than English
The two inclusion criteria were (1) within the time frame from January 2012 until December 2021, and (2) empirical articles written in English. The two exclusion criteria were (1) studies outside of the time frame from January 2012 until December 2021, and (2) non empirical studies in a language other than English The next strategy was to remove past articles and studies that recurred through the method of title reading and abstract reading. The final analysis was carried out through a full and in depth reading of the remaining articles to remove any articles that were not relevant to the requirements of this study. A total of seven articles were selected based on the search, screening, and analysis processes. The seven selected articles are shown in Table 2.
Authors & Year Country Study
Bardach, Rushby, & Klassen (2021) England The Selection Gap in Teacher Education: Adverse Effects of Ethnicity, Gender, and Socio Economic Status on the Situational Judgement Test Performance
Bardach et al. (2021) England Using video and text based situational judgement tests for teacher selection: A quasi experiment exploring the relations between the test format, subgroup differences, and applicant reactions.
Klassen et al. (2020) England Can we improve how we screen applicants for initial teacher education?
Chao et al. (2019) Taiwan Construction of situational judgment tests for teachers.
Al Hashmi & Klassen (2019) Oman Developing a situational judgement test for admissionintoinitialteachereducationinOman:An exploratory study.
Klassen et al. (2016) England Developing a Proof of Concept Selection Test for Entry into Primary Teacher Education Programs.
Klassen et al. (2014) England Applicant reactions to a situational judgment test used for selection in initial teacher training
The main objective of this review was to identify and analyse the characteristics of non academic interpersonal and intrapersonal attributes as part of teacher
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selection using the SJT instrument. A total of seven research articles related to the topic of the SJT and teacher selection were identified. Studies on the measurement of non academic attributes have attracted a high level of interest among researchers around the world, particularly those looking into personnel selection. This is because non academic attributes such as integrity, empathy, and resilience are believed to be important in practice (Patterson et al., 2012). However, studies on the use of the SJT as a teacher selection mechanism are still new and have been rarely carried out
This literature review makes a valuable contribution to other researchers by giving them a critical assessment of the existing research on related topics. The findings may explain a more critical perspective on the impact of the SJT on non academic attributes as an indicator that can be considered continuous and useful. Such a review has been previously conducted by Patterson et al. (2012) but the review was only limited to the years of publication between 1990 to 2010. The review also used other databases such as MEDLINE, PsycINFO, BIOME, and BioMed Central. Moreover, the review did not focus on specific areas of selection and the findings did not list the areas of education, particularly those involving teacher selection. Klassen and Kim (2019) also conducted a meta analysis looking into the method and mode of teacher selection. However, the results did not list any studies using the SJT Additionally, Webster et al. (2020) conducted a meta analysis of the validity of SJT users in personnel selection. However, the review only involved the medical field. Therefore, the current review focuses on the SJT and only involves the selection of teachers to assist other researchers embarking on studies related to the SJT and teacher selection specifically. This review can also provide a clear picture to other researchers regarding the popularity of non academic attributes which are often the choice of researchers looking into the context of personnel selection in the teaching profession
In teacher selection, the three main aspects are measured as the selection aspects, namely intellectual, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Intellectual constitutes the academic attributes, whereas interpersonal and intrapersonal constitute the non academic attributes. The review of the literature, specifically regarding the analysis of non academic attributes, has always been the concern of researchers around the world. The analysis could help other researchers to evaluate the attributes that are actively or poorly used when measuring the performance of test candidates (Patterson & Driver, 2018) The findings obtained from this review focus on the patterns of the attributes that researchers are interested based on the SJT instrument in teacherselection. The measured interpersonal and intrapersonal attributes in teacher selection using the SJT are as shown in Table 3.
Authors & Year Interpersonal Intrapersonal
Bardach, Rushby, & Klassen (2021)
Not discussed • Conscientiousness
Mind set
Emotion regulation
Bardach et al. (2021) • Organisation • Planning
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Adaptability
Resilience
Authors & Year Interpersonal Intrapersonal
• Empathy
• Communication
Klassen et al. (2020)
• Organisation
• Empathy
Chao et al. (2019)
• Classroom management
• Teaching
• Relationships with colleagues
• Parent teacher communication
• Counselling
• Contingency
• Conscientiousness
• Mind set
• Emotion regulation
• Adaptability
• Conscientiousness
• Mind set growth
• Emotion regulation
Not discussed
Al Hashmi & Klassen (2019)
Klassen et al. (2016)
• Communication
• Organisation
• Planning
• Organisation
• Planning
• Empathy
• Communication
Klassen et al. (2014)
• Organisation
• Planning
• Empathy
• Communication
• Resilience
• Adaptability
• Professional ethics
• Enthusiasm and motivation
• Adaptability
• Resilience
• Adaptability
• Resilience
Table 3 shows a list of the measured non academic interpersonal and intrapersonal attributes based on the previous studies. Five studies have measured interpersonal and intrapersonal attributes, namely Al Hashmi and Klassen (2019), Bardach et al. (2021), Klassen et al. (2014), Klassen et al. (2016), and Klassen et al. (2020). Only one study measured intrapersonal attributes, namely that of Bardach, Rushby, and Klassen (2021), while one study examined interpersonal attributes, specifically the work of Chao et al. (2019)
5.1. Interpersonal
Golubovich et al. (2017) defined “interpersonal” as the perception and processing of a cognitive interaction as well as the selection of behaviours to provide appropriate responses. This statement is also supported by Bedwell et al. (2014) who stated that “interpersonal” is the concept of there being multiple dimensions between an individual’s cognitive and behavioural aspects Meanwhile, Pavlidou et al. (2020) explained that “interpersonal” is a process of successful communication and interaction with others. In short, interpersonal shows there to be an active relationship between cognition and behaviour that effectively highlights the external characteristics of an individual Table 4 shows a summary
of the findings of the previous studies that measured interpersonal attributes in the selection of trainee teachers using the SJT
Table 4. Summary of the Findings on Interpersonal Attribute Authors (Year)
Interpersonal Attribute
Bardach et al. (2021) Klassen et al. (2020) Chao et al. (2019) Al Hashmi & Klassen (2019) Klassen et al. (2016) Klassen et al. (2014) Total
Organisation x x x x x 5 Planning x x x x x 5 Communication x x x x x 5 Empathy x x x x 4 Relationships with colleagues x 1 Teaching x 1 Counselling x 1 Contingency x 1
Based on Table 4, eight interpersonal attributes were obtained based on six past studies, namely organisation, planning, empathy, communication, teaching, relationship with colleagues, counselling, and contingency. Four studies measured the attributes of organisation and planning (Al Hashmi & Klassen, 2019; Bardach et al., 2021; Klassen et al., 2014, 2016). Organisation and planning were combined in these studies, focusing on the ability to effectively organise and manage the time and planning skills of the organisation (Klassen et al., 2014) These attributes were used to improve the positive learning interactions with the students. Meanwhile, Klassen et al. (2020) measured only the organisational attribute and Chao et al. (2019) had only measured planning focused on classroom management.
Three of the previous studies measured both attributes of communication and empathy (Bardach et al., 2021; Klassen et al., 2014, 2016). Communication and empathy were combined in the studies focused on the ability to listen actively and where an open dialogue with students and colleagues was involved (Klassen et al., 2014) In addition, communication and empathy focus on the ability to adapt the communication style used and the nature of the dialogue accordingly. Meanwhile, Al Hashmi and Klassen (2019) only focused on communication and Klassen et al. (2020) focused only on empathy Chao et al. (2019) divided communication into two, namely communication with parents and relationships with colleagues. In addition, they also measured other interpersonal attributes, namely relationships with colleagues, teaching, counselling, and contingency.
Four popular interpersonal attributes, specifically organisation, planning, empathy, and communication, were explored by Klassen et al. (2014). The first group of researchers conducted a SJT study looking into teacher selection and
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three more studies similarly used the same attributes (Bardach et al., 2021; Klassen et al., 2016, 2020) but based the context on different situations According to Klassen et al. (2014), the selection of attributes is based on the situation and background of the place according to the contextual environment of the school. All situations in the SJT were built through discussions with specialist teachers who worked closely with trainee teachers using critical incident techniques.
Organisation, planning, communication, and empathy are the most popular interpersonal attributes based on past studies. Organisation and planning are among the requirements of job marketability (Zakaria et al., 2014). Both attributes are also used as key benchmarks to ensure that the personnel selected are of good quality, and the same goes for empathy and communication. Communication includes many facets that reflect the ability of the personnel when engaging in a two way interaction with others. These two attributes are closely intertwined. Good communication is seen to increase a person's level of empathy (Kataoka et al., 2018) Therefore, past studies that combine communication and empathy as one attribute are appropriate given how the two attributes are closely intertwined.
Chao et al. (2019) used the highest number of attributes, namely planning, communication, relationship with colleagues, teaching, counselling, and contingency. They listed the attributes based on the needs in the field of Taiwanese education, specifically the profession of teaching in Taiwan. The attributes are classroom management, teaching, relationships with colleagues, parent teacher communication, counselling, and contingency. These attributes were selected because teachers have very complex jobs Teachers need to keep up to date with the latest curriculum, motivate their students to learn, and actively participate in the learning process. In addition, teachers also need to encourage learning and prepare the students to be productive The complexity of the teachers’ duties should be considered when developing better measurement tools regarding admission to the training programme. The research team identified attributes to build the situation in the SJT which was implemented through a discussion involving 60 experienced teachers in Taiwan. All of the situations developed were cross checked with education experts to ensure that the items were realistic and reflect the real situation.
In short, the measured interpersonal attributes are of urgent interest and are needed in the teaching profession on both a global and local level. The selection of these interpersonal attributes is also based on the needs that have been used in the selection of other professions such as among doctors, the military, and nursing. However, among the eight listed attributes, four of them were not usually used by the authors except for Chao et al. (2019), namely a relationship with their colleagues, teaching, counselling, and contingency. Thus, future researchers can use the existing attributes or other unexplored attributes in teacher selection. This will also provide new insights and goals for other researchers to explore new attributes in the context of the teaching profession
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Sambaiah and Aneel (2016) defined “intrapersonal” as personality, attitude, self concept, self management ability, and integrity. This statement was also supported by Park et al. (2017) in that “intrapersonal” denotes self awareness that requires an accurate assessment of one's feelings, interests, and values Table 5 shows a summary of the findings of the past studies that have measured intrapersonal attributes as part of teacher selection using the SJT. Seven intrapersonal attributes were obtained from the six previous studies: conscientiousness, mindset, emotional regulation, adaptability, enthusiasm and motivation, resilience, and professional ethics
Authors (Year)
Interpersonal Attributes Bardach, Rushby, & Klassen (2021) Bardach et al. (2021) Klassen et al. (2020) Al Hashmi & Klassen (2019) Klassen e t al. (2016) Klassen et al. (2014) Total
Adaptability x x x x x 5 Resilience x x x x 4 Conscientiousness x x x 3 Mind set x x x 3 Emotion regulation x x x 3 Professional Ethics x 1 Enthusiasm & Motivation x 1
A total of six previous studies selected the adaptability attribute (Bardach, Rushby & Klassen, 2021; Bardach et al., 2021; Klassen et al., 2020; Al Hashmi & Klassen, 2019; Klassen et al., 2016; Klassen et al., 2014;). Adaptability is defined the ability to make changes according to a particular suitability based on a particular situation (Klassen et al., 2014) Meanwhile, Ryan and Ployhart (2014) defined adaptability as a person's ability, skills, inclination, readiness, and motivation to change or adapt to different tasks, as well as the social and environmental features. In the teaching profession context, adaptability is needed to test a teacher's ability to change their teaching style in response to various situations in the classroom. Hence, researchers have long highlighted adaptability as an important attribute to be measured.
Resilience is the second most selected intrapersonal attribute, featuring in four studies (Al Hashmi & Klassen, 2019; Bardach et al., 2021; Klassen et al., 2014,2016). Resilience denotes an individual’s ability to stay calm, stable, and focused while under pressure (Klassen et al., 2014) Leys et al. (2020) defined resilience as a dynamic process that allows for a positive adaptation in the context of significant difficulties. In the context of the teaching profession, resilience is always necessary in the selection of personnel because a teacher needs to be able to remain professional when it comes to balancing his or her duties and personal life. Thus,
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resilience is an important attribute for teachers when facing challenges involving their duties and personal life
Three of the previous studies have focused on the conscientiousness attribute (Bardach, Rushby, & Klassen, 2021; Bardach et al., 2021; Klassen et al., 2020). Conscientiousness refers to the stable feelings, thoughts, and behaviours that make up a unique individual (Turiano, 2020) Meanwhile, Stoll et al. (2020) defined conscientiousness as the tendency to be meticulous, punctual, and to follow the rules. The conscientiousness attribute was chosen in past studies because the teachers had high scores in conscientiousness, particularly those involving situations in the classroom (Klassen & Kim, 2019) The teaching profession requires a high level of conscientiousness, especially among the teachers who teach at an early education level. They are faced with children under the age of seven who have self management difficulties. Therefore, such teachers should have a high level of conscientiousness to enable them to manage the children as well as to help the children manage themselves
Other than conscientiousness, the “mindset” attribute was also selected by three of the previous studies (Bardach, Rushby, & Klassen, 2021; Bardach et al., 2021; Klassen et al., 2020) Mindset denotes the formation process of different meanings and goals, motivations, and behaviours (Schroder et al., 2017) Seaton (2018) explained that mindset is an individual's view of intelligence that can be developed and expanded. The mindset attribute was selected as one of the target attributes due to the teachers’ belief in the nature of learning and the flexibility of the student’s abilities which can impact the teachers’ teaching as well as the students’ performance and self confidence. Hence, mindset is important to teach students who have various levels of intelligence. Teachers should also have a good mindset as well so then the teaching and learning process can be implemented smoothly
Additionally, the “emotion regulation” attribute was selected by three of the previous studies (Bardach, Rushby, & Klassen, 2021; Bardach et al., 2021; Klassen et al., 2020) According to Aldrup et al. (2020), “emotion regulation” refers to the process in which an individual influences his or her emotions and the expression of emotions. Meanwhile, Koschmieder and Neubauer (2021) defined emotion regulation as the ability to modify emotions through self control strategies. In the teaching profession context, teachers must deal with emotional situations in their daily working lives. Any work with such a high consumption of emotional energy can be burdensome and result in emotional exhaustion. Emotional fatigue is one of the main elements of burnout, especially in the workplace. Burnout is considered to be the result of an ineffective response strategy that results in constant stress that can lead to more chronic problems
Al Hashmi and Klassen (2019) selected the “professional ethics” attribute as well as the enthusiasm and motivation attribute in their study. Professional ethics is divided into two, namely ethics and professionalism. Ethics denote a moral value or behavioural principle that an individual or a group holds (Ahmad & Mat Zin, 2001). Peterson and Arthur (2021) defined “ethics” as a moral principle that deals
with the advantages or disadvantages of a habit or temperament. Meanwhile, “professionalism” is defined as a privately held belief about one's conduct as a member of a profession (Burmeister, 2017) Therefore, professional ethics is the moral principle and belief of an individual or a group of employees when doing a job. Correspondingly, professional ethics was selected as an attribute to ensure that the personnel selected are individuals who have good morals and adhere to the discipline of the employment profession in question. In the teaching profession context, professional ethics is referred to as a moral quality that has a direct connection to any type of classroom practice, including caring about the students, thoroughness, determination, and a willingness to cooperate with colleagues
Enthusiasm and motivation are closely intertwined. Enthusiasm can be defined as the pleasure, excitement, and joy that individual experiences while doing a job (Lazarides et al., 2018) Heckhausen and Heckhausen (2018) defined motivation as activating the life orientation towards positively assessed goals Meanwhile, Tohidi and Jabbari (2012) described motivation as empowering the personality to achieve a high level of performance and being able to overcome any obstacles to change. In short, enthusiasm and motivation are related to the positive qualities that a person needs to have while doing something to produce a positive work result. Both enthusiasm and motivation are important to ensure that teachers are always passionate about teaching and can provide more support to their students. They can also have a positive impact on the students’ motivation. Therefore, enthusiasm and motivation are qualities that personnel need to demonstrate to establish credibility with the recruitment organisations (Bougie & Sekaran, 2020)
The five main intrapersonal attributes that the previous researchers have most often selected are adaptability, resilience, conscientiousness, mindset, and emotion regulation All five intrapersonal attributes were selected owing to the interest in choosing competent and qualified personnel to become future teachers. To meet the challenges in the education field through teaching and learning, this situation requires teachers with high flexibility and resilience when facing any situation so then education can be delivered in various circumstances This exerts a strong influence on the empathy of teachers based on the high level of conscientiousness needed. This is as well as a stable mind and approach to emotion regulation so then any challenges encountered can be overcome. Hence, the aforementioned five attributes are appropriate to ensure that the selected personnel can become competent teachers to meet the global challenges.
This review reveals some of the commonly utilised characteristics that have been used as interpersonal and interpersonal attributes. The popularity of the chosen attributes were determined based on the continuation of the research as well as according to the locality context. However, there are still unexplored characteristics that could still aid in predicting individual quality as a schoolteacher. The novelty of this review is that it provides an in depth focus on the non academic attributes measured for the selection of schoolteachers using the SJT. The previous reviews conducted did not focus on the use of the SJT
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instrument. Instead, they were more generic and made it difficult for the researchers to relate to the issues at hand. This review will make it easier for future researchers to obtain direct concentrated information. For future studies, the unexplored attribute judgements can be employed as the predictors of teacher selection because each of them has unique features that need to be considered. This review also anticipates that with the continued research focus on ways to improve teacher quality, more attention will be given to the characteristics chosen based on the policy practiced and its associated requirements. Additionally, future SJT reviews can be further explored in terms of item development, scoring, opportunities, and contributions. As recommended, researchers should also explore the highlights of other studies through in depth research based on related experts, screening articles in other foreign languages, and using a wider database
We appreciate the financial support provided by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) as part of the FPEND Research Grant Data (Grant no: GG 2021 K021854). We are thankful to those who provided insights and expertise for inclusion and consideration within this study. We would like to thank all experts for their constructive feedback as part of improving this manuscript. The authors would also like to thank Ms Madihah Tan Sri Dr Abdullah for always giving her full support and encouragement during the writing process
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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research
Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 281 308, May 2022
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.5.15
Received Jan 6, 2022; Revised May 11, 2022; Accepted May 25, 2022
Nurshuzishafiqah Ishak
Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
Learning & Teaching Innovation Research Centre, Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
Nabilah Othman
Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
Abstract. The use of technology in education has been an ongoing debate among educators. Although educators are highly encouraged to integrate technology in the classroom, they are still sceptical to fully utilize them. This changed drastically during the COVID 19 pandemic in 2020 which forced educators and learners to rely heavily on the use of technology to support learning. This paper identifies teachers' technology usage in the classroom, their perceptions on the use of technology in the classroom andthechallengesof integratingtechnology inteachingandlearning. We employed a quantitative research approach with survey design and non probability snowball sampling. To collect the data, a questionnaire was distributed to 78 primary and secondary school teachers. We found that teachers in that particular area mostly used smart phones to access internet and conduct lessons due to the limited availability of devices from the students’ end, internet connectivity, and limited instructional time. Despite the challenges presented, they believed the importance of technology in education, and it helped enhance students' digital competence and responsible use. This research, thus, present an insight to the educational authorities in Malaysia of the general perceptions of teachers on the technology used during the pandemic and in turn, will increase digital access and awareness for a better quality of technology integration in teaching and learning.
Keywords: teaching and learning; technology integration; technology use; pandemic
* Corresponding author: Rosseni Din; rosseni@ukm.edu.my
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY NC ND 4.0).
The importance of the use of technology in education is widely spread. Following the Malaysia Education Blueprint, the education system has aspired Malaysia to better prepare Malaysian children for the needs of the twenty first century to raise the international education standards in the country. Even in early childhood education, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the Fred Rogers Centre for Early Learning and Children's Media agreed that children needed to be equipped with technological knowledge from a young age (Schomburg et al., 2012). By preparing them with the ethical and positive exposure, they could support learning and relationships.
The former education minister, Maszlee Malik encouraged teachers to utilize any available platform as it could enhance learning experience (Bernama, 2019). He also mentioned that teachers and school management should play their key roles as agents of change in this ICT rich environment to keep up with the current changes (Bernama, 2019). The Malaysian education system has supported the use of technologies in the classroom to enhance students' learning experiences. Furthermore, ICT infrastructure, technology based materials, and Internet connectivity have been broadly improved in certain areas in Malaysia mainly in the city and urban areas.
Although educators were highly encouraged to integrate technology in the classroom, teachers were sceptical to fully utilize them. UNESCO (2013) reported 80% of teachers in Malaysia used ICT less than one hour per week and mostly used it for word processing applications. Overall, there were 57% teachers who used technology for education and only 39% of them admitted to not receiving any training in using technology ((Ebrahimi and Yeo, 2018). However, this situation drastically changed due to the COVID 19 pandemic outbreak in 2020. On March 26, 2020, UNESCO announced 1.6 billion students from 165 countries were out of school (Wan, 2020). The ministry of education of the 165 countries decided to shut down school operations as a control measure to minimize the transmission of the virus. Education leaders had to resort to multiple strategies and the most effective mechanism to assure learning continues with the use of digital technology.
This situation forced teachers, educators, and learners to rely heavily on the use of technology to support the teaching and learning process. This was especially significant for lower education as it previously revolved heavily around face to face communication with some integration of technology. Meanwhile, for decades, some of Malaysia’s technology forward universities and higher institutions already have a rich online bank of teaching and learning materials. Furthermore, online learning posed less challenge to adult learners than to the children of lower education. Before the pandemic, lessons were in the form of hands on learning with the integration of technology but due to the first school closure from March until July 22, 2020, technology in the form of online learning and classroom was used as the main medium of instruction and learning. In April of the same year, in response to the demand arising from concerns of the teachers,
neccessary steps were taken to ensure students can still learn despite not being able to come to school physically.
Covid 19 pandemic has changed educational perspectives in Malaysia. Most countries had to close educational institutions to prevent the spread of the Covid 19 virus (Md Shah et al., 2020). The effects of the pandemic make changes and shape new environments by contributing to the increased use of technology for teaching and learning. It has changed the use of technology among students and teachers when they were forced to use technology when the school was closed and there was no better, easier, and cheaper way to deliver education except through online teaching and learning via video, Facebook, Zoom, and other computer mediated communication devices and platforms. In consequence, this posed challenges for the teachers to navigate coursework through online and remote learning. This study gives an insight to the education authorities and people of interest on teachers' perceptions as well as the challenges towards technology use in teaching and learning during the pandemic.
The research objectives are to (i) identify teachers’ technology usage in teaching and learning during the pandemic, (ii) identify teachers’ perceptions of their level of technology use in teaching and learning during the pandemic, and (iii) determine teachers’ perceptions on the challenges of integrating technology in teaching and learning during the pandemic. The structure of the paper includes (i) a literature review revolving around four subtopics; technology in education to give an overview of how technology has become the go-to medium to continue teaching and learning; teachers’ current perceptions in the use of technology in teaching and learning; the challenges of integrating technology in teaching and learning during the pandemic and; the situation where the pandemic covid 19 and school lock down has changes the use of technology in Malaysian education, (ii) the methodology in which this research has employed a quantitative research approach with survey design, (iii) the findings and (iv) a discussion revolving around the three research objectives.
2.1
Malaysian citizens were not aware of how deadly the virus was as there was no intention of banning travellers from China on January 25, 2020 (Md Shah et al., 2020). However, the increase in the number of positive COVID 19 cases in Malaysia on March 8, 2020, caused Malaysians to panic and consequently, the government took various steps to calm the masses. On March 18, 2020, a Movement Control Order (MCO) was implemented resulting in schools' closure as a preventive and control measure of the virus that had hit the country (UNICEF, 2020) causing billions of students losing access to education (Wan, 2020). Malaysia was not the only country affected by this predicament. The Ministry of Education (MoE) of China had also closed all educational facilities to control the spread of the virus (Yang, 2020) alongside the MoE in the forty six countries (as of March 12, 2020) resulting in disrupted classes (Huang et al., 2020).
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Technology is indeed no longer a tool used to facilitate learning but has become the main medium of instruction and learning to support flexible online education in the event of school closure (Huang et al., 2020). In the period of crisis, the education system's solution to the most effective ways to keep going is by turning to technology and online education mediums (Mavrou, 2020). China being the most applauded country regarding their quick response towards the unfortunate event has disclosed a handbook on facilitating flexible learning during this time of concern. The ministry launched "Disrupted Classes, Undisrupted Learning" signalling that even through the crisis, the learning would still go on through flexible online medium to over 270 million students from their homes (Huang et al., 2020).
In Malaysia, amid the concerns for how the learning would take place, UNICEF has helped the MoE to consult with teachers on their needs to carry out the initiatives through a survey with 86% indicating they needed support to deliver distance learning. Thus, the ministry launched an online teaching and learning platform nationwide to equip teachers with the skills and knowledge of digital and distance learning. Furthermore, an online teaching and learning platform of the MoE's TV Pendidikan (EduwebTV), hosts on demand content for Pre Kindergarten to secondary school students. This platform has kept the continuation of learning for the three million children (UNICEF, 2020). The online platform consists of current updates from the ministry, digital textbooks for students across all levels, and most critically, the Teacher Digital Learning Community which assists and equips teachers with the skills and knowledge to deliver an effective and efficient distance class through a five module online teacher training course (UNICEF, 2020). As of 8 July 2020, around 24,000 teachers from over 1,600 schools have participated in the online teacher training.
The sudden change of medium of learning through technology has increased the government and private sectors' awareness on the flexibility for teachers to choose the most suitable solution for a given context and maximize students' learning experiences. Teachers were no longer limited to use fixed tools and applications but rather they took consideration of the student's accessibility to the online learning platform, as it might not be available to all students with economical or technical constraints (UNICEF, 2020). The current situation has forced many parties to provide plenty of opportunities for teachers and educators to connect, interact and provide feedback. As the learning program was self paced, it allows teachers to select modules according to their needs and schedules (UNICEF, 2020) and has created opportunities for Malaysian researchers to play their part by developing different technologies to help Malaysians face the pandemic (Md Shah et al., 2020).
Despite the abundance of strategies implemented to ensure the continuation of education during the pandemic, there were unfortunate setbacks affecting students and teachers likewise. For example, in a report by Masatienwong and Nongtrud (2021), the effects of the pandemic towards Thai children and youth were significant as the problems and challenges have increased significantly over
the two years of pandemic especially in less developed areas and countries where the discrepancies between people of different socioeconomics and geographical backgrounds were large. This include the high rate of poverty caused by the educational inequality, the closure of schools led to the trap of learning, more students were out of school, learning loss caused learning discontinuity, technological readiness, content readiness and educational disruption. They further noted the lack of accessibility to technological devices and internet played a role.
However, Sung et al. (2015) had mentioned that insufficient preparation of the teachers persisted as one of the largest obstacles to implement effective technology integration in the teaching and learning process. The OECD (2020) has also listed four challenges in implementing online teaching and distance education which are (i) Balance digital with screen free activities, (ii) Keep a pulse on students’ emotional health, (iii) Access to devices, (iv) Manage access to IT infrastructure.
Based on four challengesin implementing online teaching and distance education, teachers would need to balance digital with screen free activities because if online lectures were to replace school hours, it would affect students' health either physically or mentally. They also pointed out that teachers would need to recognize the importance of keeping a pulse on students' emotional health as this crisis might be unsettling and disorientating for students. As students came from different socio-economic backgrounds, access to devices may vary for each student, and thus, teachers would need to consider the possibility of students not having the devices to carry on with the workload. Meanwhile, teachers would also need to manage access to IT infrastructure as having students connect at the same time and place may be a problem for certain students. Abdul Hamid and Khalidi (2020) state that the reality was quite different from what teachers, students, and parents were used to and everybody was still grappling with e learning. While many parties in Malaysia have put an effort to support these abrupt changes, the responsibility fell heavily onto the teachers.
The teachers' world view towards digital technologies were influenced by their thoughts and beliefs about teaching and learning Salavati (2016) noted that teachers wouldfind it easier to adopt and use innovations if they believe that these integrations can help in the learning outcome. However, pre pandemic research showed that some educators were still sceptical of making full use of the available technologies even though students were showing readiness towards mobile learning with 70% showed a willingness to learn anytime and anywhere (Rahamat, 2019).
Rahamat (2019) in her studies of designing mobile learning in Malaysian secondary schools for students revealed that students wanted to use their own mobile devices as the learning tool such as laptops (75%), smart phones (14%), and hand phones (11%). This further supports Pine Thomas affirmation that to remove the teachers' barriers to the integration of technology in the classroom and
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for effective integration of technology to take place, teachers needed to develop a paradigm shift in their thinking (Pine Thomas, 2017).
The pandemic acted as a catalyst to the change of mindset that teachers had towards online education when they were forced to adopt remote and distance learning and utilize any approach appropriate to continue teaching and learning. Gunjan & Priyamvada (2020) reported that 45% of schoolteachers agree online methods provide positive benefits to students compared to the traditional methods. 77% teachers believed that students were able to concentrate more and revise lecture at their own pace by doing it through online media teaching. Furthermore, educators also believed that the integration of technology in teaching and learning such as the usage of video in edutainment helped to improve student’s concentration (Ab Razak & Din, 2020). This provides a positive outlook on teachers' perceptions of the use of technology in teaching and learning.
In China, as a response to the epidemic prevention and control, teachers exhibit a willingness to support online teaching with 52.12% of the 15,438 valid responses strongly supporting the initiatives (Yang, 2020). This can also be influenced by the teacher's readiness to deliver online teaching as the study found that most teachers already had experience with e learning platforms, which makes the sudden change more endurable (Yang, 2020).
The COVID 19 pandemic has changed the course of our thinking about how the education sector need to be improved and operated (The World Bank, 2020). Educators all over the world had to carry the burden of the entire education and training system on their shoulders. They needed to cope with ministerial directives that were forcing and expecting the immediate result to end programs. They teach in abnormal contexts during this emergency and lacking adequate tools and resources in unfriendly ecosystems (Lifelong Learning Platform, 2020).
Without the support from the agencies around the education sector and the government, it was a toll on teachers' mental health as the idea of education going digital was not simple (Agnoletto & Queiroz, 2020). In this troubling predicament, going digital has complex ingredients as there was a sense of urgency, unprepared readiness to deal with Virtual Management System (VMS) and online teaching tools, digital fluency, and the requisite of dealing with fear and boredom of social isolation (Agnoletto & Queiroz, 2020).
An instrument to measure the respondents’ perceptions was adapted from various studies (Bailey & Lee, 2020; Vu et al., 2020; Gunjan & Priyamvada, 2020; Hoffmann & Ramirez, 2018; Loague et al., 2018; Aminu & Abu Samah, 2019; Rasmitadila et al., 2020; Vassallo & Warren, 2018). A content validity was done with a language expert, an expert in the field of measurement and technology, one in the field of resource and information technology, and a senior assistant of a secondary school. They were given information about the study aim and objectives with the instrument to review. The language experts also used technology in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) and was involved
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in research in the subject area. Face validity was also conducted before the real study to ensure enough time were given to the respondents to answer the questionnaire and all items in the questionnaire can easily be understood. Appendix 1 has the first draft of the questionnaire.
We employed a quantitative research approach with survey design. The rationale for using this method was to have an efficient means of gathering data by asking a specific, concise question to obtain data that were measurable and observable on the variables (Creswell, 2012). The revised and validated questionnaire was used to collect data. The experts examined and verified the questionnaire to ensure that it fulfilled the aim of this study.
The questionnaire comprised 44 items divided into four sections; Section A (i) teachers’ demographics profile; Section B (ii) technology usage; Section C (iii) perception of the use of technology and Section D (iv) challenges in integrating technology in the classroom during the pandemic. The participants answered the questions based on the 5 point Likert scale level of agreement: 1 strongly disagree, 2 disagree, 3 partially agree, 4 agree and 5 strongly agree. The questionnaire was originally adapted from English sources but given that the respondents may not have English as their first language, the researchers opted to translate and provide a bilingual questionnaire, which were in Bahasa Melayu (Malay language) and English to accommodate non English speakers. It was developed and distributed through a self administered web based electronic data collection, Google Form
The reliability test is a method for checking a scale’s internal consistency. Cronbach’s alpha is used as the indicator, the value of which should be above 0.7. The overall Cronbach’s alpha value for the instrument was 0.70 indicating an acceptable internal consistency (Table 1).
Table 1: Reliability Statistics
Section Cronbach’s Alpha N of Items B 0.46 18 C 0.87 10 D 0.83 10
We employed snowball sampling, a non probability sampling method. Polit & Beck (2006) described snowball sampling, also known as network sampling or chain sampling, as a convenience sampling variation. They explained that early sample members were requested to refer others who fit the eligibility criteria in this method. This strategy is most utilised when the population contains people who have difficult to identify features (e.g., people who are afraid of hospitals). It allowed us to continue to recruit participants until an acceptable number is achieved through a referral from one respondent to another. For this study, the population was Malaysian teachers and the sample consisted of 410,471 primary and secondary school teachers. Based on Krejcie & Morgan (1970), the sample size for population of 75,000 to 1,000,000 is 382 to 384 with a 95% confidence level and
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5% on error estimate. The Figure 1 below show the Formula for determining sample size from Krejcie & Morgan (1970)
s = X2 NP (1 P) ÷ d2 (N 1) + X2 P (1 P)
s = required sample size
X2 = the table value of chi square for 1 degree of freedom at the desired confidence level (3.841)
N = the population size
P = the population proportion (assumed to be .50 since this would provide the maximum sample size)
d = the degree of accuracy expressed as a proportion (.05)
However, due to the constraint of time and resource, we surveyed only 150 teachers ranging from primary to secondary school. Even so, we were only able to collect 78 due to limitations in terms of time and resources. From the 78 responses, there were altogether 31 secondary school teachers and 46 primary school teachers with one teacher teaching in both schools. Although generalization could not be made with only 78 participants as opposed to 384 or even 150, the findings can still be used to infer same feature of teachers in Malaysia.
The questionnaire was distributed during Phase 2 of conditional MCO from 4th May 2020 to 9th June 2020 and Phase 3 of recovery MCO from 10th June to 31st December 2020 through Google Form to two teachers’ community Facebook groups, TcherCollection TC and CikguKongsi. However, reluctance of the members to participate in such survey was a limitation as there was little number of respondents from the groups. Hence, we distributed the questionnaire across private and public groups through messaging applications, WhatsApp and Telegram focusing on referral of respondents to gather more responses. To ensure that there was no double submission, the respondents had to sign into their email and were only allowed to enter one response. Afterwards, we screened through each response to ensure the data fulfilled the criteria. The recorded responses were fed into the IBM SPSS Statistics version 22 software to be analysed and coded through descriptive statistics. We measured the frequency and the central tendency mainly on the means and standard deviation to simplify the display of information in a data set in the form of graphs, charts and tabulation.
The method of distributing the questionnaire and analysing the data without any physical contact was good and applicable in the times of the pandemic but there were limited number of participants from our targeted groups. Since we used snowball sampling, there was no guarantee about the representativeness of samples as it was less possible to determine the actual pattern of distribution of population. Therefore, it was challenging to determine the sampling error and make statistical inferences from the sample to the population due to the absence of random selection of samples.
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We first present the findings on the demographic profile of the respondents; then the extent of technology usage; followed by teachers’ perception on technology use; and finally, the challenges of integrating technology in teaching and learning during the pandemic.
Table 2 illustrates the demographic profile of the respondents. Most of the respondents are female and most have more than 10 years of teaching experience The highest level of education is bachelor’s degree and most respondents teach at primary school, compared to secondary school, while only two teachers teaching at post secondary school. The respondents are allowed to choose more than one subject that they are currently teaching and many of them are teaching languages Lastly, most respondents are teaching in rural area. The demographic profile helps in giving insight and understanding on the respondents’ background.
Table 2: Demographic profile of respondents
Category Item Frequency %
Gender Male 15 19.2 Female 62 79.5 Prefer not to be disclosed 1 1.3 Teaching experience Less than 3 years 4 5.1 From 3 to 5 years 6 7.7 From 5 to 10 years 14 17.9 More than 10 years 54 69.2
Highest level of education Diploma 2 2.6 Bachelor’s Degree 69 88.5 Master’s Degree 7 9.0 Doctoral Degree 0 0.0 Other 0 0.0
Grade level that they are currently teaching Primary (Standard 1 to 6) 47 60.3 Lower secondary (Form 1 to 3) 20 25.6 Upper secondary (Form 4 and 5) 24 30.8 Post secondary (Form 6) 2 2.6
Subject that they are currently teaching Languages 40 51.2 Mathematics 11 14.1 Sciences 15 19.2 Vocational and Technical Subjects 6 7.7 Health and Sport Sciences 3 3.8 Domestic Science 0 0 History 5 6.4 Geography 0 0 Islamic Studies 15 19.2 Moral Education 7 9 Other 14 17.9
Area of schools they are currently teaching Rural 40 51.3 Urban 38 48.7
This section reports the findings on the extent of teachers' use of technology. In this part of the questionnaire, respondents could choose more than one item. For the devices used to access the internet, teachers can use multiple devices ranging from laptops, smart phones, tablets, Smart TV, and video game consoles although the findings in Figure 2 indicates that smart phones are commonly use possibly due to the ease of conduct during the lesson as teachers mostly use messaging applications. Furthermore, the most used medium, teachers used to conduct the asynchronous lesson is WhatsApp and Google Meet for synchronous lesson.
Teachers' Technology Usage Percentage (%)
Medium for Synchronous Video Lessons
Medium for Asynchronous Lesson
Device Used to Access the Internet
WhatsApp Video Call
Other
YouTube Live
Google Hangout
Instagram Live
Telegram Group
Discussion boards/forum
Blogs/weblogs
Not Applicable
Wikis
Laptop
SmartTV
Video game console
1.30 3.80 12.80 17.90 91.00 93.60 0 0 0 1.3 3.8 12.8 12.8 20.5 44.90 94.9 0 1.3 2.6 2.6 10.3 10.3 15.4 17.9 28.2 55.1
0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00 50.00 60.00 70.00 80.00 90.00100.00
Meanwhile, Figure 3 illustrates the platform teachers used to access digital resources and learning materials. The data reveals that most of them prefer to use Google classroom and Facebook over any other platforms.
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Platform
Facebook Google Classroom
Other
DeLIMA
EduwebTV
Microsoft Office 365
Apple Teacher Learning Center
Figure
1.3
0
16.7
24.4
51.3
47.4
42.3
51.3 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Percentage (%)
This research also shows the frequency of technology usage by purpose illustrated in Table 3. This is shown by how often they instruct students to use educational technology by giving specific purpose. The data reveals that technology is commonly used for entertainment ranging from daily usage and three to four times a week for specific skills and information purpose. Many of them used it for specific skills, creative and information purpose for once or twice a week. Besides that, for specific and entertainment purpose for two or three times a week. At the same time, most of them only used technology in classroom for creative activity once a month and less.
Table 3: Frequency (f) of Technology Usage by Purpose
Purpose Daily Three or four times a week
Once or twice a week
Two or three times a week
Once a month or less f % f % f % f % f %
Specific skills 6 12.8 12 25.5 11 23.4 10 21.3 8 18.0
Keyboarding 6 12.8 10 21.3 9 19.1 7 14.9 15 31.9
Creative 3 6.3 9 19.1 11 23.4 4 8.5 20 42.6 Entertainment 16 34.0 6 12.8 6 12.8 10 21.3 9 19.1 Information 7 14.9 12 25.5 11 23.4 8 17.0 9 19.1
Table 4 shows the frequency of technology usage by activity type, which are written text, graphics, basic skills, research, correspondence, blog/wikis, social, presentations and creative work Significantly, most teachers used technology daily for correspondence activity and three or four times a week for basic skills. Many of them used it for social activities for once or twice a week and for graphics for two or three times a week. At the same time, most of them only used technology in classroom for creatice activity once a month and less.
Purpose Daily Three or four times a week
Once or twice a week
Two or three times a week
Once a month or less
f % f % f % f % f %
Written text 3 9.4 5 15.6 12 37.5 7 21.9 5 15.6
Graphics 3 9.4 6 18.8 11 34.4 8 25.0 4 12.5
Basic skills 4 12.5 9 28.1 10 31.3 8 25.0 1 3.1 Research 3 9.4 5 15.6 13 40.6 7 21.9 4 12.5
Correspondence 8 25.0 8 25.0 10 31.3 5 15.6 1 3.1
Blogs/ wikis 2 6.3 5 15.6 12 37.5 5 15.6 8 25.0
Social 3 9.3 7 21.9 14 43.8 6 18.8 2 6.3 Presentations 1 3.1 6 18.8 13 40.6 5 15.6 7 21.9 Creative 2 6.3 4 12.5 11 34.4 6 18.8 9 28.1
Next, we present the findings on teachers' perceptions of the use of technology in teaching and learning during the pandemic to answer the second research objective. The findings have been categorized into (a) the technology use for the benefits of the students and (b) technology use for the benefits of the teacher. The benefits of the students include increase of student collaboration, academic achievement, enhance digital competence, active participation, prepare for future workforce, and encourage instructional and learning purpose. On the other hand, the benefits of the teacher include continuation of teaching and learning; enhance professional development, access to greater resources, and changes of role. In analysing the teachers’ perception of the use of technology, data is analysed descriptively to determine the mean and the standard deviation.
Teachers have an average high level of agreement with the statements in this section of the questionnaire. It is found that the highest mean is recorded for the benefits of the teacher (��= 4.42; SD= 0.629) as compared to the benefits of the students (��= 3.73; SD= 0.700) The data in Table 5 reveals the statement which receives the highest mean (�� = 4.62) which is “Technology is essential to the continuation of teaching and learning during the pandemic” with 71.8% (56) strongly agree and 17.9% (14) agree with the statement. Nevertheless, 10.3% (8) partially agree while none disagree with the statement. In simple term, none of the teachers disagree that “Technology is essential to the continuation of teaching and learning during the pandemic.
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Meanwhile, teachers have high level of agreement (x = 4.13) to the benefits of students in the statement “The use of technology in teaching and learning enhances students' digital competence and responsible use” 42.3% (33) strongly agree and 33.3% (26) agree with the statement. 20.5% (16) shows their partial agreement. Although, 2.6% (2) and 1.3% (1) shows their disagreement to the statement. In summary, only an insignificant number of teachers from the sample 3.9% (3) disagree that “The use of technology in teaching and learning enhances students' digital competence and responsible use.”
Table 5: Level of agreement to the statement(s)
Item (Statement) f 1 2 3 4 5 Mean (x) Level %
Technology is essential in the continuation of teaching and learning during the COVID 19 pandemic.
The use of technology in teaching and learning enhances students' digital competence and responsible use.
f 0 0 8 14 56 4.62 High % 0 0 10.3 17.9 71.8
f 1 2 16 26 33 4.13 High % 1.3 2.6 20.5 33.3 42.3
4.4. Perceptions on the challenges of integrating technology in teaching and learning during the pandemic
This section reports thefindings of the third research objective, which is to identify teachers' perceptions on the challenges of integrating technology in teaching and learning during the pandemic. The findings have been categorized into (a) the challenges of the students and (b) the challenges of the teachers. The challenges for the students include technology literacy, conduct of assessment, student’s participation, and socio economic background. The challenges of the teacher include lack of knowledge, instructional method, and unfamiliarity with the setting, providing corrective feedback, instructional time, and privacy issues. We found that the highest mean was recorded for the challenges of the students (��= 3.88; SD= 0.748) as compared to the challenges of the teachers (��= 3.35; SD= 0.681)
In Table 6, the statement which receives the highest mean (x = 4.13) is “Students from lower socio economic strata whom teachers worked with cannot afford devices to participate in online learning”. It illustrates that most teachers at 41% (32) strongly believe that students from lower socio economic strata whom they worked with cannot afford devices to participate in online learning with 34.6% (27) agree to the statement. Furthermore, 20.5% (16) partially agree. Even so, 3.8% (3) disagree. Thus, this shows that 3.8% (3) disagree that “Students from lower socio economic strata whom teachers worked with cannot afford devices to participate in online learning”.
On the other hand, the statement that has the highest mean ((x = 3.69) under the challenges of the teacher is “The instructional time during online learning tends to be short”. Majority of the teachers 37.2% (29) agree and 21.8% (17) strongly agree to that the instructional time for them to conduct online learning was short
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compared to face to face and physical classroom. In addition, there are 30.8% (24) partially agree to the statement but only 9.0% (7) and 1.3% (1) showing their full disagreement.
Table 6: The level of agreement to the statement(s)
Item f % 1 2 3 4 5 Mean (x) Level
Students from lower socioeconomic strata whom I worked with cannot afford devices to participate in online learning.
The instructional time during online learning tends to be short.
f 0 3 16 27 32 4.13 High % 0 3.8 20.5 34.6 41.0
f 1 7 24 29 17 3.69 Slightly High % 1. 3 9.0 30.8 37.2 21.8
We discuss the (i) The Extent of Teachers’ Technology Usage in Their Teaching and Learning During the Pandemic; (ii) Teachers’ Perceptions on the Use of Technology in Teaching and Learning during the Pandemic; and (iii) Teachers’ Perceptions on the Challenges of Integrating Technology in Teaching and Learning during the Pandemic. However, readers should be aware of some limitations that we had to faced when conducting this research which are the limited time and resources. As this was conducted during a strict movement control order (MCO), we were confined to the resources limited to what was available via online and any interaction between researchers was only conducted through messaging app and video calls. Moreover, as mentioned in the methodology section, this research did not go as well as we had planned for. During the first three weeks after distributing the questionnaire to the two teacher community Facebook groups, there were little number of responses, and it did not achieve the expected number. The members of the groups may be reluctant to participate in such survey where most teachers were government workers, and this type of surveys might be private to the use within the sector. For future and more complete studies, researcher may want to consider looking into and adhere to the procedures set by the ministry to request permission to conduct research to the schools in order to gain more responses.
Firstly, based on the findings, we found that the commonly used device to access the internet was smartphones. It was possibly because it was a hand held design that was easier to carry around and access. Most students would likely to have smartphones nowadays and thus, have higher access to participate in the teaching and learning compared to other types of the lesson, which required other devices. Secondly, the commonly used medium to conduct asynchronous lesson were WhatsApp and Telegram which were both a type of messaging applications which could be installed in the smartphone. This was probably because it required less internet data and shared a similar reason for the choice of device.
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Thirdly, the most preferable medium to conduct synchronous lessons was Google Meet but there was a significant number of teachers who were unable to conduct such lessons due to internet connectivity, having lived in a less developed area and students were not well equip with devices and Internet at home. Fourth, teachers mostly access Google Classroom and Facebook for digital resources and learning materials. However, there was not much significant difference among the platforms possibly because teachers were open to using such platforms to suit their search for various learning materials. Fifth, technology was frequently used for entertainment purpose for primary school teachers and correspondence activity for secondary school teachers.
Based on the findings, we can see that the teachers were not reluctant to incorporate technology in the classroom albeit they had to adapt the lesson into mobile friendly activities to suit their students’ conditions. If there were only 57% of teachers used technology in education before the pandemic (Ebrahimi & Yeo, 2018), now all the respondents used them in their classroom. There were also 77% of teachers who believed that students were able to concentrate more and revise lectures at their own pace through online media teaching. This provided a positive outlook on teachers' perceptions of the use of technology in teaching and learning.
This was a shift in teachers’ mindset compared to before the pandemic, as teachers were more motivated to use technology in their teaching. Despite the change of the mindset, there were other setbacks that could not be ignored. Although teachers may prefer to use elaborate mediums to conduct asynchronous and synchronous lessons, they were restricted by students' ability to join and participate in them. Abdul Hamid and Khalidi (2020) stated that in the times of pandemic, the level of e learning adoption seemed to be linked to a country's level of development. This further pointed that Malaysia was still at a nascent stage with limited availability of devices to support such endeavour as 37% of the 900,000 students in Malaysia did not have the appropriate device. A study conducted by Gunjan & Priyamvada (2020) reported that there were 45% of schoolteachers who agreed that online methods provide positive benefits to students compared to the traditional methods.
Most respondents agreed that technology was essential to the continuation of teaching and learning during the pandemic. Being that teachers were unable to meet physically and discuss students’ learning developments, online meeting platforms have been the go-to medium to support the teaching and learning. Thus, they realized the difficulty to cope with working remotely with no or lack prior experience or skills to tackle online learning by using technological tools, media, and platforms and as such the ministry as well as the teachers' community in the social media, resorted to provide and share learning materials through such platforms for easier access. Other than that, by providing the opportunity to students to utilize the learning platforms enhances their digital competence and responsible use. With 42.3% teachers agreeing how technology had helped their
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students in their digital competence, this was a step up compared to a survey of 1,647 primary Year 1 pupils which was undertaken by the MOE and Microsoft Malaysia in late 2005. They reported that the pupils displayed fundamental computer hardware and software recognition, which met the learning objectives for that age range but poor levels of skill in typing, voice recording, and drawing activities were discovered during the assessment (UNESCO, 2013). Students may not know how to record, make videos, or even use Google Classroom before, now they were equipped with the knowledge to handle simple or even complicated technology.
As technology has become essential in the current situation, it cannot be ignored. Teachers are forced to explore various types of approaches to continue teaching and learning despite. Emerging technologies in education such as cloud computing, mobile technology, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC), games and gamification, augmented reality, and virtual reality needs to be explored and utilized (Hashim, 2018). If smartphone was the only device available to use, educators need to find other approaches to explore the potentials of the device. Research conducted by Che Murat et al. (2020) found that all their respondents owned a smart phone and they showed high readiness towards mobile learning. They further stated that mobile learning could help stimulated students’ motivation to learn independently because mobile devices such as smartphones were extremely easy to use, have attractive features, are flexible and thus, educations could be accessed anywhere and anytime.
Being thrown drastically into a situation that required all teachers to depend on and explore these various approaches, many has seen the negative and positive effects of using technology in the lesson. Teachers seem to have an affirmative to the positive effects of integrating technology in classroom and this further strengthen the need for our education system to have well equip, up to date and re invent environments to support more technological usage in teaching and learning. Hashim (2018) stated that the traditional teaching paradigm are challenged by today's new generation and due to the current event, it further escalated the need to accommodate the learners and to cater to their needs, the learners' capabilities, preferences, experiences, the frame of reference and familiarity with technology should be considered. Teachers already considered these criteria when they independently took initiatives to create the lesson materials. However, the curriculum and assessment for formal education were still quite rigid to accommodate them.
Most respondents found that students from lower socio economic strata whom they worked with could not afford devices to participate in online learning. Affordability to own a device to participate in online learning was a recurring concern and deserved to be investigated. Finance has always been a concern for many people from lower socio economic backgrounds. While there was a low number of people who owned personal computers, laptops, and tablets, smartphones have a higher percentage of ownership at 46%, which was why it
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was the most common device to be used by teachers to conduct their lesson (Abdul Hamid & Khalidi, 2020). Teachers were forced to choose the most suitable tools, platforms, and materials for all their students to be able to participate in class. If materials that are more complex were used, some students might be unable to participate due to limited devices and Internet connectivity. Thus, it would hinder their learning development during this remote learning environment.
Although it was a suitable alternative to not having any devices at all, it was still limited in terms of the instructional features among other criteria. Most likely, teachers would impart instructions to the parents and have the parents monitor and guide the students. This further supported the statement that not all students were technology literate. Some would have limited understanding and ability to navigate technology on their own, required parents, and family intervention, which was acceptable if it was for lesson development although it would bring another set of challenges for the parents. However, it may hinder fair assessment and evaluations on the students and thus, teachers would be unable to truly observe and analyse their students' understanding and learning growth.
On the other hand, teachers found that the instructional time during online learning tends to be short. Over the years, students were provided with information physically either teachers students interaction, reading materials from books or unlimited access to the school’s library (Balan et al., 2020). However, it has changed now with teachers providing virtual classroom or online materials to be reviewed in students’ own time and it may affect student’s attention span. There were many activities that teachers could do during physical classroom to help increase students’ attention span, but online learning offered a different set of challenge. Hence, teachers chose short and concise materials and straightforward approach to conduct their lessons. While this may help to retain students’ attention and focus on the topics at hand, it was a challenge for teachers to ensure the information was enough.
The momentum that was born out of necessity to change from traditional learning to advanced technology learning needed to be continued and further explored by the authority and people of interest. As stated in the literature review, the first difficult part to integrate technology was to shift teachers’ paradigm and when that limitation was removed, the changes should be easier to follow. However, the lack of readiness of the system to support to such changes inhibit the motivation to do more. The schools in every area should provide better facilities to support technology. Not only that, but telecommunication service providers in our country also needed to upgrade as the current and immediate challenge was that the more populated areaand rural area have difficulties connecting to the internet.
Furthermore, if the richer schools were able to provide enough facilities and devices to their students to support and accommodate online teaching and learning, why shouldn’t less fortunate schools be provided the same especially in our centralized education system? By providing these incentives to the students, both teachers and students would have more time to focus in other areas to
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expand on their experience and knowledge. Ease of conduct and freedom for teachers to experiment with their methods of teaching via technology depended on the time that they spent to prepare for these materials. Teachers should be given more time and training to enhance professional developments and be given the space that they need to explore and experiment maturely. Hastily implemented strategies were beneficial in times of emergencies but it was not substantial and stable enough to be the foundation of the educations in the new norms.
Teachers, educators, and trainers all over the world had to carry the burden of the entire education and training system on their shoulders. As they needed to cope with ministerial directives that were forcing and expecting the immediate result to end programs, teach in abnormal contexts during this emergency and lacking adequate tools and resources in unfriendly ecosystems (Lifelong Learning Platform, 2020). Without the support from the agencies around the education sector and the government, it was a toll on teachers' mental health as the idea of education going digital was not simple (Agnoletto & Queiroz, 2020).
This research reveals the extent of teachers' technology usage in teaching and learning during the pandemic in which teachers mostly used smartphones to access the internet and the preferred medium to carry asynchronous and synchronous lesson are through messaging application, WhatsApp and Google Meet respectively. Moreover, teachers would rather use Google Classroom and Facebook to gather resources compared to other platforms. Aside from that, technology is frequently use for entertainment purposes for primary school teachers and correspondence activity for secondary school teachers.
Furthermore, this research discusses the general perceptions of teachers on the technology used during the pandemic which proves their acknowledgement to the essential role of technology in the continuation of the education system and how it enhances students' digital competence and responsible use. This shows a shift in teachers’ perceptions towards technology in classroom as they are more positive and motivated to incorporate it in their own class. Despite the positive outlook that teachers have towards technology in education, the most significant challenges that persisted were the limited availability of devices and the short instructional time which deters more frequent, and various use of technological media, platforms, and tools. These challenges need to be addressed and actions must be taken to absolve further implications.
In conclusion, technology has become an essential part of our lives and it is not limited to the education sectors. It has become a means of continuation for various sectors in our country. Teachers, educators, the government, and even students need to be aware and concern about the future of the education system. In the face of the current predicament of school closure and remote learning, it is important to note that students, as well as teachers, are affected in short and long term implications. The challenges need to be addressed to provide more opportunity for students and teachers to use more and various types of technology, which can
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support their specific and different needs. This research is hoped to give an input and a push to increase digital access and awareness in Malaysia for a better quality of technology integration in teaching and learning. Malaysia needs to be more prepared than what we have now to face the unexpected future to ensure that nobody was left behind.
We would like to convey our utmost appreciation and thanks to all who supported our study, especially to Learning & Teaching Innovation Research Centre, STEM Enculturation Research Centre, Faculty of Education, and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia for grants GG 2021 014 We extend our sincere appreciation to all researchers under the Personalized Education Research Group for financial, intellectual, spiritual and moral support.
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INSTRUMENT VALIDATION FORM
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITI KEBANGSAAN MALAYSIA TITLE
TEACHERS’ COMPETENCY IN INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM DURING LOCKDOWN DUE TO COVID 19 PANDEMIC
KOMPETENSI GURU DALAMMENGINTEGRASI TEKNOLOGIDALAM KELAS SEMASA PANDEMIK COVID 19
Research Objectives are/ Objektif Kajian adalah:
1. To identify teachers’ technology use in the classroom during the pandemic. (Mengenal pasti penggunaan teknologi dalam bilik darjah semasa pandemik.)
2. To identify teachers’ perceptions on the use of technology in the classroom during the pandemic.
(Mengenalpastipersepsiguruterhadappenggunaanteknologidalamkelas semasa pandemik.)
3. To determine teachers’ perceptions on the challenges of integrating technology in teaching and learning during the pandemic. (Menentukan persepsi guru terhadap cabaran mengintegrasikan teknologi dalam pengajaran dan pembelajaran semasa pandemik.)
STUDENT NAME: EXPERT REVIEWER NAME: POSITION:
Please give marks for each item according to suitability and appropriateness of language and constructs. Comment from Prof / Assoc. Prof / Dr / Sir / Madam / Miss is greatly appreciated.
0: Not accepted, remove. 1: Accepted with correction. 2: Accepted without any correction.
PART II: TEACHERS’ TECHNOLOGY USE IN THE CLASSROOM DURING THE PANDEMIC. (PENGGUNAAN TEKNOLOGIDALAMBILIK DARJAH SEMASA PANDEMIK.)
Item Sources 0 1 2 Comment
1. I access web information through: Saya mengakses maklumat web melalui:
o Laptop/computer (Komputer riba/ desktop)
o Smartphones (Telefon pintar) o Tablet/iPad
o SmartTV (TV pintar)
o Video game console (konsol permainan video) Other (please state). Lain lain (sila nyatakan): …………………………
2. I conduct my asynchronous lessons through: Saya menjalankan pelajaran tidak segerakmelalui:
o Email (Emel)
o Discussion boards/forums (Ruang perbincangan/ forum)
o Blogs/Weblogs
o Wikis
o Podcasting (fail audio digital)
o E Portfolios
o Telegram Group o WhatsApp Group Other (please state). Lain lain (sila nyatakan): …………….
Giovannella, Passarelli & Persico 2020
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Self developed (Dibangunkan sendiri)
3. I conduct my synchronous video lessons (live teaching via video stream) through: Saya menjalankan pelajaran video segeraksaya (pengajaran langsung melalui aliran video) melalui:
o Zoom o Google Hangouts o Google Meets
o Microsoft Teams o WhatsApp’s video calls(Panggilan video WhatsApp)
o Instagram live o YouTube live o Other (please state). Lain lain (sila nyatakan): ……………..
o None (Tidakberkenaan)
4. I utilize the digital resources and learning materials through: Saya menggunakan sumber digital dan bahan pembelajaran melalui:
o EduwebTV o DeLIMA
o Google Classroom o Microsoft Office 365 o Apple Teacher Learning Center (Pusat Pembelajaran Pengajaran Apple)
o Other (please state). Lain lain (sila nyatakan): ………………..
o None (Tidakberkenaan)
Self developed (Dibangunkan sendiri)
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Self developed (Dibangunkan sendiri)
TEACHERS’
OF THE USE OF
THE PANDEMIC. (PERSEPSIGURU TERHADAP PENGGUNAAN TEKNOLOGIDALAMKELAS SEMASA PANDEMIK.)
Item Sources 0 1 2 Comment
1. I am confident in my technological skills.
Saya yakin dengan kemahiran teknologi saya.
2. Technology increases student collaboration in a classroom.
Teknologi meningkatkan kolaborasi pelajar di dalam kelas.
3. I do not face any difficulty in online teaching during COVID 19.
Saya tidak menghadapi sebarang kesukaran dalam pengajaran dalam talian semasa COVID 19.
Hoffmann & Ramirez 2018
Loague, Caldwell & Balam 2018
4. I encourage the use of smart phones in my class for instructional/learning purposes.
Saya menggalakkan penggunaan telefon pintar di kelas saya untuk tujuan pengajaran dan pembelajaran
5. Online teaching is best to replace face to face class during the pandemic.
Pengajaran dalam talian adalah yang terbaik untuk menggantikan kelas tatap muka semasa wabak.
Cam Tu Vu et al 2020
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Hoffmann & Ramirez 2018
Cam Tu Vu et al 2020
6. Students are actively engaged in online sessions.
Pelajar terlibat secara aktif dalam sesi dalam talian.
7. I have a wide band access to the Internet.
Saya mempunyai akses jalur lebar Internet.
8. My school’s ICT infrastructure is ready for transformation during COVID 19.
Infrastruktur ICT sekolah saya bersedia untuk transformasi semasa COVID 19.
9. Teachers at my school are ready for transformation during the outbreak.
Guru di sekolah saya bersedia untuk menghadapi transformasi semasa wabak.
10. My school’s policy are ready for transformation during COVID 19.
Dasar sekolah saya bersedia untuk menghadapi transformasi semasa COVID 19.
Cam Tu Vu et al 2020
Giovannella, Passarelli & Persico 2020
Cam Tu Vu et al 2020
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Cam Tu Vu et al 2020
Cam Tu Vu et al 2020
PART IV:
TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE CHALLENGES OF INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING AND LEARNING DURING THE PANDEMIC. (PERSEPSI GURU TERHADAP CABARAN MENGINTEGRASIKAN TEKNOLOGIDALAMPENGAJARAN DAN PEMBELAJARAN SEMASA PANDEMIK.)
Num. Item Sources 0 1 2 Comment
1. Implementing technology in the classroom is challenging due to my lack of knowledge in technology.
Menggunakan teknologi di dalam kelas memang mencabar kerana saya kurang pengetahuan tentang teknologi.
2. It is difficult to create online lessons.
Adalah sukar untuk membuat pelajaran dalam talian.
3. Setting of online systems are too complex.
Penyediaan sistem dalam talian adalah terlalu rumit.
4. Not all students are Internet literate.
Tidak semua pelajar celik Internet.
5. I cannot fairly conduct assessments due to parents’ intervention.
Saya tidak dapat membuat penilaian dengan adil kerana campur tangan ibu bapa.
6. The instructional time during online learning tends to be short.
Waktu pengajaran semasa pembelajaran dalam talian cenderung untuk menjadi singkat.
7. It is difficult to trackstudents’ participation.
Sukar untuk mengesan penyertaan pelajar.
Rasmatadila et al 2020
Bailey & Lee 2020
Rasmatadila et al 2020
Rasmatadila et al 2020
Rasmatadila et al 2020
Rasmatadila et al 2020
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Bailey & Lee 2020
8. It is challenging to provide corrective feedback.
Adalah sukar untuk memberikan maklum balas untuk pembetulan.
9. The different socioeconomic strata of the society affects students’ experience of learning.
Strata sosioekonomi masyarakat yang berbeza mempengaruhi pengalaman belajar bagi pelajar.
10. I am reluctant to use online learning platform as privacy issue is a concern.
Saya enggan menggunakan platformpembelajarandalam taliankeranamasalahprivasi adalah suatu kebimbangan.
Remarks
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Bailey & Lee 2020
Verma & Priyamvada 2020
Self developed (Dibangunkan sendiri)
*
International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 309 325, May 2022 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.5.16
Received Mar 15, 2022; Revised May 7, 2022; Accepted May 11, 2022
Jesús Manuel Guerrero-Alcedo*
Universidad Científica del Sur, Lima, PerúLorena C. Espina-Romero
Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola (USIL EPG), Lima, Perú
Ángel Alberto Nava Chirinos RIDICIENCIA, Madrid, España
Abstract. Gamification is a learning approach that transfers the power of games to the education context, with the purpose of improving the performance of students in the classroom. The present study aimed to analyze scientific activity related to gamification in the context of higher education by using a bibliometric and bibliographic approach and the Scopus database. A bibliometric study was applied with the help of VOSviewer and RStudio software, and the authors managed to identify 287 documents published between 2012 and 2022. The results were classified according to the most influential published documents, keyword co occurrence network, trend topics, collaboration maps between countries and authors, scientific production by countries, and geographical scientific gaps. The findings show a large geographical scientific gap for the African continent, in particular. This research provides an overview of publications on the topic of gamification in the university environment.
Keywords: gamification; education; university; learning; play
In recent years, the use of gamification by university professors as an innovative trend aimed at improving the teaching learning process has increased. The rapid advancement of information and communication technologies has led to the implementation of a variety of techno pedagogical tools in university education, thereby incorporating multimedia education and active learning applications into the curricula Educational games (Socrative, Brainscape, Kahoot!, etc.), mobile applications, and even simulations with patients around health, are
Corresponding author: JesúsManuelGuerreroAlcedo,jguerreroa@científica.edu.pe
©Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY NC ND 4.0).
considered gamified training platforms (Bencsik et al., 2021; McCoy et al., 2016; Panagiotarou et al., 2020; Rojas et al., 2021)
Gamification is defined as the application of the features and benefits that a game can provide to real world processes and problems (Gentry et al., 2019). This tool differs from serious games by the intention of the design, which provides an educational utility beyond simple entertainment. In other words, gamification involves the use of game components outside the game environment (Espina Romero & Guerrero Alcedo, 2022; Rodrigues et al., 2019; Romero Parra et al., 2022), which may also involve a reward for completing a learning module It also allows greater participation by users in setting their own learning goals and objectives, personalizing the intervention and improving academic performance (Gentry et al., 2019).
In the university environment, gamification offers opportunities for students to participate in active and collaborative learning, solve real problems, develop analytical, strategic thinking, knowledge, decision making, communication, and motor skills, and acquire experience in a risk free environment, without the need to involve users as applied in professional practice. In addition, games have motivational properties that can be used for educational purposes (Dichev & Dicheva, 2017; Gentry et al., 2019; Smiderle et al., 2020). Gamification encourages frequent interaction between students, frees up time for teachers and involves better use of class sessions. However, opportunities to ask questions and hold open discussions in lessons are limited by the use of games, and unless games are properly evaluated, they can become distractors instead of learning facilitators (Espina Romero et al., 2021).
To date, we know that using gamification has the potential for benefit in the educational field, because the student can contribute with their knowledge and ideas, collaborate to improve the process, and pass on lessons learned to other students. Several review studies have explored the potential effects of gamification on the teaching learning process (Díaz Ramírez, 2020; Dreimane, 2018; Gentry et al., 2019; Nah et al., 2014) Bibliometrics is a tool that enables the identification of quantitative variables, to determine trends in scientific publications on the use of gamification in the university environment, where authors, institutions, countries, and more productive journals stand out, as well as types of documents and collaboration between authors. It also enables the implementation of mapping techniques that organize and analyze scientific information on a given topic (Aria & Cuccurullo, 2017; Idris et al., 2020; Resmayani & Putra, 2020) Starting with the question, what is the global trend of scientific publications indexed in Scopus on gamification in the university context? this review was initiated to identify the main bibliometric indicators of production and collaboration of the scientific literature related to the use of gamification in the university environment, to determine relevant topics and trends in publications that allow identification of new areas of interest for future studies.
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This study undertook a bibliometric review that followed the steps proposed by Zupic and Čater (2015), which include the identification of the study design, and the collection, analysis, visualization, and interpretation of the data. It should be noted that the authors of this research had access to the Scopus database because of the subscription agreements that their institutions had with the company Elsevier.
The search for information was carried out in the Scopus database, using a search strategy through the title or title/abstract, with some restrictions to minimize false positive results. The keywords were obtained from already published literature on educational gamification and university, using search strings with Boolean operators AND/OR. It should be noted that no restrictions were used by type of document, year, or language, however, the title, abstract and keywords had to have, at least, an English language translation.
The search and retrieval of the information was carried out on August 28, 2021. A total of 1,727 studies met the referral criteria for educational gamification. After applying the filters, 287 studies referring to gamification in the university environment were identified, which were exported in BibTex format for analysis in the Biblioshiny Software, synchronized with the RStudio statistical package and in RIS format for VOSviewer 1.6.8 software. The software generated figures and data that was used to create tables that were visualized, and which will be interpreted in the discussion of this research.
Table 1 presents a synthesis of the information collected from the database, where conference articles on the selected theme (n = 139) are the documents with the greatest presence in the period between 2012 and 2022, followed by original articles (n = 115), conference reviews (n = 23), literature reviews (n = 8) and book chapters (n = 2). The number of authors of the papers was 827, with an average citation per document of 5.93, an average of paper citations since publication of 2.52, and an author collaboration index of 3.47
Table 1: Synthesis of the Information Collected in the Scopus Database1
Description of the data collected Results
Time 2012:2022
Sources (magazines, books, etc.) 170
Documents 287
Average years since publication 2.52
Average citations per document 5.934
Average citations per year for documents 1.499
References 8,472
Keywords (ID) 1,201
Author keywords (DE) 736
Types of documents
Article 115 Book chapter 2
Conference article 139
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Conference review 23
Revision 8
Authors
Authors 827
Authors’ appearances 914
Single author document authors 35
Authors of multi author documents 792 Collaboration by authors
Single author documents 59 Documents by author 0.347
Authors by documents 2.88 Co authors by documents 3.18 Collaboration index 3.47
Data analysis was performed by considering the following categories of analysis: type of document, annual scientific output, most productive countries, institutions, journals and authors, author keywords, article citations, collaboration map by country and the collaboration network by country and authors A threshold of 10 authors, countries, journals, and institutions with the greatest scientific production was taken as a reference, as well as the 10 most cited documents. This selection was made arbitrarily with reference to already published bibliometric studies.
A total of 287 papers exploring the use of gamification in the university context and published between 2012 and 2022 were identified. The scientific production per year was as follows: 2012 (1; 0.34%), 2013 (3; 1.4%), 2014 (12; 4.18%), 2015 (16; 5 57%), 2016 (22; 7 66%), 2017 (26; 9.05%), among them the manuscript titled “Visual and Computational Modelling of Minority Games” (Damaševičius & Ašeriškis, 2017), 2018 (33; 11.49%), among which is research entitled “Towards Better Understanding of Ancient Civilizations by Storytelling and Gaming” (Dimova et al., 2018), and 2019 (61; 21 25%), among them “The Effect of the STEAM GAAR Field Learning Model to Enhance Grit” (Chujitarom & Piriyasurawong, 2019) and “Is There a Link Between Creativity and Multiculturalism in Education?” (Ogrutan et al., 2019). 2020 (75; 26.13%) is the year with the greatest number of publications, among which the following three investigations: “The Use of Innovative Learning Methods in the System of Modern Economic Education in the Russian Federation” (Pashkov et al., 2020), “Digital Storytelling through Teamwork Gamification Model to Encourage Innovative Computer Art” (Chujitarom, 2020) and “Evaluation of Gamification in e Learning Systems for Elementary School Students” (Alshammari, 2020) The publications of 2021 were fewer by almost half compared to 2020 (37; 12.89%) and, finally, 2022 (1; 0.34%) at the time of this review. The countries and institutions with the highest production on the subject are shown in Table 2.
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Table 2: The Ten Most Prolific Countries and Institutions for Publications on Gamification in the University Context
Ranking Countries TD Institutions Country TD 1 Spain 78 Technische Universität Dresden Germany 7 2 United States 29 Vyatka State University Russia 7 3 United Kingdom 26 Russian State Social University Russia 6 4 Canada 21 Nosov Magnitogorsk State Technical University Russia 5
5 Germany 17 Peter The Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University Russia 5 6 Ukraine 15 Universidad de Granada Spain 5 7 Portugal 14 Universiti Putra Malaysia Malaysia 5 8 Indonesia 13 McMaster University Canada 4 9 Mexico 12 Universidad Internacional de la Rioja Spain 4 10 China 11 University of Alicante Spain 4 Note: TD: Total documents
Table 3 presents the ten most productive journals/conferences on the subject, detailing the total documents (TD), the total citations received (TC) and the H index.
Table 3: The Ten Journals/Conferences with the Most Publications
Ranking Journals/Conferences TD TC H index
1 Proceedings of the European Conference on Games Based Learning 15 27 3 2 Ceur Workshop Proceedings 11 35 2 3 ACM International Conference Proceeding Series 10 56 3 4 Lecture Notes in Computer Scienc” 10 4 1 5 Advances In Intelligent Systems and Computing 8 10 2 6 Communications in Computer and Information Science 8 1 1 7 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference Educon 7 6 1 8 Perspektivy Nauki I Obrazovania 7 6 1 9 E learning And Software for Education Conference 5 2 1 10 Proceedings of the European Conference On E Learning ECEL 5 1 1
Note: TD: Total documents. TC: Total citations
The published documents, in total, were cited 1,703 times in the Scopus database; 159 articles received at least one citation. The average citation per year of the top ten articles ranged from 3.55 to 34.25. Table 4 shows the ten most influential publications detailing their authors, DOI, total citations, and average citations per year.
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Table 4: The Ten Most Influential Publications Publications Authors DOI TC TC/year
“Gamified learning in higher education: A systematic review of the literature”
(Subhash & Cudney, 2018) 10.1016/j.chb.2018.05.028 137 34.25
“Gamification as a tool for enhancing graduate medical education” (Nevin et al., 2014) 10.1136/postgradmedj 2013 132486 98 12.25
“The effects of gamification based teaching practices on student achievement and student’s attitudes toward lessons”
(Yildirim, 2017) 10.1016/j.iheduc.2017.02.002 96 19.2
“Gamification: a systematic review of design frameworks” (Mora et al., 2017) 10.1007/s12528 017 9150 4 89 17.8 “Students’ perception of Kahoot’s influence on teaching and learning”
“Game based learning and gamification in initial teacher training in the social sciences: an experiment with MinecraftEdu”
“New challenges for the motivation and learning in engineering education using gamification in MOOC”
“Gamification: An innovative teaching learning strategy for the digital nursing students in a community health nursing course”
“The role of serious games, gamification and industry 4.0 tools in the education 4.0 paradigm”
“GradeCraft: what can we learn from a game inspired learning management system?”
(Licorish et al., 2018) 10.1186/s41039 018 0078 8 67 16.75
(Cózar Gutiérrez & Sáez López, 2016)
10.1186/s41239 016 0003 4 54 9
(Borrás Gené et al., 2016) None 50 8.333
(Day Black et al., 2015) None 40 5.714
(Almeida & Simoes, 2019) 10.30935/cet.554469 34 11.333
(Holman et al., 2013) 10.1145/2460296.2460350 32 3.556
Figure 1 shows the authors’ keyword co occurrence network, which is organized into five clusters (red, blue, green, yellow, and purple) that evidences the use of gamification in the context of higher education and its relationship with techno educational variables and processes. The red cluster is lead by the keyword “gamification” with close relationships to the words “university students” ,
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“education” , “motivation” , and “serious games”. The blue cluster is headed by the keyword “learning”, closely related to the words “university student” , “university sector” , “adults” , and “universities”. In the green cluster, the word that dominates is “ e learning” , with strong links to the words “learning systems” , “programming” , and “university course” . The yellow cluster encompasses words such as “engineering education” , “educational technology” , and “personnel training” Finally, the purple color cluster is composed of the words “educational innovation” , “educational environment” , and “blended learning” . Figure 2 shows trending topics, considering documents published before and during the COVID 19 pandemic. Among the trend topics for the period 2012 and 2019, active learning, collaborative learning, educational technology, educational gamification, higher education, training, and commitment stand out. In turn, the trend topics during the pandemic were e learning, augmented reality, blended learning, serious games, game based learning, educational software, and evaluation In addition, the topics of gamification and active learning remained in force.
Figure 1. Network of Co Occurrence of Keywords
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Figure 3 reports on an analysis of international collaboration between countries. It shows that, of the 287 publications, only 28 (32.18%) involved international collaboration. Of the ten most active countries, Spain had the highest number of documents with international collaboration (N = 8), followed by the United Kingdom (N = 6), the United States (N = 3), China (N = 2), Turkey (N = 2), Brazil, Finland, Greece, Jamaica, and Poland (N = 1).
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The different blue colors of the Country Collaboration Map indicate the number of nations involved in each collaboration group: the more intense the blue color, the greater the number of countries that make up that group.
Finally, the analysis of collaboration between authors presented in Figure 4 identifies 17 clusters of collaboration between authors: a cluster composed of five authors (red) and five clusters with four authors (yellow, blue, light blue, green, purple). The rest of the clusters were made up of three authors (four clusters) and two authors (seven clusters).
4. Publications by country and geographical scientific gap Figure 5 was generated by the RStudio software, and indicates the countries with the highest production of documents, with the variable under study highlighted in blue colors and of different intensities, as well as the countries that do not have production of documents highlighted with the gray color.
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The African continent is made up of 54 countries, of which only 9 countries have published research on the subject under study. That means that 83.33% of African countries do not have scientific production related to gamification in the university context. The 9 countries with the greatest number of publications are South Africa (18), Ghana (11), Nigeria (8), Ethiopia (7), Egypt (2), Tanzania (2), Zimbabwe (2), Botswana (1) and Zambia (1).
South Africa 18 Ghana 11 Nigeria 8 Ethiopia 7 Egypt 2 Tanzania 2 Zimbabwe 2 Botswana 1 Zambia 1
Table 6 reports on countries with scientific production on the topic of gamification in the university context in the Americas. North and South America is made up of 35 countries, though only 9 countries have published research on the variable of this study. Consequently, 74.29 % of American countries have not published studies related to gamification in the university context. The table is headed by the United States (87), followed by Canada (18), Peru (12), Brazil (11), Chile (8), Colombia (4), Mexico (4), Argentina (3) and Ecuador (2).
Country Documents
USA 87 Canada 18 Peru 12 Brazil 11 Chile 8 Colombia 4 Mexico 4 Argentina 3 Ecuador 2
The Asian continent is made up of 47 nations (Table 7), of which 19 countries have published research on this topic. This means that 59.57% of Asian countries have not published on gamification in the university context. The countries with publications are Turkey (43), China (28), Jordan (18), Malaysia (17), Indonesia (13), Bangladesh (11), Saudi Arabia (10), Iran (5), India (4), Oman (4), Japan (3), Lebanon (3), Afghanistan (2), Uzbekistan (2), Bahrain (1), South Korea (1), Kuwait (1), Sri Lanka (1) and Thailand (1).
Country Documents
Turkey 43 China 28 Jordan 18 Malaysia 17 Indonesia 13 Bangladesh 11 Saudi Arabia 10 Iran 5 India 4 Oman 4 Japan 3 Lebanon 3 Afghanistan 2 Uzbekistan 2 Bahrain 1 Korea (South) 1 Kuwait 1 Sri Lanka 1 Thailand 1
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Table 8 shows the 46 countries that make up the European continent. In this continental group, 30 countries have published scientific work on the variable in question. Consequently, 34.78% of European countries do not have research on gamification in the university context. The 30 countries with publications are the United Kingdom (50), Spain (32), Finland (25), Belgium (13), the Netherlands (12), Switzerland (11), Croatia (10), Italy (7), Czech Republic (7), Romania (6), Portugal (5), Germany (4), Belarus (4), Cyprus (4), France (4), Sweden (4), Denmark (3), Ireland (3), Latvia (3), Austria (2), Bulgaria (2), Slovakia (2), Greece, (2), Hungary (2), Lithuania (2), Norway (2), Poland (2), Albania (1), Slovenia (1) and Ukraine (1).
Country Documents
United Kingdom 50 Spain 32 Finland 25 Belgium 13 Netherlands 12 Switzerland 11 Croatia 10 Italy 7 Czech Republic 7 Romania 6 Portugal 5 Germany 4 Belarus 4 Chipre 4 France 4 Sweden 4 Denmark 3 Ireland 3 Latvia 3 Austria 2 Bulgaria 2 Slovakia 2 Greece 2 Hungary 2 Lithuania 2 Norway 2 Poland 2 Albania 1 Slovenia 1 Ukraine 1
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Table 9 shows the group of countries that make up Oceania. This continent comprises 15 countries only 2 nations have manuscripts linked to gamification in the university context. Therefore, 86.67% of the countries of Oceania do not have publications related to the variable under study. The two countries are Australia (39) and New Zealand (5).
Table 9: Publications by Country in Oceania Country Documents Australia 39 New Zealand 5
The present study carried out a bibliometric review that identified production indicators by countries, institutions, journals/conferences, and authors, as well as current issues. This information should give researchers an indication of the progress of research into gamification in the context of higher education.
The trend line in scientific production on the subject suggests a considerable increase in publications in recent years, increasing from 1 article in 2012 to 75 in 2020 (Andriushchenko et al., 2020; Koravuna & Surepally, 2020) and 37 at the time of the study in 2021 (Brezolin et al., 2021; Denden et al., 2021; Liu & Lu, 2021; Luo, 2021; Metwally et al., 2021) The most productive countries were Spain, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Germany, which account for around 59% of the documents published. In addition, four institutions in Russia, three in Spain and one each in Germany, Malaysia and Canada produced 52% of scientific production worldwide. Conference papers and articles were the types of documents chosen by the authors registered in the 287 investigations selected for this bibliometric review. Conference proceedings were also a common medium of publication. Subhash, S. and Cudney, E A were the authors with the greatest impact due to the number of citations (TC: 137) In 2018, Subhash and Cudney published the article with the greatest impact, Entitled “Gamified Learning in Higher Education: A Systematic Review of the literature” in the journal, Computers in Human Behavior, with an average citation per year of 34.25.
As for the trend themes that stand out for the period 2012 2019, we have active learning, collaborative learning, educational technology, educational gamification, higher education, training, and commitment. For the period 2020 2022 were e learning, augmented reality, blended learning, serious games, game based learning, educational software, and evaluation, keeping the themes of gamification and active learning in force.
It should be noted that the term gamification was introduced into the general vocabulary from 2011 (Deterding et al., 2011; Fitz Walter et al., 2011). From there, it has become a trend in research, possibly based on expectations that it is
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associated with motivation, behavioral changes and the promotion of competencies and skills, in addition to enhancing collaboration in different contexts. However, knowledge about gamification and its application in the university educational context is still limited (Chujitarom, 2020). Therefore, it is necessary to continue investigating what benefits gamification could generate in the teaching learning process This bibliometric review offers a global overview of the progress that this topic has received in the university environment.
As for the limitations of this research, it should be clarified that bibliometric reviews only provide information on a specific topic in a general way, therefore it cannot replace a thorough reading of the subject In addition, the data was gathered exclusively in a search of literature available in the Scopus database, therefore, it is possible that the search strategy was not able to identify all the relevant documents. Similarly, the low number of citations of the documents could be associated with the years of publication, since it is expected that publications of longer ago will have been cited more often, compared to more recent publications, therefore, the interpretation of the findings must consider these limitations.
Once the assessment of the scientific activity around gamification in the university context had been completed, numerous geographical scientific gaps on the five continents were identified. Africa is home to the most important gap, because only 16.67% of the 54 countries that make up this continent have published research on the variable in question. Another important scientific gap is that located in Oceania, where only 13.33% of the 15 countries have published studies on the subject under study. We suggest that authors conduct research in collaboration with authors on continents with geographical scientific gaps
This bibliometric review identified trends in publications in the context of university education during the period 2012 2022. Information on current progress in the subject provide researchers with guidelines for future studies Greater support is needed from university level institutions, especially in Latin America, to promote research that evaluates the use of gamification tools with educational indicators in the short, medium, and long term. This research is current to February 2022 and was limited to the Scopus database.
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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research
Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 326 350, May 2022
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.5.17
Received Mar 16, 2022; Revised May 13, 2022; Accepted May 25, 2022
Norazilawati Abdullah
National Child Development Research Centre
Faculty of Human Development, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Malaysia
Vijaya Letchumy Baskaran
Faculty of Human Development, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Malaysia
Zainun Mustafa
Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (SEAMEO) Regional Centre for Education in Science and Mathematics (RECSAM)
Siti Rahaimah Ali , Syaza Hazwani Zaini
Faculty of Human Development, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Malaysia
Abstract. The purpose of this study was to analyse the students' views and the effects of using Augmented Reality (AR) in learning Science. Given that Science education emphasizes the understanding of the physical and the natural world, the science lesson is basically received throughsystematicobservationandexperimentation.Theintroductionof abstract concepts in the science lesson is implemented gradually by scaffolding the concrete understanding during primary schooling. The potential use of AR, as a teaching tool in facilitating the process of understanding concrete facts, could be beneficial in science education. The introductory topic, "Senses," was chosen; since it is directly related to the students’ anatomy; and it cultivates their interest in Science. A quasi experimental methodology was utilized to examine the impact of AR on primary school students’ academic achievement, interest, and science process skills in this study. During the science lesson, the experimental group was exposed to AR stimulation, whereas the control group was not; and rather it learnt through the conventional method. A set of post test questions was conducted, in order to collect the data on student achievement and science process skills, while a set of questionnaires was employed, in order to identify the students’ interest. The data were analysed by using descriptive statistics and the t test. In this study, the real world had been augmented by using virtual information, thereby providing new possibilities for science education to become more meaningful. The findings indicated that AR had a significant favourable
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effect on all three aspects of the experimental group's achievement, interest, and science process skills.
Keywords: academic achievement; Augmented Reality; interest; Science Process Skills; Science Education
The emergence of Augmented Reality experience in technology assisted learning has become a key trend, with more than 3000 research documents that were indexed in WoS and Scopus by 2021. It is a significant finding; since it reflects researchers' interest in delving into the benefits, advantages, and potentials of Augmented Reality in education. The fast and widespread use of wireless communication networks have contributed to the surge in popularity associated with the use of AR users worldwide. Seamlessly combining the digital information with the real world environment on screen alters how individuals interact with virtual objects and visual graphic experiences. The use of AR, however, does not mean that the virtual environment completely replaces the real world; rather, it integrates virtual items into the real world by having AR as the interaction among human computer physical world (Papadopoulos et al., 2021).Thus, the use of AR in much formal education avenue encourages the students to have exciting learning experience, while acknowledging their real world physical surroundings: teachers, peers and educational tools. To address this concern, the past studies on AR in education are highly contextualized, according to the subject matter, the cognitive level, the socio cultural and digital competency ( i.e: Law & Heintz 2021; Karakus et al., 2019; Akçayır & Akçayır 2017; Fidan & Tuncel 2018).
In an educational environment, AR exists in different ways. In a study conducted by Diegmann, Schmidt Kraepelin, Eynden, & Basten (2015), there were five types of AR directions used in educational environments. Firstly there is discovery based learning, where the user is provided with information about a real world place that has been of interest to them. For instance, AR is often used in museums, historical venues, and astronomical simulations, in order to exhibit information visually. Secondly, object modelling, which allows users to identify how a given item would look in a different setting, Thirdly, there are the AR Books, which offer 3D presentations and interactive learning experiences for the users. Fourthly, there is skills training, which requires visually composite simulations. Finally, AR gaming enhances the power of gaming in educational environments. The implementation of AR in educational environments will provide many new ways to indicate relationships and their connections. Students exposed to these types of applications should be able to provide interactive and visual forms of learning.
AR has also attracted a lot of interest in the research community; because it provides unique learning experiences for individual learners by offering a platform that enhances the interactivity with content and visualisations of scientific phenomena, which in turn, reduce the cognitive load of a learner. According to Cipresso et al. (2018) and Garzón & Acevedo (2019), AR applications have extended their use into the social sciences. For instance, research conducted
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by Akcayır & Akcayır (2017), Bernal et al. (2019), Cano et al. (2019) and Radu (2014) has shown that AR has a positive effect on students’ academic achievement and learning outcomes. Meanwhile, in a study conducted by Arici et al. (2019), Bacca et al. (2018), Chiang et al. (2014), and Ibañez et al. (2020), it has been proven that AR also has positive effects on the students’ motivation. In the same vein, Brown et al. (2020) have reported that AR is highly effective in augmenting traditional forms of pedagogy, whereas Tekedere and Göker (2016) and Garzón et al. (2020) indicated that the effectiveness is medium.
In the educational studies, the use of AR was predominant in science education when compared to other subjects (Fidan & Tuncel, 2018). In the context of science education, the use of AR could be engaged in problem based learning (Daineko et al., 2018) laboratory settings (Kearney et al., 2020; Kumar & Mantri, 2021), the modelling of certain cause and effect studies (Ables, 2017), 3 dimensional objects (Hendajani et al., 2018; Xiao et al., 2020) and interactive digital text books (Kelpšienė, 2020; Nordin & Daud, 2020). The advantages of AR among primary school students in several countries has been documented (Beyoglu et al., 2020); as this technology facilitates in improving students’ cognitive abilities to transform abstract ideas into a better perception when learning sciences.
AR helps in facilitating primary school students to convey abstract visual representation during the teaching and learning process to a much more concrete one. This shows that AR is aligned with constructivist theories. Learning science requires the acquisition of scientific knowledge that is not only limited to just comprehending the facts, but also to mastering the science process skills, in order to improve the analytical thinking skills and to be more critical in decision making and solving a problem (Curriculum Development Division, 2014; Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia, 2019). Students should be able to combine scientific information, procedures, and Science Process Skills, in order to comprehend a scientific topic by bringing about an insight whether by face to face, or through e learning, when using AR. The use of AR provides students with exceptional learning experiences and to engage them in immersive, enriched, situated, and seamless learning (Bozkurt, 2018) by illustrating concepts and visualizing the content knowledge, skills and ideas explicitly, by using AR during the process of learning Science.
Since AR applications are able to provide diverse and meaningful learning experiences for students in the process of learning Science, this study was conducted to identify the students’ views and perceptions on applying AR methods in science lessons in terms of their academic achievement, interest and the mastery of science process skills in the national context. The findings from this research should providebaseline data in order to reflect the use of AR applications among primary school students.
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Our modern world is undergoing an epistemological and technical revolution that is increasing quantitatively and qualitatively all the aspects of life, with education serving as the foundation for these areas. Other sectors are benefitting tremendously from its development. Furthermore, we are aware that technology assisted learning, such as AR application is becoming more prominent in our world.
AR is an interactive environment that alters a person's ongoing perception of the physical world by computer generated information. The information could be visual, aural, haptic, somatosensory, and olfactory that incorporates AR technology in real time, interactively and manipulatively. In the same way, the AR also holds a huge potential for the collection and distribution of tacit information in the semantic context of environmental cues. Therefore, the use of AR enhances the natural environments or circumstances; and it provides perceptually enriched experiences, generally known as immersive perceptual experiences (Bozkurt, 2018)
The mention of AR in Mark Zuckerberg’s speech has sparked more interest in the AR application in the daily lives of students. In the transcript of his speech about the future revolution of social media, the potential for AR application in the world of education is indefinite (Zuckerberg, 2021). For instance, he demonstrated the learning of astrophysics through interactive AR by ‘bringing’ those solar systems closer to the students. This futuristic way of learning is actively studied all over the world; but it seems to be favouring certain developed and developing nations (Fidan & Tuncel, 2018). To date, the use of AR are as supplementary to the traditional national curriculum with the emphasis on utilising various sensory modalities to enhance learning, whether it is physical, hybrid, remote (Bozkurt, 2018; Kelpšienė, 2020). For instance, several studies look into possibilities of graphic (Hendajani et al., 2018), video (Young Yong Kim et al., 2015), and music (Ye Yang, 2020) to be integrated into the real time experience of AR to be used as pedagogical tools in formal education.
Arici et al. (2019) found that the most favoured types of AR used in science education are; 1) marker based material and 2) mobile applications; as thesecould be developed more easily. It is clear that both types of AR focus on cognitive, affective and psychomotor development in both theoretical and practical classes The fundamental application of AR is in displaying visual pictures in textbooks (Nordin & Daud, 2020; Wong Kung Teck, 2019), flashcards, and other instructional reading materials, which may have embedded "markers" or triggers that, when scanned by an augmented reality device, provide students with additional information in a multimedia format for theoretical session. Similarly, augmented reality videos were incorporated into the mobile application, in order to demonstrate experimentation. The AR use in experiments basically relates to the ability to view specifically animated activity of cause and effect.
Several AR applications are specifically designed for science education. There are thousands of commercially developed learning apps that fundamentally work with AR technology; however, this literature review tries to look into several varieties of field specific AR, which are reported publications. For instance, AR in chemistry subjects enables students to inspect the 3D structures of molecules and interact with a molecule's spatial structure (Patrick Maier et al., 2009). In the chemistry subjects as well, AR notecards were designed to understand mechanisms in organic chemistry and the AR video projections, onto laboratory instrumentation, in order enable the user to be guided through the equipment set up and operation by a virtual expert (Plunkett, 2019). In an anatomy lesson, the use of AR enables the students to visualise the human body's various systems in 3D anatomy (Kuang & Bai, 2019; Ozdamli & Karagozlu, 2018). This has increased learners’ understanding; and it provides intrinsic benefits, such as greater engagement and learner immersion.
AR can also be used to enrich the learning experiences in electromagnetism (Ibanez et al., 2019), analytical chemistries (Naese et al., 2019) and astronomies (Xiao et al., 2020) by increasing one's visual thinking (Ahmad, 2021) and visuo spatial abilities (Ibanez et al., 2019).
In short, integrating augmented reality into education, especially in science education, allows students to engage and connect more authentically with content knowledge through technology assisted learning. The majority of research found that students have positive impacts from AR, while becoming more active in the physical classroom when they interact with their computer stimulated environment, while still being in a traditional classroom (Alizkan et al., 2021; Kuleto et al., 2021; Law & Heintz, 2021; Saadon et al., 2020)
2.2
From the constructivist standpoint, the young children's cognitive development, from birth to seven years old progresses from innate sensorimotor co ordination to concrete thinking, to abstract logical reasoning through the acquisition of continuous information from their environment. This means that, children will start to receive stimulus from their surroundings by using their sense of vision, touch, hearing, and smell. Having the innate sense and the environmental cues, a child would start to construct knowledge through meaningful forms that arise from their individual experiences and perceptions. Simply defined, perception is referring to one’s interpretation of information garnered through multimodal senses Generally, at the age of seven, children's early perceptions are established through formal or informal education, regardless of whether they attend preschool, or not. However, because these perceptions are primarily concrete, science teaching for primary school should be designed to be scaffolding gradually towards much abstract and logical thinking.
Therefore, the research in the use of AR is aligned with the theoretical foundation of constructivists, such as Piaget and Brunner. As in a conventional way of learning, young learners would be exposed to the use of concrete manipulatives and images in learning alongside with images, such as cubes, models, real
organisms and clays for them to retain the knowledge taught and learned. These concrete objects should allow the children to utilize all their senses effectively during their lesson; and later, the object would be manipulated to learn more abstract ideas. For instance, the use of a single cube could be used to learn about shapes or building blocks. Later, these concrete objects could also be manipulated in order for the children to comprehend more complex ideas, such as how the concept of stability is linked with the height of stacked cubes. The cognitive ability for children to ease the transition of concrete towards abstract, and at the same time the psychomotor development during the interaction could be promoted with the use of AR. The idea of associating AR to concrete ideas (Trory, 2016), known as virtual manipulatives (Bouck et al., 2014; Petit, 2013; Siti et al., 2018) or virtual concrete.
The idea that the careful and effective use of AR in young learners could mimic the concrete manipulatives is backed by research evidence, with some constraints that need to be looked into (Barrett et al., 2015; Klahr et al., 2007)
2.3
Studies at Romania and Serbia show that the millennial and post millennial children have more acceptance in the use of digital technology in education (Kuleto et al., 2021) as compared to the teachers (Alalwan et al., 2020) Consequently, most of the research concluded that the use of AR among the young learners had caused them to garner their attention in the learning process (Ozdamli & Karagozlu, 2018) and to enjoying their learning sessions (Alizkan et al., 2021) Other studies found that AR has contributed to the intrinsic motivation among these young learners by exposing them to authentic scientific inquiries (Saadon et al., 2020) This further decreases the level of anxiety among the learners, when learning Science (Beyoglu et al., 2020)
Previous studies found that students were still unable to implement Science Process Skills during practical activities in the laboratory; and subsequently, they do not gain a meaningful learning experience (Lue, 2020). In the Malaysian context, Irene Lue (2020) found that students in Malaysia have difficulty in mastering Science Process Skills, such as defining operationally, interpreting data, stating inferences and making predictions. This situation occurs probably because these skills were applied among students indirectly; while the students were carrying out their activities; and it is not planned implicitly. Activities in the laboratory are mainly carried out by students, based on a list of instructions from teachers or textbooks and students' understanding of Science Process Skills, which are not emphasized by teachers (Sembak & Abdullah, 2017).
Science teachers need to plan a lot of practical activities, so that scientific skills can be applied when students plan, handle, and analyse data using a variety of tools. However, many constraints faced by teachers in administering practical activities, such as a lack of science laboratories, a lack of apparatus (Gultepe, 2016) and the inability of teachers to control students in the laboratory (Rauf et al., 2013), in addition to not having sufficient knowledge to apply Science Process Skills in their teaching and learning activities (Hikmah et al., 2018).
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The development of science and technology has changed the world from the use of human energy (IR 1.0) to the use of supercomputers, smart robots, driverless vehicles, genetic modification and the development of neurotechnology that allows humans to better optimize their brain function (Reischauer, 2018; Guangli, 2018; Ciolacu, 2018).These scenarios have greatly impacted the world of education, in which students are seen to be more comfortable in learning when using pedagogy and cybergogy methods (Ismail et al., 2019), blended learning (Ahmad, 2018), WhatsApp (Chear, 2017), functional diversity of gadgets and modern application tools (Shatto, & Erwin 2016), learning through gamification (Ding, 2017), Skype, Face Time and Hang Out, as well as learning by using heutagogical methods. The recent ones include the Augmented Reality application in the learning process.
Yusoff, Jamaludin & Abda (2015) presumed that, there must be a cohesive relationship between current wants and needs in the world in which technology assisted education has become a preferred method of learning. They further denote that the modernity of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the advent of Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0) has opened up opportunities for students to explore information a click away. This revolution makes an important impact on the learning process at the school level (Yusof & Tahir, 2017), including in Science Education.
Science education is an essential component of 21st-century education; therefore, a few challenges must be addressed. One of the most pressing issues in scientific education is the generation of unpleasant emotions and experiences. The learners struggle to grasp scientific courses, which leads to an increase in rejection and drop out rates (Mellado et al., 2014; Vidakis et al., 2019). Furthermore, the teachers' lack of motivation, knowledge of relative subjects, methodology connected to teaching science, and overall unpleasant experience could well be transferred to their students (Kalogiannakis et al., 2021). Therefore, the students must always be introduced to new ways to investigate and understand scientific concepts, while promoting active and critical thinking. Unlike learning in a traditional setting, the application of AR should be able to encourage students to become more proactive, and to try new ways of learning, as indicated by Al Azawi et al. (2016). Furthermore, AR is often linked to a socially interactive and constructive learning environment, in which it helps students to become more open to learning (Chan et al., 2017); and it provides a safe environment for students to learn (Kim, et al., 2018).
Therefore, a significant effort must be carried out to improve the students’ scientific inquiry, while learning the subject. Innovative teaching practices must be implemented, in order to engage students in science education (Loganathan et al., 2019). The AR technology may also be used to complement other teaching techniques, such as inquiry based learning, project based learning, or experiential learning (Khazanchi et al., 2019) Scientific inquiry has long been regarded as an important component in obtaining science literacy and developing a scientifically literate workforce, which is the primary goal of science education. since science
is an enquiry process, inquiry based learning has been widely applied, assisting students in learning science by acting as scientists, actively designing, engaging in, and carrying out enquiry activities, rather than merely obtaining passive knowledge from teachers.
AR is a technology that has the potential to be used in education. Due to the sheer efficacy of this technology in recent years, the number of studies on AR is increasing in a variety of educational settings. AR, in particular, is a good technique to represent a model that has to be visualised. AR also enables seamless interaction between the real and virtual worlds, as well as the utilisation of a tactile interface metaphor for object handling. AR integration in school produces beneficial learning and teaching results (Alkhattabi, 2017). Le and Nguyen (2020) claimed that the use of augmented reality (AR) in education provides portable, low cost, stress free, and promising alternatives for application in a wide range of academic situations. The implementation of AR in the teaching and learning process was inspired by the realisation that the traditional chalk and talk instruction, and the usage of static textbooks fails to interest students; and it results in poor learning outcomes.
On the other hand, in order to produce a society, especially of science literate students, reasoning skills and scientific skills are essential. Science process skills are components of scientific skills that are needed to find answers to a problem or to make decisions systematically (Rauf et al., 2013; Turiman et al., 2012). According to a research conducted by Azmah et al. (2014), a teaching approach that is more oriented to the science process and more interactive, requires a high level of knowledge and visualisation skills. To meet the demand of visualisation, AR works with a strategy that enables teachers to increase three dimensional (3 D) shape learning – Instead of the old method of using wooden manipulatives by teachers. Not limited to the static 3 Ds, AR also enables rich visualisation and object motion, which could reduce misconceptions that occur from students' inability to visualise abstract concepts, such as chemical bonding. Henceforth, the AR also offers the benefit of providing macro and micro visualisation of objects and concepts that are not visible to the human eye. At the same time, AR shows things and concepts in a variety of ways and from various perspectives, thereby allowing students to have a deeper understanding of the subjects (Cerqueira & Kirner, 2012). The way AR is planned, implemented, and integrated into formal and informal learning environments has a direct impact on its educational value. How AR technologies enable and afford effective learning is a key consideration. Educators might benefit from viewing AR as a tool for the facilitation of skills and knowledge, rather than a specific sort of technology.
The research questions of this study are:
1. What is the effect of AR on students’ satisfaction?
2. What is the effect of AR on students’ ability to obtain information?
3. What is the effect of AR on students’ learning ability?
4. What is the effect of AR on students’ attitude?
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5. What are the effects of AR on students’ learnability level in learning Science?
6. What are the students’ interest levels towards Science education?
7. What are the students’ interest levels towards Augmented Reality application?
8. What are the differences in students’ achievement in Science subject before and after using the AR application?
The data were collected from 60 Year 1 students from a school in Putrajaya, Malaysia. The school is located in a suburban area where the majority of students have moderate academic achievements The teachers also have been exposed to the use of digital technology, in order to facilitate the teaching and learning process.
This study was carried out using quasi experimental methods. Two group of student with similar academic achievements were chosen. One class was made into a treatment group that was taught using AR; while another class was acontrol group that was taught by using conventional methods.
The development of AR teaching materials was based on the ADDIE model. The phases are stated below:
Phase 1 (Analysis) Phase 1 was carried out when the Year 1 Science Curriculum was analysed. This is for the researcher to identify the suitable topic, the students; their requirements, and any previous knowledge.
Phase 2 (Design) Phase 2 involves designing the apps by referring to the learning objectives, delivery format, activities and also exercises.
Phase 3 (Develop) Phase 3 will be developing the teaching materials, the creating prototypes, developing course materials, the review and the planning of a pilot session.
Phase 4 (Implement) Phase 4 involves implementing the prototype in selected schools
Phase 5 (Evaluation)
Phase 5 will be on evaluating the effect of teaching by using AR on academic achievement, interest and science process skills
However, the AR developed must be suitable for local students; and for example, the language used in the AR application should be available in both Malay and English (For DLP schools). Teaching methods that allows student to be comfortable, while learning, will be impactful towards students’ interests, and their achievements in science from an early stage. The control group was taught by using the traditional teaching method, and non AR strategies.
The school selected for this study is in Putrajaya; and it involved only first year students. This school was chosen; because it has a large number of students; and
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the majority of them are with moderate achievement. The Science teachers at that school have been constantly exposed to technology assisted teaching methods and materials. In total, this study involves only 60 students. The instruments used in this study are pre test and post test questionnaires, as well as a questionnaire identifying the students' interest in science, while using AR applications. The instruments had been simplified by the researcher for the Year 1 students for them to understand and give feedback.
Descriptive analysis was conducted to identify the level of Augmented Reality’s Usability among primary school students.
Table 1: Item analysis
Number of Items Items 5 Students’ satisfaction on AR 7 Students' ability to obtain information through AR 5 Ability of AR in assisting the students to learn. 3 Ability of AR in controlling the students 5 Students’ learnability using Augmented Reality, while learning Science
The data were analysed to determine the mean value, the mean score, the standard deviation and the overall mean value for each item of the AugmentedReality Usability Measurement Questionnaire among primary school students. The analysis of this study was analysed by using the Statistical Package for The Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. The mean values were interpreted, based on the mean score table, as shown in Table 2.
Table 2: The Mean score Interpretive Table Min score Interpretation
1.00 1.66 Low 1.67 2.33 Average 2.34 3.00 High
Students’ Satisfaction on AR
Based on Table 3, the overall mean of students’ satisfaction on Augmented Reality is at a high level with a high mean score of M = 2.85.
Table 3 Mean, Mean Score, and Standard Deviation of Students’ Satisfaction on Augmented Reality
No Statement
Mean Mean Score Standard Deviation
1 I love this AR video 2.91 High 0.38
2 I want to watch this AR video to the end 2.87 High 0.41
3 I want to use this AR video with my friend 2.90 High 0.38
4 I want to use this AR video again 2.78 High 0.59
5 I love Science after watching this AR video 2.81 High 0.52 Total mean value 2.85 High
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Augmented Reality usability effects in students obtaining information.
Based on Table 4, the overall mean to identify students' ability to obtain information from Augmented Reality application is at a high level, with a mean score of M = 2.51. The analysis had shown that Augmented Reality can effectively assist students to obtain information on their learning.
Table 4: Mean, Mean Score, and Standard Deviation of Students' Ability to Obtain Information From Augmented Reality Application
No Statement
Mean Mean Score Standard Deviation
1 I understand the description in this AR video 2.81 High 0.39
2 I got to know about Science after using this AR. 2.93 High 0.24
3 I can recognize 5 senses in this AR video 2.84 High 0.36
4 I became so good at Science after using this AR video 2.81 High 0.39
5 I love Science after watching this AR video 2.81 High 0.52
6 I love this video in AR 2.12 Moderate 0.85
7 I was scared after seeing the video in this AR 1.30 Low 0.46
Total mean value 2.51 High
Augmented Reality’s effects in assisting the students to learn.
Based on Table 5, the overall mean of the extent to which this Augmented Reality assists students is at a high level with Mean Score of (M = 2.84). The analysis had shown that Augmented Reality can assist students to learn more effectively.
Table 5: Mean, Mean Score, and Standard Deviation of the extent to which this Augmented Reality assists students
No Statement Mean Mean Score Standard Deviation
1 I can retell what is in this AR video 2.96 High 0.17
2 I enjoyed learning Science after watching this AR video. 2.87 High 0.48
3 IcanstudyScience on my ownafter usingthis AR video 2.72 High 0.57
4 Iunderstandthekindofsensesafter watching this AR video. 2.93 High 0.24
5 I love the girlish character in this AR video 2.72 High 0.57
Total Mean Value 2.84 High
Augmented Reality’s effects on students’ attitude.
Based on Table 6, the overall mean to identify the extent to which this Augmented Reality controls students is moderate with the mean score of M = 2.27. The analysis had shown that Augmented Reality moderately affects students’ attitude.
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Table 6: Mean, mean score, and standard deviation of control the extent to which this Augmented Reality controls students.
No Statement Mean Score mean Standard deviation
1 I'm not tired of watching this AR video 2.72 High 0.45
2 I don't like watching this AR video 1.21 Low 0.41
3 I can do Science activities after watching this AR video. 2.90 High 0.38
Total Mean Value
2.27 Moderate
Augmented Reality effects on students’ learnability level.
Based on Table 7, the overall mean of the extent to which this Augmented Reality facilitates students to learn is at a high level, with a mean score of M = 2.82. The analysis has shown that it can facilitate students’ learning at a high level, and very effectively.
Table 7: Mean, Mean Score, and Standard Deviation of the extent to which this Augmented Reality enables students to learn.
No Statement Mean Mean score Standard deviation
1 I learned new things after watching this AR video 2.87 High 0.33
2 This AR video gives me the knowledge I want to know. 2.78 High 0.41
3 Love this AR video because it's easy to download 2.87 High 0.33
4 I feel good after learning to watch this AR video 2.66 High 0.64
5 This AR video is interesting. 2.96 High 0.17
Total mean value 2.82 High
Students’ interest level towards Augmented Reality application. Descriptive analysis had been carried out to identify the students’ interest level towards science, while using Augmented Reality application.
Number of Item Items
5
5
Interest in Science Education
Interest in using Augmented Reality application.
The data were analysed to determine the mean value, the mean score, the standard deviation and the overall mean value for each item of the Students’ Interest Level towards the Science Education Questionnaire among primary school students. The analysis of this study was analysed by using the Statistcal Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. Mean values were interpreted, based on the mean score table, as shown in Table 9.
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Table 9: Mean Interpretative Table Mean Score Interpretative level
1.00 1.66 Low
1.67 2.33 Average 2.34 3.00 High
Students’ Interest in Science Education
Table 10 below shows the overall mean value of students’ interest in Science Education. It shows that students have a high level of interest in science education with a mean score of M=2.69.
Table 10: Mean, Mean Score, and Standard Deviation of Students’ Interest in Science Education.
No Statement Mean Mean Score Standard Deviation
1 I like to learn Science subjects. 2.93 High 0.24
2 I have fun while learning Science. 2.72 High 0.51
3 Learning Science is not difficult. 2.66 High 0.73
4 I want to read books on Science every day. 2.69 High 0.68
5 I can read Science books for a long period of time. 2.48 High 0.79
Total Mean Value 2.69 High
Students’ Interest in using Augmented Reality applications.
Table 11 below shows the overall mean value of students’ interest in using Augmented Reality applications. It shows that students have high levels of interest towards using Augmented Reality application in their learning process with a mean value of M=2.77.
Table 11: Mean, Mean Score, and Standard Deviation of Students’ Interest in using Augmented Reality applications.
No Statement Mean Mean Score Standard deviation
1 After using AR application, I like to learn Science. 2.69 High 0.64
2 After using AR application, I think learning Science is easier. 2.72 High 0.51
3 After using AR application, I want to learn Science every day. 2.81 High 0.52
4 When teacher is using AR, while teaching, I have fun in learning Science. 2.78 High 0.54
5 After using AR application, I am not afraid to learn Science. 2.87 High 0.41
Total Mean Value 2.77 High
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Differences in students’ achievement in Science subjects before and after using the AR application.
Inferential Statistics: Paired Sample t Test of Pre and Post Test Evaluation for the topic of Senses when using the Augmented-Reality application.
Empirical data were analysed following the methods used by Chiang et al. (2014) and Di Serio et al. (2013) The overall mean values of the pre test and post test questionnaire were used to compare students’ achievement and determining whether there was any statistically significant difference in motivation.
Table 12 shows the values of paired sample t test carried out between the Pre and Post Tests for the topic of Senses using Augmented Reality. The report showed that t (32) = .35.310, p <0.0005. It showed that the mean value of the test and the t values, had significant improvement after using Augmented Reality application from 9.48 ±1.77 to 21.36 ± 2.40 (p<0.0005)
Mean N Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean
Pair 1
Pre test 9.4848 33 1.66060 .28907 Post test 21.3636 33 2.40855 .41928
Table 13: Paired Samples Test Paired Differences
Mean Std. Deviatio n Std. Error Mean 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Lower Upper
t df Sig. (2 tailed)
Pair 1 Pre test Post test 11.87879 1.93258 .33642 12.56405 11.19353 35.310 32 .000
Based on the data obtained from this study, the research questions have been discussed and answered as follows:
1. What is the effect of AR on students’ satisfaction?
From Table 3, it can be concluded that the satisfaction level of students using the AR application is high ((M = 2.85, SD = 0.456). The satisfaction obtained after learning is a type of reward because it brings a sense of achievement, praise and entertainment. According to S. Malik (2014), students should be provided the opportunity to practise (or apply) their newly learnt skills, as soon as feasible in a relevant situation, in order to maintain their satisfaction. The finding from this study is similar to a study that was carried out by Pipattanasuk & Songsriwittaya (2020). Pipattanasuk and Songsriwittaya explained that students' satisfaction with the AR instructional model is very high because the instructional package is a modern technology popular among the students. This technology allows the
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student to interact via various senses, including textual, graphic images, colours ques, dynamic motions, soundtrack, and audio, all of which enrich their learning experiences. The students were given the ability to tailor their lesson, according to their needs and time. This findings also resonate with those of the Chien et al., (2010) report. Chien was exploring the satisfaction of medical students who learned and interacted with a computer generated 3D skill by using AR. The result had supported that AR improved students’ motivation to learn anatomy and their retention of knowledge, while also promoting an interactive environment for the medical students to learn more effectively.
2. What is the effect of AR on students’ ability to obtain information?
AR provides a realistic learning experiences, while learning Science Education. The findings from this study showed that he overall mean for identifying students' ability to obtain information from Augmented Reality application is at a high level, with a mean score of M = 2.51. The analysis had shown that Augmented Reality can effectively assist students to obtain information on their learning. It is more clear in Item 2: I got to know about Science after using this AR This item has the highest item in the domain.
This study finding further supports the Vázqtuez et al., (2018) report. Vázquez et al., (2018) showed that AR supports kinaesthetic learning, where it allows students to understand and memorize content through 3D visualizations. For him, the students will be able to learn faster and more effectively, even in complex learning situations. In the related development, Bitter & Corral (2014) and Deng et al. (2019) had evaluated the present status of AR application in mobile learning situations, notably for fixed and mobile wearable devices. In their article, the researcher has chosen educational topic areas that have been positively influenced by AR and made recommendations for AR applications in these areas. In an example given by Bitter & Corral (2014), they found that the museum tour applications might be used to reconstruct objects in the field of history. They further denoted that, AR reimagines the original structure, if its structures have deteriorated over time.
Based on the findings, the ability of AR in assisting the students to learn is high, with a mean score (M: 2.84, SD: 0.406). Augmented reality works by superimposing sounds, videos and graphics onto an existing environment. In this way, educational institutions can incorporate interactive classrooms in their curriculum, thereby helping the teachers to create interactive classrooms to increase student engagement. A study conducted by Jessup et al. (2019) had discussed the various aspects of education in which AR has a huge impact. The findings from this study go hand in hand with a study conducted by Constan (2017) which had proved that AR has the ability to enhance education with immersive and interactive experiences in disciplines ranging from Science and Engineering to foreign languages and social sciences.
AR works well in improving empty gaps in certain activities, which require a high level of immersion that a conventional teaching and learning method could not
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achieve (Dalim et al., 2017). Item 1: I can retell what is in this AR video, explains very well how AR is helping the students to learn; since it has the highest mean level among all the other items. Students love studying subjects that they would not have learned otherwise during ordinary teacher centred learning. When AR technology is used, students are seen to enjoy browsing library catalogues and solving mathematics and science problems. Using a manual or systematic technique of doing such chores, on the other hand, increases irritation. Increased concentration refers to learners' increased attentiveness while utilising AR technologies throughout the learning process, according to the findings of Diegman et al., (2015); since using AR in learning scenarios enhances students' physical interactions, which leads to a deeper focus.
4. What is the effect of AR on students’ attitudes?
The findings of this study have shown that AR has moderately affected students; attitude in learning Science. Item 2: I don't like watching this AR video, had recorded the lowest mean value, which explains students having a positive attitude towards AR application, while learning Science. Meanwhile, Item 3: I can do Science activities after watching this AR video, had the highest mean value. Therefore, it has clearly been proven that students are positively inclined to participate in Science activities after watching the AR video. This is similar to a study by Delello (2014), Tomi and Rambli (2013) had shown that AR application has the ability to attract students’ attention in the classroom.
Learning with AR had made the interactions more similar to natural face to face collaborations than were screen based collaborations, as claimed by Giraudeau et al. (2019) and Martín Gutiérrez et al. (2015). They had stated that AR promoted the collaborative and autonomous learning of Science practices without the assistance of a teacher; and students have described AR as “nice”. Another study by Chu et al. (2019) and Pellas et al. (2019) had stated that AR in academic settings improved students’ motivation and engagement. With realistic images, an effective and authentic interface, and engaging information, AR applications set themselves apart from traditional paper learning and computer assisted learning (Wang et al., 2016; Nurul Ain Hidayah et al., 2022).
The findings from this study have shown that AR is helping in students’ learnability level. This had been proven by the mean score (M: 2.82, SD: 0.376). AR can be defined as a series of computer programs that can visualize abstract or complex phenomena carried out in the field, to improve learning activities, in order to develop the skills needed in problem solving. AR is able to help in students’ learnability level by providing tools and the surrounding media that allow them to solve problems through experiments with animation or video. This scenario will enable affective and active learning to be promoted. For instance, AR can be enriching the learning experiences; and later motivate students to conduct experiments with inter actively and to develop experimental skills
Fundamentally, AR is built by replicating the real world with digital images (Constan, 2017). As compared to the traditional textbook that just employs a 2D
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model to explain an abstract concept. Means that, the students might find challenges to imagine a picture or view of something they might never be able to experience (Kumar et al., 2015; Norazilawati et al., 2021). Therefore using AR could open many possibilities that they had not previously encountered.
6. What are the students’ interest level towards Science education? Science is one of the important subjects to be studied and given exposure at an early stage. The objective of early science education for children is to shape and encourage the development of knowledge and skills that can be done at the primary school level. Knowledge in science education provides a conceptual framework to enable children to understand the environment. Children’s exposure to early science education would emphasize the concept of active learning. The activities and learning methods applied will involve children in activities to become active through the interactions that take place. This can be evidenced when children well understand the learning conveyed through observation methods, tactile methods, taste methods and manipulating of learning materials, used to build more complex understandings This study had proven that the students’ interest level towards Science education is high with a mean value of (M: 2.69, SD: 0.59). Item 1: I like to learn Science subjects; obviously has the highest mean value. It has proven that these students are very much motivated to learn Science at schools. The term "augmented reality" refers to a three dimensional technology that allows students to acknowledge and perceive the actual world, while being surrounded by virtual items (Leung & Bsauw, 2020; Nor Hasnida et al., 2020).
7. What are the students’ interest levels towards Augmented Reality application? AR is responsible in the interactivity between the physical and virtual worlds and the after effects would be enhancing the user’s perceptions of the real world. AR facilitates students’ manipulation of scientific hands on experiments in authentic contexts. In this study, students’ interest towards AR application is high, with a mean score of (M:2.77, SD : 0.524). Item 5: After using AR application, I am not afraid to learn Science which, hadshown the highest mean value among all the otheritems. It clearly explained that learning Science using the AR application is highly interesting for these students.
Positive outcomes from these students are similar to the findings by Karagozlu et al.(2019) where it has the same result of students being satisfied with AR in learning, which Science, According to Şahbin & Yıl2020), AR based applications can assist students to have a more positive attitude about the course. In today's educational system, it has been seen that augmented reality based applications have quickly earned a position in science classes, as well as in many other courses, in which they help students to achieve academic achievement and develop a positive attitude towards the course.
8. What is the differences in students’ achievement in Science subjects, before and after using the AR application?
Inferential statistics have indicated that students’ achievement among the experimental group has more significantly improved results compared to the control group. Therefore, it can be proven that AR application plays an important
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part in improving the students’ achievement, while learning Science. AR technology can be said to be suitable to science structure due to its advantages, such as realistic structure, making experiments easier, concretizing topics, being re search and investigation based and other characteristics (Yoon et al., 2017) This is especially crucial when Science subjects commonly have abstract and complex contents (Dunser et al., 2012). As a result, providing students at this level with technology based environments will ensure that their interest and motivation remain high and that they achieve academic achievement. In fact, studies show that AR based applications improve academic progress in primary schools (Contero & Lopez, 2013; Hwang et al., 2015; Tosik & Atasoy, 2017; Petrov & Atanasova, 2020) and maintain interest and motivation (Di Serio et al., 2013; Chen et al., 2017; Bistaman et al., 2018) AR has been found to be beneficial in academic settings where it allows more efficient visualization of abstract concepts that would help in students’ engagement and learning intentions. A study carried out by Quintero et al., (2015) has reported the benefits of better visualizations in complex academic situations by using AR in educational settings. These advantages of AR in teaching and learning methods are directly proportional to the student’s achievement levels, nonetheless.
The findings from this study would be able to provide research based evidence to encourage the interest and collaboration among education specialists with the computer science expert to develop the effective AR based pedagogy based on student-centric survey. ‘A study conducted by Huang et al., (2019) had indicated that students who learned using AR have the tendencies to score higher on tests when compared to those who learned through traditional teaching methods. By focusing on the studied factor, all the findings suggest that AR could be an imparted as an important learning tool for improving students’ knowledge retention. Having that, AR plays a significant role in improving the absorption of new knowledge while solving problems in a settings that were more realistic, AR is no longer perceived as a novel concept, and is expanding in tandem with the expansion of e learning platforms. This research discovered that AR combines current technology with real world situations to give learners with an engaging e learning experience the advantages of using this approach in e learning contexts that include, but are not limited to, improving kinaesthetic and collaborative learning, enabling high risk e learning in real time, as well as visualisations, supporting real world simulations with interactive objects, and increasing learners' motivation, satisfaction, attention, and content retention.
However, hurdles to AR acceptance and implementation have been identified, notably learning, pedagogical, and technological concerns. Regardless of the obstacle, training and continuing education were considered as potential answers to the primary difficulties in AR adoption in e learning contexts, despite the fact that the industry remains dependent on technology improvements in this area. The primary drawback of this study is that it recognised the benefits and problems of employing AR in e learning environments based on empirical study findings, which may have limits in terms of research design and evidential validity. This constraint is exacerbated by the fact that the use of AR in education is still in its
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early stages, and additional study is required. Given this, new research directions are recommended. Firstly, while using AR in the classroom has academic benefits, further study on how successful this strategy is for distant and remote learning is still needed. Since learners' attentiveness and ability in the use of technology vary greatly, measuring its efficacy is critical for education.
Secondly, in connection to the first future path, further study on the drawbacks of employing AR and how to reduce them in educational contexts is required. For example, several research have found that adopting AR in teaching might cause cognitive overload in children. Learners may get overwhelmed by the platform's intricacy or the volume of information offered. Future study should look at how such learning barriers might be addressed or minimised, in order to improve the effectiveness of AR in enhancing academic achievements.
Student and teacher training on how to utilise the programme is required to boost the adoption and utilisation of AR in e learning situations. This requirement was identified, with the argument that a lack of training is a primary source of deployment and implementation issues. On the job training for instructors would not only help with the deployment of AR in e learning contexts, but it could also help to overcome opposition to AR and speed up its adoption. AR's applicability and usage should be included into teacher training courses and student curricula, in order to provide future instructors and students with an essential understanding of AR technology, and to assure their continued use thereof.
The effectiveness of AR application in science learning has been looked into by using six main domains: Students’ Satisfaction, Obtaining Information, Assistance in Learning, Attitude, Learnability Level and Interest. All of the domains except for attitude have shown high level of effectiveness in implementing AR application while learning. These findings are consistent with many other research projects being carried out before implementing AR to enable teachers to educate students without alienating them from classroom reality and form natural interactions with virtual objects and the physical environments surrounding them (Matcha & Rambli, 2013; Sin & Zaman, 2010).
The authors would like to extend their gratitude to Research Management and Innovation Centre (RMIC), Sultan Idris Education University (UPSI) for the Fundamental University Research Grants (code GPUF: 2019 0206 106 01) that helped to fund the research.
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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research
Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 351 366, May 2022
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.5.18
Received Feb 2, 2022; Revised May 19, 2022; Accepted May 25, 2022
Nicolaj Riise Clausen
UNESCO
Center for Problem Based Learning, Aalborg University, Denmark Claus D. HansenDepartment
of Sociology and Social Work, Aalborg University, DenmarkAbstract The Oddi Continuing Learning Inventory (OCLI) is one of the most popular instruments for measuring self directed learning (SDL). Although several previous studies have validated it, an exploratory application of confirmatory factor analysis had not been attempted; such an analysis provided new insights. Responses from 159 students from Aalborg University, a Problem Based Learning institution known for its high degree of self directed project work, were analyzed. This investigation examines all previously suggested factor structures against commonly applied measures and further develops the most promising, identifying a new three factor structure reaching standard thresholds of model fit. The newly identified underlying dimensions of the OCLI internal locus of control, the ability to be self regulating, and avidity for learning simplify the interpretation of the factors and help mitigate some of the instrument’s previous problems. This will serve to keep the OCLI relevant as an instrument for measuring self directed learning in the future. We recommend further studies to revise the OCLI, rephrasing and reconceptualizing items that have aged poorly as well as investigating the pattern of the reverse coded items. Lastly this paper suggests that other statistical instruments might be revitalized through the application of similar methods, taking advantage of the advances in computation and statistical analysis.
Keywords: self directed learning; validation; scale purification; quantitative analysis; confirmatory factor analysis
For decades, researchers in adult education have tried to identify students’ characteristics and aspects crucial to their success in learning. Few aspects have received as much attention as self directed learning (SDL), albeit in many different but somewhat overlapping conceptualizations such as self regulated learning and lifelong learning (Leary et al., 2019; Saks & Leijen, 2014)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY NC ND 4.0).
An aspect that SDL shares with the rest of adult education is the inclination toward qualitative research in contemporary scientific publications. While the last few decades have seen a return from a heavily theoretical to a more empirical focus, this has almost exclusively been the result of a rise in published qualitative studies (Clair, 2011; Taylor, 2001). In the most recent studies looking at the field through three leading journals, Boeren et al. (2018) found that only about one sixth of the published articles applied quantitative methods. The vast majority of these reported only descriptive statistics, apparently not applying any deeper analysis (Boeren et al., 2018). A more detailed analysis of the most referenced articles in the same journals from 2005 to 2012 found that while 62% had used some form of qualitative analysis, only 7% had used quantitative methods and 5.3% mixed methods (Fejes & Nylander, 2015). While there are certainly many valuable insights to be gained from qualitative research, the application of a pluralism of methodologies within a field ensures that topics can be explored from different perspectives and angles, and a better representation of quantitative studies in adult education would allow for broader studies of general characteristics involving an increased number of subjects, enhancing the generalizability of the results (Robson & McCartan, 2016). Daley et al. presented similar sentiments in an article calling for a renewed discussion of methodological diversity and further quantitative research in adult education research, concluding with three recommendations (Daley et al., 2018). To these we would add that in other disciplines there have been trends showing an interest toward making inferences from quantitative studies. A prerequisiste for a similar endeavor in the field of adult education, however, is that there are validated instruments that capture essential constructs that are of importance to causal analysis.
One of the resources that could be applied advantageously to this end and to mitigate the methodological skew in adult education is the vast array of standardized scales and statistical instruments already developed. While such instruments might hold great promise for both research and practice, they do, however, need to be rigorously validated and their theoretical interpretations refined.i Within SDL, one such instrument is the Oddi Continuous Learners Index (OCLI), which we in this article make an effort to validate cross culturally through an analysis of responses from Danish students enrolled at Aalborg University. There are several reasons for returning to measures such as the OCLI, one being the relative ease with which we can now conduct the statistical analyses needed to discuss the validity of the scales in more detail. When Oddi developed the OCLI, conducting even single computations of the factor structure of the scale could take a considerable amount of time (Oddi, 1984). Conducting the same analyses today takes much less time, and it is thus easier to refine the scales by examining several different models. In addition, the developments in the field of scale validation have led to the invention of several new fit indices that enhance our knowledge surrounding the relationship between indicators in the measures (Brown, 2006).
Initially, we will present a review of the background for the development of the instrument and the previous efforts to validate it. After the review we will present our analysis of the instrument, in which we examine both instrument
reliability, construct validity, and possible interpretations of the results through confirmatory factor analysis.
Several statistical instruments have been developed to try to assess SDL in people, but only two have gained notable success and prevalence. The Self Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS) and the OCLI were found to make up more than 85% of all applications of statistical instruments to measure SDL in a recent meta review. Guglielmino developed the SDLRS as a part of her doctoral dissertation to ascertain how ready individuals are for self directed learning, based on several complementary skills, attributes, and attitudes (1977). In the years following the development of the SDLRS, a debate about whether SDL should be conceptualized as an instructional method or a personality characteristic emerged (Brockett & Hiemstra, 1991). The consequence of either understanding would mean that a measurement of an individual’s propensity for SDL would either be through a role adopted during learning, encompassing certain skills and attributes, or as a state attained through psychological development (Brockett & Hiemstra, 1991; Brookfield, 1984; Oddi, 1987). The OCLI was developed by Lorys Oddi, partly as a reaction to this debate and criticisms of previous instruments, but primarily because of a difference of approach. Oddi argued that the current models overemphasized aspects such as self management and the use of particular methods and approaches, so instead focused on cognitive and emotive elements such as developed attitudes and resultant behaviors. Oddi held the assumption that SDL should be conceptualized as a personality trait that determines certain behavioral tendencies characterized by initiative and persistence in learning over time, and developed the OCLI to identify what she called “self directed continuing learners” (Oddi, 1986, 1987). When Oddi developed the scale, she initially conducted a literature review and deduced three underlying personality dimensions, all existing as continuums with one end conducive and the other non conducive to SDL. The three dimensions (1) proactive drive versus reactive drive, (2) cognitive openness versus defensiveness, and (3) commitment to learning versus apathy or aversion to learning became the basis for 100 questionnaire items formulated by Oddi. Oddi gradually reviewed and reduced the number of items through content validation, expert reviews, evaluations of individual items, item total score correlations, item subscale score correlations, and a factor analysis, ending up with the final instrument consisting of 24 items (Oddi, 1984)
Several efforts to validate the OCLI have been undertaken since its original development; they inform our approach. These efforts can be divided into 1) factor validations, examining the factor interpretations of the instrument, and 2) construct validations, examining the extent to which the instrument correlates with other closely related measures, where associations are expected. Oddi conducted an explorative factor analysis upon finishing the OCLI, which revealed a three factor structure, differing from her suggested theoretical dimensions. Oddi interpreted these factors as: “a general factor relating to
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several other elements of self directed continuing learning, such as the ability to work independently and learning through involvement with others,” “ability to be self regulating,” and “avidity for reading” (Oddi, 1986, p. 103). Building on the work of Oddi, Jack E. Six showed that the factor structure found by Oddi was replicated across another sample. He compared two sets of derived factors from different samples to analyze to which degree they correlated and found that the factor structures co varied on individual factors from .93 to .99 level, thus successfully demonstrating the replicability of the OCLI across samples (Six, 1989). The stability of the factor structure has also been tested in a different cultural context and was largely replicated in a German sample. The analysis showed that the OCLI performed slightly worse on a German sample, attaining a lower reliability, and the factor structure identified by the authors had about two thirds of the items loading on factor structures similar to those of Six and Oddi, where the most notable difference was that several items related to social aspects of SDL were moved from factor 1 to factor 3 (Straka, 1996). The appropriateness of a three factor structure was brought into question by Harvey et al. who found that a four factor structure constituted the best fit when testing the instrument through an explorative and subsequent confirmatory factor analysis. The structure identified by Harvey et al. has the notable advantage that the explained variance and number of items are spread almost evenly across the four factors, thus simplifying interpretation (Harvey et al., 2006)
While much of the factor structure is stable across the different analyses, they all build on the exploratory work of Oddi and largely replicate her procedures. To be able to, in the most appropriate manner, accommodate testing several three and four factor structures as well as the other mentioned issues, we have chosen to apply a confirmatory approach in an exploratory fashion in our analysis, which allows us to test all the identified factor structures and continue working on the one with the best fit. Using confirmatory factor analysis in an exploratory fashion is recommended in a case like ours when no single compelling model can be suggested (Long, 1983). If none of the previously identified structures meet the chosen thresholds of the applied measurements, “scale purification” will be conducted. This procedure removes items from the instrument based on their lack of sufficient correlation with the rest of the items until a satisfactory factor structure is attained (Wieland et al., 2018). A similar approach has been applied on a different cultural sample in Korea in the most recently published analysis of the factor structure of the OCLI; it resulted in a three factor model including 15 items, reaching common thresholds for a number of fit indices (Han & Lee, 2009)
Oddi also tested the construct validity of the OCLI by arguing that SDL should, based on theoretical assumptions, correlate positively with the internal locus of control as measured by the Internal External Scale, participation in educational activities measured by the Leisure Activity Survey, and four subscales of the Adjective Checklist (ACL) purporting to measure more complex aspects of personality.* Further, it should not correlate in either direction with IQ measured
* For a more thorough examination of the instruments see Oddi (1984, pp 141 166).
by the Shipley Institute of Living Scale. By distributing these instruments alongside the OCLI, she analyzed whether her assumptions held true, largely attaining support for the construct validity of the OCLI. Boyer et al., in a newer meta analytical review that analyzes the research on SDL and related constructs, identified studies suggesting that generally, SDL as a theoretical construct correlates with internal loci of control, motivation, support, self efficacy, and increased performance, and found that the OCLI, in particular, correlates with measures of self efficacy, support, and increased performance (2014). The authors also notably concluded that the connection between SDL and motivation is still unclear, and more research is needed (Boyer et al., 2014). This concluding remark is echoed by Oddi’s conclusions about the OCLI’s construct validity, in which she suggests that it should be distributed along another measure of motivation for further study, and by Guglielmino, who holds the same reservations about the SDLRS (Guglielmino, 1977; Oddi, 1984). For these reasons, and to be able to assess whether the translated OCLI behaves as expected e.g., correlates positively with motivation a measure of motivation was included in our data collection. We distributed the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) as a measure of motivation and GSE as a measure of self efficacy alongside the OCLI. The AMS has been used extensively and has proven to be a reliable and valid instrument for measuring student motivation in a similar cultural context (Støen Utvær & Haugan, 2016; Vallerand et al., 1992, 1993) Because of the aforementioned positive correlation between the OCLI and self efficacy, the General Self Efficacy Scale (GSE) was selected to help assess the construct validity of the translated OCLI (Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1995)
This article aims to present the results of a validation of a Danish translation of the OCLI. This is part of an attempt to revitalize quantitative measures in adult education research by testing the instrument developed in the 1980s and its stability on a present day sample. Our validation encompasses common model fit measures, assessing a potential factor analysis, a construct validation, and the instrument’s correlation with other instruments measuring theoretical constructs known to correlate with SDL or the untranslated OCLI.
The data used for this study was collected at Aalborg University, which teaches based on a problem based learning (PBL) curriculum focusing on work in project groups since its establishment in 1974. PBL can be considered one form of self directed learning (SDL) as it emphasizes the responsibility of the students for taking the learning experiences into their own hands as well as highlighting the importance of acquiring the ability to learn throughout their lives even after leaving university and joining the labor market. As part of continuing the improvement of the pedagogical model of the university, a project was enacted that focused on examining how PBL might be adapted to better suit the needs of future students and of those employing the university’s alumni.
For the pilot study that we report on in this paper, 159 students (77 students from construction engineering and 82 students from sociology) participated. They were third and first year students, respectively, implying that the pilot was conducted among a group of students with working knowledge of the
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university’s expectations of self directed learning as well as a group who were still new to this form of learning experience. Although the OCLI score was slightly lower for the first year sociology students, this difference was not statistically significant.
As mentioned above, Oddi as well as others have argued that in order to examine the construct validity of OCLI, it would be necessary to include other measures theoretically hypothesized as closely associated with self directed learning in order to validate the appropriateness of the measurement instrument in a cultural setting other than the one in which it was developed (Boyer et al., 2014; Guglielmino, 1977; Oddi, 1984). For this reason, we have included the college version of the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS C 28) and the General Self Efficacy Scale (GSE) in our examination (Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1995; Vallerand et al., 1992)
The OCLI was initially translated to Danish by both authors individually, and where discrepancies were still present, external assistance was brought in for comments. After a final translation was negotiated between the authors, the OCLI was sent with the original version for comments to an external academic with expertise in survey methodology who regularly publishes in both English and Danish scientific journals. Incorporating the external comments finalized the translation.
The responses to the three instruments were collected using the electronic questionnaire system, SurveyXact. Data were then transferred to STATA16, where the analyses were carried out (Statacorp, 2019). Total scores and standard deviations on the three instruments as well as the reliability of the scales (Cronbach’s alpha coefficient) were calculated. After this, we started fitting the OCLI following the models suggested by Oddi (1984), Harvey et al. (2006), Six (1989), and Straka (1996). As part of this procedure, we used confirmatory factor analysis to provide several fit indices that indicated the degree to which the theoretical measurement model specified by us was appropriate for describing the data that we had collected among the students. We used four fit indices to evaluate the models and to make decisions as to which model best fit our data: a standard chi-square test was used to assess the models but due to the rigor in this type of test we supplied the analyses with the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) including confidence intervals, the standardized root mean residual (SRMR), and the comparative fit index (CFI) (Brown, 2006; Jackson et al., 2009). RMSEA is a so called badness of fit index where a low value indicates a less bad fit of the scale, indicating a good fit of the data to the proposed model, while CFI is a goodness of fit incremental fit index which assesses relative improvements in fit by comparing a suggested model with a given baseline model (Kline, 2016; Shi et al., 2019). SRMR is a another badness of fit statistic, a standardized version of a root mean square residual and based on the general dissimilarity between observed and predicted correlations (Kline, 2016). SRMR is often applied alongside the CFI to mitigate issues of sensitivity inherent in either index (Hu & Bentler, 1999). Taken together, these four fit
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indices made it possible for us to evaluate the best version of the OCLI in our Danish context. Because of the cross cultural translation, we drew most heavily on the work of Straka because the translation to a German context came closest to the situation in which we were using the OCLI. However, as suggested by Wielandt et al., it was necessary to conduct “scale purification” in a vein similar to Han and Lee, removing entire items from the scale instead of fitting numerous extra covariance terms between the items performing poorest (Han & Lee, 2009; Wieland et al., 2018). Finally, in order to examine the construct validity of the OCLI, we computed correlations between the total OCLI score and the AMS and GSE.
4.1.
Table 1 contains the results of the descriptive analysis of the OCLI and the two other measures included in our pilot. As can be seen from the table, the reliability of the OCLI was rather low, with a total coefficient of 0.68 in the overall sample but with as low a score as 0.59 among the construction engineer students. The average item total correlation was 0.38 close to the mean reported by Harvey (2006). However, the individual correlations ranged from as low as 0.02 (item 21) to 0.56 (item 1). The coefficient alpha was clearly higher for the two other constructs (0.86 and 0.83, respectively), indicating that the OCLI’s relatively low alpha score was not due to a general problem with the participants in the study but more likely related to the translation to a Danish context.
All (n=159) Sociology (n =82) Construction eng. (n=77)
Mean (Std) Chronbachs α Mean (Std) Chronbachs α Mean (Std) Chronbachs α
OCLI total 110.7 (12.5) 0.68 109.8 (13.6) 0.73 111.8 (11.1) 0.59 AMS 142.3 (20.2) 0.86 143.0 (21.3) 0.88 141.6 (19.1) 0.84
GSE 30.2 (4.3) 0.83 29.3 (4.0) 0.81 31.2 (4.4) 0.84
Table 2 reports on the factor scores from the confirmatory factor analysis that produced the best fit. The main difference between the three factor model presented by Straka and our model was that we excluded many items due to low correlations and general bad fits (1996). This meant that items 3, 8, 9, 11, 15, 19, 21, and 23 were removed from our final model, whereas this was only the case for items 19 and 21 in Straka’s three factor model. This was the case in most of the versions of the OCLI, the reverse coded items loaded on the same factor, which in our case was factor 2. When comparing the correlations between the individual items and the latent variable, we found similarities in our model to that of Straka. We interpret this as evidence that exclusion of the problematic items from the scale makes it possible to fit a version of the scale that produces reliable results.
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Table 2: Factor structure of OCLI.
Straka – 3 factor model Clausen – 3 factor model OCLI items Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3 Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3
1 .6387498 .6292107 2 .3008753 .2682278 3 .4231888 4 .4500869 .438638 5 .4557258 .4627243 6 .3631328 .4113728 7 .2719541 .3069611
8 .2900065 9 .2742458 10 .476421 .4378024 11 .4513803
12 (R) .4317774 .4315807 13 .2656626 .3307074 14 .3210174 .4032973 15 .093144 16 .213702 .2863036 17 (R) .6868287 .6765717 18 .5377946 .6177122 19 20 (R) .748563 .7632641 21 (R) 22 .3530351 .4454629 23 .1936029 24 (R) .342474 .3290299
NOTE: R = reverse coded. Standardized scores reported.
In Table 3 we show the procedure carried out for choosing the final model that was fitted to the data. As can be seen from the fit indices, only after removing the above mentioned items does the fit of the model become acceptable; i.e., the chi square statistic becomes insignificant (p = 0.22), the RMSEA falls below 0.05 (0.026), the SRMR is lower than 0.08 (0.061), and the CFI climbs above 0.95 (0.955). In the discussion, we speculate the reasons for the model to fit only after having excluded these items from the scale.
Table 3: Confirmatory Factor Analysis Comparison of model fits Chi2 Df P-value RMSEA (95% CI) SRMR CFI
Oddi’s 3 factor model
Harvey’s 4 factor model
324.32 206 <0.01 0.060 (0.05 0.07) 0.084 0.708
396.39 252 < 0.01 0.060 (0.05 0.07) 0.108 0.662
Six’ 3 factor model 253.54 149 < 0.01 0.066 (0.05 0.08) 0.087 0.715
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Straka’s 3 factor model
Clausen 3 factor model
316.49 206 <0.01 0.058 (0.05 0.07) 0.083 0.713
111.69 101 0.22 0.026 (0.00 0.05) 0.061 0.955
Finally, in Table 4 we find the correlations between OCLI and the two other constructs included in the pilot study, namely AMS C 28 and GSE. Both of the measures correlate with OCLI in the expected direction; i.e., higher levels of self directed learning (as measured by the OCLI) is associated with higher levels of general self efficacy (0.57) and with higher levels of academic motivation (0.31).
Table 4: Correlations between OCLI, AMS and GSE.
OCLI AMS GSE
OCLI 1.00 AMS 0.31 1.00 GSE 0.57 0.19 1.00
Evaluating the quality of a factor structure is a quantitative endeavor that must still account for a qualitative evaluation of the structure. The three factor structure identified by our analysis includes 16 of 24 items from the instrument. Further, to allow readers to make their own interpretation of the meaning of the factors, we will present the items included here. The structure is adapted through confirmatory factor analysis from Straka’s study, chosen because it provided the best model fit of the previously suggested structures. As such, we will highlight the differences in both by displaying the items included in his structure and excluded in ours, in italic, under each factor.
Factor 1:
1: I successfully complete tasks I undertake.
2: My work is beneficial to society.
5: My values and beliefs help me to meet daily challenges.
16: When I do a job well, it’s because I have been prepared and have put in personal effort.
18: Once I start to work on a task, I keep working until it’s done to my satisfaction.
22: I work more effectively if I have freedom to regulate myself.
8: I am able to resist the efforts of others to pressure me into doing something I don’t want to do.
9: I regularly read professional journals.
11: I volunteer for new assignments.
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15: I resist judging others (such as new managers or teachers) until I’ve had an opportunity to associate with them.
We interpret this factor as an expression of the respondents’ “internal locus of control.” Items 1, 16, and 18 are direct expressions of whether or not a person believes that when they make an effort, they succeed. Items 5 and 22 gauge the respondents’ beliefs in their own internal directions, be it through the ability to self regulate or through their values and beliefs. Item 2 is closely related to both the previous notions, but items 5 and 22 are internal expressions that predate any impact the respondent has on society, and items 1, 16, and 22 express a belief in the respondents’ ability to work with the medium by which they impact society and their work. However, item 2 requires the respondent to evaluate the impact of said work.
Straka interpreted this factor as “self awareness of one’s autonomy and self efficacy in conjunction with reading behavior” (1996). We reason that self awareness is not the most appropriate interpretation of self reported measures because it stipulates that respondents can adequately gauge their own autonomy, something we have no way of knowing. We take it as a matter of fact that what we measure are respondents’ perceptions, and thus reason that the locus of control, the belief in whether or not one’s own actions are impactful in terms of whether or not one achieves success, is a more appropriate interpretation.
Factor 2: 12: I’m not comfortable with my performance on an assignment until my supervisor, teacher, or colleague says it’s acceptable.
17: I find it difficult to judge if I’ve performed well or poorly on a task such as giving a speech, writing a paper, or answering a test question.
20: When in school, I tend to have difficulty in estimating whether or not the teacher is going to like my work.
24: Being afraid to take a chance has prevented me from doing something I have wanted to do at some time in my life.
We interpret the second factor in our analysis as “the ability to be self regulating.” The factor is almost identical to a factor in the factor structures identified by Oddi, Six, Straka, and Harvey et al., and our interpretation is thus similar. All the mentioned analyses include a factor made up of these items Oddi’s without item 24 and Harvey’s including item 21. Mutual for all of these factors is that they are made up exclusively of reverse coded items and include any and all of these in the factor structure, a fact we will remark upon further in the discussion (Harvey et al., 2006; Oddi, 1984; Six, 1989; Straka, 1996)
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Factor 3:
4: I make an effort to learn the meaning of new words I encounter.
6: I seek the views of others when I am curious about something.
7: I have a hobby (such as writing, painting, or making things) that provides me with a means of self expression.
10: I select serious literature (such as history, biographies, or “the classics”) for my reading pleasure.
13: I have been an eager reader since childhood.
14: After I read a book or see a play or a film/series, I talk to others to see what they think about it.
3: I seek involvement with others in school or work projects.
23: I make an effort to meet new people.
We interpret this factor as an “avidity for learning.” The factor is similar to Straka’s third factor, which he interprets as “Reading avidity” and the “social dimension of self directed learning.” The exclusion of two items with no relation to reading has reduced the complexity of the interpretation. In our factor structure the two items that are theoretically most closely linked to the social dimensions item 3, “I seek involvement with others in school or work projects,” and item 23, “I make an effort to meet new people,” are, however, removed from factor three. The title “reading avidity” is largely borrowed from Oddi’s original validation, in which she called her third factor the “avidity for reading” (Oddi, 1984, p. 169). We would contest that the factor should be reinterpreted, because it also includes items that relate to inclinations toward learning activities other than reading.
Applying a confirmatory factor analysis, we identified a three factor structure including 16 items as the best model fit on the data, reaching the commonly applied threshold for the chosen measures. We interpret these factors as “internal locus of control,” “the ability to be self regulating,” and “avidity for learning.” Our analysis of the construct validity of the OCLI shows positive correlations between the instrument and self efficacy as measured by the GSE and academic motivation, as measured by the AMS. Both correlations and their directionality were as expected; they enforce the impression that the translation has not made the OCLI behave radically differently and also speak to its construct validity.
The close resemblance of our final factor structure to Straka’s makes sense, given that the cultural backgrounds of the samples, German and Danish university students, were expected to hold close resemblances. The factor structure we suggest has a drawback in that it includes only 16, rather than 19, 22, or 24, items out of a total 24, as in previously suggested structures. It has the advantage of
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living up to thresholds of commonly applied measures of model fit and of mitigating some of the difficulties of interpretation that both Oddi, Six, and Straka have highlighted. While Oddi’s and Six’s validations of the instrument were statistically sound, there was one major issue with the interpretation, namely the size of the first factor, which included almost two thirds of the items in the instrument, making it difficult to interpret in any meaningful way a fact that Oddi herself remarked upon in her conclusions (Oddi, 1984). Straka’s factor structure went some way toward solving the issue, reducing the number of items in factor 1 by 5, largely because items concerning social aspects related to SDL migrated to factor 3. Our analysis further reduces the number of items in factor 1, which now appears to be theoretically very unidimensional.
Our analysis focuses heavily on statistical measures and heuristics as indicators of quality, but another aspect of validation of statistical instruments is whether their interpretation bears any relation to theoretical meaning. Wieland et al. argue that theoretical criteria must complement the empirical when assessing the quality of a scale:
, and to this end a noteworthy aspect of our study is that a confirmatory factor analytical effort to provide the best model of fit on the data also produced an factor structure that’s easier to interpret theoretically (Clausen, 2021; Wieland et al., 2018)
While it naturally becomes increasingly easier to attain a theoretically interpretable factor structure the fewer items you include, our results are an indication that the OCLI does in fact measure stable underlying constructs and also speaks to the merits of applying a similar methodology to validate comparable statistical instruments. While a similar approach was once applied to a validation of the OCLI, the results were not altogether similar. The application of the OCLI in a South Korean context resulted in a three factor 15 item structure with eight items loading on factors similar to the ones presented in our analysis (Han & Lee, 2009)
The factor structure identified in this article could be used to gain further insights into students’ self directed learning, although researchers in adult education applying the OCLI should be wary not to overinterpret the results, given the modest degree of explained variance and internal consistency. These scores might, however, be mitigated by further addressing two potential issues with the instrument.
An issue replicated in all the factor analysis is the pattern of the reverse coded items. There are five reverse coded items in the OCLI, and all the factor analysis, including ours, identified one factor made up of only reverse coded items, including all reverse coded items in the factor structure. This begs the question as to whether or not this is an artifact of respondent questionnaire answering behavior or an actual analytical result (Weijters & Baumgartner, 2012).
Another issue that could be analyzed further is whether some of the items that are excluded in our factor structure may have aged poorly for various reasons and therefore may in the past have loaded significantly on underlying factors of
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SDL, but have now become poor indicators. If the instrument was revised today, items like “I read an average of one or more national news magazines each week” and “I regularly read professional journals” might be examples of this. The general decline of news magazines, the increased exposure to international rather than national news outlets, and the rise of the internet as the main purveyor of news and disseminated research, such as professional journals, might make these poorer indicators of the types of behaviors and attitudes that they purport to measure. Another example is item 21: “I find it useful to think about people (or refer to them) according to categories (such as by education, occupation, or ethnic background).” It might be argued that the political and cultural climate of present day western Europe and USA is such that referring to individuals according to their ethnic background, for example, would be considered wholly problematic. Relevant for the answers received on the questionnaire, answering such an item in a certain way might be perceived as highly inappropriate, making social desirability play a larger factor in answering the question.
The usefulness of the OCLI might be considered limited given its relatively low amount of explained variance and internal consistency. This is however a discussion and evaluation with many valid arguments in favor of or against the OCLI, especially given the complex nature of self directed learning and the therefore tempered expectations one should have for the statistical properties of any instrument attempting to measure it or its underlying dimensions. The OCLI is the result of careful refinement and diligent work, but given the evolving context between the period in which it was developed, the early 1980s, and the early 2020s, subsequent refinement and revalidation could serve to improve it. As with any statistical instrument, it can be applied to gain insights into a given phenomenon as long as its statistical properties are kept in mind, appropriate qualifications are taken, and overinterpretation is avoided. These statistical properties are of great importance if quantitative studies are to increase in prominence in adult educational research.
Our confirmatory factor analysis found that none of the previously identified factor structures could meet the commonly suggested thresholds of the measurements included, whereas a new structure, identified through confirmatory factor analysis used in an exploratory fashion, could. Our structure reduces the number of items included, and factor 1 appears far more theoretically unidimensional than in previous structures. A positive point of emphasis of our results is that while our approach takes its point of departure in a rigorous application of statistics so as to attain a satisfactory model fit, it has also identified a more easily interpretable structure. Our results also show that the OCLI applied in a Danish context still performs as expected when distributed alongside other statistical instruments measuring related concepts, supporting the notion that it measures stable underlying constructs. Our results support the notion that the OCLI can be used to gain insights into students’ attitudes and behaviors towards SDL, but also that conclusions drawn on the basis of the results should be tempered by the modest degree of explained
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variance and internal consistency. We suggest that addressing the issue of the pattern of the reverse coded items and updating the formulations of items that have aged poorly would improve the OCLI.
An important motivation for our analysis besides analyzing the OCLI was to gauge firstly whether the application of contemporarily common thresholds for evaluation of scale quality could help enhance statistical instruments developed before computation, and secondly if statistical advancements make these procedures easily available. To this end, we have shown that older instruments can be refined and purified by this type of analysis and approach and that such instruments can still play a role in understanding today’s students.
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i For the purposes of this research, a royalty free copyright license for the use of the Oddi Continuing Learning Inventory was granted by Lorys F. Oddi.
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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research
Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 367 400, May 2022
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.5.19
Received Sep 1, 2021; Revised Jan 9, 2022; Accepted May 29, 2022
Digital
Innovation Laboratory (EDILAB), Department of Management Science and Technology, University of Patras, Greece
Abstract. The present study investigates the role of synchronous and asynchronous education techniques in the context of digital and game basedlearningmaterialsthroughacollaborative study,conductedduring theCovid 19pandemic(October2020 June2021),inanonlinee learning environment.Thestudyinvolved35last yearelementaryschoolchildren, in Western Greece, with learning and behavioral issues The children were given games with both practical and academic modules throughout theironlineschooling.Forexample,amathgamewasplayedoverWebEx using Kahoot; a game for European institutions was created using the learningapps.org software; and online games from the European Union's "Learning Corner" as well as the game "Defeat the Virus" were used for the Social and Political Education topic. The findings are based on data collected throughsynchronousand asynchronouse learning frameworks (WebEx, e Class), and were linked to both cognitive learning aspects and school children active participation in online education using a standardized psychometric scale called "Psychosocial Adaptation of Primary School Children." The findings suggest that gamification might be a beneficial tool for improving children' cognitive performance in elementary school and generating a meaningful learning experience. The educational intervention aided young people in the development of assertiveness/leadership skills; interpersonal communication skills; social competence; and self perception. The benefits of the online educational process include the enhancement of students' neurocognitive processes, particularly their executive functions, as well as their social competencies and interpersonal relationships.
Keywords: gamification; neurocognitive parameters; social function; distance learning; school children
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY NC ND 4.0).
Learning is a complex and necessary basic characteristic of evolved species. It is a cognitive process that leads to a reasonably steady alteration in the activities of the being. This shift is brought about by future neural system alterations that occur because of experience accumulation, i.e., repetition and mental processing of events. Game provides numerous chances for social and personal development. It encourages newborns and toddlers to collaborate and socialize by putting their physical and mental talents to the test. Games fosters social awareness and consciousness and provides an opportunity to address issues such as justice and equality. Additionally, a young child may gain confidence, the capacity for observation, assistance, and assessment, as well as initiative. Further, a young child develops organizational abilities and the capacity for both victory and defeat. It encourages imagination and creativity, as well as flexibility to a range of situations and active participation based learning. Play is a permanent value of infancy in all cultures, a means of normal psychosomatic and spiritual development, and a prelude to later life. The process of learning may be explored in a neurophysiological level, within the context of the brain's cognitive functions. As a result, learning is conditional on the state of the nervous system. The nervous system of an intelligent living being offers the biological substrate for the development of internal states (mental structures) that serve as the foundation for the being's future conduct.
The human nervous system is composed of numerous distinct components. The central nervous system, for example, is comprised of the brain and spinal cord. Generally (and in our approach to this journal article), we are interested in kinds of learning that include the intellect's brain operations. However, learning in its broadest sense is connected to the nervous system. The psychological dimension examined through the administration of a psychometric tool is the method through which learning as a psychological phenomenon is studied, i.e., at the level of psychological mechanisms and functions, rather than at the neurophysiological level of events. Learning is considered a complicated phenomenon that influences the human being's total psychological dimension. It is the result of the cooperative action of several psychological processes (e.g., attention, processing information in working memory, coding knowledge and information, recalling them from long term memory, etc.). Cognitive psychology is a significant subfield of psychology that focuses on the study of mental events associated with learning.
Playing is a pleasurable activity. That is why a growing number of modern experts are exploring the educational consequences of its use. Nobody doubts video games' educational benefits. They are drawing educators, academics, and game creators from all over the world (Clark, Tanner Smith & Killingworth, 2016). Due to their fascination with and comfort with technology, today's kids choose an integrated learning experience through an electronic game. This is because electronic games are designed with the "play and learn" philosophy in mind, which adds to their educational value (Demetriadis, Tsiatsos & Karakostas, 2012) Additionally, they are founded on modern theories of learning and models of creative learning, including "discovery learning," "experiential learning," "group learning," "learning by doing," and the "Theory of active learning." Electronic
games, for example, can contribute to the development of cognitive processes and abilities (Antonopoulou et al., 2020; Manin, George, & Prevot, 2006): reflex development—visual motor synchronization, parallel information processing, concentration, observations, problem solving ability, contact, imagination, and activity.
The learning game (or educational/learning game) is an organized activity in the form of a game that strives to mix fun and learning while also achieving specified learning objectives. The term "digital learning games" refers to a type of digital game that is specially developed to serve certain educational objectives (Michael & Chen, 2006). Two critical variables contribute to the success of a digital learning game (Hamalainen, 2011):
• The game's scenario: The game is centered on a basic scenario that incorporates the student player and serves as the psychological backdrop for the gaming experience (interest, involvement, competition, etc.).
• The educational technique: The game's instructional technique. It is essentially the mechanism that activates the cognitive processes of the student cognitive actor to process knowledge relevant to reaching the learning objectives.
It's worth noting that participating in digital learning games introduces players (school children) to and educates them about modern digital tools, assists them in developing cognitive and social skills, and prepares them to make the best use of them throughout their first and second academic years of education. Digital learning games provide students with the necessary skills to begin acquainting themselves with digital technologies that will be used in the future and that they might potentially use in an academic setting of digital leadership. It's worth noting, as recent research (Antonopoulou et al., 2019; 2020) indicates, that the greater one's knowledge and specialization in digital tools (social media), the more capable one is of exercising effective digital leadership in a variety of environments, including educational organizations (Antonopoulou et al., 2021a), business organizations, and so on, throughout adult life. In summary, it is widely accepted that the young generation must be educated in current digital settings and acquire digital skills to function optimally on the social and professional network in the upcoming years.
Game Based learning (GBL), has as its overarching objective the creation of educational settings that combine learning with the fun and joy provided by a well designed game. This is accomplished using a variety of cutting edge technologies, including mobile devices, Web 2.0 applications, 3D virtual worlds, instructional robots, and physical user interfaces. The benefits of this approach are projected to stem mostly from greater motivation for school children players' participation with the game. The learner will be reluctant to play the game in order to feel the unique feelings elicited by this event. As a result, it must engage the cognitive processes necessitated by the game's integrated learning system. As a result of increased engagement and interaction (pupils with one another, with the teacher, with the game and educational materials), it is expected that essential learning objectives such as: subject depth (acquisition of fundamental/advanced
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knowledge, familiarity with many perspectives/interpretations, and connection of knowledge to everyday life) would be achieved.
Nick Pelling coined the word "gamification" in 2004 (Marache Francisco & Brangier, 2015). He attempted to utilize a game like augmented interface to make electronic transactions more interesting and engaging, such as utilizing an Automated Teller Machine (A.T.M.) or in flight entertainment. Pelling (1981 1999), who had a background as a game designer, desired to make the transaction seem like playing a game, with an element of enjoyment. Nowadays, gamification appears to have an indirect effect on the motivation and engagement of younger students (school children) in the classroom. This results in boredom and worry for these children, as well as apathy toward schools, classes, and especially toward staff and teachers. Simply incorporating technology into school has not resulted in the same positive outcomes as games. As a result, games such as Angry Birds and World of Warcraft, which are underpinned by sound service design, are capable of instilling cognitive intrinsic incentives in players, such as emotions of mastery, attractiveness, and flexibility.
Gamification is a design strategy aimed at providing users with game like experiences, typically with the goal of influencing users' behavior. Accordingly, game mechanics are frequently associated with learning experiences, such as assisting in the advancement of knowledge and developing collaborative abilities, such as decision making and collaboration with peers (Nicholson, 2014). The strengths of gamification are that it can plainly discern between purpose, errands, and actions, and that it is rewarding when it is accomplished. This, it is said, will encourage subjects to differentiate and address the issues they face in society; where individuals live, and the components of fun, scores, level ups, and ranking rivalries are viewed as contributing to voluntary support by stimulating the subjects' internal and external motivations. Earlier research (Lee & Hammer, 2011; Hwang et al., 2013) suggested that video games aid in cognitive, social, motivational, and emotional development.
This paper ascertains the amount to which distant gaming is included in teaching both contemporary and asynchronous teaching via the use of educational digital and play centered learning objects, determines how mixed class pupils' interest is produced, hence inspiring them to study, as indicated from previous research (Popyk, 2020). Another scope of this study is to investigate the role of gamification in amelioration of neurocognitive and social functions of pupils in primary education and the extent to which the application of gamification tools can promote motivation for educational process especially in distance learning settings.
Gamification was coined in the business world to refer to the incorporation of game aspects into a user interface to boost electronic client transactions. Gambling rapidly became a popular notion, supported by corporations, the private sector, and education (Kücklich, 2008). In 2011, science endorsed Sebastian Deterding's first widely acknowledged definition of gamification (Deterding et al., 2011).
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Gamification is the practice of incorporating game features or game mechanisms into non game environments. As a result, the notification box includes non game content (for example, an airline game on its website in which customers may win free tickets depending on their flight history) (McShaffry, 2003). The basic characteristics of gaming are points and ratings, which are critical for customers and machine manufacturers alike (Hellersted & Mozelius, 2018; Juul, 2010). Each time a user properly answers a question or successfully completes a test, he earns points. The points are used to compensate him and to provide feedback. Additionally, he may monitor his own achievement and progress, as well as that of his colleagues. The levels track the user's progress and keep us informed of both his own and his colleagues' achievements (Kirschner et al., 2006). The levels act as a motivation for users and also act as a reference for the game's growth, since we can monitor the player's progress toward game completion. Since the early 1990s, scholars have claimed that electronic games can be employed in a variety of methods and applications at all levels of education. The challenge for educators is to leverage players' high level of engagement in the game and, in conjunction with appropriate game situations, to design learning experiences that enable player users to acquire critical and transferable information and skills.
Gamification and Persuasive Technology
Gamification and persuasive technology have been heavily leveraged in recent years for marketing, attitude modification, and motivational pull. Simultaneously, games such as Angry Birds and World of Warcraft have demonstrated how games may be extremely effective for invoking cognitive intrinsic motives such as mastery of emotions. Additionally, social components are critical to conventional gamification services: individuals collect badges, climb high score lists, and accumulate points for social reasons, such as recognition. Gamification is a term that relates to service design that aims to provide customers with game like experiences, most often with the objective of influencing user behavior. Gamification is distinct from other similar developments in several critical ways:
• Gamification is frequently used to create experiences evocative of games (e.g., flow, mastery, and autonomy).
• Unlike persuasive methods, gamification aims to influence motives rather than attitude and/or behavior directly.
• Gamification refers to the process of infusing existing systems with “gaminess”,ratherthan creatingatotallynewgame,as is thecasewith “serious games”.
On the other side, persuasive technologies relate to interactive computer systems that are intended to alter the user's attitude and/or behavior. Clearly, gamification and persuasive technology have some overlap. For instance, certain persuasive techniques, such as feedback and prizes, can be compared to those used in gamification. In general, most gamification services, games, social networking services, and persuasive systems have features that enable both social and gamification engagement. Depending on how we conceive different approaches to persuasive design, gamification may be viewed as an overarching notion in the sense that it can be used across several domains or as a subset of other methods to persuasive design.
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The function of the brain, as part of the Central Nervous System (CNS), is to regulate most functions of the body and mind. This includes everything from vital physiological functions, such as breathing or heart rate, to more basic physiological functions, such as sleep, hunger, or sexual instinct, to higher functions, such as thinking, memory, or speech. The parts of the brain are analyzed by how the most basic vital functions are measured by the older brain structures, that is, those located in the rhomboid brain (medulla oblongata, bridge, cerebellum) and the midbrain. In contrast, the higher brain functions such as reasoning, memory, and attention are controlled by the cerebral hemispheres and lobes that are part of the cortex and refer to neurocognition. Proper stimulation can help improve the state of different cognitive abilities (Finisguerra et al., 2019)
Cognitive functions are the mental processes that allow us to receive, select, store, mutate, develop, and retrieve environmental information. This allows people to understand and relate to the world around them Many times, when we talk about higher cognitive functions, we are referring to cognitive skills we need to understand and interact with the world. Although we sometimes study them as separate entities, we must keep in mind that cognitive functions are interrelated and often overlap. Some categories of higher cognitive functions are summarized below and a brief description of each of them is given:
Attention is a very complicated mental activity that cannot be reduced to a simple description, a single anatomical component, or assessed in a single test since it includes several processes. Attention is the cognitive function that selects amongst the stimuli that enter the brain simultaneously, both external (odors, sounds, pictures) and interior (thoughts, feelings), that are helpful and appropriate for performing a motor or spiritual action. In depth, it is a collection of processes of varying complexity that enables us to perform other cognitive functions properly.
Executive functions are the most advanced cognitive abilities. Although executive function has a variety of definitions, nearly all pertain to the management of cognitive function and the regulation of ideas and behavior via a variety of linked processes. It entails a variety of sophisticated abilities, including attention management, planning, programming, and modifying and managing voluntary behavior. They are found in the brain's frontal lobe (Gkintoni et al, 2017). Executive functions are "a collection of processes concernedwith the management of oneself, and one's resources in order to accomplish a goal." It is a collective name for the neurologically based abilities associated with mental control and self regulation” (Cooper Kahn & Dietzel, 2017). Many students, who are diagnosed with a learning impairment or attention, deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, have difficulties performing their executive tasks effectively. Children with executive functioning difficulties may struggle with routine chores. They may struggle with planning and organizing. The signals may appear differently depending on the
children's ages. For example, students in elementary school who exhibit symptoms of EFD or executive functioning disorder will struggle to switch between activities, will be unable to organize themselves, will become "stuck" on an idea or topic, and/or will completely miss the point of a conversation, lesson, or lecture.
Speech is a symbolic method of communication that presents itself via languages in the case of humans. Speech is critical not just for interpersonal communication but also for the internal structure of our thoughts. Different regions of the brain are involved in speech processing, functioning in concert via a variety of functional systems, the majority of which are located in the left hemisphere.
Visual spatial functions are utilized to evaluate, comprehend, and regulate our physical environment (either in two or three dimensions). Mental navigation, distance and depth perception, visual spatial creation, and mental rotation are all examples of these functions. The occipital and parietal lobes are largely responsible for spatial analysis, face identification, map and object processing, music processing, body aesthetics, facial emotions and gestures, and motor tasks that do not need verbal control.
Gamification is the process of transferring game like features, such as point scoring, rivalry with other players, and game rules, to other domains of activity. Additionally, it is the idea of using game mechanics and game design methods to engage and inspire others to accomplish their objectives. Gamification appeals to the users' fundamental wants and demands, which are centered on the concept of status and accomplishment. Whether you're playing a computer game or a board game, executive functions are critical in a variety of situations. When someone plays checkers or chess, the player must anticipate his or her opponent's next move. A large part of gaming is planning and arranging ideas. Additionally, in the case someone plays a video game, such as Call of Duty (which is very popular among adolescents), always required to prepare and consider the next movement. Characters may appear out of nowhere, and individuals must always be prepared for the unexpected, which keeps one on its pace. While playing a game, someone must be able to shift or move easily between situations and think flexibly to react correctly. Additionally, emotional regulation is essential when playing a game; it is described as the "capacity to modify emotional reactions by applying rational thought to experiences" (Nouchi et al., 2012; Van Der et al., 2012). When objects are being thrown from all directions, it is critical to be able to control the next move and decide what to do next, even if it means losing points; someone does what is best in the long run.
Although gamification is often associated with expertise, competence, flow, and goal dedication (Hamari et al., 2014), it is self evident that social aspects also play
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a significant role. As such, we sought to explore experimentally how social variables such as social influence, recognition, and reciprocal rewards affect attitudes and usage intentions toward gamification services. Gamification, in the form of points and levels, therefore plays a role in facilitating this social process within the group. Thus, maybe even simple "pontification" might become "meaningful" when shared among a community of like minded individuals working toward common objectives.
Because of its intrinsic and intangible nature, as well as the nature of gaming, Distance Learning is well suited for gaming applications. Electronic learning is more visually appealing and engaging than traditional teaching. Thus, playfulness may be used to boost motivation and compensate for certain basic pedagogical faults inherent in e learning systems, such as the absence of emotional contact between the teacher and the student in traditional education. Playfulness aids in the development and elaboration of this emotion (Vlachopoulos et al., 2012). Thus, including gaming into remote education has several obvious benefits. It enhances students' commitment, motivation, achievement, and retention of the objective, as well as their personal learning and thinking talents. It is capable of shaping collaborative teams and assisting them in achieving better success through competition. Additionally, it enhances academic standards and promote digital literacy. When it comes to emotions, video games may provoke a broad variety of responses. When someone feels dissatisfied, the most fascinating example of emotional change occurs. Players have the option of failing in a totally enjoyable setting. When the differences between a two week remote learning game and a two week regular distance learning course were compared, the two groups that participated in the enjoyable learning utilizing fundamental gaming principles show a statistically significant boost in cognitive performance (Antonopoulouetal.,2021b). This difference is sometimes difficult to establish since the addition of rules converts a gaming system into a game. Gaming and serious games both make use of game elements for objectives unrelated to the primary goal of games, which is generally to have fun. The goal is to not just make previously dull activities more enjoyable, but to also increase user participation to increase the engagement and interest of activities. According to Zicherman and Cunningham (2011), gaming is the application of logic to games (game thinking) to solve a problem and increase user engagement and interest. Additionally, the game includes ranking tables that indicate the name of the gamer and the points that have been won, allowing one gamer to be compared to others, which is a requirement of the competition. Additionally, there are prizes or insignia that act as "medals" that boost the user's confirmation and confidence while also establishing prestige and respect for those who did not perform as well. Finally, there are challenges, which are tests put on some players within the application to accomplish a task that stimulates interest and competition.
The term "neurocognitive assessment" refers to the process of evaluating an individual's cognitive abilities (infant or adult) (e.g., working memory, attention, and executive processes). Cognitive training is a phrase that refers to the practice
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of engaging in cognitive tasks to maintain or improve a certain aspect of cognitive function. Cognitive exercises are important for evaluating and educating people with cognitive impairments. Among the available solutions, gamification, defined as the process of incorporating game elements (e.g., a scoring system, a leaderboard, and a badge) into nongame contexts (e.g., education, business, and cognitive tasks), is one of the most influential and promising approaches for increasing motivation in repetitive tasks (Lumsden et al., 2016) A greater understanding of human motivation allows users to maintain their motivation for cognitive tasks throughout time (Gray et al., 2019). Motivation is complex and ranges from internal to extrinsic to amotivation (lack of motivation) (Ryan & Deci, 2000). By mixing internal and extrinsic incentives, gamification may be utilized to boost motivation and engagement (Vermeir et al., 2020). Extrinsic incentive is generated in games via the use of elements such as badges, points, game levels, a scoreboard, and avatars. These factors contribute to the collection of early user motivation (Gray et al., 2019). Gamification may also assist people in increasing their intrinsic drive by including components such as suitable challenges and positive reinforcement these elements satisfy human needs of competence. The bulk of gamified cognitive tasks were created by cognitive psychologists, not professional gamification designers, and scientists prioritize the clinical efficacy of a gamified activity above the usage of effective and innovative gamification designs (Baniqued et al., 2012).
In several research projects (Baniqued et al., 2012; Lumsden et al., 2016; Lumsden et al., 2017; Dorrenbacher et al., 2014) various gamification techniques were applied to cognitive tasks In the present study a psychometric scale evaluating psychosocial adaptation and social functions in general, in combination with gamified cognitive tasks evaluating neurocognition and some categories of higher neurocognitive functions (for instance attention and executive functions), is proposed
Numerous studies (Ryan & Deci, 2000; Lumsden et al., 2016; Gray et al., 2019; Vermeir et al., 2020) indicate that video games may improve neurocognitive abilities such as attention and focus, as well as social functions such as assertiveness and leadership ability. Since video game players have a greater capacity for attention within the training zone, a test was undertaken to determine if this ability might be enhanced outside the training zone. Additionally, it appears as though video game players outperform non players in all categories. This indicates that spatial attention of video game players increased across the visual field, even in untrained areas. The temporal features of visual attention were examined, as well as whether the pressure to act rapidly on many visual stimuli, as seen in video games, might affect the capacity to process items over time, notably the ability to avoid impediment in focus. It was observed that video game players performed better than non gamers in detecting the stimuli of the game, resulting in a reduced attentional blink. Video games, which may benefit from more attentional resources, process several objects or actions concurrently. Certain video games need players to discard unwanted objects that might benefit from a more sophisticated selection process. Thus, when presented with distractors, video
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game players exhibited an improved ability for recognizing objects both inside and outside their field of vision, as well as an accuracy advantage.
3.1.
The aim of this study is to determine whether the playfulness of distance modern and asynchronous teaching, as well as the use of educational digital and play centered learning objects, increases the interest and motivation of mixed grade pupils to learn. It investigates whether play centered teaching engages school children and motivates them to learn; the benefits of using play based applications in primary school children are evaluated; and in settings where school children with special needs and abilities, learning difficulties, foreigners, and Romani people (well recognized in English by the exonym Gypsies or Gipsies), coexist, we explored what characteristics educational games should have.
Although children are exposed to internet apps, smart gadgets, and electronic games from an early age, e learning has grown into a creative, interesting, and effective style of instruction. As a result, the participant's cognitive mechanisms connected with the learning process should be activated, as these mechanisms are included into the game. The anticipated effect is increased learner engagement and interaction with one another, the instructor, the game, and instructional materials, resulting in the achievement of critical learning objectives such as cognitive object depth (acquisition of fundamental/advanced information, familiarity with diverse perspectives/interpretations, application of information to everyday situations) and identification of cognitive and emotional parameters promoted by gamification.
3.2.
Given the significance of gamification in the learning process and in education in general, the research topics investigated can be described as follows (Figure 1), based on what has been published thus far and guided by the current literature:
Figure 1. Flowchart of Research Methodology
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[RQ1] Does the playfulness of distance modern and asynchronous teaching, as well as the use of educational digital and play centered learning objects, increase interest and motivation?
[RQ2] What is the function of gamification in enhancement of interpersonal communication?
[RQ3] What is the contribution of gamification in improvement of emotional management and self control?
[RQ4] How can gamification promote skills of assertiveness and leadership skills?
[RQ5] What is the influence of gamification in neurocognition (executive functions, decision making, attention, concentration, organization/design)?
[RQ6] What is the role of gamification in the improvement of social function?
The study surveyed 35 school children from a primary school in Western Greece between March 2021 and June 2021. Seventeen children (56.7%) were boys and the remaining (43.3%) were girls. The average age of the sample of students was 11.5 years (with a standard deviation (SD) of 0.8 years). It is worth noting that each student is assigned a code in order to maintain their anonymity.
The Psychosocial Adaptation Test for Preschool and School Age Children (Psychosocial Adaptation Test) is an assessment instrument designed to evaluate skills and deficits in social, emotional, and school adaptation, as well as intrapersonal and interpersonal adjustment. The Psychosocial Adaptation Test is composed of three scales; the first two are done by the teacher and pertain to children in preschool (4 6 years) and elementary school (7 12 years), respectively, while the third (self report) is taken by 10 12 year school children (5th and 6th school class). When administering the self report scale, it is recommended to conduct the comparable test to the teachers to allow for comparative evaluation of the findings. Three subscales of psychosocial competence and one of behavioral issues are included in the scale for preschool and elementary school students. In addition to the four subscales mentioned above, the self report exam includes a fifth subscale, self perception (Hatzichristou et al., 2011)
The Psychosocial Adaptation Test is a standardized instrument that evaluates the multidimensional structure of a child's psychosocial adjustment by concentrating on deficiencies while also including information from the instructor. The expert can use the test to examine the psychosocial features linked with learning impairments and to discover aspects of the psychosocial profile of children identified with learning disabilities that may be predictive of issues in the child's subsequent learning course. Additionally, the test may be used to discover the variables that contribute to the child's resilience in adapting to the school environment. This is facilitated by assessing various aspects of the child's
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psychosocial competence (social competence, school competence, emotional competence, self perception). In preschool, for example, neuropsychological, psychological, developmental, and other learning problems frequently arise, and it is sometimes impossible to measure the child's cognitive functioning. This test enables the assessment of children's behavior and thus enables timely intervention. The test can be used in the classroom or in the school setting (screening) to identify children who are at risk of having problems in the aforementioned areas. Additionally, it may be used to assess the efficacy of intervention programs performed on an individual or group basis in a regular or integrated class.
The test is comparable to measures that are often utilized in several nations. Individual scales are typically used to assess social skills (Gresham & Elliot, 1990), executive functions and behaviors (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2014; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992), emotional adequacy (Bar On & Parker, 2000), and motivation and self perception. Only lately has the need for analyzing the potential and problems associated with these theoretical approaches been emphasized (Merrell, 1998). Psychometric tools for detecting psychosocial difficulties in preschool and elementary school aged children are widely used in other countries (e.g., the United States of America and the United Kingdom) and are weighted in a general population of children and clinical specimens of children with learning disabilities, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, developmental disorders, and other disorders. As a result, they have been included in a systematic effort to thoroughly assess learning problems in preschool and school-aged children. According to scientific evidence, the precise characteristics are associated with the learning process, academic achievement, and, more broadly, the child's adjustment to school and home. Numerous clinical trial data also support the importance of concurrent assessment of cognitive functions (e.g., memory, attention, executive functions) and dimensions of a child's psychosocial behavior for the timely and valid identification of learning disabilities and factors contributing to school failure (Lyon, Fletcher, and Barnes, 2003). Dimensions of psychosocial behavior have been suggested should be included in the classification of characteristics of kids with learning impairments since they are regarded primary features. Additionally, when psychosocial factors are examined, predictive validity for detecting learning impairments is found to be excellent (Watkins, 1996).
The study was performed with the consent of the students' parents and guardians, who signed a responsible declaration, and with the approval of the School's Teachers' Association. School children were assigned both constructive and theoretical modules in their games. Each school child is asked to carefully read each of the 115 sentences of the questionnaire and to circle the number that indicates how much this behavior suits him, that is, how much it represents him.
Students' answers were graded according to the Likert five-point scale (1 - 2 - 34 5) as follows: 1 = if this sentence does not apply, it does not suit you at all, 2 = if it suits you well, 3 = if it suits you moderately, 4 = if it suits you very well, 5 = if it suits you very well. The total score for each dimension of the questionnaire is a
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function of the number of sentences it contains (e.g., if a subscale has 7 sentences the minimum score it can get is 7 1 = 7 and the maximum 7 5 = 35). Respectively, the total score of each sub scale is a function of the total scores of the dimensions of which it consists of. Below are presented in detail the dimensions (and the sentences from which they arise), as well as the subscales (and the dimensions from which they arise). Proposals with an asterisk (*) are inverted during the dimensional calculation process to indicate high values and a high score.
Dimensions of the Psychometric Tool: Skills of Assertiveness/Leadership skills: 1, 11, 22*, 41, 63, 64 and 84 (7 sentences)
Interpersonal Communication: 2, 17, 19, 31, 33*, 42, 62, 70, 88 and 109 (10 sentences)
Collaboration with Peers: 4, 25, 26, 43, 46, 78, 90 and 114 (8 proposals)
Motivation: 6*, 12, 14, 20, 27, 32, 34, 54, 55, 71, 81 and 104* (12 sentences)
Organization/Design: 5, 15, 16*, 61, 68*, 83*, 99 and 100 (8 proposals)
School Effectiveness: 24, 30, 53, 73, 95*, 98, 102*, 103, 108 and 113* (10 sentences)
Self Control: 51, 65, 67, 72 and 85* (5 sentences)
Emotional Management: 8, 28, 37, 47, 48, 77, 89 and 107 (8 sentences) Empathy: 56, 76, 82, 96* and 105 (5 sentences)
Intrapersonal Adaptation: 7, 10, 50, 74*, 75, 80, 87*, 110 and 112 (9 sentences)
Hyperactivity/Difficulties in Concentration: 9, 13, 38, 44, 57, 59* and 86 (7 sentences)
Language Proficiency: 23, 29, 45, 66*, 69 and 101* (6 sentences)
Mathematics Capacity: 3*, 18, 60, 79 and 106 (5 sentences)
Learning Capacity: 21, 36, 39, 40*, 94, 111 and 115 (7 sentences)
General Self Esteem: 35, 49, 52, 58, 91, 92, 93 and 97 (8 sentences)
Sub scales of the Psychometric Tool: Social Adequacy School Adequacy Emotional Adequacy Behavioral Problems Self Perception
Dimensions arise from the sum of the sentences of which they are composed. Then the subscales result from the sum of the dimensions of which they are composed. In order for the dimensions and subscales to be comparable (since they do not consist of the same number of sentences), a process of converting the initial score to standard scores is required. Thus, for each of the dimensions and subscales the Initial Scores (IS) converted to equivalent Standard Scores (SS). The T values are used for this procedure, with an average of 50 and a standard deviation of 10. To find the SS, the formula ����=50+10∗�� is applied, where Z is the standard values. SS ranges from 20 to 80. A score close to the upper or lower limits of 20 to 80 means that the child has "marginally low" or "marginally high" performance, respectively. It is noted that high values in the subscales "Social Adequacy",
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"School Adequacy", "Emotional Adequacy" and "Self perception" indicate a good adjustment (i.e., positive behaviors). In contrast, for the "Problem Behavior" subscale, high SS indicates severe problems (i.e., negative behaviors). In general, students with a SS below 30 belong to a "very low" grade, 30 to 40 belong to a "low" grade, 40 to 60 belong to a "medium" grade, and 60 to 70 belong to a "high" grade. category and SS higher than 70 belong to the "very high" rating category. In addition, the individual details of the children (gender, year of birth, class, and school) were recorded.
Kahoot
GameKahoot is a free application that enables us to create multiple choice quizzes and responses that students may play concurrently (in a computer lab or tablet with an Internet connection). This becomes a game as students' scores are given following each response depending on their accuracy and ease with which they selected the correct answer. The teacher downloads all of the students' replies and examine their mistakes and shortcomings at the end of the game/quiz. Thus, the instructor exerts control over the choices and possible vulnerabilities for each pupil.
In this paper, we used Kahoot to teach fractions in arithmetic (Equivalent Fraction Game), which was done using the WebEx teleconferencing system (Figure 2).
LearningApps.org Game
We developed a game for European institutions using application learning apps such as the millionaire game (Figure 3) for Social and Political Education course.
Figure 3: Learning Apps Screenshot
Cyberkids Game Games from Cyberkids is an initiative spearheaded by "Cybercrime Prosecution" (Figure 4) with the aim of educating and raising awareness about internet protection among children aged six to twelve and their parents.
Figure 4: Cyberkids Screenshot
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The Council of Europe's "Defeat the Virus" game (Figure 5), developed during a pandemic, was critical in helping children understand the virus in a simple and enjoyable way, which we found to be extremely useful.
The above mentioned game was developed as part of the Council of Europe's project on Digital Citizenship Education. Classes include students with ADHD, autism, and Roma pupils. Due to the ban on in person classes due to COVID 19, the study focused on distant synchronous and asynchronous education. The lecture was delivered through e class and WebEx. Students were assigned games that included both constructive and theoretical mathematics lectures about fractions, as well as social and political education. To compare the dimensions and subscales of the tool prior to and following the implementation of the games, we utilized the questionnaire "Psychosocial adaptation of children 10 12 years old," which was provided to students prior to and during the lesson. The questionnaire is self administered and includes a list of explanations for several elements of this age group's behavior.
The descriptive statistics of the variables were examined and analyzed. Basic location and dispersion measures, as well as frequencies and relative frequencies, were used to describe demographic characteristics. To test the reliability of the school children's answers (before and after the lesson) to the individual sentences that compose the dimensions, the Cronbach's alpha reliability index was calculated.
Following that, a psychosocial adjustment table is included for each student who participated in the study, capturing their individual score on the dimensions and subscales prior to and following the intervention. Thus, in addition to the overall investigation, an assessment of each child's psychosocial adjustment was made Each dimension/subscale is scored using both "initial scores" (IS) and "standard scores" (SS).
Factor analysis was performed to investigate the weight (i.e., the percentage of variability that explains) each factor of the questionnaire in the composition of the individual dimensions and subscales. For the correlation of the subscales (standard variables were used) the Pearson r correlation coefficient was calculated. To investigate the correlation of dimensions and subscales with the demographics of students with gender, the t test was used to compare two means values for independent samples (paired t test). To predict possible behavioral problems from self perception, emotional and social adequacy at the same time, a multiple linear regression model was applied. The dependent variable was the standard subscale "Behavioral Problems" and independent variables (possible predictor variables) were the subscales of “Self perception” , “Emotional Adequacy” and “Social Adequacy”. Finally, a paired t test was performed to differentiate the dimensions and subscales of the tool before and after the application of the toy(s).
Where values were missing, due to the non response of some suggestions by students, they were estimated by applying a regression model to calculate the dimensions and subscales. The p values reported are based on bilateral controls. P values below 0.05 were considered statistically significant. SPSS software (SPSS Inc., 2003, Chicago, USA) was used to perform the statistical analysis.
The following is the reliability index (Cronbach’s Alpha) for checking the reliability of the various dimensions (before and after the lesson) that emerged as described above. From Table 1 it appears that the reliability index for all dimensions, both before and after the course, is over 50%. This indicates satisfactory reliability, while for most dimensions it exceeds 70% (very good reliability). The lower reliability of some dimensions may be due to the large variation of students' responses to the corresponding sentences.
The findings are presented in Table 1. Regarding the dimensions, it appears that there is a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) in the average value of the dimensions "Skills of Assertiveness/Leadership Skills" and "Interpersonal Communication" before and after the games are applied [RQ4]. More precisely, the average score for the above dimensions is higher on average following the intervention. Thus, the highest score (i.e., the most constructive behavior) following the game's implementation suggests that the intervention was effective in terms of assertiveness/leadership skills and interpersonal communication [RQ2] Additionally, the intervention seems to have led to an improvement in the average score for the dimensions "Motivation," "Emotional Management," "Empathy," "Mathematics Capability," "Learning Capability," and "General Self Esteem." However, it did not seem as if these variations were statistically important (Table 1) [RQ1, RQ2, RQ3, RQ5].
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Table 1. Psychosocial Adjustment of Pupils 10-12 Years Old
Dimensions Cronbach’s Alpha Number of Questions Pre Post
Skills of Assertiveness/Leadership skills 0.5 0.6 7
Interpersonal Communication 0.6 0.7 10
Collaboration with Peers 0 7 0 8 8
Motivation 0.8 0.8 12 Organization/Design 0.5 0.5 8 School Effectiveness 0 7 0 8 10
Self Control 0.8 0.8 5
Emotional Management 0 7 0 7 8 Empathy 0 6 0 6 5 Intrapersonal Adaptation 0 8 0 9 9
Hyperactivity/Difficulties in Concentration 0 5 0 6 7 Language Proficiency 0 8 0 8 6 Mathematics Capacity 0 8 0 7 5 Learning Capacity 0 7 0 7 7 General Self-Esteem 0 7 0 5 8
The following are the basic descriptive statistics of dimensions and subscales before and after the course is applied (Table 2)
Table 2. Descriptive Statistics of Psychosocial adjustment of children 10 12 years.
Dimensions Pre Post
Mean value (SD) Min-Max value Mean Value (SD) Min – Max value Skills of Assertiveness /Leadership Skills 21 (4) 12 29 22 (4) 14-29
Interpersonal Communication 35 (5) 24 43 37 (4) 25 44
Collaboration with Peers 29 (6) 15 39 29 (5) 13 38
Motivation 39 (5) 29 47 40 (5) 24-47 Organization/Design 24 (4) 16 30 24 (3) 17 29 School Effectiveness 33 (3) 26 39 33 (4) 25 40
Self-Control 15 (2) 10 19 15 (2) 11-20 Emotional Management 26 (5) 15 37 27 (5) 19-37 Empathy 17 (3) 10 24 17 (2) 13 22
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Intrapersonal Adaptation 24 (5) 16 33 24 (5) 15-35
Hyperactivity/Difficulties in Concentration 23 (4) 14 29 23 (4) 13 29
Language Capacity 18 (3) 12 23 18 (3) 13 23
Mathematics Capacity 18 (3) 12 21 18 (2) 11 22 Learning Capacity 21 (4) 15 29 21 (4) 14 30
General Self Esteem 27 (4) 20 36 28 (4) 18 34
Social Adequacy 85 (13) 54 109 88 (12) 54-103 School Adequacy 96 (7) 76 107 96 (8) 72-109
Emotional Adequacy 59 (7) 45 78 59 (7) 47 78
Behavioral Problems 65 (7) 47 79 65 (7) 46 79 Self Esteem 66 (6) 53 81 67 (5) 56 84
Investigation of Dimensions and Subscales
Tables 3 to 7 present the results of the factor analysis to determine the gravity (i.e., the percentage of variability explained by each factor) of the dimensions and subscales. The results are displayed in descending order, so the factor that appears first is also the one that has the most weight.
Therefore, in terms of " Skills of Assertiveness/Leadership Skills", the factor "I start a conversation/activity and ask for the participation of others" is more important, in "Interpersonal Communication" the factor "I apologize when needed" and in "Collaboration with Peers’ "factor" I like being with other people " [RQ2, RQ4].
Social Adequacy Factor Weight Factor Weight Skills of Assertiveness/Leadership skills
Dimensions
11 23.5 17 8.9 41 20.6 19 8.4 1 17.6 4 7.9 22 11.8 25 5.8 63 11.8 46 5.8 64 8.8 26 5.3 84 5.9 90 5.3
Interpersonal Communication 17 22.4 11 4.2 19 21.1 42 4.2 42 10.5 43 4.2
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2 9.2 114 4.2 70 9.2 41 3.7 31 7.9 2 3.7 109 7.9 70 3.7 88 6.6 78 3.7 33 2.6 1 3.2 62 2.6 31 3.2
Collaboration with Peers 4 18.8 109 3.2 25 13.8 88 2.6 46 13.8 22 2.1 26 12.5 63 2.1 90 12.5 64 1.6 43 10.0 84 1.1 114 10.0 33 1.1 78 8.8 62 1.1
A correlation was found between the factors in the following three dimensions: (1)”Motivation”, the factor “When I start something, I definitely want to finish it” , with the dimension, (2)”Organization/Design” the factor “Usually I do not check my work for any mistakes” and with the dimension and (3)”School Effectiveness “the factor” I follow the rules of school and class “ .
Table
Dimensions School Adequacy Factor Weight Factor Weight Motivation 12 19.5 12 8.8 55 14.3 30 8.2 27 13.0 55 6.4 14 10.4 27 5.8 54 10.4 53 5.8 34 7.8 73 5.3 71 6.5 14 4.7 81 6.5 54 4.7 32 3.9 100 4.7 104 3.9 34 3.5 20 2.6 15 3.5 6 1.3 16 3.5
Organization/Design 100 20.5 83 3.5 15 15.4 71 2.9 16 15.4 81 2.9 83 15.4 99 2.9
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99 12.8 102 2.9 61 7.7 108 2.9 68 7.7 24 2.3 5 5.1 32 1.8
School Effectiveness 30 25.5 104 1.8 53 18.2 61 1.8 73 16.4 68 1.8 102 9.1 95 1.8 108 9.1 103 1.8 24 7.3 20 1.2 95 5.5 5 1.2 103 5.5 6 0.6 98 1.8 98 0.6 113 1.8 113 0.6
A correlation was found between the factors in the following three dimensions: (1)"Self Control", the factor "I react strongly when they argue with me", in (2)"Emotional Management" the factor "I understand when people are upset, even when they say nothing" and in (3)"Empathy" the factor "I can tell when one of my friends is sad."
Dimensions Emotional Adequacy Factor Weight Factor Weight
Self control 85 33.3 48 11.5 51 16.7 56 10.6 65 16.7 85 8.8 67 16.7 105 8.8 72 16.7 37 8.0
Emotional management 48 29.5 76 7.1 37 20.5 82 6.2 77 11.4 51 4.4 107 11.4 65 4.4 47 9.1 67 4.4 8 6.8 72 4.4 89 6.8 77 4.4 28 4.5 107 4.4 Empathy 56 30.8 47 3.5 105 25.6 8 2.7 76 20.5 89 2.7 82 17.9 28 1.8 96 5.1 96 1.8
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Regarding the dimension "Intrapersonal Adjustment", the factor "I am worried about what other children think of me" is more important, with the dimension "Hyperactivity/Concentration Difficulties" the factor "I am easily distracted by noises or activities" and with "Language Proficiency" the factor "I get good grades in Language" [RQ5].
Dimensions Behavioral Problems Factor Weight Factor Weight
Intrapersonal adaptation 74 17.4 9 7.6 7 15.2 74 6.7 112 15.2 59 6.7 10 13.0 29 6.7 110 13.0 7 5.9 50 8.7 112 5.9 80 6.5 13 5.9 87 6.5 10 5.0 75 4.3 110 5.0 Hyperactivity/ Difficulties in Concentration
9 20.9 44 5.0 59 18.6 57 5.0 13 16.3 45 5.0 44 14.0 101 5.0 57 14.0 23 4.2 38 9.3 50 3.4 86 7.0 38 3.4 Language Proficiency 29 26.7 80 2.5 45 20.0 87 2.5 101 20.0 86 2.5 23 16.7 69 2.5 69 10.0 75 1.7 66 6.7 66 1.7
Regarding the dimension "Capability in Mathematics", the factor "I get good grades in mathematics" receives more weight, with the dimension "Capability to Learn" the factor "I understand what I read" and with the "General Self Esteem" the factor "The "My parents know what I can and cannot do."
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Dimensions Self perception Factor Weight Factor Weight Mathematics Capacity 106 29.4 106 9.7 79 21.6 92 9.1 60 19.6 115 7.8 18 15.7 79 7.1 3 13.7 60 6.5
Learning Capacity 115 31.6 49 6.5 36 23.7 52 6.5 21 13.2 36 5.8 111 13.2 93 5.8 39 7.9 18 5.2 40 7.9 3 4.5 94 2.6 35 4.5 General self esteem 92 21.5 91 3.9 49 15.4 97 3.9 52 15.4 21 3.2 93 13.8 111 3.2 35 10.8 39 1.9 91 9.2 40 1.9 97 9.2 58 1.9 58 4.6 94 0.6
Investigation of the correlation between the Sub scales Table 8 presents the results of the correlation of the sub scales. It appears that there is a statistically significant positive correlation between "Social Adequacy" and "School Adequacy" (p<0.05). This means that as students' social competence increases, so does their school competence. Similarly, there is a statistically significant positive correlation between "Emotional Adequacy" and "School Adequacy" (p<0.05). This means that as students' emotional well being increases, so does their schooling. Also, there is a statistically significant negative correlation between "Self perception" and "Behavioral Problems" (p<0.05). This means that the greater the students' self perception, the less the behavioral problems they may exhibit. It is noted that there is no significant correlation between the subscales of "Emotional Adequacy" and "Self perception", as well as between the subscales of "Emotional Adequacy" and "Behavioral Problems" [RQ6]
Subscales
Social/School Adequacy
Correlation p value
0,51 0,004*
Emotional/School Adequacy 0,51 0,004*
Self perception/Emotional Adequacy 0,11 0,578
Emotional Adequacy/Behavioral Problems 0,17 0,363
Self-perception/Behavioral Problems 0,46 0,011*
*Statistically important result
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Investigating the correlation of Dimensions with the gender of students Table 9 presents the results of the investigation of the differentiation of the mean standard value of dimensions and subscales, depending on the sex of the students. Thus, it seems that boys compared to girls have on average a higher score in terms of dimensions "Skills of Assertiveness/Leadership Skills", "Motivation", "Emotional Management", "Mathematical Ability" and "General Self Esteem". On the other hand, girls have on average a higher score in the other dimensions, with the largest average difference being observed in the dimension "Language Proficiency" and "School Effectiveness". However, these differences are not statistically significant (p>0.05). This probability is due to the relatively small sample size and possibly with a larger sample being statistically significant. Regarding the subscales, it appears that girls on average have higher school performance compared to boys, but at the same time greater behavioral problems. However, the differences do not appear to be statistically significant (p>0.05) [RQ3, RQ4, RQ5].
Dimensions
Mean value (SD)
Sex Male (n=17) Female (n=13) Mean Difference1 p-value2 Skills of Assertiveness / Leadership Skills 53,6 (8,2) 50,6 (10,4) 3,1 0,371
Interpersonal Communication 53,8 (8,3) 54,7 (10,2) 0,9 0,797 Collaboration with Peers 49,8 (10,9) 50,2 (8,3) 0,4 0,905 Motivation 52,0 (11,7) 51,6 (8,0) 0,4 0,920
Organization / Design 49,8 (10,9) 50,2 (8,3) 0,4 0,905 School Effectiveness 47,3 (11,5) 51,4 (11,7) 4,1 0,343 Self control 47,1 (10,3) 48,2 (11,0) 1,1 0,781
Emotional Management 52,3 (7,1) 49,7 (11,6) 2,5 0,468
Empathy 48,2 (5,8) 52,3 (9,3) 4,1 0,165
Intrapersonal Adjustment 49,9 (10,0) 50,6 (10,3) 0,7 0,861
Hyperactivity/ Difficulties in Concentration 47,9 (11,0) 51,6 (9,2) 3,7 0,337
Language Proficiency 47,9 (10,0) 52,7 (8,9) 4,8 0,186
Mathematics Capacity 52,4 (7,8) 50,2 (10,9) 2,2 0,526
Learning Capacity 49,9 (8,7) 51,9 (11,9) 2,0 0,591
General Self-Esteem 52,7 (10,9) 51,3 (8,5) 1,4 0,708
Subscales Mean value (SD)
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Social Adequacy 52,5 (9,3) 52,0 (9,4) 0,5 0,891
School Adequacy 49,6 (12,0) 52,1 (9,2) 2,5 0,540 Emotional Adequacy 49,9 (6,9) 50,2 (12,5) 0,3 0,929
Behavioral Problems 48,1 (11,1) 52,2 (9,0) 4,1 0,285
Self perception 52,8 (9,1) 52,1 (9,9) 0,7 0,849
SD: Standard Deviation
1Mean difference = [Scoring Male Scoring Female]
2T test for independent samples
Predicting behavioral problems from self perception, emotional, social adequacy
Table 10 gives the results from the application of the multiple linear regression model to predict behavioral problems from self perception, emotional, social adequacy. It seems that self perception has an important role in predicting behavioral problems (p = 0.019). To increase the "Self perception" sub scale by one unit, the behavioral problems are reduced by 0.5 units (95% confidence interval: 0.9 to 0.1 units), keeping the other variables constant. In contrast, the "Emotional Adequacy" and "Social Adequacy" subscales do not appear to be significant assessors of behavioral problems (p>0.05) [RQ6]
Table 10. Multiple Linear Regression: Behavioral Problems Dependent Variable Independent Variables
β 95% p-value
0.2 ( 0.4 till 0.8) 0.459 Emotional Adequacy 0 1 ( 0 6 till 0 5) 0 966
Social Adequacy
Self perception 0.5 ( 0.9 till 0.1) 0.019*
*Statistically important result
Differences in the dimensions and subscales before and after the application of the games
Table 11 presents the results of the investigation of the difference in the dimensions and subscales of the tool before and after the educational intervention. Regarding these dimensions, it appears that there is a statistically significant difference before and after the application of the games in the average value of the dimension "Skills of Assertiveness/Leadership Skills" and "Interpersonal Communication" [RQ2, RQ4].
More specifically, the average score of the above dimensions is on average higher after the intervention. Therefore, the higher score (i.e., higher positive behavior) after the application of the game indicates the success of the intervention in terms of assertiveness/leadership skills and interpersonal communication.
Also, the intervention seems to have contributed to the average increase in the scores of the dimensions "Motivation", "Emotional Management", "Empathy", "Mathematics Capacity", "Learning Capacity" and "General Self Esteem". However, these differences did not appear to be statistically significant.
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Finally, it appears that there is a statistically significant difference before and after the application of games in the average value of the sub scale "Social Adequacy" while there is evidence of a significant difference (p<0.10) before and after the application of the games in the average value of the subscale "Self perception" [RQ6].
Table 11. Correlations before and after the application of games Dimensions Mean (SD) Intervention Mean Difference1 p value2 Pre (N=30) Post (N=30)
Skills of Assertiveness/ Leadership Skills 50 (10.1) 52.4 (9.1) 2.4 0.043*
Interpersonal Communication 50 1 (10 1) 54 1 (9 0) 4 0 007*
Collaboration with Peers 50 1 (10 0) 50 0 (9 7) 0 1 0 922 Motivation 49 9 (10 0) 51 9 (10 0) 2 0 154 Organization / Design 50 (10.0) 49.9 (9.2) 0.07 0.966 School Effectiveness 50.2 (9.9) 49.3 (11.5) 0.9 0.543
Self control 50 0 (9 9) 47 4 (10 4) 2 6 0 213 Emotional Management 49.9 (10.0) 51.1 (9.3) 1.1 0.474 Empathy 50 (10.0) 50.1 (8.0) 0.1 0.958 Intrapersonal Adjustment 50 (10 1) 50 1 (10 0) 0 1 0 905
Hyperactivity/ Difficulties in Concentration 50 (10 0) 49 5 (10 2) 0 5 0 707
Language Proficiency 50 1 (9 9) 50 (9 6) 0 1 0 974 Mathematics Capacity 50 2 (9 9) 51 4 (9 2) 1 3 0 340 Learning Capacity 49.9 (10.1) 50.7 (10.1) 0.7 0.561 General Self Esteem 50 (10.1) 52.1 (9.8) 2.1 0.175
Finally, it appears that there is a statistically significant difference before and after the application of games in the average value of the sub scale "Social Adequacy" while there is evidence of a significant difference (p < 0.10) before and after the application of the games in the average value of the subscale "Self perception".
Table 12. Correlation Effects before and after the application of games
Dimensions Mean (SD) Intervention Mean Difference1 p value2
Subscales Mean (SD) Pre (N=30) Post (N=30)
Social Efficacy 50.0 (10.0) 52.4 (9.2) 2.4 0.042*
School Efficacy 50 (9 9) 50 8 (10 8) 0 8 0 624
Emotional Efficacy 50 (10 0) 50 (9 5) 0 0 0 983
Behavioral problems 50 (10 0) 50 (10 2) 0 1 0 924
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This study validated the usefulness of an educational intervention applied to learning environments in the development of psychosocial functions and in a long term level, the amelioration of neurocognition via gamification. Undoubtedly, Covid 19 pandemic is a catalyst in shaping new working and educational conditions in various professional environments. Traditional education tends to be completely replaced by digital distance education. For this reason, the application of innovative distance learning techniques that will promote the motivation and the psycho emotional and cognitive development of students is considered an inescapable necessity.
Increased cognitive, social, and emotional competence translates into increased academic competence. On the contrary, diminished self perception has an effect on cognitive function and results in an increase in behavioral difficulties. This conclusion holds true even when cognitive social and emotional adequacy are considered concurrently. Additionally, gender does not appear to be a significant predictor of psychosocial adjustment in school children aged 10 12.
Finally, the educational intervention via gamification empowered cognition significantly improved the assertiveness/leadership skills and interpersonal communication of school children, as well as their social competence and self perception. Also, motivation seems to be increased with the integration of playfulness in distant modern and asynchronous teaching.
Gamification is a reward system method that has been used in a variety of sectors, including commerce, health, and education. However, a paradigm change in the meaning of gamification has occurred, as evidenced by the literature study. To add value to the gamification process, meticulous planning is required before incorporating game elements into the system and its primary customer, the students. One of the primary benefits of gamification is that it can be implemented in both traditional and electronic learning environments. However, with careful planning and integration of gamification into teaching and learning, such as a user centered top down system approach, elements of fun that create a loop of fun, and adequately supported challenges, a meaningful gamification system can hopefully be created, thereby improving students' cognitive levels.
According to the literature, there are both positive and negative consequences on the cognitive success of a gamified system. Even though the research enhanced levels of involvement, Dominguez et al. (2013) found no difference in achievement between students in the traditional classroom and those in the gamified classroom. Thus, the gamified system may have lost its function, as users claimed that certain activities were not interesting enough to drive them to compete. They, too, suffered losses because of the leader board system. As a result, the flow has been interrupted, impairing the important parts of gamification. Inability to see the consumers' needs leads in the game parts being rejected (Gkintoni et al, 2015; 2021). When it came to cognitive achievement, Barata et al. (2013) had the same
difficulties. This was due to the undesirable job, which might divert attention away from the basic aim of learning. Users discovered engagement aspects in posting and contributing, but progressively lost interest when confronted with unnecessary obstacles such as correcting spelling errors in course notes. This did result in a sense of meaningless gamification, the opposite of meaningful mental engagement, which resulted in users not delving deeply into the material they were learning.
Meanwhile, Esper et al. (2013) have effectively incorporated gaming aspects. They enhanced cognitive features by including the evaluation into the game and emphasizing the importance of successfully completing it as part of the tale developed by the game creators. This was shown to boost their cognition in programming abilities and to keep them captivated in utilizing it more, resulting in increased learning.
The results of the present study are combined with findings from other studies as described below. The gamified approach transformed the tedious process of learning to code and program into an entertaining activity. Green & Bavelier (2003) examined the cognitive factors when examining the influence of games on cognitive characteristics. It was discovered that gamers' attentional and blink capabilities were much greater than those of non gamers, and this effect was more pronounced in action video gamers than in non gamers. In a follow up research, Green & Bavelier (2006) examined gamers' attentional ability and discovered that they could identify distractors faster and more accurately than non-gamers, indicating a clear cognitive advantage over non gamers. This compensates for the research conducted by Tong & Chignell (2013) exploring the use of a simple game to help the elderly enhance their cognition. The tapping mechanisms in these games can aid improve coordination, which could have ramifications for assisting the aged and infirm.
As a result of the debate, most gamification studies succeeded in engaging and motivating users but fell short of developing cognitive abilities such as observing, undertaking, retention, and problem solving (Dominguez et al., 2013; Barata et al., 2013). Incorporating gamification into a system without considering the needs of the users or the business results in meaningless gamification fails to increase the user's accomplishment. Games that have a strong plot and make even the most difficult activities attractive for new learners show significant increase in accomplishment (Lee et al., 2013). Additionally, according to study by Green & Bavelier (2003;2006), games can assist users enhance their attentional resources, which was observed in gamified systems by (Tong & Chignell (2013); therefore, improving the cognitive capabilities of older individuals. Though the method utilized disabled individuals, it is on the proper track toward discovering a great cognitive application in gamification. This is critical for gamifying education and learning. These would enable the use of gamification to engage and motivate students while also boosting their cognitive abilities when learning science and mathematics.
This study demonstrated the critical role of playfulness in the cognitive and social development of primary school students enrolled in distance learning. The
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research questions that were addressed have been covered by the research methodology and the findings. Gamification technologies in distant learning appeared to increase students' interest and motivation. Thus, the pandemic's learning process was effective because to the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) (Antonopoulou et al., 2021a). Simultaneously, when combined with the component of interpersonal communication, gamification technologies appeared to substantially predict students' assertiveness and leadership skills. Respectively, aspects such as emotion regulation, empathy, cognitive skills, mathematical abilities, and general learning capacity appeared to be suitably benefited.
The experience of schools being forced to close because of the Covid 19 pandemic has prompted the entire educational community to seek new methods and practices to ensure that distance learning does not lag in terms of cognitive achievement and teacher contributions to improving the quality of communication and interpersonal relationships.
The study revealed that the usage of gamification in distant education and conventional games in lifelong learning functioned as a motivator for students, improving the enjoyment and attractiveness of the lesson while also enhancing cognitive functions such as executive function, attention, concentration, selfcontrol, empathy, and the student group's connections. Simultaneously, to reinforce the findings of this study with qualitative data, we may say that all this procedure via gamification assisted in the acceptance of pupils with inferior performance, as they gained their classmates' appreciation through the game's different stages. These students were able to experience achievement and overcome prior academic failures in the regular classroom by participating in the electronic game. This boosted their neurocognition, self esteem and enthusiasm for the topic, while also acknowledging their value in front of the whole class.
Finally, school children who previously demonstrated excellent performance retained them while being more receptive and helpful to their less fortunate classmates. From the teacher's perspective, we believe that initial tension was replaced by a sense of fulfillment, as students' accomplishments, in addition to maintaining the lesson's standard, strengthening interpersonal relationships within the student group, and boosting the self confidence of low achieving students, motivated them to continually develop and use new games and incorporate them into his teaching.
Further research will be to demonstrate the value of gamification in cognition and in psychosocial development in a larger sample of school children, in children with special needs, via the use of several cognitive tasks and standardized neuropsychological tools in combination with e games and other psychometric scales for social functions in various educational environments of all levels of education.
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Other studies may use additional research instruments, such as surveys, questionnaires, focus groups, and qualitative methods such us individual interviews, to enhance learning materials and obtain a better understanding of the study's findings.
H.A., C. H., E.G. & A.K. contributed to the design and implementation of the research, to the analysis of the results and to the writing of the manuscript. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Participants with prior approval from their parents, gave their written consent to use their anonymous data for statistical purposes.
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this manuscript. In addition, the ethical issues, including plagiarism, informed consent, misconduct, data fabrication and/or falsification, double publication and/or submission, and redundancies have been completely observed by the authors.
We would like to express our gratitude to the children, their parents, and the instructors who participated in this study.
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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 401 427, May 2022
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Received Feb 5, 2022; Revised May 11, 2022; Accepted May 31, 2022
Chris Valentine Ogar Eneji* Dept. of Environmental Education, University of Calabar, Nigeria
Janet Sunday Petters ,Stella Bassey Esuabana Dept. of Guidance and Counseling, Faculty of Education, University of Calabar, Nigeria
Nkanu Usang Onnoghen , Bassey Obeten Udumo ,Benjamin Ayua Ambe Dept. of Environmental Education, Faculty of Education, University of Calabar, Nigeria
Ekpenyong Essien Essien ,Fidelis Abunimye Unimna Dept. of Social Science Education, Faculty of Arts and Social Science Education, University of Calabar, Nigeria
David Adie Alawa and Ajigo Ikutal Dept. of Vocational Education, Faculty of Science and Vocational Education, University of Calabar, Nigeria
Abstract. This study was carried out to assess how academic dishonesty in Nigerian universities influences university graduates’ quality and how these graduates contribute to national development for global competitiveness. The study area is Nigerian universities (private, state, and federal owned). The inferential survey research design was adopted for this study. A sample of 18 universities (12%) out of the 154 universities in Nigeria was selected, 6 each from among private, state, and federal owned universities, 3 from each geopolitical zone of the country. From these universities, 1440 respondents (academic staff and students) were selected as sample. Two sets of structured questionnaires (open and closed ended) were administered to the respondents between February 2019 and October 2019. Simple percentage, Pearson product moment correlation analysis, and chi square analysis were used for data analysis. Respondents listed 14 causes of academic dishonesty. A significant correlation was found between academic dishonesty and poor graduate
*
Corresponding author: Chris Valentine Ogar Eneji; vcogareneji@gmail.com
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY NC ND 4.0).
quality from Nigerian universities. In addition, the chi square analysis showed a significant relationship between university academic dishonesty, graduate quality, and contribution to national development for global competitiveness. It was concluded that universities where academic dishonesty is perpetrated usually produce low quality graduates who at best may contribute little to national development for global competitiveness. One of the recommendations is that the government should overhaul the curriculum content of the Nigerian educational system to meet the development challenges of the Nigerian state, while also improving funding for Nigerian public universities.
Keywords: academic dishonesty; dimensions of academic dishonesty; global competitiveness; graduate quality; national development; school facilities
Training universities and other higher education institutions provide for the training of highly qualified graduates who can be employed to fit into the machinery of government. As such, the training they offer needs to be of a high quality for the sustainable economic, social, technological, and scientific growth of the country. This means that the future of every nation is dependent on the quality of graduate training the universities and other higher education institutions provide to their students during their formation (schooling) years. All institutions of higher learning are expected to train their students according to international best practices and standards set for that purpose, which should greatly impact positively on the general population both on short and long term basis. This type of training should be more centered on the developmental needs of the society and country, and as such should be learner centered. The duty of every higher education institution is to provide high quality student centered learning with comparative study programs and lecturing methods and processes to meet the different needs of the labor market economy in a global economic perspective.
In recent times, the Nigerian education system has been under scrutiny due to the quality of Nigerian university graduates. Most graduates employed or completing their compulsory one year national service are found wanting in terms of writing or speaking the English language in their workplace. In addition, most graduates serving heads of parastatals or agencies cannot even write a simple memo. This situation is at best worrisome. It is not uncommon for a graduate with a first or second class upper division to be employed in an office and even having obtained a high graduation result to not be able to defend the quality of the results they graduated with.
The term academic dishonesty can be synonymous with academic misconduct, academic integrity, or academic malpractice. For the layman, academic dishonesty can be seen as any unprofessional misconduct perpetrated or carried out by lecturer and/or student during the discharge of their duties For the lecturer, this may take place in their testing of students to assess what they had learnt during the course of an academic program. Bricault (2007, in Anzene, 2014)
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explained that academic dishonesty includes a diverse range of unacceptable and deliberate conducts and behaviors that some students and lecturers exhibit to achieve an unfair advantage over their peers in term papers, theses, projects, tests, assignments, or examinations which they ordinarily would not have been able to achieve. Both students and their lecturers or other officers can commit one of various offenses that goes against the ethical standards or expected norms of an educational institution (be it school, university, or any other tertiary institution). When the conduct of students or their lecturers goes against the expected standard codes of conduct which are permissible by the law of the school, this is referred to as academic dishonesty or academic misconduct.
It is heartbreaking to know that some students no longer see the value of hard work in educational institutions and hence prefer to participate in all forms of academic dishonesty to pass their examinations at all cost. They do this because excelling in their examinations is a prerequisite for graduation leading to securing a white collar job. To these students, what they studied and learnt is not as important as how they passed their examinations to graduate. When students are not committed to hard work, they engage in all sorts of academic misconduct and dishonesty, sometimes in collaboration with their willing lecturers, to earn marks or grades they did not earn. This phenomenon has destroyed the Nigerian educational system and further reduced the falling standard of education in the country to an abysmal level (Asamoah, 2018; Eneji et al., 2017; Mbilinyi & Msuya, 2018).
Adebakin (2014) established that academic dishonesty is not only perpetuated by students alone, but that even lecturers in tertiary institutions are culpable of this crime. The grading of students’ scripts and assignments and their certification are done by lecturers who are responsible for teaching, assessing, grading, and certification of these students for graduation Nonetheless, another dimension of academic dishonesty in tertiary institutions is where lecturers and other staff members turn their faces the other way to award arbitrary scores to students who did not attend lectures or those who wrote their examinations and failed.
2.1
Arong and Ogbadu (2010), Asiyai (2013), Bamiro (2012), and Chirikov et al. (2019) in their respective studies have shown that academic dishonesty or misconduct has different dimensions in university systems. These include but are not limited to what is discussed next.
Cheating during examination in the hall. This practice involves copying from another student’s answer sheets or from extraneous prepared scripts. This practice has also been referred to as “brain support” , “ekpo” , “micro chips” , “ expo ” , “not allowed” , “exhibit” , and “copycat” . Students place these scripts in their clothes, on handkerchiefs, or under their shoes; others write them on their palms; while still others put them in their braziers or in their waist (Onyibe, et al., 2015).
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Copying assignments from peers, or having peers do assignments for them. Most students hardly attend lectures and hardly carry out their independent practice assignments. Female students have been found to go from one city to another flirting in the name of hustling, while some male students who are working might stay away because of the location of their duty post or commitment These students hardly have time to attend classes and are then compelled to get another student who is always regular in school to help them out in doing assignments for them. In addition, lazy students prefer copying assignments from peers who do their own assignments, regardless of whether it is right or wrong (Arong & Ogbadu, 2010)
Committing plagiarism. This is a form of academic dishonesty where students make verbatim copies of others’ work or projects and submit it as their own for assessment. They thus represent someone else’s work or ideas as if they are the original author This may include copying a passage of paragraph directly from a book, article, website, or any other source without quoting or properly citing the source to acknowledge the original author. Plagiarism can also be committed by academic staff, who use others’ work or term papers or even articles and publish it in their name as if they are the original author of the work. Some lecturers have also given students completed student projects for them to copy and submit for graduation (Asiyai, 2013)
Paying for examination questions before examinations. Some students buy set questions for their examinations either from the lecturer(s) involved directly or from some supporting staff who have access to such questions before the actual examination.
Sorting or gratification from students to lecturers to influence their examination grades. This is a situation where students who hardly attend classes or cannot do assessments will give gratification to lecturers through sex, gift items, food, etc., or in cash to influence their examination grades. Studies have shown that most often, this can be achieved through the cooperation of lecturers who are willing tools in the hands of these students (Bamiro, 2012).
Multiple submission of written works. This involves the use of work that has been previously submitted at a particular institution or level to meet the academic requirements of a particular class or institution. An example is the submission of another student’s previously completed thesis, project, or term paper. In some cases, the content may be slightly altered.
Impersonation. This involves the use of electronic tools to allow an individual to write examinations on behalf of someone else. Here, the hired individual uses the identity and registration number of the actual student who is supposed to sit for that examination and does the examination on their behalf.
False citation. Students and academic staff have been found to copy work from specific sources and to then cite a different author/s for the work. This occurs mostly with the writing of theses, dissertations, and articles. Most often, these
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false citations can be identified with sophisticated plagiarism software such as iTenthicate, Turnitin, and other plagiarism checkers
Falsification of data. This is where research data are cooked or fabricated and where the researcher did not actually go to the field to collect such data. In addition, this is where students falsify, fabricate, or alter data to deliberately mislead people that the data were actually generated from the studied population or sample from the field (Onyibe, et al., 2015).
Adding another researcher’s name/false co authoring of articles for publication. This is one of the most grievous forms of academic dishonesty committed by some university lecturers. A popular dictum among academic staff in most tertiary institutions is “publish or perish”, which implies that lecturers must publish in order to be promoted (Bamiro, 2012). Some lecturers cannot publish, and hence collaborate with their colleagues to add their names to their publications. These lecturers share in the cost of publication but do not contribute any idea to form the research outcome (Chirikov et al., 2019)
Other forms of academic dishonesty are cheating, misrepresentation, bribery, collusion, and conspiracy.
Studies have shown that there are diverse causes of academic dishonesty, which are usually personal to those who are involved in the dishonesty (Adebakin et al., 2015; Imhonopi & Urim, 2009; Isah, 2010). Scholars such as Okebukola (2008), Mimiko (2012), and Chirikov et al. (2019) found various major causes of academic dishonesty. These include the inability to manage the pressure and demands of student life on campus, peer influence, poor study habits, poor performance anxiety, conditions permitting academic dishonesty, and unnecessary excuse making. It also includes irregular attendance of lectures, prompt and correct doing of independent practice assignments, issues relating to student program funding, and self justifying habits. Furthermore, it includes poor knowledge of what academic dishonesty actually is, and the poor understanding of the consequences of academic dishonesty to the individual students and the society as a whole (Pidlisnyuk, 2010; Pitan & Adedeji, 2012).
Scholars such as Timothy and Abubakar (2013), Phiri and Nakamba (2015), and Hodges (2017) determined other causes of academic dishonesty. These include the desire of some parents to have their children placed in lucrative jobs or to have their children graduate towards a particular profession, such as medicine, engineering, law, or nursing. These also include protecting the reputation of teachers and the school status, laziness on the part of the students and their teachers, and threats and intimidations from parents and the society. Some parents want their children to go into a certain profession for pride and to satisfy their own desire to be in that profession, even when the children are not intelligent enough to meet the demands of such profession or course. Some researchers have found that academic dishonesty could be committed by students with low self esteem, lazy students who are good at procrastinating in their studies or doing of assignments, absent students, and students who see school as a paper to get a
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meal ticket (Oke & Olowonefa, 2019). Lack of adequate preparedness on the part of students, unrealistic expectations, and emphasis on success have also been identified as some causes of academic dishonesty (Anzene, 2014; Eneji et al., 2017; Freiburger et al., 2017; Israel, 2019).
It is common knowledge in Nigeria that in most Nigerian universities, students who cheat far outnumber those who do not engage in academic dishonesty. The extent to which academic dishonesty has penetrated the Nigerian university system is difficult to determine, but it has seriously affected the quality of Nigerian university graduates. Bower (1964, in Oke & Olowonefa, 2019) conducted an academic dishonesty survey and found that 75% of the 5000 students in higher education institutions who participated in the survey had committed one or more form of academic dishonesty at one point or the other (Owunwanne, 2010, in Oke & Olowonefa, 2019). In another survey on student academic dishonesty or misconduct by Duke University’s Center for Academic Integrity between 2002 and 2005, about 60 campuses in the US reported cheating (Israel, 2019) Oke and Olowonefa (2019) investigated the management of strategies for curbing examination malpractice in public secondary schools in Abuja, Nigeria, using a descriptive survey. They found that the graduates produced through academic dishonesty are deficient in quality in terms of knowledge, entrepreneurship, leadership, innovation, and critical thinking.
Onyibe et al. (2015) posited that it is better to graduate with a third class result and to be able to defend it than to graduate with a first or second class upper division without the commensurate knowledge and academic prowess to defend such result. These authors went further to state that most students who engage in academic dishonesty do so because they see the university degree as only a means to an end, where they can obtain the degree and use it to secure a white collar job. This is exactly the bane of modern society, where the priority is to obtain a paper qualification to earn a white collar job rather than practical knowledge to apply what has been learnt in school to solve societal problems. No nation can grow without commensurate entrepreneurial skills and technological and scientific knowledge to meet the yearnings and needs of the country (Onyibe et al., 2015)
Taking a closer look at the issue of graduate quality from a perspective of academic dishonesty, Eneji et al. (2019) found a positive correlation between the quality of university graduates and the curriculum content designed for Nigerian education institutions from its colonial masters. These authors challenged the curriculum content as provided for Nigerian tertiary institutions and challenged the strength of the curriculum to solve the nation’s technological and scientific development and national economic growth. They dismissed the current curriculum as lacking in strength, luster, and creativity to provide the rudiments for national development. This position adopted by Eneji et al. (2017) as well as Israel (2019) was earlier deliberated by Anzene (2014), who challenged the national curriculum planners of the Nigerian university education system to do a thorough overhauling of university and other tertiary institution educational curricular content to be in line with what developmental challenges Nigeria faces
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Anzene highlighted that the world over, scientists and technologists are looking at 5G networks, nanograms, robotics, bloodless surgery, nuclear technology, space science, clean and renewable energy, etc. Contrariwise, the Nigerien school curriculum prescribes drawing butterflies and labeling the parts, rehearsing the periodic table, and drawing world maps and labelling them, among other topics.
The Nigerian educational system is backward because of the type and quality of school curriculum passed on from the country’s colonial masters. This curriculum was meant to teach middle level clerks how to read and write and take stock of the colonial masters’ business account and inventory, not for Nigerian self development and emancipation. Anzene (2014) charged the government and curriculum planners to overhaul and revise the Nigerian school curriculum to be in tandem with modern day Nigerian development needs, with the type of curriculum that is based on technological and scientific development for global competitiveness.
Kyei (2014) found a positive correlation between academic dishonesty and poor graduate quality from universities where academic dishonesty is committed. Nnam and Inah (2015) also found a positive correlation between academic dishonesty and low quality university graduates, likening it to the popular dictum by Prof. Bab Fafunwa, that “the standard of any nation’s educational system cannot rise above the quality of its teachers and products” (Nnam & Inah, 2015, p.59). Therefore, where graduates work hard, they will be worth their salt, and where they neglect to work hard, they will engage in all forms of academic dishonesty
Onuka and Durowoju (2013) posited that hard work, rigorous studying, carrying out every assignment given, and preparing well for examinations guarantee success, and those committed to hard work will never be found wanting in their chosen career. Therefore, students who engage in academic dishonesty can never do well. This is so because academics goes with practice of what is being taught and not what students did to compromise integrity during their formative years. Most countries in the world have developed ways to contribute to their growth and development, making use of their scientists and technologists for this purpose. Graduates are people with independent critical thinking skills. They are innovative and sensible to environmental conditions and can meet the daunting development challenges of a country.
Onyibe et al. (2015) found that high quality graduates can influence a country’s developmental needs by providing the needed workforce to fill technological and scientific gaps, and design and implement programs that can ginger development imperatives. In addition, they can contribute to the entrepreneurial development of the country, thereby reducing dependency on government paid jobs, making them creators of jobs by engaging young scholars in innovation, and driving and emancipating the country from poverty and social issues. For any nation to become self reliant, self sufficient, and scientifically and technologically developed, the works of their research institutions must tell on the products of such institutions and what they can offer to the society to contribute to the
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development initiatives of that country (Phiri & Nakamba, 2015; Tabsh et al., 2019; Timothy & Abubakar, 2013)
The quality of anycountry’s university graduates is determined by the curriculum implementation processes and how the students respond to such programs as transmitted by the school. The educational standard of a country is normally judged according to the quality of their graduates, whose quality can be used for comparative analysis and juxtaposition between and among countries’ educational systems, structures, curriculum content, and equation. This comparison can only be made when an objective assessment of student performance can be measured. For this to happen, schools must be prepared to employ the best assessment methods that are most suitable for judging student performance based on merit and not on dishonesty. According to Sotiriadou et al. (2019), attempting to promote academic integrity in school assessment has become a case of continuous priority for all institutions of higher learning across the globe (Nnam & Inah, 2015)
Studies have shown that providing authentic school assessment with the laying of a sound academic foundation on the basis of academic integrity is necessary for the skills development of graduates to advance their employability. This will also put these graduates at par with their peers across the world. Attempting to provide academic uprightness coupled with the fact that schools struggle to uphold global best practices, it is necessary to provide an accurate and reliable academic evaluation of students’ progress (Pittman, 2020; Sotiriadou et al., 2019; Suwaldiman & Tyas, 2019) Through such foundation, higher education can meet the global challenges facing mankind from different parts of the world. Promoting academic honesty or integrity is important. It encourages students to practically search for true knowledge, with the attendant skills, values, capacity, and willingness to take up rigorous challenges to put to use the knowledge acquired to finding solutions to the multitude societal problems.
To ascertain the authentic effectiveness of assessment of students, Sotiriadou et al. (2019) carried out a survey using the scaffolder assessment task of interactive oral examination that would prevent students from engaging in academic dishonesty and help them to improve their academic skills and employability prospects. These authors found that the scaffolder assessment task using an interactive oral examination helps in the prevention of academic dishonesty It was observed that once assessments are made with regard to the true world situation, there is the tendency for students to avoid misconduct. Above all, the interactive oral examination allowed the students to develop their knowledge, skills, and values in a professional manner It did so while helping them to create their own identities and awareness, including their leadership and communication skills, thereby helping them to promote their employability anywhere in the world. In this way, graduates of school systems where academic misconduct or dishonesty is not practiced can obtain the requisite skills, knowledge, values, and capacities to compete globally
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Scholars who support the fight against academic dishonesty have advanced several reasons schools should promote academic honesty. Their postulation holds that the education provided by the school to students is very important, because it helps to build in the learners the skills to make them leaders of tomorrow. This will encourage them to actively teach themselves and discover new ideas and become innovative and productive (Pittman, 2020; Sotiriadou et al., 2019; Suwaldiman & Tyas, 2019). These scholars further observed that students can only develop academic honesty when the school and the drivers of the process help them develop academic confidence by building their moral vocabulary. This the school can do by responding appropriately to cheating and dishonest tendencies among university students (Pittman, 2020; Sotiriadou et al., 2019; Suwaldiman & Tyas, 2019).
The best way to achieve academic honesty among students is through the development of necessary skills needed for a successful living with very strong moral judgement. Authors such as McNair and Haynie (2017), Devine and Chin (2017), and Abel et al. (2020) reported and insisted in their respective studies that it is very important for schools to teach students sound moral judgement through the basis of social behaviors as well as appropriate actions. These authors further posited that for schools to improve integrity among their students, there is the urgent need to build inner honesty, mutual respect, and courage. Students should be able to build integrity from the classroom setting, as this will help them apply these moral integrity principles to other aspects of their lives. When these are acquired properly from the school setting, it helps them develop self-confidence and enables them to compete with their peers anywhere in the world.
This can only be achieved if technocrats bring to bear what they have learnt at school and carry out groundbreaking research. They should do this by formulating hypotheses, based on feasible theories, testing them, and drawing inferential results and making generalizations that can inform policy decisions for the growth and development of their countries. It is doubtful whether this could be said about graduates of Nigerian universities It is therefore the intension of this paper to examine how academic dishonesty in Nigerian universities influences university graduate quality and how quality graduates can contribute to national development for global competitiveness.
Academic dishonesty. This includes different types of behavior by both lecturers and students to cut corners which are against the rules and regulations governing the participation in examinations to give them an undue advantage to pass their examinations.
Graduate quality. This is defined as the product that the university system delivers after students have graduated from university. It includes what these graduates have and what have they learnt to help solve societal problems. Graduate quality and national development. This refers to what graduates can contribute to national development, how creative and innovative they are, and
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how dependent they are on their paper qualification to get white collar jobs from companies and government agencies
Graduate quality and global competitiveness. This involves the extent to which graduates can compete favorably with graduates of the same courses from other universities across the globe in terms of innovation, creative thinking, discovery, and becoming functional members of their community and country. This relates to the quality of graduates produced from these universities; and how staff from these universities are welcomed to foreign universities for postdoctoral programs, collaboration and interlinkage programs, and also as visiting researchers. In addition, it concerns, among other aspects, how many foreign students and staff universities attract each year as students or employees, and the quality of research outcomes from these universities.
The major objectives of this study therefore are to:
1. Examine the concept, causes, and dimensions of academic dishonesty in Nigerian universities.
2. Ascertain the correlation between academic dishonesty and graduate quality
3. Investigate the relationship between academic dishonesty, graduate quality, and national development.
4. Examine the association between academic dishonesty and graduate quality for global competitiveness.
Based on the objectives of the study, the three following null hypotheses were formulated:
1. There is no significant correlation between university academic dishonesty and Nigerian university graduate quality
2. There is no significant association between university academic dishonesty, graduate quality, and contribution to national development for global competitiveness.
3. There is no significant association between university academic dishonesty, graduate quality, and global competitiveness.
The research design adopted for this study is the survey research design. A sample of 18 universities (12%) were selected from the pool of 154 Nigerian universities, comprising 40 federal universities, 44 state universities, and 70 private universities. From each of the geopolitical zones of the country, three universities each were selected from federal universities, state universities, and private universities. The multistage random sampling technique was used at this stage to select respondents. Purposeful sampling was used to select 30 academic staff from the rank of lecturer 1 and above and 50 students from 300 level and above from each university. This provided a total of 80 respondents from each university, thus with 240 respondents from each geopolitical zone, and a total of 1440 respondents from the six geopolitical zones. Five departments were randomly selected in each university, where six academic staff and 10 students
were then selected from each department. The choice of lecturer 1 and above was to sample lecturers who are very knowledgeable about the causes, dimensions, and implications of academic dishonesty on graduate quality and how they can contribute to national development. Likewise, 300 level students and above were chosen because they may have experienced or practiced one form of academic dishonesty or the other.
The instruments for data collection were researcher designed structured open ended and closed ended questionnaire, respectively. The instrument was designed with five parts. Part A elicited respondents’ sociodemographic characteristics Furthermore, Part B covered the causes of academic dishonesty, Part C the relationship between academic dishonesty and graduate quality, and Part D graduate quality and its contribution to national development. Part E looked at the relationship between academic dishonesty and graduate quality and how graduates can compete with their peers in other climes in terms of thinking outside the box, and how they can improve their skills in innovation, creative thinking, discovery, and application of knowledge acquired from the university in solving societal problems.
The instrument was validated by three experts in test construction, measurement, and evaluation from the Department of Educational Foundations, University of Calabar, Nigeria. Using the table of specifications and Pearson’s product moment correlation, the instrument achieved a reliability coefficient of 0.89, implying that the instrument is reliable Both content and face validity were done by these same experts. The table of specifications provided a clear indication of the instrument as being valid to be used for data collection. Based on the experts’ report, we concluded that the instrument was both valid and reliable for data collection for this study.
The response option used for the closed ended questionnaire was the modified four point Likert scale option of strongly agree, agree, disagree, and strongly disagree. The instruments were administered to the research respondents at their respective departments and universities. The instrument administration took place between February 2019 and October 2019. Heads of departments and student class representatives assisted us in the administration of the instruments. A 100% return rate was recorded, meaning no single questionnaire was damaged or wrongly completed After collation and coding, data generated from the field were analyzed using simple percentage, Pearson product moment correlation analysis and chi square analysis, while tables were used to present the analyzed results
Data analysis was done in accordance with the objectives and hypotheses formulated to guide the study.
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Table 1 shows respondents’ opinions on some causes of academic dishonesty in Nigerian universities. An open ended questionnaire was administered to the respondents on which they had to indicate the perceived causes of academic dishonesty in Nigerian universities.
Table 1: Perceived causes of academic dishonesty in Nigerian universities
S/N Sampled Nigerian universities
School factors Cultism and p eer influence Poor funding Admin bottleneck Lack of qualified academics Lack of adequate facilities Poor reading culture Too much dependence on paper Lackqualification of labs, studio s , and theaters Student home factors Lack of reagents and equipment for practical s Poor staff motivation and welfar e Corrupt staff Incessant strik ing by staff Total scores per university
1 Afe Babalola University 4 5 3 6 6 2 7 8 7 6 9 11 3 3 80
2 Madonna University 5 4 5 5 5 2 6 9 8 5 10 10 2 4 80
3 Igbinedion University 6 6 2 6 4 3 4 8 6 7 9 9 5 5 80
4 AAUN, Yola 5 3 4 2 6 6 8 7 6 5 11 10 4 3 80
5 Baze University 5 5 4 6 4 3 6 6 9 5 10 9 6 2 80
6 Ibrahim Babangida university 4 5 6 3 4 4 7 7 8 7 7 9 5 4 80
7 CRUTECH, Calabar 3 7 6 2 3 9 6 7 5 5 5 8 9 5 80
8 Lagos State University 3 7 5 3 4 8 7 6 5 4 7 7 10 4 80
9 Odumegwu Ojukwu University 4 6 6 4 4 6 7 7 5 5 6 6 8 6 80
10 Nasarawa State University 5 5 5 7 6 7 6 2 3 9 3 9 8 5 80
11 Kaduna State University 3 6 6 4 5 8 7 6 4 6 5 7 9 4 80
12 Taraba State University 3 7 6 2 3 9 6 7 5 5 5 8 9 5 80
13 University of Nigeria, Nsukka 5 9 9 2 5 6 4 4 7 4 5 7 6 7 80
14 University of Uyo 6 8 8 3 4 7 3 5 7 4 5 7 5 8 80
15 Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife 4 6 6 4 4 6 7 7 5 5 6 6 8 6 80
16 Bayero University, Kano 3 7 6 2 3 9 6 7 5 5 5 8 9 5 80
17 University of Jos 6 6 7 5 5 5 4 5 6 6 6 6 7 6 80
18 University of Maiduguri 6 7 8 3 4 7 3 5 8 4 5 7 5 8 80
Total scores per cause 80 109 102 69 79 107 104 113 109 97 119 144 118 90 1440
Percentage scores 5.55 7.56 7.10 4.79 5.48 7.43 7.22 7.84 7.56 6.73 8.24 10.10 8.20 6.30 100%
Note: Total sample size = 1440
Source: Data collected from fieldwork, 2019 2020
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Eighty (80) respondents (5.55%) indicated school factors as a major cause of academic dishonesty in Nigerian universities, 109 (7.56%) selected cultism and peer influence, while 102 (7.10%) and 69 (4.79%) selected poor funding and administrative bottleneck, respectively, as causes of academic dishonesty in Nigerian universities. Seventy nine (79) respondents (5.48%) indicated that lack of qualified academics to teach and mentor students is a cause of academic dishonesty, with 107 (7.43%) respondents indicating lack of adequate facilities for teaching and learning as a major cause of academic dishonesty in Nigerian universities. Another 104 respondents (7.22%) felt that poor reading culture on the part of both academic staff and students is a major cause of academic dishonesty, while 113 respondents (7.84%) indicated that too much dependence on paper qualification is a major cause of academic dishonesty. Additionally, 109 respondents (7.56%) ticked lack of laboratories, studios, workshops, and theaters as cause of academic dishonesty in Nigerian universities, while 97 (6.73%) felt that student home factors also played a very significant role in academic dishonesty. For lack of reagents and other equipment for students to carry out practical work in the laboratory, 119 respondents (8.24%) indicated this as major factor encouraging academic dishonesty in Nigerian universities. Then, 144 respondents (10.10%) agreed that poor staff motivation and welfare is a major cause. Regarding academics conniving with willing students to engage in academic dishonesty, 118 respondents (8.20%) ticked the cause on corrupt staff forcing or encouraging their students to engage in academic dishonesty. Lastly, 90 respondents (6.30%) selected that incessant striking and industrial actions by university staff (academic and non-academic) is a major cause of academic dishonesty in Nigerian universities.
Table 2 shows the marked similarity among the different types of universities, private, state, and federal The three sets of universities had similar results as the scores were similar for the same causes of academic dishonesty. One would expect to see a marked difference as to the causes of academic dishonesty, since it is assumed that private universities are properly equipped and have better staffing and remuneration than government owned universities. Since there was no significant difference in the scores for the causes of academic dishonesty between private and state or federal owned universities, a critical look was again taken into the different sets of schools. It was discovered that in Nigeria, most private universities have abused the standard of education by awarding first class degrees to most of their graduates as a marketing strategy to compel parents to enroll their children in those universities with the belief that the teaching is better in those universities.
It was found that it is true that most private universities have all the equipment, but they hardly employ qualified lecturers to run the programs they advertise. The same situation affecting most government owned universities is also happening in most private universities since their proprietors are profit oriented. They therefore assign little for funding and for providing facilities for the institutions while pursuing profits that the institutions were set to achieve in the first place.
S/N Sampled Nigerian universities School factors Cultism and p eer influence Poor funding Admin bottleneck Lack of qualified academics Lack of adequate facilities Poor reading culture Too much dependence on paper qualification Lack of labs, studio s, and theaters Student home factors Lack of reagents and equipment for practical s Poor staff motivation and welfare Corrupt staff Incessant strik ing by staff
1 Afe Babalola University 4 5 3 6 6 2 7 8 7 6 9 11 3 3
2 Madonna University 5 4 5 5 5 2 6 9 8 5 10 10 2 4
3 Igbinedion University 6 6 2 6 4 3 4 8 6 7 9 9 5 5
4 AAUN, Yola 5 3 4 2 6 6 8 7 6 5 11 10 4 3
5 Baze University 5 5 4 6 4 3 6 6 9 5 10 9 6 2
6 Ibrahim Babangida University
4 5 6 3 4 4 7 7 8 7 7 9 5 4
Total score 29 28 24 28 29 20 38 45 44 35 56 58 25 19
Percentage 6.0 5.8 5 5.8 6.0 4.2 7.9 9.4 9.2 7.2 11.8 12.1 5.2 4.4 STATE UNIVERSITIES
7 CRUTECH, Calabar 3 7 6 2 3 9 6 7 5 5 5 8 9 5
8 Lagos State University 3 7 5 3 4 8 7 6 5 4 7 7 10 4
9 Odumegwu Ojukwu University
4 6 6 4 4 6 7 7 5 5 6 6 8 6
10 Nassarawa State University 5 5 5 7 6 7 6 2 3 9 3 9 8 5
11 Kaduna State University 3 6 6 4 5 8 7 6 4 6 5 7 9 4
12 Taraba State University 3 7 6 2 3 9 6 7 5 5 5 8 9 5
Total score 21 38 34 22 25 47 39 35 27 34 31 45 53 29
Percentage 4.4 7.4 7.1 4.5 5.2 9.5 8.0 7.3 7.0 7.1 6.5 9.0 11.0 6.0
FEDERAL UNIVERSITIES
13 University of Nigeria, Nsukka 5 9 9 2 5 6 4 4 7 4 5 7 6 7
14 University of Uyo 6 8 8 3 4 7 3 5 7 4 5 7 5 8
15 Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife
4 6 6 4 4 6 7 7 5 5 6 6 8 6
16 Bayero University, Kano 3 7 6 2 3 9 6 7 5 5 5 8 9 5
17 University of Jos 6 6 7 5 5 5 4 5 6 6 6 6 7 6
18 University of Maiduguri 6 7 8 3 4 7 3 5 8 4 5 7 5 8
Total score 30 43 44 19 25 40 27 33 38 28 32 41 40 40
Percentage 6.25 8.95 9.17 3.90 8.33 6.20 6.77 7.82 5.83 6.57 8.34 8.33 8.33
Note: Total sample size 1440
Data collected from fieldwork, 2019 2020
The data presented in Table 3 show the relative contribution of each factor of academic dishonesty in Nigerian universities. A no relationship hypothesis was formulated thus: University academic dishonesty does not significantly influence Nigerian university graduate quality.
Table 3: Percentage contribution of each factor of academic dishonesty in Nigerian universities
Some causes of academic dishonesty in Nigerian universities
Private universities State universities Federal universities
Score % Score % Score %
Lack of lecturers’ commitment to their jobs 374 26 576 40 490 34 Quality of lecturers/ professional qualification 619 43 490 34 331 23
Poor teaching and learning environment 288 20 562 39 590 41 Poor study habits 518 36 432 30 490 34
Peer influence and social distractions 475 33 418 29 547 38
Students’ home background 259 18 605 42 576 40 Students’ education funding 662 46 432 30 346 24
Lack of learning facilities/classrooms/ offices 216 15 576 40 648 45 Lack of commitment to fund and provide for universities 144 10 619 43 677 47 Corrupt nature of university lecturers/management 158 11 562 39 720 50 Students’ anxiety to pass at all cost 317 22 533 37 590 41
Poor sanitary nature of students’ hostels 173 12 648 45 619 43 Near absence of modern libraries and current materials 302 21 576 40 562 39 Lecturers’ condition of service and welfare 331 23 562 39 547 38 Other student related factors 158 11 605 42 677 47 4994 347 8196 569 8410 584 332.9333 23.13333 546.4 37.93333 560.6667 38.93333 333 23.1 546 37.9 561 39
Table 4 shows the Pearson product moment correlation analysis of the relationship between academic dishonesty and Nigerian university graduate quality.
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Table 4: Pearson product moment correlation analysis of the relationship between university academic dishonesty and Nigerian university graduate quality (N = 1440)
Variables ∑X ∑X2 ∑Y2 ∑XY r value
University academic dishonesty 12,988 2889 67,653 0.778
Quality of graduates from Nigerian universities 13,894 3458
Note: Significant at 0.05 level, critical r = 0.177, df = 1438
The results of the Pearson product moment correlation analysis in Table 4 show a calculated r value of 0.778 at 0.05 significance level and 1438 degrees of freedom, while the critical table value for r is 0.177 Using therule of thumb, since the critical r value is 0.177, which is lower than the calculated r value of 0.778, the null hypothesis is rejected, while the alternate hypothesis is accepted. Therefore, university academic dishonesty does significantly influence Nigerian university graduate quality. The implication of this result is that academic dishonesty in Nigerian universities has a very significant influence on the quality of graduates these universities produce.
5.3 Relationship between academic dishonesty, graduate quality, and national development
For this objective, the no relationship hypothesis was formulated thus: There is no significant association between university academic dishonesty, graduate quality, and contribution to national development for global competitiveness. Table 5 shows the chi square analysis of data generated to test this hypothesis
Table 5: Summary of chi square analysis of the association between university academic dishonesty, graduate quality, and national development for global competitiveness
University type
X2
From the chi square analysis shown in Table 5, the calculated chi square value of 54.600 is higher than the critical table value of 5.991 at 0.05 significance level and 2 degrees of freedom. The null hypothesis is thus rejected, while the alternate hypothesis is accepted. The implication of this result is that there is a significant association between Nigerian university academic dishonesty, the quality of
graduates produced, and their contribution to national development for global competitiveness
The third null hypothesis generated for this study was: There is no significant association between university academic dishonesty, graduate quality, and global competitiveness. To test this hypothesis, another chi square test was conducted (Table 6).
Table 6: Summary of chi square analysis of the association between university academic dishonesty, graduate quality, and global competitiveness
S/N Universi ty type Variables Total N X2 Sig
Academic dishonesty Graduate quality Global
c ompetitiveness
1 Private 99 145 133 377 2 State 199 201 163 563 1440 52.860a 0.0 5
3 Federal 176 188 136 500 474 534 432 1440
Note: *Significant at 0.05; df = 2; X2 critical = 5.991*
The chi square results in Table 6 indicate that the calculated value of 52.860 is higher than the critical table value of 5.991 at 0.05 significance level and 2 degrees of freedom. This shows that there is a connection between university academic dishonesty, quality of graduates produced, and how these graduates can compete with their peers in other climes. Where university students engage in academic dishonesty, the quality of their graduates is compromised and watered down This is because instead of using their productive time to study hard to pass and be successful in their examinations, they cut all sorts of corners to make quick successes This type of conduct is detrimental to the quality of education any university can offer to their graduates.
The open ended questionnaire as used requested respondents to willingly list the possible or presumed causes of academic dishonesty in Nigerian universities Data analysis showed a list of 14 causes, although there could be more. These were: school factors; cultism and peer influence; poor funding; administrative bottleneck; lack of qualified academics; lack of adequate facilities; poor reading culture; overdependence on paper qualification; lack of labs, studios, and theaters; student home factors; lack of reagents and equipment; poor staff motivation and welfare; corrupt staff; and incessant striking by staff. This confirms findings by Phiri and Nakamba (2015), who found that most causes of examination malpractice/academic dishonesty include poor student preparation, poor class
and lecture attendance, teacher incompetence, and poor funding of students’ academic program.
Scholars such as Onuka and Durowoju (2013), Onyibe et al. (2015), and Nnam and Inah (2015) found similar results to this current finding. These researchers collectively found the following causes of academic dishonesty: poor funding for tertiary institutions; lecturers’ lack of commitment to duty as a result of poor remuneration and welfare and few incentives; near absence of reagents; poorly equipped laboratories, studios, and theaters for students’ practical work and learning; poorly stocked libraries; and poor resources for lecturers’ use during teaching and learning. Other causes included poorly designed and congested lecture rooms, inadequate lecturer offices, and the jungle like nature of student hostels.
Other scholars looked at factors such as school and student factors as major causes of academic dishonesty Among the school factors were poor lecturer motivation and in service training; provision of awards and prizes; sponsorship for symposiums, workshops, seminars, and conferences; comfortable lecture classrooms; lecturers’ office spaces; further studies and regular retraining; prompt payment of honoraria; and lecturer entitlements, such as promotion arrears, leave arrears, and internship. Other school factors included university administrative bottleneck in terms of early promotion, fund disbursement, allocation of office spaces, acquisition and provision of state of the art equipment and textbooks, including virtual and hard copies, to enable lecturers to do research to teach modern and up to date facts (Anzene, 2014; Kyei, 2014; Nnam & Inah, 2015; Pittman, 2020; Sotiriadou et al., 2019; Suwaldiman & Tyas, 2019).
Student factors that cause examination malpractice or academic dishonesty include students’ home environment; parents’ socioeconomic status, including sources of income, income level, educational level, occupational status of parents, family type and size, and parenting style; peer influence; students’ readiness to study and their study habits; sponsorship; students’ reading culture (negative or positive); and students’ understanding of their goal in life. Authors such as Pidlisnyuk (2010), Pitan and Adedeji (2012), and Oke and Olowonefa (2019) posited that cultism and peer influence are two inseparable factors that have influenced academic dishonesty in most universities. These authors were emphatic that students are influenced by their peers bullying and threatening them to either join a cult group or be killed. Once they have joined and committed criminal offenses, police or rival groups will come after them. They then begin to skip classes or are always on the run for their lives, only going to school during examinations to complete their studies. Most often, it is during this period that most of these students who are cultists are killed.
Scholars such as Abel et al. (2020), Devine and Chin (2017), and McNair and Haynie (2017) identified some major factors causing academic dishonesty in Nigerian universities. These include poor funding; student factors; cultism; peer influence; poor teacher welfare and near lack of incentives to university staff; school factors; and funding of higher education. Added to these are absence or
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near absence of modern learning facilities such as virtual libraries; poorly stocked libraries; lack of equipment and reagents; lack of modern laboratories, studios, and theaters for students’ learning; poorly furnished lecturer offices; and over congested lecture rooms Other factors include employment of poorly qualified lecturers to teach in the university system who do not have proper training or pedagogical knowledge of the teaching profession and a firm grasp of the subject matter that they are expected to teach students.
The results in Table 4 showed a significant relationship between university academic dishonesty and university graduate quality (calculated r value = 0.778; critical r value = 0.177; sig. 0.05; df = 1438). These results imply that there is a significant correlation between university academic dishonesty and university graduate quality. This finding is a confirmation of the study by Eneji, et al., (2017), who compared the academic performance of Nigerian university graduates and their quality in the labor market or real life environment. The author berated most Nigerian university graduates as having very good results yet which they can hardly defend. This author chided graduates who had a first and second class upper division yet were hardly able to write an official memo or identify solutions to simple societal problems or problems in the office or wherever they are engaged.
Eneji, et al., are not alone on this proposition. Authors such as Okebukola (2008), Pidlisnyuk (2010), and Mimiko (2012) were unanimous in their assertion that the quality of graduates produced from most Nigerian universities is alarming These authors requested for the urgent overhauling of the Nigerian educational system. They blamed the poor quality of graduates of most Nigerian universities on the incessant industrial action taken by lecturers, while also observing that the government is also largely to blame. They further posited that most often when industrial action is taken, university academic calendars are disrupted Once the lecturers’ demands are met, they will return to campus and do a crash course and hurriedly administer examinations to students. More often than not, these students are not even taught, while in some cases, course content that should take 12 14 weeks are condensed and taught to the students within 2 4 weeks to catch up with the academic calendar which they had missed.
It has also been established by authors such as Imhonopi and Urim (2009), Isah (2010), and Mimiko (2012) that some lecturers give examinations on topics they do not teach just to make sure students fail and will then bribe them in some way to pass their examinations. While some scholars were critical in their findings, others have noted that some students hardly do their assignments or independent practice problems; they copy from their peers and submit that to satisfy lecturers. Sadly, some of these assignments or independent practice or homework are hardly marked by lecturers to correct students’ errors (Adebakin et al., 2015). Other scholars who found similar results blamed the failure of the school system and poor graduate quality on universities, the government, and the students. Studies have shown that government does not adequately fund education and does not take lecturers’ welfare seriously. In addition, some parents push their children to go to school just to acquire an education as a means to a meal ticket or
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so that their children can be where they want them to be. Other parents even force their children to study courses they are not interested in. On the students’ side, some of them just want to graduate to secure a white collar job or the paper qualification to satisfy all righteousness (Arong & Ogbadu, 2010; Asamoah, 2018; Asiyai, 2013; Hodges, 2017; Israel, 2019).
The results in Table 5 showed a calculated chi square value of 54.600 opposed to the critical table value of 5.991 at 0.05 significance level and 2 degrees of freedom This shows that with a compromised standard at universities and other tertiary institutions, there is bound to be a lacuna in the contribution graduates make to national development. This validates Prof Bab Fafunwa’s observation and strong belief that the standard of any nation’s education system is determined by the quality of its teachers. This is applicable to national development all over. A country is developed when the graduates from its educational system are interested in more than just obtaining a paper qualification to look for white collar jobs Rather, if these graduates are creative, innovative, and daring, they can excel technologically, scientifically, economically, and otherwise, thereby contributing to national development. Scholars promoting education for national development are of the view that the collapse of a country’s educational system can bring the country to its knees in a very short time One sure way of destroying a nation is by destroying its educational system through all sorts of academic dishonesty (Nnam & Inah, 2015; Onuka & Durowoju, 2013; Onyiobe et al., 2015). Furthermore, the best way for any nation to achieve technological and national development is to strengthen their academic institutions to improve the quality of their graduates (Kyei, 2014; Sotiriadou et al., 2019). Other scholars also argued that if graduates cannot contribute to the economy in terms of job creation, innovation, discovery, and entrepreneurship, they will be unable to contribute to develop the economy of their countries in terms of tax, employment, and income remittance, among other things. In the developed world, it is the university graduates who developed what these countries and other dependent countries are consuming today. Onyibe et al. (2015) wondered if this low graduate quality is the reason most African countries produce what they do not consume and consume what they do not produce
Some authors have also blamed the poor quality of graduates on the society as the society attaches too much value to a university certificate, without giving commensurate attention to entrepreneurial skills development. Scholars who have carried out extensive research on university academic dishonesty and graduate quality advocated for holiday work exposure for university undergraduates to give them firsthand work experience (Adebakin, 2014; Eneji et al., 2017). These scholars emphasized that there should be a compulsory internship program for all university undergraduates. Scholars such as Adebakin (2014) and Eneji et al. (2017) strongly believed that because of the near absence of holiday work experience for undergraduates, university graduates lack the necessary experience in job performance, are technologically backward, and scientifically cannot produce innovative ideas to contribute to technological or scientific development, let alone global competitiveness. Furthermore, because Nigerian universities are ill equipped, most science and technology students in the country lag behind their
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peers in developed countries, where universities are well equipped with the necessary facilities (Adebakin, 2014; Eneji et al., 2017; Phiri & Nakamba, 2015)
In concurrence, Nnam and Inah (2015) posited that academic dishonesty is sometimes committed through collaboration between student and lecturer. When academic dishonesty is committed by both students and lecturers, the quality of graduates produced by the process or system is reduced. In all climes of the world, wherever academic dishonesty is fraught, there is a reduction in the quality of graduates produced from such institutions. Based on the aforementioned positions, university academic dishonesty does significantly influence the quality of graduates produced from such universities.
From the chi square analysis results shown in Table 5, the calculated chi square value of 54.600 is higher than the critical value of 5.991 at 0.05 significance level and 2 degrees of freedom This implies that there is a significant relationship between university academic dishonesty, graduate quality, and national development for global competitiveness. In simpler terms, when academic dishonesty is practiced, the quality of graduates is reduced and this quality affects graduates’ contribution to national development and global competitiveness. This result is in line with the findings of Timothy and Abubakar (2013), Hodges (2017), Asamoah (2018), and Israel (2019), who studied the impact of student empowerment on service quality. They found that when students are empowered to carry out groundbreaking research in the laboratory, studio, workshop, or theater by themselves with the guidance and facilitation of lecturers, they become used to working with those equipment or facilities. In their everyday lives, as they use this equipment, they come up with new ideas that can contribute to national discoveries and development. Contrarily, when academic dishonesty curtails these processes, it affects not only the students but the entire rubric of the society or nation.
Onuka and Durowoju (2013) were blunt in their discourse, positing that it is shameful that most graduates of Nigerian universities can hardly contribute to national development Some of these graduates can hardly identify or recognize chemical reagents. This is because they have only heard the names of most of the chemicals, reagents, apparatuses, and items; they have not seen them physically, not to mention used them Onuka and Durowoju (2013) averred that because of the near absence of these apparatuses and equipment, Nigerian graduates cannot contribute to any meaningful discovery or make groundbreaking discoveries within the country. The authors blamed the government and the proprietors of university education for the decay in the university system by not meeting the need in providing the necessary facilities and equipment for the universities (Freiburger et al., 2017; Morse & Foster, 2014; Mbilinyi & Msuya, 2018; Phiri & Nakamba, 2015; Tabsh et al., 2019).
Onyibe et al. (2015) concurred in their study on examination malpractice in Nigeria and what the causes and effects were on national development They found that academic dishonesty is a major bane in society. It has permeated the rubric of the system so much so that in some universities, it has become a norm,
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where parents even encourage their children to engage in academic dishonesty to produce the best result possible. Eneji et al. (2019) further observed that the case is so bad that many parents even pay for their children to be admitted into certain courses. Some will continue to pay their way through the university system to produce graduates who can hardly defend the courses they studied or the certificate they obtained from these universities.
The results in Table 6 indicated a calculated chi square value of 52.860 at 0.05 significance level and 2 degrees of freedom, against the critical table value of 5.991. This result shows that there is a connection between university academic dishonesty, quality of graduates produced, and how these graduates can compete with their peers in other climes. Where a university’s students engage in academic dishonesty, the quality of its graduates is compromised. The technological, scientific, and economic developments enjoyed by the greatest part of the developed world today are products of their universities and students. The products of these universities learned to think outside the box to find solutions to national development challenges. One may wonder how well Nigerian graduates have fared over the years in finding dependable solutions to the country’s multiple development challenges.
Development is a product of creative and innovative thinking and taking courageous actions to turn abstract ideas into reality and material results. This can only be achieved if university students are serious and occupy a central position in the teaching and learning process. On this premise, teaching had to make a transition from being teacher centered to learner centered, because the learner is at the center of the educational process. This result supports the work of Suwaldiman and Tyas (2019), who found that education is the bedrock of all development endeavors, and that a country owes its citizens the best functional education it can provide to guarantee the development and progress of the country. Pittman (2020) explained that providing education alone is not sufficient for the necessary changes. Providing students with equipment, facilities, studios, functional classrooms, et cetera will amount to nothing if the students are not properly trained on how to use these to design, innovate, and develop new innovations. The students are thus at the epicenter of all the learning processes. As such, they must actively participate and acquire the relevant knowledge to enable them to compete and fit in well with their peers in other climes. By so doing, they can compete globally and contribute to the national development of their country.
Eneji et al. (2019) further posited that when academic dishonesty is perpetrated, graduates are normally found wanting in the discharge of the duties assigned to them. Normally, there are mismatches between graduates’ paper qualification and what they can contribute to the society. With this quality of results and graduates, there is a mismatch between what they can offer the nation and how they can favorably compete globally with their peers in other climes. These findings, and that by scholars, have shown that academic dishonesty is a canker worm that has eaten deep into the fabrics of the university system in most parts of the world. This has led to a reduced quality of graduates from such institutions
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where academic dishonesty is perpetrated. These graduates can subsequently hardly contribute to national development, never mind be globally competitive
Scholars such as Kyei (2014), Anzene (2014), Phiri and Nakamba (2015), Oke and Olowonefa (2019), and Chirikov et al. (2019) were unanimous in their assertion that academic dishonesty destroys any country’s academic system. It reduces the university graduate quality and disables such graduates from contributing to national development and competing locally, not to mention globally. Therefore, deliberate actions should be taken and policies formulated to curb academic dishonesty at whatever stage in Nigeria’s educational system, from kindergarten to tertiary education. Competitiveness in this regard refers not only to graduates but also to the quality of teaching staff and what contributions they have made to the global economy. Looking at the SCImago ranking of universities and the ranking system developed by Morse and Foster (2014), one may wonder whether Nigerian universities and their graduates fit well into these global schemes in terms of ranking. It is our firm belief that when academic dishonesty is curbed, graduate quality and staff productivity will improve and such universities will be able to comfortably compete with universities in other climes.
Data analysis showed that there are about 14 causes of academic dishonesty in Nigerian universities. Respondents from the different types of universities that participated (private, state, and federal owned) agreed on the perceived causes of academic dishonesty in Nigerian universities. The correlation analysis used for testing hypothesis 1 showed a calculated r value of 0.778 against 0.177 at 1438 degrees of freedom and at 0.05 significance level The chi square analysis used to test hypotheses 2 and 3 yielded calculated r values of 54.600 and 52.860, respectively, against a critical value of 5.199 and 2 degrees of freedom. The causes listed include but are not limited to: school factors; cultism and peer influence; poor funding; admin bottleneck; lack of qualified academics; lack of adequate facilities; poor reading culture/student study habits; too much dependence on paper qualification and anxiety to pass examinations at all cost; lack of laboratories, studios, and theaters; student home factors; lack of reagents and equipment for practicals; unsanitary hostels; poor staff motivation and welfare; corrupt staff; and incessant striking by staff.
While academic dishonesty has been found to reduce the quality of graduates produced by Nigerian and other universities, it is pertinent to state that academic dishonesty encourages laziness and procrastination leading to poor studying habits. Academic dishonesty impedes innovation, critical thinking, and learning among students. Such students will only pursue the quest for a white paper qualification without the commensurate skills, knowledge, capacity, values, and integrity to discover or invent anything to solve societal problems. How can these graduates compete with their peers from other climes who took their time to study hard and are inventing and innovating things to change the development narratives of their own countries?
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It was also found that academic dishonesty reduces the quality of graduates from universities where dishonesty is perpetrated This, in turn, makes such graduates unfit to make any meaningful contribution to national development. These graduates will seldom contribute to national development, not to talk of competing with their peers of the same courses, duration of studies, and the same qualification from other parts of the globe. It is therefore concluded that academic dishonesty diminishes the quality of university graduates and may at best hardly contribute to national development or global competitiveness
Arising from the foregoing, the following recommendations have been made to guide policy formulation and directions:
1. There should be an urgent curriculum overhauling The curriculum content of Nigerian and African educational systems should reflect the developmental challenges of Nigeria and those of Africa, respectively. It should not depend on the “education for clerks and secretary” curriculum handed over by the colonial masters.
2. Government should as a matter of urgent public interest improve the funding of education and improve their lukewarm attitude towards funding education in Nigeria.
3. School administrators and government should design a reward system and incentives to motivate lecturers to enjoy their jobs by improving their conditions of services and their welfare.
4. University management should put stringent monitoring systems in place with appropriate sanctions for erring students and lecturers who engage in academic dishonesty.
5. University management and administration should partner with individuals and corporate organizations in hostel development to provide accommodation for students at a minimal cost Universities should also improve their supervision of the hostel porters to improve sanitation and personal hygiene in the hostels.
6. Government and university administration should declare a state of emergency in infrastructural development in universities, regarding office spaces, staff quarters, lecture classrooms, and theaters.
7. Equipment, facilities, and reagents, including state of the art laboratories, theaters, studios, workshops, and educational technology laboratories, should be established for student learning.
8. In service retraining programs should be organized regularly for lecturers to enable them to use these state of the art facilities in their teaching and learning.
9. A new policy should be formulated where all children of public office holders/their spouses must school and work in Nigeria. This will force those charged with the responsibilities of funding and managing the country’s school systems to do the necessary.
10. The Nigerian Government and university management should open up collaboration channels with foreign universities for information and facility sharing.
11. Universities and parents should go back to the traditional reward system, where hard work is rewarded. Universities should identify students who are
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naturally working very hard to pass their examinations honorably and reward them even if they graduate with second class lower division. Universities should not reward and recognize dishonest students who graduate with first class without the commensurate knowledge to defend their qualification.
12. Universities should introduce national ethics and values into the general studies curriculum beyond citizenship education. Students should be encouraged to study hard and pass their examinations and to not commit bribery to pass examinations.
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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research
Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 428 445, May 2022
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.5.21
Received Feb 13, 2022; Revised May 8, 2022; Accepted May 31, 2022
Abstract. Life satisfaction is the self evaluation of the individual’s quality of life and the expectations they have of their life. Adolescence is a sensitive period during which life satisfaction very often declines. Previous research has confirmed the positive relationship between life satisfaction and attendance of extracurricular activities. This paper examines the differences in life satisfaction among adolescents who attend music and sports programs and those who do not. Furthermore, it examines the differences in life satisfaction as related to age and gender. A sample comprising 460 Croatian adolescents (aged 15 19 years) participated in the study. Respondents completed the Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS), which assesses life satisfaction in relation to five life domains. The results of a three way analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated a significant difference in the life satisfaction between respondents attending music and sports programs and those who do not (F = 9.11; p < .001). A Scheffe post hoc test revealed that respondents attending both music and sports programs had higher rates of life satisfaction than those who are not enrolled in such extracurricular activities. Furthermore, younger and older respondents did not show differences in life satisfaction, although there was a difference between boys and girls in overall life satisfaction (F = 5.035; p = .025), with boys having a higher rate of life satisfactionthan girls.This paper suggeststheimportance ofencouraging and promoting music and sports education among children and adolescents.
Keywords: adolescence; BMSLSS; gender; life satisfaction; music; sports
*Corresponding author: ZrinkaŠimunović,zsimunovic@unisb.hr
©Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY NC ND 4.0).
We are living in an age of rapid changes caused by growing technological development and unforeseen challenges, which greatly affect personal and social life. Research has shown that life satisfaction decreases considerably during adolescence (Daly, 2022; Goldbeck et al., 2007; Jebb et al., 2020). Casey et al. (2008) defined adolescence as a “developmental period characterized by suboptimal decisions and actions that are associated with an increased incidence of unintentional injuries, violence, substance abuse, unintended pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases” (p. 111). Others have referred to adolescence as being a sensitive period for brain development (Blakemore & Mills, 2014; Fuhrmann et al., 2015). Owing to this, it is important to discover and become aware of what activities and environments are potentially positive reinforcements for the physical and psychological health of adolescents.
Life satisfaction involves a cognitive assessment of an individual’s overall quality of life (Diener & Tov, 2012) and is an indicator of an individual’s general happiness and well being (Chen et al., 2020). Diener and Ryan (2009) claimed that life satisfaction can be viewed from two perspectives: the “bottom up ” or ascending perspective and “top down” or descending perspective. According to the global or descending theory, individuals experience their own happiness and life satisfaction by evaluating all areas of life that are important to them. However, according to the ascending theory, the degree of happiness can be measured by the sum of momentary joys and sorrows experienced. In the global or downward approach, it has been shown that life satisfaction is not the arithmetic mean of satisfaction with all areas of life, but that there aredifferences depending on which area individuals attach more importance to. When assessing life satisfaction, happy people will indicate areas with which they are satisfied, whereas unhappy people will emphasize areas with which they are dissatisfied (Diener et al., 2002). Similarly, current ratings of life satisfaction can be influenced by current circumstances, such as the weather (Barrington Leigh & Behzadnejad, 2017), suggesting that the current timing can influence personal ratings of life satisfaction. Although the timing and methods of assessment can sometimes cause individuals to make errors, they generally use stable and important information from which stable and meaningful assessments emerge (Diener et al., 2003).
Life satisfaction research has largely focused on surveys involving adults and the elderly. Still, adolescence is a sensitive period of life often characterized by increased risk taking, heightened sensitivity to peer influence (Andrews et al., 2020), and brain development (Blakemore & Mills, 2014; Fuhrmann et al., 2015). Therefore, it is an important period of life filled with many changes and challenges. Through the study of psychological development during adolescence, life satisfaction has been shown to be a relevant factor that follows adolescents’ psychological, biological, cognitive, and social changes and can be used as an indicator of success in navigating these changes (Moksnes & Espnes, 2013). Important research on life satisfaction among adolescents has shown that during the period of adolescence there is a decline in life satisfaction (Chang et al., 2003; Daly, 2022; Goldbeck et al., 2007; Jebb et al., 2020; Park, 2005; Soares et al., 2019;
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Suldo & Huebner, 2004). Studies carried out on Croatian adolescents have indicated the same pattern, that there is greater satisfaction during childhood life as well as expected satisfaction for future life among younger adolescents (Penezić, 2006).
Certain life domains correlate significantly with adolescents’ overall life satisfaction. These include the quality of parental and peer relationships (Gilman & Huebner, 2006; Lewis et al., 2011), the family and school atmosphere (Cavallo et al., 2015), school experience (Danielsen et al., 2009; Gilman & Huebner, 2006), the self (Moksnes & Espnes, 2013; Proctor et al., 2008; Suldo & Huebner, 2006), and the living environment (Homel & Burns, 1989). An active and meaningful life, full of goals that provide a sense of accomplishment and independence, has been closely linked to the life satisfaction of adolescents (Brdar & Anić, 2010; Chinman & Linney, 1998; Csikszentmihalyi & Hunter, 2003). Adolescents are happy when they engage in chosen activities outside regular school that are well timed and carefully scaffolded (McFerran et al., 2018) and give them a sense of self control (Laiho, 2004). In Gilman’s (2001) study, social interest and participation in extracurricular activities were strongly related to life satisfaction among adolescents
Adolescence is a specific life period of intense physical and psychological changes in which the differences between genders become increasingly pronounced. Therefore, differences in the level of satisfaction with certain areas of life are expected, as confirmed by some research (Aymerich et al., 2021; Bisegger et al., 2005; Chen et al., 2020; Daly, 2022; Diener & Diener, 2009; Goldbeck et al., 2007; Moksnes et al., 2012). Still, some studies have shown that there is no difference in life satisfaction regarding gender (Garcia et al., 2017; Suldo et al., 2015).
One of the contributors to life satisfaction is the type of activities that a person chooses to invest their time in. Musical activities are among the most prevalent and important activities in the general population (Lamont et al., 2016). The music we listen to and perform reveals who we are, identifies us, and distinguishes us from others, becoming our identity card, a means of presentation, and ultimate identity (Hargreaves et al., 2002). This connection is especially strong during a psychologically sensitive period such as adolescence, because music can then provide emotional stability and comfort (Miranda & Gaudreau, 2011), and extracurricular musical activities can boost self confidence and self esteem (Hallam, 2015).
Sports activity is most often an organized activity that adolescents engage in (Mahoney et al., 2006; Markuš et al., 2008) and is related to adolescents’ psychosocial and educational development (Zaff et al., 2003). The results of research by Csikszentmihalyi and Wong (1991) showed that adolescents are happiest when they play sports and sports games. Physical activity leads not only to better health but also to a happier life and fewer depressive symptoms (Gómez Baya et al., 2020). It has also been associated with socialization and development of communication and collaboration skills that again lead to a more fulfilling life (Huang & Humphreys, 2012). A number of studies have linked the lack of
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physical activity to a reduced level of life satisfaction (Gómez Baya et al., 2020; Piko & Keresztes, 2006; Poulsen et al., 2006), while physical activity is related to high life satisfaction and well being (Gómez Baya et al., 2018; Kleszczewska et al., 2018).
Most research on well being has focused on the adult population, with only a small number of studies covering the population of children and adolescents (Marquez & Long, 2021). At the current time, special attention should be paid to children and young people due to their sensitive life periods. They are even more vulnerable to the negative consequences of changes brought about by technology and the current Covid-19 pandemic. Research carried out by Cohen et al. (2021) identified several factors that may play an important protective role in adolescents’ lives during times of crisis, such as the pandemic. One of these factors is involvement in positive activities. Focus should be placed on these activities, becoming aware of their values and strengths to achieve self satisfaction and life satisfaction.
The aim of this study was to examine differences in life satisfaction between adolescents who attend music and sports programs and those who do not, and whether these differences might be related to age and gender. As such, the following hypotheses were made:
H1: There is a statistically significant difference in life satisfaction between adolescents who attend music and sports programs and those who do not, with the assumption that those who attend music and sports programs have greater life satisfaction than those who do not
H2: There is a statistically significant difference in life satisfaction between younger and older students, with the assumption that older students have greater life satisfaction than younger students
H3: There is a statistically significant difference in life satisfaction between genders, with the assumption that male studentshave greater life satisfaction than female students
The respondents for this study were enrolled in secondary schools (Grades 9 to 12) in Croatia and were selected through their schools. The schools that were included were grammar schools with a general program, a sports grammar school which has a general program with emphasis placed on sports, and a music school which students attend besides basic education. The sampling technique was purposive sampling. The criterion for selecting schools was to reach students who attend music and sports programs in addition to their general education, and to obtain a control group comprising students who do not attend such programs We tried to include about one class (around 30 students) from each generation However, as secondary music schools (which students attend outside school hours) have fewer students, we had to include three music schools in the sample
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to get approximately the same sample as the number of students attending sports programs.
In total, 496 questionnaires were distributed, out of which 460 were returned and included in the study (response rate: 92.74%). The respondents were thus 460 students, comprising 167 boys and 293 girls aged 15 to 19 years. The mean age of the respondents was 17.2 years (SD = 1.07). On the basis of how many hours students spend in a study program, respondents were put in one of a few categories. To be put in a category of music or sports program, respondents had to be involved in that program for at least 10 hours per week. The final sample thus consisted of 102 respondents (23%) enrolled in a music program (hereinafter: musicians) and 178 (38%) enrolled in a sports program (hereinafter: athletes). Of the remaining respondents, 147 (32%) attended neither music nor sports programs (hereinafter: control group) and 33 (7%) attended both music and sports programs (hereinafter: musicians athletes). The sociodemographic data of the respondents are presented in Table 1.
Sociodemographic variables n %
Age 15 years 16 years 17 years 18 years 19 years
55 106 175 101 23
12 23 38 22 5
Gender Male Female 167 293 36.3 63.7
Profile of respondents Musicians Athletes Musicians athletes Control group
102 178 33 147
23 38 7 32
This study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Teacher Education in Zagreb, Croatia. After written permits for the implementation of the research had been obtained from the principals of all participating schools, parental consent was sought and received for students under 16 years of age.
The survey was conducted during regular school classes (45 minutes). Participation in the survey was voluntary and anonymous.
In addition to collecting sociodemographic data about the study respondents, the Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS) (Seligson et al., 2003) was used (Appendix 1). The BMSLSS is a measure that assesses satisfaction concerning each of the following five life domains: family life, friendships, school
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experiences, self, and living environment. The average value is calculated for all items and represents overall life satisfaction. Higher scores indicate greater life satisfaction. This scale includes five items which students rate on a 7 point Likert scale (ranging from very dissatisfied to very satisfied). The BMSLSS has previously demonstrated strong psychometric properties on international samples (Huebner et al., 2004). Furthermore, it has already been used on Croatian adolescents and has shown adequate psychometric properties (Brdovčak et al., 2018; Merkaš & Brajša Žganec, 2011). The Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient for this study was 0.8.
The research design of the study was cross-sectional correlational research. All statistical analyses were carried out using IBM SPSS Statistics, version 20.0. Descriptive statistics of frequencies, means, and standard deviations were calculated. Subsequently, a three way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to examine if there are differences in life satisfaction related to age and gender, respectively, and involvement in a music or sports program. This analysis also sought to examine if there is interaction between age and gender, respectively, and involvement in a music or sports program. The differences between the mean values of the groups were compared using the Scheffe post hoc test.
Based on the collected and processed data, Table 2 shows the descriptive values of the life satisfaction variable. Higher scores indicate a higher level of life satisfaction.
Table 2: Descriptive statistics for the variable life satisfaction across different groups
n M SD Range Max. range Skewness Kurtosis
Group
Age
Musicians 102 5.06 .86 3 7 1 7 .27 0.52 Athletes 178 5.35 .92 2.6 7 1 7 .31 0.09 Control group 147 4 74 84 2.4 7 1 7 .26 0.08 Musicians Athletes 33 5 30 69 3.6 7 1 7 .09 1.14
Younger 300 5.04 .89 2.8 7 1 7 .22 0.44 Older 160 5.11 .90 2.4 7 1 7 .39 0.02
Gender Boys 167 5.09 .82 2.4 7 1 7 .49 0.90 Girls 293 4.81 .83 2.4 6.6 1 7 .26 0.37
As can be seen in Table 2, respondents were mildly to moderately satisfied with their lives. Life satisfaction varied slightly between respondents who attended music and sports programs and those who did not (e.g. control group M = 4.74; SD = .84; athletes M = 5.35; SD = .92). In terms of age, there were no big differences in life satisfaction (younger respondents M = 5.04; SD = .89; older respondents M = 5.11; SD = .90). It can also be seen that the boys had a higher level of life satisfaction than the girls (boys M = 5.09; SD = .82; girls M = 4.81; SD = .83).
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To examine if there were differences in life satisfaction related to attending a music or sports program and age and gender, a three way ANOVA was conducted. The results are presented in Table 3.
Table 3: Results of the three way ANOVA
Sum of squares df Mean square F p
Corrected model 42 405 15 2 827 3 790 0
Intercept 6156 352 1 6156 352 8253 121 0 Group 20.375 3 6.792 9.105 0 Gender 3 756 1 3 756 5 035 025 Age 0 1 0 0 .991
Group * Gender 0 791 3 0 264 0 353 787 Group * Age 0.488 3 0.163 0.218 .884 Gender * Age 0 135 1 0 135 0 181 671
Group * Gender * Age 2 036 3 0 679 0 910 436
Error 329 706 442 0 746
Total 12227 640 458
Corrected total 372.112 457 R2 = .114
Note. Category “group” refers to whether the respondents attended music and sports programs or not
As can be seen in Table 3, there was a significant difference between respondents attending music and sports programs and those who do not (F = 9.11; p < .001). Still, for hypothesis 1 to be supported or rejected, post hoc tests need to be performed to examine which groups differed significantly in life satisfaction. The difference between the mean values of the groups was examined with the Scheffé post hoc test (Table 4).
Table 4: Results of the Scheffé post-hoc test of multiple comparisons of arithmetic means for the dependent variable life satisfaction
Dependent variable Group (A) Group (B)
Musicians
Life satisfaction
Note.*p ˂ .05
Mean difference Std. error p
Athletes .29 .11 .06 Control group .31* .11 .05* Musicians athletes .24 .17 .57
Athletes Control group .60* .1 0 Musicians athletes .05 .16 .99 Control group Musicians athletes .56* .17 .01
The post hoc testing revealed a statistically significant difference between the control group and the three experimental groups (p = .05, .01, and .00, respectively), which indicates a lower level of life satisfaction in the control group (M = 4.74) compared to the athletes (M = 5.35), musicians (M = 5.06), and
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musicians athletes (M = 5.30). There was no statistically significant difference in life satisfaction between the musicians athletes, athletes, and musicians. It can thus be concluded that students who are not enrolled in music and sports programs have lower life satisfaction than those who are, and that there is no difference in life satisfaction between students who are enrolled in a music or a sports program or both. This means that hypothesis 1 is supported.
Next, for hypothesis 2,we assumed that the older respondentswould have greater life satisfaction than the younger respondents. As can be seen in Table 3, although there were slight differences in life satisfaction related to age, life satisfaction did not differ significantly between groups. In our study, younger respondents (15 and 16 years old) and older respondents (17 19 years old) did not show differences in life satisfaction. From this we can conclude that hypothesis 2 is rejected.
Finally, for hypothesis 3, it was assumed that male respondents would have greater life satisfaction than female respondents. In Table 3 can be seen that life satisfaction differed significantly in terms of gender (F = 5.035; p = 0.025), with boys having a higher level of life satisfaction than girls (M = 5.09; SD = .82 and M = 4.81; SD = .83, respectively). This means that hypothesis 3 is supported.
Furthermore, we examined if age and gender, respectively, significantly correlated with involvement in a music or sports program. We found that interaction between these variables was not statistically significant.
The need for research in positive psychology on the topic of the promotion of mental health is particularly relevant for the sensitive period of adolescence. As one of the constructs of positive psychology, research has linked life satisfaction with personal, behavioral, psychological, and social outcomes (Proctor et al., 2008). Adolescents who lead meaningful and active lives filled with challenges that require them to use and develop skills experience greater subjective well being and more positive emotions and are more satisfied with life and generally happier (Brdar & Anić, 2010; Chinman & Linney, 1998; Csikszentmihalyi & Hunter, 2003). This study examined the life satisfaction of adolescents who are enrolled in music and sports programs and those who are not, as well as the possible differences in the level of their life satisfaction in terms of age and gender.
The results of the study confirmed the first hypothesis and the results of previous research (Creech et al., 2014; Hargreaves et al., 2002), which assumed that there are statistically significant differences in life satisfaction between adolescents who attend music and sports programs and those who do not. These obtained results were expected, given that the respondents of the musician and athlete groups attended well structured and content rich music and sports programs where they spend most of their free time. By expressing their personal talents and skills, young people develop personal strengths and abilities and foster social relationships. One of the positive consequences of this is the growth of general life
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satisfaction (Gilman, 2001; Mahoney & Cairns, 1997; Ryan, 2000; Vecchio et al., 2007). Studies have found a link between a meaningful and active life filled with challenges that require adolescents to use and develop skills and higher levels of subjective well being, more positive emotions, and greater life satisfaction (Brdar & Anić, 2010; Csikszentmihalyi & Hunter, 2003; Feraco et al., 2022). Athletes and musicians constantly evaluate their skills and talents and check their progress through various competitions (Gómez Baya et al., 2018; Vidulin, 2020; Yilmaz et al., 2018). Exposure to competitions in which their abilities and performance are assessed, being involved in team sports in which team spirit is best expressed, emotional balance that develops with the support of socially sensitive peers, and achieving previously set goals certainly contribute to raising the level of life satisfaction.
Respondents who participated in structured musical activities showed a higher level of life satisfaction, which is in line with the results of the meta analysis carried out by Creech et al. (2014). The results were not surprising, considering that music plays a significant role in human life, but especially at this developmental stage. Adolescence is a time of increased physical, emotional, psychosocial, and cognitive changes, and music can serve as a means by which these changes are more easily experienced and carried through life (Blakemore & Mills, 2014; Fuhrmann et al., 2015). The choice of music is related to identity and connection with society and the environment as well as with oneself. Music helps a young person actively engage in building emotional stability and in meeting basic emotional needs (Miranda & Gaudreau, 2011). Structured musical activities also provide a step beyond the emotional support that young people so desperately need in their development. Purposeful activities with a clearly defined schedule, program, and achievable goals of a young person’s choice provide meaning, value, and a sense of accomplishment and success in life. Even though these activities are related to music, as referred to in previous research (McFerran et al., 2018), they can be expected to have an impact on psychological well being and thereforelife satisfaction in young people (Hargreaves et al., 2002).
Physical activity influences well being directly and leads to a healthier lifestyle, but sport is also associated with socialization and the development of communication and collaborative skills that again lead to a more fulfilling life (Huang & Humphreys, 2012). Participation in sports activities is related to higher levels of life satisfaction (Gómez Baya et al., 2018; Vilhjalmsson & Thorlindsson, 1998), lower levels of depression and suicidal behavior (Barber et al., 2001; Gómez Baya et al., 2020), and higher self esteem (Kleszczewska et al., 2018), along with other positive outcomes. Therefore, it is critical to include adolescents in activities which lead to a healthy body and mind, as adolescence is a period characterized by risky behavior (Blakemore & Mills, 2014; Fuhrmann et al., 2015) and “suboptimal decisions and actions” (Casey et al., 2008, p. 111).
The second hypothesis states that older students have greater life satisfaction than younger students This was, however, not confirmed by our results Previous studies have shown that adolescence is a period of life in which life satisfaction declines (Hutchinson et al., 2004; Jebb et al., 2020). This decline is greatest in early
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adolescence (Orben et al., 2020), which can be related to the specifics of this period of life. This includes social reorientation (Majorano et al., 2015), the transition to a new educational level and a new school, as well as the major psychological and physical changes that adolescence brings about (Fuhrmann et al., 2015). Still, our results are consistent with those of the study Huebner et al. (2004) carried out on adolescents. They conducted a large scale survey and did not find any differences in life satisfaction among students aged 14 to 18 years either. The study by Willroth et al. (2021), which examined life satisfaction among adolescents aged 14 to 17 years, found that the level of life satisfaction did not change significantly during this period. It is possible that these results are due to a specific sample. In our sample, the ages ranged between 15 and 19 years, which is a smaller range than in studies which prove the difference in the level of life satisfaction between younger and older adolescents (Chang et al., 2003; Goldbeck et al., 2007; Park, 2005; Penezić, 2006; Soares et al., 2019; Suldo & Huebner, 2004). In the period of central adolescence (14 18 years of age), one can notice the stabilization of social relations, the course of education, and developmental changes, which in some way justifies the results obtained in this study.
The results of the present study support the third hypothesis, which states that there are differences in the life satisfaction of adolescents regarding gender, with boys scoring higher than girls. These results are in line with previous studies (Bisegger et al., 2005; Chen et al., 2020; Diener & Diener, 2009; Goldbeck et al., 2007; Moksnes et al., 2012). These differences can be explained by earlier and more pronounced psychological and biological hormonal changes in girls than in adolescent boys, and girls’ increased self criticism of physical appearance and socially imposed notions of feminine beauty. It has been suggested that girls’ reduced self satisfaction results from the high expectations adolescents have of themselves in terms of appearance and social relationships (Chen et al., 2020; Goldbeck et al., 2007). Also, it is important to point out that girls show greater emotional sensitivity than boys, and they express emotional distress more often than boys during adolescence (Aymerich et al., 2021). Some studies have attributed this to the menstrual cycle as a common cause of anxiety and lower levels of life satisfaction (Griffiths et al., 2017).
A limitation of this study was the representativeness of the sample. A larger number of respondents, which would include both younger and older adolescents, could have implications for statistically significant outcomes in terms of age. This is because previous studies have shown that the difference in life satisfaction among adolescents is visible only in a larger age range of participants The possibility of comparing the enrolment in music and sports education in primary school, high school, and college would provide new results on the relationship between age, music and sports education, and life satisfaction. A broader longitudinal study could provide a broader picture of the variables involved in measuring life satisfaction among adolescents attending music and sports programs. It is possible to assume that other extracurricular activities that students spend most of their free time on would also be positively associated with
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life satisfaction. Therefore, it would be good to include these activities in future research.
Furthermore, some of thegroups of respondents in this study were not completely equal in terms of gender and study field. The sample consisted of a larger number of female respondents (64%) compared to male respondents (36%) and a larger number of athletes compared to musicians and the control group. There is a possibility that harmonization of these quotas might affect the findings.
Adolescence is a very sensitive period during which young people experience many changes. Not only do their bodies change, but there are also many psychological changes. Previous studies have shown that all these changes and turmoil lead to lower self esteem (Gardner & Lambert, 2019), which can lead to proneness to depression (Zhou et al., 2020). Therefore, it is important to do research about adolescents’ life satisfaction and factors that can contribute to it.
The findings of the study suggest greater life satisfaction among adolescents who are enrolled in sports and music activities. We suppose this is because these activities are not focused solely on traditionally academic activities, but they also develop broader skills and competencies. Through these activities, adolescents can fulfil their talents, make new friendships, and learn new things. These all lead to living a more fulfilling and meaningful life, filled with flow experiences (Csikszentmihalyi & Hunter, 2003).
Furthermore, our results showed no difference in life satisfaction between younger and older respondents. However, there was a difference in life satisfaction between the participating adolescent girls and boys, with the boys exhibiting a higher level of life satisfaction than the girls.
Although this research has its limitations and needs to be confirmed on a larger sample of respondents, it contains some implications for those concerned with young people’s health and well being. Structured and planned activities related to music and sports, which are important for emotional and spiritual development during adolescence, can contribute to life satisfaction, school performance, and the self. This consequently affects both the individual development of the young person and the development of society as a whole. Awareness of and attaching importance to well spent and organized free time is regulated by the family, school, local community, and the media. These stakeholders are also responsible for the development of interest, motivation, and the creation of favorable conditions for the realization of extracurricular activities. Given the changes in the educational system in terms of relieving students of workload and attaching importance to interesting work programs, we can expect an increase in the amount of free time among the school population. Therefore, as a society, we are responsible for carrying out activities to popularize quality music and sports programs, so that our young people can acquire healthy habits that they can use as lifelong learning.
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The study received financial support for publication from the University of Slavonski Brod and the University of Zagreb.
On behalf of all the authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author on request.
All procedures performed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committees and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed consent was obtained from all individual respondents included in the study.
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Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS) (Seligson et al., 2003)
1. I would describe my satisfaction with my family life as:
2. I would describe my satisfaction with my friendships as:
3. I would describe my satisfaction with my school experience as:
4. I would describe my satisfaction with myself as:
5. I would describe my satisfaction with where I live as:
Note: Response options are a 7 point scale: Terrible, Unhappy, Mostly Dissatisfied, Mixed (more or less equally satisfied and dissatisfied), Mostly Satisfied, Pleased, Delighted
International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research
Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 446 462, May 2022
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.5.22
Received Feb 28, 2022; Revised May 15, 2022; Accepted May 31, 2022
Abstract. This study aims to examine the Physical Science teachers’ understanding of the concept of critical thinking and the strategies they employ in teaching learners to develop the competency of critical thinking in Physical Science. A purposive sample of 12 Grade 10 public school Physical Sciences teachers participated in the study. An exploratory qualitative study was conducted among these teachers who were teaching Physical Sciences in Mashishila circuit, Mpumalanga Province at the time of the study. Data was collected through a naïve sketch which comprised of open ended questions. Analysis of the data using the content analysis revealed that the teachers understood critical thinking as a way of observing, analysing, and assessing any situation before them in order to solve it. However, the participantsleft out the fact that critical thinking is self corrective and that the learners need evidence to support their decisions to arrive at solutions for each problem statement. Althoughthe participantsshowed anunderstanding of critical thinking, they reported teaching strategies that did not show a relationship with the development of critical thinking. There is a need for professional workshops to train the teachers on the strategies to teach critical thinking. This paper forms the basis of an ongoing study that will develop strategies for teaching critical thinking to Physical Science learners.
Keywords: understanding; critical thinking; instructional strategies; qualitative study; physical sciences
Educational scholars have over the years shown growing interest in conceptualising, defining, and making assessments on skills competencies necessary for excellence as an outcome of a student’s learning (Alazzi, 2008). By the same token, the education system has always aimed to produce a person who
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY NC ND 4.0).
will be able to fit into society. This is based on the understanding that one’s quality of life depends largely on the quality of the way one thinks (Paul & Elder, 2020).
As a result, the general concern of education has been to produce educated citizens with the ability to think critically (Alazzi, 2008). This is consistent with the views of Burke (2010) who reported that the course work done in science by college students required them to use critical thinking on a daily basis in the laboratory or through problem solving. As a result of such findings, the Jordanian National Education Conference identified a need to increase the number of high school graduates that could think critically, communicate effectively, and solve problems (Alazzi, 2008). Fundamental to educating the subject of science, from processes to general content, amongst others, is equipping learners to be adaptable, agile, and to think out of the box. Learners need to be taught creative ways to engage collaboratively with others by accepting and tolerating the diversity of people’s thoughts together with their own way of thinking. Learners are thereby being equipped to respond to uncertainties and the ever changing landscape of the digital world (Aktamis & Yenice, 2010). Central to modern day technological advancements, the balance of facts through in depth analysis or evaluation is one of the significant developments of the mind of individuals to engage positively in the activities of the world (Bag & Gursoy, 2021). This is consistent with the views of Burter et al. (2017) who reported that students who have developed a critical thinking ability are likely to have fewer challenges in the future than those without.
In South Africa, one of the aims of the curriculum is to produce learners who can apply critical and creative thinking in decision making (Department of Basic Education [DBE], Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement [CAPS], 2011). This is in line with what has been the major concern of the 21st century, namely that critical thinking is one of the pre requisite characteristics every student should have (Prayogi et al., 2018). Consistent with today’s major expectations of employers, critical thinking helps the learners to sustain global welfare and remain relevant as well as transformational in today’s organisations where they will be required to undertake business judgment where little or no clarity often exists (Mok & Yuen, 2000; Nold, 2017).
In science education, critical thinking is being emphasised for scientific development and also for developing democratic behaviours in the personal, political and cultural sphere (Yacoubian, 2015). The ability to think critically refers to the process of identifying the areas of an individual’s problematic thinking, and working on them in order to change the thinking for one to be able to reason in a more rational and logical manner, thereby justifying one’s thought processes (Paul & Elder, 2020).]. As such, critical thinking is essential to the individual’s success and also helps people to defend themselves to a world that has so much information and too many people trying to convince them (Taimur & Satter, 2020). For example, in the era of the 4th industrial revolution, drastic changes emanating from aggressive technological advancements tend to impact the outcomes of student learning (Burtler Adam, 2018), especially if teachers continue to rely on traditional teaching methods for science subjects (Oke & Fernandes, 2020). Accordingly, critical thinking is an essential tool that students, workers, and citizens can use to perform competently in such a rapidly changing world.
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Despite South Africa’s having such an intended curriculum, the level or standard of its education, especially from grade 10 upwards, could not go without scrutiny. Notably, some industry bodies or institutions in South Africa such as the South African Institute of Physics [SAIP] (2013) have suggested that the science education of these grades was of a very low standard; this hindered the students’ eventual entry into tertiary institutions such as universities. This observation only confirmed what had been revealed by a study by Lombard (2008) that was carried out at one of the South African universities The study was aimed at determining the coherent transmission of the educator’s understanding of the notion of thinking critically to the learner. The findings revealed that most of the secondary and high school education students did not excel in the tasks that assessed critical thinking competency The lack of critical thinking in these students is attributed to the traditional teacher centred teaching and learning methods which mainly prevail in the South African school classrooms. DiCamillo (2010) suggested that the teacher centred approach deprived learners of critical and creative thinking
In a study on the preparedness of teachers to teach critical thinking, Lombard (2008) found that the large numbers of students’ intakes at the institutions constrained the nurturing of critical thinking in students. The Department of Basic Education, South Africa’s National Education Evaluation Development Unit (NEEDU) (2013), reported that there was a correlation between the challenges or gaps identified in the learners at tertiary education vis à vis their inability to think innovatively and the absence of innovative teaching competencies in the educators’ teaching methods. Furthermore, Peterson and De Beer (2012) also suggested that the weak performance of the learners was also attributed to many teachers who did not have the required pedagogical content knowledge and skills regarding the curriculum which has undergone frequent changes. According to Yuan and Stapleton (2019), if the teachers’ conceptual understanding is questionable, then they lack the competence to develop the learners’ critical skill The teachers’ conceptual understanding of critical thinking influences the behaviour in the classroom (Choy & Cheah, 2009).
This research aims to determine the practising teachers’ understanding of critical thinking in the Mashishila circuit in the Mpumalanga province, with a particular focus on Grade 10 Physical Science learners. The findings of this study add to highlighting the inadequacies of the teacher training institutions of South Africa in order to improve on the quality of teachers trained. The findings also help the practising teachers with the strategies that can be used for teaching critical thinking within the limits of inadequate resources which is a common occurrence in our South African public schools. In order to fulfil the aim of this study, the following guiding questions were utilised:
i. What is the Physical Sciences teachers’ understanding of the term ‘critical thinking?
ii. Which strategies do the Physical Sciences teachers use in teaching critical thinking skills to Grade 10 learners?
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It has become an entrenched submission that in the Physical Sciences spectrum critical thinking is regarded as one of the core aspects of teaching the subject (CAPS, 2011). The South Africa education and training sector introduced the notion of critical outcomes towards an outcome based approach to education; the result is the competency of having an effective solution driven thought process in a dynamic society coupled with aggressive technology (Lombard, 2008). With the revision of the outcome based curriculum the same concept of critical outcomes was carried through to the new curriculum known as the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) (DBE, 2011). In the same document, one of the aims of education was to promote individuals who can come up with decisions that resolve challenges using critical and creative thinking According to the National Curriculum Statement of the Republic of South Africa Further Education and Training Phase (FET), Physical Sciences Grade 10 12 aim to produce learners that can:
• identify and solve problems and make decisions using critical and creative learning;
• collect analyse, organise and critically evaluate information;
• use science and technology effectively and critically showing responsibility towards the environment and the health of others; and
• demonstrate an understanding of the world as a set of related systems by recognising that problem solving contexts do not exist in isolation (DBE, 2011, p5).
In this section, the relationship of critical thinking with practical thinking and logical thinking is described. Many scholars define critical thinking as being composed of skills or abilities and dispositions (Ennis, 2016; Mason, 2008). The difference in the scholars’ views is the way they present the various skills and dispositions which nevertheless represent similar meanings. Othman and Al Hileh (2022) described critical thinking as being concerned with the learners’ being able to give explanations that are closer to the truth about the topics being discussed. This ability reduces errors in misinterpreting the meaning of the content. The definition echoes the examples given by Norris and Ennis (1989) which implied the need for clear thinking involving interrogation inferences in order to come up with a concrete basis for the inferences, while also following the logical processes of critical thinking. Othman and Al Hileh (2022) proceeded to outline the skills learners have to acquire to develop critical thinking such as the ability to solve problems and to make logical judgement based on the evaluation of phenomena and information gained through research. This is to be achieved through acquiring skills such as analysis, inference, induction and evaluation. On the other hand, Moon (2008) suggested pointing out, making assumptions, clarifying ideas, and ascertaining the credibility of judgments of any claims as being related to critical thinking. Before one can be regarded as a critical thinker, one needs to possess certain dispositions which act as pre requisites to critical thinking The dispositions are, amongst others, that the critical thinker should be able to accept other people’s views, not be quick to jump to conclusions, andlastly, the critical thinker should have bases for their actions and beliefs (Norris & Ennis, 1989). Mason (2008) gave examples of the ways in which learners need to be
engaged for them to develop critical thinking: learners should have an attitude that is critical, a mind that can accommodate different ways of thinking.
Paul and Elder (2013) considered “critical thinking” to be some in depth inquiry into a particular idea with a focus on ensuring continuous improvement to the thought process giving rise to that idea. Similarly, critical thinking is methodical in that it requires diligently diagnosing the problem statement, systematically gathering information, organising and evaluating data for relevance based on trials and tests as well as mirroring to formulate scientific conviction (Scriven & Paul, 2007; Lipman, 1988). Emanating from these determinations, thinking critically as a line of thought is metacognitive, and is based on a myriad of measures and competencies which, over the years, have been established in the education discipline through study and research
The idea of self reflection means that one should vigorously review one’s thoughts in terms of which the advantages and disadvantages of one’s thoughts or actions are thoroughly examined before acknowledging that thought or action as an authority on the subject matter in question (Lipman, 1988). Self reflection by the teacher will by implication be transmitted as the learners would be prompted to interrogate their teachers or fellow students ontheir beliefs, understanding, and the learners’ proposed solutions to the subject matter in question, thereby correcting their weaknesses and faulty thinking.
A separate section follows that outlines definitive parameters under which the notion of thinking critically should be pursued.
The Merriam Webster Dictionary online defined standards as a set of desirable activities, skills, actions, or performance that are set as a measure of evaluation. The above discussions have shown that the progression of abstract thought as a competency is centred on the continuous improvement of the requisite prowess and characteristics. Being able to perform any given task with adroitness requires a clearly defined measurement criterion. Lipman (1988) says that a skill cannot be defined without a set criterion. Against the above background, in order to arrive at a certain scientific conclusion, there should be concrete guidelines or defined measurement criteria upon which one’s contentions are based. As a result, a number of scholars have undertaken detailed reviews of the varying degrees of abstract thinking credentials in physical science literature.
Lipman (1988) submitted that making a determination is a process in terms of which one takes into account defined principles, prescriptions, and regulations which are applicable to that subject matter. Some of the prescriptions identified are lucidity, validity/reliability as well as profoundness (Paul & Elder, 2013) These standards are necessary for one to develop an intellect that will enable one to live a rational life. If, for example, one is given a clear statement, they will be able to determine whether it is accurate or relevant to what is being addressed at that moment. Therefore, suitable strategies are needed for the development of a critical mind. One can only check for the accuracy of the statement if it represents things as they are. The standards lead to the development of suitable strategies
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necessary in the progression of free thinking in teachers imparting skills in Physical Science education to students in South Africa.
2.2.2 The Role of Critical Thinking.
The ever changing world requires people e with critical thinking skills for solving problems easily and making decisions quickly (Facione, 2015). Critical thinking allows individuals to interrogate unfamiliar situations, ask questions, solve problems and make decisions in a well organised and rational way of thinking (Zoller et al., 2000). Similarly, Simister (2004) expressed the view that critical thinking helps learners to reach their full academic potential through a deep understanding of their surroundings, making wise decisions in their lives while respecting those around them, as well as being innovative in solving problems. It has also been found that learning critical thinking skills help an individual to be an effective reflective thinker (Higgins, 2015). Critical thinking is needed in many different situations in life for one to be successful in the academic world, in the world of work, and also for professional development. It enables individuals to acquire new information and interrogate events so that they have a more comprehensive and accurate understanding of events (Nosich, 2012).
In any work situation, learners need critical thinking skills for them to evaluate policies, people, and their institution as well as for them to be able to solve social problems (Hatcher, 2006). Evidently, there is the contention that skills development in critical thinking is necessary for academic outcomes of individuals as it enhances reasoning and problem solving skills, thereby contributing significantly to an individual’s success in life (Jamil & Muhammad, 2019) by making reasonable judgments in those situations. The successful development of critical thinking depends on teachers who have creative and critical skills based on a scientific perspective for them to be able to pass these on to their learners (Demir, 2015). These teachers will be able to use different strategies to reduce rote learning among learners. Rote learning, which is memorisation, has been considered one of the major challenges in/to? the development of critical thinking skills (Jamil & Muhammad, 2019). The following strategies from the literature have been suggested for the critical thinking skills’ development of learners: active participation such as answering questions in groups, taking part in discussions, debating, problem solving, and inquiry based learning (Duran & Dokme, 2016). Demir (2015) mentioned engaging students, asking them questions, having discussions, participating in group activities, collaborating and self evaluating.
Critical thinking as a process is also enriched by other methods of thinking as presented below.
The role of critical thinking has been discussed in the previous section. In contrast to critical thinking, practical thinking occurs when individuals consider ways to adapt to their environment, or change their environment to suit them so that they would be able to pursue a specific goal (Practical Thinking: Definition and Examples, 2016). The main aim of practical thinking is to solve a problem using the knowledge a person has already acquired without necessarily gathering any new knowledge. This is opposed to critical thinking where one identifies and goes
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through processes as outlined before to search for the root of the issue that causes the problem. The aim of the search would be to fix it so that it will not arise again or that it would open up other areas of investigation. An example when teaching Physics can be the various experiments that students conduct in the laboratory.
2.2.4
Logical thinking uses reasoning in a way that assists individuals to come up with informed solutions. This is possible through a critical analysis of the situations, grouping similar information so as to produce solutions to the problems at hand. On the other hand, critical thinking uses logic to distinguish and evaluate accurate from inaccurate beliefs. Therefore, the experiments in Physical Sciences will teach the students scientific thinking. Scientific thinking follows a logical thought process based on hypothesis making data.
2.2.5
Studies have been carried out on the perception of teachers on critical thinking and the implications it has for the teaching of critical thinking. Alwadai (2014) conducted a study on the perception of 192 male teachers who taught elementary school. The study revealed that the majority of the teachers lacked the basic knowledge of critical thinking. As a result, these teachers did not value or practise critical thinking. A similar study was carried out by Al Ramis (2018) which examined five female Saudi Arabia university instructors’ attitudes and perceptions towards critical thinking. The instructors had a low to no level of awareness of what critical thinking was all about. This became an obstacle to the teaching of critical thinking to the learners. Similarly, Zhang et al. (2020) conducted a study on the perceptions teachers of English as a foreign language in China. Although the teachers agreed that critical thinking was to be included in their curriculum, they lacked the professional knowledge of critical thinking and how to implement it in their classrooms. The teachers even indicated through questionnaires and interviews that they were teaching critical thinking; however, this was not evident in their teaching practice. All this indicates that although governments may declare critical thinking as a necessary skill in their policies of education, the implementation of the policy depends on the teachers’ perception or understanding of critical thinking. As long as the teachers do not have the knowledge relating to critical thinking, the above studies revealed that it will not be taught.
The research is anchored on the belief that critical thinking skills can be taught through appropriate teaching approaches (Zabit, 2010). Specific teaching strategies need to be employed in order to develop critical thinking skills (Snyder & Snyder, 2008). Critical thinking skills need teachers to create an enabling environment that supports the thinking activities (Rajendran, 2010; Mason et al., 2010). The thinking skills will be explicitly taught to the learners within the context of Physical Sciences. Central to this paper is a discussion on the processing of information, be it content analysis or structuring of exercises in class discussions by teachers in Mpumalanga Province. These signify their appreciation of the subject matter in Physical Sciences and the methods (transmission) they use to ensure competency of learners in absorbing the intellectual skill of “critical thinking”.
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A qualitative approach using questionnaires and interviews has been used to answer the research questions in this study. The researchers’ main aim was to establish the Grade 10 Physical Science teachers’ understanding of critical thinking and the strategies they used to teach critical thinking. The approach was used to understand the teachers’ perception and their methods of developing critical thinking in the secondary school learners they taught.
Ten (10) public schools, were selected as research sites from the Mashishila circuit in the MpumalangaProvince. These were, at the time of this research, fullyfunded in their day to day running by the South African government, through the Mpumalanga Provincial Department, the circuit schools are from the same geographical area. Mashishila circuit was sampled selectively for it was easily accessible.
Data was collected through self administered open ended questionnaires that were distributed to 12 teachers to explore their understanding of critical thinking and the methods they used to teach critical thinking among their secondary school learners. The questionnaires were open ended to afford the participants an opportunity to express their views fully and to give an in depth account of their understanding of critical thinking as well as reporting and relating their practices freely. The questionnaires included data on the teachers’ qualifications, teaching experience in teaching Grade 10 Physical Science, and the different/various? approaches they used in teaching critical thinking. Since this study was part of an ongoing study, it sought to give the necessary qualifications needed for the teachers who eventually formed part of the main study. Each teacher was given adequate time to complete the questionnaire while the researcher waited to take them along with him. It was only in two schools where the researcher had to leave the questionnaires for the teachers to complete and then returned later in the day for collection. Permission to conduct the study was sought from the Mpumalanga Provincial Department of Education, and the Mashishila circuit offices before approaching the school principals. The principal at each school granted permission based on the documentation from both the Provincial Department and the Mashishila circuit offices.
The data referred to was processed immediately on the day it was collated. In evaluating the information gathered, the data was reviewed and patterns from that information identified at the same time It was classified into the different interpretations of the teachers’ understanding of critical thinking and also into the different strategies suggested by the teachers. The analysed data was verified by two colleagues who checked on the accuracy of the captured information. Only two teachers were interviewed to verify the accuracy of some information they had provided on their questionnaires.
Data from this study were presented in tables. Table 1 shows the analysis of teacher qualification while Tables 2 and 3 show the qualitative data on the teachers’ understandingof critical thinking and the strategies used to teach critical thinking respectively.
Table 1: Analysis of teacher qualification
Qualification Subjects Teaching experience (years)
Status of teacher
B Ed Biology 24 NQ
B.Ed. Hons, FET Physical Science 3 10 Q
BSc & B.Ed. Physics & Chemistry 3 5 Q
BSc & PGCE Physics & Maths 2 Q
BSc Physics/ Chemistry/Bio 0 NQ
BSc Pure & Applied Chemistry 3 NQ
MSc, BSc & Bed Physics & Chemistry 7 Q
M Comm, IT Maths & Physics 4 NQ
Key: Q means Qualified to teach Grade 10; NQ means Not Qualified to teach Grade 10
Table 1 shows the qualifications of the 12 teachers who were teaching Physical Sciences in the schools in the Mashishila Circuit. Owing to the lack of qualified physical science teachers in the Mpumalanga province, those with academic degrees related to science, even if they were not trained as teachers, were also engaged to teach Physical Sciences. These untrained teachers, however, underwent some inductive workshops within subject panels for them to teach Physical Sciences. This enabled them to provide information in relation to their understanding of critical thinking. From Table I, seven teachers had the relevant qualifications to teach Physical Sciences. However, for this study, only six teachers could qualify to participate in the study since only teachers who had three or more years of teaching in Grade 10 Physical Sciences could be included. These six teachers were trained to teach Physical Sciences and were deemed to have an adequate understanding of the expectations of the Physical Sciences curriculum.
Table 2: Teachers’ understanding of the term “critical thinking” Teachers’ explanation
T1.When observing phenomena, one should ask why it has happened and try to find the answer for it
T2.Think broadly with regards to a given phenomena
T3.Thinking in depth involves and promotes understanding, analysis, and evaluations
T4. Way of thinking about any subject or content in order to improve the quality of one’s thinking through skilfully analysing assessing and reconstructing it
T5. Problem solving
T6. Logical understanding of the connections between ideas and be able to solve different problems
T7. Creative thinking alone, to think yourself anything and be able to create something on your own
Table 2 shows that the teachers understood critical thinking as a way of “observing phenomena and ask[ing] why it has happened and then try[ing] to find the answer” (T1) and “to think broadly, in depth or out of the box” (T2). This process involves “analysis and evaluation” (T3), and promotes understanding through incorporating real life situations. Participants also indicated that critical thinking was a “way of thinking about any subject or content in order to improve the quality of one’s thoughts through skilfully assessing, analysing and reconstructing it” (T4). The other frequently stated understanding was that critical thinking was the “ability to reason and then apply the thinking to problem solving” (T5). Critical thinking was also expressed as the “logical understanding of the connections between ideas and being able to solve different problems” (T6). Another explained critical thinking as “creative thinking alone to think to yourself in order to create something on your own” (T7). This statement was a direct translation from vernacular which referred to an individual who would think of some idea and then create something new from that idea. This shows that those teachers equated creative thinking to critical thinking; although the concepts are related, they are different. Before discussing the teachers’ understanding of critical thinking, the different strategies the teachers gave for developing critical thinking are examined.
Table 3: Strategies for teaching critical thinking Strategies
Use of questions higher order
Experiments: Demonstrations on how to solve problems, Laboratory methods
Investigative type problems/ Research work Group work discussion, debates
Tests: long questions, use of previous question papers
Media: overhead projector, Internet, textbooks
Expose learners to the practical world of science Lecture/Demonstration
To develop creativity, encourage to categorize, classify, compare Develop classroom assessment tools
Table 3 shows the different activities that were suggested as the strategies by the participants for teaching critical thinking. The majority of the teachers proposed the use of questions. These included four who posed higher order questions and two who asked investigative questions. Four teachers showed that they used experiments through laboratory work although they did not specify what experiments they would be doing to teach critical thinking. Seven teachers also indicated that group work was another strategy used for teaching critical thinking through discussions and debates. Tests were also used whereby the teachers set long questions for learners to explain using their own words The other common strategies included lectures, demonstrations, the use of media such as overhead projectors and the Internet, and textbooks.
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It is significant to indicate that the definition of critical thinking has been debated for a long time in different education forums (Evans, 2020). Notwithstanding the above submission, many philosophers in education have expressed that critical thinking is of paramount importance to every person in society as it contributes to one’s ability to make informed judgments on public matters (Pradanaet al., 2020)
Critical thinking involves the ability to produce knowledge and formulate a viewpoint, to evaluate, classify, analyse, draw relationships and make conclusions (Devi et al., 2015). Paul and Elder (2013) and Liu et al. (2014) go further by describing analysis as an effort to improve one’s way of thinking, including making effective decisions The findings in this study show that the teachers defined critical thinking as activities or skills to be acquired by learners. This is illustrated by one of the participants who defined critical thinking as “a way of thinking in order to improve one’s thinking through skilfully analysing, assessing, and reconstructing” (Table 2). The participant showed some understanding of critical thinking by explaining that “this can be achieved through making connections to real life situations”. What this implies is that critical thinking is a process that takes place in the mind. The mind examines all that the individual encounters daily and tries to understand this in relation to one’s experiences with the world and the people with whom in one is in contact (Demir, 2015). The participants also explained the notion of abstract thought as the aptitude to organise a person’s life of reasoning rationally and find solutions to problems. Critical thinking in science, of which physical sciences is one field, is associated with the practice of science and education. It plays a role in helping an individual to use critical thinking responsibly in developing science and technology for the benefit of society.
Inamullah et al. (2016) point out that critical thinking in the context of science education and education in general is essential for it promotes science to be part of the peoples’ daily lives by examining their cultural and political contexts. This helps the people to understand democratic societies and promote an understanding of the scientific content, for example, the subject of climate change. It is from these scientific developments that social problems emanate, such as the threats from nuclear war. These social ills then form a crucial role in educational institutions through moral and ethical values, and the promotion of critical thinking to solve these issues. This is also in line with the view of one of the participants, who explained critical thinking “as the understanding of logical connections between ideas and being able to solve different problems’’ (Table 2) Lau and Chan (2015) echoed the participant’s explanation of critical thinking by defining it as the ability to think rationally about what to do or what to believe in order to promote problem solving skills in the learners. As suggested by the participant, one can ask the learners to work on a project such as water purification whereby the learners have to find out how this is done and then present this to their class. This then needs teachers who can see events from different scientific perspectives for them to help learners to think critically. However, this calls for tertiary institutions to train such a cadre of teachers who can think critically. Realising that there are already practising teachers who have
not been trained to teach critical thinking, this calls for the Provincial Education Department to organise training workshops for the teachers. In these workshops, they will discuss with the teachers the ‘working definitions’ which will be used as the basis for the teaching strategies for critical thinking.
Other teachers referred to critical thinking as “creative thinking alone about a subject” and “to think for yourself and be able to create something on your own ” .
At this point, there is a need to point out that critical thinking and creative thinking are not the same but that one needs to think critically in order to be creative. There are also teachers who defined critical thinking as “thinking in depth which involves and promotes understanding” (Table 2). This understanding of critical thinking is similar to the explanation given by Pakistan teachers in a study by Jamil et al. (2021). The teachers defined critical thinking as “knowledge with deep thinking…reasoning behind knowledge.” The above discussion revealed that the participants in the current study had an understanding of critical thinking.
When asked what strategies they used to teach critical thinking, the participants listed “use of questions, use of higher order questions in experiments, and also investigative questions”. These strategies are relevant for promoting critical thinking with the teachers using a variety of questions for the promotion of critical thinking in the classroom. However, most of the participants did not explain how the strategies given promoted critical thinking except for one participant who explained his views as follows:
I try the strategies given by being as practical as possible where applicable and I use real life examples when explaining. I try to look for a question or discussion that promotes critical thinking and would normally have a discussion with peers. I look for a project such as how to purify water or recycling of paper and hence learners have higher order questions they are given to answer.
This is in agreement with the idea that critical thinking in science is the practice of evaluating, careful, rigorous testing, problem solving and finding appropriate solutions to problems, thereby linking critical thinking and science (Inamullah et al. 2016). Furthermore, higher order questions and multiple questions in the classroom promote critical thinking.
Group work was another strategy that was used in conjunction with the questioning strategy as is illustrated by one of the participants. The participant illustrated how the strategy was going to be followed as follows:
Give learners questions that will require them to use their own words to explain what certain laws really mean and how they are used on an everyday basis.
Dallimore et al. (2008), in support of the above strategy, found in their study that group work facilitated effective class participation, resulting in deep learning and development of critical thinking.
Testing was another strategy that was stated where two types of tests were administered. The learners could be given class tests where long questions were set and another where the learners had to answer questions from as many past
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question papers as possible. The long questions would enable the learners to express themselves. However, it is not clear whether these questions could either be testing understanding of the taught concepts or whether they could help to develop critical thinking. The general observation is that most of the past examination questions test mainly factual information. In this study, the participants did not elaborate on how they were to use these past question papers for the development of critical thinking. No clear cut explanation was given as to which of the questions they emphasised. Only one participant gave an explanation of the purpose of the test as follows:
I basically set a class test that consists of long questions that require critical thinking
This finding is consistent with the views of Duran and Dokme (2016)) who assert that groups working on the changes to improve science, including physical sciences learning, have recommended the teaching of science through inquiry and implementing a science curriculum that develops critical thinking in students. Such recommendations are what compelled the implementation of the new curriculum for countries such as England and Wales, the United States, and South Africa.
The study results revealed that the participants understood the concept of critical thinking. They described critical thinking as a way of observing, analysing, and assessing the situation before them in order to solve it. In addition, the participants defined critical thinking as a thought process that results in examining, weighing up, and relating the knowledge gained to find a solution to the question at hand. However, the teachers did not emphasise that critical thinking is self corrective or that the learners needed to provide evidence in support of their decisions to arrive at solutions for each problem statement.
The study also highlighted the strategies put forward by the participants that included reliance on combined effort, printed documentation, practical experiments, brainstorming or sharing ideas, and literature. These findings indicate that critical thinking can be taught but only by a teacher who has been trained to think critically. However, the strategies put forward by the teachers for developing critical thinking skills did not clearly demonstrate the relationship between the identified strategy and the development of critical thinking skills as a resultant effect of such a strategy. For example, strategies for concept formation and inquiries into the existence of a factual understanding of physical sciences by learners were suggested by the teachers without any articulation of how these strategies furthered critical thinking skills. The literature points to the fact when students learn Physics, it gives them tools to investigate nature and be able to analyse and make sense of the environment surrounding them (Mitrevski, 2019). This author further pointed out that Physical Science provides a foundation for students to acquire logic, critical thinking, and problem solving and decision making skills using the acquired principles and concepts to explain the different phenomena they encounter in their life.
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The current study has also managed to show that there is a gap between the teachers’ understanding of critical thinking in teaching Science and the implementation of the strategies that can develop critical thinking in the learners. However, given that this paper is an outline of an ongoing study, the strategies for teaching and imparting critical thinking skills will be discussed in detail as the research of the ongoing study progresses.
Based on the presentation of the discussion and findings of this study: i) the Provincial Education Department should present workshops that discuss critical thinking and how it can be taught in Physical Sciences to cater for those who were not trained, and ii) the ongoing study should be able to assess the effectiveness of the strategy used in teaching critical thinking.
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Dear Colleague
Instructions: Please write the responses to the questions on the spaces provided. Gender…Male/Female Indicate your qualifications ……………………………………………………………. Major subject ………………………………… Subject(s) taught …….................... What class are you currently teaching?........................................................................ State the number of years you have taught Grade 10 Physical Science…………. 1. With the Physical Science curriculum being taught, what do you regard as the major skills the students will have at the end of the year?......................
2. What does the Physical Science curriculum expect the student to be able to do?
3. What do you understand by the term “critical thinking?”………………… 4. What strategies do you use to teach Physical Science? …………………….
5. What methods do you specifically use to teach critical thinking? 6. What other strategies would you recommend for teaching critical thinking to Physical Science learners in Grade 10?........................................ 7. What more information might you add to the teaching of critical thinking in Physical Sciences? ……………………………………………….
Thank you.
International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research
Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 463 477, May 2022
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.5.23
Received Mar 8, 2022; Revised May 7, 2022; Accepted May 31, 2022
Université de Burundi, Institut de Pedagogie Appliquée, Departement de Physique Technologie Centre de Recherche en Didactique des Disciplines et de Diffusion des Sciences (CRDS)
Abstract. This research aimed at investigating the influence of teachers’ beliefs and the reasons behind their resistance to the effective integration of video based multimedia (VBM) in physics classrooms. An explanatory research design following a pragmatic worldview was used in this study to investigate teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and to examine the causes of their resistance to integrating VBM in the physics classroom. A purposive sampling method was used to select 47 physics teachers. Participants in this study were aged between 26 and 56 years old with an average teaching experience of 8.1 years. A questionnaire (Cronbach alpha = 0 85) was distributed to participants, followed by one to one interviews with randomlyselectedseniorfivephysicsteachers Participantswitnessedthe effectiveness of using VBM in teaching physics. However, they still resisted incorporating it into teaching. Results revealed that the link between teachers’beliefsand theirresistance to incorporating VBM in the teaching and learning of physics is quite strong An investigation of how to address the factors that impede the effective incorporation of VBM in teaching and learning is highly recommended.
Keywords: physics education; teacher beliefs; teacher resistance; video based multimedia
Modern education is aimed at preparing competent and competitive citizens (Lewin, 2015). In the 21st century, it seems that information and communication technology (ICT) is an asset to be used to achieve this objective in a world that increasingly demands technological skills (Berrett et al., 2012). Integration of ICT
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in education refers to the incorporation of digital technological equipment that can serve as educational tools, such as computers, digital video cameras, projectors, CD ROM drives, DVD players, software, etc (Borko et al., 2008; Inan & Lowther, 2010; Kay, 2012). Integration of ICT in education means the harmonious cohesion between ICT and pedagogical teaching methodology to improve the relevance and quality of education (Tondeur et al., 2016) In this regard, many African countries have responded positively to the incorporation of ICT in teaching (Mukhwana et al., 2020). The increase of ICT tools in schools has allowed the spread of ICT multimedia into many schools, in that way increasing video based multimedia (VBM) use in the classroom (Kettle, 2020)
In the Rwandan context, researchers have witnessed the usefulness of VBM in teaching sciences such as physics (Ndihokubwayo et al., 2020). In addition, the issue of inaccessibility to ICT tools in Rwandan secondary schools has been alleviated because the Government of Rwanda initiated a project to distribute more than 100 laptops per school countrywide (Rwanda. Ministry of Education [MINEDUC], 2016). Similarly, the new curriculum for secondary schools in Rwanda advocates for the use of technology in science education which can be concretized by the utilization of animations and simulations (Rwanda Education Board [REB], 2015) Moreover, the effect of the Covid 19 pandemic has stressed the need for integrating multimedia such as VBM in education.
In December 2019, the first case of Covid 19 was signaled in China, later escalating rapidly all over the world and resulting in a pandemic (World Health Organization [WHO], 2020) Many countries set procedures in place to fight against the spread of Covid 19 (UNESCO, 2020; WHO, 2021). Measures to control Covid 19 transmission resulted in school closure in many countries worldwide (Mugiraneza, 2021). The decision to close schools affected students in more than 186 countries worldwide (UNICEF, 2020). After schools reopened, great measures for remedial education systems were necessary. For instance, in Rwanda, education policymakers launched the Education Covid 19 Response Plan (Mugiraneza, 2021; Rwanda. MINEDUC, 2020) The objectives of the plan included, among other objectives, developing the use of ICT and enhancing the way multimedia is used in education (Mugiraneza, 2021; Rwanda. MINEDUC, 2020). Other priorities emphasized by the plan are virtual learning, the use of multimedia and digital tools, teacher training, and online assessment approaches (Mugiraneza, 2021; Rwanda. MINEDUC, 2020)
Conversely, teachers still resist integrating technology related methodology in science education, and in certain schools, usage of multimedia for pedagogical teaching in physics classrooms is poor or even nonexistent (Rwanda. MINEDUC, 2020). This provides evidence for the need to examine physics teachers’ pedagogical beliefs about teaching and learning using multimedia and to investigate the reasons behind their resistance to incorporating it into teaching. Consequently, this research sought to investigate issues related to the effective integration of VBM through the lens of teachers as the agents of change in the education setting and the reasons for teachers’ resistance to incorporating VBM in teaching and learning.
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In order to synthesize the literature within the field of VBM in education with a focus on teachers’ pedagogical beliefs, we grouped our literature into three main parts. We first discuss the literature that explores VBM and subsequently the literature that looks at teachers’ educational beliefs about teaching using VBM and their resistance towards integration of VBM, respectively
2.1 Video-Based Multimedia in Teaching and Learning Science
Technology has become one of the fundamental elements of modern society. Many countries consider the integration of ICT in science education to enhance education and research (Berrett et al., 2012). The effective utilization of ICT in science education is no longer limited to administration issues only but also to teaching and learning (Becta, 2004). Researchers have reported that in teaching and learning science using ICTs, ICT based multimedia is the effective methodology (Kay, 2012). Ndihokubwayo et al. (2020) reported that among the ICT based multimedia, videos are effective and cheaper in teaching sciences such as physics which require laboratory observation. Video refers to moving pictures accompanied by sound and digital videos, providing a lot of information in a short period of time and showing real life objects (Hu, 2016). In science education, videos are used to support verbal explanations of concepts to engage students in knowledge construction and meaningful learning (Kay, 2012)
The use of VBM in science education has been found to hold several advantages. These include solutions to mechanical work of rewriting, modern and innovative teaching methods, saving time, student motivation, class management, and raising academic achievement and retention (Antoiniette & Giorgetti, 2006; Kay, 2012; Kettle, 2020). Moreover, researchers have reported the effectiveness of VBM in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education (Kunnath & Kriet, 2018)
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2019) defined belief as psychological understanding, attitude that something is the case, or that some proposition about the world is true. Pedagogical belief refers to the understanding, shreds of evidence, or schemes about teaching that teachers believe are supposed to be real Teachers’ educational beliefs act like a filter through which new information is screened for relevance and meaning (Ertmer, 2005). Teachers’ beliefs have been categorized into two main groups: teacher centered and learner centered beliefs (Deng et al., 2014) Teachers may, however, have and adhere to both teacher and learner centered pedagogical beliefs (Lim & Chan, 2007; Tondeur et al , 2016)
In the teacher centered view, the teacher acts as a specialist, managing the teaching learning activities and serving as an educational expert Conversely, in the learner centered view, the teacher works as a guide, with learners cooperating and getting involved with knowledge construction (Davidson & Major, 2014; Deng et al., 2014). The learner centered belief stems from the theory of constructivism, where learners actively get involved with knowledge construction and the teacher acts as facilitator (Teo et al., 2008). Researchers have
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revealed that to ensure that learners better navigate the global environment in which they now live and must work in tomorrow, the learner centered method is the effective approach (Antoiniette & Giorgetti, 2006) Moreover, studies have revealed that to better prepare the 21st century learners, who are digital natives, incorporating technology in education could be an effective answer (Becta, 2004).
Teaching and learning using VBM have been suggested as an active and learner centered methodology where students can choose words and images, bring them together into the logical verbal and visual model, and integrate them into whole conceptual structures (Borko et al., 2008; Mayer, 2005) Such methodology can positively reshape teaching practices, create and maintain a positive teaching and learning climate, and improve students’ learning when suitable measures are taken into account (Kunnath & Kriet, 2018)
2.3
Teachers as agents of change in education play a crucial role in their educational choices concerning when and how to integrate a new approach such as VBM within their classroom activities (Kim et al., 2013) Previous studies have revealed that incorporating a new approach such as VBM into teaching and learning requires changes and that teachers manage changes in different ways (Tondeur et al., 2016). Howard and Mozejko (2015) explained that resistance to change is the foremost factor in the successful incorporation of ICT in teaching Understanding how ICT based technology will enhance teaching was reported as the major factor behind teachers’ resistance to integrating ICT in education (Oriji, 2016). Tondeur et al. (2016) revealed that teachers’ willingness and attitude to change is a significant factor to consider when introducing ICT based methodology in education Teachers’ classroom activities depend on their pedagogical beliefs about the effectiveness of the teaching strategies (Tondeur et al., 2016), while some studies have suggested that multimedia can be completely agreed upon as a successful teaching strategy concerning teachers’ pedagogical beliefs (Lajoie, 2014; Ndihokubwayo et al., 2020; Odcházelová, 2015; Sarowardy & Halder, 2019)
Teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and their resistance have been recognized as issues that could have a direct or indirect influence on their ability to teach a given subject (Mukuka et al., 2019) and to explore the pedagogical benefits that multimedia is likely to bring to science education (Loper et al., 2019). The present research recognizes the gaps in recent studies that have concentrated on the effectiveness of and barriers to multimedia integration in education or teachers’ beliefs about multimedia integration in science education. Nevertheless, limited studies have looked at the correlation between teachers’ educational beliefs about learning using multimedia and their resistance to incorporating multimedia in the teaching and learning of physics. Therefore, this research seeks to investigate the link between physics teachers’ pedagogical beliefs about using VBM in teaching and the reasons behind their resistance to integrating VBM in the physics classroom. We focus on teachers’ beliefs in terms of their understanding of how VBM will enhance their teaching practices and motivate student learning. Hence, based on the research problem highlighted above, this research seeks to answer the following research questions:
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• Research question 1: What are the prevailing teaching practices in selected schools’ physics classrooms?
• Research question 2: What are teachers’ views about the effectiveness of VBM in enhancing the teaching and learning of physics?
• Research question 3: What are teachers’ views about the difficulties associated with VBM implementation in physics?
This section gives an account of the procedures that were employed in addressing the stated research questions. The target population, data analysis techniques, and ethical issues are also highlighted in this section
An explanatory research design was employed in this research. The research followed a pragmatic worldview (Creswell, 2014) Sequential mixed methods research combining both qualitative and quantitative approaches was used to develop a better understanding of the research problem and to offer concrete solutions for the research problem.
We purposively selected 24 public secondary schools that have smart classrooms (also called computer laboratories) and physics as major subject taught in those schools. The schools were from the Rutsiro (rural) and Rubavu (urban) districts of the Western province in Rwanda All physics teachers at the selected schools were invited to participate in the study. Forty seven (35 male and 12 female) of these teachers agreed to participate in the research.
A questionnaire, interviews, and classroom observation were used to collect data The questionnaire was developed based on preceding studies on personal educational beliefs, opportunities, challenges, and benefits of using VBM in classrooms. The questionnaire was subjected to a pilot study to check its reliability before distributing it. SPSS Version 21 was used to analyze the pilot study results. The internal consistency analysis of questionnaire items yielded a Cronbach alpha of 0.85, which exceeds the recommended value of 0.7 (Taber, 2017) The pairs’ inter item correlations were more than 0.80, which means that there was no multicollinearity, so all items were independent. Furthermore, a systematic interview associated with discussion to gain a deeper comprehension of participants’ responses about VBM use in teaching was employed to collect qualitative data until data saturation was reached. The instruments were checked by experts in science education and ICT education for validation.
To collect quantitative data, questionnaires were distributed to 47 participating physics teachers in Rutsiro and Rubavu districts in the Western province, Rwanda. After one week, the completed questionnaires were collected with a return rate of 100%. To collect qualitative data, two weeks after completion of the questionnaires, two schools were randomly selected in each district, and all senior five physics teachers at the schools were requested to participate in a one to one
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interview. Interviews started with structured questions, but participants were allowed time to explain their responses. The purpose with the one to one interviews was to obtain deeper insight into the participants’ questionnaire responses and to gain more insight into the reasons behind teachers’ resistance to integrating VBM in physics teaching and learning. Interviews lasted roughly 50 minutes each and were audio recorded.
To summarize data from the questionnaire, descriptive statistics were used to calculate percentages, standard deviations, standard errors, and means. A paired sample t test was also conducted to determine the prevailing teaching practices between usual teaching practices and multimedia-based instruction. Cohen’s d was also calculated to communicate the magnitude of the experimental effect. Analysis of qualitative data was done by coding. In this case, three themes emerged: physics teaching practices in the selected schools; teacher beliefs about using VBM in teaching and learning; and difficulties associated with VBM implementation in the physics classroom. We assigned as analytically and carefully as possible to each segment recorded (e.g. a sentence) the semantic category to which it refers following the recommendation of Fielding (2012).
Ethical issues were maintained at all stages of data collection. Ethical approval was obtained from the College of Education, University of Rwanda before starting this study. Authorization to collect data from the selected schools was granted by Rutsiro and Rubavu district leaders and principals in the selected schools. Furthermore, all participants signed a consent form.
This section is concerned with the data analysis. It communicates the findings of the research by examining and analyzing the data in detail and interpreting the results from the analysis.
5.1 Personal and Professional Information of Participants Table 1 presents the demographic information of the participants.
Table 1: Demographic information of participants
Variable Category Frequency %
Geographic location
Urban (Rubavu district) 26 55.3 Rural (Rutsiro district) 21 44.7 Total 47 100
Gender Male 35 74.5 Female 12 25.5 Total 47 100
Less than 3 years 4 8.5 Between 4 and 6 years 12 25.6 Between 7 and 9 years 21 44.7 10 years and above 10 21.2 Total 47 100 Age Less than 30 years old 5 10.6
Experience in teaching physics
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Between 31 to 35 years old 22 46.9
Between 36 and 40 years old 13 27.7 40 years old and above 7 14.8 Total 47 100
Source: Primary data
For this study, 47 physics teachers from 24 public secondary schools located in two districts, Rubavu (urban) and Rutsiro (rural), participated willingly. Of the sample, 26 (55.3%) participants were from Rubavu district and 21 (44.7%) from Rutsiro district. Regarding gender, 35 (74.4%) participants were male and 12 (25.6%) female. The average age of participants was 34.6 years, and their average teaching experience 8.1 years. Note that selection of participants was done randomly; this can clarify and explain the differences in their personal and professional information and the ratio of male to female participants.
Participants’ responses to the questionnaire section on teaching practices were aggregated and the standard deviation (SD), standard error (SE), and mean (M) calculated (Table 2). To establish the difference between the two teaching practices, usual teaching practices and multimedia based instruction, a paired sample t test was conducted (Table 3)
Table 2: Descriptive statistics on teaching practices
Teaching practice
N M SD SE
Usual teaching practices 47 4.11 0.57 0.08 Multimedia based instruction 47 3.19 0.57 0.08
Source: Primary data
Table 3: Results of the paired sample t test for usual teaching practices and multimedia-based instruction
Paired differences 95% CI of difference M SD SE Lower Upper t df p UTP MBI* 0.92 0.51 0.08 0.80 1.07 16.14 57 0.001
Note. CI = confidence interval; UTP = usual teaching practices; MBI = multimedia based instruction
Source: Primary data
The results in Table 2 revealed that usual teaching practices (M = 4.11; SD = 0.57) were more dominant among participants than multimedia-based instruction (M
= 3.19; SD = 0.57). Cohen’s d was also calculated using the formula dif
dif SD M d = (Mdif
= mean difference and SDdif = standard deviation of difference), yielding a d value of 1.80. According to the standards for effect size, the calculated d value (1.80) represents an acceptable and large effect size since it is greater than the threshold of 0.8 for a large effect. For the paired sample t test (Table 3), the difference of 0.92 (95% CI [0.80, 1.07]) was significant (t = 16.14; p = 0.001 [< 0.05]). Besides being
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statistically significant, the effect size (d = 1.80) was large enough to communicate that usual teaching practices were significantly more dominant than multimedia based instruction in the selected schools.
Table 4 shows the level to which the participants used certain physics teaching practices in their classrooms. They could choose from the following scales: 1 = never, 2 = seldom, 3 = sometimes, 4 = often, and 5 = always.
The results presented in Table 4 point out that 25.5% of the participants never used multimedia and a significant number (51.1%) seldom used multimedia in their classroom. Only 6.4% of the participants often or always used multimedia in their physics classroom. Results also revealed that the majority of participants performed the following teaching practices: traditional teaching methods (93.6%), expository teaching (70.2), differentiated instruction (68.1%), project based or problem based approach (59.6%), and teaching with experience (53.2%). Other teaching methods that were used but not frequently were peer education, reverse class, and personalized learning, with 48.9%, 38.3%, and 36.3%, respectively.
Table 4: Teaching practices of the participants
No. Teaching practice Rating (%)
Never Seldom Sometimes Often Always
1 ICT multimedia based instruction 25.5 51.1 17.0 4.3 2.1
2 Traditional teaching 0 0 6.4 29.8 63.8 3 Differentiated instruction 0 0 31.9 6.1 62 4 Teaching with experiences 0 21.3 25.5 53.2 0 5 Project based or problem based approach
0 2.1 38.3 59.6 0
6 Expository teaching 0 2.1 27.7 38.3 31.9
7 Peer education 0 36.2 14.9 46.8 2.1 8 Reverse class 0 23.4 38.3 38.3 0 9 Personalized learning 4.3 48.9 10.6 36.2 0
Source: Primary data
Even though the responses from the questionnaire showed that participants had been using multimedia in their classroom, we observed through checking their pedagogical documents that few participantshad used ICT multimedia in the four weeks prior. During lesson observation, we also noticed that participants did not understand what constitutes effective VBM incorporation in teaching and learning. For instance, there was a case where a participant sent students to the smart classroom to research YouTube videos without giving them clear guidance
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or guidelines and keywords about the research activity. As a result, the majority of the students were on social media (Facebook) instead of using the computers and internet for pedagogical purposes
Responses from participants revealed that their pedagogical beliefs fell under learner centered methods and that most of them believed positively that ICT multimedia is a tool to enhance the quality and relevance of teaching physics in this era of technology. Participants’ views about the usefulness of VBM and how this approach benefits themselves, their learners, and the school are reported in Table 5
Table 5: Participants’ views about integrating multimedia (and ICT in general) in physics education
Frequency (%)
VBM provides access to the online information, where the information can be accessible beyond the textbook 95.7
VBM decreases the time for mechanical activities such as rewriting 93.6
VBM builds and maintains personal and professional relationships 93.6
VBM helps to be familiar with smart technology 91.4
VBM increases the scope of searching, supports communication, and enhances creativity 72.3
VBM helps to achieve the latest knowledge, to find and organize information, and to share information effectively and easily 70.2
VBM is attractive and arouses students’ curiosity 100
VBM moderates time spent taking notes 93.6
VBM develops self efficacy and confidence 91.4
VBM prepares students for the 21st century, amplifies learners’ engagement and motivation, and increases learners’ conceptual understanding and retention 91.4
VBM increases learners’ critical thinking 72.3
VBM provides access to online content and information 91.4
VBM helps to be familiar with smart technology 91.4
VBM upgrades the scope of the research 72.3
Source: Primary data
Participants were interviewed individually and in a focus group discussion about their perceptions of the challenges to the effective incorporation of VBM. The following question was asked: As a teacher in a school that has ICT equipment, highlight at least four personal perceptions (in line with pedagogical issues) regarding the challenges to the effective incorporation of VBM in teaching and learning. Responses were assigned to themes that recorded the semantic category
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to which it refers, and themes are listed in Table 6. Themes are recorded in order of most to least recorded.
Table 6: Participants’ perceptions regarding barriers to effective multimedia integration
Theme %
1 Confidence and self efficacy to use technological tools 87.04
2 Competence in using ICT tools such as a computer, projector, … 78.57
3 Preparation time versus high teaching loads 75.91
4 Difficulties in assessing and monitoring learners’ progress 72.89
5 Poor training and lack of orientation workshops 54.64
Source: Primary data
Apart from the challenges reported in Table 6 which are directly related to teachers, participants in the focus group discussion mentioned other challenges that are linked to schools or students. These included the average number of students per class, eagerness to prepare students for tests and examinations, willingness to complete the syllabus on time, and difficulties to monitor students in a smart classroom.
This section is dedicated to the discussion of the results presented in the previous section. Findings revealed that participants witnessed the effectiveness of VBM in enhancing teaching and learning. Participants from the selected schools believed that VBM could enhance the relevance and quality of physics teaching and learning. Moreover, participating teachers believed that ICT multimedia such as VBM could be the best answer for the current generation of learners who are digital natives. Participants also revealed that VBM is in line with learner centered methods where learners actively participate in knowledge construction. Recent studies echo similar findings, that ICT multimedia such as VBM are better strategies to prepare students to navigate in this world where they live now and must work in tomorrow (Antoiniette & Giorgetti, 2006; Kay, 2012). Furthermore, VBM responds to the constructivism theory, which upholds that learners should cooperate and become involved in knowledge construction, while the teacher acts as facilitator (Sorden, 2013).
Moreover, the findings reported in this study revealed that VBM, once effectively integrated into teaching and learning, holds several benefits. It provides an active teaching learning environment, improves professional development, increases the scope of research, reduces the time spent on some activities (such as rewriting), and facilitates class management. Researchers have echoed similar findings, that multimedia in education is an effective tool to broaden, soften, and improve the relevance and quality of physics teaching and learning (Antoiniette & Giorgetti, 2006). Moreover, VBM has been used successfully in several branches of physics, such as optics (Ndihokubwayo et al., 2020), photoelectric effect (Kunnath & Kriet, 2018), and electromagnetism (Kotoka & Kriek, 2014)
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Concerning how and to what extent VBM could be integrated, participants in this study showed that VBM should be integrated to support other teaching methods but not to replace them, and should be used depending on the topic and not be limited to a set time. This correlates with previous findings, that multimedia should be used but not so that it monopolizes the classroom (Winner, 1986). In general, participants in the selected schools believed positively in the use of ICT multimedia as a strategy to enhance physics teaching and learning However, results from both the questionnaire and interviews revealed that to a great extent participants resisted integrating it in their classroom.
Furthermore, it seems that resistance to VBM integration was not the major problem, but instead the reasons why participants resisted integrating multimedia. Although participating teachers and educational literature have revealed the potential of using VBM to enhance the learning of physics and STEM concepts, some participants resisted integrating it in teaching activities This was due to various factors.
Firstly, participants cited a lack of confidence as one of the crucial factors that impede teachers from integrating VBM (and technology in general) in the classroom. This was indicated by the majority of the participants as impeding factor. Participants revealed that some teachers are technologically handicapped and their fear of failure makes them feel nervous about using technology in teaching. Therefore, they are not confident to use VBM in teaching and learning. Becta (2004) argued that little experience and lack of confidence in the use of ICT in everyday life negatively influence teachers’ motivation to use technology in education. There is a need to understand that teachers who have confidence and self efficacy in using technology in everyday activities appreciate the effectiveness of VBM in their teaching and other personal work.
Secondly, lack of competence, which is in one way or another related to teacher confidence in using ICT, and poor training in the incorporation of technology in education were reported as hindrance to VBM implementation in physics teaching and learning. Participants revealed that teachers’ lack of competence to use computers in everyday life and lack of enthusiasm about bringing computers into their daily lives caused a hindrance to the use of technology. Hence, this caused resistance to integrating VBM in physics teaching and learning. Another study found similar challenges, that many teachers who are not competent in using technology feel worried about using it in front of a class of learners who perhaps knows more than they do (Becta, 2004).
The third factor highlighted was lack of time. Participants revealed that integrating VBM in education is time consuming. They believed that even though teachers may be competent, confident, and self efficient in using technology, lack of time inhibits them to incorporate technology use in the classroom. Participants revealed that pressure to prepare students for examinations and pressure to complete the syllabus on time, coupled with large size classes, were factors hindering them from using VBM. Although it has been shown that small classes are more advantageous to both teachers and learners (Nye et al., 2000), research
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has revealed that teachers’ beliefs about how a given methodology will enhance their teaching practices and their students’ learning were more important than class size (Becta, 2004) There is a need to understand that VBM could be an effective way of controlling time related issues and large classes. This is because the teacher’s role in a learner centered approach such as VBM is more that of a guide than a teacher who might be regarded as a master of everything in the classroom
The forth factor reported by participants in this study regarding hindrances to VMB integration was that assessing and monitoring learners’ progress is challenging in a VBM class setting. Horner et al. (2018) also cited similar difficulties that may lead to teachers’ resistance to ICT integration in their classrooms As reported in Tables 1, 2, and 3, participants in this study preferred to use teaching methods that are considered a simple way to assess and monitor learners’ performance. These include traditional teaching methods, characterized by chalk and talk, and expository teaching methods, characterized by questions and answers However, this is at variance with the ICT policy in Rwandan education that advocates for the transformation of teaching and learning and improvement of education quality across all levels of education in Rwanda (Rwanda. MINEDUC, 2018).
In this study, we examined VBM in physics classrooms through the lens of teachers as agents of change. The study focused on the link between teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and their resistance to integrating VBM in physics teaching and learning. The findings of this study showed that the resistance itself seems not to be a problem; instead, the reasons why teachers resist integrating VBM are the pillars of this relationship. Therefore, we conclude that teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and their resistance to integrating VBM in teaching and learning physics are linked by the struggles they experience and the hindrance they face in the incorporation of this teaching practice. We thus conclude that the relationship between teachers’ beliefs about using VBM and their resistance to integrating VBM is quite strong.
Even though the findings of this study do not significantly contrast what has been reported in literature recently, this is one of few studies conducted in Rwanda and possibly Eastern Africa in which physics teachers revealed why they resist incorporating VBM into teaching activities This study contributes to the existing literature about the challenges associated with the effective integration of ICT multimedia in physics classrooms and the reasons why some teachers resist integrating it in teaching physics. This study is novel in that identifying the reasons for teachers’ resistance to incorporating VBM in physics teaching and learning will help create a picture of what is happening in Rwandan secondary schools. Thus, this study provides a baseline for the effective integration of VBM. This seems to be the right way for informing teacher development officers, curriculum developers, and policymakers about homegrown initiatives and solutions rather than only depending on what has been done in other countries.
To this, an investigation of the most significant causes of teacher resistance to
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integrating VBM in teaching and how the identified factors could be addressed to ensure that VBM is effectively integrated into teaching and learning is highly recommended Future researchers could also examine the effect of different multimedia to find the most suitable ones for different didactic settings worldwide.
This study had two major limitations. First, participants of the present study were limited to physics teachers in public schools. Second, the research focused on only 2 out of the 30 districts in Rwanda.
This research was financially supported by the African Center of Excellence for Innovative Teaching and Learning of Mathematics and Science (ACEITLMS) of the University of Rwanda College of Education.
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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research
Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 478 491, May 2022
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.5.24
Received Mar 13, 2022; Revised May 20, 2022; Accepted May 31, 2022
Universidad
Técnica Particular de Loja, Loja, Ecuador Ana Quinonez BeltranUniversidad
Técnica Particular de Loja, Loja, EcuadorAbstract The aim of this quantitative study is to determine the impact of using digital comics to strengthen English as a Foreign Language (EFL) vocabulary knowledge during the COVID 19 pandemic. The approach was quasi experimental with 262 public high school students from three of the four regions of Ecuador. The students’ ages ranged from 12 to 14 years and their proficiency level was A1 in accordance with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). They were divided into control and experimental groups. The participants in both groups received explicit vocabulary instruction through workshops, but the experimental group had the opportunity to practise EFL vocabulary using digital comics while the control group used supplementary resources and the textbook established by the Ecuadorian Ministry of Education. The data were collected using pre tests, post tests, and a perception survey. Based on the statistical analysis, the results showed a significant improvement in vocabulary acquisition in the experimental group. This group also demonstrated a positive perception of the use of digital comics for enhancing EFL vocabulary knowledge because comics allowed students to create original digital stories and customise them according to their preferences. Further research might consider the use of comics for teaching specific linguistic skills in on site learning environments.
Keywords: vocabulary; digital comics; learning; public high schools
Vocabulary is an essential component of learning English as a Foreign Language; different researchers have highlighted its importance for developing all the linguistic skills. Because languages are founded on words, vocabulary is a key component of language (Thornbury, 2002; Cahyono & Widiati, 2008; Bancha & Tongtep, 2021). For Lewis (2005), “Lexis is the core or heart of language” (p. 89).
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY NC ND 4.0).
In the same way, Nation (2012) acknowledges that there is a complementary connection between vocabulary mastery and language use, and Schmitt (2010, p.4) states, “learners carry around dictionaries and not grammar books” to demonstrate the significance of vocabulary for language learning; this author claims that vocabulary knowledge is indispensable for successful language use. Certainly, students need to acquire a lexicon to build the blocks of language learning and communication (Richards & Rodgers, 2001). As Wong and Yunus (2020) affirm, the correlation between vocabulary size and language competence is appreciable.
Vocabulary learning for EFL demands practice and face to face interaction with teachers and peers. However, the COVID 19 pandemic and the confinement situation affected education since both students and teachers were forced to transition from traditional classroom teaching to online instruction (Dhawan, 2020; Rajab et al., 2020). Teachers and learners had to use technological resources in virtual learning environments to enhance vocabulary and other linguistic skills. In this context, EFL vocabulary was taught using technological resources such as different applications and platforms (Odinokaya et al., 2021; Castillo Cuesta, 2022). Alsied and Pathan (2013) acknowledge that technological tools are effective for learning new words; these authors assert that students learn vocabulary significantly faster when using technology. One of the technological tools for learning vocabulary is ToonDoo, which is an online resource that enables learners to design digital comics, foster their e collaborative learning, and share their ideas online without stress since it permits them to convey what they think easily and confidently (Robles 2017). As Fatimah et al. (2019) assert, ToonDoo is an appealing web based application that can be used by teachers as an instructional tool to create online comics through a user friendly interface for teaching.
Several studies have analysed the use of digital comics for EFL learning. Ayar and Kiziltan (2020) conducted a study to determine the influence of cartoons on vocabulary learning strategies of Turkish EFL learners. Their findings revealed that the most common vocabulary learning strategies were determination and metacognitive strategies. Fatimah et al. (2019) explored the use of ToonDoo and its benefits in teaching English short stories; they evidenced that this tool allowed instructors to produce cartoon strips efficiently and share them with learners. Cabrera et al. (2018) aimed at examining the use of Pixton for teaching grammar and vocabulary and demonstrated that Pixton is a powerful instruction resource that encourages students to enhance grammar and vocabulary in an entertaining mode. Ahmadi et al. (2017) explored the impact of children’s comic strip stories on incidental vocabulary learning. Their results revealed that listening to comic strip stories had statistically meaningful effects on students’ vocabulary learning. The purpose of research conducted by Robles (2017) was to assess the implementation of ToonDoo as a resource for collaborative e learning and evidenced that the learners’ attitudes to the use of digital comics were positive.
Though prior research has explored both the use of comics for language learning and their use for practising some skills, none of the research has engaged in the use of digital comics for enhancing EFL vocabulary during the COVID 19
pandemic. The significance of the present study is to offer insights into this field, which might be beneficial for learners who have not had the chance to acquire new vocabulary in an innovative form through implementing activities using technological tools. Therefore, the following research questions were considered:
1. What is the impact of using digital comics on EFL students’ vocabulary learning?
2. What are the students´ perceptions of using digital comics to learn EFL vocabulary?
Vocabulary has been defined as the lexis or the words of a particular language (Wehmeier et al., 2005). In language learning, the significance of vocabulary is evident since word knowledge is essential to develop the students’ competencies as well as their comprehension and production; certainly, the four language skills are all based upon the learners’ vocabulary acquisition (Bai, 2018). As Dakhi and Fitria (2019) affirm, vocabulary is the heart of linguistic skills because it contributes to the development of receptive and productive skills. Therefore, “lexical knowledge is central to communicative competence and the acquisition of a second and foreign language, and a lack of vocabulary knowledge is an obstacle to learning” (Alqahtani, 2015, p.31). Since vocabulary is a foundation and a key element of language acquisition (Bancha & Tongtep, 2021), deficient vocabulary creates learning difficulties and poor English proficiency (Ocampo & McNeill, 2019).
Vocabulary learning for EFL involves great skill on the part of an individual for processing words of a language (Rivers, 1989); knowing words is essential for EFL students. In this respect, Nation (2012) emphasises that the knowledge of a term involves recognising the form, meaning, and use of the term. The form is related to spoken form, written form, and word parts; meaning entails concepts, referents, and associations; finally, use includes structural functions, collocations, register, and frequency. Pignot Shahov (2012) acknowledges the importance of receptive and productive knowledge for language learners; this author states that, “receptive knowledge is being able to understand a word in its spoken or written form, and productive knowledge means to be able to use a word correctly in a written work or a speech” (p. 43). In the same way, Pignot Shahov (2012) affirms that learning a word productively involves teaching it productively, and the same goes for receptive vocabulary knowledge.
Learning EFL vocabulary is certainly challenging. Susanto (2017) states that, “learning vocabulary items is not such a simple matter of committing them to memory, but how to use them in appropriate situations as well as how to expand the knowledge of one’s vocabulary is also crucial” (p.189). Vocabulary acquisition involves more than just memorising the spelling and pronunciation of a word; it includes other dimensions such as pronunciation, meaning, word formation, collocations, etc. Thus, students need to use strategies for learning vocabulary; these strategies depend on their level, age, and needs (Susanto, 2017). As Putra (2016) asserts, the more successful teaching strategies the instructor applies in the
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EFL class, the better the learners’ linguistic skills become. Teachers should, therefore, consider the aspects and train their students to use effective strategies and resources for successfully learning the new words of the target language.
2.2 Technology for EFL Vocabulary Learning Technology has offered very important tools to support education (Seliaman & Al Turki, 2012). Language learning is not an exception, which is why Sa'd (2014) asserts that electronic devices and their resultant usage have a noteworthy place in linguistic instruction. Alsied and Pathan (2013) affirm that technology has become a very important part of our lives for all the activities people do in the world; certainly, foreign language instruction is one of the fields that has experienced a great impact in this digital era. Saleh and Pretorius (2006) had already acknowledged the importance of the role of technology, computers, and the Internet in language teaching and specifically in the context of English teaching and learning. In fact, technology offers some advantages for EFL students; Alsied and Pathan (2013) emphasise that there are many benefits derived by implementing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to teach, learn, practise, and assess a foreign language, especially in the EFL contexts in which students do not have enough opportunities to practise the target language.
Many resources and applications are available for enhancing the different language skills and sub skills. In the case of the listening skill, technological tools allow EFL learners to use authentic video and audio resources; moreover, many useful websites offer numerous listening exercises and testing materials for free (Alsied & Pathan, 2013). Concerning speaking, technology offers students the possibility of learning, improving, practising, and assessing their speaking skills; they can use the internet on computers, tablets, and smartphones to chat and talk with native speakers in a friendlier foreign language environment. Social networking sites such as Skype, Nimbuzz, Yahoo, and Facebook permit audio and video talk; the activities using online tools for speaking are very useful for improving fluency and pronunciation (Payne & Whitney, 2002). With regard to reading and writing skills, technological resources provide a variety of current and authentic reading materials and writing tools that are very effective for developing these skills.
Vocabulary, which is essential for listening, speaking, reading, and writing can also be enhanced through technological tools; in this respect, Alsied and Pathan (2013) acknowledge that computer assisted language learning (CALL) programmes are effective for learning new words; in addition, these authors affirm that the use of technological resources can effectively help students learn vocabulary significantly faster than through traditional resources. Similarly, Jariah et al. (2019) assert that the use of ICT allows learners to acquire vocabulary efficiently, which has an overall effect on mastering EFL skills. Certainly, learning new words through implementing activities by means of web based applications has a positive effect on students’ vocabulary improvement across ages and contexts (Yang et al., 2021). One of the advantages of learning the target language
vocabulary through different technological tools is related to the improvement of the learners’ long term retention of new words (Hao et al , 2021).
2.3 Comics for Vocabulary Learning Learning vocabulary is an essential part of language and a process in which learners use different strategies and resources. In this context, comics are one of the didactic resources that play an important role in learning vocabulary since the combination of their elements (images and text) helps learners memorise and remember a word, expression, or concept more easily (Csabay, 2006). Comics are stories in which pictures and several words are included (Marianthi et al.,2016). The use of pictures allows students to create a story by generating ideas without difficulty and in chronological order (Darsalina et al., 2016). Comics are thus a great form of visual communication that helps students enhance their vocabulary more easily. Fatimah et al (2019) confirm that comics combine pictures, text, and other visual information components that permit learners to receive information as well as express ideas.
The two elements of comics, the written words and visual concepts together, as well as other characteristics, help students to easily remember the words they studied in class. In this regard, Tiemensma (2009) points out that the language in comics, which is usually brief and much simpler than it is in other types of texts, contributes to recalling the vocabulary that students have learned. All these elements promote students’ engagement and motivation to learn vocabulary. Furthermore, Wright (2003) asserts that the use of comics has many advantages, such as improving students’ learning, enhancing students’ communicative and competencies, increasing learners’ attention and students’ engagement, among others.
ToonDoo was one of the free and fully online comic creators that allowed learners to improve their vocabulary because of its characteristics. It has many functions for creating and personalising comics (Figure 1). These benefits make students feel more confident and more motivated to use comics for their vocabulary learning. Kirchoff and Cook (2015), describe ToonDoo as an easy, powerful, free, and engaging web based application for creating comics in a user friendly interface. The application provides the option of showing the characters' emotions such as happiness, anger, sadness, or disappointment (Fatimah et al., 2019).
A number of studies have been conducted on using comics to enhance English vocabulary. Ayar and Kiziltan (2020) carried out quasi experimental research to examine the effect of cartoons on vocabulary acquisition strategies of Turkish EFL learners who worked with three English literature classics, Treasure Island, Great Expectations, and Romeo & Juliet. A vocabulary learning strategy test was administered to reveal students’ preferred strategies. The control group consisted of 20 participants who were randomly selected and who worked on excerpts in plain text without any cartoons, while 47 students in the experimental group had the opportunity to work with cartoons. The findings revealed that the most frequent vocabulary learning strategies used by the experimental group were determination and metacognitive strategies, while the control group mostly used memory, social and metacognitive strategies. The results demonstrated different gender strategies: girls practised determination and memory strategies, whereas boys preferred social, metacognitive, and cognitive strategies.
Fatimah et al. (2019) carried out a study on the use of ToonDoo for teaching English short stories, and the advantages of this resource in EFL instruction. The participant was a pre service teacher, who created a reflection journal at three points: after ToonDoo was introduced; after he created ToonDoo cartoons; and after he taught, using ToonDoo for teaching short stories. The researcher created a reflection template for writing the journal and the participant was interviewed to analyse the process of making cartoons and the process of instruction using ToonDoo. The results showed that this web based resource enabled instructors to design comic strips easily and share them with learners. This resource can be useful in improving learners’ speaking skills. ToonDoo can be effectively applied to engage learners’ imagination and increase their ability to express their thoughts in the target language, thus creating a meaningful learning experience and a confident classroom environment.
Calisto Miranda et al. (2018) conducted research in Chile, the purpose of which was to investigate the participants’ performance before and after a comic based instructional sequence for teaching EFL vocabulary. Seventeen and ten students from two educational institutions participated in the study which involved intervention sessions (called Vocabulary Through Comics) for teaching new words. The participants had the opportunity to receive comic based training, including classroom activities for producing comics based on the words learned in the lesson. Pre and post tests were administered before and after the implementation process. The findings revealed that there was a statistically substantial difference between the pre and post test scores. The researchers concluded that using comics as a teaching approach was successful because the participants demonstrated that they had improved their knowledge of new words in the target language.
The quasi experimental study conducted by Cabrera et al. (2018) aimed at examining the impact of using the technological tool, Pixton, to improve grammatical and lexical instruction. The sample comprised 163 junior high school students. They were organised into a control group of 78 participants and an
experimental group of 85 learners. The students in the control group received their regular instruction without the use of Pixton resources, whereas the participants in the experimental group used supplementary materials designed with Pixton. The data were collected through surveys, observations, and pre and post tests. After quantitative and qualitative data analysis, findings showed that the use of Pixton had a significant influence on the participants’ grammar and vocabulary knowledge; in addition, participants considered that using this tool was motivating and beneficial for their learning.
Ahmadi et al. (2017) explored the influence of children's comic strip stories on incidental vocabulary learning. The participants were 40 Iranian beginner learners who were organized into an experimental group (20 learners) and a control group (20 learners) on the basis of their shared similar linguistic and background knowledge. All participants’ knowledge was measured through a pre test, a post test, and a scale of vocabulary knowledge (VKS). The participants in the experimental group had the opportunity to listen to the comics and work with them. The results show that listening to comic strip stories had a statistically meaningful effect on both groups of students' vocabulary learning. The findings revealed a substantial difference in the vocabulary score between learners in the experimental group and those in the control group.
The purpose of the research conducted by Robles (2017) was to evaluate the implementation of ToonDoo as a resource for collaborative e learning and to identify its impact on the learners' performance. The participants included 44 purposely selected third year students at Mindanao State University, General Santos City. The researcher used a mixed method approach which involved observations, experiences, and the participation of designated key respondents in focus group exchanges. The aforementioned activities were cross validated with accessible secondary information and other associated registers. Findings revealed that the learners had positive responses regarding the implementation of digital comics. The results demonstrated that the use of this tool positively affected the participants’ learning
A quasi experimental design was used in this study. This approach involved participants who were not randomly assigned to a group but were already part of a group established before the intervention (Fernández, et.al, 2014). The present research was conducted in three of the four regions of Ecuador. The participants were 262 public high school students (156 female and 106 male) whose ages ranged from 12 to 14 years. They were divided into control (128) and experimental (134) groups. The participants were enrolled in the eighth and ninth years of Educación General Básica Superior. These EFL learners belong to the A1 level of proficiency of the CEFR (Council of Europe, 2001) and the regulations by the Ecuadorian Ministry of Education (2016).
Instrument Purpose
Online pre test Used to assess the participants’ vocabulary knowledge.
Online post test Administered to determine if there were substantial differences between the scores of the control and experimental groups in vocabulary learning. It included the same components as the pre test
Perception questionnaire Applied to understand the students’ opinions of the use of digital comics during the workshops as a resource for improving vocabulary learning.
Number of items
20 multiple choice items according to the students’ proficiency level.
20 multiple choice items according to the students’ proficiency level.
Eight items for eliciting answers on a Likert scale.
The instruments were pilot tested with 45 EFL learners; using Cronbach’s alpha, the instruments obtained a reliability score of 0.75.
This study was carried out for three months during which time students received explicit vocabulary instruction. Before the implementation, all participants completed a pre test. Based on the pre test results, six workshops were planned and carried out via the Zoom platform because of the COVID 19 pandemic. The one hour workshops were offered twice a month. Although both groups participated in the workshops, the experimental group had to complete activities to learn and practise vocabulary using digital comics, whereas the learners in the control group used supplementary resources and the textbook developed by the Ecuadorian Ministry of Education. Initial training for using digital comics was offered for the students in the experimental group as well as continuous guidance for solving any difficulties participants faced during the workshops.
After the intervention, students took a post test that allowed the researchers to determine whether the results of the students in both groups exhibited any differences in vocabulary acquisition. In addition, the students’ perceptions regarding the use of digital comics during the workshops were investigated by a questionnaire that was given to the participants in the experimental group. All the gathered data were analysed quantitatively using a t test to determine whether there was a significant difference in the student’ s pre test and post test scores within and between groups. The analysis of the results allowed the researchers to answer the research questions and draw conclusions.
4.1.
Statistical analysis showed that the students’ vocabulary performance differed significantly in favour of the experimental group who were exposed to using digital comics. The pre test and post test scores displayed statistical differences
which indicated that using digital comics enhanced students’ vocabulary, particularly during the pandemic. The pre test results evidenced a slight difference (0.22) between the control (5.62 out of 10) and the experimental (5.84) groups. However, the post test scores (Table 2) demonstrated a significant improvement (2.81 points of difference) for the experimental group (8.88 out of 10) compared to the control group (6.06). These results show that using digital comics had a positive impact on EFL the vocabulary learning of the students in the experimental group. These findings align to those of Calisto Miranda et al. (2018) in which pre and post test scores demonstrated that comic based instruction was effective in learning vocabulary. Likewise, Erina et al. (2017) proved that teaching new words by using comics improved the learners’ vocabulary acquisition and created a good learning atmosphere.
Table 2: Post test results Post test
Group Experimental Control
Mean 8.8880 6.0667 SD 9.4245 1.6283
P value = 0.0434
Table 3 provides analysis of the data gathered in the perception questionnaire concerning the second research question related to the students’ opinions of the use of digital comics for improving EFL vocabulary learning.
The majority (78%) of the participants strongly agreed that digital comics were useful for learning EFL vocabulary. Certainly, digital comics helped students remember new words easily and enhanced their creative skills (Wilujeng & Lan, 2015). Likewise, 82% of the students perceived digital comics as an original resource that allowed them to acquire new EFL vocabulary. With regard to motivation, most of the students (68%) found that this resource motivated them to learn new words in the target language. This finding corroborates Velandia (2016) who found that using digital comics was strongly motivating for students because it allowed them to learn the target language in an enjoyable way. Fatimah et al. (2019), too, acknowledge that digital comics promote the students’ intrinsic motivation to learn and benefit from this technological resource.
In terms of the quality and image resolution of digital comics, the participants strongly agreed (78%) that these characteristics were engaging aspects when learning vocabulary. These findings align with those of Puspasari (2019) which evidenced that the use of digital comics motivated learners, fostered their interest, and facilitated EFL learning in a confident atmosphere. In addition, Wilujeng and Lan (2015) affirm that digital comics make a course more entertaining and facilitate language learning.
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Most of the learners (66%) confirmed that they had the opportunity to learn vocabulary in context using digital comics As for the creation of personalised characters, 68% of the participants strongly agreed that this aspect of digital comics allowed them to create their cartoons by using the components of web based application tools such as the selection of characters, props, clip art, and text bubbles (Tahsaldar & Semaan, 2018; Fatimah et al., 2019).
Concerning the design of scenes in digital comics, 71% of the students strongly agreed with the benefits of this characteristic. The opportunity to create different settings for their comics increased their motivation to study (Fatimah et al., 2019; Wilujeng & Lan, 2015). Velandia (2016) has also shown that digital comics are beneficial because they allow students to clarify an idea from verbal or textual display to visual display, and then create their unique representation of an idea. Most participants (63%) expressed their willingness to continue learning EFL vocabulary using digital comics. This implies that the use of digital comics increased the participants’ motivation to enhance their vocabulary learning and linguistic competence.
Items Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree
Digital comics were useful for learning EFL vocabulary.
Digital comics were an original resource for learning EFL vocabulary.
I felt motivated when using digital comics.
I liked the quality and image resolution of digital comics.
I could learn EFL vocabulary in context through the use of digital comics.
I could create personalised characters through the use of digital comics.
I could design scenes using digital comics.
I would like to continue learning EFL vocabulary by using digital comics.
78% 12% 7% 3% 0%
82% 10% 7% 1% 0%
68% 24% 5% 2% 1%
78% 12% 7% 2% 1%
66% 10% 18% 5% 1%
68% 13% 12% 5% 2%
71% 15% 10% 3% 1%
63% 19% 15% 3% 0%
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Digital comics have a positive impact on EFL vocabulary learning. The results of the post test provide remarkable evidence that the use of digital comics enhanced the vocabulary performance of the experimental group, particularly during the COVID 19 pandemic when an innovative strategy for EFL vocabulary acquisition was necessary to enhance students’ learning.
Students considered that the use of digital comics was an original, useful, and motivating way to enhance vocabulary knowledge, implying that when selecting tools for creating digital comics to learn EFL vocabulary, these characteristics should be considered for successful implementation.
The quality and image resolution, the option to create personalised characters as well as the design of settings were some of the advantages participants regarded as valuable when using digital comics for learningEFL vocabulary in context. This implies that students enjoy using tools that allow them to customise their own digital stories and use recently learned vocabulary
Learners’ insights regarding the use of digital comics to improve EFL vocabulary acquisition were predominantly positive, and they are likely to continue using it for improving their linguistic skills.
Since this study was conducted under the COVID 19 pandemic conditions in which the workshops were developed through Zoom meetings, the main limitation was access to good quality internet connections. Further research might consider the use of digital comics for teaching specific linguistic skills in on site learning environments.
The authors of this work wish to acknowledge the financial support of Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja for promoting research and technological innovation through the EFL Learning, Teaching, and Technology Research Group.
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