Vol 2 no 1 february 2014 by ijlter.org

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

International Journal of Learning, Teaching And Educational Research

Vol.2 No.1

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research

The International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research is an open-access journal which has been established for the disChief Editor Dr. Antonio Silva Sprock, Universidad Central de semination of state-of-the-art knowledge in the Venezuela, Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of field of education, learning and teaching. IJLTER welcomes research articles from academics, edEditorial Board ucators, teachers, trainers and other practitionProf. Cecilia Junio Sabio ers on all aspects of education to publish high Prof. Judith Serah K. Achoka quality peer-reviewed papers. Papers for publiProf. Mojeed Kolawole Akinsola Dr Jonathan Glazzard cation in the International Journal of Learning, Dr Marius Costel Esi Teaching and Educational Research are selected Dr Katarzyna Peoples through precise peer-review to ensure quality, Dr Christopher David Thompson originality, appropriateness, significance and Dr Arif Sikander readability. Authors are solicited to contribute Dr Jelena Zascerinska to this journal by submitting articles that illusDr Gabor Kiss trate research results, projects, original surveys Dr Trish Julie Rooney Dr Esteban Vázquez-Cano and case studies that describe significant adDr Barry Chametzky vances in the fields of education, training, eDr Giorgio Poletti learning, etc. Authors are invited to submit paDr Chi Man Tsui pers to this journal through the ONLINE submisDr Alexander Franco sion system. Submissions must be original and Dr Habil Beata Stachowiak should not have been published previously or Dr Afsaneh Sharif be under consideration for publication while Dr Ronel Callaghan Dr Haim Shaked being evaluated by IJLTER. Dr Edith Uzoma Umeh Dr Amel Thafer Alshehry Dr Gail Dianna Caruth Dr Menelaos Emmanouel Sarris Dr Anabelie Villa Valdez Dr Özcan Özyurt Assistant Professor Dr Selma Kara Associate Professor Dr Habila Elisha Zuya

VOLUME 2

NUMBER 1

February 2014

Table of Contents The Impact of Culture and Language Sensitive Physics on Concept Attainment ......................................................... 1 Marie Paz E. Morales The Effect of Explicit and Recast Feedback on the Intermediate EFL Learnersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Listening Self-efficacy ................... 30 Samane Naderi The Role of Community-Based Information Centers in Development: Lessons for Rural Zimbabwe ..................... 44 Shadreck Ndinde and Webster Kadodo Influential Factors and Their Correlation on Student Imagination ................................................................................ 54 Chao-Tung Liang and Chaoyun Liang Investigating the Relationship between English Language Anxiety and the Achievement of School based Oral English Test among Malaysian Form Four Students ....................................................................................................... 67 Lim Hooi Lian and Mardziah Bt Budin Influencing Tax Compliance in SMEs through the Use of ICTs .................................................................................... 80 Edison Wazoel Lubua (PhD) Strategic Intervention Material-Based Instruction, Learning Approach and Studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; Performance in Chemistry ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 91 Edwin I. Salviejo, Fidela Q. Aranes and Allen A. Espinosa The Perceived Influence of Learning Environment on Design Student Imagination ................................................ 124 Ju-Sen Lin and Chaoyun Liang

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 2, No.1, pp. 1-29, February 2014

The Impact of Culture and Language Sensitive Physics on Concept Attainment Marie Paz E. Morales Educational Policy Research and Development Center Philippine Normal University 1000 Manila, Philippines Abstract. The study was designed to determine gains in student concept attainment using culture and language sensitive physics. Pangasinan learners of the Philippines were culturally profiled by determining the cultural dimensions, epistemological beliefs and studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; views on integration of culture and language in the teaching and learning process. The unique cultural profile of the learners was used to design culture and language sensitive curriculum materials in physics. The designed culture and language sensitive curriculum materials presented physics lessons and activities using the traditions, beliefs, practices, artifacts and the native language. Implementation of culture and language sensitive curriculum materials was done to determine if integration of culture and language would result to better attainment of physics concepts of the experimental participants. Pre-test and post-test comparisons of the concept attainment of the experimental participants showed significant statistical differences in favor of the experimental participants. The group showed better concept development with greater percentages of correct responses in the concept tests administered. Qualitative data deduced from interviews, focus-group-discussions, journal logs, and classroom observations showed the same trend in favor of the experimental participants. Insights deduced from the study included the idea that the use of native language must be complemented by the use of culture of the learner to achieve better concept attainment in physics. Keywords: Cultural Profiling; Culture Sensitivity; Language Sensitivity; Concept Attainment

Introduction Education is believed to play a fundamental role in human, social and economic development. It has been identified by UNESCO (2012) as one of the principal activity to contribute to peace building, poverty eradication, lasting development and inter-cultural dialogue. These aims are global in perspective but localized in approach. The localization approach is known to bring significant effects to sustainability. In consonance to the decade of education for sustainable education by UNESCO, preservation of indigenous knowledge

highlights the education of the young. These and other thematic sustainable development priorities of the organization are extensions of their initial projects that include Literacy for All (LFA) in 2000 which highlights scientific and technological literacy for all (Torres, 2000). The cultural pillar will be able to achieve its goal to integrate the principles, values, and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education to address the social, economic, cultural and environmental issues the world has to face in the 21st century. This is the current theme known as life-long learning and learning for life. Literacy, accordingly, is the foundation of life-long learning and is considered as the key element of inter- and cross-generational learning (Torres, 2000). The Philippine‘s new basic education curriculum envisions education as ―going global by being local‖. This theme conforms to those pursued by the basic education sector through its – basic education sector reform agenda - BESRA (2006-2010). Congruent with the directions of the reform agenda is the major plan of the new curriculum to integrate culture and language sensitivity into the curriculum through the inclusion of the mother tongue based multilingual education and localized senior high school curriculum (DepEd Order No. 74, s.2010). Our education sector recognized that Filipino culture is highly identified with languages and language diversity. House bill 3719 known as the multilingual education and literacy bill was crafted by legislators to promote literacy and learning by making the native language as the medium of instruction during the formative years of basic education. This was a consequence of the success of the mother tongue based instruction through the Lubuagan first language component multilingual education in 1998 (CastilloLlaneta, 2010). In response to this progress, the Department of Education (DepEd) mandated the use of the native language through DepEd Order No. 74 (s. 2009). The agency aimed to promote the use of more than two languages for literacy and instruction as a fundamental policy in the whole stretch of formal education including pre-school years. Part of the agency‘s plan was full scale implementation where the native language will be taught as a separate subject from pre-school to Grade 3 and one of the media of instruction in the whole stretch of formal education. Mother tongue based instruction emphasizes the ethnic group‘s native language as the mode of communication, mode of instruction and the language of the curriculum materials used by the students. The same objectives were revealed in several researches (Agnihotri, 2008; Collier, 2004; Fafunwa&Soyinka,1989; and Benson, 2002) which gave evidences that the longer a child is taught in his or her home language, the higher is his or her academic achievement in school. Jordan, Carlile, & Stack (2008) argued that formal education reproduces culture. Students‘ cultural perspectives influence how they construct knowledge while cultural background influences cognitive style and motivation. Aikenhead (2001) believed that cross-cultural strategies or cultural integration provides opportunities for students to learn western science content taught in the context of local community‘s traditions. They adhere to ―autonomous acculturation‖ that emphasizes learning western science content but still adhering to one‘s culture and tradition. In the Philippines, the science education institute, a

government agency managing science education in the country has started to look at new tracks to better scientifically literate learners. The agency foresees a new theme focused on ―learning according to cultural background‖ to promote sustainability and preservation of indigenous knowledge This attempt conforms to the major goals and aims of the 21stcentury skills framework (P21) which included three key elements to learning: 21st Century Interdisciplinary Themes: Global awareness, financial, economic, business and entrepreneurial literacy, civic literacy, health literacy, and environmental literacy; Learning and Innovation Skills: Communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity; and Information Media and Technology Skills: Information literacy, media literacy, and ICT literacy. Each one of these skills implementation requires the development of the core academic subject knowledge and understanding among all students. Within the context of core knowledge instruction, students must also learn the essential skills for success in today‘s world, such as critical thinking, problem solving, communication and collaboration (P21-Framework, 2008). The new curriculum envisions attaining these skills through localization of senior high school. Localization includes a curriculum emphasizing the community‘s practices, traditions, source of living and livelihood as the major focus of learning. Learners from the Ilocos region for example would promote weaving and other traditions as part of their curriculum. Students of Batangas will be trained to cultivate their traditions in coffee making and Ifugao for terracing. The aim of the study is to determine the impact of culture and language sensitive curriculum materials in physics to the concept attainment of the students. Specifically, the objectives of the study are as follows: 1. Determine the cultural dimensions, epistemological beliefs and learner‘s views on culture and language integration which will serve as bases in the development of culture and language sensitive curriculum materials in physics. 2. Describe how effective are the culture and language sensitive curriculum materials in physics in the concept attainment of learners.

Framework and Literature The cultural or indigenous preferences of the learners were the bases of development of culture and language sensitive curriculum materials in physics. This included their unique cultural dimension, epistemological beliefs, and student beliefs and views on the use of culture and language sensitive curriculum materials in learning physics concepts. Existing frameworks used in the development of the culturally-sensitive curriculum materials in physics (CSCMIP) included instructional congruence framework, cross-cultural strategy, P21 or 21st Century Framework, technological-pedagogical-content-knowledge, and understanding by design frameworks. Cultural Profile of Learners Culture was defined in several ways by Raul Pertierra (2002). It is a framework for organizing the world. It is a set of principles that locate and orient human beings within their existential realities. It is an invisible lens through which we see reality. Its categories are pre-given as language, notions of identity, gender,

nature and religion. Culture can also be a set of ideas, values, and practices as well as orientation and predisposition towards the world. He claimed that culture is consciously territorial (e.g. Ilocos for the Ilocanos). National cultures can be ethnicized or racialized while ethnic cultures can be nationalized (e.g. Bangsa Moro). Finally, he believed that ethnicity uses culture for organizational purposes. Filipino learners like other countries in Asia are culturally diverse. By ethnicity, Filipinos have 20 major ethnic groups inclusive of the minorities. The 9 major groups were Cebuano, Tagalog, Ilocano, Hiligaynon, Central Bicolano, Waray, Kapampangan, Albay-Bicolano, and Pangasinan. This cultural diversity among Filipino learners suggests that cultural or indigenous preferences are unique in each ethnic group. Distinguishing each unique cultural preference will profile the culture and language background of the ethnic group. Hofstede‘s Value Survey Module has imbedded characteristics for identifying the distinct cultural preference of a group. The module presents five cultural dimensions as power distance index (PDI), individualism index (IDV), masculinity index (MAS), uncertainty avoidance index (UAI), and long-term orientation index (LTO).This was originally designed to survey employees of different positions in corporation. Replications of the research led to application of the model to other fields such as education and learning. The module was used to establish the connection between the students‘ perception of science classroom learning environment and teacher-student interaction within the cultural perspective in the study conducted by Koul and Fisher (2004). Correlation study done by Holtbruggs&Morh (2009) matched the learning preference of management students and their cultural dimension. Other researches on cultural profiling were able to form concrete use of VSM 08 interpretation to educational dimensions. Power distance according to Cronje (2006) explained students‘ lack of self-confidence and does not take initiative. Rather, they prefer to let the apparently more powerful professor to take the responsibility. Further, he suggested that the high level of avoidance justifies why students require much guidance in terms of requirement and assessment rubric. The major differences of the cultural indices from an education perspective to describe the learning characteristics of students were determined by Baron (2008). Low power index was related to student-centered learning preference while high power index highlighted teacher-centered learning preference. Low individualism index is associated to collaboration, self-concept in terms of groups, education is learning how to do and association of students to pre-existing ties. High individualism was related to learners doing on their own initiative. The purpose of education is learning how to learn and students prefer to associate according to tasks and current needs. Low masculinity index is associated with equal treatment among sexes or genders in the classroom while high masculinity index emphasize gender bias in favor of the male gender. The forms of epistemological beliefs in learning and academic development originated from the work of Perry (1970). Perry (Schrommer, 1990) argued that an individual navigates series of sequences or positions in developing epistemological beliefs. This starts from being dualist, recognizing multiplicity,

relativist until the individual attains commitment within relativism. Epistemology was defined by Phan (2006) as a branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of knowledge and justification of beliefs. Epistemological beliefs are held beliefs about nature, nature of science and the justification of beliefs of the students. These were described in five dimensions of beliefs: stability of knowledge, structure of knowledge, source of knowledge, malleability of knowledge, and speed of learning. These five dimensions of beliefs are categorized as epistemological beliefs on knowledge and epistemological beliefs on learning (Schrommer, 1990). Magno (2011) mentioned that beliefs about knowledge and learning had a great deal of influence with the learners‘ approach in dealing with and constructing information. Several other researches indicated that epistemological beliefs predicted numerous constructs of academic performance such as comprehension, meta-comprehension, interpretation of information, higher order thinking skills, persistence in working on different academic tasks and problem-solving approaches. Beliefs about structures and certainty of knowledge predicted comprehension and interpretation of information. Beliefs about speed of learning and the ability to learn were identified to predict comprehension, valuing of education and overall performance (Phan, 2006). Stathopoulon and Vosniadu (2006) revealed that epistemological beliefs may be better predictors of conceptual change in Physics than their physics grades. Students focused exclusively on experimental evidence, logical reasoning, practice and authority (May and Etkina, 2002). Low conceptual gainers were more likely than others to mention learning activities that were epistemologically less desirable learning formulas without heading their conceptual implications, learning from authority and predicting and testing without interpretation. High gainers were more frequently referred to preference to reasoning and interpretation of experimental results and showed more concern for the coherence of knowledge than their counter parts implying that when it comes to learning physics concepts, epistemology of students mattered (May &Etkina, 2002). There were several researches (You, Yang & Choi, 2001; Bernardo, 2008; Chan & Elliot, 2004) on epistemological beliefs explored through cross-cultural studies. Beliefs on the nature of knowledge and learning were argued to be culturally-specific particularly comparing Western and Asian educational systems. Bernardo and Calleja (2005) found out that epistemology of learning in the Philippines is basically guided by how educators teach subjects in schools. Filipino instructors created ―simple lesson plan‖ and ―taught with minimal effort‖ by employing ―simple and light‖ forms of classroom discussion and activities. While these teachers are said to be more effective in simple-thinking task, findings revealed that these teachers still regarded learning as a complicated process. Bernardo (2008) revealed that pre-service teachers experienced difficulty in shifting to and implementing complex learning in their classroom practices since they have always been exposed to the Philippine educational system concentration on ―simple learning‖. Filipino pre-service teachers according to Bernardo (2008) took into consideration their beliefs, values, and feelings as they evaluate which options will bring about optimal teaching-learning outcome. The state of cognitive processing of teachers may

influence students‘ thinking which would result to non-critical and non-creative science learners creating low concept gainers in science. This may be revoked if cultural view is integrated in the teaching and learning process grounded on the fact that learners and pre-service teachers evaluate learning through their beliefs, values and feelings which are culturally influenced. Instructional Congruence Framework Learning science should be implemented in the context of students‘ culture and experience (Basu and Barton, 2007). Students‘ culture as a relevant source and strategies of teaching and learning was expected to result to more interesting and meaningful teaching of science. Mediating the nature of academic content with the students‘ language and cultural experience is the highlight of instructional congruence framework (Lee, Maerten-Rivera, Penfield, LeRoy, &Secada, 2007 and Johnson, 2005). The framework presents an approach of using students‘ cultural background to enhance learning of the content. This framework includes four major characteristics to ensure that prototype curriculum materials would acquire the needed properties for cultural integration. The four main features are teacher‘s role in learning, delivery of the content, relating learning of science content and learning literacy, and the principles of constructivism. Many researchers believed that integrating culture in the curriculum have a good future in the attainment of success in terms of learning content. Cultural experiences were the knowledge that students have obtained from their community. Students‘ language experiences are the languages used in their daily life. Lee &Lykx (2005) suggested that when the knowledge of science were incorporated with students‘ language and experiences, students would be more engaged in the learning process and science would be easier, meaningful and relevant to students. Learning environment that puts emphasis on instructional congruence could make students become bicultural, bilingual and bi-literate person not only in terms of knowledge, values and practice in science, but also in aspects of their language and culture. Other Frameworks Aikenhead‘s (2001) cross-cultural strategy familiarized students with different cultural ways to describe and explain nature. Students were presumed to feel easier and more comfortable to appreciate western science knowledge without being forced to accept and embrace the western ways of appreciating nature. The approach provided the useful processes in developing physics lessons guided by context-based models in cultural perspective. Looking into cultural learning as a means to achieve the goals of physics education a close look on the 21st Century Framework (P21) was done to ensure that the developed curriculum material are close to the preference of our students who are known as digital natives. Refining of the coherence of goals, assessment, plan, and lesson delivery would be the concern of Technological-Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) and Understanding by Design (UBD). These frameworks were used as guide in the design of culture and language sensitive curriculum materials in physics envisioned to improve student concept attainment of learners to attain higher percentage of scientific and technological literacy.

The cultural aspect of the learner and the learning process is viewed as an alternative route to achieving higher scientific and technological literacy. The knowledge of learners‘ values, traditions and beliefs can bring significant contributions in instructional design. Cultural dimension of the learners could help establish their learning characteristics in the cultural perspective. Epistemology of knowledge also highly related to the learners‘ cultural background. Being aware of how students would perceive a learning environment that injects culture and language may bring better groundwork in the design of curriculum materials. With the indexed characteristics of the learners, instructional designs could be anchored on models that focus on the use of local community‘s traditions, technological influence, and coherent designs while learning the western science content. These conditions, however, may be enhanced by gaining benefits from the use of the learners‘ native language. Methodology This study is focused on descriptive-analytical design presented in Table 1. The first stage highlights the profiling of learners. Determination of the cultural dimension, epistemological beliefs and beliefs & views on the cultural and language integration were conducted in this section. The results of the first stage were used as heart of the design and development of the culture and language sensitive curriculum materials in Physics. The second stage was an experimental study to determine the impact of culture and language sensitive curriculum materials on students‘ concept attainment. Table 1: Summary Stages of the Study

Cultural Profiling

Dimensions Cultural Dimensions  Power distance index  Individualism index  Masculinity Index  Uncertainty Avoidance Index  Long Term Orientation index Epistemological Beliefs  Stability of knowledge  Structure of knowledge  Source of knowledge  Malleability of knowledge  Speed of learning

Data Collection/ Instruments

Value Survey Module 2008

Epistemologic al Beliefs Assessment in Physical Sciences

Acronym

Data Analysis

VSM 08

Computations and analysis of data were based on VSM 08 administration module

EBAPS

Computations and analysis of data were based on EBAPS excel template

Student Views on Culture and Language Integration  Use of vernacular and culture  Students‘ views and beliefs on the integration of culture and Language  Learning Science and Learning Literacy  Teacher‘s role  Constructivism

 CS-CMIP Development

Investigation of Students‘ Concept Attainment



 

Culture and language-based principles Emphasis on Learning Science and Learning Culture, Language, and Literacy

Quantitative constructs Qualitative constructs

CulturallySensitive Physics Learning Environment Survey

Interview protocol Focus Group Discussion protocol Journal Log Coding Culturally Sensitive– Curriculum Material Evaluation Tool Pre Tests Post Test Modules for Units 1 & 2 (Culturally Sensitive Curriculum Material in Physics) Journal Logs Departmental Exam* Current Curriculum Materials*

*adopted/adapted

CS-PLES

Average ratings

CS-CMET

Transcriptions Codings Averages

CS-CMIP

CCM

Ratings Scores Transcriptions Codings Averages Post Test Comparison of student concept attainment using unit test and departmental exam (t-test) Paired sample ttest Graph of correct responses

Pre-Implementation Pilot tests were done to determine the reliability and appropriateness of the adopted instruments to the intended participants of the study. The Value Survey Module 2008 (VSM 08) is a 34-item paper-and-pencil questionnaire for comparing culturally influenced values and sentiments of similar respondents from two or more countries or regions within countries. Twenty-eight of these questions were content questions influenced by the nationality or ethnicity of the respondents. Six of these are about the demography of the respondents. Next to nationality, answers to the 28 content questions will reflect other characteristics of the respondents such as gender, age, level of education, and the point in time when they answered the questions. The instrument for determination of epistemological beliefs is a thirty-item questionnaire on a five-point Likert scale intended to measure the epistemological beliefs of students. The instrument was intentionally designed for high school and college students taking introductory physics, chemistry or physical science. It is also optimized for algebra-based courses which makes it very adapted to the Filipino physics students. The 20-item 5–point-Likert scale survey (CS-PLES) designed to determine students‘ perceptions, views or beliefs on the use of culture, traditions and language in the teaching and learning of physics concepts was validated and standardized with an internal reliability measure of =0.88. Below are sample items for CS-PLES: In general, I think that… 1. Using my community’s culture and language in learning Physics concepts can improve my language literacy in science while learning the physics concepts. 2. Alternative Assessments like projects and actual creative outputs would promote and preserve the culture, traditions and language of my community while learning physics concepts. 3. Learning physics in English as well as in the vernacular also improves my oral and writing skills which I can use when presenting science reports and results of investigations. The instruments were administered a week after the start of classes of the department of education in June of 2012 before implementing the culture and language sensitive curriculum materials. Outcomes of the pre-instruction administration of these instruments were interpreted in education perspective. The unique cultural characteristics and cultural preference of the learners identified from the interpretation were made use as bases in the development of culture and language sensitive curriculum materials in physics. Development of culture and language sensitive curriculum materials in physics The culture and language sensitive curriculum materials are presented in two sets for every unit or major theme: the student module and the teacher‘s guide. The first two major themes of physics subject were ‗Energy in the Society‘ and ‗Energy in the Environment‘. This thematic presentation of high school physics subject is a standard implemented by the department of education. © 2014 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

The student module was developed to match the existing format of science modules in the Philippines. Included parts of the student module are pre-test & post-test; discussions of the topics in cultural perspective using traditions, beliefs and practices of the learners; use of the native language (Pangasinan); activities using indigenous materials together with worksheets; journal logs where students can write their insights and views; summary; and references. An example of how culture and language was integrated is shown in the discussion on scientific method. This was presented using the native language and the discussions highlight the use of Lingayen Gulf context. Another example is a discussion on intensity of light using the lighting systems (petromax) used by the fisher folks of Pangasinan. Journal log sheets were inserted every after a major lesson of the unit. Questions in the journal log sheets were expressed in the native language. Sample questions from the journal log sheets are translated as follows: What have you learned in the lesson presented? What were your experiences in this lesson and which ones are good experiences that brought about learning? Which part(s) of the module were very useful to you or encouraged you to learn physics concepts? The last journal log sheet required the student to shift from the native language to English. This guaranteed that students are trained to easily shift to the standard language used in school (English) in preparation to the common assessment (quarterly or departmental examination) given to all participants of the study which are written in English. Wiggins‘ and McTighe‘s (2005) ‗Understanding by Design‘ framework influenced the design of the teachers‘ guide. The inclusions of the teacher‘s guide were identified goals, enduring understanding, key questions, activity listing, assessment, key to correction, summary, references, and teaching tips. Assessments in the modules and teachers‘ guide are combination of paper-andpencil test and performance tasks highlighting the Goal-Role-AudienceSituation-Product-Standard model. The three major parts of the teachers‘ guide are Phase 1- Setting the Learning: Identified goals, enduring understanding, &key questions; Phase 2 – Assessing Learning: Assessment which included the combination of paper-and-pencil test and performance tasks; and Phase 3Facilitating Learning: Activity listing and Teaching tips. Key to corrections was included as part of the teacher‘s guide together with summary of concepts and some references. Descriptive and quantitative content validation of the culture and language sensitive curriculum materials was conducted by physics and language experts who are also natives of Pangasinan. Revision of the materials was guided by the suggestions and comments of the validators. Other groups of learners from the same school where the participants are connected were interviewed to check the readability & appropriateness of the mother-tongue words and terms used. They were able to identify difficult words and had also helped in changing these words or terms appropriate to the context. Twenty one high school Physics © 2014 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

teacher rated one of the curriculum materials and five Physics experts rated both curriculum materials. Most of the evaluators rated the culture and language sensitive curriculum materials in physics with high marks with an overall rating of 4.65 out of 5.00 using the culture and language sensitive curriculum material evaluation tool developed by Morales (2013). For each of the component of the evaluation tool, averages over the number of items were done that resulted to high marks of 4.62 out of 5.0 for component 1 and 4.67 out of 5.00 for component 2. This meant that the modules had projected constructivism and languagebased principles (component 1) and had shown emphasis on learning science while learning culture, language and literacy (component 2). After integrating all the corrections and suggestions, the final copies of the culture and language sensitive curriculum materials in physics and teacher‘s guides were printed in book form and soft copies were made available online at http://cliphysicsed.weebly.com. Statistical Analysis Cultural indices were calculated by taking the mean of the scores of the participants on an item in the VSM 08. Interpretations of the computed cultural indices were done using the research results of Baron (2008). The epistemological beliefs of the participants were determined by taking the average of the students‘ scaled scores on all 30 items of the EBAPS. Each item is scored on a scale of 0 (least sophisticated) to 4 (most sophisticated). Scores in each subscale was determined by taking the mean of the scores of all the items in the identified subscale. Comparison of students‘ scores in the unit test and departmental examination were established using pre-test and post-test gains, ttests for independent sample, t-tests for paired samples and averages to determine attainment of concept by the students. Comparisons of correct responses prior to-and post- implementation of the modules were presented in graphical format. In addition, coding and analysis of verbatim answers of students in the activities included in the culture and language sensitive curriculum materials were done. Manual coding method was done to encrypt students‘ verbatim answers in the journal log sheets. Color code scheme was used using strips of paper for the language preference. The student modules were classified according to language preference (English or native language). After the classification based on language, a second layer of color coding was done to identify the specific activities that captured students‘ interest. Third layer color coding was done to match what cultural dimension, practices or beliefs are these student-chosen activities fall. The last layer of coding system was done to match the studentchosen activities with their frequency of correct responses in that particular topic. The Participants A unique set of participants were purposively identified in each stage of the study. This is presented in table 2 which includes the sampling procedure used.

Table 2: Participants of the Study Stages of the Study

Participants/Sample

Sampling Process



385 senior high school students (age group: 15-16) o 50 high school students from Pangasinan National High School

Sample size computation Purposive sampling based on percentage of population of Pangasinan natives over the whole population

 

3 natives and old folks of Pangasinan 3 Physics experts who are natives of Pangasinan 1 Physics expert who is well-versed in the native language Other groups of learners from the same school

Cultural Profiling

Development of CS-CMIP

 

Investigation of Enhancement of Science Attitude

  

89 students for the control group (IV- C Blaise Pascal & IV-A Benjamin Franklin) 39 students for experimental group (IV-B Alessandro Volta 1 teacher participant

Purposive sampling

One of the intentions of this study is to enhance the use of the traditions, beliefs and native dialect to preserve and conserve the culture and the native language. The researcher herself is a native speaker of the language (Pangasinan). Participants in the design of the culture and language sensitive modules were purposively chosen on the basis of their being natives and their expertise in physics. The three native folks were chosen for interview to gather data on practices, traditions and beliefs. The three physics teachers and the physics expert who is well-versed in the native language were invited to validate the developed culture and language sensitive curriculum materials. Implementing culture and language sensitive curriculum materials in physics The culture and language sensitive curriculum materials were implemented to the experimental participants during the first quarter of the school year 20122013. Simultaneously, the current curriculum materials were employed to the control participants. The current curriculum materials included experiments, activities, materials and text found in Science and Technology IV text book distributed to all public high school as the prescribed materials in the department of education. Text in the current curriculum materials were about concepts, activities, worksheets, seat works and performance tasks intended for the Science IV curriculum. Only one teacher was assigned to teach physics to the chosen participants. Incidentally, the teacher assigned to teach the participants do have the following characteristics necessary to properly implement the standard curriculum and the culture and language sensitive curriculum. The teacher has specialized in Physics teaching, had trainings for practical work, inquiry-based and others. He

is a native just like the chosen participants and he has already taught physics for a decade. Also it can be said that the participants‘ science content knowledge is comparable. They were identified as part of the special science classes of the fourth level of Pangasinan National High School following the special science class curriculum. As basis of qualification in special science class, the student should attain a passing mark in the science-oriented qualifying examination administered by the school. The science qualifying test is a national test developed by the science education institute in the Philippines. Procedure The value survey module was administered to extract the cultural dimensions of the learners. CS-PLES developed by Morales (2013) was used to identify the cultural inclination and the expectations of the learners on the use of culture and language sensitive curriculum materials in physics in the teaching and learning process. To completely profile and identify the cultural preferences of the learners, their epistemological beliefs were extracted using EBAPS. The complete set of cultural profile or cultural preferences of the learners was used in the design of the culture and language sensitive curriculum materials in physics. A pilot study was done to complement the cultural profile of learners in order to develop and design the culture and language sensitive curriculum materials. Old folks were interviewed to discover existing culture, artifacts, traditions, beliefs, practices and relics. From the interview transcriptions, analysis of the culture, artifacts, traditions, practices, beliefs and relics was done to determine which culture can be used in the development of the topics that were included in the curriculum materials. Document analysis was also done to complement the data culled from the interviews and the cultural profile of the participants. The first curriculum material is thematically termed as Energy in the Society. This included introductory topics such as the nature of science, products of science such as laws, theories, concepts and principles, scientific method, and measurement. Interconnection of science, technology, society and physics was the first lesson designed using the best remembered products of Pangasinan such as bagoong, bangus and bucayoand tourist spots (beach - Lingayen Gulf). These products and places form the 4 bests of Pangasinan. Other topics in this unit were developed using the same product or others found in the place. Measurement was designed using the concept of ‗bucayo making‘ and ‗bagoong production‘ and scientific method using the power plants in San Roque and Sual. These are towns located in Pangasinan. The heart of the design of the curriculum materials are culture and native language. Thus, the medium of instruction and communication of the culture and language sensitive curriculum materials is the native language. Validation included both descriptive and qualitative aspects. Three Physics experts who are fluent in Pangasinan and are natives of the place were invited to validate and revalidate the curriculum materials. Two others, a classroom Physics teacher of and a regional supervisor were invited to look into the use of the vernacular or native language in the culture and language sensitive curriculum material. Twenty one classroom teachers and four Physics experts were invited to

evaluate the culture and language sensitive curriculum materials using the culture and language sensitive curriculum material evaluation tool (Morales, 2013). The other developed instruments were also validated. Three physics content experts and one social science expert were invited to descriptively and quantitatively validate the culturally sensitive physics learning environment survey, interview and focus group discussion protocols, rubric scoring guide, and the culturally sensitive curriculum material evaluation tool. Together with the adopted instruments, these were pilot-tested to students of the same age group as the intended participant to determine the reliability. To determine how effective the culture and language sensitive curriculum on student concept attainment, experimental design was done. Prior to implementation, pre-test in two modules were administered to both groups. Implementation of the culture and language sensitive curriculum materials (modules) in physics to experimental participants lasted for a quarter. A quarter of the school year was also utilized for the implementation of the current curriculum materials to the control participants. English language was the medium of instruction used in the control group of 89 participants. They also made to use current curriculum materials as their major reference or text as prescribed by the department of education. The experimental group of 39 participants made use of the culture and language sensitive curriculum materials in physics in which the medium of communication and instruction was the native language. Rubric scoring guides, journal log sheets, interviews with selected student-participants, classroom observations, video and audio tape recordings were used to extract important observations regarding the learning process focused on concept attainment in both groups. A post-instruction administration of post-test (unit tests) was done to both groups of participants. Quarterly test or the department test was also administered as postimplementation protocol. Results and Discussion The major objective of the study was to determine the effect of culture and language sensitive curriculum materials on student concept attainment. Results of the study are presented below in two broad concepts: cultural profiling of learners and concept attainment of the learners using the culture and language sensitive curriculum material in physics focused on the learning aspect. Cultural Profiling of Learners The cultural profile of the learners was determined using the value survey module (CVSM 08), EBAPS and CS-PLES. The profile presented in Table 3 was used as ground footing in the design of the culture and language sensitive curriculum materials in physics.

Table 3: Cultural Profile of Learners

Cultural Inclination     

Studentcentered Collectivist Gender equality Rule-oriented classroom Persistence, perseverance and thriftiness

Epistemological Belief 



Perceive science as bits of knowledge, fact and formulas Movement towards higher order thinking skills Science is important in reallife. Physics knowledge is evidence-based Good work and practice promotes learning

Views of Students 



  



Students like the integration of culture and language in the learning process. They want to be consulted about the topic and the style of teaching they are most adopted to They want to give insights on the conduct of the lesson. They like use of Mother Tongue as medium of instruction. Students prefer a teacher with the following cultural traits as familiarity with the culture, practices, and tradition of the group of learners; fluency in mother tongue; and familiarity with the misconceptions brought about by the cultural background of the learners. Students would want to be empowered in terms of the conduct of teaching and learning process to achieve meaningful learning.

The culture and language sensitive curriculum materials were designed based on the cultural profile of the learners. Based from Table 3, the participants were student-centered, thus more inquiry-based activities were provided in the learning modules. The included activities boosted the learners‘ epistemological belief that Physics is evidenced-based. Their cultural dimension is suggestive of their being collectivist. Activities were designed and conducted in groups and not individualistic in approach. Their epistemological belief placed limits on the kind of questions that would be asked of them. These questions should be categorized as higher order thinking skills questions rather than convergent questions asking for facts. Excerpt from students‘ post-instruction interview answers suggests their inclination to higher order thinking skills questions. Students: Andi madam mas mainumay ta agmo la nunuten no antoy usaren mo ta mainumay ya salitaen. Makapan-focus ka ed samay tepet tan say gabay kon tepet aramay makapankonekta na aaralen ed samay kultura tayo. (No mam, it is easier to answer or recite when you do not anymore think of the words to use because we are so fluent in Pangasinan. We are not conscious about grammar not like when using English. We can focus on thinking and stating answers to the questions. We better appreciate application questions relating physics and our culture.)

Students:

Teacher:

Medyo agka mi balet tanton manebat no say tepet nen sir et singa ibaten mo labat na yes tan no. Pero no manpaeksplika aman mainumay tan mas gabay mi. (We seldom answer when our teacher ask us questions that only require a ―yes‖ or a ―no‖ answer. But if we are asked to explain, we are very eager to answer because we use the native language. Say naincounter kod sikara very expressive so ugaw no Pangasinan so usaren. Ta no English so pan-rerecite da irequest da ya Pangsinan la. Pangasinan la sir kwanda ray arum anggad ed arum ya section madam. Ta agda met na-express so gabay da. Is-are, subject-verb agreement so problema tan say grammar da no duga o andi. No man paliwawa ra say gabay da Pangasinan. Ta agda naipaliwawa no English. No maminsan aga la manrecite so ugaw na nanairapan ed English. Insan say laba-labay da amay pantutungtungan so tradisyon dya ed Pangasinan. Gabay da may activity ya inpankokonekta’y physics amay inusar yo may bagoong, bucayo, tan dayat. Ayaki dakdakel ni inbaga tan produkto’y Pangasinan. (What I encountered was students were very expressive when the native language is used. They are not conscious with the is-are verb agreement during recitation. They cannot recite and they refuse to recite when they are required to speak in English. The acitvities they like most are those that use their culture and traditions. They like the ―Inpan-kokonekta‘y physics‖ acivity where you used the concept in bagoong and bucayo making and the gulf to connect physics, environment, tehcnology. They even mentioned about all other native porducts of Pangasinan which were not included in the module.)

The learners are expressive of their need and appreciation to connect science in real-life scenarios. They like the idea that they are able to make inputs on how learning inside the classroom can be made better. The teacher claimed that the students even suggested including other native products in the discussion. Student Concept Attainment In the study, concept attainment is defined as the condition where the students were able to display or show that they were able to arrive at the scientifically accepted physics concepts. The focus of the principle of concept attainment was the changes in the students‘ held concepts in physics. These changes can happen as corrections of erroneously held prior concepts or completion of incompletely held prior knowledge. It was also perceived as the state of arriving at the scientifically accepted physics concept. Quantitatively, concept attainment was expressed through gains in pre-test and post-test in each of the culture and language sensitive module presented in Table 4.

Table 4. Paired Sample t-test of Concept Tests for Experimental Group Concept Test (CT) CS-CMIP for Unit 1 (Energy in the Society) CS-CMIP for Unit 2 (Energy in the Environment)

Pre Test Mean

Post Test Mean

Std. Deviation

pvalue

3.69

5.25

1.09

-8.92

0.00*

11.36

18.00

4.41

-9.26

0.00*

*significant (p<0.05)

The implementation of the culture and language sensitive curriculum materials to the experimental group resulted to significant mean difference between the pre-test and the post test in both modules. Culture and language sensitive curriculum materials worked well with the group resulting to significant increase in the mean of the concept test administered in each of the units. As a formative tool, the culture and language sensitive modules included activities that were initially designed to help the students in concept building and meaning making. These were rated using a rubric scoring guide which was a product of a consensus decision of the students, the teacher and the researcher. Presented in Table 5 was the frequency of scores of the students patterned using the K+12 proficiency levels (Appendix A). Table 5. Proficiency Level of the Experimental Group using CS-CMIP’s Proficiency Level Concept Test (CT) CS-CMIP (Energy in the Society) CS-CMIP (Energy in the Environment) B-Beginning

No. of Activities

12 D-Developing

74 and below

75-79

80-84

85-89

90 and above

0 (0%)

3 (7.6%)

16 (41%)

20 (51.3%)

0 (0%)

1 (2.5%)

32 (82%)

6 (15%)

0 (0%)

AP-Approaching Proficiency P-Proficient

A - Advanced

Using the K+12 curriculum‘s proficiency level, most students can be categorized within the proficient and advanced level. Only few students of this group were tagged within the approaching proficiency level. Further, no one among these students belong to the beginning and developing level. Students belonging to Alevel were able to exceed the core requirements in terms of knowledge, skills and understandings, and can transfer them automatically and flexibly through authentic performance tasks. While students within the P-level had developed the fundamental knowledge and skills and core understandings, and can transfer them independently through authentic performance tasks. These interpretations were set by the department of education as an inclusive assessment principle of K+12 curriculum implementation.

In unit 2, a clump on grade range 80-84 was observed. The students were tagged within the approaching proficiency level. At this level the students could be said to have developed the fundamental knowledge and skills and core understandings and, with little guidance from the teacher and/or with some assistance from peers. They could transfer these understandings through authentic performance tasks. It can be said that the students who used the culture and language sensitive curriculum materials displayed good performance during the course of the lesson. This resulted to significant difference in the pre-test and post-test performance. Complementary to the results of the pre-test and post-test gain of the experimental group are their coded responses in the modules. Table 6 presents a summary of the coded responses highlighting the language preference and cultural connections appreciated by students. Table 6. Summary of Journal Log Entries Language preference (n=38) Unit/ Module

English

Pangasinan

Shift in language preference

Preferred Activities/Culture/Percentage students who prefer the activity



Pangasinan products, physics connections, & measurement (76.3%)  Mind map (5.3%)  Interview/Reporting/Brainstor ming (21%) Activities  Act 1: Daluyon... (13.15%)  Act 3: SilewnaSumisigay (52.6%)  Act 4: KolornaSilew (89.5%)  Act. 5:Sayimahe.. (13.15%)  Act 6: Espijo tan Kirmat (47.4%)  Act 7: Ray diagramming (78.9%)  Act 8: Mirror Equation (36.8%)  Act 9: Refraction...(2.6%)  Act 10: LenteLente (2.6%)  Act 11: Ray tracing (28.94%)  Act 12:PinholeKamera (2.6%) Insights  Application is on buying fish we see diff color than the real one with a different light.  There are difficult terms but as a whole it is better than English.  What we learned are all useful in daily living.



Group collaboration in performing and answering activities. It is in Act 3 where they recognized the hardships encountered by fisher folks There are topics where learning them in the dialect is easy there are others however which appear difficult. Difficulty encountered in dealing with mathematical equations using the dialect

In the first unit, more than half of the experimental group preferred to use English rather than the native language as medium of instruction. In the second unit, 52.6% of the students preferred English rather than the native language. There were several reasons mentioned by the students for this preference. The scientific or technical terms could not be translated. There were few words that could be used in the native language compared to English. Students had difficulty reading and writing native language words because they don‘t know the standard or acceptable spelling and other syntax. Different places were using different terms to mean the same event, thing or instance. These were the same difficulties identified by UNESCO (2002) in implementing mother-tongue instruction and mother tongue-based instruction. On the other hand, there were about 31.6% of the students from the experimental group in the first unit and 23.7% in the second unit who preferred to use the native language rather than English language specifically in the oral discourse. These students claimed that they could easily express themselves without fear of being humiliated because of grammatical errors in oral discourse. They further mentioned that they were more active participants of the class as they were not focused on sentence construction during oral discourse but they gave all their attention to the details of the concepts and thus they easily understand the lesson. These were the same reasons marked by 5.2% of the students in the first unit and 23.7% of the students in second unit who shifted from the belief that they were better off in English language to an embrace of the native language as the medium of instruction in the next lesson. The cultural views of the students were gathered from the journal log entries. This was done by including as part of the journal log sheet questions on the preferred activities of the particular module. In the first unit, most of the students (76.3%) appreciated the activities that included Pangasinan products, physics connections, & measurement. Twenty one percent like interviewing, reporting and brainstorming of non-tangible culture (beliefs, traditions, and practices) and tangible culture such as the products (Bagoong, Beaches, Bangus, Bucayo). Five percent of the class said they enjoy activities dealing with or designing mind maps. In the second unit, the most appreciated activities were SilewnaSumisigay; KolornaSilew; Espijo tan Kirmat; ray diagramming; mirror

equation; and ray tracing. They said that they were very interested in these activities because they were so practical and they were connected to their ways of life as natives. They were able to appreciate the concept of colors as applied to buying and selling fish. They were even empathetic with the ways of living of the fisher folks. They had a first-hand experience of knowing the science behind catching fish using different light intensities. From these experiences they were able to realize that the activities mentioned were very useful in everyday activities of the students. Though they mentioned difficulty in dealing with mathematical equations and some technical terms in the native language, the students still expressed that they were better off with the native language than English as the medium of instruction. These students also claimed that they learned best with collaboration with peers in performing all the activities. This matched with the diagnosed cultural background of the group with low individualism index which means that teachers deal with students as groups, students‘ individual initiatives were discouraged, and languages in which the word ―I‖ is not pronounced rather self –concept is expressed in terms of group. Some connections were also identified with the epistemological beliefs of the students that matched with their insights. The interpretations were not far from the insights provided by the students where they specifically mentioned the usefulness of what they were learning and doing in daily living. Thus from these results and consequences, using the students‘ cultural profile or cultural preference to customize curriculum materials integrating culture and language resulted to significant gains in the students‘ attainment of concept. This was not far from the claim of several researches conducted by UNESCO (2008). Findings of the researches emphasized that the use of local languages as medium of instruction does not suffice to guarantee optimum effectiveness of teaching and learning. It was concluded that the use of the national languages in education could not be maximally successful without revising teaching methods and developing adequate teaching and learning materials. Post implementation interview conducted with several students from the experimental group were used to verify all data collected from the concept tests as well as journal log entries. The teacher-participant and one of the evaluators of the module joined the post-implementation interview. Below are some excerpts of the transcribed interviews. Students: Amay diad English wala ray terms ya mairap ya ipaliwawa ta aralem. Amay diadPangasinan na-explain ya maong ta natalusan ni ta nen ugaw kami et aman lay gamit min salita. (In English there are terms that are very difficult to explain and cannot be easily understood. In Pangasinan it is better because we easily understand what is meant by the teacher because it is the language that we have been using since wewere kids.) Students: Ta mairap min talusan may libro ya blue madam katon amay module souusaren mi tan awit mi met ya lanang. (It is very hard to understand the concepts in the blue book for highschoolphysics so we always bring the modules instead because it is very easy to learnphysics with the modules.) © 2014 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

Teacher Nato: Say sakey labat ya problema madam ta aramay araralem ya salita ag da la natalusan. Singa amay salming tan lente. (The only problem maâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;am was the use of oldPangsinan terms that appears to bedifficult to the students). Students: Ag mi la balet natalusan iman. Marakep met balet ta dakel so naaral min aliwa labatya Physics no agta kultura tan amayamay ya salita ed Pangasinan. (We cannotunderstand old Pangasinan terms but we are still positive with theintegration ofculture and langauge because we are not only learning Physics butwe are also taught the culture and language of Pangasinan.) From the excerpts, congruence in the following was observed. The use of the native language was really beneficial to the students specifically in meaning making. There were some difficulties with regards the use of the native language as the medium of instruction such as inadequate vocabulary to wholly translate the English counterpart of the concept being explained and non-standardization of native language terms thus making students encounter different terms that may mean the same phenomena. In-depth explanation of terms was achieved by the teacher and the student as they only focus on learning the concept and not understanding the language. An appreciation of learning Physics through learning the culture and language. Mother tongue based instruction was best accompanied by curriculum materials integrating culture and language to achieve optimum results. To determine how effective are the culture and language sensitive curriculum materials in student concept attainment compared to the current curriculum materials, t-test for independent sample was computed for the post-test of the control and experimental group in the two modules. These are presented in Table 7. Table 7. Comparing (t-test) Post-Test of Units 1 and 2 (CS-CMIP) CS-CMIP Unit Unit 1 Unit 2

Grouping

Mean

Std. Deviation

Control Experimental Control

85 39 82

4.37 5.25 14.85

1.11 1.31 3.8

-3.86 -3.74 -4.527

Experimental

18.00

2.7

-4.601

* equal variances assumed

p-value 0.00*/0.01** 0.00*/0.00**

** equal variances not assumed

The observed difference in the mean of the control and the experimental groups was significant at 95% level of confidence. In both modules, the experimental group to whom the culture and language sensitive curriculum materials were used as the intervention material significantly performed better as compared to their counterparts (control group) on which the current curriculum materials were used. Thus, in terms of post-test results, the culture and language sensitive materials displayed better efficacy in concept attainment of students than the

current curriculum materials. This was due to the following reasons. The culture and language sensitive modules were designed according to the cultural and language background and preferences of the students. The modules used culture and language as the major focus in the learning of physics concepts and principles. The modules were new to the students; and the modules made use of the native language as the medium of communication and instructions. To validate the results in Table 7, the departmental test scores of the control and the experimental group were compared. The statistical comparison of the departmental scores is presented in Table 8. Table 8. Comparing (t-test) the Departmental Test Grouping

Mean

Std. Deviation

p-value

Control Group Experimental Group

86 39

32.78 35.79

6.13 3.09

-2.95 -3.71

0.004*/0.000**

* equal variances assumed

** equal variances not assumed

The observed difference in the mean of the two groups was statistically significant in favor of the experimental participants. This verified that the culture and language sensitive curriculum materials gave significantly better results in terms of physics concept attainment. To further explore the capability of the culture and language sensitive curriculum materials to attain concept attainment, percentages of students with correct responses in each of the items of the two concept/unit tests per module were determined. Comparison of the increase in the percentage of students with correct responses in both groups is presented in Table 9. Table 9. Comparing the Percentage of Students with Correct Responses CSCMIP

Unit 1

Unit 2

Participants

Mean

S.D.

p-value

Pre-Test

Post-Test

Pre-Test

Post-Test

Control (89)

37.60

42.92

28.16

32.31

0.052

Experimental (40)

36.00

55.50

27.08

36.49

*0.004

Control (89)

30.05

36.76

14.8

19.11

0.055/

Experimental (40)

30.50

46.36

16.54

22.74

*0.001

*significant at p<0.05

Higher mean percentages were observed in the post tests for both the control and experimental group as compared to their respective pre-tests. A significant increase was only attributed to the experimental group in both modules. Thus, more students from the experimental group were able get correct responses for the given items in the concept tests in both units. Graphs of correct responses are presented in Figures 1 and 2 for the first module.

Percentage of Students with correct responses

Percentage vs Pre-Test Items 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Control (89) Experimental (40)

Pre-Test Items

Figure 1: Percentage of Correct Responses vs. pre-Test Items of Unit 1

Greater percentage of students who obtained correct responses in the pre-tests belonged to the control group except in item nos. 9 and 10 on which no student obtained correct response. These items attributed to the control group were focused on the definition of the terms science, physics, technology, and hypothesis. Very low and zero percentage of student correct responses were observed in both groups in items 4, 6, 7 and 8 respectively which were focused on concepts on scientific theory, scientific laws, and other major parts of scientific method. Thus, both groups were already a-depth in terms of definition of terms related to the study of physics but were not knowledgeable enough to get correct responses in the concepts related to scientific method, scientific theories and laws. Although a greater percentage of student correct responses were observed in the control group, the trend in the concepts held by the student was the same with the experimental group.

Percentage of Students with Correct Responses

Post-Test Items vs. Percentage 120 100 80 60 Control (89)

Experimental (40)

20 0 1

Post-Test Items Figure 2: Percentage of Correct Responses vs. Post-Test Items of Unit 2

The increase observed in the experimental group was significant compared to the observed increase in the control group. A dramatic difference was monitored in all items except item no.1. This means that students‘ held concepts on the definitions of science, technology, physics and hypothesis were better enhanced in the control group. The experimental group did a lot better in the items (item nos. 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9) where both groups experienced difficulty getting the correct response in the pre-test. These items were primarily focused on the concepts of scientific method, scientific laws and theories. Thus, the cultural intervention (use of the context of the Pangasinan 4B’s: Bagoong, Beaches, Bucayo, and Bangus combining this with the context of San Roque Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plant in San Manuel Pangasinan) made learning of definitions and concepts of science, physics, technology and hypothesis easily attained by the experimental group as compared to the control group. Further, a better concept attainment was observed in scientific method, scientific laws and theories using the context of local beliefs, traditions, and artifacts as cultural integration in the concept development. The same observations were culled from the second module. Both the control and the experimental groups were at par in terms of the percentage of students with correct responses in item nos. 1, 6, 12, 16, 24, 32, and 33. These items were distributed to the three major topics of unit 2 which included light and spectroscopy, reflection and refraction. More pre-test items were observed to have marked a greater percentage of students with correct responses in favor of the control group. However, after the implementation of culture and language sensitive modules to the experimental group, greater percentage of students with correct responses were registered in all items as compared to the control group except in item nos. 1, 16, 20, 21, 22, 27, 30, and 32. Item nos. 1 and 27 were focused on speed of light, while item nos. 20, 21, and 22 were on refractive indices, and item nos. 30 and 31 were on index of refraction. These topics were discussed in the culture and language sensitive curriculum material using the

traditional and the usual presentation of the lesson except that the native language was used as medium of communication and instruction. On the other hand, a large difference was observed in the percentage of students with correct responses in all the other items in favor of the experimental group. It can be deduced that successful and enhanced concept attainment in the following topics: luminosity; image formation in plane and spherical mirrors; and refraction of light and lenses was achieved by the experimental group. This was through native language and culture integration (use of petromaxand use of superstitious beliefs and tangible culture such as wood and mirrors). These findings conform to the assumptions of instructional congruence framework and UNESCO (2008) findings that language integration in the teaching and learning process will only be successful with the proper materials on which culture was also integrated. Conclusion and Recommendations The use of culture and language sensitive curriculum materials attained higher degree of concept formation of the students. Deep meaning making of physics concepts was achieved by matching the lesson presentation, topic discussion, and medium of instruction to the cultural background or cultural preference of the learners. Students‘ post-implementation interviews verified the idea that utilizing students‘ cultural and epistemological background in the design of curriculum materials makes the curriculum material best fit for meaning making of physics concepts for the students. This allowed the students to concentrate on the deep understanding of the concepts while they are immersed in their own culture and language. This made learning of physics concepts more connected to them. They see physics as something that would enrich their knowledge of their roots and native language which boosts their motivation to learn. They view learning of physics concepts as something that has real-life significance. On the details of learning, they are able to engage in deep processing of information and physics concepts using the same schema of thinking they often use as when they are engaging in their daily decision making. They are able to employ patterns of assimilation similar to how they assimilate daily and real-life concepts. Learning physics using culture and language sensitive materials made students experience concept attainment in physics in their natural learning setting. They did not experience what other physics students encounter. Others face the awkward feeling of nervousness and anxiety when entering a physics class as they anticipate a shift to a new world while entering their classroom. Instead, it still feels like ―home‖ whenever students start engaging in physics taught in culture and native language perspective. This made learning of physics fun, more comfortable, relaxing, and satisfying on the part of both the students and the teacher. Curriculum designers could peek into the process of integrating culture and language in the development of meaningful curriculum materials in science. Since only one ethnic group was used in this study, others could use the framework to extend the investigation to all other ethnic groups in the Philippines or to other countries of diverse cultural background. Curriculum

developers can design culture and language sensitive curriculum materials that make use of religious beliefs, practices and traditions such as celebration of fiesta and the like. It may also extend to utilize local games or those known as ―larong-lahi‖ (local games) in the lesson development or as part of the activities. A longitudinal research may be adopted for better data gathering and analysis. This research may explore not only the learning aspect but the teaching aspect of science concepts as well. It would encompass a triangulation of the cognitive, affective and psychomotor aspects of teaching and learning process. Progress of the learners in all these domains of learning would be monitored and matched with the different stages of their psychological development. In the teaching aspect, series of in-service training programs on integration of culture and language in the teaching of science would be utilized for the experimental process on the teaching aspect. The investigation may also be used in aligning the pre-service physics teacher curriculum and professional development programs of physics teachers. These efforts may be able to achieve the goals and recommendations of ASEAN 2015 (asean.org 2012) which is to build socio-cultural capital by linking culture to national development; harness indigenous knowledge system and practices, and promote the country‘s cultural strengths for ASEAN cooperation and participation and completion of information regarding cultural or social profiles of citizens of a country at the regional and provincial levels to distinctly characterize each ethnicity according to cultural and epistemological learning. This paradigm could include cognitive styles of the students per ethnic group for more characterization of the uniqueness of each ethnic group of learners.

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Bernardo, A.B.I. (2008). Exploring epistemological beliefs of bilingual pre-service teachers in the Filipino and English languages. The Journal of Psychology, Vol. 142(2), pp 193-208. Castillo-Llaneta, C. (2010). The Language of Learning: Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education in the Philippines. The Forum 11(2). Chan, K.W., & Elliott, R.G. (2000). Exploratory study of epistemological beliefs of Hong Kong teacher education students: Resolving conceptual and empirical issues. Asia Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 28(3), pp 225-234. Collier, V. and Thomas, W. 2004.The astounding effectiveness of dual language education for all.NABE Journal of Research and Practice, 2(1).Retrieved from http://njrp.tamu.edu/2004/PDFs/Collier.pdf. Cronjé, J. (2006). Interpreting cross-cultural blended teaching and learning along Hofstede‘s cultural. Retrieved from www.dimensionsemerge2006.net/connect/site/UploadWSC/emerge2006/file3 2/. DepEd Discussion Paper. 05 October 2010: Discussion Paper On The Enhanced K+12 Basic Education Program. Elby, A. (1999).Epistemological Beliefs Assessment for Physical Science Retrieved fromhttp://www2.physics.umd.edu/~elby/EBAPS/home.htm. Fafunwa, A., Macauley, J. &Soyinka, J. (eds) (1989).Education in MotherTongue. TheIfe PrimaryEducationResearch Project (1970-1978). Ibadan: UniversityPress. Hofstede, G. (2008). VSM 08: Values survey module 2008 Questionnaire English Languageversion. Retrieved fromwww.geerthofstede.com/media/229/manualvsm08.doc. Holtbrügge, D. & Mohr, A. (Working Paper-2009). Learning style preferences of management students – A cross-cultural perspective. Retrieved fromhttp://www.manag.brad.ac.uk/people/people.php?name=atmohr. House Bill 3719.Multilingual (MLE) and Literacy Bill.Retrieved from www.congress.gov.ph/download/journals_14/j011.pdf. Johnson, C. (2005). Making instruction relevant to language minority students at the middle level. Middle School Journal.Vol. 37(2), 10-14. Jordan, A., Carlile, O., & Stack, A. (2008).Approaches to Learning: A Guide for Teachers. New York: Open University Press, McGraw-Hill Education. Koul, B. and Fisher, D. (2004).―A Study of Students‘ Perception of Science Classroom Learning Environment and Teacher-Student Interaction in Jammu: A Cultural Perspective‖ Journal of Science and Mathematics Education in S.E. AsiaVol. 26(2). Lee, O., &Fradd, S. H. (2001).Instructional congruence to promote science learning and literacy development for linguistically diverse students. In D. R. Lavoie & W-M. Roth (Eds.), Models for science teacher preparation: Bridging the gap between research and practice. (pp. 109-126). Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Lee, O., Maerten-Rivera, J., Penfield, R., LeRoy, K., &Secada, W. (2007). Science achievement of English language learners in urban elementary schools: Results of a 1st year professional development intervention. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Vol. 45(1), 31-52. Lee, O. &Lykx, A. (2005). Dilemmas in scaling up innovations in science instruction with nonmainstream elementary students. American Educational Research Journal, Vol. 42(3), pp 411 – 438. Magno, C. (2011). Exploring the Relationship between Epistemological Beliefs and SelfDetermination.The International Journal of Research and Review, 7(1). May, D..&Etkina, E. (2002). College physics students' epistemological self-

reflection and its relationship to conceptual learning. Physics education research: a Supplement to the American journal of physics. Retrieved from www.paer.rutgers.edu/ScientificAbilities/Downloads/Papers/M%26EFinal.pdf Morales, M.P (2013).Culture and Language Integration in Physics Education (CLIIPE). De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines.Unpublished Ph.D. thesis. Pertierra, R. (2002). The Work of Culture. De La Salle University Press. Philippines: Manila, pp. 21-49. Phan, H. (2006). Examination of student learning approaches, reflective thinking, and epistemological beliefs: A latent variables approach. Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology, Vol. 4(3), 577-610. 2008 Philippine Education for All 2015: Implementation and Challenges. Retrieved from http://www.planipolis.iiep.unesco.org/upload/Philippines/Philippines_EFA_ MDA.pdf. Perry, W.G. Jr. (1970). Forms of intellectual and ethical development in the college years. New York: Academic Press P21 Framework Definitions Publication. Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/storage/documents/P21_Framework_Definitions.pdf. Schrommer, M. (1990). Effects of beliefs about the nature of knowledge and comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. 82(3), 498-504. Stathopoulou, C &Vosniadou, S. (2006). How do pupils‘ beliefs about learning affect their understanding of physics? Contemporary Educational PsychologyVol. 21 pp 255-281. Torres, M. (2000). ―Pink Gold Rush:‖ Shrimp Aquaculture, Sustainable Development, and the Environment in Northwestern Mexico. Journal of Political EcologyVol. 23(1), pp 49-51. Retrieved from sustainability.asu.edu/people/persbio.php?pid=7562. (2012). UNESCO: Global Monitoring Report. Retrieved from www.unesco.org. (2002). UNESCO: Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity. Paris, France. Retrieved last fromwww.unesco.org/culture. (2008). UNESCO: Mother Tongue Matters: Local Languages a Key to Effective Learning.Retrieved from www.unesco.org. Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. (2007).Backward Design. Retrieved from webshare.northseattle.edu/…/Article_Backward_Design….-United States. Youn, I. Yang, K., & Choi, I. (2001). An analysis of the nature of epistemological beliefs: Investigating factorsaffecting the epistemological development of South Korean high school students.Asia Pacific Education Review, Vol. 2, pp10-21.

Appendix A K+12 Curriculum Level of Proficiency Level of Proficiency

Grade Equivalent

A – Advanced

90% and above

P – Proficient

85% - 89%

AP – Approaching Proficiency

80% - 84%

D–Developing

75% - 79%

B– Beginning

74% and below

Interpretation The student at this level exceeds the core requirements in terms of knowledge, skills and understandings, and can transfer them automatically and flexibly through authentic performance tasks. The student at this level has developed the fundamental knowledge and skills and core understandings, and can transfer them independently through authentic performance tasks. The student at this level has developed the fundamental knowledge and skills and core understandings and, with little guidance from the teacher and/or with some assistance from peers, can transfer these understandings through authentic performance tasks. The student at this level possesses the minimum knowledge and skills and core understandings, but needs help throughout the performance of authentic tasks. The student at this level struggles with his/her understanding; prerequisite and fundamental knowledge and/or skills have not been acquired or developed adequately to aid understanding.

Source: Department of Education K+12 framework

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol, 2, No. 1, pp. 30-43, February 2014

The Effect of Explicit and Recast Feedback on the Intermediate EFL Learners’ Listening Self-efficacy Samane Naderi Islamic Azad University Torbat-e-Heidarie Branch, Iran

Abstract. In this quasi-experimental study, the effect of two types of Corrective Feedback on the Intermediate EFL Learners’ Listening Selfefficacy Beliefs was investigated. Forty four subjects were selected out of fifty six EFL learners. They were randomly divided into two experimental groups one with explicit and the other with recast feedback and one control group with no feedback. To investigate the pre-existing listening self-efficacy differences among participants, a listening self-efficacy questionnaire was administered at the beginning of the term. After the treatment was fulfilled for each group during a term, the very listening self-efficacy questionnaire was applied in order to measure the effectiveness of the feedbacks in listening self-efficacy of each group. The results of the one-way ANOVA indicated the effectiveness of both Corrective Feedback types in listening self-efficacy; moreover, it was concluded that between two Corrective Feedback types the explicit one was more effective in improving learners' listening selfefficacy. The results of this study can be useful for teachers in teaching methodology related to error correction and it can be beneficial for teacher trainers in pre-service and in-service courses. Key words: corrective feedback (CF), explicit, recast feedback, listening self-efficacy.

Introduction In the recent years, increasing interest has developed in the corrective feedback domain. Many studies have been carried out about different types of corrective feedback and their contribution to the language learning (Leeman, 2003; Ellis, Loewen, and Erlam, 2006; Mackey, 2006; Lyster, and Ranta, 1997; Lyster, 2004; Havranek and Cesnik, 2003; Kim and Mathes, 2001). In addition, a large amount of study has been conducted about self-efficacy beliefs (Multon, Brown, and Lent, 1991 Pajares, 2000; Gore, 2006; Fahim and Nasrollahi, 2013; Barkley, 2006). Although the amount of study about listening self-efficacy and this variable with corrective feedback is limited (Rahimi and Abedini, 2009; Day, 2006; Renzhi, 2012).

Corrective feedback is a controversial issue among researchers and educators. On the one hand, many scholars consider the errors as sin and according them, they should be corrected immediately by teacher (Larsen-Freeman, 2000; Brown, 2007) on the other hand; many other educators believe that correcting learners’ errors can disappoint the learners in learning process and should be avoided (Truscott, 1999; Krashen, 1981a). However some others view the errors as the sign of learning which should be left uncorrected in some situations and it is needed to be corrected in some other situations (Long, 1996; Russell, 2009). In spite of several decades' researches about error correction and teaching methodology, some general questions about error correction still bewilder both language researchers and practitioners. The questions such as: 1. Should learners’ errors be corrected? 2. When should they be corrected? 3. How should they be corrected? 4. Which kinds of errors should be corrected? 5. Who should correct them? (Lyster & Ranta, 1997) and some specific questions about error correction like: 6. Does the correction affect the learners' feelings? 7. How should appropriate corrective feedback be given in learners' listening comprehension errors? 8. Does the corrective feedback in these kinds of errors affect the learners' feelings and self-beliefs? All these kinds of questions made the researcher interested in conducting the present study to investigate the effect of explicit and recast feedback on the intermediate EFL learners’ listening self-efficacy in the Iranian context and on the three groups of participants.

Back Ground Corrective Feedback According to Chaudron (1988) the meaning of the corrective feedback is different in various situations, it can be considered as any kind of teacher's behavior that follows learner's error which minimally tries to make learner aware of his error, the CF may not be obvious to the learner in terms of the response which it makes to be elicited, or it may be an obvious effort for eliciting learner's revised response. Bitchener (2008) argues that Corrective feedback can improve learners' skills. He believes that feedback from teacher is an important part of learning process and it can help learners to remove learning gaps and ambiguities. Ashwell (2000) points out the nature of teacher's feedback in classroom. In Ashwell’s view, teacher's feedback is considered as the teacher's response to learners' performance and on the one hand, it can help teachers to transfer the information to the learners. On the other hand, it can help the learners to understand and construct the meaning and to improve their different skills. Before referring to the different types of the corrective feedback, the main question in error correction and corrective feedback is whether the learners' errors should be corrected or not. Actually researchers have different ideas about error correction for example, Truscott (1999) is one of the opponents of error correction; he believes that giving corrective feedback results in some bad feeling such as: "embarrassment, anger, inhibition, and feelings of inferiority" (p. 441). On the other hand, according to Hendrickson (1978), all errors should be corrected, the global errors should be corrected more than local errors and correcting should be happened in systematic and consistent way. In recent

researches, error correction and CF are considered as essential factors in educational setting (Long, 1996; Saxton, 1997; Lyster, 2004).

Different types of corrective feedback (CF) Lyster and Ranta (1997) point out six types of CF:  Explicit feedback which refers to providing correct form explicitly. When the teacher points out the correct form and obviously shows the learners' error.  Recast feedback involves the reformulation of all or part of the learners' utterance, subtracting their errors.  Clarification request shows the learners that their utterance was misunderstood or it is ill-formed in some way and needs reformulation.  Metalinguistic Feedback includes some comments, providing some information, or questions relevant to the leaner’s utterance not providing the correct form of utterance explicitly.  Elicitation feedback by providing the learners with an opportunity to complete or correct their utterances, using some questions to elicit the correct forms or asking them to reformulate their utterances.  Repetition refers to the teacher’s repetition of learner's ill-formed utterance; mostly the teachers highlight the learner's error by the use of appropriate intonation. They believe that it is possible to incorporate two different types of CF for example, the combination of explicit feedback and metalinguistic feedback is called multiple feedback. Among these types of corrective feedback, the researchers selected explicit and recast feedback to investigate their effect on the Intermediate EFL Learners’ listening self-efficacy beliefs.

Explicit feedback Loewen and Philp (2006) consider CF as learners' effort to apply the target language. They argue that CF is different in the degree of explicitness and attempts to recognize the problems of accuracy in interaction and communication. In this range of explicitness explicit feedback is trying to make learners aware of their errors directly. Explicit feedback is defined as "any feedback that overtly states that a learner's output was not part of the language-to- be-learned" (Carroll and Swain, 1993, p. 361). Lyster and Ranta (1997) argue that explicit feedback is happened when it is clearly expressed that an error has been made and the correct form is provided for learners. Ellis (2005) points out some effects of the self-processing that accompanied with explicit feedback, in fact, through explicit feedback, learners are given a chance to identify their errors which need to be corrected in the direct way.

Recast feedback Loewen and Philp (2006) define Recast feedback as the teacher’s reformulation of all or part of a learner utterance, minus their errors. This can help learners know that their utterances included some errors. They define recast feedback by providing three characteristics: 

"Recasts are generally provided incidentally in the course of focus-onmeaning interaction in response to non target-like utterances.  Recasts retain the central meaning of the learner’s utterance while changing the lexical, morphosyntactic, or phonological form.  Recasts provide positive evidence and negative feedback rather than providing overt correction" (p. 537). They believe that recast feedback keeps the focus-on-meaning and also let the teacher maintain the control of the class.

Self-Efficacy Beliefs Self-efficacy is defined by Delcourt and Kinzie (1993) as “perceived self-efficacy reflects an individual's confidence in his or her ability to perform the behavior required to produce specific outcomes” (p. 36). Self-efficacy as individuals’ beliefs in their capabilities to perform a task proves to be an important variable in predicting learners’ performance in doing a task (Bandura, 1986). Bandura (1986) believes that self-efficacy refers to “people's judgment of their capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required attaining designated types of performance. It is concerned not with the skills one has but with the judgments of what one can do with whatever skills one possesses” (p. 391). Wu (2006) believes that learners' beliefs of their own ability to learn a foreign or second language determine their learning process quality and their tolerance in learning; therefore, these beliefs of self-efficacy influence language-learning success.

Literature Review Firstly, some studies carried out on feedback will be reviewed and afterwards the result of some studies which done on self-efficacy-beliefs will be presented. The effectiveness of CF has been examined in several ways. Muranoi (2000) applied indefinite articles as the treatment for 114 participants of Japanese firstyear college students. The study had two experimental groups one received recasts in communicative tasks, requests for repetition, and explicit grammar explanation. The other experimental group received focus-on-meaning sessions. The control group received no feedback. The results of post-test revealed that both experimental groups outperformed the control group on the posttest. Also Sanz (2003) conducted another study with 28 participants of first-year university students of Spanish studying pronouns between the object and verb. In this study, two groups were involved. Group one received metalinguistic feedback and group two received implicit feedback. The results of sentence completion and written video retelling showed that both groups' ability to apply the target structure developed with no difference between the groups. © 2014 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

DeKeyser (1993) examined morphosyntactic features with explicit corrective feedback. The participants of the study were 25 Dutch high school seniors learning L2 French. They were tested with three oral communication tasks and fill-in-the-blank tests. Based on the results, the researcher did not find enough of a significant difference between the two groups. Ammar and Spada (2006) in a quasi-experimental study investigated the effects of recasts and prompts on L2 learners' written and oral ability with different levels of proficiency. The results revealed that prompts were more effective than recasts and that the effectiveness of recasts was sensitive to the learners' level of proficiency. In fact, the learners with high level of proficiency benefited equally from both prompts and recasts, but the learners with low level of proficiency significantly benefited from prompts more than recasts. In a recent correlational study, Fahim and Nasrollahi (2013) investigated the relationship between Iranian students' self -efficacy and their critical thinking ability. They believed that the way in which learners recognize their language learning capabilities and their ability to control the way of thinking may have a significant effect on their learning achievement. For this study they randomly selected 50 university students in the major of English teaching to fill out the two questionnaires on Self-efficacy and Critical thinking skills. The results showed that there are a strong significant and positive relationship between Iranian students' critical thinking ability and self-efficacy. It means that “the higher the students' self efficacy, the higher their critical thinking ability. Generally, the finding provides empirical support that self-efficacy should be considered for developing learners' critical thinking skills” (p. 538) In another study related to self-efficacy and L2 achievement, which was carried out by Barkley (2006), it was investigated whether learner’s self-efficacy beliefs were predictors of their reading comprehension achievement. For this study, 400 students of a middle school were selected. A state standardized reading comprehension test was applied to measure the students’ reading comprehension. The findings revealed that there are significant and positive relationship between learners’ self-efficacy beliefs and their reading comprehension achievement.

Research Questions To fulfill the aim of the present study, the following research questions were raised: 1. Does the application of corrective feedback (i.e. explicit and recast feedback) for listening comprehension have any significant effect on the listening selfefficacy of the intermediate Iranian EFL learners? 2. Which type of corrective feedback is more effective in learners' listening selfefficacy, explicit or recast feedback?

Method Participants The researcher selected forty four participants out of fifty six intermediate EFL learners by the use of a placement test from Khorasan Foreign Language Institute. These Forty four participants were randomly divided into two © 2014 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

experimental groups each group consists of 15 learners and one control group comprising of 14 learners. Their age varied from 13 to 32, and their educational levels varied from high school to Bachelor degree.

Instrumentations Placement test. To homogenize the subjects the Interchange/Passages Objective Placement Test for the intermediate (Lesly, Hasen & Zukowski, 2005) was administered. This test is a kind multiple choice evaluation package consisted of 70 items in 3 parts: listening 20 items (15 minutes), reading 20 items (20 minutes), and language use 30 items (15 minutes). According to the guidelines of the proficiency the learners whose scores were between 37 and 49 were considered as the intermediate level EFL learners. Listening self-efficacy questionnaire. Learners’ listening self-efficacy belief was measured before and after using corrective feedback (explicit and recast) for listening by the questionnaire, which has been constructed, by Rahimi and Abedini (2009). This questionnaire was designed based on three other questionnaires of “Beliefs About Language Learning (BALLI) developed by Hortwiz (1985), Persian Adaptation of the General Self-efficacy Scale constructed by Nezami, Schwarzer and Jerusalem (1996) and Morgan-Links Student Efficacy Scale (MJSES) made by Jinks and Morgan (1999)” (Rahimi & Abedini, 2009, p. 18). All items in the questionnaire were adapted to the five-interval Likert scale responses. Rahimi and Abedini (2009) had tested the reliability of the questionnaire and its Cronbach alpha was 0.69.

Procedure The present study was carried out at the Khorasan Foreign Language Institute in Mashhad. To homogenize the subjects the Interchange/Passages Objective Placement Test for the intermediate (Lesly, Hasen & Zukowski, 2005) was administered. Forty four participants out of fifty six EFL learners were selected for the purpose of this study. These Forty four participants were randomly divided into two experimental groups one with explicit feedback and the other one with recast feedback each comprising of fifty participants and one control group without any feedback comprising of 14 participants. To investigate the pre-existing differences among participants in listening self-efficacy a listening self-efficacy questionnaire was given to the participants at the beginning of the term. During the term, which took 20 sessions two types of corrective feedback (explicit and recast feedback) for listening, were fulfilled as the treatments. For this purpose, the participants were assigned to do some related listening comprehension tasks and exercises in each session. The participants of the experimental group with explicit feedback received feedback on their errors overtly. In the experimental group with the recast feedback the learners’ errors were corrected indirectly through the teacher’s reformulation of all or part of learners’ answers and finally the participants of the control group did not receive any feedback on their listening comprehension errors. After the treatments were fulfilled for each group, the very listening self-efficacy questionnaire was given to learners in order to measure the effectiveness of the feedbacks in listening self-efficacy of each group. © 2014 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

6. Results To answer the research questions of this study data gathered through the posttest. In order to answer the research questions, the following statistical procedures were conducted. To ensure the normality of the distribution, descriptive statistics was run. To see the difference of the mean scores among the three groups on pretest, posttest and the difference between pre-test and posttest (gain scores), a one-way ANOVA was conducted to the data. Table-1: Descriptive Statistics of the Experimental and Control Groups in Listening Self-Efficacy at the Pre-Test. 95%Confidence Interval for Mean

Pre-test self efficacy

Explicit Recast Control

N 15 15 14

Std. Std. Mean Deviation Error 54.06 8.76 2.26 54.86 11.32 2.92 54.07 10.16 2.71

Lower Bound Upper Bound 49.21 48.59 48.20

Min

58.91 61.13 59.93

42 38 39

Max

68 71 74

To compare the mean scores of the three groups at the pre-test, a one-way ANOVA was run. The F-observed value and p-value were .058 and .944, respectively. This amount of F-value at 2 and 41 degrees of freedom was lower than the critical value of F and p-value was higher than the significance level of 05 (see Table 2). Table-2: One-Way ANOVA on the Three Groups at Pretest. Sum of squares df Between groups 11.28 Within groups Total

mean square 2 5.639 4007.881 4019.159

F 41

sig. .058 97.753 43

.944

Therefore, it can be concluded that there was no significant difference between the mean scores of the three groups at pre-test (F (2, 41) = .058, p> .05) and these groups are appropriate ones for the study. The result of the Levene's test of homogeneity of variance indicated that the three groups enjoyed homogenous variance; therefore, there was not any significant difference between the variance of the three groups. Thus, the results of the one-way ANOVA were reliable (F (2, 41) = .058, p> .05) (see Table 2).The descriptive statistics for the three groups at the post-test are illustrated in Table 3. Table-3: Descriptive Statistics of the Experimental and Control Groups in Listening Self-Efficacy at the Post-Test. 95%Confidence Interval for Mean

Post-test self efficacy

Explicit Recast Control

Mean

15 15 14

77.400 64.46 53.28

Std. Deviatio n 5.11 11.01 9.50

Std. Error 1.31 2.84 2.54

Lower Bound Upper Bound 74.57 58.36 47.79

80.2 70.56 58.77

Min 62 42 40

Max 83 82 70

The mean of explicit group at the post-test is higher than the other two. To compare the mean scores of the three groups at the post-test, a one-way ANOVA was conducted. The F-observed value and p-value were 26.762 and 0.000 respectively. This amount of F-value at 2 and 41 degrees of freedom was higher than the critical value of F, and p-value was lower than the significance level of .05 (F (2, 41) = 26.762, p< .05( (see Table 4): Table-4: One-Way ANOVA on the Three Groups at Post-Test. Between groups Within groups Total

Sum of squares 4226.355 3238.190 7465.545

df 2 41 43

mean square 2113.677 78.980

F 26.762

sig. .000

Thus, it can be concluded that there is a significant difference between the mean scores of the three groups on post-test. The effect size, calculated via eta squared, was found to be 0.56. This indicates the degree of association between the dependent (post-test scores) and independent (two types of CF) variable, which is a large size (Dornyei, 2007). The result of the Leven's test of homogeneity of variance demonstrated that the three groups had homogenous variance (F (2, 41) = 26.762, p> .05); therefore, the results of the one-way ANOVA were reliable, that is, there was not any significant difference between the variance of the three groups. ANOVA analysis indicated that somewhere among the means there is a difference, but the exact place of differences is not obvious. To determine the precise location of differences, a post hoc comparison of the means was run. Accordingly, a Scheffe’s test was applied. The results of the post-hoc Scheffe’s test revealed that there was significant difference between all three groups of Control, Explicit and Recast at the level of 0.05 (see Table 5). Table-5: Scheffe’s Test for the Comparison of Post-Test Means of the Three Groups (I) group explicit

(J) group recast

recast

control explicit

control

control explicit

Mean Difference (IJ) 12.93333*

95% Confidence Interval Lower Bound Upper Bound 4.6909 21.1757

Std. Error 3.24510

Sig. .001

24.11429* -12.93333*

3.30254 3.24510

.000 .001

15.7260 -21.1757

32.5026 -4.6909

11.18095* -24.11429*

3.30254 3.30254

.006 .000

2.7926 -32.5026

19.5693 -15.7260

recast -11.18095* 3.30254 *. The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.

.006

-19.5693

-2.7926

To investigate the effect of two types of CF on the learner's listening selfefficacy more exactly, the difference of scores at pre-test and post-test was calculated (gain scores) and the related statistical analyses were used for them. The descriptive statistics for gain scores for the three groups are shown in Table 6.

Table-6: Descriptive Statistics of the Experimental and Control Groups in Listening Self-Efficacy at the Gain Scores.

N Post-test self efficacy

Explicit Recast Control

Mean

15 15 14

23.33 9.60 1.35

Std. Deviatio n 6.91 6.609 1.90

Std. Error

95%Confidence Mean

Interval

for

Lower Bound Upper Bound

1.78 1.70 .50

19.50 5.93 .256

27.16 13.26 2.456

Min

Max

15 38 1 -1

22 6

The mean of explicit group at the gain scores is higher than the other two. To compare the mean scores of the difference at pre-test and post-test for the three groups, a one-way ANOVA was applied. The F-observed value was 55.469. This amount of F-value at 2 and 41 degrees of freedom was higher that the critical value of F (see Table 7). Table-7: One-Way ANOVA on the Three Groups at Gain Scores Sum of Squares 3593.739

df 2

Mean Square 1796.869

Within Groups

1328.148

32.394

Total

4921.886

Between Groups

F 55.469

Sig. .000

Therefore, there is a significant difference between the mean scores of the difference at gain scores for the three groups (F (2, 41) = 55.469, p< .05). The effect size, calculated via eta squared, was found to be 0.73. It indicates the degree of relation between the dependent (gain score) and independent (two types of CF) variable, which is a large size (Dornyei, 2007). The result of the Levene's test of homogeneity of variance indicated that the three groups possess homogenous variance; as a result, the one-way ANOVA were reliable. The Fvalue of 55.469 at 2 and 41 degrees of freedom was lower than the critical value. Therefore, the underlying assumption of one-way ANOVA was fulfilled, namely, there was not any significant difference between the variance of the three groups (F (2, 41) = 55.469, p> .05). To determine the precise location of differences, a Scheffe’s test was applied. The results revealed that, at the level of 0.05, there was significant difference between all the three groups of Control, Explicit and Recast (see Table 8). Table-8: Sceffe’s Test for the Comparison of Gain Scores for the Three Groups 95% Confidence Interval Lower Bound Upper Bound 8.4546 19.0120

Mean Difference (I-J) 13.73333*

Std. Error 2.07826

Sig. .000

recast

control explicit

21.97619* -13.73333*

2.11505 2.07826

.000 .000

16.6041 -19.0120

27.3483 -8.4546

control

control explicit

8.24286* -21.97619*

2.11505 2.11505

.002 .000

2.8707 -27.3483

13.6150 -16.6041

recast

-8.24286*

2.11505

.002

-13.6150

-2.8707

(I) group explicit

(J) group recast

*. The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.

The mean of G1, G2, and G3 are displayed in the figure 1 below.

As the figure indicates, the mean of explicit group is higher than the other two. This result can be concluded from table 3, 5, 6, and 8 too. We can conclude that explicit feedback is significantly more advantageous over recast in improving learner's listening self-efficacy.

Discussion There are many researches which investigated the effect of CF on the different aspects of language (e.g. Ellis, Loewen, & Erlam, 2006; Bitchener and Knoch, 2008; Gass, Mackey, & Ross-Feldman, 2005). This study investigated the effect of two types of Corrective Feedback (explicit and recast feedback) on the Intermediate EFL Learners’ Listening Self-efficacy Beliefs. As was perspicuous at pretest, there was no significant difference between the three groups but at the post-test a significant difference between groups emerged. A one-way ANOVA was performed to find out the effect of explicit and recast feedback on the Intermediate EFL Learners’ Listening Self-efficacy Beliefs. ANOVA for post-test scores showed that, with F (2, 41) = 26.762, p = .000, there were significant differences in the mean scores among the three groups. Similarly, ANOVA for gain scores (the difference of scores at pre-test and post-test) showed, with F (2, 41) = 55.469, p = .000, significant differences among the three groups. The results implied that the application of explicit and recast feedback has a significant effect on the learners' listening self-efficacy. Scheffé post hoc tests were conducted for the purpose of locating the differences. The results revealed significant differences among the three groups in the post-test and Scheffé post hoc tests for gain scores also showed significant difference among the three groups. © 2014 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

Finally, based on the results of the present study, considering ScheffĂŠ post hoc tests for post-test and gain scores and comparison of three groups' mean scores it can be concluded that the experimental groups with two kinds of feedback outperformed the control group and between two experimental groups, the explicit group outperformed the recast group at posttest which signifies that explicit feedback helped learners to improve their listening self-efficacy better than recast feedback.

Conclusion In this paper some aspects of corrective feedback (CF) was discussed. Although some researchers such as Truscott (1999) believe that errors should not be corrected, many others consider CF as an essential factor in learning process (Long, 1996; Hendrickson, 1978; Saxton, 1997; and Lyster, 2004). As previously mentioned, the aim of this study was to find out whether explicit and recast feedback has significant effect on the Intermediate EFL learnersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; listening selfefficacy beliefs and which type is more effective. The results indicate that the experimental groups with two kinds of feedback outperformed the control group and between two experimental groups, the explicit group outperformed the recast group at posttest which signifies that explicit feedback helped learners to improve their listening self-efficacy better than recast feedback. The findings can be beneficial for teachers and teacher trainers to allocate some space to error correction techniques in learning process.

Pedagogical Implications This study has some implications for EFL teachers, teacher trainers, material developers and curriculum designers as the main stakeholders. 1. Teachers should be aware of beneficial characteristics of corrective feedback in teaching process. 2. Self-efficacy is considered as a significant source of motivation for learners (Fahim and Nasrollahi, 2013). Therefore, teachers should be familiar with various techniques which develop learners' self-efficacy in different areas. They should help learners believe in their capabilities have enough self-confidence in learning process. 3. The study offers some important implications for material developers and curriculum designers. They can take into account the learners' selfbeliefs especially their self-efficacy in designing the materials and related curriculum. As Arnold and Brown (1999) mention Decision-making learning process can provide more chances for learners to promote their capabilities. In language learning process the learners learn taking responsibility, appropriate skills for negotiating and evaluation of themselves in addition to merely learning the language content. All these processes result in development of self-efficacy (Arnold and Brown, 1999). Thus, the material developers and curriculum designers can help learners to foster their potentialities and self-beliefs by providing the appropriate materials and programs. 4. The findings of this study can also be beneficial for teacher trainers to include suitable practices for instructing. They should make the EFL teachers familiar with the different error correction techniques and ÂŠ 2014 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

different types of feedback, make the teachers aware that when they can correct errors, how they should be corrected and which types of corrective feedback should be used.

Suggestions for Further Studies 1. This study was conducted in a foreign language institute and it can be replicated in other educational setting such as universities and high schools. 2. In this study the effect of explicit and recast feedback was investigated on the learners’ listening comprehension ability. In other studies the effect of these types of feedback can be examined on the other language skills and components. 3. Also, the effect of other types of corrective feedback can be investigated on this skill or other ones. 4. The study can be carried out with different ages and levels of proficiency.

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Practice in Language Studies, 3(3), 538-543. Gore. P. A. Jr. (2006). Academic self-efficacy as a predictor of college outcomes: Two incremental validity. Journal of Career Assessment, 14(1), 92-115. Havranek, G. & Cesnik, H. (2003). Factors affecting the success of corrective feedback. In S Foster-Cohen, A. Nizegorodzew, EUROSLA Yearbook, Volume 1. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Hendrickson, J. (1978). Error correction in foreign language teaching: Recent theory, research, and practice. Modern Language Journal 62, 387-398. Kim, H. & Mathes, G. (2001). Explicit vs. implicit corrective feedback. The Korea TESOL Journal, 4, 1–15. Krashen, S. (1981a). Second language acquisition and language learning. Oxford: Pergamon Press. Larsen-Freeman, D. (2000). Techniques and principals in language teaching. (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Leeman, J. (2003). Recasts and second language development: Beyond negative evidence. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 25, 37–63. Loewen, S. & Philp, J. (2006) Recasts in the adult English L2 classroom: Characteristics, explicitness, and effectiveness. The Modern Language Journal, 90:4, 536–556. Long, M. (1996). The role of linguistic environment in second language acquisition. In W. C. Ritchie & B. K. Bahtia (Eds.), Handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 413-468). New York: Academic Press. Lyster, R. (2004). Differential effects of prompts and recasts in form-focused instruction. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 26, 399–432. Lyster, R. & Ranta, L. (1997). Corrective feedback and learner uptake: negotiation of form in communicative classrooms. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 19, 37-66. Mackey, A. (2006). Feedback, noticing and instructed second language learning. Applied Linguistics, 27:3, 405-430. Multon. K. D., Brown. S. D., & Lent. R. W. (1991). Relation of self-efficacy beliefs to academic outcomes: A meta-analytic investigation. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 38, 30-38. Muranoi, H. 2000). Focus-on-form through interaction enhancement: Integrating formal instruction into a communicative task in EFL classrooms. Language Learning, 50, 617– 673. Pajares, F. (2000). Self-efficacy beliefs and current directions in self-efficacy research. Retrieved November, 2012 from http://www.emory.edu/EDUCATION/mfp/effpage.html. Rahimi, A. & Abedini, A. (2009). The interface between EFL learners’ selfefficacy concerning listening comprehension and listening proficiency. Novitas Royal, 3(1), 14-28. Renzhi, Y. (2012). Improving English listening self-efficacy of Chinese university students: influences of learning strategy training with feedback on strategy use and performance (Doctoral dissertation) Retrieved June 3, 2013 from: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/3503/ Russell, V. (2009). Corrective feedback, over a decade of research since Lyster and Ranta (1997): Where do we stand today? Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 6(1), 21-31. Saxton, M. (1997). The contrast theory of negative input. Journal of Child Language, 24, 139-161. Sanz, C. (2003). Computer delivered implicit vs. explicit feedback in processing instruction. In B. VanPatten (Ed), Processing instruction: Theory, research, and commentary. © 2014 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum: 441-455. Truscott, J. (1999). The case for "the case for grammar correction in L2 writing classes": A response to Ferris. Journal of Second Language Writing 8, 1-122. Wu, C.P. (2006). The effects of goal orientation, self-efficacy, and cognitive/metacognitive self regulatory strategy use on EFL college students' course achievement (Unpublished PhD dissertation). University of Southern California.

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 2, No.1, pp. 44-53, February 2014

The Role of Community-Based Information Centers in Development: Lessons for Rural Zimbabwe Shadreck Ndinde and Webster Kadodo Great Zimbabwe University Masvingo, Zimbabwe Abstract. Community-based information proposals from the library profession in Zimbabwe should, in theory, fit well with government strategic goals for a â&#x20AC;&#x17E;knowledge-based societyâ&#x20AC;&#x;. In reality, information technology has opened floodgates for national and international development by bringing in a plethora of community-based information systems and services. The concept of information centers has its roots in Ivan Illichâ&#x20AC;&#x;s de-schooling education. This paper highlights developmental issues initiated by different community-based information centers elsewhere in the world and in Zimbabwe. It defines community, information, rural development and traces on community centers throughout their evolution to the modern community-based information centers. The premise of the paper is that establishing community-based information centers in Zimbabwean rural areas would strengthen and empower rural people to be among global players. The major focus of this paper is to provide a framework for establishing these centers in rural Zimbabwe for the purpose of providing everyone with useful, practical information for their developmental activities. Rural Zimbabwe has a bigger role in national and international development which can be achieved by harnessing community-based information systems and services. Despite low level penetration of community-based information centers in Zimbabwe, the Matabeleland South initiatives have capacitated Zimbabweans to follow the trend. The centers should be spread throughout the country to provide information for development. Community-based information centers can act as significant trajectories in meeting social and economic targets for rural people by connecting them to developmental programs. The paper finally shows how community information based centers complement efforts by the government and other agencies in resource sharing and enhancing services available through such centers. Keywords: information; information technology; rural development; community-based information; rural Zimbabwe

Introduction Access to information is important as it is a driving force for modern society in

development projects. People need information to develop their potential through education and training, i.e. to succeed in business, to enrich their cultural experience, and to take control of their daily lives. Information is a key contributor to the development of individuals and communities. Yet access to information is not equal across the Zimbabwean community. Some people, particularly those living in affluent urban centers, can choose from abundant sources of information. In contrast, people who live in poor communities are frequently denied access to the information that they need to improve their lives. The position is particularly severe in many rural areas in developing countries such as Zimbabwe. The rapid development of the internet, in particular, has irrevocably changed the information landscape. Community-based information centers have evolved accordingly in response to both technological change and the increased sophistication of information provision. Setting up information centers in rural Zimbabwe has become an important mover for the development of the generality of the country.

De-institutionalizing information The idea of de-institutionalizing information is premised on Ivan Illich‟s deschooling the “ineffectual nature of institutionalized education” at (http:ournature.org/~novembre/illich/1970_deschooling.html, Accessed on 14/06/2013). According to Illich, the “School – the production of knowledge, the marketing of knowledge, which is what the school amounts to – draws society into the trap of thinking that knowledge is hygienic, pure respectable deodorized, produced by human heads and amassed in a stock” (Gajardo, 2000: 4) – hence a feat that can only be accessible with consistent attendance as recorded and affirmed by the register system in schools. Inconsistent attendance is viewed as pointer to lack of progress or as explanation for failure. The school walls thus, become a syndrome that creates false belief in learners that they can only learn when they are in the school and attending regularly. This false belief has been affirmed in Zimbabwe by the large numbers of Ordinary Level failures who throng teacher training colleges for bridging courses. The thinking behind this is that teacher training colleges, being institutions of higher learning, offer better service compared to schools. The idea of de-schooling therefore is synonymous to Paulo Freire‟s deintoxicating learning from the transmission model. This would create a permissive environment in which individuals begin to learn (be educated) rather than being schooled. We need to devolve from seeing education as a „thing out there‟ but rather as an „activity‟ and for this to happen, “the ethos, not just the institutions, of society ought to be „de-schooled‟” (Illich, 1971:55). Learners ought to develop self-belief that they are active agencies of knowledge creation than the learning institutions being places where knowledge resides. These institutions must play a catalyst role in activating learners to think and construct their own knowledge than memorize other people‟s thinking. For this purpose, Illich (1971) proposes setting up of educational webs which heighten the opportunity for each one to transform each moment of his living into one of learning” (http:ournature.org/~novembre/illich/1970_deschooling.html; downloaded on 14/06/2013).

Just like the misconception that learning is only possible in a school set-up, information has been ill-conceived as a privy for the educated and politicians. Information has, for long, been packaged in ways that create the notion that it is only accessible to a select group. This is done mainly through two processes, that is, the exclusionist languages that have been used to package the information and that the circulation points have mostly favored the educated and politicians who are mostly urbanites. For the majority of the rural folk, packaged information tends to elude them. In tandem with Illich‟s proposal, there is need to use advanced technology to support both learning and information dissemination. Information centers in rural areas could act as launch-pads for national debates and development at various levels and places. Languages that are accessible to each community should also be used to package the information to increase circulation. Increased access to information means increased debates on local and national activities perchance increasing productivity. De-institutionalizing information could prove to be one of the key movers that may unlock development in rural Zimbabwe.

Community-based information centers Community-based information points are centers of excellence. The term „Information‟ normally, is a message communicated by a communicator to a receiver. Giggey (1988:11) defines community as “a group of people who have something in common. This can be their age, education, religion, interests, political affiliation, activities, work, possessions or a combination of two or more of these”. Community-based information centers (CBIC) are information dissemination points for the survival and growth of the community, or the information required by members of the community to make effective use of the available resources around them. These members usually have some mutual obligation. The information service through which CBIC is provided to communities is called Community Information Service (CIS). Survival information, such as that which relate to health, agriculture, housing, income, legal protection, economic opportunities and political rights can be communicated among the peoples of communities through CBICs. The Cambridge Dictionary (2010) at http://dictionary.cambridge.org/ (Accessed 20 July, 2012) defines development as when someone or something grows or changes and becomes more advanced. Malcolm (2003) says rural development generally refers to the process of improving the quality of life and economic wellbeing of people living in relatively isolated and sparsely populated areas. He argues that rural development has traditionally centered on the exploitation of land-intensive natural resources such as agriculture and forestry. However, changes in global production networks and increased urbanization have changed the character of rural areas. Increasingly tourism, niche manufacturers, and recreation have replaced resource extraction and agriculture as dominant economic drivers (Ward and Brown, 2009). Rural development is also characterized by its emphasis on locally produced economic development strategies. In contrast to urban regions which have many similarities, rural areas are highly distinctive from one another. For this reason there is a large variety of rural development approaches in Zimbabwe and other

places of the world. CBICs have the potential of transforming the livelihood of the rural folk.

The evolution of the centers The concept of establishing CBICs dates back to the 18th century. The first attempts to improve access to information involved establishing collections of books and printed materials, what was then called community libraries. In the early 1970s, CBICs began to appear in some developed countries. Their focus was on acquiring, processing, storing and disseminating the information that was needed by the communities they served. They were, therefore, less passive than the community libraries. The first examples of community based libraries as information centers were found in Africa in the 1960s. They were usually initiated and funded by development agencies, working in conjunction with national or public library systems that were, themselves, part of the colonial legacy. In the then Rhodesia, the Harare Public Library and Gweru Community-Based Library are cases in point. Community-based library services are still operating in some parts of Africa, and still continue to meet community needs (Mchombu and Cadbury, 2006). The basic aims of community libraries were to support the development of literacy skills and to supplement the formal education provision. Their focus was, therefore, usually on children and young people. Increasingly, however, they also played an important role in maintaining literacy skills among adults. The existence of community libraries often served as a catalyst for more wideranging information based activities. In Peru in South America, for example, the network of community libraries, bibliotecas rurales, has developed into an educational and cultural movement that incorporates literacy activities, local language publications, reading and learning (Ortiz, 1996). Perhaps because of the relatively high capital costs involved, the provision of community libraries was usually made by a government agency, such as a national or public library service, and often with assistance from an aid agency. As such, many of the centers were managed as part of the management structure of the sponsoring agency. This is the case with Zimbabwean community-based libraries. The National Library and Documentation Services (NLDS) working with the National Free Library facilitated the establishment of 41 school/community libraries. However, these libraries are only located in Matabeleland South Province of Zimbabwe.

Community-Based Information Centers (CBICs) In common with developments in mainstream library services, there was a shift towards more dynamic centers that were concerned with the collection and provision of information rather than simply with the management of collections of books. These community-based information centers began to emerge in the early 1970s and a number are still providing valuable services today. Their focus was on acquiring, processing, storing and disseminating the information that was needed by the community that they served. The emphasis was on taking the information to the people who needed it most. There was a corresponding need to identify and satisfy information needs within the community. This rather more dynamic role implied the need for trained information staff. This reflected recognition of the importance of oral information and an oral culture in rural

communities. Initially, the focus of these centers was firmly on the needs of local businesses, particularly agriculture. The aim was to provide individuals and communities with access to national and international information sources. The services were often, therefore, developed in partnership between an international organization, such as the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, or the International Rice Research Institute, and a countryâ&#x20AC;&#x;s Ministry of Agriculture. In the 1980s and 1990s, attention began to shift towards the need to meet the daily information requirements of individuals. This was especially true in areas like health, social empowerment, community development and information networking. As Tadesse and Genesse (2002) note, CBICs seek to enhance development and reduce poverty in the region through providing much needed information, particularly in the areas of agriculture and health.

Tele-centers and Community IT centers During the 1980s, when Zimbabwe was celebrating its independence, the nature of community information centers began to reflect the growing importance of information and communication technology in creating, storing, transmitting and communicating information. Tele-centers and Community IT centers became the new buzz-words in the information field. The technology, however, was still mainly analogue consisting of telephones and fax machines, photocopiers, duplicators and printers. Many communities lacked these basic resources and strenuous efforts were made to establish resource centers in urban and rural communities. The main focus of tele-centers and IT centers was on meeting the information needs of the local business community, particularly subsistence farmers. As time moved on, however, there was an emerging recognition of the need to develop IT-handling skills, particularly among children and young people. The nature of the centers also changed. Initially they were places where professionals, or people trained in basic information skills used the technology to acquire, process and store information on behalf of the community and its members. Gradually, a self-service style of operation began to emerge: people went to the centers to use the technology to satisfy their own information needs. The Indian Government, for example, has done much to support the development of tele-centers in rural areas. In 2000 it launched a programme establishing nearly 500 centers in the north-eastern region of the country. Each was equipped with computers, printers, a generator and a satellite link for internet access. The centers are manned by two trained operators and have the potential to be used for a very wide range of activities (Harris and Rajora, 2006). However, resource limitations and other constraints such as the time and cost involved in setting up and maintaining equipment means that such centers in developing countries such as Zimbabwe are faced with a lot of problems.

Multipurpose Community Tele-centers Multipurpose Community Tele-centers reflected the way that technology changed, particularly the development of the internet, had greatly extended the

range of activities that could be undertaken by tele-centers. It is now the most common type of centre, and examples can be found in South Africa, Botswana, and the Asia-Pacific region, as well as in more developed European countries and North America. The primary drive was to provide opportunities for the community to use ICT for a wide range of purposes, not just as a means of acquiring, processing and storing information. The centers were often built around training in the use of the internet, computers and associated technology. Some sought to provide services to the whole community (Proenza, Buch and Montero, 2001) while others have focused on particular groups within the community such as women (International Telecommunication Union, 2004). The centers were increasingly initiated by community-based organizations and supported by a wide range of local, regional and national government agencies, along with sponsorship from private sector companies and charitable organizations. In other cases, the centers have been established by an outside agency that has sponsored the development in order to uplift targeted communities, for example, the US Information Corner in Zimbabwe. Good examples elsewhere are the centers that have been established by the Population and Community Development Association (PDA) of Thailand. The centers are equipped with computers, printers, along with an internet connection. The main purpose of the centers is to provide training in computing and the use of ICT. They offer a range of courses for the community and for local organizations. The centers also serve as a community facility and members of the community are encouraged to use the equipment. At an international level, the International Telecommunication Union and UNESCO have played an important role in promoting the concept of multipurpose community telecentres. UNESCO has produced a useful, practical guide to their establishment and operation (UNESCO, 2003) in given countries.

Community Multi-media Centers The functions of community-based information and technology centers have changed over time from community libraries, with their emphasis on building collections of books, to the multipurpose community tele-centers where information and communication technology is used for a wide range of purposes. Since 2000 a further function was added to those outlined above, that is information broadcasting. A community multimedia center combines local radio by local people in local languages with a public tele-center facility offering access to internet, e-mail, computer training and a range of services and activities that meet development needs (UNESCO, 2005). In some cases, telecenters were added to community radio stations; in others, radio was added to existing tele-centers. This development reflects the emergence of new opportunities to use digital information and associated media to disseminate information. Digital technology enables local people in small, remote communities to take control of the local, regional, national and even international information that they receive, customizing it to meet their particular requirements. Content of all types can be relayed in local languages to meet local needs.

Community Learning Centers In recent years, with the growth of the internet and the transition to information and knowledge-based societies, people have become more and more conscious of the importance of learning and knowledge sharing as a basic need for social and economic development. Community information and technology centers have always contributed, in one way or the other, to social and economic processes. In recent years, more importantly, a number of community learning centers have been established with the specific purpose of providing a variety of learning opportunities that can empower people within their communities and improve their quality of life (UNESCO, 2006). In developing countries, UNESCO has done much to foster the development of community learning centers under its Programme of Education for All. The centers recognize the importance of non-formal, lifelong learning and the development of skills. The centers provide support for children and young people moving through the formal education system. They also make significant provision for adult and continuing learners. This, hitherto, was what Illich proposed a couple of years back. Community learning centers are increasingly initiated by community-based organizations and supported by a wide range of local, regional and national government agencies, particularly education ministries, and by UNESCO in developing countries.

Purposes of community-based information centers

The common purpose that underlies all the community based information centers is to achieve equal access to information, or, at least, to reduce levels of inequality. The importance of information has seen rapid growth in recent years with the aim to create information and knowledge-based communities. Community-based information centers aim to provide community development information and business services to remote communities. CIBCs provide access to internet-enabled computers, development of online community software based on the local information needs, fax machines, printers, copiers, telephones, televisions and radios. In addition, there could be a mobile library with books and daily newspapers and magazines in rural Zimbabwean communities. This would act as gateways to information on topical and daily activities. Community based information centers have one thing in common: they bring new learning opportunities to those who otherwise lag behind in the increasingly informationwired world. Lack of access to information can severely constrain personal development through education. It can impair the efficiency and competitiveness of businesses, whether those of subsistence farmers or more ambitious entrepreneurs. It can limit a communityâ&#x20AC;&#x;s cultural life leading to lack of experience creating narrowness of vision. Perhaps most significant of all, this can prevent individuals from taking control of their daily lives, their health and their well-being, as well as denying them exercising their rights as citizens (Sullivan, Kone, Senturia and Chrisman, 2001). Such was the case in Zimbabwe for Matabeleland South Province where such an endeavor was embarked on as a pilot project. The pilot project, however, suffered greatly from under-funding and lack of visionary implementers. The importance of information has grown in recent years with the transition to information and knowledge-based communities. This is a phenomenon that can be seen all over the world. The development of these information-based societies

hold the prospect of economic growth and social improvement but, all too often, it produces within the overall population disadvantaged groups who are excluded because they lack access to information. Societies are becoming polarized into those who have access to information – the information-haves – and those who do not – the have-nots. This situation is usually compounded by a digital divide where people lack access to the technology that, increasingly, is required in order to obtain and use information. It is the view of these researchers that such is the case in most rural Zimbabwe. The information centers that have sprout in growth-points need to be developed to accommodate every Jack and Jill in the rural areas. It can be noted at this point that Econet, among other mobile service providers, has made a commendable effort to bring information to most rural points. However, this effort is being curtailed by the expensive mobile handsets that people have to purchase for them to access information. The more individuals, communities and whole societies depend on information and the associated technologies, the greater is the social exclusion that is experienced by those who do not have access to the technology and the wherewithal to use it. As if this were not bad enough, matters are made worse by the tendency for educated people and those with skills to leave the disadvantaged rural communities and move to the cities; rural-urban migration. In effect, this increases the social and technological exclusion for those who remain in the rural areas. In Zimbabwe, there is, therefore, a great need to reduce the level of inequality in people‟s access to information. Establishment of community-based centers that are designed to provide people with access to information is a necessary move that will certainly cater-pool societal growth. Such centers have been established elsewhere in disadvantaged communities all over the world – they are a global phenomenon hence can be set up in rural Zimbabwe as well.

The Zimbabwean rural populace benefits from community information centers Information and communication activities are a fundamental element of any rural development activities. Rural areas are often characterized as informationdeprived though information provision has always been a central component of rural development initiatives. The rural poor typically lack access to information vital to their lives and livelihoods (Chapman and Slaymaker, 2002). Zabed, Munsi and Ahmad (1997) suggest that, [. . .] in a country like Bangladesh with an agro-based rural economy, rural development can play a major role in national development. Therefore, quick and easy access to information is vital to the development of the rural community. The flow of information from and to the rural based communities is an essential pre-condition for the development of rural Zimbabwe towards eradication of widespread poverty. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) greatly facilitate the flow of information and knowledge offering the sociallymarginalized communities unprecedented opportunities to attain their own entitlements (Akbar, 2004). As a result, urban people are benefiting from the

new ICT-based economy, but the poor, disadvantaged and marginalized rural population does not have access to the information superhighway. Owing to limited infrastructure in Zimbabwe, people living in rural areas cannot afford to have these facilities. However, help could be possibly at hand with the establishment of community-based information centers as a way to enable rural communities to access information key to development (Mahmood, 2005). In Zimbabwe, the idea is to establish thousands of tele-centers throughout the country so that all citizens of the country would have access to communication, information and other services for improving their livelihoods and quality of life. These tele-centers, once established in rural areas, will provide a range of services focused on the needs of rural residents and will bring profound impact on rural life that include creating social awareness, eradicating poverty, empowering women, opening the door for financial activities and eliminating digital divide. As a result, the underprivileged and marginalized people living in the remote areas would immensely benefit from these initiatives.

Conclusion Creating awareness through provision of information products and services to the rural people is an essential component for development. It seems that rural people in Africa are not always aware of what information entails (Manzvanzvike, 1993). Economic development in Zimbabwe can only be achieved by harnessing these information synergies and uplifting the ruralbased information centers. However, information on its own may be useless unless we create linkages through information-based websites which can connect the rural people with markets for their products, money transfer, job applications and weather information. Information has power only when used and applied effectively. Information plays such an important role in almost every human activity; its value in the development process has been a topic of extensive debate. Community-based information centers are therefore a panacea to national development when intervened with proper usage.

Declaration The researchers wish to declare that there was no research grant attached to this research by any organization.

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MacMillan (pp11-12). Illich, I. (1971). Deschooling Society. Cuernavaca: Doubleday and Company. http://dictionary.cambridge.org/ (Accessed 20 July, 2012) http:ournature.org/~novembre/illich/1970_deschooling.html (Accessed on 14/06/2013) http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CI/CI/pdf/pro grammedoctelecentrestudyen.pdf International Telecommunications Union (2004). Multipurpose community telecentre network project for African women at http://www.itu.int/ITUD/afr/pdfMCTNetworkforAfricanwomen Mahmood, K. (2005). “Multipurpose community telecentres for rural development in Pakistan”, The Electronic Library, 23 (2), pp 204-20. Manzvanzvike, T.H. (1993). Information access and provision in Africa: the search for an appropriate paradigm. Journal of Economic and Social Intelligence, 3(3) pp123-136 Mchombu, K. and Cadbury, N. (2006). Libraries, literacy and poverty reduction: a key to African development. Book Aid International. Malcolm, M. J. (2003). Rural development: principles and practice. London: SAGE. Proenza, F.J., Buch R.B. and Montero, G. (2001). “Telecentres for socioeconomic and rural development in Latin America and the Caribbean” FAO, ITU and ADB at http://www.iadb.org/sds/itdev/telecenters/index.htm (Accessed 05/02/2008) Ortiz, A. (1996). Bibliotecs rurales de Cajamarca: PEE progresso y argumentoa incjales que indecencies. Acku Quinde and CODE. Sullivan, M., Kone, A., Senturia, K.D., Chrisman, N.T., Ciske, S.J. and Krieger, J. (2001). “Researcher and researched – community perspectives: toward bridging the gap” in Health Education and Behavior, 28(2) pp130149 Tadesse, E. and Genesse, R. (2002). Civil society in the Horn of Africa: two stories. Canada: Image Enterprise for Oxfam. UNESCO (2003). “UNESCO Public Library Manifesto”. UNESCO Bulletin for Libraries 26 (3): 129-131. UNESCO (2005). “Multipurpose community telecentres” at http://potal.unesco.org/ci/ en/ev.phpURL_ID¼5341&URL_DO¼DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION¼201.htm l (Accessed 21 July, 2012). UNESCO (2006a). Community Learning Centres at http://www.unescobkk.org/index.php?id=220/index.htm UNESCO (2006c). “Multipurpose community telecentre pilot projects in Africa” at http://www.portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php_URL_ID=5539&U RL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.Html Ward, N. and Brown, D. L. (2009). "Placing the Rural in Regional Development". Regional Studies, 43 (10): pp1237–1244. Zabed, S.M., Munsi, N.U. and Ahmad, M.U. (1997). “Library and information services to the rural community in Bangladesh: CDL‟s experiences”, The Dhaka University Studies, 54 (2) pp129-138.

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 2, No.1, pp. 54-66, February 2014

Influential Factors and Their Correlation on Student Imagination Chao-Tung Liang LunghwaUniversity of Science and Technology Taoyuan, Taiwan Chaoyun Liang National Taiwan University Taipei, Taiwan

Abstract. This study aimed to analyze what influential factors could stimulate imagination of design students in different design phases and explore how these factors correlate with each other. The influential factors were categorized into two groups: environmental factors (i.e., physical component, human aggregate, organizational measure, and social climate) and psychological factors (i.e., facilitative motivation, generative cognition, positive emotions, inspiration through actions, self-efficacy, and stress/challenge). These effects are seen in the design process, especially in phase one (problem definition and design analysis) and with a lesser effect in phase three (detailed design and communication). Our results also showed that the social climate factor had a close relationship with the factors of positive emotion, stress/challenge, and self-efficacy. The correlation among the factors of stress/challenge, physical component, and human aggregate deserved additional attention, as those factors might have crucial implications to instructional strategies. Keywords: design school students; environmental factors; imagination stimulation; influential factors; psychological factors

Introduction In recent years, from Europe to the Pacific region, more and more outstanding design has emerged from Taiwan. Over the past five years, Taiwan's designers have won more than 100 awards from the four major international design competitions: Red Dot, iF, G-Mark, and IDEA. These achievements declare the power of design to the world. The key to the success of the design lies in the capacity of creative thinking. Imagination is the basis for cultivating creative thinking, and thus is the driving force of innovation. The discourse on the values of imagination and imagery process is often neglected in Asia, but has become a focus of contemporary European scholars (e.g., BĂźscher, Eriksen, Kristensen, & Mogensen, 2004; Folkmann, 2010; Trotman, 2006).

There are limited studies, which have been published linking the learning aspects of environment and psychology to factors of imagination stimulation, let alone developed an assessment tool for evaluating imagination stimulation in the design field (Yueh, Chang, &Liang, 2013). The need for evaluating and having a greater understanding of these factors become more apparent when considering the importance between imagination stimulation and possible instructional strategies for design school students (Liang, Hsu, & Chang, 2013). In response to this need for research, this study aimed to analyze what factors influence students’ imagination in different design phases and explore how these factors correlate with each other. In this study, “imagination” refers specifically to “the process of transforming the inner imagery of design school students when they face a design task.” Such images are developed from the individual’s image memory and shaped into something new.

Imagination studies Dewey explained how imagination works a hundred years ago, “Imagination is an aspect of reflective thinking that enables us to create ideas that not only go beyond what is given” (Dewey, 1910, p. 7); “Imagine as it reshapes experience are things which are absent in reality…. The variety of peoples and environment, their contrast with familiar scenes, furnishes infinite stimulation” (Dewey, 1916, p. 60, 212); “… the conscious adjustment of the new and the old is imagination” (Dewey, 1934, p. 272). These quotes show that imagination can change old, familiar experiences to new insights or actions. Imagination enables people to go beyond actual experience and construct alternative possibilities in which a fragmented situation becomes a meaningful whole (Passmore, 1985). Individuals have the potential to make creative discoveries in their imagery. It is possible to demonstrate this experimentally for many types of creative discoveries (Finke, 1990; Liang &Chia, 2014). Therefore, imagination can be viewed as the basis for cultivating creative thinking, and thus is the driving force of innovation (Finke, 1996; Policastro& Gardner, 1999). Reichling (1990) held that intuition, perception, thinking, and feeling recur throughout the various conceptions of imagination. She defined intuition as a quality aligned with thinking but distinct from reasoning. Bower et al., (1990) perceived intuition as an informed judgment in the context of discovery.Specifically, clues to coherence automatically activate the problem solver’s relevant mnemonic and semantic networks. Wippich (1994) contended that a more fluent reprocessing of coherent stimuli could be a basis for intuitive judgments. Bolte and Goschke (2008) further indicated that intuitive gestalt judgments for coherent fragments rested on the activation of semantic object representations, which biased participants’ intuitive impression of gestalt. Moreover, Reichling indicated that perception serves as a mediated mode of knowing. Perceptions and intuitive knowledge are made recognizable through experiences. Experience is phenomenologically and existentially construed to include what is actually experienced as well as the undergoing of an experience.

O’Connor and Aardema (2005) situated imagination within the consciousness complete with its own precognitive, cognitive, and meta-cognitive domains. They argued that divisions between perception and imagination are transcended by precognitive factors and believed absorption in a possible world depended on the relationship between core and marginal consciousness. Another facet of imagination identified by Reichling is “thinking.”Finke (1990) introduced the concept of “pre-inventive forms” into the operations of creative thinking, and described an approach to creative invention differing from those typically used in problem-solving studies. After discussing three extant views of mental imagery (quasi-pictorial, description, and perceptual activity theories), Thomas (1999) concluded that the traditional symbolic view of mental contents should be rejected, while the situated cognition and active vision approaches are preferred. Thomas thus viewed imagery as non-discursive, and related it closely to seeing. Reichling contended that feelings are another crucial facet of imagination. Goodman (1985) claimed that emotion in an aesthetic experience is a means of discerning what properties a work has and expresses. Scheffler (1986) believed that emotions serve as a cognitive stimulus to the scientific imagination. Cognitive emotions are a source of imaginative patterns and perform a selective function among these patterns. Berenson (2010) concluded that feelings allow the inner leap in an individual’s imagination. Feelings also serve as the basis bringing forth the exhilaration of discovery.

Environmental factors As the American College Personnel Association (1994) indicated, an understanding of any human environment begins with the identification of its essential features: its physical component and design, its dominant human characteristics, the organizational structures that serve its purposes, and the participants’ constructions of its social climates. These dimensions create a variety of conditions on campus, and can enhance or detract from student learning and development (Liang et al., 2013). At first, the physical dimension of a campus consists of its natural environment (location, topography, weather, temperature, etc.) and its man-made environment (architecture, sound, spaces, facilities, and messages sent to its inhabitants). The major components of a physical environment include: ambient environment, environmental load, personal space, privacy, territories, and crowding (Gifford, 2007; McAndrew, 1993). Secondly, the human aggregate dimension is the collective characteristics of people who inhabit the environment. These characteristics stress the uniqueness of the organization and provide a sense of belonging for its members. The human aggregate represents a school’s intangible property: school history, philosophy of education, traditional values, ritual practices, special events, school images, shared beliefs, and behavioral norms (Huebner & Lawson, 1990; Peterson & Spencer, 1990).

Thirdly, Strange (2003) indicated that the complex nature of universities results in the need to maintain a sense of order and generate various arrangements that define the organizational measure of an environment. As a result of this need, rules and regulations are formed, rewards systems are developed, and reports become necessary for resource allocation. Such organizational measureswould affect the performances of any organization in terms of innovation, efficiency, and morale (Hage, 1980). Lastly, the social-climate dimension focuses on the “subjective views and experiences of participant observers, assuming that environments are understood best through the collective perceptions of the individuals within them.” (Strange and Banning, 2001, p. 86) Environments can also be described in terms of their personalities, or social climates, which are composed of relationships, personal growth, and system maintenance (Moos, 1979).

Psychological factors Accordingly, psychological aspects of imagination stimulation would include factors of facilitative motivation, generative cognition, positive emotion, inspiration through action, and self-efficacy (e.g., Gallese, Keysers, &Rizzolatti, 2004;Garcia, McCann, Turner, &Roska, 1998; Hennessey, 2003; Liang,& Chang, 2014; Liang, Chang, & Hsu, 2013; Lin, Hsu, &Liang, 2014; O’Connor &Aardema, 2005). As students enter college and gain greater autonomy over when, what and how they study, Ford (1992) indicated that motivation is crucial in guiding the direction, persistence, and quality of their learning behaviors. According to action-control theory, volition plays a critical role between the motivation to learn and goal-directed behaviour (Garcia et al., 1998). Hennessey (2004) also held that there is a direct relation between the motivational orientation brought to a task and the likelihood of creativity at that task. Generative cognition is associated with the learner’s perceptions, feelings, and other ways to trigger ideas; e.g., using multiple representations or mental simulations (e.g.,Taylor, Pham, Rivkin, &Armor, 1998). Gallese et al. (2004) claimed that a direct experiential grasp of what other people do or feel is intrinsic to human nature. This experiential insight into other minds provides an important view for generative cognition. In addition, Miserandino (1996) identified evidence of engagement within a school as energized behavior (e.g., initiation, effort, concentrated attention, persistence) and positive emotion (enthusiasm, happiness, curiosity, interest, etc.) (p. 204). Fredrickson (2001) also suggested that positive emotions broaden a person’s available repertoire of cognitions and actions, thus enhancing creativity. Hennessey (2003) even indicated that the undermining of creativity in performance may be largely driven by an affective, rather than a cognitive mechanism. O’Connor and Aardema(2005) contended that imagination and perception constantly operate together to form any kind of awareness. Fredrick (2007) confirmed that the most effective and creative problem solvers engage in a process of meta-thinking in which people are aware of how they are thinking as they are thinking. Therefore, Fukasawa claimed that the true essence of design is the revelation that occurs when realizing something about an object during its

use that was not noticed before(Goto, Sasaki, &Fukasawa, 2004). Furthermore, Bandura (2000) indicated that people of high efficacy would focus on the opportunities worth pursuing, and figure out ways of exercising some control even in environments with many constraints. Clark (1998) confirmed that individuals tend to be more motivated to reach a goal if they had strong selfefficacy beliefs. Yong (2010) concluded that individuals with high self-efficacy perceive themselves as capable of taking the necessary steps to resolve problems.

Method Participants involved in this study were students from twelve universities across Taiwan. They had to satisfy three requirements: Students had to be majoring in a design related department, have at least sophomore standing, and have similar assignments of graphic design based on the agreement between the instructors and this research team. In order to ensure the quality of this study, the research team communicated the survey with instructors in the target universities first, and then arranged similar schedules and design assignments. In other words, this study could be implemented cross campuses under a comparable timetable and similar design tasks. The investigation process delivered in each university followed the same procedure. Each student participant received a cover page and a questionnaire in a package. In the cover page, all participants were informed that their involvement was voluntary and they could withdraw from the study at any point in time without incurring a penalty. Students were guaranteed anonymity, confidentiality, and the right to review the results of their responses. In the questionnaire, students were asked to determine the strength of influence that each identified item had on their imagination in the current design phase. Data collection of each survey was conducted by well-trained graduate assistants who were accompanied by the class instructor. Although design and problem solving are compound processes that often include iterations or re-defining the problem in the reality. However, a systematic approach of instructional activities that allow students to gradually grasp complicated concepts is oftentimes needed. The questionnaire was thus distributed in three different design periods. The first period, the phase of problem definition and design analysis, was during the first two weeks of October 2012. The second period, the phase of concept development and prototyping took place in the final two weeks of November 2012. The third and final period, the phase of detailed design and communication, was during the middle two weeks of January 2013. In the first phase, a total of 1,224 valid samples were collected, including 354 sophomores, 365 juniors, 332 seniors, and 173 in their master programs. In these subjects, there were 338 male and 886 female participants. The demographical data of the other two phases are presented in Table 1. Because the participants were not forced to contribute in all the three phases, the numbers of participants differed slightly between each phase.

Since measures of influential factors on stimulating imagination in different design phases were unavailable, new scales needed to be developed for this study. Based upon the literature review above and personal experience, items were created to represent the issues identified in this study. All the preliminary items were organized into two groups: environmental factors (i.e., physical component, human aggregate, organizational measure, and social climate) and psychological factors (i.e., facilitative motivation, generative cognition, positive emotion, inspiration through action, and self-efficacy). In order to make the standpoints of the participants clearer, items were measured using 4-point Likert scales, ranging from 1 to 4. Higher scores indicated higher levels of influence. The items were examined for comprehensiveness and clarity by three research associates and a small group of graduate students. The constructed scale was pre-tested by 235 college students in the target pool and then verified by preliminary validation analyses. Based on satisfactory analytical results of the pilot study, a total of 53 items were chosen to construct the formal questionnaire. The measured items were organized by item analysis on the mean (2.54-3.69), standard deviation (> .75), skewness (< ±1), extreme value test results (p < .05, t > ±1.99), correlation coefficients (> .3), and factor loading values (> .3) of the data acquired during the formal survey. The reliability test of the scale was conducted and found to be reliable with Cronbach’s alpha values of .912, .918, and .925 in the three different phases. The Cronbach’salpha value for each scale item was high enough (> .903) to warrant confidence in internal consistency reliability as seen in Table 1. Table 1: Analysis of the demographical data and cronbach’s α Demographical Data & α Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 N 1,224 1,002 968 Gender Male （）（）（ 338 27.61% 303 30.24% 274 28.31%） Female 886（72.38%） 699（69.76%） 694（71.69%） Standing Sophomores （）（） 354 28.93% 260 25.95% 289（29.85%） Juniors 365（29.82%） 302（30.14%） 306（31.61%） Seniors 332（27.12%） 308（30.74%） 259（26.76%） Master program 133（14.14%） 132（13.17%） 114（11.78%） Cronbach’s α Whole .912 .918 .925 Item > .903 > .914 > .923

Results and discussion Factor analysis Factor analysis results indicated that the 53 items could be organized into two groups and ten factors. The first group was the environmental aspect of influential factors, while the second was defined as the psychological aspect. The majority of factors were consistent with earlier studies (e.g., Gallese et al., 2004; Huebner et al., 1990; O’Connor &Aardema, 2005; Strange, 2003) except for the stress/challenge factor which was not identified as an independent stimulus in the literature. Within the environmental group, the four factors accounted for 50.80% of the variance in the phase one, 54.68% in the phase two, and 52.34% in the phase three. In the psychological group, the six factors accounted for 48.25%

of the variance in the phase one, 50.71% in the phase two, and 52.58% in the phase three. Within the environmental group, the first factor emerged was social climate, a seven-item scale, which measured the extent of which learners reported being influenced by the class climate. This finding was consistent with early studies (e.g., Hennessey, 2004; Strange, 2003). The social climate factor was rated as the greatest influential factor in this study. Its effect in phase one appeared to be greater than the other two phases. The second factor, organizational measure, a six-item scale, assessed learnersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; perceptions of the influence from the institutional structure and organizational measures. This result was also compatible with the literature identified earlier (e.g.,Hage, 1980; Strange, 2003). This factor was weighed as the most influential one by the subjects in phase two, which implies that this factor may be critical in developing related instructional strategies. The third factor, human aggregate, a five-item scale, indicated the degree to which learners felt that their imagination was influenced by the organizational culture, tradition, or style. This finding lent additional support to previous research (e.g., Huebner & Lawson, 1990; Peterson & Spencer, 1990). The moderate effect caused by this factor was steadily generated throughout the three phases. The fourth factor, physical component, a six-item scale, measured the degree to which learners considered the facilities and messages in an environment would stimulate imagination. This result also supported the previous studies regarding learning environments(e.g., Gifford, 2007; McAndrew, 1993). Although this factor had the least effect in the environmental group, its mean (3.09 average in three phases) was high enough to be considered influential. Within the psychological group, the first factor identified was positive emotion, a three-item scale. This factor measured the extent of which learners reported being influenced by optimistic intentions. Our results provided supplementary support for early inquiries in this topic (e.g., Clark, 1998; Hennessey, 2003). The positive emotion factor was rated as the second greatest influential factor in this study. Its influence on phase one also appeared to be greater than on the other two phases. The second factor, facilitative motivation, a four-item scale, assessed learnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s initial driving force in knowing and learning. This finding was compatible to the classic theories of motivation (e.g., Garcia et al., 1998; Rosenbaum, 2002). The emergence of factors of self-efficacy, stress/challenge, along with facilitative motivation, showed the different effectsbetween intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on student learning and imagination stimulation. It should be noted that the effect of this factor dropped slightly in the third phase. The third factor, inspiration through action, a five-item scale, examined how learners felt that their imagination was influenced by meta-thinking during

hands-on practice. This result supported the studies conducted by Goto et al. (2004) and Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connor et al. (2005) regarding the integration of external reality with inner experience, as well as the interaction among perception, consciousness, awareness, and imagination. We found that the weight of this factor in the final phase was greater than the previous two phases. The fourth factor, self-efficacy, a seven-item scale, evaluated the extent of which learners reported being influenced by the belief in their own competence.Our study was consistent with the modern studies of self-efficacy (e.g., Bandura, 2000;Yong, 2010). The emergence of this factor also lent support to the studies of mental simulation and anticipatory effects resulting from active perception proposed by Rosenbaum (2002). The weight of this factor in the third phase was greater than the previous two phases. The fifth factor, generative cognition, a six-item scale, measured the degree to which learners considered what cognitive approaches would stimulate imagination. This finding was also consistent with the literature identified previously (e.g., Gallese et al., 2004;Taylor et al., 1998). The effect resulted from this factor was consistent throughout the three phases. The sixth factor, stress and challenge, a four-item scale, indicated the degree to which learners felt that their imagination was influenced by oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s psychological state and feelings regarding their surroundings. It should be restated that this factor was not originally identified as an independent stimulus in this study. However, several studies would support this finding. Accordingly, emotions experienced during cognitive processing of learning materials can be viewed as imposing unnecessary load in working memory, thus creating a negative effect on reasoning and performance.The effect of this factor on phase one was greater than the following phases. Although this factor had the least effect in this study, its mean (3.05 averaged in three phases) was high enough to be still considered influential. The results of this study indicated that the five greatest influential factors, from most influential to least, were social climate, positive emotion, organizational measure, facilitative motivation, and inspiration through action. These effects are seen in the design process, especially in phase one (problem definition and design analysis) and with a lesser effect in phase three (detailed design and communication). The factor loadings, means and standard deviations are reported in Table 2. Table 2: Means and standard deviations of each factor in three design phases Group/Factor Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 SD Factor M SD Factor M SD Factor M Environmental Social climate .825 3.45 .452 .829 3.37 .471 .832 3.29 .478 Organizational measure .789 3.41 .478 .816 3.38 .492 .744 3.28 .523 Human aggregate .798 3.30 .531 .821 3.24 .535 .799 3.19 .524 Physical component .736 3.18 .458 .779 3.13 .492 .787 3.08 .492 Psychological

Positive emotion Facilitative motivation Inspiration thru action Self-efficacy Generative cognition Stress and challenge

.609 .511 .634 .696 .619 .627

3.39 3.37 3.29 3.17 3.12 3.10

.490 .412 .423 .424 .395 .533

.655 .632 .646 .743 .646 .604

3.31 3.33 3.24 3.20 3.12 3.01

.522 .452 .423 .444 .395 .532

.663 .715 .725 .773 .743 .638

3.29 3.23 3.24 3.17 3.05 3.01

.544 .501 .473 .454 .445 .527

Correlation Pearson correlations were conducted to see how the influential factors correlate with each other. The statistics for the whole process are reported in Table 3: 1.

Significant correlations were found among all factors in the whole process. The correlations showed moderately strong correspondence (r> .4) between the social climate (SC) and positive emotion factor, SC and self-efficacy factor, and SC and stress/challenge factor. These results were compatible with the organizational climate literature (e.g., Hennessey, 2004; Strange, 2003) which viewed the climate as a critical factor in affecting peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s psychological status. This study suggests thatdesign instructors should pay attention to the interlacing influences caused by social climate, positive emotion, self-efficacy, and stress/challenge factors, and seek an integrative instructional strategy to take these factors into account. In the first phase, statistics showed that there was a significant correlation between environmental and psychological factors (r = .613, p< .001). Specifically, correlations between SC and positive emotion factor, and SC and stress/challenge factor approached a moderate level. This finding implies that instructors need to focus upon the social climate related strategies during the initial design phase. In the second phase, there was a significant correlation between environmental and psychological factors (r = .623, p< .001). Significant correlations between factors of SC and positive emotion, SC and selfefficacy, SC and stress/challenge, andorganizational measure and positive emotion also approached a moderate level. These results suggest that instructors might further promote studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; self-efficacy and positive emotion by utilizing a combinational approach of social climate and organizational measure factors in the second phase. In the third phase, we found that there was a significant correlation between environmental and psychological factors (r = .668, p< .001). Significant correlations between factors that reached a moderate level included SC and positive emotion, SC and facilitative motivation, SC and inspiration through action, SC and self-efficacy, SC and stress/challenge, organizational measure and self-efficacy, human aggregate (HA) and positive emotion, HA and self-efficacy, and HA and facilitative motivation. In addition to implementing socially-constructed related strategies, our results suggested that instructors might need to add extra strategies related to organizational measure and human aggregate in the final phase.

Due to the complexity of correlations in each design phase, canonical correlation analyses were conducted to ascertain the meanings of these relationships.

Table 3: Pearson correlations among influential factors on imagination stimulation Factor 1. Social climate 2. Organizational measure 3. Human aggregate 4. Physical component 5. Positive emotion 6. Facilitative motivation 7. Inspiration thru action 8. Self-efficacy 9. Generative cognition 10. Stress and challenge

1 1

2 .599*** 1

3 .606*** .561*** 1

4 .455*** .484*** .419*** 1

5 .465*** .395*** .369*** .329*** 1

6 .389*** .381*** .358*** .338*** .376*** 1

7 .361*** .323*** .321*** .299*** .297*** .391*** 1

8 .437*** .386*** .377*** .362*** .362*** .371*** .421*** 1

9 .308*** .272*** .295*** .305*** .257*** .383*** .427*** .338*** 1

*p<.05.**p <.01.***p <.001.

A canonical correlation analysis (CCA) was further conducted to see if influential factors shared a substantial variance showing that they could be used as supplements or complements. CCA examines the correlation between two synthetic variables that are weighted based on the relationships between the variables within the sets. CCA thus can be conceptualized as a bi-variate correlation (Pearson r) between the two synthetic variables, which are created from the equations of canonical functions (Sherry & Henson, 2005). Since CCA is founded on the Pearson r, the correlations calculated from the first function are usually similar to the results of Pearson r. Therefore, the point of interest lies mainly on the results of the second function on the whole process and each individual design phase. The analysis for the whole process yielded two functions with canonical correlations (Rc) of .666 and .197. Looking at the Function 1 coefficients, significant correlations were found among all the factors, similar to the analyses of the Pearson r. The Function 2 coefficients showed that the stress/challenge factor was positively related to the social climate factor, but negatively related to physical component and human aggregate factors. These results confirmed that the class climate (social climate) was one of the main sources of stress and challenge. However, appropriate arrangements of facilities and messages within (physical component), and class and school culture (human aggregate) could be perceived and utilized as de-stressors for design students. The canonical analysis for the three phases also yielded two functions respectively, with Rc of .640 and .211 in phase one, .657 and .216 in phase two, and .694 and .170 in phase three. The correlations resulting from Function 2 of each phase also showed that stress/challenge was positively related to social climate, but negatively related to physical component and human aggregate in all three phases. It should be noted that the coefficient of physical component dropped, and thecoefficientof generative cognition increased in the second phase. Interestingly, the coefficient of physical component continually went down in the final phase. Our results indicated that effects of physical component as a de-stressor constantly dropped along the design process, as the participants became familiar with the learning environment. Based on these findings, instructors should demand a contextualized approach of instructional strategies

10 .457*** .318*** .274*** .270*** .381*** .320*** .294*** .392*** .238*** 1

which take all the environmental and psychological factors and their effects into account based on the emerging needs of different design phases.

Closing Remarks Taken together, our results concluded that influential factors not only had significant effects on stimulating imagination, but also had varying effects during the three phases of design process. Specially, the factors of social climate, positive emotion, organizational measure, facilitative motivation, and inspiration through action,served as the most influential dimensions. The effects of these five factors were apparent, especially in the first phase (problem definition and design analysis). This phenomenon was also observed with the other factors. This implies that a set of unique instructional strategies applied during phase one could be particularly beneficial to design school students. The results also echo the study done by Büscher et al. (2004) in which work environment, tools to be used, and the nature of the task are sought out to form the best combinations for designers to utilize their imagination. Ignorance is valued as a necessary precursor to curiosity. Curiosity, in turn, triggers imagination. Imagination is the process of transforming an individual’s inner images. People construct new ideas from old experiences and develop their imaginations through their memories of images. The capability of imagination is a foundation for cultivating creative thinking, and is the driving force necessary for individuals to continually create and innovate. An excellent designer who is capable of simulating invisible possibilities is only able to because he or she has an exceptional imagination. We sincerely hope that design educators can use our study as a foundation to design appropriate and effective instructional strategies to inspire students’ passion for excellence, nurture their curiosity, develop their imagination, empower their professional life, and awaken their spirit for unknown future.

Acknowledgments The current study is part of the research project (NSC98-2511-S-155-005-MY2) supported by Taiwan’s National Science Council. The authors would like to extend their gratitude to the insightful suggestions of anonymous IJLTER reviewers. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Chaoyun Liang, Department of BioIndustry Communication and Development, National Taiwan University, Taiwan. Electronic mail may be sent tocliang@ntu.edu.tw.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 2, No.1, pp. 67-79, February 2014

Investigating the Relationship between English Language Anxiety and the Achievement of School based Oral English Test among Malaysian Form Four Students Lim Hooi Lian and Mardziah Bt Budin Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to identify the levels of the English language anxiety experienced by Form Four students in two selected schools. It was also to find out the extent of the relationship between studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; English language anxiety and their achievement in school based oral English tests; and the difference between genders in English language anxiety. A survey was administered to 200 Form Four students (aged 15-16) of two secondary schools. The questionnaire reflected three components of English language anxiety, namely: (a) communication apprehension, (b) fear of negative evaluation, and (c) test anxiety. Descriptive analysis, independent sample t- test and correlation test were used in the study. The results of this study revealed that students have a moderate level of English language anxiety and significant difference between genders in English language anxiety. Keywords: English language anxiety; communication apprehension; fear of negative evaluation; test anxiety; Form Four students

Introduction It is undeniable that English is the most common and the most important language in the world. Therefore, English serves as the second language in Malaysia. It works as one of the tools that unify the Malaysian people of different ethnicities, languages, cultures and religions. In our education system, English is made a compulsory subject to all students. The education system has been designed to

produce students who are able to communicate effectively in English. But there are still problems which disrupt students to excel with high grades in spoken language.

Background of study One of the important problems that cause students not to perform well in spoken English is language anxiety. Several researchers had investigated the relationship between anxiety and English language learning which demonstrate the presence of foreign language anxiety among learners (Horwitz, & Cope, 1986; P. D. MacIntyre & Gardner, 1994; Young, 1991). Further, most researches focus on average learners such as school and college students, revealed that the consistent moderate negative correlation between language anxiety and language achievement (Horwitz, 2001). The correlation studies showed that high language anxiety is related to low achievement in language learning. MacIntyre and Gardner (1994), in a study involving college students learning French, found that high anxiety students experienced difficulty in expressing their views and tended to underestimate their own abilities. Zhao (2007) made a similar observation with high school students in China. He found that anxiety concerning English class affected students’ achievement in English. There are also studies that revealed a negative correlation between anxiety and ability in basic language skills, particularly the skills of speaking and listening. According to MacIntyre and Gardner (1991), high anxiety students performed worse than low anxiety students in these skills. Previous research of second language anxiety focused more on tertiary level. Moreover, study in this field is fairly small in Malaysia. On the present study however, the researcher would like to focus on Form Four students’ English language anxiety. Hence, this study aims to examine the relationship between language anxiety and School Based Oral English Language achievement, focusing specifically on Form Four students in zone Larut Matang and Selama, Perak State, Malaysian. English speaking ability among Malaysian students in School Based Oral English Test will help to develop students’ oral competence in line with the learning objectives stated in the English Language Syllabus for Malaysian Secondary Schools (Malaysian Examination Syndicate, 2002). However, one of the cause that contribute to students’ low achievement in the School Based Oral English Test is second language anxiety. It was further supported by Siti Noorhayati (2007). Based on her study found that secondary schools’ students did experience a considerable amount of speaking anxiety in the areas of communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation and test taking. Based on Wong ( 2012) showed that a large number of the students (68.4%) experienced moderate levels of language anxiety while 14.1% of them experienced high levels of language anxiety and the remaining 17.5% experienced low levels of language anxiety. Besides, this study aimed to advance research in this area through investigating the levels of language anxiety in gender in secondary school level. Previous researches © 2014 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

(Baxter, 1999; Pappamihiel, 2001; Selami Aydin, 2008) had found that female students are usually more anxious than males in English classes. Whereas, Pappamihiel (2001) found that while there was no gender difference in ESL classes, Mexican middle school girls were significantly more anxious about using English in their mainstream classes. The study showed that female students were more worried about English language tests than males were. However, Hussain, Shahid, & Zaman (2011) revealed that girls showed less anxiety in English language class, because they had more positive attitude towards English.

Objectives of the study The objectives of this study are: I. to determine the students’ levels of English language anxiety. II. to investigate the relationship between students’ level of English language anxiety and their school based oral English test achievement. III. to identify the difference in between male and female students’ levels of English language anxiety. The research questions to facilitate the study are as follows: I. What are the levels of students’ English language anxiety? II. What is the relationship between students’ level of English language anxiety and their school based oral English test achievement? III. What is the difference between male and female students’ level of English language anxiety?

Significance of the study The findings of this study provided some insights to language teaching. Firstly, English language teachers would be more aware of the second language skills in which their students feel anxious. When they are more aware of language anxiety, they will be more prepared in conducting second language activities in the classroom and more sensitive when dealing with their students. Besides, they can identify ways to create an environment which is conducive for second language learning. Besides helping language teachers, this study would help students to improve their learning styles. They would be aware of such socio-psychological constraints like thoughts of failure, deprecating thoughts, or low self-esteem. Through this awareness, they can develop their social and personal well-beings in their future university life and working environment where English language is a vital skill to survive. This study would also assist the Centre for Languages in the planning of English language teaching in the college. It can develop more comprehensive language programmes and more practical teaching materials. Besides, classroom procedures can be improved that promote language learning. All in all, understanding the nature of language anxiety can help teachers, students, and hopefully the college. © 2014 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

Anxiety and language learning Horwitz and his colleagues (1986) define foreign language anxiety as a distinct complex of self-perceptions, beliefs, feelings, and behaviors related to classroom learning arising from the uniqueness of the language learning process. They also found that foreign language anxiety can be related to these three components as follows: a. Communication apprehension is characterized by fear and anxiety in communicating with people, such as difficulty in speaking in public, listening or learning a spoken utterance are all manifestations of communication apprehension. This type of anxiety in learning a second language is derived from the learners’ personal knowledge that they will have difficulty understanding others and making themselves understood. Learners suffering from communication apprehension choose to keep silent in their English classes. One of the most studied topics in the field of speech communication is the tendency on the part of some people to avoid, and even, fear, communicating orally (Daly 1991: 3). Horwitz et al. (1986: 128) define communication apprehension (CA) as “a type of shyness characterized by fear or anxiety about communicating with people”. b. Test anxiety is a type of performance anxiety which is caused by fear of failing a test. Test anxious students often put unrealistic demands on themselves. Test anxiety is considered to be one of the most important aspects of negative motivation which will affect learning. This type of fear is defined as an unpleasant feeling or emotional state that has both physiological and behavioral concomitants and that is experienced by the anxious learner when taking formal test or other evaluative situations. c. Fear of negative evaluation is an extension of the third component (test anxiety) of second /foreign language anxiety because it is not limited to test-taking situations; rather, it may occur in any social, evaluative situation, such as interviewing for a job or speaking in second/foreign language class (Horwitz et al., 1986: 127). It is also broader in the sense that it pertains not only to the teacher’s evaluation of the students but also to the perceived reaction of other students as well (Shams, 2006: 10). The following figure showed the study’s first component, language anxiety together with the sub-variables that constitute the component.

Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Fear of Negative

Communication Test Anxiety Apprehension

Evaluation

Figure 1: Horwitz’s Conceptual Framework of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety

Methodology This study utilized the quantitative research methodology. The research method used in this study was a survey.

Instrumentation A set of questionnaire was adapted from the Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) by Horwitz et.al (1983). The FLCAS consists of 33 statements with significant part-whole correlations with the total scale, aiming to assess communication apprehension, test anxiety and fear of negative evaluation associated with language anxiety. Each item on the FLCAS is rated on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 5 (strongly agree) to 1 (strongly disagree). Total scores of the scale range from 33 to 165. The questionnaire consisted of two parts. Section one solicits demographic information of the students’ school, class, gender and age. Section two focuses on information on students’ anxiety towards speaking in English, fear of negative evaluation and finally focuses on students’ anxiety towards taking a speaking test in English.

Sampling The study was carried out on 200 participants from two schools in zone Larut Matang and Selama, Perak State, Malaysia. Random sampling method was used to select the participants. The students consisted approximate of males and females. The students are Form Four (aged 15-16) students from both schools.

Data collection Researcher got the convenient schedule of the teachers as to the administration of the questionnaire to the target participants. The participants were given 30-35 minutes to accomplish the questionnaire. Once all the data have been completed, the questionnaires were classified, tallied and tabulated. The students’ English teachers were referred to identify their latest achievement of school based oral English test achievement.

Data analysis The data were collected from their answers in the questionnaire. The overall analysis of the data was collected using the frequency count and the percentages of each answer where then calculated. The data obtained were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0 Windows and were represented in the form of descriptive statistics which include percentages and mean. The classification of English language anxiety level referred to the category as Table 1. Table 1: Students’ mean level of English language anxiety Language Anxiety Mean Low 1.00-2.33 Moderate 2.34-3.66 High 3.67-5.00

According to Baharuddin (2009), students are categorized into 3 levels of anxiety. Table 1 showed mean 1.00-2.33 (low language anxiety LLA), mean 2.34-3.66 (moderate language anxiety MLA) and mean 3.67-5.00 (high anxiety level HLA).

Results and Discussion Table 2: Students’ level of English language anxiety Language Anxiety Variable Mean Level Communication Apprehension 3.15 moderate Fear Negative Evaluation 3.07 moderate Test Anxiety 2.57 moderate Overall Language Anxiety 2.93 moderate

As showed in the Table 2, communication apprehension ranked the highest (m=3.15), followed by fear negative evaluation (m=3.07) and test anxiety (m=2.57). Communication apprehension, fear negative evaluation and test anxiety are all categorized in moderate language anxiety level. Basically according to the items, the students will be facing fear and anxiety in communicating with people. Difficulty in speaking in public, listening or learning a spoken utterance is all manifestations of communication apprehension. This type of anxiety in learning a second language is derived from the learners’ personal knowledge that they will have difficulty understanding others and making themselves understood. Learners suffering from communication apprehension choose to keep silent in their English classes. Fear negative evaluation ranked second (m =3.07). The students faced problems like nervousness when questioned, they were embarrassed to volunteer answers, © 2014 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

and felt that other students spoke better English. They were upset when they could not understand what the teacher corrected and often feared being laughed at by their peers. Generally they felt they were being judged and cast in poor light by teacher and peers. While test anxiety ranked the lowest (m = 2.57).While test normally generate some anxious moments associated with the likelihood of not doing well, the absence of an audience helps to ease the tension. Statements indicate of test anxiety were, “I worry about the consequences of failing my English class” (m=3.55) and “I can feel my heart pounding when I’m going to be called on in English class” (m = 3.1). From the findings, the overall mean of 2.93 indicated that the students who participated in this study are experiencing language anxiety in learning the second language. Meanwhile, there are moderate correlation between the two variables namely English language anxiety and oral English test achievement. The correlation is at 0.360. The correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). Table 3 showed the relationship between the subjects’ language anxiety and oral English test achievement. The result showed that there was positive correlated (r=.360), p<0.01. The correlation index indicated that there was a moderate significant relationship between language anxiety and language achievement. It explains that as the level of anxiety increases, the English language achievement may also increase. Thus, this finding reveals positive significant correlation between English language anxiety and English language achievement. Table 3: Correlation English Language anxiety and oral English test achievement Language Language Anxiety Achievement Pearson Correlation 1 .360** Language Anxiety Sig. (2-tailed) .000 N 200 200 Pearson Correlation .360** 1 Language Achievement Sig. (2-tailed) .000 N 200 200 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Table 4 revealed the difference between male and female in language anxiety.

Gender

Table 4: Difference between male and female in language anxiety Test Value = 0.5 t df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Difference Lower Upper 43.072 199 .000 1.27500 1.2166 1.3334

The result of the t-test indicated in Table 4 revealed that there was significant difference between male and female subjects as showed by the overall significant value t=(199) = 43.07, p < .05). Independent samples t-test revealed that overall, there were significant difference in boys’ and girls’ language anxiety (p ˂ .05). Boys’ mean language anxiety score (M = 3.07) was higher than that of girls (M = 3.02) (refer Table 5). In communication apprehension, girls’ mean scores were higher than boys while in fear of negative evaluation, boys’ mean scores were higher than girls. Lastly, in test anxiety, boys scores higher mean than the girls. These findings suggest that generally, boys were more anxious than girls in English class. Table 5 showed the difference between male and female in language anxiety based on communication apprehensible, fear of negative evaluation and test anxiety. Table 5: Difference between male and female in language anxiety based on three components Variable Gender Mean Communication apprehensible Male 3.04 Female 3.07 Fear of negative evaluation Male 3.14 Female 3.09 Test anxiety Male 3.05 Female 2.92 Overall

Male Female

3.07 3.02

These findings suggest that a majority of students experienced moderate feelings of anxiety when communicating in English with other people. In the real language use situation, it is normal for second language learners to feel some anxiety. As stated by Khairi and Nurul Lina (2010), moderate feelings of anxiety in second language learning might help students to create the desire to learn, to motivate and to get the students realize that they have to work harder in order to acquire the target language. On the other hand, if students experience low level of anxiety, they may be so relaxed that they do not really learn or acquire any new things and as a result, the process of language acquisition will not be successful. For students who experience high anxiety, they may perceive a second language learning situation as threatening to them and may respond to this threatening situation by showing poor learning performance. The most significant finding of the research is that the students showed a high score in two of the traits of second language anxiety which are fear of communication apprehension and negative evaluation. Ohata (2005) found that learners feared taking tests, because test-taking situations would make them anxious about the negative consequences of getting a bad grade. This would lead to other psychological stresses, such as the fear of losing self-confidence or feeling inferior to others. It reflects the biggest dilemma faced by most second language learners in © 2014 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

Malaysia as a whole. The fact that students are more worried about failing the exam would probably halt the output process which is essential in the process of language acquisition. Rather than focusing on ways to polish and enhance their language, the students would dwell on unrealistic expectations in which they are to produce a flawless language. These kinds of negative traits would surely bring in how they behave and respond in second language classroom that consequently debilitate the learning. The findings showed that there was significant difference between the genders in language anxiety. The independent samples t-test revealed that overall; there were significant difference in boys’ and girls’ language anxiety (p ˂ .05). Boys’ mean language anxiety score (M = 3.07) was higher than that of girls (M = 3.02).The findings concur with Hussain, Shahid, & Zaman (2011) study, revealed that girls showed less anxiety in English language class, because they had more positive attitude towards English. Similarly, Awan, Azher, Anwar, and Naz (2010) found that female students were less anxious in English classroom as compared to males with a significant t-test of mean difference (t=2.520, p= .013). Their study revealed that female undergraduates were better in dealing with language encounters.

Conclusion The findings showed that a large number of the students (93.5%) experienced moderate levels of English language anxiety while very few (6.5 %) of them experienced low levels of language anxiety. On the other hand, the correlation index indicated that there was a moderate significant relationship between language anxiety and oral English test achievement. Further, the study noticed that there was significant difference between genders in language anxiety. The results of the current study would help language teachers in several ways as regard their teaching of second language in their classes. First, language teachers have to realize that their students are experiencing anxiety in their classes. They must be able to understand the nature of their students’ language anxieties. It may vary from one learner to another so it is pertinent that teachers be made aware of what language anxieties their students may be suffering from. As such, ,they may be able to design lesson and prepare activities and learning materials that will be best address the strategies that can be effectively utilized by these types of learners to cope with their respective language anxieties. Second, English language teachers should have learning activities where these students are given more guidance on how to talk or write about themselves, their family, their interests and their culture. Teachers should also try to create a nonthreatening, relaxed learning environment in which students can take risks and make mistakes without fear of embarrassment. English teachers should create learning environments with a definite potential for success through setting attainable goals and reasonable challenges for HLA students. Opportunities for success and celebrating success will enhance their self-confidence (Bandura, 1993).

Third, Schools should adopt innovative approaches to minimize apprehension and maximize student achievement. The most important thing is, in order to increase the level of efficiency in the English language, they need to practice. Practice will make perfect. Practice speaking with friends or family, or even text messaging them in English which will also help to increase the level of proficiency in English thus indirectly, it will improve the level of second language anxiety. Four, teachers can help students by providing more opportunities for them to interact in safe groups in which they feel comfortable. In addition, teachers must make a conscious effort to ensure that these students have the opportunity to participate in class, not just the ones who take the initiative. Wait-times should also be lengthened to ensure that these students have enough time to respond without interruption. The findings presented in this paper are limited to the students of the school involved in this study. A replication of this study involving students from schools in other parts of Malaysia would provide further support for the generalizability of the findings.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 80-90, February 2014 ISSN: 1694-2116

Influencing Tax Compliance in SMEs through the Use of ICTs Edison Wazoel Lubua (PhD) Mzumbe University, P.O. Box 20266, Dar es Salaam, 255, Tanzania

Abstract. This paper presents a discussion on the use of e-transparent tools in addressing challenges of tax compliance in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) of Tanzania. The discussion begins by providing the background of the study and the problem under investigation. This background is followed by the outline of objectives, significance of the study and the methods used. The later sections identify factors influencing voluntary compliance and how the use of ICTs positively improves voluntary compliance by taxpayers. The last section provides the conclusion of the study. Keywords: E-transparency; ICT; Tax Compliance; SMEs

Background of the Study

Revenue collection is an important determinant of the economy of any country (Malima, 2013). The adequacy of government revenues allows the government to support its operations ranging from administrative activities, infrastructure constructions and service provision. The study by Ebeke (2010) commented on the importance of developing countries to adequately manage its sources of revenue to enhance the speed of developments. This is because sufficient revenue decreases the degree of dependence of the government to donors for its developments (Komanya, 2013). It also offers the government with the ability to make different developmental decisions. In order to improve revenue collections, the government ought to develop an environment that raises the awareness and willingness of taxpayers toward returning taxes voluntarily (Malima, 2013). Therefore it is the business of the government to formulate a sound legislation which favours revenue collection activities. While the international community emphasis is on enabling developing countries to enhance their degree of economic independence, the Tanzanian government managed to increase domestic revenue collection by 17.4% 2011/2012 (Ministry of Finance of Tanzania, 2013). These results were influenced by different improvements in taxation system such as increasing the number of staff, defining administrative blocks and the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs); however, the increase is still below

neighbouring countries. In improving the domestic revenue collection process, the Tanzanian revenue authority uses the following technological tools: Electronic Fiscal Devices (EFDs), income Taxation (ITAX) system and Custom Application Online System (CULAS). Basically, domestic revenue is one of the key branches of taxation system in Tanzania and countries within SADC and EAC economic blocks. While statistics show improvements in the area of tax collection, a large group of eligible taxpayers is yet to be reached (Ministry of Finance of Tanzania, 2013). The literature suggests the unprofessional methods of keeping records by entrepreneurs, low tax knowledge, bureaucratic procedures and corruption to inhibit the revenue collection process in developing countries (Kitillya, 2011; The Policy Forum of Tanzania, 2010). In order to reach many clients and act more effectively, the Tanzanian revenue authority re-defined its administration system to include small administrative blocks. Although the aim of re-defining the administrative structure was to maximize efficiency in identifying and managing new customers, this goal is yet to be met (Bugeni, 2012; Interview). Improving domestic revenue collections can easily be enhanced through voluntary compliance of clients. However, it is unfortunate that the majority of clients do not voluntarily returning tax to the revenue authority (Malima, 2013).

Statement of the Problem

The development of any nation depends on the ability of the government to operate based on its own sources of revenue. It is for this reason that developing countries require proper management of sources of income for enhanced development. In any nation, tax collection contributes significantly to the Gross Domestic Product (Ministry of Finance of Tanzania, 2013). Consequently, the Tanzanian government invests its effort in making sure that revenue collection activities are well administered. To ensure effectiveness in tax administration the Tanzanian government performs the following activities: Improve the skills of employees through trainings, re-define the administrative structure in small geographic areas, and transforms traditional methods of service provision to the use of electronic systems (Tanzania Revenue Authority, 2013). It is evident that there is a good progress in term of revenue collected by the Tanzania Revenue Authority (Kitillya, 2011; Ministry of Finance of Tanzania, 2013). Nevertheless, different reports still suggest the presence of many TRA clients who do not submit their tax return to the authority (Malima, 2013). The study by Jensen & WĂśhlbier (2012) suggests voluntary compliance of clients to tax return as the key success factor for the revenue authority to meet its statutory obligations. The following things are proposed to provide an incentive in promoting voluntary compliance in revenue collection: these include tax compliance education, enhancing transparent assessment and balancing the roles of an employee in the taxation process (Khalfan, 2010). It is the intention of this study to show the influence of the use of e-transparent services to voluntary compliance by taxpayers. ÂŠ 2014 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

Main Objective

To show how e-transparent services address the challenge of low voluntary tax compliance by SMEs in Tanzania.

Significance of the Study

The study is significant in the area of revenue collection because of the following reasons: i. It determines the influence of employees’ integrity, tax laws awareness and administrative protocol to taxpayers voluntary compliance. ii. It describes the catalytic behaviour of e-transparent services in addressing challenges brought by low employees’ integrity, low awareness of tax laws and administrative protocol of the revenue authority in enhancing taxpayers’ voluntary compliance.

Methodology

The study obtained its data through mixed research methods. First, it identified Kinondoni tax-region as the case for its study. Particularly, data were collected from clients and employees of Manzese tax centre of the Kinondoni tax-region. Also, the study used a survey questionnaire as the instrument for data collection. A total of 100 SMEs’ and 10 employees were surveyed. The following characteristics of the sample were observed:

Gender - 61% of the members of the sample were male and 39% were female.  Education - 23% had the college education and 77% were below college education.  Business Experience – 40% had business experience above 3 years and 60% were below 3 years. Other sources of data include the use of available literature that address challenges of voluntary compliance by the taxpayers. The analysis used the Spearman’s rho correlation model.

Voluntary Tax Compliance in SMEs

It is the intention of the Tanzanian government to ensure that all taxpayers submit the information about their business voluntarily annually for evaluation. This enables the revenue authority to assess the business to establish tax liabilities. The study carried out an analysis to know the per cent of SMEs registered with the revenue authority in the sample. About 42% of respondents are registered with the revenue authority. Few SMEs has registered their business with the Tanzanian taxation authority. Additional analysis shows that about 76% of respondents who are registered with TRA files their tax returns consistently. Overall, only 32% of all respondents files tax returns consistently. A significant per cent of taxpayers are defaulters even among clients registered with the revenue authority. Similarly,

the majority of potential taxpayers is not registered with the revenue authority, and this increases the per cent of the none tax filers . Generally, 68% of all clients of the revenue authority do not file their tax returns as required by the law. In the interview the study observed the following factors to affect the rate of tax returns by SMEs; such factors include taxpayersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; levels of education, business experience, tax laws awareness and the integrity of employees. However, the level of education of respondents showed a none significant influence to the trend of filing tax returns by clients; the remaining factors are discussed in the below sections.

6.1. The Awareness of the Tax Laws This section determines whether the level of the awareness of potential taxpayers on tax laws influences voluntary tax returns. The descriptive analysis of data suggests about 32% of respondents to be aware of the legislation which require them to file tax returns in every year. The information shows that the majority of respondents have low awareness of the legislative requirement of filing tax returns in every year. In responding to the need of raising the level of awareness of taxpayers on the requirements of different tax laws the revenue authority devised the taxpayers education department which implements different strategies for raising the level of taxpayer education; nevertheless its impact is still low. In this study, we first determined the categorical relationships between tax law knowledge and voluntary compliance. The results obtained through the Pearson chi-square model (Table 1 below) shows the p- value as 0.00 (p < 0.05). This observation indicates a significant relationship between the level of voluntary submission of tax returns by SMEs and the level of awareness of tax laws. Table 1. Tax Laws Awareness * Voluntary Submission Chi-Square Tests

Value

Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)

Pearson Chi-Square

43.773a

.000

Likelihood Ratio

52.277

.000

N of Valid Cases

100

The results of the Pearson chi-square model are further interpreted by additional descriptive information. The information shows about 68% of potential taxpayers who are knowledgeable and 6% of those who are not knowledgeable with tax laws to voluntarily file their tax returns to the revenue authority. The information agrees with the model analysis in table 1 where the majority of clients who have a good knowledge of tax laws do also voluntarily comply with tax laws. Additionally, the study observed a significant correlation between the level of tax knowledge and voluntary compliance of clients with tax laws. The

Spearmans’ rho correlation coefficient is 0.623, where the p–value is 0.000. Based on this information the increase in tax laws awareness influences the increase of the extent to which taxpayers voluntarily files their tax returns by about 62%. These observations correspond with comments by Lewis (1982). He commented that low tax knowledge correlates with negative attitudes toward taxation. Moreover, the study by Eriksen and Fallan (1996) commented that knowledge about tax law is important for preferences and attitudes towards taxation. The attitude and preferences analysed in this study is whether the taxpayer should comply or not comply. In a recent study by Palil (2010) it was observed that tax knowledge positively correlates with tax compliance.

6.2. The Influence of Business Experience to Tax Compliance The experience of tax clients who owns SMEs in business is among factors thought to influence the attitude of taxpayers in complying with tax laws. Business owners who have conducted business operations for a long time are thought to have a better understanding of the business environment than those with little experience. These environments include country laws and regulations associated with business operations. In the analysis the study observed that 60% of respondents have business experience below 3 years. Because of this reason, it is likely that the majority of taxpayers have inadequate knowledge in tax affairs. This is ascertained by the acknowledgement by taxpayers that the majority were never visited by revenue officials from taxpayer education. A further analysis showed that, 45% of taxpayers with business experience above three years, and 23% of those with business experience below three years files tax returns consistently. An extended analysis using the Pearson chi-square model suggests the observed difference in percent to be significant. The results in table 2 shows the p-value is 0.004 (p<0.05). The majority of experienced owners of SMEs are aware of tax laws and procedures; this is possibly due to reasons such as received trainings, seminars and visitation by revenue officers. Table 2. Experience * Voluntary Submission Chi-Square Tests

Value

Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)

Pearson Chi-Square

19.197a

.004

Likelihood Ratio

20.479

.002

N of Valid Cases

100

In responding to the question of whether voluntary submission of tax returns by owners of SMEs depended on business experience, the results of the Spearman’s rho correlation analysis reported a significant correlation. The correlation coefficient is 0.370 ad the p-value is 0.000. The information suggests the increase in tax compliance by 37% when there is an increase in the experience of business owners. These results compare with a case drawn from Kenya where the study observed that the number of years of business experience influences the taxpayers’ level of compliance to tax laws (Marti, Wanjohi, Magutu, & Mokoro, 2010). Those with extended business experience have more knowledge of tax

issues because they understand the benefits of voluntary compliance and are used with the routines of filing tax returns.

6.3. The Influence of the Integrity of Employees of the Revenue Authority to Clients’ voluntary compliance

The integrity of employees is essential in making sure that the organisation meets its objectives. Employees with good integrity ensures that they provide services in corruption free environments. In the analysis of the study, only 39% of taxpayers admitted that the level of their compliance has never been affected by the integrity of employees of the revenue authority. The information suggests the majority of clients of the revenue authority to be uncomfortable with the integrity of employees. The study acknowledges the presence of respondents who admitted that they were requested to bribe tax officers to receive tax relief. Similarly, new employees admitted that the experienced employees operated in secretive environments. Table 3 presents data about an extended analysis that determines whether the taxpayer’s intention for voluntary submission of tax returns varies depending on the level of the integrity of employees of the revenue authority. The results show the p-value = 0.029. The information reports a significant relationship between employee integrity and the desire of clients to voluntarily return tax. Table 3. Employees Integrity*Voluntary Submission of Tax, Chi-Square Tests

Value

Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)

Pearson Chi-Square

17.091a

.029

Likelihood Ratio

20.387

.009

Linear-by-Linear Association

6.013

.014

N of Valid Cases

100

Furthermore, the study tested the degree of linear influence of employee integrity to taxpayers’ voluntary submission of tax returns using the Spearmans’rho correlation model. The results of the analysis report the correlation coefficient (r) as 0.234 where the p-value is 0.019. The information suggests a significant influence of voluntary submission of tax returns by the integrity of employees. The increase of employee integrity influence voluntary tax filing by 23%. In the study by Nawaz (2010), the author closely associated low integrity to employees with corruption. The study indicated a significant negative effect of corruption (low integrity) to tax collection. The study supports the findings in the above paragraph that low integrity significantly influences tax collection. In addition to lowering of revenue collection, low integrity to employee causes long-term damage to the economy by detracting investment, increasing the size of the informal economy, distorting tax structures and corroding the tax morality of taxpayers. The underlying assumption of the relationship between the integrity of employees and the increase of the informal economy in not well

established by the study; however there is a need to establish these facts due to the presence of a large number of the unregistered SME owners reported by the study. The Tanzanian government puts various mechanisms to control the integrity of employees in relation to tax collection. The first control is whistle blowing. Taxpayers are required to report environments subjecting them to corruption. This includes environment where tax officers fail to offer services as required by the law. Unfortunately, the clients are not comfortable with the degree to which the issue of integrity is addressed by the authority. Some of the measures taken to address the issue of the integrity of employees include the taxpayers’ education and the use of online media in obtaining services.

6.4. The Influence of Tax Officers’ visits to Taxpayers’ Voluntary Compliance In 2011, the Tanzanian revenue authority decentralized the management of tax affairs through restructuring its administration to a block management system. The purpose of this structure of management is to influence voluntary compliance to tax payers through dissemination of taxpayers’ education along with physical visitation. Under this system, tax regions have been divided into blocks and sub-blocks depending on their geographical areas. Customers are registered and categorized according to blocks and sub-blocks. Services given to clients include TIN registration, physical visitation, filing of tax returns, auditing, and trainings. The activities are conducted according to blocks and sub-blocks in which the customer belongs. The block management system aims to simplify the task of reaching customers so as to collect necessary business information for tax purposes. In managing blocks, revenue officers are assigned the duty of visiting customers located in their respective blocks at least once in three months. In their visitations they collect client’s business information, identify non-filers, identify unregistered clients, and make sure that business tax information is up-to-date (Tanzania Revenue Authority, 2013). This part of the study determined the relationship between the frequencies which employees of the revenue authority visit their clients and the compliance of taxpayers in filing tax returns. Traditionally, the revenue authority expects tax officers to visit clients at least once in every three months. This visitation aims to promote the arrangement by the revenue authority that requires taxpayers to pay their tax dues at least in four instalments in a year. The results of the descriptive analysis show about 16% of respondents to be regularly visited by TRA officers. The results suggest few clients to benefit from regular visitation by taxpayers according to the tradition by the revenue authority. It was further observed that about 44% of respondents were never visited by officers of the revenue authority in their administrative block. Therefore the study concludes that the potential of the block administration system is not adequately explored by employees of the Tanzanian revenue authority.

Additionally, the result shows that about 56% of taxpayers who were visited by tax officers regularly files tax as required. Similarly, 27% of those who were not regularly visited file tax as required. The study observed the difference of 29% between the two groups. The analysis agrees with the Pearson’s chi square analysis where a significant relationship was observed. The results reported in table 4 suggest that p = 0.000. As indicated in the above, there is a significant association between how regularly taxpayers are visited by employees of the revenue authority and their compliance with filing of taxes as required. Table 4. TRA Visitation * Voluntary Submission, Chi-Square Tests

Value

Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)

Pearson Chi-Square

31.564a

.000

Likelihood Ratio

35.592

.000

Linear-by-Linear Association

17.228

.000

N of Valid Cases

100

Moreover, the analysis observed a significant correlation between the frequency of visitation by employees of the revenue authority and voluntary filing of tax returns by taxpayers. The Spearman’s rho correlation value is 0.460 and the pvalue is 0.000. The reported per cent of influence is 46. The increase of the frequency of visiting tax payers influences the increase of voluntary submission by taxpayers by 46%. While visiting taxpayers, tax officers raise the awareness of taxpayers on their legal obligations of paying tax. They also reveal the benefits associated with filing tax voluntarily together with available options for filing the tax.

6.5. The Influence of Training to Voluntary Tax Compliance Training is useful in raising the awareness of clients of the revenue authority on different subjects including the importance of voluntary compliance in taxation. The Tanzanian revenue authority has a department for taxpayers’ education with the responsibility to ensure the dissemination of tax education to clients. This department provides tax education in the form of leaflets, brochures, advertisements and it organizes numerous periodic trainings to TRA customers. The analysis of the study observed that about 68% of respondents were untrained. They have never received tax education from experts through any method. Therefore, it is possible that a large number of respondents may not comply with taxation rules because of low awareness. Furthermore, it was observed that 23% of trained customers and 9% of the untrained customers voluntarily submit their returns regularly. This indicates that trainings offered by TRA to SMEs resulted in improvement in the voluntary compliance attitude of taxpayers. Similarly, other results were obtained through Pearson chi-square test whereby the p-value was 0.00 (p< 0.05). With this information the observed difference in the level of compliance between trained and untrained SMEs is significant.

Table 5. Training Status * Voluntary Submission Chi-Square Tests

Value

Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)

Pearson Chi-Square

34.639a

.000

Likelihood Ratio

35.069

.000

N of Valid Cases

100

Moreover, the Spearman’s rho correlation analysis showed a linear relationship between the training status of clients and voluntary submission of tax returns. The correlation coefficient value is 0.557 (p = 0.000. There are about 56% of influence to customer’s voluntary compliance through enhancing their awareness through training. The observation corresponds comments by two studies which found the increase of compliance after campaigns for raising the awareness of clients (Komanya, 2013; Khalfan, 2010). Further observations showed that some employees were reluctant to provide adequate knowledge to clients because they benefited out of their illiteracy. Clients reported that there were incidents where employees presented unrealistic tax evaluations and demanded some money from clients for tax relief. The use of electronic media for disseminating educative information address the challenge of employees’ efficiency in training clients.

6.6. How Does the Use of ICT Address Challenges of Voluntary Taxation? The discussion provided in previous sections of this paper showed several factors to affect the decision of clients to voluntarily comply with taxation systems of Tanzania. The success of the government in revenue collection depends on how adequately are the challenges addressed. In this section, the study shows how the use of e-transparent services in the management of tax activities address challenges associated with voluntary compliance of SMEs to the Tanzanian taxation system.

6.6.1

Low awareness of tax laws

The majority of tax clients in SMEs own mobile phones, and some are connected to computers. The revenue authority can improve the awareness of clients about tax laws by disseminating educative information through the use of mobile phones. The online system must allow clients to subscribe for educative messages; the information should be provided freely or at a low price. Currently, there are two main services to which the revenue authority supports users of ordinary mobile phones; they make online payments and make direct calls to the institution. More services are needed in the area of tax education.

6.6.2

Low Business Experience

Low business experience is reported to affect the ability of clients to make decisions pertaining voluntary compliance by SMEs. The use of e-transparent services can uplift the knowledge of individual taxpayers through allowing them to inquire and access the information that positively improves their understanding of the benefits of voluntarily submitting tax returns.

6.6.3

Low integrity of employees of the revenue authority.

Employees play a vital role in ensuring that the revenue authority collects its tax from clients at the right time. They also ensure that clients have the right knowledge of business taxation. Low integrity to employees is reported to significantly affect efforts by the revenue authority toward improving revenue collection. To a large extent, the use of ICTs in the Tanzanian revenue authority has addressed the challenge of corruptive behaviour by employees. In areas such as custom department, clients are able to conduct own assessments. However in domestic revenue (where SMEs are included) there is a low usage of ICTs. Clients depend on employees for assessment and this assessment depends on employeesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; rational ability and integrity. The use of ICTs for self-assessment addresses the challenge of the integrity of employees and promotes voluntary compliance.

6.6.4

Low frequency of visitation by Tax officers

SMEs represent the largest group of business operators in the country. It is unfortunate that the majority of SMEsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; has never been visited by tax officers for business assessment. This is due to inadequate number of employees. The reason for such visitation is to provide education necessary for voluntary compliance plus other tax related administrative activities. The use of ICTs enable clients to access these services without being visited by employees. Employees will essentially provide these services while in their offices.

6.6.5

Training Needs

Training is essential because it provides clients with the skills necessary in raising their attitude of voluntarily complying with taxation systems. In the Tanzanian revenue authority, employees organize seminars to educate stakeholders about the benefits of voluntary tax compliance. However, many respondents admitted that they never received training from tax officers. This is partly due to inadequate members of staff. The mobile technologies can be useful in providing trainings to SMEs through the use of text messages. The use of mobile phones could be extended to include the provision of educative information to clients.

Conclusion

The study aimed to show how e-transparent services address the challenge of voluntary tax compliance by SMEs in the republic of Tanzania. The study observed the following factors to influence voluntary compliance: Awareness of tax laws, business experience, the integrity of employees, low frequency of visitation by tax officers and training needs. The revenue authority must use relevant ICT tools to positively promote these factors; as the result, the position of taxpayers to voluntarily file their tax returns will be enhanced.

References

Ebeke, C. (2010). Remittances, Value Added Tax and Tax Revenue in Developing Countries. Retrieved November 26, 2013, from http://publi.cerdi.org/ed/2010/2010.30.pd

Khalfan, S. (2010). An Assessment of Factors Hindering the SME'S Voluntary Tax Compliance in Zanzibar. Retrieved February 26, 2013, from http://repository.out.ac.tz/83/ Kitillya, H. (2011). Tax Administration Reforms in Tanzania: Experience and Challenges. Retrieved November 10, 2013, from http://www.imf.org/external/np/seminars/eng/2011/revenue/pdf/kitillya.pdf Komanya, P. (2013). Local governments should be further empowered. Retrieved November 23, 2013, from http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/?l=58128 Malima, A. (2013). Enhancing Income Tax Collection in SMEs Customers’ Perspective: A Case of Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), Kinondoni. Dar es Salaam: Mzumbe University. Marti, L. O., Wanjohi, M. S., Magutu, P. O., & Mokoro, J. M. (2010). TAXPAYERS’ ATTITUDES AND TAX COMPLIANCE. African Journal of Business & Management, 112122. Ministry of Finance of Tanzania. (2013). Retrieved November 25, 2013, from http://www.tzdpg.or.tz/fileadmin/documents/external/Aid_Effectiveness/PER_2012 _-_2013/150_Inception_Report_PER_Study_Tanzania-2.pdf Nawaz, F. (2010). EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CORRUPTION AND TAX REVENUE. Retrieved October 7, 2013, from http://www.transparency.org/whatwedo/answer/exploring_the_relationships_betwee n_corruption_and_tax_revenue Palil, M. (2010). TAX KNOWLEDGE AND TAX COMPLIANCE DETERMINANTS . Birmingham: University of Birmingham. Tanzania Revenue Authority. (2013). The Tanzanian Revenue Authority Official Site. Retrieved November 20, 2013, from http://www.tra.go.tz/ The Policy Forum of Tanzania. (2010). How Much Revenue are we Losing. Retrieved November 12, 2013, from http://www.policyforumtz.org/files/Howmuchrevenuearewelosing.pdf

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 91-123, February 2014

Strategic Intervention Material-Based Instruction, Learning Approach and Students‘ Performance in Chemistry Edwin I. Salviejo Science Department, Makati High School, 1214 Makati City, Philippines Fidela Q. Aranes Chemistry Department, College of Science, Technological University of the Philippines, 1000 Manila, Philippines Allen A. Espinosa Faculty of Science, Technology and Mathematics, College of Teacher Development, Philippine Normal University, 1000 Manila, Philippines Abstract. This study explored the learning approach adopted and attempted to investigate the effect of Strategic Intervention MaterialBased Instruction (SIM-BI) on the performance of students in high school Chemistry. It utilized the pretest-posttest pre-experimental design. The SIM-BI used as a treatment of the study covered one of the least mastered skills in the subject area which is chemical bonding. Two classes of 80 students enrolled in Chemistry during the fourth quarter of the school year 2012-2013 were used as respondents. They were classified according to their learning approaches which were on their mean scores in the Chemistry Learning Approach Inventory (CLAI). The score in the Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT) administered as pretest and posttest measured students‘ performance in Chemistry. Dependent t-test was employed to determine the significant difference between the mean responses in the pretest and posttest. Results of the study showed that the use of SIM-BI is effective in terms of improving students‘ performance and learning approach. The surface learners performed equally well as the deep learners when SIM-BI was used. The positive result of the survey suggested that the SIM was appreciated and appealed to both types of learners. Keywords: strategic intervention performance in chemistry

material;

learning

approach;

Introduction It is a common observation that learning Chemistry, as a discipline creates a negative feedback to most students in the secondary level. Chemistry is one of the hated subjects in Science, which students would likely fail completing the necessary requirements and get low performances in both academic and conceptual reasoning skills. To many students, Science learning is never fun and the process is boring and burdensome; thus, student achievement in this field is relatively low. The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS 2003) which was conducted nine years ago revealed unsatisfactory results. The Philippines ranked 42nd in Science out of 45 participating countries that were tested (Manila Times, 2004). TIMMS result specifically in Chemistry has an international average of 45% correct answers and Philippine average of 30 %. This proved that vast majority of Filipino students have performed below par in the Chemistry achievement test and below the levels of most students from other countries based on the international tests. The mediocre difference in the academic performance of students is also evident in the results posted in the National Achievement Test given by the Department of Education (DepED) to elementary and high school students. In the year 2007, Chemistry posted an average of 51.8 %, 57.8 % in 2008 (Espinosa, 2012). The results are far and below the criterion target set by the Philippine government which is 75% (Lapuz, 2009) cited. This problem in the education system is now being addressed by the government through adopting the K-12 program. This program being implemented by the government extends the basic education curriculum from 10 to 12 years. DepEd reasoned that it is high time to implement this system in the basic education attributing the low achievement scores of students nationally and internationally. In the present situation of the Philippine Educational System, wherein there are shortage in the classrooms throughout the country and scarce funds, not enough to cater instructional materials needed in every science classroom. The primary goal of teaching is to provide appropriate and effective instruction to students. Thus, a Science teacher is responsible to devise and provide the necessary materials for use in science classes (Dy, 2011). Teaching Chemistry is more productive when there are available, sufficient, and strategically designed instructional materials suited for the type of students. Instructional approaches may succeed or fail, they are dependent to the learning needs of the students. Teachers must consider the students‘ emotional needs and their approaches to learning. Developing instructional materials play an integral role in the teaching – learning process. Use of instructional materials has a strong relationship with academic performance at the secondary students as mentioned in Dahar( 2011). Strategic Intervention Material, an instructional material for remediation purposes is one of the solutions employed by the Department of Education to enhance academic achievements of students performing low in the field of science and technology. DepEd Memo No. 117, series of 2005 entitled ―Training © 2014 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

Workshop on Strategic Intervention Materials (SIMs) for Successful Learning‖ provided science secondary teachers the training in the preparation of SIMs. As part of intensifying and developing strategic intervention materials as tool for remediating poor performance in Science. The Department of Education included the SIM making as one of the contests during science fairs in school, division, regional, and national level competitions. One of the most significant topics today in the field of educational research specifically in the basic education is the learning approach adopted by the students in learning a particular task. For educators, this approach should be considered and applied most of the time in teaching (Lublin, 2010). One of the major concepts that emerged from this research was the idea that students can take different approaches to learning. Biggs (2003) defines good teaching as the encouragement of a deep approach to learning. In the light of this the paper was conceived. This study investigated the effect of traditional teaching with the use of a strategic intervention material made by the researcher to help improve students‘ performance considering the learning approach they adopt in Chemistry. It is hoped that students‘ learning approach, from being a surface learner to deep learner upon exposure to Strategic Intervention Material – Based Instruction will be realized. The study sought answers to the following research questions: (1) What is the profile of the students in chemistry before and after exposure to Strategic Intervention Material – Based Instruction (SIM-BI)?; (2) What is the performance in the Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT) of deep and surface learners before and after exposure to the Strategic Intervention Material – Based Instruction (SIM-BI)?; (3) Is there a difference between the performance in the Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT) of deep and surface learners before and after exposure to Strategic Intervention Material – Based Instruction (SIM-BI)?; (4) What is the students‘ perception of the Strategic Intervention Material – Based Instruction (SIM – BI)?; Strategic Intervention Material (SIM) Instructional materials are school resource inputs (SRI), they include print and non – print items that are designed to impart information to students in the educational process. Instructional materials also include items such as kits, textbooks, magazines, newspapers, pictures, recordings, slides, transparencies, videos, video discs, workbooks and electronic media including music, movie, radio, software, CD – ROMs, and online services (Dahar, 2011). Instructional material plays a very important role in the teaching learning process. It enhances the memory level of the students and makes the teaching – learning process interesting (Nicholls, 2000; Raw, 2003). At present, in the Philippine education system, intervention materials are highly regarded as tools for remediating poor achievements of the learners. SIM or Strategic Intervention Material refers to a teaching aid introduced into the teaching methods to stimulate the activity of the students and thereby increased © 2014 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

their level of understanding (Dy, 2011). It is strategically prepared and designed for teaching remediation for low achievers in the subject. It is given after the regular classroom instruction to students who were not able to grasp the concepts of the subject matter. Bunagan (2012) defined Strategic Intervention Material as meant to re-teach the concepts and skills (least mastered). It is a material given to students to help them master competency – based skills which they were not able to develop during a regular classroom teaching. It consists of both learning strategies (for students) and content enhancement (for teachers). It is a multifaceted approach to help students to become independent and successful learners. He further differentiated SIM and modules. This intervention material focuses on the skill not mastered by the students during regular class. It does not involve pretest and posttest and includes fun activities. Module, on the other hand, contained different topics included in a given chapter and intended for regular classroom teaching and distance learning. Module requires pretest and posttest and also includes fun activities. SIM increases and deepens students‘ skills in manipulation, knowledge or thinking, understanding and observing the microscopic into macroscopic representation of matter like atoms, molecules and ions which students believe as a discrete representation of the existing matter and other related components of science (Togonon, 2011).Strategic Intervention Material is an instructional material prescribed by the Department of Education to improve students‘ performance in science subjects. To promote successful learning in the field of science and technology subjects in both elementary and secondary among public schools, DepEd Memorandum No. 117, series of 2005, provided the teachers the training and workshop on how to prepare this intervention material. As part of promoting the wide use of the material, the Department of Education included SIM making that is open to all science teachers as one of the contests in yearly science fair in the school, division, region and national level competitions. The Strategic Intervention Material (SIM) is divided into six parts taken from the seminars and trainings attended by the researcher. The first part of the SIM is the title card, this part of the SIM includes the specific chapter or the subject matter covered by the material. The SIM that was used in this study is entitled ―Chemical Romance‖ that covers chemical bonding which is considered least mastered skills in Chemistry.The second part is the guide card. This section gives a preview of what students will learn. This card should stimulate the interest of the students with respect to the topic covered by the strategic intervention material. It presents the focus skills mentioned in the learning competencies and must state at least two sub-tasks (activities). This part must also cite prerequisite skills built on prior learning and concrete outcome or product that students are expected to demonstrate or produce. The third part of the SIM is the activity card. This section is considered the heart of the Strategic Intervention Material. It consists of activities that will develop understanding of the students related to the given objective of a specific lesson © 2014 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

stated in the guide card. It contains also guide questions for the students to answer and relate the activity conceptually, that will be developed after completing the main activity. This part also provides the objectives, students‘ exercises, activities, and drills with clear directions to develop necessary skills in the three domains and concrete concepts, particularly those drawn from real – life situations. It allows also the students to organize based on the sequence of the focus skills and to make discoveries and formulate ideas on their own. This section also consists of questions that establish relationship between the topic and what students already know or familiar to them. The fourth part is the assessment card that is made up of activities and tests concerning what the students learned from the previous activities of the SIM. This test measures how much students learned from the given activities in the activity card. It is made up of questions in different forms (multiple choice, interpreting graph, identification, and matching type). This section determines the effect of this material as a tool for teaching remediation. The fifth part of the SIM is the enrichment card. This section provides practical activities to be done by students related to the topic. This involves applications of the topic in their daily life, in industry or in other technologies. The last part of the SIM is the reference card which includes the title of the books, websites, or any other electronic or printed materials. This part may be used by students as reference for additional information concerning the topic covered. Traditional Instruction Supported with Instructional Materials Nowadays, traditional and modern teaching methods become a hot topic in education. Traditional teaching activities refer to the learning process activities. The examples of traditional teaching activities methods are using games and singing a song in and out the classroom (Heriwinarko, 2012). A very typical feature of traditional methodology as Broughton (2004) claimed, is the ―teacher – dominated interaction‖. The teaching is deeply teacher – centered. The traditional methodology puts the responsibility for teaching and learning mainly on the teacher and it is believed that tudents will be able to use the knowledge if they are present in the class discussions and listen to the teacher‘s explanations and examples, (Boumova, 2008). The Center for Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL) cited the advantage and disadvantage of traditional teaching method: such as, giving the instructor the chance to expose students to unpublished or not readily available instructional materials and complimenting certain individual learning preferences. Some students depend upon the structure provided by highly teacher – centered methods. Two of the disadvantages mentioned are to enable understanding and long-term retention of content, it requires considerable amount of unguided student time outside the classroom and it does not promote active learning but rather placing students in a passive role which hinders learning. Today‘s diverse student population has resulted in teacher‘s seeking changes in the traditional methods of instructing students. Teachers seek ways to improve © 2014 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

student motivation and engagement in the learning process. Students learn principally through interactions with people (teachers and peers) and instructional materials (textbooks, workbooks, instructional software, web-based content, homework, projects, quizzes, and tests). But education policymakers focus primarily on factors removed from those interactions, such as academic standards, teacher evaluation systems, and school accountability policies. There is strong evidence that the choice of instructional materials has large effects on student learning—effects that rival in size those that are associated with differences in teacher effectiveness. Administrators are prevented from making better choices of instructional materials by the lack of evidence on the effectiveness of the materials currently in use (Chingos, 2012) In order to facilitate the learning process, instructional media are used as aids. Instructional media are classified as speaking – listening media, reading – writing media and computer – based instruction (Aranes, 1998). For purposes of the study, the researcher will center his discussions to visual and observational media which specifically concentrates on the application of intervention material in teaching one of the least mastered skills in Chemistry. Non-book instructional materials have opened up a new research field particularly in the past 30 years. Similarly, in the most recent comprehensive summary in the audio-visual field, numerous books and periodicals have made an effort to bring together more recent findings. This investigation concerning the use and purposes of instructional materials in teaching showed that there are many studies merely attempting to demonstrate the superiority of one type of learning material over another (Broderick, 2012). This research tried to investigate one type of instructional material without comparing to others. Students’ Performance in Chemistry Chemistry is one of the most important branches of Science, it enables learners to understand what happens around them. Chemistry topics are generally related to or based on the structure of matter. In fact, Chemistry is often regarded as a difficult subject, an observation which sometimes repels learners from continuing studies of the subject (Sirhan, 2007).This statement is supported by documents of test results obtained from third year students of Makati High School for the school year 2010 – 2011. Based on the result of the first quarter Division Achievement Test (DAT) in different subject areas, Chemistry ranked fourth which has a mean percentile score (MPS) of 42.96 %; Filipino, 53.15 %; AralingPanlipunan, 52.76 %; English, 48.25%; and Mathematics, 41.34 %. From the results, it can be inferred that students in Chemistry performed far below mastery. In the second quarter DAT result, English has an MPS of 59.05%; AralingPanlipunan, 55.67%; Filipino, 52.62%; Mathematics, 48.16%, and Chemistry ranked 5th with an MPS of 43.55%. The third quarter DAT result is quite higher compared to the previous quarters. AralingPanlipunan has an MPS of 84.85%; English, 79.75%; Mathematics, 68.32%; Filipino, 65.34%; and © 2014 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

Chemistry 64.45%, again ranked last among the five subjects. For the fourth and last quarter of the Division Achievement Test for the school year 2010 – 2011, test results showed that Chemistry ranked 5th with an MPS of 40.16 % next to Filipino with 68.21%, English with 54.45%, Mathematics with 42.37%, and AralingPanlipunan, 41.67%. To sum up the Chemistry Achievement, the highest mean percentile score was registered during the third quarter of the school year where the topics covered are gas laws, atoms and periodic trends. Second in the rank is the second quarter covering solutions, colloids and chemical change with a mean percentile score of 43.55%.Third in the DAT result is the first quarter with an MPS result of 42.96% with topics covered on classifying matter, and techniques of separating mixtures, and ranked last registered during the fourth quarter with an MPS of 40.16% covering chemical bonding and chemical reactions. These results suggest that topics in the fourth quarter such as chemical bonding and chemical reactions are the most difficult and least mastered in the subject area. Thus in this study, a strategic intervention material was developed on the topic of chemical bonding to improve students‘ poor performance. Students’ Learning Approach A learner can be classified based on the learning approach he/she adopts for every task given. Student Approaches to learning is a theory that describes what students do when they go about learning and why they do it. Students will take different approaches on how they study depending on the perceived objectives of the course they are studying. The original work on learning approach was carried out by Marton and Saljo as mentioned in Miguel (2012). The two original proponents proposed that students‘ learning approach could be divided into two distinct groups, those who took an understanding approach to learning and those who took a reproduction approach to learning. The first group that tried to understand and comprehend the totality of the lesson was identified as deep learners. Whereas, the second group that tried to remember facts contained within the text and demonstrated an approach that would recognize as rote learning or a superficial surface approach was classified as surface learners. According to Morton, as cited in Miguel (2012), a learning approach is not what a student has. It describes a relation between a student and the kind of learning he or she adopts. Based on their intentions to learn, a student can be classified as deep or surface learner (Entwistle, 2004). Intent just to fulfill the task‘s requirements like memorizing to pass an examination, a student is considered a surface learner. A surface learner arises when the student sees learning as a means to achieve an end. Students who adopt this approach are motivated by an extrinsic objective and they will commit unrelated facts to their short time memory but are unlikely to be able to establish meaning or relationships between or within given tasks. Ramsden (1985), as mentioned in Daluz (2003) notes that while a surface approach will inevitably lead to poor understanding, a deep or achieving approach to a high level of understanding should not be extended to the view © 2014 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

that a surface approach is necessarily adopted by weaker students and deeper approach by highly competent ones. The approaches to learning are not necessarily exclusive. Students may adopt different approaches according to the task, the course or the teaching context. Learning approaches are not stable traits in individuals, although some students will tend towards taking a deep approach while others will tend towards taking a surface approach (Biggs, 1999). Rather, it is suggested that good teaching can influence students to take a deep approach. In this sense, teachers have a direct and powerful impact on the learning outcomes of the students. Students adopting surface approaches to learning are terms that most educators and academicians have heard and got interested in. Learners may be classified as ―deep‖ and ―surface‖ learners, they are not attributes of individuals. One person may use both approaches at different times. This idea of learning approach is probably one of the most interesting topics for educational research for both basic and higher education. It is a very powerful and useful theory that educators should consider and apply most of the time in teaching. Table 1 compiled from the work of Biggs (1999), Entwistle (1988), and Ramsden (1992) as cited in Miguel (2012) provides valuable characteristics of the deep and surface learners.

The researcher conducted a review of articles from foreign and local studies relevant to the present study. This is presented in the paragraphs that follow. Aguele (2010) studied the effectiveness of selected teaching strategies on the remediation of process errors committed by students in Mathematics. The study employed the quasi â&#x20AC;&#x201C; experimental design. Sample for the study consisted of 207 students drawn from six senior secondary schools in Edo State. The diagnostic test on Mathematics (DIATOM) was used to collect data for the study. Data collected were analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and z-test for ÂŠ 2014 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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two population proportions. Results of data analysis revealed that the direct instruction (DI) was a more effective strategy for the remediation of process errors committed by students in Mathematics. The study further recommended that enough practice activities should be given to students during class sessions to assist them develop mastery of content taught. Remediation should be seen as an ongoing process during normal classroom instruction. These results agree with the study of Din (2000) that direct instruction (DI) once used effectively could help students to remedy their basic mathematical skills. Further, Dahar (2011) investigated the effect of availability of instructional materials on the academic performance of students in Punjab (Pakistan). He mentioned that instructional materials play a very important role in the teaching - learning process. Population of the study comprised all secondary and higher secondary schools, secondary teachers and secondary students in Punjab. A total of 288 schools, 20 students and 10 teachers from each school were randomly selected as the sample of the study. The study used the value – added approach. School Profile Proforma, a questionnaire for teachers and result sheet were the instruments of the study. Pearson correlation was used to find out the relationship between the availability of instructional material and academic performance of students and Stepwise Regression analysis with linear function was used to find out the differential impact (causal – relationship). Results revealed that availability of instructional materials has a strong relationship with academic performance of the students. Moreover, Anderson (2012), cited in his study on the Study – Teaching of Quantitative Genetics that intervention material consisted of a series of computer-based materials and concept mapping exercises helped in improving and addressing identified difficulties and alternative conceptions on Genetics given to third year introductory module in quantitative genetics. He also found out in this study that the knowledge of the student group that participated in the intervention (experimental group), indicated a highly significant difference compared to the control group in terms of improving the understanding of the concepts of variance, heredity, and histogram in Genetics. Similarly, the study conducted by Escoreal (2012) on the Strategic Intervention Material tool to reduce least mastered skills in Grade 4 science, concluded that SIM provides baseline information and should be implemented to avoid marginalization of pupils. Her study also indicated that there is a significant reduction (p < 0.05) in the pupil‘s mean number of least mastered skills after SIM implementation.Furthermore, Soberano (2010) mentioned that strategic intervention materials were effective in mastering the competency based –skills in chemistry based on the mean gain scores in the posttests of the experimental and control groups. He found out that there was a positive transfer of learning in both groups. However, higher mean was observed from the experimental group after the presentation of the intervention materials. The posttest result of the control group was likewise significant. The difference of 26.2727 between the posttest and pretest of the control group was significant at 0.05 level. The computed t-value between the posttests of the experimental and control groups © 2014 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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was 8.289 at tabular value 1.67, degrees of freedom 64 and 0.05 significance level. This suggested that there was significant difference between their mean scores in the posttests in favor of the experimental group. Similarly, according to the study of Togonon (2011), on the development and evaluation of project – based strategic intervention materials (PB-SIMs), PB-SIM is a valid instructional material in teaching high school chemistry. Results showed a significant difference between the achievement of the students before and after being exposed to PB – SIMs. The pretest yielded a mean of 4.2167 and the posttest mean of 10.6500. The p value associated with the computed t – value is less than the adopted level of significance. The students exposed to SIM performed better in the posttest than the pretest. The results of the study were in line with the findings of Hogan (2000) and Woodward (2004) as cited in Soberano (2010) who found out that intervention materials contributed to better learning of the concepts among students. The PB-SIMs significantly improved the achievement of students in Chemistry specifically in solutions and colloids. She also mentioned that PB-SIMs improved the perceptions of students toward the subject.Dermirci (2001) conducted a study on the effects of web-based Physics software program on students‘ achievement and misconceptions. The study supported the web-based Physics software program with traditional method. The result showed a significant effect on dispelling students‘ physics misconceptions in force and motion concepts. Morgil (2003) made a study on the traditional and computer assisted learning in teaching acids and bases in Chemistry. The traditional and the computer assisted teaching methods for teaching a fundamental topic in chemistry education acids and bases were compared. The students were randomly distributed into control and experimental groups and their knowledge on the topic were pretested. After the test, the experimental group received computer assisted teaching and the controlled group was taught by traditional teaching methods for two days. The result incurred 52% improvement in the post instruction test results of the experimental group; whereas, the controlled group only improved 31%. The independent two-sample t-test revealed that this difference in the achievement was significant favoring the experimental group. Imdieke (2000) investigated the effect of two different teaching methods, the traditional science instruction with hands -on activities and traditional textbook science instruction with worksheets to determine which method of science instruction is more beneficial to elementary science students. Based on the results, student in the hands -on group achieved higher scores than those in the worksheet groups. Conclusions drawn from the data show a significant difference in the achievement of hands- on group with a means score of 94% in contrast to the worksheet group means score of 82% using the 0.05 level of statistical significance. Another important difference between the two groups was their SD scores. The hands-on group‘s SD was 5.44 in contrast to the worksheet group which scored 15.3. This difference shows that majority of the students who learned by using hands-on activities achieved at the higher level when compared to those who learned by using the worksheets. © 2014 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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Similarly, Jiris (2009) mentioned in his study on the integration of animated movies into Science education that the use of animated movies enhanced students‘ science understanding, knowledge and reasoning ability. The research was based on the quantitative methodology using the pretestposttest experimental design. The teaching method –integration of animations was the independent variable, while the dependent variables were: students‘ understanding, reasoning skills and motivation to learn science. The experimental students (N = 1292) integrated science with web-based animations as part of the science curriculum. The controlled students (N = 725) continued studying science courses in traditional way – using books and worksheets. The animated movies were presented to the students at least once a week, about one animation for each topic taught in class. The study also indicated that students who studied science with the use of animated movies developed higher motivation to learn science compared to students in the control group. Whereas, Rondon (2013) made a study on the effect of a game – based and traditional learning method on the students‘ knowledge retention. His study revealed that students who received game-based method performed better in both posttest in anatomy and physiology questions. He further stated that gamebased learning method is comparable to the traditional learning method in general and in short - term gains, while traditional lecture still seems to be more effective to improve students‘ short and long term knowledge retention. Miguel (2012) made a study on the achievement and retention of learning of deep and surface learners exposed to UbD. The study was conducted at Ramon Magsaysay High School during the first quarter of S.Y. 2011 – 2012. The sample of the study was categorized as deep or surface learners. T-test was employed to assess the difference between the performance of deep and surface learners. Results showed that the use of the UbD is effective in terms of enhancing students‘ achievement while retention of learning is comparable regardless of learning approach. Hamm (2009) investigated the performance of deep and surface learners using the Digital Audio Video Assessment (DAVA) and found out that multimedia teaching and learning approaches encourage learners to adopt a richer, creative and deeper level of understanding and participation within the learning environment than traditional teaching and learning methods. Research shows that DAVA promotes deep learning and understanding. Some factors mentioned in this study that are critical in affecting the overall learner experience were the learner‘s well developed learning preferences, issues relating to technology incidents and problems and the teacher‘s own level of skills, training and knowledge of the assessment. He further asserted in his research that learners exhibited flexible learning preferences adopted either a deep or surface approach related to their motive or strategy. Based on the evidence, some of the participants who were classified as surface by Biggs, midway between deep and surface, changed to deep when doing the DAVA. He argued that the reasons for the deep approach transformation by these learners were: students have © 2014 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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enjoyable and rewarding experiences and the DAVA suit to their learning experiences. Estacio (2008) attempted to study the effect on the achievement in Physics of students taught with enforced diagramming. The study was conducted at the Technological University of the Philippines – Manila campus. The study was focused on the conception of force and motion. This study found out that enforced diagramming method can be used to enhance achievements of surface learners.Whereas, Beran (2005) compared the performance of deep and surface learners in problem solving. In her study, she mentioned that deep learners are better than surface learners. Deep learners favored algorithmic strategy wherein the solutions use the correct formula and involved correct substitution of the given data. However, surface learners favored the systematic trial and error strategy that shows some irrelevant formulas and error in solving the problem. In the study comparing the effectiveness of the students teams achievement division (STAD) and chalk and talk lecture method (CTLM) on the achievement of deep and surface learners by Biton (2001), results revealed that students exposed to STAD achieved better than those exposed to CTLM. She also stated that STAD worked well for both students with different learning approaches. Similarly, Aranes (1998) made a study on the achievement of deep and surface learners using illustrated laboratory procedure in Chemistry. The study was conducted at the Technological University of the Philippines using four intact classes of 93 sample students enrolled in General and Inorganic Chemistry during the second semester of the school year 1997 – 1998. The total sample population was divided into two groups, 46 belonged to the experimental group while 47 students classified for the control group. The findings of this study revealed that students in the experimental group significantly performed better than those in the control group. Using illustrated laboratory procedures in chemistry, surface learners could afford to perform equally well as deep learners, and a significant interaction effect exists between the teaching method and learning styles of the students. The surface learners favor the use of regular laboratory manual, whereas the deep learners favor the illustrated laboratory procedure. Further, Tonel (1997), showed in her study on the effectiveness of teacher resource material in Physics in teaching deep and surface learners that students who adopt the deep approach tend to perform better than students who adopt the surface approach. The resource material was found effective in enhancing student learning. Synthesis Based on the presented information from different sources, such as books, unpublished theses and the Internet, one way to improve student performance specifically in the least mastered skills of the subject area, is the utilization of an instructional material. Studies revealed that the use of an instructional material plays a very significant role in enhancing the memory level of the students and makes the teaching – learning process interesting.The use of Strategic © 2014 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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Intervention Material (SIM) as prescribed by the Department of Education is one of the treatments to improve students‘ achievement and reduce least mastered skills in science subjects. Different studies have shown that the use of SIM successfully decreased the least mastered skills in science subjects; thus, poor achievement was enhanced. Five related studies (Dermirci, Morgil, Imdieke, Jiris, and Rondon) considered the traditional method of instruction. Based on these studies, traditional teaching method alone does not promote high academic achievement in science. However, when this method was assisted with technologies and available instructional materials it improved students‘ performance. The present study utilized Strategic Intervention Material – Based Instruction (SIM – BI) while the above related studies used traditional teaching instruction assisted with computer programs and other technologies. Results of various studies encouraged the researcher to study the effect of Strategic Intervention Material – Based Instruction (SIM – BI) as a tool in improving students‘ performance in Chemistry and its effect on the learning approaches of students. Soberano, Togonon, Escoreal, Dahar, Aguele and Tonel tested the effectiveness of instructional and intervention materials. It is worth noting that these studies were successfully established its positive effect on learning. Studies on the learning approaches with instructional materials (Miguel, Hamm, Estacio, Beran, Biton, Aranes, and Tonel) were also considered in this research. These studies used different teaching instruction to determine the effect on the performance of students with different learning approaches. The present study employed Strategic Intervention Material – Based Instruction (SIM – BI) to investigate the effect on the learning approaches and performance of students in Chemistry. In this study, the developed Strategic Intervention Material in Chemistry was used as intervention material during the instruction on the topic chemical bonding to improve students‘ performance and determine its effect on their learning approach.The studies reviewed may not be that extensive on the factors of changing the learning approaches considering the wide - range of literature that exist in this particular topic. Nonetheless, the study mentioned already the baseline information on the conceptualization and conduct the present study which led to a hypothesis, that the Strategic Intervention Material – Based Instruction (SIM – BI) has significant effects on students‘ learning approaches and performance. Research Paradigm The paradigm illustrates the possible effect of SIM - BI on deep and surface learners‘ performance in Chemistry.

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Figure 1. Research paradigm of the study

The research paradigm shows the relationship between SIM - BI and students‘ learning approach and their performance in Chemistry. In the study, the Strategic Intervention Material – Based Instruction (SIM - BI) in chemical bonding and learning approach were the independent variables and the performance of deep and surface learners in Chemistry was the dependent variable. Research Hypotheses The research hypotheses below were tested at the 0.05 level of significance express in alternative form. 1. There is a significant difference between the achievement test means of deep and surface learners before the exposure to SIM - BI 2. There is a significant difference between the achievement means of deep and surface learners after exposure to SIM – BI. 3. There is a significant difference between the achievement test mean scores of deep learners before and after exposure to SIM – BI. 4. There is a significant difference between the achievement test mean scores of surface learners before and after exposure to SIM – BI. Research Design The study is descriptive – experimental and used the pretest – posttest preexperimental design. Descriptive part of the study involves the learning profile and the students‘ perception survey. Experimental part of the study is the students‘ performance in Chemistry. Qualitative analysis was employed for the learning approach of students before and after exposure to SIM-BI, students‘ perception on the use of the strategic intervention material, and students‘ performance in the Chemistry Achievement Test. Quantitative analysis was used to determine any difference between the pretest and posttest means. The pretest – posttest experimental designed for this study is presented below. O1

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Two sections from the third year level of Makati High School for the school year 2012-2013 (III – Pearl and III –Zircon) were used as respondents of the study. The sample consists of 80 students with 36 males and 44 females selected from 18 sections through convenience sampling. These sections are heterogeneous and handled by the researcher. The researcher had a total contact time with each section equivalent to six hours in a week. The daily schedule for the Chemistry class for the III – Pearl and III – Zircon is from 6:40 A.M. - 7:40 A.M. and 10:00 A.M. – 11:00 A.M., respectively. An additional 1 hour for each section was allotted for the completion or remedial class to III – Pearl every Tuesday and Wednesday for III – Zircon from 1:20 P.M. – 2:20 P.M. Research Instruments In the conduct of the study, the researcher used five research instruments, the Chemistry Learning Approach Inventory (CLAI), Strategic Intervention Material (SIM), Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT), Students‘ Perception Survey (SPS) and Observer‘s Evaluation Questionnaire (OEQ). The CLAI was adopted from Beran (2005) and the rest was developed by the researcher and validated by experts. Chemistry Learning Approach Inventory (CLAI) The Chemistry Learning Approach Inventory (Appendix B) was used to classify students as deep and surface learners. It is a questionnaire that classifies students on what learning approach they adopt in learning the concepts of the subject matter. This questionnaire consists of 30 questions with English and Tagalog version. Half of the questions (1,3,4,5,7,9,11,13,15,17,19,21,23,27,29) were positively stated; whereas, the other half (2,6,8,10,12,14,16,18,20,22,24,25,26,28,30) were negatively stated. Students chose the statement that applied to them using scales from 1 – 4 with their corresponding qualitative descriptions in English and Tagalog version. A rating of 1 in every item is equivalent to Never (Hindi), 2 is Seldom (Madalang), 3, Often (Madalas) and 4 is Always (Palagi). The ratings given to negative items were subtracted from five (5) prior to getting the total scores. The students were classified based on their mean scores obtained in the CLAI. The mean score of the student was computed by dividing the total scores by 30, the total number of items. In this study, the mean score of the student was the basis for classifying him/her as to what type of learner he/she belongs. Students with a mean score of ≥ 2.5 were classified as deep learners and those with mean score of < 2.5 were classified as surface learners. Strategic Intervention Material (SIM) in Chemical Bonding The SIM that was used in this study is entitled ―Chemical Romance‖ that covers chemical bonding which is considered least mastered skills in Chemistry. It involves chemical combination of different elements leading to the formation of another compound. The SIM tackles why and how the atoms combine, the different types of chemical bonding, its nature and properties. It also includes how to use the electronegativities of elements in predicting the type of chemical bond that exists. © 2014 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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The SIM was divided into two lessons. Lesson 1 discusses the introduction of chemical bonding which consists of six activity cards and two assessment cards. On the other hand, lesson 2 covers the different types of chemical bonding with seven activity cards and two assessment cards. The first lesson in SIM started with the guide card presenting the overview of the whole lesson. Under this part, the objectives of the lesson were stated and students‘ corner was provided for the understanding check of the respondent. Guide card 1 consists of two activity cards about predicting stability and the energy involved in chemical bonding. Guide card 2 discusses the Lewis Electron Dot Structure (LEDS) as a tool of illustrating how bonds between elements are formed. It contains one activity with guide questions. Each activity card of the SIM consists of the ―For Your Information‖ (FYI) section. This provides the basic information on the specific topic tackled. Guide Card 3 deals with ionic formation with three activity cards involving isoelectronic, protons and electrons, charge of the atoms, oxidation numbers, types of ion, valence electron, group number of elements in the periodic table, process to become stable and the ionic symbol. Diagrams were presented in the lesson for better understanding of the students. Lesson 1 ended with two assessment cards. The first assessment card was a modified true or false and identification type for the second assessment. It measured the learning gained by the students in the first lesson. The second lesson discusses the types of chemical bond, namely ionic bond, covalent bond, and metallic bond. It also covers the polarity of a molecule and its characteristics. Guide card 1 in this particular lesson deals with comparison of the three types of bond in terms of the classes of elements present. There are three activities provided in the lesson. The first two activity cards are all about classifying elements using the periodic table. The third activity is the application of the first two activity cards in determining the types of bond present in a compound based on the classes of elements. Guide Card 2 concentrates on the first type which is the ionic bond. In this lesson, it uses the Lewis Electron Dot Structure as previously learned by the respondents in lesson 1, in illustrating how bonds are formed between two different types of elements. It integrates the ratio of the elements when combined, the chemical formula and name. Guide Card 3 discusses covalent bond in terms of sharing the electrons to attain stability of elements involved and the Lewis structure of a molecule. Guide Card 4 covers the types of a covalent bond, namely, polar covalent and non polar covalent bond. It consists of three activity cards. The first and second activity deal with the use of electronegativity difference in terms of predicting the bond type. The last activity involves the correct LEDS of a covalent molecule. Two assessment cards were provided to measure the amount of learning transferred and retained to the respondents. The first assessment card is a concept map type of test and a multiple choice questions for the second. © 2014 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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The last two parts of the SIM were the enrichment and reference cards. Under enrichment card, students were asked to conduct an interview to owners or employees regarding their knowledge of the science behind hair rebonding. Reference card which contains title of books and internet websites was also provided as additional reference related to the topic covered by the SIM.The SIM underwent phases of validation. The material was prepared by the researcher and validated by three experts in Chemistry. Suggested ideas by the experts were incorporated in the content of the SIM. These include diagrams, improvement of guide questions and additional activities under the activity card. Chemistry Achievement Test The researcher made and developed a 30 multiple â&#x20AC;&#x201C; choice item chemistry achievement test in chemical bonding and was used as instrument in the study. The achievement test measured the cognitive skills of the respondents: namely, content, application and procedure. The test was developed following a table of specifications (Appendix D2). The total score in the Chemistry Achievement Test is 30. The first draft was a 50 item questions (Appendix D) presented to the thesis mentor and two experts in chemistry for content validation. Comments and suggestions mostly on the test construction such as clarity of the stem and attractiveness of the options by the experts were incorporated in the test. The second draft was given to fourth year students who already took chemistry. Result of the test was subjected to item analysis (Appendix D1). Based on the result out of 50, 29 items were considered good questions, 4 items needed revision and 17 items were rejected. Rejected items were discarded in the final form of the test. Only 28 questions considered as good items from the item analysis were included in the final form of the achievement test to maintain the proportion of questions stated in the table of specifications. Two questions classified as fair in the analysis were retained in the second draft to maintain the questions about polarity of a molecule in the competency. The second draft of the test was again given to another section of fourth year students for the reliability estimate before it was administered as pretest and posttest to the respondents of the study. Results (Appendix D3) showed that the achievement test is reliable with a reliability coefficient of 0.63 using Kuder Richardson Formula 20. Perception Survey Questionnaire The Perception Survey questionnaire (PSQ) (Appendix E) was developed by the researcher to determine the perceptions of the respondents regarding the use of the strategic intervention material. This survey consists of 10 questions validated by the thesis mentor and expert panels. The PSQ in the form of checklist was given to students after using the SIM. Each question was rated using 1 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 4 scales with their corresponding qualitative descriptions. A rating of 1 is equivalent to strongly disagree, 2, disagree, 3, agree 4 means strongly agree. ÂŠ 2014 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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Observer’s Evaluation Questionnaire An observer‘s evaluation questionnaire (OEQ) (Appendix F) developed by the researcher and validated by experts was used to observe the teacher and the respondents during the progress of the study. The instrument consists of five questions with 1-5 rating scales in the form of checklist. A rating of 5 means strongly agree, 4 – agree, 3 – undecided, 2 – disagree and 1 means strongly disagree. Five teachers including the department head were invited to observe during the first week of the study. Data Gathering Procedure The first phase of the study was the administration of the Chemistry Learning Approach Inventory (CLAI) to the respondents. This questionnaire was used to determine the learning approach used by students in learning Chemistry. The second phase was the administration of the pretest to students in chemical bonding. The test given covers the topic on chemical bonding with a total of 30 questions that was validated by experts. The test lasted for 1 hour. The result of the test was recorded for comparison purposes. The third phase was the actual teaching using the regular instruction (traditional teaching method) of the researcher in chemical bonding. The lesson started with a video song presentation about chemical bonding. This material was downloaded from the Internet that served as motivation for the students in learning the topic. The lesson lasted for two weeks or equivalent to 12 hours contact time with the students. The fourth phase was the study proper. Under this phase, Strategic Intervention Material (SIM) in chemical bonding was given as an intervention material after the regular instruction. Each student was given a copy of the SIM and answered activities provided involving concepts of the lesson discussed in the regular instruction. This was conducted daily within two consecutive weeks or equivalent to 12 hours under the supervision of the researcher. The implementation of the SIM was divided according to the lessons incorporated in the guide cards, activity cards and assessment cards. In the first week of the study, activities in lesson 1 were answered based on the schedule provided. Checking of answers to the activity cards and discussion were done right after the allotted time assigned for the given session. The second lesson of the SIM which deals with the types of chemical bonding was administered in the second week with the same amount of time given in the first lesson of the SIM. To ensure that the schedule was strictly followed, the science department head and chemistry teachers observed and described what took place in the classroom using the observer‘s evaluation questionnaire. After the SIM - BI was the administration of the posttest to the respondents. On the following day the Chemistry Learning Approach Inventory (CLAI) was again given to the respondents to determine any changes in their learning approach after using the strategic intervention material (SIM) in chemical bonding. © 2014 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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For the final phase, the researcher administered the perception survey to gather feedbacks from the respondents. This perception survey gave the students the chance to express their reaction with regard to the use of the SIM. The schedule of activities as they have been conducted in the study is presented in Table 2.

Data Analysis All data were collected and served as the basis to find out the effect of Strategic Intervention Material – Based Instruction on the learning approach and performance of students‘ in Chemistry. Data were tabulated, tallied, organized, statistically treated and analyzed.Using the Chemistry Learning Approach Inventory (CLAI) questionnaires, the researcher was able to classify students as to what learning approach they adopt before and after the implementation of the Strategic Intervention Material – Based Instruction (SIM – BI). The mean scores of the respondents in the CLAI was the basis for identifying their learning approach. Prior to the computation of the mean scores of the respondents, the © 2014 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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ratings given to negative items were subtracted from five. The total scores were added and the mean score was computed. Students with a mean score of ≥ 2.50 were classified as deep learners and those with a mean score of < 2.50 were classified as surface learners. The learning approach profile was presented using a pie chart. The performance of the respondents was measured based on their scores in the Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT). Descriptive statistics was employed. Pretest and posttest scores of deep and surface learners were compared in terms of the highest and the lowest scores, mean scores, and standard deviation. The data were also used inferential statistics specifically t – test for dependent samples to find out if there is a significant difference in the performance of the respondents categorized as deep and surface learners evaluated at 0.05 level of significance. All data in the students‘ performance is presented in a tabular form. Students‘ perception about the use of the SIM - BI was tabulated. The survey utilized scales from 1 – 4 with their equivalent remarks or descriptions. Frequency of responses by the respondents were tallied and presented also in tabular form. Weighted mean for each statement and the overall weighted mean were computed. This was done by adding product of the number of responses in each scale and divided by the number of respondents. The overall weighted mean was computed by getting the average of all the weighted means. Qualitative interpretations were based on the weighted mean computed using the ranges: 1 – 1.49 (Strongly disagree); 1.5 – 2.49 (Disagree); 2.5 – 3.49 (Agree); and 3.5 – 4.0 (Strongly agree). All data were fed into SPS version 11.0 statistical software. Profile of Students in Chemistry The Chemistry Learning Approach Inventory (CLAI) was given before and after the SIM - BI. The mean score of each student was the basis for classifying the learning approach the/she adopts in Chemistry. A mean score of ≥ 2.5 and < 2.5 classified the respondents as deep learner and surface learner respectively. Out of 80 respondents, 27 (33.75%) were classified as deep learners and 53 (66.25%) were categorized as surface learners before exposing the respondents to Strategic Intervention Material – Based Instruction (SIM - BI). It is evident that majority of the respondents adopted the surface approach in learning the subject area. However, when students were exposed to SIM – BI, there is a change in the numbers of deep and surface learners. Prior to the implementation of the SIM – BI, majority of the respondents adopted the surface approach of learning. As revealed in figure 3, there is a change in the learning approach profile of the respondents. From 53 students adopting the surface approach it decreased to 24 after the SIM – BI. This indicates that 29 surface learners transformed into deep learners. Further, the number of deep learners increased by 29. These were the surface learners before SIM – BI. However, three deep learners before SIM – BI became surface learners after SIM – BI. These three students‘ were absent for 4

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sessions during the duration of the study and they were not able to complete some activities in the SIM. This result agreed with the statement of Biggs as mentioned in Daluz (2003) that approaches to learning are not necessarily exclusive. Students may adopt different approaches according to the tasks, the course or the teaching context. Learning approaches are not stable individual traits, although some students will tend toward taking a deep approach while others will tend taking toward surface approach. Biggs further stated that good teaching can motivate and influence students to change their learning approach from surface to deep approach of learning.It can be deduced that the changes in the learning approach from surface to deep approach transformed students from being passive to active, uncritical to critical thinker by examining facts and ideas, relating new to previous lessons and from showing disinterest to personal interest as mentioned in Miguel (2012) from the table of compilation of the characteristics of deep and surface learner by Biggs (1999) and Ramsden (1992). The result also conformed with the statements of Biggs that good teaching served as encouragement of deep approach to learning. In the course of the study, the researcher observed that in completing the tasks or activities provided in the SIM - BI, respondents reviewed previous guide cards of the SIM that helped them answer the task of the day. In this case, students connected the previous to the present lesson which is an indicator of adopting the deep approach of learning. Guide questions provided in the SIM were also considered by the researcher as one of the factors that transformed surface learner to deep learner. Guide questions under the guide cards and activity cards of the SIM were given higher points compared to the completion of tables. Students, therefore, are forced to read and comprehend every detail of this section of the SIM for them to answer and earn higher points. Performance of Deep and Surface learners in the Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT) Before and After Exposure to SIM â&#x20AC;&#x201C; BI. Performance of the students using different approach to learning was determined using the Chemistry Achievement Test which served as the pretest and posttest of the study. Table 3 gives the summary of the descriptive statistics of the pretest and posttest scores of the students in CAT in terms of mean scores, standard deviation, highest and lowest scores.

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The highest score in the pretest of the surface learners is 14 while the deep learners is 12. The highest score in the posttest of the surface learners is 28 while the deep learners is 29. Standard deviation shows that the scores in the posttest are more scattered around its respective mean from the pretest in both types of learners (deep: 1.99, 4.49; surface: 1.84, 3.73) From table 3, it can be noted that there was a considerable increase in the mean score of the two different types of learners after using the SIM in chemical bonding. Deep learners posted lower mean scores in the pretest compared to the surface learners with mean scores of 8.85 and 9.75, respectively. However, in the posttest deep learners registered a higher mean score with a slight difference than the surface learners. The latter obtained a mean score of 21.15 ;while, the former got 21.70. This implies that both deep and surface learners performed better when taught using the SIM - BI. Findings of this study confirm that findings of Togonon (2011) that SIM enhances studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; achievement. Comparison of the Means in the Pretest of Deep and Surface Learners The respondents of the study were pretested to determine their prior knowledge on the subject matter before the SIM - BI. The table below shows the results of the pretest between the two groups of learners treated with independent t - test.

The table above shows the mean scores in the pretest of deep and surface learners. The deep learners obtained 8.85 while the surface learners got a mean ÂŠ 2014 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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score of 9.75. The standard deviations of the two scores are equivalent to 1.99 for the deep learners and 1.83 for the surface learners. The t-test for independent samples revealed a t-value of 1.97 and p – value of 0.055. The computed p-value associated with the test statistics is higher than the level of significance set in the study (p>0.05), therefore, the difference in the mean pretest scores of the two groups of learners is not significant. This result implies that at the start of the study, the prior knowledge of surface learners and deep learners are more or less comparable. Comparison of the Means in the Posttest of Deep and Surface Learners The same achievement test was used to determine the performance of the students after exposure to SIM - BI. Table 5 shows the results of the posttest of the two groups of learners treated with independent t – test.

The above table reveals the posttest mean scores of the deep and surface learners in the Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT. The deep learners obtained a mean score of 21.70 and 21.15 for the surface learners. Based on the mean score, it can be noted that deep learners got a higher mean score than the surface learners. The computed t-value is 0.551 and the p-value is 0.585. The computed p-value is greater than the level of significance set in the study (p > 0.05), thus, the difference is not significant. This indicates that the two types of learners performed equally well after SIM – BI. This also indicates that the Strategic Intervention Material is an effective instructional material for both types of learners. This result conformed with the statement of Ramsden as mentioned in Daluz (2003) that surface approach should not be viewed as a learning approach adopted only by weaker students and deep approach are for highly competent ones. Comparison of the Pretest Mean and Posttest Mean of Deep and Surface learners The mean difference between the scores in pretest and posttest in the Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT) was used to measure the knowledge gained by the respondents with the aid of SIM. Table 6 below summarizes the pretest and posttest mean scores of the two different types of learners using the t-test.

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The computation result indicated that there is a significant increase in the gain scores obtained by the deep learners which is equivalent to 12.85 points from the 21.70 and 8.85 mean scores of the posttest and pretest, respectively. The t-test for paired samples results to a t-value of 15.92 and a p-value of 0.000. This means that the difference between the posttest and pretest is significant. In the same table, it is also shown that there is a difference between the pretest and posttest mean scores of the surface learners. Surface learners posted a gain score of 11.40 points. This gain score is considered significant based on the t-test results. The computed t-value and p-value are 22.864 and 0.000, respectively. The p-value is less than the level of significance set in the study (p<0.05), therefore, the difference between the mean scores in the pretest and posttest of the surface learners is significant. This could mean that both deep and surface learners exposed to SIM - BI achieved better. The findings also confirmed the findings of the studies done by Miguel (2012), Estacio (2008), and Soberano (2010). In as much as the SIM - BI made use of a number of exercises, it could be speculated that the instruction had established a learning atmosphere suitable to the learning approach of the students. Furthermore, the presentation in the SIM BI has motivating capabilities that demands attention and creates strong impact to the learners. The SIM - BI could provide effective communication and proper instruction matched with the learning needs of the students. Studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Perception on the Use of the Strategic Intervention Material Studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; perception on the use of the SIM was gathered through the perception survey questionnaire. The survey consisted of 10 statements about the SIM and utilized a four - point rating scale with corresponding qualitative interpretations. It was given after the posttest of the study. Table 7 summarizes the results of the survey.

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The table shows the frequency of responses of the respondents in each statement. Based on the result, the first question yielded the highest mean score 3.9 interpreted as strongly agree. Out of 80, 73 respondents responded strongly agree and 7 agreed that the SIM - BI helped them understand the lesson covered. The results indicate that SIM - BI is a useful teaching strategy, thereby, increasing the studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; level of understanding as mentioned in Dy (2011). Second in the rank is question number 10 with a mean rating of 3.8 (strongly agree). Majority of the sample strongly agreed that they want to use SIM not only for remediation purposes but in a regular classroom teaching. The high rating of this question can be attributed to the fact that the students enjoyed reading and doing all tasks and activities provided in the SIM as stated in question 8. Meanwhile, third among the perceptions with a shared mean rating of 3.7 were obtained by statements 2, 7, and 8. Respondents strongly agreed that the presentation of the concepts are clear and fitted to their needs, they enjoyed reading and doing all the activities, and the SIM used words that are fitted to their reading and comprehension ability. The concepts of chemical bonding in the SIM were designed by the researcher in a simple manner based on the ÂŠ 2014 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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guidelines and principles on SIM construction set by the DepEd during seminars and contests. Moreover, based on the experience of the researcher in the duration of the study, there were students who requested to bring home the SIM for them to answer the activities during Saturday and Sunday. These perceptions conformed with the study of Hamm (2009) that the reason for the transformation into deep approach adopted by the learners was that they had enjoyable and rewarding experiences. The remediation and transformation of 29 surface learners into deep learners may be attributed to this statement. Next in the rank were statements number 5 and 9 with a mean rating of 3.6 (strongly agree) followed by question number 3 which obtained a mean rating of 3.5 (strongly agree). The fifth statement refers to the time allotment for each lesson. Students strongly agreed that adequate time was given to them to accomplish all activities or exercises in a given session. Statements 4 and 6 obtained the lowest mean rating of 3.2 (agree). Respondents agreed that they learned some useful information in the SIM not mentioned in a regular classroom teaching and activities and tasks given in the SIM made were easy. This lowest mean rating can be attributed to the nature of the SIM which is activity based compared to the regular classroom teaching which is a lecture based method, where all information about the topic are already given. The overall mean rating of the respondents is 3.6 interpreted as strongly agree. This is an indication that the SIM is an effective tool in teaching to enhanced students performance and to improve their views about Chemistry. Comments and Suggestions of Students Sample on the SIM To further validate the result of the SPQ, comments and suggestions were gathered from the respondents. The extracts of the actual comments and suggestions from the respondents are presented in Table 8.

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Based on the comments and suggestions of the respondents, the SIM really helped the students improve their performance in chemical bonding as one of the least mastered skills in Chemistry. Students are looking forward that SIM will also be given not only in Chemistry but also in other science subjects involving difficult topics. SIM must use words that are suited to the reading comprehension of the students that need remediation for a particular topic. Conclusions and Recommendations Based on the findings of the study, the following conclusions were drawn: 1. Most of the students adopted the deep learner‘s approach after the exposure to the SIM – BI. Some of the surface learners adopted the deep learner‘s approach while a few deep learners adopted the surface learners approach. The SIM – BI has capability of influencing the learning approach of the students in Chemistry.

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2. The use of Strategic Intervention Material – Based Instruction (SIM – BI) enhances the performance of students in Chemistry regardless of learning approach adopted. 3. The deep and surface learners performed equally well after exposure to Strategic Intervention Material – Based Instruction (SIM – BI). 4. Deep and surface learners have a positive perception on the use of Strategic Intervention Material (SIM). Students find it enjoyable, interesting, and contributing positive attitude towards Chemistry. Based on the findings of the study and conclusions drawn, the following are hereby recommended: 1. Use SIM – Based Instruction (SIM – BI) in other topics in Chemistry to further validate the result of the study. 2. Conduct a similar studies on the use of SIM – Based Instruction (SIM – BI) in other discipline to confirm the results of the study. 3. Use SIM as remediation material to enhance the achievement of surface learners. 4. Conduct further studies in SIM - BI using respondents in tertiary level to confirm its effectiveness in promoting deep learning approach and its applicability to Chemistry teaching. 5. Encourage administrators, science supervisors and teachers to make SIM in all topics not only the least mastered skills in a given subject area. 6. Teachers shall be provided with more seminars, workshops on the principles of SIM construction.

References Aranes, F (1998), Illustrated Laboratory Procedures in Chemistry: Effects on the Achievement of Surface and Deep Learners. Unpublished Masters Thesis. De La Salle University, Philippines. Aguele A. (2010) http://www.brighthubeducation.com/special-ed-inclusionstrategies/103030-understanding-remedial-teaching/Understanding and Tips to Teach Remedially Ballard, B. &Clanchy, J. (1988), ‗Literacy in the University: An ―anthropological‖ approach‘ in Gordon Taylor et al., (1988), Literacy by degrees, The Society for Research into Higher Education and the Open University Press, Milton Keynes, Bucks. Beran, M. (2005), Chemistry Problem Solving Performance and Strategies of Deep and Surface Learners: An Analysis. Unpublished Masters Thesis. Technological University of the Philippines. Biggs, J. (1989) Approaches to Enhancement of Tertiary Teaching, Higher Education Research and Development, Vol.8 No. 1

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Biggs, J., (2003), Teaching for Quality Learning at University, (2nd Ed.), The Society for Research into Higher Education – very good practical handbook on teaching. Biton, F (2001)Cooperative Learning: Effects on the Achievement of Deep and Surface Learners in High School Chemistry. Unpublished Masters Thesis.Technological University of the Philippines. Boumova, V. (2008) Traditional versus Modern Teaching Methods: Advantages and Disadvantages of Each, Masaryk Univ. Faculty of Arts. Brodin, J. &Lindstrand, P. (2004), Perspectives of Schools for All.Lund : Student Litteratur. Broderick, C.(2012) Research in the Use and Purpose of Instructional Materials. (http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el_195604_brode rick.pdf) Broughton, G. (2004) Teaching English as Foreign Language, 2nd Edition. London: Routledge Bunagan F. (2012) http://www.slideshare.net/felixbunagan/strategicinterventionhttp://84.22.166.132/learning-and-teaching-theory-guide/deep-and-surfaceapproaches-learning.html Chingos, M. (2012) http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/reports/2012/4/ 10%20curriculum%20chingos%20whitehurst/0410_curriculum_chingos _whitehurst.pdf Dahar, M (2011), Effect of the Availability and the Use of Instructional Material on Academic Performance of Students in Punjab (Pakistan), Euro Journal Publishing Inc. Daluz Ma. L. C.(2003)―Problem Solving - Skills and Physics Achievement of Deep and Surface Learners‖ Unpublished Masters Thesis. Technological University of the Philippines. Dickinson, D. (2002), Creating the future Perspectives on Educational Change (online)(cited 28 June 2004). Available from http://www.newhorizons.org/future/Creating-theFuture/crfut_entwistle.html

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Dermirci, N. (2001) The Effects of a Web-Based Physics Software Program on Students‘ Achievement and Misconceptions in Force and Motion Concepts. Dissertation Abstract International. Dy, L. (2011) http://jhody.hubpages.com/hub/TEACHING-PHYSICSTHROUGH-STRATEGIC-INTERVENTION-MATERIALS-SIM Entwistle, N (2004), Teaching-learning environment to support deep learning in contrasting subject areas, paper presented at Staffordshire University, 29 June, Stafford Escoreal, A. (2012), Strategic Intervention Material A Tool to Reduce Least Learned Skills in Grade Four Science Espinosa, A. (2012), Career – Oriented Performance Tasks: Effects on Students‘ Critical Thinking, Process Skills and Interest in Chemistry. Unpublished Master‘s Thesis.University of the Philippines Diliman. Espinosa, A., Monterola, S, &Punzalan, A. (2013). Career-Oriented Performance Tasks in Chemistry: Effects on Students‘ Critical Thinking Skills. Education Research international.Volume 2013, Article ID 834584, 10 pages. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/834584 Espinosa, A., Monterola, S. &Punzalan, A. (2013). Career-Oriented Performance Tasks in Chemistry: Effects on Students‘ Integrated Science Process Skills. Cypriot Journal of Educational Sciences 8(2), 211226.http://www.world-educationcenter.org/index.php/cjes/article/view/8.2.6 Estacio, J (2008), Conceptions of Force and Motion and Physics Achievement of Surface Learners Taught with Enforced Diagramming. Unpublished Masters Thesis.Technological University of the Philippines. Griffiths, A (2006), onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10,1002/tea.3660250902/abstract Hamm, S. (2009), Digital Audio Video Assessment (DAVA) for Deep and Surface Learning: An Investigation http://devpolicy.org/a-deep-or-surface-approach-to-development-what-canlearning-research-teach-us/ 11/19/2012A deep or surface approach to development – what can learning research teach us? Written by Robert Cannon on June 19, 2012 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_approaches_to_learning, date accessed Nov. 19, 2012 © 2014 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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http://www.ehow.com/list_6495242_duties-remediation-teacher.html accessed 11/19/2012 http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/deepsurf.htm date accessed 11/19/2012 http://www.recsam.edu.my/cosmed/cosmed09/AbstractsFullPapers2009/Abs tract/Science%20Parallel%20PDF/Full%20Paper/04.pdf Imdieke, S. (2000) A Comparison of Traditional Science Instruction with Hannds-On Activities to Traditional Textbooks Science Instruction with Worksheets, Univ. Of Winsconsin Stout. Jiris, I. (2009) Integrating Animated Movies into Science Education in Elementary Schools and their Effects on Students‘ Learning Outcomes. Johnston, C. Fostering Deeper Learning, Teaching and Learning Unit, University of Melbourne. Ljusberg, A-L., &Brodin, J. (2007) Self Concept in Children with Attention Deficits. International Journal of Rehabilitation Research, 30 (3) 195 – 201 Lublin, J. (2012) http://www.doceo.co.uk/heterodoxy/surface.htm date accessed 11/19.2012Centre for Teaching and LearningGood Practice in Teaching and Learning Deep, surface and strategic approaches to learning Miguel, F. ((2012), Achievement and Retention of Learning of Deep and Surface Learners Exposed to UBD – based Teaching of Integrative Biology.(Ramon Magsaysay HS – Manila) Unpublished Masters Thesis. Technological University of the Philippines. Morgil, I. (2003), Traditional and Computer Assisted Learning in Teaching Acids and Bases, Faculty of Education, Beytepe – Ankara Turkey. Nicholls, G (2000), Learning to Teach, pp 356 – 360, Bell and Bain Ltd. Glasgow. Ramsden, P. (1985) Students Learning Research: Retrospect and Prospect, Higher Education Research Development. Vol. 4 No.1 Raw, V. (2003), ―Quality Teaching‖, APH Publishing Corp. Ansari Road, New Delhi Rondon, S. (2013), Computer Game – Based and Traditional Learning Method: A Comparison Regarding Students‘ Knowledge and Retention, Univ. of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Sirha, G. Learning Difficulties in Chemistry : An Overview. Journal of Turkish Science Education, Vol. 4. Issue 2, 2007

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 2, No.1 pp. 124-136, February 2014

The Perceived Influence of Learning Environment on Design Student Imagination Ju-Sen Lin FoGuang University Yilan, Taiwan Chaoyun Liang National Taiwan University Taipei, Taiwan

Abstract.This study was aimed to analyze the perceived influence of learning environment on design student imagination in different design phases. Participants (n = 1,004) involved in this study were design school students from ten universities across Taiwan. Influences in the learning environment were deconstructed into four factors: physical component, organizational measure, social climate, and human aggregate. Our results indicated that social climate was claimed to be the greatest influential factor, followed by organizational measure, human aggregate, and finally physical component. These various effects were seen in the design process, especially in the phase of problem definition and design analysis, and with a lesser effect in the phase of detailed design and communication. Keywords: design education; stimulation;learning environment.

design

process;

imagination

Introduction The key to the success of the design lies in the capacity of creative thinking. Imagination is the basis for cultivating creative thinking, and thus the driving force of innovation (Finke, 1996). Creativity-related research has progressed for many years, but the understandings of imagination and the imagination process still remain unclear. So far, few studies have clearly discussed how imagination manifests itself, let alone developed an evaluation tool for assessing imagination stimulation in the design field (Liang, Chang, Chang, & Lin, 2012). In this study, “imagination” refers to the process of transforming the inner imagery of design school students when they face a design task. Such images are usually developed from the individual’s image memory and shaped into something new.The purpose of this study is to analyze the perceived influence of learning environment on design student imagination in different design phases. Generally speaking, the design process can be divided into three major phases: problem definition and design analysis, concept development and prototyping,

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and detailed design and communication (Shneiderman, 2000; Peffers et al., 2006).

Learning environment The college campus can be divided into four dimensions: its physical components and design, its dominant human characteristics, the organizational structures that serve its purposes, and the participants’ constructions of its social climates (American College Personnel Association, 1994). The physical component of a campus consists of its natural environment (geographic location, weather, and temperature) and man-made environment (architecture, signs, sound, grassy spaces, learning facilities, and messages sent to its inhabitants). These two components define space for activities and events, thereby encouraging some phenomena while limiting others (Strange, 2003). Social climate focuses on the “subjective views and experiences of participant observers, assuming that environments are understood best through the collective perceptions of the individuals within them.” (Strange& Banning, 2001, p. 86) This dimension usually has intrinsic influence (such as members’ motivations) as well as external impact (such as control over the members) (Peterson & Spencer, 1990). With respect to organizational measure, the complex nature of universities results in the need to maintain a sense of order and generate various arrangements that define the organizational characteristics of an environment. As a result of this need, rules and regulations are formed, rewards systems are developed, and reports become necessary for resource allocation (Strange, 2003). Such organizational measures could raise or lower the morale of participants. Human aggregate is the collective characteristics of people who inhabit the environment. Whether demographic or psychosocial, this dimension creates features in an environment that reflect varying degrees of differentiation and consistency (Strange& Banning, 2001). The human aggregate dimension is reflected in organizational culture, tradition, or style (Huebner &Lawson, 1990). These features affect the students’ performance, restrict their behaviors, and produces a stable impression of the school (Peterson & Spencer, 1990).

Imagination Passmore (1985) held that imagination is the capacity to think up and think through alternatives. Imagination enables people to go beyond actual experience and construct alternative possibilities, in which the fragmented situation is a meaningful whole. Trotman (2006) indicated that imagination is an essential human capacity in various activities such as the pursuit of creativity and innovation, the symbolic expression of ideas, and critical thinking. In other words, imagination is the internal imagery of a creator whereas creativity and creations are the outward manifestation of imagination. Imagination can also be viewed as the process of transforming an existing memory into a new form. Reichling (1990) indicated that imagination runs through three levels: fantasy or magical imagination, reproductive or literal imagination, and metaphorical and paradoxical imagination. At the level of fantasy or magical imagination, the initial stage of imaginative development, perception is dominant. The imagined

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object may be “seen” or “touched” within the mind of an individual. At the level of reproductive or literal imagination, perception and reasoning are combined together, but intuition is largely absent. Objects at this level are imagined as they exist in concrete and observable forms. At the level of metaphorical and paradoxical imagination, the addition of intuition brings the last facet of imagination together with perception, thinking, and feeling. This combination yields the full development of imagination as a power of the whole human consciousness. Trotman (2006) claimed that imagination engagement can be seen as situated practices. Trotman further proposed six situated practices: solitary imagination, contemplative imagination, imaginative correspondence, contributory imagination, imaginative dissonance, and reciprocal collective imagination. Solitary imagination is a necessary prerequisite of imaginative experience, and is identified as the critical agency for facilitating learning, thinking, and innovation. Contemplative imagination is a moment of conscious engagement in the deep subjective life world. In the situated practice of imaginative correspondence, imaginative experience enters the realm of an inter-subjective world in which the world is one that is shared and interpreted by others. Incontributory imagination, individuals have opportunities to make their unique contributions to a shared project. An exchange in imaginative disagreement leads to the situated practice of imaginative dissonance. Imaginative dissonance is followed by the situated practice of reciprocal collective imagination, which Trotman indicates is characterized by community, unity, mutuality, reflexivity, and connectivity. Passmore (1985) held that teachers should provide students with alternative thinking and diverse life experiences, thus stimulating imagination. Büscher, Eriksen, Kristensen, and Mogensen (2004) took concepts such as work environment, resources, and design tasks as variables and sought out the best combinations for designers to utilize their imagination and improve their crossfield capabilities. These studies demonstrated that imagination stimulation is closely related to the designer’s work environment and the societal environment outside of the task.

Method Since measures of the influence that environmental factors had on imagination stimulation in different design phases were unavailable, new scales needed to be developed for this study. Based upon the literature review, items were created to represent the issues identified. All these 27 preliminary items addressed various environmental influences and were grouped into four dimensions, namely physical component, social climate, organizational measure, and human aggregate.In order to make the standpoints of the surveyed clearer, the items were measured using 4-point Likert scales, ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 4 = strongly agree. The scale was pre-tested by over 200 college students and then verified by preliminary validation analyses.

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Participants involved in this study were students from ten universities across Taiwan. Students had to satisfy two requirements in order to participate for this study. First, students must have been a design major. Second, students must have had at least sophomore standing prior to the study. In the first phase, a total of 1,004 valid samples were collected, including 294 sophomores, 300 juniors, 277 seniors, and 133 in their master programs. There were 277 male and 727 female. The demographical data of the other two phases are presented in Table 1. Because the participants were not forced to contribute in all the three phases, the numbers of participants differed slightly between each phase. The questionnaire asked participants to determine the strength of influence that each identified environmental factor had on their imagination in the current design phase. The questionnaire was distributed to the participants in three different periods. The first period, the phase of problem definition and design analysis, was during the first two weeks of October 2011. The second period, the phase of concept development and prototyping took place in the final two weeks of November 2011. The third and final period, the phase of detailed design and communication, was during the middle two weeks of January 2012. Each survey was conducted by trained graduate assistants who were accompanied by the course instructor. Three items were dropped from the scale due to low factor loading (< .3): “the congestion of messages in the learning environment,” “the route and pattern planning of the learning environment,” and “the location of the learning environment on campus.” Based on the satisfactorily analytical results, a total of 24 items were chosen to construct the formal questionnaire. The measured items were organized by item analysis on the mean (2.77-3.54), standard deviation (> .75), skewness (< ±1), extreme value test results (p < .05, t > ±1.96), correlation coefficients (> .3), and factor loading values (> .3) of the data acquired during the formal survey. The environmental influence scale was found to be reliable (refer to Table 1). Table 1: Analysis of the demographical data and Cronbach’s α Demographical data & α Gender Male/ Female Grade Sophomore/ junior Senior/ master

Cronbach’s α Whole/ item

Phase 1 (n = 1,004)

Phase 2 (n = 974)

Phase 3 (n = 943)

277（27.6%）/ 727（72.4%）

293（30%）/ 681（70%）

266（28.2%）/ 677（71.8%）

294（29.3%）/ 300（29.9%） 277（27.6%）/ 133（13.2%）

252（25.9%）/ 292（30%） 300（30.8%）/ 130（13.3%）

282（29.9%）/ 296（31.4%） 252（26.7%）/ 113（12%）

.891/ .884-.891

.913/ .907-.912

.903/ .897-.910

Results Factor analysis results indicated that the 24 items could be organized into four environmental factors. The first one, physical component, a six-item scale, measured the degree to which participants considered the facilities and messages in an environment would stimulate imagination. The second one, © 2014 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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organizational measure, a six-item scale, assessed participant perceptions of the influence from the institutional structure and organizational measures. The third one, social climate, a seven-item scale, measured the extent of which participants reported being influenced by the climate of the class. The fourth one, human aggregate, a five-item scale, indicated the degree to which participants felt that their imagination was influenced by the organizational culture, tradition, or style. Reliability estimates were satisfactory and are reported with factor loadings in Table 2. Four extracted factors explained a cumulative variance of 52.68%. An independent samples t-test (95% CI) was conducted to compare gender differences. The statistics showed that there was no significant difference between genders in the three phases. However, the statistics also showed that the item “teacher’s respect for individual differences” in the second phase achieved a significant level (p = .002 < .01). ANOVA was continually conducted to compare the effect of environmental factors on participant imagination stimulation between students of different grades. The study found that there was a significant effect of environment factors on imagination stimulation at the p< .05 level for the four conditions in all three phases. In the first phase, the results of Scheffé test showed that the mean of sophomores (M = 3.18, SD = .44) was significantly greater than that of Master’s students (M = 3.01, SD = .484) in physical component. The same was also true in organizational measure (M = 3.42, SD = .460 compared to M = 3.28, SD = .507). The mean of juniors (M = 3.45, SD = .430) was significantly greater than that of seniors (M = 3.32, SD = .471) and Master’s students (M = 3.32, SD = .456) in social climate. Finally, the mean of sophomores (M = 3.45, SD = .439) was significantly greater than those of seniorsand Master’s students in social climate as well. In the second phase, Scheffé post hoc comparison test showed significant differences between the means of juniors and those of seniors and Master’s students in both social climate and human aggregate. In the third phase, the results showed significant differences between the mean of sophomoresand that of seniors in social climate (see Table 3). Furthermore, the results of the Scheffé post hoc test indicated that means of both phase 1 (M = 3.112, SD = .460) and phase 2 (M = 3.108, SD = .498) were greater than that of phase 3 (M = 3.051, SD = .497) in physical component. In organizational measure, means of both phase 1 (M = 3.357, SD = .477) and phase 2 (M = 3.331, SD = .490) were also significantly greater than that of phase 3 (M = 3.239, SD = .527). In addition, the mean of phase 1 (M = 3.396, SD = .451) was significantly greater than that of phase 2 (M = 3.320, SD = .470), which itself was greater than the mean of phase 3 (M = 3.254, SD = .479) in social climate. The related results are reported in Table 4.

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Table 2: Factor analysis of learning environment in the three design phases Factor/Item 1

Phase 1 3 4

Environmental factors such as: materials, colors, furnishings, and other interior design 2. Environmental factors such as: lighting, sound, ventilation, and other infrastructure design 3. Equipment, media, and tools provided by the department 4. Public spaces for exhibitions and discussion 5. Dynamic audiovisual stimuli (such as story, rhythm, sound, and movement of movies) 6. Static visual stimuli (such as content, composition, line, color, and proportion of images) Factor 2: Organizational measure 7. Teacher’s encouragement and praise for taking risk 8. Opportunities provided by teachers for concentration and solitary thinking 9. Teacher’s tolerance for error 10. Explanation and guidance offered by teachers during the design process 11. A personal space for creation provided by the department 12. Rich learning resources provided by the department Factor 3: Social climate 13. The willingness to accept challenges in class 14. Competitive learning climate 15. Teacher’s attention over the design process 16. Climate of respecting diversity and free expression in class 17. Mutual support between teachers and classmates 18. Communication and discussion with classmates 19. Pleasant learning climate Factor 4: Human aggregate 20. There is a tradition of encouraging imagination in the department 21. There is a culture on campus of putting imagination into practice 22. Teachers and classmates are willing to share and provide constructive feedback 23. Teacher’s respect for individual differences 24. Teacher’s demand on students taking initiative

Phase 2 4 α

.686

Factor 1: Physical component 1.

Phase 3 4 α

.776

.780

.626

.627 .667

.732 .658

.740

.569

.642 .657

.731 .601

.752

.507 .465 .372

.625 .571 .643 .526 .660 .494

.732 .603 .745 .557 .757 .477

.733 744 .759

.318

.673 .486

.756 .494

.753

.702 .639 .639 .489 .451 .306 .705 .617 .507 .475 .468 .457 .310 .700 .665 .511 .495 .433

.780 .727 .720 .746 .758 .749 .778 .816 .784 .803 .781 .796 .780 .792 .806 .783 .718 .741 .750 .741 .760

.806 .757 .755 .770 .794 .775 .799 .828 .801 .820 .800 .803 .800 .802 .811

.706 .653 .622 .420 .422 .254 .657 .598 .502 .484 .466 .559 .450

.779 .659 .599 .205 .409 .289 .640 .544 .569 .491 .524 .555 .461 .811

.766 .599 .559 .467 .421

.753 .783 .769 .776 .790

.674 .619 .549 .515 .445

.734 .655 .666 .681 .797 .686 .702 .830 .801 .821 .798 .805 .801 .807 .813 .794 .741 .765 .751 .755 .765

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Table 3:ANOVA and Scheffé tests of grade differences (environmental factors) Factor

Phase 1 F Sig. Scheffé Physical component 5.072 .002 2> 5 Organizational measure 3.106 .026 2> 5 Social climate 6.485 .000 2, 3> 4; 2, 3> 5 Human aggregate .530 .662 *p< .05; 2 = sophomore, 3 = junior, 4 = senior, 5 = master.

Phase 2 Sig. Scheffé

8.426 7.024

.000 .000

3> 4; 3> 5 3> 4; 3> 5

F .937 3.135 1.225

Phase 3 Sig. Scheffé .422 .025 .299

2> 4

Table 4:Scheffé tests of phase differences in the three design phases Factor/Item M

Phase 1 SD

Phase 2 SD

Phase 3 SD

Physical component 3.112 .460 3.108 .498 3.051 .497 1. 3.47 .768 3.38 .743 3.28 2. 3.37 .748 3.31 .726 3.20 3. 3.12 .647 3.18 .647 3.13 4. 3.01 .788 3.01 .775 2.96 5. 2.95 .648 2.96 .656 2.96 6. 2.77 .808 2.81 .795 2.78 Organizational measure 3.357 .477 3.331 .490 3.239 .527 7. 3.51 .704 3.43 .717 3.33 8. 3.45 .665 3.42 .638 3.32 9. 3.39 .623 3.34 .662 3.27 10. 3.37 .772 3.36 .741 3.20 11. 3.29 .626 3.30 .651 3.22 12. 3.14 .717 3.13 .714 3.10 Social climate 3.396 .451 3.320 .470 3.254 .479 13. 3.54 .655 3.44 .681 3.39 14. 3.52 .719 3.45 714 3.36 15. 3.52 .581 3.43 .621 3.32 16. 3.41 .658 3.32 .660 3.26 17. 3.38 .595 3.34 .617 3.26 18. 3.20 .622 3.14 .657 3.10 19. 3.20 .733 3.10 .729 3.08 Human agregate 3.251 .520 3.221 .536 3.150 .520 20. 3.45 .694 3.36 .701 3.26 21. 3.38 .662 3.34 .667 3.26 22. 3.24 .640 3.21 .663 3.13 23. 3.12 .709 3.13 .705 3.08 24. 3.07 .831 3.06 .809 3.03 *p< .05. **p< .01. ***p< .001; 1 = phase one, 2 = phase two, 3 = phase three

.736 .708 .692 .729 .693 .763

Sig.

5.079 .006** 1 >3; 2 >3 20.252 .000*** 1 >2; 1 >3; 2 >3 16.022 .000*** 1 >3; 2 >3 1.781 .169 .297 .743 .919 .399 15.003 .000*** 1 >3; 2 >3

.713 1.173 .693 .735 .673 .712

12.048 .000*** 1 >3; 2 >3 6.775 .001** 1 > 3 8.710 .000*** 1 >3; 2 >3 2.468 .085 .049 .952 22.385 .000*** 1 >3; 1 >2; 2 > 3 .688 9.731 .000*** 1 >2; 1 >3 .708 12.492 .000*** 1 >3; 2 > 3 .647 22.201 .000*** 1 >2; 1 >3; 2 >3 .696 12.344 .000*** 1 >2; 1 > 3 .638 8.578 .000*** 1 >3; 2 >3 .671 1.276 .279 .716 3.176 .042 9.358 .000*** 1 >3; 2 >3 .685 21.300 .000*** 1 >2; 1 >3; 2 >3 .691 8.195 .000*** 1 >3; 2 >3 .669 5.546 .004** 1 >3 .716 1.198 .302 756

Discussion Environmental factors of stimulating imagination Overall, social climate was claimed to have the greatest effect on student imagination, followed by organizational measure, and human aggregate. Although physical component had the least effect, its mean (3.112) was high enough to be considered influential. This result suggested that a soft mechanism like a welcoming climate is the most powerful stimulus to facilitate imagination. Harder factors like institutional measures, intangible factors such as tradition or culture, and physical factors like space and its facilities, are also proved themselves to be effective facilitators. In the first phase of design process, our data showed that the top eight influential items on student imagination are “discussion with classmates,” “pleasant learning climate,” “climate of free expression,” “encouragement for taking risk,” “dynamic audiovisual stimuli,” “opportunities for solitary thinking,” “sharing constructive feedback,” and “mutual support”. This result is

Scheffé

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consistent with both environment-related (e.g. encouraging climate, audiovisual stimuli) and imagination-related literatures (e.g. solitary vs. reciprocal collective, correspondence and contributory) reviewed earlier. In the second phase, the most influential items include “pleasant learning climate,” “discussion with classmates,” “climate of free expression,” “encouragement for taking risk,” “opportunities for solitary thinking,” “dynamic audiovisual stimuli,” “rich learning resources,” and “sharing constructive feedback”. The item “mutual support” was dropped, partially due to the emphasis on the personal attribute of an individual imagination during this phase of design. The newly added item “rich learning resources” reflected the need of external stimuli (such as related cases, seniors’ examples, competition messages) for the students in the design school. According to the analysis, the seven most influential items in the third phase are “discussion with classmates,” “pleasant learning climate,” “encouragement for taking risk,” “climate of free expression,” “opportunities for solitary thinking,” “dynamic audiovisual stimuli,” and “a personal space for creation.” The item “sharing constructive feedback” was dropped between phase two and phase three, possibly because the feedback might not be acknowledged within the busy schedule during the phase three. The addition of the item “a personal space” implied that the third phase is a time for detailed design. These results confirm the findings of the previous study (Liang, Hsu, & Chang, 2013; Liang, Hsu, Huang, & Chen, 2012), especially in the aspect of environmental factors. The results indicated that there was no significant difference on the influence of environmental factors between male and female participants according to the ttest. However, environmental factors had greater influence on sophomores than on seniors and Master’s students. This phenomenon was more evident in the first and third phases. The learning environment, especially social climate and human aggregate, had significant effects on the juniors in the second phase. Our results also suggested that special attention should be paid to physical component for sophomores in the first design phase, and social climate and human aggregate to juniors in the second phase. Taken together, these results suggested that environmental factors have significant effects on imagination stimulation, especially in the first two phases. The factor of social climateand its items in the phase one is particularly influential. This implied that a set of unique instructional strategies applied during the phase one could be particularly beneficial to students. The results also echoed the study done by Büscher et al. (2004) in which work environment, tools to be used, and the nature of the task were sought out to form the best combinations for designers to utilize their imagination. Imagination stimulation in the three phases It should be restated that the first phase in the design process is the phase of problem definition and design analysis, the second phase is the phase of concept development and prototyping, and the third phase is the phase of detailed

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design and communication. The results of this study are compatible with the nature and reality of design education. For example, discussion with classmates is important for stimulating imagination in the phase one in order to clarify the design task. Having a pleasant learning climate and rich learning resources are critical for concept development in the phase two. Opportunities for solitary thinking and a personal space for creation are crucial for detailed design in the third phase. In order to clarify the design problem and assigned task, students in the first phase usually need to go back and forth between discussing with classmates and solitary thinking. Diverse audiovisual stimuli serve as vehicle for stimulating imagination, and a pleasant, encouraging and respecting climate facilitates this stimulation. Mutual support from both teachers and classmates, in the form of idea sharing or feedback, is always welcomed. According to our results, the scenario constructed above is especially crucial forsophomore students. Our data also showed that the physical environment is not the dominant factor in stimulating student imagination, but it should not become an excuse not to improve learning facilities and enhance learning resources. The nature of the first phase involves both imagery and analysis. Proceeding from this paradoxical stage to the next one, the phase of concept development and prototyping, there was a trend of increasing importance on the items “opportunities for solitary thinking,” and “rich learning resources.” At the same time, the weights of “climate of free expression,”“sharing constructive feedback,” “mutual support between teachers and classmates” were slightly diminished. It might imply that students demand more referential material and time for scanning through ideas during this phase. The results revealed that constructive feedback along with a climate of respect and support are still needed to stimulate student imagination. In the reality, the acts of concept development and prototyping dominate the second phase of the design process. According to the analysis of this study, special attention should be paid to junior students in the factors of social climate and human aggregate in this phase, especially through having a competitive and challenging climate and opportunities for discussion. The instructors, in this phase, should keep an open mind and take a more flexible standpoint in order to stimulate student imagination. In addition, sufficient referential resources and constructive feedback should be provided under a mutually respectful climate. In the transition to the phase three, the importance of the items “opportunities for solitary thinking,” “a personal space for creation,” and “teacher’s attention over the design process” was increased. These changes reflect a switch from prototyping to detailed design in a typical design process. Students may need more room for themselves during this period. However, it is ironic that student imagination could be enhanced if their instructors closely observe them through the process. In addition, the weights of “climate of free expression” and “sharing constructive feedback” were lessened. It implied that free expression and

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constructive feedback might not be as important as in the previous phases due to time constraints. The final phase is the time to examine the execution and completion of the design task. It is also a time to demonstrate a studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s marketing ability. In order to facilitate imagination, our data showed that students in this phase continually discuss the task with classmates, and demand opportunities for solitary concentration and contemplation. A variety of audiovisual stimuli and personal space for creation is expected. A pleasant, encouraging, and respectful climate is still needed. As students devalued free expression and constructive feedback, it is interesting to learn that the need for mutual support between teachers and classmates grew. Taken together, our results suggest that environmental factors not only have significant effects on imagination stimulation, but also have varying effects during the three phases of design process. Particularly, the effect of social climate, the most influential dimension, in the first phase was significantly greater than in the other phases. This phenomenon was also observed with the factors of organizational measure, human aggregate, and physical component. The only difference was that the effect of human aggregatein the phase two was significantly greater than in the phase three. This study concluded that environmental factors have significant effects on imagination stimulation for students in the design field, especially in the phase of problem definition and design analysis, and have significantly smaller effects on the phase of detailed design and communication. This study also concluded that the student imagination in design field runs through the three imagination levels as described by Reichling (1990). These three levels were witnessed in each phase, sometimes intertwining without a particular sequence. In addition, the research team observed that students in the design field continually encountered the six situated practices claimed by Trotman (2006) throughout the design process. The situated practices are bounded by context and situation rather than design phase. As can be seen in Figure 1, a design process is composed of three phases. These designer-centered phases do not have strict boundaries. Each environmental factor has its unique influence in every design phase. In Figure 1, the size of each factor and its distance to the designer represent the respective influence that the factor holds. The designer in each phase travels back and forth on different imagination levels, and encounters all six situated practices. The imagination of a designer in the three design phases is continually creating and refining. The inventions and refinements in each phase in turn shape those in the next phase as presented in the following conceptual framework.

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Figure 1: Conceptual framework of imagination stimulation by environments in the three phases Notes: 1. Level 1: fantasy/magical; Level 2: reproductive/literal; Level 3: metaphorical/paradoxical (Reichling, 1990). 2. SP (Situated Practice) 1: solitary, SP 2: contemplative, SP 3: correspondent, SP 4: contributory, SP 5: dissonant, SP 6: reciprocal collective (as proposed by Trotman).

Closing Remarks Compared to concepts such as personality traits and individual psychology, external environments are factors which are easier to grasp and shape. It is also easier to adjust the learning environment with different instructional strategies than to change an individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s traits or psychological states. It should be noted that the research target of this study is students in the design field. It is expected that the reactions of this target population would differ from those of professional designers in the real world. This study, however, can serve as a stepping stone for inquiring into the imagination of professional designers. The study of the expected gap between naive designers and professional ones can lend insights for design educators to restructure or reinvent their curriculum and learning environments. An excellent designer who is capable of simulating invisible possibilities is only able to because he or she has an exceptional imagination. How do we help our students construct imagery through the external learning environment? How do we help them facilitate the development of these memories? How do we help them translate their images into professional design capabilities? What instructional strategies can be adjusted and/or invented from this study? How can these strategies be implemented? All of these are crucial challenges for us, as educators in the design fields, to face.

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