Vol 20 No 7 July 2021

IJLTER.
ORG
International Journal
of
Learning, Teaching
And
Educational Research
p-ISSN: 1694-2493
e-ISSN: 1694-2116
Vol.20 No.7
International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research
(IJLTER)
Vol. 20, No. 7 (July 2021)
Print version: 1694-2493
Online version: 1694-2116
IJLTER
International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research (IJLTER)
Vol. 20, No. 7
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VOLUME 20 NUMBER 7 July 2021
Table of Contents
Optimizing Online Learning Experiences and Outcomes for Hearing-Impaired Art and Design Students .............. 1
Sama'a Al Hashimi, Dalal Alsindi
Science Graduate Employability and English Language Proficiency: Findings from a Malaysian Public University
................................................................................................................................................................................................. 23
Wendy Hiew, Rose Patsy Tibok, Wirawati Ngui, Darmesah Gabda, Qhatrunnada Suyansah
Transformation of Assessment of the Pre-Service Life Sciences Teachers: Issues of Curriculum Development in
Education and Training in South Africa ............................................................................................................................ 44
Mamsi Ethel Khuzwayo, Kwanele Booi
Factors Affecting the Achievement of Twelve-Year Basic Students in Mathematics and Science in Rwanda ......... 61
Aimable Sibomana, Christian Bob Nicol, Wenceslas Nzabalirwa, Florien Nsanganwimana, Claude Karegeya, John Sentongo
The RoboSTE[M] Project: Using Robotics Learning in a STEM Education Model to Help Prospective Mathematics
Teachers Promote Students’ 21st-CenturySkills ............................................................................................................... 85
Adi Nur Cahyono, Mohammad Asikin, Muhammad Zuhair Zahid, Pasttita Ayu Laksmiwati, Miftahudin
Investigating Cascade Training of CEFR-Aligned Standards-Based English Language Curriculum (SBELC) in

Rural Malaysia .................................................................................................................................................................... 100
J. W. Ong, A. J. Ahmad Tajuddin
Untrained Foreign English Educators in Japan: A Discourse on Government Education Initiative and Perceptions
from Japanese Teacher's on Efficacy in the Classroom .................................................................................................. 118
Gregory Paul Chindemi
Instructors’ Readiness to Teach Online: A Review of TPACK Standards in Online Professional Development
Programmes in Higher Education .................................................................................................................................... 135
Amjaad Mujallid
The Application of the Jigsaw Cooperative Learning Technique in Mapping Concepts of Nuclear Radiation in
Diagnosis and Therapy ...................................................................................................................................................... 151
Abdallah Ahmad Atallah, Mohamed Fahmi Ben Hassen, Abdallah Bashir Musa, Mohamed Redha Bougherira, Najla Frih
Application of the Case Study Method in Medical Education ...................................................................................... 175

Oleksandr Y. Korniichuk, Leonid M. Bambyzov, Valentyna M. Kosenko, Anastasiya M. Spaska, Yaroslav V. Tsekhmister
Utilizing the Expectancy Value Theory to Predict Lecturer Motivation to Apply Culturally Responsive
Pedagogies in Universities in Botswana .......................................................................................................................... 192
Norman Rudhumbu, Elize du Plessis
The Brighter Side of Home Schooling for Children with Special Needs: Learning from COVID-19 Lockdown... 210
Rosna Vincent, R. Nalini, K. Krishnakumar
Examining Mathematical Problem-Solving Beliefs among Rwandan Secondary School Teachers ......................... 227
Aline Dorimana, Alphonse Uworwabayeho, Gabriel Nizeyimana
Investigation of Most Commonly Used Instructional Methods in Teaching Chemistry: Rwandan Lower
Secondary Schools .............................................................................................................................................................. 241
Jeannette Musengimana, Edwige Kampire, Philothere Ntawiha
Higher Education Students’ Challenges on Flexible Online Learning Implementation in the Rural Areas: A
Philippine Case ................................................................................................................................................................... 262
Thessalou E. Gocotano, Mae Anthoneth L. Jerodiaz, Jenny Claire P. Banggay, Harold B. Rey Nasibog, Marivel B. Go
Differences in Factors Responsible for Lateness at School by Male and Female Learners in Selected Schools in
Soshanguve Township, South Africa ............................................................................................................................... 291
Mary Motolani Olowoyo, Sam Ramaila, Lydia Mavuru
The Use of a Synthesis Approach to Develop a Model for Training Teachers’ Competencies in Distance Teaching
............................................................................................................................................................................................... 308
Oleksiy Samoуlenko, Olha Snitovska, Olha Fedchyshyn, Oksana Romanyshyna, Olena Kravchenko
How Pre-service Teachers Learn Microbiology using Lecture, Animations, and Laboratory Activities at one
Private University in Rwanda ........................................................................................................................................... 328
Josiane Mukagihana, Florien Nsanganwimana, Catherin M. Aurah
Primary School Science Teachers’ Creativity and Practice in Malaysia....................................................................... 346

Norazilawati Abdullah, Zainun Mustafa, Mahizer Hamzah, Amir Hasan Dawi, Mazlina Che Mustafa, Lilia Halim,
Salmiza Saleh, Che Siti Hajar Aisyah Che Abdul Khalil
1

Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 1-22, July 2021
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.7.1
Received Apr 29, 2021; Revised Jul 22, 2021; Accepted Jul 31, 2021
Optimizing Online Learning Experiences and

Outcomes for Hearing-Impaired Art and Design
Students
Sama’a Al Hashimi
University of Bahrain, Sakheer – Kingdom of Bahrain
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4355-8699
Dalal Alsindi
University of Bahrain, Sakheer – Kingdom of Bahrain
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9404-0123
Abstract. As many universities transitioned to online learning during the

COVID-19 pandemic, the distance learning environment presented
various accessibility challenges for deaf and hard-of-hearing students
(DHH). In art and design higher education programs, the transition from
face-to-face learning to virtual learning is difficult for students in general,
and even more difficult for students with hearing loss. Art and design
educators have explored approaches to effectively compensate for these
challenges and optimize the distance learning experiences for DHH
students. This paper aims to investigate these challenges and attempts to
explore the international best practices in distance education for deaf
learners. Action research is used as a methodology to guide the
professional development of art and design educators on ways to refine
and hone their online teaching approaches. Ten DHH students (5 Males
and 5 females) participated in the action research for the needs of this
study. Their challenges, experiences, preferences, needs and artworks
were analysed in an attempt to optimize their online learning outcomes
and provide recommendations that will lead to the implementation of
effective teaching strategies and the design of appropriate e-learning
environments for hearing-impaired art and design students. The
preliminary findings of the study revealed that the main challenges DHH
students and their instructors faced were communication barriers and
misinterpretation of tasks, which led to difficulties in fulfilling the course
intended outcomes. The recommendations formulated on the basis of the
findings are to adapt the intended learning outcomes and teaching
approaches to optimize the learning experiences of the DHH students.
Keywords: hearing-impaired; education; art; design; distance education
©Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0
International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
2
1. Introduction
When the COVID-19 pandemic started, many industries and fields simply
stopped functioning, while other fields flourished. Different sectors were forced
to find solutions to the problems encountered caused by the pandemic. The effect
of virtual education on students of all ages and abilities initiated challenges and
difficulties that had to be addressed then and there. Thereby, teachers and
instructors are encouraged to think creatively and find effective ways to deliver
information. These challenges also opened doors to new methods that had to be
adopted and tested to optimize education. Online learning support, accessibility,
efficiency, evaluation, practical and theoretical approaches have taken part in the
everyday life of instructors and teachers around the world. The pandemic can
now be seen in a different light; a light of problem solving, where individuals are
forced to find ways to deliver their work efficiently through the virtual world of
possibility.
The challenges that art and design instructors at the University of Bahrain faced
and the problem-solving techniques they attempted to employ were vital and
came into play strongly and specifically with teaching the hearing-impaired
students virtually.
The first section in this study contains the introduction. The second section
explores the most effective international distance education practices and
teaching strategies used to provide online art and design education for the deaf
and hard of hearing (DHH). The third section evaluates and analyses hearing-
impaired students’ and their teachers’ challenges and experiences of distance
education in art and design. It concentrates on identifying the academic
challenges of ten deaf and hard-of-hearing students who are enrolled in the BA
Art and Design program at The University of Bahrain. It involves analysis of in-
depth interviews and action research conducted with two professors who have
taught DHH students within the arts and design specialization at the University
of Bahrain. It also analyses focus groups conducted by the researchers with the
hearing-impaired students in order to investigate the challenges they encountered
while teaching art and design content and skills remotely to these students, and
to allow educators to benefit from their experiences and recommended
approaches to overcome these challenges.
1.1 Research Problem & Significance

There is a range of research papers that explored and recommended teaching
strategies and alternative forms of assessment that can assist hearing-impaired
students to learn through online learning platforms (Alsadoon & Turkestani, 2020;
Farhan & Razmak, 2020; Krishnan et al., 2020; Mantzikos & Lapp, 2020;
Mingsiritham & Chanyawudhiwam, 2020). These papers acknowledged that
hearing impairment hinders students’ ability to perceive information in the
learning management systems and “requires the commitment of all stakeholders
including researchers, designers, developers and academic decision makers to
address these abilities.” (Farhan & Razmak, 2020, p.2). However, there are some
specific strategies that are useful in teaching students with hearing impairments
who are enrolled in art and design programs in higher education institutions, and
which are yet to be explored and identified in literature. These art and design
http://ijlter.org/index.php/ijlter
3
students and their educators may face additional challenges related to their
discipline, which requires dealing with more advanced technical requirements,
design considerations, and artistic needs. Therefore, there is a persistent need to
understand these hearing-impaired students’ and their educators’ challenges,
requirements, and preferences in order to improve their learning experiences
through incorporating their needs within learning management systems.
Understanding these needs, preferences and challenges will allow the designers
and developers of learning management systems and e-learning platforms to
embed features that will facilitate the online learning experience for deaf and
hard-of-hearing students. According to Farhan & Razmak (2020), designers and
developers of e-learning systems must make it a priority to address the needs of
hearing-impaired students in their interface and human computer interaction
(HCI) designs.
In this research paper, which is based on a qualitative methodological approach,

we aim to study the difficulties, challenges, and new techniques that facilitate
effective methods for teaching the hearing-impaired virtually. The hypothesis
raised in this study focuses on investigating the challenges of virtual learning
faced by art and design DHH students and their instructors, and the effectiveness
of the implemented approaches by instructors to optimise the students’ learning
experience. The objective is to better understand the difficulties and challenges of
learning art and design through online tools used during the pandemic. The
following research questions and objectives were used to guide the study in order
to achieve its aim.
1.2 Research Questions

1. What are the distance-learning-related challenges faced by deaf and hard of
hearing art and design students, and by their educators?
2. What are the most effective practices and strategies that art and design
educators can employ to teach art and design hearing-impaired students
remotely?
1.3 Research Objectives

1. To investigate the challenges faced by hearing-impaired art and design
students while learning art and design online
2. To investigate the challenges faced by art and design educators while
attempting to enhance and facilitate their hearing-impaired students’ online
learning experiences
3. To identify and recommend the most effective practices and strategies to
enhance the virtual learning experience among hearing-impaired students in
art and design distance education contexts
4. To understand hearing-impaired art and design students’ needs and
preferences in order to provide information that will help HCI designers design
and develop an e-learning platform that is adapted to their preferences and
needs.
4
2. Theoretical Overview
Recently, the need for effective strategies to present educational content virtually
through learning management systems (LMS) emerged unexpectedly in response
to the COVID-19 pandemic. The need to explore, learn, and apply alternative
teaching and learning approaches has created further challenges for hearing-
impaired students and for their instructors. The common challenges that
educators generally face during online education include anxiety due to technical
problems, the lack of enough time for professional development, the time
required to design and manage online courses and to upload their content, and
the difficulty in adapting to students’ varying levels in using technology (Bower,
Dalgarno, Kennedy, Lee, & Kenney, 2015; Rasheed, Kamsin, & Abdullah, 2020
as cited in Alsadoon & Turkestani, 2020). These challenges are exacerbated when
teaching art and design remotely to hearing-impaired students, who already may
have experienced challenges even with face-to-face education. Ibrahim et al.
(2016) stated that although hearing-impaired students have a high tendency to
study graphic design, they usually face the following challenges;
“Among them are the inefficient technology used for learning, negligence
of deaf students’ learning styles, and the sign language interpreters were
not experts in graphic design field. Furthermore, a number of terms
cannot be translated and thus led to misunderstanding. In addition, the
available learning modules used were not tailored to the needs of deaf
students” (Ibrahim et al., 2016, p.3)
The study conducted by Ibrahim et al. (2016) also revealed that the majority of
deaf students who were studying graphic design in Malaysia reported that the
most challenging courses are animation, illustration and web design, respectively.
McKeown & McKeown (2019) identified three main challenges that DHH
students face with online learning. These includes barriers related to accessing
the learning management system, course materials, and communication.
A study by Alsadoon and Turkestani (2020) identified several challenges which

might limit the use of a virtual classroom for hearing-impaired students. The
study also identified some obstacles that educators faced while teaching these
students remotely, during the Covid-19 pandemic. These obstacles included
technical issues, difficulty in time-management, long translation time, “lack of
simultaneous translation”, and students’ poor writing skills, which hindered their
ability to clearly communicate in writing through the chat function in the LMS.
In order to overcome some of these challenges, the 11 educators who participated
in the study applied a number of approaches. One of the approaches involved
sending the learning materials to the students as well as to the translators in
advance before the virtual lecture. Another approach was to ensure that
educators and students undergo training in using e-leaning platforms and LMS.
The researchers also suggested that visual clues, such as looking confused or
uncertain, help educators improve their teaching approaches. Another
suggestion was to record the session for the translator, who can accurately and
unhurriedly translate it for viewing at a time that was convenient for the students.
It is also useful to show the students “content and information using images and
videos with subtitles paired with sign language than word-based information”
5
(Pappas et al., 2018; Alsadoon & Turkestani, 2020, p.4). The researchers also
recommended sending both students and translators the learning materials before
the virtual lecture in order to allow them to familiarize themselves with the
content and understand it easily.
The existing learning management systems in higher educational institutions

require the integration of more visual and hearing assistive technology (AT)
features that would allow students to study according to their unique abilities,
needs, and preferences (Ibrahim et al., 2020). These systems should also easily
allow users to customize the language of the interface because studies revealed
that “DHH students have weaker English language skills than their hearing
peers” (McClive et al., 2020, p.2). Unfortunately, many software HCI developers
and designers are not aware of these needs and preferences (Farhan & Razmak,
2020). Additionally, these developers and designers must also consider the
perspective of educators, not merely for their hearing-impaired students (Farhan
& Razmak, 2020). Such special considerations are necessary and will help these
students conduct tasks through interfaces that support their requirements.
Therefore, Krishnan et al. (2020) think that it is important to modify and customise
teaching practices and approaches to cater to them. They also believe that “these
students may require educational programs customised to their unique needs
during the pandemic” (Krishnan et al., 2020, p.109). Educators also need “to
produce multimedia with greater content customization” (Baroni & Lazzari, 2020,
p.175). In an attempt to apply some of these customised considerations, Farhan
& Razmak (2020) developed a new e-learning interface with interactional features
for use by students with hearing and visual impairments. The interface allows
students to “place the cursor over content for it to be read aloud and/or to provide
sign language.” (Farhan & Razmak, 2020, p.3). In Egypt, a gamified based e-
learning system was proposed by Shohieb (2019) for teaching DHH students. The
system contains an avatar that interacts with students in Arabic Sign Language
(ArSL). Shohieb (2019) believes that game-based learning may facilitate learning
and communication for DHH students.
On the other hand, Bianchini et al. (2019) developed SWift (SignWriting improved
fast transcriber), which is a web-based tool and transcriber that provides
documents in a written form of any SignLanguage(SLs) transcription.In Bahrain,
Fatima Al-Dhaen developed a program that converts scripts from SMS, E-mail or
voice messages to sign language codes (Salman, 2017). Pappas et al. (2018)
recommended that when designing e-learning systems for hearing-impaired
people, it is important to consider the following recommendations and guidelines;
replace the audio with visual tools like text, subtitles, pictures, and sign language;
develop for hearing-impaired students an effective and comprehensible graphical
interface that includes educational activities in a sequential manner; minimize the
use of text as individuals who have a speech and hearing impairment exhibit clear
limitations in reading comprehension. Many studies demonstrate that deaf
individuals who communicate using sign language find it much easier to
understand the meaning of a picture as opposed to written word (Pappas et al.,
2018). Designers and developers of digital learning systems that cater to deaf and
hearing impaired students must take into consideration these stated facts in
6
addition to the directives of the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide
Web Consortium in order for the final product to be of optimal utility to the target
audience (Pappas et al., 2018). They also recommended the use of examples,
practice queries and feedback as well as short and wide-ranging micro-modules
to convey educational content to hearing-impaired students. According to them,
one of the key takeaways when developing educational content for this unique
target audience is to minimize the use of text and rely on the key word strategy to
attract their attention.
Additional aspects to consider include hearing-impaired e-learning preferences.

Pappas et al. (2018) suggested that hearing-impaired users prefer to use
smartphones in comparison to computers or tablets. The study also indicated that
they mostly prefer to engage on social media when they are online. They also
prefer to use “e-mail and read news and blogs, whereas more rarely they spend
time on e-learning activities, e-banking, entertainment and e-government
services” (Pappas et al., 2018, p. 10).
Additional challenges and barriers that hearing-impaired students and their

instructors face during e-learning were identified by Farhan & Razmak (2020).
These include limited access to high speed internet, the time and financial and
technical support needed to develop e-learning systems and content, educators’
lack of technological skills and their resistance to the use of technology. To
overcome these challenges, Farhan & Razmak (2020) recommended that
universities provide the IT infrastructure (Internet speed, hardware and software)
required by educators and students to facilitate their use of e-learning platforms.
They also recommended that universities offer faculty members financial
incentives and psychological motivation.
One of the challenges identified by Krishnan et al. (2020) is that hearing devices
do not accurately detect sounds during online lessons. They also found that lip
reading through the screen requires more focus and effort.
Adding captions, sign language overlays, and subtitles to videos can help
minimize some of the challenges. There are online tools and platforms that allow
educators to add subtitles to videos such as Kapwing, YouTube, and Veed.
Additional useful resources and applications that can support distance learning
for students with hearing impairments are listed and described in Table 1.
Table 1: Examples of useful resources and applications that can support distance
learning for students with hearing impairments
Tools/Applications/
Description Link
Resources
Kapwing is a content creation tool

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

Veed subtitles or add subtitles to their https://www.veed.io/auto-subtitle
video tutorials.
7
Tools/Applications/
Description Link
Resources
https://support.google.com/meet/a
Google Meet allows instructors to
Google Meet nswer/9300310
enable captioning while teaching
https://support.google.com/docs/a
Google Slides allows instructors to
Google Slides nswer/9109474?hl=en
enable captioning while teaching
Screencast-O-Matic allows
instructors to record their
presentations for students to watch
on their own. This helps https://screencast-o-matic.com/
Screencast-O-Matic instructors allocate more time for
interaction during the online
lecture.
Screencastify is a screen recorder.

It is an extension of Google
Screencastify Chrome that allows instructors to https://www.screencastify.com/
record video of their screens or
with their webcams.
This is a guide to Google’s built- https://support.google.com/a/answ

G-Suite
in accessibility settings and er/1631886?hl=en
Accessibility Guide features
https://edu.google.com/why-
This is a guide to Chrome’s built-
Chromebook google/accessibility/chromebooks-
in accessibility settings and
Accessibility Guide features accessibility/?modal_active=none
This is a “Google-led initiative”

that gives educators tips on e- https://teachfromanywhere.google/i
Teach from
learning, and allows them to Join ntl/en/#for-teachers
Anywhere Educator Groups to share their
experiences with others.
Baroni and Lazzari (2020) noted that in one of Italy's educational establishments,
instructors were given tutorials, guides and training and were then asked to create
interactive multimedia content while adhering to the following standards and
considerations:
• Using all available messaging methods, as per the standards of multimedia
learning;
• Including short exercises based on sound and video (no more than 8 minutes),
which are clear, comprehensive, and with sufficient emphasis on messaging,
as per current suggestions on the design of distance learning by UNESCO
(2020);
• Educators have to be observed on video to clarify the nature of the assignment
and breakdown complex ideas, in order to escape the need for physical
interactions with students;
8
• Using captions and sign language to ensure comprehensive reach allows for
the avoidance of independent solutions for deaf students as indicated by the
Universal Design for Learning(UDL) approach, which requires: numerous
methods for portraying the educational content by instructors, numerous
methods of articulation by students, and numerous methods to capture the
attention of students;
• Ensuring comprehensive reach depends on having digital content (either
proprietary of from other online sources) that has sufficiently coherent verbal
content without background music, and with captions;
• Having the proper focus on the face (especially the eyes and mouth to ease lip
reading and detection of expressions) or the rest of the body (from the head to
abdomen) where signs are explained;
Osman (2020) indicated that special needs students benefited from an integration
program covering several specializations in Sultan Qaboos University. The
university was very focused on the needs of this challenged group of students.
These students could utilize the services of the Department of Students with
Disabilities which offers numerous assistive technologies such as Nvda screen
reader, Index Everest v5, Natiq Reader, Braille display, OCR software for PDF
reading, Text to speech software, etc (Osman, 2020). Furthermore, the university
requested all instructors of online courses which are available to students with
special needs to modify the educational material. According to Osman (2020),
some of the course design guidelines that were communicated to the instructors
were as follows:
• Use PDF files which were converted from word documents, and refrain from
using PDF files which are scans of a printed document.
• Offer a text-based explanation for any images of graphical elements.
• Include sub-titles and captions if the course material includes videos.
Despite all the above-discussed literature review, there is still lack of research
conducted on the challenges faced by hearing impaired students who study art
and design in higher education institutions through distance learning during the
Covid-19 pandemic. The next section explores these challenges, and discusses
possible approaches to overcome them.
3. Research Methodology
In order to achieve the objectives of this study, observation, in-depth interviews
with academics and focus group discussions with hearing-impaired students at
The University of Bahrain were used to collect data for this study. This
investigation attempts to explore and recommend effective and innovative
approaches to teach art and design hearing-impaired students remotely.
The methodological basis of our research is qualitative action research as it is

considered an inquiry approach appropriate for describing, analysing, and
observing social behaviors (Caupayan & Pogoy, 2021).
9
Sample Size and Participants

A total of ten students (five males and five females) participated in this qualitative
study. The students were enrolled in the BA Art and Design Program at The
University of Bahrain. This sample was purposively selected because they were
the first batch of DHH students in the Art and Design program. The students have
completed two years of orientation and were in their first year of the bachelor
program when they participated in this study. Their ages ranged between 24-26
years. All the participants were completely deaf and mute and their primary
mode of communication was the Arabic Sign Language (ASL).
The data used in this study was collected through interviewing, observing, and
receiving weekly progress reports from two art and design lecturers who taught
deaf and heard-of-hearing students remotely. In addition, ten hearing-impaired
students (five females and five males) and a translator were also interviewed.
Thus, data triangulation was applied through the employment of different data
collection instruments in order to validate the qualitative analysis. Prior to joining
the University of Bahrain (UOB), the students were integrated into public schools
by the Ministry of Education. They completed their secondary studies at the end
of the 2017-2018 academic year and started their university studies at the
University of Bahrain at the Ministry's expense.
Data Collection Instruments

This action research was conducted at the University of Bahrain throughout the
second academic semester of 2019–2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data
was mainly collected through an action research-based study and observation of
the academic performance and experiences of ten art and design hearing-
impaired students (five females and five males) and their instructors, and an
analysis of the challenges that the students and their instructors faced. Data was
also collected through interviewing two instructors who teach hearing-impaired
students who are enrolled in the BA Art and Design program, in addition to an
interview with the interpreter. As part of the action research, both educators
provided weekly input through writing a short report about the progress of
students after each lecture. The first instructor is specialized in Ceramics and Fine
Arts, and she taught them a course titled “Fundamentals of Design”. The second
instructor is specialized in Fine Arts and Art Psychotherapy, and she taught them
a course titled “Drawing Techniques”. In addition, semi-structured interviews
were conducted with the ten hearing-impaired students. The interviews were
virtually conducted through Microsoft Teams and WhatsApp by a senior hearing-
impaired Art and Design student, who is in her last year in the program. They
were then transcribed by her and other students enrolled in the program. Thus,
the study is mainly a reflective practice, which involved conducting systematic
enquiries in order to help the researchers and their colleagues in addition to art
and design instructors in general improve their own academic practices. The
interviews with the instructors revolved around three main themes including
their experiences in teaching the hearing-impaired students virtually, the
obstacles they faced, and their insights on approaches that could be applied to
improve the e-learning environment and online teaching strategies for art and
design hearing-impaired students. On the other hand, the interviews with the
students entailed 12 questions revolving around the following topics:
10
• The experience of learning art and design from a distance

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

The two instructors who participated in this research were asked about the main
challenges they faced during distance learning with deaf and hard-of-hearing
students. In addition to the challenges, the interview questions focused on the
efficacy of virtual/remote learning, their concerns in relation to the delivery of the
theoretical and practical content of their courses, the pedagogical strategies they
employed, and their proposed modifications and recommendations to make the
learning experience more effective and successful. The ten hearing-impaired
students’ experiences, challenges and needs were also addressed through the
interviews conducted by the senior students and through an analysis of the two
instructors’ weekly reports. The main challenges that both parties faced included
communication barriers, misinterpretation of tasks, and difficulty in fulfilling the
course intended outcomes.
The DHH students in both courses highlighted the following important

challenges:
• Difficulty in understanding the instructors’ written feedback regarding
assessments
• Difficulty in understanding projects that rely on creative thinking in terms of
instructions and requirements
• Difficulty in fulfilling and understanding theoretical concepts and how to
apply them practically in a project or an assignment
• Difficulty in written communication and projects that require research
• Difficulty in fulfilling tasks that require persuasion and communication skills
Thus, the main challenges faced by the DHH students mainly revolved around
theoretical and practical information that relied heavily on artistic terminology
and research which affected their performance. The above-mentioned challenges
became clear when looking at the average results of grades which were assessed
against the course intended learning outcomes (CILOs) in Tables 1 and 2, and
mapped to the following intended learning outcomes (PILOs) of the BA Art and
Design program:
11
a. Produce creative and innovative artworks that reflect influential social issues
and combine technical and artistic skills considering the principles and
elements of design, color theory, and aesthetic values as applicable
b. Create effective and influential artworks that employ the contemporary
technology needed in the labour market
c. Gain adequate knowledge of artistic research methods in the field of arts and
design through conducting research and studies that reflect students’
understanding of the economic, historical, political, artistic, and
philosophical concepts and other aspects of humanity
d. Gain professional and functional expertise that qualifies students to work
and pursue postgraduate studies in the fields of art and design and related
topics
e. Acquire communication and persuasion skills for presenting artistic ideas
and achievements in contexts of collective criticism and commenting on
artistic projects both in theory and in practice
f. Acquire the skills of self-development and independent learning in the fields
of art and design to achieve awareness of the importance of lifelong learning
g. Demonstrate adequate awareness of the ethics of artistic work and a full
understanding of the cultural, social, legal, and psychological values that
characterize society
Table 1: The percentage of fulfillment of Course Intended Learning Outcomes

(CILOs) of Drawing Techniques 1 mapped with the Program Intended Outcomes
(PILOs)
PILOs
CILOs
A B C D E F G
To acknowledge the
CILO 1 various media of drawing 79% NA 79% 79% NA 79% 79%
and their practical use
To understand the
theoretical and practical
principles of drawing
CILO 2 79% NA 79% 79% 79% 79% 79%
through the media and
themes included in the
course
To apply the fundamentals
of shadow and light in
CILO 3 79% NA 79% 79% NA 79% 79%
artworks by using pencils,
charcoal, and ink
To create drawings that
CILO 4 are based on the accuracy 79% NA 79% NA 79% 79%
of details
To know the basics of
human anatomy
NA
CILO 5 proportions in traditional 69% NA 69% NA 69% 69%
art by using a variety of
pencils
To analyze artworks
CILO 6 verbally in an efficient and NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
constructive manner
12
Table 1 shows the percentages of fulfilment of CILOs of the Drawing Techniques

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

(CILOs) of Fundamentals of Design mapped with the Program Intended Outcomes
(PILOs)
PILOs
CILOs
A B C D E F G
To create designs that
incorporate and apply
CILO 1 60% NA NA 60% NA NA 60%
principles and elements of
design
To understand important
design terminology and
CILO 2 principles, and concepts of NA 54% 54% 54% NA 54% NA
painting and visual
communication
To contribute in solving
societal issues by
CILO 3 employing the elements 36% NA 36% 36% 36% 36% NA
and principles of
composing artistic works
CILO 4 To understand, analyze NA 45% 45% 45% 45% 45% 45%

and critique artistic works
To distinguish between the
various materials and
CILO 5 60% NA 60% 60% NA 60% 60%
techniques that are used in
design
Table 2 shows the results of the theoretical course that was taught by Instructor B.
The results clearly express the difficulty in fulfilling most of the course intended
learning outcomes. The DHH students’ comprehension, response, and interaction
were hindered as a result of the difficulties and complications that they faced in
achieving tasks that required writing and reading skills. This is especially
exacerbated when the subject taught is a theoretical one. The CILOs and PILOs
that are not applicable (NA) highlight the written communication challenges
faced by DHH students, therefore requiring the instructor to omit certain
13
assessments to better suit their needs and capabilities. The cells that indicate low
percentages show that the instructor did assign tasks that match the learning
intended outcomes, but the results show that the average grades received by the
students were low and therefore those specific intended learning outcomes of the
course and program were not met. Accordingly, in trying to optimize the learning
experiences of DHH students, educators must focus on finding ways to resolve
the theoretical and communication challenges faced by the students.
According to Instructors A & B it is important to emphasize that

miscommunication is the foundation of most of the challenges they both faced.
The challenges discussed will be followed by recommendations focusing on
optimizing distance learning for DHH students, especially in art and design
learning contexts. These challenges pertain to the following:
• The instructor’s possible lack of understanding of the nature of sign language
to deliver the needed in terms of project requirements through the interpreter;
• The instructors’ difficulty in understanding the questions asked by the
students through the interpreters’ explanation regarding their assessments;
• The communication barrier and inability to understand the scope of an art
project, which affects the student’s motivation and concentration;
• The interpreter’s possible lack of understanding of the terminology and
concepts in art and design content;
The delivery of information related to courses, assignments and projects was a

major obstacle faced by Instructors A & B. It was noticeable that the DHH
students did not fully comprehend the information and project specifications
explained during lectures, which was caused by misinterpretation between the
instructors and the interpreter through virtual learning. Having an interpreter
who is aware of artistic and graphic terminology and applications is a necessary
component to delivering the right information to an art and design DHH student.
It is vital because the student’s understanding and interaction with the subject is
interconnected with the information given by the interpreter. Therefore, the
process of e-learning to these students is dependent on the clarity and connection
of a three-way communication cycle between the interpreter, the instructor and
the student.
The first challenge revolves around the importance of understanding the major
components in sign language by the instructor. The initial step to this
understanding would be to acknowledge the full definition of the language. Sign
language is defined as: “any various formal languages employing a system of
hand gestures and their placement relative to the upper body, facial expressions,
body postures, and finger spelling especially for communication by and with deaf
people.” (Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, 2021)
The definition highlights an important aspect especially with virtual learning. The
visibility of the interpreter’s upper body, the clarity of the webcam, and the pace
of the interpreter’s gestures are all components that strongly affect the student’s
understanding. Likewise, if the instructor is talking rapidly while the internet
connection is bad, this would complicate the interpreter’s understanding, which
14
in turn complicates the students’ learning. This is an important point as stated by

Instructors A’s experience, where she had to remind the interpreter to fix the
camera angle for upper body visibility to ensure the delivery and clarity of
information to the students. It would be important for the instructor to slow down
his/her language, and also modify instructions to be more descriptive, rather than
concise.
It is also important to note that there are several systems of deaf sign-languages
that are employed in different parts of the world, such as the American Sign
Language (ASL), the British sign language (BSL), and the Arabic Sign Language
(ArSL). In this paper, the sign language involved is the Arabic Sign Language
(ArSL). The ArSL was developed in 2004 by the Arab Ministers Social Affairs
(CAMSA) to unify the MENA region with one distinctive sign-language to be
understood in the region (Samir & Tolba, 2015). Another important aspect
regarding the dynamics of deaf sign languages in general is to understand that it
is a descriptive language. For example, instead of saying “create a drawing of the
sunset with two warm colors”, it would be clearer to say, “with a pencil that is
red, a pencil that is orange, draw the sun on a white paper”. This would also ease
the interpreter’s explanation to the students.
The second challenge is the difficulty faced by students in understanding the

instructor’s written feedback regarding their artwork in general. In order to
comprehend and analyse the dimensions of this challenge, it is important to
understand that writing is considered as a second language to the deaf student,
perhaps even a foreign one. It is also vital to understand that the student’s ability
to read and write varies considerably from one student to another. One student
may have better skills in writing and reading, while the other does not. These
aspects are crucial for the instructor to be aware of as they would be able to feed
into the effectiveness of delivering information whether by writing or via the
interpreter.
To explain this challenge in a clear manner, one might need to focus on the
student’s style of communicating via typed words/text. This would indicate their
comprehension level in reading and writing. This is a crucial matter not only to
the visual arts but to education in general in terms of inclusion and clarity of
communication. Instructor B stated that it is important to prolong the explanation
in lectures, especially when the student has difficulty in following or
understanding the interpreter. Additionally, Instructor B, who taught a
theoretical course, expressed the noticeable lack of response and interaction
caused by the language barrier, which consequently hindered the dynamics of
teaching. The instructor noticed that the students were not able to understand the
material that was interpreted by the translator. In such cases, it would be
beneficial for the instructor to simplify the information of the lecture and give
present it to the interpreter. Since sign language is a descriptive language, as
mentioned earlier, the interpreter would need to understand the information
before trying to translate it to students. This also connects with the importance of
changing the written language from “normal” to descriptive to ensure that the
students understand it. Writing in a descriptive manner also proved to be
15
beneficial when it was paired with breaking down sentences to a basic level
without using pronoun or terms that might need translation. This would also help
the instructor to deliver information that would instigate and motivate the
students via ease of communication to perhaps satisfy the requirements of various
art and design projects or assignments. Furthermore, Instructor A suggested the
need for instructors who teach deaf and hard-of-hearing students to be familiar
with sign language. This suggestion, she claims, would minimize the
miscommunication and the challenges mentioned. Instructor B agrees with this
suggestion but emphasizes the necessity for students to have reading and writing
skills to fully comprehend and be integrated into every aspect of the course in
general. She also highlights the necessity of the interpreter’s understanding of the
contents of the lecture beforehand to minimize miscommunication. These
suggestions are important to ensure the students’ full grasp of the course, and to
minimize their frustration.
Both instructors also stressed the importance of patience when communicating to

the students in terms of messages on platforms like Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp,
and Blackboard. This recommendation was based on the instructors’ experience
as they both noticed that students continuously need to ask questions. According
to the instructors, this is a factor that is important to focus on, as it will eliminate
frustration and give the students a sense of safety in being understood by the
instructor. Furthermore, Instructor B highlighted the importance of avoiding long
lectures, and replacing the extensive detail in verbal communication with clear,
basic, and descriptive communication. It is useful to note that the art and design
studio courses usually involve long lecture hours due to their practice-based
nature. This was an aspect that was raised by Instructor B who suggested dividing
the one lecture per week into two shorter lectures, which would benefit the
students in comprehension, motivation, and productivity.
Considering the aforementioned challenges, it is important to understand that the

main difficulty is the language or communication barrier. These challenges were
discussed in meetings and reports between the instructors teaching hearing-
impaired students in the art and design course. Instructors agreed that the
motivation of the students exists, however the hinderance is caused by the
interpreter’s lack of understanding art and design terminology and the detailed
practical instructions and artistic as well as technical specifications of
projects/assignments. This has been noticed by the students’ submissions of
certain projects. Instructor B also noted that it would be of considerable benefit to
the student, if the instructor would provide the information to be given to the
student a day or two before. This will give the interpreter time to understand and
inquire about aspects that require clarification.
It is worthy to note that the students express a desire to further their development,
both theoretically and practically, in the field of art and design. This was
supported in the reports of both Instructor A & B, who noted that many of the
students were highly motivated, while others needed encouragement and
support in terms of understanding their strengths, weaknesses, and guidance for
improvement. This again highlights the importance of creating a modified
16
learning approach to the deaf and hard-of-hearing students which will enable
them to successfully progress in the field of art and design. One of the crucial
aspects mentioned by Instructor A, was the need for one-on-one meetings with
the students to be able to measure the extent of the student’s understanding and
level of motivation. This would require the instructor to give individual feedback
to each student in an attempt to minimize frustration and de-motivation caused
by the language or communication barrier.
This proves to be beneficial only when the feedback consists of basic vocabulary
that the student may understand. Giving feedback to art and design students
remotely is generally not easy as it requires pointing at the design or artistic
elements that require further improvement. This difficulty is augmented when
the students are deaf and hard-of-hearing and when the instructors do not have a
background in sign-language. That in itself further impedes the understanding of
feedback given and received from both parties. Although there are tools that may
be helpful such as the pointer and pen drawing feature in Blackboard for pointing
at specific elements that the instructor displays on the screen, these tools usually
disappear from the instructor’s interface when a student shares the screen.
On the other hand, Instructor B noted the effect of the student’s interest in art and
design as an important aspect that contributes to stimulating the potential creative
capabilities of the student. This, in turn, sheds light on the enthusiasm and
openness that students have toward the theoretical and practical aspects of the art
and design course in the University of Bahrain. This also highlights the
importance of creating a modified learning approach to deaf art and design
students, where information would be correctly delivered to them by both the
interpreter and the instructor. In light of this, it might be necessary for the
instructor to have a background in sign language or pursue a sign language
course. This would mainly be beneficial for the deaf students who would have
the chance to be directly understood by the instructor and vice versa. Similarly, it
is important for the interpreter to also have an art and design understanding in
terminology, applications, theories, etc. In addition, regular meetings between art
and design interpreters and instructors may yield new approaches through
discussing experiences, challenges, learning strategies which could benefit the
deaf students and optimize their learning.
Instructors A & B were also asked to provide their input regarding their
experience with the interpreter’s performance. They both highlighted the
important active role of the interpreter in the teaching process. However, they
recommended that the interpreter would add more value to the teaching process
if he was knowledgeable about the field of art and design and its components and
terminology to ensure the accurate delivery of information. Instructors mentioned
that the communication between them and the interpreter mostly revolved
around explaining certain terms or techniques, to ensure that the students
understand the content. Yet, this did not seem to yield significant results with the
students. Perhaps a more effective way to approach this challenge would be to set
a compulsory workshop for the interpreters to be able to understand important
terms and applications in the art and design field.
17
An interview was conducted with the interpreter who highlighted the challenges
that he faced regarding the accurate delivery of information and interpretation of
the information that was at hand. This reverts to the importance of hiring an
interpreter in the art and design field to be knowledgeable about the content and
terminology of the designated course/module. The interpreter worked diligently
in using descriptive interpretation from the instructor to ensure the accuracy and
clear delivery to the students. More so, the interpreter stated the importance of
preparing the artistic terminology and outlines by the instructor to be reviewed
by him before the lecture in order to ensure accuracy in his interpretation.
Furthermore, both instructors expressed their views about the effectiveness of

distance learning platforms with deaf and hard-of-hearing students in the art and
design field. Instructor A stated that the used platforms, which were mainly
Microsoft Teams and WhatsApp, were effective in facilitating the communication
between the instructor and the deaf students. Students were able to reach out to
the instructors when certain matters regarding assignments, projects, and
feedback arise. The students could easily submit their work through the
mentioned platforms, and the instructor would respond via comments sent to the
interpreter, who will in turn deliver the comments to the student. Nevertheless,
both Instructors A and B noted that the primary challenge faced regarding the e-
learning platforms or learning management systems (LMS) was the students’
difficulty in submitting assignments. This may be considered a technical obstacle
that could be solved by giving the students workshops prior to the
commencement of the semester in order to clarify how to use these platforms and
any other effective applications and resources especially for learning art and
design content, and for sharing digital and graphic materials.
In an attempt to overcome some of the above-mentioned challenges, the

instructors explored some approaches. Instructor A & B were able to target the
difficulties that students faced and have accordingly applied modifications to the
assignments and projects. These modifications, both theoretical and practical,
included simplifying the projects’ instructions and requirements, with supporting
media (images, videos) that would be understood by the students via the
interpreter (Figure 1).
Instructor A was responsible for teaching a practice-based course titled “Drawing

Techniques” to hearing-impaired students. The module aims to develop the
students’ drawing skills and techniques through different themes. When the
instructor assigns a project or an assignment, she would describe the theme, the
art materials that needed to be used and the required size of the paper. Then she
would usually give examples of the expected level. It was repeatedly noticed that
the students copied or drew the examples given rather than creating their own
composition in an art project. This reflects a severe gap in miscommunication
between the instructor, the interpreter, and the student. This awareness clarifies
the low creative performance that was depicted in the students’ work
18
Figure 1: Instructions with images as an approach to clarify the assignment and the
needed mediums
In an attempt to overcome the challenges related to students’ misunderstanding

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

copied the example.DrawingB represents correct crumpled paper assignment; The
student did not copy the example
As mentioned by Instructor A, the assignments and projects were modified based
on what she believed was the best approach to develop the students’ drawing
19
technique. This approach involved asking them to draw from the references that
were provided with each assignment. However, Instructor A noted that one
assignment fulfilled the independent creative level, which was drawing a self-
portrait by taking a “selfie” and drawing it. The project consisted of two parts; the
first was for the student to take 4 different expressions of his/her eyes; the second
a selfie with an unusual expression. These were to be drawing with pencil. The
results were pleasing to the students as it was one of the projects that required
skills beyond “copying”. The instructions for this project, were acted by Instructor
A on camera, step by step. Two of the examples of the students’ results are shown
in Figure 4 (Selfie) and Figure 5 (Eye Expression Studies).
Figure 1: Selfie of student (independent creative approach)
Figure 2: Eye expression drawings by one of the students

(independent creative approach)
The instructors indicated that creative thinking, confidence in their work, and
being able to challenge themselves are vital factors that can facilitate the students’
20
learning experience. Both instructors stated that when they noticed the strength
and motivation of the students in their ability to produce a drawing from a study
of another image, or begin to think creatively, it affected and drove their own
motivation and allowed students to challenge themselves in wanting to exert
more effort in order to develop their skills. Most of the students perhaps did not
get the right care or attention in terms of art and design education. So, it is the
duty of their instructors and of any a nurturing educational organization to
provide them with ways to reach their full potential.
6. Conclusion and Recommendations

This paper reported on an investigation of the challenges educators who teach art
and design deaf students at The University of Bahrain (UOB) faced while trying
to teach them remotely. The findings of this study revealed that the main
challenges revolved around miscommunication between the instructor and the
interpreter, which affects the delivery of information to the student. Another main
challenge was the interpreter’s lack of knowledge in the field of art and design,
resulting in misinterpretation of the assignments that would hinder the student’s
comprehension. The educators’ insights from the interviews, action research, and
literature review have allowed for a more robust depiction of the most effective
approaches and recommendations to teaching hearing-impaired students in a
virtual art and design classroom. These recommendations include directing the
students and their instructors to the concept of learning management and to the
preparation in advance of the learning materials, sharing captioned materials
before each lecture, encouraging self-learning among the students, and
encouraging them to communicate and inquire about information. Additionally,
instructors need to understand that sign language is descriptive, hence the need
to modify the instructions given to the student in a basic manner that would be
understood by the interpreter and the student. Furthermore, it is essential to brief
the interpreter with art and design terminology to ensure the accuracy of
interpretation. It is also important to continuously evaluate and improve
educators’ approaches for implementing distance learning through obtaining the
necessary feedback from students and their family members in order to overcome
any challenges. In addition, existing learning management systems need to be
upgraded to support the needs and preferences of deaf and hard-of-hearing
students who in a virtual art and design classroom. It is important to add features
on the existing LMS’ interfaces that are not available in traditional e-learning
systems. All the aforementioned recommendations may enhance the educational
outcomes for hearing impaired students and minimize the challenges faced by
them and their instructors.
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Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 23-43, July 2021
Received May 23, 2021; Revised Jul 04, 2021; Accepted Jul 31, 2021
Science Graduate Employability and English

Language Proficiency: Findings from a Malaysian
Public University
Wendy Hiew, Rose Patsy Tibok, Wirawati Ngui,

Darmesah Gabda and Qhatrunnada Suyansah
Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5245-4942
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5173-1629
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0204-6523
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1703-1626
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4579-3206
Abstract. This study investigated the relationship between the

employability of science graduates of a public university in Malaysia and
their English language proficiency. Utilising a quantitative research
design, the study involved 3,918 graduates from the 2015, 2016 and 2017
graduating years. Using available secondary data, three variables were
examined: the graduates’ employment status, their English Language
course results, and their Malaysian University Entrance Test (MUET)
results. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics, Kolmogorov-
Smirnov test and Chi-square test. Findings showed the number of
unemployed graduates was consistently greater than employed graduates
although the unemployment percentage decreased progressively each
year. No conclusive evidence however could be ascertained to suggest
English Language proficiency as the main determinant affecting
employability since the highest number of employed and unemployed
graduates were from the Intermediate and Upper Intermediate language
proficiency range. This points to other factors impacting employability
which higher learning institutions may need to address in order to add
value to their graduates’ future work credentials.
Keywords: employment; English language proficiency; graduate

employability; science graduates; transversal skills
1. Introduction
Every year, universities worldwide produce graduates from various disciplines
of study focused on the common aim of securing jobs in their fields of
specialisation. The requirements for employment have however expanded from
being solely expertise dependent; while subject-specific knowledge and skills are
©Authors
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still pertinent, current era employers now seek well-rounded candidates with
additional attributes that would benefit the workplace. These attributes typically
include positive work ethics and abilities that help graduates thrive in their work
environment for the benefit of the organisation and the labour force. In addition,
employers require graduates who are adaptable and capable of meeting the
changing demands of the industry. Since graduates enter the labour force
supposedly ready and well-equipped to respond to the demands of the economy,
the responsibility for ensuring that these individuals are holistic and with market-
driven attributes is placed on higher learning institutions as the training ground
for knowledge, skills and competency.
Graduate employability is likewise a concern in Malaysia. In 2019, close to 60% of

fresh graduates (first degree and above) failed to gain employment within a year
of graduation (D’Silva, 2020). An annual report published by Bank Negara
Malaysia revealed a considerable mismatch between supply and demand as the
number of diploma and degree holders had increased annually from 2010 to 2017
with the figure surpassing the number of high-skilled workers that were being
employed (Murugasu, Hakim & Yau, 2019). The report highlighted the need to
create more high-skilled work positions as a means of addressing or mitigating
this imbalance between supply and demand. The report also reiterated the need
for universities to produce graduates who were well-trained in their specific
disciplines and possessed supplementary attributes that would drive their career
performance.
In the attempt to determine the drivers for graduate employability in Malaysia,

researchers have suggested various angles of investigation including applying a
graduate employability model for assessing graduates’ readiness based on their
generic skills (Singh, Thambusamy & Ramly, 2014), comparing the perception of
employers and employees (Alias, Hamzah & Yahya, 2013), and determining
graduates’ level of employability (Ahmad, Kenayathulla & Idris, 2017). Yet the
actual factors that impact graduate employability have remained unanswered.
1.1 Research Rationale and Questions

The responsibility placed on higher education systems in relation to the
employability of graduates is a global phenomenon (Yorke, 2006). In Malaysia,
higher education institutions (HEIs) are tasked with a similar obligation to
“improve employability aspects among our graduates” (Ministry of Higher
Education, 2007, p.11). In the National Higher Education Action Plan (2007-2010),
graduate unemployment was partly attributed to “the lack of appreciation of the
different roles that education and training play in employment” (Ministry of
Higher Education, 2007, p.42). Renewed measures referred to as shifts were
introduced in the Malaysia Education Blueprint (MBE) with the development of
quality graduates placed as the first shift (Ministry of Education, 2015). In
accordance to this, HEIs were expected to improve their existing curriculums and
systems by collaborating with industry, promoting entrepreneurial opportunities
for students and staff, and producing graduates who embody the desired
attributes. These attributes, as specified in the MBE, were categorised as
knowledge and skills (knowledge, thinking skills, and language proficiency) as
25
well as ethics and morality (patriotism, leadership skills, ethics and spirituality).
Among the myriad of factors, English language proficiency was suggested as a
major contributing aspect to graduate employability in Malaysia. Malaysian
researchers sought the viewpoints of employers and concluded that the ability to
converse in English and to use the language in written form were perceived as the
two most important graduate skills (Hamid, Islam, & Abd Manaf, 2014) with
employers preferring candidates who demonstrated better language accuracy
(Zainuddin, Pillai, Dumanig & Phillip, 2019).
Based on this, this study therefore sought to ascertain whether there was indeed
any significant relationship between the employability of science graduates and
their English language proficiency within the context of a public university in
Sabah, Malaysia. The research questions were:
(i) Is there a significant relationship between the employability of the university’s
science graduates and their Malaysian University English Test (MUET) results?
(ii) Is there a significant relationship between the employability of the university’s
science graduates and their university English Language course results?
2. Literature Review
Employability is defined as “a set of achievements – skills, understandings and
personal attributes - that makes graduates more likely to gain employment and
be successful in their chosen occupations, which benefits themselves, the
workforce, the community and the economy” (Yorke, 2006, p.8). This definition
implies that employability consists a complex set of attributes rather than any
singular reason. Various research examining employability factors have further
categorised these into hard and soft skills. Hard skills, also known as technical
skills, refer to specialised information and abilities that are discipline-related
(Turner, 2004). Soft skills or generic skills on the other hand are those required to
perform optimally in professional and social contexts. These skills may include
language proficiency, communicative ability, personal qualities, critical literacy
and critical thinking skills (Koo, 2007). In discussing the contribution of higher
education to the labour market, Yorke (2006) noted that the development of
generic skills such as communicating, collaborating and the managing of time
were perceived as below par.
A research by Ilhaamie, Rosmawani and Yusmini (2018) explored graduate

employability through students’ ranking of the skills that contributed to
employability. The study involved 300 respondents from three private and three
public universities. The respondents indicated that being disciplined was the most
important employability skill, followed by being responsible, and demonstrating
positivity. A comparison between the private and public universities also
revealed different perceptions of skills that contributed to employability. For
example, more respondents from public universities considered the skills of
communication, organisation, problem solving, decision making, creative and
innovative thinking, and leadership as important. On the other hand, students
from private universities were more prone to regard fluency in the English
language, fluency in a third language, and analytical skills as important. As such,
it could be inferred that public and private universities differ in their curriculum
26
content emphasis. Another comparative study which attempted to ascertain the

level of generic skills practised by economic students in a Malaysian university
and an Indonesian university (Hadiyanto & Ibrahim, 2013) revealed that the
Indonesian students rated their generic skills higher than their Malaysian
counterparts.
Researchers have also identified the attributes that employers generally seek in
graduates. In terms of employability attributes, emphasis is placed on the ability
to communicate (Hanapi & Nordin, 2014; Omar et al., 2012; Rasul et al., 2013). This
implies that candidates are expected to be able to interact well within the
organisation and when dealing with clients (Omar et al., 2012). Apart from verbal
communication, employers also seek graduates with the ability to listen and
interpret information as well as convey written information effectively (Rasul et
al., 2013). In Hanapi and Nordin’s study (2014), communication was associated
with fluency in the English language. English language proficiency was also
highlighted as a primary employability factor with employers preferring
candidates who demonstrated better language accuracy (Zainuddin, Pillai,
Dumanig & Phillip, 2019). The importance of the English language for
employability was further revealed in a study whereby employers ranked the
ability to converse in English and the ability to use English in written form as the
two most desired skills (Hamid, Islam & Abd Manaf, 2014). Other than the Malay
language, fluency in English and Chinese provided an advantage to job
candidates as it was a common requirement in electronic advertisements (Omar
et al., 2012). Another significant employability attribute was teamwork as
employers valued candidates who could collaborate with colleagues (Omar et al.,
2012). This also meant being able to share information and resources with team
members and getting along with others despite cultural and background
differences (Rasul et al., 2013). In addition, problem solving was noted as an
important skill which required employees to be creative (Hanapi & Nordin, 2014)
and contribute ideas and solutions (Rasul et al., 2013). Employers also wanted
employees with positive personal qualities with many of these related to work
ethics such as honesty, responsibility, discipline and commitment (Omar et al.,
2012; Rasul et al., 2013).
Apart from employability attributes, technology literacy and technical skills were
viewed as added values. Technology skills include the ability to use computer
programmes as well as operate tools and machines (Rasul et al., 2013). Basic
computer knowledge typically includes the use of Microsoft applications
although certain positions such as engineers and programme analysts require
candidates to demonstrate technical skills in more advanced software and
systems (Omar et al., 2012). However, despite the importance of technical skills, a
study involving lecturers and employers revealed that graduates lacked these
(Hanapi & Nordin, 2014). In a study conducted by Lee, Ling, Lim and Cham
(2019), fresh graduates similarly affirmed that they were ill-equipped with
technology and technical skills upon working. The study explored the challenges
of 18 accounting graduates who had graduated and secured employment in
accounting-related departments within three years of graduation. The
respondents expressed a lack of accounting knowledge and skills more
27
specifically in matters related to audit, taxation and analysis of financial data. The
respondents subsequently indicated that their education had not fully prepared
them with the essential knowledge and skills to perform optimally at work. The
revelation that fresh graduates felt ill-equipped at work is a significant indication
of a gap between higher education and industry. Studies involving
undergraduate students have also highlighted a lack of confidence among
respondents in relation to hard skills. A study that investigated 425 final year
undergraduate students’ self-perceived employability level revealed that the
respondents ranked their academic attributes at fourth place behind teamwork,
work and career resilience, and conscientiousness (Wong, Samsilah, Siaw,
Tajularipin & Habibah, 2018). The findings indicated that although the students
perceived themselves as possessing certain soft skills that were essential for
employability, they appeared to be less confident about hard skills related to
academic performance. A similar predicament was observed in a study of 171
final year engineering students at Universiti Malaysia Perlis (Yusof & Jamaluddin,
2015) whereby it was found that although a majority of the students (90.6%)
identified enhancing employability skills as one of the proactive measures they
had taken to secure employment, more than half (57.9%) indicated that they were
insecure about their academic performance while almost half (49.1%) expressed a
perceived personal lack of technical skills.
3. Methodology
3.1 Research Design
This study employed a quantitative research design employing analysis of
available secondary data. The samples consisted of 3,918 science graduates from
the graduating years 2015, 2016 and 2017 of five science-based faculties of a public
university in Sabah namely the Faculty of Science and Natural Resources, Faculty
of Food Science and Nutrition, Faculty of Sustainable Agriculture, Faculty of
Engineering and Faculty of Computing and Informatics. Three variables were
examined: the graduates’ employment status in relation to their parent faculties,
their English language proficiency course results or English language advanced
course results undertaken at the university, and their Malaysian University
Entrance Test (MUET) results.
3.2 Data Source and Collection

The data used for the analytical purpose in this study was secondary data
extracted from the graduates’ university English Language course results, their
MUET results, and the Graduate Tracer Study sourced from the university’s
Career & Alumni Centre. Started in 2002, the Ministry of Higher Education
conducts annual collection of graduate data by means of this Graduate Tracer
Study. For this study, we included all the respondents from the 2015, 2016, and
2017 graduating years who had submitted their Graduate Tracer Study forms. The
variables for this study were the graduates’ employability status, English results,
and soft skills. However, the amount of information that this study had access to
in the Graduate Tracer Study was limited since most of the data fell under the
purview of Act 709 of the Malaysian Personal Data Protection Act 2010.
Information access was limited to numbers and percentages related to graduate
employability according to faculty and programme of study. More specific
28
information such as employment by gender, job type, work location and salary
were not made available.
3.3 Data Analysis

The data that could be obtained was tabulated and descriptive analysis utilised to
analyse the total number of employed and unemployed graduates. The normal
distribution for the graduates’ university English Language course results and the
MUET results was determined using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov normality test;
this allowed for the comparison of the sample scores to a normally distributed set
of scores with the same mean and standard deviation with the null hypothesis
being that the said sample distribution is normal (Ghasemi & Zahediasl, 2012).
When the test outcomes indicated the data was not normally distributed, the
independent Chi-square test (a non-parametric test) was adopted to determine the
relationship between the employability of the university’s science graduates and
their undergraduate English Language course results and MUET results,
respectively. This usage of the Chi Square test for the purpose of ascertaining
whether two categorical variables have a relationship (Field, 2009). The Chi
Square test for independence of two variables, a cross classification table-based
test, evaluates the nature of the relationship between these variables. The
alternative hypothesis is that there is a relationship between the variables.
(Wuensch, 2011). The test statistics of Chi Square of independence is as follows
(Yahya et. al, 2008):
(𝜊𝑖𝑗 −𝜖𝑖𝑗 )2
𝜒2 = (1)
𝜖𝑖𝑗
where 𝜊𝑖𝑗 is the observed count and 𝜖𝑖𝑗 is the expected count for contingency table
with ith row, i=1, 2, .., r and jth column, j=1, 2, .., c.
4. Findings
4.1 Number of graduates based on faculties for the period 2015-2017
The number of students who graduated from the various science-based faculties
in the university from 2015, 2016 and 2017 was as follows (Table 1):
Table 1: Number of science-based graduates in 2015, 2016 & 2017

2015 2016 2017
Faculty
(%) (%) (%)
FSSA 52.5 53.2 47.2
FSMP 16.2 12.0 12.7
FPL 5.5 6.1 7.7
FKJ 18.5 15.0 16.0
FKI 7.3 13.7 16.4
*FSSA: Faculty of Science and Natural Resources FSMP: Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition
FPL: Faculty of Sustainable Agriculture FKJ: Faculty of Engineering FKI: Faculty of Computing &
Informatics
The majority of graduates according to faculty were from the Faculty of Science
and Natural Resources (FSSA) with 52.5% of the overall total in 2015, 53.2% in
2016, and 47.2% in 2017. A gradual increase of graduates over the three-year
period was also observed in the Faculty of Sustainable Agriculture (FPL) with
29
5.5% graduates in the overall total in 2015, 6.1% in 2016 and 7.7% in 2017. A similar
increase was also posted in the Faculty of Computing and Informatics (FKI) with
7.3% in 2015, 13.7% in 2016 and 16.4% in 2017.
The Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition (FSMP) posted a decrease in graduates
in 2016 with 12% compared to 16.2% in 2015 and 12.7% in 2017. The Faculty of
Engineering (FKJ) showed a slight drop in graduates completing their programme
in 2016 with 15% against 18.5% in 2015 and 16% in 2017. Although the number of
students graduating from the Faculty of Sustainable Agriculture (FPL) remained
consistently the lowest among the five science-based faculties with 5.5%
graduates in 2015, 6.1% in 2016 and 7.7% in 2017, these figures were actually a
consistent increase in terms of the number of students successfully completing
their studies from the faculty.
4.2 Graduate Employment Status

In terms of employment, data was classified under four broad categories by the
university’s Alumni Centre: Employed, Unemployed, Others and No
Information. However, unlike the 2015 and 2016 data for the “Others” category,
the 2017 data was further segregated into three streams: those who were (i)
pursuing further studies or qualifications, (ii) improving skills, and (iii) in job
transition or waiting for work placements.
Employment status for 2015

The 2015 graduate count according to faculty was, in descending order, FSSA with
569, FKJ 201, FSMP 176, FKI 78 and FPL 60. From this overall graduate total of
1,084, 38.2% had secured employment while 53% remained unemployed, 7.7%
classified in “Others”, and the status of 1.1% could not be determined (Table 2).
Table 2: Employment status of science-based graduates in 2015

FKI FKJ FPL FSMP FSSA Overall Total
Employed 47.4% 42.8% 25.0% 56.3% 31.1% 38.2%
Unemployed 48.7% 46.7% 65.0% 36.9% 59.6% 53.0%
Others 3.9% 8.9% 8.3% 5.7% 8.2% 7.7%
No Information 0% 1.5% 1.7% 1.1% 1.1% 1.1%
Among the five faculties, graduates from FSMP had the highest percentage of
graduates being employed with 56.3% in job placements. This was followed by
FKI with 47.4%, FKJ with 42.8%, FSSA with 31.1% and FPL with 25%. From Table
2, it is evident that the number of unemployed science-based graduates produced
by the university at 53% was greater than the three other classifications
(“Employed”, “Others” and “No Information”) with a combined total of 47%.
Unemployment was highest among graduates from FPL with 65% not working.
This was then followed at 59.6% by FSSA, 48.7% by FKI, 46.7% by FKJ, and 36.9%
by FSMP.

From the overall number of 1,305 students graduating from the university in 2016,
44% found employment while 47.9% were still unemployed (Table 3).
30

Employed 49.7% 55.6% 42.5% 61.8% 35.4% 44.0%
Unemployed 40.2% 39.3% 53.8% 28.7% 56.0% 47.9%
Others 10.1% 5.1% 3.7% 8.9% 8.2% 7.8%
No Information 0% 0% 0% 0.6% 0.4% 0.3%
A total of 7.8% were categorised under “Others” while 0.3% did not provide any
information. As in 2015, graduates from FSMP were found to be the most
employable among the five science-based faculties in 2016 with 61.8% holding
jobs. This was followed by FKJ with 55.6% of their graduates in employment, FKI
with 49.7% and FPL with 42.5%. FSSA posted the lowest active employment rate
with only 35.4% of its graduates able to secure job placements.

In 2017, the total number of students who graduated from the five science-based
faculties in the university was 1,538. From this figure, 37.2% managed to secure
employment (Table 4).

Employed 50.8% 43.1% 27.1% 59.2% 26.2% 37.2%
Unemployed 28.1% 46.3% 50.8% 30.6%% 57.2% 46.8%
Further Study 3.2% 1.6% 10.2% 1.0% 7.7% 5.3%
Improving Skills 3.6% 3.7% 0% 2.0% 1.2% 2.0%
Waiting for job 4.4% 2.0% 5.1% 4.6% 5.6% 4.7%
placements
No Information 9.9% 3.3% 6.8% 2.6% 2.1% 4.0%
The remaining 62.8% were divided into the following classifications: 46.8%
without employment, 5.3% pursuing further studies or qualifications, 2% engaged
in skills improvement initiatives, and 4.7% waiting for job placements. No
information could be obtained or was provided by the final 4%) graduates of the
class of 2016.
Although the graduates classified under “Further Study”, “Improving Skills” and
“Waiting for Job Placement” were technically not working, they were excluded
from the “Unemployed” classification since their situations were deemed as
temporary with them expected to secure jobs once their studies, training or
‘transit’ work period was completed.
Overall Employment Overview

The number of unemployed graduates was in overall greater than employed
graduates in 2015, 2016 and 2017 (Table 5).
31
Table 5: Summary of employment status for 2015, 2016 and 2017

Category/ Year 2015 2016 2017
(%) (%) (%)
Employed 38.2 44.0 37.2
Unemployed 53.0 47.9 46.8
Others 7.7 7.8
Further study 5.3
Improving skills 2.0
Waiting for job placement 4.7
No information 1.1 0.3 4.0
It is notable that the unemployment percentage decreased progressively during

the 2015-2017 period with 53% in 2015, 47.9% in 2016 (a reduction of 5.1% from
the previous year), and 46.8% in 2017 (1.1% reduction from 2016). The rate of
employment however was not as consistent in this three-year period: although
2016 posted an increase of 5.8% in the number of graduates in employment
compared to 2015, this figure was reversed in 2017 when the percentage of
employed graduates dropped to 37.2% from the previous year’s total of 44%, a
decrease of 6.8%.
4.3 Employment Status and English Language Course Results Undertaken at

University
Students from the various faculties in the university are required to enrol in
English Language learning courses in their first and second year of study. These
courses, staggered over four semesters, are aimed at (1) improving English
Language skills among low proficiency learners, and (2) enhancing usage and
fluency in more advanced level students. The MUET results of learners upon
registration in their respective university programmes determine whether they
are enrolled into proficiency level classes or advanced level sessions. As of 2020,
students with MUET results of Band 3 and below would be required to join the
proficiency level whereas those with Band 4 and above are registered into
advanced level classes.
In this study, it was notable that the highest percentage of employed graduates in
2015, 2016 and 2017 were those who had obtained the B+ grade in their university
English Language course results (Table 6). This grade is awarded for marks
obtained between the 70-74 range out of a possible 100. However, the highest
percentage of unemployed graduates in 2015 and 2017 also scored B+. For 2016,
the highest percentage of unemployed graduates had obtained B grade in their
university English Language courses.
Table 6: University English Language course results of 2015, 2016 and 2017 graduates
of science-based faculties
University 2015 (%) 2016 (%) 2017 (%)
Grade Employ. UnEmploy. Employ. UnEmploy. Employ. UnEmploy.
A 7.1 5.4 3.0 2.5 3.3 2.4
A- 8.9 8.0 7.8 7.4 7.2 6.6
B+ 13.9 15.1 16.2 13.0 15.7 15.7
B 9.4 15.6 14.1 13.7 14.1 15.7
32
B- 5.3 7.2 7.4 7.7 6.4 7.9

C+ 0.9 2.3 2.5 3.0 1.6 2.1
C 0.4 0.5 0.7 0.8 0.4 0.6
C- 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1
D 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Employability and University English Language results in 2015

In 2015, graduates with B+ grade results accounted for 13.9% of the overall total
of those with job placements (Table 6). For summation purposes, graduates with
A range grades (A and A-) posted a combined 16% employment rate while those
in the B range (B+, B and B-) reported a 28.6% employed percentage. 1.3% of
graduates with low results in the C range (C+, C and C-) had secured jobs.
Graduates who had failed their university English Language course had a 0.1%
employment rate. As reflected in Table 6, the majority of employed graduates in
2015 were those with B+ English Language attainment. However, the highest
percentage of unemployment among science-based faculties in the university in
2015 were also from the B grade range with 15.6% with B and 15.1% with B+
achievements. Low range English Language results (C+, C, C and D) contributed
a combined 2.9% towards the unemployability results of 2015 graduates.
Graduates with A grade (5.4%) and A- grade (8%) were among those without jobs.

For 2016, 16.2%, 14.1% and 7.4% of the employed graduates had obtained B+, B
and B- grades respectively in their English Language courses in the university.
The combined total of this grade range, 37.7%, reflected the highest number of
employed graduates for 2016. Low proficiency graduates (C+, C, and C-) made
up the rest of the employed graduate count with 3.4% (Table 6).
This pattern was repeated for the “Unemployed” category whereby the bulk of
graduates without job placements had obtained English Language course marks
in the B+ and B range with 13% having B+ results and 13.7% with B grade. 7.7%
of the overall total of unemployed 2016 graduates had B- results. 4% of the jobless
graduate total had low proficiency English Language grades (C+, C and C-). 9.9%
of the jobless graduate figure were those who had obtained A and A- in their
English Language courses.

Employability in 2017 was highest among graduates with English Language
results of B+ (15.7%), B (14.1%) and B- (6.4%) while 10.5% of those working had
obtained A (3.3%) and A- (7.2%). 2.1% of the employed total had grades in the low
proficiency range (C+, C and C-) (Table 6). Again, as in 2015 and 2016, the highest
unemployed percentage at a combined 31.4% were among graduates with B+
(15.7%) and B (15.7%) English Language achievements. 9% of the unemployed
graduate total were from the proficient English Language user range with 2.4% A
grades and 6.6% with A-. Only 2.8% of the unemployed were low proficiency
English Language users.
33
Statistical Tests for Association between University English Language Results

and Graduate Employability in 2015-2017
Two statistical tests were conducted to determine any relationship between the
English Language results of the 2015-2017 batch of these science-based graduates
and their overall employability in the job market.
Normality test for University English Language course results

The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was applied to test for normality since it was
decided that this would be more precise based on the available employability data
for the 2015-2017 graduate batch. Normality tests yielding probabilities of > 0.05
would be indicative that the data was normal whereas probabilities of < 0.05
would point to the data being not normal. The tests were based on the following
hypotheses:
H0: The population is normally distributed.
H1: The population is not normally distributed.
If p-value < significance level (α = 0.05), the null hypotheses is rejected.
The normality test results were as follows:
Table 7: Normality test results for 2015 graduate batch

2015 University Kolmogorov-Smirnova
English
Language Grade Statistic df Sig.
Graduate A .346 135 .000
Employability A- .370 183 .000
B .442 271 .000
B- .411 135 .000
B+ .396 315 .000
C .356 9 .002
C+ .462 35 .000

English
Graduate A .376 72 .000
B .379 363 .000
B- .391 196 .000
B+ .352 382 .000
C .403 19 .000
C- .307 4 .
C+ .394 71 .000
34

English
Graduate A .373 87 .000
B .404 458 .000
B- .428 221 .000
B+ .408 484 .000
C .419 15 .000
C- .385 3 .
C+ .434 57 .000
Since the p-value < significance level (α = 0.05), the null hypothesis was thus
rejected. Due to the normality tests indicating that the population was not
normally distributed in 2015, 2016 and 2017, it was decided to proceed with the
non-parametric Chi-square test.
Chi-square test for the university English Language course results

The Chi-square test was applied based on the following hypotheses:
H0: There is no relationship between the university English Language course
results and graduate employability.
H1: There is a relationship between the university English Language course
results and graduate employability.
The outcomes of the tests were as follows:
Table 10: Chi-square test results for 2015 graduate batch

Chi-Square Test (2015)
Asymptotic Significance
Value df (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 55.680a 32 .006
Likelihood Ratio 50.033 32 .022
N of Valid Cases 1085
a. 23 cells (51.1%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .01.

Asymptotic Significance
Value df (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 27.783 a 28 .476
35

Asymptotic
Significance (2-
Value df sided)
Since the p-values for 2015 were smaller than the stated significance level (α =
0.05), the null hypotheses were therefore rejected. On this basis, there was then
sufficient evidence to suggest an association between the university English
results and graduate employability. However, although it could be surmised that
there was an association between the university English Language results and
graduate employability in 2015, this could not be conclusively proven for the
graduate batch of 2016 and 2017 since there were not enough evidence to indicate
this association between the variables.
4.4 Employment Status and Malaysian University Entrance Test (MUET)

Results
The Malaysian University Entrance Test (MUET) is a pre-requisite entry
requirement for any student aiming to enrol in first degree programmes in local
Malaysian public or private universities. The test is usually made available to
students who are in their final year of secondary school, matriculation
programme, diploma-level study or pre-university courses. Results are classified
into six bands with Band 1 being the lowest and Band 6 the highest achievement.
In the context of the university’s first year undergraduates, a student’s MUET
band classification would determine whether he or she is enrolled into proficiency
level English Language classes or into advanced level types. Under the Common
European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) proficiency band,
MUET Bands 1 and 2 are equivalent to A1 and A2, MUET Bands 3 and 4 to B1 and
B2, and MUET Bands 5 and 6 to C1 and C2 respectively.
For the period between 2015-2017, students graduating from the five science-
based faculties in the university had MUET achievement results across all bands
except Band 6 where zero percentage (0%) of achievers was recorded. The highest
number of graduates who eventually went on to secure job placements were those
with MUET Band 3 results (25.5% in 2015, 26.2% in 2016, and 22.7% in 2017). This
is followed by Band 4 achievers with 14.4% in 2015 and 14.1% in 2016. In 2017,
Band 2 achievers recorded the second highest number of employed graduates
with 13.5% (Table 13).
36
Table 13: Employability and MUET grades of science-based graduates in 2015,

2016 & 2017
Graduate
2015 (%) 2016 (%) 2017 (%)
Employability
MUET Employ. UnEmploy. Employ. UnEmploy. Employ. UnEmploy.
Band 1 0.1 0.2 0.8 0.7 1.4 1.2
Band 2 5.1 9.1 9.8 10.9 13.5 16.8
Band 3 25.5 28.4 26.2 24.2 22.7 25.4
Band 4 14.4 15.5 14.1 11.6 11.0 7.1
Band 5 0.8 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.3
Band 6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
However, this Band 3 scenario of graduates in gainful employment is replicated

in terms of graduates without jobs in 2015, 2016 and 2017. All three years recorded
Band 3 achievers as the highest group which was unemployed with 28.4% in 2015,
24.2% in 2016 and 25.4% in 2017. In 2015, the second highest percentage of
unemployed graduates were Band 4 achievers at 15.5%. In 2016, Band 4 again was
the second highest with 11.6% unemployed. In 2017 however, Band 2 came second
place in the highest number of unemployed graduates with 16.8% without any job
placements. A very small percentage of graduates in Band 1 were either employed
or remained unemployed in 2015 (0.1% and 0.2% respectively), 2016 (0.8% and
0.7% respectively) and 2017 (1.4% and 1.2% respectively). In fact, the lowest
incidence of both employed and unemployed percentage for 2015 and 2016 were
among MUET Band 1 graduates. In 2017, the lowest employed-unemployed rate
occurred in the Band 5 category with 0.7% and 0.3% respectively.
In 2017, the category “Others” was re-defined to include those who were pursuing
further qualifications, engaged in further training or acquisition of skills, or
waiting for job placements. As such, these groups were deemed as not being
technically unemployed in the sense that they were otherwise focusing on other
ventures as opposed to being out of work altogether. This inclusion or re-
classification could have had influenced the overall employed-unemployed
statistics for 2017.
Normality test of graduates’ MUET results

Normality test for the 2015-2017 graduates’ MUET results were conducted using
the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistical tests. The hypotheses testing was based on
the assumption that:
H0: The population is normally distributed.
H1: The population is not normally distributed.
Tests for normality which yield the p-value < significance level (α = 0.05) would
render the hypotheses as null. The normality tests results were as follows:
37
Table 14: Normality test results of graduates’ MUET results in 2015

Kolmogorov-Smirnovb
2015 MUET Statistic df Sig.
Graduate Band 1 .385 3 .
Employability Band 2 .434 154 .000
Band 3 .401 584 .000
Band 4 .386 324 .000
Band 5 .430 19 .000

Kolmogorov-Smirnova
Graduate Band 1 .403 19 .000
Band 3 .373 658 .000
Band 4 .348 335 .000
Band 5 .370 23 .000

Kolmogorov-Smirnova
Graduate Band 1 .403 40 .000
Band 3 .414 739 .000
Band 4 .359 278 .000
Band 5 .350 15 .000
The p-value was indicated as < significance level (α = 0.05) hence the null
hypothesis was rejected. Since the normality test results indicated that the
population was all not normally distributed in 2015, 2016 and 2017, the non-
parametric Chi-square test was thus conducted.
Chi-square test for MUET test results

The Chi-square test was conducted based on the following hypotheses:
H0: There is no relationship between MUET test results and graduate
employability.
H1: There is a relationship between MUET test results and graduate
employability.
The outcomes of the Chi-square tests were as follows:
38

Value df Asymptotic Significance (2-sided)


Pearson Chi-Square 45.422 a 20 .001
Since the p-values in 2015 and 2017 (Table 17 & Table 19) were smaller than the
chosen significance level (α = 0.05), the null hypotheses were thus rejected.
Although there is evidence to suggest a link between MUET test results and
graduate employability, this assumption is limited to 2015 and 2017 since no
association between the variables could be conclusively proven for 2016 (Table
18).
5. Discussion
Although the numerical figure of unemployed graduates seemed to be on the
increase every year compared to those with job placements, in actuality there was
a gradual decrease in terms of percentage in 2015, 2016 and 2017. When the
normality tests performed found the population as not normally distributed, non-
parametric Chi-square tests were conducted to test for association between the
variables. While the Chi-square test results highlighted sufficient evidence to
suggest an association between graduate employability and the university
English Language course results in 2015, this assumption however could not be
applied for the 2016 and 2017 batches since the results were inconclusive, that is,
not enough evidence was presented to support such an association. The Chi-
square tests conducted to ascertain links between MUET test results and graduate
employability similarly showed sufficient evidence to suggest an association for
39
the 2015 and 2017 graduates but this too could only be applied with caution since
for 2016 no such association was highlighted.
Based on these, an assumption that might be drawn is that for the university’s
science-based graduates of 2015, 2016 and 2017, their English Language
proficiency was not a major denominator in their level of employability. This
likelihood is evidenced by the findings where an almost equal number of
employed and unemployed graduates were found to be mostly from the B+ and
B achievement range in their English Language courses in the university. In terms
of MUET results, the highest number of unemployed graduates were from Band
3 followed close behind by Band 4 achievers. While Band 3 achievers could be
viewed as relatively able users of the English language, attainment of Band 4
denotes the user as sufficiently proficient in the language. A summary of the
employment status of these proficient users of English is presented in Table 20.
Table 20: Percentage of proficient users of English for the graduating class of 2015,
2016 and 2017
2015 2016 2017
Empl UnEmpl Empl UnEmpl Empl UnEmpl
MUET
Bands 15.2% 16.4% 15.0% 12.4% 16.7% 7.4%
4&5
University
results 16.0% 13.4% 10.8% 9.9% 10.5% 9.0%
A & A-
From Table 20, it could be surmised that the level of English language
competence, although providing an advantage for graduates, was not the main
criteria for securing jobs since an almost similar percentage of these MUET band
achievers and university English Language top graders were without
employment.
5.1 Employability Value

The findings of this study point to several pertinent highlights on the issue of
employability value of university graduates as a whole. Among these is the factor
of area of specialisation or field of study undertaken at university as a primary
indicator of future job prospects. Graduates from the Faculty of Food Science and
Nutrition programmes were found to be the most employable among all the five
university’s science-based faculties with 56.3% (2015), 61.8% (2016) and 59.2%
(2017) in full-time jobs in various sectors. Data on their job locations and area of
workplace responsibilities however could not be obtained since these were
considered confidential although it could be deduced that Malaysia’s status as an
emerging hub for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) could be a contributing
factor to the availability of jobs in this particular sector.
There is also a possibility that for industry-based jobs, absolute language accuracy
may not be an absolute pre-requisite; fluency and the ability to convey
information and be understood might be more sufficient. This is in comparison to
jobs that require day-to-day interaction with clients and the public (such as in the
40
service industry) where understanding, business success and clientele goodwill

are tied to accurate exchange and conveying of message and intent. This scenario
could explain the preponderance of employed graduates being MUET Band 3
users and university B+ and B scorers from these five science-based faculties.
5.2 Graduate Mobility

Again, absence of concrete data on the job placement locations of the university’s
graduates for 2015, 2016 and 2016 limits the presentation of a more accurate
description of the employability factors at play. An assumption that could be
made related to the employability of young graduates is the notion of mobility or
willingness to relocate to wherever jobs might be available. Sabah is located in the
Malaysian area of Borneo Island, sharing the territory together with Malaysian
state of Sarawak, Brunei Darussalam, and the Indonesian region of Kalimantan.
Sabah is accessible by land or air with flights from Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and
Manila approximately 2.5 hours in duration. Although jobs in this region may be
available, the range and scope of specific occupations or roles is limited due in
part to different (or lack of) stages of development compared to other locations in
Malaysia, distance from the national capital, level of investment or funding to
drive industry and technical development, availability and access of
infrastructure and facilities, and scarcity of support and expertise, and air and sea
transportation costs, among other things. These, combined together, create a less
than vigorous condition for jobs to be created or sustained, especially work that
is expertise-specific or expertise-oriented. Many of this type of work environment
would be available in localities elsewhere where the infrastructure and human
expertise or capital is already established and the eco-system supportive, for
example, in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor or Singapore. Lack of relevant job
opportunities creates a scenario whereby for young graduates, securing a job
directly related to their field of study or specialisation might in most instances
require them to relocate or uproot to these cities or industrial enclaves. The
majority of the students in this university are local Sabahans, and the need for
mobility would inadvertently impact their decision to whether to get a job but
move out of the state, or stay home in Sabah and remain jobless (or stay and work
in an area not related to one’s degree or training). This mobility aspect is perhaps
a critical variable that could be investigated in future graduate employability
studies.
5.3 Attitude and Transversal Skills

Transversal or soft skills is another employability attribute that provides
graduates with strong added value when seeking employment. Transversal
knowledge, skills and competencies form the ‘building blocks’ for the
development of hard skills and competencies required to succeed in the labour
market. Comparable to 21st century skills, transversal skills could be learnt
attributes: an ideal university study curriculum would be one that focuses and
hones on these aspects of an individual’s personality. In the case of the employed
science-based graduates who had obtained mid-range results in their MUET and
university English Language courses, perhaps their ability to engage or
demonstrate their thinking or hands-on skills during their job interviews
provided them with an edge over their more English language conversant
competitors. Therefore, in as much as an individual’s English language
41
proficiency could put him at an advantage during job interviews, the job in all
probability would be for those who are able to respond critically, creatively and
rapidly to solution-based workplace issues or scenarios put forward by
prospective employers to test the thinking and reasoning skills of their potential
workers.
A critical implication here therefore is this: universities would do well to integrate

transversal skills learning or acquisition in their curriculum, and in so doing equip
their graduates when they enter the labour market with the on-the-job ability to
problem-solve or address work issues accordingly. Although a study by Nazron,
Lim and Nga (2017) suggested a tenuous relationship at best between the
employment status of graduates and their soft skills, current rapid advancement
in technology and the shift to more online-based interaction between client and
provider in the post COVID-19 era where business decisions would likely be
based equally on what is known and what is assumed require workers who are
knowledgeable, skilful and able to think on their feet and out-of-the-box.
5.4 Workplace Environment Readiness and Resilience

If transversal skills could be viewed as a platform from which new graduates
could attune to required job conditions, workplace readiness would be the state
of preparedness or adaptability of the workers as they enter into any organisation.
Workplace entities are structured along very defined frameworks of
organisational culture, values and expectations (Hardin-Ramanan, Gopee,
Rowtho, & Charoux, 2020) and prospective employers would be searching for
potential employers who exhibit attributes that complement their established
work culture. Graduates are viewed as “complete” products in terms of their
qualifications, but this theory-based knowledge has to be supported by the
employee’s willingness to learn on-the-job and respond to the demands and
challenges of the organisation pertaining to aspects such as to working hours,
salary, and benefits. As reiterated by Zakaria, Yusoff, Ibrahim and Tibok (2020),
there is a real need to establish cohesive cooperation and collaboration
frameworks between industry and institutions of higher learning as such
networks would certainly help provide job exposure and working life insights
while at the same time build their work-related social network (Yong, 2017),
promote employment opportunities and improve undergraduates’ opportunities
of joining these organisations at a later stage. In this respect, universities have a
critical role in ensuring that these elements of graduate capital-building are
integrated within their curriculum and what is taught in the lecture halls fit into
the needs and expectations of industry as the end-receiver of the human capital
products.
6. Conclusion
In the context of graduate employability in Malaysia, proficiency in the English
language is often highlighted as a main determinant in how employable the
graduate is. This study however has not ascertained any concrete relationship
between science graduates’ employability and their level of English language
proficiency with the link, at the most, tenuous. The evidence instead suggests the
interplay of other factors such as geographical location, economic rigour of the
42
region, matching of university study programmes to local job markets, individual

resilience, and graduate mobility (willingness to go where work is available) as
critical attributes in the discourse on graduate employability. It is therefore
imperative that any future curriculum review or new programme initiative take
into consideration these factors to ensure that a more appropriate or responsive
learning ecosystem could be conceptualised.
Acknowledgement
This research was supported by Universiti Malaysia Sabah under Grant Award
No. SDK0060-2018.
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44

Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 44-60, July 2021
Received Mar 19, 2021; Revised Jun 03, 2021; Accepted Jul 31, 2021
Transformation of Assessment of the Pre-Service

Life Sciences Teachers: Issues of Curriculum
Development in Education and Training in South
Africa
Mamsi Ethel Khuzwayo

Cape Peninsula University of Technology Cape Town, in Mowbray South Africa
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4084-8773
Kwanele Booi
Cape Peninsula University of Technology Cape Town, in Mowbray South Africa
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0611-2305
Abstract. The Department of Higher Education intends to transform the

traditional education theories and practices in the education and
training of teachers for the twenty-first century. The attributes of a
competent and qualified teacher underpin the envisaged changes in the
curriculum to aptly prepare teachers. However, the realizations of the
intentions of the department appear to be in vain. Accordingly, the
current case studies conducted through qualitative procedures aimed to
investigate how teacher educators adhere to the proposals of the
Minimum Requirement of Teacher Education Qualifications (MRTEQ).
The data gathered through the analysis, of course, guides intended to
search for the link between the Life Science curriculum content
knowledge and the plan to assess the competences promulgated by the
South African Qualification Authority (SAQA). The findings pointed out
that the course guide indicated learning outcomes, critical outcomes,
and course and module outcomes; however, the assessment criteria
were not aligned to the learning outcomes, module outcomes, and
assessment techniques or tools. Therefore, the study recommends that
academics in teacher education should explore and reflect on the models
that could explicitly measure the performance of competencies
(foundational, practical, and reflexive) authentically and reliably.
Keywords: assessment; models; teacher education; curriculum; teacher

educators
©Authors
45
1. Introduction
Literature developed after the ushering of the democratic government presents
various experiences of the demands resulting from the educational policies on
higher education, which introduced radical changes to transform the curriculum
for teacher education and training. The academic policies expected teacher
educators to understand and master the paradigm of Outcomes-Based
Education (OBE) and Outcomes-Based and Competency-Based Assessment
approaches that underpinned the Norm and Standard for Educators (NSE)
gazetted by the Department of Basic Education in 1998. Reactions and reflections
in researchers’ work such as Jansen (1998); Chisholm (2005); Higgs (2007);
Christie (2006); Gravett and Geyser (2004); Sayed and Kanjee (2013) pointed to
the repercussions of the radical shift from the apartheid educational paradigm,
highlighting the plight of teacher educators in terms of readiness for the radical
change and limited timeframe. All this concerned with engaging and debating
on the proposed educational needs by reviewing the apartheid curriculum, and
thereby completing the curriculum policy guidelines for articulating the
envisaged curriculum for teacher qualification. The issue of resistance to change,
which was highlighted by the pro-change educationists, Chisholm (2005) and
advocates of the South Africa National Qualification framework and South
African Qualification Authority (Department of Basic Education, 1998), became a
matter of general concern when academics voiced their concerns, namely
because not all academics had the expertise in curriculum design and
development. The rejection of curriculum structures designed under the
auspices of the introduced policy guidelines which universities submitted to the
Higher Education Qualification Council was a frustration to historically Black
and disadvantaged institutions because the rejection of the curriculum meant
that teaching qualifications offered did not receive accreditation. Among other
challenges emanating from the transformation was the amalgamation of the
previous teacher education and training colleges and technical colleges with
universities, which complicated the entire atmosphere under which the change
of teacher education and training was undertaken in universities. The historical
background of racial, cultural, and language-divided institutions entrenched by
the policies of the apartheid educational dispensation could not be ignored in
this study which intended to understand the transformation of the curriculum
because the curriculum design and development imply philosophical,
psychological, sociological, and historical foundations. The diverse and
contesting opinions and beliefs about the philosophical and psychological
principles underpinning the curriculum are likely to be thrashed out quickly and
easily. The work undertaken by this study identified universities that were
amalgamated and the so-called traditional universities to explore the
incorporation of policy proposals in the developed curriculum documents for
Minimum Requirements for Teacher Education Qualifications (MRTEQ).
2. Background
The Minister of National Education, Kadar Asmal, emphasized the importance
of outcomes-based education and competence-based assessment in teacher
education and training. The new paradigm was to replace what the minister
referred to as the old grammar school approach, which in his view, was simply
46
not appropriate for the demands of the 21st century. The minister condemned the
grammar school approach for emphasizing the form rather than knowledge,
skills, values, and attitudes (Department of Education, 2002:1-2). As a result, the
Department of Higher Education and the South African Qualification Authority
gazetted competence and an outcomes-based approach to assessment in the
Higher Education Qualification Framework, which regulated the transformation
of traditional content-driven assessment to competency focused assessment.
However, research has revealed in previous findings that the transformed
curriculum for teacher education has failed to produce quality and competent
teachers in twenty years, particularly in Sciences and Mathematics education.
The findings highlighted in the works of Booi and Khuzwayo (2018) revealed
that even though the Higher Education Qualification Council (HEQC) accredited
a Bachelor of Education qualification based on the curriculum structures, there
were however challenges and difficulties encountered by teacher educators to
reach consensus on selected content and approaches to teaching and learning.
The aspects such as the sequencing of content knowledge, selection of content,
and agreeing on the pedagogy to integrate knowledge for Life Science teachers
were contested, and subsequently, the whole process was manipulated by those
in authority to ensure that the status was maintained.
The findings highlighted in Booi (2019), as well as the recommendations in

Murdoch and Grobbelaar (2004) and Beets (2009), raised questions about the
incorporation of applied competences, integration, and quality assurance
assessment in the revised Life Science curriculum. The problem statement from
which the questions were derived incorporated the applied competencies in
teaching, learning, and assessment in the revised Life Science course guide for
teacher education and training. Beets (2009) pointed out that the Department of
Higher Education and Training considered competence-driven assessment to
address the inadequacies in the evidence of proficiency of knowledge, skills, and
abilities that attribute a teaching qualification to a particular level of
competency. The Department of Higher Education and Training (2019), in the
same rhetoric of under-performance of teachers, contended that the type of
teachers that were produced during the apartheid era's education dispensation
and by the Norms and Standards curriculum were equipped with technical
skills, hence they were unable to integrate theoretical knowledge and practical
knowledge. The shift in the focus in teaching, learning, and assessment in the
Minimum Requirement for Teacher Qualification introduced the integration of
knowledge in terms of epistemologies, theoretical and philosophical, in the field
of science, and integration of learning, with an emphasis on theoretical
knowledge and practical knowledge, situational and work-related knowledge.
According to Beets (2009), formative and summative assessment catalyzes both
teaching and learning guides and supports the processes aimed at attaining the
applied competence.
This work considered the issue of curriculum development to run in parallel

with the planning of assessment. The problem statement in this work was the
evidence of the acknowledgment or heed given by the curriculum developers to
47
incorporate the SAQA assessment guidelines for higher education and training
in the course guide for Natural Sciences.
This section discusses the conceptual understanding of competences and
assessment in the context of curriculum change in teacher education and
training. The ideas, opinions, and interpretations of the concepts of competence
and integrated assessment in Killen (2015), the Department of Higher Education
and Training (2019), the South African Qualification Authority (2001, 2019);
Gravett and Geyser (2004); Biggs (2016) informed the operational meaning of
quality assurance and competences as conceptualized in this paper. Killen (2015)
argued that the concept of 'competence' in the South African educational context
is conceptualized in terms of the integrated performance of abilities, skills, and
knowledge demonstrated in learning. The Department of Higher Education and
Training (2019) and the South African Qualification Authority (2001, 2019)
further describe ' assessment of applied competences' as specified evidence of
the level of proficiency. According to the Minimum Requirement of Teacher
Qualification, the assessment of integrated teaching and learning in teacher
education should focus on the demonstrable performance of foundational,
practical, and reflexive competences. The three competences target different but
coherent understanding of academic and professional skills and abilities, the
foundational competence is about the performance or demonstration of
knowledge and thinking that underpin educational practice, while the practical
competence, which is the ability to apply theoretical skills and abilities, in an
authentic context such as; decisions and actions to implement knowledge. The
reflexive competence is evident when students integrate or give accounts for
actions considered to implement theoretical knowledge in the foreseen and
unforeseen conditions in authentic contexts or situations. The detailed
descriptions and the emphasis on the competences and integrated assessment in
the Department of Higher Education's Minimum Requirement for Teacher
Qualification policy guidelines, and assessment regulations and guidelines, are
interpreted in this work to imply that the selected instructions for teaching and
learning and assessment are aligned with the three competences. Besides, the
choices of techniques for gathering evidence of students’ performance are
relevant to the exit level outcomes and attributes of a competent teacher as
proposed in the policy documents of the Department of Higher Education and
South African Qualification Authority.
According to Gammie and Joyce (2009); Lassnigg (2018); Whalley (2004), an

assessment plan is an integral part of selecting, sequencing, and organization of
the instructions or curriculum. In the same vein, Biggs (2016); Burner (2018)
spoke about the assessment plan as the alignment of outcomes and criteria,
assessment tasks, and assessment techniques. The ideas and opinions of Biggs
on assessment inform his work in terms of the fundamental issues that
developers of the curriculum for teacher educators should have considered in
the assessment plan for the course guide.
The assessment guidelines and regulations of the South African Qualification

Authority (2019) also provided descriptions of the competences and exit levels
48
that were to be considered in the assessment plans. For example, the

foundational competences, practical competences, and reflexive competences are
referred to as applied competences in teacher education and training. An
assessment of foundational competence focuses on the evidence of academic and
professional abilities and skills performed by students in the following
components: specialized knowledge of the subject, which entails the in-depth
understanding of the philosophical foundations or epistemological theories
involved in the knowledge production in the field and other related areas. The
criterion for assessing foundational competence has to be articulated on the
premise that the envisaged competent teachers, in terms of SAQA, should be
researchers and lifelong learners, interpreters of curriculum documents,
designers of learning material, and mediators of learning. Assessment should
also prove that students in the teaching profession demonstrate competent
communication skills, interpret statistical knowledge, read academic and
professional texts. In addition, qualified, experienced teachers should
demonstrate understanding of integrating philosophical and theoretical
knowledge in their own studies, selected from a wider field of expertise that
frames the content of teaching and learning in the subject area, illustrating a
sound understanding of pedagogical strategies for effective learning (South
African Qualification Authority, 2019; Department of Higher Education and
Training, 2015, 2019).
SAQA (2001, 2019) and the DHET (2019) vividly stated that the fundamental
principles that should underpin planning and the process of competence-based
assessment to be integrated assessment and continuous assessment. Integrated
assessment implies clustering learning outcomes and assessment criteria into
assessment tasks (SAQA, 2019). Assessment should be focused on candidates'
ability to comprehend and master the theoretical or factual content knowledge,
apply their theoretical knowledge to solve work-related problems and give an
account of the efficacy of strategies and methods in educational practice
(Barnett, 2018). Assessors should use a range of techniques that will allow
candidates to demonstrate the applied competence without being required to
teach in authentic contexts. Strategies and procedures for competence
assessment should align with the purpose and exit level outcomes of the
qualification (Department of Higher Education and Training, 2015). Proponents
of competence-based assessment also commend the utilization of various
options, such as case studies, problem-solving tasks, a portfolio of learning,
material, and projects, instead of written assignments, tests, and examinations
(Van der Vleuten, Sluijsmans & Brinke, 2017; Gessler & Peters, 2020; Boyer &
Bucklew, 2019; Black & McCormick, 2010). The moderation process of
competence assessment tools entails reporting on results and achievements in
students’ performance. In this context, moderation involves internal and more
external moderators focusing on; the standard of achievement of competence,
the validity and reliability of the assessment strategies, and design and criteria
concerning the purpose and exit level outcomes of the qualification (Liviu, 2020;
Engleberg et al., 2017). Moderators of competence assessment could be from
higher education institutions that are deemed qualified as moderator assessors,
services tutors, and outside assessment agencies (Ramesh, Raju, Reddy,
Krishnan, Biswas & Umamaheshwari, 2019). According to Navio et al. (2019);
49
Cebrián et al. (2020); Mulder (2019); Lassnigg (2018); Crisp (2012) competence-
based teaching, learning, and assessment allow not only the clustering of
abilities, skills, and attitudes but also the motivation that is developed gradually
throughout the education and training process.
4. Methodology and Data Collection

The primary source of data in this study was the course guides obtained from
the higher education institution accredited by the HEQC from 2015 to 2017. The
assessment plans are conceptualized in this work as guidelines for gathering
evidence of proficiency in the performance of competences (foundation, practical
and reflexive) by students, which are fundamental aspects of curriculum design
and development. The Minimum Requirement for Teacher Qualification (2015,
2019) and the Norm and Standards (1998) assert that learning outcomes, credits,
and exit level outcomes must adhere to the South African Qualification
Authority's Higher Education Qualification framework levels. This adherence
implies the alignment of articulated learning outcomes and assessment criteria
in the course with the number of credits, exit level, and the three competences.
According to SAQA guidelines, qualification exit level outcomes should be an
overall judgment or summative assessment to profile the student's achievements
according to the qualification attributes. These outcomes enshrine the seven
roles and competences stipulated in the Department of Higher Education
Training (2019), which are: interpreter and designer of learning programs and
material, assessor, leader, administrator and manager, community, citizenship,
and pastoral role, learning mediator, scholar, researcher, and lifelong learner
and learning area/subject/discipline and phase specialist.
5. Data Analysis
The findings presented in this work resulted from the data analyzed
qualitatively from documents voluntarily supplied by Life Science teacher
educators in the Science Education Departments of six faculties of education in
South Africa. Six course guides were used to gather information concerning the
assessments of the competences and exit level outcomes, tools, and alignment of
these aspects in the course guides. The Biggs Critical Alignment theory was used
to analyze data. The Critical Alignment theory is implicated in the South African
Qualification Authority policies on quality assurance assessment. According to
Biggs (2016), outcomes-based assessment of applied competences should align
with the course learning outcomes and criteria, tasks, and assessment tools, and
these are to be reflected in the course guides. Gravett and Geyser (2004) and
Killen (2015) refer to course guide learning outcomes as the statement defining
the expected knowledge, abilities, and skills to be demonstrated by students by
the end of the module or course.
In contrast, criteria indicate the performance that will be the evidence of the
competence displayed by students. Finally, the tools or techniques refer to the
instruments and strategies utilized to gather valid and reliable evidence of the
performance of abilities, skills, and knowledge.
The process of data analysis started by identifying categories of data before

classifying the items specified. The types were learning outcomes, assessment
50
criteria, assessment tools and techniques. Then, results were tabulated under
three categories.
Table 1: Data showing the assessment planning from the course guide coded as
learning outcomes and assessment criteria.
Learning Outcome/Year Level 4/NQF Level 7 Assessment Criteria
o Development of scientific knowledge and ▪ Activities

understanding in general in the South
African context. ▪ Projects/assignments/Tests:
o Development of science process skills. Unit and Activities
o Critical engagement with and reflections on
Life Sciences as a subject of historical, ▪ Ability to critically engage with
political, economic, and sociological and reflect on Life Sciences as a
perspectives to review current practices in subject of historical, political,
LS education in a more socially responsible, economic, and sociological
responsive, and humanizing manner. perspectives to review current
o Describe and explain the nature of science practices in LS education in a
and critical characteristics of Indigenous more socially responsible,
Knowledge (IK) responsive, and humanizing
o Discuss and reflect on the nature of Life manner.
Science and its importance as a school
subject. - No assessment criteria
o Describe and explain the scientific methods
and limitations.
o Identify opportunities and strategies for the - No assessment criteria
effective integration of IK into LS lessons.
o Critically comment on the C2005 and NCS - No assessment criteria
for LS.
o Develop an in-depth understanding of
selected themes/topics of CAPS Grade 10- - No assessment criteria
12 Life Sciences content.
o In-depth understanding of LS content and
knowledge in both pedagogy and
pedagogical content knowledge of the
subject.
Table2: Data showing the alignment of learning outcomes, criteria, tools, and
techniques.
• Formative assessment and learning • Assessment activities: observations,
will be assessed continuously, both oral questions, class activities,
informally and formally. assignments, tests, and final
examination
▪ Activities
Projects/ assignments/ tests
o Summative Assessment o Tests, examinations
51
Table 3: Weighting of assessment in terms of continuous and summative evaluation.

Term 1 Term 2 Term 3 Term 4
Test 75% Test 75% Test 75% Test 75%
March June September November
Cass 25% Cass 25% Cass 25% Cass 25%
6. Findings
The data presented in Tables 1, 2 and 3 reflect the items considered essential for
inclusion into the assessment of Life Science course guides for teacher education,
which are:
Issue1: Selection of learning outcomes and assessment criteria
According to the South African Qualification Authority, course exit outcomes

are broad statements that describe the competencies to be accomplished by
students by the end of the course. Data in Table 1 provides the evidence of
learning outcomes, which point to the abilities and skills to be demonstrated by
students, for example, 'describe and explain the nature of science and key
characteristics of indigenous knowledge,' 'describe and explain the scientific
methods and limitations,' and 'identify opportunities and strategies for the
effective integration of indigenous knowledge into LS lessons. However, the
omission of the statement describing proficiency levels in the course guides was
in contrast with the Minimum Requirement for Teacher Qualification. According
to the South African Qualification Authority's Higher Education Qualification
Framework (2019) and Biggs (2016) learning outcomes should focus on three
applied competences, namely: fundamental competences, practical competences,
and reflexive competences. The learning outcomes on the course guides for Life
Sciences analyzed for this work did not reflect the link between the learning
outcomes and the three competences stated in the South African Qualification
Authority guidelines. In addition, the data presented in Table 1 shows that the
assessment criteria for other learning outcomes were missing.
Issue2: Alignment of learning outcomes, assessment criteria, assessment tasks

and assessment techniques and tools.
The data in Table 2 reflect the information provided in the course guide on how
the assessment of the instructions selected in the Life Sciences course was
organized and planned. The data shows that learning outcomes and assessment
criteria were presented as separate and unrelated items. Similarly, assessment
activities and techniques or instruments did not reflect any link. According to
Biggs Constructive Alignment theory, for the practical assessment of
competences and criteria in the outcomes-based assessment, the learning
outcomes, assessment criteria, the assessment tasks and the instruments and
techniques should be aligned. The alignment of these items in an assessment
focuses on the applied competences being assessed and the evidence of the level
52
of proficiency demonstrated by the student in performing knowledge, skills and

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

planning of teaching, learning and assessment.
Data in Tables 1 and 2 highlighted the omission of terminology such as

foundational, practical, and reflexive competences in the Life Science course
guide. According to the Department of Higher Education and Training (2019);
SAQA (2019), the minimum requirement for a teacher qualification should
integrate outcomes-based and competence-based assessment when gathering
evidence about foundational, practical, and reflexive performance competences
in teacher education and training. Data in Table 1 highlights uncertainty in the
statements describing the learning outcomes and assessment criteria. According
to Killen (2015), the South African Qualification Authority’s (2019) learning
53
outcomes in teacher training should describe the expected competences to be

developed in each unit of the course, and attached to the learning outcomes
should be the criteria that indicate the expected performance which determines
the accomplishment of the proficiency levels. The figures showing the
weightings allocated to formative and summative assessment and the
assessment techniques presented in Table 2 were not aligned to any of the
competences stated in the curriculum policy for teacher education and training
in DHET (2019). Data in Table 1 and Table 2 reveal the bias of the developers to
content-based assessment in the designs of assessment activities, the omission of
the applied competences, and the inadequate description of learning outcomes
and assessment criteria which are evidence of the compromise of competence-
based assessment.
The learning outcomes and assessment criteria were haphazardly articulated

without careful consideration being given to an adequate alignment with the
relevant applied competences; foundational, practical, and reflexive
competences. The repeat of the statement, for example, “in-depth understanding
of NS content and knowledge in both pedagogy and pedagogical content
knowledge of the subject," as both a learning outcome and an assessment
criterion is evidence of the uncertainty that is reflected in the revised Natural
Sciences study guides as highlighted in Table 1. The same statement in Table 1
fell under the views categorized as assessment criteria for example: “An ability
to critically engage with and reflect on Natural Science as a subject of historical,
political, economic, and sociological perspectives to review current practices in
NS education in a more socially responsible, responsive and humanizing
manner.”
7. Discussion and Interpretation of Findings

The interpretation of the findings in this section reflects the ideas and opinions
discussed under the literature review and those of Biggs’ Constructive
Alignment theory. The findings based on the data in Table 1 regarding the
learning outcomes and assessment criteria highlight an inadequate
conceptualization of terminologies defined in the South African Qualification
Authority’s guidelines on assessment in higher education and training.
According to the proponents of competence-based assessment in professional
education and training, learning outcomes should be a broad statement
describing intellectual and practical abilities attached to the knowledge and
skills which the course will have equipped students with by the end of the units
or themes (Betts et al., 2019). The unclear descriptions of learning outcomes in
terms of competences revealed by the data in Table 1 and 2, which is interpreted
in this work to be a threat in the transformation of teaching, learning and
assessment of pre-service Natural Sciences teachers. Barnett (2018) argued that
competence-based teacher education and training emphasizes the integration of
teaching, learning and assessment, and this integration ensures the
implementation of continuous assessment. Continuous assessment entails
applying different techniques to assist students in developing proficiency in
mastering various abilities or competences articulated in the assessment criteria.
In the context of continuous assessment, formative assessment aims to enrich
and enhance the acquisition of skills and knowledge by examining learning,
54
while summative assessment focuses on gathering evidence upon which a

judgment can be made about learning progression. The weightings allocated for
formative and summative assessments are viewed in this research as evidence of
adherence to the Life Sciences course guides to the traditional summative
assessment. According to Gulikers et al. (2018), a process of curriculum change
introduces practitioners to new approaches, theories, and practices which at
times require a total shift from traditional techniques; therefore, some
misconceptions of new terminologies are inevitable during the process of
curriculum change, most notably at the level of adaptation.
8. Conclusion
The study's findings highlight the issues of uncertainty in the articulation of the
course's learning outcomes, assessment criteria and the planning of continuous
assessment. The conclusions of this study confirm matters that had already been
pointed out by previous researchers, Barnett (2018); Carl (2010); Beets 2009; Betts
et al. (2019), namely adherence to the traditional practices, resistance to change,
the incapacity of adequate support and supervision. The study also concluded
that competences and criterion-referenced principles are not considered part of
transforming teaching, learning, and assessing Life Sciences teachers’ curriculum
knowledge and qualifications. The proponents of quality assurance of
assessment recommend that competence in the outcomes-based assessment
requires an alternative approach to the moderation of assessment techniques
and instruments for gathering evidence on their performance (Murdoch and
Grobbelaar, 2004; Bergsmann et al., 2018). Further, the researchers recommend a
shift from the practices of internal and external moderation practices that focus
on the examination system in higher education to ascertain whether the
questions contained in the summative assessment tools adhere to the Blooms
Taxonomy and the principles of fairness, and consistency and that the post-
assessment moderation aims to verify that the marking of answer sheets is fair
and consistent. The argument pursued in this paper entrenches the opinions and
views of van Rensburg (2015)by adding that the demonstration of competences
is not a single event; instead, it is a process. Moderation should therefore ensure
the quality of the instruction, pedagogical approaches, learning outcomes, and
the assessment tools or techniques in terms of validity and reliability to provide
the evidence of the proficient performance of competences stated in the learning
outcomes criteria. According to Murdoch and Grobbelaar (2004) the role of the
moderator is broadened to include overseeing and verifying the teaching,
learning and assessment. Hence approach implies that the moderator and the
examiner should discuss the course guide and the assessment developed by the
instructors and the examiners. Therefore, the report or the moderator's feedback
should encompass comments and reflections on the curriculum, exit level
outcomes, and achievement of the outcomes and competencies targeted in the
criteria. Comments should reflect on the quality and relevance of the form
content and methods and the number of assessment opportunities required, and
general comments could be another way of evaluating the course (South African
Qualification Authority, 2011; 2019). The non-alignment of learning outcomes,
assessment criteria, assessment techniques, and assessment instruments in the
Life Sciences course contrasts with Biggs’ Constructive Alignment theory, which
55
promotes integrating teaching, learning, and assessing competences in higher

education and training.
This study concludes that the implications of uncertainties concerning the

assessment of applied competences are firstly inadequately evidenced to prove
the proficiency of Life Sciences teachers’ performance of foundational, practical,
and reflexive competences required in teaching, learning and assessment in Life
Sciences classrooms. Secondly, the perpetuation of content-driven assessment
focuses on scores obtained from tests as a norm to determine proficiency, with
data showing the allocation of higher percentage weightings to tests in Table 2
confirming the emphasis on summative assessment techniques in the Natural
Science course guides. Thirdly, this work concludes that the Natural Sciences
teachers being prepared based on the course guides analyzed in this study are
likely to experience difficulties implementing principles underpinning the Life
Sciences curriculum innovations in the classroom. Similarly, the omission of
learning outcomes and assessment criteria for practical competence in the Life
Sciences course guide is interpreted as a contrast to the South African
Qualification Authority (2011) assessment policy. Since this policy emphasizes
the assessment of professional practice in an authentic workplace and the
application of teaching and learning strategies, therefore the disregard of
practical and reflexive competences in the course guides means that supervision,
mentoring and support which students require to accomplish performance of a
higher level of competency in professional practice is compromised. In the same
vein, MRTEQ (2019) stipulates that the assessment of practical competence and
reflexive competence must focus on students’ ability to reflect on their own
practices and lifelong learning in the workplace, and these were found to be
compromised in the education and training of Life Sciences teachers. The
findings also extend the concerns expressed by the Minister of Education,
Asmal, regarding the grammar school trend of thought, which traditionally
influenced teaching, learning, and assessment in the teacher education and
training curriculum and the school curriculum.
Fourthly, evidence exists to prove that Life Sciences teachers have met the
requirements and the attributes of the academic and professional teacher
outlined in the minimum standards for teacher qualification policy in South
Africa, and finally, the lack of adequate integration of applied competences to
the teaching, learning and assessment of future Life Sciences teachers.
This work has identified the contradiction in the accreditation of the curriculum,
whereby the Council of Higher Education's committee accredited the curricular
despite the discrepancies identified by this study. Barnett (2018) and Murdoch
and Grobbelaar (2004) recommend SAQA assessment policies for quality
assurance assessment to monitor the focus of assessment practices in teacher
education and training on the performance of the applied competences that are
identified to be the attributes of competent and qualified teachers.
Transformation of teacher education and training, in Minister of Education
Asmal’s view, entails integrating teaching, learning and assessment, and
focusing on assessing proficiency in the performance of skills, knowledge, and
abilities. However, the findings of this study point out that applied competences
56
are not used to frame assessment procedures and processes, as highlighted in

Table 1.
9. Recommendations
The findings of this study revealed the contrast in the outline of assessment
activities, tools, and approaches to assessment. While the proposed assessment
guidelines in MRTEQ (2019) and SAQA (2011) indicate a shift from content-
based to competence-based, the course guides highlighted the adherence to the
traditional approach, which focuses on content-driven and norm-referenced
assessment. The alignment of assessment tasks and tools to assessment criteria
of learning outcomes, which is emphasized in the SAQA assessment guidelines,
was disregarded in the Life Sciences course guides. The contradictions between
the proposed national curriculum change and the institution’s course guides
highlighted in the findings indicate a need to review course guides. The
opinions and views in the works of the advocates of competence-based
assessment in higher education and training, Barnett (2018) and Wesselink et al.
(2017) pointed out that assessment of competences is not an event but a process.
The assessment of competences as a process is conceptualized in this paper to
propose the upward development and professional growth that is monitored
through continuous assessment, starting with the gathering of evidence of the
proficient performance of competences from a basic level of complexity, then a
higher level of complexity to the highest level. The formative assessment is a
perceived procedure for supporting and monitoring development in the
learning and teaching of knowledge, which focuses on the mastery of levels of
complexity. The vertical articulation of learning outcomes and assessment
criteria should be explicit in the course guide and reflect the three applied
competences. It is recommended that future research could extend these
findings by evaluating curriculum course guides in other fields. The study's
findings for this work can be used as a springboard for further analysis of course
guides and for further inquiry into the transformation of assessment in teacher
education.
The figure presented below manifests the conceptual image of the vertical
articulation of assessment criteria from fundamental to complex competences
which should be reflected in the planning of the units.
57
highest
level of
high level compexity
of
complexity
basic level
of
complexity
Figure 1 presents the conceptual route for the vertical articulation of learning
outcomes, the three applied competences, and the assessment criteria.
The diagram could guide teacher educators and researchers to explore ways and
means of designing tasks to assess the three applied competences and integrate
teaching, learning, and assessment in the Life Sciences course guides. Previous
research has highlighted that previous curricula for teacher education have
produced teachers who have failed to adjust to the curriculum changes due to
their incapacity and incompetence to demonstrate skills and ability required to
manipulate the contexts in the school environment (Department of Higher
Education, 2019). This study recommends applying competencies in the
teaching, learning and assessment phase and the moderation of course guides to
address gaps and omissions revealed in the analysis of data. Research in teacher
education and training can pursue studies related to the practice of assessment
in the context of quality assurance to meet the criteria – referenced by the
performance of the applied competences in teacher education and training.
10. Limitations
The findings of this study intended to discover items, ideas and principles that
inform the conceptualizing and planning of the assessment of competences in
the Life Sciences course guides. However, the findings presented in this paper
are subject to some limitations because the current research is qualitative in
nature along with other parameters: document analysis, size of the sample and
sampling strategies. In addition, it did not call for Life Sciences teacher
educators’ interviews, students’ perspectives, and observations.
58
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Practice, 20(4),444-469. https://doi.org/10.1080/0969594x.2013.838541
South African Qualification Authority (SAQA). (2019). Guidelines for integrated assessment.
Pretoria: Government Printers.
Van der Vleuten, C., Sluijsmans, D., & Brinke B. D. (2017). Competence assessment as
learner support in education. In M. Mulder (Ed.), Competence-based vocational and
professional education 607-635. Switzerland: Springer.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-4_28
Wesselink, R., Biemans,H., Gulikers, J., & Mulder, M. (2017). Models and principles for
designing competence-based curricula, teaching, learning, and assessment. InM.
Mulder (Ed.), Competence-based vocational and professional education: Bridging the
worlds of work and education. 533-553. Switzerland: Springer International
Publishing. https://doi.org/1007/978-3-319-417-4_25
60
Whalley, B. (2014). Teaching with assessment, feedback, and feed forward: Using 'pre-
flight' to assist student achievement. InT. Bilham (Ed.), For the love of learning 1-
14. Palgrave: MacMillan. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-33430-5_14
Appendix A
A Schedule for document analysis
Course Guide
Aim of the Course

Purpose of the Course
Articulated Course Learning Outcomes/

Applied competences
Articulated Assessment Criteria
Applied competence/ assessment procedure/

assessment criteria/ assessment techniques
Formative assessment/ tasks/techniques/

applied competences/ assessment criteria
Summative assessment/ tasks/ techniques/

applied competences
Weightings Summative
formative
61

Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 61-84, July 2021
Factors Affecting the Achievement of Twelve-

Year Basic Students in Mathematics and Science
in Rwanda
Aimable Sibomana
African Center of Excellence for Innovative Teaching and Learning Mathematics
and Science (ACEITLMS),
University of Rwanda - College of Education (UR-CE), Republic of Rwanda
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9452-9145
Christian Bob Nicol

African Center of Excellence for Innovative Teaching and Learning Mathematics
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5838-0558
Wenceslas Nzabalirwa, Florien Nsanganwimana and Claude Karegeya

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8299-2001
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3152-9893
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5855-7122
John Sentongo
Department of Science, Technical and Vocational Education (DSTVE),
Makerere University, College of Education and External Studies, Kampala,
Republic of Uganda
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8693-2639
Abstract. Although there is an invaluable growth of science and

technology across the world, many young people appear to lose interest
in Mathematics and science-related subjects due to poor academic
achievement caused by different factors. The factors affecting students'
achievement in science subjects among sub-Saharan Africa
countries,including Rwanda, have been an issue for stakeholders on
investigating how to improve the teaching and learning of science in
basic education. In this study, a purposive cluster sampling of 261
participants, including 210 students, 23 teachers, seven head teachers,
seven Sector Education Inspectors (SEIs), and 14 parents were used.
Data were collected through a questionnaire addressed to learners;
analyzed using SPSS via descriptive statistics. An interview was
©Authors
62
conducted with students' representatives, teachers, head teachers,Sector

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

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

for the human professional development needs in the sciences is a global
concern. For instance, science education researchers in recent years across the
nations have revealed unsatisfactory levels of achievement in science disciplines
63
(Lerman, 2014). Likewise, a study of the challenges associated with science

education in Nigerian secondary schools concluded students' demonstration of
fear for science; negative attitudes, and unsatisfactory academic performance
(Abulude & Olawale, 2016). A study conducted in Ghana stated that all facilities
could be put in place so that students from the poorest households attend them
easily,a contribution to the inclusion and equitable quality education and
promotion of lifelong learning opportunities for all (Akyeampong, 2009).
Regarding basic education, the experience of Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya
show that the increased enrolment of students atthe primary level increases
demands for secondary education that needs the involvement of parents (Oketch
& Rolleston, 2007). In Kenya, an intervention to basic education has been
improved by expanding access in general, and students perform better and gain
chances to continue to higher levels, but the learning outcomes remain low in
public schools, which reduces the benefits of universal education,whereas, in
Tanzania, Kalolo (2015) revealed that science teachers should emphasize on
what is essential for learners to improve their achievement.
In the Rwandan education system, the Twelve-Year Basic Education (12YBE)

comprises of six years of primary school, three years of lower secondary
school(ordinary level), and three years of upper secondary (advanced) level.
This policy grants every Rwandan child the opportunity and access to education
that is free of cost in public day schools (Nizeyimana et al., 2020). The policy of
education for all in Rwanda has been put in place to increase the number of
students who complete secondary school level and get senior six certificates, but
till now, there has been an out cry of the quality of the achievers. World Bank
(2016) also stated the low achievement of students in science-related subjects
among Sub-Saharan Africa countries, including Rwanda.
The process of teaching and learning mathematics and science should be geared
towards learners' scholastic achievement and, when done successfully, leads to
the socio-economic development of countries since quality education is an
essential requirement for sustainable development of a country. While this
brings immeasurable benefits to citizens in the society by adequately preparing
the next generation of scientists,stakeholders in education need to provide the
very basic needs to alleviate the challenges that these young learners face
(Mahdi, 2014). For instance, students need to be educated on the advantages of
learning science-related subjects, carry out practical work to gain meaningful
learning, acquire appropriate skills and attitudes that will enable them to live
and contribute to the development of society (Bugaje, 2013).
In Rwanda, the teaching of mathematics and science still face many challenges,
including, for instance, students' misconceptions and negative attitudes towards
these subjects. The teaching of science is still dominated by teacher-centered
methods as the system still has many unqualified teachers, most of whom are
reluctant to embrace the good practices enshrined in the Competence-Based
Curriculum (Byusa et al., 2020). With the several efforts such as education for all
made by the government to provide the much-needed science education in the
country, success will be far-fetched if the learners and teachers alike continue to
64
endure the challenges such as school drop out and enrollment retention that
have the propensity to degrade the morale and quality of educational gains
which can be made in science education among the Twelve-Year Basic Education
schools. These concerns are the motivation behind the investigation into the
factors that affect the advanced level Twelve-Year Basic Education students.
Based on the realization that the development and general welfare needs of the
citizens in Rwanda, the government of Rwanda developed a long term national
document plan called Vision 2020,which has been extended to 2050, essentially
sought to put Rwanda in a trajectory for economic empowerment and make the
country a middle-income country by 2035 and high-income country by 2050.
One of the pillars of this ambitious vision is the provision of affordable basic
education and a buoyant economy through strengthening science education.
This is to be achieved through a skilled and empowered workforce where
education is considered a key factor for success.
The quality of the process of teaching and learning science determines the level
of social and transformation in the life of a student and is therefore regarded as
an important instrument. In the classroom, the teacher, student, and the
curriculum are three keys to the success of the knowledge construction process.
In an ideal science classroom, the students are motivated by the self-directed
activities in which the teacher is both supportive to learners and knowledgeable
about the processes of constructivist learning approaches and the subject matter
content (Lerman, 2014). In addition, mathematics and science subjects require a
conducive environment with willing students and favorably disposed teachers
to achieve learning achievements (Fatokun et al., 2016). Students need hands-on
experiences to actively construct knowledge and increase their awareness of the
world around them. Practical work and experiments help learners develop the
requisite and relevant skills and knowledge needed to make them into useful
nation-builders in society (Ebiere Dorgu, 2015). A good foundation of education
for all starts with actively involving younger learners in science education.
Science -related subjects became a tool for the achievement of their specific
targets and channels to find solutions to different issues in their daily lives.
Thus, science development is vital for any nation's economic development if
science educators create interests and maintain the curiosity of students, which
result in the enhancement of productivity and meeting social needs as has been
the case in developed and industrializing countries (Lewin, 1992). Thus, a
learning institution with equipped, adequate, and relevant instructional
resources improves students' academic performance (Likoko et al., 2018).
Students' academic achievement in science refers to students' academic or

educational accomplishment (performance outcome) in intellectual domains
taught at school, college, and university, and it is represented by scores in an
educational system (Bora & Ahmed, 2018). Academic achievement stimulates
the education one gets, which affects their daily life, and is a scheme of learning
that produces well-educated persons who can handle matters of concern within
their area of study competently. It is to be of quality to catch up students'
perspectives and improve their higher academic achievements by strengthening
65
science education to increase literacy and capacity-building in science at all

levels where students construct their awareness and meaning (Koppenhaver &
Shrader, 2003). Students need to be allowed to engage in practical work since
hands-on science in schools provides students opportunities to improve learning
and acquire skills and attitudes that qualify them to live and contribute to the
development of society (Subedi, 2016). Moreover, students' academic
achievement in science is enhanced by effective teaching and scholarship process
as the core of education. It depends on fulfilling the goals and objectives of
education. It is the powerful instrument of instruction to bring about preferred
changes in the students (Ogunkola & Archer-Bradshaw, 2013). As an indicator,
educational achievement is the requirement for individual and societal success;
it has long been acknowledged as one of the significant goals of teaching and
learning science-related subjects. However, it has been observed that learners
who positioned in an equal set of academic circumstances vary in achievement
(Areepattamannil et al., 2011).
In developing countries, quality science instruction includes students who are

healthy, well-nourished, and are prepared to learn actively with the involvement
of their families and communities. That is to say, learning in conducive
environments which is safe, protective, and gender-sensitive withadequate
resources and facilities , in this situation, generate relevant programs and
resources for the achievement of basic skills, particularly in the areas of
numeracy and skills for life, health, and nutrition (Cho & Baek, 2019).These are
enhanced in the procedures through which trained teachers apply learner-
centered teaching methods in the well-managed classrooms and schools,
equipped with competent assessment tools to facilitate learning. Meanwhile,
they reduce misconceptions and attain the targeted outcomes that include
knowledge, skills, and attitudes, and which are linked to national educational
goals for future social-economic development (Lewin, 1992; Sibomana et al.,
2020 ).
Constructivism changes today's classrooms into a knowledge-construction place

where information is shared and knowledge is constructed by the learner. In
science constructivist classrooms, learners are accountable for their learning. At
the same time, the teacher plans and organizes different tasks for them
(students) and facilites, in case needed, a learning situation that contrasts the
conventional lecture. Groups of learning that are formed heterogeneously
stimulate students to solve difficulties and challenges in practical situations,
whichin turn, leads to the creation of practical solutions by different categories
of students (Yassin et al., 2018). The use of internet sources contributes more to
constructivist theories in classrooms and homes, since the internet helps in
providing tools to experiment to an individual student who can now do
different research using the internet and build his/her learning at own pace,
interact with diverse materials or an instructor, work on group assignments and
share ideas with classmates. Learners can share ideas in a given group of
learning, then every learner goes home with tasks to accomplish, then once meet
again at school, everyone brings what he/she did and discuss it before recording
it as part of the group task (Chaudhary, 2018).
66
The learning environment in constructivism encourages the learner to analyze

and reflect on the provided information and experiences to result in
individualized understanding and isolated learning (Vygotsky, 1980).
According to Chaudhary (2018) and Ramsook (2018), educators who apply the
constructivism learning theory in their classroom should plan to increase the
critical thinking of their learners by allowing them to express their points of
view and interact both with their teachers and amongst themselves. Teachers
should create classroom situations where hands-on activities are exposed to all
learners may also increase social interactions. Therefore, students' role in the
constructivism science classroom is about contributing to the activities and the
process of learning, discussing new content in group work, hence developing
students' critical thinking, problem-solving, and learning on their own rather
than listening passively to their educators and following teaching and learning
structure.In this regard, the present study aims at investigating factors affecting
the learning of students in 12-years basic education schools in Rwanda. The
study is built on constructivist theory and the important aspect to document the
perceptions among educational stakeholders about their specific views in
educational settings. The study informed educational planners and teachers to
focus more on learners who mix both school and home activities. Specifically,
the study surveyed learners, teachers, educational officials, and parents to learn
aboutthe factors affecting learners' learning of mathematics and science in
Rwanda.
2. Methodology
2.1 Research Design
The research was carried out in Nyamasheke District, in the Western province of
Rwanda. It focused on eight twelve-years basic education (12YBE) schools with
mathematics and science combinations in seven administrative sectors. The
sample constituted 261 participants, comprising of 210 students in senior five
(S5), 23 mathematics and science teachers,seven head teachers, seven Sector
Education Inspectors (SEIs), and 14 parents (from Parent-Teacher Associations,
PTA). This study employed a survey designand data were collected using three
research instruments; (a) a questionnaire addressed to learners, (b) an interview
with students'representatives, teachers, Headteachers,and SEIs, and (c) a focus
group discussion with parents. While a cluster random sampling method was
used to constitute the sample from eight clusters (eight science combinations
among 12YBE schools in the District), interview participants were selected
purposively.
2.2 Research Instruments and Validation

The questionnaire comprised of seven main sections: personal information,
teaching and learning materials within the school, families socio-economic
status, teachers' level of education, distance traveled by learners from home to
school, rate of students'absenteeism, performance in related science subject
(during ordinary level competition while in senior three), and
guardians/parents' educational level. The section about teaching and learning
materials included seven questions, but in theother sections each had four
questions where the participants were requested to tick their responses to the
67
questions. Some sections included open-ended questions wherein participants

described their opinions about the previous questions. Interview questions were
related to learning from key informants about their views on factors that may
affect learners' learning and performance in Rwandan schools (see Appendices
for different research tools used in this study).
The questionnaire and interview questions were given to experts who helped to
check the face validity to critically examine its language clarity, readability,
suitability, and lack of ambiguity. They also checked the appropriateness of the
statements and the clarity of them to the respondents.To ensure the reliability of
the survey questionnaire items, the Cronbach's alpha coefficient was computed
in SPSS v.16 (0.80), which according to Fraenkel et al. (2012), indicates an
acceptable internal consistency among items.
2.3 Data Collection and Analysis

The first round of data was collected in 2015, where students of senior-4 were
surveyed, and their Senior-3 national examination (NE) scores were collected
from their respective school administrators. At the beginning of 2021, we
collected a second round of data where we gathered the Senior-6 NE scores
(performed in 2018) of the same students. Thus, we compared the views of
various respondents with students' performance over three years. Prior to
conducting this study, ethical approval was confirmed since this research
involved human beings. Accordingly, all procedures performed in this study
were by the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research
committee in Rwanda. Before administering research instruments, each
participant was made to sign a consent form for voluntary participation after
thorough information was provided on the aim and content of the study, and
interviewees were accorded maximum confidentiality by ensuring that handling
of said records was restricted only to the researcher. Also, at the end of each
conversation, the participants were made to listen to the interview that they
gave.
Data from the questionnaire were analyzed using SPSS version 16 and Orgin 8
software, where descriptive statistics were presented in tables and figures.The
qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. We first analyzed data
descriptively and then analyzed inferential statistics to reveal the statistical
significance of factors affecting the performance of students in the Rwandan
context. We triangulated all the information from respondents to present data in
a common way, and factors were formulated based on the obtained data.
3. Data Presentation and Results

3.1. Teachers’ Qualification Level
After analyzing the responses given by the teachers as shown by figure 1, the
number of unqualified teachers (do not have Bachelor'sdegree or diploma –
bachelor/diploma (A0/A1) in science with education) out numbered qualified
ones (those who have A0 or A1 in science with education). However, many of
the unqualified teachers were enrolled in an in-service diploma in the education
68
program at data collection. About 25% of teachers had bachelor's degrees or

diplomas in chemistry with education (CE), where 75% had bachelor's degrees
or diplomas in chemistry without education (C). Mathematics teachers were 50%
for each category (mathematics with education and mathematics without
education (ME and M), while in biology, 57% had bachelor's degree or diploma
of biology with education (BE) and 43% of biology without education (B).
5
No of Teachers
0
A0/A1 C- A0/A1 C A0/A1 A0/A1 M A0/A1 B- A0/A1 B A0/A1 P- A0/A1 P
E M-E E E
Qualification
Figure 1: The Level of Teachers' Qualifications.
Note: A1 is a diploma, A0 is a bachelor degree
25% of physics teachers had bachelor's degree or diploma in physics with

education (PE), and 75% had bachelor's degree or diploma in physics without an
education degree or diploma (P). These findings point to the under-qualification
of science teachers, which could hamper the quality of teaching due to
unsatisfactory classroom management practices in these schools because they
have a major influence on the outcomes of the process of teaching and learning,
being in charge of the delivery of type and amount of information that learners
can acquire in the classroom. Teacher qualification indicators usually include
self-efficacy, knowledge of the content, methodologies of teaching and
classroom management, and communication skills.These findings concord with
those of Ige and Ogunleye (2016) and Owolabi and Adedayo (2012),who found
that teachers' professional qualifications have an effect on academic performance
since students are taught by teachers with lower qualifications perform poorly.
3.2. Families'Economic Background

It was found that most of the parents' earnings are not sufficient to afford the
provision of electricity at home for studies at night,in which 40 (19.04%) had
electricity; 38 (18.09%) used solar energy; none used biogas; 66 (31%) used
kerosene, and 66 (31%) used other sources that were not specified. Learners who
come from these homes proceed to the 12YBE schools as their parents cannot
afford to support them through boarding schools known to charge higher tuition
and other fees. Invariably, the Twelve-Year Basic Education quality standards
69
are deemed to be lower and thus affect learners' academic achievement in

mathematics and science subjects. Parents or guardians of about 91(43.3%) were
found to be predominantly farmers (many of them were laborers); 39 (18.6%) do
business; 13 (6.2%) are teachers; 27 (12.8%) do fishing, and 40 (19%) do not have
specified occupations. According to Bora and Ahmed (2018), the levels of the
parents socio-economic standing dictates to a large extent the type of school
children attend, even those who are in rural areas where teaching and learning
facilities are not adequately provided; the parents’ status can change the trend
that a child can cope with the academic challenges. For talented students who do
not need their parents to be literate to influence or change their academic
abilities, parents' educational background does not have any relationship with
their academic achievement, but the school location can be a predictor of their
academic achievement in basic science while in secondary schools.
3.3. Teaching and Learning Materials

The sector education inspectors, head teachers, and the teachers themselves
indicated difficulties encountered in teaching, among which we mention
predominantly lecture, a method that did not address prior knowledge of
learners who are, in this case, passive audience. Also, the inadequate facilities
like libraries, laboratories, and teaching/learning materials that affected the
academic achievement of the 12YBE learners,as instructional materials such as
textbooks and science equipment for both teachers and students are key
variables at all levels for students' learning and performance which in turn affect
learners' motivation and the effectiveness of their lessons as well. The findings
are in the same agreement as that of Mupa and Isaac (2015), who discovered
that when teachers' instructional materials are limited, learners perform poorly.
Similar studies were done in 2014 in Rwanda also outlined this traditional way
of teaching and authoritative role of the teacher and following role of learners
(Nzeyimana & Ndihokubwayo, 2019). However, they saw the progress towards
reformed teaching of physics (Ndihokubwayo, Uwamahoro, et al., 2020) and
effective lesson preparation(Ndihokubwayo, Ndayambaje, et al., 2020) in
Rwandan schools.
Busingye and Najjuma (2015) described the relationship between the availability
of resources for teaching and learning and the learning gains to be a direct one.
Acknowledging this fact, Ndihokubwayo et al. (2019) emphasized the need to
enhance the quality of science education by making available adequate supplies
of teaching and learning materials because of its immeasurable benefits on
secondary and higher-level education.Teaching and learning science by
innovative methods direct learners on how to apply a science idea to a variety of
phenomena, and students' academic achievement in science related subjects is
more enhanced with flexible teachers who are able to adapt the content to
learners with different background and abilities in a conducive classroom
environment (Gomendio & OECD Staff, 2017).
3.4. Distance from Learners' Homes to School and their Absenteeism

From the findings as detailed in Table 1, the 12YBE schools are few and far;
many students walk long distances to and from school.
70
Table 1: Distance from Learner's Home to School and their Absenteeism
Distance from 1-2 km 3-4 km 5-6 km 7 km and above

learner's home to
school 53 38 66 53
They
Once a Twice a Twice a Thrice a
always
weak weak month month
Students' attend
absenteeism 52 27 66 27 38
This effect directly renders students’ exhaussion for any follow–up reading at
home,a factor that could affect their academic achievement. Lower scholastic
achievement can be attributed to distances covered by students to and from
school. 25.23% of students travel 1 to 2km from home to school; 18.09% travel 3
to 4 km; 31.4 % travel 5 to 6 km, and 25.23% travel 7 km and above. In addition,
students who find themselves in these situations tend to do homework
assignments alone rather than in the companionship of their classmates. Baliyan
and Khama (2020), in their research, also confirmed that the distance traveled by
learners to school and back home affects their academic achievement. Table 1
also showed the absenteeism of students from school and was also found to
greatly deter learners' progress and performance in school as 24.7% of students
admitted to being absent from school at least once a week; 12.8% twice a week;
31.4% twice a month; and 12.8% thrice a month. These findings represent an
alarming rate of absenteeism, which has the propensity to affect academic
performance negatively.
3.5. Learners' Prior Knowledge and Achievement

In analyzing students' scores at the ordinary level examination during the
academic year 2015 and their achievement at the completion of senior six in 2018
(seeTable 2) among seven schools that have science and mathematics
combinations, we found that 6.19% of student had passed in division I
(aggregates that are between eight and 32); 6.19% students in division II (33-45
aggregates); 31.4% students in division III (46-52 aggregates); and 56.19%
students had passed in division IV (53-69 aggregates). However, none could
pass in division V which indicates the failure (70 and above) in the ordinary
level examination in which the lower the aggregate, the greater the achievement.
This is unlike the senior six examinations where aggregates range from nine to
73 (which is the contrary at the completion of senior six where aggregates
started from nine to 73).
Table 2: Learners' Prior Knowledge (their performance in senior three/the academic year
2015) versus Learners' Achievement at the Completion of Senior Six/the Academic Year
2018 (in aggregates)
Prior Division Division Division Division Div V (70

knowledge I (8-32) II (33-45) III (46-52) IV (53-69) and above)
13 13 66 118 0
Division Division Division Division Div V Dropped
Achievement I (57-73) II (41-56) III (25- 40) IV (9-24) (Unclassified) out
3 4 46 143 6 8
71
At the completion of senior six, three students (1.43%) passed in the first division
(57-73 aggregates); four (1.90%) in the second division; 46 (21.90%) in third
division; 143 (68.09%) in the fourth division; six (2.86%) in the firth division
(failed). The achievement of students after secondary school showed that more
than 70.96% of students succeeded with low marks, and only a reduced number
of students experience the necessary success (25.23%) that could allow them to
continue in higher learning institutions, while 3.81% dropped out within the
journey.This implies that there is either a low predictive validity of the tests, or
the students' academic achievement had dropped. Whichever is true, it
negatively affects learners' academic achievement. This finding is not different
from that of Won (2010) in which if students' prior knowledge has gaps and
insufficiencies, it may not adequately support new knowledge.
A constructivist science classroom may offer a diversity of activities to challenge

students to accept individual differences, use concrete learning experiences
(Ramsook, 2018). In a constructivist science classroom, teachers/ facilitators
motivate students to discover and think positively about the content
progressively from simple to complex topics, and assist students' work to reflect
on what they have been doing and provide constructive feedback (Shute, 2008).
3.6. Parents’ Educational Level

This study found that parents acknowledge their responsibility to guide and
assist their children with their school work. However, the problem remains that
they are not literate enough to offer meaningful academic assistance to their
children. Consequently,this affects learners' academic achievement because there
is no positive academic influence of their parents on the children.Figure 2 shows
parents' educational qualifications.
Figure 2: Family Educational Background
Similarly, parents and relatives were revealed as key guides to assist learners in
their achievement in Rwanda(Ukobizaba et al., 2019). Also, uneducated parents
72
and/or guardians are observed to be isolated from school decision-making

processes with irregular follow-up of their education progress, which impacts
their achievement (Brown et al., 2020).
4. Findings and Discussion
4.1. Relationship between Independent and Dependent Variables

As shown in Table 3, a positive significant relationship existed between teachers'
qualification (r=.168, p<.05), distance traveled from learners' home to school
(r=.735, p<.000), students' family economic background (r=.568, p<.000), type of
energy used (r=.709, p<.000), learner's prior knowledge (performance in S3NE
(r=.714, p<.000), absenteeism of students (r=.742, p<.000), education level of the
father (r=.685, p<.000) and education level of the mother (r=.735, p<.000).
Table 3: Relationship between Independent and Dependent Variables

Independent Variables R p-value
Teacher qualification .168 .015*
Distance home-school .735 .000*
Family's economic background .568 .000*
Type of energy used .709 .000*
Learner's prior knowledge .714 .000*
Absenteeism of students .742 .000*
Education Level of Father .685 .000*
Education Level of Mother .735 .000*
Dependent variable: Students'Performance in SSciencein S6NE
*p<.05
Table 4 showed that a linear positive and significant relationship existed

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

Achievement (Criterion Variable)
Multiple R .857 Source of SS Df Mean Fc P-
variance Square value
R2 .735 Regression 87.43 8 10.928 69.58 0.000
Adjusted R2 .724 Residual 31.57 201 .157
Standard .396 Total 118.99 209
Error
73
Moreover, the analysis of variance for the multiple regression data yielded an F-
ratio of 69.583, which was significant at p < 0.05. This implies that the
combination of the eight predictor variables (qualification, distance traveled
from learners' home to school, students' family economic background, type of
energy used, learner's prior knowledge (performance in S3NE), absenteeism of
students, education level of father and education level of mother) have a
significant influence on performance in science among senior six secondary
school students in Nyamasheke district.
4.2. Key Determinants of Students' Performance in S6NE

This study also established the key determinants of students' performance in
science in S6NE in the Nyamasheke district. To this end, the regression analysis
was computed. Table 5 summarises the findings.
Table 5: Determinants of Students' Performance in S6NE

Independent Variables Standardized Beta P-value
(β) weight
Teacher qualification .111 .003*
Distance traveled from learners' home to .251 .096
school
Family's economic background .655 .000*
Type of energy used .104 .473
Learner's prior knowledge (Performance in .456 .000*
S3NE)
Absenteeism of students .106 .668
Education Level of Father .116 .224
Education Level of Mother .885 .000*
Dependent variable: Students'Performance in S6NE, *p<.05
As it can be seen in table 5, teacher qualification is a statistically significant

predictor of students' performance in science in S6NE. It indicates that there is a
significant difference between the performance of students who were taught by
qualified teachers and that of students who were taught by less qualified
teachers, as shown by the standardized beta coefficient of the students' teachers
qualification status, which is statistically significant (β=.111, p<0.05). The β value
indicates that students who are taught by qualified teachers perform better than
students taught science by unqualified teachers, as shown by the positive
coefficient of .111.
Moreover, table 5 revealed that family background status is another key

predictor of students' performance. The table clearly showed that a statistically
significant difference exists between the performance of students from high
economic families and the performance of students from low economic families,
as shown by the standardized β coefficient of the parental employment status
(β=.655, p<0.05). The latter indicates that for every one unit of increase in the
family economy, student's performance decreases by 0.655.Furthermore,
another key predictor of students' performance in S6NE is the student's prior
performance in ordinary level examinations (S3NE). The value of the
74
standardized β (β=.456, p<0.05) tells that one unit increases student's prior
performance in S3NE and improves his/her performance in S6NE by .456.
Finally, there is a statistically significant difference between the performance of

students whose mothers are educated and the performance of students whose
mothers are not educated, as shown by the standardized beta coefficient of the
students'mother’s education level, which was statistically significant (β=.885,
p<0.05). Students whose mothers are educated were seen to perform better than
their counterparts whose mothers are not educated. Therefore, an increase in the
level of education of the students’ mothers is expected to increase the student’s
performance by .885.
5. Conclusion
From the findings of this research, we observed that factors which affect the
Twelve -Year Basic Education advanced level students' achievement in science
are: the level of teachers' qualification, family economic backgrounds, teaching
and learning materials, distance from learners' homes to schools, learners' prior
knowledge, levels of parents' education and students' absenteeism. Over 60% of
all science teachers of 12YBE schools in Nyamasheke District, Rwanda, have no
teaching credentials. A big number of unqualified teachers is in chemistry and
physics subjects with more than 70%.As a result of fewer schools, many students
cover long distances to schools, which is the reason for most of the absenteeism
with only 18.9% of students were present throughout the term. The pattern of
students' scores in the ordinary level exams, which was at a low level, could not
be improved at the completion of senior six-level three years afterward, which
could have been partially due to a decline in the quality of teaching services or
factors that affect it. These factors which affect the students’ academic
achievement in mathematics and science may be the same in developing
countries where a small number of schools, learners attend school irregularly
due to some works they are engaged in to support their families and with
parents who cannot support their learners’ learning effectively are among the
constains that render learners’ practices. This study adds value to the existing
knowledge since it highlights major factors that hinder the achievement of
students in mathematics and science subjects among Twelve-Year Basic
Education (12YBE) students in Rwanda; it also gives insight intoschools'
administration; Parent-Teacher Associations (PTA),and to educate stakeholders
to play a community role for the improvement of students’ achievement in
science subjects.
6. Recommendation
In-service teachers who are untrained and unqualified should be encouraged to
undertake an in-service teacher training through a soft loan scheme. Teachers
should also use the appropriate methods such as cooperative learning and peer
teaching, peer instruction when teaching by putting more emphasis on practical
works in science to lead the students to make more discoveries on their own.
School administrations should also facilitate regular refresher workshops to let
teachers help each other in different domains to improve the teaching and
learning of mathematics and science.In addition, the parent-teacher associations
75
need to collaborate with the school's disciplinary committee to make sure that
lateness and students missing out on lessons are minimized. The findings from
the present study should be interpreted with caution due to a limitation in the
research design used. The respondents explain their own experience and
opinion subjectively according to their understandings. Their status as day
school students might have influenced them to perform poorly for a while and
loose motivation to learn science-related subjects. This is why it is highly
recommended that further studies may be conducted on the same sample
applying an innovative teaching method by catering/ addressing some of the
listed factors to improve learners’ academic achievement.
7. Acknowledgements
The authors appreciate the financial support from the African Center of
Excellence for Innovative Teaching and Learning Mathematics and Science
(ACEITLMS) of the University of Rwanda - College of education (UR-CE).
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Appendices
Appendix A: Questionnaire for senior five students in mathematics and

science combinations
Instructions
You have been selected to participate in this research, which focuses on factors
affecting the advanced level of Twelve-Year Basic Education (12YBE)
students’ achievements in mathematics and Science in Rwanda. Your
inputs are very important for meeting the objectives of this research.
Please, write the letter of your preferable answer in the curled brackets [ ]
located in each question. Furthermore, you are kindly requested to give
some short explanation where allocated.
A . Identification
1. Name of the School: .................................................................................................
2. Date of interview (Date/Month/Year): ................................................................
B. Personal information
1. What is your age in complete years? …………………………………………..
2. What is your sex?

a) Male [ ]
b) Female [ ]
3. Combination
a) MCB
b) PCM
c) PCB
d) BCG
C. Science related subject preference and facilities

1. Do you like mathematics and science subjects?
a) Very much? [ ]
b) Not much? [ ]
c) I don’t like any mathematics and Science related subject [ ]
2. What are the reasons for your answer in (1)?

a) I love mathematics and science teachers
c) Mathematics and science-related subjects are important in my future carrier
d) I hate mathematics and science teachers
e) Mathematics and science subjects are difficult
f) I don’t know the importance of mathematics and science subjects in my future life
More reasons if any..............................................................................
3. Does the school have a science laboratory?

a) Yes [ ]
b) No [ ]
c) I don’t know [ ]
79
4. A. If yes, how many times have you entered the laboratory as a class to do some
experiments or to observe a demonstration?
a) Less than five times [ ]
b) Five or more than five times [ ]
c) More than ten times [ ]
d) I have never entered the school laboratory for studies? [ ]
4. B. Science laboratories have the following facilities

a) All necessary chemicals (acids, bases, litmus paper, test tube and beaker) [ ]
b) Only a few chemicals and not enough beakers [ ]
c) Laboratory has no facilities [ ]
5. Does the school has laboratories for other subjects?

a) Yes [ ]
b) No [ ]
c) I don’t know [ ]
If Yes, tick [ √ ] all the laboratories which the school has
a) Mathematics laboratory [ ]
b) Physics laboratory [ ]
c) Biology laboratory [ ]
d) Computer laboratory [ ]
Others please mention: ....................................

5. Do you have your own science books?
a) Yes [ ]
b) No [ ]
6. If yes, How many/per subject?

a) One [ ]
b) Less than five [ ]
c) More than five [ ]
d) More than ten [ ]
e) Not applicable [ ]
7. From where did you get those books?

a) Received from my guardians/parents, friends or relatives [ ]
b) I bought with my own money [ ]
c) Not applicable [ ]
Other sources, please explain. .........................................
8. Does the school provide science books to students?

a) Yes [ ]
b) No [ ]
D. Distance traveled by learners

1. What distance do you walk from your home to school?
a) 1-2 km (1-24 minutes) [ ]
b) 3-4 km (25- 48 minutes) [ ]
c) 5-6 km (49- 1h10 minutes) [ ]
80
d) 7- above (more than 1hour and 10 minutes) [ ]
E. Absenteeism
1. How often do you miss attending class for different reasons?
a) Once a week [ ]
b) Twice a weak [ ]
c) Twice a month [ ]
d) Thrice a month [ ]
e) Other information: …………………………………………
F. Performances in mathematics and science-related subjects

1. What are the performances in the following science subjects at your school/ refer to
divisions you got in National examinations (S3NE- the academic year 2015) and
in senior six (S6NE-academic year 2018)
i. Chemistry
ii. Biology
iii. Physics
iv. Mathematics
S3NE S6NE
a) Worse (division V) [ ] Worse (division V) [ ]
b) Bad (division IV) [ ] Bad (division IV) [ ]
c) Good (division III) [ ] Good (division III) [ ]
d) Better (division II) [ ] Better (division II) [ ]
e) Best (division I) [ ] Best (division I) [ ]
(f) I don’t know [ ] I don’t know [ ]
G. Reason behind
1. What are the reasons for your answer in C (1)?
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
2. What do you think are the reasons that cause such kind of performance?
Tick [ √ ] all the reasons you agree with
a) There is no enough and qualified mathematics and science teachers in our
schools [ ]
b) There are few science facilities such as textbooks, chemicals, and other science
materials in our schools [ ]
c) Poor awareness on the importance of science subjects in students future life or
careers [ ]
d) Science subjects are difficult [ ]
Other please explain,
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
3. What do you suggest should be done to improve performance in science subjects?

...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
81
H. Motivations
1. Are there any gifts given to the best students in mathematics and science subjects at
your school?
a) Yes [ ]
b) No [ ]
If yes, please mention them
...............................................................................................................................................
I. Guardians’/Parent’s information; support/encouragement

1. What is the education level of your parents/ guardians?
a) Never went to school : Mother [ ]; Father [ ]
b) Went to primary school but never completed: Mother [ ]; Father [ ]
c) Completed primary school: Mother [ ]; Father [ ]
d) Went to secondary school but never completed: Mother [ ]; Father [ ]
e) Has a S6 certificate: Mother [ ]; Father [ ]
f) Has a Diploma: Mother [ ]; Father [ ]
g) Has a Bachelor’s Degree: Mother [ ]; Father [ ]
h) Did a postgraduate course (Master/DEA, PhD): Mother [ ]; Father [ ]
i) Others: …………………………………………. Mother [ ]; Father [ ]
2. What is the occupation of your parents/ guardians?

a) Farming [ ]
b) Business [ ]
c) Teaching [ ]
d) Fishing [ ]
e) Public/Private service [ ]
f) Others: ………………
3. What type of energy used in your parents/guardians ‘house for lighting?

a) Electricity [ ]
b) Solar panel [ ]
c) Biogas [ ]
d) Kerosene [ ]
e) Any other source of energy, please indicate: …………………………….
4. Do your parents/care givers encourage you to perform well in science subjects?

a) Yes [ ]
b) No [ ]
If yes, please mention them
...............................................................................................................................................
J. Constraints
1. Please mention any constraints which are facing the learning of science subjects
...............................................................................................................................................
Thank you very much !!
82
Appendix B: Interview for students

1. What are factors/problems do you think to affect 12YBE students’
achievement in science subjects?
2. What are the effects of these factors on the process of teaching and learning
science subjects among 12YBE schools?
3. During which period and for what reasons do you not attend class regularly?
Appendix C: Interview for teachers

0)School name:…………………
1) Indicate the level of your qualification:

a) A2 teaching [ ] e) A2 non-teaching [ ]
b) A1 teaching [ ] f) A1non teaching [ ]
c) A0 teaching [ ] g) A0non teaching [ ]
d)) Masters [ ] h) Other: …………….
2) According to you, what are factors that affect 12YBE students’ achievement in
science subjects?
3) What are the effects of these factors on the process of teaching and learning
science subjects among 12YBE schools?
4) As a teacher, what strategies do you propose to enhance students’
achievement in science subjects among 12YBE schools?
5) As a teacher, what do you think could be the role of parents in improving
students’ achievement in science subjects among 12YBE schools?
6) How can the lack of a science laboratory slow down the achievement of
students in science subjects among 12YBE schools?
7) How can absenteeism of learners affect 12YBE students’ achievement in
science subjects?
Appendix D: Information to be given by the school secretary or Director of

Studies (DOS)
Section A: General information on the school
1) Type of the school: a) 12YBE
b) Boarding school
2) Location of your school: Rural

Urban
Section B: Information on staff and students

3) What is the number of your staff by gender?
a) Teaching staff: Male:…………….
Female:……………
Sub-total: ……….
b) Administrative staff: Male:…………….
Female:…………...
c) Support staff: Male:……………
Female:…………
83
4) What is the number of teaching staff with the following qualifications in the
advanced level of your school?
a) S6 certificate-------------
b) Diploma-------------
c) Bachelor’s Degree------------------
d) Master’s Degree---------------
e) Any other, please mention--------------
5) What is the number of teachers with the following types of degrees?

a) Bed---------------
b) BA with Education--------------
c) BSc with Education-------------
d) B.A--------------
e) BSc--------------
f) Med--------------
g) M.A, MSc,MBA, and others--------------
6) What is the number of your student population according to their

combinations and gender?
a) BCG: Male:….. b) MCB: Male:…. c) PCB: Male:…. d) PCM: Male:….
Female:…… Female:….. Female:…… Female:……..
Sub-total :……. Sub-total :….… Sub-total : …..… Sub-total:……
Appendix E: Interview guide for Headteachers

1) According to you what are factors that affect 12YBE students’
achievement in Science?
2) What are the effects of these factors on the process of teaching and
learning science subjects among 12YBE schools?
3) As a Headteacher, what are strategies do you propose to enhance 12YBE
students’ achievement in Science?
4) How can absenteeism of students affect students’ achievement in science
subjects among 12YBE?
5) What could be the contribution of parents to enhance 12YBE students’
6) How can the distance traveled by students from their home to school
affect 12YBE students’ achievement in science subjects?
Appendix F: Interview guide for SEIs

1) According to you, what are factors affect 12YBE students’ achievement in
science subjects?
2) What are the effects of these factors on the process of teaching and
learning science among 12YBE schools?
3) What strategies do you propose to enhance 12YBE students’ achievement
in science subjects?
4) How can absenteeism of students influence 12YBE students’ achievement
in science subjects?
5) What could be the contribution of parents to enhance 12YBE students’
84
affect 12YBE students’ achievement in science subjects?
Appendix G: Interview guide for parents

1) What problems do your children in the advanced level of 12YBE face
while learning science subjects? [Ni ibihebibazoabanabanyu biga mu
cyicirocyakabiricy’amashuriyisumbuyeya 12YBE bahuranabyo mu
masomoyasiyansi?]
2) What are the effects of these factors/ problems on the process of teaching
and learning science subjects in the Advanced level of 12YBE?
[Ibyobibazobifiteizihengaruka mu masomoyabo?]
3) What could be your contribution to resolve those problems?
[Uruharerwanyurwagombyekubauruhe mu gukemuraibyobibazo?]
4) Do you assist your children while doing their science homework?
[Mujyamukurikirana/mufashaabanabanyu mu
gihebarigukoraimikoroy’amasomoyasiyansiigihebari mu rugo?]
5) What strategies do you propose to enhance 12YBE students’ achievement
in science subjects? [Ni
izihenamamwatangakugirangohazamurweiremery’imyigishirizen’imyigir
ey’amasomoyasiyansi muri
gahunday’uburezibw’ibanzebw’imyakacumin’ibiri?]
affect 12YBE students’ achievement in science subjects? [Ni
guteurugendoumunyeshuriakora ava mu rugoiwaboajyakuishuri,
rushoborakugiraingarukakumyigire ye n’imitsindire mu
masomoyasiyansi?]
85

Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 85-99, July 2021
The RoboSTE[M] Project: Using Robotics

Learning in a STEM Education Model to Help
Prospective Mathematics Teachers Promote
Students’ 21st-CenturySkills
Adi Nur Cahyono, Mohammad Asikin and Muhammad Zuhair Zahid

Universitas Negeri Semarang, Indonesia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9469-524X
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1121-3629
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5830-7599
Pasttita Ayu Laksmiwati

SEAMEO Regional Centre for QITEP in Math, Indonesia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8162-0206
Miftahudin
SMPN 28 Semarang, Indonesia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8793-0547
Abstract. Teacher education institutions play a strategic role in preparing

prospective mathematics teachers with 21st-century skills to teach
mathematics in schools. This study aimed to explore how mathematics
lectures employing robotics in a STEM (Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Mathematics) education approach can contribute to the
preparation of prospective mathematics teachers with 21st-century skills
to teach mathematics in schools. The research was conducted through a
project called the RoboSTE[M] Project, in three stages: pre-development,
development, and field experiment. The project was run to encourage
prospective mathematics teachers to arrange mathematical activities for
mathematics learning with a STEM education approach using robotics.
The findings indicated that the model, lab and online modules developed
and implemented in this project succeeded in supporting the ability of
prospective mathematics teachers to design a mathematics learning
environment with a STEM-influenced robotics approach that has the
potential to support students’ 21st-century skills. This study has
contributed to answer the problem regarding how to provide cross-
curricular activities for STEM education by implementing STEM in an
integrated manner in schools, including lack of training for teachers,
which will translate STEM in the lesson plans. This research shows that
teacher education programmes can provide adequate training for pre-
©Authors
86
service teachers in practising STEM education in mathematics classroom.

This study fills in the gaps by focusing on designing a lecture model with
a “STEM Robotics” approach for prospective mathematics teachers and
their students and to explore its potential to promote prospective
mathematics teachers’ 21st-century skills.
Keywords: mathematics learning; STEM; robotics; 21st-century skills
1. Introduction
Technological developments in the Industrial Revolution Era 4.0 have changed
the way of life, study and work (Christensen & Eyring, 2011) which has an impact
on the changing needs of skills in the 21st century. This revolution has encouraged
the birth of network-based education. Seeing the characteristics of students today
as a post-millennial generation who are very familiar with technology is a
potential that needs to be managed to improve the academic quality of learning
in schools. Therefore, innovations are needed to utilise the potential and existing
systems to encourage students to have 21st century competencies and to become
lifelong learners by utilising technology in their academic activities. The PISA
2018 results showed that only 1% of students in Indonesia who were subjected to
international assessment had reached Level 5 (out of 6; OECD average at Level 5:
11%) (OECD, 2019). This result shows that very few Indonesian students are able
to solve the problems with modelling the situations and use appropriate strategy
in solving problems. These PISA results are undoubtedly worrying since the
abilities PISA assesses are essential for students to face life in the 21st century.
Education plays an essential role in preparing students to adapt to the work

environment and employment requirements of the 21st century (Ananiadou &
Claro, 2009; Gravemeijer et al., 2017). Soland et al. (2013) mention three categories
of 21st-century competencies: cognitive competencies, interpersonal
competencies and intrapersonal competencies. Cognitive competencies consist of
cognitive things that must be mastered (including mathematics, language, art),
academic abilities, as well as skills for thinking critically and creatively.
Interpersonal competencies include communicating and building collaboration
with others, leadership abilities, and awareness of the global situation.
Intrapersonal competencies consist of a growth mindset, the ability to learn how
to learn, intrinsic motivation, and determination and grit (Soland et al., 2013).
Twenty-first-century skills can be broken down into three groups: skills for
learning and encourage innovation, skills for being a digital-literate person, and
skills to deal with career and everyday life problems. These skills must be
acquired by Indonesian citizens to help them compete in the global world. Several
studies found that 21st-century skills can be supported by integrating science,
technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in comprehensive learning
activities (Bergsten & Frejd, 2019; Frejd, 2017; Kertil & Gurel, 2016). In the same
vein, Beatty (2011) and Stohlmann et al. (2014) together stated that STEM provides
many benefits for education.
STEM education has been accepted by several countries and it became popular as
a beneficial learning approach (al Murshidi, 2019; Groen et al., 2015; Razali et al.,
87
2020). STEM education is an interdisciplinary approach to learning in which

rigorous academic principles are mixed with real-life lessons in a way that
connects the classroom, the environment, the job and the global sector, providing
a modern economic literacy that helps learners grow and succeed (Holmlund et
al., 2018). Furthermore, teaching STEM purposes to help students working with
real-world activities and increases students’ performance in learning (Bicer et al.,
2017; Jolly, 2016; Li et al., 2019). The STEM curriculum is defined by teaching
strategies that inspire students to study science and mathematics, student learning
through interdisciplinary experiences relevant to real-world scenarios, problem-
and project-based learning, advancement of expertise in the 21st century,
cooperation with STEM experts, and the use of emerging technology in classroom
activities (Bergsten & Frejd, 2019).
There are two approaches that can be used to develop STEM education: designing
fresh curriculum and incorporating STEM practices into the current curriculum.
The latter method has multiple integration stages: disciplinary, multidisciplinary,
interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary integration (Bergsten & Frejd, 2019;
English, 2016; English & King, 2019; Vasquez et al., 2013). Tool-based pedagogy
connects classroom activities across STEM disciplines, all four of which will use
resources to mould material ideas and principles. Aspects of mathematical
modelling in mathematics and inquiry-based learning in science becomes
essential starting points for developing STEM pedagogy (Leung, 2019). Several
studies discussed that there is another approach called engineering design process
(EDP) which is identified as a significant approach in the implementation of STEM
(English & King, 2015; Hafiz & Ayop, 2019; Li et al., 2019). EDP exaggerates a
systematic way in solving open-ended problems in STEM activities by designing
solutions (Jolly, 2016; Lockledge & Salustri, 1999), and the process consists of
defining and delimiting problems, designing solutions, optimising the solutions
by refining solutions and improving the final design (English & King, 2015; Jolly,
2016; Siew, 2017; Yata et al., 2020. By implementing EDP, students are facilitated
to develop the 21st century skills, such as problem solving, critical thinking,
communication, and self-confidence (Rackov & Knežević, 2017; Stohlmann et al.,
2014; Syukri et al., 2018).
Robotics is an outstanding platform for science and engineering and a persuasive

subject for all ages (Mataric, 2004). The use of robotics facilitates the integration of
science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Altin & Pedaste, 2013; Barker
et al., 2008; Mataric et al., 2007). Robotics can facilitate both the application of
engineering and technological concepts in the real world and minimisation of the
abstracts of science and mathematics (Nugent et al., 2010). Forsström and
Kauffman (2018) found that 40% of the articles which discussed the potency of
programming in mathematics education for students in the age 6-16 employed
robotic and its variance (e.g., Lego Mindstorm) to promote programming
activities in mathematics learning. It is necessary to develop a new didactic
approach to improve STEM skills among young people by optimising the use of
robots in learning. Furthermore, exploring the potential of robotics in
multidisciplinary learning can be effective to encourage students and student
88
creativity, leading to more entrepreneurial, industrial and collaborative research

in the STEM field.
The problem faced is how to provide cross-curricular activities for STEM

education by implementing STEM in an integrated manner in schools (Corlu et
al., 2014; Honey et al., 2014), including lack of training for teachers, which will
translate STEM in the lesson plans (Al Murshidi, 2019). In curricular activities,
prospective mathematics teachers need to be taught and trained to have the ability
and skills to design mathematics learning activity plans by implementing the
STEM robotics approach. An activity plan is important to design because it
contributes to identifying critical elements in teaching and learning based on
theory and provides a description of the effectiveness of learning to be carried out.
Through the RoboSTE[M] Project, activity plans are designed by students, then
evaluated, refined, re-designed and developed into student worksheets. A
bottom-up empirical process was carried out to identify a good activity plan that
fits the criteria. Yiannoutsou et al. (2017) developed criteria to identify good
activity plans for educational robotics. This consists of two categories, namely
prerequisites and main criteria. Prerequisites consist of the topic and include
concepts related to STEM or another discipline related to robotics. Other
requirements in the prerequisite criteria are the element of constructionist,
innovation, the interests of citizens, and the involvement of educational robotic.
The main criteria consist of several parameters, namely: context, educational
activity, tools, evaluation, sustainability and accessibility. Teacher education
programmes are responsible for providing adequate training for pre-service
teachers in practising STEM education in the mathematics classroom.
Present pre-service teachers have more capital in using technology for educational
purposes since they grew up in the digital age. Although pre-service teachers are
more familiar with technology and robotics in classroom, their readiness in
implementing STEM robotic education remains unclear. The present study tried
to fill in the gaps by focusing on designing a lecture model with a “STEM robotics”
approach for prospective mathematics teachers and their students and to explore
its potential to promote prospective mathematics teachers’ 21st-century skills.
Therefore, the research question in this study is how can mathematics lectures
with the STEM robotics approach help prepare prospective mathematics teachers
with 21st-century skills to teach mathematics in schools?
2. Method
To address the research question, research with an exploratory design was
conducted through a project called the RoboSTE[M] Project. The exploratory
research was utilised to give a good start in finding the grounded theory, because
the data collected were emerged in detail, breadth and validity (Stebbins, 2001).
As an exploratory, the study involved researchers, prospective teachers, and
practitioners (teachers) in all stages. The research was conducted in three stages:
pre-development, development, and field experiment. The project was run to
encourage prospective mathematics teachers to arrange activities for mathematics
learning through a STEM education approach using robotics and to evaluate the
results. The project was conducted in the mathematics department of a teacher
89
education institution in Indonesia; project participants were 20 prospective

mathematics teachers. The study was conducted with activities implemented in a
one-semester course.
First, students learn the basic concepts of developing mathematics education

media and visual programming. Then, the class discusses STEM and its
implementation in mathematics education using robotics. Based on this
discussion, students come up with ideas and make activity plans. From the plans,
they then, in groups, choose a plan that is realised in the form of student
worksheets for learning mathematics with STEM using robotics, through
mathematics activities and with mathematical competencies as the main learning
outcomes. Researchers observed the students’ activities (both classical and
teamwork activities) from the first to the sixteenth course sessions and debriefed
the students after the course. Notes were made, discussions were recorded,
portfolios were stored in an online classroom, and questionnaire responses were
collected, and all these data were analysed.
3. Results
In the pre-development stage, the activities carried out were preliminary analysis
and seminars on STEM and robotics. At this stage, analysis of the Mathematics
Education Study Program Curriculum, analysis of instructional media, and
achievement of school mathematics learning was also carried out. The analysis
was carried out through literature reviews, document analysis and focus group
discussions involving researchers, practitioners and related partners.
The activity at the pre-development stage produced a specification of the
procedures used for prototype development at the development stage. The
prototypes included: a lecture design that employs STEM education using
robotics to promote 21st-century skills (called RoboSTE[M] Lecture), the design of
a STEM Robotics Laboratory for the development of mathematics education
media and mathematics learning practices (called RoboSTE[M] Lab), and a
Robotics STEM Education Online Module for mathematics learning (the
RoboSTE[M] Online Module). The design also reflects the concept of partnerships
with industry, institutions, schools and society.
A series of learning activities using a team-based project method was

implemented with the lecture, lab and online modules referred to. A mathematical
learning model with a syntax that is integrated with STEM was carried out in
several stages in accordance with the result of preliminary analysis and literature
study. Students learn concepts related to mathematics education media, the STEM
approach, and robotics education for mathematics learning, as well as simple
programming using a visual language. There are two main projects undertaken
by students in this lecture, in groups: 1) designing STEM mathematics education
media by utilising a visual programming language and 2) designing a student
worksheet for mathematics learning using the STEM robotics approach. The
laboratory and learning activities are shown in Figure 1.
90
Figure 1: RoboSTE[M] Lab. (Robot: LEGO® & Software: Virtual Robotics Toolkit)
After coming to understand the concepts of STEM and robotics and their
implementation in mathematics learning in the development stage, in the next
stage students learn simple programming as a basis for carrying out robotics
activities in mathematics learning using the STEM approach. Then, all students
carried out a practicum, in which they produced mathematics education media.
There were 20 visual media for learning mathematics using the STEM approach
developed in this lecture by students, in the form of educational games,
interactive media, material exposure, storytelling and the like. One example of
such a product produced by students is InteGame; its production process and a
sample of the interface are shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: InteGame: Game for integers created by student. (https://scratch.mit.edu)
InteGame is a game for learning positive and negative integers. This game begins
with a real situation related to science, namely a problem related to temperature;
indicating that the game provides opportunity for learning mathematics and
science. The game also allows users to learn technology and engineering through
learning mathematics, as they perform simple programming and practise several
activities mechanically before reporting the results virtually.
The next project completed by students was designing an activity plan and an
accompanying student worksheet. An activity plan is important to learning
design because it helps identify important elements in the teaching and learning
process based on theory and provides an overview of the expected effectiveness
of activities. Through the RoboSTE[M] Project, students learn to design activity
plans, which are then evaluated, refined, redesigned and developed into student
worksheets. A bottom-up empirical process is carried out to identify a good plan
of action that fits the criteria.
91
This project resulted in 20 activity plans designed by students. These products

reflect that mathematics learning with the STEM approach using robotics varies
with topic, target, type of activity and tools used. In general, activities designed
with mathematics are more dominant for materials such as geometry, algebra,
calculus, statistics and probability, sets, social arithmetic, and others. The targets
were junior and senior high school students at various levels. Activities were
designed starting by analysing problems, then constructing robots or objects,
performing simple programming, and evaluating. The tools used varied; most of
them involved Lego Mindstorms EV3.
The 20 activity plans designed by students were widely different in learning

models, activities, topics, and tools used. We analysed the data from the student
work portfolio by identifying and coding the components of the activity plans that
the students had designed. The results are presented in Table 1.
The learning model applied in the learning activities designed in the activity plan
is identified based on the syntactic characteristics of certain learning models that
appear in the designed activities. These phases may appear as a whole, but may
also appear in only a few parts, but the characteristics of the learning model
dominate the activities designed.
The results show that activities in most (8) of the activity plans have a character
similar to that of the project-based learning model, starting with an essential
question and then designing a project that must be done by students. Then, a
schedule is made, student activities and project progress are monitored, and the
results are assessed, followed by evaluation of the learning experience.
Table 1: Identification of models, activities, topics and tools.

Criterion Number of Activity Plans Including It
Learning Model
Discovery Learning 5
Project-Based Learning 8
Problem-Based Learning 7
Activity
Modelling 8
Designing 3
Coding 4
Strategy 1
Prediction 2
Exploration 2
Observation 2
Counting 1
Trial and error 1
Manipulation 3
Topic
Geometry 9
Sets 1
Statistics and Probability 2
92
Numbers 2
Algebra 5
Trigonometry 1
Tool
Simple Machine 1
Lego Mindstorms EV3 11
mBot 2
WeDo 2.0 2
RoboSim 1
Arduino UNO 1
Virtual Robotic Toolkit 1
In addition to project-based learning, there are seven activity plans whose

activities feature a problem-based learning model. The phases that appear include
problem orientation, students’ organisation, individual and group guided
investigations, development and presentation, analysis and evaluation. The third
learning model found is discovery learning, in five activity plans. Activity plans
in this category contain activities such as stimulation, problem statement, data
collection, data processing, verification, and generalisation.
The learning activities designed indicate that modelling activities, encouraging

application of mathematical concepts, are dominant over other activities in
mathematics learning. Some activity plans also design lessons that facilitate
simple programming by students as part of doing projects, solving problems, or
performing exploration. Most of the activity plans are used for learning geometry,
followed by algebra; however, most or all topics in mathematics can be tackled
through learning activities using STEM robotics.
Most of the activity plans are designed to be implemented using the Lego
Mindstorms EV3. This tool is suitable for use at the junior and senior high school
levels or equivalent, with a target age range of 14–18 years. The use of Lego
Mindstorms EV3 makes it easier for students to focus on their mathematical
modelling activities, due to less complicated programming requirements.
Two criteria for identifying a good plan of action for robotics learning are
provided as developed by Yiannoutsou et al. (2017): prerequisite and main
criteria. The results of the activity plan evaluation in terms of the prerequisite
criteria are presented in Table 2.
Table 2. Results of activity plan evaluation for prerequisite category

Tool Activity Assessment Construction Innovation Real Education
Impact
4.50 4.56 4.22 4.50 4.11 4.39 4.44
Table 2 shows that the activity plan developed has a constructionist element, is
innovative and related to the real interests of society and involve the use of robotic
for educational purpose. All the STEM subjects are included in the designed
activity plan together with robotic topics. Findings indicate that the activity plan
93
is not only become predefined guidelines and, therefore, it is also innovative.

Results of activity plan evaluation for the prerequisite category showed very high
scores for all aspects. The results of the activity plan evaluation based on these
criteria in the main categories are presented in Table 3.
Table 3. Results of activity plan evaluation for main category

Context Educational Tool Evaluation Continuity Accessibility
Activities
4.50 4.50 4.56 4.39 4.11 4.28
Table 3 shows that the activity plans designed have strengths in context,
educational activities, tools, evaluation, sustainability and accessibility. Overall,
the results of the evaluation show that the activity plans capture important
elements of the teaching and learning process based on theory and indicate their
potential effectiveness as learning tools.
The activity plan is then used as the basis for group development of student
worksheets for mathematics learning through a STEM approach using robotics.
Worksheets first collect/provide information on student names, topics, goals, and
learning instructions, as exemplified in Figure 3. The initial section also presents
an introductory story containing science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics content. This section provides information about student learning
objectives, introduction and motivation.
.
Figure 3: Introduction part of a student worksheet created by students.
Next, students are directed to start their activities. In this section, the problems are
presented in the form of interesting contextual cases that challenge students to
analyse and prepare strategies. An example is presented in Figure 4.
94
Figure 4: (a) Problem to be solved. (b) Introduction and checking of learning tools and
environments. (Robot: LEGO®)
The initial activity here involves understanding and checking of the necessary
tools and the learning environment; then, students construct objects and an
environment for them (both a physical environment and a digital environment,
through programming, as shown in Figure 5). While carrying out physical
activities and programming, students also collaboratively conducted the analysis.
Finally, students drew conclusions from the concepts being studied.
Figure 5: (a) Programming with LEGO® Programmer (Program: LEGO®)
The researchers conducted an analysis of the mathematical content and robotics

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

Empowered Digital Knowledge Innovative Computational Creative Global
Learner Citizen Constructor Designer Thinker Communicator Collaborator
4.30 4.35 4.2 4.45 4.15 4.3 4.1
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Table 4 shows that, in general, this activity plan supported students to take
advantage of technology to help them take an active role in selecting, achieving
and demonstrating competence in terms of their learning objectives, informed by
learning science. This is indicated by the Empowered Learner score of 4.30. The
Digital Citizen score of 4.32 shows that activity plans have the potential to support
students to recognise their rights, responsibilities and opportunities to live, learn
and work in an interconnected digital world, in safe, legal and ethical ways. The
Knowledge Constructor score of 4.2 means the activity plan supports students to
critically curate various resources using digital tools to build knowledge. The
Innovative Designer score of 4.45 means that the activity plan supports students
to use various technologies in the design process. The Computational Thinker
score of 4.15 means that the activity plan supports students to use the power of
technology to comprehend problems, propose solutions, as well as evaluate
strategies used to solve the problems. The Creative Communicator score of 4.3
means that the activity plan supports students to communicate clearly and
express themselves creatively, and the Global Collaborator score of 4.1 means that
the activity plan sufficiently supports students to use digital tools to broaden their
perspectives.
Based on the results of these studies, it can be shown that 21st-century skills can
be enhanced by STEM learning, which provides many benefits for education.
These results reinforce the statements and results of previous studies (Bergsten &
Frejd, 2019; Frejd, 2017; Kertil & Gurel, 2016; National Research Council, 2011;
Stohlmann et al., 2014). This approach successfully mixes difficult academic
principles and real-life educations as mentioned by Holmlund et al. (2018). This
research also shows that STEM helps students working with real-world activities
and increases students’ performance in learning and inspires students to study
science and mathematics, student learning through interdisciplinary experiences
relevant to real-world scenarios, problem- and project-based learning,
advancement of expertise in the 21st century, cooperation with STEM experts, and
the use of emerging technology in classroom activities. This result is in line with
previous studies (Bergsten & Frejd, 2019; Bicer et al., 2017; Jolly, 2016; Li et al.,
2019).
In this study, STEM has been implemented with an engineering design process
(EDP) approach that consists of defining and delimiting problems, designing
solutions, optimising the solutions by refining solutions and improving the final
design. The findings indicate that students were encouraged to improve their
ability to solve problems, thinking critically, and communicate with peers. This is
in line with some of the results of previous studies, such as Stohlmann et al. (2014),
Rackov and Knežević (2017) and Syukri et al. (2018).
In this research, robotics has been applied to support the integration of science,
technology, engineering and mathematics. This integration is based on references
from Mataric et al. (2007), Barker et al. (2008), and Altin and Pedaste (2013). This
study has contributed to answer the problem regarding how to provide cross-
curricular activities for STEM education by implementing STEM in an integrated
manner in schools, including lack of training for teachers, which will translate
96
STEM in the lesson plans. This research shows that teacher education
programmes can provide adequate training for pre-service teachers in practising
STEM education in mathematics classroom. This study fills the gaps by focusing
on designing a lecture model with a “STEM robotics” approach for prospective
mathematics teachers and their students and to explore its potential to promote
prospective mathematics teachers’ 21st-century skills. Thus, mathematics lectures
with the STEM robotics approach can help prepare prospective mathematics
teachers with 21st-century skills to teach mathematics in schools.
4. Conclusion
Through the RoboSTE[M] Project in this study, a lecture model, an online module
and a laboratory design delivered within the Mathematics Education Study
Programme have been developed to prepare prospective mathematics teachers to
be ready to teach mathematics using the STEM robotics approach and to be
oriented towards 21st-century skills. They were shown to be valid and suitable for
application in lectures based on implementation in class, and their potential to
promote prospective mathematics teachers’ 21st-century skills was explored. The
results of implementation show that this lecture activity can support prospective
mathematics teachers to plan learning activities and develop student worksheets
with the recommended models, for project-based learning, problem-based
learning, and discovery learning. Mathematics lessons planned by prospective
mathematics teachers with a STEM robotics approach can be designed for a
variety of topics, including geometry, sets, statistics and probability, number,
algebra, and trigonometry. The activities designed were also varied, and included
modelling, designing, coding, strategy, prediction, exploration, observation,
counting, trial and error, and manipulation. Further, students can design activities
using a variety of tools. Even with the STEM approach, mathematics remains
more dominant than other disciplines; nevertheless, the activity plans developed
here for learning mathematics with STEM robotics have the potential to support
students’ 21st-century skills.
The study reveals alternative strategies that can be used for preparing pre-service
STEM teachers that oriented towards 21st-century skills as well as developing
professional development for in-service teachers. STEM and robotics education is
important to be part of the pre-service teacher’s education curriculum, both stand-
alone and integrated in the courses studied. They are also important to offer in the
programme of in-service teachers’ professional development. This fits with the
era of the 4th industrial revolution that we are currently facing and accelerated
with the pandemic era.
The lecture model, laboratory design, and online module are recommended for
application and use in programmes to prepare future mathematics teachers. Next,
implementing an activity plan and student worksheet in schools is needed to
explore the impact of implementation on students’ 21st-century skills. This will
be done in the next step of this project.
97
5. Acknowledgements
We would like to express gratitude to the LP2M UNNES for providing a DIPA
research grant (Number: 158.23.4/UN37/PPK.3.1/2020. We would also like to
thank teachers and prospective teachers who participated as research partners in
our study.
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Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 100-117, July 2021
Investigating Cascade Training of CEFR-Aligned

Standards-Based English Language Curriculum
(SBELC) in Rural Malaysia
J. W. Ong
University of Malaysia, Terengganu, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6107-6354
A. J. Ahmad Tajuddin
University of Malaysia, Terengganu, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3261-0877
Abstract. This article describes a study to understand teachers’ experience

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

education; teacher training
1. Introduction
Curriculum reforms have been a staple in education policies in many countries as
a way to keep their education system up to date and to reflect the changing
demands of society and the economy (Gouedard et al., 2020). Field studies of
curriculum reform experience have been performed by many (e.g., Abdul
Rahman, 2014; De Segovia & Hardison, 2009; Wang, 2008), with results mostly
©Authors
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pointing towards the curriculum not implemented in the intended manner. Many
reasons have been discovered, such as teachers’ lack of training and
understanding of the curriculum, failure of the training structure to function fully,
and a lack of resources to ensure a smooth implementation. Rural schools
especially were found to be susceptible to the latter (Aziz et al., 2019).
Malaysia has implemented a new English Language curriculum by aligning its

previous curriculum with the Common European Framework of Reference for
Languages (CEFR). This CEFR-Aligned Standards-Based English Language
Curriculum (SBELC) commenced in 2016 with a dissemination process to teachers.
The curriculum has officially been implemented in classrooms since 2018. To date,
research on the SBELC implementation has been limited, with studies either
describing the dissemination process in general (Abdul Hafiz et al., 2018) or
focusing on teachers’ perception of the SBELC itself (Mohd Yusof et al.; Mohd Uri
& Abdul Aziz, 2020) or the textbooks used (Johar & Abdul Aziz, 2019).
Moreover, there is a dearth of studies regarding the experience of Malaysian rural

teachers in undergoing cascade training to prepare for the implementation of the
new English Language curriculum. Therefore, there is a need to explore the
dissemination and training experience of teachers, with a focus on rural schools,
in order to compare the findings against the recommendations by Hayes (2000) so
that improvements can be made to increase dissemination and training
effectiveness.
This study aims to discover the training and dissemination experience of English
teachers in rural areas in Sabah, East Malaysia. The findings are compared against
the recommendations by Hayes (2000) on effective cascade training. Discrepancies
are reviewed, and recommendations are made to close the gap. The questions
guiding the study are as follows:
1) How do rural teachers perceive their training process regarding the SBELC
dissemination?
2) Are there opportunities to improve the SBELC training process?
SBELC Dissemination Process
The Ministry of Education Malaysia (MOE) has developed a multi-level cascade
training model to disseminate the SBELC curriculum content and train teachers
for its implementation (Abdul Hafiz et al., 2018). The MOE has also decided to
break down the content of the training into several modules. About 5–7 first-level
trainers from Cambridge English were recruited to train up to 200 second-tier
trainers, known as National Master Trainers. These National Master Trainers were
then assigned to train about 30 Malaysian English Language teachers each,
producing up to 6000 third-tier trainers, designated as District Trainers. These
third-tier trainers are the ones who train the final recipients in school. The SBELC
curriculum content is broken down into four modules: Familiarisation; Learning
Material Evaluation, Adaptation, and Design; Curriculum Induction; and Item
Writing and Formative Assessment. Figure 1 illustrates the tiers in the cascade
training system.
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5–7 Experts from

Cambridge English
Up to 200
National Master Trainers
Up to 6000
District Trainers
School Teachers
Figure 1: Tiers in SBELC Cascade Dissemination Process
These four major modules were disseminated in three years, each with its own
unique cascading environment. Different Cambridge English Experts, National
Master Trainers, and District Trainers were employed for each module. Training
was conducted from October to November 2016 for the Familiarisation course, in
the third quarter of 2017 for Learning Material Adaptation and Design and
Curriculum Induction, and in the first quarter of 2018 for Item Writing and
Formative Assessment modules. There is still ongoing training as new syllabuses
are being introduced (Mohd Uri & Abdul Aziz, 2020).
The study noted several strengths of the cascade training model, notably the effort
of breaking the content into several modules for delivery in its own cascading
environment and attempts to provide opportunities for contextualised, hands on
training for teachers. However, there were also issues, such as inadequate time for
lower level cascade training and inadequate materials and equipment to support
training (Abdul Hafiz et al., 2018).
SBELC Dissemination in Malaysian Rural Schools

All national schools were involved, irrespective of localities, in the country-wide
dissemination process. Rural schools were also included in this process.
Although there are exceptions, Malaysian rural schools in general tend to suffer
from a lack of facilities, resources, and experienced teachers (Marwan et al., 2012;
Mohd Zeki et al., 2020). These rural schools tend to rely heavily on young,
inexperienced, and often overworked teachers, which affects the teaching quality
(Nur, 2015). These schools also suffer from low accessibility, resulting in a less
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ideal working environment for teachers and administrators and lower

educational achievements among students (Aziz et al., 2019).
To date, no research has been done on the cascade training of any English
Language curriculum in rural Malaysian schools. Therefore, it remains unclear
whether rural school teachers would stand to benefit from this training or face
significant issues that will eventually derail the training and implementation of
the SBELC.
Cascade Model
The MOE’s decision to adopt the cascade model could be due to its cost-
effectiveness; a high number of teachers could be trained with a low level of
resources (Abeysena et al., 2016; Karalis, 2016). The cascade model is appropriate
for situations where a large numbers of teachers need to be re-trained or the
training content needs to be tailored to teachers’ local needs (Lange, 2013), as
lower-level training sessions tend to include teachers from similar locations and
contexts. Many studies regarding the curricular reform dissemination process in
Malaysia have shown that the Malaysian education system uses the cascade
model to train teachers on curriculum reforms (e.g., Abdul Aziz et al., 2018;
Mohamad, et al., 2019; Abdul Rahman, 2014).
Bett (2016) and Turner et al. (2016) provided a good description of the cascade
model. This model employs a system of ‘levels’, where training is conducted and
provided in a pyramid or top-down system. At the top level, a selected group of
trainers will receive training directly from the curriculum planners from whom
they learn the new curriculum’s objectives, approach, strategies, and method of
execution. These trainers will then be assigned a group or a team of teachers to
train, usually at a lower level, and these teachers will then pass on what was
learned from the trainers to their colleagues at an even lower level.
A perfect description of a cascade training model is that eventually knowledge is

transferred to every targeted recipient using the least amount of resources.
However, the cascade model has some shortcomings. Its system of training often
makes it susceptible to dilution, where the amount of information and knowledge
transferred reduces with every step down the training levels. This phenomenon
is common in many cascade training processes (Suzuki, 2001; Bett, 2016; Dichaba
& Mokhele, 2012) and is also encountered in the Malaysian context (Abdul Hafiz
et al., 2018; Abdul Rahman, 2014).
However, Hayes (2000) considers the dilution problem in cascade training as an

implementation problem rather than a structural issue that cannot be remedied.
He proposed a list of five criteria for ensuring the success of any cascade training,
namely:
• The method of conducting the training must be experiential and reflective
rather than transmissive;
• The training must be open to reinterpretation and rigid adherence to
prescribed ways of working should not be expected;
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• Expertise must be diffused through the system as widely as possible rather

than concentrated at the top;
• A cross-section of stakeholders must be involved in the preparation of
training materials;
• Decentralisation of responsibilities within the cascade structure is
desirable.
A well-structured reflection session during training allows teachers to monitor

their own progress, identify areas where they need more input, and seek more
support to further refine and complete their understanding (Dichaba & Mokhele,
2012).
Teachers also need space to reinterpret the new input from training and decide
the best way to teach and implement the reforms in their own classrooms (Hayes,
2000). A highly inflexible and rigid training structure with no opportunities for
reinterpretation will severely limit teachers’ creativity and ability to teach a new
curriculum properly, resulting in failure of the curriculum reform.
Hayes (2000) also opines that expertise needs to be spread out and made widely
available throughout the cascade system in ensuring the success of cascade model
training. A wide availability of experts (trainers, teachers trained at higher levels,
early practitioners of the new ideas) will provide members within the cascade
system with easy access for counsel, advice, and support. This arrangement will
help everyone to develop a better understanding of the curriculum change.
Hayes (2000) also emphasises the preparation of training materials, stressing the
importance of involving all stakeholders in this process. The involvement of as
many stakeholders as possible across training levels will ensure that the training
materials created will be as relevant as possible to teachers’ situation and avoid
issues such as the materials created do not reflect the true situation in the
classroom.
Successful cascade training should practise a degree of decentralisation of the

responsibilities within the cascade environment. The power and authority to
conduct cascade training needs to be shared by all instead of concentrated only
among the planners. Such move will result in the involvement of more
stakeholders in the curriculum dissemination process which will encourage them
to develop a sense of ownership that is crucial to the success of any cascade model
training and curriculum reform as a whole.
Cascade Training – How Did It Go?

A wide array of field studies that documented the results and observations of
cascade training have been published. Bett (2016) and Abdul Hafiz et al. (2018)
discovered that a lack of materials and equipment hampered training
effectiveness. Hayes (2010) and Dichaba and Mokhele (2012) observed a general
deterioration in the information transferred as the training progressed down the
levels. Abdul Rahman (2014) discovered that cascade training was not even
conducted at the lowest level at some of the schools she observed.
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Teachers found it difficult to access support and help from trainers or experts after
their training (Altinyelken, 2010; Madondo, 2020). Some faced issues to access
training due to their school’s geographical isolation and a lack of facilities (Du
Plessis & Mestry, 2019; Hamzah & Paramasivan, 2017). Nonetheless, almost all
the studies agreed that cascade training can be improved by ensuring better
training experience and information transfer, resulting in better-prepared
teachers.
3. Methodology
Participants
The main participants of this study are English Language teachers who taught
English in rural Sabah national secondary schools as listed in Universiti Malaysia
Sabah’s (2018) list of rural schools.
These teachers had been teaching SBELC for at least six months at the time of data
collection and had undergone training in teaching the new curriculum. The study
was conducted in the rural regions of Sabah, East Malaysia. The location was
selected as the researcher was a teacher in the said region, and studies about
English Language Teaching (ELT) was found to be lacking. Hence, the focus on
this region may reveal new insights and understanding about rural education in
Malaysia.
Of the six teachers selected for the study, three served as trainers during the
SBELC dissemination process. Two teachers were National Master Trainers, and
one was a District Trainer. Participants were sourced based on snowball sampling
with the aim of including all the five subdivisions in Sabah.
Procedures
The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with the participants. This
study adapted the interview protocols developed by Wang (2008), who had
investigated the curriculum change experience in China. All participants were
first briefed on the nature of the study and how their responses would be used,
and they were informed that their identity will be protected. Participants also
signed the consent form before the actual interviews started.
A pilot test was done on another teacher and amendments were made before the
actual interview was conducted. One major issue identified during the pilot test
was that the questions did not seem open enough, which would limit the
participants from voicing their views. Thus, the researcher amended the questions
before proceeding with the actual interviews.
During the interviews, the researcher asked further questions that were not
included in the interview protocol whenever there were responses that could
provide deeper insight into the study. The duration of each interview was around
40 minutes to one hour to avoid causing fatigue to the participants. The interviews
were scheduled at one-week intervals to prevent bias and impressions from the
previous interview from influencing the subsequent ones. Interviews were
106
recorded in the audio format and deleted once transcribed. Participants’ identities
were protected by assigning them with pseudonyms: Nancy, Joanne, Marcus,
Jason, Zack, and Queenie.
Data Analysis
Audio recording was transcribed verbatim et literatim into text and then analysed
via a deductive thematic analysis using Atlas.ti 9.0. The following a priori themes
followed Hayes’ (2010) suggestions for a dissemination process using the cascade
model:
• Reflective vs. transmissive
• Reinterpretation vs. rigid adherence
• Diffusion and decentralisation
• Resources and materials
Any utterances that could inform the study were first collected into their a priori
themes and then scrutinised deeper and regrouped into the respective sub-themes.
Sub-themes were created inductively, depending on the responses collected.
During the analysis of the sixth interview responses, it was discovered that the
responses had close similarities to the opinions expressed by the previous
respondents, suggesting a certain level of saturation had been reached (Saunders
et al., 2017). Considering Harding’s (2013) advice that the decision to stop
collecting data should also include operational practicalities such as the subjects
had covered the required areas adequately as well as budgetary and resource
concerns, the researcher decided to stop collecting interview data after
interviewing six participants.
4. Results & Discussion
Presentation of Quantitative Data

A total of 141 quotes that were extracted from the interview transcripts provide
potential answers to the research question. The study recorded a total of 64
positive quotes and 48 negative quotes. Quotes that described the participants’
training experience as pleasant, supportive, and beneficial were classified as
positive, and vice versa. The total number of quotes does not tally with the total
numbers of positive and negative quotes, as some of the statements that could
contribute to the research question are neutral, being neither positive nor negative.
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Figure 2: Distribution of teachers’ perceptions of their SBELC training experience
As Figure 2 shows, the participants had a positive experience in training. In

general, they displayed satisfaction and agreement that the training they received
was helpful. This finding is consistent with Suzuki (2001) and Cheung and Wong
(2012), which stated that professional development training helps improve
teachers’ implementation of a curriculum change. Regarding teachers’ satisfaction
with training, the finding of this study contradicts Mwangi and Mugambi (2013),
which discovered that teachers were unhappy to attend training. The next section
of this paper will discuss the findings based on the a priori themes adopted from
Hayes (2000).
Reflective vs. Transmissive

Most of the time, the teachers had training experience that was reflective in nature,
although occasionally, a transmissive training style emerged:
Table 1: Teachers’ sharing their reflective training experience

Participant Quotes
“I like how the CE, Cambridge English gives us hands-on training on the
Joanne spot. They don’t leave it in the next subsequent course. ‘Okay, here is the
curriculum induction and there are some of the activities that we would like
you to try out in your group’. It is not just chalk-and-talk but you get to try
it out as well.”
Nancy “I enjoyed the most when we had this gathering at the training, this problem
sharing session about students, regarding this CEFR.”
108
The responses in Table 1 show that teachers engaged in interactive activities and
that there were interactions with their trainers and among the trainees themselves.
These findings are consistent with the descriptions in Abdul Hafiz et al. (2018).
The teachers also described having the opportunity to discuss, reflect, and
improve their practice by sharing problems and the possible solutions. These
findings are in line with the recommendations of Hayes (2000) and Nagappan
(2001). Such process would allow them to monitor their own progress, identify
areas where they needed more input, and seek more support to further refine and
complete their understanding (Dichaba & Mokhele, 2012).
However, there were also instances of transmissive training:

“Most of the trainings are wasting time in the sense that we are attending
the training, and the trainers speak and dragging time.” Nancy
Nancy reported a training experience that was transmissive in nature. She

described that as a result, trainees showed a lack of participation, low
commitment, low morale, and a lack of ownership of the curriculum reform,
consistent with the findings of Nagappan (2001). This is a point of concern, as such
a situation is highly likely to result in training failure. Table 2 presents one of the
participants’ responses regarding the outcomes of such transmissive training
experience:
Table 2: Outcomes of transmissive training experience

Participant Quotes
Nancy “Most of the time, everyone literally plays their smart phone.”
Nancy “Yes, and then they came late.”
Open for Reinterpretation vs. Rigid Adherence

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

Participant Quotes
Joanne “During the micro-teaching session, when we plan our lesson, we would
include all the bits that they taught in the activities.”
Queenie “Firstly, we need to do it. We need to do hands-on activities before we can

give it in our class. It was more doing and less talking.”
Teachers reported of engaging in interactive training, where beyond the

opportunity to receive input, they were also given the chance to apply the input
to suit their teaching contexts in forms such as micro-teaching sessions and hands-
109
on activities. The findings are consistent with the suggestion by Hayes (2000) to
allow teachers a little individual space to integrate new curriculum into their daily
teaching context.
Despite the overall training experience being open to reinterpretation, there were
also situations of rigid adherence, as shown in Table 4:
Table 4: Examples of rigid adherence demanded from teachers

Participant Quotes
Joanne “They say you are required to finish (the scheme of work).”
Joanne “They really highlighted the fact that we should follow the cycles, we
should not disrupt it by rearranging it ourselves.”
Rigid demands on teachers to follow the curriculum requirements with little

freedom are consistent with the findings of Bauml (2015) and Certo (2006). The
authors discovered that teachers were required to follow their curriculum guides,
where they had to teach certain content within a certain timeframe, which is very
similar to how the SBELC scheme of work is designed.
The findings show that overall, teachers went a training experience that allowed
reinterpretation, where they were given the space to adapt and adjust the SBELC
to fit their teaching context. This was achieved though discussions, reflections,
and hands on training that allowed them to apply the input into their daily
practice such as creating lesson plans and conducting microteaching.
Diffusion and decentralisation of expertise

The overall impression is the teachers agreed that they did not face problems in
gaining access and reaching the experts that could help them with the SBELC
implementation, as shown in Table 5:
Table 5: Decentralisation of expertise

Participant Quotes
Marcus “I particularly enjoy being in the telegram group where my trainers are in,
super helpful.”
Jason “I was also privileged enough to say when I contacted to these people (master
trainers) for clarification of certain things, they were expectable prepared),
they were reachable, and they are very proactive.”
Zack “We discuss about teaching ideas and tips in meetings, in our PLC group.”
110
The teachers also had access to non-official channels of expertise to obtain

information and support on the SBELC, as shown in Table 6:
Table 6: Non-official channels to access expertise

Participant Quotes
Marcus “I also go online and look at websites of other English teachers and get tips
and also exchange messages with them.
Joanne “We share materials and teaching resources within our WhatsApp group.
Morning coffee conversations are also a good chance to find out what are the
teachers doing and if I can ‘steal’ some of their ideas too.”
Based on the participants’ responses, it can be said that they had many avenues
to reach out to experts for assistance with the curriculum implementation from
master trainers to their colleagues, as well as other teachers who had established
online presence for expertise sharing. These findings contradict Altinyelken (2010)
and Madondo (2020), which reported that teachers lacked access to expertise
when they were implementing a new curriculum.
The accessibility was also facilitated by the attitudes of the master trainers
themselves, who made themselves available to support the teachers to whom they
cascaded the training, as shown in Table 7:
Table 7: Proactive and Collaborative Trainers

Participant Quotes
Zack “Very collaborative. We have a WhatsApp and Telegram group where

teachers I’ve trained can ask question straight to me.”
Joanne “For my teachers (that she trained), they came to me and me ‘is it okay if I do
this and that?’”
Zack is a national master trainer who conducted cascade training at the state level,
and Joanne is a district trainer who conducted cascade training at the district level.
These positive findings are consistent with the recommendation by Hayes (2000)
and Gask et al. (2019) to have expertise spread out and widely available
throughout the cascade system in ensuring the success of cascade model training.
Regarding diffusion, the training was diffused at the lowest level, where teachers
received training at their respective schools. This finding contradicts the result of
Abdul Rahman (2014) that some schools did not conduct cascade training for
teachers, suggesting that the diffusion of expertise did not reach the lowest level
of the cascade environment.
111
However, the level of training at the lower level of the cascade showed some
inconsistencies in that the quality of the training deteriorated. Table 8 describes
the findings:
Table 8: Training issues at the lower cascade level

Participant Quotes
Marcus “It’s just a short session, English teachers come in after school, I showed them
the slides and that’s all it is.”
“In national level is that you get all kind of support… State level, similar but
lesser when it comes to material support. But when it comes to district level
Jason and the school level, that is when a lot of problems come in because there are
a lot of interference. … ‘I need this (to) end right now’ (instructed by school
admins) even if it is in the middle of training. School level, same thing.”
Zack “But when it came to school cascading, that’s where I think half of the content
of the courses was not able to be delivered successfully to the teachers.”
The teachers reported gradual deterioration in the training quality as the cascade
level progressed downwards in aspects such as the allocated time and materials,
interference from school administration, and dilution of information.
The findings are consistent with Abdul Rahman (2014), which also detected issues
of training quality deterioration lower down the cascade environment. Madondo
(2020) also reported issues with materials and facilities for teachers’ training. In
this study, Jason’s description is almost a perfect depiction of the situation
described by Abdul Hafiz et al. (2018). They reported that training at the lower
levels of the cascade suffered from issues such as insufficient time, a lack of
materials, and inadequate equipment.
Overall, it seems that the distribution of expertise was decentralised enough for
teachers to gain access to some expertise support across many official and
unofficial channels to assist them in the SBELC implementation and on the
diffusion front, training was able to reach the teachers at the lowest level (school
level). However, a notable drop in training quality at that level relative to higher
levels of the cascade training was detected.
Resources & Materials

In general, teachers recorded dissatisfaction regarding the allocation of resources
and materials for their training. Most described issues related to materials such as
training manual and information and communication technologies (ICT)
equipment as well as resource-based issues such as transportation and time.
A general trend detected from the teachers’ comments is that the lower the
cascade level, the fewer materials and resources were allocated for training. They
reported that there were few materials prepared, teachers were not released to
112
attend training, and training at lower levels tended to be shortened and was
subject to interference from the school administration. Table 9 and Figure 3
present the teachers’ responses on these issues:
Table 9. Fewer resources and materials allocated at lower cascade training levels
Person Quotes
Marcus “I was told by my master trainer that national and state level trainings are 5
days, but district level is only 3.”
“In national level is that you get all kinds of support… State level, similar but
lesser when it comes to material support. But when it comes to district level
Jason and the school level, that is when a lot of problems come in because there are a
lot of interference. … ‘I need this (to) end right now’ [instructed by school
admins] even if it is in the middle of training. School level, same thing.”
Joanne “Feel like this is such a silly thing. How could you not have the scheme of work,
the framework and all that ready during the cascading?”
Figure 3: Allocation of resources in the cascade model of the SBELC training.
This finding is consistent with the results of Abdul Rahman (2014), Madondo
(2020), and Abdul Hafiz, et al. (2018). They reported issues of training quality
deterioration lower down the cascade environment. These issues include lesser
time and a lack of materials such as physical copies of documents and equipment.
These issues could be due to these lower level training sessions were held in rural
areas, where shortages of materials and resources are well documented (Aziz, et
al., 2019; Marwan et al., 2012; Mohd Zeki et al., 2020).
113
The teachers also reported issues of access. They had problems to attend training
due to issues such as transport and their school administration’s refusal to release
them during school hours, as described in Table 10:
Table 10: Issues faced by teachers to attend training

Participant Quotes
“Some also have issues getting the transport out. I drive a pickup truck so I
Marcus can negotiate rough roads to come to town, but some teachers don’t have the
luxury. They have to end up depending on other transports, and when that
doesn’t come through for them, they either have to fork out their own funds,
or give up on the training.”
Zack “It’s very difficult to call all the teachers from each district to go to a big
training centre of each state, particularly in rural Sabah. Another logistics
problem.”
Joanne “I understand that the school cannot send all the English teachers to come.
Some schools didn’t let all their teachers to go for the training.
These findings are consistent with Du Plessis and Mestry (2019), Hamzah and
Paramasivan (2017), and Handal et al. (2013), which described rural teachers as
facing difficulties to access training due to funding issues, geographical distance,
and transportation. The finding of school administration keeping teachers in
school is also consistent with the results of Altinyelken (2010) and Aziz et al. (2019).
Overall, it is discovered that although teachers received excellent training at the

upper level, the lower level of the cascade environment faced issues such as a lack
of resources and materials that are necessary for maximum outcomes from
training. These are serious issues as without proper training, teachers will have to
implement the SBELC without adequate knowledge and understanding of the
curriculum. The implementation of curriculum reform with little understanding
of it is highly likely to be flawed (De Segovia & Hardison, 2008; Wang, 2008),
derailing the success of the curriculum reform.
5. Discussion
Improving cascade training experience for rural teachers

The findings revealed that the teachers in general underwent positive training
experience, even though there were issues related to resources and access. Several
steps may be taken to address these issues.
First, one level of the cascade training may be removed by appointing National
Master Trainers as trainers at the district level instead of at the state level. The
number of levels is usually correlated with dilution, and hence, removing one
level is likely to reduce the dilution, resulting in the dissemination of more
114
information to teachers at the lowest level. This recommendation was also made
by the study of Mohamad et al. (2019).
The National Master Trainers can go on ‘tours’ across the states they are assigned
to, covering all the districts in the state. Appointing several National Master
Trainers to train at the district level will ensure that information is cascaded down
uniformly. In addition, these trainers’ training abilities are expected to improve
after conducting many training sessions. Skipping a level will also allow the
resources that are currently allocated for state level training to be reallocated for
school and district level training, which will address the current issue of limited
resources. However, the disadvantage of this approach is that the master trainers
will not be in their respective schools for an extended time period. Therefore,
arrangements need to be made for other teachers to take over the trainers’ role at
their respective schools.
One of the suggestions made by Hayes (2000) to improve cascade training is to

provide access to expertise, especially to trainees at the lower level. This
suggestion may be implemented by engaging master trainers and excellent
adopters of the curriculum (such as high-performing teachers) to organise virtual
training for teachers. Rural school teachers with internet connectivity can attend
the online training from their locations. Training videos can be provided to
teachers with weak connectivity or facility issues via download links or in
physical formats such as a USB drive or a DVD.
Such arrangements will allow teachers to access the expertise of not just their
immediate trainer but also the master trainers at higher levels. Excellent adopters
of the curriculum will have the platform to provide more practical on the ground
tips for curriculum implementation that might not be covered by the master
trainers. These arrangements will also enable teachers to attend dissemination
training without incurring high travelling expenses.
Another way to offer more training opportunities for teachers is by developing

self-study materials. These materials may be used to complement training and
may serve as reference notes to teachers when they have returned to their rural
school surroundings. Self-study materials will also allow teachers to self-study
and learn about a new curriculum, especially when school level training is
ineffective.
Teachers in this study expressed that joining online communities for teachers is
useful as they can access expertise and obtain ideas for lesson preparation.
However, since these groups are unofficial, irrelevant information may also be
shared and some groups eventually degenerated into gossip channels:
”Some are very useful as it helps me to prepare non-textbook lessons,
some degenerated into gossip and business promotions, so I left those.” -
Marcus
One way to address the issue is by creating an official online community for
teachers nationwide. An official community offers several benefits. The content
may be controlled, and irrelevant information such as gossips or advertisements
115
may be removed. Any information related to the SBELC implementation may be

monitored by experts to ensure maximum accuracy. The official community will
also allow maximum exchanges between experts at all levels of the cascade
environment. For example, National Master Trainers can answer the questions
asked by teachers and organise webinars for all teachers and trainers. This
openness will ensure maximum training opportunities for all teachers regardless
of their physical location.
6. Implications
This study has attempted to describe and analyse the living experience of teachers
in rural Sabah who attended dissemination training for the SBELC. The analysis
revealed that teachers generally had a positive impression of their training and
that their training was reflective, open to reinterpretation, diffused, and
decentralized in terms of expertise. The issues discovered were on inadequate
resources that led to a deterioration in training quality lower down the cascade
levels. The researchers have compared this study’s findings with many previous
studies including Hayes (2000), which recommended ways to improve the
cascade training. This study has also proposed several measures to improve the
training experience of rural Sabah teachers.
This study offers several directions for future research. Since only six teachers and
two National Master Trainers were interviewed in the current study, the
generalizability of this study’s findings are limited. Future researchers may focus
on the same issue but employ a quantitative study method with survey
questionnaires as the instrument.
Finally, this study discovered that rural Sabah schools face additional challenges
in implementing cascade training due to their isolated locations and insufficient
resources that are necessary for high-quality training at the lower levels. More
research should be done to find ways to further improve the effectiveness of
cascade training in ensuring the smooth and successful implementation of the
SBELC.
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Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 118-134, July 2021
Untrained Foreign English Educators in Japan:

A Discourse on Government Education Initiative
and Perceptions from Japanese Teacher's on
Efficacy in the Classroom
Gregory Paul Chindemi

Chugoku Gakuen University, Okayama, Japan
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0585-5465
Abstract. Social scientists, teacher leaders, and academics, both Japanese

and non-Japanese, have attempted to examine the phenomenon of
unlicensed foreigners in the Japanese classroom environment. In an
attempt to open a discourse on the intentions and subsequent failures of
the JET programme, and to identify specific perceptions of Japanese
teachers in relation to JET, a historical analysis of the JET programme
coupled with a Likert Scale survey was utilized. In this ordinal scale
survey, the opinions of both experienced Japanese teachers and
inexperienced Japanese teachers on the challenges of working in
conjunction with untrained foreign instructors during their career, were
used to gauge teacher's attitudes and opinions. Results would suggest
that teacher's with longer time in the field of education have stronger
opinions towards untrained foreign educators in the classroom, while
less experienced teachers are more apt to working with untrained
foreign educators without expressing dissatisfaction.
Keywords: government education initiative; English education in Japan;

ALT; education training; teacher experience
1. Introduction
When considering the scope and degree of difficulty in implementing nation-
wide education initiatives, few have been as grandiose as what the country of
Japan proposed in the fall of 1987. While some researchers (Maeda, 2013; Ishi,
2009; Brown, 2008; Borg,2018) seem to trace a path of origin to two prominent
English language programs, most notably, the 1977 Monbusho English Fellow
Project (Abb. MEF), and the 1978 British English Teachers Scheme (Abb. BETS), a
delve into the tense political climate of the world in the mid-late 1980's reveals a
more complex narrative.
©Author
119
The longest running language teaching exchange program in the world known
as the JET Programme (Japanese Exchange Teaching Programme), at its
inception in 1987, included 848 participants from 4 participating countries (the
United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand) (JET
programme participant information, 2019). Bilked as a Japanese tax funded
language and cultural exchange program, Ohtani (2010) explained that the poor
eligibility criteria for entry into the programme was intentional. Applicants to
the program required no background in education or teaching, alternatively
applicants only needed to possess a four-year college degree in any field, a
native skill in the English language, and an eagerness to live in Japan. The title
Assistant language teacher (ALT) was adopted in 1988, shortly after the program
began instead of teacher in order to create a "non-threatening hierarchy" in the
Japanese workplace (p.44). While overwhelmingly comprised of untrained,
newly college graduated native English speakers, who were often unfamiliar
with the essential skill set to effectively navigate a classroom, the JET
Programme has flourished for nearly 33 years. According to the 2020 public
information release from the Japanese Ministry of Education and the Ministry of
Internal Affairs and Communication (Abb. MIC) over 5,761 foreigners currently
are employed through JET by the Japanese government and currently living in
Japan (MIC, 2020).
Researchers on government policy and cultural relations, Metzger (2012) and

McConnell (2000) present convincing cases, suggesting that this program,
originally created as a form public diplomacy once held substantial merit.
However, Metzger (2012) also points out that, "the evolution of the program's
mission over time is responsible for the dearth of studies examining components
other than educational value"(p.11). While she acknowledges that the core goals
of programme were originally rooted in cultural exchange, Ohtani (2010)
suggests the quality of the program in terms of an educational initiative must be
assessed by qualitative means, and result driven data, in order to attempt to
form an opinion on whether or not the JET Programme can be thought of as
beneficial to Japanese communities or schools.
The intentions in this research are manifold: to address the historical and
circumstantial political implications for the JET Programme, to highlight what
can be construed as apparent failures to the inferred educational aims of the
program, to evaluate strong criticisms of the program from Japanese journalists
and researchers, to unpack the viewpoints of prominent teacher leaders on what
constitutes a "quality teacher", and to present qualitative data from Japanese
teachers concerning the challenges that encompass working in conjunction with
an untrained foreign teacher.
1.1 The "Ron-Yasu Relationship" (1982-1987)

While the period from 1945-1952-a regime of the indirect American military rule
in Japan-was considered by historians to be an occupation that was more
"reformist than revolutionary", aspects of it is played vital role in the
groundwork for future educational initiatives (Mason & Caiger, 2001, p.355).
The architecture of Japanese society including: police forces, education, labor
120
relations, large scale business, and both urban and rural landholdings, were
fundamentally altered to resemble the democratic standards reminiscent in the
United States. However, more pertinent in terms of educational reform,
American derived syllabi for core subjects being taught at all levels of education,
were inserted into the Japanese classroom. Starting in 1947, and for the first time
in the history of Japanese education, social studies courses, primarily comprised
of American, and more specifically, democratic perspectives in relation to the
world, became compulsory for all Japanese junior high and high schools.
As the 1980's approached, America was in deep in the throes of a recession

caused by disinflationary monetary policies and oil price increase from the
Iranian revolution of 1979. Simultaneously, Japan was leading the world in six
major industries; textiles, iron & steel, home appliances, automobiles,
telecommunications, and semi-conductor technology (Shapiro, 1983, pp.33-36).
American bases remained stations for logistic operations through the 1960's and
during the Vietnam War in 1970. America, and countries in Europe remained
entangled in world conflict, while Japan was able to focus solely on its own
economic markets, under the backdrop of the impending cold war with the
Soviet Union.
Under Prime minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, Japan as an economic leader, had

come to hold prestige amongst the United Nations, the World Bank, and the
exclusive organization for cooperation and development. Yet, it wouldn't
achieve this until, through coercion and persistence, the Japanese government
yielded to the United States and opened their markets to American goods.
President Reagan, in an effort to thwart the protectionist economic policies of the
1970`s, sought to change the dynamic between both Japan and the United States.
Japan had previously restricting imports, while incentivizing their own exports,
and Reagan applied constant pressure to Japan to open trade (Shapiro, 1983,
pp.33-36).
Remarking on Japanese Prime minster Nakasone, Mason & Caiger (2001) assert:
"Nakasone presided with distinction, and in a general atmosphere of
calm and self-confidence, over a party and nation traversing what may
come to be seen as the peaks of a particular and important stage of their
development"(p.366).
Two years prior to the creation of the JET Programme, the United States had
imposed an unreasonable 100% import tax on all Japanese computers, TV and
technology, in an aggressive strategy to force Japan into signing agreements to
share semiconductor technology and open the border to American imports. The
Ron-Yasu relationship was a benchmark for Japan in that it significantly
improved Japan's relationship with all western powers-and in consideration of
the modern western world's adoption of Japanese cars, goods, and technology- it
has been economically speaking-mutually beneficial. Nonetheless, the imposed
trade agreement, signed in 1986, would come to include an unexpected omiyage
(Japanese gift) from the Japanese government offered at the Nakasone-Reagan
trade agreement summit in 1986.
121
As noted by McConnel (1996), it was the head of the ministry of foreign affairs,
Ikuyo Sato, who presented the idea at the Nakasone-Reagan trade agreement
summit as one alternative method to use surplus yen from Japan's overflowing
annual trade surplus. Despite unanimous opposition from the members of the
Ministry of Education, the 300-million-dollar JET Programme was emphatically
pushed through by the divisions of government that would come to oversee the
programme to this day- Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. The programme was promoted on two premises; that 90% of the money
spent on funding the JET Programme would 'stay in Japan', assuming that
foreigners would spend the lucrative salaries that they earned within Japan, and
that the programme would act as a 'grassroots cultural exchange', putting local
Japanese communities in direct contact with foreigners living amongst them
(McConnel, 1996, pp.440-448).
Past researchers on the JET Programme have provided comprehensive material

on the complex governance and the justifications of its present-day continuation
(Brown, 2008; see also Borg, 2018; Ishi, 2009; Maeda, 2013; Metzger, 2012;
McConnell, 1996; Reed, 2015). However, in terms of addressing the goals of the
JET Programme and how those goals have been met over the years, Borg`s (2018)
macro perspective seems to articulate most clearly:
Suffice it to say, there are myriad vested interests across Japan that have
benefited (and continue to benefit) from JET's existence. In other words,
it is inevitable that different individuals and groups will perceive the
goals of the programme according to their own interests (p. 199).
In this vein, he emphasizes that the three ministries that currently oversee the
JET Programme; the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Education, and
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs retain a fundamental and self-seeking 'cui bono'
component ('who benefits') disposition in regard to the distribution of the
financial resources involved with JET. Along with these financial interests, each
department has differing ambitions for the program; to allow an influx of
foreigners into Japan from year to year, to promote an mutual understanding of
culture and society amongst the youth, and the goal that I would like to most
emphasize in this research, "a representative of the third agency, the Ministry of
Education, Science, and Culture, improving Japanese students' and teachers'
"communicative competence in English" (McConnel,1996, as cited in Metzger,
2012, p.448).
Reed (2015) in a comparison of an interview with a Jet participant from 1988,

and a respondent from 25 years later, draws attention to the unchanging
ambiguity that some foreigners possess in relation to their responsibility in the
classroom. The 1988 participant was quoted saying, "I do not know what we are
here for", while a respondent who was interviewed 25 years later, in 2014 replied,
"I feel like my job is akin to an English mascot, and there is little value in what I
do"(p.1). In trying to understand the lack of clarity some foreign assistant
instructors might have towards the education system, one must understand the
low standards of eligibility for the program, and the lack of systematic training
to prepare each instructor for their role in the classroom environment. To put
complete blame on the JET participant for the lack of efficacy in the classroom, is
122
to ignore the inconsistencies within the organizations that facilitate their

employment.
According to an AJET (a volunteer JET council comprised of JETs) study

conducted among 450 participants, 88.9% of them felt unqualified or unprepared
to work towards the goals that were created by the Ministry of Education (Abb.
MEXT) (Ohtani, 2010). In her commentary, Ohtani (2010) articulates, "ALTs
have insufficient education & pedagogic background, and they are thrown into
the Japanese education system without adequate training and preparation"(p.40).
In the words of a former JET recruiter and consular official, "ALTs are not
regarded as pedagogues, but as 'cheerleaders for the English language' "(Borg,
2018, p.260).
The lack of credentials, and subsequently, background in education of JET

participants, can be clearly exemplified in publicly available records obtained
from the The Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (abb.
CLAIR) website. In a representative sample of 392 JETs, only 5% of applicants
had an education background, and a mere 1% of the applicants had an academic
specialization in what is considered by countries as a pre-requisite qualification
to teaching the English language effectively in a non-English speaking country -
TEFL or TESL training. In fact, TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language)
and TESL (teaching English as a second language) certifications are mandated
requirements to teach English in Korea, China, Thailand, or Vietnam. A
minimum 120-hour course in TEFL/TESOL is required to obtain a work visa,
and to legally teach in a classroom as an ALT (Debella, 2018; Kenszei, 2018;
Liang, 2019; Teachers Council of Thailand, 2019).
Moreover, the representative sample reveals that 42% of the applicants have no
work experience prior to be given the responsibility of assistant language
teacher in the Japanese classroom. Education researcher Maeda (2013) expresses
her discontent with the contradictions she finds between the Ministry of
Education's goals for the classroom, and the presumption that an untrained
educator would be of benefit to Japanese students. She expresses that:
"The people who benefit most from the JET Programme is neither
Japanese students, Japanese English teachers, nor Japanese communities;
rather the JET teachers who receive a high salary in spite of their
amateur status benefit the most, and enjoy their stay in Japan with full
financial support"(p.227).
The tone of this criticism, and similar dissatisfaction are echoed repeatedly
throughout Japanese academic publications. If the elephant in the room is can be
represented by the untrained educator, it would seem that each year the JET
program continues, Japanese classrooms are bombarded by a stampede. To what
level of detriment, or benefit, this program has had for Japan in the last 30 years?
In the next section, I will explore criticism of the program from articles written
by Japanese critics, and address the concept of nativism in the English industry
of Japan.
123
1.2 Criticism from the Past

In an unprecedented Japanese election for Prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama and
the Democratic Party of Japan, ousted the 5-decade long rule of the Liberal
Democratic Party. Mr. Hatoyama, while only in power from 2009-2010, sought to
re-examine the relationship that Japan had previously held with the United
States since the 1960's. He favored removing American bases from Okinawa, and
rejected the LDP's long standing exclusivity and reliance on the United States
(Hatoyama, 2009). His reformative policy planning, and heavy hand in the
reorganization of the ministry lead government, seemed to simultaneously
couple with fervent objections towards the state of the JET program and ALT
participants in Japan. As rumors that the program was being cancelled due to
financial budget cuts began to appear on job classified websites aimed at
foreigners, academics and figures in the government began to lobby aggressively
for its immediate disbandment (The End of the JET Program, 2010).
In a written account taken from a local government research conference titled

"JET Program wa Haishi Subeki" [The Jet program should be abolished] Ishi (2009)
expresses his thoughts on the budget of the "English Note" program being cut at
public elementary schools in Japan. He debated that if English programs that
originated in Japan, such as the "English Note" textbook series and curriculum,
should be cut from local governments budgets, why should the JET program be
allowed to remain a financial burden on the taxpayers of each prefecture when it
provides no evidence of having a significant impact on student learning (pp. 2-9).
He points out to the government research committee that hiring one unqualified
teacher from overseas costs Japanese taxpayers the equivalent of 600-900 man
(60,000-90,000 US dollars) for their entire 2-3-year tenure stay in Japan. This
includes a free round-trip plane ticket, apartment rental assistance, minimal
training, and resources from the prefectural board of education to facilitate the
needs of each participant. In 2009, 4,436 participants from JET were invited to
Japan, and the average cost was 26,616 million yen (266 million 160,000 thousand
US dollars). This enormous fee was primarily paid by tax revenue from Japanese
citizens, who were under the false impression that the JET program is a useful
education initiative with noteworthy benefits for their children. In comparison,
the average salary of a trained and licensed 1st year Japanese public servant
averaged between 250-300 man per year (25 to 30 thousand USD) depending
upon prior experience. Ishi (2009) poses the question, "how did a volunteer-
based program that was originally designed for cross cultural understanding
evolve into a lucrative job position?" (p. 7).
In a recorded interview with a 32-year-old certified New Zealand teacher, who

was currently working for the JET program, Ishi (2009) acquired an insider’s
point of view as to how some foreigners may view the MEXT education
initiative. "From the opinion of the JET, the job is fun, the pay is high, so many
foreigners are not thinking of teaching, the impact on students, or cross-cultural
communication, but simple the money" (Ishi, 2009, p.8).
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While this does not represent the opinion of all JET participants, recent YouTube
videos uploaded by JET participants seem to support this narrative. Out of a
series of videos using the search tag, the JET Program in the YouTube search bar,
a common theme was prominent. In each video the high salary was highlighted,
and the fun factor of living in Japan was the main focus. Little was mentioned
about the implications of teaching, and only one video creator stated the benefit
of having a qualification, which was quickly retracted in the confirmation, that
the JET Program does not require actually qualification to be employed (Allison
in Tokyo, 2020, Cara adventures, 2017, Sarah loves Japan, 2019).
In addition to Ishi (2009), other researchers during this period of time also
expressed discontent at the continuation of the program (Tenma, 2008; Maeda,
2013; Ohtani, 2010; Canales, 2015). Mariko (2008) in an article titled Dare mo
shiranai ALT [The ALT that nobody knows] lists her first-hand observation of the
program's participants, and the results from an online survey she had conducted
in Osaka about the usefulness of the JET Program. She claimed that although
many Japanese English teachers (Abb. JTE) see major issues with the JET
participants, they ignore the problems or deny that they exist as to not cause
trouble in their workplace. She angrily states that even though Osaka
government officials and the Tokyo administration under Shintaro Ishihara have
called the JET Program an "Amakudari scheme" [a system where high-ranking
government officials take a lucrative paying job in the private sector before
retirement]. It is worth noting that her online survey concerning the JET
Program, which expressed the opinions of 1,000s of Japanese citizens, was
erased by the JET council and the ministries which govern the JET program
almost immediately after being made public on her website (Tenma, 2008, pp.1-
2). The readers of her article are left with a resonating question that she revisits
on several occasions: just because someone speaks the English language at a
native level, does that mean they are also able to effectively teach the English
language? I would like to briefly consider this question in relation to the concept
of nativism, and contemporary statistics connected to English education in Japan.
1.3 Japan's Proclivity for Native Speakers

A Native speaker is defined as someone who speaks English as their first
language, and is also a citizen of one of these seven countries: Australia, the UK,
USA, Ireland, Canada, South Africa, and New Zealand. Although Singaporeans,
Filipinos, Indians, Malaysians, and citizens of Caribbean Islands may be
extremely proficient in the English language. In fact, the English Proficiency
Index, that rates the English of 88 countries and regions, has reported that
Malaysians and Singaporeans are the best English speakers in Asia (Ang, 2021).
Native speakerism is explained as "prejudice, stereotyping, and or
discrimination typically by or against foreign language teachers, on the basis of
either being or not being perceived and categorized as a native speaker of a
particular language"(Rivers & Ross, 2013, p. 62). Countries that fall under the
label of non-native English speaker can often find it incredibly difficult to find
an English teaching position in Japan, and are often rejected during the
interview process in favor of those who fit certain "idealized attributes" created
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by “socio-historical constructs of racial difference and hierarchy” (Rivers & Ross,

2013, p. 326).
While JET participants are overwhelmingly American, as exemplified in sample

graph above, in a positive display of inclusion, JET seems to provide a fair
opportunity for participants from over 57 countries to become an ALT and work
in Japan (CLAIR, 2015). However, this is contrary to other sectors of Japanese
education, particularly in tertiary career tracks, which tend to give preference to
non-Japanese candidates "native-ness as the qualification to teach the English
language"(Morikawa, 2019, p.27).
Retired professor, Dr. Luiz Canales, who is a 39 year university level teaching
veteran in the Japanese education system, explains that "most of the foreign
professors invited to teach in foreign language universities, aren't
language/literature professors, but native speakers with a university degree in
some other field, who were lucky enough to get a teaching job in Japan"(Canales,
2015, p. 347). He recalled a "strong argument" he had with a colleague
concerning un-qualified teachers and native-speakerism:
"Almost any foreigner can easily teach college in Japan. Peter, an
unemployed New York lawyer (a fictitious example, but reality in Japan)
come to this country. He is a certified lawyer but has no credentials to be
an English professor. Now, because he is an English native speaker, he
finds his way to the classroom of a Japanese university............there are
probably hundreds and hundreds of similar examples......I've had
colleagues teaching in Japanese universities, who, back home worked in
fields that had nothing to do with teaching....it fools the students who
believe they are being taught by professionals" (p. 305).
In a study conducted on English program reform in Japanese universities,

Morikawa (2019) compares two types of contrasting global studies programs;
One is the “English as a Lingua Franca” (ELF) program at Tamagawa University,
and the other is what he claims is a “recurrent pattern” at the universities he has
selected to research in Japan. For the demonstration of this pattern he uses visual
and textual elements from 7 varied universities in different prefectures of Japan,
in addition to his main focus, the Tokyo International University-Global
Teaching Institute (GTI) (p.27).
Morikawa (2019) finds that at Tamagawa University (ELF) the concept of

learning English is viewed as “a variety of Englishes that are used for
communication purposes by people whose first language is not English” (p.31).
The staff is represented by people from all over the world: the U.S., the UK,
Australia, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Bulgaria, Brazil, Canada, China, Thailand, the
Philippines, and Singapore. Additionally, each teacher has received adequate
TESOL training, and are experienced educators. As 80% of the world’s English
speakers are, in fact, non-native English speakers, he states that this particular
university takes a realistic approach towards “true globalization”, and claims
that it is “inefficient to aim to master the English that is only spoken by 20% of
the entire English speaking population within a certain period of time” (p. 31).
Similarly, Norimitsu (1997) adds that native speakers of English seem to have
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"little benefit in the classroom", claiming that Japanese students are forced to pay
attention to native speaker's English, and are not given the opportunity to hear
non-native's speaking English from other countries (p. 512). He concludes that
Japanese students only learning pitch perfect native English can almost be a
detriment to their image, and in effect, their expectations of the English language
when they visit other countries. Yazawa (2017) reinforces this by stating “while
the rest of the world, has long discovered that British or North American
pronunciation as a gold standard is a myth, Japanese employers still value it”
(p.67).
It is evident that each researcher referenced above, including Dr. Canales,

present both strong opinions and in some instances, convincing evidence for
native-speakerism in Japan. This being said, it would be remiss to assume that a
valid contrary point of view cannot be made in light of the obvious quantitative
research limitations. According to Statista (2021) Japan has 4,874 high schools,
10,142 lower secondary schools, 95 public universities, 597 private universities,
86 national universities, and 3,115 specialized colleges. This burden, makes
effective data collection difficult, and finding current data on the certifications
and nationalities of all non-Japanese educators in Japan a nearly impossible task.
1.4 Current Statistical Data Verses the Intended Outcomes of the JET
Programme
As Metraux (2001) stated almost 20 years ago, "while JET has brought
meaningful contact between thousands of foreigners & millions of Japanese
people, who might not have ever spoken to a foreigner -- the governments hope
that JET would improve English in Japan has not been realized"(p. 96). This
researcher’s assessment, although made two decades ago, is worth revisiting in
the present day. Has JET accomplished its goals of grassroots global exchange at
the local level, and has this increased the Japanese willingness to engage with
foreign people or consider travelling abroad? Has the level of English increased
in Japan since the JET Programme began in 1987, slowly growing to employ
more than 5,000 foreigners as instructors in Japanese school systems? According
to a few recent analytics in relation to the state of English and interest in cultural
exchange, the definitive answer would appear to be no.
Fujiwara (2018) in an editorial for the Asahi Shimbun, critiqued the rapid
downward trend of English proficiency in Japan. She noted that Japan now
ranked 49th amongst the 88 non-speaking countries and regions in the world. A
closer look at the English Proficiency Index (Abb. EPI), which categorizes
English ability based on the test results from 2.2 million people spread across 100
non-native English-speaking countries, places Japan in the lowest proficiency
category. What is most striking is that the proficiency from 2011, where Japan
ranked 14th out of 100 countries, and was considered 'moderate' in its
proficiency, has declined substantially over 10 years, causing Japan to be ranked
55th out of 100 countries (Fujiwara, 2018). The Jet Programme, whose
participants are spread across 45 prefectures, have increased their presence in
the classroom exponentially since 2011, with a current participant total of more
than 5,761 instructors in Japan (Jet Programme history, 2019). Japan's Ministry of
Affairs and Internal Communications, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the
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Ministry of Education came to a consensus in terms main goals for the JET
program; "to help improve foreign language education"(MIC, 2020). However,
the proof of Japan's declining English proficiency, as provided by the EPI, is a
direct contradiction to the government's ambitions for JET.
In fact, according to the Education Ministry National Institute for Educational

Research, 2019 nationwide test results also highlighted Japanese students' poor
English-speaking ability. The rankings were taken across 29,518 schools, and
ranked students’ English ability on a yearly aptitude test. Out of a score of 100%,
students received an average of 68.3% for listening, 56.2% for speaking, 46.4%
for writing, and 30.8% for speaking (Osumi, 2019, p.1). While the anticipated
outcome of having native speakers in the classroom, often used as justification
for the continuation of the JET Programme, would be an improvement in the
communication ability of students, the statistical data confirmed by national test
results do not support this narrative. These figures provided are based on all
national and municipal schools across Japan, and half of the country’s private
schools.
In terms of cultural exchange, the JET Programme has provided opportunities

for Japanese citizens to interact with foreigners in person, that potentially they
may not have had. While the programme has grown in numbers, foreign
residents have also grown to an all-time high in Japan. Up from 1.8 million in
2014, to almost 2.49 million in 2019, the number of foreigners living in Japan has
been exponential. However, despite this change in the population dynamic,
researcher Maiko Eiraku (2019) reports that interest in interacting with
foreigners is down almost an average total of 75% across the survey questions.
Two polls were conducted by the NHK broadcasting culture research institute;
one in 1993 and one in 2018. The participants included roughly 3,000 Japanese
people above the age of 16. The data shows a drastic drop in interest towards
foreign countries, the ratio of foreign friends, the interest in going abroad, and
the amount of contact that they have with foreign people in their daily lives.
Eiraku (2019) concludes that Japan may be experiencing a changing view of
foreigners in Japan.
While we have a looked at a variety of perspectives, surveys, and previously

conducted studies regarding the JET Programme, one crucial voice has perhaps
been overlooked; the voice of the Japanese teacher. In a comparative study
conducted amongst teacher preparation and qualifications amongst six nations,
it was found that Japan had one of the most competitive teaching industries. In
fact, only 30% of graduates from teacher training colleges are able to secure
employment in public schools after graduation. Japanese teachers are subjected
to a battery of tests decided by the prefectural board of education. These tests
can range from written tests, proficiency tests, pedagogical theory and methods,
educational psychology tests, student guidance, education laws and regulation
review, school culture, and school management exams (Fujita, 2007, as cited in
Ingersoll, 2007, pp. 41-43). Fujita (2007) explains that the training process for
Japanese teachers is "multidimensional, continuous, and systematic"(as cited in
Ingersoll, 2007, p. 43).
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2. Quantitative Research from the trained Japanese Teacher's

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

Do you think that foreign instructors in Japan should have a background in education?
Q1
I think teaching is as important as other vocations in society such as; lawyers, doctors, police
Q2 officers, dentist, accountants, etc.
ALTs from other countries teach high quality English classes to Japanese students.
Q3
Do you think that only licensed teachers should be allowed to teach at schools?
Q4
Do you think that ALTs or JETs should receive proper training?
Q5
If you had a class taught by an untrained teacher, would it make you feel uncomfortable?
Q6
Do you feel stress when you are working with an untrained teacher in the same classroom?
Q7
Do you think that native speaker teachers must be licensed English teachers?
Q8
Do you think that ALTs should have a license or certificate for English teaching such as TESOL
Q9 and CELTA?
Do you think that the board of education should provide appropriate teachers' training for
Q10 ALTs?
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Internal Consistency of Likert Scale

Initially, before analyzing the results of the ordinal Likert scale, the internal
consistency of the presented questionnaire was checked for reliability. Using
Cronbach’s Alpha, assuming measurement for consistency from .00,
representing no consistency in measurement, to 1.0, representing perfect
consistency, the alpha coefficient of the 10 scales was found to be  = .89.
According to Cronbach’s Alpha, this variance result was 0.9    0.8, indicating
satisfactory evidence of reliability within the 10 items collectively in assessing
the opinions of each participant.
Null and Alternative Hypothesis

Null hypothesis (H0) and the alternative hypothesis (H1) are as follows: The null
hypothesis, represented by H0 :  = (2.61-3.40) states that there is no significant
difference in the opinions regarding the importance of teacher training in foreign
instructors with respect to a Japanese teacher’s experience in the teaching field.
In other words, regardless of years of experience, a Japanese teacher would be
ambivalent to whether or not a foreign instructor in the Japanese classroom had
sufficient training or a background in education.
The alternative hypothesis, represented by H1:   2.60 μ  (2.61-3.40), proposes

the younger, or less experienced Japanese teachers are more tolerant and less
inclined to believe that foreign instructors need formal training or an education
background. Conversely, more experienced Japanese teachers believe that
training should be a requirement. There is a definitive difference in opinion
towards foreign instructors based on years of experience.
3. Result Mean Comparison between Inexperienced and Experienced

Japanese teachers
Table 2：Group 1 mean data

Sample Mean
Inexperienced Std. Deviation
Japanese teacher N
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10
0-3 years’ 16 4.2 1.9 3.00 2.94 3.19 4.10 3.56 3.44 3.20 2.50
experience .62 .62 .00 .44 .66 .70 .73 .51 .52 .73
4-8 years’ 19 2.9 1.8 3.21 2.74 2.05 2.78 3.68 3.68 3.67 3.05
experience .65 .42 .42 .56 .40 .61 .87 .67 .61 .40
Average mean* 35 3.55 1.85 3.10 2.84 2.62 3.44 3.62 3.56 3.43 2.77
Note: N = number of participant
*The total average of means between teachers with 0-3 years’ experience and teachers with 4-8
years’ experience will be defined as group 1, inexperienced Japanese teachers.
130
Table 3: Group 2 mean data

Sample Mean
Experienced Std. Deviation
Japanese teacher N
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10
9-14 years’ 16 1.9 1.9 3.44 2.15 2.00 2.13 3.31 3.48 1.64 1.69
experience .50 .50 .51 .72 .00 .62 .60 .62 .57 .79
15+ years’ 14 1.4 1.8 3.29 2.50 1.15 2.14 3.50 3.57 1.43 1.36
experience .51 .43 .61 1.02 .47 .53 .76 .65 .27 .50
Average mean* 30 1.65 1.85 3.36 2.32 1.57 2.13 3.40 3.25 1.53 1.52
Note: N = number of participants
*The total average of means between teachers with 9-14 years’ experience and teachers with
15+ years’ experience will be defined as group 2, experienced Japanese teachers.
4. Mean Comparisons between Questions

*Question 1, concerning education background, data shows that Group 1
remained “disagree” on the topic within the Likert scale range of 3.41-4.20, while
Group 2 fell within the Likert scale range of 1.00-1.80, asserting that they
“strongly agree” with this question.
Questions 2 and 3 both resulted in similar opinions. Both inexperienced and

experienced Japanese teachers “agree”(range 1.81-2.60) that teaching is as
important as other vocations in society, and remained “undecided” if ALTs from
other countries teach high quality English classes to Japanese students.
*Question 4 resulted in inexperienced Japanese teachers being

“undecided”(range 2.61-3.40) if only licensed teachers should be allowed to
teach at schools, while experienced Japanese “agree”(range 1.81-2.60) that only
licensed teachers should be allowed to teach at schools.
*Question 5 resulted in inexperienced Japanese teachers being “undecided”

about foreign ALTs or JETs receiving proper training, while experienced
Japanese teachers “strongly agree” that foreign ALTs and JETs should receive
proper training.
*Question 6 resulted in inexperienced Japanese teachers choosing that they

“disagree”(range 3.41-4.20) about feeling uncomfortable being taught by an
untrained teacher, and experienced Japanese teachers stating that they
“agree”(range 1.81-260) that they would feel uncomfortable being taught by an
untrained teacher.
Question 7 resulted in experienced Japanese teachers stating that they

“disagree”(range 3.41-4.20) with feeling a level of stress when they taught with
an untrained teacher. On the other hand, experienced Japanese teachers reported
that they were “undecided”(range 2.61-3.40) on this topic. Interestingly, when
you look at the standard deviation from the teacher’s with 14+ years’ experience
-while still below the 1 threshold that indicates a low variance, it was .76,
suggesting that the data was widely spread. Some of these experienced teachers
felt a level of stress, and some felt no stress.
131
*Both Questions 8 and 9 yielded substantial differences in opinion.

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

There were substantial differences between Group 1 and Group 2 in terms of the
Likert Scale results. The differences in the questions regarding to necessity for
an education background for foreign instructors (Q1), and the need for training
and certification for foreign instructors (Q4, Q5, Q6, Q8, Q10) were significantly
different between group 1 and group 2.
The results derived from experienced Japanese teachers (Group 2) would

suggest that they either “agree” or “strongly agree” that foreign instructors
should receive appropriate training and have a background in education before
attempting to teach in a Japanese classroom.
The cumulative average of Group 2’s means for their answers to the questions
(Q1, Q4, Q5, Q6, Q9, Q10) was 1.53. Therefore, I can reject the null hypothesis
H0 :  = (2.61-3.40) stating that there is no difference in opinion between
inexperienced and experienced Japanese teachers regarding foreign instructors
in Japan, and I can accept the alternative hypothesis of H1 :   2.60 μ  (2.61-
3.40).
The cumulative average of Group 1’s means for the answers to the questions (Q1,
Q4, Q5, Q6, Q9, Q10) was 2.66. These results showed that the less experienced
Japanese teachers were less concerned with untrained foreign teachers, and less
concerned about their credentials or qualifications.
6. Conclusion
Recent research suggests that the relationship between experience and teacher
competency is a "multidimensional construct, that finds little evidence in
beginner teachers being any less competent that veteran experienced teachers
(Graham et al., 2020. p.6). However, in the case of Japan, as Kiernen (2020) points
out, being a trainer is built into many roles within the Japanese workplace. The
132
responsibility on Japanese teachers, both inexperienced and experienced, of

training foreign teachers with little to no background in education, may feel like
a burden. With years of experience, this burden could be compounded, causing
a change in attitude towards working with untrained foreign instructors.
Teacher's play a vital role in our society, and from the strict adherence to
training standards for Japanese teachers, it would appear that this sentiment is
shared by the Japanese. If this stands to be the case, then there is clear double-
standard for foreign English ALT instructors who are allowed to teach in
classrooms throughout Japan without training.
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Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 135-150, July 2021
Instructors’ Readiness to Teach Online: A Review

of TPACK Standards in Online Professional
Development Programmes in Higher Education
Amjaad Mujallid
King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3844-2141
Abstract. Online learning has been developed in higher education

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

professional development
©Author
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1. Introduction
With the rapid growth of technology integration into higher education and the
widespread of online learning, teaching expertise now includes new effective
strategies and competencies for online instructors (Benson & Ward, 2013). Higher
education institutions aim to enhance digital skills and technology integration
into learning environments (Ashe & Bibi, 2011). However, some studies (Agustini
et al., 2019; Cheng, 2017; Jaipal-Jamani et al., 2018) have shown that there is still
some faculty resistance in higher education, even with the vast integration of
technology. Many instructors usually avoid participation in online activities due
to their preference for staying in their comfort zone of traditional teaching. Other
barriers include time spent to learn and use the technology, digital competence
and digital self-efficacy (Ertmer & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, 2010; Jaipal-Jamani et al.,
2018).
Some recommendations have been suggested by Lye (2013) and Wang et al. (2019)
to solve this issue by providing professional development programmes for tutors
and online instructors with a focus on pedagogical training to enhance their
ability to develop their teaching practice, and designing online courses.
Professional development programmes for tutors and instructors are most
effective when using Information Communication Technology (ICT) (Qasem &
Viswanathappa, 2016).
Online and distance learning have been started in higher education, yet, many of
the instructors are not trained on effective online teaching practice. Although
faculties in higher education have started teaching online courses for a while,
some studies noticed that the online courses in different disciplines were more
generic and less focused on the subject matter content (Anderson et al., 2013). The
instructors’ knowledge of how to teach an online course is informed by their
content knowledge and pedagogical approaches. Furthermore, it is influenced by
how to balance technology with both content and pedagogy which is known as
The Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework
(Anderson et al., 2013; Soomro et al., 2018).
Jang and Chang (2016) stated that, although many studies have investigated the
in-service and pre-service TPACK level, few studies have discussed this topic for
university instructors. Online teachers and instructors need to have an awareness
of the content, and also are required to gain the knowledge of how technology
and online environments affect the pedagogy and the content of what they are
teaching (Archambault & Crippen, 2009). Therefore, it was important to explore
how the TPACK model is integrated into professional development programmes
for online instructors to be prepared for the rapid growth of online and distance
learning in higher education.
2. Purpose
This paper aims to review the literature to find how higher education institutions
support online instructors with professional development programmes, and how
these programmes are shaped by the TPACK framework. Since the TPACK
framework is mostly used in tutors’ education programs, this paper explored the
use of TPACK for online teaching provided in teacher education programmes as
137
part of professional development delivered in higher education settings to

develop online teaching and learning. Furthermore, the paper aims to summarise
effective online teaching practices based on the TPACK framework presented in
the literature.
3. Rationale
The need for online education is in demand nowadays. Thus, the development of
an outstanding educational platform is essential. The importance of this step is to
overcome the obstacles that might hamper the education continuity, like these
days of COVID-19 crisis. Furthermore, this could be an opportunity to establish a
well-designed online source for education, train educators to use this platform
and allow students to undertake distance learning. The significance of this study
is demonstrated by summarising literature focusing on TPACK framework for
online teaching. Moreover, this review study provides a fundamental source to
breakthrough in the field of online teaching in higher education. On the other
hand, the literature review provided here benefits also decision-makers at
institutions to make good use of previous experiences.
4. Method
The search was conducted in four scientific databases (i.e. Education Resources
Information Center (ERIC), The learning and Technology Library (Learn Tech
Lib), ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar) based on terms and titles such as:
“TPACK”, “TPACK in higher education”, “TPACK for K-12 teachers”, “TPACK
for professional Development”, “TPACK for pre-service teachers” “TPACK and
online learning”, and “TPACK for online instructors”.
The search was limited to peer-reviewed articles published in the 21st century
during 2000-2020 related to the topic of the paper. The inclusion and exclusion
criteria were defined as follows in Table 1:
Table 1: Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

Criterion Inclusion Exclusion
Time period 2000-2020 Studies outside the

range of these dates
Language English Non –English
Type of article Articles published in peer Articles that were not
reviewed journals peer reviewed or other
types of publications
Study focus TPACK in either K-12 or higher All other subjects
education online learning, and
TPACK in professional
development for online learning.
Population and Higher education instructors, K-12 All other population
sample teachers, pre-service teachers.
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The search included around 65 Articles, but only 52 were related to the purpose
of this review. Keywords and the number of articles searched for each one were
as follows in Table 2:
Table 2: Keywords and Number of Articles

Keyword Number of Articles
TPACK in K-12 12
TPACK in higher education 9
(including pre-service programmes)
TPACK for online teachers and instructors 13
TPACK in professional development 22
(Online and in-campus)
The Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) Framework
Teaching is a complicated process especially with technology due to the
challenges that such technology presents to tutors (Koehler & Mishra, 2009). In
order to comprehend the TPACK framework, it is vital to know its root. Shulman
(1986) first introduced the concept of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) to
help teachers improve their teaching practices, and what they should learn and
do (Archambault & Crippen, 2009). He described the relationship between a
particular subject matter and the pedagogical practice to teach this subject to the
students (Archambault & Barnett, 2010).
Mishra and Koehler (2006) developed this framework by adding technology as a

new component due to technology integration in education. They presented
TPACK, the acronym for Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge,
which is a framework to help teachers in exploring effective teaching practices in
a digital context (Kivunja, 2013). TPACK can be defined as the “knowledge that
helps teachers to understand how to teach a particular topic using a particular
type of technology” (Bibi & Khan, 2017, 71).
Figure 1: The relationships among the TPACK model
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The framework includes three main domains of teachers’ knowledge. The first
domain is Content (CK), which is related to the subject matter and answers the
question “what will be taught?” such as concepts, theories and terms. The second
domain is Pedagogy (PK), which refers to teaching strategies required for
addressing the students’ learning needs. Lastly, the third domain IS Technology
(TK), which refers to the variety of technologies and instructional materials used,
such as learning management systems (Koehler & Mishra, 2009). The interactions
among these domains result in three sub-entities which are (Archambault &
Crippen, 2009; Bibi & Khan,2017; Rosenberg & Koehler, 2015; Sahin, 2011):
• Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), which is the relationship between
content knowledge (What should be taught), and pedagogical knowledge
(strategies of teaching).
• Technological Content Knowledge (TCK) is about understating the impact
of technology on content knowledge of a specific discipline where teachers can
envision how to integrate technology into their teaching.
• Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK) is about the methods and
strategies of teaching and learning using technology. It requires an understanding
of how using an appropriate instructional design of technology can change
teaching and learning.
Some studies found that these domains are significantly related to each other.
Other studies also showed a positive relationship between TCK, TPK, and TPACK
while others found strong connections between TCK, TPK, TK, and TPACK
(Alzahrani & Cheon, 2015). This emphasised the importance of developing the
teachers’ TPACK knowledge because of this impact on improving students’
learning.
Online Teaching Practice

Online learning has been developed in higher education, which provides a
flexible environment for learners. Online learning expanded in higher education
because of its flexibility and ability to distribute information everywhere and also
to expand teaching and learning resources (Kuo, 2015). One of the major factors
to successfully integrate online learning in higher education is related to the
availability of technology and support where the technological part consists of
hardware, software and infrastructure. On the other hand, the support resources
include online faculty support, for instance (Alsofyani et al., 2013). Many
universities offer online professional development workshops for instructors, but
being able to attend an online course does not ensure the attendees’ ability to
incorporate technology in their teaching (Tømte et al., 2015). However, online
courses and workshops can serve as venues for developing digital competencies.
Previous studies have explored the impact of several factors, such as teaching
experience and age, on the instructors’ TPACK level. They found that age does
not affect the TPACK significantly; age may play a role in instructors’ technology
adaptation though because older instructors would not prefer to go out of their
teaching comfort zone, especially with the rapid digital transformation (Cheng,
2018). On the other hand, the teaching experience might help the online
instructors to gain TPACK skills, but also does not ensure the instructors’ abilities
to integrate technology in teaching and learning (Jang & Tsai, 2013).
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Wang et al. (2019) addressed the importance of online teaching competencies,

which refer to “knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes required to implement
online teaching effectively” (p.4). They also addressed the “Competencies for
Online Teaching Success (COTS)”, which includes six aspects: “attitude/
philosophy, building a learning community, class administration, faculty
workload management, teaching and learning, and technology used abilities”
(Wang et al., 2019, p.4).
Tondeur et al. (2020) found that TPACK is correlated with six strategies for
effective teaching (p.1):
(1) Teacher educators as a role model by using technology in their teaching.
(2) Discussing the role of technology in teaching and learning.
(3) The role of designing in learning how to use technology in education.
(4) Collaboration.
(5) Scaffolding.
(6) Providing continuous feedback.
Effective online teaching improves by effective course design principals,

structures and practice (Barham & Northcote, 2013). De Gagne and Walters (2009)
summarised the best practice of online teaching in providing a solid learner-
centred environment and visibility. They state that these two factors will increase
both teachers’ and students’ interaction and commitment to the online course.
Planning and instructional design

Liu (2013) addressed that online teaching has some challenges, such as designing
and presenting the course materials to ensure students’ learning and
communication. Preparing and designing an online course is time-consuming and
involves more work than the traditional one (Valtonen et al., 2017). Thus, for an
effective integration of technology in education, teachers’ planning must embrace
curriculum objectives and materials, students’ needs to learn, available
technologies, and the classroom context (Harris & Hofer, 2011). Most of the
technology professional development is ‘technocentric’ focusing on the
technology features rather than how it can be used to support students’ learning
(Harris & Hofer, 2011).
To achieve the goal of using technology in education, teachers need to play the
role of instructional designers, and the school environment should support that
role with appropriate technologies (Şimşek & Sarsar, 2019). Many teacher
education programmes have refocused their educational technology towards
learning by design where pre-service teachers can generate the TPACK for
determining subject content by synthesising the six domains of the framework:
Pedagogy (PK), Technology (TK), Content (CK), Pedagogical Content Knowledge
(PCK), Technological Content Knowledge (TCK), and Technological Pedagogical
Knowledge (TPK) (Chai & Koh, 2017).
The instructional design can be defined as “the study of designing, developing,

and assessing learning and teaching environments” (Czerkawski & Schmidt, 2018,
p.1) and it is an important factor to produce a well-designed and good quality
course. Hellström et al. (2018) collected data from teacher educators in two higher
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education institutions in Sweden using a survey to observe their perspectives of

their digital competence to support students’ online learning. They found that all
of the teacher educators use digital tools in teaching, but they still rate their ICT
competence as low and expressed their need for more training in integrating
technology into teaching practice considering the instructional design aspects.
Tømte et al. (2015) used a mixed-method study on two online teacher education
programmes in two universities in Sweden and Norway. Through several tools,
they collected data for the study to link online teacher practice with students’
teachers’ practice. The study revealed that most online teachers were more tool-
oriented and teacher-centred when designing online courses while few of them
integrated technology into class in a learner-centred approach. Both online
teachers and teacher students appreciate the value that technology brings to
pedagogy when they start using TPACK. Some studies (Voogt et al., 2016)
demonstrated that modelling and designing support students' teachers in their
TPACK development.
The integration of technology in education needs careful planning; hence, teacher

education programmes play an important role in preparing future teachers to
deliver the content of various subjects using technology (Zainal, 2016). They need
to recognise what type of technology to use and when to use it, especially given
that not all technology tools are applicable in teaching and learning settings
(Koehler et al., 2011). This skill can be acquired by understanding TPACK, which
might assist instructors to shift to an online learning context (Ward & Benson,
2010).
TPACK in Online Teacher Education Programs

Teacher training is essential to develop their teaching practice (Zhang & Cai,
2019). TPACK was covered in pre-service teachers’ literature because adding
technology into the educational environment does not guarantee effective
learning unless it is combined with the pedagogical component of how to use this
technology with a particular subject matter (Baturay et al., 2017). A study (Jang &
Chen, 2010) showed that pre-service teachers who had good digital skills with
training on how to use those skills in their teaching designed better technology-
based lessons than those who had good digital skills without training on its use
in education.
Mouza et al. (2017) emphasised the 21st century students’ skills needed in the
digital era, such as learning computational thinking skills. Such a development in
many K-12 curriculum across the world highlights the need to offer professional
training for pre- and in-service teachers to teach the ‘digital natives’ (Prenskey,
2001). Using a survey and analysing course materials of a course based on the
TPACK framework for a teacher education programme, Mouza et al. (2017) found
that this framework had a positive influence on understanding pre-service
teachers of computational thinking. Yet, results indicate that pre-service teachers
still have some challenges in their comfort level to integrate such a concept in their
teaching and discipline content.
Learning how to apply technology is not enough to know how to integrate it into
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teaching and learning. Teacher education programmes usually provide a special

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

training programme that adopts a view of teachers designing innovative content
as well as interacting with instructors, peers and technology. They designed the
course where the study was applied to be around asynchronous collaborative
activities based on two educational approaches, TPACK and Community of
143
Inquiry (COI). The findings showed strong correlations between TPACK and COI
elements, especially regarding cognitive presence.
Teacher educators in teacher education programmes play an important role in

modelling technology incorporation by using technology in their teaching
(Martin, 2015). Thus, the training provided for faculty in higher education is
important to ensure that they represent the right modelling for their students to
integrate technology into their teaching practice.
TPACK in Higher Education

Although the K-12 literature had investigated the TPACK implications on
teaching and learning in online environments, the TPACK model was not
considered widely in higher education (Ward & Benson, 2010). One of the
domains required to be updated to ensure an effective integration of educational
technology and online learning in higher education is faculty knowledge
(Alsofyani et al., 2012). This update can be performed by providing faculty
training on how to use technology, but with pedagogical knowledge.
Jang and Chang (2016) investigated the instructors’ self-perceptions as well as the
students’ perceptions of the instructors’ TPACK. They developed an instrument
for assessing university physics instructors’ perceptions of their TPACK, and they
also assess the differences of the instructors’ TPACK according to gender,
academic degree and teaching experiences. The findings showed that there were
significant results in TPACK related to teaching experience but no statistical
significance related to either gender or academic degree. On the other hand, Reyes
et al. (2017) used a TPACK-based survey to explore perceptions of pedagogical
practices that incorporate ICT at one of the Australian universities. The results
found that there is a misconception between how to use ICT and how to teach
about ICT. Also, they reported that there are still some gaps between TPACK and
ICT application in teaching and practice, so they recommend involving this part
in teacher education and teacher educator’s professional development
programmes.
Soomro et al. (2018) also observed TPACK awareness and adaptation among
faculty members of two departments (IT and Education) at one of the universities
in Pakistan. The researchers embraced a mixed-methods approach using a survey
and interviews. Results found that both faculties are taking steps into TPACK
adaptation and integration of ICT (Information and Communication
Technologies) into their teaching through personal efforts as well as collaborative
work with their peers.
Special education is also covered in the literature. Kuo (2015) conducted an action
research to investigate the impact of adding an Integration of Research for
Inclusive Settings (IRIS) modules to an online course for a special education
teachers’ programme. The results revealed that the TPACK framework enabled
the instructors to reflect on their teaching to improve their practice. For example,
when instructors notice that students do not adequately comprehend a concept or
they have a low progress on a certain activity, the instructor can adjust that
activity to assist the students in acquiring that knowledge. Also, students can
144
revisit the online modules to review the content.
Utami et al. (2019) developed an Android-based application to enhance teaching

skills based on TPACK analysis. Their investigation aims to support a
microteaching course for novel faculty in the college of engineering to enhance
their teaching competence. They identified some teaching challenges for novel
faculty such as classroom management, the lack of variety in students’ activities,
the lack of feedback, and the skill of teaching small groups or individuals. The
smartphone application is designed to be interactive and offers an opportunity for
prospective teachers to learn and assess their performance. The application
includes 1) learning multimedia (images, videos, audio, mind maps, and text)
which represent the (TK) part; 2) tutorials and assessment for understanding
concepts (PK); 3) concepts and examples of lesson plans (CK); 4) tutorials and
assessments about teaching skills (PCK); 5) using the application with features
materials and chatbot as well as notifications about teaching progress (TCK); and
6) multiple-choice tests that exercise and assesses teaching skills repeatedly (TPK).
Using various media forms, such as videos that give the prospective teachers
examples of teaching practice skills, and the mind maps that help them to develop
the understanding of the concepts, supports the faculty to comprehend teaching
skills.
TPACK in Professional Development for Online Instructors

Many higher education instructors who never taught an online course tend to
have a negative opinion about online instruction because of the lack of
professional development that supports online courses in their institutions
(Herman, 2012). Some studies found that the teaching practice among disciplines
was more generic than expected (Anderson & Barham, 2013). Professional
development for instructors in higher education is usually led by an instructional
technologist who has limited knowledge about the particular content or subject
that the instructors are teaching (Dysart & Weckerle, 2015). Because of that, the
(TCK) area is usually covered by the instructor, which may affect the
technological pedagogical knowledge and may not be covered appropriately.
The available professional development for online instructors differs in their

types among higher education institutions. Herman (2012) identifies five main
types of professional development provided for online instructors as follows:
(1) Self-teaching:
Faculty members who prefer self-teaching methods, either because of budget
issues or because of their learning styles, can find self-taught online materials such
as e-books, videos, recorded online seminars and journal articles. Online
instructors can find some online self-assessment methods for their online courses
as well.
(2) Peer mentoring:

Mentor-based faculty professional development is an approach provided in some
institutions to support their online instructors. Mentoring can be in a formal
programme or informal relationship where mentors are chosen for their
experience in teaching online courses. Some professional development
programmes use a team mentoring approach.
145
(3) Collaborative course design:

This type of professional development is a part of an ongoing mentoring. The
mentor serves as a tutor to design an online course and as an evaluator of the
online instructor’s work at the same time.
(4) Workshops:
There are two types of workshops, ‘one shot’ and long workshops. The ‘one shot’
takes place over a few hours or a full day but this type of professional
development cannot assist the instructors to connect pedagogy and technology,
so the TPACK framework cannot be covered in such workshops. On the other
hand, there are longer time workshops that take place from two days to months.
(5) Online training:

Online training allows the online instructor to try online environments before
teaching their online courses. It can be provided either synchronous (teacher and
students need to be available online at the same time) or asynchronous (students
can check the materials at their own pace).
The impact of good professional development programmes for online instructors

was examined by Storandt et al. (2012). The study continued for three terms
where the online instructors also taught their courses and finished a background
survey and interviews. The professional development programme followed four
phases to ensure high quality training: modelling the skills required for online
instructors, preparation by providing online training, providing ongoing support
during the course, and feedback to ensure that the instructors attained the needed
skills. The results found that the professional development guidelines provided
in the training received positive feedback from the instructors.
A TPACK-based technology workshop for online instructors was provided by

Jaipal-Jamani et al. (2018). The online instructors took the role of leaders by
presenting a workshop to colleagues. The workshop consisted of four phases:
(1) Modelling a technology-enhanced learning activity.
(2) Engaging in a dialogue about applying this planned activity in different
subject matter contexts.
(3) Learning technical skills required for applying the activity.
(4) Applying the required technical skills.
The results found that the instructors gained different skills and knowledge about
TPACK and it is affected by their experience of teaching with technology in the
workshop.
Another professional experience was a course provided to the nurse educators to

teach online. Kraglund-Gauthier and Moseley (2019) conducted a participatory
action research on 15 nurse educators who teach online courses aiming to “build
capacity in pedagogy and teaching- learning process in the online courses” (p.6).
They provided a professional development TPACK-based course that took place
in three phases: planning, action, and reflection. In the planning phase, the
participants reviewed the literature and selected strategies and evaluation
approaches that they might incorporate. Second, they used the strategies as well
146
as having individual sessions with an instructional designer to assist them

through the process of ‘action’. During the last phase, ‘reflection’, they revised
outcomes of the strategies and make recommendations. The findings revealed five
themes emerged to teach online with technology: community, instructors,
classrooms, interpersonal relationships, and supports. Regarding the community
theme, they summarised the importance of building a community of learners and
practice while the instructors theme emphasised their needs and skills to teach
online. In the classroom theme, they summarised the optimal size to be 20-30
students and that they need to be active and engaged as well as building their
knowledge upon scaffolding activities through discussion, for instance. The
interpersonal relationships included respect among learners and instructors in
addition to the cooperation concept. The last theme, ‘supports’, stressed the
importance of having a technology and pedagogy coach to ensure course and
teaching quality.
Wang et al. (2019) devolved an instrument based on the activity theory to study
the Chinese beginning online instructors’ competencies to teach online. The
results showed that age and gender do not have a significant influence on online
teaching competencies; yet, the educational level and online teaching and learning
experience do have a significant influence on online teaching competencies. On
the other hand, designing and organising an online course and students’
evaluation were the main challenges for the online instructors. Wang et al. (2019)
recommend to gather and analyse online instructors’ course data rather than the
self-report survey to understand more online teaching competencies.
6. Conclusions
TPACK can improve the creativity, collaboration and responsibility of learning.
TPACK is a flexible framework, but it is context-based. Therefore, the TPACK
framework cannot provide a clear explanation for the success of online teachers
in online teaching. This ability includes learning the teaching design principles of
online environments, and how to organise and promote student communication
and interaction through these online environments. The survey results found that,
although teacher educators have a new understanding of computational thinking
and ICT skills, they still face some challenges in integrating concepts into the
comfort zone of teaching and subjects. This can be solved by suggesting the
addition of a technical leadership role to the TPACK professional development
programme, with participants taking the lead in designing and presenting related
seminars. Professional development plans that prepare online teachers to design,
promote and evaluate their online courses are essential. Teacher educators also
play an important role in these programmes, simulating the integration of
technology in their teaching, and presenting more online teaching challenges
when designing classroom activities. The results emphasise that the key to
effective online teaching practice is to cultivate teachers' reflective ability to build
on their existing knowledge and better understand their abilities and status in the
profession. Online teaching is a challenge, and it does not mean that physical
classroom teaching and activities will be transferred to online platforms, but this
transformation may require the construction of entirely new materials to ensure
the quality of online teaching and learning. A review of previous literature on
available professional development programmes has increased the need to
147
incorporate online teaching capabilities as the main goal into teacher education
and professional development programmes to follow up on the skills of students
in the 21st century.
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Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 151-174, July 2021
Received June 16, 2021; Revised Jul 23, 2021; Accepted Jul 31, 2021
The Application of the Jigsaw Cooperative

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

Department of Self-Development, Deanship of Preparatory Year and Supporting
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1864-8134
Najla Frih
Department of Basic Sciences, Deanship of Preparatory Year and Supporting
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3125-9993
Abstract. Physics for medical students is perceived as a sophisticated

subject. The sophistication, however, does not lie in the physics concepts
themselves or students’ comprehension of the subject, but it is more often
related to the ineffectiveness of techniques applied to teach the subject.
This study investigates the effect of the Jigsaw technique, a highly
structured form of cooperative learning, on the academic achievement of
first-year medical students in learning physics. A quasi-experimental
research approach with a pretest-posttest design was employed to conduct
the study with a purposive randomly selected sample of fifty students
made up of twenty-five students in the control group and twenty-five
students in the experimental group. The control group was taught using
traditional lectures, while the experimental group was taught using the
Jigsaw technique which involved students working actively to map the
concepts of nuclear radiation in diagnosis and therapy. A comprehensive
statistical analysis, which included a Shapiro’s test, paired sample t-test,
independent sample t-test, average gain factor, and size effect calculations,
was used to test the research hypotheses. The findings of this study
showed that there was a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05)
between the post-test scores of students exposed to the Jigsaw cooperative
learning technique and those who were not. In addition, it was deduced
©Authors
152
by the educator (first author) that the students were actively engaged with
the topic material, took more responsibility for their performance in the
activity, learned how to map the radiation physics concepts, and explored
a new learning environment that enabled them to use their higher-order
thinking skills to solve medical physics problems.
Keywords: first-year; medical students, radiation; Jigsaw; cooperative

learning; concept map
1. Introduction
First-year students in medical colleges consider physics troublesome in
comparison with other basic sciences such as biology, chemistry and even
mathematics since they are required to process various forms of information,
such as experimental results, equations, calculations, figures, and scientific
interpretations, at the same time (Zafer & Mustafa, 2008; Gelu & Muza, 2011;
Maija, 2012; Márquez et al., 2017). In the field of medicine, physics explains
many principles that govern the functions of the human body. For example, it
helps in understanding applications for ultrasound, blood pressure and viscosity
(Knight et al., 2019), electrical activity of the brain, electrical and muscular
functions of the heart, electrical signaling of nerves and their insulation (Lodish
et al., 2000), X-ray imaging (Kemerink et al., 2012), as well as the use of
radionuclides in diagnostic and therapeutic medicine (Yeong et al., 2014).
However, several researchers agree that students commonly find physics

challenging to learn (Angell et al., 2007). It has also been suggested that the
challenge does not lie in the complexity of the physics concepts or the perception
of the subject held by students, but, more often, in the ineffectiveness of
techniques applied to teach the subject (Redish, 1994; Redish & Steinberg, 1999).
Scientific societies around the world are racing to improve their educational
systems through solid grounding in knowledge and learning. Superior
educational systems have noted that active-learning is an advantageous
teaching-learning technique for interdisciplinary topics, especially in physics
(Alraddadi, 2010; Aydin & Biyikli, 2017; Márquez et al., 2017).
Equally, educators have recognized cooperative learning as one of the most

effective strategies for helping learners to overcome the learning challenges
associated with complex subjects such as physics (Dong et al., 2019). The
evolution of interest in cooperative learning techniques gained momentum in
the 1990s due to the shift away from traditional teaching techniques to more
active student-centered techniques (McCabe & O'Connor, 2013). This evolution
has given rise to different cooperative teaching techniques which can be
implemented by educators to transfer knowledge and develop learners’ skills.
As opposed to traditional methods, learners are encouraged to use problem-
solving and critical thinking skills, apply their learning, and share it with their
peers independently. In this respect, learning activities such as presentations,
debates, brainstorming, case-studies, Jigsaw, group discussions, hands-on
activities, problem solving, experiential learning and simulations have the
potential to provide learners with opportunities to develop more profound
153
levels of understanding, which are required for cumbersome concepts (Asoodeh

et al., 2012).
Aronson et al. (1978) developed the Jigsaw technique in the early 1970s. It has
been attracting the attention of educators and educational researchers for the last
few decades (Walker et al., 2015). In essence, the technique seeks to promote
collaboration between learners, to dispel the negative learning competition
between them, to promote their higher order thinking skills, and to help them
during their learning experience and future professional careers (Eachempati et
al., 2017). Furthermore, it is a successful learning technique for small mixed-
abilities groups to improve their understanding of a specific scientific topic and
requires learners to take responsibility for their own learning and the learning of
their peers, which leads to the promotion of cooperation and a sense of shared
achivement, interdependnce, individual accountability, and the development of
interpersonal and team skills (Jones & Jones, 2008).
Several studies have shown that active learners are better than their passive
peers in recalling and assimilating concepts. Zafer and Mustafa (2008) analyzed
improvements in academic performance and retention of knowledge among
graduate students in magnetism by employing the Jigsaw technique with an
experimental group and traditional teaching methods with a control group. The
study revealed that a statistically significant difference was detected in favor of
the experimental group showing the effectiveness of the highly structured
cooperative learning-teaching sequence. Within the same circumstances, Gelu
and Muza (2011) applied the Jigsaw technique to deliver the fundamental
concepts of Bohr’s model of the hydrogen atom and its extrapolation to other
atoms with more electrons; they concluded that cooperative learning strengthens
the basic knowledge of students of atomic physics and enhances their
communication skills. Pelobillo (2018) delineated the effectiveness of the Jigsaw
technique in problem-solving and mastering the concepts of physics among high
school students, concluding that students’ exposure to the Jigsaw technique
improved physics learning. Gamit et al. (2017) also studied the effect of
cooperative learning – through small group activities – in enhancing the
performance level of mathematics students; they concluded that the abilities of
the students and their learning habits were improved as a result of cooperative
activities more than by traditional methods.
Karacop and Doymus (2013) investigated the effect of the Jigsaw cooperative
learning technique on the perception of first-year university students of chemical
bonding and their conceptions of the particulate nature of matter. It concluded
that students should take part in interactive group work rather than studying
alone and at the same time, they should be assisted by animations. Within this
framework, students can favorably digest chemistry modules at the
macroscopic, microscopic, and symbolic levels. Kumar et al. (2017) assessed the
improvement in medical students’ cognitive skills for microbiology by
implementing the Jigsaw technique. The findings showed that the technique led
to results which were substantially better than the results from traditional
154
classroom teaching since peers shared their knowledge and understanding to

construct the concepts of the specific topic, and then strengthened them with one
another.
Aliya et al. (2019) conducted a cross-sectional study to analyse the learning
experience of biochemistry students using the Jigsaw cooperative learning
technique and to explore students’ opinions of it. They revealed that the majority
of students had a positive attitude towards Jigsaw and acknowledged the
benefits of it, specifically in terms of the communication skills it involved.
Given what has been said, meaningful, and well-organized content knowledge is
required to formulate high standard learning and teaching techniques (Chiou,
2008). Within this context, portraying knowledge is based on concept maps
where knowledge is organized and represented graphically as connected
concepts, laws, or other forms of conceptual knowledge (Chiou, 2008; Collins &
Nyenhius, 2020). The benefit of concept maps is that they provide a
comprehensible visualization of how concepts are connected to each other by
links and can therefore be used to picture the interconnectedness of knowledge
structures (Martínez et al., 2012). Maija (2012) found that concept mapping
consolidates the knowledge structure, which helps students to comprehend the
procedural nature of the connections between physics concepts and helps to
foster reflective thinking during the learning process. Mustafa and Talat (2013)
studied the effectiveness of the concept mapping strategy as an instructional tool
for teaching chemistry; they concluded that a concept map works better in the
field of education, taking another step forward towards instructional techniques,
and making learning easier for learners. Márquez et al. (2017) analyzed the effect
of the Jigsaw technique on academic achievement in physics subjects. In their
study, an experimental group worked on constructing concept maps using the
Jigsaw technique, while a control group worked on the same subject using a
lecture-based learning technique. The results showed that without achieving
considerable statistical significance, the learning sequence of the experimental
group was improved. The students were encouraged to work purposefully in
the Jigsaw groups, despite the perception of a sense of insecurity due to a new
activity that they had not been exposed to before. Recently, Baliga et al. (2021)
stated that the use of concepts maps were effective teaching and learning tool for
medical students and excellent way to assess their critical thinking skills.
3. Ready-to-Go Teaching Modules

Cooperative learning techniques in teaching physics for the health track students
in the Deanship of Preparatory year (DPY) at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal
University (IAU), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) were introduced to teaching
in 2013. To successfully integrate active learning techniques within the
classroom, the department of basic sciences of the DPY, has been using Pearson’s
Ready-to-Go Teaching Modules (R-to-GTMs) (Pearson, MyLab and Mastering,
2019) for the last few years. These modules support physics educators to
transform the educational experience and present information in impactful
ways, based on the most recent research, and find the best assets to use before,
during, and after class (Ozdemir & Öner, 2015; Kim, 2017). The modules have
been utilized in teaching fundamentals of physics for the health track students in
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medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, applied medical sciences, nursing, and public

health. It is worth mentioning that these interactive modules assist students and
educators to be organized and easily engage with scientific content and each
other (Brady & O'Reilly, 2020).
4. Research Question and Hypotheses

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

This section includes the research design, research subjects, research
instruments, procedures, and statistical treatment.
5.1 Sample
A quasi-experimental approach with a pretest-posttest design was employed to
conduct the study. The sample of the study consisted of fifty health-track male
students, who were randomly selected from the physics course population and
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taught by the researcher (ﬁrst author) in the DPY at IAU in the 2019–2020
academic year. The students were divided into two groups consisting of twenty-
five students in the control group and twenty-five students in the experimental
group. The control group was exposed to traditional lectures, in which the
educator acts as a knowledge dispenser rather than a learning facilitator. In
contrast, the experimental group was taught through the Jigsaw technique, in
which the educator acts as a facilitator and organizer providing resources and
support to the students, and the students must work actively in a purposeful
way.
5.2 Pre-test and Post-test

The present study was made up of three phases. Phase I (pre-testing) and Phase
II (Jigsaw cooperative learning versus traditional lectures) are explained in Table
1. Phase III (post-testing) is explained in Table 2.
Table 1: Schematic view of pre-testing phase and Traditional lectures versus Jigsaw
cooperative learning phase
Groups Number of Time
Phase
Control Group X Experimental Group Y Sessions (in hr)
Academic achievement Academic achievement
in physics in physics
In-class Test 1
Phase I (Pre-Testing)
Both groups took a pertest to ensure they were matched

(Pre-test)
in their literacy
Educator-centered technique Student-centered technique
The students made use of The students made use of
the pre-class contents to the pre-class contents to
prepare for the physics prepare for the physics -
Preparation at
classes. The contents were activity. The contents were
home
posted on the blackboard posted on the blackboard
system of IAU. system of IAU.
The educator delivered a The educator delivered an
traditional session on the interactive session on the
Phase II (Traditional Lectures Versus
specified topic and the topic being studied via One

1
Jigsaw Cooperative Learning)
students exclusively stimulating the student classroom

listened. During activities, higher order thinking skills session
students worked alone, and and preparing them for the
collaboration was upcoming cooperative
discouraged. sessions.
The educator continued Forming Jigsaw groups
One
delivering the specified (each student in the Jigsaw
classroom 1
topic and responded to the group was assigned to lean
session
students’ questions. one section of the topic)
The educator continued Forming expert groups
One
delivering the specified (each expert group was
classroom
topic with some examples assigned to construct the 1
session
and the students took notes. concept map of one section).
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The educator displayed Students returned to their

One
some videos and animation Jigsaw groups and each
classroom
and solved some real-world group was assigned to 1
session
problems in nuclear construct the whole concept
radiation. map of the topic.
The educator continued The full concept-map was
delivering the specified constructed One
topic and clarified students’ (Educator-learner interactive classroom 2
misconceptions. session) session
Table 2: Schematic view of the post-testing phase

Phase Groups Number of Time
Control Group X Experimental Group Y Sessions (in hr)
The students were assigned The students solved the
to solve some selected end of adaptive follow-up
chapter questions and assignment items on -
Phase III (Post-testing)
Homework
problems from the Pearson’s MyLab and the
recommended textbook. Mastering platform.
Measurement of academic Measurement of academic
achievement in physics achievement in physics
• Both groups took a post-test to measure their
achievement in the physics course. In-class test 1
• At the end of the test, each student in the two groups (post-test)
wrote his reflection on the conducted learning
technique.
The control and experimental groups were given a pre-test at the beginning and
a post-test at the end of the study. Each test was composed of twenty multiple-
choice questions in which each correct answer received 0.5 points. A pre-test was
administrated to both groups to find the level of academic performance of each
student in physics. The result for this served as the independent variable for
comparing the results of the assessment after the intervention had been
conducted (Aydin & Biyikli, 2017). It served as the baseline to indicate how the
students improved after applying the cooperative Jigsaw technique. In Phase II,
the activity was performed by the students in the experimental group and the
educator acted only as a learning facilitator. In contrast, the control group was
exposed to a sequence of traditional lectures. The post-testing phase was
undertaken to assess the progress of the students’ learning in physics.
5.4 Procedure
The present study demonstrates the considerable significance of using the
Jigsaw cooperative learning and concept map for students’ academic
achievement. A concept map is a type of graphic organizer used to help students
organize and represent knowledge on a subject. A concept map begins with a
main idea and then forks to showcase how that main idea can be divided into
specific topics (Yatimah et al., 2020). Likewise, Jigsaw is a well-structured
cooperative learning technique, which has been successfully used by numerous
educational systems to improve academic achievement among students
(Karacop & Doymus, 2013). This technique assigns students to groups that are
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composed of individuals with varying skill levels. Each group member is

responsible for becoming an expert on one section of the topic being studied and
then teaching it to the other members of the group. The Jigsaw technique was
implemented in the present study as follows:
1. The experimental group Y (NY = 25) was divided into five “Jigsaw groups”,
which were labeled JG 1, JG 2, JG 3, JG 4 and JG 5, respectively. Each Jigsaw
group was composed of five students and was diverse in terms of ethnicity, race,
and ability. The students in the five Jigsaw groups were labeled respectively as:
JG 1: A1, A2, A3, A4, and A5, JG 2: B1, B2, AB, B4, and B5, JG 3: C1, C2, C3,
C4, and C5, JG 4: D1, D2, D3, D4, and D5, and JG 5: E1, E2, E3, E4, and E5.
2. The “nuclear radiation” topic was divided into five sections: radioactivity,
biological effects of radiation, diagnostic radiation, therapeutic radiation, and
radiation dose, which were labeled S1, S2, S3, S4 and S5, respectively. It was
ensured that the content of one section was not a prerequisite for any of the
other sections.
3. Each student in a Jigsaw group was assigned to learn one of the five sections:
S1, S2, S3, S4 and S5. The students were given enough time to read over their
assigned sections and each student had direct access only to his own section.
Each student was encouraged to start constructing the corresponding concept
map of his assigned section.
4. Five "expert groups" were then formed. One student from each Jigsaw group
joined other students assigned to the same section. The expert groups were
labeled EG 1, EG 2, EG 3, EG 4, and EG 5, respectively. Enough time was given
to the students in each expert groups to discuss the main points of their section
and to construct the corresponding visual concept map, which was to be
presented to their Jigsaw group. The students in the five expert groups were
labeled respectively as: EG 1: A1, B1, C1, D1, and E1, EG 2: A2, B2, C2, D2, and
E2, EG3: A3, B3, C3, D3, and E3, EG 4: A4, B4, C4, D4, and E4, and EG 5: A5,
B5, C5, D5, and E5.
5. The students were then asked to return to their Jigsaw groups where each of
them explained and presented the structure of the concept map of his assigned
section, which was already prepared in his respective expert group.
The Jigsaw technique is visually organized and depicted in the map in Figure 1.
Figure 2 illustrates the organization of the Jigsaw and expert groups in the
present study.
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Figure 1: Concept map for the cooperative learning Jigsaw technique, which was
constructed by the authors of this study.
160
Figure 2: Organization of the Jigsaw and expert groups to map the concepts of nuclear
radiation in diagnosis and therapy. It was constructed by the authors of this study
To ensure that the experimental group was well-prepared before conducting the
Jigsaw activity, the arrangement of the R-to-GTMs were implemented. A pre-
class content was uploaded to the e-learning system of IAU. The content
consisted of the used textbook (Knight et al., 2019), summarized concepts on
nuclear radiation in medicine, selected videos and PhET animations, concept
map software (Cmap Tools: version 6.01.01) and the concept map for the Jigsaw
cooperative learning technique shown in Figure 1. In the first session, the
educator introduced the whole topic interactively and prepared students for the
forthcoming activity. It helped the assigned students to be actively engaged with
the topic material, purposefully participate in the learning environment, take
more responsibility for their performance in the activity, learn how to map the
concepts, and apply the physics laws to a real-world problem. In the three
active sessions following, the Jigsaw activity was conducted. Two examples on
the concept maps, which were constructed and presented by the assigned
students in this study, are shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4, respectively.
161
Figure 3: Concept map for the biological effect of radiation. It was constructed by EG2
It is worthwhile to mention that concept map is mainly constructed to answer a

particular question. Before constructing the concept map of the biological effect
of radiation, which is shown in Figure 3, the students of EG 2 came up with the
question “How do tissues react with different forms of nuclear radiation?”. They
answered the question in five steps. Firstly, selecting the key concepts (e.g.,
biological factor, physical factor, radioisotopes, radiation dose, and dose
equivalent) without linking them. Secondly, choosing the necessary sub-
concepts (e.g., kinetic energy, relative biological effectiveness, alpha particle-beta
particle-gamma ray, mass of body tissues, amount of damage) to be linked with
the key concepts. Thirdly, rearranging and interlinking the key concepts and
sub-concepts using appropriate words (e.g., absorb, which decays, is a good
measure of, can be summarized in, which is absorbed by, etc). For example, “the
tissues in the body absorb radioisotopes”, “the absorbed kinetic energy is a good
measure of the amount of tissue damage”, “physical factor can be summarized
in how much energy is absorbed by the body?”. Fourthly, Using appropriate
words to crosslink concepts from the hierarchy that begins with the “physical
factor” concept to the one that begins with the “biological factor” concept. For
example, “radioisotopes decay alpha particles, beta particles or gamma rays”.
Finally, Checking the content of the concept map and remove any redundant
concept, since the goal of the concept mapping is the process itself rather than
the resulting concept map. Following the same procedure, the EG 3 constructed
the concept map of the diagnostic radiation (Nuclear imaging), which is shown
in Figure 4.
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Figure 4: Concept map for diagnostic radiation. It was constructed by EG 3
It was concluded that the well-thought-out topic of the jigsaw activity, nuclear
radiation in diagnosis and therapy, motivated the students to brainstorm and
generate new ideas, to discover new concepts and the propositions that connect
them, to manifestly communicate ideas and information, to integrate new
concepts with older concepts, and to gain in-depth comprehension of the topic
(José & Helen, 2013). Additionally, the students took the opportunity to actively
assist each other, attain high levels of cognitive performance, and recapitulate
concepts using their own words. During the activity, the educator (first author)
carefully guided the students, responded to their inquiries, and clarified some
concepts when needed. Notably, the constructed concept maps served as a
quintessential appraisal tool for the educator to spot students’ misconceptions
and to evaluate areas in which students had not yet understood concepts
extensively (Mustafa & Talat, 2013). Subsequently, the full concept map for
nuclear radiation was constructed in the last interactive session by the students
and the educator (first author) as shown in Figure 5. The students were
encouraged to consolidate what they had learnt in the Jigsaw groups and expert
groups, to discover the relationship between their ideas, to compare viewpoints,
find similarities and gauge differences (Maija, 2012). An online Pearson’s
adaptive follow-up assignment (Pearson, MyLab and Mastering, 2019) was
targeted at the students’ areas of weakness. It consisted of questions that
addressed gaps in understanding based on the students’ performance in the
concept mapping. After conducting the activity, the experimental and control
groups underwent the same post-test.
163
Figure 5: The full concept map for nuclear radiation in diagnosis and therapy. It was
constructed by the educator (first author) and the experimental group
164
5.4 Statistical Treatment

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

In this section, the results of the study are presented and discussed with
reference to the aim of the study. The formulated hypotheses are tested using
statistical methods to answer the research question.
6.1 Normality test and the Research Paradigm

The Shapiro’s test calculates a W-statistic that tests if a random sample comes
from a normal distribution. 𝛼 = 0.05 is the level of significance used in this
study. The test rejects the hypothesis of normality when the P-value is less than
or equal to 0.05. Table 3 shows the results of the Shapiro’s test, which revealed
that the pre-test and the post-test scores of the control and experimental groups
follow the normal distribution as the P-value of each is greater than 0.05. The
control and experimental groups for this study were randomly selected from the
physics students of the DPY at IAU; consequently, the assumptions of normality
and randomization were satisfied.
Table 3: Shapiro’s test of normality
Students’ scores W-Statistic df P-value

Pre-test_Experimental 0.926 25 0.072
Pre-test_Control 0.943 25 0.173
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Post-test_Experimental 0.920 25 0.052

Post-test_Control 0.948 25 0.226
The paradigm for this study is shown in Figure 6: t-tests and tested hypotheses.
Figure 6: Paradigm for this study: t-tests and tested hypotheses. It was designed
by the authors of this study
6.2 Testing NH_1

An independent sample test was used to analyze the data for both the
experimental and control groups in the pre-test at a level of significance 𝛼 =
0.05. The fifty students in the experimental and control groups participated in
the pre-test. From Table 4, it is revealed that the experimental group of twenty-
five students had a mean score of 6.96 with a standard deviation of 2.12093. The
control group of twenty-five students had a mean score of 6.74 with a standard
deviation of 1.8491.
Table 4: Pre-test analysis of the differences in the physics scores between the
experimental group and control group using the t-test for independent samples
Std. Error
Group Test N Mean Std. Dev.
Mean
Experimental Pre-test 25 6.960 2.12093 0.42419
Control Pre-test 25 6.740 1.84910 0.36982
Levene's test for equality of
t-test for equality of means
variances
95% Confidence
Variance Std. Error t- P- Interval of the
F Sig. df
Difference statistic value Difference
Lower Upper
Equal
variance 48 0.56276 0.391 0.698 -0.09115 1.3515
assumed
0.37 0.54
Equal
variances not 47.1 0.56276 0.391 0.698 -0.09120 1.3520
assumed
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It is known that Levene's test for equality of variances determines if the two
groups have about the same or different amounts of variability between scores
in the pre-test. As shown in Table 4, Sig. > 0.05 (= 0.54). This value, greater than
0.05, means that the experimental and control groups had the same amount of
variability between scores in the pre-test and the resulted calculation used
pooled variances. Hence, the t-statistic is 0.391 with 48 degrees of freedom. The
P-value is 0.698, which is greater than 0.05.
Accordingly, the NH_1 cannot be rejected; thus, it is inferred that there is no

statistically significant difference between the mean pre-test scores achievement
in physics for the experimental and control groups. These results indicate that
the two groups were similar in level with regard to their learning competency
before conducting the study. A quasi-experimental method was applied by the
educator (first author). The experimental group was exposed to the Jigsaw
cooperative technique. In contrast, the control group was exposed to a well-
designed sequence of traditional lectures and was not engaged in the
cooperative learning activity. The sequences of the Jigsaw activity and the
traditional lectures were developed over the course of five classroom sessions as
illustrated in Tables 1 and 2.
6.4 Testing NH_2 and NH_3

A paired sample t-test was used to compare the mean scores of the control group
students in the pre-test and post-test. From Table 5, the value of the t-statistic is
6.726 with 24 degrees of freedom, and the P-value is 0.000, which is much
smaller than 0.05. Consequently, NH_2 is rejected; thus, it is inferred that there is
a significant improvement in the performance of students who were taught
through the well-structured traditional teaching technique. Similar analysis was
done to compare the mean scores of the experimental group students in the pre-
test and post-test; it was found that the t-statistic is 5.081 with 24 degrees of
freedom, and the P-value is 0.000 as indicated in Table 6. NH_3 is rejected; thus,
it can be concluded that there was a significant improvement of the performance
of students who were taught with the Jigsaw cooperative learning technique.
Table 5: Comparison of the mean scores of the control group students using a paired
samples t-test
Paired Sample Statistics / Control Group
Std. Error
Mean
Control Post-test 25 8.0440 1.29037 0.25807
Control Pre-test 25 6.7400 1.84910 0.36982
Paired Sample t-test Results / Control Group
95% Confidence
Std. t- P-
Test Mean Interval of the
Dev. statistic df value
Difference
Post-test_Control Upper Lower
1.3040 0.9693 6.726 24 0.000
Pre-test_Control 0.90389 1.7041
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Table 6: Comparison of the mean scores of the experimental group students using a
paired samples t-test
Paired Sample Statistics / Control Group
Std. Error
Mean
Experimental Post-test 25 9.060 0.60069 0.12014
Experimental Pre-test 25 6.960 2.12093 0.42419
Paired Sample t-test Results / Control Group
95% Confidence
Std. t- P-
Test Mean Interval of the
Dev. statistic df value
Difference
Post-test_Exp. Lower Upper
2.1000 2.066 5.081 24 0.000
Pre-test_Exp. 1.24695 2.95305
The results of the paired sample t-tests were used to determine the effect size by
calculating Cohen’s d (Sawilowsky, 2009). It is based on the following
interpretation for Cohen’s d: 0.2 (small effect size), 0.5 (medium effect size) and
0.8 (large effect size). Since we are dealing with small sample sizes in this study,
we applied the corrected Cohen’s d formula (Lakens, 2013):
ME −MC N−3 N−2

d= (N−2.25) √ (1)
2 2⁄ N
√(SD1 +SD2 2)
where ME , MC , SD1, and SD2 are the mean of the experimental group, the mean
of the control group, the standard deviation of the experimental group and the
standard deviation of the control group, respectively.
The average normalized gain was introduced by Hake (1998) as a measure of the
effectiveness of a course in promoting conceptual understanding. He defined the
average normalized gain as:
<Post−Test>−<Pre−Test>
< g >= (2)
10−<Pre−Test>
where brackets indicate class average scores out of 10. This measure is generally
described as the amount students learned divided by the amount they could
have learned. The average normalized gain was used to determine the
assessment of the students in terms of their scores using the following
interpretation: 0-30 % (Low Gain), 31% -70% (Medium Gain) and 71% -100%
(High Gain).
Table 7: Effect size calculation from the paired sample t-test output, and the average
normalized gain
Normalized
Students’ scores N Mean Std. Dev. t-statistic Cohen’s d
Gain < g >
Post-test_Exp. 9.0600
25 2.06660 5.081 1.016 0.69
Pre-test_Exp. 6.9600
Post-test_Control 8.0440
25 0.96931 6.726 1.345 0.40
Pre-test_Control 6.7400
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As shown in Table 7, the effect size was large (Cohen’s d > 0.8) for both groups
indicating an improvement in the students’ achievement for both the
experimental and control groups, namely 1.016 for the experimental group and
1.345 for the control group. The interpretation of these results is in the line with
the study of Abdul Hadi (2014) who concluded that learning physics requires
following the textbook and the information delivered by the educator in the
class to gain conceptual knowledge, which enables them to assess and analyze
real-world physics problems that promote their thinking to higher levels. Thus,
the control group students still need to learn through the traditional lectures that
are structured using the arrangement of the R-to-GTMs. It is worth mentioning
that the difference in the normalized gain between the experimental and the
control group strongly differentiates between the learning techniques, allowing
the educator (first author) to compare his students' learning to those of other
students (Hake, 1998). However, the normalized gain was significantly higher
for the experimental group which gained 0.69 (69%), than for the control group,
which gained 0.40 (40%). Based on this finding, it can be concluded that effective
group work, such as that enabled by the Jigsaw technique, can enhance the
positive attitude and performance of students in learning medical physics
concepts. This conclusion is supported by the study of Gamabri and Yusuf
(2014) who reported that students demonstrated better performance when
taught through cooperative learning than the traditional method of teaching.
Furthermore, the study of Yemi and Azid (2018) revealed that the Jigsaw
technique contributed effectively to improving students’ achievement, fostering
their interest in learning, and enhancing their communication skills.
6.5 Testing the NH_4

The independent sample t-test was applied one more time to analyze the data
for both the experimental and control groups in the post-test at a level of
significance 𝛼 = 0.05. From Table 8, it can be concluded that the experimental
group had a mean score of 9.060 with a standard deviation of 0.60069, and the
control group had a mean score of 8.044 with a standard deviation of 1.29037.
Table 8: Post-test analysis of differences in the physics scores between the

experimental group and control group using t-test for independent samples
Std. Error
Mean
Experimental Post-test 25 9.060 0.60069 0.12014
Control Post-test 25 8.044 1.29037 0.25807
Levene's test for equality of
t-test for equality of means
variances
95% Confidence
Variance Std. Error t- P- Interval of the
F Sig. df
Difference statistic value Difference
Lower Upper
Equal variance
48 0.28467 3.569 0.001 0.4436 1.5883
assumed
Equal 9.34 0.004
variances not 33.9 0.28467 3.569 0.001 0.4374 1.5945
assumed
169
As shown in Table 8, Levene's test gives Sig. < 0.05 (= 0.004), revealing that the
experimental and control groups do not have the same amount of variability
between scores in the post-test, and the calculation utilizes un-pooled variances
and a correction to the degrees of freedom. Hence, the t-statistic is 3.569 with
33.9 degrees of freedom. The P-value is 0.001, which is smaller than 0.05.
Consequently, NH_4 is rejected, leading us to conclude that there is a
statistically significant difference between the mean post-test scores in physics
for the experimental and control groups. The output of the independent sample
t-test was used to calculate the effect size. The calculations are given in Table 9.
The results demonstrate a small effect size for the pre-test scores (Cohen’s d =
0.1108) and a large effect size for the post-test scores (Cohen’s d = 0.9931) for the
experimental and control groups. Thus, we can conclude that the students were
performing equally in the pre-test while students in the experimental group
performed better than those in the control group in the post-test. On that
account, the experimental group performed significantly better than the control
group on the post-test. Consequently, the answer to research question is ‘Yes.
The application of the Jigsaw cooperative learning technique is effective in
improving first-year medical students’ academic achievement in physics.’
Table 9: Calculating effect size (Cohen’s d) from independent sample t-test output
Students’ scores N Mean Std. Deviation Cohen’s d
Pre-test_Experimental 25 6.960 2.12093
0.1108
Pre-test_Control 25 6.740 1.84910
Post-test_Experimental 25 9.060 0.60069
0.9931
Post-test_Control 25 8.044 1.29037
Our findings are in the line with previous studies. Aydin & Biyikli (2017)
highlighted that the superiority of the Jigsaw technique lies in enhancing the
students’ learning experience, provoking their interest in studying physics, and
producing a healthy atmosphere of collaboration between the students and the
educator. Shahri et al. (2017) stated that time constraints represent one of the
challenges of using the Jigsaw technique. Since implementing Jigsaw activities in
a class can be time-consuming, proper time management by the educator is
essential. Rahul and Abdul Sattar (2016) recommended that a didactic lecture-
based learning technique ought to be replaced by a cooperative learning
technique such as Jigsaw to encourage learning among medical students. Abd El
Aliem et al. (2019) concluded that Jigsaw is an unconventional technique that
enhanced the achivenment of nursing students, and it can be widely
implmented in nursing education to promote the nursing students’ skills.
Furthermore, the findings of numerous educational studies support the present
study in concluding that Jigsaw cooperative learning has a significant positive
effect on students’ academic achievement (Maija, 2012; Martínez et al., 2012;
Mustafa & Talat, 2013; Isiaka & Mudasiru, 2016; Bharti et al., 2017; Kumar et al.,
2017; Pelobillo, 2018; Amiruddin et al., 2019; Ephraim et al., 2019).
7. Conclusion
The pedagogical studies have fundamentally proven that cooperative learning
activities promote the students’ thinking skills to higher levels and encourage
them to put the facts together in novel ways. The result of this study supports
170
the findings of the previous studies and emphasizes the effectiveness of using
the Jigsaw cooperative learning technique in promoting first-year medical
students’ academic achievement in physics. A quasi-experimental approach with
a pretest-posttest design was employed to conduct the study. The experimental
group was exposed to the Jigsaw cooperative technique. In contrast, the control
group was exposed to a well-designed sequence of traditional lectures and was
not engaged in the cooperative learning activity. The effect size was large for
experimental and control groups indicating an improvement in the students’
achievement for both the experimental and control groups. However, the
normalized gain was significantly higher for experimental group than that for
control group. The experimental group students had the opportunity to organize
their thoughts and debate their opinions, by working in small groups towards
the common goal: Mapping the concept of nuclear radiation in diagnosis and
therapy. In conclusion, the Jigsaw activity increased the students’ engagement
level and allowed them to analyze and assess the validity of facts, generate ideas
in terms of how the concepts for the studied topic can be mapped and applied to
biomedical cases. Furthermore, it motivated the first-year medical students to
make progress in terms of organizing and understanding new information in
physics and enabled them to keep up with their cognitive development. The
jigsaw activity required sufficient time to be prepared and implemented;
nonetheless, it strengthened the social relationships among the students in both
the Jigsaw groups and the expert groups.
8. Limitations
Since Jigsaw is a time-consuming cooperative learning technique, two expert
groups in this study couldn’t complete their assigned concept maps within the
assigned time. It is highly recommended that thoughtful educators in medical
physics pay extra attention to the time needed to implement Jigsaw activities
successfully and appropriately. Sufficient time enables the educator to
significantly guide all Jigsaw group dynamics and support the tasks, which are
the responsibility of each individual group member.
9. Recommendations for Future Research

Future studies have been proposed by the authors of this study.
• A follow-up study could be conducted to take the feedback of the students,
the experimental group of the present study, about the use of concept
mapping tool in learning advanced medical topics in their study fields. The
study could answer the following question: “Is the application of concept
mapping functional in analyzing advanced medical cases?”
• A well-structured online model could be developed, especially during the
Covid-19 pandemic, to study the effect of using the Jigsaw technique on
students’ perception of a multidisciplinary topic: the action-potential of a
nerve cell. Particularly, seeking for an answer to the question: “does
teaching a multidisciplinary topic require using innovative active learning
method?”.
• Attempts to shed light on the effectiveness of the Jigsaw II technique on
students’ achievement in medical physics could be crystalized into assessing
and analyzing biomedical cases on the viscosity of blood. Specifically, going
171
for an answer to the question: “does well-organized classroom activity make

students depend on each other to comprehend an advanced medical physics
topic?”.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank the DPY at IAU for continuous support and the
students for their effective participation during the course of this study.
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175

Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 175-191, July 2021
Application of the Case Study Method in

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

graduates of medical education institutions and needs of patients is the
priority of medical education. The introduction of interactive methods, in
particular the case study method, can help solve this problem. The aim of
this study was to investigate how the application of the case method in
medical education affects the learning outcomes of students and
acquisition of practical experience. Case method was used to identify its
impact on the acquisition of practical skills, abilities and clinical
experience by future physicians. Students’ opinions on the effectiveness
of the case method in gaining practical experience were surveyed. The
study showed that the case method helped students find solutions
required by clinical situations, as they used not only theoretical
knowledge, but also acquired practical skills and clinical experience. The
case method also increases students’ confidence in their professional
abilities. This experimental study proved the high efficiency of using the
case method in medical education to gain practical experience by students
in the education institution. It can be useful for scholars and educators
©Authors
176
who are looking for, developing and implementing effective teaching

methods that allow students to acquire the necessary competencies.
Keywords: teaching methods; clinical case; clinical situation; medical

experience; interactive method
1. Introduction
An important objective of higher medical education is the development of
students’ skills necessary for successful future clinical practice (Skrypnyk et al.,
2012). Students must be able to process information obtained from the
examination of the patient, identify the main points, systematize, summarize,
assess the need for additional examinations, and build a plan according to which
these should be carried out. It is also necessary to teach students to analyse the
obtained results of examinations and to make a diagnosis, and to prescribe an
appropriate and effective treatment according to the current protocols of
treatment, the diagnosis and features of a particular clinical case.
Future physicians gain experience in clinical practice while studying at a medical

education institution through the use of case methods in their teaching and
learning. The mistakes they may make at this stage do not entail life-threatening
implications (Skrypnyk et al., 2012). These case methods can be used not only in
in-class learning, but also in e-learning or distance learning (Ali et al., 2018; Turk
et al., 2019).
The main purpose of the case method is to conduct a comprehensive, integrated

in-depth study of a complex issue, phenomenon, event, situation, case,
programme, person or group of people. This study must be conducted in a specific
context (real life, authentic conditions), where the boundary between context and
problem is not obvious. The situation may have many variables, because many
phenomena and processes intersect in one situation or case. One of the objectives
of using the case method is to increase motivation and thus achieve a deep
understanding of complex processes and phenomena (Harrison et al., 2017). The
case study method is considered to be the link between theory and practice in
medical education (Turk et al., 2019).
The case study dates back to Harvard Law School in the 1870s (Servant-Miklos,
2019). In 1900, case methods were used in medical school, and from 1908 in
business school, although, according to other scientists (Litvinova et al., 2017), the
method came into use in medicine in the 1920s.
The case method quickly spread beyond Harvard (Servant-Miklos, 2019). It is

currently used in the education and training of not only physicians (Chamala et
al., 2021; Wei et al., 2021), but also of specialists in other professions in education
institutions worldwide (Zakaliuzhnyi, 2019). The case study method currently is
most commonly used in North America - 54.93% of all research papers dealt with
this method. It is less popular in Europe (25.35%), in Asia (15.49%), in South
America (2.82%), and in Africa (less than 2%) (McLean, 2016).
177
Case studies appeared in medical schools as an alternative to lectures that were

considered ineffective for practical medicine (McLean, 2016). However, the
contrary opinion is that lectures are a very powerful and useful tool in teaching
medical students to master the fundamental knowledge needed to solve specific
problems (Tsekhmister et al., 2019; Vasylieva, 2020).
The process of formulating a case situation, that is, the path of a clinical case from
a patient to medical institutions is quite complex (Sayre et al., 2017). Despite this,
a great variety of cases have been classified, for example, by type and direction,
structure, way of presentation, content, complexity, volume, the plot, goals and
objectives of the educational process, the subject of the case, and the purposes of
using the case method (Likhachov et al., 2019) . In the largest database of case
studies of the European Case Clearing House (ECCH), cases are classified as
follows: case studies, auxiliary cases, exercise cases, complex cases, solutions
cases.
Different scholars identify different stages of working on cases in medical

education, such as: development of a clinical case, search of literature to address
a clinical issue, critical evaluation, and application of the results of the study to
the patient’s treatment (Napryeyenko et al., 2019; Zarnadze et al., 2018). The
teaching plan for using the case method is as follows: Students are given data on
the actual case. The data should be analysed independently by students
(diagnosis, prognosis, treatment). This is followed by a discussion of all aspects of
the problem by students who should respond like professionals in the presence of
a teacher. The teacher should not impose his/her opinion, but rather pose
questions that may guide students’ answers to their theoretical knowledge that
may prompt them to find the correct solution to the problem (Servant-Miklos,
2019). Students’ work on cases improves their skills and provides knowledge and
the ability to apply critical and analytical thinking, and use theoretical and
relevant knowledge (Edenhammar, 2017). Often the cases considered in case
studies do not have a single solution, that is, they are ambiguous; therefore, it is
important that teachers’ questions to students during case study discussions must
be enabling (Gartmeier et al., 2019).
In the learning process, cases can be used as illustrative material, to substantiate

diagnostic methods (Pavlyshyn et al., 2015), as the premise for discussions, for
specific questions and answers, and for a detailed cross-examination, and also in
assessing student competence (Orban et al., 2017). Cases all must have a specific
goal, purpose, educational procedure, and must be linked to knowledge and
application (Servant-Miklos, 2019).
Scientists often compare the case method and problem-based learning (Servant-
Miklos, 2019). What these methods have in common is that the learning process
takes place through solving life situations in a small group of students under the
guidance of a teacher. Edenhammar (2017) and Eid and Quinn (2017) also
compare the case method with traditional teaching methods. Combining
innovative lectures with reviewing practical situations not only enhances learning
outcomes (Sandelowsky et al., 2018), but also provides knowledge necessary for
independent work of physicians, to understand the causes of specific situations,
178
and make appropriate and effective decisions (Edenhammar, 2017). In addition,

the use of the case method in teaching can reduce the likelihood of errors in
practice to a minimum, as the main objective of medical education institutions is
to help students gain knowledge at a level that will allow them to practise
independently without making mistakes.
The analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of the case method compared
to other modern methods that are introduced in learning, identified the following
advantages: improved long-term memory, and increased quality of decision-
making. The disadvantages include the difficulties related to implementing the
method (Afsouran et al., 2018). In addition, the effectiveness of teaching using the
case method can be influenced by the individual characteristics of students and
teachers (Bayona & Castañeda, 2017).
The aim of this study was to experimentally determine how case studies affect the
mastering of practical skills and clinical experience in medical students. To
achieve this aim, the following objectives had to be achieved:
1) To establish the impact of the case method on the development of practical skills
and abilities of students of medical education institutions, and draw a conclusion
about its effectiveness;
2) to determine the impact of the case method on the learning outcomes of
students, comparing the final grades in the majors of the groups where the case
method was used with those where it was not introduced;
3) to identify through a survey among students how, in their opinion, the case
method affects their practical skills and clinical experience.
2. Methods
The study involved eleven teachers of five medical higher education institutions
(HEIs) of Ukraine. The sample included two teachers from the Department of
Dentistry of the Faculty of Postgraduate Education, Dnipropetrovsk Medical
Academy of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine; two teachers from the Department
of General Surgery and Postgraduate Surgical Education of Zaporizhzhia State
Medical University and three teachers from Zhytomyr Medical Institute of the
Zhytomyr Regional Council participated, as well as two teachers from Ajman
University, College of Medicine, and two from the Ukrainian Medical Lyceum of
Bogomolets National Medical University. The sample also included 117 students
in their second to fourth years of study from the mentioned education institutions.
A data triangulation procedure was used in the study. Data collection was carried
out through different methods, namely qualitative (observation, survey) and
quantitative (comparison of the results of the final assessment of knowledge of
students of the experimental and control groups) in order to increase the
reliability of the obtained results.
The study was conducted in three phases. The first phase was a qualitative study,
entailing the observation of students discussing clinical cases at the initial stage of
introduction of the case method in teaching and throughout the period of the
involvement with this method, as well as at the final stage of training. For the
discussions, students used one of the largest case databases in the world, created
179
by the European Case Clearing House

(https://www.thecasecentre.org/educators/casemethod/resources/freecasesov
erview), as well as videos of real clinical situations.
The case method was introduced in the above-mentioned HEIs, adhering to the
content and didactic goals of the subjects concerned, as well as the principles of
the relevance of specific cases, and sufficient knowledge of students to complete
the assignments.
The cases contained: 1) a set of videos of real (authentic) practical medical

situations/cases; 2) instructions for students, and the study material required to
be considered in a particular case; 3) schemas that allow tracking the relationship
between the elements of the topics studied and the competencies that students
should obtain when considering a particular case; 4) necessary reference tables
and maps, diagrams; 5) educational literature; 6) collections of creative
assignments and problems, as well as logical tasks; 7) multimedia video courses;
8) tests for self-assessment.
At the same time, the teacher guiding the students to a correct solution of the
medical problem situation by asking simple questions in the course of the
collective discussion of each practical case, used a pre-written scenario of student
academic activities. According to the scenario, students had to solve a practical
case independently during group discussions, as well as indicate all possible ways
to solve it, with minimal teacher intervention.
The students’ work on the cases was carried out in the following sequence:
1. Outlining the clinical case.
2. Self-preparation to accumulate the necessary theoretical material to solve
the case situation.
3. Conducting a group discussion under the teacher’s guidance.
4. Identifying options for solving a clinical case.
5. Analysis of potential results that may lead to the proposed actions.
6. Evaluation of actions.
In the study, observers evaluated:

1. The process of resolving a clinical situation (how the problem is identified,
which of the case data are used, how the data are analysed, how the
decision is made, whether it is unambiguous, whether the case may have
several correct solutions).
2. Do students use previously acquired knowledge, professional language,
terminology, analytical and decision-making skills, etc. during the
discussion?
3. The nature of the discussion — the justification of solutions is based solely
on theoretical knowledge, whether practical experience is used when a
controversy occurs, whether the opinion of colleagues is supported, or
questioned, and so forth.
4. How the communication takes place in the group during the discussion —
do students look for solutions independently, trust the opinion of
classmates, or wait for the teacher’s tips?
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The second phase of the study entailed the comparison of learning outcomes by
comparing the final scores obtained by students during their final assessment in
the same subjects in the same study year of two groups of students, one of which
had used the case method, while the other group had not.
The third phase of the study consisted of an anonymous survey of students by

means of the Waliany’s technique (Waliany et al., 2019). Students who had not yet
been taught by means of the case study method were asked to answer 14 questions
that helped students assess the level of practical skills they had acquired while
studying at an education institution. The students had to fill in the same
questionnaire after the case study method had been introduced in their studies.
The obtained statistical data were processed using the Statistica software
package.
3. Results
During the first phase of the study, when the case method was used as a tool to
assess the availability of practical skills and abilities of students, it was found that
in all five medical education institutions involved in this study, the
professionalism of the clinical case discussions differed, depending on the study
year of students and their experience in using case studies. For example, second-
year students had not yet developed the ability to use medical terminology; their
justifications were based on their theoretical knowledge in the relevant subjects
available at the time of the study. In the second year, students spent a significant
amount of time trying to understand the problem before starting to look for
solutions. Sometimes the problem was misidentified, or they identified several
problems in one situation. Conversely, students did not always indicate all
possible solutions to the clinical situation. Future physicians often expected
questions from the teacher who led the discussion in order to get clues to identify
the appropriate solutions.
Third-year students showed more skilful use of professional terminology during

the discussion. They quickly identified the problem. The clinical case was
carefully evaluated and analysed. Sometimes the teacher’s intervention was
necessary to find the right options for solving the clinical situation. There was
some interaction between students in the group during the discussion.
The fourth-year students had a proper level of professional language, and they
correctly used medical terminology during the discussions. Coordinated
teamwork was observed, and colleagues listened to each other’s opinions. During
the search for solutions, fourth-year students used both theoretical knowledge of
relevant subjects and practical medical experience gained in-class in solving
previous clinical situations. All possible clinical case solutions were developed
and their consequences were assessed. The course of the discussion did not
actually depend on the teacher.
Thus, senior students showed greater confidence in their knowledge and skills to
apply them in solving specific medical cases during the discussion, which was
based on a greater theoretical knowledge and more extended practical experience.
The generalized results of observations are given in Figure 1.
181
120
2nd year 3rd year 4th year
100
Percentage of cases
80
60
40
20
0
Figure 1: The results of using the case study method and gaining practical experience
in solving clinical situations
Figures 2-4 demonstrate the dynamics of the acquisition of practical skills and
abilities by medical students when using the methods of particular clinical cases
in teaching.
120
96
100
80
80 70
62
60
40 31 33
27
20 13 8
4
0
Figure 2: The results of using the case study method in the second year of study
182
3rd year
100
90
80 92
Percentage of cases
86
70
60 72 72
64 67
50 57 61
40
30 40
20 28
10
0
Figure 3: The results of using the case study method in the third year of study
4th year
120
100
Percentage of cases
96 99 99 98
80 87 89 92
86
60
40
20
1 3
0
Figure 4: The results of using the case study method in the fourth year of study
As Figures 2-4 show, the distribution of criteria for assessing the practical skills
and abilities required by future physicians, according to the percentage of
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observed cases, varied depending on the year of study. Thus, the observation
revealed that the application of the method in particular situations in the training
of future physicians improves the professional language of students, thereby
increasing the speed and accuracy of problem identification, improves
independence from the teacher in decision-making, coherence of teamwork, and
the predominant use of clinical considerations in combination with theoretical
knowledge.
In addition, a similar study was conducted during the first three years of the
introduction of the case study method in teaching in the said medical HEIs among
three groups of 4th-year students, where the case method had been used during
the first year, and years two and three. There was a direct correlation between the
term of application of the case-study and the degree of practical clinical experience
of students obtained in-class.
The influence of the case method on student success was also investigated. Thus,
comparing the average scores obtained by students during the final assessment of
their knowledge in the subjects: Surgery and Prevention of Dental Diseases in the
2nd, 3rd and 4th years of study in the said medical education institutions in groups
where the case study method was introduced, and in groups in which other
teaching methods were used. The scores obtained are shown in Figure 5.
120
100
80
Case method is used
60
Other methods are
40 used
20
0
2nd year 3rd year 4th year
Figure 5: Average scores of students obtained during the final assessment of

knowledge
As shown in Figure 5, student performance increased with the transition from one year of
study to the next. For example, in the second year it was 68.8, which is 22% less than in
the fourth year of students in the groups where traditional methods were used in
education. But performance is influenced more significantly by the teaching methods
used. This study, based on the example of an interactive case study, showed that success
can be increased by more than ten percent (about 29%) when students actively interact
with each other, looking for solutions to practical problems similar to those they will face
in the future in the performance of their professional duties.
184
It was found that the standard deviation from the mean score of the final assessment in
different years of study was different. For example, in the second year, where teaching
methods other than the case method were used, the standard deviation from the mean
value of students’ scores obtained during the final knowledge test was 305. Analysis of
variance showed that variations in students’ final grades are smaller when using the case
study method. However, in the second year, where case study methods were used, the
standard deviation from the mean value of students’ scores obtained during the final
knowledge test is still quite high and has a value of 162. As for fourth-year students, this
figure is as follows: 161 in groups where other teaching methods were used, and 18 when
the case method was used. In this case, the intergroup variance, which describes the
fluctuations of these groups, and the intragroup variance, which describes the fluctuations
of the data due to random factors not taken into account, are not equal, which indicates
the invalidity of the null hypothesis. In the studies conducted in the second year in groups
where the case study method was not used and where it was used, Cohen’s d was 1.0,
indicating a high effect size. In the third year, d=0.8, which indicates a great effect. In the
fourth year, d=0.5, which corresponds with the average effect. That is, the effectiveness of
the use of the case study method is a value that depends on the year of study and the
experience of its application.
One of the components of the study was to examine the point of view of the students
themselves on how the use of case study methods in the learning process affects their
acquisition of professional skills and clinical experience in-class. For this purpose, an
anonymous survey of students was conducted before the introduction of the case study
method and after its use in the educational process. The revised and adapted Waliany’s
questionnaire (Waliany et al., 2019) was used for data collection.
Table 1 shows the results of questionnaires of second- and fourth-year students before and
during the application of case study methods in teaching (the figures given in Table 1 are
the percentage of positive answers to the questions), as well as the calculated values of
Cohen’s d.
Table 1: The results of student surveys on the impact of case study methods on the
acquisition of practical clinical skills
2nd year 4th year
Skills Questions of the questionnaire
d before after d before after
I understand how to collect
1.17 63 81 0.92 85 99
information from patients
Reporter
I understand how to apply

physical examination
1.37 45 66 0.98 82 97
techniques, which aim to help
diagnose patients’ problems
I understand how doctors create
Understanding of the
a list of problems that

1.5 41 65 0.33 85 90
correspond with a particular
clinical case
case
I understand how doctors make

1.3 42 62 1.05 76 92
a differential diagnosis
I understand how clinicians
interpret the results of diagnostic 1.7 12 38 1.57 64 88
tests
185
I understand how to apply

clinical information obtained 1.77 37 64 1.05 71 87
before diagnosing patients
I understand how doctors
determine the necessary 1.76 15 42 1.89 66 95
diagnostic tests
Manager
I understand how clinicians

choose treatment options for 1.57 39 63 1.24 70 89
their patients
I know how doctors manage
1.17 60 78 0.78 85 97
patient care
Tea- I understand how to share
1.17 62 80 0.98 84 99
cher information with my patients
I know how physicians work

step by step on a clinical case in 1.37 42 63 0.98 79 94
Particular skills of the course
establishing primary patient care
I understand every step that

doctors take in resolving a
1.76 29 56 1.5 68 91
specific clinical situation and
making a diagnosis.
I understand the step-by-step
1.17 60 78 1.17 78 96
clinical process of doctors’ work
I follow the current problems
faced by medicine, and study the
0.85 64 77 0.98 75 90
proposed ways to overcome
them
As Table 1 shows, according to students, after applying the case study method,
they became more confident in their practical capabilities, namely they gained
experience in collecting information from the patient needed to plan an
examination and treatment, learned to organize and manage patient care, learned
to share information with a patient, reached an understanding of the details of the
initial treatment and diagnosis. The greatest effect of the use of the case study was
observed in the assessment of the impact of the case study method on the
development of skills in second-year students to determine the necessary tests for
diagnosis and interpret their results. The impact of this method also is clearly
observable in fourth-year students’ development of step-by-step algorithms for
clinical cases when establishing primary care needs of the patient and making a
diagnosis.
The study showed that the case study method helped to increase students’ interest
in the new challenges facing medicine and ways to overcome difficulties in the
global medical community. Comparing Cohen’s d for different years of study, we
can conclude that the use of the case-study method in the second year is more
effective than in the fourth year. For example, the answers to the question “I
understand how to apply the methods of physical examination, which aim to help
diagnose the problems of patients” received d=1.37 in the second year, and d =
0.98 in the fourth year. The degree of the effect also differs among the students,
according to the questionnaire responses. It was found that for twelve of the
186
fourteen cases, the effect of the case-study method was higher in the second year
than in the fourth. Compared to the results obtained from studies on the impact
of case study methods on the final grades obtained by students in subjects that
were taught by means of other teaching methods and the case study method, we
found the same trend in method effectiveness: higher efficiency of the method in
the second year, slightly lower in the third year, and the fourth year was shown
to render the lowest method effectiveness. This suggests that it is necessary to
apply case study methods starting from the first year of study, which will give the
maximum possible positive effect in the acquisition of practical clinical skills and
abilities of students.
4. Discussion
According to the classification of learning models by Joyce and Weil (1972), the
case method performs functions similar to several learning models
simultaneously. In particular, the Inductive Model (Hilda Taba) and the Concept
Attainment (Jerome Bruner) promote the development of inductive academic
reasoning and the construction of theories based on specific examples. The
Advance Organisers’ Model (David Ausubel) helps to increase the efficiency of
information processing, and the application of acquired knowledge in solving
practical problems. Group Investigation (Herbert Thelon, John Dewey) and Social
Inquiry (Byron Massialas, Benjamin Cox) develop the skills of democratic
interaction between an individual and a group of individuals during academic
research. Non-Directive Teaching (Carl Rogers) promotes the development of
learning independence and, as a consequence, the development of self-
understanding, self-discovery and self-recognition. The Classroom Meeting
Model (William Glasser), in addition to self-understanding, stimulates the
development of self-responsibility (Joyce & Weil, 1972). However, there is a
discrepancy between the case method and similar but significantly different
methods, such as problem-based and team-based learning (Donkin et al., 2021).
The use of the case method has become even more appropriate and even an
undeniable necessity during the 2020 pandemic. The forced transition to distance
learning has become a challenge for medical institutions, which have to provide
not only theoretical knowledge to future physicians, but also the practical skills
needed for clinical practice (Wong, 2020). Very soon the case method was
transformed into the online case method (Donkin et al., 2021).
During the pandemic, for example, in Canada, all classes (lectures, discussions,
case studies) in medical education institutions were replaced by distance learning
classes using Internet platforms. Under such conditions, classes using case
methods were converted into video conferences (Wong, 2020). Medical schools in
Pakistan also used cases in remote training (Mukhtar et al., 2020).
According to the research, in cases of distance learning the average score for
subjects in which the case method was used increased by 48% compared to the
scores of students who studied using other methods (Manalo et al., 2021).
Research reports also confirm the positive impact of the use of case studies,
coordinated remotely by clinicians, on the training of medical students and their
learning outcomes (Suneja et al., 2020), and on the teaching of nursing students
187
(Liang et al., 2020). According to Atwa et al. (2019), it was found in a study they
conducted that 44% of students demonstrated improved performance through the
use of a hybrid learning model that combined team learning and the use of case
studies.
The research reported here was the first comprehensive experimental study in the
Ukraine aimed at establishing the impact of the case study method on the
effectiveness of medical students’ practical skills. The study covered five medical
HEIs. It was based on observation, and a comparison of the results of the final
assessment of knowledge and skills. The study involved a survey of 117 students
in three different years of study, who had considered more than 80 different
clinical situations over three years. The study results showed a high level of
effectiveness of the case method in the acquisition of practical skills and abilities
of students (d>1 in the vast majority of cases).
Using the case method as a research tool in this study, we confirmed the
following: The application of the case method leads to the transition of students
from reasoning that operates only on theoretical knowledge, to clinical reasoning
based on their own experience (also see Orban et al., 2017). The results also
showed that the use of the case method has the highest effect when it is introduced
in the second year of medical education, in contrast to the introduction in the
fourth year. This is evidenced by the obtained Cohen coefficients: d=1.0 in the
second year and d=0.5 in the fourth year. This finding confirms that a good
incentive for students of medical schools to acquire professional skills is the use
of cases from the first days of study (Servant-Miklos, 2019). Acquainting students
with the problems of patients from their first year of study allows them to
understand the difference between their capabilities and the needs of patients. It
also demonstrates the relevance of educational material and knowledge required
in future to perform professional duties, and encourages the acquisition of the
necessary knowledge, skills and abilities.
The survey conducted among medical students in this study confirmed that the
best results of the use of the case method are achieved in the second study year.
However, fourth-year students also reported that case studies had a positive effect
on students’ clinical experience during their studies.
Other surveys in HEIs in the Ukraine, included surveys among medical students.
In particular, an anonymous survey was conducted with 41 students majoring in
Paediatrics and Children’s Infectious Diseases at the Higher State Education
Institution, the Bukovynian State Medical University. This survey showed that the
use of case-based teaching methods in medical HEIs can reduce the number of
medical errors that may lead to death. The Department of Pedagogy and
Psychology, Postgraduate Education of the Bogomolets National Medical
University also uses the case study method. They consider it a synthesis of three
methods, namely role play, discussion, and specific situations, and it is widely
used to shape students’ clinical thinking (Kyrychok, 2016). Teachers of the
Ukrainian Medical Dental Academy also regard it as a positive experience to use
case study teaching methods along with other innovative technologies. In
particular, it is effectively used at the Department of Internal Medicine during
188
practical classes in the 4th and 6th years, at clinical and pathoanatomical
conferences, and during internships (Skrypnyk et al., 2012).
The case study method can be used in the development of professional and
business communication, as shown by the example of the Medical College of
Ukrainian Medical Dental Academy, Poltava (Bondar, 2018). It can also be used
in teaching specialized subjects, as shown by teachers of the Department of
Hospital Paediatrics of Zaporizhzhia State Medical University (Lezhenko et al.,
2016). Kharkiv National Medical University is working at creating a general
university database of clinical cases (Lopina & Zhuravlyova, 2018). Sechenov First
Moscow State Medical University conducted studies in 2012-2013 at the Faculty
of Pharmacy. These studies showed an increased rate of assimilation of
educational material by students using case study methods, reduced number of
errors in solving professional practical problems, and increased motivation to
learn (Litvinova et al., 2017). In a study involving 170 students from Stanford
School (Waliany et al., 2019), the experimental group was trained according to a
specially designed programme with case studies. Results showed that the
experimental group was more effective in diagnosing patients than control groups
that followed the usual programmes. These examples are evidence of case studies
having become a prerequisite for the education of competitive physicians.
The features of the use of the case study method in medical education have been
studied, and the advantages and disadvantages of its use have been analysed
(Kyrychok, 2016). It was established that when considering specific cases, it is
important to take into account the effect of the way in which information about
the case is conveyed to or collected by the students, as this may influence the
results of its application. It was found that the students who received information
about a clinical case from live communication with the patient had the best
learning outcomes. Students who received information from a video fared less
well, while the least effective method of information transfer is through paper
documents (Weidenbusch et al., 2019).
At the same time, a good incentive for acquiring professional skills for students of
medical education institutions is the use of cases from the first days of study in
medical school (Servant-Miklos, 2019). Familiarization of students with the
problems of patients from their first year of study allows them to understand the
difference between their capabilities and the needs of patients, demonstrates the
relevance of educational material and knowledge needed in the future to perform
professional duties, and encourages the acquisition of the required knowledge,
skills and abilities.
5. Conclusion
The issue of finding and introducing methods that will provide medical students
with not only a theoretical background but also practical clinical experience over
the years of study is topical because of the need of the world’s population for
qualified physicians. One way to achieve this is through case studies. This study
proved the usefulness of using case studies to improve students’ practical skills,
and, in particular, to identify clinical cases, plan examinations, examine patients,
interact with patients and colleagues, diagnose, plan treatment and make
189
predictions. The case study method promotes the acquisition of theoretical

knowledge, as was revealed in the final assessment. The positive impact of using
clinical cases on attaining learning outcomes was proven, and a survey of medical
students showed that the case method helped students master the practical skills
they need to perform their professional duties. The results of this study will be
useful for educators who are looking for effective teaching methods aimed at
supporting students to gain practical experience during their study years, as well
as for scholars who study the impact of interactive teaching methods on the
acquisition of competencies by medical students. A need exists to create a national
database of case studies that contains a sufficient number of clinical situations and
covers the maximum topics and subjects in order to ensure that teachers do no
compose case studies by themselves, because this difficult process may ensue in
them choosing other, less effective, teaching methods.
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Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 192-209, July 2021
Utilizing the Expectancy Value Theory to Predict

Lecturer Motivation to Apply Culturally Responsive
Pedagogies in Universities in Botswana
Norman Rudhumbu and Elize du Plessis

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

expectancy cognition; expectancy value theory; instrumentality cognition
1. Introduction
Various studies have alluded to the critical role of culturally responsive
pedagogies and multicultural competences in today’s culturally heterogeneous
university students (Maasum et al., 2014; Brown et al., 2018; Dorrington & Guy,
©Authors
193
2018). The concept of culture in particular has been a subject of contestation in

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

Various studies allude to the important role of culture in student learning and
social adjustment in universities, hence the need for lecturers in universities to
194
use CRPs to teach culturally diverse students. Hitchcock (2009, p.2) defines
culture as “the shared learned meanings and behaviours derived from living
within a particular life activity”. Culture therefore “encompasses various aspects
that include customs and values, traditions, communication, attitudes, beliefs,
learning styles, rituals, behaviours and language that different cultural groups
give priority to and that have a direct impact on teaching and learning”
(Maasum et al., 2014, p.19). Adding to the above definitions, Dorrington and
Guy (2018, p.9) define culture as “a combination of thoughts, feelings, attitudes,
behaviour patterns and practices that are shared by social groupings”. In the
context of lecturers in universities therefore it is necessary for them to have
adequate knowledge of the different cultures in the classrooms in order to be
able to provide learning experiences that are both meaningful and engaging to
students. Maasum et al. (2014) argue therefore that culture affects students’
learning motivation, gender socialization, aspiration, task performance, as well
as ways of interaction in the classroom. In the context of schools therefore
culture encompasses broad notions, similarities and differences in the learning
needs of students that are reflected in the students’ multiple social identities and
ways of knowing and viewing the world (Howe et al., 2021).
2.2 The history and concept of culturally responsive pedagogies
The history of CRPs can be traced back to the 1970s when a need arose for the
development of an instructional strategy that caters for the multicultural
educational needs of students (Forbes, 1973; Lardson-Billing, 1995). The need for
multicultural education was meant to stimulate educators to come up with
teaching strategies that accepted and affirmed the pluralism that students, their
communities and teachers reflect (Dorrington & Guy, 2018; Hutchison &
McAlister-Shields, 2020; Richardson, 2018). CRPs thus emerged as important
teaching approaches that ensure inclusivity using culture as a cognitive scaffold
(Norman, 2020; Cho, 2017; Kahu & Nelson, 2018; Acquah & Sezlei, 2020). A
number of definitions have been used to enhance our understanding of CRPs.
Gay (2018) defined CRPs as teaching approaches that draw on the cultural
backgrounds and knowledge of students as assets in the classrooms. These
cultural resources are used during the application of CRPs to “construct
curriculum and pedagogic practices that promote learning within the context of
and mediated by culture” (Wrench & Garrett, 2020, p.7). According to studies
by Morrison et al. (2019) and Warren (2018), this means that CRPs signpost
approaches to teaching and learning that draw on the cultural resources of
students to enhance learning as well as reducing learning gaps among students
from diverse cultures. In their study, Howe et al. (2021) also found that the
application of CRPs in universities addresses issues of student achievement and
cultural identity while at the same time providing the means to deal with
inequality in schooling.
The use of CRPs has long been associated with several positive academic
outcomes for students that include improved academic performance, attitudes
towards schooling and sense of self-awareness (Brown et al., 2018; Dreyfus,
2019; Gay, 2018). Effective implementation of CRPs therefore requires lecturers
in universities who demonstrate multicultural competence (Norman, 2020;
Lawrence, 2020). Lecturers who are multiculturally aware have (i) a full and
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clear understanding of their students’ diverse cultures, (ii) knowledge of what

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

formulation
This study was informed by the EVT which is a theoretical framework
developed by Victor Vroom (1964) and based on cognition and thought
processes that deal with how individuals engage in conscious decision making
to explain the motivation to behave in certain ways (Gemeda & Tynjala, 2015;
Bond & Bedenlier, 2019; Gopalan et al., 2020). This theory helps us to understand
how and why individuals continuously make evaluations of the outcomes of
their actions or behaviours and subjectively assess the likelihood that each of
their possible actions can lead to a multiplicity of outcomes (Chen et al., 2012; De
Simone, 2015; Bond & Bedenlier, 2019). In other words, the EVT argues that
people will be motivated to behave in a certain way or perform at a certain level
if they believe that a substantial effort effort will result in good performance and
good performance will lead to desired rewards. In the context of the current
study, the model shows that lecturers in universities should be motivated to
apply CRPs when teaching culturally diverse students in universities if “they
believe that use of CRPs will lead to effective teaching that will eventually result
in improved performance by their students” (De Simone, 2015, p3). In a nutshell,
the EVT helps us to understand why people select certain behaviours over the
others based on an expectation of achieving the desired results. Studies by
Gopalan et al. (2020) and Redmond (2015) found that the degree of motivation
and effort that individuals put into their behaviour depends on three perceptual
relationships or dimensions, namely expectancy (E), instrumentality (I) and
valence (V). The interaction among these three key elements of the EVT is
summarised in the algebraic equation: Motivation = E x I x V.
The above relationship therefore shows that all the three dimensions of the EVT
need to be present for lecturers in universities to be motivated to apply CRPs
196
when teaching. This relationship implies that lecturers in universities can be

motivated to use CRPs in their teaching of culturally heterogeneous students if
they believe that they have the resources and the perceived control to be able to
use CRPs. After the initial assessment, the lecturers will then assess whether
their teaching performance using CRPs will lead to their obtaining positive
outcomes, eventually to being rewarded and whether those rewards will meet
their expectations. Based on the theoretical framework and literature review, a
research model (Figure 1) was developed for the current study.
Expectancy
cognition (EC)
H1
H2
CRP
Valence (VA) H5 application
(CA)
H3
H4
Instrumentality
cognition (IC)
Figure 1: Research model for the application of CRPs
3.1. Expectancy cognition

Expectancy cognition is defined as “an individual’s estimate of the probability
that job-related effort will result in a given level of performance” (Gopalan et al.,
2020, p.1). If a person estimates that there will not be any chance that his or her
effort will result in a certain or expected level of performance, then the
motivation to perform the task will be zero and vice versa (Redmond, 2015; De
Simone, 2015; Penk & Schipolowski, 2015). Expectancy cognition therefore is a
subjective evaluation of the degree of effort actually related to the expected
performance (Bond & Bedenlier, 2019; Gemeda & Tynjala, 2015). Studies by
Thompson (2020) and De Simone (2015) found that the expectancy cognition of a
person is influenced by factors that include confidence, self-efficacy, support
from colleagues, the availability of information about the activities to be done,
and the availability of resources. In the context of the current study, lecturers’
estimation of the probability of successfully teaching culturally diverse students
using CRPs will either motivate them to apply CRPs for teaching or not.
If lecturers believe that the effort they put into applying CRPs for teaching
culturally diverse students will lead to the lecturers’ improved performance
levels (expectancy cognition) when teaching culturally diverse students, the
lecturers will be motivated to apply CRPs in their teaching (Redmond, 2015). A
study by Chen et al. (2012) also found a significant relationship between the
amount of effort an individual is willing to expend and the level of performance
197
that they expect to result from the effort. With reference to the current study,
lecturers in universities can therefore be motivated to expend more effort in
applying CRPs to teach culturally diverse students if they believe the necessary
personal and external conditions allow them to perform their work to expected
levels of performance. Also, a study by Fagbohungbe (2012) found that there
was a significant relationship between valence and expectancy cognition. The
above therefore means that once lecturers in universities feel that the effort they
put in the application of CRPs in the teaching of culturally heterogeneous
students can lead to their teaching better and being well rewarded, they will be
motivated to teach using CRPs.
H1: The expectancy cognition of lecturers significantly influences their motivation to
apply CRPs in the teaching of students of diverse cultural backgrounds in universities.
H2: The expectancy cognition of lecturers significantly influences valence in the
teaching of students of diverse cultural backgrounds in universities.
3.2. Instrumentality cognition

The instrumentality cognition is defined as “an individual’s estimate of the
probability that a certain level of performance will result in a certain quality of
outcome” (De Simone, 2015, p.5). It is also defined as “an individual’s judgement
of the probability that a given level of achieved task performance will lead to
various work outcomes” (Penk & Schipolowski, 2015, p.1). In summary, the
instrumentality cognition of an individual therefore is the belief that if he or she
meets certain performance expectations, then valuable rewards will follow
(Gemeda & Tynjala, 2015).
In light of the above definitions of instrumentality cognition, it can be inferred

that if lecturers in universities realise that the use of CRPs to teach culturally
diverse students will produce positive outcomes, the lecturers will almost
always be motivated to apply the CRPs. A study by Lawler et al. (2009) found
significant relationships between performance and outcomes and also between
outcomes and valence. Their study (Lawler et al., 2009) further found that the
reward of a positive outcome is only significant if individuals view the
rewarding process as being transparent, have trust in the reward givers, and
have an understanding of the rewarding system (criteria for rewarding). A study
by Gemeda and Tynjala (2015) also found that the quality of a performance
(instrumentality) has a significant influence on the quality of a reward (valence).
H3: The instrumentality cognition of lecturers significantly influences valence in the
application of CRPs to teach students of diverse cultural backgrounds in universities.
H4: The instrumentality cognition of lecturers significantly influences their motivation
to apply CRPs to teach students of diverse cultural backgrounds in universities.
3.3. Valence
Valence relates to the value an individual attaches to a reward of an outcome
based on needs, goals, values, and sources of motivation (Redmond, 2010). This
suggests that valence is the perceived value lecturers assign to the outcomes of
their effort after applying CRPs to teach culturally diverse university students.
Tinsley (2016) defines valence as the value or desirability of the expected
outcome of an effort while Ernst (2014) defines it as the degree of strength of a
person’s attraction to an outcome. This also suggests that for valence to be
198
viewed as positive or valuable, the lecturer would have attained, for example,
improved academic performance of students as an outcome of using CRPs.
Lecturers who therefore believe that teaching students using CRPs will result in
effective teaching which will lead to their being recognized or promoted will be
motivated to apply CRPs every time when teaching culturally diverse students.
A study by Tinsley (2016) found that there is a significant relationship between

the value individuals assign to the reward of what is achieved and the quality of
the outcome. This means that if lecturers believe that the reward given matches
the outcome achieved as a result of the use of CRPs to teach students, the
lecturers will value the reward more as they will feel that they have earned it
and will be motivated to always use CRPs when teaching culturally diverse
students.
H3: Valence significantly influences the motivation of lecturers in universities to apply
CRPs in the teaching of students of diverse cultural backgrounds in universities.
4. Materials and methods

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

Factors Item %
Age ≤ 30 years 15
31 – 40 years 47
41+ years 38
Gender Male 61
Female 39
Educational level Master’s 53
Doctoral 41
Other 6
Teaching experience ≤ 5 years 21
10 – 20 years 43
21+ years 36
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The results in Table 1 show that most of the lecturers (62%) were 40 years old
and younger, indicating that universities in Botswana are now populated by a
relatively young group of lecturers. There are still gender imbalances in the
Botswanan university teaching staff as most of the lecturers (61%) are male. The
majority of the lecturers (53%) have a master’s degree. Furthermore, most of the
lecturers (64%) have 20 years or less of teaching experience which resonates with
the fact that most of the lecturers are 40 years old or younger.
4.2. Instrument development

A self-constructed structured questionnaire with four sections was used for data
collection in the study. This questionnaire was developed by the researchers
based on the reviewed literature and the theoretical framework. The 30-item
questionnaire comprised the following four sections and items: Expectancy
cognition (EC) – 11 items, instrumentality cognition (IC) – 8 items, valence (VA)
– 6 items, and lecturer motivation to apply CRPs (CA) – 5 items. The
questionnaire used a five-point Likert scale ranging from Strongly agree (SA-5),
Agree (A-4) and Neutral (N-3) to Disagree (DA-2) and Strongly disagree (SDA-
1).
5. Results
The Software Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24 was used for data
analysis. For data cleansing confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used.
Structural equation modelling (SEM) that uses AMOS version 22 was used to
test the relationship among the three predictor variables, namely EC, IC and VA
and the criterion variable CA. In the second test, the SEM was used to establish
the relationship between the two predictor variables, namely EC and IC and the
criterion variable VA.
5.1. Measurement model assessment

The researchers validated the data using multiple tools that included a
measurement of internal consistency reliability, content validity, construct
validity, convergent validity, discriminant validity and a structural model. For
the measurement of internal consistency reliability, the researchers used the
Cronbach’s alpha of each construct. The results in Table 2 show that for each
construct, the α values ranged between .729 and .835 while the CR values ranged
between .833 and .915, thereby satisfying the minimum requirement of CR > .06
for internal consistency reliability (Kawakami et al., 2020; Gravesande et al.,
2019), hence demonstrating the presence of adequate internal consistency
reliability in the data. Content validity in the study was assured through a
rigorous literature review relating to all three constructs (Pallant, 2016). The
construct validity and discriminant validity were assessed using CFA (Table 2).
All λ values range between .704 and .869 (Table 2), thereby satisfying the
minimum requirement for construct validity of λ > .06 (Bagozzi & Yi, 1988),
hence confirming the presence of adequate construct validity. Also, to measure
convergent validity, values of λ, CR and AVE were used. The results in Table 2
also show that all the values of λ > .6, all the values of CR > .6 and the values of
AVE > .6 satisfy the minimum requirements for convergent validity, hence
demonstrating the presence of adequate convergent validity.
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Table 2: Confirmatory factor analysis results (λ, CR and AVE)

Model Construct Items
Average Variance
Extracted (AVE)
Reliability (CR)
Constructs
Standardized
Cronbach’ s
Composite
loadings
alpha α
(λ)
EC EC2: I find the performance of my students .731 .781 .860 .611
improves when teaching them using CRPs.
EC3: I am always provided with adequate
and appropriate teaching resources to .805
apply CRPs.
EC5: My level of motivation is always high
when applying CRPs. .812
EC6: The support I get from my peers
always helps me to improve my .744
application of CRPs.
EC7: My knowledge of the different
cultures in my class helps me to improve .783
how I apply CRPs effectively when
teaching culturally diverse students.
EC8: I always demonstrate a high sense of
self-efficacy when applying CRPs to teach
culturally diverse students. .719
EC10: I am always eager to apply CRPs to
improve the performance of my culturally
diverse students. .854
IC IC1: My performance in the application of .747 .729 .833 .647
CRPs always helps me to achieve better
results when teaching culturally diverse
students.
IC3: Achieving positive outcomes when .704
applying CRPs means a lot to me.
IC4: I am always able to make a good .761
judgement of whether my application of
CRPs will lead to positive student
outcomes.
IC5: I would rather not use CRPs to teach .762
culturally diverse students because the
outcomes I obtain in terms of student
performance do not always match the
quality of my teaching performance.
IC6: Teaching culturally diverse students .741
using CRPs is very personally satisfying
with regard to the quality of outcomes I
always achieve.
VA VA1: The rewards I obtain after .869 .835 .915 .602
successfully applying CRPs to teach
culturally diverse students mean a lot to
me.
VA3: I feel adequately rewarded when I .815
successfully use CRP
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VA4: I always want to see that the .763

outcomes of my teaching performance
using CRPs lead to a satisfying reward
VA6: I find rewards I obtain after
successfully using CRPs to teach culturally .791
diverse students to be important in
motivating me to always apply CRPs in my
teaching.
CA CA1: Using CRPs to teach students of .805 .744 .859 .614
different cultural backgrounds is the right
thing to do.
CA3: Using CRPs to teach students of .817
different cultural backgrounds is a very
tiring process.
CA4: Using CRPs to teach students of .744
different cultural backgrounds requires a
great deal of preparation.
CA6: I received training on the use of CRPs .851
to teach students of different cultural
backgrounds.
A test of discriminant validity of scale items is shown in Table 3. AVE values

(bold diagonal values) and inter-construct correlations were compared to
demonstrate the discriminant validity of scale items. The results of the study
show that the AVE values for each of the constructs were higher than the vertical
correlations of the variables (inter-construct correlations), thereby confirming the
presence of discriminant validity (Hair et al., 2017).
Table 3: Measurement of discriminant validity

Constructs CA EC IC VA
Motivation to apply CRPs (CA) .681
Expectancy cognition (EC) .433** .647
Instrumentality cognition (IC) .391** .213** .602
Valence (VA) .304** .248** .382* .614
*Sig. p < .05 (two-tailed), **Sig. p < .01(two-tailed)
Bold diagonal values represent values of AVE for each construct
5.2. Structural model assessment

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

Model fit Model Initial Modified Recommended Sources
measures fit measurement measurement values
indices model model
Absolute fit χ2/df 1.725 1.933 ≤3.000 Hu and Bentler
measures (1999); Reisinger
and Mavondo
(2007)
GFI .865 .971 ≥.950 Hu and Bentler
(1999); Reisinger
and Mavondo
(2007)
AGFI .850 .943 ≥.900 Hu and Bentler
(1999); Reisinger
and Mavondo
(2007)
Incremental NFI .961 .979 ≥.950 Hu and Bentler
fit measures (1999); Reisinger
and Mavondo
(2007)
TLI .958 .980 ≥.950 Reisinger and
Mavondo (2007);
Hu and Bentler
(1999); Kline
(2005)
Parsimonious CFI .916 .930 ≥.900 Reisinger and
fit measures Mavondo (2007);
Hu and Bentler
(1999); Kline
(2005)
RMSEA .0425 .0472 <.080 Hu and Bentler
(1999); Reisinger
and Mavondo
(2007)
5.3. Hypotheses testing

The relationships between predictor variables, namely expectancy cognition
(EC), instrumentality cognition (IC) and valence (VA) and the dependent
variable, namely lecturer motivation to apply CRPs (CA) was assessed. The
relationship between expectancy cognition and valence as well as between
instrumentality cognition and valence was also tested.
The results in Table 5 and in the path coefficient diagram (Figure 2) show that
the hypothesised relationships between expectancy cognition and lecturer
motivation to apply CRPs (H1), expectancy cognition and valence (H2),
instrumentality cognition and valence (H3) were all supported. The results
further show that the hypothesized relationship between the instrumentality
cognition and lecturer motivation to application of CRPs (H4) as well as the
relationship between valence of rewards associated with the application of CRPs
and lecturer motivation to apply CRPs (H5) were also supported.
203
The results in Table 5 show the explanatory power of the latent variables as
follows: EC(51%), IC(44%), VA(37%), and CA (69%), with EC explaining the
highest variance and VA the lowest variance on the CA of lecturers to apply
CRPs. The model as a whole explains 69 % of the variance in application of CRPs
in universities.
Table 5: Test of hypotheses (H1-H5)

Hypotheses Hypothesized SR CRb P Decision
relationships Wa
H1 CA EC .316 3.714 *** Supported
H2 VA EC .419 4.025 *** Supported
H3 VA IC .301 3.725 ***

Supported
H4 CA IC .268 3.277 *** Supported
H5 CA VA .315 2.661 *** Supported

Significant at ***p < .001; EC(R2=.51); IC(R2=.44); VA(R2=.37); CA(R2=.69).
a. SRW – standardized regression weight
b. CR – critical ratio
Figure 2: Path coefficient of the research
6. Discussion
The main goal of the study was to determine whether the expectancy value
theory (EVT) could be used to predict and explain the motivation by lecturers in
universities to apply CRPs. The theory argues that the motivation of individuals
to think and behave in a certain way is motivated and mediated by three key
dimensions of the EVT, namely expectancy cognition, instrumentality cognition,
and valence. These were used to demonstrate the efficacy of the EVT to predict
and explain the lecturers in universities’ motivation to apply CRPs.
204
It was shown in the study that the expectancy cognition of lecturers significantly
influenced the motivation of lecturers in universities to use CRPs to teach
students of diverse cultural backgrounds. These results suggest that if lecturers
believe that if they put more effort in the application of CRPs in the teaching of
students of diverse cultural backgrounds, they will achieve positive outcomes
(expectancy cognition), then such lecturers will apply CRPs every time they
teach students of diverse cultural backgrounds in universities. Lecturers in
universities therefore need to feel that effective teaching on their part will lead to
higher levels of performance on the part of students from their efforts in
applying CRPs for them to be motivated to do so. This confirms the findings of
previous studies by Chen et al. (2012) and Redmond (2015) which found that
there is a significant relationship between the amount of effort an individual is
willing to expend and the level of performance expected to result from the effort.
It further emerged from the study that valence significantly influences the
motivation of lecturers to apply CRPs during the teaching of culturally diverse
university students. These results suggest that the quality of rewards that
lecturers expect to achieve after successfully applying CRPs is a critical predictor
of their level of motivation to apply CRPs when teaching culturally diverse
students in universities. These results confirm the findings of earlier studies that
found that there was a significant relationship between valence and performance
of a task. A study by Chang (2005) found that if a reward meets the needs of the
individual, that is, if it is of significant value to an individual, based on the
outcome achieved, that reward will lead to motivation to either continue with
the good performance or to perform better in future. In the context of the current
study, if a lecturer is promoted, for example, after successfully using CRPs to
improve the academic performance of culturally diverse students, such a
lecturer would be motivated to continue using the CRPs when teaching such
students.
The study also found that the instrumentality cognition of lecturers significantly
influenced their motivation to apply CRPs in teaching students of diverse
cultural backgrounds in universities. These results suggest that lecturers who
believe that if they use CRPs they will achieve an outcome which will result in a
reward, will be motivated to apply CRPs every time in their teaching of students
of diverse cultural backgrounds. In the context of the current study, if lecturers
feel that the application of CRPs will enable them to effectively teach their
students which in turn will lead to positive outcomes and eventually to getting
rewards such as promotion or other forms of recognition that meet their
expectations, those lecturers will be motivated to use CRPs to teach their
students. These results confirm findings of earlier studies. A study by De Simone
(2015) found that an individual who believes that a good performance will lead
to positive outcomes, resulting in being rewarded, is always motivated to
demonstrate that level of performance. In the context of this study, lecturers will
always demonstrate motivation to apply CRPs in their teaching if they believe
that the successful application of CRPs will lead to positive outcomes such as
high academic performance by students.
205
Finally, it also emerged from this study that the both expectancy and
instrumentality cognitions of lecturers have a significant influence on how
lecturers assign value (valence) to the rewards they achieve after successfully
applying CRPs in their teaching. This suggests that expectations of positive
performance levels (expectancy cognition) by both lecturers and students as well
as expectations of positive outcomes (instrumentality cognition) such as rewards
by lecturers after using CRPs to teach students of diverse cultural backgrounds
determine how much value the lecturers assign to the rewards they receive after
successfully applying CRPs. This further suggests that when lecturers put a
great deal of effort into applying CRPs, they expect to achieve high levels of
performance and also receive meaningful rewards that match the performance
otherwise they will not be motivated to apply CRPs in future These results
confirm the findings of past studies. A study by Fagbohungbe (2012) found that
there is a significant relationship between valence and both expectancy and
instrumentality cognitions of lecturers. Another study by Madaus and Russell
(2010) found that once individuals feel that they are likely to perform at higher
levels and also expect to get rewards of value (valence) for their efforts, they are
likely to engage in that behaviour. A study by De Simone (2015) also found that
if individuals believe that a good performance will result in positive rewards,
they will always be motivated to demonstrate that level of performance.
7. Conclusions
The study was meant to determine whether the EVT could be used to predict
and explain the motivation of lecturers in universities to apply CRPs when
teaching students of diverse cultural backgrounds. Based on the results of the
study, it was observed that expectancy cognition, instrumentality cognition and
valence significantly influenced the motivation of lecturers in universities to
apply CRPs when teaching students of diverse cultural backgrounds. It was also
observed that expectancy cognition as well as the instrumentality cognition of
lecturers influenced the valence. Based on these observations, it was therefore
concluded that that the EVT could be used to predict and explain the motivation
of lecturers in universities to apply CRPs when teaching students of diverse
cultural backgrounds. It was also concluded that the quality of rewards which
lecturers receive after successfully using CRPs to teach culturally diverse
students was important as a motivational factor in their application of CRPs by
lecturers in universities.
8. Recommendations
Based on the above conclusions, a number of recommendations were suggested
to motivate lecturers in universities to apply CRPs when teaching students of
diverse cultural backgrounds. First, universities need to ensure that adequate
and appropriate resources are available for the lecturers to feel that they can
achieve positive results when teaching using CRPs. Such resources could include
the availability of relevant textbooks, technology and support. Second, periodic
training of lecturers to re-skill or upskill them with modern CRP strategies is
also important for lecturers to continue having high levels of motivation to
apply CRPs when teaching culturally diverse students. Third, rewards that
lecturers receive after successfully implementing CRPs when teaching culturally
diverse students should always meet the expectations of the lecturers if they are
206
to remain motivated to apply CRPs when teaching students of diverse cultural

backgrounds. Finally, universities need to come up with policy guidelines on
the use of CRPs in teaching university students whose populations have become
highly heterogeneous in terms of cultural backgrounds.
9. Practical implications of the study

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

The study only used public universities in Botswana. Since there are currently
around 10 universities in Botswana (public and private), the study may have
perhaps mined more data if all these universities were used in the study. Future
studies therefore could also seek to hear the voice of private universities with
regard to the motivation of their lecturers to apply CRPs when teaching students
of diverse cultural backgrounds.
11. Declarations
Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all participants before
the start of the study.
Ethics approval and consent to participate: The researchers were given
permission by their respective university research ethics boards to conduct the
study.
Availability of data and materials: There are no data issues to declare in this
study.
Conflicting interests: The authors declare no conflicting issues or interests in
this study.
Funding: The study has no funding issues or interests to declare.
Methods: All research methods used in this study were in accordance with
relevant research guidelines and regulations for conducting ethical research.
Acknowledgement: The researchers wish to thank all lecturers who participated
in this study.
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210

Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 210-226, July 2021
The Brighter Side of Home Schooling for

Children with Special Needs: Learning from
COVID-19 Lockdown
Rosna Vincent, R. Nalini and K. Krishnakumar

Department of Social Work, Pondicherry University, Puducherry, India
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8509-8814
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2788-0672
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5254-9340
Abstract. COVID-19 has resulted in widespread social isolation,

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

learning; COVID-19 lockdown
1. Introduction
The infectious nature of COVID-19 has profoundly impacted daily life by
imposing social distancing, quarantine, academic shutdown, and other
precautions to prevent the spread of the pandemic (Viner et al., 2020). It
instituted dramatic changes in everyday life that culminated in distinct realms,
such as family, education, and work-life. Prior studies have shown that
lockdowns harm the lives of students (Asbury et al., 2020; Bonal & González,
2020; Rajmil et al., 2021; Thakur, 2020). Access to programmes for people with
©Authors
211
disabilities has been seriously disrupted by COVID-19 restrictions (Jeste et al.,

2020; Shetty et al., 2020). Sudden adoption of precautionary measures and other
environmental constraints and pandemic-related contextual variables have a
disproportionate effect on the lives of children with special needs. They have
been socially, financially and educationally disadvantaged (Alexander et al.,
2020; Narvekar Hemangi Narayan, 2020; WHO, 2020). As per the 2011 Census of
India, about 26.8 million individuals are 'disabled' out of the 1.21 billion
population in India, which is 2.21% of the total population of the country and
the prevalence rate of children suffering from acute disability is 1.24% (Ministry
of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 2016). COVID-19 instituted a new
schedule for kids with special needs. They no longer have access to places they
enjoyed, friends, playtime or the ability to participate in activities they aspired
for. In children with special needs, these have led a sense of desperation
(Provenzi et al., 2020; Unni, 2020). Further, because of their health-related
limitations and failure to understand and obey prescribed infection control
steps, children with special needs are at greater risk of exposure to COVID-19
(Cuypers et al., 2020; Juneja & Gupta, 2020).
COVID-19 has also created a traumatic experience for parents of children with
special needs, including physical and economic security; anxiety about the social
isolation of children from peers and teachers. This left them anxious about the
management, extent, and effectiveness of residential care (Aishworiya & Kang,
2020; Fontanesi et al., 2020). Sudden lockdown forced parents to play several
roles at home (Rose et al., 2020); it urged them to synchronously be a coach,
therapist, and caregiver. Many caretakers are in a dilemma because they are not
aware of the methods and the application to produce the desired results
(Dhiman et al., 2020).
Nonetheless, the lockdown also had some positive outcomes in the lives of these
children (Cahapay, 2020; Majoko & Dudu, 2020). For many, staying at home
provided a sense of protection, allowed them to spend time in a relaxed manner,
and was a necessity for maintaining a level of safety in the community (Bozdağ,
2020). It allowed families to bond together over more family time (Toquero,
2021). Our research assessed the beneficial changes that happened in the lives of
these children, including improvements in skills, family relationships, and
improved technical knowledge.
Special education research has made a substantial contribution to knowledge
and practice for all learners, not just to those with challenges (Vaughn &
Swanson, 2015). Children with specific needs require more assistance, a
personalized approach, and adapted lessons to continue learning at home
throughout the COVID-19 phase (Narvekar, 2020).
According to a study conducted among mothers of children with intellectual

disabilities, some have spoken about the positive influence of the lockdown
situations on their well-being and that of their child. However, most of the
mothers have stated the opposite, suggesting that the impact of the lockdown
was actually detrimental to their child's well-being and behaviour. The study
212
further states that recent COVID-19 lockdown restrictions have resulted in

children with intellectual disabilities and their caregivers having less access to
educational, professional, and social support systems (Rogers et al., 2021).
A study conducted in seven European countries found that many parents

experienced a range of negative outcomes for themselves and their kids due to
homeschooling, and a substantial number felt that homeschooling was lacking in
quality, with schools providing insufficient support. In almost every country,
contact with teachers was limited, leaving parents solely responsible for
supervising the homeschooling of their children (Thorell et al., 2021).
A study among Norwegian students reported that teachers offered less verbal
input to pupils during homeschooling and offered a higher volume of written
feedback compared to when they were in the classroom in the conventional
school setting. In addition, low-achieving children exhibited lowered self-
efficacy and a decreased willingness to make an effort, which will make it harder
to change when schools reopen (Mælan et al., 2021).
Cahapay (2020) offers a detailed look at how parents of autistic children home-
educate their offsprings in the COVID-19 period. The interviews of five parents
were carried out using a mostly qualitative research approach. The findings of
this study underscore the importance of different kinds of home-schooling. and
sheds light on strategies to educate children with autism (Cahapay, 2020)
A research study from Zimbabwe examined the techniques adopted by parents

to educate their children with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during the
COVID-19 period. The balancing and additional roles of parents and family
members in children's home education helped to ease the changeover of children
with ASD from school to habitual activities at home. An understanding of the
new social dynamics of the COVID-19 era, as well as security precautions, were
instilled in the children (Majoko & Dudu, 2020).
Daulay (2021) calls for appropriate coping methods to assist mothers in easing
the difficulties associated with adopting home education and the stress
associated with parenting. The study found that the adoption of home schooling
during the pandemic was less than ideal due to an increase in autistic children's
maladaptive behaviours, low adaptability, the difficulty of caregiving, and rising
negative emotions (Daulay, 2021).
3. Methodology
3.1. Research type
The qualitative research approach and case study method were employed in this
study. In-depth multi-faceted investigations of complicated issues in real-life
settings are enabled by the case study approach , which was found to be ideal
for this study as its objective was to explain the brighter side of home-based
education due to lockdown for children with special needs.
3.2. Research participants

A sample of twelve parents (eleven mothers and one father) of children with
special needs was recruited from a special school in Kozhikode district, Kerala.
213
Kerala State in southern India boasts the highest life expectancy, literacy, and
low infant mortality rates in the third world while being one of the lowest per
capita incomes. The convenient sampling technique was adopted for respondent
selection. The procedure of case selection involved the selection of ‘Typical
cases’, as identified by the researchers. The inclusion criteria of the participants
were: having a child with special needs who was attending special school
minimum four days in a week before the lockdown; internet and cell phone
access; and staying with own child during the COVID-19 lockdown
3.3. Data gathering tools

An open-ended semi-structured interview guide was used in this study. We
developed the interview guide following on extensive review of the literature
and from our field work experience. The interview guide was vetted by an
expert in special education for scrutiny, and then the reframed questions were
trial-tested on three parents. The trial interview allowed us to identify any gaps.
The interview guide was further revised and was given to an expert in social
work for further scrutiny. After incorporating final suggestions, the interview
guide was employed for data collection.
Data were collected from January to February 2021, when the number of active
cases of COVID-19 declined in India and people were beginning to start a new
normal life. This timeframe allowed the respondents to recollect the experiences
of lockdown at home and enabled them to recognize the changes that have
arisen in children with intellectual disabilities in the home setting. Due to
COVID-19 limitations, individual interviews were performed by telephone.
Telephonic interviews provide participants with the opportunity to
communicate their feelings or thoughts about a phenomenon being investigated
(Seidman, 2006). At least two telephone calls were made by the researcher, first
to convey the intent of the present study and schedule a comfortable time for the
interview. The second call was made to collect the required data for the study.
Informed consent was obtained from all the subjects. Informed consent,
anonymity, confidentiality, and the freedom of participants to withdraw from
the study at any time were guaranteed to all the participants.
Each interview, on average, lasted slightly more than an hour. The respondents
were interviewed until data saturation was observed. By the twelfth interview,
data saturation was reached and therefore data collection stopped. The
information derived from the twelve participants was analyzed. The verbatims
were coded with the QDA Miner Software, a computer application for mixed
methods and qualitative data analysis developed by Provalis Research (LaPan,
2013). The main themes were familial bonding, home-based learning, parent to
tutor and parent to parent relationships and technological adaptation. The
verbatim excerpts which are best exemplars from the interviews are presented at
times.
214
4. Results
Table 1: Demographic features of families having children with special needs

Parents code Age Occupation Age of the child Gender of the child
1. 39 Self-employed 11 Female
2. 40 Teacher 13 Female
3. 41 Government 12 Male
Employee
4. 36 Private employee 8 Male
5. 42 Engineer 14 Male
6. 48 Business 16 Male
7. 43 Homemaker 13 Male
8. 44 Homemaker 13 Female
9. 42 Private employee 13 Male
10. 45 Designer 12 Female
11. 44 Homemaker 15 Female
12. 45 Teacher 16 Male
Through the data analysis, several themes about the positive developments that
happened among children with special needs during COVID-19 lockdown were
identified and are described and discussed below (Table 2).
Table 2: Themes and Participants’ statement

Themes Subthemes Supporting statements
Familial Stay Together Only due to which we had a lot of moments together
Bonding during the lockdown.
Shared
Responsibilities My husband was available at home he started
assisting me in household chores like cooking food
for the family, washing clothes
Intergenerational
Relation
Most of the time, my child spent time talking to
Sibling bondage ammumma [Grandma]. She learnt a lot of new things
from …both my child and ammumma [Grandma]
became very happy due to lockdown.
Now he spent all his time with H. They became more

friends than ever before. Z is now doing all the
things for his brother
Home-Based Learning She learnt to play the game after few days… She is
Learning through Games also recognizing colors now.
Home-Based
Routine Before lockdown, my child had a very disturbed
routine…But lockdown made her more adjusted
with the life at home… She started adapting to the
Skills home environment... Now she is having a better
Acquisition routine than before.
215
He started painting the bottles with his brother. The

beautification of this house with crafts was
completed by the efforts of J, and his brother.
Parent to Parent to I use to complain always that the teaching is not

tutor and Teacher adequate…but now I understand the real value of a
parent to Relationship special educator and the efforts she takes when I
parent became a part of the classes.
relationship
Parent to Parent
Relationship Another child’s mother actually helped me in
learning mobile for online class…she is my greatest
support. She loves my child as her child
Technological Online class I use to call the special educator frequently, but now I
Adaptation learnt how to effectively involve in an online class
with my child.
Typing skill
My child is able to identify alphabets on the
Video calling keyboard…
He knows how to open video calling, different

modes in it... I am just learning only
4.1. Theme 1: Familial Bonding

The most significant theme in this study was familial bonding. This was an
opportunity for the families to stay together and enforce unity which in turn,
intensified bonds between family members. Increased parental care led to
happier children and better developmental performance in children with special
needs. Parents, who normally worked long hours and saw little of their kids,
welcomed the opportunity provided by the lockdown to work from home and
establish deeper ties with their children. Time with family seems to build a
positive state of mind in children with special needs as it can raise their level of
happiness while being in the presence of individuals who offer unconditional
love. Moreover, spending precious time with loved ones will create memories
that everyone will cherish for a lifetime.
“I was scared about the school closure due to Corona but I was happy to
know that my office was also closed…Only due to which we had a lot of
moments together during the lockdown.” (Parent 3, Govt. Employee)
“I was having a very busy life, the pandemic made me sit at home...
Loving my child all the time, it never happened till date, it was actually
a blessing for us.” (Parent 6, Business)
“I am happy that I was able to dine with her all four times for many
months…” (Parent 10, Designer)
For parents, lockdown is an opportunity to spend more time at home with their
children. The freedom to work from home have contributed to a reassessment of
work and job goals. Parents are actively seeking stronger family and personal
216
ties, as well as a better work-life balance. They are searching for more flexible
working schedules in the future so that they can spend longer with their
children with special needs and rely less on institutionalized childcare.
“During lockdown……I noticed that, child became more happy due our
companionship all the time.. Overall there was a great change in his
behaviour…..actually now we are realizing... We must allocate more
time for our child…we are planning to make our working hours more
flexible after lockdown” (Parent 1, Self-employed)
“I feel guilty that I used to spend very little time with my child…
lockdown made me rethink about my working hours….I will certainly
spend more time with my child…” (Parent 2, Teacher)
The outcomes of this study also suggest that the number of hours fathers spent
with their children has increased significantly. Re-evaluation of fatherhood can
have a major effect in the changes of children with special needs. The gender
care gap appears to be decreasing, though mothers still have more parenting
roles. As men stayed at home for the whole day, the idea women are solely
responsible for child care and the housework seems to be fading away. This
change would not only make parenting more manageable during the lockdown
but also enhance familial relationships.
“Earlier my husband had very little time to care for the needs of the
child…. …Lockdown was a time when I witnessed how deep is fatherly
love….He spent all the time with the child and cared for him round the
clock….now X needs father all the time, more than me” (Parent 4, Pvt.
Employee)
“I was engaged with activities like online learning, it takes lots of
time….as my husband was available at home he started assisting me in
household chores like cooking food for the family, washing clothes etc”
(Parent 3, Govt. Employee)
It has also been noted that intergenerational contact in recent months has
increased. COVID-19 Pandemic has made grandparents more likely to spend
much more time with their grandchildren. It helped grandchildren to be more
emotionally committed to their grandparents. This would raise levels of
communication and increased comprehension of the needs of children with
special needs among their grandparents.
“After all of us goes for work and Y goes to school, Ammumma
(Grandmother) is alone at home. Now she became very happy that all
members of the family are at home…most of the time, my child spent
time talking to ammumma. She learnt a lot of new things from …both
my child and ammumma became very happy due to lockdown…”
(Parent 5, Engineer)
The lockdown isolated children with special needs from their peers, teachers,
and from the school environment in which they have been socializing since they
were young. Many children with special needs’ siblings spent more time with
friends and colleagues than their family. Now, everyone is at home. The siblings
are also relieved of duties of work or school. It was noted that in this phase of
217
lockdown siblings invested greater affection and more time for care and support
of their brother or sister with special needs.
“Z never spent time with X before lockdown….he never sits at home, is
busy always…. roaming with his friends here and there…but now he
spent all his time with H. They became more friends than ever before. Z
is now doing all the things for his brother…….he is the only person
whom I can rely upon…own blood... I feel very happy that my child will
be cared by his brother, even after god calls me…” (Parent 7,
Homemaker)
COVID lockdown has created close sibling bonds with noticeable positive
emotional impacts on both siblings.
4.2. Theme 2: Home-based learning

Home is a safe and welcoming setting where one can be free of the doubt and
assumptions of others. The research demonstrated that for many children with
special needs, spending more time with their families had advantageous
impacts. Parents believed that their children benefited from one-on-one
instruction at home, contributing to progression in their abilities, contrary to
some of the negative accounts of homeschooling. When children were not able to
attend special schools, many parents invented new ways to spend play time at
home. We noticed that children with special needs were more interested in
playing games with family members.
“We started playing some card games during corona….she learnt to
play the game after few days…. She is also recognizing colours now…”
(Parent 8, Homemaker)
“He learned to flip a stone in the river…his elder brother use to do that
frequently and he learnt from him” (Parent 9, Private Employee)
Most notably, children were able to build a daytime home-based routine that
never existed when they were sent to special schools. The children also began to
help their parents do simple house chores collectively. The development of a
home-based routine is rated as one of the best achievements of lockdown life by
many parents.
“Earlier, my child was not able to maintain the table manners… But,
now all we were having food together. He has improved a lot in table
manners...” (Parent 3, Government Employee)
“Before lockdown, my child had a very disturbed routine…But lockdown
made her more adjusted with the life at home…She started adapting to
the home environment... Now she is having a better routine than
before.” (Parent 11, Homemaker)
The home environment and the presence of family members help the children
with special needs to acquire new skills. These skills exposed many inborn
talents of children with special needs. Children were reported to have engaged
in activities such as bed making, watering plants, washing vegetables etc.
Children also started doing some gardening activities along with their parents
during the lockdown period.
218
“He started painting the bottles with his brother… The beatification of
this house with crafts was completed by the efforts of J, and his
brother...” (Parent 12, Teacher)
“K started assisting me in washing clothes” (Parent 9, Private
Employee)
Overall, these progress were a result of one-to-one learning in at-home

environment. This skill-building seems to be very important effect of lockdown.
4.3 Theme 3: Parent to tutor and parent to parent relationship

The pandemic really helped in strengthening the ties between parents and
teachers. Till date, there was limited parental involvement in educating special
children. However, this pandemic brought the teaching community more closely
to the parents. The new normal prompted both parents and teachers to work for
shared goals. Some parents responded that from the culture of individuals who
complain about each other, the parents and teachers have now come to a mutual
understanding to work towards a common objective.
“I use to complain always that the teaching is not adequate…but now I
understand the real value of a special educator and the efforts she takes
when I became a part of the classes” (Parent 6, Business)
“Teachers told that we are partners in the teaching of our
children…without our cooperation, teaching is not possible during this
corona time” (Parent 9, Private Employee)
The parents were able to succeed in making specific goals and plans with the
help of teachers in the education of the children with special needs. Both
planning and execution of ideas happened with a thorough discussion with the
educators and the parents.
“We along with the teachers of the school make a plan of action every
week, so we know, on which day what are the activities to be done, at
what time we will meet online…”(Parent 4, Pvt. Employee)
“Teachers ask us at least a day before giving any activity to children
next day...” (Parent 11, Homemaker)
Parents also reported that the teachers started allocating a particular time to
meet with them regularly online to assess the children’s progress. Thus, the
teachers were able to keep track of their students by collaborating with the
parents in the process of educating the children away from the special school.
These online meetings served as a platform to discuss the special needs of the
children in detail. Thus, through online meetings, WhatsApp chats, small text
messages, parents were made partners in special education. All these are shared
as a positive experience by almost all the respondents in this study.
“The teachers ask for feedback about the programmes done, is there any
improvement, what all changes need to make…” (Parent 1, Self-
employed)
“The teacher always put messages in WhatsApp group …. All the
parents including me also put their comments in the group” (Parent 7,
Homemaker)
219
The pandemic also improved the relationships with the parent community. The
parents started working along with the teachers in the special education process.
The parents of children with special needs who were not connected till date
were united by the pandemic.
“Another child’s mother actually helped me in learning mobile for online
class…she is my greatest support... She loves my child as her child”
(Parent 5, Engineer)
“Parents of other children became more familiar as we are all meeting
daily online” (Parent 12, Teacher)
The parents supported each other by adjusting work schedules and other life
engagements during the pandemic period which were facilitated by the
community of special educators. Many parents hope that this connection would
continue even after the pandemic.
4.4 Theme 4: Technological adaptation

The education system has undergone a significant digital transformation to
address the needs of children with special needs. One of the positive advances
during the lockdown was technological adaptation. The parents as well as their
children became more familiar with various e-learning resources. The online
instruction prompted many parents to adopt new technologies and features to
help their children in learning.
“I thought that classes will soon be opened... But then I understood that
it will not in the near future, my problem was….the mobile phone was
old. So for the online class, I bought a new tab with more features……”
(Parent 1, Self-employed)
In many schools, initial orientation programmes were conducted for the parents
in making them acquainted with the online learning process. The parents of
children with special needs also mutually supported each other during the
initial skill acquirement process. In certain cases, special educators and technical
experts assigned by the special schools made home visits to familiarize parents
with the technology.
“School organized a class for us regarding the effective participation in
online classes… During the beginning of online classes, I had lots of
doubts….I use to call the special educator frequently... But now I learnt
how to effectively involve in an online class with my child…” (Parent 3,
Govt. Employee)
The children too have acquired new skills. For many children, it was a happy
experience to meet their teachers and friends online. When days went on, the
children became more familiar with the use of technology. Many children learnt
how to operate programmes in mobile phones and open video calls. The
children were also able to understand the operating procedures of devices such
as camera, headphones, and keyboard.
“My child is able to identify alphabets on keyboard…” (Parent 4,
Private Employee)
“He knows how to open video calling, different modes in it. I am just
learning only” (Parent 6, Business)
220
Technology has paved the way for one-to-one learning which seems to be of
very positive effect for children with special needs.
5. Discussion
In this study, we discussed the brighter side of the COVID-19 lockdown among
families with children with special needs. Contrary to the findings of studies
conducted among parents outside India, which emphasized that COVID-19
contributes to parenting stress and adversely affected parenting outcomes
(Chung et al., 2020), we found that parental care increased for children with
special needs during the lockdown and made children happier which led to
better development. Findings from this study have shown that the lockdown
was an incentive for many parents to spend more time with their children; the
ability to work from home contributed to a re-evaluation of career and career
ambitions. A study conducted among parents documented a similar outcome,
which showed that lockdown allows families to build togetherness among
family members, children continued to make developmental progress, and
adapted to being at home (Neece et al., 2020).
We also show that there has been a substantial increase in the number of hours
fathers spend with their children. In the care of children with special needs, re-
evaluation of fatherhood may have a significant impact. It appears that the
gender care gap is diminishing. Studies conducted among parents have stressed
on the fact that positive interactions in relationships between parents were
positively correlated with empathic concern and outlook in both parents and
children (Gambin et al., 2020). It has also been noted that intergenerational
interaction has risen significantly. We found positive intergenerational contacts
and a positive correlation for arrangements for the care of grandchildren by
grandparents (Arpino et al., 2020). Although previous studies have portrayed
that the pandemic of COVID-19 harms the sibling subsystem due to pandemic-
related stress factors (Prime et al., 2020), we documented a positive relationship
between siblings and children with special needs during the lockdown.
A significant number of parents thought that one-to-one training at home was

good for their children. Research conducted by parents of children with special
needs has shown that one-to-one home environment training is beneficial and
enhances aspects of adaptive behaviour (Shin et al., 2009). We showed that
children with special needs were more excited to play board games and video
games with family members. After the pandemic, families tend to spend more
time together, walk, play and finish tasks. When time is available, caregivers
need to socialize with children through plays, handicrafts and music. Sharing
time with children can be achieved by watching TV shows or using educational
software with a caregiver's assistance (Goldschmidt, 2020).
More notably, there is a rising willingness from children's part to develop a

personal routine, which they have never done before in environments where
they were sent for special education. Kids have developed a standard home
routine by being at home for an extended period (Neece et al., 2020).
221
According to some studies, the pandemic crisis made children with special
needs lose the opportunity to learn new skills because of a pause in therapy
sessions, school closures etc. (Lee, 2020). However, the parents interviewed in
this study ascertain that their children had an unusual growth in their abilities
while they were at home. Other studies also shed light on the fact that during
the pandemic, parents saw it as an opportune time to teach their children basic
skills (Cahapay, 2020).
We found that the teaching community came closer to parents after the
pandemic. Close parent-teacher-student relationships are important for better
learning outcomes (Segal, 2010). The parents and teachers did an outstanding
job in setting and implementing realistic goals and objectives with relation to the
children's education. We found that when parents indicated that their children
didn't receive adequate teacher contact, the online learning process suffered
(Garbe et al., 2020). Not only did the pandemic strengthen the ties with the
parent group, but it also helped with relationships with the children in the
community. An investigation among parents in Zimbabwe during COVID-19
found that parent-to-peer parent relationships strengthened, creating an
opportunity to form home-grown methods for successful behaviour
management and to acculturate children with special needs (Majoko & Dudu,
2020). It is important to maintain online contact with other stakeholders,
including other parents, educators, caregivers and therapists, to communicate
and gain different forms of support needed to continuing home-schooling young
people with special educational needs (Narzisi, 2020).
The technical adaptation was one of the positive developments during the
lockdown. An in-depth review of current studies was undertaken to determine
the efficacy of different technologies for children with Autism Spectrum
disorder. The review discovered that both children and caregivers enjoyed using
technologies like online schooling, tele-health, screening, and evaluation (Dahiya
et al., 2021). During the pandemic era, children became more familiar with
diverse e-learning resources. Due to the transition from face-to-face to virtual
learning, the comparable result was shared by a study that the pandemic
prompted children to recognise and familiarize themselves with different e-
learning opportunities and made education based on learners more flexible
(Dhawan, 2020). Initial orientation sessions for parents and teachers have been
held in many schools to familiarize them with the online learning process.
Studies have suggested that teachers must be prepared before beginning online
education because of the suspension of face-to-face classes (Moorhouse, 2020).
The children learnt new skills, too. The study conducted among children with
Autism found that new skills were built from the struggles during the pandemic
(Cahapay, 2020).
For many children, meeting new friends and teachers online was a wonderful
experience. Online learning is cost-effective, because it eliminates travel and
other expenses needed for in-person courses. It is a convenient way for
participants to interact with each other and with teachers because learners do
not have to meet face-to-face (Kim, 2020). E-resources were made available by
the educators. Online learning in India shed light on online learning
222
opportunities and techniques that are designed to allow learners to continue

their education (Jena, 2020). It is reported that only 6% of teachers considered
streaming YouTube and Facebook as a means of digital classrooms however, a
significant percentage of students have depended upon YouTube and Facebook
for video lectures (Mishra et al., 2020).
6. Conclusion
The contagious state of COVID-19 has drastically altered daily life across the
globe, with a whole array of disruptive implications, including quarantines,
closures, mandatory rest, and other measures to contain the epidemic.
Numerous research studies have shown that lockdown disrupts the pupils'
quality of life and academic environment. However, this paper focused on the
brighter side of the lockdown among the families of children with special needs.
The results underscore the following themes: (1) familial bonding; (2) home-
based learning; (3) parent to tutor and parent to parent relationship; and (4)
technological adaptation. Though restricted within a certain context and a small
sample, this work presents a glimpse into the home education of children with
special needs amid the impacts of the current global crisis. These types of
interventions have the potential to significantly improve the efficacy of online
learning. Recognizing the crucial role that parents, students, and teachers play in
the aftermath of school closures, governments should use administrative
measures to facilitate their effective involvement. Both parents and instructors
can help their children to effectively limit the obstacles of ‘at home learning’:
parents can give emotional and educational support, while teachers may act as
mentors, promoting active learning and motivation while ensuring that no child
is left behind (OECD, 2020). Only the positive aspects of home schooling were
investigated in this study. Additionally, doing research during the pandemic
time posed a larger difficulty. This study consisted of a small number of
participants and relied primarily on a qualitative assessment. Involving more
number of respondents and using the mixed method strategy may bring up all
the good and bad impacts of home-schooling for children with special needs.
Acknowledgement
The authors specially thank all the participants of the study. The authors are
grateful to the services of Special school teachers who helped in the successful
conduct of this study. Although no funds were allocated specifically for this
research study, the first author and third author thank University Grants
Commission, New Delhi for providing Junior/Senior Fellowships for their
doctoral researches.
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Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 227-240, July 2021
Examining Mathematical Problem-Solving Beliefs

among Rwandan Secondary School Teachers
Aline Dorimana
African Centre of Excellence for Innovative Teaching and Learning Mathematics and
Science (ACEITLMS), University of Rwanda College of Education (URCE), Rwanda
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7060-207X
Alphonse Uworwabayeho
School of Education, University of Rwanda College of Education (URCE), Rwanda
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2651-1848
Gabriel Nizeyimana
School of Education, University of Rwanda College of Education (URCE), Rwanda
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6559-1249
Abstract. This study explored teachers' beliefs about mathematical

problem-solving. It involved 36 identified teachers of Kayonza District in
Rwanda via an explanatory mixed-method approach. The findings
indicate that most teachers show a positive attitude towards advancing
problem-solving in the mathematics classroom. However, they expose
different views on its implementation. Role of problem-solving,
Mathematical problems, and Problem-solving in Mathematics were
identified as main themes. Problem-solving was highlighted as an
approach that helps teachers use time adequately and helps students
develop critical thinking and reasoning that enable them to face
challenges in real life. The study recommends teacher professional
development initiatives with their capacity to bring problem-solving to
standard.
Keywords: competence-based curriculum; mathematical problem-

solving; teachers' beliefs; secondary school; Rwanda
1. Introduction
Developing countries, including Rwanda, have been extremely devoted to
achieving the international commitments to Education for All (EFA) and the 2030
Millennium Developments Goals (MDGs). In this context, the education sector
was commissioned to ensure quality education in all subjects. As stipulated in the
competence-based curriculum (CBC), the purpose of education is to develop the
most critical skills of learners not only to meet the employment demands but to
©Authors
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succeed in the 21st century. Problem-solving is one of them (Rwanda Basic

Education Board [REB], 2015). Within problem-solving, students are supported to
explore tasks in multiple justifiable and innovative ways and to construct logical
reasoning in finding solutions (Barak, 2013). Yet, the realization of this outcome
will depend on teachers' abilities to provide appropriate opportunities for
students to grow such skills (Xenofontos & Andrews, 2012).
Traditional teacher practices were reported to be the most limiting factor for
students to apply mathematics knowledge (Nsengimana et al., 2020; Ukobizaba et
al., 2019). These practices are strongly related to the beliefs teachers hold on a
particular subject (Arikan, 2016; Beswick, 2012; Marshman & Goos, 2018; Polly et
al., 2013; Siswono et al., 2019). Teachers' beliefs influence their pedagogical
decision-making and the patterns of interaction in mathematics
classrooms(Beswick, 2019; Bobis et al., 2015; Zakaria & Maat, 2012). Thus, it is
vitally important to develop a good understanding of teachers' beliefs about
mathematical problem-solving to improve their professional development,
teacher training programs, and the successful implementation of the CBC.
According to Hwang and Riccomini (2016), problem solving refers to the no
immediate activities that students do while modelling situations using
mathematics, making reasoned assumptions, and interpreting solutions in a
context. Teachers should engage students in meaningful activities that require
them to think, reason, create, critique, and innovate (Barak, 2013). These skills
definitely improve school performance (Cheng et al., 2018). Palraj, Dewitt and
Alias (2017) added that problem-solving skills are what employers look for in their
employees.
Several studies were conducted on teachers' beliefs about mathematical problem-

solving. These studies share a common view of improving academic performance
and the classroom instruction. However, studies that seek to understand teachers'
beliefs about problem-solving for successful integration of such skills while
teaching remain sparse. In addition, how teachers view problem-solving in
mathematics teaching is unknown in Rwanda. To add knowledge to the existing
and close the gap in the context of Rwanda, the study sought to explore what in-
service mathematics teachers believe about mathematical problem-solving while
implementing CBC. The outcome of the study would inform the teacher training
programs. The teacher training programs would develop knowledge toward
influencing more positive beliefs held by teachers, which will result in changing
their practices. It is also hoped that identifying these beliefs would be useful to
mathematics teacher educators and school leaders whose ultimate mission is
effective curriculum implementation.
2. Literature review
Research toward beliefs in mathematics education is vast, and researchers have
articulated a myriad of conceptualizations to explain this term. However,
investigations of this are beyond this study's scope, but interested readers may
look into Pajares (1992) and Roesken, Pepin & Toerner (2011). In this study, we
focus on the literature that covers mathematics teachers' beliefs about
mathematical problem-solving.
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The mathematical beliefs, handled in this study as a collection of values

judgments of an individual developed or formulated from experiences and gives
meaning to an action, have gained an important place in the learning process
(Nizeyimana & Ruksana, 2013; Raymond, 1997). Research reports that teachers'
practice is often affected by what they think and know about mathematics'
pedagogy (Moh'd et al., 2021; Siswono et al., 2019). The most important thing, such
as prior knowledge, past school experience, qualification level, teaching
experiences, and classroom situation, strongly influences mathematical teachers'
beliefs and teaching practices (Ren & Smith, 2017; Siswono et al., 2017). These
beliefs and practices can then limit what students get from learning. Siswono et
al. (2019) highlighted that those teachers who believe mathematics as a collection
of rules and formulas are likely to teach procedural knowledge alone than those
who believe otherwise. Thus, beliefs should be understood to achieve the learning
provisions.
2.1 Theoretical framework

The mathematical beliefs that teachers hold are based on how they conceptualize
the nature of mathematics, mathematics teaching, and learning (Ernest, 1989).
Thus, the way they bring and or develop problem-solving in the classroom is
primarily based on these beliefs (Siswono et al., 2017). Ernest (1989) described the
mathematical beliefs as the instrumentalist, the Platonist, and the problem-solving
views. The instrumentalist believes mathematics is a useful subject that collects
unchangeable rules and unrelated facts to solve problems. The Platonist views
mathematics as an integrated science where structures and truths are connected
through logic and reasoning for individuals. The problem-solving view of
mathematics is a powerful subject that opens the space for making continuous
discoveries that are transformed into knowledge. The interconnection of these
views with the nature of mathematics, teaching, and learning can be seen from the
work of Beswick (2012).
The Rwandan CBC is structured in a way that encourages students to take an
active role in their learning process with the help of teachers and peers. The
learning process mainly requires prior knowledge and guidance from teachers.
Thus, the particular study follows the cognitive learning theory (Fox, 1997;
Nabavi, 2012). This study will also examine the relationship between teacher
beliefs and how they structure the problem-solving model to help learners interact
with the problem. A large number of scholars (Arikan, 2016; Beswick, 2012;
Memnun et al., 2012; Marshman & Goos, 2018; Niyukuri et al., 2020; Polly et al.,
2013; Siswono et al., 2019) investigated beliefs of teachers and teaching practices
regarding the nature of mathematics, teaching, and learning. To our knowledge,
little attention was given to in-service secondary mathematics teachers' beliefs
dealing with problem-solving. In this spirit, the present article adds knowledge to
the existing by reporting the study results that investigated the beliefs of in-
service secondary mathematics teachers about mathematical problem-solving.
2.2 The context of the study
The current study was part of a large project investigating how grade 11 students
(age between 16 and 19) can enhance their ability to solve mathematics problems
using a problem-based learning model. The main idea in the project's initial phase
230
was to have general baseline information of the teachers' knowledge on the

advancement of problem-solving emphasized in the CBC. Thus, we decided to
explore teachers' beliefs about mathematical problem solving and the teaching
practices they associate to these beliefs within CBC. These teachers' beliefs could
promote or hinder students' mathematical problem-solving abilities. The project
aimed to design an intervention model based on these findings. The goal was to
explore whether teachers' beliefs about mathematical problem solving and
teaching practices could be shaped as a result of participating in the intervention
focusing on promoting students' abilities in solving mathematical problems.
3. Methodology
Since the purpose of the study was to explore teachers' beliefs about mathematical
problem-solving while implementing CBC in Rwanda, the explanatory-mixed
methods research design was considered appropriate (Cresswell, 2014). In this
design, quantitative data were collected and analyzed in the first phase of data
collection. Then based on the results of quantitative data, a tool was designed to
collect qualitative data in the second phase of data collection. This approach is
suited to research exploring and qualitatively understanding how individuals'
actions are developed and or shaped by their experience. Quantitative data were
obtained through questionnaires, while qualitative data were gathered from
interviews.
3.1 Research participants
The participants of the study were 36 identified mathematics teachers (7 females
and 29 males). They come from 15 secondary schools of Kayonza District in
Rwanda. The predominant age range of the participants was 30-39 years (24
teachers). The predominant teaching experience of the participants was 6-10 years
(19). The median experience in years for the respondents was six years in teaching.
Table 1. Teacher's characteristics. Note: the number in parenthesis is the sample

teachers (n), Each column should be read independently, N/A is missing data
Gender Age Experience Qualification Teaching Teaching
range grade combination
Male Under Below 2 A2 (1) Ordinary General
(29) 25 (1) years (2) level (12) mathematics (10)
Female 25-29 2 to 5 years A1 (9) Advanced Subsidiary
(7) (7) (10) level (7) mathematics (3)
30-39 6 to 10 A0 (24) Both O and Core
(24) years (19) A level (16) mathematics (15)
40-49 11 to 15 N/A (2) N/A (1) Both core and
(1) years (1) subsidiary (5)
50-59 Above 15 N/A (3)
(1) years (3)
Above N/A (1)
60 (1)
N/A
(1)
Three teachers were in their first year of teaching mathematics, while the longest-
serving teacher was in his 33rd year. Most teachers (24) have bachelor's degrees
231
(A0), with a few teachers (9) have a university diploma (A1), and only one teacher
has advanced level certificates (A2). Out of 36 teachers, 27 were qualified to teach
mathematics at secondary levels, from which 17 indicated that they had attended
some professional training on the reformed curriculum in Rwanda, the CBC.
3.2 Data collection tools, procedures, and analyses
The study used the mathematical problem-solving beliefs scale to obtain
quantitative data and a semi-structured interview for qualitative data.
3.2.1 Phase 1: Mathematical problem-solving beliefs scale (MPSBS)

A questionnaire was used as a research instrument to collect quantitative data in
this study. This questionnaire was adapted from four previously developed
instruments by Emenaker (1996), Hart (2002), Kloosterman and Stage (1992),
Zollman and Mason (1992) to collect data after some modifications and additions.
The questionnaire had 23 items and was completed on a five-point Likert scale
ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5).
Before using the instrument in the actual data collection, items in the
questionnaires were modified to fit the context as evidence of the validity after
conducting a pilot study. The internal consistency was also checked to a group of
mathematics teachers (n=33) with a reliability coefficient (Cronbach Alpha= 0.659)
which was considered acceptable. Upon completion, the instrument required
participants to complete a demographic/ prior knowledge information including
type and name of the school, gender, age, teaching experience, highest
qualification, classes and combinations that the teacher teaches, and if s/he has
attended professional development programs aiming at promoting problem-
solving in the mathematics teaching process and one question regarding
knowledge about problem-solving.
The questionnaires were distributed paper/ pencil by researchers to teachers in
their respective schools. The questionnaire took approximately 20 minutes to be
completed. MS Excel 2016 was used to calculate means and standard deviations.
The Mean was computed by averaging the chosen category along with all 36
teachers on every MPSBA item. Each category was assigned a specific score (4:
strongly agree, 3: agree, 2: disagree, and 1: strongly disagree). Frequency tables
and percentages were used to analyze data collected for the first stage. Scales 1
and 2 were gathered to the disagreement stream to analyze the data, while scales
4 and 5 were gathered to the agreement stream. The neutral scale was omitted and
put aside as not applicable (NA). All the questionnaire items in Table 2 were
intended to gain insights from teachers about the itemized beliefs. A description
to get respondents' overall view concerning each statement to see on response to
questions were included in the analysis.
3.2.2. Phase 2: A semi-structured interview (SSI)

A series of in-depth interview questions were developed with the aim to explore
the problem-solving beliefs of teachers. Interview questions were structured
based on the results of the questionnaire of the mathematical problem-solving
beliefs used in the first stage of data collection. The most merging themes revolved
around the meaning of problem-solving in mathematics. The interview guide
consisted of six questions: two questions regarding the understanding of
232
problem-solving in mathematics, three questions regarding understanding

mathematical problems, and one question regarding teaching practices employed
to bring problem-solving in teaching. The interview questions were as follows:
What is your opinion on problem-solving? Is problem-solving more
important; why? What do you think about understanding the
mathematical problem? Is it necessary to take a long time to solve the
mathematical problems; Why? Is the result for the solution to a problem
more important than how it is solved? In what way do you think or do
you bring problem-solving in actual mathematics?
Based on the questionnaire results, the beliefs of teachers were classified into
instrumentalist, Platonist, and problem-solving views. In each class, one teacher
was selected purposively to participate in the interview. The reason for this
selection was to include teachers of grade 11 students that the large project focuses
on. These interviews were planned to provide an in-depth description of teacher's
beliefs about mathematical problem-solving. Interviews were performed and
recorded on tape and lasted approximately seven to ten minutes. The data from
interviews were analyzed using a thematic approach (Orodho et al., 2016). Data
are reduced and displayed in this analysis, and then conclusions and verifications
are drawn (Miles & Huberman 1994). Finally, in this analysis, conclusions were
sought to determine the beliefs of teachers and their knowledge regarding
problem-solving in mathematics.
3.3 Ethical consideration prior to data collection

The study followed ethical approval from the research and innovation unit at the
University of Rwanda College of Education (URCE). This ensured that the
researcher has all the documents that the school administration may ask for and
teachers' cooperation in conducting the current research. All participants
provided consent forms to ensure voluntary participation and were
communicated that they were allowed to withdraw from the study at any stage.
The researcher collected data from mid-January to mid-February of the academic
year 2019.
4. Findings
In terms of what secondary mathematics teachers understand about problem-
solving, participants were probed to affirm their understanding of problem-
solving as applied in mathematics (see Table 2 and Figure 1). Most items were
scored above the average (mean scores of 2.5), except item 14 [It does not matter
whether students cannot get the right…] that had 2.448 out of 4 scores (See Table
2).
233
Table 2. Mean scores and standard deviation (SD) of Teachers' beliefs about problem-
solving
N Problem-Solving Statements Mean SD
o
1 Problem-solving should be part of the mathematics curriculum 2.516 1.092
2 The understanding of a given problem is essential to solve it 3.788 0.415
3 Dealing with problems provides new ways to find solutions 3.625 0.492
4 Examples given in-class activities should develop problem- 3.722 0.454

solving skill
5 Skill in computation should precede word problems 3.323 0.871
6 Knowledge constructed during solving problems is deeper 3.552 0.506
7 A good explanation of reasoning is regarded more than correct 3.100 1.062

answers
8 Problem-based learning results in higher levels of 3.444 0.577
understanding than traditional teacher-centered instruction
9 Children enter nursery school with considerable mathematical 2.938 0.982
experience, a partial understanding of many mathematical
concepts, and some important mathematical skills
10 Students are able to construct their own mathematics problems 2.786 0.995
11 It is often easy to interpret students' wrong answer when I am 3.034 0.944
teaching mathematics
12 All of my students would be good in mathematics if they work 3.548 0.624
hard at it
13 Students strive for getting correct answers rather than 2.967 0.850
understanding mathematical concepts
14 It does not matter whether students cannot get the right answer 2.448 0.985
as long as they understand the mathematical concepts inherent
to the problem
15 When students are familiar with problem-solving, they are no 3.679 0.548
longer afraid of questions about word problems
16 Mathematics is very important in daily life 3.743 0.611
17 In daily life, mathematics matters not only for making 3.161 0.969
calculations
18 A major goal of mathematics instruction is to help children 3.441 0.786
develop the belief that they have the power to control their own
success in mathematics
19 Knowledge of mathematics concepts is important in the 3.806 0.401
development of problem-solving skill
20 Mathematical problem-solving skill is gained through 3.657 0.539
practicing
21 I would provide routine problems before introducing new 3.233 0.971
concepts in mathematics
22 A successful problem solver is one who is able to solve 3.300 0.750
situations that call for mathematical concepts
23 Repeated practices and reinforcement of the mathematical 3.429 0.790
content is an appropriate process for learning
Overall 3.315 0.748
234
The item-14 shows that many teachers rated it in the disagreement direction.
Thus, few teachers agreed on it. The item that got the highest scores is 19
[Knowledge of mathematics concepts is important …]. It got 3.806 mean scores. It
shows that many teachers rated it in the agreement direction. There was a
controversy in rating items-1 and -7 as they display a large standard deviation (SD
of 1.092 and SD of 1.062, respectively). Thus, some teachers agreed while others
disagreed with them (see Table 2).
While Table 2 displays scores on each item, the stacked column Figure 1 displays
the frequency of teachers that agreed or disagreed on each item. Most of the
teachers tend to have a positive attitude towards statements advancing problem-
solving in the mathematics classroom. For instance, they all (100%) confirmed that
examples given in-class activities should develop problem-solving skills [item-4],
and knowledge of mathematics concepts is essential in the development of
problem-solving skills [item-19] (see Figure 1).
Agreement Disagreement N/A
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Curriculum Problem-solving Students Mathematics
Figure 1: Mathematics Problem-Solving Beliefs Scale items. Note: the percentage on

the vertical axis is the number of teachers, while the numbers on the horizontal axis
are the MPSBS items.
However, few teachers agreed (44%) that problem solving should be part of the
mathematics curriculum [item-1], believe (47%) that students can construct their
mathematics problems [item-10], and trust (36%) that it does not matter whether
students cannot get the right answer as long as they understand the mathematical
concepts inherent to the problem [item-14]. Most teachers believe that (94%)
mathematics is vital in everyday life [item-16], that (94%) Mathematical problem-
solving skill is gained through practicing [item-20], that (92%) one needs to
understand a problem in order to solve it [item-2], and that (89%) dealing with
problems provides new ways to find solutions [item-3].
235
The findings indicate that although many participants show consistent beliefs
with the current teaching and learning of mathematics, a deep analysis of some
teachers' detailed views was needed to triangulate the data. Three teachers at one
school were focused on the deep interview to supplement quantitative data in the
questionnaire. In analyzing their views, we found that information raised in the
questionnaire matches their views during the interview; however, this made us
well capture their beliefs and understand their stands. We made three themes;
Role of problem-solving, Mathematical problem, and Problem-solving in
Mathematics (see Figure 2).
Figure 2: Thematic analysis of problem-solving outputs and their stages
4.1 Role of problem-solving

All three teachers are aware of problem-solving, its usability in Mathematics, and
its role in daily life. Teachers believe that problem solving is characterized by the
"challenge." Teacher-1 said, "Problem-solving is about finding solutions to the
problems, and that problem should be challenging with no immediate solution."
Similarly, Teacher-2 supplemented that; "When there is a set of problems that one
is trying to solve, then he/she is applying mathematical problem solving, and this
problem is tricky and challenging."
Teachers associate problem solving with developing critical thinking and
reasoning that help learners face problems in the real world. Teacher-2
ascertained, "When students ask the benefits in real life of studying certain topics,
I tell them that problem solving opens their mind in any situation they meet in
real life. It opens the minds of students it trains them to think more critically. Also,
it helps learners to reason than they do when you give them exercises (repeating
236
the learned concepts)." Teacher-3 said, "problem-solving is important because

when students are familiar with it, then they are not afraid to face a difficult
problem in their lives."
Teachers also believe that problem solving may help them to complete the
program on time. Teacher-2 said, "Sometimes when you give a challenging
question to students, you may cover a wide content that you cannot cover when
you did not provide students with that problem-solving investigation."
4.2 Mathematical problem
When asked teachers the importance of understanding the problem, all of them
value it. Teacher-1 said, "It is very important to understand a problem because
one needs to identify what is given, what is asked, and find ways or strategy to
solve the problem." Teacher-2 said, "Understanding the problem is very important
because you need to identify the known and unknown in order to solve the
problems." Teacher-3 said, "To understand the mathematical problem is to know
the formula you should apply to solve a given problem in mathematics."
There was no indication that solving problems also needs a process of looking
back, as suggested by scholars. Checking the solution was not mentioned.
Teacher-3 focuses only on the calculation-based world problem. Such a teacher
needs to understand it in a broader sense to develop students who can use their
critical thinking and reasoning to solve the real problems encountered in daily life
different from what they solve in Mathematics.
About the needed time to solve a mathematical problem, teachers' views vary.
Teacher-1 suggests that problem-solving needs more time because the more you
spend time trying to solve the problem, the more you become very successful in
finding the solution with accuracy. Teacher-2 ascertains that it always depends on
the level of difficulty of the problem. "A problem to you might not be a problem
to me. So, if it is easy for me, then I solve it in a short time," said Teacher-2. "Not
necessary when you understand the problem. You use a long time to solve the
problem when you are motivated to do so. When there is no motivation to solve
problems that require a long time, you give up," said Teacher-3.
Whether the solution to a problem is more important than how it is solved, both
teachers believe that the problem is unnecessary when solving the problem is false
or if the strategy does not make sense. They said that one needs to check the
strategy; when the strategy is good, then the solution should be correct. They
emphasized that the way the problem is solved is very important than the answer.
4.3 Problem-solving in Mathematics
When asked teachers how they implement problem-solving in the actual
mathematics lesson, they have various considerations. In the case of Teacher-1, he
first gives a problem to the students; he asks them what is given and any relevant
or irrelevant information (generally, students make a list of what is given and
what is missing). Then he asks them to think about how they should find the
answer to the problem, and finally, he asks them to check if the answer they get
really makes sense (to check back if the solution makes sense). For the case of
Teacher-2, he poses a question, gives time to students to think about the question,
and allows them to solve the problem in various ways. In the case of Teacher-3,
237
he poses a similar question to what students are familiar with (procedures) with
some tricks; he lets students solve the problem independently with no assistance
from his side.
5. Discussion
Teachers demonstrate an understanding of the meaning of problem-solving and
how they should bring it into their actual teaching of mathematics. It was shown
that factors including but not limited to time used to prepare problems, the
pressure of finishing the program, the colossal content to cover, and their use of
problem-solving approaches influences teacher preparation at the university.
About teachers' acceptance of problem-solving, teachers agree with CBC's
intentions. They present a good understanding of the meaning of problem-solving
and its implementation in the actual teaching practice. The teaching style
preferred is different from traditional, were trying to find an appropriate task for
problem-solving is encouraged.
Since mathematics is not an abstract concept disconnected from daily life, it
should include its applications in other areas. Teachers support learner-
centeredness in a way that they believe problem-based learning results in higher
levels of understanding than traditional teacher-centered instruction [item-8]; that
is why a competence-based curriculum should imbed the problem-solving
approaches. Likewise, other studies in Rwanda demonstrated that mathematics
teachers need to encourage students to like mathematics by providing interesting
teaching methods and real-life examples (Ukobizaba et al., 2019, 2020). Our
findings showed that problem-solving is important in such a way that it
accelerates critical thinking and reasoning in learners. Mukuka et al. (2020)
prevailed on the role of reasoning in mathematics. Reasoning helps one to face
challenges encounter in any life situation. Thus, problem-solving does not stop in
the classroom; rather, its final stage and role lie in real life after school. This role
should inform teachers how they should care about this approach during their
planning (Ndihokubwayo et al., 2020) and teaching interaction.
Although most items in a questionnaire displayed a common understanding of
the need for problem-solving in mathematics, teachers demonstrated various
ways of implementing it during a deep interview with some of them. These ways
of implementing problem solving correspond to their beliefs category, i.e
instrumental, platonist and problem solving as described by Ernest (1989). This
finding is inline with the study of Siswono et al. (2017) who found consistency in
teachers related mathematics beliefs and knowledge and pedagogy of problem
solving. For instance, Teacher-3, instrumentalists, displayed quite different
procedures from his counterparts on implementing problem-solving in
mathematics. It is fine to challenge students, but giving similar questions may also
limit students develop higher-order thinking skills as it only promotes recalling
(Bloom, 1972). Also let students struggle themselves may encourage them to
develop problem-solving skills, but if the teacher does not assist, the intention of
Rwandan CBC (REB, 2019; Rwanda Basic Education Board, 2015) is lost as it
requires guidance from the teacher.
In this study, teachers were not sure of the problem-solving processes that they
should emphasize in the classroom. Problem-solving is a mathematical process of
238
finding a solution to a problem that requires reasoning and critical thinking skills.
It enables individuals to use skills to handle a variety of new situations. To do
problem-solving, one needs to (1) Understand the problem (ability to rewrite the
problem in another way but still the problem remain the same, to identify what is
given, what is asked, what is missing, and or any relevant or irrelevant
information), (2) Planning ways to solve the problem (thinking about
methodologies to use), (3) Implementing the best strategy (among the strategies
that one identified, implement appropriate one), (4) Looking back (checking is the
solution is appropriate, make sense to the given problem).
6. Conclusion and further study orientation

We have found three key representations of problem-solving in this study. (a)
Role of problem-solving. This is characterized by a challenging problem that
develops critical thinking and reasoning in students. It then allows them to solve
any problem they may face in life out of school. Students being knowledgeable in
systematic problem solving may solve time limitations that teachers claim. (b)
Mathematical problem. There is a need to understanding the problem; time to
solve a problem depends on its nature and level of difficulty, and the utmost
importance of process over a final solution. (c) Problem-solving in Mathematics.
We have found that problem-solving in mathematics is not systematic across all
three teachers due to their belief category, though it has a role in managing
teaching time. We intensively assessed teachers' beliefs of mathematics problem-
solving in Rwanda. However, there is a need to examine teachers' lesson planning
and classroom practices and compare their beliefs displayed in this study.
The current article recommends setting up sustainable long-term programs that
support in-service teachers to understand the meaning and implementation of
problem-solving in mathematics teaching as required in the competence-based
curriculum. Also, to realize the effective teaching modifications oriented more to
problem-solving, teachers' background, including beliefs about teaching and
learning mathematics and teacher preparation program and past school
experience, should be taken into account. Besides, teaching mathematics while
teachers are being prepared would be the subject for further studies. We believe
that equipping pre-service teachers with positive beliefs about mathematical
problem solving would enable them to comply with the CBC requirements in their
careers. It will help improve the quality of mathematics teaching, especially in
implementing and developing problem-solving skills for both students and
teachers.
Acknowledgments
We thank the African Centre of Excellence for Innovative Teaching and Learning
Mathematics and Science (ACEITLMS) for funding this research. We also
acknowledge participants teachers from Kayonza District, cited studies, and
studies we picked to obtain the mathematical problem-solving beliefs scale.
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241

Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 241-261, July 2021
Investigation of Most Commonly Used

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

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

survey questionnaire
©Authors
242
1. Introduction
Chemistry knowledge is used as a pre-requisite to study any science-related
field or other technology-related disciplines such as medicine, pharmacy,
engineering, agriculture, veterinary, to mention a few. Therefore, it is introduced
in secondary schools’ curriculum due to its relevance to society and educational
value among individuals. To this end, the improvement in the teaching strategy
used in chemistry teaching that facilitates the easy acquisition of knowledge
which leads to a better achievement is recognized (Alabi, 2014). Teaching is
effective when the instructional approach used in the teaching and learning
process induces a desirable change in the learner’s behavior. Hence, if
improvement in the students’ achievement is needed, there is a necessityto
introduce effective, efficient, and appropriate teaching approaches (Jack, 2013).
This is related to the fact that the teaching methods are worldwide recognized to
occupy a top position as factors affecting students’ achievement in secondary
school subjects, chemistry included.
2. Research Problem
The main goal of chemistry education is to develop active students in the
learning process through the appropriate instructional approaches. In line with
this, Rwanda’s educational system moved from a Knowledge-Based Curriculum
(KBC) to a Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) since 2016, which involves the
active participation of learners in the learning process. Recent studies have been
carried out to investigate the implementation of this new curriculum. It has been
confirmed that even though the Rwandan government has put more effort so far
to train teachers on active learner-centered methods, traditional approaches
centered on teachers and directed by teachers are still used by most science
teachers (Ndihokubwayo et al., 2020). In addition, many teachers use group
work activities to practice CBC, which centered on learners, bearing in mind that
grouping students favor active participation. However, this was not the case as
they only engage students in small group work activities, sometimes limited to a
question and answer session. This provides no knowledge construction among
students as they remain passive in the learning process (Byusa et al., 2020a;
Nsengimana et al., 2017). The inability of teachers to use appropriate methods of
instruction to teach chemistry that invariably translate to inadequate knowledge
and skills to put in practice the learned material is becoming a challenge to the
Rwandan educational system. Moreover, the presence of mixed ability among
students, makes hard for teachers to take into consideration the need of every
student. However, they are supposed to adapt and develop teaching methods
based on their needs (Kousa et al., 2018). Also, the shortage of suitable teaching
materials, especially in day schools, particularly nine years of basic education
schools, constitutes the biggest challenge (Nsengimana et al., 2021; Nsengimana,
2021).
It is worth noting that several instructional methods that promote active

learning are put in place to favor the implementation of CBC. These include
inquiry-based learning, co-operative learning, problem-based learning, activity-
based learning, and instructional-based learning, among others. However, there
is a deficiency of substantial studies carried out to investigate whether chemistry
243
teachers prefer to use the active methods mentioned above .Therefore, there is a
need to investigate whether these methods are being employed by teachers and
find out the level at which they improve students’ competent areas like
conceptual understanding, achievement on tests and exams, attitudes toward
chemistry, critical thinking skills, problem-solving skills, creativity and
innovation, collaboration skills, participation, lifelong learning skills, ability to
conduct research, among others.
This study is designed to fill in the gap about the most used methods preferred
by teachers, and it provides insights into how students gain competent skills.
Educational stakeholders may use the findings of this paper to address the needs
of teachers and hence build the quality of chemistry education. Specifically, it
seeks to answer the following research questions:
1. What are the most instructional methods preferred by chemistry teachers
in teaching chemistry in lower secondary schoolsin Rwanda?
2. Which areas (conceptual understanding, achievement on tests and
exams, attitudes toward chemistry, critical thinking skills, problem-
solving skills, creativity, and innovation, collaboration, participation,
research skills, and classroom management) do teachers perceive can be
improved by these methods?
3. To what extent does the utilization of the instructional methods differ
across teachers’ experiences?
Several studies have acknowledged the benefits of instructional methods on
students’ achievement (Aidoo et al., 2016; Gabel, 1999; Khan et al., 2011; Kousa
et al., 2018; Yunus & Ali, 2018; Yusuf, 2004). For example, the effect of co-
operative learning instruction on students’ academic achievement has been
found to increase the achievement level of students (Olatoye et al., 2011; Yusuf,
2004). In a study conducted on 11th-grade students to investigate the effect of co-
operative learning instruction, it was found that students who were taught using
co-operative learning instruction had a significantly higher score in the
achievement test carried on electrochemistry topic than those who were trained
using a traditional approach (Acar & Tarhan, 2007). A further study which was
carried out among senior secondary school students to examine the influence of
co-operative learning teaching strategy indicated that this method of instruction
reduced the level of anxiety in learning chemistry drastically, while those
treated with conventional-lecture (chalk and talk method) their level of anxiety
was increased (Oludipe & Awokoy, 2010). Due to the effectiveness of co-
operative learning methods in reducing students’ anxiety in chemistrylearning,
teachers are encouraged to incorporate co-operative learning instructional into
their teaching methods.
The virtual laboratory was found to effectively affect students’ achievement in

the same way as the real chemistry laboratory (Gabel, 1999). Tatli and Ayas
(2013), in their study that examined the effect of virtual chemistry laboratory on
students’ achievement in the chemical changes unit, argued that this method is
found to be as effective as the real chemistry lab. Tuysuz (2010) found a similar
244
finding, in which the result showed a positive effect of the virtual laboratory on
9th-grade students’ achievements who were taught separation of matter.
Students who received treatment through the virtual laboratory were successful
over the ones treated with the traditional chalk and talk method. In a study
conducted in Malaysia, descriptive research was employed on students aged 15-
16 years old to investigate the factors affecting students’ attitudes towards
chemistry. It was found that the majority of the students (85%) developed a
positive attitude when they conduct chemistry experiments in the laboratory
(Yunus & Ali, 2018). In the same line of thought, Akani(2015) investigated the
relationship between laboratory instruction, attitude toward chemistry, and
achievement. The study revealed that regular laboratory instruction directly
influences academic achievement.
Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is another instructional method commonly used

in learning chemistry. Its effect on students’ achievement has been extensively
studied by different researchers. For instance, Aidoo et al. (2016) found a
significant difference in students’ achievement using PBL instruction and those
taught using a traditional instructional approach. In line with this, Abanikannda
(2016) indicated that students’ academic achievement exposed to PBL has
improved as well as their perception of chemistry has changed. Furthermore, the
analysis of covariance of students’ mean achievement scores was conducted to
investigate the effect of problem-based and discovery-based instructional
strategies on students’ academic achievement in chemistry. The result showed
that problem-based strategies significantly increased the achievement level of
students more than the discovery-based and expository strategies (Anyafulude,
2013).
Inquiry-based teaching strategy has also been discussed as the learner-centered

method, which facilitates the active participation of students (Khan et al., 2011).
The method provides a higher degree of thinking, a deeper understanding of the
concept, and practical skills. Also, the effect of inquiry-based approaches to
teaching students’ academic achievement has been studied. It was found that
students taught using inquiry-based instruction achieved higher than those
taught using traditional instruction ( Abdi, 2014; Khan et al., 2011). Besides,
students can learn more effectively when they are taught using an instructional
design that matches their learning styles (Kanadli, 2016). Therefore, teachers
need to choose the instructional methods suited to their students to improve
their academic achievement, attitude, and retention towards the subject being
taught.
Concept mapping also has been proved to be an effective teaching strategy that
improves students’ achievement and retention time (Chawla & Gurmit, 2015;
Jack, 2013; Olarewaju & Awofala, 2011; Sing & Moono, 2015). A concept map is
regarded as a diagram that shows relationships among concepts. While using a
concept map, knowledge is organized and represented in a two-dimensional,
visually based representation through which concepts are being represented
graphically. It is, therefore, the instrument that helps in organizing and
structuring knowledge.Furthermore, concept mapping is an effective teaching
245
strategy due to its significant advantage of consolidating and precise

understanding of science concepts and making inter-relations between two or
more concepts (Jack, 2013). It also helps students develop abilities to solve
problems and find solutions to questions requiring application and synthesis of
concepts (Olarewaju & Awofala, 2011). This teaching method helps students
actively construct an understanding of concepts, thereby making connections
between variables of interest in a given subject. It supports learners’ effort to
conceptualize their knowledge into visually apparent graphical tools that
connect the existing concepts with the newly acquired concepts (Sing & Moono,
2015). Thus, it makes the learning process more active rather than being passive.
Therefore, the concept maps are beneficial in the teaching and learning process
as the use of maps helps develop a long-lasting impression among students’
memory and retention time, hence improving their learning outcomes (Chawla
& Gurmit, 2015).In addition, concept maps have been used to observe changes in
students’ understanding of concepts over time. The observer has to elaborate on
the conceptual understanding that students possess and then build on them to
recognize and modify those containing alternative conceptions or
misconceptions (Olarewaju & Awofala, 2011). In this respect, it is considered a
key to organizing an excellent and effective knowledge base as it leads to greater
achievement when used in the learning process. However, the method is
recommended as an effective teaching instruction in science education.
The effect of web-based computer simulation has been investigated. Besides

increasing students’ attitudes towards chemistry and academic achievement
(Olakanmi, 2008), web-based instruction also helps develop generic competency
skills. These include critical thinking and problem-solving skills, creativity and
innovation, and research skills among higher secondary students (Frailich et al.,
2007; Sudha & Amutha, 2015). In education, WBI is becoming more important.
In other words, it renders the learning environment more interesting,
meaningful, and very effective since it provides an opportunity for students to
be exposed to multisensory experiences (Sudha & Amutha, 2015). The most
current information in the form of modeling, simulations, and visualization,
tools are made available to students to facilitate them analyzing and examining
the online materials and increasing the conceptual understanding of science
(Frailich et al., 2007). Its effect on students’ achievement has also been studied. It
has been indicated that the use of WBI helps higher secondary schools’ students
improve their learning capacity in chemistry and hence their achievement
(Sudha & Amutha, 2015). It was also found that WBI plays a crucial role in
enhancing the comprehension of chemistry concepts, the attitudes and interests
of students, and students’ awareness, emphasizing the relevance of chemistry to
daily life (Frailich et al., 2007).
4. Methodology
4.1. Research Design
A survey research design guided the present study. The survey study is
conducted to obtain data from a given population or a sample to determine the
attitudes, opinions, beliefs, characteristics of members of that population
(Fraenkel et al., 2012). In this research, quantitative data were collected using a
246
questionnaire to identity the instructional methods used by teachers while

teaching chemistry.
4.2. Sampling Technique

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

Gender Age range Type of School Year of experience District
Male 76% 1970-1979 4% Public 90% 0-1 18% Kayonza 18%
Female 24% 1980-1989 59% Private 10% 2-3 20% Rwamagana 35%
1990-1999 37% 4-5 6% Gasabo 20%
6-9 37% Nyarugenge 2%
10-19 18% Nyamasheke 14%
over 20 2% Ruhango 2%
Nyaruguru 2%
Gisagara 2%
Burera 2%
Gicumbi 2%
Karongi 2%
Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
4.3. Instrument Preparation, Validity, and Reliability

The teachers’ survey questionnaire was used to investigate the instructional
methods commonly applied in the teaching and learning of chemistry in lower
secondary schools. From the consulted literature and daily experience, a survey
of two parts, one with 56 statements and six questions, was prepared. This was
shared with 4 Ph.D. students for face validity. They were asked to examine each
question in the survey to see whether the question intends to measure what is
supposed to be measured, whether it is clear, coherent, relevant, and to confirm
whether the whole questionnaire is sufficient and check its objectivity. Based on
the comments provided by the Ph.D. students, ten non-clear statements were
removed in part one and two questions in part two, while others were
reformulated. The remaining 46 statements in part one and three questions in
part two represent the final survey. The statements were classified into five
concepts (planning, instructional methods, classroom environment, assessment,
247
and encouragement). The planning process, lesson delivery through which you
implement your instructional methods, classroom environment, the way you
assess students, and the kind of motivation provided to students contribute
more to the choice of instructional method. For this questionnaire, the above five
concepts were chosen to explore the most preferred instructional methods. The
questionnaire was content validated by two expert university lecturers and one
Ph.D. student. Therefore, it was converted to an online form using Microsoft
form, a link of it was created and shared through WhatsApp.
A pilot study was conducted to check if the designed questionnaire is reliable.

The questionnaire was administered to 22 teachers of lower secondary schools.
The link was given to some chemistry teachers and asked them to complete the
survey. Furthermore, they were also asked to share the same link with their
respective fellows. Hence, 22 teachers located in different districts participated
in the pilot study. Computing Cronbach alpha was found to be 0.364, 0.779,
0.653, 0.514, 0.06, and 0.935 for planning, instructional methods, classroom
environment, assessment, encouragement, and area of improvement,
respectively. The overage was 0.913 for 57 items. This showed that the survey
has satisfactory and acceptable reliability. The final survey questionnaire
consisted of 46 items located in part one in which teachers were asked to rate the
extent to which they strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree, and strongly
disagree on each of the proposed statements related to the most common
instructional methods used in the teaching and learning of chemistry. The items
located in part two intended to ask the teachers to state the most preferred
teaching method when teaching chemistry and to give a reason that justifies
their preferred method of teaching; they were requested to rate the areas of
improvement provided by giving a rough estimate from 1 to 5 where five =
much improved and one = least improved. In addition, teachers were asked if
they have ever been trained on different teaching methods, if yes, what were
these methods, and if no, they were asked to suggest different methods that they
would like to be trained on to improve their chemistry teaching.
4.4. Data Analysis

Data from the pilot study was compiled and analyzed using a computerized
data analysis package known as Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS 23)
to determine the reliability. Descriptive statistics such as “countif” and
percentages calculated using Excel 2016 were also used to analyze raw data from
chemistry teachers. Inferential statistics (Chi-square test) calculated using SPSS
was used to determine to what extent does the utilization of the instructional
methods differs across teachers’ experiences. As the survey was online, the
teachers’ responses were opened in excel format, and they were assigned
numbers to strongly agree (5), agree (4), undecided (3), disagree (2), and strongly
disagree (1) for ease of analysis. To determine the numbers of teachers who
agreed, were undecided, or disagree with the proposed statements, three
analysis scales were formed instead of five by combining 1 and 2 for disagreed
options, 4 and 5 for agreeing options, and three remained for undecided. The
COUNTIF formula was applied to determine how many teachers agreed,
disagreed, or were undecided for a given statement and, then their percentage
248
was determined. Similarly, numbers 1 and 2 were combined to mean the least
improved areas and numbers 4 and 5 to mean the much-improved areas while
determining the areas of improvement that justify teachers’ preferred methods.
For the items where teachers had to give answers, their responses were counted
manually.
5. Results and Discussion

Statements to investigate the most commonly used instructional methods were
classified into four concepts. This is because the instructional methods cannot
bring the desired outcomes among students. Therefore, teachers are involved in
the way they plan their lessons before their delivery, how they organize their
classroom environment, how they assess as well as the way they encourage or
motivate students in the learning process (Nsengimana et al., 2020). Hence, a
statement in each concept helped to distinguish the type of instructional
methods being used by the teacher.
5.1. Planning
Statements 1, 4, 5, 6, and 7 indicated that teachers used the active learning
methods while implementing CBC as above 90% of them agree to the
statements. Statements 2 and 3 indicated passive learning methods, and 82% and
79% of teachers respectively disagreed to the statements (see Table 2).
Table 2. Teachers’ Perception on Planning
Statements Agr Undeci Disagr
ee ded (3) ee (2)
(4)
1 I plan activities to prove that particular competency 98% 0% 2%
has been mastered by the learner
2 I only use notes found in the book without making my 14% 4% 82%
summary as it requires much time
3 I use old notes that were used previously in the 16% 6% 79%
teaching of chemistry
4 I plan my lesson prior to its delivery 96% 2% 2%
5 While planning, I set clear instructional objectives and 98% 0% 2%
integrate cross-cutting issues into my lesson plan
6 I plan activities that help to evaluate students’ 98% 0% 2%
acquired competences
7 I use cognitive terminology such as classify, analyze, 90% 6% 4%
predict, and create while framing tasks
The results from Table 2 showed that there are teachers who still implement the
use of passive methods of teaching. They do not plan their lessons rather, they
rely on the old notes used in the previous years, or they copy them directly from
a textbook without summarizing them. Teachers argued that it takes more time
to plan while they have a heavy workload. Ndihokubwayo et al. (2020) found
similar results in their study where physics teachers are found to use the
effective active learning methods unwillingly, and their lesson plans do not well
reflect on the competence-based curriculum.
5.2. Instructional Methods
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Statements 1, 2, 3, 10, and 17 reflect the passive teaching methods in which

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

Statements
Undecided
Agree (4)
Disagree
(3)
(2)
1 In my class, I give explanations of the concepts verbally 71% 10% 20%
and provide notes later
2 In my teaching practice, I mostly use the chalk and talk 39% 8% 53%
method as it helps me to cover many topics in a limited
amount of time
3 I decide on the topic to be covered in my class 59% 14% 27%
4 I let students decide on the topic to be covered in my class 36% 20% 45%
5 I involve my students in a group discussion in my class 100% 0% 0%
6 I engage my students to participate in activities that bring 92% 2% 6%
about efficient learning experiences rigorously.
7 I let my students learn in a small group with the help of 92% 4% 4%
each other
8 I apply learner-centered methods as they help me to 78% 8% 14%
complete the scheme of work
9 I let my students learn through the completion of 92% 6% 2%
meaningful tasks.
10 I transfer knowledge to students and expect them to recall 63% 6% 31%
everything
11 I prefer to use the inquiry method to make learners 90% 6% 4%
discover the new knowledge
12 I use demonstrations to make the lesson more 90% 4% 6%
understandable
13 I give each student a task to accomplish during the lesson 81% 10% 10%
14 I prefer computer simulation to clarify the abstract concept 78% 8% 14%
15 In lab, I allow students to carry hands-on activities 72% 14% 14%
(experiments)
16 I use simulated experiments than conducting practical 55% 20% 26%
works in the laboratory
17 When I carry out the experiment, I only ask students to 16% 6% 78%
observe but not allowing them to practice their own
experiments
18 In my class, I use hands-on activities 79% 10% 12%
19 I use web-based instruction to promote coherent 69% 18% 14%
conceptual understanding
20 I take my students outside the classroom for field trips 69% 10% 22%
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These findings implied that the practice of the teacher-centered method is still
dominating in some schools. The results are supported by Uwizeyimana et al.
(2018), who similarly argued that traditional teacher-centered methods are still
observed in the teaching of physics. From other studies conducted by Makunja
(2016); Nsengimana (2021) revealed that most of the teachers reported the
challenges they face while implementing the CBC. These include the
unavailability of adequate and effective teaching and learning materials,
students’ readiness to practice learner-centred methods, and low ability of
students joining secondary classes. These hinder the effective teaching and
learning of science in general and that of chemistry. In addition, some content of
the CBC requires materials that cannot be improvised, and hence, they are
taught theoretically. Furthermore, teachers argued that the overloaded timetable
of 35 to 40 hours per week and the increased number of students (60 students
and above per class), especially at the ordinary level, do not allow them to put
into practice all the methodology suggested by CBC, the reason why traditional
means of teaching are still used.
The other statements revealed active instructional methods, which involve

techniques like group discussion, activity-based, peer learning, hands-on
activity, web-based, field trip, virtual experiment. Group discussion was rated
more (100%) by all teachers (see Table 3a). The findings are incongruent with
that of Byusa et al. (2020b). This is because all these techniques are involved in
the implementation of CBC to emphasize the learner-centered method. As most
of the teachers have been trained on the implementation of CBC, they pretend to
use the active teaching methods as a requirement of CBC when they are asked
anything to do with the teaching practice.
The statements from the instructional methods were classified into two themes:
Passive and active teaching methods; then they were further classified into
different teaching techniques (Table 3b). It was found that the most preferred
methods are active methods involving teaching techniques such as: group
discussion, activity-based, peer learning-based, hands-on activity, virtual
experiment, etc.).
Table 3b: Most Preferred Instructional Methods

Main teaching Main teaching Teaching techniques Items in a survey
philosophy methods/approaches related to
instructional methods
Learners Active learning Participative 4, 8
centeredness Group discussion 5
Peer learning 7
Activity-based 6
learning 9, 13
Task-based learning 11
inquiry-based 12
learner demonstration 14, 16
Virtual experiment 15, 18
Hands-on activity 19
web-based 20
Field-trip
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Teacher Passive learning Lecturing 1, 2

centeredness Authoritative 3
knowledge-based 10
teacher demonstration 17
The results of this study showed that lower secondary school teachers are aware
of the active instructional methods. This is attributed to the shift from
Knowledge-Based Curriculum (KBC) to Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC).
Most of the teachers have been trained on the methods of instruction required to
implement CBC.The findings are in line with those of Byusa et al. (2020) through
the survey, self-reported questionnaire, and interview for teachers. They
indicated that S2 chemistry teachers claimed to use active learning daily as a
requirement in the implementation of CBC. However, it is not the case by using
the COPUS tool for classroom observation. The observed teachers were found to
use lecturing methods, write notes on the board, and put students into a small
group to discuss a small activity that does not engage learners in knowledge
construction. Thus, the real classroom practice did not reflect the actual active
teaching approaches, which was also different from what teachers respond to
through interviews and surveys.
5.3. Classroom Environment

The classroom environment is another concept that was tackled in this study.
Teachers’ perceptions on how they manage their students were all agreed over
80%. For instance, they agreed 100% to the statement like I guide and facilitate my
students in the learning process (statement 2). When I introduce a new topic, I consider
students’ prior knowledge (statement 3) (Table 4). All these reflect the practice of the
learner-centered method.
Table 4: Teachers’ Perception on Classroom Environment

Statements
Undecided
Agree (4)
Disagree
(3)
(2)
1 I make correction of exercises on the board 94% 4% 2%

2 I guide and facilitate my students in the learning 100% 0% 0%
process
3 I like working with my students in all activities 84% 4% 12%
4 When I introduce a new topic, I consider students’ 100% 0% 0%
prior knowledge
5 I help my students to reach me whenever they want. 82% 10% 8%
6 I ask many questions to students to develop their 98% 0% 2%
critical thinking skills
7 I openly share with my students if there is something I 80% 6% 14%
do not know
8 I share with my students the objectives of the lesson 90% 4% 6%
9 I allow students to use a variety of means such as 92% 2% 6%
diagrams, models, graphs, drawings, or any
manipulative material to represent the phenomena
10 I allow my students to organize a debate on a 84% 8% 8%
particular topic
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The findings were not far from the ideas of Hailikari et al. (2008), who
acknowledged the benefits of considering the prior knowledge of the students.
Their findings showed that students’ prior knowledge should be considered
while designing instruction methods and curriculum planning. This is because
prior-knowledge assessment might be used to identify students who are
struggling with some concepts. It helps the teacher to recognize the appropriate
level at which s/he can start the lesson, which method could be used to address
the different levels of difficulties, and identify how to group students according
to their ability. Statement one (I make correction of exercises on the board) revealed
the passive learning methods which is centered on the teacher. It showed that
teachers are the ones to correct exercises instead of giving time to students to
correct them and facilitate them. However, many teachers agreed on the
statement (above 90%). This clearly showed that, even though teachers claim to
use active learning methods, they still apply some passive teaching methods
(Byusa et al., 2020a; Suhag et al., 2018)
5.4. Assessment
The results summarized in Table 5 indicated that teachers engage students in the
learning process by assigning them many works. For illustration, 98% of
teachers assign students researches and homework while 96% probe many
examples from students to prove their understanding of the concept taught.
Table 5: Teachers’ Perception on Assessment

Statements
Disagree (2)
Undecided
Agree (4)
(3)
1 I expect my students to do exercises on their 88% 6% 6%

own
2 I assign students researches as homework 98% 0% 2%
3 I expect my students firstly solve the problem 90% 6% 4%
on their own
4 I ask many examples from my students 96% 2% 2%
Proper and effective assessment for the learning process promote the active
engagement of learners (Rawlusyk, 2018). Also, students’ ability to learn and the
quality of learning are influenced by how the learning process is assessed
(Stiggins, 2002). In this study, it was found that teachers were agreed to all
statements that help to recognize how they assess their students. Teachers ask
questions that allow students to actively participate in the assessment and hence
facilitate and strengthen their learning process. They try to ask questions which
develop the spirit of research among their students, critical thinking skills, and
problem-solving skills. Therefore, students keep learning as well as assessment
is continuous, and they continue to learn progressively at productive levels if
they do not give up in frustration or hopelessness, as supported by Stiggins
(2002).
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5.5. Encouragement
According to the results from Table 6, it is also observed that many teachers
encourage their students to be involved in the learning process. For instance,
100% of the teachers encourage students to conduct research on a given
problem, and 100% of teachers encourage students to be involved in each
activity taking place in chemistry lessons.
Table 6: Teachers’ Perception on Encouragement
Undecided
Agree (4)
Disagree
(3)
(2)
1 I encourage my students to make a research on a 100% 0% 0%
given problem
2 I motivate them to produce new projects by 96% 2% 2%
applying the knowledge gained
3 I encourage students to be involved in each activity 100% 0% 0%
taking place in the chemistry lesson
4 I encourage students to copy notes from the 74% 14% 12%
blackboard
5 I motivate my students by providing incentives to 79% 18% 4%
the best performer in class
The encouragement and kind of motivations teachers provide to their students

play a crucial role in their willingness to study (Alcott, 2017). This is felt in
statement 1(I encourage my students to do research on a given problem) and 3(I
encourage students to be involved in every activity taking place in the chemistry lesson)
in which teachers rated them up to 100%. This means that they encourage their
students to be involved in their learning process by finding a solution to the
given problem and being engaged in every activity in the classroom, and
redirecting the active learning method.
Statement 4 (I encourage students to copy notes from the blackboard) encourages

students to copy notes from the blackboard, which is the passive teaching
method. Only 12% of teachers disagreed with this statement; 74% agreed, and 14
% were undecided about this statement. This showed that many teachers still
rely on the traditional teaching methods, allowing students to copy notes from
the blackboard. This is a purely passive learning method in which teachers act as
knowledge transfers and students act as knowledge receivers.
When teachers were asked to state their most preferred chemistry teaching
method, some of their responses are represented in Figure 1:
254
Figure 1: Teachers’ Responses on the Most Preferred Chemistry Teaching Methods.
Most teachers (57%) indicated that they use the learner-centered method. 19%
revealed that they use group discussion. In comparison, others use laboratory or
carrying experiment in the laboratory (6%), Project-Based learning and the use of
practices rated at 4% each, and problem-based learning and expeditionary
learning was rated at 2% each. These findings implied that most teachers (57%)
have a misconception in differentiating teaching approaches, methods, and
teaching techniques. For instance, learners-centered methods constitute a
teaching approach rather than a method. It involves different teaching methods
like problem-based learning, inquiry-based learning, co-operative-based
learning, concept-based learning, among others. The approach is regarded as the
view of looking at things. It involves the procedure of teaching-learning or of the
way we teach (Gill & Kusum, 2017). Examples of learning approaches include
the teacher-centered approach and learner-centered approaches. A method is a
pedagogical term used to describe the practical realization of an approach. It is
concerned with effective presentation of the subject matter occurring step by
step, thereby enhancing its mastery. The teaching method is the formal structure
of presenting the content in the classroom known as teaching instructions (Gill &
Kusum, 2017). Examples of teaching methods are lecture, demonstration,
discussion, question-answer, project, and problem-solving methods, among
others. The technique is simply the way of carrying out a particular task. It
means how a teacher teaches, or how s/he teaches, is referred to as a teaching
technique. It involves a series of steps teachers use to implement a method.
Furthermore, when teachers were asked to rate the levels at which the proposed
areas have been improved while using their preferred methods, they showed
that classroom management (statement 11) rated at 78% was highly improved
compared to other areas (Figure 2). Probably, this may be attributed to the fact
that due large classroom size encountered in most schools, teachers struggle to
manage those big classes by using teaching techniques that provide a holistic
learning environment.
255
Figure 2: Teachers’ Rating Areas of Improvement.
Statements 1, 2, 7, and 8 representing students’ conceptual understanding,

students’ achievement on tests and exams, students’ collaboration skills, and
students’ participation, respectively, were moderately improved. Teachers rated
them at 69%, 67%, 67%, and 67% (Figure 2). The moderate improvement can be
due to the limited time allocated to each period which is not enough for students
to digest the materials taught in 40min. And then, it is hard for them to
understand the concepts. It affects their collaboration, participation, and hence,
their achievement on tests and exams. This might also be caused by the
overloaded curriculum, through which teachers do not spend more time on a
particular concept as they want to complete the scheme of work. Also, due to the
overloaded timetable, they do not have sufficient time to prepare lessons.
Students are therefore provided with insufficient knowledge, which does not
facilitate skills construction.
Statements 6 and 10 representing students’ creativity and innovation and

students’ ability to conduct research were the least improved compared to
others. They were both rated by 29% of teachers questioned. The minor
improvement can be associated with the lack of adequate materials and teaching
aids in some schools leading to low levels of concept clarification which affects
students’ levels of critical thinking (Jane et al., 2020; Makunja, 2016). As a result,
students fail to be innovative and creative due to inadequate knowledge and
256
skills. In addition, many schools do not have sufficient computers for students;
even those with smart rooms do not have access to the internet. These contribute
more to the decrease in their ability to conduct research.
Apart from the proposed areas of improvement, teachers suggested some other
areas that have been improved while using their preferred methods in teaching
chemistry. These include students’ curiosity and motivation, time management
skills, working in the laboratory skills, and students’ discipline, among others.
The improvement in curiosity and motivation is probably because in some
schools, students are allowed to manipulate some materials in the learning
process and are curious about the next step to follow, which also improves their
motivation to achieve the goal of the lesson.
Teachers were also asked if they have ever been trained on different methods of
teaching chemistry; after joining the teaching profession, 73% have been trained
on some teaching methods as they responded with yes, while 23% have not been
trained as they responded wih no. Among the methods that they have been
trained on including Learner-centered method, group discussion, inquiry-based
method, ICT integration, Gender-sensitive, teaching mathematics and sciences
methodologies, Mastery content, 5Es method, Project-based learning method, Pragmatic
learning, Round corner method, CBC, CPD, think pair method, lesson preparation, and
methods of conducting scientific research. Among the stated methods, some are not
considered as teaching methods. For example, CBC, CPD, lesson preparation,
and conducting scientific research are not teaching and learning methods. This
might also be attributed to the lack of in-service training (Makunja, 2016).
Therefore, more training are needed to provide clarification on teaching
approaches, methods, and techniques.
Teachers whose responses were no were asked to suggest different methods

they would like to be trained on to improve their chemistry teaching. These
include: coaching and mentoring, laboratory experiment, teaching by using discrepant
events during the teaching and learning process, how to search real examples to relate
the chemistry lesson with our everyday life activities, practical work, video assimilation
method, teaching chemistry through play, integrate ICT in teaching chemistry,
evaluation method, remedial and coaching, group work, scientific research, learner-
centered method, promotion of language acquisition, and improvising learning materials.
Similarly, most teachers have not suggested the teaching methods they want to
be trained on; rather, they only gave different topics they would like to be
trained on. Few methods like laboratory-based method, role-play method, web-
based method, and group discussion method were listed. This is because they
are mostly known as the requirement of CBC implementation, and teachers need
to be trained on them for effective teaching of chemistry that follows CBC
principles.
The research intended to figure out the utilization of the instructional methods
based on teachers’ experiences. To respond to the third research question , data
on teachers having more than five years of experience and those with less than
five years of experience were filtered. Indeed, more than five years of teaching
experience was chosen because the teachers in this range were hired before the
257
implementation of CBC. The perception of teachers with more and less than five
years of experience on their preferred methods of teaching chemistry is
summarized in Figure 3.
Figure 3: Teachers’ Responses on the Most Preferred Chemistry Teaching Methods.
While splitting them into more and less than five years of experience and
comparing their results in terms of experience, the Pearson chi-square test
showed that there is no statistically significant difference (value: 25.33, df: 16, and
p: 0.064) between teachers with more than five years of experience and those
with less than five years of experience. The results presented in Figure 3 showed
that there are slight differences between teachers with less than five years of
experience and those with more than five years of experience in their choice of
the most preferred methods, though they are not statistically significant. For
example, teachers with less than five years of experience rated the use of the
learner-centered method at 61%, while those with more than five years of
experience rated them at 55%. Also, teachers with less than five years of
experience do not prefer methods like project-based learning, problem-based
learning, and expeditionary learning method, while those with more than five
years of experience do not choose the inquiry teaching method. This difference
might be attributed to the resistance to change observed among experienced
teachers (Ndihokubwayo et al., 2019). The results may also be biased to the small
sample size used in this study. Therefore, further studies are recommended to
consider a large sample size to supplement this study.
6. Conclusion
This study concludes that teachers prefer active teaching methods like group
discussion method, laboratory-based method, problem-based method, project-
based method, among others. However, some teachers still use some practices of
258
passive teaching methods. The study indicated the areas of improvement when
teachers use their preferred methods. Classroom management is found to be
highly improved. Students’ conceptual understanding, students’ achievement on
tests and exams, students’ collaboration skills, and students’ participation,
respectively are moderately improved. Students’ creativity and innovation and
students’ ability to conduct research are found to be the least improved areas.
The results of teachers in terms of experience showed no statistically significant
difference between more experienced teachers (> 5 years) and less experienced
teachers (<5years). In addition, teachers’ misconception on teaching approaches,
methods, and techniques is also found, and this is an alarming issue to consider
as a priority. It is, therefore, recommended to the educational stakeholders to
plan more pieces of training to address the problem.
From the consulted literature, it was found that many teachers claim the use of
active teaching methods thoughthey do not apply them in the teaching process
(Byusa et al., 2020a; Nsengimana et al., 2021). The findings from this study are in
agreement with what has been found in the literature. However, the study’s
limitation lies on the fact that it was not possible to conduct observation in class
to confirm whether the reported teachers preferred instructional methods
aligned with what they do in the classroom. Therefore, future studies should
conduct observation and interviews with teachers to obtain more data.
Moreover, further studies should consider the secondary sources of data like
lesson plans, schemes of work, and other pedagogical documents that could add
more information. Similarly, students, schools’ principles, and other school
workers in the study should be taken into consideration for future studies.
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Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 262-290, July 2021
Higher Education Students’ Challenges on

Flexible Online Learning Implementation in the
Rural Areas: A Philippine Case
Thessalou E. Gocotano, Mae Anthoneth L. Jerodiaz, Jenny Claire P. Banggay,

Harold B. Rey Nasibog and Marivel B. Go
College of Education, Cebu Technological University, Moalboal Campus
Poblacion West, Moalboal, Cebu, Philippines
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7958-1041
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1889-1449
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7032-5052
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8307-0618
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9102-0805
Abstract. The COVID-19 Pandemic has led Higher Education

Institutions (HEIs) in the Philippines to replace on-campus learning with
flexible learning. This paper explores the students' challenges on flexible
online learning implementation of the university in the rural area based
on their background and experience. This employed quantitative and
qualitative methods through a survey and an interview respectively
sought to gather data from 639 university students. Data were analyzed
with descriptive statistics and narrative analysis. Results revealed that
most mothers are high school graduates, while fathers enjoy an
elementary-level and belong to under low-income families. Most
students possess just mobile phones and use mobile data as their
primary internet access source, ranging from moderate to poor
connection. Also, the majority are not fully equipped with enough skills
in digital media. For challenges, students experienced the unavailability
of a network, economic instability, digital divide, the shortage of digital
devices, distractive learning environment, expensive internet data,
health-related problems, lack of resources, lack of digital literacy skills,
and loss of motivation .Hence, even if flexible online learning is the best
solution for the university to replace face-to-face classes, it is not best
applicable and suitable to all students living in rural areas or other
places with an unstable network and students who belong to financially
unstable families. Administrators and educators have to consider
alternative learning modes that suit students' backgrounds during the
pandemic, like using non-digital technologies.
Keywords: flexible online learning; rural university students; COVID-19
©Authors
263
1. Introduction
The outbreak of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic significantly
impacts daily life and caused massive disruptions worldwide (Chakraborty &
Maity, 2020). It emerged so suddenly that no one was prepared to accept its
societal implications directly. The expenses associated with controlling and
managing the pandemic are exorbitant, making even developing countries
struggle to keep up (Haleem et al., 2020). The Philippines, in particular, was
forced to adopt measures to counteract the spread of COVID-19, such as
forbidding public gatherings and adopting social distancing. It also leads to
closing schools, colleges, and universities resulting in nearly 28 million Filipino
students in all academic levels remain at home and complying with the
Philippine government's quarantine procedures (UNESCO, 2020).
All of which compelled Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to switch to

flexible teaching and learning. The Philippines' Commission on Higher
Education (CHED) has issued recommendations for the adoption of flexible
learning and teaching and provide definition anchored from Southeast Asian
Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) (2021) as a pedagogical
approach that allows for time, location, and audience flexibility, including but
not limited to, the use of technology. It also urged HEIs to deploy available
versatile curriculum and other alternate forms of distribution in place of on-
campus instruction (Commission on Higher Education [CHED], 2020). Such
regulation also emphasized that HEIs and their instructors' exercise of discretion
must be reasonable, transparent, and outcomes-based validated.
Certain HEIs have established proactive strategies to continue the learners'

education, particularly the 3.5 million tertiary-level students enrolled in about
2,400 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The university in the rural area
implemented Flexible Online Learning (FOL) that incorporates both
synchronous and asynchronous learning modes and a mixture of methods.
According to Singh and Thurman (2019), synchronous online learning entails
real-time on-screen discussions, whereas asynchronous online learning happens
offline where students can manage their own time. Such sudden implementation
of FOL raised some challenges to students, parents, and educators, especially
when Toquero (2020) revealed that numerous HEIs in the Philippines, both
private and public, are unprepared to implement an online system. They still
need to consider several aspects, including financial stability, network
accessibility, technical equipment, and digital knowledge.
According to the literature, both students and teachers face several difficulties
when engaged in online learning (Andersson & Gronlund, 2017; Arinto, 2016;
Baticulon et al., 2021; Dubey & Piroska, 2019; Gilbert, 2015; Gillet-Swan, 2017;
Islam et al., 2015). For instance, FOL removes the human connection, which
reduces student participation, engagement, and the professors’ ability to adjust
instructional content and lectures (Shore, 2020).In addition, Friedman (2020)
enumerated a number of challenges as technological difficulties, interruption,
organizational skills, lack of motivation, understanding learning objectives, lack
of peer review and direct interaction, adjusting to different technological
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advancements, and fear of the future. Hence, various sectors criticized the HEI's
proactive measures in Flexible online learning. The petitioners contended that
"ability to the internet connection and learning equipment has remained a
luxury to this day, putting those with limited internet access at a disadvantage
when it comes to online classes" (Joaquin et al., 2020, p.2). The 2019 nationwide
survey confirmed such limited internet connection, which produced national
and regional estimates of ICT indicators involving 43,838 sample households.
According to the findings, specifically, in Cebu Province, where the university is
located and where the participants reside, only 28.99 percent of the entire
household have internet connection (National Statistics Office [NSO], 2010). As
such, along with implementing flexible learning, the university has provided
free modems to teachers and students to ensure internet access.
Though literature showed considerable research about flexible online learning

even before the pandemic, it is not based on the Philippine context. Thus, this
issue is yet to be studied more because of its relevance and minimal sources.
Furthermore, there is a scarcity on the number of available literature on how
COVID-19 influenced education (Bao, 2020; Sintema, 2020; Yan, 2020),
particularly on the challenges faced by college learners in the rural areas of the
Philippines. Hence, investigating this problem is worthwhile to consider. This
study will provide the Commission on Higher Education, policymakers, other
educational institutions, educators, and parents with such information and
subsequently make the required modifications and steps to improve the
implementation to create a more worthwhile teaching-learning experience.
2. Review of Related Literature

2.1. Flexible Online Learning
Distance education is a learning environment in which professors and learners
are physically separated during classes, and various approaches using
technological devices are utilized to enable student-teacher and student-student
communication (Simonson et al., 2020; Tuckman, 2007). Remote education, e-
learning, online learning, and flexible online learning are all terms used to
describe distance learning. FOL is interchanged with phrases like "open
learning," "distance learning," "work-based learning," and "e-learning," which
enable students to select their own time/pace, place, access, subject, and
delivery method (George & Luke, 1995). FOL has several descriptions, such as
collecting concepts concerned with educational philosophies and structures,
giving students more options, comfort, flexibility, and adaptation of the learner's
needs (Shurville et al., 2008). It is learner-centered, promoting greater
individuality and autonomy in students (Wanner & Palmer, 2015), giving
students options for where, where, and how they learn (Casey & Wilson, 2005;
Naidu et al., 2017). Llego (2020) described it as where the instructor serves as a
facilitator, enlisting learners' active involvement via various technologies
available over the internet when they are physically separated from one another
during teaching. For Huang (2019) and Usher and Barak (2020), the internet and
other technical equipment and tools and synchronous and asynchronous
instructional delivery and academic materials are all used in a learning
environment. Moreover, Markova et al. (2017), Muller et al. (2018), and Van
265
Doorn and Van Doorn (2004) described it as a learning modality where students
become more responsible for their learning since the learning mode requires
them for greater participation and sometimes self-learning and discoveries.
Similarly, in the Philippines, FOL involves synchronous and asynchronous

learning (CHE, 2020), where synchronous learning is a real-time online or
distance education that follows a set class schedule and login times (Bonk &
Zhang, 2006; Means et al., 2010; Oztok et al., 2013). It ensures that at a specific
moment, teachers and students communicate in a simulated virtual
environment. Instructors also take attendance in these classes, much as they
would in a lecture hall. Such synchronous mode includes video conference,
teleconference, live chats, and live-streamed lectures that must be watched in
real-time. Since it makes for a more interactive discussion of subjects, thoughts,
and definitions, the synchronous online format is also an upgrade over
classroom instruction. Furthermore, synchronous online learning provides a
sense of pace and immediacy; videoconferencing allows students to ask
classmates and teachers and get replies in the middle of a lecture (Means et al.,
2010; Joan, 2013; Pappas, 2015). It also offers frequent opportunities for virtual
conversation, individual support, and mentorship and requires a solid and
steady internet connection (Llego, 2020).However, technical issues like slow
internet, crashed hard drives, and dead batteries will turn into full-fledged GPA-
draining disasters for synchronous learners (The Regents of the University of
Colorado, 2017). Instead of signing in and taking the test, one can find himself
cursing at the computer.
On the other hand, asynchronous learning occurs at one's favourable time (Finol,
2020; Joan, 2013; Oztok et al., 2013; Pappas, 2015). Although a tutor, a program,
or course of study can include reading materials, lessons to see, assignments to
complete, and exams to take, a student can access and complete these learning
materials on his own time as long as the student adheres to the deadlines.
Asynchronous learning resources include self-paced classes, modules, recorded
and downloadable video lessons, lecture notes, and online discussions or social
network websites (Villarin, 2020).
2.2. Advantages and Disadvantages of Flexible Online Learning

Such a new learning style entails some advantages and disadvantages. Its
benefits include students working at their own pace, feeling more motivated and
in control of their education (University of Perpetual Help [UPH], 2020), can
participate in virtual classes, and access learning tools stored in the learning
management system. Students are more responsible, attentive, and self-directed
due to these online and offline learning interactions. Also, Joan (2013) pointed
out that flexible learning aids in promoting quality education allow students to
schedule their tasks around their passions and interests. It also holds their minds
in an optimistic state and away from outside threats. Students should be aware
of the importance of improving themselves through this learning to excel in their
chosen field. They should arm themselves with a thorough understanding of
technology to pique their interest and facilitate their learning efficiently and
straightforwardly.
266
Conversely, other studies noted disadvantages of flexible learning, such as

concerns about social inclusion and peer culture, as well as the likelihood of
values transmission in a "virtual" classroom (Edge & Loegering, 2000; Gamage et
al., 2020). It has been explained that students might learn less in such a setting
than in a typical classroom because there is less human involvement in the
learning process. There is also worry about the unnaturalness and consequences
of online learning, which is the contradiction on how natural teaching and
learning should take place (Adnan & Anwar, 2020; Larreamendy-Joerns &
Leinhardt, 2006). In addition, there are tough questions about socioeconomic for
online schooling in an underdeveloped world like the Philippines. Students in
remote areas of the country lack access to roads or electricity, let alone digital
devices and connectivity kits. Furthermore, even students in urban regions may
have limited online access due to the current internet infrastructure.
Consequently, there is an "internet gap" between those who have access and
those who do not.
2.3. Challenges Faced in Flexible Online Learning in the Rural Areas

As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, distant learning has taken the role of
temporary remote instruction. Flexible online learning gives students a lot more
choice in terms of how and when they engage; nonetheless, students' capacity to
manage their learning becomes crucial (Sun & Rueda, 2012). For other countries,
the transition of the mode of learning was smooth, but for others, it was rough,
those from underdeveloped nations with insufficient infrastructure, in particular
(Pham & Nguyen, 2020; Simbulan, 2020). Several main problems have been
arisen throughout the transition to a new learning environment, including
policy, pedagogy, logistics, socioeconomic considerations, availability of
technological devices, and psychosocial aspects (Donitsa-Schmidt & Ramot,
2020; Khalil et al., 2020; Gonzalez et al., 2020). Though flexible online learning is
an excellent platform, some issues occur that affect both students and teachers.
The pandemic harms students' behavioural and emotional functioning, notably
focus and alleviating difficulties caused by seclusion, financial standing, health
implications, and anxiety (Copeland et al., 2021). Also, concerns were expressed
by students about learning and evaluation techniques and excessive task load,
technical problems, and confinement (Fawaz et al., 2021).
Moreover, the students noted specific difficulties they had when taking online
programs. Anxiety, sadness, inadequate internet access, and an unpleasant home
learning environment are all factors that are exacerbated when students are
disadvantaged or from distant locations (Kapasia et al., 2020). Additionally,
other reported challenges include a lack of adequate equipment, limited
studying space at home, student stress, and a lack of fieldwork and access to
laboratories (Day et al., 2021, Tientcheu, 2021).Academically, while students may
learn anything online, learning may be subpar, particularly in classes that need
face-to-face interactions (Franchi, 2020). Learners in rural locations have
significant hurdles in adjusting to modern lifestyles and learning, as seen by the
extensive use of online learning management systems and low-technological
applications (Dube, 2020). Because of a lack of infrastructure to connect to the
internet, the learning management system, and low-technological applications,
267
many rural learners in South Africa are excluded from teaching and learning.
They need extra training, such as digital remediation programs, to use online
collaborative tools (Welser et al., 2019), and are revealed to have lower self-
assessment in online participatory skills.
A research discovered that students in flexible online learning might be lacking

in opportunities to interact, receive feedback on their performance, and gain
social support (Tuckman, 2007). In contrast, another study uncovered that
internet-based settings could create a sense of isolation for students, making it
more straightforward for them to attend or not to attend classes regularly (Cull,
2010; Rost, 2019). These ideas demonstrated that students in online learning
have anxiety, which resulted in a lack of involvement. Due to the absence of
interaction during online lessons, students are easily distracted by cell phones,
dogs, deliveries, and other activities other than the ongoing online class
(Amadora, 2020). She further stressed that in the absence of face-to-face
interaction, it is assumed that pupils will be disinterested in the online course.
Internet connection is a common concern among instructors and students in

rural areas. Since the Philippines remains one of Asia's slowest internet
countries, Wi-Fi access is another problem. The country reported multiple
students and instructors who need to climb mountains and trees to access the
internet (Averia, 2020). The Philippines' sluggish internet connection provided a
significant barrier to students, particularly those from rural areas or remote
places (Adonis, 2020). Instructors in the Philippines suspected that the number
of school dropout cases during the academic year 2020-2021 is due to poor
network connection. Millions of learners battled to become acquainted with the
new learning platforms triggered by the pandemic (Adonis, 2020). There are
areas unreachable of the internet, and cell coverage is spotty and inconsistent;
hence for students, the school has always served as a social network. As such,
the internet connection and their isolation have grown due to the lack of both.
However, some students have adapted well, solved problems, searched for
opportunities, and applied their newly acquired skills to meet their new needs.
Regardless of the causes that have distanced them from traditional education—
closure, technology advancements—they are most likely better prepared to deal
with their new environment.
Furthermore, doing an online class in a rural setting has its own set of obstacles,
and many students without smartphones or internet connectivity are left out
(Hossain, 2020). To fill this need, some students have formed home study groups
in which they share computers. Furthermore, instructors in the same village
share phone numbers with the learners, and students visit their houses to seek
help from their teachers (Hossain, 2020). Additionally, students in rural areas
find it hard to access different online educational platforms (Macintyre &
Macdonald, 2011). However, the study noted that the focus on attainability and
network does not dim the individual's willingness to learn in flexible learning.
Students also experienced a geographical issue (Fleming et al., 2020). Suryaman
et al. (2020) studied how individuals learn throughout the pandemic at home.
Their findings revealed that students encountered several challenges in a home
268
learning setting, including a lack of technological expertise, expensive Internet

costs, and restricted interaction/socialization amongst and among students.
3. Objectives
This paper aims to explore the students’ challenges on flexible online learning
implementation of the university in the rural area based on their background in
terms of their family income, parents' educational qualification, availability of
technology, accessibility of internet connection, type of internet connection, and
level of digital literacy and their experience.
4. Methodology
This study utilized descriptive quantitative and qualitative design. Survey and
interview questionnaires were utilized to discuss the measured variables. The
quantitative approach focuses on accumulating numerical data and generalizing
it to describe a particular event (Babbie, 2010; Muijs, 2010). Whereas, qualitative
research is a type of investigation that examines information provided via
language and behaviour in real situations (Lincoln et al., 1985). It emphasizes the
necessity of reviewing variables in their natural environment (Astalin, 2013;
Richards, 2006).
4.2. Research Participants and Context

The study was conducted in a university, a satellite campus situated in the
Southwest of Cebu Province, Philippines, with program offerings accredited
from the Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities in the
Philippines, Inc. (AACUP). The environment was selected based on the ability of
the university to provide the necessary information for the study.
The participants in this study were the 639 (511 females and 128 males) first to
third-year college students of the said university randomly selected in the first
semester in the academic year 2020-2021, during the COVID-19 lockdown from
the different programs: Education, Hospitality Management, Fisheries, and
Industrial Technology. Further, the participants are residing in various towns of
Southern Cebu Province. The population density in these areas is lower, and
only a few structures have been constructed. Great distances separate the people
who live in these areas, and their primary means of subsistence are farming,
forestry, and fishing. Likewise, it should be emphasized that the complete
sample does not reflect the entire population, but it is deemed adequate for
demonstrating the objective of this study.
4.3. Methods of Data Collection and Instrument

The quantitative data were collected using an electronic survey method through
Google Form with respondents’ consent. The survey questionnaire is a
researcher made containing the college students' background that focused on the
personal profile of the respondents guided from the related literature that
includes parents' educational background and socioeconomic status. It also
includes learner's online learning profile anchored on CHED Memo No. 04 series
of 2020, guidelines on the implementation of flexible learning 2020, as follows:
269
availability of technology, level of digital literacy, type of internet connection,

and accessibility of internet connection. The instrument was reviewed by two
expert educators to ensure whether or not it measured the variable of interest.
Qualitative data were gathered through in-depth virtual interviews via
messenger chats and calls. The interview questionnaire contained an open-
ended question intended to collect data on the experiences of students
concerning their challenges encountered in the use of flexible online learning
modality. The researchers did not set a time restriction for the interviews, simply
relying on the students' availability. All interviews were conducted by
combining formal and informal discussions.
In line with the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (RA 10173), the researchers of this
study were committed to protect and secure personal information obtained in
the process of data gathering. The respondents' participation is voluntary both
for survey and interview designs. If they feel uncomfortable, they are free to
discontinue their involvement in the research at any stage. The data gathered
were solely used to serve as a reference to measure the parameters of this
research study and nothing more. Researchers stored the information for one
semester, after which the physical records were disposed of or destroyed
following the disposition process provided by the National Archives of the
Philippines. An electronic invitation letter that contained the Google Form link
and informed consent was sent to the respondents via e-mail and messenger
chats.
4.4. Data Analysis

The quantitative data from the survey questionnaire reflecting the respondents'
background was investigated using descriptive statistics. Conversely, the in-
depth interviews were analyzed using narrative qualitative analysis. Narrative
analysis, also known as narrative inquiry, is a qualitative research technique in
which the researcher explores the narratives individuals tell by asking specific
questions for a particular reason. According to Polkinghorne (1995), the report is
the basic scheme for connecting individual human acts and events into
interconnected elements of a comprehensible composite. According to a
traditional narrative approach assumption, people share stories to help structure
and make sense of their lives, and their stories accounts are realistic and
purposeful. A narrative review allows the researcher to see how respondents
impose their order on reality and the environment by drawing on their
interactions between events and actions through stories. This study utilized
narrative analysis because the researchers wanted to get a broad, holistic, and
dynamic view of their topic. Also, the researchers clustered the responses into
themes and verified them to ensure accurate interpretation.
270
5. Results and Discussions
Table 1: Respondents’ Background

Variable Frequency Percentage
Mother’s Educational Elementary Level 122 19.09
Background
Elementary Graduate 91 14.24
Secondary Level 115 17.99
High School Graduate 158 24.73
College Level 86 13.46
College Graduate 67 10.49
Total 639 100%
Father’s Educational Elementary Level 177 27.70
Background
Elementary Graduate 72 11.27
Secondary Level 122 19.09
High School Graduate 121 18.94
College Level 61 9.55
College Graduate 86 13.45
Total 639 100%
Family Monthly Less than 11, 690.00 576 90.14
Income
Between 11,690.00 – 23, 381.00 41 6.42
Between 23, 381.00 – 46, 761.00 10 1.56
Between 46, 761.00 – 81,832.00 1 0.16
Between 81, 832.00 – 140,284.00 2 0.31
Between 140, 284.00 – 233, 806.00 4 0.63
At least 233, 807.00 5 0.78
Total 639 100%
Availability of Laptop 103 13.00
Technology
iPad 7 0.88
Android Phone 619 78.16
Tablet 27 3.41
Computer 36 4.55
* Multiple Answers 792 100%
Type of Internet Mobile Data 564 69.12
Connection
Wireless Fidelity 234 28.68
Broadband 10 1.23
Cable 7 0.85
* Multiple Answers 816 100%
Accessibility of Strong 6 0.94
Internet Connection
Average 351 54.93
Poor 282 44.13
Total 639 100%
Level of Digital Advanced 206 32.23
Literacy
Proficient 178 27.86
Beginner 255 39.91
Total 639 100%
271
5.1. Respondents' Backgrounds

5.1.1. Parents' Educational Background
Data on parents’ educational background is presented in Table 1. The majority of
the mothers (24.73%) are high school graduates, (19.09%) enjoy an elementary
level, (17.99%) have secondary level, (14.24%) are elementary graduates,
(13.46%) possess college level, and (10.49%) are college graduates. Regarding the
fathers’ highest educational attainment, the majority of the fathers177(27.70%)
have an elementary level, (19.0%) possess secondary level, and (18.94%),
(13.45%), (11.27%),are high school graduates, college graduates, and elementary
graduates respectively, while (9.55%) have college level. Such results reflect the
parents' poor capability to satisfy the needs of their children and their ability to
help and support them in their academic pursuits in flexible online learning.
As established by several studies, parents' educational level has a positive

influence on the students' academic achievement (Gooding, 2001; Idris et al.,
2020; Khan et al., 2015; Schwanz et al., 2014). Hence, parents who are well-
educated or went through it all from high school to college would know and
understand their children's needs and necessities, primarily when classes are
held online, and it needs some stack of money to keep up. Moreover, parents
who receive a good education could help their children with their assignments,
activities, and even projects because they have something to share and improve
students' performance. It implies that most parents cannot fully assist their
students' educational needs based on the present results, especially during this
online learning delivery due to the low educational level, and subsequently may
affect their students' achievement. Okafor et al. (2018) pointed out that such
parents with low education levels would likely depend on the teachers and
instructors to make their children smarter instantly. However, it is not possible
at this time of the pandemic resulting in additional challenges to students
learning online.
5.1.2. Family Income

Family income may be an essential variable in the study since this parameter has
been concluded to affect learners' ability to learn and access online classes (Lv,
2017). As displayed in table 1, most of the respondents (90.14%) belonged to a
low-income family with a monthly income of less than 11,690.00, (6.42%)
between 11,690.00 – 23, 381.00, (1.56%) between 23, 381.00 – 46, 761.00, (0.78%) at
least 233, 807.00, (0.63%) between 140, 284.00 – 233, 806.00, (0.31%) between 81,
832.00 – 140,284.00, and (0.16%) between 46, 761.00 – 81,832.00.
According to a Philippine Statistics Authority survey (PSA) (2020), Filipinos

living and working in the countryside continue to be poorer than those in
metropolitan areas. Preliminary estimates of poverty incidence, or the
proportion of poor Filipinos whose incomes are insufficient to meet their basic
needs, it has been revealed that farmers (31.6 percent in 2018, down from 40.8
percent in 2015), fisherfolk (26.2 percent, down from 36.9 percent), and people
living in rural areas (24.5 percent, down from 34 percent) had the highest rates in
2018 (Philippine Statistics Authority [PSA], 2020).
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In addition, the Philippine Statistics Authority (2018) reported on a food

threshold of PHP 7,337 as the primary wage required to satisfy basic food needs
while meeting the dietary requirements established by the Food and Nutrition
Research Institute (FNRI) to ensure economic and social productivity. In
opposition, the poverty threshold (10,481) is the minimum income required to
meet basic food and non-food needs such as clothing, fuel, and lighting. Such a
report serves as a foundation for imagining the participants' economic situation.
According to the present findings, most participants came from low-income
families earning less than the poverty line. Their earnings are insufficient to
cover their basic needs, and they occasionally struggle to pay their bills, even
more, acquiring learning resources for online learning.
Since family income influences college students' experiences and academic

performance (Lin & Lv, 2017), it provides comfort, a positive attitude, and a
healthy environment, which result in increasing their academic performance
(Saifi & Mehmood, 2011). The respondents may encounter significant difficulties
in their performance while learning through online classes. As emphasized by
Morgan et al. (2009), low-income students develop academic skills slower than
those students from higher-income groups. In addition, low-income students
have a substantially lower success rate in science, technology, engineering, and
mathematical fields than students who do not come from disadvantaged
families (Doerschuk et al., 2016). Nevertheless, students from low-income
families are also responsible enough to find a strategy to cope with their
situation. For example, they force themselves to find their income to sustain their
needs while learning online education, yet sometimes they would miss
attending their online class.
5.1.3. Availability of Technology

The availability of technology is an essential variable in the study, for it may
affect learner's capacity to learn and complete academic tasks in online
instruction. The study results showed that students' most available device is a
mobile phone (78.18%) for attending online classes and completing academic
activities (e.g., making word documents, video presentations, PowerPoint
presentations, etc.). Further, the result reflected that only a few respondents,
about (20%), own other gadgets, either laptop (13%), tablets (3.41%) , computers
(4.55%) , and iPads (0.88%).
Mobile phones are portable devices that offer technological tools. Most students
own at least one device, and most of that is a cellular phone. In the Philippines,
79.05% of the population have mobile phones like android and smartphones to
access the World Wide Web and do online activities (Sanchez, 2020). In addition,
the majority (93%) owned a smartphone for the medical students, and many
(83%) also had laptops or desktop computers. It can contain downloadable
educational applications such as WPS, Google Classroom, Google Meet, Gmail,
and Zoom. Utilizing mobile phones for class video conferences is less costly
since it consumes lesser data than laptops and computers. However, mobile
phones cannot install software such as SPSS. Thus, other devices (i.e., laptop,
desktop, and others) are essential.
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Laptops, on the other hand, are also portable devices but less portable than
mobile phones. In addition, it offers different advantages. Laptops are
convenient for students because they enable them to have efficient note-taking
and document-making. It also allows students to create reports, class
presentations, and videos faster using different presentation platforms such as
PowerPoint, Slide Share, Google Slides, and others.
The present results are similar to the outcomes of Cheung (2012) that in distance
learning, mobile devices are commonly used by students for education, and
other gadgets, tablets, and computers are not yet widely used. He further
enumerated their primary usage, such as doing the assignment, reading e-
books, browsing the internet, checking e-mails, chatting, and social
networking. However, there is a limitation in mobile usage. Put differently, it
is determined not only by the technological characteristics and limits of mobile
devices, but also by the nature of the learning activities (Cheung, 2018).
Further, a study that was conducted by Hampton et al. (2020) revealed that those
students who rely only on a cell phone for Internet access have more significant
performance gaps than those who do not have access to the internet at home.
Because students are deficient with online learning devices, Chua et al. (2020)
suggested that for the e-learning assessment in the Philippine setting, teachers
should consider the device, among others.
5.1.4. Type of Internet Connection

Among the internet sources used by the students in online classes, the majority
564 (69.12%) are mobile data, 234 (28.86%) followed by Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi),
10 (1.23) are broadband, 7 or (0.85%) are cables, and only 1 (0.12%) is a hotspot.
Nowadays, different types of internet connections had risen to cater to the needs
of internet users, either for them to get a better connection or to choose which is
more affordable. As a result, there are many internet connection types: wireless
fidelity, broadband, cable, hotspot, etc.
It was revealed above that most of the students use mobile as their online
learning device because data was widely used as their source of the internet. The
use of mobile data is not harmful at all, as it is known as a convenient type of
internet connection. Moreover, it is no hassle because it does not need to be
connected to an outlet other than wired internet sources such as modems and
others. However, mobile data has its limitations; the internet connection in
mobile data is not too fast. The obtained result is in contrast to the findings of
Baticulon et al. (2021) in which the majority of the students in the Philippines
(79%) used post-paid internet subscriptions, while only a few (19%) used
prepaid mobile data to access online resources.
5.1.5. Accessibility of Internet Connection

As displayed in Table1, most of the respondents (54.93%) have an average
internet connection, while (44.23%) have a poor internet connection, and very
few (0.94 %) experienced a strong internet connection. These findings imply that
students are at a disadvantage zone in accessing different search engines to aid
their learning in online instruction.
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The role of the internet connection is one of the significant parts of an online
class. In the Philippines, people are dealing with poor internet connections.
Some places in the country had no access to a strong network. Senthil (2018)
pointed out that internet connection is a resource that helps students search and
find relevant information that would help them complete their academic tasks
and performances. However, such poor connection leads to misalignment of
instruction from the instructors due to unclear voices and late joining the class.
With this, students may not be motivated to learn instead to comply with the
requirements.
Despite the effort of the university to provide technological devices to all the
students to ensure their access to online learning, many have not used them, as
there is no signal in their areas. The struggle to access an internet connection can
put a student in a disadvantageous situation. Dhawan (2020) specified that the
lack of appropriate digital tools, no internet connections, or shaky Wi-Fi
connections might pose a lot of problems, causing many students to miss out on
learning possibilities.
Rural regions in the Philippines are less likely to have the infrastructure to
enable the broadband internet connection, and high-speed home internet access
is less widespread (Hampton et al., 2020). Students with slower Internet
connections struggle to engage in online activities that demand more
bandwidth, such as video chatting with classmates, discussing academics,
conducting research, and seeking course content (Hampton et al., 2020; Asio et
al., 2021). The same findings from Wickramanayake and Muhammad Jika's
(2018) study showed that inconsistent internet connections is one of the hurdles
for students, suggesting that internet connectivity will be a major problem for
students' online learning.
5.1.6. Level of Digital Literacy

The level of digital literacy variable has been seen as an essential factor in
students' academic performance online (Abbas et al., 2019). The result showed
that the majority of the respondents are beginners (39.91 %), 206 or (32.23%) are
digitally advanced, and 178 (27.86%) are digitally proficient. This suggests that
most of the respondents are not fully equipped with enough skills in digital
media. However, the result also revealed that some of the respondents are
possessed with digital skills and are digitally literate.
Digital skills include understanding hardware and software applications,

managing privacy, basic online operations, and creating content. Digital literacy
matters the most among learners, especially during a pandemic since classes are
held online. The result noted that since most of the students are only beginners,
this may affect their ability to comply with different academic tasks such as
video and presentation making by using different platforms. On the other hand,
students with advanced and proficient digital skills are at an advantage situation
in learning online. Abbas et al. (2019) explained that basic digital literacy skills
empower students to perform better in online classes. Students can achieve
impressive and excellent outputs, such as integrating different effects and shots
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in their video presentation and utilizing other platforms during class reporting
or discussions.
Bergdahl et al. (2020) cited the work of Nouri (2018) that college students learn
in a mobile, flexible, and multimodal manner by leveraging the capabilities of
various technologies and utilizing digital skills about multimodal literacy.
Hence, having specific digital skills creates favourable conditions for engaging
in productive learning technologies.
5.2. Experiences by the Higher Education Students in Flexible Online

Learning
5.2.1. Unavailability of Network
The research found out that despite that the university has provided Wi-Fi
modems to all the university students, the innovation of online classes is still
hampered by the unavailability of the network, especially in the mountainous
areas. In an interview, students said that they are not able to use the Wi-Fi
modem because the location of their house does not have enough network
signal. In the interview, a student claimed that she needs to go to other places to
connect to the internet. On the one hand, another respondent said:
“Access to the network is making studies harder, especially during
quizzes and examinations. I go to areas near the national highway for
me to attend virtual classes submit activities. Also, access to a network
is becoming more difficult during the rainy season.”
Another student highlighted that:

“Some of the professors will mark us, the students absent whenever we
are not able to attend an online discussion on time due to poor and
unstable internet connection.”
These claims supported the result above that only (0.94%) of the respondents
experienced a strong internet connection while a considerable number (44.3%) of
respondents revealed poor network access.
According to survey data issued by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) (2021)
(The Manila Times, 2021) only 39% of Filipino households with members
enrolled in online distance learning have strong internet connection. The
students' experiences on the unavailability of a network in their areas is an issue
that the teachers and administration should consider. This result implied that
even if online learning is the best solution to the loss of face-to-face classes, it is
only applicable and suitable to students living in urban areas or other places
with stable networks. To this end, students who can make the best use of online
classes are already digitally literate and have sufficient access to a stable internet
connection (World Bank, 2020).
Marasigan (2020), the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), has

identified what it deems "worrying gaps" in connectivity and Internet access
among least developing countries. According to the ITU, roughly 17%of the
rural population in the least developed nation's lives in areas with no mobile
service, while a 2G network only covers 19% of the rural population. According
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to the Philippine Statistical Authority's National ICT Household Survey (2019),

17.7% of all households in the Philippines have access to the internet. In
addition, seven out of ten barangays lack access to fiber-optic connections, and
64%lack a cellular tower. According to the National Telecommunications
Commission (NTC, 2015), the situation is significantly worse in some areas,
which are all not served or underserved. According to the most recent
International Telecommunications Union (ITU) data (Marasigan, 2020), the
installation of mobile-broadband networks is expected to decelerate in 2020.
According to Araneta et al. (2021), in the Philippines, urban areas have

better connectivity, whereas rural areas have a less digital infrastructure.
According to the data of the Department of Information and Communications
Technology (DICT) (2017), urban families have a more effective internet
connection rate than rural households. Metro Manila households have the
highest rate of access at 32.3 %. The virtual world has made productivity a
privilege. People without it are left behind, missing out on everything from
necessities and outstanding education to good work and reskilling chances. The
challenges facing the Philippines and other countries in offering consistent
internet availability, accessibility, and affordability in a post-COVID world have
never been higher.
5.2.2. Shortage of Devices for Online Learning

Another challenge that the students experience in online learning is the lack of
technological devices to be utilized. Learning through online classes requires a
good gadget. It requires good quality smartphones, laptops, and computers that
students can use to keep up with the activities. From the data gathered on the
profile in online learning, the most available device is Android Phones which
comprises (78.16%) of the total sample. In an interview, a respondent uttered
that:
“Mobile phone is only compatible with low-tech teaching applications
such as Google Classroom, Google Meet, and Zoom. It cannot install
math software. Also, creating documents, video, and report
presentations are somehow difficult when using mobile phones.”
Another participant testified that:

“It is hard for me to cope with my study because I don’t own a good
quality smartphone. Every time our teacher sends assignments or
activities online, I cannot easily view it, and I still need to borrow a
phone from my friends”.
It has already been noted from the result of the survey that (78.18%) of the
respondents have utilized mobile phones alone while attending classes in
flexible learning. Hereof, the need for digital devices is necessary for students
while learning online, and the lack of these devices can affect their performance
and may hinder their chances of learning. Typically, this problem usually occurs
to those students who belong to low-income families. Therefore, they will be left
out in this remote learning (Salman, 2020). The National Council of Educational
Research and Training [NCERT], 2020) noted that in conducting online classes,
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the school should address the following problems: unavailability of digital

resources and inaccessibility to the network.
5.2.3. Distractive Learning Environment

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

Students also reported that Cebu Technological University had provided them
with free Wi-Fi modems with a special price for loads lower than the regular
during the interview. Internet data is still expensive to have effective online
learning. Moreover and as mentioned above, most of the students belong to a
family with low incomes. This situation is worsened during the pandemic
because most of their parents lose their jobs. In an interview, a student-leader
said:
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"I don't have load allowance given that the price of basic needs
increases. So I go to school every day to connect the university's free Wi-
Fi access and do my duty as a student leader and as a student as well.”
In this regard, the study found that costly data stymies online learning, putting
students and teachers at a disadvantage zone. The students find flexible online
classes as an expensive learning modality, especially during this pandemic. Most
of their parents lost their jobs or with just temporary employment. Adedoyin
and Soykan (2020) described that students with a low socioeconomic status who
cannot afford a broadband connection are the most likely to fall behind or face
additional difficulties in interacting with others in online learning.
In terms of cost, the Philippines is seen as one of the countries that has an
expensive internet connection, in which Salac and Kim (2016) revealed that
Philippine Internet users pay $20.35 per megabit per second, compared to the
global average of $5.21 per megabit per second. In terms of the cost of Internet
connection per Mbps, the Philippines ranked 161st out of 202 nations. The fact
that there are only two major Internet service providers in the country, it is
therefore one of the leading causes of the country's high internet costs. Prices
have remained high due to a lack of competition in the market.
Moreover, the fact that the internet connection in the Philippines is very pricey,
the Philippines ranks 82nd on the Internet Affordability Index, which assesses
how long it takes to get the cheapest mobile and broadband internet in the
country. Only Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Albania rank higher. According to the
data, it takes 1,994 seconds of effort to afford the cheapest mobile internet in the
country and 75 minutes to afford the most affordable broadband Internet
(Esquire Philippines, 2020).
5.2.5. Health-Related Problems

The researchers also found out that students have experienced health-related
problems while attending online classes. The participants said that they are
given overloaded with academic activities. They are not able to manage their
time anymore. Some of them got health problems such as headaches, eyestrain,
and back pain due to a longer time spent on technology devices. In an interview,
it has been reported that:
"We are given many activities, reports, exams, modules, and video
presentations to the point that I cannot balance my time anymore.
Sometimes, I sacrificed my good sleep and mealtime to submit the
activities on time.”
Additionally, the respondents reported that they usually sit during their classes
from early in the morning and sometimes until in the evening and that caused
back pain. Also, they experienced having eyestrain since online courses require
technological devices, and the respondents are always on their phones and
laptops. In this regard, flexible online learning causes health problems,
specifically when students are tasked to do many digital works and activities.
This problem can affect learners' willingness to perform well in the class.
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One of the most significant implications of the shift to online learning is student
health, particularly sleep patterns. Students are concerned about poor physical
conditions. In other terms, they spend most of their time attending online classes
and completing the activities, leaving them with little or no opportunities to
engage in physical activity (Rotas & Cahapay, 2020). They get eyestrain and
headache as a result of too much exposure to gadgets. Students also revealed the
issue of mental health struggles. They feel sick whenever they had many
activities to do, have slow internet, and are without someone to ask (Rotas &
Cahapay, 2020). Cueto and Agaton (2021) noted that stress and anxiety are the
expected health effects whenever students suffer difficulties. In addition to the
adverse health effects of disrupted sleep cycles, increasing internet use can
influence students' physical and mental health. Jennifer Katzenstein, head of
psychology and neuropsychology at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, has
seen the effects of distant learning on children of all ages. For college students,
Katzenstein stated that they struggle to create a distraction-free atmosphere and
develop the required organizational skills to remain on top of their tasks
(Balram, 2020). These challenges might impact students' mental health; screen
time consumption, particularly for non-academic pursuits, has increased
sadness, anxiety, and reported concentration difficulties.
5.2.6. Lack of Resources

During the interview, students also referred that they find online education
hard. They have fewer chances to discuss hard lessons with their classmates,
teachers, and even parents. A respondent said that:
"Regarding the course subjects that I find difficult to understand, I
cannot ask help from my parents. Both of my parents are only
elementary graduates, and they cannot relate to the lessons I have
during college.”
This scenario portrayed that flexible learning puts students with parents who
have low educational attainment at a critical situation. In some cases wherein the
parents are not well-educated and lack knowledge and understanding in the
education field, they would most likely depend on the teachers and instructors
to make their children smarter instantly (Okafor, Owede, Uyanne, &
Chibundum, 2018). Furthermore, educated parents will most likely have a better
job and provide the necessary devices for their children to attend online classes
comfortably.
5.2.7. Lack of Digital Literacy Skills

The world has become digital; however, during the interview, many
respondents uncovered that they are only equipped with the basic skills in
utilizing their mobile phones and laptops. In attending classes online, students
revealed that they find it challenging to manoeuvre their digital tools, such as
editing videos and making report presentations. A respondent highlighted that:
"Editing videos and report presentation is time-consuming in my case
since I have first to explore how to do such. My lack of digital skills is
dragging me down in this online mode of learning."
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Adedoyin and Soykan (2020) further explained that as educational activities in

this pandemic are transformed digitally, libraries must pursue this trend to
supply adequate service to faculty, students, and other stakeholders through
digital libraries. As such, students and teaching staff with low digital skills will
experience difficulty in utilizing the digital libraries since Omotayo and Haliru
(2020) identified digital competence as a variable with a positive correlation and
significant effects on the use of digital libraries by higher education students.
5.2.8. Losing Motivation

The challenges mentioned above lead students to slowly lose motivation to
continue the formal study in the university amidst the COVID 19 pandemic.
During the interview, a student said that:
“I feel exhausted in this online learning. I don't have gadgets and other
devices to be utilized. Also, the network in our place is unstable. I am
almost always absent or late during synchronous class.”
From the discussion above, it is clear that students find an online class a big
challenge in pursuing their dreams. Students lack motivation due to constraints
in learning online. Not all students are lucky enough to have good resources and
belong to a well-off family. It also showed that students' profile in an online class
is a factor that can affect their behaviour and performance in the class.
Although motivation is a multifaceted construct that is regularly linked to

academic accomplishment, few theories consider students' lack of motivation as
an explicit motivation factor. In the Philippines, various groups encourage the
government to begin working on the safe and progressive implementation of
face-to-face sessions in schools, claiming that distant learning is causing students
to lose interest in their studies. Franz Beltran, president of the De La Salle
University Senior High School Student Council, said that after discovering that
their "learning environment" was "not conducive," several students have
dropped out of online classes (Perez, 2021). Because of some reasons, many
students continue to lose their motivation and morale every day while studying
through this online mode (Perez, 2021). On the other hand, from the study of
Avila et al. (2020), their research findings imply that through sufficient support,
help, and encouragement, students can be motivated to learn online despite the
obstacles.
The unpredictability of timetables from instructor to teacher and the various

techniques that each teacher takes with his/her online classroom can keep track
of what is assigned challenging (Turner, 2020). While a lack of desire has
previously made keeping up with academic work more challenging, students
have frequently reported that their workload has increased after switching to
online study. The need for all teachers to provide enough activities to their
pupils to comprehend a topic has resulted in a barrage of time-consuming
chores that some have deemed superfluous busy work (Turner, 2020). Research
conducted from 405 high school students and 305 college/university students in
the Philippines revealed the following core themes of reasons for low
motivation: beliefs and attitudes about the self and the subject, perceptions of
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the teacher's competencies, and distractions provided by social support systems

(Salanga & Bernardo, 2016).
6. Conclusion
It was concluded that implementing flexible online learning of the university as
a replacement to on-campus learning created some challenges for students in
rural areas, as revealed by their background and experiences. Although it was
thought such implementation is the best solution to replace face-to-face classes
during this pandemic by the university, it is not best applicable and suitable to
all students living in rural areas. The difficulty in internet access, which is the
root cause of the struggles experienced by said students during the
implementation of flexible learning, and other factors such as lack of gadgets,
load, etc., may also significantly affect their learning experiences. With the lack
of proper monetary allocation for the students' online classes, they could only
rely on their mobile data connection to access the internet. Indeed, this can't
guarantee a good learning impact and outcome, since mobile data is slower than
other internet connection types like Wi-Fi. With the lack of proper technological
devices, students cannot be very familiar with how these educational
applications work. The presence of health problems experienced by the students
during the online classes was another negative consequence of implementing
flexible online learning. Therefore, the HEI's administrators and educators must
consider such information in deciding implementation of alternative mode of
learning. This paper highlighted the need to consider students’ backgrounds and
experiences in implementing online learning-related modalities. Such
information is essential, as it would guide educators and policymakers to come
up with best academic plans suitable to students’ status, particularly on the
provision of educational support to address the students’ needs in flexible online
learning.
7. Recommendations
Concerning the context of this research, we have these recommendations for
good practice in supporting online classes of students living in rural areas. First,
the school should provide training on technological proficiency and expertise for
both teachers and students. Second, the school administrations must have
adequate infrastructure and primarily internet facilities to establish flexible
learning. Third, besides conducting classes online, the students should also be
given study materials and class activities that they can freely do at home to
address the gap of internet connection for students living in rural areas. Fourth,
the school administration should consider those students who belong to low-
income families in affording them free online tools that they can use to attend
online classes. Lastly, HEI's administrators should also recognize non-digital
learning modes or other appropriate alternatives convenient to students to
ensure productive learning.
8. Limitations
Since this study involves one public university and province only, thus the
results may not reflect students' fundamental and complete challenges on
flexible online learning in the rural areas. Hence, future research has to consider
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other rural areas and private institutions to have comprehensive data. Also, the
scope of challenges tackled in this study may be minimal as it only focuses on
the aspect of students. Future studies may consider other areas to have a holistic
view of the challenges brought by the pandemic on the sudden implementation
of online learning.
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https://doi.org/10.1002/hbe2.192
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Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 291-307, July 2021
Differences in Factors Responsible for Lateness at

School by Male and Female Learners in Selected
Schools in Soshanguve Township, South Africa
Mary Motolani Olowoyo, Sam Ramaila and Lydia Mavuru

Department of Science and Technology Education, Faculty of Education,
University of Johannesburg, South Africa
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0332-8979
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7351-477X
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9099-0746
Abstract. Late coming is an endemic problem in South African schools

and has become increasingly difficult to eradicate. It has been identified
as a major factor affecting learner academic performance and pass rate
within the broader South African school context. This study examined
factors that influence the late coming of both male and female learners
in selected schools in the Soshanguve Township with a view to
assessing their impact on learner academic performance and emotional
stability within the school environment. The study adopted an
exploratory descriptive survey design, involving eighty purposively
selected learners as participants. Quantitative data was collected
through the administration of a survey questionnaire and result
analysed using ANOVA and the paired sample t-test. The findings
showed that factors such as mode of transportation to school,
geographical location of school/homes, learner involvement in
household chores, watching television at night, sleeping late and child
care responsibilities are predominantly responsible for the late coming.
The study further revealed that male learners were more often late for
school as compared to female learners. Late coming of female learners
hinged to a large degree on domestic factors while the late coming of
male learners depended on attitude and peer pressure. The male
learners were reluctant to change the habit as it was not perceived to be
an emotional disturbance while female learners were amenable to habit
change.
Keywords: academic performance; attitudes; late coming; peer pressure;

township
©Authors
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1. Introduction
Late coming has become a major problem globally and from a study conducted
by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2013)
which interviewed students from many countries, it was found that most
students arrived at school after lessons had already started (OECD, 2013;
Nonkonana & Kwenda, 2019). Lateness generally refers to a situation in which
an individual reports at a place later than the scheduled, appropriate or agreed
time (Onoyase, 2017; Adegunju et al., 2019). Within the school context, lateness
may be defined as arrival at school by learners after the official opening hours
and may be further be extended to arriving late at scheduled normal timetable
for lectures or classes to begin (Maile & Olowoyo, 2017). Owing to the rate of late
coming in high schools, lateness is perceived to stifle development and may
negatively affect student academic performance (Maile & Olowoyo, 2017;
McKeever & Clark, 2017; Warne et al., 2020). It can lead to serious consequences
such as missing out on lessons, failing, disrupting the class, school dropout, time
wasting and extension of the period spent by learners in schools (Onoyase,
2017).
The regular attendance of school by students is necessary in preparing the
students towards reaching their full potential (Agboblie & Mensah, 2016).
However, lateness to school has defeated the purpose of the school
establishment which, inter alia, includes educating and training students within
a scheduled and pre-arranged programme with a view to preparing students’
entrance into a successful life through punctuality (Agboblie & Mensah, 2016).
The policy on child education in most countries dwells on ‘accessibility’ to good
education and theoretically, access could encompass educational quality,
process, outcomes as well as inclusivity, equity and sustainability (Consortium
for Research into Educational Access, Transitions and Equity [CREATE], 2012).
A learner who is often late to school would not fulfil roles such as engagement
with peers, engagement with good quality teaching and learning in the
classroom (Humphrey et al., 2015).
Various countries have put different measures in place to curb lateness in high
schools. For instance, Jumare et al. (2015) in a study conducted in Nigeria
reported that the principal and parents are responsible for administering
punishments to late comers but also for working together as a team to curb
lateness to schools. Similarly in South Africa, there is a circular on how to
manage late coming from the Department of Basic Education and the
management of late coming in schools rests on the School Management Team
and the parents (DBE, 2009). In these policies schools should have systems and
procedures for ensuring regular school attendance, punctuality and monitoring
lateness and poor school attendance (Department of Education, 2018). Before the
dawn of democracy in South Africa, the school attendance policy was
implemented by teachers under the guidance of principals. Learners who
arrived at school late were usually locked outside the gate (Ngubane & Mkhize,
2018). However, the current school policy in South Africa does not make
provision for such practices anymore (Whole School Evaluation Policy, 2002).
Some teachers who thought teaching could not be possible without corporal
punishment met stiff oppositions from students who challenge the classroom
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authority (Ngubane & Mkhize, 2018). The new law introduced school level
codes of conduct and gave parents an unprecedented involvement in school
affairs. When learners contravene the rules, parents are engaged to provide
guidance and support to inculcate appropriate behaviour. Thus teachers in
South Africa find it extremely difficult to administer punishment to learners and
feel helpless (Ngubane & Mkhize, 2018). In Nigeria, the use of corporal
punishment is often treated as an integral part of education, occupying a place in
schools’ teaching. However, bullying in any form is not allowed (Jonathan et al.,
2017). Teachers often used corporal punishment to make learners conform to the
norms of the school and this may at times have involved gentle striking either
across the buttocks or on the hand (Jonathan et al., 2017). In the current study,
Shoshanguve is a township in the northern part of Pretoria with several reports
on the news media of students coming to school late and roaming about on the
streets (SABC 2 News, 2016).
Several studies have reported on the factors responsible for causing late coming
among high school learners (Jumare et al., 2015; Onoyase, 2017: Maile &
Olowoyo, 2017). A report compiled by Adegunju et al. (2019) revealed that
Nigerian teachers ascribed late coming to poor preparation for school, going to
bed late, travelling distance between school and home, level of poverty, peer
pressure, and single parenthood. Other studies identified household chores
especially for girls from poorer, more rural households, who also often have to
look after younger siblings or sick relatives as a major factor (Nonkonana &
Kwenda, 2020; Adegunju, 2019). Maile and Olowoyo (2017) highlighted the lack
of teaching materials, mode of delivery, first lesson of the day, and structure of
the schools as reasons for late coming and absenteeism. The factors highlighted
by Maile and Olowoyo (2017) are largely perceived as a source of demotivation
for young people. At an initial pragmatic level, bullying and teasing have also
been observed to affect both boys and girls (UNICEF, 2012). As noted by Jumare
(2015), mode of transport is one of the factors contributing to late coming at
schools.
Developing and preparing learners for the future requires regular school
attendance by both teachers and learners to ensure that optimal training takes
place. However, developing and preparing learners for the future may be
hampered by late coming, truancy, inability to read and lack of consultation
opportunities with teachers (Oghuvbu, 2012). Regular school attendance
provides opportunities to learners to realize their full potential through skills
development. Sultana and Rashid (2013) posit that punctuality and time
management problems among learners in schools are related to late coming.
Agboblie and Mensah (2016) and Maile and Olowyo (2017) postulate that
recurrent lateness at schools may not only affect the academic performance of
learners, but could also create serious problems for individuals in later life if not
checked.
Persistent late coming by learners at schools has been linked to the falling
standards of education globally (Chujor, 2014). In fact, scholars have suggested
that for any school to succeed in discharging its basic duty of training learners
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there should be some form of discipline and management. For instance,

Jonathan et al. (2017) assert that discipline is necessary because it sets a
congenial atmosphere needed for teaching and learning. The impact of late
coming is also felt in society because education is seen as a vital tool that serves
as a major driving factor for social and economic transformation of a nation and
this may later result into progress and development of the society.
Late coming has increasingly become a perennial problem in many South
African schools (Nonkonana & Kwendu, 2020). In South Africa, as reported by
Nonkonana and Kwendu (2020), 20% of the South African learners report to
school when the school has already started. Recently, the South African
government lamented the adverse impact of perpetual late coming and learner
absenteeism on schooling (DBE, 2009). Equal Education, which is a voluntary
organization, also staged a rally to sensitize learners about the detrimental
impact of late coming on teaching and learning (Equal Education, 2018). The
rally was led by learners with the aim of assisting schools to instil a sense of
punctuality among learners. According to the National Staff Reporter (2016), the
late coming of learners in South Africa could also be attributed to the teachers’
absenteeism and coming to work late. A previous study by Maile and Olowoyo
(2017) showed that coming to school late has been a norm in the area and also
this is observed in both males and females. However, there are factors that are
responsible for this phenomenon. As late coming remains a pervasive problem
at South African schools, there is a critical need to examine the factors
influencing the late coming of male and female learners in diverse school
contexts.
The empirical investigation is accordingly guided by the following main
research question:
What are the differences in factors that influence the late coming of male and
female learners in Shoshanguve Township schools in South Africa?
To answer the main research question, the following sub-questions were
formulated:
• What are the differences in factors that influence the late coming of male and
female learners at the selected schools in Soshanguve Township?
• To what extent do household chores, school governance, scholar transport
and distance, and peer pressure influence late coming?
• What is the role of gender in the manifestation of late coming at selected
schools in Soshanguve Township?
3. Theoretical framework
The study framework was built around the social efficiency theoretical
framework and learner-centred ideology. The social efficiency ideology places
more emphasis on the capability of the child to fill social needs of society while
the learner-centred ideology looks at the needs and interests of the learner. This
becomes important in understanding learners’ background which is central to
the learning and needs of the students and can be incorporated in the learning
experience (Armend, 2017). As mentioned earlier, if students perpetually come
to school late, it may translate to later years, where their sense of responsibility
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in the society will be reduced. However, there is a need to understand the

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

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

view a certain issue (Gay et al., 2011). An exploratory research design also
provides opportunities for gathering information in an informal and
unstructured manner. It further helps a researcher to build understanding about
the problem of the research and to generate new ideas from the research
(Swedberg, 2018). In this study, the researchers seek to understand the
differences in factors that are responsible for late coming between males and
females as previously alluded to in previous studies (Maile & Olowoyo, 2017). In
addition, an exploratory research design is not limited to one specific paradigm
as it may use either qualitative or quantitative approaches (Swedberg, 2018).
This was adopted in order to provide a full understanding of the problem, the
relationships and to what extent these factors responsible for late coming among
the students interviewed could be relevant among the respondents, thereby
leading to data triangulation.
4.1 Sampling
The study involved eighty purposively selected learners from six selected
schools in Soshanguve Township. Learners who participated in the study were
selected based on the school attendance record as provided to the researchers by
the school and these students were the perpetual late comers. Only learners who
were reported to be perpetual late comers and who were willing to participate in
the study were selected for the study. Soshanguve Township is geographically
located in Pretoria in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. The participants
were between the ages of 17 and 21 years old. Questionnaires were designed and
distributed; all the learners answered both the qualitative and the quantitative
aspects of the questions.
4.2 Data collection

Quantitative data was collected through the administration of a structured
questionnaire distributed to the participants. In designing the questionnaire,
factors raised in the previous study by Maile and Olowoyo (2017) which alluded
to causes of late coming were used. The current study is based on the premise
that the initial answers in the previous study were in a generalised format;
however, the current study specifies and categorises which group (male or
female) is mostly affected by each factor raised in the previous study. The
participants were grouped according to their classes and also based on gender.
In addition, each was provided with a questionnaire after a thorough
explanation on the purpose of the research.
4.3 Instrumentation
The questionnaire consisted of twenty-two items to which participants
responded using the Likert-scale. The responses were classified as follows:
Strongly agree (SA), Agree (A), Neutral (N), Disagree (DA) and Not relevant
(NR). The questionnaire was piloted with 10 respondents) before allowing
others to participate to achieve its validation and the results were used to
rephrase some of the items. Qualitative data was collected through semi-
structured interviews.
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4.4 Data analysis

Data was analysed using SPSS Version 25 on the basis of the key constructs
investigated. Quantitative data was specifically analysed by using descriptive
statistics while Atlas was used to analyse qualitative data. Differences in the
reasons for lateness based on gender were analysed using the student t-test.
Factors such as house chores, watching television, influence of peer pressures
and the school management systems were considered. Qualitative data was
arranged using axial coding and thematic themes which involve main ideas
were grouped together to form themes (Cohen et al., 2007).
4.5 Validity and reliability

Validity refers to the integrity and application of the methods undertaken and
the precision with which the findings accurately reflect the data, while reliability
describes consistency within the employed analytical procedures (Noble &
Smith, 2015). The internal reliability of the instrument was evaluated by
calculating Cronbach’s alpha for each item. The average Cronbach’s alpha value
of 0.85 was obtained which signified an acceptable internal consistency of the
instrument. The Cronbach’s alpha is used as scale reliability or internal
consistency indicator (Taber, 2017). This is the degree to which the items that
make up the scale all measure the same underlying attribute. The
trustworthiness of the study was ensured by allowing all the participants to
express themselves freely without any potential bias or personal motivation
from the researcher. Participants were allowed to freely relate how each of the
factors mentioned under the quantitative aspect affected their decisions or
actions regarding arriving at school late.
Peer review
There was an ongoing dialogue and critical reflection with other researchers on
the research process and tentative interpretations.
Reflexivity
The researchers engaged in critical self-reflection regarding anything that may
bias the interpretation of data, e.g. hidden assumptions, own worldview,
theoretical orientation and interrelationships. Biases and assumptions were
made explicit.
Audit trails
A detailed account of methods, procedures and reasons for decisions taken were
provided.
Rich description
A detailed description of events was provided to enable readers to contextualize
the study and judge the extent to which the findings could apply to their
situations.
Ethical considerations
Approval to carry out the study was obtained from the District and Head Office
of the Gauteng Department of Education and this was subsequently taken to the
school principals before the commencement of the study. Before the interview
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consent was also sought from all the participants to use a recorder and their
right to withdraw from the study at any stage was respected.
5. Results
The study examined factors influencing late coming of male and female learners
at selected schools in Soshanguve Township. Related findings emanating from
both quantitative and qualitative data are presented together. Quantitative data
was collected through the administration of a survey questionnaire. The findings
are categorised according to the key constructs investigated, namely household
chores, school governance, scholar transport and distance, and peer pressure.
Table 1 below provides the number of participants per grade at selected schools.
The sample comprised more male learners (65%) than female learners (35%).
Table 1: Number of participants per grade at selected schools
Grade Males Percentage Females Percentage
12 13 16 6 7.5
11 28 35 16 20
10 11 14 6 7.5
Total 52 65 28 35
Factors contributing to late coming in males and females

(a) Household chores and their impact on late coming
Table 2 provides a distribution of responses in relation to the performance of
household chores as one of the factors influencing late coming.
Table 2: Late comers as a result of household chores from selected perpetual late
comers
Factors Grade 10 Grade 11 Grade 12
Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls
Washing of dishes 8 6 15 16 4 6
Cooking at home 2 6 4 16 4 6
Taking care of young siblings 7 4 8 12 3 5
Cleaning of the home 9 6 7 14 5 6
Watching television 10 2 25 13 13 3
Going to sleep late at night 11 6 28 6 12 6
Morning duties 11 5 7 16 5 6
A considerable number of male learners in grade 10 indicated that their late

coming is due to factors such as watching television (91 %), going to sleep late at
night (100%) and performance of morning duties (100 %). Factors influencing
late coming as indicated by the majority of female learners in grade 10 involved
the performance of household chores such as washing dishes (100 %), cooking
(100%) and house cleaning (100%). Predominant factors influencing late coming
of the majority of male learners in grade 11 included washing of dishes (63%),
watching television (89%) and going to sleep late at night (100%). Female
learners in Grade 11 were overwhelmed by involvement in activities such as
washing of dishes (100%), cooking (100%), taking care of young ones (75%),
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house cleaning (88%), watching television (81%) and morning duties (100%).
Predominant factors influencing late coming of the majority of male learners in
grade 12 were watching television (100%) and going to sleep late at night (92%).
In similar vein, female learners in grade 12 were overwhelmed by the
performance of household chores.
Most male learners indicated that they went to bed late at night and this is
positively correlated with watching television till late at night (0.99). One of the
respondents said:
“ sleep late at nights because there are some soapies that I need to watch
and when I sleep late, I woke up very late and tired”
From the findings, the boys that participated in this study were not much
involved in all household chores; the responsibility rested mostly on the
shoulders of female learners. For instance, all female learners in grades 10, 11
and 12 indicated that cooking and cleaning were the most time-consuming
activities at home. The t–test result obtained was 0.035 which revealed a
significant difference at p < 0.05 in terms of the effect of household chore
activities between male and female learners (Table 3). A positive correlation
(0.62) was also observed for watching television till late at night and going to
sleep very late: this may be a key factor influencing the late coming of male
learners. One of the boys interviewed mentioned the following:
“I don’t do much of the jobs at home but usually busy on my phones or
moving around with friends, I have sisters, they do it for me”.
A female who responded says:

“I sleep late at nights do to household chores and cooking, my mum is
late and we are not staying with our father, so I need to help my
granny”.
It should be pointed out that the findings in Table 2 with regard to household
chores and management are limited to weekdays only and this might have
influenced the lower numbers of female learners who indicated that they
watched television. Few female learners reported that they watch TV till late at
night and this corresponds well with the activities that must have consumed
their time and energy in the evening.
Table 3: Comparing the effect of the household chores on late coming between the
male and female learners
Factors Frequency df T value P value
Boys 52 78 1.897 0.0308
Girls 28
(b) School governance, transportation and travelling distance as factors

contributing to late coming
Table 4 provides a distribution of responses in relation to school governance,
transportation and travelling distance as factors contributing to late coming.
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Table 4: Late comers that indicated school governance, transport and travelling
distance as factors responsible for their late coming
My house is far from school 6 4 15 7 5 4
Waiting for transportation 4 1 16 9 7 2
Trekking to school 9 5 12 12 6 5
Discouraged by the first 7 5 26 14 10 6
subject at school
Discipline at school 11 6 27 16 11 6
Teachers’ attitude 10 2 28 6 11 2
Homework load 11 6 28 15 13 6
Weather during winter 9 6 14 16 11 6
Taking younger ones to 3 2 2 11 4 5
school
A considerable number of male learners in grade 10 highlighted discipline at

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

“I am a senior student now, no one can force me anymore”
Teachers’ attitudes were more frequently reported by male learners than female
learners. All the male learners in grades 10 and 11 reported that teachers’
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attitude is a major factor which causes late coming. Amongst the grade 12
learners, 85% of the male learners agreed that teachers’ attitudes were a factor.
Although 98% of the respondents agreed that this is a factor that led to late
coming in high school, there was no significant difference in the responses
received from boys and girls in this regard (p > 0.05).
Table 5: Comparing the effect of teachers’ attitude to late coming between male and
female learners
Factors Frequency df T value P value
Boys 52 78 0.247 0.4028
Girls 28
A female learner said:

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

Table 6 below provides the distribution of responses on peer pressure as a factor
responsible for late coming.
Table 6: Peer pressure
Waiting for friends 10 5 26 12 11 6
Smoking 9 2 27 9 11 3
Gambling 5 1 11 5 5 1
Working in groups 3 5 6 4 4 5
Chatting with friends 7 6 15 13 8 6
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As depicted in Table 6, peer pressure-related factors influencing the late coming

of male and female learners in grades 10 to 12 included waiting for friends
(88%), smoking (76%), gambling (35%) and chatting with friends (69%). Very
few learners (both males and females) indicated working in groups as a factor
that causes them to be late for school. It is interesting to note that late coming of
female learners in grades 10 to 12 was not largely influenced by factors such as
smoking and gambling. Smoking and gambling appeared to be a socio-cultural
practice affecting learning activities of male learners at the selected township
schools. The provision of appropriate psycho-social support by the Department
of Basic Education is crucially important to foster conducive teaching and
learning environments at such schools.
It was also observed that male learners were the group most affected. An
important point to note is that there are usually cigarette sellers not far from the
school gates and in some instances male learners would be observed loitering
around the areas where they can buy cigarettes. Some of the learners indicated
that there are also substances that learners smoke other than ordinary tobacco
and cigarettes. These substances were mostly smoked after school in order to
avoid the smell being detected by the teachers.
Some of the learners reported that some of their fellow learners, especially male
learners, engaged in gambling activities outside the school gate early in the
morning. This accounted for small groups of late comers. Female learners
indicated that chatting with friends does not necessarily occur in the morning
but mostly at homes and at night. As such, 89% of the female learners who
participated in the study indicated that they chatted on their mobile phones until
late after doing household chores and hence they went to bed late in most cases.
However, only 58% of the boys indicated that they engaged in this same activity.
6. Discussion
Late coming of male and female learners at selected township schools was
influenced by a myriad of contextual factors. These factors related to
performance of household chores, school governance, mode of transport,
travelling distance, and peer pressure. Predominant factors related to the late
coming of male learners across the grades included watching television, hence
going to sleep late at night and the performance of morning duties. Late coming
of female learners across the grades was largely influenced by the performance
of household chores such as washing dishes, cooking and house cleaning. The
differences in the factors influencing the late coming of male and female learners
across the grades appeared to be gender based. Adequate sleep in teens has
been linked to overall academic success and improvements in memory, learning,
and attention (Nahmod et al., 2017). Sufficient sleep in teens has also been
linked to improved mood and health and decreased sports-tardiness and school
dropouts. Teens that do not obtain an adequate amount of sleep are also more
likely to smoke cigarettes, engage in sexual activity, and use marijuana
(Hoedlmoser, 2020). Maile and Olowoyo (201) argued that learners who are
overwhelmed by school work often go to sleep late at night. A study conducted
by Jumare et al. (2015) highlighted a higher prevalence of late coming of female
learners as compared to male learners. According to Parajuli and Thapa (2017),
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male learners tend to display higher levels of externalizing behaviours than

girls. The nature of factors influencing late coming of female learners across the
grades is consistent with the factors identified by a study conducted by Jumare
et al. (2015).
Predominant factors related to school governance, transport and travelling

distance influencing the late coming of learners across the grades included
travelling distance, mode of transport, discouragement by the first subject
featured on the time table at school, discipline at school, and teachers’ attitude.
Onoyase (2017) mentioned that location and distance proved to be key factors
influencing the late coming of female learners. Anti-social behaviour is often
related to the social complications associated with adolescent stage. Learners in
the adolescent stage feel they have control over themselves and are clever
enough to manufacture lies and decide on what their future should be with the
aid of peer groups (Jumare et al., 2015). In addition, this stage is also associated
with volatile emotions and boundary-testing behaviour as individuals explore
and assert personal identity, learn to navigate peer relationships, and transition
to independence (Moadab et al., 2017).
Peer pressure-related factors influencing the late coming of male and female
learners in grades 10 to 12 included waiting for friends, smoking, gambling and
chatting with friends. It is interesting to note that the late coming of female
learners in grades 10 to 12 was not largely influenced by factors such as smoking
and gambling. Smoking and gambling appeared to be socio-cultural practices
affecting the learning activities of male learners at selected township schools.
Jonathan et al. (2017) highlighted a negative attitude towards schooling, lack of
strict discipline in school, and lack of parental monitoring as factors influencing
the late coming of learners at schools. Parental involvement in their children’s
development has consistently been recognized as a key element that can
promote the effectiveness of early childhood responsibility (Varshney et al.,
2020). The nature of factors influencing late coming can be attributed to the
exclusive complexity of social challenges facing male and female learners in
society. The differences in the factors influencing the late coming of male and
female learners within the context of this study may be attributed to cultural and
ethnic considerations.
Interpretation of key findings in terms of the adopted theoretical framework
A critical analysis of key findings emanating from the study shows that there is
lack of concerted efforts by parents, school management teams, the broader
community and the Department of Basic Education to turn the tide against
endemic late coming of learners at township schools. The leaner-centred
ideology which puts the leaners at the centre showed that efforts should be
geared towards understanding the cause of the lateness on the part of the
leaners. The management, in this case the school and parents, should seek a
way of assisting the learners. For instance, the classes could be made more
interesting or accommodating so that the students would be willing to attend
school and be on time. Drawing on the social efficiency theory, it shows that the
learners do not have the requisite agency to acquire knowledge and skills to
304
realise their full potential and key aspirations. Therefore, it is necessary for
individuals to be knowledgeable about how they can attain their desired goals.
While learners made every effort to attend school against all odds, they lacked
guidance, support, monitoring, and a conducive environment in the form of a
home, society and the school for them to remain focused. An example is the
issue of child-headed households, and problems with regard to travelling long
distances to and from school, which expose these youngsters to a myriad of
negative influences such as smoking and gambling. The adults tend to abdicate
their responsibilities, thereby exposing the youngsters to negative social
tendencies associated with peer pressure. School management teams find it
extremely difficult to clamp down on the selling of cigarettes, narcotics and
other harmful substances in the vicinity of the school environment. Proximity
and access to narcotic substances have a detrimental impact on teaching and
learning at township schools. No particular individual, civil group or
government entity takes the responsibility to monitor or control the situation
despite the teenage stage being a volatile phase in the life of youngsters (Moadab
et al., 2017).
This paper argues that endemic late coming of learners at township schools can
be alleviated through fundamental restructuring of policies governing the
functioning of public schools. Endemic late coming of learners at township
schools in particular has to be eradicated if meaningful human capital
development is to become a reality for the fulfilment of societal and economic
goals. Substantial progress made in the realisation of this key strategic
imperative would pave the way for the provision of quality education within the
broader South African context.
7. Conclusion
Late coming of male and female learners at township schools is influenced by a
myriad of contextual factors. Major concerns in this study were the responses
that workload (homework) for both males and female and household chores for
females were major factors directly or indirectly causing late coming. The
learners agreed that it is a direct factor because of the enormous amount of time
they spent when completing their homework while the female learners agreed
that the tasks at home were just too demanding. These and other factors
appeared to be socio-cultural in nature. This key observation underscores the
need for a comprehensive reconfiguration of the school governance policies to
ensure that schools are not bedevilled by structural problems impinging on
teaching and learning. In the final analysis, late coming remains a pervasive
problem stifling the provision of quality education at township schools.
Generally from this study, major issues confronting the students are
multifaceted and include the management of household chores and the school
management system. The social efficiency theory discussed in this work and
student-centred learning, if adequately practised or implemented, will assist in
reshaping or re-evaluating the traditional ways of doing things in the past,
thereby allowing for restructuring which will ultimately mitigate the habit of
coming late among some learners, if not all.
305
Recommendations arising from the study

There is a critical need to put systems in place to alleviate concomitant structural
problems impacting on the provision of quality education at township schools.
Restoration and sustainable maintenance of discipline at township schools are
crucial for coherent realisation of effective teaching and learning. There is a need
to rethink school governance policies fundamentally in order to strengthen
administrative management capacity at township schools. The Department of
Basic Education faces the key imperative to provide the appropriate psycho-
social support required for the effective functioning of schools.
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308

Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 308-327, July 2021
The Use of a Synthesis Approach to Develop a

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

comprehensive model that synthesizes and converges the strong points
of the examined models of competence development. This is for use in the
competency-based training of teachers, including distance instruction.
The study used descriptive research methods, such as a self-assessment
survey for teachers, observation checklist for video recorded live online
sessions, a self-observation questionnaire, and a course satisfaction
questionnaire, to investigate how the designed model influences the
teachers’ competencies in distance teaching. The variables were the levels
of competence of teachers in distance teaching and the levels of sampled
teachers’ satisfaction with a professional refresher course. A
comprehensive model of teacher competence development, used to
deliver the reshaped refresher course, positively influenced the teachers’
©Authors
309
competencies in distance teaching. The course participants provided

complimentary feedback to evaluate the course using a convergent
instructional model. The teacher trainees improved their skills in the
adaptation of the lesson materials, for use in a live virtual environment,
engaging students in learning through an e-learning platform,
conferencing software and messengers (Zoom, Telegram, WhatsApp,
Facebook), creating a forum for both teacher-student and student-student
interactions. The sampled teachers seemed to enhance their skills in
accommodating students’ learning needs, abilities (or disabilities), and
learning styles. They appeared to update their skills, using the
approaches to create rapport, motivate and inspire students, and
involving students in shaping the lesson plan.
Keywords: convergent model; distance teaching; synthesis approach;

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

need to design a comprehensive model that combines teacher training in the
adaptation of lesson materials to use in a live virtual environment, engaging
students in learning through e-learning platforms, using conferencing software
and messengers. The model synthesizes the strong points of the stated models for
the competency-based training of teachers in distance teaching.
310
1.1. Literature Review

The constructivist learning theory created the framework for the model for
training teachers’ competencies in distance teaching. The theory was judged to be
appropriate because it stipulates that teachers should be involved in the training
process, based on on-job teaching. The training process is efficient because the
teachers are assisted in learning, sharing their experiences and empowered with
authority in the training session (Bautista & Oretga-Ruiz, 2017; Stoll et al., 2021).
The principles of the constructivist learning theory are evident in the integration
model of professional expertise (Yielder, 2004); the alternative model of
professional development (Dall’Alba & Sandberge, 2006); the periodic table of
expertise (Lamont, 2009); the model of expertise redevelopment (Grenier &
Kehrhahn, 2008); and the six-dimension framework of expertise (Garrett et al.,
2009).
The integration model of professional expertise is supposed to develop

competency through the integrated enhancing of teachers’ professional
performance. It involves a knowledge base boosted by cognitive activities and
professional practice, along with professional social behavior, which relies on
building interpersonal relationships (Kuijpers et al., 2010; Yielder, 2004).
The alternative model of professional development focuses on the enhancement

of the pre-service or in-service employees’ experiences, through a range of
developmental routes, which are based on levels, such as apprentice, experienced
employee, and expert (Dall’Alba & Sandberg, 2010; Kinchin & Cabot, 2010).
The periodic table of expertise model by Collins and Evans (Lamont, 2009) relies
on tacit knowledge, which is categorized as ubiquitous and specialist. The model
also suggests that ubiquitous tacit knowledge can be gained through taking part
in the social life of a community, while specialist tacit knowledge can be acquired
through the exchange among subject matter experts, experts in programs and
courses, and the contributors to the field of study. The first category of knowledge
is gained while using interactive abilities. The second category of knowledge is
built up using reflective abilities. According to the model, achieving a high level
of expertise leads to and is manifested in a certain social position in the
professional field and social status in the community (Collins, 2018).
The model of expertise redevelopment, in terms of the development of

competencies, gives priority to the contextual factors of acquiring skills that are
trained within the constituency and peer supportive environment (Frie et al., 2018;
Grenier & Kehrhahn, 2008).
The six-dimension framework of competence development implies that

professional expertise should be gained through the integration of an individual’s
cognition and task performance. It suggests that training can be effective if it
involves domain knowledge applied in context, technological and
communication skills, peer recognition in interaction, and an awareness of recent
trends in a professional field (Garrett et al., 2009).
311
The purpose of this study was to design and test a comprehensive model that
synthesizes and converges the strong points of the examined models of
competence development, to be used for the competency-based training of
teachers in distance instruction.
The research questions were as follows:

1) How has the reshaped refresher course influenced the teachers’ competencies
in distance teaching?
2) How do the course participants perceive the training course, which aimed to
update the teachers’ competencies in distance teaching?
2. Methods
The study used descriptive research methods, such as a self-assessment survey
for teachers (adopted from Dascalu, 2005), a video-recorded, live online session
observation checklist, a self-observation questionnaire, and a course satisfaction
questionnaire to investigate how the designed model influences teachers’
competencies in distance teaching (McCombes, 2020).

The study was designed as a quasi-experiment of the one-group, pre-test, post-
test type (Price et al., 2015). It lasted from March 2020 till the end of December
2020. The study was organized and conducted in four basic phases: the conceptual
phase, the pre-experimental phase, the experimental phase, and the data
processing phase.
The first phase identified the scope and feasibility of the study.
In the second phase, a refresher course for teachers was shaped, the research and
sampling plan was developed, the instruments to collect data were specified and
validated, and approval was obtained from the administration and management
of Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University and Borys Grinchenko Kyiv
University.
During the third phase, the experimental group (EG) teachers received training in
the adaptation of lesson materials for use in a live virtual environment, engaging
students in learning on an e-learning platform, conferencing software and
messengers (Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook), and creating a forum for the
interactions of a teacher-student and student-student kind, i.e. through breakout
rooms in Zoom. Teachers also learnt to accommodate students’ abilities (or
disabilities) and learning styles, the use of chatbots to deliver materials,
implement gamified elements, manage the students and assess them. Teachers
engaged in approaches to create rapport, motivate and inspire students, and
involve students in shaping lesson plans through polls and votes. In this phase,
data were obtained from the pre-test and post-test measurements.
In the fourth phase, the data were consolidated and analyzed using Jamovi
computer software (Version 1.6) (Jamovi, 2021).
312
Following that, the data were interpreted for reporting the results. Figure 1
portrays the research design used.
Concept development
Identification of the research scope.
Identification of the feasibility of the study.
Research design
Reshaping the refresher course for teachers.
Development of the research and sampling plan.
Specification and validation of the data collection instruments.
Obtaining the approval from the representatives of administration and management of Danylo Halytsky
Lviv National Medical University and Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University.
Experiment
EG teachers training in:
Adaptation of the lesson materials for use in a live virtual environment.
Engage students in learning through e-learning platform, conferencing software and messengers
(Telegram, Whatsapp, Facebook).
Create a forum for the interactions of a teacher-student and student-student kind, i.e. through breakout
rooms in Zoom.
Accommodate students' needs, abilities (or disabilities) and learning styles.
Use of chatbots to deliver materials, implement gamified elements, manage the students and assess
them.
Approaches to creating rapport, motivating and inspiring students, and involving students in shaping
the lesson plan through polls and votes.
Data processing, interpretation and reporting

Data consolidation and analysis using Jamovi computer software (Version 1.6).
Data interpretation for reporting research results.
Figure 1: Research design
2.2. Conceptual Framework

A synthesis approach was used to develop a comprehensive model to deliver the
refresher course. This synthesized and converged aspects of the currently-used
models of competence development.
The model aimed to develop teachers’ performance, expertise and mastery, from
the integration model of professional expertise. It is used as a stage-wise linear
progression, which is from the alternative model of professional development, to
achieve professional expertise. It involved knowledge and experience exchange
between those with contributory expertise and those with ubiquitous expertise,
which comes from the model of the periodic table of expertise by Collins and
Evans (Lamont, 2009), with experts’ interactional expertise. It supposed to foster
teachers’ readiness to be flexible and take up challenges, as outlined by the model
of expertise redevelopment. Additionally, the model relied on the replacement of
situational context with a situational judgment, which is the key point of six-
dimension framework of expertise.
313
2.3. Reshaped Refresher Course Description

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

# Topic
1 Lesson plan adaptation for use in a live virtual environment.
2 The use of devices with appropriate software and applications to learn virtually.
The engagement of students in learning through e-learning platforms,
3
conferencing software, and messengers (Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook).
4 Creating a forum for student-students and teacher-students’ interactions.
Accommodation of students’ learning needs, abilities (or disabilities), and
5
learning styles.
The use of chatbots to deliver materials, implement gamified elements, manage
6
the students and assess them.
7 Keeping a ratio of 20% teacher talking time and 80% student talking time.
8 Formulation of class instructions.
9 Creating rapport, motivating and inspiring students.
10 Involving students in shaping the lesson plan through polls and votes.
314
The convergent instruction model is visualized in Figure 2.
Behavioral Training Focus

Social
interaction
Information Instructional Strategies

processing
Direct
Instructional Methods
Self- Indirect
reflection
Interactive Simulations
Competencies in Distance Teaching

Case-study
Cooperative Virtual Lessons Planning and Delivery
learning
Evaluation and Assessment
Self-study Use of IKT tools
Knowledge and Presenting
experience Demonstrating
sharing
Figure 2: The convergent instruction model
2.4. Sample
In the conceptual phase, random sampling was used to select respondents to
participate in self-assessment surveys. The participants for the experiment were
sampled from a population of 2364 teachers and lecturers from two state-owned
universities in Ukraine: Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University
(DHLNMU) (1421 people), and Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University (BGKU) (943
people). Invitations were sent to 213 teachers and lecturers and 167 responses
were returned. A total of 37 people (𝑛 = 37), whose mean values were higher than
4.00, and who attended the professional refresher course in the use of information
and communications technology (ICT) in distance teaching, for teachers and
lecturers, were selected for the experiment as the experimental group (EG). The
challenges of the sample selection were related to that fact that EG teachers
majored primarily in the humanities and they are known to be ICT ‘muggles’.
The demographics of the EG are presented in Table 2.
315
Table 2: Demographic data of the sampled professional refresher course attendees (𝒏 = 𝟑𝟕)
University
Feature Mean SD
DHLNMU BGKU
Males 11 (68.75%) 5 (31.25%) 8.0 4.24
Gender
Females 7 (33.33%) 14 (66.67%) 10.5 4.94
27-35 1 (9.09%) 0 (0.00%) 1.0 0.70
36-44 3 (27.27%) 2 (40.00%) 2.5 0.70
Males
45-55 5 (45.45%) 2 (40.00%) 3.5 2.12
56-60 1 (9.09%) 1 (20.00%) 1.0 0.00
Age
27-35 1 (14.28%) 3 (21.42%) 2.0 1.41
36-44 2 (28.57%) 5 (35.71%) 3.5 2.12
Females
45-55 3 (42.85%) 5 (35.71%) 4.0 1.41
56-60 1 (14.28%) 1 (7.14%) 1.0 0.00
2-10 years 1 (5.5%) 3 (15.78%) 2.0 1.41
11-15 years 6 (33.33%) 7 (36.84%) 6.5 0.70
Experience
16-20 years 9 (50.00%) 4 (21.05%) 6.5 3.53
> 21 years 2 (11.11%) 5 (26.31%) 3.5 2.12
Chemistry and Biology 9 (50.00%) 2 (10.52%) 5.5 4.94
Anatomy 5 (27.77%) 0 (0.00%) 2.5 3.53
Maths and Physics 4 (22.22%) 6 (31.57%) 5.0 1.41
Subject
Journalism 0 (0.00%) 3 (15.78%) 1.5 2.12
taught
Languages and
0 (0.00%) 7 (36.84%) 3.5 4.94
Literature
Law 1 (5.55%) 1 (5.26%) 1.0 0.00
In general, the EG individuals were considered homogeneous because they

majored in teaching.
2.5. Instruments
The study used four tools to yield data. These were 1) the teachers’ self-assessment
survey (see Appendix A), 2) the observation checklist to assess the video recorded
live online lessons (see Appendix B), 3) the self-observation questionnaire (see
Appendix C), and 4) the course satisfaction questionnaire. Jamovi computer
software (Version 1.6) was used to process the quantitative data (Jamovi, 2021).
The first research question was addressed through the teachers’ self-assessment
survey, the observation checklist to assess the video recorded live online lessons,
and the self-observation questionnaire. The course satisfaction questionnaire was
used to answer the second research question.
The teachers’ self-assessment survey, which was adapted from Dascalu (2005) and
adjusted for this study, was used to sample 37 teachers and lecturers to participate
in the experiment. A video recorded lessons observation checklist was utilized to
monitor how the reshaped refresher course influenced the teachers’ competencies
in distance teaching. The self-observation questionnaire was employed to identify
how the EG participants assessed their progress in developing their competencies
in distance teaching. Complementary to this, the levels of competence of teachers
in distance teaching were developed to let them self-assess their skills. The course
satisfaction questionnaire was used to address the second research question.
316
The levels of competence of teachers in distance teaching for self-assessment

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

Competence Incompetence
3. Conscious competence 53-78 points 2. Conscious incompetence 27-52 points
A teacher sometimes: A teacher sometimes:
• Uses coursebook just as a guidebook for • Uses the coursebook, plans every class
students. They plan class sessions with a focus on session.
possible changes to the lesson plan. • Draws the students’ focus to
• Draws the students’ focus to analyzing, memorization minimally.
evaluating, and making conclusions. • Talks in class 25-30% of lesson time and
• Talks in class 15-20% of lesson time and sometimes interrupts their students to correct
provides feedback to students’ work after they or advise them.
Conscious
have finished the task. • Attempts to be informal in their class

• Attempts to be informal in their class sessions. sessions.
• Reward their students for their efforts verbally. • Rewards their students for their efforts,
• Determines the class agenda, and assign determines the class agenda, and assigns
important team tasks as a home project. important team tasks as a home project.
• Attempt to motivate their students not to • Attempts to encourage the students not to
procrastinate and not to drop out. procrastinate and not to drop out.
• Sometimes assigns the students to assist and • Sometimes assigns the students to assist
facilitate their online class sessions. and facilitate their online class sessions.
• Sometimes involve an IT specialist in the • Sometimes involve an IT specialist in the
design of their online courses. design of their online courses.
• Hardly feel their job exhausts them. • Sometimes feel their job exhausts them.
Competence Incompetence
4. Unconscious competence 79-91 points 1. Unconscious incompetence 13-26 points
A teacher occasionally: A teacher always:
• Uses the coursebook as a reference source. • Uses the coursebook, carefully plans
They plan class sessions and use them flexibly. every minute of every class session.
• Draws the students’ focus to analyzing, • Draws the students’ focus to
evaluating, and making conclusions. memorization.
• Let their students speak and express • Talks in the class and constantly
themselves in class sessions most of the time and interrupts their students to correct or advise
provide their verbal and written feedback to the them.
Unconscious
students’ work after they have finished the task. • Serious and formal in their class sessions.
• Attempts to be informal in-class sessions. • Never rewards students for their efforts.
• Rewards their students for their efforts • Determines the class agenda, and they are
verbally. sure that students’ learning should take place
• Determine the class agenda, and they assign at home.
important team tasks as a home project. • Punish students for procrastination and
• Attempt to motivate their students not to dropouts.
procrastinate and not to drop out. • Assigns the students to assist and
• Competently utilizes technology. They design facilitate their online class sessions. They
online courses for themselves and use a variety of involve an IT specialist in the design of their
technological tools. online courses.
• Their job brings sense to their life. • They feel their job exhausts them.
317
The video recorded live online session observation checklist (see Appendix B)
The instrument consisted of 10 questions. It used a 5-point Likert “quality scale”,
with 1 for “Very poor”, up to 5 for “Excellent”. The item-level content validity
index (IL-CVI) of the checklist varied from 0.83 to 0.88. The kappa coefficient was
from 0.84 to 0.89.
The self-observation questionnaire (Appendix C)

The questionnaire comprised of 10 items. It relied on a 5-point Likert scale entitled
“Amount of Use”, with 1 for “Never use”; 2 for “Almost never”; 3 for
“Occasionally/Sometimes”; 4 for “Almost every time”; and 5 for “Frequently
use”. The item-level content validity index (IL-CVI) of the questionnaire varied
from 0.82 to 0.87. The kappa coefficient was from 0.86 to 0.88.
The course satisfaction questionnaire

The questionnaire consisted of six questions. It used the two scales of course
usefulness and course satisfaction. Both scales used two 7-point Likert scales with
1 for “Absolutely Useless/Extremely dissatisfied” to 7 for “Absolutely
useful/Extremely Satisfied”. The face validity, construct validity, and content
validity of the questionnaire were assessed by five experts, who performed the
assessment using the recommendation of Taherdoost (2016).
3. Results
The results have been presented in two sections: the experiment-related data and
sampled students’ perceptions of the course. This approach attempted to respond
to the two research questions of how the reshaped refresher course influenced the
teachers’ competencies in distance teaching, and how the course participants
perceived the course, which aimed to update the teachers’ competencies in
distance teaching.
3.1. The Experiment-Related Data

The Teachers’ Self-Assessment Survey
The mean difference between two sets of measurements drawn from the survey
was identified using the paired sample t-test (see Table 4).
Table 4: Paired sample t-test results based on teachers’ self-assessment survey

𝑴𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝑺𝑫 Mean SE
𝒕 𝒑 𝒅𝒇 𝒅
Before After Before After difference difference
3.27 5.86 1.73 1.22 -7.33 -2.59 0.231 < .001 36.0 2.617
Table 4 shows that the comprehensive model that synthesizes and converges the
strong points of the specified models of competence development brought
positive change (𝑡(36.0) = −7.34, 𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑓. = −2.59, 𝑆𝐸 𝑑𝑖𝑓. = 0.231) in teachers’
distance teaching competencies, as reported by the sampled teachers. The effect
size was also significant, 𝑑 = 2.617, and implies that the sampled teachers
experienced a positive change in the competencies under study.
318
Shifts in the Levels of Competence of Teachers in Distance Teaching as Self-

Assessed by the Sampled Teachers
The purpose of the measurement was to identify how sampled teachers self-
assessed their distance teaching competencies before and after the treatment.
Figure 3 presents the results of the self-assessments in distance teaching
competencies by the sampled refresher course participants.
52
% of Sampled teachres
45.16
36.70
25.8
15.74
12.90
6.46
3.22
Before After
Unconscious incompetence 36.70 25.8
Conscious incompetence 45.16 52
Conscious competence 12.90 15.74
Unconscious competence 3.22 6.46
Figure 3: Shifts in the levels of competence of teachers in distance teaching as self-

assessed by the sampled teachers
Figure 3 shows that the data collected provided the basis for reporting that the
majority of the sampled teachers were at a level of conscious incompetence in their
distance teaching competencies (EG = 45.16%) before the experiment and the
quantity of the participants moved to 52% after the treatment. Approximately a
third of the refresher course participants were at a level of unconscious
competence in distance teaching (EG =36.70%). This proportion shrunk by 10.9
(EG=28.8) after the treatment. The number of teachers who assessed their level of
competence in distance teaching as a conscious competence increased by 2.84%
after the experiment. The proportion of those who assessed their level as an
unconscious competence in distance teaching approximately doubled and moved
from 3.22% to 6.46%. The data imply that the teachers experienced improvements
in lesson and materials design, technology, and how to involve students due to
the refresher course.
The Video Recorded Live Online Session Observation Checklist and Self-
Observation Questionnaire by Course Topic
The checklists were used by the sampled teachers for peer assessment of the
recorded online sessions and self-reflection. Table 5 presents the descriptive
statistics yielded from the video recorded live online session observation
checklist, and the self-observation questionnaire. The data are distributed by the
course topic.
319
Table 5: Descriptive statistics yielded from video recorded live online session
observation checklist and self-observation questionnaire, distributed by course topic
Course topic
Data collection tool
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
SD
SD
SD
SD
SD
SD
SD
SD
SD
SD
M
M
VRLOSO
0.995
0.862
0.607
0.505
0.676
0.651
0.505
0.463
0.435
3.43
1.21
3.81
3.92
4.49
4.54
4.35
4.51
4.46
4.70
4.76
s
0.957
0.751
0.484
0.492
0.507
0.475
0.505
0.397
0.374
3.32
1.11
3.97
4.14
4.65
4.62
4.49
4.68
4.54
4.81
4.84
SO
Note: VRLOSOs - video recorded live online session observations

SO - self-observation
Table 5 shows how the mean value for sampled teachers’ judgements about their
peers’ and their own performance in delivering the classes online improved. This
implies that the model gradually provided an effect on their distance teaching
competencies.
3.2. Data drawn from Sampled Students’ Perceptions of the Course

Descriptive Statistics Drawn from the Course Satisfaction Questionnaire
Table 6 presents the descriptive statistics drawn from the course satisfaction
questionnaire.
Table 6: Descriptive statistics drawn from the course satisfaction questionnaire

q1e q2e q3e q4e q5e q1s q2s q3s q4s q5s
Mean 6.34 5.79 5.21 5.29 5.50 5.71 5.16 5.26 5.39 5.29
SD 0.938 1.36 1.49 1.39 1.27 1.23 1.28 1.35 1.44 1.16
- - -
Skewness -1.17 -0.551 0.135 -0.298 -0.210 0.336 0.380
0.333 0.0915 0.177
Std. error
0.383 0.383 0.383 0.383 0.383 0.383 0.383 0.383 0.383 0.383
skewness
Kurtosis 0.192 -1.37 -1.56 -0.632 -1.10 -1.17 -1.15 -1.17 -1.39 -1.30
Std. error
0.750 0.750 0.750 0.750 0.750 0.750 0.750 0.750 0.750 0.750
kurtosis
Table 6 shows the values for the mean (mean is between 5.16 and 6.34, SD is
between 0.938 and 1.49) that cover the responses of “Absolutely
Useful/Moderately Satisfied” and “Extremely Useful/ Extremely Satisfied”. The
values for skewness show that the distribution of the variables (responses) was
skewed. The values for kurtosis showed that the distribution for Q1e was quite
peaked. The other values for kurtosis indicated that the distribution of the
responses was flat. According to Hair et al. (2017), the distribution of the data for
the responses could be considered normal.
320
Overall, the sampled teachers found the course useful and perceived the course
delivered, using the convergent instructional model, complimentary.
4. Discussion
The study attempted to identify how the comprehensive model that synthesizes
and converges the strong points of the integration model of professional expertise,
the alternative model of professional development, periodic table of expertise by
Collins and Evans (Lamont, 2009), the model of expertise redevelopment, and the
six-dimension framework of expertise model of competence development could
influence the distance teaching competencies of the teachers used, within the
reshaped course for the teachers. Additionally, the study sought to examine how
the course participants perceived the course, using the convergent instructional
model.
The novelty of the study lies in the development of a comprehensive model of

teacher competence development that can be used to deliver an upgraded
refresher course. The course synthesizes and converges some aspects of five
models with the concept of experts’ interactional expertise. The expertise is
supposed to be achieved through knowledge and experience exchange between
those with contributory expertise and those with ubiquitous expertise. The model
of expertise redevelopment is expected to foster teachers’ readiness to be flexible
and take up challenges. It consists of the six-dimension framework of expertise,
which is based on the replacement of the situational context, with a situational
judgment, which is considered better for competence development.
Paired sample t-test results, based on the teachers’ self-assessment survey,

showed that the comprehensive model, that synthesizes and converges the strong
points of the models of competence development, brought positive change
(𝑡(36.0) = −7.34, 𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑓. = −2.59, 𝑆𝐸 𝑑𝑖𝑓. = 0.231) in teachers’ distance
teaching competencies, as reported by the sampled teachers themselves. The effect
size was also significant, 𝑑 = 2.617, which implies that the sampled teachers
experienced a positive change in the competencies under study. The self-
assessment of the levels of competence of teachers in distance teaching showed
that the majority of the sampled teachers reported that they were at a level of
conscious incompetence in their distance teaching competencies (EG = 45.16%)
before the experiment and moved to the proportion of 52% after the treatment.
Approximately a third of the refresher course participants were at a level of
unconscious competence in distance teaching (EG =36.70%). This proportion
shrunk by 10.9 (EG=28.8) after the treatment. The data obtained from the
participants’ responses suggested that the quantity of teachers who assessed their
level of competence in distance teaching as a conscious competence increased by
2.84% after the experiment. The proportion of those who assessed their level as an
unconscious competence in distance teaching approximately doubled and moved
from 3.22% to 6.46%. The data imply that teachers experience improvements in
lesson and materials design, technology, and how to involve students due to the
refresher course. The data were drawn from the checklist that was used by the
sampled teachers for peer assessment of the recorded online sessions and a
questionnaire for self-reflection illustrated that sampled teachers’ judgements
321
about the peers’ and their own performance in the delivery of the classes online
improved. This implied that the model gradually provided an effect on their
distance teaching competencies. The descriptive statistics drawn from the course
satisfaction questionnaire proved that the sampled teachers found the course
useful and perceived the course delivered, using the convergent instructional
model, complimentary.
The values for mean (mean is between 5.16 and 6.34, SD is between 0.938 and 1.49)
cover the responses of “Absolutely Useful/Moderately Satisfied” and “Extremely
Useful/ Extremely Satisfied”. The values for skewness show that the distribution
of the variables (responses) was skewed. The values for kurtosis showed that the
distribution for Q1e was quite peaked. The other values for kurtosis indicated that
the distribution (of the responses) was flat. According to Hair et al. (2017), the
distribution of the data for the responses could be considered normal.
The findings agree with Kunter et al. (2013), who found that the model of teacher
professional competence development is more effective when it combines
individual characteristics of the teacher trainees and challenging learning
opportunities. The authors recommend converging professional-specific with
cognitive, motivational, and self-regulatory practices. The study is in line with
Lahmine et al. (2016), who advocated creating a techno-pedagogical environment
based on the “learning by doing” approach for in-service teacher training to foster
teachers’ distance teaching skills.
5. Conclusion
A comprehensive model of teacher competence development, to deliver the
reshaped refresher course, influenced the teachers’ competencies in distance
teaching positively. The course participants evaluated the course delivered, using
the convergent instructional model, to be complimentary. The teacher trainees
improved their skills in the adaptation of the lesson materials for use in a live
virtual environment, engaging students in learning through e-learning platforms,
conferencing software and messengers (Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook),
creating a forum for the interactions of a teacher-student and student-student
kind, i.e. through breakout rooms in Zoom. They enhanced their skills in
accommodating students’ learning needs, abilities (or disabilities), and learning
styles, using chatbots to deliver materials, implement gamified elements, manage
the students and assess them. They updated their skills in using approaches to
create rapport, motivate and inspire students, and involve students in shaping the
lesson plan through polls and votes.
It is recommended that practitioners use the predesigned criteria for assessing

trainees’ assignments and/or involve independent experts in the assessment
and/or employ a blind-review principle in assessment, as teachers are often
unable to take their colleagues feedback with tact and grace.
Further research is needed in designing and testing the assessment system for the
model that has been created.
322
Acknowledgement
We are grateful to the representatives of administration and management of
Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University and Borys Grinchenko Kyiv
University for hosting the research team. We are thankful to the sampled teachers
for their patience and willingness to make the experiment a rewarding experience
for them and the research team members.
Conflicts of Interest
There are no conflicts of interest related to the authors' affiliations, or any legal,
financial, or commercial disputes.
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Appendix A
Teachers’ self-assessment survey (adapted from Dascalu (2005))

Where I am as an 7-point “Reflect me” Where I want to be as an
instructor in distance Likert scale instructor in distance
teaching 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 teaching
I occasionally use the
I always use the
1 coursebook as a reference
coursebook
source
I mainly talk in the My students mainly talk
2
class in the class
I constantly I correct or advise my
interrupt my students when the
3
students to correct activity or discussion is
or advise them finished
I tell jokes and include
I am serious and some portion of
4
formal in my lessons enjoyment and fun in my
classes
I use some elements of
I never reward my
gamification to reward
5 students for their
my students for their
efforts
efforts
I carefully plan I plan my lessons just
6 every minute of schematically and deliver
every lesson them flexibly
I draw the students’
I draw the students’ focus
7 focus to
to self-expression
memorization
My students’
My students’ learning
8 learning takes place
takes place in class
at home
My students always
I always determine
9 determine the class
the class agenda
agenda
I punish my
students for My students are proactive
10
procrastination and learners
dropouts
My job brings me a sense
11 My job exhausts me
of life
Note: 1 – Very untrue of me; 2 – Untrue of me; 3 – Somewhat untrue of me; 4 – Neutral; 5
–Somewhat true of me; 6 – True of me; 7 – Very true of me
326
Appendix B
The video recorded live online session observation checklist

5-point Likert
# Item “quality scale”
1 2 3 4 5
The lesson plan is adapted for use in a live virtual
1
environment
The students use devices with the appropriate software and

2
applications to learn virtually
The students are engaged in the learning through the e-
3 Learning platform, conferencing software, and messengers
(Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook)
There is a forum for the interactions of a teacher-student
4 and student-student kind, i.e. through breakout rooms in
Zoom
The students are accommodated in learning by their needs,
5
abilities (or disabilities), and learning styles
The Chatbot is used to deliver materials, implement

6
gamified elements, manage the students and assess them
7 The ratio of 20% of TTT and 80% of STT is ensured
8 The instructions are formulated clearly, short and precise
The teacher attempts to create rapport, motivate and inspire

9
students
Students are involved in shaping the lesson plan through
10
polls and votes
Note: 1 – Very poor; 2 – Not good; 3 – All right; 4 – Good; 5 –Excellent
327
Appendix C
The self-observation questionnaire

5-point Likert
“Amount of Use”
scale
# Item
1 2 3 4 5
My lesson plan is adapted for use in a live virtual

1
environment
My students use devices with the appropriate software and

2
applications to learn virtually
My students are engaged in learning through the e-
3 Learning platform, conferencing software, and messengers
(Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook)
4 I create a forum for SSs and TSs interactions
My students are accommodated in learning by their needs,

5
abilities (or disabilities), and learning styles
I use a Chatbot to deliver materials, implement gamified

6
elements, manage the students and assess them
7 I attempt to keep the ratio of 20% of TTT and 80% of STT
8 I formulate my class instructions clearly, short and precise
I attempt to create rapport, motivate and inspire my

9
students
I involve my students in shaping the lesson plan through

10
polls and votes
Note: 1 – Never use; 2 – Almost never; 3 – Occasionally/Sometimes; 4 – Almost every

time; 5 – Frequently use
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Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 328-345, July 2021
How Pre-service Teachers Learn Microbiology

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

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

regarding gender after interventions. However, females scored better
than males after the lecture and laboratory methods, while the opposite
happened after animation-based instruction. Therefore, we recommend
using small-group laboratory activities that promote active learning
through student small-group work to improve pre-service biology
teachers’ academic achievement in biology.
Keywords: pre-service teachers; microbiology; lecture; animations;

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

especially their academic achievements. Studies proved that the contribution of
traditional methods to pre-service science teachers’ academic achievement is
much less than that of active instructional methods (Bektaşli, 2013; Dirlikli &
Akgün, 2017; Selçuk, 2010; Agoro & Akinsola, 2013; Calik-Uzun, et al., 2019;
Taşlidere, 2015). This is a call to pre-service science teachers, and, especially, pre-
service biology teachers’ trainers, to adopt active and innovative instructional
methods like those incorporating instructional resources such as animations and
laboratory resources to improve pre-service biology teachers’ academic
achievements.
Instructional resources create professional critical thinking skills, and hands-on
and minds-on skills in pre-service biology teachers, which assist them to be
competent future biology teachers (Mukagihana et al., 2020). Furthermore,
instructional resources link instructional methods to the learning theories that
emphasize students’ involvement in classroom activities and the construction of
knowledge. Besides, instructional resources make instructions meaningful,
especially when promoting students’ cognitive development through
collaborative and practical learning (Hung, 2001). Laboratory activities, for
example, have been proven to improve the learning of students in Rwandan
schools (Uwamahoro et al., 2021). Similarly, multimedia such as you-tube videos,
PhET simulations, and animations were found to positively affect students’
performance (Ndihokubwayo et al., 2020a). Therefore, the present study aimed to
test how pre-service biology teachers learn when instructional resources such as
animations and laboratory resources, support instructions that are guided by
didactic transposition theory (Chevallard, 1989).
Didactic transposition theory states that what can be observed in class is a teacher-
student relationship (Chevallard, 1989). In other words, the teacher-student
relationship during the teaching and learning process is described by what the
teacher and students do. In the lab and classroom environments one can easily
detect the student-teacher relationship by recording in which activities students
are involved, and what teachers are doing.
Studies have been conducted on the effect of instructional resources on pre-service
science teachers’ academic achievement. However, few studies highlighted the
impact of animation-based instructions and small group laboratory activities on
pre-service biology teachers’ academic achievement at private universities using
a time series design. Also, few studies highlighted the link between classroom
practices and the respective effects of instructional resources used. Researchers
and universities were highly interested in detecting what was happening in STEM
courses by measuring the students’ and teachers’ practices when an specific
instructional method was applied (Lund et al., 2015), but few engaged in
measuring instructional practices when training pre-service biology teachers with
different instructional methods. Therefore, the present study aimed to throw light
on how pre-service biology teachers learn when animations and small-group
laboratory activities are used in class, specifically by establishing the effect of
animations and small-group laboratory activities on pre-service biology teachers’
academic achievement.
331
The study contributes to the literature. It provides valuable information on how

pre-service biology teachers teach by illustrating the most relevant activities in
microbiology classes in a series of lecturing methods, animation-based
instructions, and laboratory methods using small-group laboratory activities. The
study provides results regarding the effect of these instructional methods on pre-
service biology teachers’ academic achievements. This information may serve as
a guide that shows teachers what their role in class should be; thus, pre-service
biology teachers will gain pedagogical content knowledge that they can use as
secondary school biology teachers to improve students’ academic achievement.
Specifically, through the study we wanted to determine the effect of animations
and small-group laboratory activities on pre-service biology teachers’ academic
achievement. Therefore, this study aimed to answer the following research
questions:
1) Which teaching and learning activities are dominating microbiology classes
for pre-service biology teachers at private universities when resource-based
instructions are used?
2) Is there any statistically significant difference between mean scores of pre-
service biology teachers when traditional and resource-based instructions are
used on time series?
3) Is there any significant difference between academic achievement mean scores
of males and females when resource-based instructions are used on time
series?
We then hypothesized that:

H01: There is no statistically significant difference in pre-service biology teachers’
mean scores when traditional and resource-based instructions, such as
animation-based instruction and small group laboratory activities are used on
time series.
H02: There is no statistically significant difference between male and female pre-
service biology teachers’ mean scores when traditional and resource-based
instructions such as animation-based instruction and small-group laboratory
activities are used.
2. Methodology
2.1 Research design
In the study a time series design was used which is a modified form of a typical
pre-test and post-test design. This design involves implementing a group of pre-
tests and post-tests by repeated observational changes in dependent variables
over time before and after a teaching intervention. The design permitted the
authors to measure the effect of the instructional method as an independent
variable at three levels, namely traditional methods of teaching (lecture),
animation-based instruction, and laboratory-based instruction through small-
group laboratory activities on pre-service biology teachers’ academic achievement
dependent variables. A time-series design does not require the use of a large
number of participants, and only one group can sufficiently serve a study
(Creswell, 2012). This design was suitable for this study, in which a small number
of participants were divided into control and experimental groups. During
332
implementation the researchers used a time-series design in its variation as an

equivalent time series that allowed the researchers to alternate an intervention or
treatment with post-test observations. Table 1 presents the way the design was
implemented in the study.
Table 1: Equivalent time series design

Time Three weeks interval
Interventions
One group Pre- Tradi- Post- Animation- Post- Small- Post
participants test tional test based test group lab -test
methods instruction activities
2.2 Participants
The study was carried out at the University of Technology and Arts of Byumba
(UTAB), a private university that trains pre-service biology teachers. As
Mukagihana et al. (2020) described, the university was one of three selected
private universities to participate in this study. Unfortunately, due to Covid 19
issues, twouniversities closed before data collection was performed (February to
April 2021). Therefore, it remained the only private university offering biology
education programmes that could participate in the study. The participants
consisted of a small population of 50 pre-service biology teachers enrolled in year
two in the Faculty of Education, Department of Education in Sciences. Among
them, only 37 were available on the first day of the intervention. They formed a
single group that participated in a pre-test and alternating interventions, and post-
test measures using lecturing as teaching method, animation-based instruction,
and laboratory methods through small-group laboratory activities. One research
assistant participated in the study by observing and recording the student and
instructor activities during interventions.
2.3 Data collection instruments and their reliability

Two instruments were used to collect the data. One was a Pre-service Biology
Teachers’ Achievement Test (PBTAT) developed by the researchers. This
achievement test comprised twenty items/questions related to the concepts of
microbiology, taken from a biology module purposively selected for intervention
(please see Appendix 1). The internal validity and reliability of the instrument
were checked by subjecting the instrument to microbiology experts at the Public
University of Rwanda College of Education. After the pilot study, Pearson’s r
reliability test was calculated using SPSS 23, and the coefficient of .51 was found.
Thus the instrument was found to be reliable and used.
The Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (COPUS) was
used to establish which teaching and learning activities dominated microbiology
classes for pre-service biology teachers at private universities when resource-
based instructions were used. The protocol was designed to help faculty members
who did not have a classroom observation protocol to record the activities of
undergraduate students and lecturers at university level at two 2-minute time
intervals during the teaching and learning process (Smith et al., 2013). Therefore,
COPUS was suitable for this study to identify pre-service biology teachers’
333
activities in the microbiology class when traditional methods of teaching,

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

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

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

Classroom practices Lecture class Animation Lab
class class
Students Listening (L) 80% 77% 20%
Answering (AnQ) 5% 0% 6%
Asking (SQ) 7% 11% 5%
Whole Class (WC) 0% 5% 4%
Presentation (SP) 0% 2% 1%
Thinking (Ind) 3% 2% 1%
Clicker Discussion (CG) 0% 0% 2%
Working Group (WG) 0% 0% 52%
Other Group (OG) 0% 0% 5%
Prediction (Prd) 0% 0% 0%
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Test/Quiz (T/Q) 5% 0% 0%
Waiting (W) 0% 1% 0%
Other (O) 0% 0% 2%
Instructor Lecturing (Lec) 52% 2% 3%
Writing (RtW) 34% 0% 0%
Demo/Video (D/V) 2% 69% 6%
Follow-up (Fup) 4% 1% 6%
Posing Questions (PQ) 3% 12% 10%
Clicker Questions (CQ) 0% 0% 1%
Answering Question 5% 14% 10%
(AnQ)
Moving (MG) 0% 0% 55%
One-on-One (1o1) 0% 0% 3%
Administration (Adm) 0% 1% 2%
Waiting (W) 0% 0% 0%
Other (O) 1% 1% 4%
Specifically, after collapsing codes, as Smith et al. (2013) suggested, 88% of lecturer
presenting and 80% of students receiving were found in a lecture class, 71% of
presenting and 77% of receiving were found in the animation class, while these
practices did not occur to the same extent in the lab class. About 61% of students
were working, and 85% of the lecturer’s time was spent on guiding in the lab class.
This shows that lab activities encourage student engagement, among other
interventions (Figure 1).
Other (Inst)
Collapsed
(Lecturer)
Admin
Codes
Guiding
Presenting
Other (Student)
(Students)
Collapsed
Working
Codes
Talking to Class
Receiving
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Lab class Animation class Lecture class
Figure 1: Activity as Percentage of all Codes (Note: Each colour adds to 100%, within
rounding error)
The Pearson r coefficient between these intervention classroom practices was

found positive. For instance, the medium correlation was found to be 0.54
between lecture and animation methods; the low correlation was found to be 0.05
336
between lecture and lab methods, while the low correlation was found to be 0.11
between animation and lab methods.
After having analysed the teaching and learning practices, we measured the
impact of each intervention given, such as lecture, animation, and lab activities,
in the respective series of interventions using SPSS 23. Table 2 displays
descriptive statistics from students’ scores. Before the intervention, the mean score
was 6.70 out of 20 (one score for each of 20 items) (see Table 3). Note that the same
students were exposed to all these interventions in equivalent time-series
sequences. The potential of such a design is shown in the way the mean scores
have upgraded.
Table 3: Descriptive statistics of the test scores among male and female pre-service
biology teachers
Students Mean Std. Deviation N
gender
Pre-assessment Male 6.64 3.10 14
Female 6.75 2.08 16
Total 6.70 2.56 30
Lecture Serie Male 7.21 3.76 14
Female 8.18 2.07 16
Total 7.73 2.97 30
Animation Serie Male 10.92 3.02 14
Female 10.62 2.47 16
Total 10.76 2.69 30
Lab Serie Male 14.42 1.98 14
Female 14.93 1.12 16
Total 14.70 1.57 30
A statistically significant difference occurred among the interventions (df=28,

p<.05), however, gender did not show this difference (df=1, p>.05). The Cohen
effect size (d) after using the lecture method was 0.37, after using the animation
method, it increased to 1.54, while after using the lab method, it increased to 3.86.
Using multivariate analysis of variances (MANOVA), male and female students
were at the same level at pre-assessment (see Figure 2). Female students showed
a better performance than their male counterparts after having been taught with
the lecture and lab methods; however, this was the opposite after having been
taught by means of the animation method (Figure 2).
337
Figure 2: Multivariate analysis of variances between male and female pre-service

teachers across three series of teaching interventions
4. Results discussion
The present study identified how pre-service biology teachers learn microbiology
at one private university in Rwanda when three different instructional methods
were applied in equivalent time series. The results revealed that lecture classes
and animation classes were dominated by students listening and instructor
lecturing activities, while in the laboratory class, group work, instructor moving
and guiding outweighed. Based on those differences, the laboratory method with
small-group laboratory activities promoted the active learning environment. At
the same time, lectures and animation-based instruction encouraged passivity,
though animations were used as an active instructional resource.
The dominance of instructor activities and students’ passivity, as shown by their
role in the lecture method class, results from the characteristics of traditional
methods that rely on teacher-centred teaching methods. The method does not
motivate and promote students’ active participation in class. These observations
prove that, at the undergraduate level too, by using the lecture method, students
learn in a passive environment, where their role is merely listening, taking notes,
and answering instructors’ questions. The findings concur with research findings
of Byusa et al. (2020b), Ndihokubwayo et al. (2020a & b), and Stains et al. (2018),
who confirmed that instructors presenting and students receiving activities like
listening to the teacher, taking notes and answering teachers’ questions dominate
a traditional classroom environment. In contrast, the findings do not corroborate
338
with other studies that regard facilitating and guiding as part of the instructors'
role in computer-assisted instruction (Aiyedun, 2020; Gilakjani & Rahimy, 2019).
Lectures and animation-based instructions promoted pre-service biology
teachers’ passive learning, as their listening level, 80%, and 77%, respectively
proved. The pre-service biology teachers’ behaviour in the animation class
indicates that teaching and learning by animations require more intervention of
both a real instructor and a graphically presented instructor. This happens
because of different factors: first, the English language level used in animations
may be a barrier to pre-service biology teachers’ understanding of concepts. This
requires of the instructor to intervene by repeating what was said using ‘soft’, that
is, to the students more understandable, English grammar; thus, a lecturing
activity is recoded during observations. This results in animation classes
becoming similar to lecture classes in terms of students and teacher activities, even
though their motivating and engaging levels differ. The implication is that both
lectures and animation classes may look similar based on instructors' and
students’ roles. The findings are not in consonance with the findings of Ma et al.
(2010), who attested that students exposed to animations benefited from it and
achieved better than those merely exposed to traditional instructions.
The findings regarding the instructor-guided pre-service biology teachers being
instructed in laboratory classes using small-group laboratory activities proved to
be contrary to the above-mentioned results. Pre-service biology teachers in the lab
class actively participated by working in groups, where small groups of two were
formed. Pre-service biology teachers receiving instruction through activities that
characterized other types of instruction were reduced in the lab class. All those
practices proved that the pre-service biology teachers learned through learner-
centred practices in the small-group lab activities in the laboratory. Therefore, the
laboratory method using small-group laboratory activities is an instructional
method to improve pre-service biology teachers’ active learning and learning
engagement. These behaviours promote profound subject achievement, resulting
in them becoming competent professional biology teachers in future. The findings
concur with the findings of Lombard et al. (2021), who asserted that students
guided in using instructional resources when learning performed better than their
colleagues who learned in the traditional environment.
The findings revealed that lecture methods, animation-based instruction, and
small-group lab activities improved the pre-service biology teacher’s academic
achievement. However, there was a statistically significant difference between the
interventions (df=28, p<.05). Besides, based on the mean scores, the lecture
method improved the academic achievement slightly, compared to the mean
scores obtained before the intervention. In contrast, animation improved
achievement more than lectures, and using small-group lab activities improved
pre-service biology teachers’ academic achievement more than lectures and
animation. The difference is also justified by the difference in Cohen’s d effect size,
where lectures showed d=0.37, animation-based instruction d=1.54, and small-
group lab activities d=3.86. Therefore, we rejected the first null hypothesis that
there would not be such a statistical difference. These findings disagree with those
of Aiyedun (2020) and Aremu and Sangodoyin (2010) who proved that
animations improved students’ achievement in biology more than traditional
339
methods. Besides, the findings deviate from what Arıcı & Yılmaz (2020) attested,
namely that computer instructions improved students’ academic achievement
more than laboratory instructions.
This difference in the effect of those instructional methods on pre-service biology
teachers’ academic achievement justifies the significance of treating students in a
series of interventions where students' outcome regarding performance after an
intervention may be boosted by what was gained from the previous one. Thus, in
this study the significant contribution of animation-based instructions was
boosted by the lecture intervention before its application. The high contribution
of laboratory instruction using small-group laboratory activities resulted from the
combination of pre-service biology teachers’ gain from a lecture class, animation
class, and small-group lab activities. Besides, these differences in pre-service
biology teachers’ scores are explained by the difference in students’ and
instructors’ activities that characterized series of interventions in which
laboratory classes with small-group activities encouraged the pre-service biology
teachers’ involvement in the activities – involvement was proven very high when
working in small groups of two (pairs). These findings concur with the findings
of Högström et al. (2010), who attested that students gained more when they were
allowed to plan for experiments, manipulate outcomes, pose questions, discuss
results, and draw conclusions. Therefore, based on the findings, animation-based
instruction may improve student academic achievement when applied after
traditional methods. Laboratory methods may significantly contribute after
teaching the concept by lecture method of instruction or by implementing
animation-based instruction or a combination of these instructional methods in a
time series. Therefore, we recommend using those instructional methods in a time
series to improve pre-service biology teachers’ academic achievement.
The findings revealed no statistically significant difference between males and
females after the three interventions had been used; therefore, we rejected the first
null hypothesis. However, with each intervention, males and females scored
differently, as the lectures and lab methods improved female pre-service biology
teachers' academic achievement more than that of males. On the other side,
however, this was not the case with animation–based instruction, where males
achieved better than females.
This finding indicates that males and females do not enjoy or prefer the same
instructional methods. The lower performance of females in animation classes
may be because, according to their nature, females were found to respond slower
to technological instructional tools than males (McLachlan et al., 2010; Tezci,
2011). More recently, a significant gender difference in the use of digital tools was
established by Pal et al. (2020) who found that males' engagement in the use of
technological tools for learning was higher than that of females. Therefore, we
recommend that in class instructors must be aware of such differences and
encourage students of either gender to participate equally in teaching and
learning activities when different instructional methods are applied. This will
contribute positively to the performance of students in the identical range of
scores.
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5. Conclusion and recommendations

This study wished to determine how pre-service biology teachers learn
microbiology at one of the private universities that train pre-service biology
teachers when animations and small-group laboratory activities are applied as
resource-based instruction. We used the Classroom Observation Protocol for
Undergraduate STEM (COPUS) during an equivalent time series of interventions
using the lecturing method, animation-based instruction, and small-group
laboratory activities to track the pre-service biology teachers and instructor
activities during interventional classes. We observed that the instructor
dominated the classes by lecturing in lecture and animation-based classes.
Laboratory methods, using small-group laboratory activities promoted learner-
centredness and active learning, thus increasing their academic achievement.
Therefore, we recommend that animation should be used strategically to improve
learning outcomes. It should be oriented to promote more students working
actively and being engaged in the teaching-learning process, rather than merely
listening, and the process should be based on teachers posing questions and
answering questions.
We also confirmed the effectiveness of time-series design, the use of which ensued
in lectures, animation-based instruction, and small-group laboratory activities
significantly improving pre-service biology teachers’ academic achievement.
However, a statistically significant difference was found between interventions.
This difference was found to be rooted in the implementation of time series where
the achievement in animation classes was based on the knowledge gained from a
lecture class and high performance in a small-group lab class resulted from the
boosted knowledge constructed from both the lecture method, animation-based
instruction, and application of small-group laboratory activities. Therefore, to
build pre-service biology teachers’ concept understanding in a microbiology class
and other related biology modules, using the lecture method before animation-
based instruction, and small-group laboratory activities is recommended. There
was no observed gender difference after equivalent time series of these
instructional methods; however, a difference was observed within interventions.
In the lecture and lab, female pre-service biology teachers scored better than
males, but, on the contrary, males performed better in animation than females.
The difference in performance was caused by the differences in the acceptability
of the instructional methods for females and males. Therefore, we recommend
that instructors engage females and males equally when an instructional method
is applied to help them have the same conceptual understanding and preferences.
Further research is recommended to measure pre-service biology teachers’ and
trainers’ activities in other modules of biology. Researchers are also advised to
check the effect of the instructional methods used when applied in equivalent
time series.
Acknowledgment
We would like to thank the University of Technology and Arts of Byumba for
acknowledging the request for data collection permission. We also thank pre-
service biology teachers for their willingness to participate in this study. Finally,
we thank the African Centre of Excellence for Innovative Teaching and Learning
341
Mathematics and Science (ACEITLMS) to financially support the conduct of this

study.
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Appendix 1: Pre-service Biology Teachers’ Achievement Test [Module

of microbiology].
Description: Dear pre-service biology teachers, The questions below were prepared for
measuring your academic achievements generally in biology considering your
performance in the module of microbiology. The types of questions in the test are objective
questions (multiple and true or false) and short answer questions.
Identification:
University name:
Reg number:
Gender:
Instructions: Answer all questions. Read each question carefully and provide the correct
answer.
Date: ……………………. Duration: 40min
Multiple choice questions:
1. Which of the following is a reason for micro-organisms to be useful in many different

research laboratories?
A. They are easy to see and count

B. They have fairly complex structures and are expensive
C. They reproduce quickly and grow in large numbers
D. They live everywhere, so contaminants from the environment are not a problem
2. Prokaryotes do not have which of the following?
A. Cell membrane
B. Nucleus’ membrane
C. Cytoplasm
D. Ribosomes
344
3. The Common basic stains are
A .methylene blue
B. crystal violet
C. safranin
D. malachite green
E. all of the above.
4. Which of the following correlates with the exponential phase?
A. Log phase
B. Rate of growth is constant and also called balanced growth
C. Population is most uniform in terms of chemical and physical properties during this
phase.
D. Exponential growth - all cellular components are synthesized at a constant rate.
E. All of the above.
5. Gram-negative bacteria have much of ………….., and that is found on their outer
membrane
A. Lipopolysaccharides
B. Peptidoglycan
C. Teichoic acid
D. All the above
6. Among the following methods of microbial culture, what is the most common and
suitable for isolation of pure culture?
A. Pour plate method

B. Streak Plate method
C. Dilution method
D. None of the above
7. Among the following types of stains, what is used to identify bacteria, and was
developed by a Danish physician Hans Christian Gram.
A. Simple staining
B. Differential staining
C. Gram stain
D. All the above
True or False questions:
8. A stain is a chemical that adheres to structures of the micro-organism as dyes so that

micro-organisms can be easily seen under a microscope. True or False?
9. Staphylococcus and Streptococcus are examples of Gram-positive bacteria. True or

False?
10. Agar is a complex polysaccharide used as a solidifying agent for culture media
preparation. True or False?
11. A. Bacteria generation time is simply the time it takes for one cell to divide into two
True or False?
Short answer questions:
12. The concept that human and animal diseases are caused by microorganisms is called
………….
345
13. Gram-positive bacteria stain in ……………. Colour
14. A peptidoglycan layer that is very thick is commonly seen in .............................. Bacteria.
15. Lawn culture is used for different purposes including bacteria antibiotic sensitivity
testing? Yes or No
16. Who discovered the fungus Penicillium that produced an antibiotic called penicillin in
1929?
17. Who laid the foundation of aseptic techniques that prevent contamination by
unwanted microbes?
18. Who was the first person to use a microscope to observe living cells?
19. Microbial cultures are used to determine the type of organism, its abundance in the
sample being tested? Yes or No
20. Aside from peptidoglycan, what other component makes up a large percentage of the
gram-positive cell wall?
346

Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 346-364, July 2021
Primary School Science Teachers’ Creativity and

Practice in Malaysia
Norazilawati Abdullah and Zainun Mustafa

National Child Development Research Centre
Faculty of Human Development, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Malaysia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9755-4629
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0797-724X
Mahizer Hamzah and Amir Hasan Dawi

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3108-3913
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0825-4307
Mazlina Che Mustafa

National Child Development Research Centre
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2746-2021
Lilia Halim
Universiti Kebangsaan, Malaysia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0562-1696
Salmiza Saleh
Universiti Sains, Malaysia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4854-2859
Che Siti Hajar Aisyah Che Abdul Khalil

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9173-6659
Abstract. Creative pedagogy has been explored extensively, and previous

research suggests that there is a gap between the level and practice of
creativity of science teachers, and that it varies by school location. The aim
of this study was to determine the levels of creativity, and creativity
practice of primary school science teachers, and differences in the levels
of creativity and creativity practice of primary school science teachers
based on school location. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT)
were used to acquire qualitative data from 20 participants, and a
questionnaire of creativity practice in science teaching was used to collect
©Authors
347
quantitative data from 409 participants. The qualitative data were

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

science education; Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT)
1. Introduction
Studies indicate that science subjects are deemed dull by students, which
contributes to the low student involvement in science streams in Malaysia
(Nachiappan et al., 2017). This phenomenon is more prevalent among rural
students, and it creates a gap in achievement between students on the basis of
school demographics (Fatin Aliah et al., 2014). Fatin Aliah et al. (2014) also
discovered that, in addition to school location, teachers' comprehension of science
content, and their pedagogical approach, contributed to students' interest in
science. The Malaysian government has implemented a number of strategic
advances, such as the National Education Policy, Malaysia Education Blueprint,
and 3rd core of Eleventh Malaysia Plan, at the national level to encourage students
to pursue science subjects. The intention is to make science education more
vibrant and engaging for students, which supports the government's aspiration
to make Malaysia a developed country that is advanced in science and technology
– as outlined in the policy and clarified further in the 21st Century Learning
agenda.
It is insufficient to emphasize creativity in the curriculum by concentrating

exclusively on students. Teachers, as the key drivers of the quality of education,
should value creativity and have the skills to create a learning atmosphere that
encourages students to be creative in the classroom (Kandemir et al., 2019).
Therefore, to boost student creativity, it would be beneficial to focus on improving
teachers’ skills. In science subjects, specifically, creative pedagogy is necessary to
inspire students to experience and explore science beyond merely providing
answers or writing notes, and to stimulate their motivation to participate actively
in learning.
Despite creative pedagogy being widely recognized as being effective in fostering

interest in science subjects – and this is explicitly stated in the national policy – the
levels of creativity and practice of Malaysian teachers is still inconclusive (Chua
et al., 2003; Hamsiah, 2004; Horng et al., 2005; Nachiappan et al., 2017; Said &
Alias, 2013). The researchers suggest that further research should be conducted to
verify the creative pedagogy of science teachers in Malaysia. Therefore, the
objectives of this study were to determine, 1) The level of creativity of primary
348
school science teachers; 2) The level of creativity practices of primary school

science teachers; and 3) The differences between the levels of creativity and
creativity practices of primary school science teachers, based on school location.
This research will contribute to the shift in the 10th aspiration of the Malaysia
Education Blueprint 2013-2025, which is to optimize students’ potential by
producing creative and innovative students, and to provide relevant information
to succeed in the 3rd core of Eleventh Malaysia Plan, which relates to human
capital development through championing development in STEM (science,
technology, engineering, mathematics) fields.
2.1 Creative Pedagogy
Science is the systematic study of natural phenomena, which encourages students
to participate in inquiry and critical and logical thinking, and to demonstrate
scientific process skills when learning about the rich and fascinating natural
world. With science being a subject that is taught formally through systematic
education, the scientific enterprise is both exciting and challenging, therefore, it
requires a creative approach. While creativity is mostly associated with literary
streams, research on creative science teaching and learning is gaining attention in
science education too (Craft et al., 2016).
In the Encyclopedia of Creativity, Invention, Innovation and Entrepreneurship,

Aleinikov (2013) defines pedagogy in general as the “study of the process of
teaching”, and refers to creative pedagogy, specifically, as the “science and art of
creative teaching”. Aleinikov (2013) states, furthermore, that creative pedagogy is
a branch of pedagogy that emphasizes the creation of new teaching strategies, or
refashioning existing teaching strategies to ensure successful learning. Creative
pedagogy, however, is interrelated with other terms used in literature, such as
“teaching for creativity”, “creative practice”, “creativity in the classroom”,
“creative teaching”, and “teaching creatively” (Cremin & Chappell, 2019). From
these terms, we can ascertain that creative pedagogy is not only a teaching
strategy for imparting content knowledge to students; it also enables students to
hold a positive attitude about the subject.
The concept of creative science teaching or creative pedagogy is embedded in

several instances of unconventional teaching strategies, among which meaningful
discovery (Khabibah et al., 2017; Wartono et al., 2017), student-based
investigations (Allchin et al., 2014), inquiry in historical experiment exploration
(Schvartzer et al., 2021), engagement in scientifically oriented inquiry (Cairns &
Areepattamannil, 2019; Wagh et al., 2017), prioritizing direct experience and
personal reflection (Djonko-Moore et al., 2018; Horng et al., 2005), evidence-based
explanations by a field expert (Castagneyrol et al., 2020; Kelemen-Finan et al.,
2018), interdisciplinary STEM (Abdullah et al., 2018; Karampelas, 2019) and
connecting explanations to scientific knowledge (Henriksen & Mishra, 2015;
Miller & Krajcik, 2019). In addition to the listed strategies for teaching science
content, skills and values, creative science learning is also infused in the way
knowledge is transferred or communicated (Conradty et al., 2020). For instance,
students use creative methods to present learning outcomes through creative
349
movement (Kerby et al., 2010; Sagmeister et al., 2021), visual art (Liao, 2016),
verbal literature (Januchowski-Hartley et al., 2018), and aesthetics (Maulidah et
al., 2021). Another study, by Kant et al. (2017), reports that students exhibited
learned science content creatively through cooking and quilt-making. The
repertoire of content delivery and outcome formats in creative pedagogy can,
furthermore, be enriched by using digital technology, including geographic
information systems (GIS) and geovisualization tools (Delparte et al., 2016),
augmented reality (Reeves et al., 2021), interactive software (Abdullah, 2017),
gamification (Toth & Kayler, 2015), animation and interactive environments
(Johansson, 2001), mobile learning (Cotič et al., 2020), 3-D printing (Saorín et al.,
2017), composing and remixing digital music (Engelman et al., 2017), to name a
few. In all these strategies for science learning, creativity is the inclusive element,
in both the knowledge-acquiring process and the knowledge-
delivering/expressing process. In other words, creative pedagogy in science
education encompasses the teaching of specific creative skills (teaching of
creativity), the teaching of how scientists use creativity to develop scientific
innovation (teaching about creativity), and the teaching of scientific concepts
creatively (teaching through creativity).
Considering the importance of creativity in teaching, we must acknowledge that

creative pedagogy itself is not developed in a vacuum. Studies suggest five
important aspects related to understanding teacher creativity in teaching and
learning in science classrooms, that is, teacher knowledge, the workplace
environment, multifaceted use of teaching aids, teaching skills, and a focus on
science process skills (i.e, Hamdallah et al., 2014; Henriksen & Mishra, 2015;
Horng et al., 2005; Maulidah et al., 2021). Cremin and Chappell (2019) suggest the
that teachers have to understand and broaden their pool of pedagogical strategies
in order to foster learners’ creativity .
2.2 Torrance’s Creativity Theory

The Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) was introduced in the 1960s (Kim,
2006). The task-based test, which is still being used today, has been amended
several times, translated into several languages, and adapted to various
situations, and possesses good reliability and good predictive reliability. Initially,
the test was scored on four scales or criterion-referenced scores: fluency,
flexibility, originality and elaboration. The scales were later updated with the
addition of “resistance to premature closure’ and ”abstractness of titles’, and the
omission of “flexibility”. The test has been revised from time to time, and varied
from the basic five scales to 13 scales, depending on the context of a study. The
tasks can be divided into three types: verbal tasks using verbal stimuli, verbal
tasks using non-verbal stimuli, and non-verbal tasks.
In this study, only nonverbal tasks or figural tasks were employed. This test was
first used by researchers to measure the creativity of Malaysian students. Some
local studies that utilized TTCT as the instrument were that of Chua et al. (2003),
Hamsiah (2004) and Rafedah (2009). While the TTCT has been tested in various
contexts in Malaysia for nearly 30 years, there is a need for new research on new
population groups, as demographics are changing and earlier results do not
represent the current samples (Bart et al., 2017). For this reason, and because of its
350
high reliability value, widespread use, and good predictive reliability, the
researchers decided to use TTCT in this study (Kim, 2006).
The current study sought to answer the following questions:

1. What are the levels of creativity and creativity practice of primary school
science teachers?
2. What are the differences in the levels of creativity practice of primary
school science teachers at different school locations?
3. Methodology
Teacher creativity was gauged using a mixed-method approach. Task-based
TTCT was employed to acquire the qualitative data, while a questionnaire to
measure creativity practice in science teaching was administered to gather
quantitative data.
3.1 Questionnaire
The language of the questionnaire was Bahasa Melayu (Shazana, 2016) and
consisted of 18 items representing six constructs (see Appendix A). The
questionnaire was piloted and the reliability of the questionnaire was found to be
0.95. Normality of the data was assessed, and it was found that data were
normally distributed, as skewness (0.388) and kurtosis (−0.820) individually were
within ±1. Critical ratio (Z value) of the skewness (0.688) and kurtosis (−0.730)
were within ±1.95. The self-administered questionnaire consists of six constructs,
namely knowledge, environment, teaching aids, skills, science process skills and
attitudes. The sampling size was 409 primary school science teachers throughout
the country, who were selected by purposive sampling.
3.2 Torrance Creative Thinking Test

While the questionnaire had to be completed by the respondents, the TTCT
involved an interview session. Two types of tasks were chosen for this study –
three drawing tasks and three completing-picture tasks. Each task had to be
completed in 10 minutes. Twenty teachers were chosen at random from the same
sampling pool to participate in the TTCT. The requirements for each task were as
follows: 1) The picture construction task required the participant to propose
something from an indefinite purpose and to elaborate on it, so that a clear
purpose emerged; 2) The picture-completion task required the participant to
structure, integrate, and present an object, scene or situation; and 3) The repeated
lines task required the participant to return to the same stimulus continuously and
perceive it differently each time, by disrupting the structure to create something
new. The tasks are summarized in Table 1.
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Table 1. The details of tasks, activities and criteria

Task Activity Criteria
Picture Participants were asked to draw a figure using a Originality
construction given curved shape as the integral part of the Elaboration
figures. Abstractness of
Participants were asked to tell an interesting and title
exciting story by adding new ideas to the first
thought.
Participants were asked to give a creative and
unusual title to the figures.
Picture Participants were asked to complete 10 Originality
completion incomplete figures by adding lines to the Fluency
original picture to produce some interesting Elaboration
figures and objects. Resistance to
Participants were asked to give a creative and premature
unusual title to the figures. closure
The number of completed figures were Abstractness of
examined. titles
Repeated lines Participants are given 30 pairs of straight lines Originality
and they are asked to draw a picture with pairs Fluency
of straight lines Elaboration
The number of completed figures and presence
of unusual figures were identified.
The participants were invited to express their
ideas to fully explain an interesting story
4. Findings
The 409 responses given on the questionnaire were analyzed using Statistical
Package for the Social Sciences 26. In turn, the information gathered from the 20
participants on the task-based test was analyzed according with the TTCT scoring
technique.
4.1. The creativity level of primary school science teachers
Table 2: The teachers’ creativity level

Level of creativity Number of teachers Percentage
Low 13 65%
Moderate 5 25%
High 2 10%
According to Table 2, most of the participants showed a low level of creativity.

Most participants (13 participants, or 65%) had a low level of creativity.
Participants with a moderate creativity level accounted for 25% of the total. Only
10% of the participants showed a high level of creativity.
352
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Fluency
1000
800
600
400
Elaboration Originality
200
0
Resistance to Premature
Abstractness of Titles
Closure
Figure 1: The spider plot of criteria of creativity
As evidenced by the spider plot in Figure 1, the teachers’ creativity diverged

towards fluency and originality. The higher levels of fluency and originality, over
other criteria, reveal that the teachers had a higher likelihood of generating a great
quantity and high quality of interpretable, meaningful, and relevant ideas in
response to the stimulus. In contrast, reponses on the criteria of elaboration,
resistance to premature closure and abstractness of titles converged towards the
plot axis. The patterns in the plot indicate that the participants' ability to provide
detail in their feedback, and to view the depth and richness of the figure, was
somewhat restricted. The participants also appeared to be rushing to complete the
task, which might hinder them from generating more ideas from the given
stimulus. The overall pattern of the plot reveals that there are no outliers in any
measured criteria, thereby indicating that all the teachers who participated in this
study had a uniform level and type of creativity throughout all measured criteria.
Since the participants were pooled from national school teachers who worked in
the national education system and who had been trained in local teaching
institutions, it is not surprising that they represented a fairly homogeneous
sociocultural context and had undergone similar professional training.
4.2 Level of creativity practice of primary school science teachers

Table 3 shows that the primary school science teachers reported that they
possessed high knowledge, environment, teaching aids, skills, science process
skills and attitudes of all elements of creative practice. The mean scores for the
teachers’ knowledge, environment, teaching aids, skills, science process skills and
attitudes components were 4.39, 4.46, 4.60, 4.33, 4.30 and 4.37 respectively. The
lowest mean was for science process skills of creative practice, namely 4.3, while
the highest score was for teaching aids, at 4.60.
353
Table 3: The mean of overall level of creativity practice of teachers

Elements of creative Level of creativity
Mean Standard deviation
practice practice
Knowledge 4.39 0.504 High
Environment 4.46 0.514 High
Teaching aids 4.60 0.492 High
Skills 4.33 0.532 High
Science process skills 4.30 0.526 High
Attitudes 4.37 0.473 High
4.3 Comparing the elements of creativity practice of primary school science

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

Creative
School
practice N Mean sd t df p
location
elements
Urban 251 4.35 0.508 -2.277 407 0.023
Knowledge
Rural 158 4.46 0.491
Note: sd: standard deviation, df: degree of freedom, confidence level, p=0.05
Table 4 shows the means for knowledge of creative practice of primary school
science teachers located in urban areas (M=4.35, SP=0.508) and rural areas
(M=4.46, SP=0.491). The t-test analysis shows that there was a significant
difference, with p=0.023, which is p<0.05 with a value of t (407)=-2.277. Therefore,
there is a significant mean difference in relation to knowledge of creative practice
of primary school science teachers according to location of school – either in urban
or rural areas.
Table 5: The environment of creative practice of teachers in urban and rural areas
Creative practice School
N Min sd t df p
elements location
Urban 251 4.47 0.515 0.855 407 0.393
Environment
Rural 158 4.43 0.514
Table 5 shows the mean environment of creative practice for primary school
teachers in urban areas (M=4.47, SP=0.515) and rural areas (M=4.43, SP=0.514).
The t-test analysis shows that there was no significant difference, with p=0.393
(p> 0.05), and a value of t (407)=0.855. Therefore, there is no significant mean
difference for the environment of creative practice according to the location of
schools – whether in urban or rural areas.
354
Table 6: Teaching aids supporting creative practice of the teachers in urban and rural
areas
N Min dd t df p
elements location
Urban 251 4.61 0.477 0.400 407 0.689
Teaching Aids
Rural 158 4.59 0.517
Table 6 shows the mean for the element of teaching aids in urban areas (M=4.61,
SP=0.477) and rural areas (M=4.59, SP=0.517). The t-test analysis shows that there
is no significant difference, where p=0.689 (p> 0.05) with a value of t (407)=0.400.
Therefore, there is no significant mean difference for teaching aids, which
supports creative practice according to whether the school was located in an
urban or rural area.
Table 7: Teachers’ skill in employing creative practice in urban and rural areas
location N Min Sp t df p
elements
Urban 251 4.34 0.546 0.756 407 0.443
Skills
Rural 158 4.30 0.510
Table 7 shows the mean for the teachers’ skill in employing creative practice in
urban areas (M=4.34, SP=0.546) and rural areas (M=4.30, SP=0.510). The t-test
analysis shows that there is no significant difference: p=0.443(p> 0.05) with a
value of t (407)=0.756 Therefore, there is no significant mean difference for the
teachers’ skill in employing creative practice according to school location, that is,
whether they were teaching in urban or rural areas.
Table 8: Science process skills for employing creative practice in urban and rural areas
N min sd t df p
elements location
Urban 251 4.30 0.545 0.400 407 0.968
Science Process Skills
Rural 158 4.30 0.497
Table 8 shows the mean for science process skills for employing creative practice
by teachers in urban areas (M=4.30, SP=0.545) and rural areas (M=4.30, SP=0.497).
The t-test analysis shows that there is no significant difference, with p=0.968 (p>
0.05), with a value of t (407)=0.400. Therefore, there is no significant mean
difference for the science process skills element according to the location of the
school.
Table 9: Teachers’ attitudes towards creative practice in urban and rural areas
N Min sd t df p
elements location
Urban 251 4.40 0.462 1.873 407 0.062
Attitudes
Rural 158 4.32 0.485
355
Table 9 shows the mean of attitudes of the primary school science teachers
towards creative practice according to school location in urban areas (M=4.40,
SP=0.462) and rural area (M=4.32, SP=0.485). The t-test analysis shows that there
is a significant mean difference, that is, p=0.062, which is p<0.05 with a value of t
(407)=1.873. Therefore, there is a significant mean difference for the attitudes of
primary school science teachers according to the location of their schools, namely,
whether in urban or rural areas.
5. Discussion
The pattern of the findings could be explained by the design of the TTCT and the
operational definition of “fluency’ and “originality”. Both criteria are tested in
similar fashion to school-type tasks, e.g., a pen-and-pencil activity, which
demands expressive writing (Humble et al., 2018) and which potentially requires
the teacher to have this skill. The findings of this study confirmed previous
research, which found that fluency and originality are interconnected (Kim, 2006),
and sometimes referred to as one attribute (see Lillo & Úbeda, 2017).
Meanwhile, the lower scores on abstractness of titles indicate that teachers had
much more concrete and objective ideas about demonstrating their thoughts
during task completion. This finding could reflect the strategy of teaching
pedagogy taking place in the classroom. The science learning curriculum in
Malaysia, which is domain-specific and goal-centric in approach, is geared to
measuring the extent to which students master the content and concepts of
lessons. Therefore, science education is meant to achieve the pre-planned learning
objectives by using the exact terms, the right concept, and procedural lab
practices. In other words, the teaching and learning of science are meant to be
focused on facts, and should be free of bias or personal views. Even though Lam
et al. (2010) found that achievement in science subjects was mildly associated with
creativity, Chan (2011) claims that mathematics and natural sciences could
promote creativity in children. Therefore, we emphasize that science teachers’
lower scores in elaboration criteria are unlikely to be due to the nature of the
subject, though it could signify the need for a creative pedagogical approach, in
accordance with the nature of the science lesson itself.
The teachers sampled in this study taught primary school children at Piaget’s
concrete operational stage. We suggest that teaching children in the primary
school stage (7–12 years) requires a more concrete learning strategy for addressing
the development of cognitive ability. As the Malaysian curriculum is based on
scaffolded learning, the teaching and learning in the primary school years are at
basic and introductory levels, and the same lesson will be revisited in years ahead
with much more abstractness and detail, as the children develop cognitive
maturity. We propose that “concrete” should be an ally to creativity, at least in
terms of science education in the primary school years. Several studies suggest
that “concrete” creative pedagogy could promote interest in and understanding
of primary school children in science subjects. Transforming abstract concepts
into concrete representation (Lin & Liu, 2016), such as building a model of a
microorganism (Hedegaard, 2020), using physical props and images (Astrachan,
1998), analogical reasoning with visual clues (Cubukcu & Cetintahra, 2010), or
exploring a wide range of students’ answers (Purba, 2017), have been proven to
356
support children at the level of cognitive development in science lessons.

Therefore, the Torrance perception of abstractness should consider children’s
cognition as well.
The low scores in resistance to premature closure indicate that the teachers
seemed to complete the given task using the quickest route. As professional adults
who are required to handle a relatively large number of students at one time,
teachers have probably developed the skills required to be adept at completing a
planned lesson in the designated teaching period. In turn, the structure of
examinations, which requires questions to be answered within an allocated
period, might also influence teachers who have trained students to do this. Even
though the low score on premature closure is associated with negative attributes
in the creativity perspective, these same criteria could be valued as efficient time
management features of the Malaysian teacher. The role of the teacher, as the
professional adult, that is related to maintaining an orderly or structured learning
environment, could contribute to low creativity. To achieve a degree of
subjectivity and intangible structure in science lessons, teachers should open their
minds to trial-and-error situations, provide ample time to complete lessons, lower
the teacher-student ratio, exercise flexibility in the curriculum, and be free of
objective testing. Professional development programs should train teachers in
creative pedagogy (Hosseini & Watt, 2010), and teachers should spend more time
writing teaching plans, even though they have been certified as primary school
teachers.
6. Conclusion
The results show that, while the teachers reported that their practices were highly
creative, they actually demonstrated low creativity. In terms of creative practice,
there was no difference between the teachers in urban and rural areas, except in
relation to knowledge and attitudes. Teachers in rural areas had more knowledge
of creativity, while teachers in urban areas were better at practicing creativity. The
main concern arising from the finding relates to the discrepancy between what
the teachers perceived to be taking place during their lessons, and what really
takes place during lessons. Teachers believed that they employed highly creative
practices that inculcated scientific creativity in students during lessons. However,
teachers’ levels of creativity were lower than what they believed it to be. In other
words, the teachers believed that they knew about creativity, had the required
skills and science process skills to instill creative thinking in students, and that the
professional environment and teaching aids were sufficient for conducting
creative pedagogy.
In reality, the level of teachers’ creativity, as measured in this study, did not
correspond with this perception. Teachers seemed to have limited creativity, and
it was skewed to originality and fluency. In this study, we also found that creative
pedagogy in primary school science education should consider the cognitive
ability of students and the nature of science subjects. As science subjects focus on
objectivity, uniform patterns and true scientific phenomena, creative pedagogy
should focus on challenging students to be creative scientists, by applying various
teaching and learning strategies. Therefore, the general idea of what is meant by
creativity in science education needs to be refined further. To conclude, we
357
acknowledge that creativity is an essential, innate aspect of teaching and learning,

which contributes to human progress and scientific endeavors; however, we must
consider how creativity is regulated – in this case, creative pedagogy in science
education.
Limitations and recommendations

The gap that remains to be investigated after this study relates to understanding
the curriculum content, which could benefit from much creative pedagogy
through curriculum mapping and professional development feedback. Another
important aspect that could be looked into is the need to balance out the concept
of creative pedagogy in the schooling ecosystem in role players other than
teachers, such as laboratory assistants, administrators, students and parents.
Acknowledgements
The authors extend their gratitude to the Ministry of Higher Education and the
Research Management and Innovation Centre (RMIC), Sultan Idris Education
University (UPSI) for the Fundamental Research Grants (code: 2019-0032-107-02
(FRGS/1/2018/SS109/UPSI/02/28)), which helped to fund the research.
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Appendix 1
PART B: CREATIVE TEACHING PRACTICES OF SCIENCE TEACHERS
Instructions:
Please tick (/) the appropriate box to represent your level of agreement for each item based on the scale below:
1: (STS) Strongly disagree
2: (TS) Disagree
3: (N) Neutral
4: (S) Agree
5: (SS) Strongly agree
No Statement 1 2 3 4 5
STS TS N S SS
Teacher Knowledge
1. I know the content of the science subjects taught.
2. I know the science teaching method for science subjects.
3. I know the content of the Science subjects taught the
level of students' ability.
4. I know about the choosing teaching resources.
5. I know to prescribe the in determining teaching
objectives.
Environment
6. I use real actual materials from the environment for
teaching (Examples: leaves, stones, fruits, insects,
recycled materials, etc.)
7. I conduct teaching activities outside of the classroom to
attract student's attention to the science subjects.
8. Appropriate outdoor activities further facilitate my
students to relate science lessons to daily life.
9. I encourage the appropriate use of the senses, and this
helps students in learning which helps students learn
Science better (smell, touch, hear, see, or taste).
10. I modified the actual material as teaching aids for the
teaching of Science.
Teaching aids (TA)

11. The use of TA in teaching can diversify my teaching
strategies.
12. The use of TA assists the progress of my helped my
Science teaching to become more interesting.
13. The use of TA has made my students aware of the of the
use application of science Science in daily life.
14. The use of TA stimulates the thinking of my students.
15. The use of TA helps in achieving the objectives of
teaching Science.
Teacher Skill
16. I have the skills to prepare the lesson plan lesson
preparation.
17. I have the classroom management skills to in
encouraging student engagement.
18. I have the skills to diversify teaching strategies
19. I have communication skills with students.
20. I can evaluate the quality of student work.
362
No Statement 1 2 3 4 5
STS TS N S SS
Science Process Skills
21. I know every element in Science process skills
22. I diversify teaching methods to achieve students science
process skills.
23. I conduct practical activities to achieve students science
process skills.
24. I use additional tools to achieve students science process
skills.
25. I conduct active teaching in Science classes
Teacher Attitude
26. I allow students to ask questions and come up with their
ideas
27. I encourage group learning for the brainstorming of
ideas.
28. I apply elements of high-level thinking skills in the
teaching of Science
29. I apply elements of high-level thinking skills in the
teaching of Science.
30. I always encourage students to learn and enjoy Science
Appendix 2
ACTIVITY 1: PICTURE CONSTRUCTION (10 MINUTES)

On this page, there is a curved shape. Think of a picture or an object that you can draw using this curved shape
as part of the picture or object. Try to think of a picture image that no one else has ever thought. of. Add new
thoughts to the first thought so that a picture can be produced that can tell an interesting and exciting story.
Once the picture image is ready, think of a name or title for it. Write the title in the space provided at the bottom
of the page. Make the title as unusual as possible so that it can explain your story.
TITLE:_____________________________________
ACTIVITY 2: PICTURE COMPLETION (10 Minutes)
By adding lines to the diagrams on this page as well and the following pages, you will be able to draw some
interesting exciting objects or pictures. Again, try to think of pictures images of things that no one else has ever
thought of. Now, try to think again and give additional ideas to the first thought so that it canto establish an
interesting exciting story as complete as possible. Think of an interesting title as well for each painting you have
drawn. Write the title in the space provided at the bottom of each drawing.
1. ____________________________ 2._________________________
363
3.____________________________ 4.___________________________
5.____________________________ 6.___________________________
7.______________________________ 8._____________________________
9.___________________________ 10.__________________________
364
ACTIVITY 3: LINES (10 minutes)
Based on the pair of straight lines on this page and also on the next page, how many objects or pictures can you
draw in ten minutes?
The pair of straight lines should be an integral part of whatever object or picture you draw. Prepare the drawing
with a pencil or color. You can draw anywhere - anywhere you like. For example, you can draw between that
pair of straight lines, inside that pair of straight lines, and even outside that pair of straight consecutive lines.
Try to think of things or pictures that no one else has ever thought of. Make as many different types of objects or
pictures images as possible. Add new thoughts if you can. The drawing should be drawn in such a way to that
it can explain as fully as possible the reason for the interesting exciting story. Write the name or title of each
drawing in the space provided.
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IJLTER.

Society for Research and Knowledge Management

The International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational

Aims and Objectives

The main objective of this journal is to provide a platform for educators,

Indexing and Abstracting

The International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational

We are very happy to publish this issue of the International Journal of

The International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational

We are grateful to the editor-in-chief, members of the Editorial Board

The Editorial Board is composed of renowned people from across the

We will endeavour to ensure the reputation and quality of this journal

Editors of the July 2021 Issue

Investigating Cascade Training of CEFR-Aligned Standards-Based English Language Curriculum (SBELC) in

Application of the Case Study Method in Medical Education ...................................................................................... 175

Primary School Science Teachers’ Creativity and Practice in Malaysia....................................................................... 346

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research

Optimizing Online Learning Experiences and

Abstract. As many universities transitioned to online learning during the

Keywords: hearing-impaired; education; art; design; distance education

1.1 Research Problem & Significance

In this research paper, which is based on a qualitative methodological approach,

1.2 Research Questions

1.3 Research Objectives

A study by Alsadoon and Turkestani (2020) identified several challenges which

The existing learning management systems in higher educational institutions

Additional aspects to consider include hearing-impaired e-learning preferences.

Additional challenges and barriers that hearing-impaired students and their

Kapwing is a content creation tool

Veed allows users to autogenerate

Screencastify is a screen recorder.

This is a guide to Google’s built- https://support.google.com/a/answ

This is a “Google-led initiative”

The methodological basis of our research is qualitative action research as it is

Sample Size and Participants

Data Collection Instruments

• The experience of learning art and design from a distance

4. Data Analysis and Discussion

The DHH students in both courses highlighted the following important

Table 1: The percentage of fulfillment of Course Intended Learning Outcomes

Table 1 shows the percentages of fulfilment of CILOs of the Drawing Techniques

Table 2: The percentage of fulfillment of Course Intended Learning Outcomes

CILO 4 To understand, analyze NA 45% 45% 45% 45% 45% 45%

According to Instructors A & B it is important to emphasize that

The delivery of information related to courses, assignments and projects was a

in turn complicates the students’ learning. This is an important point as stated by

The second challenge is the difficulty faced by students in understanding the

Both instructors also stressed the importance of patience when communicating to

Considering the aforementioned challenges, it is important to understand that the

Furthermore, both instructors expressed their views about the effectiveness of

In an attempt to overcome some of the above-mentioned challenges, the

Instructor A was responsible for teaching a practice-based course titled “Drawing

In an attempt to overcome the challenges related to students’ misunderstanding

Figure 2: DrawingA represents incorrect crumpled paper assignment; The student

Figure 1: Selfie of student (independent creative approach)

Figure 2: Eye expression drawings by one of the students

6. Conclusion and Recommendations

Shohieb, S. (2019). A proposed gamified e-learning framework for teaching mathematics

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research

Science Graduate Employability and English

Wendy Hiew, Rose Patsy Tibok, Wirawati Ngui,

Abstract. This study investigated the relationship between the

Keywords: employment; English language proficiency; graduate